malaysia says it plans to give away orangutans as free gifts to countries which buy its palm oil. prince harry marks the 10th anniversary of his invictus games for wounded military veterans with a special service in london. yes, a small crowd is building up behind _ yes, a small crowd is building up behind me — yes, a small crowd is building up behind me-_ behind me. security barriers. inside, security _ behind me. security barriers. inside, security sweeps - behind me. security barriers. inside, security sweeps are i behind me. security barriers. - inside, security sweeps are under way for— inside, security sweeps are under way for the — inside, security sweeps are under way for the arrival of prince harry. hello. welcome, i'm samantha simmonds. we start in the middle east. talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza have resumed in cairo, hours after the israeli military

stepped up its bombing of the south of the territory. negotiators from israel and hamas are at the discussions, along with egyptian and qatari mediators. on monday, israel rejected a three—phase proposal that had been accepted by hamas. the israeli bombardment of southern gaza continued overnight following israel's seizure of the vital rafah crossing with egypt. palestinian medical staff say seven members of a family were killed in one air strike. israel says it's reopened one of the main crossing points for aid. kerem shalom was closed last week following a hamas rocket attack. humanitarian workers say there are also concerns about food shortages. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. you may find some of her report distressing. the panic and confusion as rescuers pull the wounded from the rubble after an overnight israeli airstrike in rafah. and today, another all too familiar scene in gaza, a mother struggling

with unbearable loss. after israel seized control of the key crossing with egypt, it says it's continuing a limited offensive in gaza's southernmost city, battling hamas gunmen in the east of their last stronghold. but for hundreds of thousands of palestinians who fled to rafah to escape the fighting elsewhere, there's renewed fear. translation: last time i they told us to go to rafah, saying there's aid and it's a safe place, and look, they came into rafah. for now, i won't go anywhere. i'll stay here. it's enough. we're tired of being displaced, and i don't know where i want to go. world powers have warned israel against a full assault here, saying it would be a humanitarian catastrophe. israel argues its operation is pressuring hamas to make concessions in talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. and this is a critical moment

in those indirect negotiations now taking place in cairo. the us says it believes a deal is achievable, but israel clearly has issues about the wording of the draft texts, referring to a return to sustainable calm. it simply doesn't want the war in gaza to end before it can say it's dismantled hamas. but there are signs of growing strain with israel's closest allies. for the first time in this war, the us has halted a shipment of powerful bombs, an official says, worried about how they'd be used. the israeli military insists relations with washington remain strong. translation: the aid is unprecedented. - the operational partnership is significant. when there are disputes, they are being resolved in closed rooms, in a matter of fact way. in line with a promise to president biden, today, israel said it was reopening the biggest crossing for aid into gaza.

kerem shalom was closed on sunday after hamas rockets killed four israeli soldiers nearby. but a un agency says no supplies have yet entered. the desperate situation in rafah could yet get worse. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. let's speak to our security correspondent frank gardener, in jerusalem. frank, good to see you. what is the latest we're hearing about these ongoing ceasefire talks in kyren? they are not going particularly well. the good news is that they are happening and that five nations, or five parties are at least all there. that is hamas, israel, the us, qatar and egypt. the not so good news is israel has only sent a fairly low level team, they are not there to negotiate but to study what hope

there is ever trying to bridge the gap between what is acceptable to israel and what is acceptable to hamas. that gap is still pretty wide. the main sticking point, as my colleague referred to there, is over how this ends. so the fundamentals of the deal are largely intact, largely agreed, they can agree, the 42 day period of calm, a truth essentially, during which hamas will give up 33 hostages. there is a bit of dispute about whether they would be alive or dead, but 33 hostages in return for a much larger number of prisoners released from israeli jails and palestinians who had been moved south into rafah would be allowed to return to what is left of their homes in the north of the gaza strip. but the sticking point is hamas want a permanent cessation of hostilities at the end of that.

israel, this israeli government, does not want to sign up to something that leaves hamas intact because its view is if they do that, hamas will simply reconstitute itself and attack them again as they did on october the 7th and indeed they warned they would like to do exactly that. so there is enormous pressure on the israeli government from both the us, from countries in the region and very much particularly from domestically, from relatives of the hostages, who are desperate to get their loved ones out of captivity before it is too late, before they are killed in israeli air strikes or by their captors, one way or another. they want them out and they won a deal now. they have a phrase in hebrew which means deal now. but so far, the israeli government is hanging tough on this and i would say it is a form of brinkmanship because while the talks are going on in cairo, they are hammering hamas in eastern rafah and there is a risk that they hit hamas so hard that far from

driving it toward the deal, it stops a deal altogether. find driving it toward the deal, it stops a deal altogether.— a deal altogether. and what is the aid situation? _ a deal altogether. and what is the aid situation? we _ a deal altogether. and what is the aid situation? we understand - a deal altogether. and what is the aid situation? we understand the| aid situation? we understand the kerem shalom crossing has reopened for aid. kerem shalom crossing has reopened foraid. has any kerem shalom crossing has reopened for aid. has any got through? yes. for aid. has any got through? yes, there is a kind _ for aid. has any got through? yes, there is a kind of _ for aid. has any got through? ieis there is a kind of disconnect i would say between the israeli version and the un version. the un specifically the united nations relief and works agency, the last time we checked with them, they said nothing is getting through. israel said no, it's open, it is functioning to stop the problem is there is fighting going on on the cards on the side of that border crossing. i think well that fighting rages, israeli forces are engaged in combat with hamas fighters, there is combat with hamas fighters, there is combat happening there, it will be quite hard for that aid to get through there. meanwhile, the other big crossing point at rafah is now under israeli military control, no longer under palestinian control, thatis longer under palestinian control, that is the crossing point with egypt. so the two main arteries for

getting aid into southern gaza are, let's just say, compromised. getting aid into southern gaza are, let'sjust say, compromised. one of them is definitely shut, the other is possibly still shut. there is a crossing in the north but not enough to get the sufficient aid through that gazans need in order to feed their daily needs.— that gazans need in order to feed their daily needs. let's speak to robbie sabel, a former counsellor for political affairs at the israel embassy in washington, and a former legal advisor for israeli foreign ministry. hejoins us from he joins us from tel aviv. thank you for being with us. i want to ask you about the us pausing one shipment of bombs to israel last week. the israeli military very much playing that down. i want to ask you about the significance of it and what impact it could have on israel's operation in rafah. the impact it could have on israel's operation in rafah.— operation in rafah. the united states has _ operation in rafah. the united states has a _ operation in rafah. the united states has a dilemma. - operation in rafah. the united states has a dilemma. it - operation in rafah. the united i states has a dilemma. it supports israel in its aim in dismantling hamas. hamas is a threat notjust

israel but all the neighbouring arab states. we have no problems with the united states at all. on the other hand, the tremendous civilian casualties disturbs the united states, both for humanitarian reasons and political reasons. there is a large muslim population. so the us is pressuring us to make every effort not to harm the civilian population. i should effort not to harm the civilian population. ishould point effort not to harm the civilian population. i should point out it's on its interest not to harm the civilian population. any civilian death is a pr victory for hamas so we make efforts to prevent it but of course there are military encampments, rockets are within civilian towns and we have a problem there. i should also point out that we are dismayed by the cynical reaction of hamas to say that some of the hostages that return will be corpses. i think this is the height of cynicism. to say yes, there are hostages but we will return corpses, that certainly won't be part of any deal. ~ . ~ that certainly won't be part of any deal. ~ ., ~ ., ., ., deal. when we talk about a deal, what is going _

deal. when we talk about a deal, what is going to _ deal. when we talk about a deal, what is going to work _ deal. when we talk about a deal, what is going to work in - deal. when we talk about a deal, what is going to work in israel's l what is going to work in israel's view? there is huge pressure on netanyahu to get the hostages home and to get a deal but also he has committed to wiping out hamas. how does he square that circle? irate committed to wiping out hamas. how does he square that circle?— does he square that circle? we have to find some — does he square that circle? we have to find some way _ does he square that circle? we have to find some way of _ does he square that circle? we have to find some way of inducing - does he square that circle? we have to find some way of inducing hamas| to find some way of inducing hamas so it's in their interests to reach an agreement. basically, the hostages is a card they want to keep as long as they can. therefore we need to leverage. the only leverage we could find was us international pressure, it hasn't worked very much. the other pressure is if they feel there is a realfear that much. the other pressure is if they feel there is a real fear that we will enter their last bastions, that is in the rafah area. therefore we had to make a credible threat that they are in danger of having their last command post captured by us and thatis last command post captured by us and that is what is going on now. we are making it clear that if there is no deal, we will go in, further in to rafah and hopefully this will be leveraged on hamas because the

civilian casualties apparently don't disturb them. that is not something that disturbs the hamas leadership. again, another balancing act is how israel maintains its international support. you know that america, president biden has said they don't support a full—scale invasion of rafah because of the devastating loss of life, civilian lives that that will no doubt incur. again, how does this coalition government balance that? irate does this coalition government balance that?— does this coalition government balance that? we have to try and find a way _ balance that? we have to try and find a way of _ balance that? we have to try and find a way of putting _ balance that? we have to try and find a way of putting military - find a way of putting military pressure on hamas without harming the civilian population. it is a tremendous dilemma. civilians are next to hamas command posts. so we have a choice, either leave them alone, not let hamas continue in its military post or attack and try and minimise civilian casualties and thatis minimise civilian casualties and that is what we're and that is, by the way, talks we have been having with the united states, how we can minimise harm to civilians. it is not in our interests to harm them.

but... ~ . , not in our interests to harm them. but... ~ ., , ., , ., but... what is the answer to the question. _ but... what is the answer to the question. 00 — but... what is the answer to the question, dci director _ but... what is the answer to the question, dci director has - but... what is the answer to the question, dci director has been | question, dci director has been holding talks with benjamin netanyahu, we have seen tens of thousands of deaths, many of them civilians over the past six months. there doesn't seem to be an answer to how you do minimise those civilian deaths, if you do launch a full—scale incursion into rafah? you full-scale incursion into rafah? you can't completely— full—scale incursion into rafah? gm. can't completely prevent, you can minimise. one of the things we want to do is to urge the civilian population to leave the area. but it is1 million people. _ population to leave the area. but it is1 million people. i'm _ population to leave the area. but it is1 million people. i'm sorry? - population to leave the area. but it is1 million people. i'm sorry? it. is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million _ is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million people. _ is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million people. and - is1 million people. i'm sorry? it is1 million people. and it- is1 million people. i'm sorry? it. is1 million people. and it doesn't look aood is1 million people. and it doesn't look good on _ is1 million people. and it doesn't look good on tv _ is1 million people. and it doesn't look good on tv when _ is1 million people. and it doesn't look good on tv when you - is1 million people. and it doesn't look good on tv when you see i look good on tv when you see refugees fleeing but it saves their lives and it is temporary. so we have been urging them to leave the area, leave only hamas competence but to are absolutely correct, it looks awful moving hundreds of thousands of people but it is a temporary measure and if it saves their lives, i think the world should support it. at the moment,

we're not getting much support, i must admit. we're not getting much support, i must admit-— we're not getting much support, i must admit. ., , , , ., ~ ., must admit. robbie sabel, thank for “oininu us. there have been dramatic developments in uk politics and for the prime minister rishi sunak as one of his own mps, natalie elphicke, announced that she was defecting from the conservative party to join labour. this is the moment natalie elphicke crossed the floor in the house of commons. you can see her approaching the benches on the right—hand side before taking her seat behind the labour leader, sir keir starmer. she said her former party has become a byword for incompetence and division and criticised what she called the broken promises of rishi sunak�*s tired and chaotic government. live to westminster and our political correspondent, leila nathoo. it is good to see you. the political problems per rishi sunak keep on coming, don't they? this problems per rishi sunak keep on coming, don't they?— coming, don't they? this is the second defection _ coming, don't they? this is the second defection from - coming, don't they? this is the second defection from the - second defection from the conservative party in less than two weeks. natalie elphicke was pretty damning in her criticism. you mention some of the phrases that she

used. she singled out rishi sunak, it felt quite personal, talking about him being the leader of a coup against borisjohnson, abandoning against boris johnson, abandoning the against borisjohnson, abandoning the 2019 manifesto on which the conservative party was elected and criticising his record on borders, his flagship policy of stopping small boat crossings. remember, she is the mp for dover, which is on the front line of that issue. here she is explaining why she made her decision. in 2019, the conservative stood on a manifesto that was very much centre ground, but under rishi sunak, they've abandoned the centre ground and broken many election promises. meanwhile, under keir starmer, labour have changed and i think that change is going to bring a much better future for our country and that's why i was so keen tojoin the labour party and play my part in bringing that important future forward. i have to say, after the previous defection about ten days ago, natalie elphicke was not really top of the list of possible mps to follow. she is to the right of the conservative party and doesn't

really seem on the surface a natural fit in keir starmer�*s labour party. i have to say, tory mps i have been speaking to this afternoon have been pretty incredulous about what she has done. here is one of them, tory mpjonathan gullis. i think many of us were shocked, particularly when ms elphicke is busy writing articles in the express, where she herself has said, and i quote, "not only have labour not got a plan of their own to tackle illegal immigration, they simply don't want to." i agree with ms elphicke of the past, when she said and tweeted in the past that sir keir starmer's muddled and confused as to what to do with the small boats, she is of course correct. so i look forward to her trying to explain to her constituents, which i think will be quite difficult, that sir keir starmer wants to not only do a dodgy deal with the eu that will surrender our border to 100,000 plus illegal migrants, but also that he now wants a migrant amnesty for those who've come here already, allowing 90,000 plus to stay here indefinitely, which will be impacting, in particular, her fine constituents. i look forward to making sure that we make the conservative case as to why it's only the conservative party with a clear plan to stop the boats.

natalie elphicke said she will stand down at the next election so she will not be fighting that seat for the labour party, they already have a candidate there. hundred or so of herformer a candidate there. hundred or so of her former conservative colleagues have already said they are standing down as well but she seems to try to inflict a maximum damage on the prime minister by this defection to labour. i think this won't do anything for morale within the conservative party, dealing with heavy local election losses and now a second defection to the labour party in as many weeks. {lilia a second defection to the labour party in as many weeks. 0k, thank ou. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

energy providers in ukraine are warning there could be power shutdowns across the country after russia carried out another massive drone and missile attack. transport and energy infrastructure were targeted, and at least three thermal power plants were seriously damaged. ukraine says its air defence forces downed dozens of russian missiles and drones overnight.

the kyiv region was hit — two people were wounded in that strike. with more on the strikes in ukraine, let's cross to our team at bbc verify and our correspondent olga robinson, who has been looking at the latest images. this is an image posted earlier by president zelensky of what appears to be the aftermath of a strike on a ukrainian energy facility. we do not know where this photo was taken but we can see via services at the scene. ukraine says this was a massive attack across all of these regions here you can see on the map, with 55 missiles and 21 drones launched by russia overnight. the air force says most of them shut down but one major private energy company said three of its thermal power plants were hit. they did not specify the extent of the damage. russia has launched waves of strikes on ukraine's energy infrastructure

this spring and this map shows attacks that we have verified in blue here on the map and reported attacks here in red that are based on media reporting. these attacks are across 1a different regions of ukraine and some of these locations have been targeted multiple times. he was a picture we verified earlier of significant damage at a major thermo power plant in the kharkiv region in northern ukraine, following a russian strike in march. ukrainian energy company said at the time that it was completely destroyed as a result of russian shelling. in total, we verified damage at 12 facilities this spring and in some cases damage is visible on satellite imagery long after the attack happened. he was an image from late april of another thermo power plant in a different region that was also hit in march. as you can see here, well over a month after the attack, the damage to the roof is still visible on satellite

imagery. russia has carried out frequent and widespread attack on ukraine's power infrastructure since the beginning of its full—scale invasion in 2022. but this brings a change in tactics. russia is now aiming at bigger infrastructure targets, such as power plants, which are harder to repair and one ukrainian energy expert i spoke to said the russians, the goal of the russians is obvious, to plunge ukraine into darkness, undermining its defence capabilities. now a national energy company says power cuts are possible throughout ukraine as early as this evening. thank you, aldeguer. the chinese president xi jinping and his serbian counterpart aleksandar vucic have stressed the warmth of relations between their countries during talks in belgrade. mr vucic told thousands of supporters, many waving chinese flags, that the government in beijing was a sincere friend. mr xi applauded as the serbian leader backed china's claim to sovereignty over taiwan. china has invested heavily in serbia in recent years.

the final stage of mr xi's european tour takes him to hungary. live now to belgrade and our balkans correspondent guy de launey. take us through what has been happening there today.- take us through what has been happening there today. well, there have been very _ happening there today. well, there have been very warm _ happening there today. well, there have been very warm words - happening there today. well, there have been very warm words in - happening there today. well, there have been very warm words in a - happening there today. well, there i have been very warm words in a warm occasion between president xi and his serving counterpart, mr vucic. they spent lunch over there in the palace of serbia and have basically been taking a lot of trouble to make deals between the two countries. 28 separate agreements between serbia and china, according to the local information here. and president xi said he felt very comfortable and cosy in belgrade. he considered himself a true friend of serbia and of course both sides have been talking about what they call the ironclad friendship between the two

countries, which has now been upgraded from a strategic partnership to a common future, which implies much deeper relations from here on in.— from here on in. president xi is visitin: from here on in. president xi is visiting three _ from here on in. president xi is visiting three countries - from here on in. president xi is visiting three countries on - from here on in. president xi is visiting three countries on this| visiting three countries on this visit, already been to france and hungary is tomorrow, many asking, why this country, why serbia? serbia has a number _ why this country, why serbia? serbia has a number of _ why this country, why serbia? serbia has a number of attractions. - why this country, why serbia? serbia has a number of attractions. for - has a number of attractions. for starters, this is where china's embassy was bombed in 1999 by nato. 25 years to the day prior to president xi's arrival last night. there is an opportunity for him to voice his criticism of nato, saying we will never forget, chinese people cherish peace and we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself. serbian people are not too keen on nato either, precisely because of those nato air strikes in 1999. so a sympathetic audience was guaranteed. it is a way for both mr

vucic and mr xi to show they have a strong partnership and serbia, which often feels bullied by brussels when it comes to things like recognising kosovo's independence and the situation in bosnia and herzegovina, can turn around and say, we have a really strong ally in china that puts a lot of money in, a lot of time and will give us a lot of backing in the united nations, as mr xi said today. that is a reminder to the european union that if it won't show commitment to a country like serbia, then china most certainly will. . ~' serbia, then china most certainly will. ., ~ , ., serbia, then china most certainly will. ., ~ , , serbia, then china most certainly will. ., , , , ., , prince harry is in the uk to celebrate the ten—year anniversary of his invictus games. he's due to attend a thanksgiving service at st paul's cathedral, in london, later today, though he won't be meeting his father, the king, during his trip. let's speak to our royal correspondent, sarah campbell. hello, sarah, good to see you. take us through what we can expect there.

hello. the service itself is due to start in around about an hour and a half. you can see the steps now being cleared st paul's cathedral stop the precinct was full of people but people, guests have now started to arrive. what you cannot see behind the camera is a press pack here, as there always is with anything important, prince harry. and a crowd of people building up behind the security barriers, those who know what is going on or are keen to find out what is going on. the invictus games was of course started by prince harry, it was very much his brainchild as he was returning from a tour of duty in southern afghanistan. he saw the impact of war on service men and servicewomen and wanted to do something positive to help them and something positive to help them and so the invictus games was born. it is sort of a paralympic style event and they have been six games so far, the next one will be in canada next year. so their service here at st paul's is reallyjust a chance to celebrate, reflect, to look back on

the achievements of the invictus games and it has been, if you speak to any of the competitors who have taken part, if you speak to any of theirfamily members, they taken part, if you speak to any of their family members, they will talk about what a positive impact it has on people who have suffered trauma, suffered injury and helping them back on the road to recovery. so prince harry is due here later this afternoon but of course what we know is that he will not be meeting his father, the king. of course, it is a very rare visit for prince harry to the shores of the uk, so you might have expected they would meet up. but we heard from harry's spokesperson that there is not time in the king's schedule of commitments. he is hosting a garden party today. he will be having an audience with the prime minister and has various other commitments and there is not time to fit in prince harry. so people will read into that what they will in terms of what that says about the relationship currently between prince harry and his father, the king.—

his father, the king. sarah, thank ou ve his father, the king. sarah, thank you very much- — his father, the king. sarah, thank you very much. we _ his father, the king. sarah, thank you very much. we will— his father, the king. sarah, thank you very much. we will have - his father, the king. sarah, thank i you very much. we will have plenty more from central london when that ceremony takes place later on today. stay with us on bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds, thank you for being with us. hello there. another pretty decent day up and down the country bad weather fronts have brought some rain to the north and west of scotland that more of a breeze here. that is what we will see tomorrow, though much of the country should stay dry and settled. the rest of the week, we continue with early morning mist and fog patches which could be dense but very quickly the strong may sunshine will burn it away in most places will burn it away in most places will see sunshine in the afternoon. the rain in the north and west of scotland through the overnight period. it will tend to become more confined to the north of scotland by the end of the night. much of northern ireland, england and wales will be largely dry. a few clear spells around but also some patchy

cloud, low cloud, is a mist and fog developing as well. the temperature is 8-11. developing as well. the temperature is 8—11. this is the picture for thursday, high pressure setting pretty much on top of the uk. this weather front continues to push northwards to bring more rain to northern scotland but once again, tomorrow morning we could see some dense mist and fog patches bursting. but very quickly the strong may sunshine will mate it away and we should see widespread sunshine for england and wales, northern ireland, central and southern scotland. it looks like the rain will be confined to the high north highlands. could see up to 20 degrees also in central and southern scotland, 19 or 20 in belfast, 22 or 23 in the warmer spots for england and wales. as we move through thursday night, it looks like it will stay dry once again. light winds, is a mist and fog developing here and there. still if you spits and spots of rain for the north of scotland as the weather front reuters around. it could be a little milder as well to start friday, 9—12. friday, anotherfine

—looking day, plenty of sunshine around. a bit more cloud across scotland are even here, it should be dry, including the north of scotland. light southerly breezes and temperatures reaching the mid 20s. the warmer spots in england and wales up to 21,20 20s. the warmer spots in england and wales up to 21, 20 in belfast. high pressure continues to bring fine weather into the weekend but as it pulls away to the east, it starts to allow low pressure and weather fronts to gang up from us from the south and west, so it will start to turn more and settled gradually. could see some heavy showers across scotland on saturday, warm and sunny elsewhere. it could be very warm in the south on sunday, an increasing chance of thunderstorms later on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... israel says it's reopened one of the main crossing points into gaza. the government said kerem shalom would be used to deliver humanitarian aid, but a un agency says no supplies have yet passed through. a german spy chief tells the bbc that the far—right alternative for deutschland party poses a risk to the roots of democracy. bbc analysis suggests the world's oceans have broken temperature records every day over the past year, because of climate change. and malaysia says it plans to give away orangutans as free gifts to countries which buy its palm oil.