Plus: Zimbabwe introduces new currency, and French bakers break longest baguette record. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Today we're following the latest developments in Gaza's Rafah, where 100,000 people have been called on to evacuate by Israel's military. Zimbabwean journalist Farai Sevenzo reports on his country's currency woes, and Ione Wells interviews Argentina's president Javier Milei. Since today is a bank holiday in the UK, we're only sending one edition. I'll see you again tomorrow. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Israel orders part-evacuation of Rafah | | Families have been departing Rafah following a call to evacuate from Israel's military. Credit: Reuters | Palestinians have started to flee eastern Rafah, in southern Gaza, after the Israeli military directed 100,000 people towards an "expanded humanitarian area" further north. Rafah has been the focus of attention in the last weeks of the war between Israel and Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu's government has stated its intention to lead an offensive on the city, in the belief the Islamist group's fighters are hiding there. However, Israeli forces say the current evacuation is a "limited scope" operation. More than half of Gaza's 2.5m population is in Rafah, having fled fighting in other parts of the territory. Displaced people have spoken of a lack of food, water and medication. Meanwhile in Egypt, the weekend brought little progress on ceasefire talks. Discussions are expected to resume today, but the main sticking point appears to be whether the ceasefire deal would be permanent or temporary.
Fighting ongoing: The Kerem Shalom crossing, in the south of the border, was closed overnight by Israel after three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas rocket strike.
In Israel: The operations of the Al Jazeera television network have been shut down by Mr Netanyahu's government, branding it a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Biden under pressure: The US president faces pressure from left and right as an outburst of pro-Palestinian protests sweeps across the country's campuses. Read Anthony Zurcher's analysis here. | |
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WORLD HEADLINES | | A democratic milestone: Chad is voting to elect its president on Monday, becoming the first of Africa's current junta-led states to move to democratic rule. | | In Mexico: Three tourists found dead during their surfing trip in Baja California had been shot in the head and their bodies dumped in a well, authorities have confirmed. | | London elections: The capital's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan has been re-elected for a third term. Here's more from BBC London's political editor Tim Donovan. | | 'Ghost flights': Australian airline Qantas has agreed to pay a penalty of A$100m ($66.1m, £52.7m) to settle a legal case accusing it of selling thousands of tickets for flights it had already cancelled. | Javier Milei: Argentina’s president says he accepts the Falkland Islands, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, are currently “in the hands of the UK". Read his interview with our correspondent Ione Wells. | |
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| New currency already facing distrust | | This is the sixth time the local currency has changed in 20 years. Credit: Farai Sevenzo | Zimbabwe's government has just introduced a new currency - the Zig - in hopes to tackle the country's crippling inflation. But ordinary Zimbabweans, who have been using US dollars in recent years, say the move is adding confusion to an already difficult situation. |
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| | Farai Sevenzo, for BBC News |
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| | Sylvia Dhliwayo, an expert at scaling the hurdles of Zimbabwe’s crisis-ridden economy and negotiating the many currencies at play, is upset. She works hard every day to send her four children to school. Waking up at 04:00 most mornings, she heads to the main market in Mbare in the capital, Harare, to buy maize, peanuts, doughnuts, eggs and buns to sell at her neighbourhood street stall. What has angered Ms Dhliwayo and other traders is the latest move by the government to introduce a new local currency. “They gave us no warning. We save and save their useless money and overnight the notes are worthless,” she tells me in exasperation. |
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | The many lives affected by a knife killing |
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| | | Mikey Roynon's killing had a profound impact on his community, even beyond his family and friends. Credit: Family picture | Over a single year, 247 people lost their lives in England and Wales as a result of knife crime. Sixteen-year-old Mikey Roynon was one of them, killed by a single stab wound to the neck from a zombie knife. My colleague Jon Kelly has spent the last six months speaking to many of those touched by Mikey's life and death. All say Mikey’s death will stay with them forever. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | City of caves | New Zealand's largest city sits on top of a cavernous network. | |
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And finally... | In one of the most unsurprising feats of competitive baking, a new world record for the longest baguette has been set by a clique of French bakers near Paris. Take a look. The loaf is 140.5m-long (461ft), or about 230 ordinary baguettes - which would feed about eight people at a French dinner party. | |
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