the us secretary of state heads to saudi arabia as diplomatic efforts intensify to stop israel's offensive in rafah. in ukraine, the commander—in—chief says the situation on the front line "has worsened". forces had withdrawn from some positions in eastern donetsk. in the uk, ministers insist health is a priority after tory mp daniel poulter defects to labour because of concerns over how the nhs is managed. the tesla boss elon musk meets government officials in beijing. they're discussing the future of us—china relations over electric vehicles. and it is party time in milan, thousand nternet to celebrate italy's new football champions, inter milan —— thousands turn out. and real money is on the line for virtual sport. £800,00 is up for grabs in the grand final of the esl one gaming £800,000 is up for grabs in the grand final of the esl 0ne gaming tournament in birmingham.

hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. welcome to the programme. we start in the middle east, where the palestinian president says only the us can prevent an israeli attack on rafah, where more than a million have fled. mahmoud abbas is at the world economic forum summit in riyadh. he will be joined there on monday by the us secretary of state, antony blinken. other key international figures are expected in the saudi city and sideline meetings are expected to discuss the war in gaza and the way forward. that could include further ceasefire talks — a hamas delegation is reportedly in cairo for discussions there on monday. this is the appeal from palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, to the us, urging it convince israel to reconsider any offensive in rafah. translation: and i say here - what's happening now in gaza, | and what will happen in the coming few days, and what israel will do by invading the city of rafah,

all the palestinians from gaza are gathered in rafah and it's only one small strike that would force them to flee the gaza strip. and here, the biggest catastrophe would happen. we hope israel will not attack. we call on the united states of america to ask israel to not carry out the rafah attack because america is the only country able to prevent israel from committing this crime. 0ur correspondents sameer hashmi, in riyadh, and wyre davies, injerusalem, are covering the latest antony blinken visit. i asked wyre about the sort of impact it is likely to have. there are two tracks here. the first one is news released today from the israeli military, showing pictures and video of the head of southern command meeting with the head of the israeli military and apparently negotiating the final discussions, laying out the final plans for this much expected full—scale military assault on rafah, because israel believes that the remnants of hamas�*s fighting force,

about a quarter of hamas�*s fighting force, all of hamas�*s leaders — surviving leaders — are based in and around the southern gazan city of rafah. and benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, has always said this war cannot be declared over, he cannot declare victory until hamas is completely defeated. so that planned military offensive is still continuing as a plan. the other track is the...perhaps less hopeful chances of cease—fire talks. we've seen those talks being pretty moribund in recent weeks, but in the last couple of days, we've had egyptian officials in israel, and it appears now that hamas delegates are going to cairo in an effort to restart the talks — indirect talks — between israel and hamas that could lead to some sort of temporary cease—fire and could lead to the release of israeli hostages held by hamas and the release of palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. now, thus far, the two sides have been very, very far apart with their respective demands.

it appears that in the last couple of days, both made tiny concessions, bringing them, perhaps, a little bit closer together. but most observers still say they're very far apart and the chances of a cease—fire, as opposed to israel going into rafah, are still a long way off. and, wyre, just briefly, we heard just a moment ago claims that it's only the us that can stop israel going into rafah. we have secretary of state antony blinken in the region. what impact, if any, do you think that could have? well, mr blinken�*s clearly here to try and help those peace talks get going once again. israel has, along with other countries, urged israel not to undertake this big military offensive in rafah, principally because of the humanitarian consequences — more than a million and a half people trapped in rafah with very little protection, very little shelter. thus far, those american words, that american persuasion hasn't had much impact, certainly on the opinions of benjamin netanyahu.

wyre, thank you very much for that. and as you can see, our correspondent, sameer hashmi, is standing by for us in riyadh. good to see you. just talk us through what the latest is where you are. well, today is the first day of the world economic forum, the special meeting that's happening in riyadh. and it's focused a lot on what's happening in gaza. we had the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, who gave a speech earlier in the morning, and in his address, he reached out and appealed to the united states and president biden to stop israel from carrying out the invasion in rafah. he said it was important the united states exerts that pressure on israel and prevents that. so that was one of the first things, and then there will be a lot of action tomorrow, a lot of diplomacy around gaza because us secretary of state antony blinken will be arriving here, he will be meeting a lot of leaders from the region, including the foreign ministers of the gulf region, he'll be

meeting arab leaders. and then in the evening, there will be a meeting between the five countries from the eu along with the arab countries to find a resolution to this issue, to take stock of where the situation is and how to take this process forward. so tomorrow is going to be a pretty busy day as far as gaza goes. thanks to sameer and wyre for that. here in the uk, senior conservatives have defended the prime minister after the tory mp dan poulter defected to labour. dr poulter — who also works for the nhs — accused the tories of no longer valuing public services. the home office minister, chris philp, rejected the claim and said the government was spending more money than ever on the health service. 0ur political correspondent georgia roberts reports. defections to other parties are fairly rare in uk politics, but dan poulter says the conservatives are no longer the party he knew. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye,

my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience, and i feel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. a damaging blowjust days away from local elections. the government insisted the conservatives�* record on the nhs is a good one. i don't accept what dan is saying at all. he talked about the nhs as a priority. well, of course, the nhs was one of only two departments that was protected during those years of necessary spending restraint after the last labour government bankrupted the country. as we heard earlier, we're now spending £165 billion a year on the nhs — that's more than ever at any point in history. the move is a gift to labour. he's abandoned the conservative party to save the nhs, and i think there are millions of conservative voters across the country who are feeling politically homeless, who can see the chaos and the failure to deliver of now five conservative prime ministers, who are now looking for an alternative, and i hope they will trust the doctor. the nhs will, for many voters, be

among the key issues of the upcoming general election campaign. despite their continued slump in the polls, an optimistic tone from the government. we've seen inflation falling dramatically down to 3%, wages rising at 6%, so for, ithink, nine months now, wages are rising faster than inflation, those nhs waiting lists are coming down. clearly at the moment, people do feel grumpy with the government, but as we get closer to an election, it's not so much a referendum on grumpiness, it becomes actually a choice. who do you want to run the country? elsewhere, speaking to sky news, rishi sunak wouldn't be drawn on the possibility of a july poll, which would be earlier than many had assumed. we've talked about it. you're not going to rule outjuly? you're going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what i say, i am going to always say the same thing. you should just listen to what i have said, the same thing i have said all year. but there are some in the party who feel that the threat of a summer poll is just a tactic to ward off any kind of revolt against rishi sunak if the conservatives face a bloodbath next week. whenever the general election is,

here's one man who says it should happen as soon as possible. georgia roberts, bbc news. the scottish liberal democrats have rejected an offer of talks with the first minister, humza yousaf, whose politicalfuture hangs in the balance. he's facing two no confidence votes, after ejecting the scottish greens from his government. mr yousaf is due to meet the only alba party msp, ash regan, this week, despite ruling out an electoral pact between alba and the snp. alexandra mackenzie reports. humza yousaf is fighting for his political future as he faces a vote of no confidence as first minister in a minority government... good morning, everyone. ..after he decided to end a power—sharing deal, the bute house agreement, with the scottish greens. 0ne senior snp mp made an appeal to the scottish green party. i apologise for what has happened this week. it could have happened in a different way,

but we are where we are. but the choice every member of the scottish parliament has this week is, "are we going to support that government "under humza yousaf to make sure that we deliver the legislation "that we all agree on?" but the greens insist they will not back mr yousaf in the coming days. the scottish green group have said we will vote in support of a vote of no confidence against humza yousaf and i cannot imagine anything at this point that could change that position. this was a spectacular breach of trust, from going on tuesday to saying the bute house agreement was worth its weight in gold to stopping it unilaterally on thursday. that's broken. the snp leader has written to the opposition leaders at holyrood, inviting them to discuss their concerns and priorities. ash regan of the alba party could be kingmaker. her support alone might be enough for mr yousaf to survive. alba's leader set out the political price for that support, prioritising

a re—emphasis on independence. ash regan, who leads alba in the scottish parliament, is obviously in a highly influential position, given the political arithmetic. she will be meeting with humza yousaf at his invitation. she'll take with her some very reasonable, positive proposals which, hopefully, if the first minister accepts them, will help him to get out of a very tight political corner. the main opposition parties say the first minister has run out of road, but the snp leader struggles on in a bid to secure enough support to keep hisjob. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. ukraine's commander—in—chief has said the situation on the front line there has worsened in the face of multiple russian attacks. he confirmed that ukrainian forces had withdrawn from positions close to the town of pokrovsk

in the eastern donetsk region, where there has been fierce fighting. he also said russia had what he called "partial successes" near kupyansk, but said ukrainian forces had stopped their advance. russia is trying to take advantage of its current superiority in manpower and artillery before ukrainian forces get supplies of us weapons. meanwhile, ukrainian military intelligence has released a video it says is of a drone strike on an advanced russian radar station. the radar is reported to be able to detect targets up to 300km away. for more on this, we can speak now to our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. hi,james, talk us hi, james, talk us through this latest battle in the front line. general 0leksandr syrskyi paints a bleak picture. we havejust travelled from the eastern donetsk region where you have ukrainian forces visibly digging new trenches of up to 30 km back from where the front line currently is. he talks

about fierce fighting in and around the town of pokrovsk, where his troops have had to withdraw from defensive lines that were formed when the town of avdiivka fell earlier this year, so there was a very concerning direction of travel for ukraine, and it does not stop there. he talked about the russians using air superiority, something president zelensky is talked about often, in the northeast area, around the city of kupyansk, or the front line is creeping ever closer to this city. to the enormous anxiety of the people who live there. he talked about the russians essential trying to push right across the front line, including in areas in the south, systematic of russia continuing to use its superior manpower and ammunition reserves over the

ukrainians. now, we are told a sizeable, multibillion—dollar military packet from the us is imminent, in terms of much—needed ammunition for ukraine, but it's clearfrom this ammunition for ukraine, but it's clear from this assessment i ukraine's commander—in—chief that significant russian gains may well come before any kind of ukrainian benefit. , , �* , come before any kind of ukrainian benefit. , , �*, .., , come before any kind of ukrainian benefit. , , �* , .., , ., benefit. just, let's consider that timin: , benefit. just, let's consider that timing. then. — benefit. just, let's consider that timing, then, james. _ benefit. just, let's consider that timing, then, james. is - benefit. just, let's consider that timing, then, james. is there i benefit. just, let's consider that i timing, then, james. is there any sense of what is going to arrive and when? in sense of what is going to arrive and when? ., ., when? in the near term, we are expecting _ when? in the near term, we are expecting artillery _ when? in the near term, we are expecting artillery shells - when? in the near term, we are expecting artillery shells to - expecting artillery shells to arrive for ukrainian forces as well as air defence and munitions, patriot missiles, as well as medium—range missiles, as well as medium—range missiles, so you will hear president zelensky talked a lot about the need to defend cities like kharkiv and 0desa in the south but also president zelensky, he says that russia has launched more than 9000

aerial bombs, which soldiers say cause the most damage, on ukrainian positions, in fighter cause the most damage, on ukrainian positions, infighterjets cause the most damage, on ukrainian positions, in fighterjets that are becoming increasingly unchallenged, so in the near term, it seems ukraine wants to prioritise air defence in terms of trying to challenge russia's air superiority in that regard. what will follow may well be more armed vehicles, where that was listed by the pentagon in this offering, which will all go towards ukraine's effort in simply holding the line for now. we're not talking about ukraine liberation at this moment in time, we are about russian adventures and ukraine's ability, or questions over its ability, or questions over its ability, to halt them, because in the last six month, ukraine has lost about 600 km2 of territory. in a country this vast, it might not sound much, but ukraine will be keen to try and slow the russians down before large cities like the new brokerage zaporizhzhia and kharkiv really find themselves in a perilous

situation —— like dani —— like dnipro. james, thank you for now. want to take you to like pictures of chad. an election taking place. an election coming up. this is the presenter hopeful, talking, a campaign rally in the southern opposition stronghold —— presidential hopeful. and from that, you get the scale of the people there at that, and we will be back in chat a little later on. just wanted to give you a quick flavour of what's happening there. a troubling rise in the number of women killed by men in australia has prompted a wave of protest over the weekend. tens of thousands of australians joined rallies across the country, calling for action on gender—based violence. they were joined by prime minister anthony albanese, who told a crowd in canberra that the country's culture — and male behaviour — must change.

we need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes. we are here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better — including my own, including every state and territory government. but the prime minister's comments were not celebrated by all. one of the rally organisers, sarah williams — who you might have noticed crying in the back of that clip — said he has disappointed her. he wasn't in support for women today. he was upset that it was called out that he didn't want to make change and he decided to pretty much come up and ask to speak. for more on this, we are joined by chanel contos, gender equality campaigner and founder of the charity teach us consent. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you very much for coming on the programme-— thank you very much for coming on the programme. make you so much for havin: me. the programme. make you so much for having me- can — the programme. make you so much for having me- can i _ the programme. make you so much for having me. can ijust_ the programme. make you so much for having me. can ijust ask _ the programme. make you so much for having me. can i just ask you _ the programme. make you so much for having me. can i just ask you first - having me. can i 'ust ask you first of all about — having me. can i 'ust ask you first of all about that _ having me. can ijust ask you first of all about that rally _ having me. can ijust ask you first of all about that rally and the - having me. can ijust ask you first

of all about that rally and the fact | of all about that rally and the fact that mr albanese was there and speaking? what did you make of it? i'm not sure about the specifics that happened between sarah williams of the organiser, and anthony albanese there, but i think the fact that our government has stood by women in this moment is really important. what we need to see now is that turned into action. it's great to be behind us, ideally, it is important, but we are about of the federal budget coming up and i do hope that that we see another women's budget as such as our last budget was referred to, given the strong priority placed on limiting male violence.— male violence. what kind of ractical male violence. what kind of practical actions _ male violence. what kind of practical actions would - male violence. what kind of practical actions would you | male violence. what kind of. practical actions would you like male violence. what kind of- practical actions would you like to see? i practical actions would you like to see? ~ , ., practical actions would you like to see? ~' , ., ., ., ~' see? i think, first, we need to look at male violence _ see? i think, first, we need to look at male violence as _ see? i think, first, we need to look at male violence as a _ see? i think, first, we need to look at male violence as a whole - at male violence as a whole of society issue. we have the most insidious manifestations of male violence occurring with the amount of women who are being murdered this yearin of women who are being murdered this year in australia by men. that's one every four days of accounting, but

if we take a step back from that and peel back the layers of the rates of sexual violence of the rates of domestic violence, stalking, misogyny, are occurring at a skill thatis misogyny, are occurring at a skill that is incompressible. i strongly believe that it was any other demographic other than men perpetrating this violence, if he was a certain nationality or a certain religion, i think australia would take it as a national emergency and put all hands on deck and order line declare a war, so i think that we need that same passion and resources put towards eliminating this.— and resources put towards eliminating this. and resources put towards eliminatin: this. �* ., ., eliminating this. and so that long list of society. — eliminating this. and so that long list of society, wide _ eliminating this. and so that long list of society, wide changes, - eliminating this. and so that long | list of society, wide changes, your calling for what exactly, legislation, stronger legislation, ira police activity for conviction rates? what is it practically you want to see?— rates? what is it practically you want to see? , ., want to see? practically, we need a wraparound — want to see? practically, we need a wraparound approach _ want to see? practically, we need a wraparound approach of _ want to see? practically, we need a wraparound approach of all - want to see? practically, we need a wraparound approach of all the - want to see? practically, we need a wraparound approach of all the way| wraparound approach of all the way from prevention to also providing more resources for front line services. i personally work in the

sexual violence prevention space, which means the hopes of reforms we hope to see our prevention to better education, better training for teachers, through teacher education programmes, better awareness and education for parents. they know how to have these conversations of the young people. and then in terms of, once on portal eat the crime has occurred, we need to look at alternative options, because what is currently available to victim survivors is not really good enough —— once, unfortunately, the crime has occurred. also restorative justice option so survivors are empowered to take their own path forward. �* ,., empowered to take their own path forward. ~ ,., . ., empowered to take their own path forward. ~ ., ., forward. about the impact and role of social media _ forward. about the impact and role of social media in _ forward. about the impact and role of social media in this _ forward. about the impact and role of social media in this space? - forward. about the impact and role of social media in this space? i - of social media in this space? i think the impact of social media is massive in this. that is something the government has been looking towards, and it is a blank policy so far. it is our algorithms playing out in terms of male violence and misogyny. i don't think young people, under 18—year—olds, should be allowed to be targeted content in

the way that other people are and i also think we need to have very frank and honest conversations about pornography and the widescale consumption of it in our country specifically, among young men, because we have all the consent education talks, we can have all the rallies, we can all do these things, but if men in general are watching hours a week of financing implement and women respond with pleasure, we are fighting an uphill battle. appreciate your time and analysis —— hours a week of violence against women. the christian leader who was stabbed in sydney nearly two weeks ago has returned to the pulpit. bishop mar mari emmanuel delivered a passionate sermon in favour of freedom of speech. the australian government has been urging social media platform x to pull down videos of the bishop's attack. and for us to say that free speech is dangerous, that free speech cannot be possible in a democratic

country, i'm yet to fathom this. i'm yet to fathom this. officials in kenya have warned about even heavier rainfall as downpours batter parts of east africa. a government spokesman said the flooding killed at least 76 people and displaced more than 130,000. there are also fears that five key dams on the tana river — kenya's longest — could overflow in the coming days, with people in affected areas advised to move to higher ground. the extreme weather has also wreaked havoc across neighbouring tanzania, burundi and uganda. here's our correspondent anita nkonge. we continue to see heavy rainfall this weekend. just last night, we saw such heavy rainfall here in kenya that it caused flights to be disrupted, some delayed, some having to be diverted to other parts of the country. like you said, in burundi,

100,000 people have been displaced, in tanzania, 200,000 have been displaced, with 51,000 households affected by the floods and 155 people dead in tanzania. in kenya, over 20,000 households have been affected, roughly 131,150 people affected by the floods as well and 90 dead. part of what we have been seeing and people posting on social media is houses being flooded, people being stranded with the roads being cut off, trains having to be delayed. so it's definitely a very devastating time right now. and do we know what's coming up? well, the kenya meteorological department say that we should be expecting more heavy rainfall even tonight. and those who have been living in places where there are dams have been asked to go to higher ground, those in the main city have been asked to stay indoors

or go to higher ground, especially if they're in areas that could be affected by flooding. and the government has been launching a multi—agency response unit to those places where they may predict flooding. the red cross even created centres in parts of informal settlements where we have seen a lot of flooding, in anticipation of houses and people being affected by flooding tonight. thanks to anita for that. prince harry is returning to the uk next month for the first time since his visit in february. that was to see his father, king charles, after his cancer diagnosis. the duke of sussex will attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the invictus games, a sports event for injured military personnel that he launched in 2014. the thanksgiving service at st paul's cathedral in london, on the 8th of may, will be the first major event he has attended in britain for some time. nicole kidman has been honoured with an american film institute

life achievement award. she is the first australian actor to receive the prestigious award. previous winners include meryl streep, robert de niro and steven spielberg. the moulin rouge actress thanked all the directors she has worked with and said it's been a privilege to make films and to play all sorts of unconventional women. that's it. 20 more, as always, on the website. do remember to download the website. do remember to download the bbc app as well. i will be back with the headlines in a couple of minutes' time, so do stay with us for that. minutes' time, so do stay with us forthat. forthe minutes' time, so do stay with us for that. for the moment, though, minutes' time, so do stay with us forthat. forthe moment, though, i am lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello there. once again, we've had some really contrasting weather

conditions across the country with a west—east divide. the best of the sunshine certainly in western areas, despite a few shower clouds brewing up through the afternoon. pleasant enough in morecambe, lancashire. different story to the east of the pennines, though, in leeds, an afternoon of heavy, persistent rain, blustery, cool winds as well. now, we're going to flip that while the story on its head into tomorrow with the best of the sunshine out to the east. it will be a bright and breezy affair first thing in the morning. but this weather front will introduce more cloud and outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, gradually pushing its way into scotland, north—west england, wales and south—west england as we go through the morning. so, after that bright and breezy start, into the afternoon, the best of the sunshine is likely to be anywhere from dorset over towards east yorkshire. south and east of that, we could see highs of 18 degrees. still mild, but outbreaks of showery rain continuing out to the west. an improving picture into northern ireland.

here we'll see sunny spells and scattered showers. top temperatures under the cloud and rain in scotland, perhaps around 11 to 13 degrees. low pressure will stay with us as we move into tuesday and it will stay out to the west. so that's where we're likely to continue to see showery outbreaks of rain. but a southerly breeze means that we're going to continue to tap into that mild air, so it will be a mild start to our tuesday morning. into tuesday, then that southerly wind feeding in the mild air, a lot of sunshine expected for most. we'll see showery outbreaks of rain into the south—west, wales, parts of northern ireland. but with that sunshine, well, it will feel quite pleasant to close out the month of april. temperatures likely to peak into the high teens and that'll feel quite pleasant. now, as we move through the middle part of the week, low pressure will continue to dominate for a while. but as we head into the weekend, some potential for that low pressure to drift away and an area of high pressure to build in from the westjust in time for the bank holiday weekend. we still continue to tap into that milder air off the near continent.

so those temperatures will still stay just slightly above where they should be for the early half of may. so, with some showers around through the middle part of the week into the bank holiday weekend, it looks a little bit quieter and a little bit drier.

live from london. this is bbc news. the us secretary of state heads to saudi arabia as diplomatic efforts intensify to stop israel's

offensive into rafah. the tesla chief, elon musk, meets government officials in beijing. they're discussing the future of us—china relations over electric vehicles. as south africa prepares for a pivotal poll, we look at how and real money is on the line for virtual sport. £800,000 is up for grabs in the grand final of the esl 0ne gaming tournament in birmingham. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. chinese state media is reporting the tech boss the tesla chief, elon musk, has met government officials in beijing. chinese state media is reporting the tech boss is there by invitation, for the promotion of international trade. they have discussed data and technology relating to electric vehicles.

state media reports premier li qiang describing the meeting as a "successful example of sino—us economic and trade co—operation". tesla has been facing a price war with chinese brands in the electric vehicle market. it has recently said it will lay—off 10% of its global workforce. earlier i spoke with duncan wrigley, chief china economist at pantheon macroeconomics — a research company. he told me more about the significance of musk�*s visit to china. tesla is struggling a bit too compete with other car—makers globally. in many markets, electric car sales have slowed down a little bit recently. even in china, which is the biggest electric car market in the world, the growth rate is still growing, it has slowed down a bit. tesla is facing ferocious competition from a bunch of very price competitive electric brands. and what about the optics of all this and the politics, rather than just the economics?

right, well, china coming out of the covid, reopening since last year has faced a bunch of economic challenges. one of them is bringing back foreign investment. chinese leaders like premier li have been rolling out the red carpet to try to encourage foreign companies to come to china, invest more, and i think that also helps to smooth the way a little bit towards more geopolitics. 0bviously sino—us relations are quite fraught at the moment, us election coming up. i think china is trying to do what it can to smooth relations. i see. elon musk is a free speech advocate. he owns the platform x and constantly champions that. china — not known so much for its free speech. how wide do you think the discussions will be? well, x is not accessible in china.

unless you use a vpn. i do not think elon musk will be bringing that part of his business to china. when it comes to free speech, china has a different legal system, a different set of rules. i mean, what elon says outside china, as long as it's not directly infringing on china's interests, i think china willjust let him get on with it. the grand final of one of the world's biggest competitive gaming competitions is happening today in birmingham — with one team of professional gamers set to win £800,000 in prize money. the esl 0ne tournament sees teams from all over the world compete in dota 2, which is a multiplayer roleplay arena game. andrew rogers, from radio 1's newsbeat, is at the tournment. what's actually going on in the arena right now? how big is this event and why does it matter?

we are in a very busy arena at the moment. as you said, the esl one event is in birmingham. the best teams in the world are playing at the moment. wejust had round one come to an end. a lot of support in the room. if you don't know dota 2, the room. if you don't know dota 2, the game they are playing here, it's a multiplayer online battle arena and it's a serious staff, professional players going for big sums of money. potentially. sums of money. what professional players going for big sums of money.— professional players going for big sums of mone . ~ ., ., , , ., sums of money. what does this mean, bein: in sums of money. what does this mean, being in the — sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? _ sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? what _ sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? what is _ sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? what is the _ sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? what is the uk- sums of money. what does this mean, being in the uk? what is the uk role i being in the uk? what is the uk role in all of this? aha, being in the uk? what is the uk role in all of this?— in all of this? a lot of local authorities _ in all of this? a lot of local authorities have _ in all of this? a lot of local authorities have been - in all of this? a lot of local. authorities have been actively trying to get tournaments like this into their area and is not much of a

surprise. the esports industry is now worth a quarter of $1 million. it's a particular bumper year in the uk, this event kicking things off in birmingham, lots of events over the summer and the really big one, league of legends world series final in november in london. it's one of the biggest in the world coming to the biggest in the world coming to the uk. we the biggest in the world coming to the uk. ~ .., , the biggest in the world coming to the uk. ~ , .,, ., the biggest in the world coming to the uk. ~ , ., , ., ., the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what the uk. we can see a bit of the game nova what is — the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what is the _ the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what is the aim _ the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what is the aim of _ the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what is the aim of the - the uk. we can see a bit of the game now. what is the aim of the game - the uk. we can see a bit of the game| now. what is the aim of the game and how do you win?— how do you win? well, one person... one person — how do you win? well, one person... one person described _ how do you win? well, one person... one person described it _ how do you win? well, one person... one person described it as _ how do you win? well, one person... one person described it as for- how do you win? well, one person... one person described it as for dhs. l one person described it as for dhs. people have specific roles on the game, as in any other board games, and you have to dominate the map in front of you, using heroes from a character roster. some will have their favourites they play more than others but you have to respond and

react to the opponents who are up against. react to the opponents who are up aaainst. . ,. . ~ react to the opponents who are up arainst. ., ,. ., . , against. fascinating. we will check back in with _ against. fascinating. we will check back in with the _ against. fascinating. we will check back in with the later— against. fascinating. we will check back in with the later when - against. fascinating. we will check back in with the later when the - back in with the later when the final results are in. thank you. the haulage industry is calling for urgent clarity on how new post—brexit checks on food imports from the eu will work. the trade body, logistics uk, has warned of chaos and confusion — even though the new regime is due to come into force in two days. our business correspondent marc ashdown has more. it�*s all about checks on what they call high— and medium—risk products arriving at ports from the eu. so we're talking about things like fresh veg, fresh fish, meat, even plants and dairy, that sort of thing. and what the government's really concerned about is biosecurity, the possibility of importing diseases, viruses, things like african swine flu, for example. so these checks were supposed to come in back injuly 2021, but they've been delayed five times now and they are now due to start on tuesday.

but a committee of mps wrote to defra, the government department involved last week, asking for, and i quote, "urgent clarity" on exactly how all this will work. they criticise what they call poor planning and inconsistent messaging. they say it looks like a scaled back version will start on tuesday. in effect, they believe that's more or less another delay. now, uk logistics has also waded in. that's the sort of umbrella group, really, for trucks, lorries, companies which import goods. they say this kind of delay again sums up the chaos and confusion surrounding the new rules. they say they've been raising issues with the government for many, many months now, and they're worried about things like the infrastructure at the ports, how this will work, the manpower, how many hours it will be open, for example, what is sort of being thrown in terms of resources at this. they say it shows a system completely in disarray. they say it makes it very difficult

for businesses to plan what they really want. now, they say, is clear and unambiguous rules and an explanation of how this will work from tuesday. the port of dover, of course, and the channel tunnel, they're the big concerns here. they tend to be the sort of pinch points post—brexit when new rules come in. i think the fear is we could see big delays like this, lorries stacked up on the motorway. and of course, there are more costs involved in some of these checks as well. so that potentially could see prices rise in the shops, on the supermarket shelves for consumers. now, defra says it's been in regular contact with about 30,000 businesses, importers, keeping them up to date with what they're planning. they say they've run webinars, that type of thing, done consultations. they say these checks will be introduced slowly in a controlled and sensible manner and gradually ramped up to try and ensure we don't see scenes like this and we keep the smooth flowing of goods into the uk. thirty years after south africa's first democratic votes were cast,

the country is facing a new reckoning, with pivotal elections taking place next month. some polls suggest the governing african national congress, which came to power in1991t, could receive less than 50% of the vote for the first time, as the country experiences high unemployment and crime, persistent economic inequalities, frequent power cuts and corruption allegations. nomsa maseko reports from south africa. singing drumming in celebration of 30 years of democracy. south africa's transition to democracy was the culmination of decades of resistance and armed struggle against nearly 50 years of racial and violent white minority rule. chanting 0n the 27th of april in 1994, i came to this polling station with my mother. we started queueing from 6am, filled with both hope and anxiety. thousands of black people lined up with their fists in the air chanting "sikhululekile" —

we are free. and i understood that now i was, too. the anc liberation movement turned political party won by a landslide and the early years were promising. a constitution enshrined the rights of all citizens. thabo mbeki replaced nelson mandela as president in further democratic elections. civil society flourished — as did a free press. but 30 years later, south africa remains deeply unequal. unemployment has reached nearly 35%. it's very much clear that people do not feel like we fundamentally changed the architecture of our country. we still have amongst black populations high levels of inequality in terms of access to economic opportunities, jobs. in soweto, i meet young mothers

struggling to get by. 0n the 29th of may, the country will go to the polls. for people here, it feels very much like a pivotal moment. injohannesburg, the constitution hill memorial celebrates our democratic transition and its firmest foundation, our institutions. 0urjudiciary remains the most robust on the continent. 0ur media is strong, it's been independent, been pushing back. and civil society as well. that triumvirate is important. but it's a commitment from that triumvirate to institutional integrity of the state,

building institutions that are accountable. i think that's the lesson for africa. across the world's fastest growing continent, nearly a third of nations are heading to the polls this year. for south africa, it is likely to be the closest fought vote in its democratic history. nomsa maseko, bbc news, south africa. and nomsa told me what we can expect from this election. well, we are looking at the fact that south africa is currently going through, you know, blackouts. and the fact that we have not had blackouts in the last 32 days is proof that this is a manmade problem that can easily be fixed. south africans are also looking at unemployment. they are looking at slow economic growth, and they are also looking at young people in terms of making sure that they are getting involved in elections, because it's the usual old, elderly, you know, men that are in charge and no women

and no young people. so south africa wants to change all of that. and when it comes to looking ahead towards any kind of outcome, what is the split of the voting? could the former president, jacob zuma's party, take votes from the anc? well, jacob zuma is the monster that the anc itself created. and during the nine years in which he was in power, there was impunity. he got away with a lot of things that the anc were happy to protect him from. but right now he's giving the anc a huge headache and his party is likely going to be a wild card in this year's election that will possibly eat into the anc support, particularly in the former president's heartland. and nomsa, just outline the timetable for us. when will people be heading to the polls?

well, in exactly a month's time, south africa is going to the polls and this going to be the first time that there are going to be three ballot papers, because for the first time, independent candidates are also going to be featured because there was an amendment in electoral rules in south africa. so, by the end of may and beginning ofjune, south africa will know if the anc is still going to be in power, even though analysts are predicting that the anc is losing support and possibly looking at about 40% of its support base is what is likely to happen in this election. and you can watch the full bbc world service documentary south africa: the battle for the ballot box on iplayer. the annual white house correspondent�*s association dinner is a staple of the washington political calendar. and last night, president biden delivered an election—year comedy roast in front ofjournalists, celebrities and politicians. he made fun of himself

and his rival, donald trump. of course, the 2024 election is in full swing. and, yes, age is an issue. i'm a grown man! running against a six—year—old! here in the uk, there are calls for more drug and alcohol support to be offered to people from black, asian and minority ethnic communities following concerns from charities that these groups are often under—represented in treatment. anna crossley has been speaking to kim, a south asian woman who was addicted to heroin for 16 years and is now in recovery. i'm quite nervous. my stomach is churning. i feel quite sick, really, because this is where my addiction started. i had come away from a really

unhappy, horrible marriage, and i thought i was going to start a new life here, but ended up spiralling into addiction. i didn't know. i didn't know that i was addicted to drugs. this is the first time you've been back here? it is, yeah. i think it was about time somebody spoke out. i don't know if i'm going to be appreciated for it or if it is going to go down well, but i felt after all these years it needed to be out in the open that there's addictions that go on in south asian communities. i was told how to walk, told how to smile, told how to do everything. so i didn't have my own kind of thoughts. it was very much controlled by other people. and then when, you know, when somebody is rolling up a joint, a joint of whatever it was,

and said, "here, have this, it will "make you feel better", i took it. and that was my first pull of a joint of heroin. i didn't know i was in addiction until i was probably about a year or two in because the heroin was provided for me every day, so i didn't have withdrawals. it was embarrassing. who could i tell? who could i go to? who is going to understand? for me, it was more — i'm notjust a drug user, i'm an asian girl, on drugs. i'm an indian girl, on drugs. who do i turn to? who will understand ? it is more risky or dangerous not to say anything than to educate our own people and be honest about what happens and what addiction does to people. god, this is awful, this,

now, thinking about it, my little girl came home with a sponsorship form for school and i made loads of photocopies of it. and i walked around the whole of bradford, i think, with this sponsorship form, and cheated money out of people. absolutely shocking. when i lived in a housejust here, where the blue door is. this one here? yes. what was your lowest point? i took an overdose of tablets because i could just... i would just... i didn't want to live any more. i didn't want to be here. ididn't... i couldn't look after my kids. i ended up back in that horrible spiral again. you know, ifailed my parents, ifailed my kids, ifailed me.

you did turn it around, though. idid. i have. it took a long time. i was ready for change, and just in my head, i knew that i didn't want this life and i was damaged. i was seriously damaged. i'd lost my children. and i was going to either die or i was, you know, i needed to change where my focus was going. where are we now? settled. we are in a happy relationship. andy is brilliant. we've been together for eight years. i'm happy to be here. and i have earned — i've earned my place here. i've earned my place on earth, i think. the word will get out that you can support other women — and men —

that are in the same, similar situations the more i do this. it is almost 70 years since donald campbell became the fastest man on water in his iconic hydroplane bluebird, smashing the 200 miles—per—hour barrier in front of crowds on the shores of ullswater in the lake district. now, previously unseen photos of the daredevil in action back in 1955 have been discovered, and the search is on for somewhere to display them permanently. andy gill reports. that's the difference here, that people were allowed, which... just to come down on the shore. i mean, that must have been the whole village. at her home in southport on merseyside, gina campbell and andrew price look through photos of donald campbell and bluebird. they were taken at ullswater in cumbria in 1955, the place and year when donald campbell first broke the world water speed record. the photographer was andrew's dad,

peter price, who died in 2020. it was very difficult for me to go through his archive, because i had worked with him for 30 years, and i started to go through things but it was, you know, tears rolling down my eyes, i was saying, "i didn't know you'd done this, dad, i didn't know you'd done that." but earlier this year andrew, who is also a photographer, did get to looking through his dad's archive. there they were in a little brown envelope with handwritten notes saying "donald campbell, bluebird early attempts, ullswater." and i thought, "wow, i didn't know you had these." once you start on one of these world record attempt, - you're past the point of no return. donald campbell set world water and land speed records. he died in 1967 when bluebird crashed on coniston water. last month, the restored boat returned to coniston after being recovered in 2001.

but campbell's first water speed records were achieved not on coniston, but on ullswater. there's one here, he's obviously just going out for a run. but he's not wearing a hard helmet. no, he's not. would he have had that in the cockpit, do you think? possibly. for gina, who was just six when the photos were taken, they reveal a new chapter of her father's life. myjaw dropped when i first saw them. what it tells me is how famous my father was, looking at the crowds that were there. and me as a small child, with no idea that my father was famous. i didn't know my father was famous. gina and andrew both now want the photos to find a permanent home, a testament to a pioneering british enterprise in engineering and daring. it gets me in my heart, because it shows my dad, to me, what he was — but i didn't know. andy gill, bbc news.

a new entrance to a pre—historic flint mine will allow the public to explore an underground labyrinth of tunnels dug 4,500 years ago. grime's — graves near thetford, norfolk, was used as a neolithic mine for hundreds of years. robbie west reports. from the air, you can see how the 430 mines dug in the heart of thetford forest have transformed the landscape. each of the hollows that we're walking through and the hollow that we're coming to is the remains of a 4,500—year—old mineshaft. each one about ten, 12 metres deep and a huge undertaking. historians say that these pits were dug using picks made from the antlers of red deer. they're very simple tools, about this sort of size. and they would have had to mine down by hand. and that's hundreds of tons worth

of material that they are having to take out by hand. so they're probably only digging maybe one mine per year. so to get this whole entire mine field, we're talking about hundreds of years. as you climb down into the pit, it's hard to imagine digging this out without modern machinery. the flint they gathered from the mines was used by the neolithic people to make tools that were crucial for their survival. tunnels like this one connect the mineshafts. you canjust see how small the space is — it's only about a metre high. i think we have so many incredible ancient sites across english heritage's portfolio, but this to me is like the absolute jewel, because you're seeing kind of marks made by man that long ago where they actually are. you can kind of see the people crawling through, you can picture them with their lamps, you can picture them holding those kind of pickaxes and kind of taking out this chalk and this flint. i think it reallyjust brings the entire space

alive like no other site. the opening of this mineshaft lets us see how our ancestors worked here in the east, allowing us to get up close to archaeology. robbie west, bbc news. space x has launched its falcon 9 rocket. this was the moment it took off from the kennedy space centre in florida carrying a payload of 2 galileo satellites — part of europe's global navigation satellite system. notably, this was the first time a us—made rocket was used and launched from american soil for thejoint spacex — european commission project. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it was a chilly start with a touch of light frost in the far north—west, but that is certainly

where we've seen the lion's share of the sunshine. look how beautiful stirling was earlier on this morning. it was not a morning, however, for playing golf in st albans, hertfordshire. heavy overnight rain left a lot of large puddles around. and that rain is continuing to drift its way steadily northwards. that means that much of eastern england and eastern scotland staying cloudy, wet and often windy at times, making it feel quite cool. further west, we'll keep on that sunshine with a few scattered light showers as well. so, here, highs of 13 degrees, but factor in the wind and the rain, only 7, perhaps, in parts of eastern scotland. now, as we move through the night, the low pressure pulls away. the isobars stay with us. it stays quite breezy with another front pushing in from the west. that'll bring outbreaks of rain into northern ireland, scotland and western fringes of england and wales. but ahead of it, some lovely sunshine and with a southerly breeze, some warmth. so anywhere, really, from east yorkshire down

towards dorset, south and east of that, a much better day — sunny and pleasantly warm with it. low pressure is going to sit out to the west for a couple of days, but the wind direction continues to change to a southerly and we're going to continue to tap in to this warm air coming off the near continent, so a change to the feel of the weather. and the irony is tuesday is the final day of april and we're going to see above average temperatures quite widely across the country. there will be some showery outbreaks of rain out to the west, but much of central and eastern england and scotland dry, settled, pleasantly warm with it, temperatures peaking in the high teens. wednesday could be a little bit of a messy day. we might drag in a little bit more cloud off the north sea and thick enough for some drizzle. and by the end of the day, we'll keep an eye on a few sharp showers moving up from the near continent. but again, it's still pleasantly warm out there — 16 to 18 degrees widely across the country. now, low pressure will pull away. and as we head towards the all—important bank holiday weekend, here's just an early heads

up for you — high pressure building in and looks likely to quieten things down. so there will still be a few showers, maybe some longer spells of rain, arriving on monday. but on the whole, it looks quite promising.

live from london, this is bbc news. the us secretary of state heads to saudi arabia as diplomatic efforts intensify to stop israel's

planned offensive into rafah. the future of scotland's government will be determined this week. two confidences votes are planned, but the first minister says there's no deal on the table. floods kill at least 76 people in kenya. officials warn even heavier rainfall is forecast across eastern africa. ukraine's commander—in—chief says the situation on the front line "has worsened". forces withdraw from some positions in donetsk as the russians advance. and gamers go head to head, with £800,000 up for grabs in the grand final of the esl one tournament in birmingham. hello and welcome. i'm samantha simmonds.

we start in the middle east, where the palestinian president says