and a third day of disruption at the world's second busiest airport after the united arab emirates suffers its heaviest rain in more than 70 years. hello, i'm nikki schiller. we start this hour with the latest on the middle east conflict. qatar says it's reassessing its role as a mediator between israel and hamas, more than six months into the war. qatar has had a key role — along with egypt and america — in trying to secure a ceasefire between israel and hamas and the release of israeli hostages. but doha says its efforts were being undermined by politicians seeking to score points. take a listen to qatar's prime minister. translation: unfortunately, i mean,

we have seen that there has been - an abuse of this mediation in favour of narrow political interests. this means that the state of qatar has called for a comprehensive evaluation of its role. we are now at the stage to evaluate mediation and also evaluate how the parties engage in this mediation. european union leaders have agreed to tighten sanctions on iranian producers of drones and missiles in the wake of tehran�*s unprecedented attack on israel on saturday night. the president of the european council says it's important to do everything to isolate iran. tensions in the region remain high with israel's prime minister insisting his country will make its own decisions about how to respond to iran's drone and missile attack. israel's western allies fear striking back against iran could trigger a broader war. for more on qatar's role in brokering a truce between israel and hamas, i spoke to our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. qatar has played a key

role along with egypt, with us involvement as well. back in november we had a week—long truce and hostage release deal but since then it has proved much more difficult to try to get some kind of new deal agreed between the two parties. qatar is really seen as being an important go—between because it does have significant leverage over hamas. it hosts in doha some senior hamas leaders and it has done for many years. they live there in exile. and at the same time qatar has this very important role as an ally of the us in the region. it hosts a large us military base in its desert and often does serve a purpose in these kinds of negotiations. these are strong comments that have been made by the prime minister who is also the foreign minister of qatar, sheikh mohammed bin abdulrahman bin jassim al thani. and he has really been talking about how narrow political interests are being served here by some

of the comments against qatar. it is clear that he really does seem to mean some things that have been said in recent days in washington, particularly by one us democratic congressman who is accusing qatar of actually blocking a deal to bring home the hostages, saying that it's far too close to hamas and that the us should re—evaluate its relationship with this big player in the gulf. already, qatar's embassy in washington has responded to that quite strongly, criticising those remarks. "exploited" and "abused" are words the prime minister has been using. that's right. this is extremely strong language and i think itjust shows how sensitive these things are for qatar, that does straddle this difficult role in the region. it's a country also because of its proximity to iran, it doesn't like to antagonise iran. it doesn't have diplomatic relations, proper diplomatic relations with israel, but it has often acted as a go—between when it comes

to previous ceasefire negotiations with hamas in gaza. and really, because of the importance of the us to qatar, this small but very well off gulf country, i think it wants to nip in the bud this idea that it is not an honest broker here. it also highlights how things are because it's such a delicate phase at the moment when it comes to negotiations on a new deal that could bring home some of the remaining israeli hostages still held by hamas in gaza and at the same time leads to a ceasefire there. because you have at the moment this very difficult position where israel only wants to talk about a pause in the fighting, it doesn't want to talk about ending the war without dismantling hamas in gaza.

hamas does not want to talk about a pause, it wants a complete end to this war before it will release the hostages it is holding. here the conservatives have suspended one of their mps, mark menzies, from the parliamentary party, after claims in the times newspaper that he misused party funds. mr menzies, who represents fylde in lancashire, told the paper that he strongly disputed the allegations. here's our chief political correspondent — henry zeffman. according to the times newspaper back in december mark menzies, who has been the conservative mp for fylde, a constituency in lancashire, since 2010, back in december he rang up his 78—year—old former campaign manager at a quarter past three in the morning and he said what he called "bad people" had locked him in a flat. she was told that he needed £5,000 as a matter of, as he put it apparently, "life and death". it is claimed later that

morning his office manager, a different woman, paid him the money from her personal bank account and crucially got reimbursed for that from campaign funds, money that had been donated for the purposes of mark menzies�* political campaigns. a very peculiar set of alleged events. one of the interesting wrinkles to the story is it appears the conservative party knew of these claims before they came out in the times newspaper last night. let's listen to grant shapps, the defence secretary. as defence secretary i am not privy to the information but i understand that cchq have been aware of it for a while and have been investigating and i think some new information has come to light subsequently. as you say, a set of allegations, i note the mp denies them, but nonetheless the whip has been withdrawn in the meantime. as grant shapps said, mark menzies denies these allegations. we have tried to contact him and we have not had a response yet but he gave this statement to the times yesterday. he said, "i strongly dispute

the allegations put to me, i have fully complied with all the rules for declarations and as the investigation is ongoing and i will not be commenting further." you can get more on that story on the bbc news website and app. the aftermath of heavy rain is being felt across the united arab emirates and parts of neighbouring gulf countries, a region usually known for its hot and arid climate. flash—floods have killed 20 people in oman and one in the uae. dubai international airport warned of "very challenging conditions" and advised some passengers not to turn up due to areas being inundated by water. 300 flights were cancelled on wednesday with hundreds more delayed, after the uae experienced its largest rainfall event since records began 75 years ago. so what's it like for the hundreds stuck at the airport still? i spoke to a new zealand traveller at dubai airport — nirupa george — who arrived yesterday from cairo.

we were delayed by about seven hours. we managed to get to a hotel outside of the airport. there were a tonne of people that were sleeping at the airport. there were people crowded around the check—in counters. we came to the airport this morning, we had already been delayed about three hours, and it isjust absolute chaos in terms of the number of people around. the staff are doing their best to try and mitigate the bottlenecks but the sheer volume of people means that there is hardly breathing room when you were trying to get past check—in or the passport control. we are showing some pictures know that you have taken on your phone and, as you say, there are so many people there. what is the mood amongst the travellers? are they resigned to it or is there anger? i think most people, it depends on how long you've been stuck at the airport for, from what i have seen. most people understand it is outside of the control and the emirates staff, although at one point when we were lining up

at the transit i think i saw someone faint from the heat and there seemed to be a mini brawl that broke out. it seems to be testing people's patience, particularly children, but for the most part people have actually been quite calm and i think everyone is tired and just wants to get to their destination. scotland's only gender identity clinic for under—18s has paused prescribing puberty blockers to children. the sandyford clinic in glasgow said new patients aged 16 or 17 would no longer receive gender—affirming hormone treatment until they were 18. it follows a landmark review of gender services for under—18s in england and wales. for more on this now i'm joined by the bbc�*s lorna gordon. what has the clinic said? this was a statement that was released by nhs greater glasgow and clyde and nhs lothian. in it they said, they are the two biggest

health boards in scotland, they said the cass review is a significant piece of work into how the nhs can better support children with gender dysphoria. it is right they paused treatment to allow more research to be carried out. what that means if they have been writing to patients this week to advise him that the prescription of puberty, suppressant and gender affirming hormones to young people has been paused following this cass review into gender treatment in england and wales. this review which came out last week, which was comprehensive, 400 pages long, it made 32 recommendations and any doctor hilary cass said children had been let down by a lack of there was remarkably weak evidence on puberty blockers and cross six hormones to treat people with gender dysphoria

and included warnings that giving hormones to 16—year—olds should be an approach taken with extreme caution. the statement released this morning here in scotland said that existing patients in scotland who are currently receiving hormone suppressant or gender affirming hormones will continue receiving treatment. it also said anyone who was referred into the young people's gender service will continue to receive the psychological support that they require. responses are already coming in. scottish trans—, already coming in. scottish trans—, a lobby group here in scotland, said it is a wrong decision, that it will harm trans children and young people. the scottish conservatives have said this is a long overdue decision that should have been taken weeks ago and the nhs government in scotland has been dragged kicking and screaming towards taking the necessary action to safeguard vulnerable youngsters. d0 necessary action to safeguard vulnerable youngsters.- necessary action to safeguard vulnerable youngsters. do we know how many patients _ vulnerable youngsters. do we know how many patients this _

vulnerable youngsters. do we know how many patients this might - vulnerable youngsters. do we know| how many patients this might affect in terms of the 16 and i7—year—olds who may been looking for treatment? i think it is a very small group of people who are currently receiving treatment. there is a requesting for the exact numbers but it is believed to be a small handful but the number on the waiting list to receive treatment is well over 1000 because scotland, like many other countries, has experienced this huge rise in the number of young people experiencing gender dysphoria. whilst here in scotland there is a pause now on any new patients receiving puberty blocking hormones, the health service here in scotland is saying that those young people will receive the psychological support that they require. thank ou. northeastern indonesia is on a tsunami alert, after a volcano erupted five times, prompting fears it could collapse into the sea. officials say that an earthquake near the ruang volcano might have

triggered its fierce eruptions. the emergency alert level around it has been raised to indonesia's highest tier. the authorities are scrambling to evacuate thousands of people away from nearby islands. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

foreign ministers from the g7 countries are meeting on the italian island of capri, for talks on ukraine and the middle east crisis. the eu's foreign affairs chief, who's attending, said they'd be taking stock of what he called the dire situation facing ukraine, the people in gaza, and those in israel following iran's recent attack. ministers are due to discuss support for ukraine later today and secretary of state antony blinken has said that it's urgent that "the friends and supporters of ukraine maximise their efforts to provide.

ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against the russian aggression." ukraine's prime minister has told the bbc there will be a �*third world war�* if ukraine loses its conflict with russia, as he urges the us congress to pass the long—stalled foreign aid bill. dennis shmil—hal expressed "careful optimism" that us lawmakers would pass the hotly contested measure, which has $61 billion earmarked for kyiv. the house of representatives is set to vote on the package this saturday. mr shmil—hal spoke with my colleague sumi somaskanda in washington. the united states is one of our biggest supporters and investors in the ukrainian economy, and in the ukrainian defence capacity. we are waiting so much for this draft law, in one or other conditions which now are discussed in congress. so, we will be very grateful if it will be approved in saturday. we are waiting this for so much, and especially our guys and girls on the frontline.

i can imagine you're watching that so closely, the vote on saturday as well — did you receive any assurances from your conversations on capitol hill from lawmakers, to say, this will pass, did they tell you that? we have some conversations today, some conversations we will have tomorrow. all the partners, all the congressmen, have a very careful optimism, for saturday, so we share this optimism. and we need this money yesterday, not tomorrow, not today, but yesterday. we need this support, military support, yesterday, because the situation on the frontline is difficult enough. we need this support from our biggest partner, from the united states. at the same time there are some republicans here in washington who are sceptical, they don't want this bill even to be and in the past few moments, us secretary of state antony blinken has also been speaking about ukraine

military aid at the g7 meeting in capri. it is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of ukraine maximise their efforts to provide ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this russian aggression, and in particular for the united states that means passing the supplemental, the extra budget request the president has made for ukraine that we now hope will be before the house this weekend. and i would just remind, the profound stakes that the united states has in ukraine's success. if putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, we know he won't stop at ukraine and we can safely predict that his aggression will continue. 0ther would—be aggressors around the world will take note and unleash their own aggressions, and we will have a world of conflict, not a world of peace and security. rishi sunak�*s plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda has suffered another setback. the house of lords refused to back down on its changes to the legislation last night. it means the safety of rwanda bill,

designed to ensure that migrants can be sent to the east african country, won't become law until next week at the earliest. peter walsh is from the university of oxford's migration 0bservatory. he gave me his reaction to the ping—pong happening in parliament. it seems to have been going on for quite some time now. but in this most recent development, the amendments that were successfully tabled in the house of lords, their not bill—racking bill—breaking amendments, they're actually fairly modest. one is to prevent the relocation to rwanda of foreign nationals who have assisted uk military operations overseas, thinking in particular of afghan interpreters and other staff members. and then the other is just to allow the home secretary to be able to change their mind in the future as to whether rwanda is safe. because the bill as currently drafted says, implies that rwanda is safe forever and always.

so these are quite modest amendments. all eyes now on the government to see if they're going to throw the lords a bone, accept these amendments and make those concessions so the bill can pass next week. yeah. do you think we are likely to see the government do that? um... i think it's probable. without wishing to predict what the government and the lords will do. there's a few moving parts here, but i think it's odds on and then the question is, well, what's the earliest that flights could actually take off? the passing of the bill would mean that legal challenges to remove most of those would be removed. what remains are some logistical challenges, and they fall first on the rwandans. is their asylum system ready to process claims? do they have the accommodation? and also on the uk side, can the uk get these flights up and running? so those would be the remaining challenges. of course, legally that may not be the last word because some people could challenge their removal in the strasbourg court,

the european court of human rights, and it looks pretty certain they were going to be on a crash course, the uk government, with the strasbourg court and they may very well take a similar view as the supreme court did last year. 0n the policy itself, the government says it will deter people from trying to get to the united kingdom. do you think that is the case? that is the big question. now, the available evidence suggests that deterrence policies of this kind, where they've been trialed in other countries, tend not to have a big deterrent effect. there is a big caveat, though, which is other countries have not pursued something quite so radical as the uk'ss rwanda scheme and i expect much will depend on the share of irregular arrivals to the uk who are actually swiftly removed to rwanda. if that share is big, then people may think twice about getting a small boat.

if that share is small, then the probability of being sent to rwanda would be commensurately small. people may just view that as one additional risk, alongside a much greater risk they're already taking by getting a small boat in the first place. the scottish government is expected to ditch its flagship target of reducing greenhouse gas emission by 75% by 2030. the bbc understands that the government's annual climate targets could also be scrapped, but the final goal of reaching "net—zero" by 2045 will remain. bbc scotland political correspondent andrew kerr is following the story from holyrood. this has been a really interesting day here at the scottish parliament because of course, here in edinburgh, the greens as james was pointing out, are in government with the snp. so this has been a day, as the scottish conservatives have been saying, of abject humiliation for the snp, and the greens in government. now, of course, they are still hoping to reach that 2045 net—zero target, but they are dropping this interim target and what makes it perhaps particularly embarrassing for the government here is that they have been quite forceful in the past in having these

world—leading targets as they have been described. the former first minister nicola sturgeon said they were the most stretching in the world. it will be interesting now for us to wait and see not only the reaction from the opposition parties here, but also the reaction from green party members as well who have to agree to the greens standing up being in government with the snp. some people have also said this might be the lib dem moment for the greens, of course, the lib dems were in coalition with the conservative party at uk government level from 2010 to 2015. and i think lib dems here and wondering if this might be their tuition fees moment, the moment when people perhaps turn against the green party, as people may be turned against the lib dems. but we have also been hearing as well injames's

package just the reaction from environmental groups. greenpeace saying this is like lighting a match in a petrol station, it's a very dangerous step to take. and 0xfam are saying this is an acute global embarrassment for the scottish government. scientists say that the recent deadly heatwave in west africa and the sahel would not have taken place without the impact of climate change. temperatures soared above 48 celsius in mali last month with one hospital linking hundreds of deaths to the extreme heat. 0ur environment correspondent matt mcgrath has more details. this heatwave raged across the sahel region in west africa for five days, and five even warmer nights in the end of march and early april. it saw temperatures, as you pointed out, across the region go above 45 degrees. in mali they went above 48, in one town, they went above 48.5 degrees. so an intense burst of heat which you say saw temperatures rise 1.5 degrees above preindustrial in an awful lot of the region but at night, temperatures were above 2 degrees in many parts of the region. when you consider that this

was during ramadan, people were fasting, there was literally no relief and that may well be linked to the number of deaths that people have recounted — a hospital in bamako in mali was seeing 102 deaths in the early days of april. compare that to the last year when they had 160 in the whole of april. so they are clearly linking those deaths to the heat. they say a lot of those people were elderly and they also say essentially this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the numbers of people who were affected by this intense heatwave. and they are also warning about what will happen in decades to come if nothing is done to try and stop climate change and global warming. that's right, the researchers here link this very clearly to the use of oil, coal and gas, to deforestation, to agriculture around the world, that have driven up emissions of carbon dioxide and other warming gases. that's put our current temperatures 1.2 degrees above what they were before the industrial era. those temperatures are going to continue to rise.

researchers say that this heatwave was essentially a once in 200 year event at the moment but if our temperatures globally go up about 2 degrees which could happen in the next ten to 15 years, maybe longer, then that heatwave will occur once every 20 years. so there is a massive multiplier in terms of the global average temperature going up in the next number of years. breaking sport news. the fa cup replays have been scrapped from next season. we will have more in the sport coming up in the next half an hour. it was a chilly start to the day particularly for central and southern parts of the uk and we had a touch of frost around. rain has been moving in from the north and for the rest of the day it will be damp across the northern part of the uk, whereas sunny spells will hold on in the south. there is high—pressure out towards the west, but this weather front is coming around the northern side of that high pressure, bringing the cloud and rain

to much of scotland. rain in northern ireland which is drying out a bit. northern england and north wales turning fairly wet in the afternoon. further south you're more likely to stay dry with sunshine lifting temperatures to 15 degrees in london, so a little bit warmer than recent days but still rather chilly in the north. we have got a cold, north—westerly wind developing overnight bringing a scattering of showers to scotland and a few further south as well. we have got the remnants of that system sitting across the southern part of the british isles first thing tomorrow. it will not be as cold as this morning, about five to 10 degrees to start friday. a weak frontal system in the south but high pressure towards the west and this combination will pull in the winds from north—westerly direction on friday, bringing sunshine and blustery showers. particularly windy in eastern scotland, but showers should clear and they will linger longest for central and south—eastern parts of england. temperatures round about 14 or 15, but cooler where you are exposed to the northerly wind on the east coast. into the weekend high pressure will nudge its way a little

bit further eastwards, so good news, drier weather at last after that relentless rain we have seen recently. a little bit of rain perhaps in the north of scotland. more cloud generally in eastern areas where we have that chilly and northerly wind. ten or 11 close to the east coast. towards the west 13 and 14 with longer spells of sunshine. a similar day on sunday. most of us dry with the best of the sunshine towards the west. a bit more cloud in the east and that breeze coming in off the north sea. 11 degrees or so for norwich and up to about 16 in belfast. next week it looks like high pressure is still fairly close, so a lot of dry weather, one or two showers, especially in the south, but those temperatures will continue to be a little below average for this time of year.

blowing the whistle on boeing. an engineer tells the us senate he was �*harassed and threatened' after he raised safety concerns about the company's planes. you know, if something happens to me, i am at peace because i feel like, by coming forward, i will be saving a lot

of lives and i'm at peace. the food and drinks giant nestle faces a shareholder vote which may impose tougher targets on healthy foods. also coming up — rein in the debt! the imf warns the uk it's borrowing too much. but chancellor of the exchequer jeremy hunt tells the bbc the uk economy is in good shape. the imf are saying this week that over the next six years we will grow faster than any major european economy and faster than japan. welcome to world business report. we start in washington dc where boeing has been facing more questions about its safety culture and manufacturing quality as three whistleblowers gave evidence to congress as part of its investigation into the aviation giant. boeing engineer sam salehpour —

a company veteran of 17 years —