this is bbc news. the headlines... israel's prime minister strikes a defiant tone, saying he'll settle for nothing less than the total defeat of hamas. the us secretary of state is in tel aviv — we expect to hearfrom him at a news conference shortly. at least 27 people are killed as two explosions hit pakistan's balochistan province on the eve of the general election. and the sound of sanremo — we talk to the italian superstar who knows what it's like to sell

millions of records. this is the scene live in tel aviv. we are waiting for us secretary of state antony blinken to come out and speak to those gathered here. he's been talking to palestinian officials and both these israeli prime minister and the president isaac herzog, he of course is making it his mission to try and help organise some sort of agreement between both sides to try and bring about at the very least a cease—fire. and some sort of effort

to bring in more aid into gaza and also push forward with efforts to help release the remaining hostages in gaza. we'll bring you all the very latest from tel aviv, and keep an eye on what is happening there for you, as i continue to tell you about the israeli government, because it's rejected the latest proposals put forward by hamas, designated by the uk government as a terrorist organisation. the us secretary of state antony blinken has been meeting with israeli and palestinian leaders, in his latest. as jeremy palestinian leaders, in his latest. asjeremy bowen reports there is still room for conflict. here, they are surrounded on three sides by hezbollah, iran's powerful ally in lebanon. one man who did not want his face shone pointed to his—brother—word—mack�*s positions. thenifs then it's definitely can turn into a

big war, a war with hezbollah, greatly equipped, great intelligence, they have a lot of real experience in syria.- real experience in syria. israel released video _ real experience in syria. israel released video of _ real experience in syria. israel released video of their - real experience in syria. israel released video of their attacks j real experience in syria. israel i released video of their attacks on hezbollah positions. on other side of the border have been evacuated, the war there is intensifying. but more urgent for antony blinken is a ceasefire in gaza. prime minister netanyahu says israel needs total victory and no concessions to hamas. they want israel to leave gaza and end the war in return for a ceasefire. gaza is the key to stabilising the middle east. this is the occupied golan heights, another potential flashpoint where the borders of israel, lebanon and syria meet. over on the syrian side, you can see ruins from previous wars.

antony blinken warns this is the most dangerous moment for the middle east since 1973. without a ceasefire in gaza, the risks that a wider war will intensify remain very real. israel has heavily reinforced its northern border lands. this is a former syrian base occupied by the israelis since 1967. inside the ruin, the head of the regional council, a retired colonel, was preparing for the worst. if we go, to where are we going? to haifa? then they bomb us in haifa. then we go to tel aviv — then they bomb us in tel aviv. people prefer to move by night on the most exposed roads in northern israel in places shielded by blastproof concrete walls. don't think of this war on the lebanese border as a sideshow to gaza. it could become even worse. this is the most dangerous, the most unstable frontier

in the middle east at the moment. what started as a low—level war back in october has been intensifying. but all sides know how much worse it could get — notjust causing great destruction in israel and in lebanon, but it's also got the capacity to ignite the region. the fate of the whole middle east, notjust israel's empty evacuated northern towns, depends on breaking through the shock and hatred of war. so far, the diplomats are fighting a losing battle. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in israel. polygamy zielinski says raids came as joseph burrell was

polygamy zielinski says raids came asjoseph burrell was visiting kyiv. volodymyr zelensky ——. the worst missile attack that has been for two weeks here, more than 60 missiles and drones launched by russia across ukraine to apartment blocks here in kyiv. ukraine to apartment blocks here in k iv. , , ., ., kyiv. they were badly damaged. there was a fire until _ kyiv. they were badly damaged. there was a fire until very _ kyiv. they were badly damaged. there was a fire until very recently, - kyiv. they were badly damaged. there was a fire until very recently, big - was a fire until very recently, big orange flames pouring out of the windows and lots and lots of black smoke. four people were killed here in their homes, and this was early this morning here in kyiv. the air raids started just before six o'clock, lots of people were home, asleep, people in this block told me they were hiding in corridors or bathrooms hoping they would be a

little safer there. what actually happened here is the ukrainian air defences intercepted the russian missile and then the pieces of that missile and then the pieces of that missile fell on these buildings and people were talking about a huge explosion, a big bang and the whole building shaking and glass being smashed on doors being blown out, terrifying for everybody who is involved. and lots of people i've just been chatting to just standing around looking really in disbelief and very very distraught by what has happened, so many of them have lost everything in this latest russian missile attack. the everything in this latest russian missile attack.— everything in this latest russian missile attack. the first interview . ranted missile attack. the first interview ranted to missile attack. the first interview granted to us _ missile attack. the first interview granted to us media _ missile attack. the first interview granted to us media since - missile attack. the first interview granted to us media since 2021, | granted to us media since 2021, carson who started his own online news network since being fired by us cable company fox last year, says

it's important for the world to learn, in his words, what lay behind moscow's 2022 the invasion of ukraine. speaking here on a tucker carlson network video posted to x, formerly known as twitter.- carlson network video posted to x, formerly known as twitter. there are risks to conducting _ formerly known as twitter. there are risks to conducting an _ formerly known as twitter. there are risks to conducting an interview - risks to conducting an interview like this we've talked about it carefully over the last few months. first because we are ourjob, we are injournalism. our duty is to inform people. most americans are not informed, they have no real idea what's happening in this region. here in russia or 600 miles away in ukraine. but what they should know, they are paying for much of it. a

favourable voice to putin as opposed to american journalism's have sought to american journalism's have sought to tell the story and all western journalists are put into prison who have baseless accusations, separated from their families, have baseless accusations, separated from theirfamilies, separated have baseless accusations, separated from their families, separated from loved ones from a very recently dutch press who were covering a protest of military, a veteran families, it was the journalists who were targeted. any of the other protesters in that case, so the deliberate policy of targeting westerners and the journalists here, so it is important to understand that the picture of

the tucker carlson is painting is not right. we're waiting for this conference from antony blinken, we'll keep you updated when he comes out. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. - many new memories were made today as history was shared. charlie drinkall? yes. kevin? how are you doing? absolutely. they chat. charlie drinkall did his national service between 1957—1959 as a grenadier guard in malta, cyprus. the best thing for me — i roamed about, i did what i wanted. this career path was fortunate. the mountains, cumbria mines... i went all over. for more stories from across the uk,

head to the bbc news website. - let's ta ke let's take you to tel aviv, this is the scene there live, we are waiting for antony blinken, the us secretary of state to come out and give a press conference to the world's press. he has been on a diplomatic mission across the region talking to palestinian and israeli leaders, trying to help broker some sort of

an agreement. we are expecting him to come and talk imminently. but for now, let'sjust keep to come and talk imminently. but for now, let's just keep an eye on that scene and tell you a little bit more about what's been happening with prince william as he arrived at a charity gala in central london to raise funds for the london air ambulance. it's taken place at the

hotel in whitehall and it is the prince'ssecond engagement of the day after and investiture at windsor counsel. it's his first day back after spending time there are no quiet nights for tijuana's fire brigade. called out to a local bar, there is no blaze here, but as some of the only available paramedics, they are tackling another crisis, sweeping the city like wildfire — fentanyl. these two men, their lives fast slipping away, may not have even known they were taking it. cheap and highly addictive, mexico's drug cartels now cut it into recreational drugs like cocaine. the paramedics administer narcan, the most effective drug to reverse fenta nyl overdose. if, that is, it is not already too late. fenta nyl overdoses are now simply part of daily and nightly life in tijuana, part of the fabric of a city descending fast into the grip of full—blown drug epidemic. yet it is a crisis whose very

existence has been denied by the country's president. having claimed mexico neither produces or consumes fentanyl, president lopez obrador now says he will introduce a new law to make taking fentanyl illegal. people on tijuana's front lines fear that it's too little, too late. last year, the state forensics service found staggering one in three bodies in the city's morgue contained fentanyl. this harm reduction and needle exchange says tijuana is awash with it. they tested four randomly selected syringes and vials and each one was positive for fenta nyl. translation: fentanyl exists. to suggest otherwise fails to recognise this reality. we have the evidence right here and in all the overdoses and deaths from fentanyl that we see, ignoring the problem won't solve it. on the contrary, people will keep dying. in the united states, the biggest illegal drug market in the world, fentanyl is now a nationwide crisis. coast to coast, border

to border, us cities are increasingly in its vice—like grip. the drug claimed 70,000 lives in 2022 alone. not all victims were regular drug users. in el paso, in texas, elijah gonzales was 15, studious and sporty when he accidentally overdosed on one pill of the widely available prescription drug xa nax. he had no idea that it was a counterfeit, fentanyl—laced pill from mexico. it was his first time experimenting with drugs with his best friend and his best friend's sister. within a year, all three had died the same way. three lives snuffed out by fentanyl. a lot of parents tell me, my son is in football, my son is in band, and my son is not in that crowd. neitherwas mine. and i had no idea, so i think it starts at home, it starts in the school system and just all the way around. are you angry at elijah? no.

i'm not angry. i have never been angry, not even at the person who gave my son drugs. i forgave her. i am just angry that it happened to me. i am angry at the situation itself. el paso sits just over the borderfrom ciudad juarez, one of mexico's most dangerous cities. injuarez, i met kevin, a 17—year—old drug trafficker and cartel hit man. he showed me how his gang uses tunnels to smuggle fentanyl across the us border. i asked kevin if he felt any remorse about the deaths of us teens like elijah. translation: no, it is all part of a chain. - it is like the guns. they send weapons south, we send fentanyl north. everyone is responsible for their own acts. back in tijuana, it took three doses of narcan but the paramedics brought one man back from the brink.

his friend, however, died right there on the barroom floor. his mother arrived to devastating news. her son is another victim of this potent narcotic, his death a footnote in the polarised debate over the us—mexico border. will grant, bbc news, tijuana. now, the eurovision song contest is, of course, the biggest song contest in the world, and is on this may in malmo in sweden — but did you know that the idea behind the contest came from a small seaside city in northwestern italy? let me take you to sanremo, in the north—west liguria region, where since 1951 a music contest and award ceremony has been taking place. the sanremo music contest is the longest—running annual tv music competition in the world on a national level. it first took place in the shadow of world war ii. the aim was to revitalise the economy and image of this city on the italian riviera. it kicked off again last night to an audience of millions of italians in italy and around

the world — who were glued to the tv at home or at watch parties to enjoy what is considered not only a music contest but also a cultural event. the winner of sanremo, which will be determined on saturday, gets the opportunity to represent italy at the eurovision song contest. a little earlier i spoke with marco mengoni, a multi platinum singer and songwriter. he's one of the co—hosts of the sanremo music festival in italy and said that opening night felt like a triathlon. it's the competition start at 7 pm and we were finished at maybe 2:30 am that is a long night. a long night.

was a very long night was not my real usually my realjob. i was the co presenter. so was a new experience for me. why is sanremo so important in italy? tell me why people love it so much and it's kept going for so many years. i think sanremo is, you know, is about italy, is about italian music, and it's very deep in the italian culture and is a highest level for for artists. and if you get invited to take part of the competition, it's an honour as an italian artist, all of the singer that compete bring, you know, a brand new songs never been heard. and this is, a i don't know, peculiarity or different between sanremo and the rest of the music competitions that we know. you talk about i mean, we talk about sanremo. and of course, sanremo

is the the idea, the genesis of the idea for eurovision. you're a contestant at eurovision in liverpool. you came fourth. you did fantastically well with your beautiful song, due vitae. how did it feel to be in liverpool? how did it feel to do so? well in the competition, i think i'm still living the dream. i never woke up and and i was great. and i think i don't know, i would like to do eurovision next year. how did it feel to be in liverpool? how did it feel to do so? well in the competition, i think i'm still living the dream. i never woke up and and i was great. and i think i don't know, i would like to do eurovision next year. well in the competition, i think i'm still living the dream. i never woke up and and i was great. and i think i don't know, i would like to do eurovision next year. i can do that, of course, because i'm not i'm not in sanremo this year because i was a presenter,

but i really wanted to be. leave the experience. will you, marco, will you be watching eurovision at home with your family? will you be travelling to malmo? what will you be doing? if someone invite me to malmo? absolutely. i'm ready to go. making it to 104 years of age is an incredible achievement — but imagine doing it with your twin sister. elma and thelma — who are are thought to be britain's oldest twins — attribute their longevity to a positive outlook, good food and the occasional drop of brandy — with no ice. they've been sharing their memories with rogerjohnson. # happy birthday to you...#. we filmed them when they were 103. we met them again at 104. now, nearly105, surely there are no older twins in britain? elma and thelma. what a double act. true! and me! born on august the 3rd,1919, the sisters grew up in stockport just after the first world war. oh, kids were alive, really. you didn't have much money.

we were very happy, really. enjoyed our life, you know. as much as you could. yeah. when we left school... ..do you remember? what? leaving school. oh, yeah. walking down the main road. yeah. going to smiths crisps, hadn't been open long in stockport. so... we got a job there. we knocked on the window. yes. "have you any opportunities, please?" two kids, in! and that was it. thelma worked at smiths during world war two. although elma was called up to work at fairey aviation�*s nearby factory, making parts for the raf. the firefighting and other air. services behaved magnificently. the people's chins are up and protruding a little - more than usual. well, we had the bombs at night falling on us, didn't we?

occasionally, yes. but even though the air raids were on at night, you still had to go to work the next day. oh, yeah. when it was over, we celebrated, didn't we? yeah, there was a lot, yeah. there was a lot of dancing in the street and everything. it was lovely. elma's first husband, bill, died soon after the war. thelma's husband joe was like many people in stockport. he was a hatter. he worked for the hat trade. and if he was caught without his hat, he got a fine. yes, they did! got fined half a crown. really? yeah. many a time when we were courting i would find myself whisked down an entry. he'd seen them in the distance! the sisters have always enjoyed a good night out. we used usually go to nightclubs and dance and, yeah — didn't we? not nightclubs! not nightclubs. you must bejoking.

we used to go dancing, didn't we? yeah, we did. yeah, go to dances. or we went to the pictures. thelma and elma now live together again at a new care home in lancashire. between them, they have children, grandchildren and numerous great—grandchildren. that's a lot to remember, at nearly 105. a team of students has made a giant step towards solving one of archaeology�*s greatest puzzles. using artificial intelligence, they successfully read the contents of a charred scroll that was buried during the eruption of mount vesuvius near pompeii nearly 2000 years ago. esme stallard reports. in herculaneum near pompeii where lava from vesuvius overwhelmed a luxury roman villa and its library which contained 800 scrolls. this was the first, and as yet only, library from ancient roman

times ever discovered. but all attempts to open the scrolls failed as they were just too delicate. a $1 million challenge was launched to find a way to read them, and a team of three students used artificial intelligence and pattern recognition on the scroll to reveal 2000 greek letters. youssef nader led the winning team. we were really proud of our work and i was really happy with what i did on the detection and sort of pushing the ai limits to its extreme. so what does it say? it is about having fun, music and food. and scholars believe it was written by a greek philosopher. and amazingly, this new technique has only been used to read 5% of one scroll. it is hoped by the end of this year 90% of the four other scrolls scanned could be unlocked. esme stallard, bbc news.

one more bit of news to bring you, they'll play either ivory coast or they'll play either ivory coast or the democratic republic of congo, amazing news for nigeria. now, thomas is here with the weather. hello. well, is there snow on the way? the answer is yes — for some of us. but for most of us, it's going to be a case of sleet and probably heavy rain, and this is going to be happening really for the rest of the week. now, on the one hand, we have a weather front with mild weather spreading in from the south—west. on the other, there's cold air streaming in from the arctic, and that cold air is in place across more northern parts of the uk. and with this weather frontapproaching, riding into this colder air, we will see that awkward mix of rain, sleet and snow across more central parts of the uk. but that's still to come. in fact, the early hours across scotland and the north

of england are clear and chilly. temperatures really will be tumbling away, whereas in the south—west of the country, that weather front approaching, mild southwesterlies. so temperatures here of around 11 degrees in plymouth. colder by the time we get to birmingham, it's three. and then from northern england northwards, it's a frost and we're expecting snow from morning onwards across parts of northern wales and into the pennines, but really anywhere across this central swathe of the country could see some wet snow on the cars, on the grass. but we're going to focus on the amber warnings across northern wales and the pennines. so here widely could be ten to 15 centimetres, but across the higher routes, higher hills, as much as 20 to 25, so tricky conditions there across the transpennine roads through the course of thursday afternoon and into thursday evening. in the south, it's mild and it's wet. in fact, a spell of heavy rain is expected across southern england, could be as much as a0 millimetres here. and then this area of wintry weather moves northwards. and i think by the time we get

to friday, strong winds developing across northern britain, a strong easterly here, quite cold, but the focal point for snow will be around more eastern parts of scotland. across the mountains, no doubt there'll be some blizzards, but for the vast majority of us, it's way too mild for snow. it's ten degrees in hull, ten degrees in birmingham, 13 expected in london. so is it going to turn cold or mild? at the moment, if we look at the outlook for the rest of the week and into next week, it is going to stay generally on the mild side and often unsettled. bye— bye.

hello, i'm lucy grey. you're watching

the context on bbc news. as you know, we now have a response from hamas to the proposal that was put on the table. going forward, we are looking at it intensely. translation: we are on our way to a complete victory. _ the victory is at our reach. it's not about years or decades, it's about months. translation: that the final victory is our goal. _ this was the decision i brought to the government at the beginning of the war, and we will not say we will not be satisfied with less. the us secretary of state says... pushing for a cease—fire agreement between israel and hamas.

but the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has again doubled down, saying israel will not be