eric cantona reinvents himself as a musician. also this hour, a palestinian restaurant in london says and coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news... we'll get the latest from france and the rugby world cup semi—finals, england are prparing to face the world champiosn south africa tomorrow. good evening. three people have been killed in the high winds and flood waters brought by storm babet and another �*danger to life�* red warning has been issued by the met office for the north—east of scotland from midnight tonight. hundreds have had to be evacuated from their homes. you can see the areas worst affected by the heavy rainfall since midnight last night, and there's more to come — with warnings in scotland in parts of angus and aberdeenshire. we'll be live with our correspondents in derbyshire and north yorkshire, but first, let's go james cook in brechin. this has been an extraordinary and exceptionally difficult day and tonight there is still a major operation under way here in brechin and angus involving the emergency services. there are some residents still trapped in their homes by flood waters, including a number of elderly people. the weather forecast is not good, to say the least, even though there is a brief respite at the moment and there was even some suggestion that at some point the military might have to be called in to help. brechin is used to flooding but they have never seen anything like this. the town's defences were breached at 4am. residents had been warned and told to evacuate but at least 60 families decided to stay and were trapped by the rising water. among them was muriel, who has lived here for 20 years. i them was muriel, who has lived here for 20 yew-— for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage _ for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage of— for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage of the _ for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage of the house - for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage of the house and - for 20 years. i heard the water in the garage of the house and this| for 20 years. i heard the water in i the garage of the house and this is how close we have got to escaping, in a cart which is a hybrid but we thought for a horrible moment we were trapped in it because we couldn't get the doors open. but we feel rescued now!— feel rescued now! this was ribot street as the _ feel rescued now! this was ribot street as the flooding _ feel rescued now! this was ribot street as the flooding began. - feel rescued now! this was ribot| street as the flooding began. and this is what it looked like a few hours later —— river street. the south —esque river roaring into this residential neighbourhood, swamping hundreds of homes. it residential neighbourhood, swamping hundreds of homes.— hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and — hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and it _ hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and it was _ hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and it was over _ hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and it was over the - hundreds of homes. it was above this area here and it was over the wall, i area here and it was over the wall, you couldn't see the wall at all. and that is the flood defence? that is the flood — and that is the flood defence? twat is the flood defence, yes, but it's not really doing its job at the moment! not really doing its 'ob at the moment! ~ , ., moment! were you frightened? yes, i was re moment! were you frightened? yes, i was pretty scared. _ moment! were you frightened? yes, i was pretty scared. i — moment! were you frightened? yes, i was pretty scared, i didn't _ moment! were you frightened? yes, i was pretty scared, i didn't think - moment! were you frightened? yes, i was pretty scared, i didn't think it - was pretty scared, i didn't think it would be like this.— was pretty scared, i didn't think it would be like this. storm babet has been dangerous _ would be like this. storm babet has been dangerous as _ would be like this. storm babet has been dangerous as well _ would be like this. storm babet has been dangerous as well as - been dangerous as well as disruptive. in the aberdeenshire village of mary kirk, police searched for a man reported to have been trapped in his vehicle and near forfar, 56—year—old man was killed when falling tree hit his van and a 57—year—old woman was swept to her death. the police advice is to stay at home. ., , ., at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow — at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow we _ at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow we will _ at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow we will see _ at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow we will see some - into tomorrow we will see some difficult amount of rainfall across all of the country and all drivers should be mindful of making journeys at this time, plan ahead and think about if you really need to make the journey and in some of the areas, there has been exceptional amounts of rain in the last 2a, 36 hours. that includes dundee, wherejenna and darlene had a lucky escape. trr;r and darlene had a lucky escape. try to and darlene had a lucky escape. t"; to evacuate early this morning, but i grabbed onto the windscreen, sorry, it's broken! but i grabbed onto the windscreen, sorry, it's broken!— i grabbed onto the windscreen, sorry, it's broken! but no power, no food, no sorry, it's broken! but no power, no food. no water _ sorry, it's broken! but no power, no food, no water until— sorry, it's broken! but no power, no food, no water until now. _ sorry, it's broken! but no power, no food, no water until now. the - food, no water until now. the scottish food, no water until now. twa: scottish government says this storm has been unprecedented. the met office has issued a second red rain warning for angus and aberdeenshire, meaning the danger to life continues tomorrow, especially here in brechin. this is river street and you can see the water has gone down a little bit but there is still a big problem here. that is the bus stop and it gives you a sense of how deep the water is on the road runs along there and these are the flood defences, that wall which was overwhelmed last night and there are fears that it might be overwhelmed again before this is over. james cook, bbc news, brechin. the north and north—east of england have also been feeling the force of babet today, as danny savage reports from knaresborough in north yorkshire. early this afternoon at leeds bradford airport, an aircraft came off the runway whilst landing during storm babet. it triggered a major emergency services response. there were no reports of casualties on the tui flight from corfu, but this airport can be a challenging place for pilots to land during stormy weather. from the east midlands north and westwards, much of england has taken a battering from the weather today. heavy rainfall has been the main problem. in chesterfield, part of the town was flooded, leading to people having to abandon their homes. it has destroyed everything we own. and i've not even got any contents insurance for anything in our house or anything, and my landlord won't do anything. i've had to try and get my son from school. he is luckily in the church now, safe, but it is just catastrophic. there was nothing at all we could do. the river, basically, went waist deep on our road in a matter of ten minutes. not even that. derbyshire fire and rescue service says 400 properties may be effected by the rising waters of the river hipper. this is the main line west to bristol and south wales near royal wootton bassett, flooded and impassible. thousands of rail passengers have had a day of disruption on many lines. this packed service from king's cross to scotland was delayed by more than four hours. in travel near nottingham, four people had to be rescued from deep water after they climbed onto the roof of a ca rte water after they climbed onto the roof of a carte —— in trowell. the volume of rainfall storm babet has created has turned small tributaries into gushing torrents. these are anxious times for people living close to watercourses, and there is hours of rain yet to come. that is because an amber whether one is still in place along the spine of england from nottingham up to the scottish borders for another 12 hours until six o'clock tomorrow morning and that means the rain will continue to fall on these watersheds, this is the river need me in knaresborough, subject to a warning at the moment, and so many hundreds of other rivers are but the latest from the environment agency is they think this will probably be ok but it is the river is further south, in the north midlands, which are likely to be worst affected over the next 2a hours also. 0k, danny savage, many thanks. the storm's impact is also being felt further south. liz roberts is in chesterfield for us this evening. how are things looking there? here, 60 --eole how are things looking there? here, 60 people have _ how are things looking there? here, 60 people have been _ how are things looking there? here, 60 people have been rescued - how are things looking there? tire 60 people have been rescued from their homes. this area that i am in started to flood at eight o'clock this morning and residents have told me it was not long at all before they were waist deep in water. some of them managed to get out straightaway when they realised how serious it was, mainly with the clothes on their back, but not everyone managed to do that so this afternoon derbyshire fire and rescue service had been here with their water rescue boat, going up and down the streets, knocking on doors and getting people out of their homes to safety. they are now in a local church or in the local leisure centre but as rain continues to fall here, and more is expected overnight, it is unclear when those people will be able to return or if there is even more flooding to come. liz roberts reporting, thank you. in other news, labour isjubilant after overturning huge majorities to win the mid bedfordshire and tamworth by—elections, with its leader, sir keir starmer saying the party is "redrawing the political map. " in tamworth, labour's candidate, sarah edwards, won nearly 46% of the vote. but it's the huge swing that is so striking — nearly 24% from the conservatives to labour. it's their first win in the staffordshire seat since 2005. and in mid bedfordshire, where labour overturned a conservative majority of more than 24,000, alistair strathern took just over 34% of the vote, and the swing from conservative to labour was also sizeable, at just over 20%. the tories said a low turnout in both seats was part of the reason for their defeats. with his analysis of both results, here's our political editor, chris mason. jubilation and sleep deprivation has all sorts of effects on political activists, particularly labour ones celebrating victory in a home counties village, marston moretaine. red placards and labour smiles, in rural bedfordshire, of all places. mid bedfordshire has been conservative for decades and decades and decades. listen out now for the one word keir starmer is rather keen on. they are crying out for change, positive change that the labour party can bring them. positive change that a changed labour party can bring them. the prime minister claimed he was the agent of change a few weeks back. keir starmer wants to own that label too. did you allow yourself a little jig round the living room when the results came in? a couple ofjigs around the living room as both results came in! jigs and photos on a day of breezy political change. 80 miles up the road, not farfrom birmingham, tamworth in staffordshire, where this happened in the middle of the night... i do hereby declare that sarah siena edwards is duly elected. the defeated conservative candidate did not hang about. he bolted it out of a side door while the winner gave her victory speech, leaving the prime minister, in egypt, to do the explaining. they are obviously disappointing results and not least because our candidates, festus and andrew, worked very hard and i know they will continue to be a great local champions in their communities. it is important to remember the context — mid—term by—elections are always difficult for incumbent governments. by late morning, tamworth fc was hosting labour, another partisan crowd cheering on their team, in what was also another very safe conservative seat. people told me that it was not possible to win this seat in this by—election and you absolutely smashed it. is there a niggling doubt that some of this could be down to conservative voters simply staying at home? no, i don't think that is right. because this is a huge swing. are you more confident than you have ever been about becoming prime minister? i always knew that it was a huge job to get the labour party from where we landed in 2019 to a victory at an election in 202a. we are bang on schedule. in 1996, the man on the left won a by—election here for labour the year before labour won a general election. does their victory here again today point towards history repeating itself? a second victory lap in just one morning for labour. it is results like these that allow them to begin to believe they can actually win, and convinces so many conservatives that they are doomed. labour are scoring rather a lot at the moment but by—elections are still tiddlers compared to the real deal of a general election. this was, without question, a desperate set of results for the conservative party, two by—elections brought about by the psychodrama within the tory party over the last year or so, two former conservative mps standing down and walking away and two crushing defeats. as for the liberal democrats, a dismal performance for them here in staffordshire, a third place for them in bedfordshire and they will hope, a general election in seats where labour are not competitive that they can be competitive against the conservatives. as for the conservatives, they have to hope and pray things are better, a general election. for labour, they hope and pray that after four general election defeats on the bounce, days like today suggest they might, just might be able to win next time. now, let's go live tojerusalem, and clive. reeta, thank you. all eyes have been on the egyptian border in gaza today. would the lorries parked up at the rafah crossing, loaded with food, water and medicines for the desperate people of the territory, finally start rolling? well, they didn't, leaving more than 2 million people on the brink. it seems egypt and israel still can't strike a deal to get the aid flowing, which explains the presence of the un secretary—general no less, at the border crossing, appealing for the trucks to roll. antonio guterres warned it was "imperative" the convoy crossed the frontier. but he added that israel says allowing aid in was "yet to be determined". so, what's the problem? well, for nearly two weeks gaza has faced heavy bombardment from israel since being attacked by hamas, the group designated as a terror organisation by many western governments including the uk, and based in gaza. but air strikes have left much of the north of the territory in ruins, leaving so many people needing aid. we have two reports form different parts of gaza this evening. in a moment we'll hear from rushdi abu alouf, who's in the city of khan younis, in the south. but first, bbc arabic�*s adnan el bursh, who lives and works in gaza, has more from central gaza, and you may find some of the details has more from central gaza. this is an affluent neighbourhood in central gaza. 0vernight, it has been completely destroyed. 32 tower blocks, each containing dozens of flats, are now totally gone. translation: they told us to evacuate at around - 8:30pm or 9pm at night. we ran through the streets. then israel started bombing the area nonstop, from nine until seven this morning. you can see all of this destruction. um salim lived in one of these blocks of flats. she tells me all the families in her tower are now living stranded in the streets of gaza with nowhere to go. other residents say many people remain trapped. translation: we cannot bring people out from under the rubble. _ ambulances cannot get here. we cannot pull the bodies out. people are screaming but we cannot pull them out. last night's attack took many residents by surprise, as people told me that it has been a relatively calm area in gaza. translation: we are civilians living peacefully in our homes. _ why are you bombing us and ruining our lives? as we were filming here, a new warning came in from the israeli army, telling people to evacuate. we have now left because it is dangerous but the reality is for many people still there, there is nowhere safe to go. adnan el—bursh, bbc news, from central gaza. the very difficult situation on the ground in gaza. let's go live now to my colleague rushdi abu alouf who's in the southern city of khan younis. and in the last few minutes, breaking news regarding the hostage situation? yeah, first night with a little hope that might be a good sign for this unitarian corridor to reopen in rafah crossing. the militant group hamas say they have released two daughter, quotes, for humanitarian reasons. in response to qatari mediation efforts, hamas us winged spokesperson said in a statement in that bbc is not has not verified these details and coming through a hamas spokesperson. just want to return to paul adams, paul, if you arejust still there, i'm return to paul adams, paul, if you are just still there, i'm afraid we've lost paul adams. just trying to reestablish the line with paul. we don't know as ijust mentioned they're a great deal of details about the specifics, saying dake released to us hostages. another being reported at the moment not ve being reported at the moment wrrt very many other than they are at the us citizens, mother and daughter, known game... names given. as you say, we have not yet been able to independent they confirm this, it is coming from a number of different sources, you mentioned writers they are quoting the same, i believe they are quoting the same, i believe they are quoting the same, i believe they are quoting the same social media post by the hamas spokesperson who said that this was taking place as i mentioned earlier, israeli media confirming that the release has taken place, that the international committee of the red cross is involved, that they will be taken initially egypt and onto israel. whether that route suggests any direct egyptian involvement in this, thatis direct egyptian involvement in this, that is a possibility in the past, at moments of crisis involving israel and the gaza strip, the egyptians played a role in trying to broker a cease—fire, so it is quite possible that egypt has also been part of the discussions surrounding this, although, some israeli media are suggesting that this is a unilateral move by hamas and not part of any kind of deal, at least not a deal involving the israelis. just to explain, paul, we are keeping the images on the side of the screen there, that is a press conference that we are waiting to get started from the state department there in the us as and when we see anyone head up to that and we will of course cut straight to it. paul, we also, a few hours ago got some details from israel about the number of israeli hostages. israel about the number of israeli hostaues. ., ., , ., hostages. the total number of hosta . es hostages. the total number of hostages is — hostages. the total number of hostages is thought _ hostages. the total number of hostages is thought to - hostages. the total number of hostages is thought to be - hostages. the total number of| hostages is thought to be 203. hostages. the total number of - hostages is thought to be 203. it's a number that's fluctuated somewhat as has the number of killed israelis, israelis killed in those attacks on october the 7th. at 203 is the current number, of whom it is thought a significant number are us citizens or a dual us israeli nationals. so, you know, not surprising that these big areas have not been entirely consistent, you know, frankly, in the wake of what happened on october the 7th, the sheer horror and confusion surrounding those events, it's been pretty difficult for the authorities here to know exactly who was dead, who is missing and who was being held hostage. they also say, by the bay committee israelis today said that at least 20 of the hostages are children, and in some cases, very young children. we believe that the youngest may be nine months old. tonight in tel aviv, or this afternoon in tel aviv, there was a symbolic table set for friday night shabbat dinner with 203 empty places, including at one end of the table, a number of babies bottles, a very graphic and powerful reminder of the fact that a significant number of these hostages are very, very young indeed. so number of these hostages are very, very young indeed-— very young indeed. so 'ust to reiterate. * very young indeed. so 'ust to reiterate, paul, * very young indeed. so 'ust to reiterate, paul, israeli]- very young indeed. so just to reiterate, paul, israeli media very young indeed. so just to - reiterate, paul, israeli media are reporting the release of two american citizens held hostage by hamas in gaza. social media posts from hamas as well. there's been no official confirmation of this, as we are seeing on the screen they are, we are waiting to hear from officials in the us. that's the state department there. we are waiting for a press conference which may or may not act, of course, address and give us more detail about what has happened here, but when it does hold its daily press briefing, which is what we are waiting for, of course, we will go to it. the details that we seem to have from reuters news agency, not verified by the bbc, hamas has released two us hostages, a mother and her daughter, "for humanitarian reasons." in response to qatari mediation efforts. that is from the hamas armed wind spokesperson in a statement on friday. i went to touch again while we wait for more details to come through on this specific case, more broadly, the diplomatic efforts that countries are involved then when hostages are taken like this. , , ., ., then when hostages are taken like this. , ., ., ., ., this. just to i do that, let me read ou a this. just to i do that, let me read you a coople _ this. just to i do that, let me read you a coople of— this. just to i do that, let me read you a couple of lines _ this. just to i do that, let me read you a couple of lines here - this. just to i do that, let me read you a couple of lines here from i this. just to i do that, let me read | you a couple of lines here from the israeli media, says the identity of the two hostages said to be a mother and daughter are now known to the israeli authorities, and just a little bit more from the first thing that alerted us to the fact that this was happening at all, this post on social media by the hamas spokesperson, he said that this was being done for humanitarian reasons, and i'm going to quote him here, these are his words, not mine, "to prove to be making people and the world that the claims made by biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless." that was the post on social media by the hamas spokesman. but we are still getting details coming to us slowly in bits and pieces. we are waiting, as indeed is everyone in washington for a state department briefing. we are waiting for an israeli military briefing. if that starts, we might need to break away and listen to that. with any luck after that we will have a bit more to tell you. paul, thank you so much for that. we will let you get away and work on those verification efforts. thank you for that. we've just heard that the state department briefing that we are keeping an eye on their on the side of the screen may potentially be delayed. so not entirely clear when we well hear from them, but we will cross straight back to it as soon we get it. waiting for more details on this reuters reports that hamas has released two us hostages, a mother and her daughter. of course, we well update any more details as we get them. right, next, israel is continuing its air strikes on gaza as aid remains blocked at the gaza as aid remains blocked at the gaza strip's southern border. people in the north gaza town of zahra said their district of twenty—five apartment blocks was razed to the ground on friday, thirty minutes after an israeli warning. 0ur correspondent adnan el bursh is in central gaza — he sent us this update from there. and just a warning you may find some of the details in his report, distressing. this is an affluent neighbourhood in central gaza. 0vernight, it has been completely destroyed. 32 tower blocks, each containing dozens of flats, are now totally gone. translation: they told us to evacuate at around - 8:30pm or 9pm at night. we ran through the streets. then israel started bombing the area nonstop, from nine until seven this morning. you can see all of this destruction. um salim lived in one of these blocks of flats. she tells me all the families in her tower are now living stranded in the streets of gaza with nowhere to go. other residents say many people remain trapped. translation: we cannot bring people out from under the rubble. _ ambulances cannot get here. we cannot pull the bodies out. people are screaming but we cannot pull them out. last night's attack took many residents by surprise, as people told me that it has been a relatively calm area in gaza. translation: we are civilians living peacefully in our homes. _ why are you bombing us and ruining our lives? as we were filming here, a new warning came in from the israeli army, telling people to evacuate. we have now left because it is dangerous but the reality is for many people still there, there is nowhere safe to go. adnan el—bursh, bbc news, from central gaza. we start on the israel side of the border. people have been evacuating the town there. the israeli army said it had carried out several attacks on hezbollah targets in lebanon in the early outers. —— early hours. my colleague is in lebanon. ~ ., , ., ~ ., lebanon. we have been talking about the violence — lebanon. we have been talking about the violence along _ lebanon. we have been talking about the violence along the _ lebanon. we have been talking about the violence along the border- lebanon. we have been talking about the violence along the border and - the violence along the border and these cross border attacks between militants here in lebanon, including those from hezbollah. and the israeli army, and it seems that today it's been particularly violent with a number of incidents between militants here in lebanon and the israeli army, so hezbollah said it had targeted israeli positions with anti—tank missiles, also with guided missiles. the israeli army has responded to those attacks. i think it shows how volatile the situation is. earliertoday it shows how volatile the situation is. earlier today come israeli 30s announced the evacuation of an israeli city of about 25,000 people very close to the border, and this is an area where the fighting has been intense in recent days. the last few days, been to some villages here on the lebanese side of the border and people are fleeing their homes because of the constant shelling, because of the constant violence that's been happening. again, ithink violence that's been happening. again, i think it shows how volatile the situation is in the fear that if this violence escalates, this could become a second one in this conflict. we know the israeli authorities have sent thousands of extra soldiers to secure the border with lebanon, and obviously the fear here is about what hezbollah is going to do. this is a formidable military organisation with tens of thousands of well trained fighters and also tens of thousands of missiles and rockets that can strike deep inside israeli territory. so i don't think that the israelis... i think the israelis are taking the threats coming from hezbollah very seriously, and i need fears, as you say, that this conflict could escalate. thanks to hugo for that. tomorrow marks two weeks since the hamas attack in which more than 1,400 israelis were killed. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen has this assessment on how things have changed in that time.