on foreign funding that's sparked weeks of protests. hello, i'm helena humphrey. glad you could join me. we begin in the middle east. tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in israel amid anger over prime minister benjamin netanyahu's failure to secure the release of hostages still being held in gaza. these are the scenes in tel aviv. police have arrested some demonstrators and used water canon to disperse two rallies, which had merged. in the latest development, the israel defence forces say that they recovered the body of another hostage — identified as ron binyamin. in the latest sign of divisions within mr netanyahu's war cabinet, benny gantz has threatened to quit the government, unless he agrees to a far—reaching plan for gaza — with a deadline to do so in around three weeks

time. meanwhile, the united nations says more than 800,000 people have now fled rafah in southern gaza. many have been forced to head northwards to areas which the un says have little clean drinking water or sanitation as the israeli offensive continues. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams sent this report. street battles injabalia. israeli forces have been fighting here for days. gunfire. hamas, they say, is back, and needs to be dealt with. this is dangerous urban warfare, at close quarters. the israelis were here months ago and moved on. these, some warn, early signs of an insurgency that could last for months. israel has been attacking from the air too. scenes today reminiscent of the war�*s terrifying early stages. buildings flattened, bodies trapped under the rubble. gunfire.

more street battles, this time in the south. the israeli army still advancing on rafah, the only city yet to experience a full—scale assault. but 800,000 palestinians have already fled the area, to the coast or to other devastated cities. with israel issuing fresh evacuation orders in the north, as many as a million palestinians have been displaced in the past two weeks — almost half gaza's entire population. some aid is getting in — some of it along america's new maritime corridor. it's a welcome new route. but with other key crossings still closed or not functioning as they should, it's not enough. tonight, in tel aviv, another display of support for israeli hostages still in captivity. the mood sombre, after news that the bodies of four hostages had been retrieved in the wreckage of gaza. the fourth, ron benjamin, identified today. my heart goes out to those

families who received the news yesterday that their loved ones are not alive. time is not on our side. time, for a long time already, has not been on our side. and pressure is building on the prime minister. a senior cabinet member threatening to resign in three weeks unless the government spells out a clear strategy. translation: at the fateful. crossroads where we are now, the leadership must see the big picture to identify risks and identify opportunities, formulate an updated national strategy so we can fight shoulder to shoulder. this war is exposing deep political divisions. two senior ministers now pleading with mr netanyahu to explain his endgame, soon. for more on the political

situation in israel, paul adams also sent this update. the prime minister has the support of far right political parties and they guarantee his coalition majority. benny gantz can pull his party out but the government will survive. he knows that and there are some sceptics tonight who say they are doubtful will carry out his threat in three weeks time. but the point is he is now the second senior member of that government in the last few days to voice extremely serious concerns about the lack of a future plan for the war, for the end of the war and crucially for the day after. that is an indication that the sense of unity that surrounded the government at the beginning of this crisis seven months ago

with the whole government and political parties pulling together at a moment of crisis, that sense of unity has been fraying for months now and is starting to crumble rather visibly. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says his country only has about a quarter of the amount of air defences needed, to fend off russian attacks. his comments comes as russian forces continue their summer offensive. so far, moscow claims it has seized a number of villages on ukraine's north—eastern border near kharkiv. president zelensky added ukraine needed up to 130 f—i6 fighterjets to continue to defend its skies — and that his military was short on manpower. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more on the president's comments from kyiv. well, i mean, he always plonks air defences at the top of his wish list. that's been the case for the past year or so because of two things, really — russia has continued to launch missile attacks on cities

across ukraine, but also russia has become far more superior, more dominant in the air right across the front line. so what that means is when you have exhausted, thinly—stretched ukrainian troops trying to defend cities, you have russian fighterjets flying in and dropping missiles and glide bombs. and as of the situation in the northeast, where this incursion is taking place, you know, we're hearing from the authorities around the town of vovchansk, which is on the border — they're saying thousands of glide bombs have been dropped, which reflects, i think, russia's ability to mount these kind of strikes unchallenged. so president zelensky, he's been quite specific on what he both needs and lacks. he wants more air defence systems. he says he's got a quarter of what he needs, as you say, and then he specified how

many f—i6 fighterjets he would like. it's worth pointing out that despite ukrainian pilots being trained by western allies in the uk, for example, and others promising them not one has been used operationally by ukraine. it was once predicted they would arrive last year. that hasn't happened. here we are halfway through 2024 — no fighterjets yet, but he's not giving up on that clearly. for more on this, i spoke to mark cancian, a senior adviser at the centre for strategic and international studies. president zelenskyy calling this a pivotal moment. how pivotal do you see this as being? could it be a make or break moment? every moment is pivotal for ukraine's survival. they cannot afford to lose at any moment. this is pivotal because of two things. first, the us aid is just starting to arrive and the ukrainians have run down many previous supplies so they are in a particularly

weak time and it is also pivotal because the russians are trying to stretch the ukrainians out, hoping at some point they can break through in about half a dozen areas along the front line. talking about those attacks going on particularly the northeast of the country. president putin said his forces were not looking to take over kharkiv but to create a buffer zone instead. do you trust him on that? we never trust putin but in this case he is telling the truth. the russians have not amassed the kind of power they need to break through. they tried at the beginning of the war and failed with much largerforces. they seemed to have stopped after moving maybe two miles, 2.5 miles into ukraine, but what they are trying to do is stretch the ukrainians.

have to keep in mind the active front is about 600 miles long and that is where most of the fighting has occurred over the last two years. there is also 400 miles of border between ukraine and russia that has been very quiet and another 400 between ukraine and belarus and what russia is trying to do is make ukraine defend all of this. and pull forces away from the active front in the east. so that there may be a breakthrough some place in active attacks. ukrainian forces clearly already stretched thin. 0utmanned. we know there has now been this law which means prisoners can fight on the frontline for ukraine but presumably they have to undergo training first. might it take a while before they can actually be deployed into this war and make a difference? the ukrainians are having

the problem every military has when they get into a long war and that is the running out of inventory. every country experiences this. the russians experienced at. the russians have reduced the draft age from 27 to 25 and now are allowing convicts to serve. these troops will have to be trained but will need a lot more. armies in conflict need a lot of inventory. there is a feeling that forces, personnel are at equal risk, that is not true, 80% of casualties are in the infantry and need constant replacements. if you look back through history of russian wars, often what you will see in these long protracted wars is russia make tactical errors and overtime essentially they learn from those mistakes and have gone on to victories. do you think we could see something similar play out here? it is certainly possible. russia made many

errors early on. the initial strategy was badly flawed, they thought ukrainians would collapse. over time they learned that learned to become more proficient and increased the production of weapons and number of personnel. we saw they were able to defeat ukrainian counteroffensive by digging extensive fortifications. we understand on the frontlines there is a countermeasure with regards to drones. the russians have been learning, they are getting better but so are the ukrainians and are now getting more supplies from the united states. president putin said he is open to dialogue on ukraine, he didn't use the word negotiations. do you think there was any realistic prospect that either side will sit down at this particularjuncture in the war where the map currently stands for talks? we hope there will be some

formula the two sides can agree on but it doesn't look like a lot of overlap between the two positions. the russians are talking about maybe a ceasefire, where they are right now, they would cede about 18% of ukraine to russia. ukrainians have so no indication they are willing to do that. not only did they want to get back what they have lost in the last two and a half years, they want crimea back, they want reparations, war crime judgements, there does not seem to be overlap yet. i don't think either side is desperate enough to give up some of their desired goals. georgia's president has vetoed a controversial new law on foreign funding. that's sparked weeks of mass protests largely led by the country's youth. the president says the legislation was an obstacle on georgia's path to eu membership and was russian in both �*its essence and spirit�*. but she acknowledged her veto

is largely symbolic and will likely be overruled by parliament. the foreign agent law would require non—government organizations and media to register if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. 0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie has more from tbilisi where protesters gathered following the president's announcement. and these protesters, they favour their president, salome zourabichvili, who has been campaigning relentlessly last year to ensure that georgia gets its candidate status with the eu, and georgia did indeed receive this candidate status, but the problem now that these people see that the adoption of this law may derail the country from its chosen path tojoin the eu. that is why we have seen such a huge reaction here from the youth. these protests have been driven by georgia's youth, students, schoolchildren, and they believe that georgia's european future is at stake.

for more on this, i spoke tojorgi reveshvili, former senior advisor to the national security council of georgia. this move from the president is largely symbolic. the majority party could overturn it. what do you think the president is hoping to achieve through that veto? , , , veto? despite it hoping to achieve through that veto? , , , ., ~ , hoping to achieve through that veto? , ,, ., veto? despite it move. as a lace veto? despite it move. as a place of _ veto? despite it move. as a place of the _ veto? despite it move. as a place of the entire - veto? despite it move. as a place of the entire politicall place of the entire political responsibility on georgian dream and limits their manoeuvring space. now they have to develop repugnant or veto it. another ball is in the georgian court. they pushed the idea of modifying the law once it finally passed which could be regarded as a smokescreen that aims to drag out process and whereabouts the way with

protests. it was the right move from the president because now they are in the corner and have to make a move. the first two, keeping the law panning and revoking it, it could mean defeat in terms of upcoming opponents. it would be huge reputational damage. if they decide to operate the veto, sanctions are limited because georgia's national partners including the notices and european union make a signal that sanctions could be used against the party.— that sanctions could be used against the party. faced with all of these _ against the party. faced with all of these options, - against the party. faced with all of these options, but - against the party. faced with all of these options, but i - against the party. faced with | all of these options, but i am curious about is why georgian dream actually brought this law forward in the first place when presumably, based on previous scenes, demonstrations and someone they knew this would be

unpopular. someone they knew this would be un --oular. , �* unpopular. yes. but their strategic _ unpopular. yes. but their strategic objective - unpopular. yes. but their strategic objective is - unpopular. yes. but their strategic objective is to i strategic objective is to remain in power at all costs. the institutions are quite weak. there is no genuine checks and balances. civil society and independent media basically serves as pillars in checking and balancing the government. they wanted to repress and suppress and basically silence or critical voices before the upcoming department or election. they will ensure victory. that is the whole idea of reintroducing this bill. d0 the whole idea of reintroducing this bill. , ., ~ this bill. do you think it will erha -s this bill. do you think it will perhaps give _ this bill. do you think it will perhaps give the _ this bill. do you think it will perhaps give the european | this bill. do you think it will- perhaps give the european union pause for thought about membership and should add? georgia is a nascent democracy, you think it does not have the checks and balances yet. the

eumpean _ checks and balances yet. the european union _ checks and balances yet. tue: european union and checks and balances yet. tt;e: european union and nato checks and balances yet. tt9 european union and nato and the united states and key part of the georgia high secure size the georgia high secure size the decision to pastore because the decision to pastore because the law is not comparable with the law is not comparable with the georgians. the west openly underscore this legislation jeopardises george's you nato inspiration. it will be impossible to become a nato and eu member and why tens of thousands of georgians have been demonstrating almost two months and i determined and that fast in the process to pressure the government to revoke the law. we also need our own national partners to be more decisive in their action and these two cumulative factors might pressure be georgian dream government. and

be as draconian and undemocratic law. t be as draconian and undemocratic law. . :, ., ,~' undemocratic law. i want to ask ou as a undemocratic law. i want to ask you as a promising _ undemocratic law. i want to ask you as a promising advisor - undemocratic law. i want to ask you as a promising advisor to i you as a promising advisor to the national security council of georgia what message do you think this is sending right now to moscow? do you think it could embolden russia? the only country this— could embolden russia? the only country this law _ could embolden russia? the only country this law favours _ could embolden russia? the only country this law favours as - could embolden russia? the only country this law favours as the i country this law favours as the russian federation. the existential threat to georgia because russia and moscow wants to see georgia isolated from the west and if there is a problem and obstacle on our path to european union and nato, it only favours moscow because it will increase influence over georgia and the georgian government will only have the situation in an isolated space to either tilt and drift back into the russian good points. that is why this law should not be passed because otherwise it will undermine the very crucial

daughter national security interests.— daughter national security interests. . , . interests. thank you very much. thank you _ interests. thank you very much. thank you for— interests. thank you very much. thank you for the _ interests. thank you very much. thank you for the privilege. - the former chief of staff to the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has vowed to never give up fighting against president putin. mr navalny died in february in a russian prison. leonid volkov said the fight to change the country must go ahead despite his death. mr volkov was badly beaten in a hammer attack in march in lithuania which he believes was ordered by mr putin's regime. in his first interview since that attack, he also backed mr navalny�*s widow yulia to lead the opposition campaign against the russian president. he spoke with bbc�*s laura kuensberg. attacked outside his own home, leonid volkov�*s fight against putin was nearly a fight for his life. the close friend and confidant of the late alexei navalny was assaulted in lithuania, where he'd tried to find safety from the russian regime. he was not saying anything,

there was no message. like, the message, the attack was the message — we know where you live, we can kill you. the attack was just weeks after the death of navalny, the charismatic leader who had been both critic and target of the kremlin for many years. my message for the situation when i'm killed is very simple. not give up. he died in prison after being locked up by the regime for his beliefs, but leonid says the battle for democracy must go on. he asked us to never give up and, like, to continue our work and to build this, to defeat putin and to build this beautiful russia of the future that alexei dreamed for so many years is the only practical way to preserve his legacy and to make his ultimate sacrifice not to be in vain.

putin is capable of anything. the mantle to lead the movement now passes to navalny�*s wife, yulia, a job she never chose, but a role she now plays. yulia has a very strong personality and a charismatic leader. she never wanted to be in this public role and she was always a very close political adviser to alexei and us, for navalny�*s organisation, the teams that navalny organised and gathered together. it's very clear and natural that our task in this situation is just, like, to support yulia in all her endeavours. putin's new aggressive push in ukraine, a reminder of the risk he poses. a danger some of his opponents have to live with every day. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. protests continue in

new caledonia after lawmakers in paris voted to change the electoral rolls to allow more french residents in the state to vote — despite worries from indigenous leaders that this will dilute the political influence of native people. during the protests five were killed, hundreds injured and nearly 200 arrested. the french prime minister says there will be 1000 extra officers joining the 1700 personnel at the protests. he also said authorities will push for the harshest penalties for rioters. the bbc�*s emily brown has more. let's have a look at the background into why this has happened. new caledonia in the south pacific has been french territory since colonisation in the late 1800s. politics remains dominated by debate about whether the island should be part of france, autonomous or independent. the latest cycle of violence was sparked by plans in paris to impose new voting rules that could give tens of thousands of non—indigenous residents voting rights.

and there have been tensions between france and azerbaijan over this. paris has pointed to the sudden emergence of azerbaijani flags in the protests. relations between the two countries have been difficult since last year, when azerbaijan took the region of nagorno—karabakh. this crushed armenian separatist forces, and france is a supporter of armenia. france has now accused azerbaijan of political interference in its pacific territory, new caledonia. but baku has denied the claims. the french prime minister has met parliamentary liaison committees to discuss the new caledonia crisis. meanwhile, the french government has even banned tiktok in new caledonia, as it's been popular with rioters in the region. but, despite another night of unrest, french authorities now say the situation is being brought under control. let's turn to some other important stories around the world. flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 50 people in afghanistan. officials in the province of ghor in central afghanistan say thousands of homes have

been damaged or destroyed and about 2,000 shops are under water. many key roads have been cut off. parts of northwest india are dealing with extreme heat including the capital of new delhi. parts of the city got up to 47 point one degrees celsius or 116 degrees fahrenheit. and those temperatures are expected to last for several days. the extreme temperatures come during a six—week long general election in india. some experts worry the heat wave could pose health risks as people wait in lines to cast their votes and candidates campaign. from the frontlines to world champion — ukrainian boxer 0leksandr usyk wins the heavyweight title — defeating briton tyson fury on saturday. in a split decision, usyk becomes the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly 25 years. the fight took place at a sold—out kingdom arena in riyadh, saudi arabia. the two men will face each other again in a rematch

planned in october. the british museum has recovered another 268 stolen artefacts, some of which had been sold on ebay forjust a few pounds. most were gems and jewellery from greek and roman times. they were part of a trove of items revealed last year to have gone missing from the world—renowned museum, causing a global scandal. a senior curator suspected of involvement was sacked but he denies any wrongdoing. about 1500 items in total disappeared from museum store—rooms, nearly half of those have now been found across europe and north america. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, thanks forjoining me. fairly quiet on the weather front across most of the uk right now. the storms have also cleared from southwestern england as well as wales. this is what we had during saturday — flash floods in places. how about the weather on sunday? it's actually not looking bad at all for most of us. a lot of bright, if not sunny weather on the way. however, some coastal areas, particularly around the north sea, could

be grey and chilly. so this is how we start the day. inland and out towards the west, the weather's looking fine and sunny right from the word go. but these eastern counties, or here, it may take time for that sunshine to break through that layer of gray or that stratus and sea fog that will have rolled in overnight. so the afternoon looking pretty sunny across most of the uk, again, with the exception of some coastal areas. could be some showers across southwestern parts of scotland, maybe the southwest of england. inland 22 or 23 celsius in that strong sunshine. but where the low, grey clouds stick around anywhere along the north sea coast, but particularly the further north you are, it will be chilly, maybe no higher than around 12 degrees. we have that on saturday. could happen again on sunday. so through the course of the evening, you can see that low grey cloud. once again it's going to roll inland out towards the west, it's going to stay generally clear. now, here's monday.

cloudy skies out towards the east, but then the sun comes out and it's a repeat performance. a fine day on the way. again, temperatures in the low 20s inland, closer to the coast closer to around the mid—teens. now, on tuesday, subtle changes. showers will appear in different areas. we could see some forming across scotland, northern ireland, the lake district as well. but i think the further south you are, the better the weather will be. temperatures won't really change an awful lot. in fact, overall, the first half of the week for most of us isn't looking too bad. but, as we head through wednesday and thursday, this low pressure sweeps in out of the east this time. it'll bring quite breezy weather and also a spell of persistent rain, and at times it will be heavy. so a change on the way second half of the week, and that's reflected in the forecast here. not really bad at all until around about tuesday, bar a few showers here and there.

but then wednesday, thursday and friday, it's all change and it's hello low. bye— bye.

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.

hello and welcome to unspun world. why is israel's government deliberately flouting the wishes of its leading ally, the united states? perhaps it goes to show what netanyahu is willing to do for his own political survival. this is definitely kind of bringing israel towards a more isolationist stance. what's the extent of china's infiltration of western countries? whether it's in the uk or in other countries — we've seen them in the us, we've seen them in australia, there's a canadian parliamentary inquiry — there's something going on there. and why is a law on foreign agents in georgia causing mass demonstrations? they see it as a pivot in - the country's foreign policy. it is quite black and white. you know, it's - either eu or russia.