belarus' exiled opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya tells the bbc benjamin netanyahu benjamin neta nyahu says benjamin netanyahu says israel will carry out an offensive in rafah whether or not a cease—fire deal is agreed with hamas. belarus�* exiled opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya tells the bbc she doesn't know if her imprisoned husband is alive or dead. king charles returns to public engagements with a visit to a cancer treatment centre — we'll hear from our royal correspondent. the telegraph is back up for sale, after the company that had agreed to buy the newspaper — the abu dhabi—backed redbird — pulled out due to legislation banning foreign states from owning uk newspapers. lucy frazer the secretary of state for media, culture and sport, addressed the commons earlier.

yama as the house will know, the sale of the telegrap is currently subject to the media mergers process all below and together, i would like to confirm that the purchaser has notified me of their intention to sell the . ., , sell the agreement that gives them the deed to buy _ sell the agreement that gives them the deed to buy the _ sell the agreement that gives them the deed to buy the the _ sell the agreement that gives them the deed to buy the the telegraph. in effect, withdrawing from the purchase of the newspaper. fore more, i am joined by andrews neil — chairman of the specator, which is now also up for sale again. good to talk to you, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. there wasn't a choice here, but your action first off? i5 there wasn't a choice here, but your action first off?— action first off? is like back to the future. — action first off? is like back to the future, we _ action first off? is like back to the future, we had _ action first off? is like back to the future, we had a - action first off? is like back to the future, we had a sale - the future, we had a sale process going in the autumn of last year, which was interrupted by the intervention of redbird imi, the american company bankrolled by the uae. they bought the debt which gave them the right to the telegraph and

them the right to the telegraph and the spectator, which was then derailed when the government said, "no, we changed the law, we don't want governments or government entities to own british media assets." so the sales process is back on now. it's a slightly strange situation, i have to say, and parliament has ruled that the emma readies, the uae are not the right people to own back or the spectator. the government seems content that they are in charge of the sales process. so in other words, they'll determine who will buy us. so we'll have to keep a close eye on this to make sure the right thing happens. andrew, for people watching this around the world, why do you think it matters that a british media asset like this one has owners that are sovereign funded, given that sovereign wealth funds own a lot of utilities in this country for clubs and airports, why does it matter that it's a media entity? because in a democracy. _ that it's a media entity? because in a democracy, freedom _ that it's a media entity? because in

a democracy, freedom of— that it's a media entity? because in a democracy, freedom of the - that it's a media entity? because in a democracy, freedom of the press| a democracy, freedom of the press and freedom of media means freedom from government — that's basically what the first amendment of the us constitution says, and that set the gold standard for the freedom of the press along for the democratic world. you cannot have a free press if it's owned by government entities, and the redbird imi deal in the end involved a government entity of the uae in the gulf, and we wanted to stop that. we are against, as all sensible people are, any government, democratic, authoritarian, british, foreign, no government in a democracy should be involved in owning media in our society. involved in owning media in our socie . ~ ., involved in owning media in our socie .~ . , society. what happens next, where we headed new? — society. what happens next, where we headed now? good _ society. what happens next, where we headed now? good question, - society. what happens next, where we headed now? good question, the - headed now? good question, the sectator headed now? good question, the spectator had _ headed now? good question, the spectator had 22 _ headed now? good question, the spectator had 22 people - headed now? good question, the spectator had 22 people trying i headed now? good question, the spectator had 22 people trying to | spectator had 22 people trying to buy it last time around before the

sales process was halted, i assume a lot of them will come back on that. we need to spend the next month updating all the information for the sales memorandum, redbird imi will supposedly put that out to market. we don't know how much of a hurry they are in, we sometimes get the impression they are not in a hurry at all. we keep hoping something will turn out that will somehow keep them in the game. so we need to keep a close eye on them throughout this process, but no doubt if it goes according to plan, new bidders will come over the summer, and perhaps a deal could be done before the summer ends or early in the autumn. i say perhaps because we've been at this for almost a year now, we've been stuck in limbo for a year and nothing moves very quickly. so i'm nothing moves very quickly. so i'm not holding my breath that this will be done too quickly — and it's damaging the businesses. as you know, media is a fast—changing scene, you need to react and invest, do new things — that's hard to do

when you wrote in limbo. so the sooner we get this resolved, the better for the telegraph and the spectator. better for the telegraph and the sectator. �* ., ., ., ., ~ spectator. andrew neil, good to talk to you. thank — spectator. andrew neil, good to talk to you, thank you. _ in an exclusive interview with the world today, the exiled belarusian opposition leader, svetlana tikhanovskaya, has spoken to me about the impact of the war in ukraine on her country, and the personal loss of being separated from her imprisoned husband, whom she hasn't heard from for a year. she said a victory for kyiv would give people in belarus an opportunity to overthrow alexander lukashenko — the man known as europe's last dictator. she also called on the west to help political prisoners like her husband, telling me she did not know if he was alive or dead. lukashenko has ruled belarus with an iron fist since 1994. although he's not recognised as the legitimate president by two neibouring countries, he's already said he plans to seek yet another five—year term in 2025's presidential election. svetlana ran against him in the last

election after her husband — a former blogger and presidential candidate — was taken into custody. sergei tikhanovsky was laterjailed for 18 years in a trial condemned as a sham. she claimed victory in the 2020 polls, which were widely thought to be rigged, but was forced into exile with her children the day after the vote. after the election, protests swept the country before demonstrators were brutally suppressed by the security forces. then last year, a belarus court sentenced svetla na in absentia to 15 years' jail — the charges included high treason and conspiracy to seize power. i began the interview by asking her about the relationship between the war in ukraine and what is happening in belarus. belarus and ukraine are intertwined, both our countries are facing the same enemy — imperialistic ambitions of russia, and russia wants to subjugate ukraine and belarus. if in ukraine, they are fighting

with tanks, missiles, they are killing people — so in belarus, it's like a creeping occupation. they interfere into our culture, into our media, economy, education, just to, step by step, subjugate our nation. and only strong national identity, strong society will help us to avoid this russification. how difficult is it going to be to build that strong nation, that strong society from where you are? i mean, you are a leader in exile — how realistic is it that you're going to influence citizens within belarus? look, i'm in exile the same as at least half a million people who fled belarus because of repressions. but still, ther are eight million people inside belarus — and belarus society has full consensus about the situation in our country. we are against dictatorship, we are against the war in ukraine, against participation of our country into the war. we want a free, independent, and democratic belarus through free and fair elections. we want to release our people

from prisons, return back, of course, to our homeland, and start developing our country as part of european families of countries. so it's not difficult to unite people who have the same aim. now is not time for competition between people, it's time to fight against one enemy, its dictator, and the system that dictator has built for 26 years, and to change, dismantle the system. what's your plan to do this? because let's say, for example, if ukraine does end up beating russia in its war, what happens next in belarus? the victory of ukraine — and i'm sure that with the support and assistance of all the democratic world, ukraine definitely will win — it will be simultaneously mean one more window of opportunity for belarusians. because victory of ukraine will mean

weak putin, weak russia — and hence, weak lukashenka. and now we are preparing for this moment, for this trigger, moment of opportunity, and now we are — on the one hand, we are trying to weaken lukashenka through economic and political pressure, and to strengthen our belarusian nation, our civil society, our media, our agency of democratic forces to take political space from lukashenko's cronies and give it to democratically—oriented people. so, people who are even in this system of lukashenko's regime, they also watch closely what's going on, where the wind is blowing from. and they see that belarusian democratic forces propose a very good alternative to russian world in belarus. we propose being part of european family of countries. we propose investments, we propose reforms that influence

well—being of bela rusians. and believe me, people who are anti—lukashenko, they also want changes. but now, they are too scared by this regime to oppose him. svetlana, your own husband, sergei, has been imprisoned — he was sentenced to 18 years in prison in belarus. i wonder whether you've been hearing from him, whether he's 0k, and what his prolonged imprisonment is doing to you on a personal level. so actually, we have thousands of political prisoners behind the bars, and it's the most painful part of our fight, when thousands of people are suffering behind the bars because of ill treatment. we have a list of people with bad diseases like cancer, like diabetes, heart attacks, people with special needs who are deprived of any medical care. we have to learn one term which means that people who are behind the bars are kept

in full isolation. this is about my husband, as well — so i haven't heard about my husband for one year already. no information at all. lawyers are not allowed to visit him, letters are not delivered — you know, i don't know how to answer to my children about their daddy. and there are plenty of people who are kept who are being kept like this. you know, we wants to persuade our heroes behind the bars that the world forgot about them, that, you know, nobody�*s thinking about them. just look, lawyers not coming, letters are not delivered — your sacrifice was in vain. and i really want the world to be loud about political prisoners, about the humanitarian situation in belarus, for people not to feel forgotten in our country. so, you don't even know whether sergei is alive or dead right now? yeah, i don't know this. and of course, the situation, for example, with alexei navalny, you know, it's caused a lot

of emotions inside me, because my husband's like a personal enemy to lukashenka. and i think that only strong, decisive steps from democratic world defending political prisoners and human rights, you know, can protect our beloved who are in jail. so when you saw what happened to mr navalny, that upset you? yeah, of course because, you know, it's — this is murder and, you know, the reaction of the democreatic world, it's could be all green light or red line for further killing of the opponents of the regime. and, of course, sergei and other people who are behind the bars, you know, the enemies of this regime, they can kill them without any consequences. that's the leader of the belarusian

opposition speaking to me from oslo, norway. the case was brought by nicaragua which argued that giving military aid to israel represented a breach of the united nations convention on genocide. germany deny that israel has broken any international laws, it also said it hadn't set any artillery shells or munitions to israel since october, when the latest in conflict —— when the latest conflict in gaza began. still to come on the world today — one of the world's most popular mobile games, clash of clans, has unveiled a surprise new character. and want to take your poochies to the movies? well, now you can, as a cinema in norwich opens its doors to owners and their pampered pets. around the world and across the uk, this is the world today on bbc news.

the king has carried out his first public engagement

since announcing he has cancer. he and the queen visited a cancer centre at a hospital in london. he met patients and staff at university college london, and spoke of the shock of being told he had the disease. the king has been having cancer treatment since early february — it hasn't been made public what kind of cancer he has. here'sjonny dymond. it's been a while, but on a sunny morning in central london the king rolled into town. one question on everyone's minds... sir, how you feeling? lovely to see you back. the smile seemed to say it all. there's not normally this much attention paid to a royal visit, but this was the first by the king in a long time. it's nice to see him out and about, looking so well. nice to see him back to work? of course, of course, we've all got to go to work,

so obviously he will have to jump in sooner or later, but no, it was nice to see him. we were really excited to see he is well enough to be out and about on this beautiful sunny day in london, and it's, yeah, it's been a special treat really, and unexpected. inside the cancer treatment centre, appreciation for a man still undergoing treatment, and time to chat with those who had waited for him. the king giving every sign of enjoying his time out and about. the king heard about new ways to tackle cancer. he wants, the palace says, to encourage others to get tested early. the trouble is to get enough people early. a man who told the world about his diagnosis hearing about the benefits of early treatment. then it was upstairs to meet those receiving chemotherapy.

as the king asked after the health of patients, the questions kept coming back to him. but there was time, too, for talk, one patient to another, and for a moment, of maybe mutual reassurance. as they left, bouquets of posies for the king and queen, from two of the youngest patients here. this was a relatively low—key return to public duties — you might call it a soft restart — and the palace has made it clear that what comes next depends on the king's health and the advice of his medical team, but he is clearly delighted to back on the road. no word as to when the next engagement is, but the king clearly happy to be out in public again. jonny dymond, bbc news, central london. to the world of gaming now —

and news that one of the world's most popular mobile games, clash of clans, is teaming up with one of the world's most popular footballers — manchester city striker erling haaland. let's have a look at the premier league star in action. no way — amazing! help, warrior, help to crush their defence! that was a very squeaky voice, wasn't to? video games consultant and writer of the video games industry memo, george osborn, told us this development was completely unexpected. it was a total surprise. this time last week, supercell were talking completely about their new game, which is called squad busters, which is coming out next month at an exclusive event in london called wasd. and this week, erling haaland pops up in the game, so no—one was expecting this. tell me a bit more about what this kind of process means to someone like erling haaland — because obviously, there must be loads of footballers who, you know, are in fifa or get into video games.

but he particularly was picked for this — do we know why? well, the main reason why he was picked for this is he actually picked himself. so erling haaland has been playing the game for about ten years. it's been available for 12. and he basically put himself forward. he got his agents to get in touch with supercell, so he makes the game, and they spotted a great opportunity. so for the rest of this month, that's coming up, you're going to be able to have him posing as your barbarian king character. you're going to be able to invade his village, and ultimately just enjoy the fact that he obviously loves clash of clans just as much as the many millions of fans around... can i ask to be part of clash of clans? can i have my own character, like barbarian queen or something? orjust queen? well, you could try, but unfortunately, erling is actually the first person ever to make the jump from the real world into clash of clans. now, there have previously been some celebrity backers and superstars involved around the game — so liam neeson famously advertised the game ahead of one of the super bowls.

but i think for us, we're probably going to have to keep to the characters that we're given, i'm afraid. and tell me a little bit about what this tells us about the prominence of video games for younger generations. i mean, theyjust, you know, theyjust get better and better, don't they? and their appeal gets wider and wider. and actually, i'm reading the words younger generations in my notes. but it's notjust younger generations, is it? no, of course not. i mean, the average age of a player around the world is estimated to be somewhere between about 32—36. so you're talking about something that is becoming increasingly prominent across wider society, particularly. but i think with this partnership, it's really interesting because this is one of the big mobile games that turned mobile gaming into the biggest part of the games industry and opened up the audience. and until now, most of these big celebrity partnerships, they tend to be for console and pc games. so to have essentially one of the world's biggest footballers give a mobile game the seal of approval like this, it's a really big moment. queen mariam appearing in a video game soon to you — no, don't think

so. the army says two injured military horses seen galloping through the streets of london are making progress after surgery. quaker, a cavalry black, and a grey called vida, bolted after being spooked by noises from a nearby building site. it happened last wednesday, while the household cavalry were training in the belgravia area. the horses are having surgery, and we hope and wish them well. the eurovision song contest has given many acts global fame over the years. but one performer triumphed without even competing. michael flatley was the half time entertainment when he stole the show in 1994, with his fresh take on irish dancing. he spoke to charlotte gallagher. eurovision, 1994 in dublin. and this was the interval act — riverdance with michael flatley. my goodness, that brings up a lot of memories. it was a very unique evening. it was very, very special. i'll tell you a story, i don't think i've ever mentioned it before.

right before i went on stage, they came to me beside the stage. a couple of them said, "please, we're getting calls from all the dance teachers. please don't wave your arms around. you're going to make us look ridiculous in front of the world and we'll be very embarrassed. so can we just ask you this time, whatever happens, keep your arms down." and i said, "no." irish dancing quickly became a global sensation and fans filled arenas. and that impact, going right across the world. how cool is that? so we nailed it. my dream, for 35 years, i was working in construction sites and digging foundations in chicago, in those freezing cold winters. but i was creating those steps and my dance style in my mind that whole time. and that's what got me through the hard labours. michael set up his own show, lord of the dance. but growing up and wanting to be an irish dancer

in the late—19605 wasn't easy. i got bullied at school, terribly. so i know what young lads go through. and it's trying. it's mentally difficult. it's stressful to have to walk into school and hope somebody doesn't say something negative toward you. and it's fair to say that irish dancing has changed a lot over the decades. music: back in black by ac/dc so what about the new generation of irish dancers? we took michael to meet a group of students in castleknock, county dublin. hiya. one, two, three. four, five, six. point and up. point toes. good job! allunder nine. beautiful. my god! and did you ever think,

30 years later, you'd be talking still about that moment? when riverdance finished, on that last stamp of the feet, when it stopped, even i was blown away with the response. and it was one of those moments in time, you know? we were so blessed. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, dublin. hello, michael? i got your shirt, darling. sorry about that. ever dreamt of taking your dog to the cinema with you? well, one cinema in norwich has gone further — robby west has that story. some were desperate to find their seats, others sat patiently through the credits, and one or two, well, they were more interested in the snacks than what was on the screen. dog barks but, whatever the dogs made of it, all of the owners that came along to this pet—friendly cinema said the idea was brilliant. i loved it.

and she really likes telly, so she really enjoyed it. i could tell she was watching the whole movie. like, our life revolves around dolly, so it's like nice to have another sort of thing that we can do with her. because he's a rescue, we don't like to leave him at home, so he goes to work with us, he goes everywhere, he goes on holiday with us. to see him interact with other dogs, and how well—behaved he is, considering the start in life that he had, fills me with such great, immense joy. living on my own with lenny, l it's quite difficult for me to sort of go out and do things, - so being able to bring him along is just absolutely amazing. here's your blanket. thank you very much. a cover for the seats, water bowls scattered round the screens, and the volume was turned down slightly so not to scare the smaller dogs. cinema city in norwich also allowed more time after the show for a deep clean, in case there was any accidents or if any with an allergy turned up to the next screening. i've worked in cinema for over 20 years, and i love making the cinema accessible for all, whether it be through the technology

we use orjust by opening to dogs and dog owners. here, they planned to have dog—friendly screenings every month. so, at this cinema, expect to see more pooches when you're purchasing your popcorn. dog barks robbie west, bbc news. let me book those tickets! that's it for me, bye—bye. hello there. the southerly breeze brought the warmer air further north across the uk today, mainly for eastern areas where we had the dry weather and the sunshine. further west, it was a different story because as you can see from the satellite picture, we've had much more cloud and that's been bringing some rain as well. this cloud, though, continues to threaten the southeast with a few showers and those could run their way northwards up these eastern coastal areas up towards the north east of england. further west, though, the cloud will tend to thin a bit — the rain tending to die out in many places, becoming dry. misty, low cloud, though, could develop in eastern scotland, perhaps north east england.

temperatures on the mild side and it may well be a little bit warmer than last night in the southeast. we've got some cloud and some showers coming across northeast england into eastern scotland. further west, it's going to be a drier and brighter day with some sunshine, just the odd shower. a few showers breaking out in the midlands ahead of this rain that's developing here in southern parts of england. but for western areas, those temperatures will be higher than today — 18 in the northwest of england and western scotland. it's going to be cooler in eastern scotland and northeast england, especially where it stays grey and misty. with some warmth further south, though, and that rain coming in from france, we've got the risk of some thunderstorms for a short while on wednesday night. more likely southern england and south wales, could be some large hail and some gusty winds. most of that rain then clearing away. we've got that weather front stuck across southern areas — and to the north, the easterly wind is continuing to pick up. now that is going to bring some warmer air from the continent. trouble is, it's moving over the cold north sea, where sea surface temperatures are only 8—9 celsius. so it's going to keep it cooler around north sea coasts,

and there could be some mist and low cloud around it as well. but otherwise, we'll see some sunshine coming through. the cloud taking a little longer to break up here in the southwest after the overnight rain. and we could trigger a few sharp showers across those central areas. many places will be dry on thursday. it's going to be warm through the midlands, northwest england, and northern ireland this time, making 20 celsius in western scotland. still cool into friday for eastern scotland, maybe a few showers here, and some more wet weather developing across england and wales, pushing northwards, bringing some thunderstorms into northern england. that will drop the temperatures here. we could get some sunshine in southern england. the highest temperatures, 20 celsius, again will be in western scotland.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. we understand that police were called around seven o'clock this morning following reports

of a car being driven into a house. now, we're told that 22 minutes later the police were on the scene and have made an arrest. they ran towards the station and one guy got stabbed in the neck and he was holding his neck like that. this was and is a fast—moving and complex incident- and investigation and it will take - us some time to establish the facts. tonight a 14—year—old boy killed in a sword attack in north east london, a 36—year—old man is in custody. what does it say about knife crime in the capital and the mets performance in tackling it? antony blinken just landed in tel aviv on the latest leg of his middle east tour, with the ceasefire talks on a knifedge. and mansplaining from plato — the artificial intelligence that's

reveals the philosophers final moments, and how he felt about the flotists music