| | | | | | | Hello. We keep on following Israel’s operation in Gaza’s largest hospital, near which the military says it has found the body of an hostage. My Somali colleague Sahnun Ahmed is reporting on the dramatic floods hitting some regions of the East African country. And I have an uplifting football story for you, from London to Islamabad. |
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| | | | Get up to speed | | • | A Russian anti-war activist has been sentenced to seven years in a penal colony for replacing supermarket pricing labels with anti-war messages. | | • | Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has clinched a vote in parliament to lead his country for another term. The socialist leader is relying on two Catalan pro-independence parties amid a tense political climate. | | • | US congressman George Santos won't run for re-election after the House ethics committee released a damning report on his conduct. The Republican representative allegedly charged expenses for Botox treatments, OnlyFans and Hermès purchases to his campaign. |
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| | Questions Answered | | How the dead are counted in Gaza | | | | Palestinians carry the victim of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis Credit: EPA |
| | 11,240 people have reportedly been killed in Gaza since Israel responded to the Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 on 7 October. The figures for Gaza come from the Hamas-run health ministry, and have been called into doubt, notably by US President Joe Biden. The BBC Verify team has been looking into the list of victims published by the ministry and how it’s made. | | | | How are deaths recorded in Gaza? | | The Hamas-run health ministry says medical professionals pass on figures of people recorded dead in hospital. They do not distinguish military and civilian deaths. And, because those who died outside of hospitals or were buried immediately are not in the list, there may be an undercount, Gazan officials say. | | What can be done to check the list? | | The BBC cross-referenced names on the list with names of dead people who had appeared in our reporting. Dr Midhat Mahmoud Saidam, killed in a strike on 14 October, is one name on the list. We spoke to former colleagues and analysed satellite imagery showing damage to the area where he lived around 14 October. An image on social media shows a body bag with his name and details. Other organisations like independent research group Airwars are doing this on a larger scale. So far, Airwars has found 72 names on the ministry's list in five of the areas it has investigated, including Dr Saidham's. | | Are the figures seen as reliable? | | The UN and Human Rights Watch say they have no reason to disbelieve the figures from Gaza's health ministry. The UN relies on the health ministry as a source for casualty figures in the area. One discrepancy remains hotly contested: the al-Ahli hospital blast on 17 October. The health ministry said 500 people had been killed, a figure later revised down to 471. US intelligence had a lower assessment, "probably at the low end of the 100-to-300 spectrum". Israel's military cited the al-Ahli figures as the basis for a claim that the Gaza health ministry "continuously inflates the number of civilian casualties." | | | | • | The latest: Israeli forces say they have found a tunnel shaft in the Al-Shifa hospital and the body of Yehudit Weiss, who was abducted on 7 October, near the hospital. The UN agency in Gaza says it might have to suspend its operation without fuel. Follow our live page. | | • | Blackout: Mobile phone and internet services have gone down across the Gaza Strip due to a lack of fuel for back-up generators, Palestinian telecoms companies say. |
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| AT THE SCENE | Galkayo, Somalia | | Bodies unearthed and bridges swept away | | | | A Somali man pulls a boat after his home was marooned in flood waters. Credit: Reuters | | At least 32 people have been killed across Somalia after devastating floods which followed years of drought. The UN warns that more than 1.6 million people could be affected. The East African country is considered to be one of the most vulnerable to climate change. | | | | Sahnun Ahmed, BBC News Somali |
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| Following Somalia's worst floods in a century, gushing waters have swept through a cemetery in the central city of Galkayo, leaving bodies floating through the streets. The gruesome sight has haunted residents like Ayaan Mohamed, who lives near the graveyard. "Seven families including mine have fled the neighbourhood," she told the BBC. They fear an outbreak of disease, she says.
Somalia's fragile, UN-backed government has been trying to provide emergency relief, but it says it cannot cover all the affected areas. "For the last five days, we have supplied many materials for those in need - the current situation has overwhelmed the government capabilities," Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Salah Jama told the BBC. Another problem is that some areas are not in the hands of the government and are controlled by the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab. |
| | | | • | A “once-in-a-century event”: Our report shows the dramatic impact of heavy rains in the country. Watch the video. |
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| | The big picture | | The British footballers shining in Pakistan | | | | Harun Hamid - wearing the number 11 shirt - celebrates Pakistan's first-ever World Cup qualifying win, in October. Credit: Pakistan Football Federation |
| | Pakistan has the fifth largest population in the world, with about 240 million people. Its football team, however, is ranked 193rd, tucked between Aruba and the Cayman Islands. But thanks in part to British-Pakistani players, the squad eked out its first victory in five years, winning 1-0 against Cambodia. Goalscorer Harun Hamid told Luke Wolstenholme how it felt to go from relative obscurity in the UK to making history in Pakistan. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Royal flop | | BBC Culture's Caryn James offers her searing verdict on The Crown's final series. | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Future Earth Newsletter | | Essential climate news and hopeful developments, in your inbox every Tuesday. | | |
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