from the ruins of 6323's biggest hospital after a two—week operation by israel which said it was targeting a hamas base there. russia denies any involvement in "havana syndrome" — a mysterious illness affecting us diplomats across the globe. and jameela — the baby gorilla on a journey to find a surrogate mum. hello and thanks for joining us on bbc news. we start with some breaking news from gaza. palestinian medical sources say an israeli air strike has killed three foreign aid workers and their palestinian driver in the city of deir al—balah

in the central gaza strip. localjournalists published pictures of their passports showing that they were from australia, poland and the united kingdom. we'll have more on this later in the programme. to the other big story we've been following — iran has vowed to respond decisively, after accusing israel of killing a senior revolutionary guards commander — brigadier—general mohamed reza zahedi — in an air strike on an iranian consulate building in syria's capital, damascus. at least five people are reported to have died in the strike — which has raised fears of an escalation of fighting in the middle east. israel has declined to comment. our international editor, jeremy bowen has the lastest. a few minutes after the attack, the building in iran's diplomatic compound in a well—off central area of damascus seems to be on fire. the israeli strike destroyed the iranian consulate. it was a precision attack against a senior commander who will have worked hard to keep his movements secret. despite that, israeli

intelligence must have tracked general mohamed reza zahedi to the meeting he was having in damascus. he was the senior iranian general in syria and lebanon — two countries iran regards as critical parts in what it says is its system of forward defence, the so—called axis of resistance. in damascus the syrian foreign minister said the general and others who died were killed by israel. translation: we strongly condemn this criminal act carried out _ by the zionist enemy. these attacks can only be met by further steadfastness, further support for the palestinian people and further resistance whether in iraq or in southern lebanon. and the iranian ambassador to damascus hinted at retaliation. | translation: definitely the zionist | regime knows better than anyone that

such crimes and violating international law will have its response in an appropriate time. the raid is the biggest single escalation yet in the deepening war that has been fought since the hamas attacks last october between israel and iran's network of allies here in the north of israel across the border in south lebanon and in the wider middle east. since the beginning of this year, exchanges of fire between israel and hezbollah — the iran—backed militia and political movement in lebanon have become more intense. israeli jets have been raiding deeper into lebanon and syria. in iran tonight, protesters went out onto the streets of tehran, chanting, "death to israel!" the iranian regime believes its security depends on deterring its enemies. the raid on damascus showed that

it's not doing that. the question now is what the iranians will do to show that they are not deterred by israel. a response might not be immediate or straightforward and is likely to be calibrated to reflect iran's reluctance to get involved in an all—out war. jeremy bowen, bbc news in northern israel. let's speak to michael o'hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the brookings institution — a us based think tank. what action do you think the iranians will take if it is israel that's behind the attack? i5 iranians will take if it is israel that's behind the attack? is hard to say because _ that's behind the attack? is hard to say because of— that's behind the attack? is hard to say because of course, _ that's behind the attack? is hard to say because of course, there's - say because of course, there's already a fairly consistent amount of violence, notjust in the tragedy in gaza but of course with hezbollah in gaza but of course with hezbollah in lebanon. a natural response would be to ask hezbollah to step that up,

for a iranian operatives to try and give that kind of an order or direction. but there's already a fair amount direction. but there's already a fairamount of direction. but there's already a fair amount of crossfire as your correspondent just said, fair amount of crossfire as your correspondentjust said, of course, the goal here is not to do something thatis the goal here is not to do something that is so big that it causes israel to escalate and end up in an all—out work. there could be a volley of rockets, larger in scale and size, perhaps lethality, into israel at some point in the coming week or two, that would be the most straightforward. you can also imagine a qualitatively different kinds of attacks that could involve terrorism directly on israeli soil, the old traditional type but on a larger scale. that would be a little more risky and hard to predict but i wouldn't think at a minimum there wouldn't think at a minimum there would be some kind of a volley of rocket fire in the next week or two or three that would be disproportionate to what to ongoing. and michael, the israeli military

says it does not comment on foreign media reports, but why would this strike be in their interests? i’ee strike be in their interests? i've been trying _ strike be in their interests? i've been trying to _ strike be in their interests? i�*e: been trying to place it strike be in their interests? i"2 been trying to place it in perspective, the united states of course killed so the in 2020, he was the in the iraqi capital city of the timejust as this the in the iraqi capital city of the time just as this operative was in the syrian capital city. if the americans could kill soleimani, they could kill this one. there was plenty of attack against israel proper and israelis proper coming from lebanon and this uranian mastermind was involved in that so perhaps israel is just trying to say if you're going to attack us, we are going to go ahead and attack you and we are still not having to go on to uranian soil to do this so perhaps they still feel like there is a big threshold that will prevent iran

from doing anything too big. i think it's simple... israelis are dying, coming in and are being killed by uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael, uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael. we'll— uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael, we'll have _ uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael, we'll have to _ uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael, we'll have to leave _ uranian supplied weaponry. thank you michael, we'll have to leave it - michael, we'll have to leave it there for now. more on that breaking news from gaza — palestinian medical sources say an israeli air strike has killed three foreign aid workers and their palestinian driver in the city of deir al—balah. let's speak to our gaza correspondent rushdi abualouf, who spent the first few months of the conflict inside gaza. he's now in istanbul. what more can you tell us? yeah, we understand — what more can you tell us? yeah, we understand the _ what more can you tell us? yeah, we understand the information _ what more can you tell us? yeah, we understand the information is - what more can you tell us? yeah, we understand the information is still - understand the information is still very small and it's still emerging as we speak, but what we know so far is that a car was travelling from north to south and when it was near an area in central gaza it was hit

by an airstrike an area in central gaza it was hit by an air strike according to the hamas run health ministry and local people in the area, it was a big explosion and it took them like 45 minutes according to a doctor in al—aqsa hospital that i spoke to this evening. it was about 45 minutes between the explosion and the bodies arriving to the hospital, it was three foreign nationals wearing blue vests with bullet proof vests and with the words central kitchen signed on them and also the palestinian driver was driving them was also killed in the air strike it where the explosion near there. their bodies are now in central gaza hospital al—aqsa and there is more information will emerge in the next few hours about what exactly happened and what is the nationality

of those who were killed, but so far, yes, we can confirm that at least four people killed in that attack, three of them are foreign nationals. ., attack, three of them are foreign nationals. . ., , ., nationals. thanks for giving us that information. _ nationals. thanks for giving us that information, richie _ nationals. thanks for giving us that information, richie abu _ nationals. thanks for giving us that information, richie abu all. - after two weeks of heavy bombardment, israel says it's completed its military operation at gaza's biggest hospital, and all troops have now left the area. most of al shifa's medical complex has been left in ruins. during the operation in northern gaza, the idf says it killed 200 "terrorists", claiming hamas had regrouped inside the grounds. palestinian media is reporting that a mother and her son, who were both doctors, were also killed. lucy williamson, has the latest from jerusalem. shifa's protection was its identity. hard to recognise it as a hospital now. the surgery unit, emergency department, wards and corridors, imploded, anonymised by war.

patients like jana, trapped inside during the two weeks of fighting. translation: they didn't provide water for the last two days. - there were sounds of shooting and bombing. the explosions from the artillery lit up the room we were in and shook the whole building. |translation: they let in a veryj small amount of food that wasn't enough. we're 150 patients and 50 medical staff. no treatment, no medicine, and constant bombing for 24 hours. israel called this a precise and limited operation against hamas fighters. it says 200 gunmen were killed and hundreds of people arrested, and that its right to defeat hamas trumps the protection hospitals have under international law. at home, israel's war

with hamas is popular, israel's prime minister is not. for months, benjamin netanyahu has been caught between the demands of hostage families and his own hard right government. now, pre—war protests over his judicial reforms are resurfacing too. tents have once again appeared outside the israeli parliament with the same simple demand — go. protesters here won't be satisfied even if benjamin netanyahu brings home the hostages or dismantles hamas. there are new posters — "you're in charge, you're responsible," they say. but they wanted him out before the war. now they're back, and they want him gone even more. karen has protested for years against the man known here as bibi. if bibi netanyahu brings the hostages home, will you support him to stay? i don't see the relations between the two. he needs to go just for the fact that 250 people were kidnapped.

he needs to go. it doesn't matter if he's bringing them back. the national unity that followed the hamas attacks is breaking down. six months on, israeli soldiers are still fighting an old enemy in gaza. but benjamin netanyahu is facing his own at home. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a russian court has extended the pre—trial detention of a russian—american journalist by another two months. alsu kurmasheva was charged in 2023 with failing to self—register as a foreign agent, and for spreading false information about moscow's armed forces. thejournalist worked for radio free europe in prague. a pakistani court has suspended a fourteen—yearjail sentence handed to the former prime minister, imran khan, and his wife, bushra bibi, for corruption. mr khan, who's been in prison since august, won't be released because he still faces other convictions.

the corruption case relates to the selling of state gifts when he was in power. a temporary alternative route for ships is to be opened in the us city of baltimore following the collapse of the francis scott key bridge. six people died after the dali cargo ship struck the bridge last week. president biden is scheduled to visit the site on friday. a disgraced former socialite lawyer convicted of the murder of his wife and son in the us state of south carolina has been given an additional sentence of a0 years forfinancialfraud. alex murdaugh is already serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders, which prosecutors said were an attempt to distract from his financial affairs. a new hate crime law that has come into effect in scotland has been challenged by the author of the harry potter books. jk rowling is known for expressing her views on transgender issues

and says the legislation is a threat to free speech. but the first minister, humza yousaf, says it will guard people from what he calls a "rising tide of hatred." here's james cook. this is a nation struggling to strike a balance between liberty and safety, between freedom of speech and protection from hatred. these protesters think the new hate crime law gets that balance wrong. but the first minister disagrees. i'm very proud of the hate crime act. we have seen, i'm afraid, notjust in the uk and of course scotland, but right across many parts of the world, this kind of rising tide of hatred against people because of their protected characteristics. so unless your behaviour is threatening or abusive, and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about in terms of the new offences being created. but what exactly is in the hate crime act? the law creates a crime of stirring up hatred relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex. it also includes racial

discrimination, although that was already illegal under an old law. a publicity campaign is now encouraging people to report behaviour which crosses a line from offensive, shocking or disturbing, to threatening and abusive. but one group is not protected by the law — women. jk rowling, who lives in edinburgh, says that is wrong. 0n social media today, the author posted about several trans people, who are protected, concluding... there will be a rush to report people to the police, including high—profile individuals. i imagine that there will be many complaints, for example, made againstjk rowling. so i think that yes, there is a high chance

that the police will be overwhelmed with a lot of complaints, some of which will be purely spurious. the scottish government says it's planning a separate law to tackle hatred and harassment of women. but for now, senior police officers are worried about the impact of this act, with the complaints already coming in. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the kremlin has dismissed a media report that links a russian intelligence unit to so—called "havana syndrome" — a mystery illness which has affected us diplomats. an investigation by the insider, der spiegel and cbs alleges that the americans were targeted with "directed energy" weapons. 0ne victim of the syndrome — an fbi agent — told 60 minutes about her experience of being hit by a powerful force at her home in florida 2021.

inside my right ear, it was like a dentist drilling on steroids. that feeling when it gets too close to your eardrum, it's like that times ten. it was like a high—pitched metallic drilling noise and it knocked me forward a 45 degree angle this way. the syndrome was first identified in cuba's capital city in 2016, when us diplomats complained of dizziness, headaches and a painful sound in their ears. us officials have previously said it's unlikely a foreign power is to blame. the kremlin spokesman, dmitry peskov, says the new accusations are unfounded. translation: it is - absolutely not a new issue. for many years, the issue of so—called "havana syndrome" has been played up in mass media. often it was connected with accusations of russian involvement, but no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these

unfounded accusations anywhere. christo grozev, one of the authors behind the insider's year—long investigation explains what this syndrome actually is. it was a number of people simultaneously reported very similar health conditions, which included grating noises, loss of balance, vertigo and nausea, which actually went went worse as the days went by. went worse as the days went by. most of these people were american and some were canadian diplomats who were working at the compound, the consulate compound in havana. this did not happen only in havana or with the next few years., over the next few years. media have published reports about the same syndrome occurring on american diplomats in many places around the world, which includes china, geneva, vienna, london, warsaw and many other places. and until we published our investigation, there was a lot

of confusion whether this thing even exists or is it some sort of a psychosomatic self—delusion by many of the victims. we believe now that there is a unit within russia's military intelligence, the same unit that actually went after the skripals in 2018 in salisbury, who has developed the technology, has actually — we have written proof that they have been awarded monetary remuneration for developing a technology which they call a wave weapon, an acoustic weapon, and more particular a non—lethal acoustic weapon, to be used in urban warfare scenarios. and we also know that the same unit, members of this unit, have travelled around the world, partly overlapping with incidents that have been reported of this havana syndrome, in particular in germany, in frankfurt in 2014, two times in china in 2016, 2017, and in the republic of georgia in 2019. these are four incidents that we find an overlap between undercover spies from this unit and incidents

that happened there. we're looking for more, but at this point, we can safely say the capability and the presence of the russian intelligence at places where there were such incidents has been proven. germany has partially legalised cannabis, as the government tries to tackle the black—market trade in the drug. germans over the age of 18 can now grow marijuana plants at home and carry the drug for personal use. the new law remains contentious because of health concerns and questions over whether it will help reduce or increase the illicit trade. from berlin — jessica parker reports. # three little birds pitch by my doorstep, singing sweet songs.#. it's out in the open. adults in germany can now possess up to 25 grams of cannabis in public — enough to make dozens ofjoints — and grow up to three plants at home. while people like marcel are planning newly—permitted

cannabis social clubs. not for tourists, though — just german residents. every gram from cannabis which goes from the cannabis social club is one gram that's not on the black market. what do you say to people who say, look, cannabis is addictive and it is harmful, especially to young people? everything has dark sides. and you have to know about the dark sides and only when it's not illegal, you can freely talk about these dark sides. but these cannabis clubs in cities like dresden won't pop up overnight, and come with their own rules — exacerbating fears that demand will quickly outstrip legal supply. translation: we assume that the black market - will be strengthened, particularly at the beginning in the chaos phase, when demand would be great because of the signal this law sends. the black market and criminal networks will adapt and they will

also infiltrate the social clubs. into the highly secure halls of a medical cannabis grower, who are also seeing some deregulation. cannabis will not be a narcotic any more in germany. - it will be just as any other pharmaceutical product, i which makes it much more easierl for patients to get it from a doctor and to get it from the pharmacy. they keep this room at around 23 degrees, but it's also really quite humid. now, there are 650—ish plants in this room and they are almost ready to be harvested. and the psychoactive substance is... the benefits of medical cannabis are debated, while the relaxation around recreational use has been contentious. this is an argument in germany that likely hasn't yet reached full maturity. jessica parker, bbc news, in dresden. let me bring you a story about a baby gorilla who is saying

goodbye to her home in texas to look for a surrogate mum. baby jameela was born prematurely by caesarean section, and despite efforts to unite her with her mother, the newborn was rejected. she's now heading to cleveland zoo with hopes of finding a new mum. she is part of who i am is a keeper now. we wa nt we want them to be as healthy and natural in our zoo environment as possible. she will be a baby of mine forever. mi possible. she will be a baby of mine forever. �* , , possible. she will be a baby of mine forever. �* . , ., _ g forever. all the best for baby jim mueller.

forever. all the best for baby jim mueller- -- _ forever. all the best for baby jim mueller. -- jameela. _ president biden and first lady jill biden have the 141tth white house easter egg roll. this year's event, which carries on a tradition that began in 1878, featured school themes. around 40,000 people were expected to attend the event — where children roll colourful eggs using wooden spoons across the south lawn. the fun was delayed by a storm in the area — but in the end, nine egg—rolling sessions took place across the day. some breaking news — north korea has fired a ballistic missile according to south korea's military. japan's coastguard said the apparent missile had already fallen into the sea outside of its exclusive economic zone. we'll have more as we get it, bye for now. hello there. easter monday brought a day of mixed fortunes, and it's going to be a similar story throughout the week. now, across eastern england, we had some sunshine and where it stayed dry, it was relatively warm — 16 degrees, 61 fahrenheit. but cloud and rain pushing its way

steadily northwards. it stayed rather grey and overcast in western scotland, with just a high of 5 celsius here. now, that weatherfront is going to linger, weakening all the time. but a brisk northeasterly wind will dominate the story across the far north of scotland. clearer skies for a time, early morning mist and fog, perhaps, for england and wales. some showers easing away from the south—east. but eventually, as we go through the day, we'll start to see some outbreaks of rain pushing into the south—west. and as this front gradually moves its way north, the winds will strengthen here. but ahead of it, with some sunny spells injust a few isolated showers, one or two spots, again, could see temperatures into the mid—teens. not a bad afternoon with a few isolated showers for northern ireland. scotland will stay rather grey and overcast, with outbreaks of showery rain, and that brisk north—easterly wind at times will make it feel rather cool, just a maximum of 6—8 celsius. now, we'll see that frontal system down to the south—west, bringing some wet and windy weather through the night tuesday into the early hours of wednesday morning.

the wind direction coming from the south—west, so it will be a mild start to wednesday, with double figures perhaps likely across the far south—east. but we will see outbreaks of rain gradually pushing their way steadily northwards. the wind direction here is south—westerly, so driving in some milder air, but we still keep that north—easterly feed in scotland — a real contrast with the temperatures over the next few days. so we're looking at 5—7 degrees across the far north—east, highs of 15, possibly 16 degrees once again, somewhere across south and eastern england. now, towards the end of the week, low pressure is going to continue to dominate, but still that wind source coming all the way from the south—west. so it will be mild, but it will still continue to be pretty wet at times. but the mild air sitting across the vast majority, still the far north—east of scotland staying on the cooler side. so, here, those temperatures will struggle a little, but there'll be showers or longer spells of rain.

when we get some brightness, temperatures are going to respond. take care.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all of the news

for you at the top of the hour — straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. when the us supreme court overturned the roe v wade decision, establishing a woman's right to an abortion, it looked like america's so—called right to life campaigners were winning. now? well, it's not so certain. the conservative movement is split on just how far anti—abortion legislation should go. 0pinion polls suggest most americans don't believe abortion should be outlawed, and some republicans fear this could be a vote loser. my guest is lila rose, described as one of the fiercest anti—abortion activists in america. are her absolutist views turning america off?