hello. i'm nicky schiller. welcome to the programme. we start this hour with the tensions in the middle east. iran's foreign minister has downplayed israel's involvement in the recent attack on his country, describing the weapons used as "children's toys". hossein amir—abdollahian made the comments in an interview with us media. he said israeli microdrones used in the operation had caused no deaths or damage, and dismissed it as a "desperate attempt" by israel to "make a victory out of their repeated defeats". he said iran would respond at the "maximum level" if israel acts against its interests. tehran�*s muted response to friday morning's events has raised hopes that tensions between the countries can be dampened, and a wider escalation averted. our first report is from our north

america correspondent, will vernon. it's been just over 2a hours since iran came under attack. us officials say israel fired at least one missile into iranian territory, no major damage or casualties were reported. this was a relatively small—scale strike by israel. earlier, the us secretary of state antony blinken would not comment on reports the white house was informed in advance about the israeli assault. the united states has not been involved in any offensive operations. what we're focused on, what the g7 is focused on — and, again, it's reflected in our statement and

in our conversations — is the work to de—escalate tensions. and this is why the us and its allies want to calm tensions. last sunday, iran attacked israel, with more than 300 missiles and drones causing little damage. the fear in the west is that a cycle of retaliation between israel and iran could ignite a wider war. and there is hope too that the limited nature of the israeli attack will allow the iranians to walk away from any further response. officials in tehran have been downplaying the significance of israel's strike. iran's president didn't even mention it in his speech yesterday. but tensions are running high in the middle east and diplomats will be working hard behind—the—scenes on de—escalation. the key question now, what will these two well—armed adversaries do next? will vernon, bbc news, washington. and a reminder, you can get much more on the tensions between israel and iran on the bbc news website, including this analysis from our chief international correspondent lyse doucet, who says there's an audible sigh of relief in the region. check it out online

or on the bbc news app. staying in the middle east. a base used by pro—iranian militias in iraq has been damaged by a large explosion, a day after israel's presumed strike on iran. one person was killed and eight others injured in the blast and intense fire at the kalsu military base, south of the capital, baghdad. this footage from the scene shows the aftermath of the explosion, which iraqi security sources have described as a "bombing" which hit weapons and vehicles. the base is used by the popular mobilization forces, an umbrella organisation linking several pro—iran militias who've recently attacked us personnel in iraq. the pentagon says it has not carried out any new strike in iraq. the six—month—long war in gaza continues. these are scenes outside the hospital in rafah, in the south of the gaza strip. nine people — including four children — are reported to have been killed in an overnight israeli strike on a residential building there.

the hamas—run health ministry says more than 3a,000 people have now been killed in the territory since the war began. more than a million people are sheltering in rafah, where israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, remains committed to a big military offensive to defeat hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by many western governments. the us and other allies have warned mr netanyahu against such a full—scale assault on rafah. our correspondent injerusalem, wyre davies, has the latest on those overnight strikes. for more than six months, there has been this intense war in gaza, more than 30,000 people killed, most of them, many of them civilians, according to the hamas—run health ministry. and there were casualties overnight, israeli airstrikes both in central gaza and more notably in the south, around rafah. rafah is a big town, a city almost, in southern gaza,

where israel alleges that hamas, or the remnants of hamas and its leadership, is still based. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has avowed on many occasions that there needs to be and will be a full—scale military operation in rafah. and the americans in particular, even yesterday, were warning israel against that, but those warnings are falling on deaf ears. and i think once this israeli religious holiday of passover has finished in about a week, i think there will probably be a nod towards much greater israeli military operations in southern gaza, but we saw some of that last night, with reports of several civilians being killed. meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in gaza isn't improving either? no, that is one reason and perhaps the main reason for the american and british warnings to israel, because they know a full—scale military operation in rafah, where there are more than i million

internal refugees, will lead to further displacement and hardship and further humanitarian crisis. there is already a humanitarian crisis in gaza, people dying from injuries because they cannot get the right medical intervention, dying from hunger. more food and more aid is getting through, america acknowledges that, and there was some developments with the world food programme saying they would get involved with some american pier building to bring in aid, so there is positive news on aid getting in, but there is a desperate humanitarian crisis. and clearly, asjoe biden has said, not enough aid is getting into gaza to alleviate the crisis. five days ago, ibrahim isbetah, his wife and children managed to flee to cairo, but much of his family is still in rafah. he told me about their journey earlier. in order to flee from rafah to the egyptian side, you have to enlist with a company. you have to wait 30

days to be put on the list. actually, i have raised money and i pay for me and for my family. unfortunately, my family made it and right now, we are in cairo. but still other families like my brother and his wife and sister and husband and his wife and sister and husband and kids are still trapped. find and his wife and sister and husband and kids are still trapped. and what is the situation _ and kids are still trapped. and what is the situation like _ and kids are still trapped. and what is the situation like in _ and kids are still trapped. and what is the situation like in rafah? - and kids are still trapped. and what is the situation like in rafah? the i is the situation like in rafah? the situation is _ is the situation like in rafah? the situation is very _ is the situation like in rafah? tie situation is very dire, actually. the idf are all crossing the gaza strip. we are afraid about what is happening and the media was focusing on the iranian response and reaction. at the same time and behind the scenes in the past two days, we are talking about the military destroyed and nobody talks about this because what the media was focusing on was the iranian response on the israeli attack in

syria. so right now, all the people in rafah, they are trying to flee, but flee to wear? we flee from gaza, we flee from the north, from khan younis to rafah as the idf informed the people using social media or dropped a leaflet about rafah is the most safe place, there is no better place, but right this moment, where should we go? it is not allowed to go to the north. even in khan younis, we are talking about a ghost town. this moment today, wejust discovered 100 killed persons, mass graves inside the hospital, we are talking about a ghost town. so we are thinking where we should go, but no—one can answer this question. find no-one can answer this question. and how no—one can answer this question. and how concerned are you about the israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu's plans to carry out more of an offensive in rafah and what it will mean for the people that left there? �* ~ . , will mean for the people that left there? �* . . , ., will mean for the people that left there? n . , ., , there? actually, what makes me scared and _ there? actually, what makes me scared and other _ there? actually, what makes me scared and other people, - there? actually, what makes me scared and other people, at - there? actually, what makes me scared and other people, at thel scared and other people, at the beginning, you asked the president and other leaders in the world who said, we are against any operation in rafah. but before two days ago, there were behind —— behind the scenes message like, we are not supporting a wide operation in rafah. so the message has changed and now we are concerned about a ground invasion in rafah. and right this morning after what we witnessed in recent macro hospital in khan younis in the north, we are fully understanding. so we're scared, we are traumatised, because we are fully understanding, what that mean? nobody will be safe, this is the first thing? secondly, we are

talking about 2 million people. they are building a shelter. so if we throw a stone on this, at least 100 persons will get hit. if we are going to use aeroplanes and tanks and all these things. i spoke to many people and i told them, in seven months, 311,000 people get killed. if there is a ground invasion in rafah, in one week, the number will be the same because it is fully grounded and we are fully understanding about a ground invasion. to the latest now on the ukraine war. a russian official says a ukrainian drone strike has killed two people in the belgorod region, which borders ukraine. the governor says a residential building and a barn in the village of poroz were completely burned down. the governor of smolensk, just north of the belgorod region,

says a ukrainian drone hit a fuel depot there overnight, setting it on fire. it comes as the us house of representatives has moved a step closer to approving a much—delayed $60 billion package of military aid for ukraine. democrats backed a procedural measure that will allow a vote on the bill later on saturday. the republican house speaker, mikejohnson, who's long blocked the aid, still faces some resistance from the right of his party. i've been speaking to david dunn, a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham. he told me whether the bill will pass. well, what happened here is that there's a number of votes going to take place. for israel, for asia and for ukraine, crucially, the largest amount for ukraine. and what that's about is making sure that the democrats are supporting the bill that

would not get through with just republican votes, but because there's support from across the aisle, it's assured to pass. and that will, of course, break the logjam that's been there for six months. and as a consequence, allow it to go forward. do you think it will go through? i think, yeah, the biggest hurdle was the vote yesterday. with that out of the way, the democrats have made it clear that there is enough support for that to go through. that was really a small minority of republican ultra—right house members who are holding this up. and they were putting pressure on speakerjohnson, who was threatened with his job. he was responding to that threat and not letting this go for the last six months. now he is being assured that he will be allowed to see out his tenure till the end of november with democrat support. and as a consequence of that, he's acquiesced and allowed this to happen. and there's clear support across

the aisle for this to be passed. so if the bill does pass, as you suggest, how long will it take for the money to actually get to ukraine? well, the american military are the ones who expedite this. they have been sitting in poland and germany with these stocks of patriot missiles and artillery shells, waiting for the word from washington to supply ukraine with those. so we can expect that to happen fairly quickly. this is also a massive aid budget. i mean, $60 billion. in context, that's more or less the equivalent of the uk defence budget. it's almost 80% of what americans have given so far since the invasion two years ago. so it's a huge injection of cash or supplies. it also actually will

include new new equipment. so the longer—range attacking missiles, a 300—kilometre range would all be part of. there's been a recognition across the piece, actually, to the united states. a man who set himself on fire outside the manhattan court where former president donald trump's hush—money trial is being held has died, according to us media. the man doused himself in a liquid before throwing conspiracy—theory pamphlets into the air. he was taken to hospital but later died. as our north america correspondent nada tawfik reports, it happened as the jury selection for mr trump's trial was completed. journalists here had just learned thatjury selection had concluded slightly after 1:30 in the afternoon, when the man, later identified as a florida resident in his mid—30s, entered the park. he threw coloured pamphlets in the air, doused himself in lighterfluid and set himself on fire. and we here could see the blaze, could feel that heat. now, officials later said that he wasn't targeting any individual, any group or, in fact, this trial. their investigation is ongoing, but they believe he was a conspiracy theorist.

now, they say they are going to be reviewing security protocols around this courthouse, in light of the high—profile nature of this trial, and whether, in fact, to close that park down to the public. but nevertheless, court resumed. it remained on schedule. and opening statements in this trial will now begin on monday. donald trump leaving the court today again slammed this case as a hoax, as a witch hunt. he is charged with falsifying business records to hide a so—called hush—money payment to the adult film star stormy daniels, in order to influence the 2016 election, to hide a potentially damaging sex scandal. he denies all wrongdoing and the extramarital affair. and again, opening statements will begin on monday. and we will have coverage of that trial on monday. now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello to you. the first of 46 sessions at the world snooker championship is under way, with the defending

champion luca brecel among the first to get going. it's the sport's marathon event, with the later matches longer than any other tournament, played over more than two weeks in sheffield. after back—to—back century breaks in his first two frames, brecel is taking a 2—2 score in the interval. he went 2—0 because of those breaks but dave gilbert has won two since, 2-2 at but dave gilbert has won two since, 2—2 at the crucible. max verstappen has become the first driver this century to qualify on pole position for the opening five races of a formula one season. after winning the morning's sprint race at the chinese grand prix, the world champion qualified fastest for sunday's main race ahead of sergio perez and fernando alonso. lewis hamilton, who was second in the sprint, was then knocked out of the first session of qualifying and will start 18th out of 20 on the grid in shanghai. manchester city were knocked out of the champions league quarter finals by real madrid this week, but can still win a double,

with the next step their fa cup semi final against chelsea on saturday. they might be without striker erling haaland, who asked to come off during that match. and city will be up against one of theirformer players, cole palmer. who's having a sensational season for chelsea. isaid many i said many times maybe he didn't get the minute he deserved and now he is at chelsea. i am happy for him, he is a lovely guy, a shy cake, he has incredible potential. so it is what it is. it's chelsea's second trip to wembley this season after the efl cup final, which they lost to liverpool. and with their season not exactly going to plan — they're 9th in the premier league — the fa cup is theirfinal chance to win a trophy. they have the benefit of playing a team that had a long night on wednesday. we know very well when you play 120 minutes in a champions league,

therefore, it is massive and the emotional thing, therefore, it is massive and the emotionalthing, it therefore, it is massive and the emotional thing, it is not always easy to recover after you lose, the possibility to go to the semifinal. yes, of course, it is going to be tough for them, like for us. but we remember —— we need to remember that they have an unbelievable squad. the nba playoff lineups are now complete after wins for the new orleans pelicans and miami heat in the final play in tournament games. the pelicans overcame the sacramento kings and will face the oklahoma city thunder in round one. last season's beaten finalists, miami, saw off the chicago bulls and will face the top—seeded boston celtics. i have an appreciation for the things you can't buy. the things that you have to earn. we had to earn this. you can't influence it, you can't pay money for it, you actually have to collectively come together to earn it and we had to do it the hard wayjust together to earn it and we had to do it the hard way just to together to earn it and we had to do it the hard wayjust to get together to earn it and we had to do it the hard way just to get this first ticket punched. for the invitation, you know, to this stance.

dance. round three of the chevron championship — the first women's golf major of the year — commences in a few hour's time, with nelly korda well placed to make it five lpga tour wins in a row. the world number one is just a shot behind joint leaders imjin hee of korea and thailand's atthaya thitikul, who are on eight—under. im made five birdies and no bogeys in her round of 67. thitikul, the world number 10, went one better, with six birdies, but dropped one shot to match the korean. korda bounced back from a double bogey on the first to shoot a 69 and sit in outright third place. i'm just at the halfway point right now, so the amount of golf that i've played, i still have that amount to go. so there is still a lot of golf left and anything can happen. i'm just going to stick to my process and vibe with it, is what my coach says! and that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. some roads in wales will revert to 30—miles—per—hour, following a backlash

against the welsh government's default policy to reduce speeds to 20—miles—per—hour. wales' transport minister said the changes would address concerns many people had about the £34 million project. 0ur wales political correspondent, cemlyn davies, reports. this is the clearest the new transport secretary ken skates has been about his thoughts on the controversial 20mph policy. earlier this week, he talked about wanting a truly targeted approach, with the policy focused on built—up areas, where you have schools, parks, hospitals and so on. and he said that there would be some changes. and we've had a bit more detail from him in an interview he's given to north wales live, where he also admits that the welsh government has got things wrong on this policy. "we've put our hands up to say the guidance has to be corrected," he said. and he's also said that he wants communities to play a more active part in deciding what speed limits

should be, rather than having speed limits imposed upon them. and on the potential timescale, well, he said he will give more detail on that when he gives a statement to the senedd next tuesday. in the meantime, councils have welcomed these comments and have said that mr skates has brought a more pragmatic approach compared to what was previously the case. it's about making sure we've got the balance right and that those commuter routes and those streets that are probably caught up by the 20mph criteria, that at a local level, people will say, is that actually the right speed for the road? but of course, any changes to the guidance will inevitably lead to further questions about the way this policy was introduced in the first place back in september, and may well be met by opposition from road safety campaigners, who are urging ken skates to hold his nerve

and keep the policy as it is. from wales to scotland. members of the scottish green party are to be given a vote on whether to continue its power—sharing agreement with the snp. it follows an outcry about the scottish government's decision to ditch key targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a move which is said to have angered green party colleagues. the vote will be held at an extraordinary general meeting, and officials say it will be binding on the party. lancashire police says it's "reviewing information" about allegations against the suspended conservative mp mark menzies. mr menzies lost the whip after the times newspaper reported that he had asked a party activist for thousands of pounds, to pay what he described as "bad people" who had locked him inside a flat. he told the newspaper he strongly disputed the allegations. the author of a landmark review into gender identity services for children in england has called criticism of her report "inaccurate" and "unforgivable", and revealed she's been advised not to travel on public transport,

due to safety concerns. in an interview with the times, dr hilary cass said she wished to address the "disinformation" circulating, saying it put children at risk. she has claimed even before her review was published, incorrect allegations about her conclusions surfaced online. she also hit out at labour mp dawn butler, who questioned health secretary victoria atkins over the cass review. a chess master has broken the record for the longest marathon of the game ever played. tunde 0nakoya, who is from nigeria, has played for 58 consecutive hours in new york's times square. he is trying to raise one million dollars for charity to support chess education for children, and was cheered on by supporters from the city's nigerian community. i can't process a lot of the emotions i feel right now, i don't have the right words for them, but i know we did

something truly remarkable. i mean, in documented human history, no—one has ever played chess for this long, you know, 56 hours nonstop, and we just broke that record, and i think we can keep going for a few more minutes or hours, so the next person finds it extremely difficult to break the new record as well. and this probably won't come as a huge shock to swifties — taylor swift's new album has broken records. the highly—anticipated the tortured poets department, which turned out to be a double album, became the most—streamed album in a single day on spotify and amazon music. with taylor also becoming the most—streamed artist in a day on spotify. the album also broke the record for the biggest pop album of all time by first—day streams on apple music. finally, how's this for a coincidence? 500 residents of the canadian province of newfoundland found themselves on the same cruise,

after purchasing the deal online without prior planning. when the cruise company told some of them that at least 250 newfoundlander couples were already booked, many brought their flags and traditional attires to celebrate the island's heritage on board. lovely story. stay with us on bbc news. hello. it's been a lovely day so far for many, but there's a bit of a chill noticeable out of the sunshine. and if we look at our chart, how temperatures compared to normal for the time of year, the blue colours indicating across eastern parts of the uk and into much of europe showed temperatures below average this weekend. big departure for europe, where we've seen record—breaking heat so far this april. it's because of a change in pressure patterns. to the south and east, low pressure dominating, quite stormy at times here, but to the north and west, with us, a rare glimpse

of high pressure at last. that means for most, we continue with a dry story through today. there's a few isolated showers still. eastern counties of england, cold breeze here as well, thicker cloud with some drizzle pushing into the north of scotland later. and cloud builds up generally speaking, but across these sheltered western areas, it stays sunny, and pleasant in that sunshine. 13 to 15 degrees, compared to a chilly 7 to 10 degrees in the east. 0ne crumb of comfort, i suppose, across some northern eastern areas is that pollen levels, tree pollen that is, is low to moderate, but creeping up to high this afternoon across parts of the southwest. into this evening and overnight, we've got some showers across the south—east for a while, but many places dry. biggest exception, central and eastern scotland will see the cloud thicken up, outbreaks of rain and drizzle. a bit more cloud as well more generally through tonight, so not as cold as the “4, —3 we saw last night. but there will be an isolated touch of frost around, particularly in the sunnier west to begin with.

a lot more cloud, though, across central and eastern scotland, outbreaks of rain, of drizzle that could push into the isle of man, cumbria, northumberland, north lancashire. the clouds will be variable across the rest of england, wales. some sunny breaks, but quite a breeze to east anglia. in the south—east, that wind particularly blustery around canary wharf for those taking part in the london marathon. but by and large, a dry story. 13 degrees on the eastern coast, but look at that, northern ireland, 18 degrees possible out towards the west. now, through into monday, after a chilly start, cloud will spread its way southwards across the country. rain to begin with in northern england, north wales. that rain will spread its way southwards and eastwards through the day. further north, we'll see a little bit of sunshine break through, just one or two showers. warmest conditions in around central scotland, at 16 celsius, but a chilly 9 to 13 degrees across parts of england and wales, and staying cool through this next week.

this is bbc news. the headlines. iran's foreign minister has downplayed israel's involvement a recent missile strike on iran, describing the weapons used as more like children's toys, rather than drones. he said the operation had caused no deaths or damage. he also warned of an �*immediate response' if israel acts against his country's interests. new york city police say the man who set himself alight outside the courthouse where donald trump is being tried has died. maxwell azzarello had recently arrived from florida.

police said he threw pamphlets promoting conspiracy theories in the air before dowsing himself in an accelerant. the us house of representatives has moved a step closer to approving a much delayed $60 billion package of military aid for ukraine. the republican house speaker, mikejohnson still faces some resistance from the right of his party. now on bbc news... it's talking business. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. definitely a big advantage compared to petrol and diesel. obviously the environmental benefits are that on the high—mileage driver, but i have to admit it's been a frustrating experience with public charging. yep, love them or hate them, it is the electric vehicle revolution. but is the boom time over?

as generous government subsidies end and electricity prices surge,