how new sightings of the creature — thought to be extinct in parts of england — is puzzling scientists. we start with the latest on the israel gaza war. the head of the us central intelligence agency, william burns, is in cairo to help try to mediate a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. hamas has confirmed that its delegation will travel to cairo today to resume talks. its delegation will travel foreign mediators have been waiting for a response from the group to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for forty days and to exchange hostages for palestinian prisoners. it comes amid us media reports that israel has given hamas a week to agree to the current proposal or it will begin its long—threatened offensive in gaza's southernmost city, rafah. israel insists that is necessary to defeat hamas�*s remaining fighters.

but there has been widespread international concern over the fate of the more than one—million palestinians sheltering there. our correspondent anna foster is injerusalem. welcome to you, and we've been talking for more than a week about the latest round of talks and it seems there is increasing pressure on hamas to reach a deal. yes. seems there is increasing pressure on hamas to reach a deal.- on hamas to reach a deal. yes, we are at the — on hamas to reach a deal. yes, we are at the same _ on hamas to reach a deal. yes, we are at the same stage _ on hamas to reach a deal. yes, we are at the same stage where an . are at the same stage where an israeli deal has been put on the table and was described at the start of the week by the us secretary of state as extraordinarily generous and it seems to be that in this latest iteration of the deal there have been some movements in terms of potentially agreeing to talk about a permanent ceasefire. from israel's point of view its priority is trying to ensure the release of the remaining hostages held in gaza. one of the key priorities for hamas is to get some sort of agreement

towards a permanent ceasefire rather than a temporary one so while it seems the sides are moving closer together there is still a disconnect on that point and i think also on the number of hostages to be released. originally we were told the number being talked about was about a0 stop then the briefings were that it had come down to around 33 and these are people who are considered to be on the humanitarian category, women, the elderly and people suffering from particular medical conditions. the question is how many of those hostages hamas actually has access to in gaza and how many of them are still alive. equally the number of palestinian prisoners who would be freed from israeli jails, that sounds like that number is being discussed, so while the proposals are on the table and were welcomed at the start of the week as a step closer, the fact the talks are going on is positive and the fact that william burns the head of the cia is in cairo is potentially a positive move because he is there to facilitate and iron

out those last few details, but it's worth saying that we've been in the last few months at this point where things are looking good and the sides my degree and things crumble at the last minute so the hope is always a cautious hope rather than one without thinking about what could happen and how close things can get before they fall at the final hurdle.— can get before they fall at the final hurdle. ~ ., ., final hurdle. what more can you tell us about the — final hurdle. what more can you tell us about the us _ final hurdle. what more can you tell us about the us media _ final hurdle. what more can you tell us about the us media reports that l us about the us media reports that israel has been given a week to agree to a proposal all will begin the long threatened offensive in rafah. ., . , rafah. long threatened is right. ben'amin rafah. long threatened is right. benjamin netanyahu _ rafah. long threatened is right. benjamin netanyahu has - rafah. long threatened is right. benjamin netanyahu has been l benjamin netanyahu has been talking about the rafah offensive for months but even there we heard in the media several weeks ago that it had a date attached, the date has never been publicly confirmed and there are questions about whether that is a date or whether this continues to be part of israel's leveraged with the international community when it comes to reaching a deal. what we

know is that the us government in particular, israel's biggest military and diplomatic partner is not wholly supportive of the rafa offensive and israel says it is essential if they will remove the last of hamas run gaza but the us point of the fact that they're still around i.a million displaced people in rafa. in terms of timings, could it be a week where two things need to happen is they need to move a large number of people out of the way back further north in the script before they can start an offensive and the idf will move their brigades back into position inside gaza for another ground offensive, so while we hear these reports of timings until it starts it's always incredibly hard to tell. anna foster, thank _ incredibly hard to tell. anna foster, thank you. - in the us, up to a thousand pro palestinians protestors have marched through new york following the shut down of one the last encampments. it comes after a turbulent week on us university campuses where thousands of students — who say they're angry at the scale of suffering in gaza —

have been staging protests. nomia iqbal is in new york and sent us this update. as you can see, more than a thousand people have come out here to protest. the space behind me was actually an encampment. it was one of the last encampments here in new york. this is the new york university. but the tents were all cleared out early this morning by police. i spoke to a professor who said that she saw armed police go in and arrest students while they were sleeping. she described it as terrifying, but it's not put those students and others off. as you can see, many of them have returned here to carry on with their message, demanding the university divest from israeli institutions. many of the staff and students here are angry. they believe that the university is far more motivated in protecting itsjewish students. more than allowing them the right to free speech. and they point out that many of the protesters

here are alsojewish. uk prime minister rishi sunak has insisted the conservatives have "everything to fight for" — despite the party losing nearly half the seats contested in local elections in england. with results expected in several mayoral races today, the tories will be hoping that andy street can cling on as mayor in the west midlands. having already won key councils and a decisive by—election, labour's expected to hold on to most of the regional mayors up for grabs. our political correspondent, harry farley, has the story. not many smiles around for the conservatives. the party is set for its worst local elections result in years. one result did bring some cheerfor rishi sunak. you are re—elected mayor of teesside. ben houchen winning the tees valley mayor. people knew that they couldn't be taken for granted. they knew that it was ben and the conservatives that delivered for them and they stuck with you in this election. and i know that come

the general election, they're going to stick with us too. the conservatives hope to win the west midlands mayoral race when the results are out later today. another possible ray of hope in an otherwise bleak picture. but for now at least, rishi sunak looks to have avoided the major rebellion he feared from his own mps. and three miles from the prime minister's house in yorkshire, look who showed up. sir keir starmer here celebrating a labour mayor in york and north yorkshire, where parts of the county are usually solidly tory. to the villages and the towns of north yorkshire, people have voted for change. they voted for labour. webb, christopher paul, commonly known as chris, labour party, 10,825. there was a red pattern across this patchwork of elections in the parliamentary seat of blackpool south, a massive 26%

swing to labour in the by election. but for councils, it wasn't the size of labour's win as much as where they won. from places with big brexit votes like hartlepool to the military town of aldershot and rushmoor and the south coast where they won aderfor the first time. it wasn't all good news for sir keir starmer. in oldham, independent candidates opposed to labour's stance on gaza meant they lost control of the council. the liberal democrats had big gains to win dorset and tunbridge wells. and picked up seats in other conservative—facing towns in the south, like winchester. let's make this conservative government history. where ed davey tried to argue the tories were like dinosaurs. this is disaster for

the conservatives and in so many parts of the country, it'll be conservative mps worried about liberal democrats. people know that if you want to get rid of this awful conservative government and make them history, they should vote liberal democrat. back at the blackpool south by election, just 117 votes separated second place conservatives and third place reform uk, the successor to the brexit party. we're becoming the real opposition to the labour party in the north, in the midlands, in wales. we're on the way up and it's quite clear that the tories are on the way down. the greens also gained seats, particularly in places like bristol, which they are targeting come a general election. they recognised the choice they have in bristol _ they recognised the choice they have in bristol is _ they recognised the choice they have in bristol is between a likely labour— in bristol is between a likely labour government, where it is 100% labour_ labour government, where it is 100% labour and _ labour government, where it is 100% labour and where labour government, where it is 100% labourand where keir starmer can labour and where keir starmer can continue _ labour and where keir starmer can continue to— labourand where keir starmer can continue to u—turn on policies every few weeks— continue to u—turn on policies every few weeks or a labour government

with a _ few weeks or a labour government with a handful of greens to hold them _ with a handful of greens to hold them account. for the conservatives, this was an equal record low for them on their share of the vote and for rishi sunak there are obvious questions about what he can do to turn their fortunes around. and for labour, the results were good. but if sir keir starmer wants to come back here after a general election with a majority of seats, it's not yet clear if they were good enough. there are more results to count today, including the mayors of london, greater manchester and the west midlands. harry farley, bbc news. let's get some analysis on the results that have come through overnight. our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in the newsroom hello, good morning. we are getting a good picture now of where the parties are, the political lay of the land. have a look at this. this is the state of the parties this morning with almost all of the council is counted with only five to go. this is where it is art. labour are up 173, good result but maybe not as much is on a perfect night

for them but it is a good result is that they think shows they are on course to win a general election. the liberal democrats have pushed the conservatives into second place from the results we have so far but look at the tory results, down aa8, losing roughly half of the seats they are defending and that is a very bad result, close to rock bottom and it's what the conservatives feared would happen on the worst night possible, so a bad result for the ruling conservative party. this is what has changed since the elections last held in 2021. you can see the conservative vote is down by 12% and labour are up vote is down by 12% and labour are up a bit again, maybe not quite as much as some would have hoped on a really good night but labour are arguing that the places that they are winning, the extra 3%, they are the places they would need to win in a general election to take power at westminster, so they are pretty happy with these results and you can see the lib dems on the greens are

up see the lib dems on the greens are up a bit as well. this is interesting. this is a table that shows you councils that the conservatives lost in thursday's vote, and what is interesting is that they are in different parts of the country. you have dorset in the south—west, an area where the liberal democrats are making gains that have a look at these, nuneaton, rushmore, these are going to labour, and labour are pleased with what they think are important areas for them starting to turn. this one i find interesting in particular, a bit of a bellwether seat in one of those areas that votes the same way as a country and it's going to labour red. the labour vote is on the increase while the tories are in decline. why? and what other patterns can we get from the results we have got. this one is interesting. the reform party, the

successor to the brexit party is standing at the general election in every seat and this is what happened in the local elections when reform stood. look what happened to the conservative vote. when they were up against a reform candidate, they went down even further than the national average, almost 20% you can see its gone right up but if you're a conservative mp in the north of england or anything like that, this will worry you because it suggests you are being outflanked on the right by reform. have a look at this one as well because it's not all good news for labour. these are the key wards that the bbc have picked that have a higher muslim population, and although the labour vote on the whole was up in these local elections, have a look at the far left and that number. it's down 21% in the higher muslim population areas. the green party are up and saw the independent candidates and a lot of them, people standing on

tickets critical of labour for its policy on the war in gaza. there is evidence, pretty strong evidence that the labour position on the war in gaza has hit their votes in these area with a high muslim population and that could matter today because we have got the results for the west midlands mayor, including birmingham, a high muslim population, and london where sadiq khan is against susan hall. but again, some parts of london with a high muslim population, labour will be watching closely to see what happens there. let me end on this, the projected national share. it's been put together by the bbc election team and it is an extrapolation, what we think would have happened had the whole country voted on thursday and had it voted broadly along the same lines as the people who did vote on thursday voted. that is what it shows you, labour nine points ahead of the conservatives, and that will really worry the tories. 25% is the joint

lowest ever result for the conservatives and the bbc projected national share in a local election, so that is bad. labour are nine points ahead, similar to last year and that is good. again, labour think, they argue, it would put them on track for power at westminster at the general election but it's worth seeing it in context. this is not 1997 with the tony blair landslide and there will be some people questioning this morning whether labour need to do even better if they're going to have a comfortable majority in the house of commons. let's speak to our politcal correspondent, hannah miller, whojoins us live from westminster we are waiting for key mayoral election results to come in but as we get the broader picture with more results overnight, what is the political reaction? i results overnight, what is the political reaction?— results overnight, what is the political reaction? i think rishi sunak's position _ political reaction? i think rishi sunak's position as _ political reaction? i think rishi sunak's position as leader - political reaction? i think rishi sunak's position as leader of l sunak's position as leader of the

conservative party and prime minister is looking pretty secure this morning. there had been rumours that if these elections went badly that if these elections went badly that his backbenchers might look to oust him and they have gone badly, but any sense that they are going to make any manoeuvres has dissipated pretty quickly. that's at least in part because there is no kind of clear alternative and no one who would want to step forward and leave the conservative party at this point. he's very much expected to take them into the general election and has described the result is many people would say that is an understatement, but he will be hoping that if andy street can hold on in the west midlands later today that that would provide something of a bright spot and something else to talk about. psychologically, something that could make a difference. we saw that yesterday with the tees valley mayor who had distanced himself from the

conservative party in many way and had been critical of rishi sunak as andy street has in the west midlands but they need to be able to say we have done all right here and that is something that would really help him and if andy street gets over the line in the west midlands. the other big race to look out for today is in london, the mayor of london, sadiq khan for labour is expected to win their but party sources suggesting it could be tighter than it might have previously been. the labour party in general are really buoyant about these results a point notjust to the number of seats they have won but specifically to where they have won and they think there overlaps there in terms of the seats they need to win in a general election. as nick was saying, there is concern about how they are doing in muslim communities. labour's deputy national campaign chair ellie reeves

told the bbc that they have a great deal of trust, of work to do to win the trust back of some people in those areas. so while these results have gone well for labour, they need to be doing really very well if they want to have a huge majority in the house of commons. they are buoyant and will point to their successes and will point to their successes and expect to get more successes in the mayoral results when they come through later on today. but there is still a whole campaign to run before we get to a general election, so the kind of —— that kind of begins now in a sense for them. kind of -- that kind of begins now in a sense for them.— in a sense for them. hannah in westminster, _ in a sense for them. hannah in westminster, thank— in a sense for them. hannah in westminster, thank you. - vietnam has broken more than 100 temperature records in april, according to official data, as a deadly heatwave scorches south and southeast asia. vietnam saw three waves of high temperatures in april, with the mercury peaking at aa degrees celsius in two towns earlier this week. in all, 102 weather stations saw record highs in april, as northern and central vietnam bore

the brunt of the heatwaves. extreme heat has blasted asia from india to the philippines in recent weeks, triggering heatstroke deaths, school closures and desperate prayers for cooling rain. scientists have long warned that human—induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and intense heatwaves. in the us and donald trump's criminal trial has wrapped for a third week in new york. on friday, the first person to work directly with the former president took the stand. hope hicks served as donald trump's campaign spokesperson at the time of the hush—money payment in 2015. she was in the room for a key meeting between donald trump, michael cohen and former national enquirer publisher david pecker, when it was agreed that mr pecker would buy and suppress negative stories about trump — including alleged affairs — to help boost his campaign. the prosecution has been building its case with a range of witnesses so far. the court heard from a forensic analyst who examined the contacts

and messages on the phone of mr trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. and it heard from a staffer from the new york da's office who reviewed trump's social media posts for the trial. our correspondent nada tawfik is in new york she is the first person who worked directly with donald trump to testify. and, you know, we didn't really have to guess how she felt about taking the stand. she said once she got on that she was really nervous and even broke down in tears at one point, which the court took a short break. but look, hope hicks has depicted donald trump as somebody who was across all of the media statements that she worked on, was very much a part of his press strategy and all of the statements that went out. so somebody that was very in tune with how the press coverage would be affecting him and his campaign. she discussed how the campaign was in crisis after the access hollywood tape, how it was wall to wall media coverage for 36 hours

until the presidential debate, even knocking a real category four hurricane off of the news, she said. and then she got to the actual article that went out exposing the stormy daniels payment, and she said that donald trump had told her that the affair never happened, to deny the affair in press statements. to mexico next. three bodies have been found during a search for two australians and an american who went missing last week during a surfing trip. australian brothers jake and callum robinson and their american friend jack carter were on vacation near the coastal city of ensenada in the northwestern state of baha california when they failed to turn up at the planned accomodation. the bodies have not yet been identified. alison piotrowski is correspondent for nine news australia,

jake kellam and their friend jack, the american national. they had not been seen since april 27. so we're coming up to seven days, i think, since they have been heard from. they were on a boys trip. jake had travelled over to see callum. callum, his australian brother, actually lives in san diego, so they had gone to coachella together. they were going to celebrate callum's birthday. so they came down the coast, down baha's coastline to chase waves because these guys are surfers and they were looking for a big birthday, celebratory holiday, but they disappeared off the grid. they failed to show up to an airbnb in rosarito, which is right up towards tijuana, so right up near that us—mexico border. and after they failed to show up there, their mother, debra, had that gut instinct that something was wrong. so she posted on social media. she took to facebook groups on the baha coast and said, "have you seen my sons?"

"they've been missing." and that sparked an enormous response from mexican officials as this post went viral. and now we are here today where we're in the situation where they have found three bodies in the search area where they have been looking at. i travelled out there today with a police escort because that's what you need when you're going through that area. this place is called la bacharana, and it is about an hour away from the closest town. you have to go down this dirt road. it's quite treacherous. and there's a few, few mexican ranches there, and that's about it. and we got to a point at a camp ground where they had been and it was so far from civilisation, it had me thinking, what have they been doing going this far out? it's incredibly remote. talking to officials on the ground here, the local commander here in ensenada told me yesterday that there is just no way that tourists ever venture into this area. it's just not something that they seek to do. it's not something that they should do. and it is because there are warring cartels in this area. these are two young men, two successful men.

callum was a successful lacrosse player. he played for australia. his brotherjake is a doctor. he was about to start a newjob in geelong hospital in melbourne. they are good looking young men with their whole lives ahead of them. and now australia is wondering if their lives have been cut short. i can also tell you that deborah and martin, their parents are on a plane at the moment. they have departed perth and they are on the way to los angeles and then they'll make thatjourney by car, iwould imagine, over the mexican border. they are due here to meet with mexican authorities tomorrow. and we understand that they'll be providing dna samples to mexican mexican authorities. one of the most read stories on the bbc news website and app involves the latest song from north korean dictator kimjong—un — take a listen. music.

this is called "friendly father" and it has gone viral on tiktok — with gen z users loving the synthy—electro pop. most are clearly quite oblivious to the korean lyrics which include "let's sing kim jong—un, the great leader". "let's brag about kimjong—un, ourfriendly father,". it the latest in a line of propaganda pop songs churned out by the communist state in the past 50 years. that's it from me but i will be back with more on the day's top stories. hello. the weather at this time of year really can be very fickle, as we've seen over the past week. during the bank holiday weekend there will be a mix of sunshine at times and heavy showers and it could be warmer, but we won't reach the high temperatures we've seenin reach the high temperatures we've seen in the past few days. , the

warmest day of the year and we maintain those temperatures in western scotland and northern ireland on friday, but for suffolk and north wales, it was much colder because of the cloud and rain. it is moving it's way further north but we have some more rain to come on saturday across northern ireland, some heavy showers pushing across scotland and it might turn a bit drier in north wales and northern england but still a lot of cloud and to the south we will see sunshine after a chilly start with a few showers developing in the south—east of england. it in the sunshine across the midlands, southern england and south wales and east anglia, it will be a warmer day, 16 or 17 degrees and we could reach 19 in the north west of scotland before the heavy showers arrived. a few more showers to come in scotland and northern ireland, perhaps the far north of england and it should be a bit brighter but a bit of sunshine will trigger thunderstorms and the odd shower across england and wales under bit of rain coming into the far south—west keeping temperatures lower, but otherwise, widely, temperatures will be a reasonable 16

up temperatures will be a reasonable 16 up to 18 degrees on sunday afternoon. there is a bit of rain in the south—west on the weather front, an area of low pressure. not really much wind to move things on under bit of uncertainty as to how far north the showery rain could get but it is putting further into england and north wales, and there will be sunshine but we could trigger more slow moving heavy, thundery showers particularly in scotland and temperature wise on monday afternoon, 16 or 17 degrees. after the bank holiday, the weather is going to change, wouldn't you know it? and it will get drier because the area of low pressure moves away and this area of high pressure will build in. around the top of it next week, we could see some rain towards north—western areas of the uk but on the whole it is looking like it's going to get dry after monday and there will be more in the way of sunshine around as well, and if anything the temperatures are going to be rising, getting into the low 20s in many places during the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the cia chief is in cairo to try to help mediate a gaza ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. thousands of pro—palestinians demonstrators have marched through new york city following the shut down of another protest encampment. after strong results for labour

in local elections in england, rishi sunak insists the conservatives have "everything to fight for". and the mystery of the reappearing pine marten — how new sightings of the creature, thought to be extinct in parts of england, is puzzling scientists. to urkaine next. regional officials say russia has launched another overnight drone attack on ukraine's kharkiv and dnipro regions. these are some of the latest pictures from kharkiv. according to the ukrainian air force, russian forces launched 13 drones, all of which were intercepted and downed. however, debris from the drones struck civilian targets in the city, injuring at least six people and sparking a fire in an office building. poland's foreign minister, radoslaw sikorski has told the bbc poland has not ruled out sending troops to ukraine. speaking to the bbc�*s ciatriona perry, mr sirkorksi said it was important for nato allies to keep their cards close

to their chest. we hope president putin would wouldn't be so reckless as to attack nato member states. but he was reckless enough to attack ukraine and was condemned for it by the un general assembly and is now indicted asa warcriminal. we heard from french president emmanuel macron in an interview this week that he would not rule out anything he said when it comes to sending foreign troops to ukraine. do you agree with that? i think it's right to make putin wonder what we will do and not always reassure him that we won't do certain things. so i appreciate president macron's strategic audacity. would you consider sending polish troops into ukraine? we are not going to open our cards. let's let president putin wonder what we will do. but in terms of your own president saying the need to bulk up the polish army,

is that something...?we are spending we are spending the biggest proportion of our gdp in nature — a% of gdp. and we might go higher next year. and poland is an essential hub for helping ukraine. and by the way, i'm very grateful to president biden, to the us congress, for passing at last the supplemental that will help ukraine. ukraine also desperately needs anti—aircraft missiles to protect its industry, to protect its power stations, to protect its infrastructure. also, what the us congress passed is a bill that would pass the frozen russian assets to ukraine. i think it's much better to spend the money on protecting ukraine than then having to rebuild it. speaking of those actions that the us congress took and signed into law by president biden, do you think the delay in getting to that point harmed relations in any way? well, it would have been better to have had it passed earlier, but the airbridge is already on.

the equipment is on the way. ukraine has now announced mobilisation. i think president putin would be well advised to regard his invasion as a mistake and to make a new calculus that we are in it to help ukraine for as long as it takes. to canada next. police have charged three indian nationals with murder over the shooting dead of a prominent sikh activist last year. the killing of hardeep singh nijjar sparked a major diplomatic row between canada and india, after ottawa accused delhi of involvement. india denies the allegations. the police said investigations were continuing into possible links to the indian government. monika gul is from citynews vancouver. she explained who the suspects are that have been arrested and charged. police have said that they weren't really known to them. we don't really know much about them. we do know that they are all indian nationals.

all three of them have been in canada forjust a few years. two of them are 22 years old and one of them is 28 years old, and they were actually not arrested in the vancouver area or british columbia for that matter. they were arrested in edmonton, alberta, which is about a ten—hour drive from where the killing happened. police say they believe that they drove to the area to carry out the killing. edmonton is where they reside. but as i say, other than knowing that they are three indian nationals, police say they weren't known to them and we don't know too much about them. i spoke to sarbraj singh kahlon, the vice president and news director at radio punjab, about how the news of the arrests was receieved by the sikh community. today was a big day when the news broke out about the arrests in the case.

and there was a press conference happened after the press conference happened at rcmp headquarters. so most of the community members, they are feeling a feeling of relief. and but some of the community members, they are concerned about what the prime minister, justin trudeau, said in the parliament in september 2023. and behind this assassination plot, there are credible allegations that indian agents are behind this plot. so most of the community members, they are concerned about this thing, they have a viewpoint that this is just a start up and canadian authorities have to bring those to the justice who were actually behind this plot. rescue efforts are continuing in brazil as the south of the country grapples with days of heavy rains that have killed at least 31 people. 60 people are still missing

and thousands more have been forced to leave their homes in rio grande do sul since the storms began on saturday. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter than average temperatures, high humidity and strong winds. our reporter courtney bembridge has more from the newsroom. authorities have declared a state of emergency and rescuers had been working around the clock to try to find dozens of people still missing. in some areas, the flooding is so severe that this is the only way to access people who are still stranded, helicopters being used to winch them to safety, and here you can say another —— see another rescue under way. the governor in the local area said this is the worst disaster in its history. entire communities have been cut off. you can see the water level here reaching the root level of many homes. bridges have been destroyed, wrote to being blocked, and here firefighters are using a cable to

get across where average once stood. in other areas, there have been large landslides. you can see here the damage from that. we know 15,000 residents have fled their home since saturday, and at least half a million people are about power and clean water across the state. the president has visited the area and held an emergency meeting there with local officials, promising that there will be no lack of human and material resources to help in these rescue efforts and clean—up. the president also making it clear that he believes climate change is to blame for this extreme weather events. now, a reminder today, of the importance of press freedom: the ability ofjournalists around the world to report the truth, without fear or intimidation. friday was world press freedom day, which also pays tribute to journalists who've lost their lives. gaza is becoming the most deadly conflict for journalists and media workers. in gaza, at least 103 journalists have been killed by israeli strikes since the war

began, according to the non—governmental organisation reporters without borders. one in tenjournalists in gaza have died. to mark their sacrifice and the work of all palestinian journalists covering the war in gaza, unesco has awarded them the press freedom prize. but it isn'tjust in gaza where press freedom is threatened. according to the latest research from reporters without borders, the environment forjournalism is defined as "bad" in 75% of the countries it ranks. we'll speak to their campaign director in a moment, but first, in a special report, our analysis editor ros atkins looks at the state of media freedom around the world. journalism is under attack. it is an extremely challenging _ journalism is under attack. it is an extremely challenging and - journalism is under attack. it is an| extremely challenging and difficult time to be a journalist. bill extremely challenging and difficult time to be a journalist.— time to be a “ournalist. all the main time to be a journalist. all the main indicator _ time to be a journalist. all the main indicator is _ time to be a journalist. all the main indicator is a _ time to be a journalist. all the main indicator is a freedom i time to be a journalist. all the - main indicator is a freedom around the world _ main indicator is a freedom around the world show it is in decline. we

must be able to operate as freely as possible. _ must be able to operate as freely as possible. it's— must be able to operate as freely as possible, it's very— must be able to operate as freely as possible, it's very difficult. - possible, it's very difficult. according _ possible, it's very difficult. according to _ possible, it's very difficult. according to campaign- possible, it's very difficult. l according to campaign group reporters without borders, the environment of the journalism is bad in 75% of the countries it ranks. the reasons why it revealed truths about our world and the realities of reporting on it. freedom of the press is essential to democracy. some democracies are changing. irate some democracies are changing. we have some democracies are changing. - have to recognise that democracies don't feel and sound the same as they did many years back. democratic backsliding is a reality in many countries, especially india, and that has come a fairly sharp authoritarian rule.— that has come a fairly sharp authoritarian rule. india is often called the _ authoritarian rule. india is often called the world's _ authoritarian rule. india is often called the world's largest - called the world's largest democracy. in this year �*s collection, an estimated 960 million voters are taking part and polls are predicting another win for them and remotely�*s party and its allies. ——

narendra modi. india has fallen down the press freedom index. journalists critical of central and state governments face physical threats, online harassment and legal charges. for example, last year the homes and offices of reporters at a news website was raided, accused of chinese propaganda. some argue that what has happened in india is representative of a wider global trend. ., , ., ., ., , representative of a wider global trend. .,, ., ., ., , , trend. the “0b of the “ournalist is to present _ trend. the job of the “ournalist is to present the h trend. the job of the “ournalist is to present the news _ trend. the job of the journalist is to present the news on - trend. the job of the journalist is to present the news on the - trend. the job of the journalist is | to present the news on the facts, but if you are presenting newsy do not like, you often go after the messenger, that is what we are seeing with the rise of populism, nationalism, commencement decline in —— a decline in freedom of press

worldwide. -- a decline in freedom of press worldwide-— -- a decline in freedom of press worldwide. ., , , . ., ., _ worldwide. the absence of democracy elsewhere also _ worldwide. the absence of democracy elsewhere also affects _ worldwide. the absence of democracy elsewhere also affects press - elsewhere also affects press freedom. from dictatorships and theocracies to communist one—party states, according to the economist, over 39% of the world's population lives under authoritarian rule. this includes china, where independent journalists are routinely imprisoned. injanuary journalists are routinely imprisoned. in january this journalists are routinely imprisoned. injanuary this man was sentenced to 15 years for crimes ranging from fraud to picking quarrels. in hong kong, a national security law has been imposed by beijing, underwritten pro—democracy media tycoonjimmy lie has pleaded not guilty to a string of charges. china jails more journalists than any other country, according to the 2023 census. next on myanmar, belarus, russia, vietnam, iran and

israel. many were arrested after october the 7th. as for iran, it has frustrated the press for decades, targeting journalists inside and outside the country. when bbc persian tv launched in 2009, the response was immediate. raining officials had _ response was immediate. raining officials had a _ response was immediate. raining officials had a security _ response was immediate. raining officials had a security threat, - response was immediate. raining officials had a security threat, sol officials had a security threat, so they first started showing signals —— jamming they first started showing signals ——jamming signals of they first started showing signals —— jamming signals of the tv, then they moved to targeting their families, the families of journalists in iran and colleagues based in the uk. in journalists in iran and colleagues based in the uk.— journalists in iran and colleagues based in the uk. in 2022 situation not based in the uk. in 2022 situation got worse- — based in the uk. in 2022 situation got worse- after _ based in the uk. in 2022 situation got worse. after mass _ based in the uk. in 2022 situation got worse. after mass protests i based in the uk. in 2022 situation got worse. after mass protests in | got worse. after mass protests in iran, sparked by the death in police custody of a girl, the threats against iranians journalist abroad

intensified. the against iranians “ournalist abroad intensified. , ., ., intensified. the number of death threats has _ intensified. the number of death threats has also _ intensified. the number of death threats has also increased - intensified. the number of death threats has also increased and i intensified. the number of death threats has also increased and inj threats has also increased and in some cases, the police have had to intervene and provide protection for colleagues. intervene and provide protection for colleauues. �* ., ., ., , intervene and provide protection for colleauues. . ., ., ., , ., colleagues. authoritarianism and democratic _ colleagues. authoritarianism and democratic decline _ colleagues. authoritarianism and democratic decline restrict - colleagues. authoritarianism and democratic decline restrict press| democratic decline restrict press freedom, and so disconsolate. —— and so does conflict. forjournalists, war brings danger and restricted access. in ukraine access to the front line is difficult to negotiate. in myanmar, civilwarand military rule make for an very difficult environment. in other places, it's to dangerous to enter. there are many more conflicts, too, and each dot here chose one that poses a threat to civilians, including journalists. in the case of the israel— gaza war, threat to journalists' is extreme. irate

of the israel- gaza war, threat to journalists' is extreme.— journalists' is extreme. we have seen since _ journalists' is extreme. we have seen since the _ journalists' is extreme. we have seen since the start _ journalists' is extreme. we have seen since the start of— journalists' is extreme. we have seen since the start of the - journalists' is extreme. we have seen since the start of the war l journalists' is extreme. we have | seen since the start of the war at least 95 journalists seen since the start of the war at least 95journalists killed, 90 of them palestinian. this means this is them palestinian. this means this is the deadliest conflict for journalists that the committee to protect journalists journalists that the committee to protectjournalists has ever documented. protect journalists has ever documented.— protect journalists has ever documented. ., , documented. israel has said it does not tar: et documented. israel has said it does not target journalists _ documented. israel has said it does not target journalists and _ documented. israel has said it does not target journalists and while - not targetjournalists and while palestinian journalist in gaza face great danger, foreign reporters cannot get in. in february, more than 50 uk and us journalists signed an open letter called on israel and egypt to provide foreign media access to gaza stop one of the signatories was the bbc�*sjeremy bowen. israel has taken some journalist on escorted trips to gaza, doing so it says to allow them to report safely. you gaza, doing so it says to allow them to report safely-— to report safely. you must ask the ruestion, to report safely. you must ask the question. if— to report safely. you must ask the question, if they _ to report safely. you must ask the question, if they are _ to report safely. you must ask the question, if they are not _ to report safely. you must ask the question, if they are not letting i question, if they are not letting people in except under occasional very tightly supervised trips with the military, do they have something to hide? ., . the military, do they have something tohide? ., . ., ., ., ., , to hide? conflict, authoritarianism,

democratic decline. _ to hide? conflict, authoritarianism, democratic decline. as _ to hide? conflict, authoritarianism, democratic decline. as we - to hide? conflict, authoritarianism, democratic decline. as we have i to hide? conflict, authoritarianism, i democratic decline. as we have seen, all three affect press freedom in different ways. there is another factor too. technology has changed howjournalism is targeted. news organisations can now find their websites blocked or satellite signals are jammed. the bbc is one of the world's biggest news broadcasters and it estimates more than 3 billion people live in countries where bbc world service content is censored. the bbc and other news organisations are looking for ways around this. for iran, the bbc publicises tools that allow bbc persian's website to be accessed despite the blocks. these tools are helping. the bbc says its sites have been accessed in iran by1 million unique users per month in 202a. and technology is used to target distribution, but also to target journalists themselves. there's a

new instrument _ journalists themselves. there's a new instrument of _ journalists themselves. there's a new instrument of fear _ journalists themselves. there's a new instrument of fear and i journalists themselves. there's a j new instrument of fear and terror used by many states around the world, and that is the use of spyware to track journalists, world, and that is the use of spyware to trackjournalists, to threaten them and very often that leads to a real act of violence as well. ,, ., , ., . well. state-sponsored surveillance is not only confined _ well. state-sponsored surveillance is not only confined to _ is not only confined to authoritarian regimes. last year in authoritarian regimes. last year in a major report, the european parliament argued for illicit use of spyware putting democracy itself at state in the european union. if these are existing threats, new ones are coming too. these are existing threats, new ones are coming too-— are coming too. there is heightened risk in an increasingly _ are coming too. there is heightened risk in an increasingly tech _ are coming too. there is heightened risk in an increasingly tech forward l risk in an increasingly tech forward world that we live in the advent of ai, options open up in terms of how journalists can be harassed, intimidated and attacked. in journalists can be harassed, intimidated and attacked. in all of the wa s intimidated and attacked. in all of the ways we _ intimidated and attacked. in all of the ways we can _ intimidated and attacked. in all of the ways we can see _ intimidated and attacked. in all of the ways we can see and - intimidated and attacked. in all of the ways we can see and others . intimidated and attacked. in all of. the ways we can see and others too, press freedom is under pressure. journalists are paying a heavy price. in russia, a wall street journaljournalist faces espionage

charges he denies and which russia has provided no evidence on. the targeting of one journalist is being used to send a message to many others. butjournalists have messages of their own. others. but journalists have messa . es of their own. , , ., messages of their own. press freedom is important — messages of their own. press freedom is important to — messages of their own. press freedom is important to try _ messages of their own. press freedom is important to try to _ messages of their own. press freedom is important to try to find _ messages of their own. press freedom is important to try to find out - messages of their own. press freedom is important to try to find out what i is important to try to find out what has happened and it's difficult and sometimes imperfect, but we must keep pressing for it, because without it, especially in an age when we are deluged by information, it's hard to make choices, but it's hard to keep democracies together. democracy, though, is not everyone's priority, which is why attacks on press freedom are intensifying, as is the determination of those who believe in it. scientists are collecting dna from pine martens that have mysteriously reappeared in the new forest after decades. the native mammals were once common across the uk but are now critically endangered in england and wales. helen briggs has the story.

if you go down to the woods today, you might be in for a surprise. conservationists certainly were when their hidden cameras spotted a mystery animal in the ancient woodlands of the new forest. initially, it was an ear. but how on earth would you tell a pine marten's ear? yeah, it was almost full frame. and so it made it hard to get a bit of scale on the size. the options are sort of stout and weasel, but we could rule out pretty much everything other than pine marten. but an ear wasn't enough evidence, so they set up more cameras. the camera here is a standard trail camera. that's motion activated. so a pine marten comes along here? yes. and then it stops for a selfie at this camera? pretty much, yes! caught in broad daylight — proof this native species, lost from most of the woodlands of southern britain, is thriving in the new forest after

decades of extinction. hours of video footage confirms these shy, secretive mammals, which normally come out at night, have established a foothold and are breeding successfully. the big question, how did they get here? yes, that's the million dollar question. and, simply, we don't really know. so they've obviously been extinct from the area for quite some time. and so that's maybe part of the mystery and we might be able to unravel some of that with the work that we're doing now. dna tests could hold the answer, if you can get a sample from a pine marten. so the velcro here... inside this tube is velcro designed to stick to the animal's fur, capturing samples that can be sent off to the lab for analysis. dna tests can tell us more about the size of the new population.

there could be pine martens in here making a den to have their kids in. and perhaps where the pine martens originally came from. i don't think we really know how pine marten got back into the new forest, and probably we never will. it's suspected that perhaps they escaped from somewhere where they were being held captive, but it really doesn't matter how they got here. it's the fact that they're here and they're doing so well that's so important. pine martens are still critically endangered in wales and england, having been heavily hunted and much of their woodland habitat lost. knowing why the environment here is so good for pine martens will help conservation efforts elsewhere. helen briggs, bbc news, lyndhurst. a public inquiry into the future of the crooked house pub — otherwise known as "britain's wonkiest inn" — has been delayed until next year. the pub in dudley was destroyed last year in a suspected arson attack, and its owners are currently appealling an enforcement notice requiring them to rebuild it within three years.

joanne writtle has more. intricate drone footage of the crooked house pub in hindley has emerged, which some believe could be used to ensure britain's wonkiest pub is rebuilt as close to the original as possible. the crooked house was destroyed by fire in a suspected arson attack last august, then demolished two days later, bringing huge campaigns to restore it. now, a man who took detailed drone images of the pub in 2016 and usually works with house—builders to provide 3d models, has released this footage. the push for me to capture such a building was to capture a heritage type building and capture it in its glory. i thought it'd be great to have that in the future because you never know what's going to happen. and then ironically, it was then burnt down in 2023, and i then stepped up and thought, i need to do something with this model. and i then thought an architect could have that model and then reprocess that model for a builder to actually rebuild

that building back to its former glory. you can zoom in to the joints between bricks and you can measure that down to the millimetre. so we know what the angle of that crookedness is with that house now. and we can measure that angle to a huge degree of accuracy. a public inquiry to decide whether the owners should rebuild the pub has been postponed until spring next year. south staffordshire council served an enforcement order on the owners ate farms ltd, as well as its director george adam taylor and former director carly taylor, who stepped down in december ordering them to rebuild the pub within three years. ate farms launched an appeal against the order in march. the council said the planning inspectorate had accepted a request by the owners to postpone the inquiry. i do hope that, you know, myself and my family can come back and revisit the pub wherever it's built. hopefully it's back here and to actually see the building back in its former glory, because

it was a great iconic pub for the local area. joanne writtle, bbc news. now, he's best known as the frontman of the legendary us group the four seasons. well, frankie valli has marked his 90th birthday by being honoured with a star on the hollywood walk of fame. the band — founded in newjersey in 1960 — had a string of global hits including big girls don't cry, can't take my eyes off of you and walk like a man, with their career later being immortalised in the musicaljersey boys. at a ceremony in los angeles on friday, the singer described the star as a highlight of his life. you know, it's hard to believe that this whole thing started when i was about 1a or 15 years old, and i did my very first performance in front of an audience, and that was a school recital, where i sang white christmas a cappella.

and who would have ever dreamed that it would have gone this far? it's the ath of may today, which means it's star wars day. why?, i hear you ask. may the fourth be with you! the famous line is of course �*may the force be with you', but it's an annualjoke that fans of the franchise love to make. it's also the 25th anniversary of the first prequel in the star wars saga — episode one: the phantom menace. it's been re—released in cinemas this weekend, and to mark the anniversary, mark hamill — aka luke skywalker — took to the white house briefing yesterday. have a look. well, you know, i called him mr president, he said "you can call mejoe." and i said, "can i call you joe—bi wan kenobi?" he liked that.

but listen, i'm not really here to dominate. i have to turn it back over to our wonderful press secretary. so thank you all so much. thank you. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the weather at this time of the year really can be very fickle, as we've seen over the past week. and during the bank holiday weekend, it's going to be a mixture really, where there'll be some sunshine at times. there'll also be some heavy showers. it could be quite warm, but we're not going to reach the high temperatures that we've seen in the past few days. take you back to thursday and all four home nations

had their warmest day of the year. and we maintain those sort of temperatures in western scotland and northern ireland on friday. but for suffolk and north wales, it was much colder because of cloud and rain. that's moving its way a little bit further north. but we've got some more rain to come on saturday across northern ireland. some heavy showers pushing across scotland, it may turn a bit drier in north wales and northern england, but still a lot of cloud. to the south, though, we'll see some sunshine after a chilly start. a few showers developing in the south east of england, but in the sunshine across midlands, southern england, south wales, east anglia, it's going to be a warmer day — 16, 17 degrees. we could reach 19 in the northwest of scotland before those heavy showers arrive. there's a few more showers, though, to come in scotland and northern ireland, perhaps the far north of england, should be a bit brighter, but a bit of sunshine will trigger some thunderstorms. the odd shower across england and wales and a bit of rain coming into the far southwest. that's keeping temperatures a little bit lower here. but otherwise, widely, temperatures are going to be a reasonable 16 to 18 degrees on sunday afternoon. now, there is a bit

of rain in the southwest. it's on that weather front there. an area of low pressure. not really much wind to move things on at all. there's a bit of uncertainty as to how far north that showery rain could get, but it's pushing a little further north into england and wales. there'll be some sunshine, but we're also going to trigger some more of these slow moving, heavy thundery showers, particularly in scotland. and temperature—wise on monday afternoon for the bank holiday, typically 16 or 17 degrees. now, after the bank holiday, the weather is going to change. wouldn't you know it? and it's going to get a lot drier, because that area of low pressure moves away and this area of high pressure will build in. now, around the top of it next week, we could well see a bit of rain towards north western areas of the uk, but on the whole it is looking like it's going to get dry after monday. there'll be more in the way of sunshine around as well and if anything, those temperatures are going to be rising, getting into the low 20s in many

places later in the week.

live from london. this is bbc news, the cia chief is in cairo to try to help mediate a gaza ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. after strong results for labour in local elections in england, rishi sunak insists the conservatives have "everything to fight for". and why a north korean propoganda song has become a tiktok hit.

hello, i'm samantha simmonds. we start with the latest on the israel gaza war. the head of the us central intelligence agency, william burns, is in cairo to help try to mediate a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. hamas has confirmed that its delegation will travel to cairo today to resume talks. negotiators have arrived in egypt for the talks. foreign mediators have been waiting for a response from the group to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for a0 days and to exchange hostages for palestinian prisoners. it comes amid us media reports that israel has given hamas a week to agree to the current proposal or it will begin its long—threatened offensive in gaza's southernmost city, rafah. israel insists that is necessary to defeat hamas's remaining fighters. but there has been widespread international concern over the fate of the more than one—million

palestinians sheltering there.