| | | | | | | Hello. We've just heard from Yocheved Lifschitz, the 85-year-old hostage who was freed by Hamas yesterday and spoke to the press from a hospital in Tel Aviv. My colleague Jenny Hill, in Kyiv, brings updates from a town on the Ukrainian frontline and the few civilians who remain there. At the end of the newsletter, Jay-Z has a small piece of advice for you. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | Freed hostage describes her ordeal |  | | Yocheved Lifschitz described how she was kidnapped by Hamas gunmen on motorbikes. Credit: Reuters |
| | "I have been through hell", 85-year-old Yocheved Lifschitz said in a press conference a day after she was freed by her Hamas captors. She said she suffered bruises while being kidnapped from her kibbutz in Israel and hostages slept on mattresses on the floor in the tunnels under Gaza, with a doctor coming to visit every two to three days, but conditions were "clean" and "friendly". More than 200 hostages are thought to remain in Gaza as Western leaders are pressing Israel to shift priorities towards their release. It should be the "first objective" in the war, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Tel Aviv today. There is also domestic pressure, notably from the hostages' family, complicating the Israeli calculus regarding a ground invasion into Gaza, explains our international editor Jeremy Bowen. In Gaza, it has been "the worst day so far" , an Irish-Palestinian man stranded in the enclave told the BBC, as airstrikes are continuing in the southern area, where the Israeli government told people to go for their own safety. | | • | The latest: The Israel Defense Forces say they hit 400 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 5,000 people have been killed since 7 October. Follow our updates live. | | • | Your questions answered: How likely is a larger war? Where does Hamas get its money from? Our correspondents take your questions. | | • | In Thailand: Our South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head has met with the Thais caught up in the war. |
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| | | | | | World headlines | | • | Suicide forum: British authorities failed to act on multiple official warnings about a website promoting suicide that has been connected to at least 50 UK deaths, an investigation from the BBC has found. | | • | Crossing the border: A small boat carrying suspected defectors from North Korea has been detained after it crossed into the South's waters, Seoul's military said. | | • | Gender strike: Tens of thousands of women in Iceland, including Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, are refusing to work today in protest at the gender pay gap and gender-based violence. | | • | Pakistan protests: Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that military trials for civilians are unconstitutional, after the government said more than 100 people detained over protests following the May arrest of former PM Imran Khan would be tried in military courts. Experts are calling the decision a win for democracy.
| | • | Hot wax: A French wax museum is working urgently to fix a statue of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson after he complained about it. The actor asked for a rework fixing "some important details, starting with my skin colour". See the waxwork.
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| AT THE SCENE |  Avdiivka, Ukraine | | The last civilians of Avdiivka | | Avdiivka lies right on the front line in eastern Ukraine, and has been fiercely contested since Russia's full-scale invasion in last February. In a year and a half, the population has shrunk from more than 30,000 to just over 1,000. | | | | As Russian missiles shatter the town of Avdiivka, Hanna is desperate to escape. But her elderly mother refuses to leave. "I can't leave her," Hanna tells us over the phone. "She said she wanted to sleep in her own bed. She's 71 and has problems with her legs. If she stays alone, she can't get water or wood for heating." Holed up precariously in a fifth floor flat, living under near constant bombardment and air strikes, they're among the last remaining residents of Avdiivka. "Windows and doors are broken everywhere," says Hanna. "With attacks every day, it's difficult to fix them because they get broken again every day." |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | Green pitch |  | | Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said football "has the potential to dramatically shift mindsets on climate change". Source: BBC Sport |
| | European football is better known for its fixtures, from the prestigious Manchester City-Inter Milan to the quaint Sheriff Tiraspol-Servette FC, than it is for its carbon output. But as Uefa, which oversees continental cups, is planning to hold more matches next season, emissions from team and fan travel could soar by 30%, according to a study from by colleagues at BBC Sport. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | 'A dingo’s got my baby' | | The archives behind Lindy Chamberlain's wrongful accusation that stunned Australia. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | Would you rather take $500,000 in cash or have lunch with Jay-Z to learn from his business acumen? I'm not personally offering you either of these things, but the question went viral enough that the billionaire rapper had to answer it himself. See what he says. |
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| | | | | | Essential List Newsletter | | The week’s best stories, handpicked by BBC editors, in your inbox every Friday. | | |
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– Jules |
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