orders in southern gaza but "there is nowhere to go". israel has carried out more heavy aerial bombardment across gaza in its fight against hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the uk. and the fighting on the ground has intensified in the south — particuarly around the city of khan younis. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen reports now on the growing humanitarian crisis — and you may find some of the images in his report distressing. more palestinian civilians fled south towards the egyptian border after israel declared a brief pause in combat operations. almost two million gazans have fled their homes. israel says it is killing fewer civilians, as the us has requested. the un says nowhere in this tiny territory is safe. this person offers people lifts. he says he has seen casualties in the street with legs or heads blown off, and no one can reach them. the stream of misery entering the hospital in khan younis does not stop, and neither is growing condemnation from international relief agencies of the pain and death israel is inflicting on gaza's civilians. it's one of the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age, according to the norwegian refugee council. as israel's forces push south, their leaders reject that outright. the damage and death, they say, is the fault of hamas for starting this war. israel has given out video of captured weapons it says were found near schools and clinics — more proof, the army insists, that hamas uses civilians as human shields. injerusalem, lynn hastings, a senior un official, said hamas attacks on israel were horrific and atrocious, but now israel has obligations. there are allegations that the un isn't doing enough, but it's up to the government of israel to let us do enough. and right now, the conditions inside of gaza are not permitting us to do ourjob and to deliver humanitarian assistance. should the israelis examine their conscience? i think we should all be examining our consciences in terms what's going on in gaza. and you will have heard many people say, "have we actually lost our humanity in this crisis?" do you think we have? i think some of us have, maybe, yeah. i think the world is not doing enough to end this. israel could end it tomorrow. they could indeed. and in gaza, another dead child gets a last kiss. the bbc freelance who filmed this mass funeral reported it followed an israeli strike on deir al balah which killed a7, including 15 children. nine people are still under the rubble. israel says only force will destroy hamas and save its hostages, but the americans have warned israel that fighting the war this way, killing so many civilians, risks driving palestinians into the arms of hamas — and for israel, that would be a strategic defeat. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. 138 people are still being held by hamas and other armed groups. among them are thai nationals. 23 of those thai nationals have been released and have been reunited with their families. but the thai ministry of foreign affairs tells us they're still working to get nine remaining hostages home. i spoke to kanchana patarachoke, spokesperson for the ministry, who told me they were doing everything they can. we are gravely concerned that the fighting has resumed again since the 1st of december, and that has resulted in an increase of casualties. so i think that's the reason that we all should be concerned. but our mission, the thai government's mission, remains incomplete. and we are committed to bringing all the thai captives home. we still have a nine remaining in captivity, and we have brought home 23 thai nationals already. so of course we will still continue to be talking with friendly countries. for example, we have been talking with qatar, iran, malaysia, turkey, israel. we talk to all parties, in fact, we believe in dialogues and we feel that it's because of diplomacy that's why 23 thai nationals have been released and they have been returning home and be happy with theirfamily, reunited with their families and released. so we will continue our efforts. you said there were multiple parties that were involved in the negotiation process and the conversations. what kind of challenges have you been facing? the first challenge is to know which parties we should talk to, right? so we decided to talk to all parties, to all friendly countries, to all the countries that should have influence in talking to those concerned. and also, we have the private individuals who decided to take on their initiative to talk to the hamas as well. and we recognise such efforts. and also another challenge is how to locate all these people. we have learned that there were spread around and not assembled in one place. so it would be difficult to get them all out at the same time. and that was what's happened. in fact, the first batch who came out was ten and then we got three and four and two and four. so apparently they were not together. they were in separate locations. that was the challenge, too. you said that a lot of the thai nationals there in the gaza territory were scattered. do you have any more details about their well being, the ones who remain there, and whether you have some sort of confirmation of whether they're being held by hamas or other possible groups? we have no detailed information about where the nine remaining thai nationals are at the moment, but for the past 23 released persons, we know that they were held by the hamas groups in different locations. not much detail has emerged, but at least we... many people have interviewed these released persons and they indicated that they were treated quite reasonably. right. in fact, i wanted to ask you a little more on those who have been released and who have come back to theirfamilies. what have they told you about their experience, about their time in captivity, about the treatment, and how are they doing at the moment? actually, we have not asked them much. we don't want them to relive these stories. you know, it might be something that is suffering for them. so we have not asked much about the details of their experience, but the media have been talking to them somewhat. and the information we got is that... being thais, you know, normally we focus on the present and we don't try to imagine too much into the future. that helps because when you focus the prison, i, i remember reading one about one interview about these released persons and he said hejust, you know, take it day—by—day. and when he was thinking about the family, he would be sad. so he try not to think about the family. so i think from what we talk to them, i met them personally in israel today, the first 17 person, it seems they were maintaining their strength of mind and they maintained their resilience throughout this time. in washington — an emergency funding package which would have provided billions of dollars in new security asssistance for ukraine and israel has been blocked by republican senators. the failed vote comes after republicans had been demanding more funding and stricter restrictions at the us—mexico border. earlier, president biden had pleaeded with congress to approve the additional funding. let's bring you some breaking news. police in las vegas say three people have been shot dead at the las vegas campus of the university of nevada. the suspected shooter is also dead. the campus went into lockdown when reports started coming out of an active shooter..... who is now also dead. we will be live in washington briefly with more on that story. i'v e i've been in lockdown before sawjust i've been in lockdown before saw just worried about the people i were with and making sure they were safe at home and safe in lockdown. frantically texting on my friends on campus and making sure they knew, where they were and that they were safe. where they were and that they were safe-— were safe. the police saying the shooter _ were safe. the police saying the shooter is _ were safe. the police saying the shooter is now - were safe. the police saying the shooter is now dead - were safe. the police saying the shooter is now dead andj the shooter is now dead and we will get more details from a couegein will get more details from a college in washington later on in the programme, stay tuned for that. borisjohnson has apologised at the covid inquiry for the way the government handled the pandemic — saying it had underestimated the challenge. during around six hours of evidence, he admitted he should have realised sooner how serious the situation was — and said he was sorry for the pain, loss and suffering of victims and families. much of today focused on the start of the pandemic and the timing of covid measures. the uk announced a lockdown on march 23rd 2020 — that first lockdown stayed in place untiljune. borisjohnson then put england into a second full lockdown in november of the same year. as well as a third full lockdown in january 2021. 0ur deputy political editor, vicki young, sent this report, which contains flashing images. a lot has been said by a lot of people about borisjohnson�*s time in number ten. he was confronted by the biggest challenge to face a prime minister in peacetime — notjust a health crisis, but an economic one too. he's been accused of acting too late and of lying about what went on here. ..the whole truth and nothing but the truth. this was mrjohnson�*s chance to give his side of the story and he began with an apology. can ijust say how glad i am to be here at this inquiry and how sorry i am for the pain and the loss and the suffering... sit down. ..of the covid victims. please, sit down. right, ushers, please could you ask them to leave. these were the four women thrown out for interrupting. they said they'd never accept mrjohnson�*s apology. 11 municipalities in italy... back inside, questions about february 2020. coronavirus had spread to italy and the cabinet had discussed what plans were in place here. i look at all this stuff in which we seemed so oblivious with horror now. we should have twigged, we should have collectively twigged much sooner, i should have twigged. when the seriousness of the virus was understood, it led to this, lockdown. several former colleagues described mrjohnson as indecisive. he says he was weighing up all the difficult options. i've got the chancellor of the exchequer with me saying that there's a risk to the uk bond markets, and our ability to raise sovereign debt. this matters massively to people in this country. i had to go through the arguments, and that is what i was doing. did you consider the argument against lockdown? i'm afraid to say at that stage i gave it pretty short shrift because i thought that myjob was to protect human life. i had no other... i had no other tool, literally nothing else. there were some uncomfortable questions about the culture in number ten. former chief adviser dominic cummings wrote sweary messages criticising colleagues, including his boss. i knew that some people were difficult. i didn't know how difficult they were, clearly, but i thought it was better on the whole for the country to have a disputatious culture in number ten than one that was quietly acquiescent. that was certainly a positive spin on a workplace atmosphere many described as toxic. and borisjohnson seemed emotional as he reflected on the first year of the pandemic. we have to be realistic about 2020. the whole year, that whole tragic, tragic year... we did lock down... ..but then it bounced back after we'd unlocked. today borisjohnson denied that he failed to show leadership during the pandemic. he said it wasn't indecisiveness, he was simply weighing up options that all had terrible downsides. he did admit that mistakes were made, but said it was a collective failure — scientists, politicians and officials all underestimating how serious the pandemic was. borisjohnson will be back here tomorrow to give further evidence. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. sources in the ukrainian military have claimed that their special forces carried out an assassination of a fugitive ukrainian mp — near moscow. the body of ilya keeva was found in a park, russian officials say he had been shot dead. mr keeva had claimed that ukraine needed "liberating" by russia. the uk government has unveiled reforms to ensure there will be no repeat of what it described as the most �*unforgivable forms of institutional obstruction�* faced by the families of the victims of the hillsbrough football disaster. 97 liverpool fans died as a result of the tragedy in 1989. the report was commissioned after an inquestjury concluded the fans were unlawfully killed, because of police errors. the metropolitan police have launched a murder inquiry after a woman was shot dead and two other people were wounded in east london. the 42—year—old woman died at the scene, in hackney. a man aged 20 and boy of 16 were taken to hospital. you're live with bbc news. in a major blow to the uk's prime minister, the immigration minister robert jenrick has resigned — over legislation meant to enable the government's flagship policy of sending refugees and migrants to rwanda. mrjenrick said a draft emergency bill, that would empower ministers to disregard some human rights laws, did not go far enough. leila nathoo reports. in downing street on tuesday, robertjenrick seemed uncertain about the future of his flagship policy. reporter: can the | flights now take off? tonight he quit as immigration minister, saying a new law designed to ensure some asylum seekers could be sent to rwanda didn't go far enough. in his resignation letter to the prime minister, mrjenrick says, "a bill of the kind you are proposing is a triumph of hope over experience. "the stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry—go—round of legal challenges." he goes on to say, "i refuse to be yet another politician who makes promises on immigration to the british public but does not keep them." statement, the home secretary. in the commons, meanwhile, his former boss was selling the government's revised plan to stop the boats. it is a bill which is lawful, it is fair and it is necessary. because people will only stop coming here illegally when they know that they cannot stay here, and that they will be detained and quickly removed to a safe third country. the new legislation aims to declare rwanda a safe country, and to prevent removals being stopped by the courts. sections of existing uk human rights law won't apply, routes to individual legal challenges will be limited and ministers would be able to overwrite any rulings from the european court of human rights. some tory mps have called for all international legal obligations to be disregarded. will he confirm that the provisions in this bill are sufficient to resist individual challenges from those who might be sent to rwanda, and the interest groups and the deluded dodgy lawyers who support them? labour said the government was in chaos. this is the desperate dying days of a party ripping itself apart, clearly totally out of ideas, lost any sense of leadership or direction. rishi sunak has been trying to balance the competing demands of different wings of his party while trying to rescue the policy at the heart of his promise to stop channel crossings. in trying to bolster the rwanda plan, he's lost the very minister who's been in charge of it, who now says the scheme as it stands won't work and warned the fortunes of the conservative party are now at stake. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. let's get more on that breaking news that police in las vegas say three people have been shot dead at the las vegas campus of the university of nevada. 0ur correspondent in washington is shingai nyoka. good to have you in a programme, and thanks for coming on, what more do we know at the moments? the coming on, what more do we know at the moments?— at the moments? the late as we heard from _ at the moments? the late as we heard from the _ at the moments? the late as we heard from the las _ at the moments? the late as we heard from the las vegas - at the moments? the late as we heard from the las vegas police | heard from the las vegas police department, that three people have now been confirmed that, one person is in a serious condition, and the gunman is also dead. the las vegas police said at about 1145 local time they responded to reports of a shooting at the university of nevada las vegas campus and when they got onto the scene there were reports of gunfire, students say they heard the shots being fired, and many of them did a drill they are familiar with. they sheltered in place, barricaded doors in various classrooms, until the police went through, sweeping the buildings and releasing those students, and it came out of their buildings with their hands up, something we have seen often. what is has prompted is itjust prompted resident biden to renew his call for more measures against all salt right foods. —— against assault rifles. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines.... italy has withdrawn from china's flagship belt and road initiative — four years after becoming the only g7 country to sign up to the programme. the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni, called the decision by the previous government tojoin the trillion—dollar infrastructure project — a big mistake. russian president vladimir putin arrived in saudi arabia on wednesday after visiting the united arab emirates, making a rare trip abroad as moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage. a north korean family, who escaped this year, has told the bbc there has been "a great deal of suffering" since the country sealed its borders at the start of the pandemic. defections, which were once fairly common, have become almost impossible. this family fled by sea, and is the first to have escaped this year and made it to the south. 0ne family member spoke to our correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie. we've re—voiced his words and are not using his full name to help protect the family in seoul and back in north korea. although we cannot independently verify all of his account, some of the details are in line with what we have been told by other sources. every escape from north korea is remarkable. but mr kim took a stomach churning risk. with the borders sealed because of the pandemic, he fled by sea with his entire family on board this ship. his wife pregnant. his brother's young children hidden below the deck. translation: we put the children to sleep l with sleeping pills and hid them in grain sacks. i was almost paralysed by fear. i knew my entire family could be executed if i made one mistake. the boat was very loud, but all i could hear was my heartbeat. the family crossed into south korean waters undetected and were rescued by the navy. with defections now at a trickle, they pulled off the seemingly impossible. this is the sea between north and south korea, where mr kim's family crossed. it is so unusual for escapees to come this way, directly to south korea. most go through china, meaning mr kim and his family are the first to have escaped this year and made it here. and so their testimony is so important because it's some of the most up—to—date information we have about what's happening in the country. the border closures have brought immense suffering, he told me. two farmers he knew starved to death as food prices soared, while the pandemic restrictions made life more desperate. translation: when there were cases of covid, - everyone would be locked up and the entire area sealed off. the people inside had little or nothing to eat. after they had starved for a while, the government would bring in truckloads of supplies to sell so people would praise them. it's like starving your baby, then giving it a small amount so it would thank you. people started asking whether this was the state's plan to profit from the pandemic. now safely in seoul, and these streets aren't as unfamiliar as they should be. mr kim grew up watching south korean television in secret. this, like for so many, was his source of enlightenment. but now, he says, the authorities are ruthlessly cracking down on anyone caught watching it. translation: people started calling the crackdown - officials mosquitoes, like vampires sucking out our blood. they're ruthless. they'll shoot you, kill you, or send you to a labour camp. last year, they publicly executed a 22—year—old man for listening to south korean songs and sharing them with his friends. they said they were punishing him harshly to set the right precedent. everyone is afraid. this new freedom hasn't quenched mr kim's fear. he worries about repercussions for speaking out. his baby daughter is only a month old. she gave mr kim the final push to escape, to free her from what he calls a hellhole. jean mckenzie, bbc news in seoul. more on that story on our website, that's all for now, but stay on with bbc news. hello there. while wednesday was a pretty chilly day for many of us, again, we had some blue skies and sunshine, especially towards northern and eastern areas of the uk. a lovely scene there in perth and kinross, but it wasn't quite as sunny as that further south and west, where we had rain spreading in, well, courtesy of these weather fronts pushing in from the southwest. now, we could see a spell of snow in the central lowlands into thursday morning. that could be disruptive, just one to keep an eye on first thing on thursday, and maybe a touch of frost here. but elsewhere, you can see temperatures above freezing. so a frost—free night. as we go through thursday, though, we will see further heavy rain moving in from the west. notice these green colours here. really quite intense rain for a time, and a windy day, really, for many of us. those winds really picking up, particularly around the irish sea coast. gales here, severe gales in the far north east of scotland. but it's through thursday that we'll see that milder air, really, spread to all parts. so temperatures a bit higher, seven or eight celsius for many, but double figures towards northern ireland, wales and the south west of england. but the rain could be a little bit disruptive. we could see some localised flooding as we go through thursday. into the evening, that rain does spread away to the east, but some really quite high rainfall totals for some of us. but the milder air firmly with us because it'll be a frost free night into friday morning. temperatures no lower than about fiveto seven or eight celsius. and there's that milder air i've been talking about. you can see the colder condition is just limited to the very, very far northeast of scotland. the south—westerly winds bring those milder conditions or less cold conditions, i should really say, because it's not exactly mild. but we do have on friday further pulses of rain moving its way in from the west, all linked in with that area of low pressure. just situated across northern ireland. some sunny spells, especially towards the south east of england during the day, and many more of us will see temperatures getting up into double figures. how about the weekends then? well, it's going to stay unsettled. there'll be further bouts of rain coming their way in from the atlantic. you can see the south—westerly airflow moving those weather fronts in. now, the weekend isn't going to be completely wet. there will be some sunny spells in between some spells of rain. but you notice those temperatures will stay up in double figures for many of us with rain at times. bye bye. the bosses of some of the world's biggest banks testify at a us senate hearing — we'll unpick what they said about the us and global economy. and how artificial intelligence is helping farmers reduce emissions and stay productive in the face of extreme weather. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. the chief executives of eight global banks have testified under oath at an annual senate hearing. they made comments about the state of the us economy — with some bosses warning of recession and tough times ahead. they also all agreed that crypto currency should be regulated in the same way as banks are. but it was another issue that caused the biggest reaction — as erin delmore explains. regulators say the new rules are needed to make sure banks have sufficient resources to pay their debts in order to protect the system in a crisis. but on capitol hill wednesday, eight us bank ceos said that's unnecessary