to leave their homes. hello, welcome to bbc news. we start this hour with the war in the middle east. the israeli army says it's recovered the body of a hostage, who was abducted by hamas during the october 7th attacks. in a post on x, the israel defense forces said security forces recovered the body of elad katzir from khan yunis and returned him to israeli territory. the post said mr katzir was abducted from kibbutz nir oz, and that his mother hanna, was also abducted but released in november. his father, avraham was murdered in the kibbutz. the idf says mr katzir was murdered in captivity.

allison kaplan sommer is a journalist at israeli newspaper, haaretz, and host of the haaretz podcast. i asked her about the pressure on the israeli government to rescue hostages held in gaza the israelis are not eager to see the war over without any guarantee that this is going to create a sense of security on it's that this is going to create a sense of security on its southern and northern borders. there is definitely increasing pressure led by hostage families for them to reach a deal which returns to israel. ~ . . , , reach a deal which returns to israel. ~ . , israel. what has been said? there has been a — israel. what has been said? there has been a lot _ israel. what has been said? there has been a lot of— israel. what has been said? there has been a lot of pressure - israel. what has been said? there has been a lot of pressure by - israel. what has been said? there| has been a lot of pressure by allies when it comes to the amount of civilian deaths, as well as the deaths of eight workers. yes, well, the death of— deaths of eight workers. yes, well, the death of the _ deaths of eight workers. yes, well, the death of the world _ deaths of eight workers. yes, well, the death of the world central - the death of the world central kitchen aid workers, there was an unusually quick and apologetic

admission of guilt on behalf of the israeli military forces. they released a report within hours and daysin released a report within hours and days in detail about the operational failures and mistakes that led to the killing of the eight workers. and yes, there is an increased responsiveness to the concerns of the world over the humanitarian deaths in gaza. even more so, there is worry in israel about the big picture, about whether there is a complete victory as the goal of the war, complete victory over hamas, over what that term actually means, ever if it is possible for it to be achieved. we have been on the war for six months, and total victory still looks far away. and what the long—term vision is. what is this going to look like long—term regarding israel's presence in gaza

and involvement in gaza if the government is not willing to bring in the palestinian authority or the palestinian authority cant handle the rule in gaza. if there is not enough willingness on behalf of the international community and the arab states to act as some sort of security force in gaza, then the process of elimination: israel is moving towards the reoccupation of the gaza strip, which the majority of israelis are not interested in. elsewhere today, in the last hour or so hamas has said it will send a delegation to ceasefire talks in cairo on sunday. that hamas says over 32,000 people have been killed. the group will be lead by hamas's deputy chief in gaza, khalil al—hayya. in other developments, us presidentjoe biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel. nearly a0 congressional democrats have signed a letter calling for no

further weapons to be sent, until a full investigation is completed into monday's air strike on an aid convoy in gaza. it says the strike on the trucks — along with the ever—worsening humanitarian crisis in gaza — makes it unjustifiable to approve further weapons deliveries. the politicians who have signed the letter include one of mr biden�*s key allies, the former speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi. a growing number of countries are calling for an independent investigation into that israeli strike on aid workers. on friday, the idf published the findings of an investigation into the deadly attack. britain has echoed calls by the charity world central kitchen for an independent review. of those seven aid workers killed, three were british nationals. the british foreign secretary, lord cameron, said london would carefully review the initial report. he welcomed the sacking of two senior israeli officers as a first step, but said israel must publish its findings in full.

meanwhile australia's foreign minister, penny wong, said the australian government expects "full accountability" over the deaths. i asked our chief international correspondent lyse doucet, who is injerusalem, about the shift in language from israel's allies. today, it's starting to sound like a possible turning point in this grievous war. ever since israel launched its retaliatory strikes against hamas and after the murderous assault on southern israel, it had the most powerful backing from its allies like the united states and like britain. but six months on, as we've been hearing in this programme, even israel's friends are now asking tough questions about its conduct during this war. a short time ago, i spoke withjordan�*s foreign minister and deputy prime minister and i asked him whether it did feel like a turning point. for the past six months, we've seen nothing but an israeli government that is defying the will of the whole international community, proceeding with a massacre that have

produced nothing but death and suffering and destruction to the palestinians. six months into this massacre, the world has to act more assertively to ensure that israel complies with international law, international humanitarian law. not only stop killing palestinians through this war, but also stop this starvation, which is claiming more lives day in, day out. so it is way past time that israel is held responsible for what it has done and stops this massacre and allows all of us then to come together and see how we can get beyond this misery and work towards a future that will ensure peace and security for palestinians and israelis. well, as we've been reporting, israel has made a few new steps to get that desperately needed aid into gaza, including opening a northern crossing, a port in israel, and also expanding the capacity through jordan. i asked ayman safadi, would that make a difference?

we've heard those promises before. we'll believe them when we see them. thus far, in the last six months, only an average of 100 trucks a day have entered gaza compared to what the un estimated was 800 trucks needed on a daily basis. so the amount of humanitarian aid entering into gaza is completely insignificant as of yet. we'll wait and see if israel really does take any action to allow more aid in and also to allow humanitarian agencies into gaza, because without the un being there in charge of those operations, without ngos being able to work, without the threat of being bombed and killed, the issue of distribution will also be a major problem. so what's needed now is opening all land crossings into gaza and allowing the un and other ngos full access and full ability to receive the aid and to distribute the aid. he was saying much more must be done and done soon. the united states and britain

are also saying they want to see tangible steps that israel will address these concerns about the protection of gazans and the delivery of humanitarian aid. you'll hear more of that interview here on bbc news today. but for now, back to you in london. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. let us move on to the war in ukraine. three bodies have been found by russian authorities after a dam 11 people were injured. six people have been killed during a russian drone attack on ukraine's second—largest city, kharkiv. the city's mayor says iranian—made drones hit several buildings, including a residential blocks of flats, early on saturday morning. 11 people were injured. 0ur eastern europe correspondentm sarah rainsford, is in kyiv. she's been to kharkiv in recent days and told me people there are very nervous about the increasing intensity of attacks in the area. we were in kharkiv a few days ago, a

city that is very nervous these days. it is coming under air strikes —— air raids for hours every day. there are strikes, too. paid by missiles and drains. this latest attack, officials are saying that there were multiple missiles fired and also dozens of drones. the regional chief of police says a couple of s 300 missiles were fired at kharkiv and when rescuers headed to the scene, russia launched many drains at the same target. they are saying this is a practice becoming increasingly common. a few days a year, we reported when rescuers were on the scene in kharkiv, three emergency workers were killed on a repeat strike on the same target. in this case, we don't know what the target was, possibly military targets, possibly russia was again targeting the energy infrastructure which has been battered in recent days and weeks, and which left huge numbers of people in the city and the region with only limited power.

many people are experiencing blackouts of up to six hours per day. that affects industry, production, the entire working of the city, and morale. it is difficult for people now to remain in kharkiv with the power blackouts and also, i think, with the fear the attacks will continue. they have escalated in the last few weeks. sarah raynsford, there. meanwhile the secretary general of nato, jens stoltenberg, says ukraine can rely on nato support now and for the long haul. in an interview to be broadcast in the uk tomorrow morning on "sunday with laura kuenssberg" he says all wars end in compromise and both ukraine and russia will eventually have to come to an agreement: most wars end at the negotiating table. what we know is that what happens around the negotiating table is very closely linked to the situation on the battlefield. so, now, russia believes they can

achieve goals on the battlefield by continuing to perch militarily against ukraine. a way to convince russia that they have to sit down and accept the solution where ukraine prevails as an independent sovereign democratic nation in europe is to give military support to ukraine. then of course, at the end of the day, it has to be ukraine that decides which kinds of compromises they are willing to be. we need to enable them to be in a position where they can actually achieve an acceptable result around the negotiating table. does achieve an acceptable result around the negotiating table.— achieve an acceptable result around the negotiating table. does the nato -- that is the — the negotiating table. does the nato -- that is the nato _ the negotiating table. does the nato -- that is the nato secretary - —— that is the nato secretary general rule. three bodies have been found by russian authorities after a dam 11 people were injured. on the river ural was breached. more than 4,000 people have been evacuated from the 0renburg region, which lies near the kazakhstan border, due to flooding. the mayor of 0rsk says around half

of the old town district has been flooded and could be cut off from the rest of the city. local officials have denied reports the dam has been completely destroyed. the russian investigations committee is understood to be considering criminal charges because of suspected safety breaches during the dam's construction. mexico has suspended relations with ecuador. it's in protest against a police raid on its embassy in quito to arrest a former ecuadorean vice—president, jorge glas. he'd been sheltering in the compound since december but was wanted on corruption charges. mexico says it had granted glas �*political asylum', but ecuador authority called the action �*illegal�*. glas's lawyer said he was innocent. two british police forces, the met and leicestershire, are now investigating claims that unsolicited, explicit images and messages were sent to several mps and people working in westminster. yesterday luke evans, the mp for bosworth, revealed he was targeted in the so—called honeytrap. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt, has the story. here's a video i didn't expect

to make on a friday evening. the conservative mp luke evans is the first man to identify himself publicly as a possible victim of a suspected westminster whatsapp scam. the first set of messages i got was on a day i was with my wife and i got a one—time open photo on whatsapp of an explicit image of a naked lady. as soon as i got these, the next day i reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip. leicestershire police, which cover his bosworth constituency, are investigating. dr evans is one of a number of men in westminster who've been sent unsolicited messages by a person claiming to be someone they've met before, variously using the names abby or charlie, but how might they have got hold of the numbers? another mp has suggested he may be responsible for leaking some of them. william wragg is a senior conservative who chairs a committee scrutinizing the government. he's admitted to the times that he passed on colleagues' numbers to a man on a dating app

after sending him intimate pictures of himself. mr wragg told the paper he was scared the individual had compromising material on him and he was mortified and sorry. the mp involved has given a courageous and fulsome apology, but the lesson here for all mps is that they need to be very careful about cybersecurity. the met police confirmed they are investigating reports of a number of unsolicited messages sent to mps over recent months. that is right, that there is a proper investigation into this. in positions of responsibility we always have to think about our actions, but there are also malevolent players out there who are trying to influence politics. for now, it's not known whether this is the fallout from an individual lapse ofjudgment or a malicious attempt by unknown others to gain influence behind these walls. mps have been warned against speculating while investigations continue. helen catt, bbc news, westminster.

now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. the first of the day's seven premier league matches has kicked off. manchester city are looking to go level on points with leaders liverpool, they'll go top if they beat crystal palace by four goals or more. i—i approaching half—time at selhurst park — a brilliant kevin de bruyne goal pulling city level. ten minutes later, it is 1—1. they are in the 45th minute. they are in the 45th minute. there's also some big games at the bottom of the table to come . all of which you can follow on the bbc sport website. everton welcome fellow strugglers burnley, while luton take on bournemouth and brentford are away at aston villa. elsewhere, fulham host newcastle and wolves play west ham. in the late match, arsenal

will return to the top if they beat brighton away the gunners boss mikel arteta thinks his side can use the disappointment of missing out on winning the title last season as this year's race goes down to the wire. i hope it is helping, i think we learn a lot from the past, especially from difficult moments or from conversations. you have to take it in. it is a different situation, we are in a different moment. we are going through that already. i think that experience serves a lot, and we are trying to use it on the right way. and in spain — athletic bilbao take on mallorca in the copa del rey final later on saturday. athletic are looking for a first major trophy in a0 years. mallorca, who won the cup in 2003, will come into this one as the underdogs, when you go into the game with the same mentality and the right mentality to try

and win the game, we know it is an important game for everybody, and everyone isjust preparing. bilbao have quality players too, we are preparing for them and making sure that we bring our best. red bull have locked out the fron row out the front row for sunday's japanese grand prix max verstappen is on pole, maintaining hsi perfect qualifying record this season. the world champion failed to finish the last race in australia but topped the timesheets in all three sessions. his red bull team mate sergio perez will line up alongside him on the grid at suzuka. britain's lando norris was the best of the rest, but was more than a quarter of a second slower than verstappen. this track is very sensitive, with the tires, with the tarmac being aggressive. when you want to go to the limit, it doesn't always work out. nevertheless, it is important to be on pole position. you want every lap to be perfect, but around a track like this that is not always the case.

overall, a good day, good starting position for tomorrow, and tomorrow is what counts. the champions cup round of 16 continues, including an all—english clash between exeter chiefsand bath. 0ne match already underway. their bills are leading 28—11. saracens will play harlequins in the quarter finals if they beat bordeaux. later, leicestertigers are away at leinster. follow all of those games on the bbc sport website. plenty for the home fans to cheer at the wta charleston 0pen on saturday. americanjessica pegula will face daria kasatkina in the semi finals. and compatriot danielle collins is also into the semis, after she defeated iith—seeded elise mertens in straight sets on friday. she'll face third seed maria sakkari, after the greek beat

veronika kudermetova in her quarter final clash. checking on the score, still won all between crystal palace and manchester city. checking on the score, still won all between crystal palace and manchester city. city checking on the score, still won all between crystal palace and manchester city. city are checking on the score, still won all between crystal palace and manchester city. city are looking checking on the score, still won all between crystal palace and manchester city. city are looking to go back to the top of the premier league. i will be back with another update in the next hour. see then. goodbye. junior to australia next. 0ver goodbye. junior to australia next. over 150 goodbye. junior to australia next. 0ver150 people have been rescued from floods in and around sydney. people have been told to be prepared to leave their homes because of the rising floodwaters. the region's main reservoir, which supplies most of the city's drinking water, is overflowing. there's been three days of torrential rainfall across much of eastern australia. people living in parts of new south wales have been told to stay indoors. it's important to note that flood levels in some of the rivers, particularly in western sydney, are continuing to rise and that presents a real danger for some communities. so it's very important for those

who live in communities that are low—lying, flood—prone areas that you continue to listen to emergency broadcasts from the ses. the body of a construction worker, killed in last month's baltimore bridge collapse, has been recovered. father—of—two maynor suazo sandoval, from honduras, had been repairing potholes on the bridge when a container ship hit one of its support columns. three other workers are still missing. the us presidentjoe biden has said he'll move "heaven and earth" to help the city recover from the tragedy. 0ur reporter will vernon has this update. 11 days after the disaster, the site of the baltimore bridge collapse still astonishes. president biden came here to see things for himself, meeting officials who briefed him on the progress of the recovery operation. mr biden paid tribute to the construction workers killed when the bridge collapsed from under theirfeet.

the damage is devastating and our hearts are still breaking. eight construction workers were under the water when the bridge fell. six lost their lives. mostare immigrants, but all were marylanders, hard—working, strong and selfless. after pulling a night shift, fixing potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck. the authorities are desperately trying to clear wreckage from the river. a vital shipping lane to and from the port of baltimore remains cut off by this disaster and that's having a big impact on the local economy. president biden came here to send a message of support and reassurance to the people of baltimore, promising more funds to help local workers and businesses, but there are also questions here about exactly why this happened, what caused that catastrophic power failure on board the ship? investigators are studying the black box data recorders,

trying to piece together the events leading up to impact. they've been interviewing the crew of the container ship, who are still on board. officials say they will release an early version of their report in around a month, but it could take years to establish the full facts of what exactly led to this tragedy. will vernon, bbc news, baltimore. police will spend the weekend searching for further body parts in a salford woodland after finding a torso wrapped in plastic. greater manchester police have not yet identified the victim, but have confirmed he is a man, likely to be older than 40, and has only been dead for a matter of days. they have launched a murder investigation. 0ur reporter yunus mulla has more. kersal wetlands in salford, a nature reserve and the focus of a murder investigation. a forensic tent is in place where it's believed a human torso was found wrapped in plastic. greater manchester police say

a passer—by reported what was said to be an unknown item. we do know these remains are human and it would not be possible for them to have survived. from forensic inquiries so far we believe that these remains are likely to have been here for a matter of days and it really is a tragic case. a number of entrances have been sealed off to allow forensic investigations, with police dogs being used as part of searches. but no arrests have been made. and police say inquiries in the area will include speaking to dog walkers and passers by who may have noticed unusual activity. 0ur priority now is establishing who this person is and ensuring that we carry out a diligent and respectful investigation on behalf of that person and theirfamily, whoever they may be. we are keeping an open mind and we're doing all we can to establish the circumstances. this kind of discovery will be concerning.

police say the smallest bit of information could provide the breakthrough they need. yunus mulla, bbc news, salford. train drivers from five more operators are on strike today, affecting journeys across england, wales and scotland. it's the latest industrial action by members of the aslef union. the dispute — is over pay and working conditions — and has been deadlocked for months. sacha baron cohen and islay fisher has announced that they are divorcing after ia years of marriage. in a social media post announcing the split, the actor said that they jointly filed to end announcing the split, the actor said that theyjointly filed to end their marriage last year. the pair have three children and met in 2001. a russian descent vehicle landed in kazakhstan on saturday, returning from the international space station. astronauts from russia, belarus and the united states were onboard. russian 0leg novitsky and belarusian marina vasilevskaya

left for the iss last month on a soyuz spacecraft. they returned to earth on saturday along with us astronaut loral 0'hara, who had been aboard the orbital station since september. that is all from me. please do stay with this here on bbc news. storm kathleen is dominated where the headlines in the last few days. the storm arrived last night and is bringing gale force gusts of winds on the far north—west and also tapping into some very warm air indeed. so far today, we have seen gusts of winds in 90 miles an hour on the tops of care and gone. in lower levels down to the isles of scilly we have had gusting in excess of 60, close to 70 mph. the storm is

anchored way out to the west of the uk. that is allowing the south—westerly wind to push up warm air from africa, south—westerly wind to push up warm airfrom africa, temperature is really quite dramatically different, particularly in scotland, where a few days ago we saw a maximum of 5 degrees. not much in the way of rain out for the rest of the day. sunny spells and scattered showers, a lot of cloud around from time to time, it will stay windy. inland, looking at a5 mph plus wins. in the irish sea, 65—70 mph wind continuing. temperatures will continue to be where they should be this time of year, anything above 20 degrees will be the hardest of the year so far, possible highs of 20 dealer east anglia. the pulse of wet weather, shellfish hours moving north— east through the night. cloud around, it will stay mild overnight. double figures possible in the south—east.

tomorrow morning, a spell of wet weather, some showers funnelling together in fairly organised lines through the south—west, coming up through the south—west, coming up through the south—west, coming up through the bristol channel to the midlands. the wind will be stronger tomorrow, over50 midlands. the wind will be stronger tomorrow, over 50 mph at times. still miles for the time of year, 10-17 the still miles for the time of year, 10—17 the overall high. now, moving into monday, another load that could bring more wet and windy weather in a similar track. we are keeping an eye on that. a brief lull behind, and another load continues to mission from the atlantic. the weather pattern says the same, going to be pretty unsettled, showers and longer spells of rain, temperatures coming downjust a longer spells of rain, temperatures coming down just a touch. longer spells of rain, temperatures coming downjust a touch. if longer spells of rain, temperatures coming down just a touch. if you are planning to spend some time outside, this is the story. rain showers, light winds, temperatures are about

average.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the israeli military confirms it has recovered the body of hostage allied can see in khan younis, nearly six months after he was taken. president biden is facing pressure from his own party following an israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers. led by former house speaker

nancy pelosi, about a0 democrat party members have expressed outrage at the deaths and signed a letter. two police forces in the uk are now investigating reports that several mps were sent explicit messages and images in a suspected parliamentary honey trap. more than 150 people have been rescued from floodwaters in and around sydney as more people prepared to leave their homes. the area's mean damn, supplying most of the city's drinking water, has overflowed. now on bbc news... take me to the opera: the power of glyndebourne. i've been an opera fan for decades, and i want to share my passion with you. so i'm on a mission to find out how opera is reinventing itself for the 21st century. this time, i go to glyndebourne in the english countryside to find out why it's a unique place that offers more than opera.