the children's nursery was kharkiv. the children's nursery was struck. and in australia, more than 150 people are rescued from floods in sydney, as others prepare to leave their homes. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. israel says it's recovered the body of a hostage who'd been held in gaza by hamas. 47—year—old elad katzir was kidnapped from a kibbutz during the hamas attacks on southern israel on october the 7th. it said its mission to search for hostages and return them to israel would continue.

allison kaplan sommer is a journalist at israeli newspaper haaretz and host of the haaretz podcast. she told us how israelis were reacting to today's news. they want their hostages back. they want them alive. as many as still remain alive. and the mood was encapsulated by a facebook post from his sister, she posted... basically, she was the one who announced as much as the israeli army announced that her brother's body had been recovered and returned to israel. and she wrote on facebook, "you're going to hear from the army about their daring rescue operation "in which they got my brother's body and returned it to israel." and she said, "don't let anyone fool you. "this is not a rescue operation. "this is an incident of my brother having been abandoned to die. "the first abandonment took place when the military did not "move into the kibbutz from which he was kidnapped, in time, and he was kidnapped." and there were two videos released of her brother

alive and in captivity. so they know that he did not die on october 7th, that he was killed by his captors, by islamichhad, who was handing him. and she said, "make no mistake, this is a failure of the israeli "government to have achieved a hostage deal that would have "brought my brother back alive and instead i'm getting his body." and you have to understand, this is a woman writing whose mother was taken hostage. she was returned in the first hostage deal and whose father was killed and murdered by hamas on the kibbutz on october 7th. so this is a family that was completely devastated by the attack. and she's been fighting for her brother's release for months. and now she gets the news that that she gets a body back and not her brother back alive. so it's certainly not viewed as any kind of reason for celebration. president biden is facing growing calls from within his own party to pause us arms sales to israel. let's talk to our middle east

correspondent hugo bachega. first of all, i wanted to ask you about the reaction to the discovery of this body of one of the hostages. yes, you can imagine the agonising wait of the families of the hostages. more than 100 is reallys remain in captivity in gaza and almost every day these families have been demonstrating urgently urging the government and netanyahu to engage in negotiations with hamas, to strike a deal for the hostages to be released. the fact another hostage has been found dead is adding to the desperation of these relatives. we understand tomorrow hamas will send a delegation to cairo in an apparent effort to restart these negotiations being mediated by doe her and cairo in an

attempt to reach a deal between israel and hamas. we understand four weeks there have been conversations and these are very difficult parks, there have been in a number of differences between both sides. any kind of deal would see the release of hostages in return for palestinians who remain in israeli jail. we understand that one of the main obstacles in these negotiations is that hamas continues to demand a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary one but a permanent ceasefire in gaza and also that people should be allowed to return to northern israel. the israeli authorities reject those demands. we have seen prime minister netanyahu has been adamant this more is going to continue until hamas is defeated. very difficult negotiations and again the news today adds to the agonising wait of the families here in israel. i agonising wait of the families here in israel. . ., ., ,~' agonising wait of the families here in israel. . ., ., ., in israel. i wanted to ask you about another development _ in israel. i wanted to ask you about another development we _ in israel. i wanted to ask you about another development we have - in israel. i wanted to ask you about| another development we have been reporting on from the united states

and that is a letter expressing outrage at the air strike which killed 78 workers which has been signed by a number of politicians in the united states including key allies of presidentjoe biden. —— an air which killed seven aid workers. there is more pressure onjoe biden to be decisive in terms of what he says to the israelis. what reaction have we had to that letter where you are? . , , ., ., ., are? internally there is a lot of ressure are? internally there is a lot of pressure from _ are? internally there is a lot of pressure from the _ are? internally there is a lot of pressure from the families - are? internally there is a lot of pressure from the families of. are? internally there is a lot of. pressure from the families of the hostages and prime minister netanyahu. internationally pay neta nyahu. internationally pay patience netanyahu. internationally pay patience is running out with the way israel is conducting the war in gaza where more than 33,000 palestinians have been killed according to the local authorities in gaza. the humanitarian crisis only gets worse and i think what happened this week with the deadly attack on the side

convoy only raised questions about the way the israeli military has been conducting this war in gaza. we are hearing now those calls not only in america but also other countries for an arms embargo or suspension of arms exports to israel or any kind of change in the us can scratch my position would be very significant because we have seen president biden has been very reluctant to change the american position, he has put a lot of pressure on israeli authorities to improve the delivery of aid to palestinians in gaza and also do more to protect not only aid workers but the civilian population of gaza. pressure is growing and we are hearing lots of calls now, especially from some democrats for more to be done, to put more pressure on the israelis and

obviously i think pressure is growing as well on the israelis to agree to a ceasefire deal. for the moment, thank _ agree to a ceasefire deal. for the moment, thank you _ agree to a ceasefire deal. for the moment, thank you very - agree to a ceasefire deal. for the moment, thank you very much. l agree to a ceasefire deal. for the l moment, thank you very much. we agree to a ceasefire deal. for the - moment, thank you very much. we were talking about the growing pressure. all eyes on if some king of ceasefire can be reached and all allies being engaged when it comes to those talks. our chief international correspondent lyce doucet has been speaking to thejordanian foreign minister, ayman safadi. she asked him if president biden's recent warning to israel spells a turning point in the conflict? let's hope it is at least, because for the last 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 has produced nothing but death and destruction and suffering 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 the 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 stop this massacre and allow 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. israel has announced new steps to get desperately needed aid into gaza, including opening a northern crossing, an israeli port, and expanding the capacity throuthordan. will 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 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. there's a growing debate in britain, in the united states, about whether arms sales to israel should be suspended. is that a move that you and your arab colleagues would welcome? the reality is, for the past six months, israel has ignored every call by the international community to do what's right and stop violating international law and stop this war. we've seen un security council resolutions,

we've seen two sets of provisional measures by the icj and israel has done nothing. so i think it is time israel faced consequences and real consequences for what this government is doing. israel has not listened, now the israeli government has to face consequences for its actions and instead of sending weapons to israel, i think the world should be sending aid and should be sending political delegations in order to get delegations to make sure we get over this catastrophe. so, yes, we do support ending arms sales to israel, among other sanctions. it must be tough, being an arab foreign minister, you're shouting as loudly as possible, including to your friends the united states, it doesn't seem to be having much impact. pressure is growing in your own street, saying you're not doing enough. absolutely, the whole world is not doing enough. that's the perception and the belief and that's reality.

the fact is, we have an israeli government dominated by radical racist extremists who are defying the will of the whole international community, who are killing with impunity, who are starving people, using food as a weapon. and despite calls by all members of the international community, almost, including, for instance, the support of israel, this israeli government has not listened. so, yes, it is frustrating, people are outraged, we are outraged and the anger that you refer to demonstrated by people in the streets ofjordan is an anger that represents not just ofjordan, it represents a growing number of people across the world. so, yes, there is tremendous anger and tremendous frustration, notjust with what israel is doing, but also with the inability of the international community to impose international law and to have this israeli government stop the massacre that it is allowing or leading or enabling in gaza. and in one word, are you now more hopeful that the end of this war will be coming soon?

unfortunately, no. you hear statements coming from the israeli government, they're talking about a ground invasion into rafah, despite warnings by the us, europe, everybody, the directors from israeli politician saying that they are willing to go in. and they go into rafah, that will be another massacre and that should not be allowed to happen. so now we are at a point where, do we allow an israeli government dominated by radicals to continue with this massacre and determine and doom the future of the region to more conflict and suffering, or does the international community to take the necessary action to stop that and impose compliance with international law? thank you. that was our chief international correspondent lyce doucet speaking to thejordanian foreign minister, ayman safadi. 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. we're getting reports from writers and you russian strike on kharkiv has one civilian. those reports coming from the mayor. on those developments now. let's speak to our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford, who is in kyiv. we are hearing reports of another possible strike, what about the earlier strike?— possible strike, what about the earlier strike? there are constant strikes in kharkiv _ earlier strike? there are constant strikes in kharkiv at _ earlier strike? there are constant strikes in kharkiv at the _ earlier strike? there are constant strikes in kharkiv at the moment. earlier strike? there are constant l strikes in kharkiv at the moment. it is becoming increasingly regular to hear of missile and drone attacks against ukraine's second city in the north—east of the country. certainly we know seven people were killed early this morning. the first

missile struck sometime after midnight. two st hundred russian missiles according to ukrainian authorities struck residential areas of the city wounding and killing people there. they talk about a wave of drones launched at kharkiv city centre. they say those were shot down by ukraine's air defences and when that happens it means fragments fault of the ground, the explode, more people are injured and more buildings are damaged. we know nine residential buildings have been badly damaged in this latest attack on kharkiv but it is the latest of many. we don't know exactly what the russians were targeting. they say it was a military target. we know in recent days in which the energy system in kharkiv has come under direct and sustained attack and that city is now living with blackouts, rolling blackouts, people without powerfor at rolling blackouts, people without power for at least six hours every day.

power for at least six hours every da . , , . , ., power for at least six hours every da. day. this is also significant because of— day. this is also significant because of the _ day. this is also significant because of the geauga. . day. this is also significant - because of the geauga. kharkiv is relatively close to russia and as you say the second largest city. it is strategically important, it is at peril for russia, there is strategically important, it is at perilfor russia, there have been rumours recently about a possible push towards kharkiv by russian soldiers. we don't believe there is any intelligence to suggest it is imminent but there is a lot of talk in the russian media about that happening. people in ukraine warning against psychological warfare, about these rumours being spread deliberately to scare people. i was in kharkiv a few days ago and people are worried. they are nervous. i was speaking to students in one of the central squares who said they would definitely consider leaving kharkiv again and this is a city which was under direct and awful shelling at the beginning of this war. many people evacuated, they left as refugees and then they came back, things got more calm, they felt more safe. that safety has been rocked by

recent missile and donor tax. i think people these days are very nervous. . ~' think people these days are very nervous. ., ~ , ., think people these days are very nervous. . ~ , ., y think people these days are very nervous. ., ~ , ., , . think people these days are very nervous. . ~' ,, y . ., nervous. thank you very much for shannu nervous. thank you very much for sharing your _ nervous. thank you very much for sharing your insight _ nervous. thank you very much for sharing your insight and - nervous. thank you very much forj sharing your insight and expertise on that story. now it's time for a look at today's sport with olly foster. hello from the bbc sport centre. it's approaching full time at selhurst park. 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. city went behind, but lead 4—2, two goals from kevin de bruyne. five minutes left to play. there are also some big games at the bottom of the table to come, including also a huge match in the battle to avoid relegation, as everton host burnley. sean dyche's side haven't won a home game in the premier league since mid december, but victory against his former club at goodison park could put

them seven points clear. there is no naivety to it, we are not going, we played well again. of course not. you take an ugly and horrible win. sometimes you need that, we might need that again. ideally, you do it by design and by the team delivering and playing well, forcing results through quality of performance. that is the ideal world. now and again, you have to measure and apply different things. if it is 20 wins on the trot and they are ugly and hard fought, you take it. big game coming up in spain — athletic bilbao take on mallorca in the copa del rey final which is again being held in seville 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 for sunday's japanese grand prix max verstappen is on pole, maintaining his perfect qualifying record this season the world champion failed to finish the last race in australia but topped the time sheets 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 tyres, with - the tarmac being really aggressive. when you want to go to the limit, it doesn't always work out. - nevertheless, most 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, very 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 chiefs and bath. one match has already finished, bulls beating lyon 59—19. saracens will play harlequins in the quarterfinals 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 open on saturday. americanjessica pegula will face daria kasatkina in the semifinals and compatriot danielle collins is also into the semis, after she defeated 11th—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. in the nba, orlando's three—game wining streak is over with a 124—115 defeat to charlotte. meanwhile, james harden helped the la clippers past utah jazz 131—102, with harden's 13 points, 15 assists and ten rebounds, giving him his third triple double

of the season. man city leading palace 4—2, they will go level with leaders liverpool. 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. taiwan has condemned the bolivian government for sending a message of sympathy for the island's recent earthquake to the chinese government in beijing.

china claims taiwan as part of its own territory and insists other nations accept this position. taiwan's foreign minister accused bolivia of acting as the puppet of beijing. let's speak to our asia pacific editor michael bristow. explain the relationship bolivia has with these countries and why it decided to go and congratulate china. it decided to go and congratulate china. ,., , ., .. decided to go and congratulate china. , ., ., china. it sounds on the face of it uuite an china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd _ china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd story _ china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd story but _ china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd story but it - china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd story but it is - china. it sounds on the face of it quite an odd story but it is one l china. it sounds on the face of it| quite an odd story but it is one of those quirks of international relations which sometimes arises. essentially bolivia has a diplomatic relationship with china and it does not have a diplomatic ties with taiwan. that is because china insists whenever it establishes official ties with any country in the world, the kind tatis same time have ties with taiwan as well. that

is because china considers taiwan to be part of its own territory. it does not want to establish diplomatic relations with other countries because that would give the impression it was an independent country which beijing believes it is not. that sometimes produces these odd situations like we find here so bolivia sent a note of sympathy and sent it to china because officially bolivia believes china controls or what to control taiwan but of course it does not, taiwan is an independent country. nothing to do with the government in beijing's full quite an odd situation but one which has shown up because of strange diplomatic ties between the countries. ~ ., strange diplomatic ties between the countries. ~ . . , countries. what has the wider reaction been _ countries. what has the wider reaction been in _ countries. what has the wider reaction been in the - countries. what has the wider reaction been in the region i countries. what has the wider reaction been in the region to j countries. what has the wider - reaction been in the region to this? there has been a lot of reaction

because of course those countries have been dealing with this issue all along, have been dealing with this issue allalong, how have been dealing with this issue all along, how to deal with taiwan whilst still maintaining good relations with china because of course you cannot not have good relations with china because it is such a large and powerful country, countries want to trade with china. it has to tiptoe around this very naughty diplomatic issue when it has relations with taiwan. china does not do anything itself to make the situation easier. when the earthquake happened last wednesday, in the united nations, the chinese ambassador to the united nations in new york held a meeting at the end of that meeting and said thank you to everyone who has been sending their good wishes and condolences and sympathy about the earthquake. china themselves try to, or don't do anything to make this situation any

easier. ., ~' , ., anything to make this situation any easier. ., ~ , ., ., anything to make this situation any easier. ., ~' , ., ., ., ~' anything to make this situation any easier. ., ~ , ., ., . ~ , easier. thank you for taking us throu~h easier. thank you for taking us through that — easier. thank you for taking us through that story. _ to australia next. more than 150 people have been rescued from floods in and around sydney. other 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've 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. nhs bosses and leading groups have nhs bosses and leading patient groups have expressed their concern about royal mail's plans to cut second—class deliveries to every other weekday. in a letter to the daily telegraph, nhs providers says nearly 2 million nhs appointments were missed because people didn't receive their letters and patient safety could be at risk. royal mail says it is exploring options for

time—sensitive medical letters. the comedian and actor sacha baron cohen and his wife isla fisher have announced they are divorcing after 1a years of marriage. in a social media post announcing the split, the actors said theyjointly filed to end their marriage last year. the pair, who have three children, met in 2001 and married in 2010. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. storm kathleen dominated in recent headlines. it is bringing gale force gusts of wind in the far north—western tapping into warm air. we have seen a gust of wind in excess of 90 on the tops of the cairngorm through the isles of scilly gusts in excess of 60 close to 70. the storm anchored way to the

west of the uk. that is allowing the south—westerly wind to push up very warm air from africa. temperature south—westerly wind to push up very warm airfrom africa. temperature is quite a dramatic difference in scotland were just a few days ago we saw maximum of five. not much rain around for the rest of the day. sunny spells and scattered showers, cloud around from time to time. out through the irish sea, we could see 65, close to 70 mile an hour wind gusts still continuing, but the temperatures will be way above where they should be for this time of year. anywhere above 20 degrees will make it the hottest day of the year so far. and we could see a high of 22 across east anglia. a pulse of wetter weather, some sharper showers moving their way north and east through the night. we keep quite a lot of cloud around

as well and it will stay mild through the night. double figures perhaps across the south east. so we start off tomorrow morning with a spell of wetter weather and we could see some showers just funnelling together in a fairly organised line through the south west, coming up through the bristol channel towards the midlands. and here, the wind gusts could be a little bit stronger tomorrow, over 50 miles an hour at times. it'll still be mild for the time of year. we're looking at 10 to 17 degrees, the overall high. now, as we move into monday, there's another low that could bring yet more wet and windy weather in a similar track to kathleen. so we're keeping an eye on that. a brief lull behind before another low continues to push in from the atlantic. so the weather pattern stays the same. we're looking at it staying pretty unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain. temperatures will come down just a touch. so if you are planning to spend some time outside, this is the story. rest of the day. sunny spells and scattered showers, cloud around from time to time. rain or showers, lighter winds, temperatures about average.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the israel military confirms it's recovered the body of hostage elad katzir from khan younis nearly six months after being abducted by hamas. also... president biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel, following an israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers. about a0 democratic members of congress have signed an open letter expressing outrage at the deaths. two police forces in the uk are now investigating reports that several

mps were sent explicit messages and images in a suspected parliamentary honeytrap. more than 150 people have been rescued from floodwaters in and around sydney, as more people prepare to leave their homes. the area's main dam supplying most of the city's drinking water has started overflowing. it follows three days of torrential rainfall. next on bbc news, it's the travel show. i'm on a journey to explore azerbaijan. neither asia nor europe, this is a country where a colourful past and prosperous present intertwine. the price of the caviar in azerbaijan is like four times less than in the uk. filled with ancient wonders, it's a place where the natural world has shaped its history for generations. a unique country, with nine climate zones.

it borders russia to the north, iran to the south,