mother's family, but not family, his mother's family, but not the royalfamily. in the family, his mother's family, but not the royal family. in the last few minutes, he had a quick walk about then left st paul's. the world's oceans have broken temperature records every day over the past year because of climate change. also coming up on the world today — the olympic flame sails into the french port of marseille via boat, ahead of the start of the paris games injuly. welcome to the world today — an hour of international news from the bbc. i'm a i'm a mcveigh. we begin here in the uk — where another conservative mp has defected to labour the second in less than two weeks.

natalie elphicke, the mp for dover, said the conservatives under rishi sunak "have become a byword for incompetence and division". she made the movejust minutes before the prime minister faced mps in the commons at prime minister's questions for the first time since suffering heavy defeats in local elections in england. here's our political editor chris mason. natalie elphicke, shoulder—to—shoulder with the prime minister when rishi sunak invited reporters to dover last summer to talk about stopping the boats. less than a year later, she has stopped being a conservative mp. look at the leader she's appearing with now. i must when admit, i got up this morning i didn't expect to hear this today. natalie elphicke, the labour member of parliament for dover and deal. i think she speaks for many tory voters in saying the tory party has changed, it has left the centre ground. but equally, the labour party has changed and we are very clearly the party of the national interest, of the country first, party second. really good day. it has been a great day.

cue the mildly awkward first date for the cameras in tow vibes ahead of her criticism of her prime minister. he is not stopping the boats and he is letting the country down. meanwhile, under labour, they are clear that it is important to have defence, and they want to make sure they have good national security. so i think we should have confidence that labour are the party that will tackle this issue of the small boats crossings. and this is what crossing the floor, as it's known, looks like. natalie elphicke being led to the labour benches. she takes a seat behind keir starmer and gets another handshake from the new boss. little wonder the labour leader appeared to be enjoying himself. he's also lost 1,500 tory councillors, half of his party's mayors, and a leadership election to a lettuce. how many more times do the public and his own mps need to reject him before he takes the hint? this time last year, i reminded him of some advice, actually,

from his own mentor tony blair, who had said at the time, he can be as cocky as he likes about local elections, but come a general election, it's policy that counts, mr speaker. i am really in a rush. to get to this meeting, i'm afraid... you can't spare a sentence? that meeting was rishi sunak talking to his mps about those terrible local election results last week. good afternoon, any words for natalie elphicke? it's a shame, with natalie being further to the right than me, i would be surprised if she finds a home with the labour party. if you look at the things she has said on the past, her criticisms of labour on the policy on the boats, it seems incompatible with her position now. it's up to her. any words to offer her? i only go through dover for the ferry. natalie elphicke became an mp in 2019, replacing her then—husband charlie elphicke after he was charged with sexually assaulting two women. he was later convicted and jailed, at which point she announced that their marriage was ending.

tonight, labour will hope the focus is on the big picture — two defections from the conservatives in less than a fortnight. natalie elphicke today, after this man, dan poulter, a week last sunday. let's speak to adam fleming, who joins us from the newscast podcast studio. adam, good to see you. timing is everything, isn't it?— everything, isn't it? yes, that thin of everything, isn't it? yes, that thing of unveiling _ everything, isn't it? yes, that thing of unveiling a _ everything, isn't it? yes, that thing of unveiling a big - everything, isn't it? yes, that l thing of unveiling a big moment everything, isn't it? yes, that - thing of unveiling a big momentjust seconds before prime minister's questions at midday on a wednesday in westminster — that's a classic political trick, that's been done before, but it works every time because mps love a bit of drama, politicaljournalists love a bit of drama too, and that can make something that's moderately dramatic seem extremely dramatic. and that stiffly what happened in this case. this follows less than two weeks

from the last time it conservative mp defected from the conservatives to labour, then you think an geopolitical time, the last time this happened was in 2022 when the prime minister then, borisjohnson, prime minister then, boris johnson, was prime minister then, borisjohnson, was very unpopular and christian wakeford made the same journey to the house of commons as well. but you have to go back 27 years to the last time the governing party saw a defection to the main opposition. so we are getting used to happening in the last few weeks, but it certainly hasn't been happening a lot the last few decades, which just adds to the drama of what's been happening at westminister. a, drama of what's been happening at westminister.— westminister. a bit of interesting history and _ westminister. a bit of interesting history and context _ westminister. a bit of interesting history and context they - westminister. a bit of interesting history and context they are, - westminister. a bit of interesting i history and context they are, adam. tell me more about the reaction among labour and conservative backbenchers. i'm sure the whatsapp groups have been firing up. you backbenchers. i'm sure the whatsapp groups have been firing up.— groups have been firing up. you can see in chris — groups have been firing up. you can see in chris mason's _ groups have been firing up. you can see in chris mason's piece - groups have been firing up. you can see in chris mason's piece there - see in chris mason's piece there that the conservative mps — the remaining conservative mps — decided

to not ignore it, they could've minimised itand not to not ignore it, they could've minimised it and not given natalie elphicke any oxygen, they've taken the opposite approach by basically trying to humiliate her and play this down and discredit her, and also to try and so a little bit of discomfort amongst the labour party by pointing out that on lots of issues, natalie elphicke, for want of a better word, is quite far right of a better word, is quite far right of the political spectrum — still to the right of the middle, but not necessarily a natural ally of lots of people on the labour party side of people on the labour party side of the political spectrum. and that has had a knock on reaction amongst labour mps — none of them going public to say they are concerned about this, but lots of my colleagues at westminister say they've been speaking to people in they've been speaking to people in the corridors who are not totally over the moon about natalie elphicke's politics. and lord kennett, the former labour leader in

the 80s and 90s, has just pre—recorded and interview on radio for where he says, "labour is a broad church but churches have walls," in other words, you don't just let anyone in. but the thing is, natalie elphicke will not stand as a labour candidate in the next election, so she will not be in the front line, the middle line, the back line of british politics for very long. and also, i suspect that for members of the public, your average voter tuning into this, they are not aware of the interesting route natalie elphicke took to becoming an mp in the first place or what she said about small boats or labour policy on welfare in the last few months. they willjust labour policy on welfare in the last few months. they will just see somebody going from conservative to labour, which is what keir starmer wants lots of voters to do when we finally eventually have a general election here.— finally eventually have a general election here. ., ~ , ., , . election here. thank you very much, adam. election here. thank you very much, adam- you — election here. thank you very much, adam- you can _ election here. thank you very much, adam. you can listen _ election here. thank you very much, adam. you can listen to _ election here. thank you very much, adam. you can listen to the - election here. thank you very much, | adam. you can listen to the newscast podcast seven days a week on bbc

sounds, and you can scan the qr code on the screen now or go online. we turn to the situation in gaza — as the us defence secretary, loyd austin, has confirmed that a shipment of us weapons to israel has been paused over concerns about an israeli offensive on rafah city. the shipment included 2,0001b bombs, which could be devastating if used in such a densely populated place. here's lloyd austin making that announcement. israel shouldn't launch a major attack in rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space. and again, as we have assessed the situation, we've paused one shipment of high payload munitions. and again, we've also been very clear about the steps we'd like to see

israel take to account for and take care of those civilians before major combat takes place. we certainly would like to see it no major combat take place in rafah. rafah is a city in southern gaza where more than one million palestinians are sheltering, most of them women and children — that's more than half of gaza's population. they were told to evacuate there by the israeli military who said it was a safe zone — but israel has stepped up air strikes to rout out hamas, which is thought to have four battalions still in rafah. this is the aftermath of an overnight strike, palestinian medical staff say seven members of a family were killed. there's been mounting international concern over the fate of palestinians there, and the us has been urging israel not to attack. let's hear from our correspondent yolande knell. for now, the israeli army is stressing that this is not the full ground offensive in rafah that western powers, the un have been

warning against for months because of the risk of high numbers of civilian casualties. still, a hamas official has said this is a dangerous escalation. meanwhile, israel says the kerem shalom crossing has now been reopened, after a promise to us president biden that it would do so. israel had shut the crossing, which is close to rafah, four days ago because of nearby rocket fire from hamas. they also took control of the gazan side of the rafah crossing. the un had expressed alarm on tuesday over what it called israel's "choking off" of gaza's two main aid arteries. israel's military says lorries from egypt with food, water, and medicine have arrived at the crossing — although a un agency says any aid has yet to go through. let's speak to peter millett, uk ambassador to libya between 2015 and 2018.

thank you very much for your time today, joining us on bbc news. first of all, on that pausing and a very clear signalfrom the us defence secretary that this was related to what's happening in rafah, do you think this will shift prime minister netanyahu's thinking at all? it hasn't so far, because the americans have been warning about any incursion into rafah for quite a number of weeks. so this is an important signal, and especially these huge bombs which could cause so much damage and just increase the killing of innocent civilians — i think it is an important signal, but i don't think mr netanyahu is listening. he's pulled in the opposite direction by the right—wing extremists within his government, who basically to flatten gaza and wipe out the palestinian people. so listening to international concern

and the importance — i think the important part of lloyd austin's message was the importance of respecting international law. and that means that attacks should be proportionate, they should distinguish between civilians and combatants, and they should be military necessary. so up to now, i would say that the killing of 35,000 palestinians — the vestment majority of them innocent women and children — is not compliant and consistent with international law. and that's the message lloyd austin ascending, is the importance of respecting international law.— international law. republican senator marco _ international law. republican senator marco rubio - international law. republican senator marco rubio was - international law. republican i senator marco rubio was saying international law. republican - senator marco rubio was saying today that when america doesn't help an ally publicly, then it encourages their enemies— i wonder what your thoughts are on that on and where this leaves the relationship at the moment? both have relied on each other but have very different

guidelines on how to proceed and rafah. , ., , ., , guidelines on how to proceed and rafah. , ., , .,, ., rafah. friends need to be open and honest with — rafah. friends need to be open and honest with each _ rafah. friends need to be open and honest with each other, _ rafah. friends need to be open and honest with each other, and - rafah. friends need to be open and honest with each other, and i - rafah. friends need to be open and honest with each other, and i hope| honest with each other, and i hope that even though these public messages are now emerging, i hope that the private messages that, for example, secretary of state blinken has been passing to the israelis, are honest and open, and pushing them in the right direction. i don't think the americans could or should give the israeli defence forces a blank check in terms of their activities over there fighting in gaza. �* . activities over there fighting in gaza. . ., , ., , gaza. and what should the uk be doing then? _ gaza. and what should the uk be doing then? we _ gaza. and what should the uk be doing then? we are _ gaza. and what should the uk be doing then? we are seeing - gaza. and what should the uk be | doing then? we are seeing the us pause on this particular shipment, what should the uk be doing? i don't think we provide _ what should the uk be doing? i don't think we provide the _ what should the uk be doing? i don't think we provide the same _ what should the uk be doing? i don't think we provide the same degree, i think we provide the same degree, quantity or nature of military equipment. but i think strong signals about the importance of respect for international law — david cameron said a couple days ago that hamas should accept the very generous offer which was on the

table. hamas did accept that cease—fire and truce agreement, get the israelis have ignored it. so i think conveying strong behind—the—scenes messages in conjunction with the americans and now other european allies is an important way to get across to the israelis that the sort of activities we've seen in the past should not be repeated in rafah, and that in the end, there needs to be a cease—fire, the hostages need to be released, and we have to get back to a process of thinking about how to provide long—term security for both the palestinian people and the israeli people. palestinian people and the israeli --eole. . ~' , palestinian people and the israeli --eole. ., ~ , . still to come on the world today... bbc analysis suggests the world's oceans have broken temperature records every day over the past year because of climate change. and which acts are through to the semifinals of eurovision? will be live in sweden for the latest. around the world and across the uk,

this is the world today on bbc news.

prince harry has delivered a reading at st. paul's cathedral for the invictus games. the duke of sussex flew into london for a three—day visit but, while in the uk, isn't expected to meet with any of his royal family members, expected to meet with any of his royalfamily members, including the king, who is undergoing cancer treatment. here's panzeri speaking at the service at st. paul's. to each is at the service at st. paul's. trr each is given a manifestation... to one is given through the spirits the utterance of wisdom.— one is given through the spirits the utterance of wisdom. let's... know meetin: utterance of wisdom. let's... know meeting with _ utterance of wisdom. let's... know meeting with members _ utterance of wisdom. let's... know meeting with members of - utterance of wisdom. let's... know meeting with members of the - utterance of wisdom. let's... know meeting with members of the royal family, but meeting with the spencer

family, but meeting with the spencer family, so it really provides a contrast as lots of people wonder why on earth, even though diaries are busy, a brief visit can't happen?— are busy, a brief visit can't ha en? .,, ., ., .,, happen? people who draw those conclusions _ happen? people who draw those conclusions about _ happen? people who draw those conclusions about the _ happen? people who draw those conclusions about the depth - happen? people who draw those conclusions about the depth or l conclusions about the depth or strain on relations between — the continuing strain i should say between prince harry and the rest of the royalfamily, as you between prince harry and the rest of the royal family, as you say there, prince harry here, this was a thanksgiving service for the invictus games, this was a paralympic style invictus games, this was a pa ralympic style event invictus games, this was a paralympic style event that he founded as a way to give wounded, injured, and sick military servicemen and women a reason to come together and to try and heal their wounds. and it's been very successful at doing that, there's been games over the last ten years in sydney, toronto, london — that

was the inaugural games back in 2014 — so this thanksgiving service was away for that and victor's family to come together and say thanks, it was a thanks giving service. you heard prince harry there read a passage from corinthians during the service. as you say, they are very affectionate greeting between he and his uncle and aunt — this is princess diana's brother and sister — but what people will be talking about is the fact that there were no members of the royal family here. but if you had gone a couple miles across to buckingham palace, there was a full garden party going on, hosted by the king — so a really big royal family event, hosted by the king — so a really big royalfamily event, but hosted by the king — so a really big royal family event, but not here. and it's a huge contrast, if you look back at the pictures from 2014, the inaugural opening ceremony of the inaugural opening ceremony of the first games in london, and there are lovely pictures of that then

prince charles with prince william flanking prince harry, obviously very proud of what his youngest son had achieved — there were hugs and kisses, really warm — contrast that to ten years later, the official statement from prince harry's spokesman saying that this was due to the king's full programme of events, that adjustment there was no time in the diary to be able to meet -i time in the diary to be able to meet — i should say that buckingham palace have not commented on that. prince harry left in the last hour, and he will be travelling on from the uk when this trip finishes to nigeria, meeting meghan along the way, and they'll be travelling there because it is one of the latest nations to join the invictus games, so this celebration of the invictus games continues.— so this celebration of the invictus games continues. sarah campbell, thanks very — games continues. sarah campbell, thanks very much. _ the world's oceans have broken temperature records every single day over the past year, new analysis shows caused

mainly by climate change. the news comes as figures from the eu climate service, copernicus, also show that last month was the warmest april on record for our oceans. they absorb around a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans produce and soak up excess heat — so evidence that they're heating up at record levels raises concerns they won't be able to do this as effectively as before. in a separate development, activist greta thunberg was fined today by a judge in sweden over a protest blocking the entrance to the swedish parliament. she said she refused to obey police orders because she wanted to highlight the climate emergency. with more on the the impact climate change is having on the world's oceans, here's our climate editorjustin rowlatt. the menai bridge between north wales and the island of anglesey. scientists have been monitoring the plants and animals on the sea shore here for almost 70 years. it's invaluable and it tells us so much about where species were,

how quickly they've moved. they've been going back to the same places all around the uk, creating a unique record of the changing populations on our country's rocky coasts. in that time, sea temperatures around this country have warmed by an average of about one degree celsius. the big thing that i've seen is species aren't all moving at the same rate — so things are moving further north, but not at the same speed. so, all the community compositions are changing everywhere because different species are moving at different rates. some creatures can't move at all — like barnacles. so, this is a really disruptive process for ecosystems? i think if i was a barnacle, i'd be quite worried, yes! if one species vanishes or a new one comes in, it can affect all the other plants and animals in the system. at aberystwyth university, scientists track the changes

with the same technology the police use at crime scenes. i think we're going to put this down about five metres. the researchers collect the traces of dna animals leave in the water. it is known as edna, environmental dna. it's possible to use edna to to track the movement of invasive species. there is a japanese species of sea squirt. it's called a carpet sea squirt. they form a blanket, a carpet, if you like, over the sea bed. they prevent the growth of native organisms in the areas that they colonise. because they do so well in our environment, they can potentially take over huge areas of the seabed. what we are finding is that the ones that are more invasive appear to be responding more strongly to global warming and increasing water temperatures. it is evidence ofjust how fragile some of our marine ecosystems are and stands as a warning that, as our seas continue to warm,

we can expect unpredictable changes in the marine life of the uk. justin rowlatt, bbc news. let's speak to the cop28 uk youth delegate, rachel ojo. rachel, thank you very much for joining us on bbc news. what is your reaction to the news of the warming of the world's oceans? very concerning, obviously.- concerning, obviously. yes, definitely- _ concerning, obviously. yes, definitely. i _ concerning, obviously. yes, definitely. i think _ concerning, obviously. yes, definitely. i think it's - concerning, obviously. yes, i definitely. i think it's obviously concerning, obviously. yes, - definitely. i think it's obviously a very concerning fact. i think for me, it's not news, it's something we've seen happening for years and years — and essentially, these record temperatures we are seeing is an accumulation of years of ignoring the problem. so i think this is really a wake—up call, if anything, to those in power but also all young people that this is no longer something that should be kept in the textbooks or something that should be talked about on social media most

of this is clearly something that's affecting all of our lives in the lives of people across the world. yes, and you and other youth delegates — we've been talking about crediton burg's find at a swedish court today for a protest she was involved in — you are battling against a legacy you've been left with, going back centuries and accumulating now, in the data we are seeing today, do you find it difficult to wake up to these headlines on an almost weekly basis and think, "what can i do now?" i do find it difficult, — and think, "what can i do now?" i if find it difficult, it's becoming not just weekly, but almost daily, seeing that whether it's oceans, whether it's agriculture or other sectors of our life, that climate change is really affecting us. i think a lot of young people are worried about this, and that's what i saw at cop, especially at the most recent cop in dubai, there were more young people than ever out there

really trying to have their voices heard in front of the world's leaders. i think it's really important for us to realise that this is essentially our future, and regardless of how much money we put into other aspects of life, if there is no environment and no safe place for us to exist in, then is any of that even worth that? and that even worth that? and fundamentally, _ that even worth that? and fundamentally, you - that even worth that? and fundamentally, you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't believe that you could bring about change? yes, i think obviously, _ could bring about change? yes, i think obviously, everything - could bring about change? yes, i | think obviously, everything starts with small steps, and i really do believe we can bring about change by all working together — whether that doing something about companies causing the pollutions, different groups and charities in society, it's important everyone works together as well as between countries. there is no point playing the blame game and saying "it was this country that because most of the emissions," because as we can see from the data, everyone is being affected, some more than others. so

i think it's really important here in the uk to take that lead role... rachel, i'm so sorry to interrupt you, we are out of time, but thank you, we are out of time, but thank you for your time today. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's been another pretty decent day up and down the country but weather fronts have brought some rain to the north and west of scotland, more of a breeze here, as well. that's what we will see into tomorrow, though much of the country should continue to stay dry and settled. for the rest of the week, we'll continue with these early morning mist and fog patches which could be quite dense but very quickly the strong may sunshine will burn it away and most places will see sunshine throughout the afternoon. so the rain continues to splash into 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. there's a few clear spells around but also some patchy cloud, low cloud, at that, some mist and fog developing too. those temperatures, 8—11 celsius.

so this is the picture for thursday, high pressure sitting 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 first thing. but very quickly, the strong may sunshine will melt it away, we should start to see widespread sunshine for england and wales, northern ireland, central and southern scotland. it looks like the rain will become confined to the far north highlands and the northern isles through the day, so turning drier there. could see up to 20 celsius or so in central and southern scotland, 19—20 for belfast, 22—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, a bit of mist and fog developing here and there. still a few spits and spots of rain for the north of scotland as that weather front loiters around. it could be a little milder as well to start friday, 9—12 celsius. friday, anotherfine looking day, plenty of sunshine around.

a bit more cloud across scotland but even here, it should be dry, including the north of scotland. light southerly breezes, those temperatures reaching the mid—20s for the warmest spots in england and wales, up to 21 celsius for the central belt of scotland, 20 there for 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 on us from the south and from the west, so it will start to turn more unsettled gradually. could see some heavy showers across scotland on saturday, warm and sunny elsewhere. it could be very warm in the south on sunday — increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms, though, later on sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines. rishi sunak�*s troubles continue as another mps defects from the conservatives to labour saying the prime minister has let britain down. tens of thousands of palestinians are ordered to evacuate by the israeli military. prince harry marks ten years of his invictus games at a service in london during a brief visit to the uk. the olympic flame cells into the french port at head of the start of the paris games injuly.