about �* about why we will speak to her about why she resigned. president putin given a red carpet welcome during his state visit to china. great to have you with us. we start with the battle at the un's top court. the international court ofjustice has been asked to consider whether israel is committing genocide. against palestinians in gaza. south africa is calling for an order to immediately halt israel's operation in southern gaza. israel claims that the court is being exploited by south africa. on thursday, south africa's legal team said israel had intended from the very beginning to destroy palestinian life, but the israeli foreign ministry said south africa presented biased and false claims that relied on hamas sources. in a statement, they said:

it is calling on the un's top court to reject it. south africa's lawyers accuse them of acting with legal impunity. israel is increasing its attacks in gaza, and in so doing, is wilfully breaching the binding orders of this court. israel similarly breaches the binding resolutions of the united nations security council. we've heard boasts that israel's army is the most moral army in history. and we've heard denials that there is famine in gaza. for months, people, particularly in the west, have appeared unwilling to accept that the accusations are true. our correspondent is reporting on the story. she sent us this update from the hague. south africa's lawyers were unequivocal. they said palestinians did not need words or diplomacy, they needed an urgent intervention by this court

to ensure palestinians' right to life under the genocide convention was protected. the reason why they are focusing on rafah in these provisional measures request is because they say it is the last refuge which has not been destroyed, the only remaining centre of humanitarian aid, host to one of the only functioning hospitals in gaza, and so therefore they said rafah is central to sustaining palestinian life. without it, there is no possibility of reconstruction. the hearing coincides with the top israel offensive. the usa department says it maintains its support for israel to defend itself but a spokesperson said aid going into the territory through the rafah crossing can come to a halt and he urged israel to provide more sustained humanitarian access to gaza. we continue to _ humanitarian access to gaza. -

continue to press for all border crossings to be open, for deliveries of aids, but more must be done to address the scale of a need. we will continue to press israel and other partners in the region to allow for — ensure the safety of humanitarianism and activities over an additional land crossings and remove impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid and do more to make sure that aides can get to the places it needs to go. those comments come as a us military announced that construction is complete on a temporary fluting peer in gaza, designed to increase aid to gaza. ships carrying assessors are restricted to arrive in the coming days. here is how the distribution system works. commercial ships will collect pallets from cyprus were hundreds of tons of aid are waiting and will be then delivered to a floating platform and get several kilometres off the coast of gaza. it is then picked up by

small us military vessels to bring it to the newly constructed fluting peer connected to the beach in gaza. the biden administration said this week it was sent to $1 billion worth of weapons to israel, doing so requires approvalfrom members of approval from members of congress. approvalfrom members of congress. not all of them. even the democrats are on board were sending the assistance, including the chair of the progressive caucus in the house of representatives. here is what she told us earlier. the administration _ what she told us earlier. the administration is _ what she told us earlier. tue: administration is still what she told us earlier. tte: administration is still working to outline in this moment as towards israel funding, you heard the president last week make killalea on an interview that he will not provide offensive weapons to israel if israel launches a full—scale invasion of rafah. he also said that they had withheld a shipment of bombs to israel which is still being withheld.

the most recent assistance is troubling to us because it has not really been put into context. my understanding is that it is defensive weapons that are part of the weapons that have been approved for some time what i have communicated to them is it is very confusing because it muddies the message. i have also said — the president ue red light on the invasion and i want to make sure the red light is not so thin you can't see it because what we see in rafah today is the amassing of troops to go into rafah, the leaflets within the rafah, 350,000 palestinians you have already fled, and some ground tanks that have made their way into rafah. t5 ground tanks that have made their way into rafah.- their way into rafah. is there an enforcement _ their way into rafah. is there an enforcement of _ their way into rafah. is there an enforcement of the - their way into rafah. is there l an enforcement of the redline? if israel, as you said, it appears they are starting this ground operation and we don't know what it looks like yet, what you expect to see from the

biden administration? the president _ biden administration? the president has _ biden administration? t'te: president has been biden administration? tte: president has been clear, biden administration? tt2 president has been clear, i spoke to him this weekend a couple of times on this topic. he has been cleared and he will not back down that if there is an invasion in rafah there will be no more offensive military assistance provided to israel. the question is what constitutes that invasion. people are fleeing, no safe place to go. there are tanks in rafah. the israeli army has taken over the crossing. aid has essentially stopped. i spoke to administrator a couple of days ago, she told me that the average truck per day for the average truck per day for the last seven days was 30 trucks per day were making their way in to gaza, humanitarian assistance. that is paltry, meaningless, absolutely unacceptable for a place where famine has already set in and 1.1 million people on brink of starvation. we

soke on brink of starvation. we spoke to _ on brink of starvation. we spoke to one _ on brink of starvation. we spoke to one of _ on brink of starvation. we spoke to one of your colleagues, a democrat from north carolina, she told us the us has to live up to the agreements that have been made to israel. help it defend hamas. what is your response to that, that israel is doing what it needs to do to defeat hamas? my it needs to do to defeat hamas? my response is the us will always be there for defensive assistance against hezbollah, iran, to protect innocent israelis, with the in dome, because of that are required in a defensive mode. what we will not do we should not do is contribute to an offensive on innocent palestinians that have already led over 35,000 people dead, over75,000 already led over 35,000 people dead, over 75,000 enjoyed, lovely women and children. in a

fight that the us itself has said is not the way to defeat hamas. i said after 7 october that was a horrific attack, i condemned hamas, i defended the israel right to defend itself. that does not include violating us domestic policy, withholding humanitarian assistance, violating international humanitarian law, which i believe has happened. israel has so clearly _ believe has happened. israel has so clearly we _ believe has happened. israel has so clearly we are - believe has happened. israel has so clearly we are not - has so clearly we are not responsible, hamas is about itself among civilians. tl responsible, hamas is about itself among civilians. it does not distinguish _ itself among civilians. it does not distinguish between - itself among civilians. it does not distinguish between the l not distinguish between the cause of an event and the consequences of an invasion or military action. you cannot say because you did this bad thing to me i am able to go in and target innocent civilians with impunity, that is not how it works. that is why international humanitarian law very clearly states it does not take into account what started

an event, whether you agree with or disagree with what started an event, it looks at how do you minimise casualties of innocent civilians was a conflict has started. t of innocent civilians was a conflict has started. i want to ask ou conflict has started. i want to ask you about _ conflict has started. i want to ask you about the _ conflict has started. i want to ask you about the domestic l ask you about the domestic situation as well. you have seen the recent polls showing former president trump leading and he battleground states. are you worried the biden policy could cost him this election? 0n the polls, ifind could cost him this election? 0n the polls, i find them very misleading often and if you look at the actual polling questions you understand why a poll but it turned out the way you did. poll but it turned out the way ou did. , ., ., you did. the frustration there is real? exactly _ you did. the frustration there is real? exactly what - you did. the frustration there is real? exactly what i - you did. the frustration there is real? exactly what i was i is real? exactly what i was auoin is real? exactly what i was going to — is real? exactly what i was going to see- _ is real? exactly what i was going to see. whatever. is real? exactly what i was l going to see. whatever they say, i do think this issue of the us position towards israel and towards the war on gaza is extremely important to particularly our young voters,

of black voters, our very concerned with this union workers, many labour unions that have lifted this up because many unions have a lot of young members who care about this. they are and i war. this is an ant i war movement. i think about our basic swing voters as being young people, indigenous folks, who may not vote for trump but they may not vote for trump but they may not vote at all. vote for trump but they may not vote at all-— vote at all. what is your message? _ vote at all. what is your message? if _ vote at all. what is your message? if they - vote at all. what is your message? if they come | vote at all. what is your i message? if they come to vote at all. what is your - message? if they come to you to say i cannot vote for president biden in november, what is your message to them to convince them to do so? indie message to them to convince them to do so?— message to them to convince them to do so? we are working for a shift _ them to do so? we are working for a shift in — them to do so? we are working for a shift in the _ them to do so? we are working for a shift in the us _ them to do so? we are working for a shift in the us policy - for a shift in the us policy and you thought that last week with the beginnings of what the president was saying. he is listening to what people around the country are saying, not moving as quickly as we want what i do believe we're getting a shift in policy, and we will have to earn back the trust of

young voters and that is why the progressive caucus which i leaders put out our 2025 proposition agenda, universal childcare, no family pays more than 7% of their income in childcare costs. a big investment in housing, young people cannot afford to live anymore. we will not be able to organise a progress under donald trump. they will be a dictatorship and so for our organising purposes to get to a better place, we need president biden to be in office and then we need to push him just as we are pushing him on policy towards the middle east. tit a towards the middle east. in a sin of towards the middle east. in a sign of further _ towards the middle east. in a sign of further discontent with the biden administration handling of the warren gaza, a staffer has become the first jewish appointee to resign. a former special assistant to the chief of staff in the interior department said in her resignation letter...

israel denies any accusations of genocide. she is at least the fifth of biden administration staffer to leave over concerns of their policy. i spoke to her earlier.- i spoke to her earlier. there is a lot of — i spoke to her earlier. there is a lot of misalignment - i spoke to her earlier. there l is a lot of misalignment inside the ministration as a whole between people who work for the admin and leadership. unfortunately i think people, they are not listening to their constituents and they are not aware of how important this is, notjust aware of how important this is, not just for the sake aware of how important this is, notjust for the sake of palestinians on the grabber to the american public and how politically disastrous it is for them to continue. what you ho -e for them to continue. what you hope your— for them to continue. what you hope your statement _ for them to continue. what you hope your statement and - hope your statement and resignation will achieve? t resignation will achieve? i hope it inspires other appointees to take their public stands for palestinian lies evenif stands for palestinian lies even if it means resigning and i hope it motivates my community, thejewish community, the jewish community, the jewish community, to community, thejewish community, to understand it is

long past time for us to stand up long past time for us to stand up against what is happening to palestinians in our name, and i hope that people refer to palestinians from all leadership on the issue. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: south west water says a parasite could have made its way into the brixham, devon, public water supply through a faulty valve. public health says 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and up to 100 people reported symptoms to their gp in the last week. the illness causes diarrhoea and vomiting. people have been told to boil their tap water until further notice. bottled water is also being handed out. they are compensating affected residents. a five—year—old boy has died after falling from a block of flats in east london. he died at the scene. a neighbour who called the emergency services said the boy's parents were "inconsolable". police say the death is being treated as unexpected but not suspicious, and say they are working to establish the full circumstances. the grocer morrisons is facing backlash from angry farmers for its trial of sales of new zealand lamb in 39

of its stores. the supermarket says it's in response to customer demand for cheaper prices. it says it will still sell british lamb. the national farmers union says new zealand lamb is produced to potentially lower standards. you are watching bbc news. the russian it incursion in ukraine continues as at least five russian drones struck the city late on thursday. there was no immediate word on casualties. the mayor said one of the districts had been hit, triggering a fire. the aerator that has since been lifted. this was hours after volodymyr zelensky said fighting in the region is difficult under control. 0fficials region is difficult under control. officials have since asked their american and nato counterparts to help train at least 150,000 new recruits, something the us originally rejected, but the new york times reported on thursday the chairman of the usjoint chiefs

of staff hinted a plan appears inevitable and would happen eventually over time. vladimir putin and accrue to praise theirfriendship and putin and accrue to praise their friendship and deep ties in a joint appearance before the media on thursday. vladimir putin said russia and china want a political solution to the ukraine crisis while xi jinping called for a two state solution to the warren gaza. the visit comes as a faces hundreds of sanctions. beijing has provided an important financial lifeline. in the west, he is seen as a pariah but in china, vladimir putin is a key partner as beijing seeks a new world order. 0ne not led by the united states. the red carpet was rolled out, complete with a red army band welcome as they walked together in a show of defiance against western pressure. mr putin needs china.

it's become an economic lifeline for an isolated and heavily—sanctioned russia. translation: china will always be a good neighbour and good friend of mutual trust with russia. mr putin said he would inform president xi about the situation in ukraine, and he said he would welcome china's role as peacemaker. beijing put forward a 12—point peace plan more than a year ago, but it received a lukewarm welcome from both ukraine and russia. but while mr xi is trying to play peacemaker, he's also accused of helping to fuel russia's war. if the west wants to stop russia's advances in ukraine, they know here is one place they can do that. now, beijing is not supplying moscow with weapons, but the west believes it is supplying russia with components that it can use in its war machine. the us has a raft of new sanctions

at the ready, this time to target chinese banks, so president xi has a decision to make. beijing does need moscow. russia supplies it with cheap oil and gas. this soaring trade also helps shield mr putin from western sanctions. beijing is not likely to make any policy shifts. instead, the two pledged to deepen their partnership, but mr xi will be calculating just how much he's willing to pay for mr putin's war. laura bicker, bbc news, beijing. for more on the summit, i spoke to graham allison, former assistant secretary of defence for policy and plans and current douglas dillon professor of government at harvard university. he recently met with president xi during a private beijing visit in may. vladimir putin is coming into this meeting with china as an important ally and also financial lifeline for russia. what you think he specifically is looking to take away from this meeting

with president xi? the relationship between china and russia is so unnatural. this is the 43rd meeting of them are one on one, they met for frequently them are one on one, they met forfrequently than any them are one on one, they met for frequently than any other two leaders in the world, its shores up his position both at home and in the world to see that the american efforts or the american and european effort to isolate russia has failed, that he has a tight relationship with the largest country in the world, with his next—door neighbour, and then actually this relationship is becoming thicker.- actually this relationship is becoming thicker. what about from the china _ becoming thicker. what about from the china perspective? l from the china perspective? does xi jinping see vladimir putin as a reliable ally? the re putin as a reliable ally? the grey question _ putin as a reliable ally? the grey question is _ putin as a reliable ally? the grey question is - _ putin as a reliable ally? the grey question is - the - putin as a reliable ally? tt2 grey question is — the problem is that the relationship between china and russia is so

unnatural. that is for all of the reasons of history, geopolitics, culture. these two countries should be adversaries. so most people have a hard time believing what they're actually seeing. and it makes the accomplishment of xi and putin all the more impressive in bending the structural forces to create this unnatural relationship. but in this unnatural relationship, there's no question that the benefit from china's point of view is that it is has its longest border, secure and comfortable, with that — somebody has my back. so imagine if the us had been smart enough, or the europeans get russia on our side — how this would look, how it would feel for xi. and secondly, for every bit of time that putin focuses european and american minds on ukraine and russia, is a day or an hour not focused on china.

and what xi wants most in the world is to be left alone for china to do its own thing in its own neighbourhood. does that mean that president xi is not interested in reining in the war on ukraine which we know the west has urged china to do? t know the west has urged china to do? ., _ , to do? i would say he is interested _ to do? i would say he is interested in _ to do? i would say he is interested in appearing| to do? i would say he is. interested in appearing to to do? i would say he is- interested in appearing to do so by its — she obviously does not wanted to get out of control, so were the point at which vladimir putin was threatening to conduct nuclear strikes on ukraine, he became engaged in a collaborative way with the us and the west. 0ther with the us and the west. other than that, the war is not doing him any harm and actually netting some benefit. can you hel us netting some benefit. can you help us understand _ netting some benefit. can you help us understand how- netting some benefit. can you| help us understand how strong president xi position is at the moment? we are here in the usa the chinese economy is

faltering and that he struggling to consolidate power, is that the case? tile. struggling to consolidate power, is that the case? no, i think his _ power, is that the case? no, i think his position _ power, is that the case? no, i think his position is _ power, is that the case? no, i think his position is very - think his position is very strong, i sometimes write about him as the new emperor. in october last year, he basically got a lease on life, a term without any expiration date, and i think he imagines and i believe it is likely that he will rule china the next decade and beyond. i had an opportunity to see him and most of the members of his team a month ago when i was in beijing, and one of the business colleagues i was there with said if this man feels insecure, he deserves an academy award. he seemed cool, calm, collected, and i think he undoubtably sees lots of challenges. his whole story is

— he said his whole life is about challenges and overcoming challenges but i think he feels confident. no doubt china has a lot of headwinds right now but i believe he will be their helmsman and i believe he is confident he will manage to overcome them. donald trump's former fixer faced another day of trial over the former president's alleged hush money payment to stormy daniels. trump's team is aiming to undermine cohen's history as a convicted liar. he's considered a star witness by prosecutors. he received the $130,000 cheque from mr trump that ultimately led prosecutors to indict the former president on 3a counts of business fraud. a contingent of far—right congressional republics attended including matt gates, the latest in a string of political trump allies to visit the courtroom. the bbc'sjohn sudworth was following from the courtroom in new york.

michael cohen faced another hours—long, gruelling barrage of questions from donald trump's defence team, attempting to portray him as a compulsive liar out for revenge. for example, they played the jury some comments that mr cohen made in one of his podcasts in which he said he wanted to see donald trump "rot injail". for his part, mr cohen remained pretty calm under questioning, conceding that he had at times been dishonest. but his contention is that where he has lied, where he has committed criminal acts, they have been at the behest and on behalf of his former boss. now, the jury might be asked to decide which of those two versions they believe fairly soon. a verdict is expected, if not next week, then probably the week after. in a case that has major ramifications for this year's presidential election and arguably for the future of american democracy —

here you have a former president, the first in american history to face criminal prosecution, a man who attempted to cling to power after the 2020 election. now claiming that the proceedings in the building behind me are an attempt to tip the scales of democracy in favor ofjoe biden. without, it has to be said, any evidence at all, and all the while surrounded by throngs of republican politicians here to support him and up from washington in such numbers that it now means they are having to reschedule the business in congress. you'd want to say that you couldn't make any of this up, except, of course, in american politics, in recent years, that phrase has lost something of its meaning. donald trump is scheduled to debate joe donald trump is scheduled to debatejoe biden in september. interview he said he would have no problem including

independent presidential candidate kennedy in those surveys. a recent poll shows him at 3% support. cnn hosting the first debate requires care thatis the first debate requires care that is to have at least 15% support and four separate national polls in order to participate. before we go, usa does they have sold the mystery of how 31 he were built in egypt. they now stand in an inhospitable strip of the saharan desert and scientists have long wondered how the giant stone blocks were transported without a waterway. the team says they discovered a long buried branch of the river nile that they say was used to float the stone blocks. thank you for watching bbc news. hello there. thursday brought us a real mixture of weather across the uk. it was scotland and, to a degree, the far north of england that had the best of the day's weather, with plenty of sunshine. and very warm in the highlands, temperatures reached 25 celsius in altnaharra —

that was the warmest place in the whole of the uk, confirmation of the rather beautiful weather we had here. wasn't like that everywhere, though. for northern ireland, england and wales, we had rain or some thundery showers around, and across berkshire and also pembrokeshire, we had photographs sent to us of some funnel clouds there — tornadoes that don't quite make it all the way down to the ground. it was very wet for some. in nantwich in cheshire, we had 25 millimetres of rain. now on into friday's forecast, the tail end of the weather front will continue to feed in quite a lot of cloud across northern england, and we start off certainly with some mist and fog patches around some of our north sea coast. aside from northern england, though, i suspect overall, we're looking at a brighter day on friday with more in the way of sunshine. there will, though, be one or two showers popping up into the afternoon, one or two thunderstorms, but big gaps between those showers — that means probably for most of you, we're looking at a dry day with temperatures widely high teens to the low 20s. it will feel warm in the sunshine, highest temperatures, probably west scotland, where i think we'll

probably get to 2a — outside chance of a 25. 0n into the weekend, we've got a low pressure system threatening some heavier bursts of rain across southeast england, certainly more cloud around here as we head into the morning. 0therwise, again, we're looking at a few mist and fog patches — clearing and lifting away, sunny spells, breaking through, and then, into the afternoon, one or two showers and thunderstorms popping up. temperatures still on the warm side — we're looking at highs well into the teens, 23—24 celsius in the very warmest areas. given the light winds and the may sunshine, that will feel very pleasant. for sunday, though, there is a slight change in the weather picture across scotland and northern ireland, in that there'll be a bit more in the way of cloud pushing in here — it could be thick enough to give us an odd patch of rain. england and wales mainly dry with some sunshine, but you will notice the temperatures just dropping a little bit across scotland and northern ireland, given that cloudier weather. now beyond that, into next week, looks like the start of the week should be ok — many of us will have drier weather with sunny spells —

but there's a tendency for the cloud to thicken, with rain arriving towards the second half of the week.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

welcome to hardtalk, from helsinki. i'm stephen sackur. from this vantage point, looking out at the gulf of finland, and with the russian border just two hours' drive away, it's easy to understand the strategic significance of finland joining nato. much to moscow's dismay, the baltic sea is now very much nato's back yard, and that long russia—finland border is a zone of rising tension. my guest today is the president of finland, alexander stubb. hasjoining nato really boosted finland's security? president alexander stubb,

welcome to hardtalk. thank you.