| | | | | | | Hello. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has touched down in Israel and is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about protecting civilians in Gaza. Ethar Shalaby, from BBC Arabic, has collected some of the stories of the people killed in the territory in the past month. In Germany, Jessica Parker hears migrants' hopes and residents' concerns as the country cracks down on immigration, and in Switzerland Imogen Foulkes documents a dispute that will leave your ears ringing. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | Blinken returns to Israel | | | | Mr Blinken has been holding talks with Mr Netanyahu. Credit: Handout via Reuters |
| | Israeli forces say they have encircled Gaza City and have been engaging in close-quarters combat with Hamas fighters, who were staging hit-and-run attacks from their sprawling network of tunnels. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that four of its schools that were used as shelters were damaged in the fighting this week. The protection of civilians is high on the priority list of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has landed in Israel this morning. Correspondent Anthony Zurcher, who is travelling with him, has more details of Mr Blinken's packed schedule. More than 10,000 people are now reported to have been killed in the conflict. Hamas officials, who run Gaza, say more than 9,000 people have been killed in the territory in the past four weeks. Israel says more than 1,400 people have been killed in the country since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Follow our live page for the latest news. | | • | Gaza victims: A doctor, tailor, and bride-to-be are among the people who have been killed in the conflict. BBC Arabic Ethar Shalaby hears their stories from their families. | | • | 'I thought they had killed her': The daughter of an 84-year-old woman held hostage in Gaza recalls the moment Hamas gunmen picked up her mother's phone and expresses disappointment in the Israeli government. | | • | Hezbollah speech: The group's leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address followers later today. As correspondent Hugo Bachega explains, the address is likely to set out the next moves of the group, which has been trading fire with the Israeli army at the Lebanese border. |
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| | | | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Saxony, Germany | | A stark contrast of hopes and fears | | Migration has become a hot-button issue in Germany, after the far right seemingly capitalized on the issue, to make gains in regional elections. Ministers ordered "temporary" checks last month on Germany's land borders, including those within the EU's supposedly border-free Schengen Zone. | | | | Jessica Parker, Berlin correspondent |
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| Inside an old youth hostel in rural Saxony, more than 50 men are waiting for their future to begin. Thirty-three-year-old Muhammad Abdoum, from Syria, has successfully applied for asylum and hopes soon to find work. He becomes tearful when recounting a "lost" decade in his life, with the prospect of starting again from "zero", saying: "I lost too much [many] friends. I lost 10 years". Now he dreams of having a life, maybe even a family, in Germany. That evening, just 10 minutes' drive from the hostel, a small crowd of 40 to 50 people gathers in the village square of Hermsdorf. They're protesting about the possibility that nearby apartments might be used to house migrants. "If hordes of young men arrive… we fear for our safety," says Thomas, who is clutching a flag of Saxony.
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | Political violence grips Bangladesh | | | | Opposition supporters want Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign. Credit: EPA |
| | Weeks of mounting political tension have erupted into protests and bloodshed in Bangladesh, leaving the country on edge ahead of general elections due in January. With positions hardening , Bangladeshis are staring at the possibility of protracted political unrest and possibly more street violence, reports Anbarasan Ethirajan. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | National symbol turns 50 | | Australia's most recognizable building owes its existence to gambling. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | New residents in the charming Swiss village of Aarwangen have got themselves in something of a kerfuffle by asking their council for less cowbell. The pastoral sound of bells dangling on the neck of bovines had become too much of a nightly nuisance for the incomers. Their protest is emblematic of the debate around Swiss traditions. Imogen Foulkes, in Bern, has the story. |
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