the israeli military says it's opened a new humanitarian crossing into the gaza strip — as it carries out more strikes on gaza, and tells tens of thousands more palestinians to leave rafah. meanwhile, britain's foreign secretary says restricting arms supplies to israel would not be a wise move and would only play into hamas�*s hand. polls close in catalonia's regional elections in what will be a test of strength for the independence movement. fighting in north—eastern ukraine continues to intensify, as russia claims the capture of four more villages in the kharkiv region. and the best television programmes of 2023 will be honoured at tonight's bafta tv awards in london. the bbc�*s police drama happy valley has five nominations.

hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. we beginfrom... the polls have just closed in catalonia, where pro—independence supporters wanting to break away from spain are hoping to maintain their majority in the regional parliament. catalonia made a failed attempt to break away from spain in 2017, and the election comes as the parliament in madrid is expected to approve a controversial amnesty law for separatist catalans facing legal action. let's speak to our correspondent guy hedgecoe. if you could just set this into context. why are these elections so significant? context. why are these elections so si . nificant? , context. why are these elections so siunificant? , ., context. why are these elections so siunificant? , . , u, significant? they are significant because the _ significant? they are significant because the cattle _ significant? they are significant because the cattle on _ because the cattle on pro—independence parties have controlled the regional parliament

for so long, and the national party has controlled throughout spain's democratic. they've made a point of being in control of it over the last decade or so when the independent issue has really come to the floor. if they were to lose their majority in the regional parliament, that will be a major development. it would be seen as a big blow to the independent movement, and it would arguably push the independent issue further away from the centre of the political arena, and part of it has been already. but it would make it difficult for those pro—independence parties to do that and to keep insisting on the importance of what they want, which is an independent referent of. they want, which is an independent referent ot— they want, which is an independent referent of— they want, which is an independent referent of. , , . , referent of. guy, what has been the sense? is it — referent of. guy, what has been the sense? is it a _ referent of. guy, what has been the sense? is it a heated _ referent of. guy, what has been the

sense? is it a heated one? - referent of. guy, what has been the sense? is it a heated one? yes, - sense? is it a heated one? yes, it's alwa s a sense? is it a heated one? yes, it's always a fairly _ sense? is it a heated one? yes, it's always a fairly heated _ sense? is it a heated one? yes, it's always a fairly heated campaign - sense? is it a heated one? yes, it's always a fairly heated campaign in i always a fairly heated campaign in catalonia. you have two divisions, the left versus the right. you usually have is prohibited parties. the socialist party of pedro sanchez, the socialists, according to polls, are set to win. they code be in the case against this time if they win this election. it would be a big boost to prime minister pedro sanchez, who has been under a enormous pressure because of his decision to push the parliament that amnesty law which lifts action against pro—independence

—— catalan. -- catalan. guy had co-joining us -- catalan. guy had co-�*oining us from spam. * -- catalan. guy had co-�*oining us from spam. we h -- catalan. guy had co-�*oining us from spain, we will _ -- catalan. guy had co-joining us from spain, we will stay - -- catalan. guy had co-joining us from spain, we will stay with - -- catalan. guy had co-joining us. from spain, we will stay with those stories as a result come in. thank you very much. the israeli military says it has opened a new humanitarian crossing into the gaza strip in co—ordination with the us government. president biden's national security adviser has warned that israel's but the exact location of the the crossing, called �*western erez, is not confirmed and whether it will make a difference to aid reaching the most needed. more palestianians have been told to move out of the southern city of rafah towards a coastal area around al—mawasi, which israel calls an "expanded humanitarian zone". the hamas—run gaza health ministry says that at least 35,000 palestinians have been killed since the war broke out. paul adams reports from jerusalem. one by one, the people of rafah are leaving. 0utlying parts of the city now all but deserted.

"i wasn't planning on going," hassan says, "but since no—one is left here, i decided to leave. i have to find out where my wife and daughter are." the un says 300,000 people have left already. that's almost a quarter of those sheltering in rafah. most are heading for the coast, to places barely able to to places barely able to sustain life, where exhausted, hungry people fend for themselves. zainab and her children have brought their makeshift tent to the beach. translation: they dropped leaflets on us four times. - after the fourth time, we came here. when i arrived, ifound my tent was worn out. we stayed in it for five months in rafah. i want to try and stitch it, but it's no good. israel's ground operation in rafah is almost a week old. the military says it's killing hamas fighters and destroying tunnels. but washington is still warning israel not to launch an all—out offensive because there'si million

people there in very close quarters an all—out offensive. because there's a million people there in very close quarters who've been pushed there because of the military operations in other parts of gaza, you would have really significant civilian casualties. and while israel would also be able to kill some hamas folks, many hamas folks would melt away because they're terrorists. once again, israel is fighting on more than one front, sending troops back into the northern part of the gaza strip over the weekend... ..and suffering casualties. 19—year—old itai livni, one of four soldiers killed, buried this morning in tel aviv. "you were so proud of what you were doing", his twin brother, yoav, says. "i was so proud of you. i lost my other half. you will forever stay in my heart." israel is approaching memorial day when it remembers those killed by war or acts of terrorism.

this past year, the worst for half a century. paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. drjames smith is a british doctor currently working from the un building in rafah. speaking to the bbc earlier, he outlined what the situation on the ground is like. coming to rafah today. the streets that were previously packed with idps living going into rafah today, the streets that were previously packed with idps living in makeshift tents, most of those tents have now been dismantled and people have fled. the area immediately around the un building is almost unrecognisable now. all of the people that were seeking some degree of sanctuary there have fled. the roads yesterday from rafah city up towards khan younis were completely packed with people. it was almost impossible to move. we also saw people moving by foot for the first time now — that's because there are so few vehicles available to transport

people and the cost of a journey in a vehicle or even on a donkey cart now is prohibitively expensive for many people. here in the uk, the foreign secretary lord cameron, has defended the government's decision not to withdraw arms export licenses to israel. speaking on laura kuessnberg on sunday, he said that restricting arms deliveries to israel because of its war in gaza would strengthen hamas and make a deal to free israeli hostages less likely, but said that decision was being constantly reviewed. israel has not had a clean bill of health. 0n humanitarian aid, there have been real failings and they need to do better. but on the crucial question we have to answer which is, is there a serious risk of exports being used for a serious breach in international law? up to now, in the assessments we've done, we've continued with the export licensing, but it's a rolling process and it looks at what is happening on the ground.

i knew ater crossing has been opened up. i knew ater crossing has been opened u -. f i knew ater crossing has been opened u . _ , �* . ., , . , up. they're calling this western erez. up. they're calling this western erez- that _ up. they're calling this western erez. that is _ up. they're calling this western erez. that is the _ up. they're calling this western erez. that is the area _ up. they're calling this western erez. that is the area closest i up. they're calling this western j erez. that is the area closest to gaza city in that very heavily populated area. it is just to the west of the erez crossing which is normally a crossing point for civilians, but also goes for and for the provision of aid recently. it's close to the major port of ashdod, where a significant quantity of aid including flower is stored in the israelis were staying in the course of today, dozens of trucks carrying flower entered into the gaza strip. it says this was coordinated with the us government. don't forget there is also ashdod a pontoon that is being constructed by engineers, a

pontoon that is destined to go another a bridge into the gaza strip just south of gaza city. in fact, that should be installed any day now. i think the israelis believe or certainly want to persuade the international community that the provision of new access routes for aid, particularly in the north, where the dangers of hunger is most acute, the israelis are doing what they can to relieve the situation there. i think there will be some scepticism about that. any a crossing point that opens has the potential to make life easier. but in the south, where the campaign is getting under way, and also in the north, where the israeli military has resumed operations in certain

areas, those active fighting fronts continue to make the provision of aid extremely complicated. you mentioned _ aid extremely complicated. you mentioned the _ aid extremely complicated. you mentioned the south and there's been a lot of focus on what's going on in rafah. we've to more activity, more artillery strikes and the like. when is that full—scale offensive deemed to have begun, because we already hear about some activity there? israel's operation has been going a front for a week. it is still described by the military has limited and topical. it is yet to moved into the heavily did populated parts of rafah. as you heard in one of those clips, people are not waiting... we've had people getting on for a quarter of the civilian population that has been huddled in the rafah area all of these months,

leaving already, heading to the coast and up the coast to all of these tent encampments thatjust get bigger and bigger by the day. some are on the beach. there is no real access to sanitation, to the kinds of facilities that people need to keep clean and properly sheltered. i think it's significant that the kind of people that we're seeing on the move are people who already have moved to the south to seek shelter. it's all of those people who had set “p it's all of those people who had set up encampments in that area, they're now moving forward. the war keep chasing them from one place the next. president zelensky says there's �*fierce fighting' along a large part of the kharkiv region border in eastern ukraine. russia says it's captured another four villages in the region — an area where russian troops had been pushed back nearly two years ago. it means that since they launched their surprise offensive two days ago, they've taken nine villages. today, there have also been

strikes on the russian side of the border in belgorod with russian military saying a ukrainian air strike destroyed a section of a ten—storey apartment block. with the latest on the conflict, our defence correspondent jonathan beale reports from vovchansk. the road to russia just a few miles from the border and proof the road to russia — just a few miles from the border and proof the russians are back in the kharkiv region again. the town of vovchansk was liberated in a surprise ukrainian offensive less than two years ago. now it's at risk of falling back into russian hands. alexi, a local policeman, is once again telling the population to leave. he says it's better than dying. "the shelling is constant and chaotic and it's all over the town." we quickly move on at the sound of a russian drone. this is all that's left of sergei's home.

the familiar russian tactic of reducing towns to rubble. but sergei says he can't leave. he needs to look after his goats now, his only worldly possessions. he needs to look after his goats — now his only worldly possessions. you can still hear the artillery battle going on. it was more intense yesterday. this devastation — one man's house was created by a russian glide bomb. and that's the sound of a jet somewhere. explosions ukraine's outgunned and outnumbered,

and russia's using aerial glide bombs to devastating effect. alexi simply says, "look at what's happening". for some, it's made the decision to flee unavoidable, though it's still heartbreaking for 0lexander. this was the home he grew up in. he doesn't know if he'll ever return. ukrainian officials insist they were ready. not everyone agrees. this drone footage appears to show russian troops crossing the border unopposed. ..i've been in front line. for something you've already fought for before in 2022. same again. you're angry. very angry. denis, a ukrainian reconnaissance commander, helped push back the russians in 2022. now he's having to fight

for the same territory again. translation: there was no first line of defence. - we saw it. the russians just walked in wherever. where were the minefields? they just walked in. ukraine says it's repelling this attack with reinforcements, but russia's been probing the entire 800—mile front, and in kharkiv, it's exposed the weakness. jonathan beale, bbc news, vovchansk. the taliban say 315 people have now died in devastating flash floods in the north of afghanistan. a spokesman for the interior ministry told the bbc that most of the casualties were in the province of baghlan. emergency teams have been sent to rescue those stranded by the floodwaters. on friday, a massive torrent of water swept away hundreds of houses in several villages. dozens of people are still missing.

in the last hour, i spoke with our south asia editor for the bbc world service, anbarasan ethirajan. i asked him what do we know about the impact of these floods. as we speak now, thousands of people have been left homeless, they are waiting for food, shelter, and other help from humanitarian agencies and the authorities. now, these calamitous floods on fridayjust swept through villages, taking down walls on its way, houses, livestock, and also farmland, importantly, for many of those living in the rural areas. so these are devastating floods. we are talking about hundreds killed and thousands injured, and the economic impact is quite huge because people's wealth in these rural areas are livestock and most of the livestock has been wiped out. and people will come back to their houses, whatever is remaining there, they find that their houses are full of mud and most of the belongings washed away,

cracks on the houses. so, these are already suffering communities in the rural part of northern afghanistan, they also had very strong floods and they also had very strong floods last month that killed about 100 people. so, aid agencies are now struggling to reach out to many of these people because the transportation, the transport infrastructure has been severely hit — bridges, roads — so people are now not able to move from one village to another because there are still flowing rivers without any means of crossing these hurdles at the moment. the duke and duchess of sussex are ending their three—day tour of nigeria today. earlier, prince harry and meghan watched a basketball match and attended a fundraising event at the city's polo ground. they have been in the country to promote the tenth anniversary of the duke's invictus games, for injured military personel. 0ur africa correspondent simijolaoso is in lagos and sent us this update earlier.

they had been watching a charity match, like you mentioned. the match was put together to raise funds for a local organisation that they support called nigeria unconquered. and as you said, they were watching kids play basketball earlier today. sports appears to be a constant theme during this trip. so, when they visited that school, they played — well, harry played basketball with some of the kids who are being helped by another local organisation that they support called giants of africa, and they actually organise basketball camps across the continent for african kids. i actuallyjust want to point out what the duchess was wearing there, which kind of appeared to be a blue skirt. but that is actually a traditional attire called ashoke, which is hand—woven here in southwest nigeria. and she was gifted it at a reception

that she attended yesterday where she actually spoke about her nigerian heritage, saying that it's been a humbling and eye—opening experience to learn about that. so, she also mentioned that then and also the duke has been talking about the power of sports to change lives. of sports to change lives, and that's a message that they've really been trying to drive home during their trip here to nigeria. how's the trip being received overall in terms the crowds that have been turning out, simi, but also in the media there? yeah, there has been a bit of coverage amongst local newspapers and tv, tv stations here in nigeria. it's been largely positive, especially because of how meghan has been open about her nigerian heritage. that's something that they've all been pointing out, saying that she's kind of come home. saying that she's kind of come home, the princess has returned and a lot of people have been

suggesting names for her. there's one name called ahmal wali, which means the child has come home. there's one name called ahmal wali, which means the child has come home, other names such as ngozi. so that's something that i've been hearing a lot amongst people here, and they're just excited that it feels like their princess, as one person told me, has come home. the best television programmes of 2023 will be honoured at tonight's british academy television awards in london. succession and the bbc�*s police drama happy valley both have five nominations. netflix's the crown has four. the ceremony is being broadcast with a delay on bbc one from 7pm, so if you don't want to know who the winners are, you should switch off now. let's speak to our culture reporter noor nanji, who's at the event at london's royal festival hall. so, the show is under way. show us

what you can tell us so far. 50. so, the show is under way. show us what you can tell us so far.- what you can tell us so far. so, i met royal _ what you can tell us so far. so, i met royal festival _ what you can tell us so far. so, i met royal festival hall - what you can tell us so far. so, i met royal festival hall, - what you can tell us so far. so, i met royal festival hall, where l what you can tell us so far. so, i i met royal festival hall, where the show is under way. it got going about two hours ago and a lot of the big wins have already been announced. jasminejobson was the first for best supporting actress for her role in top boy he. she was in tears and thanking her costars. matthew mcfadden won best supporting actor for his role as tom in secession. he was there himself, but helena bonham carter excepted it on his behalf. there were also wins for the likes of strickler come dancing and also rob beckett and romesh ranganathen accepted and wore themselves as hosts. there was also waiting for squidge and game the challenge. —— a squid game. that won

best live event at the your vision and casualty won best soap. we expect flo ella benjamin to receive a bafta fellowship. lorraine kelly is receiving a special orders award, commemorating her a0 years on tv. there's also just been a really moving tribute to some of the people in the industry who have lost their lives last year, including matthew perry, and george alagiah. you mentioned _ perry, and george alagiah. you mentioned matthew mcfadden wasn't there in person, but of course there has been a star—studded line—up gracing the red carpet throughout the afternoon here in london. tell us more about who you met on the red carpet. us more about who you met on the red caret. ,, us more about who you met on the red caret. . ,., us more about who you met on the red caret. ,, ,., ., us more about who you met on the red caret. . ., , �*, carpet. sure, so of course, it's a very giamourous _ carpet. sure, so of course, it's a very glamourous events, - carpet. sure, so of course, it's a very glamourous events, as - carpet. sure, so of course, it's a| very glamourous events, as they carpet. sure, so of course, it's a - very glamourous events, as they tend to be. it got going around three in the afternoon. there were lots of parasols and sunscreen. it's a very hot day in london. we did see some

of the really famous names turning up of the really famous names turning up — elizabeth to be ke who plays diana in the crown. she was mobbed ijy diana in the crown. she was mobbed by fans and taking selfies and signing autographs as well. brian cox, another member of secession cast, he was there as well. he played at logan roy. he was told that if he does win, best actor, then there won't be any expletives in his speech, which is different to logan roy, his character, who often has a lot of swearing grants. i really start sitting events and lots of glamourous but wacky outfits as well. ., ., ., ., ,, , ., , well. noor nan'i, thank you very much. i'lljust say i'll just say that you can go i'lljust say that you can go online to the bbc news life page. our website you will find all of the best interviews and the winners and update we are getting out is that

the hit itv drama mr bates versus the post office is giving up a shout out. it wasn't eligible, as it was released too late, but it's been recognised for real and lasting change. before we 90, go, china has launched a china has launched a new satellite into space. this is the long march rocket taking off from the launch site in north west china. it's carrying a shiyan satellite which will be used for what officials describe as space environment monitoring. the long march rockets have taken part in more than 500 space missions. incredible pictures there. closing this however —— half hour here on bbc news. plenty more on the baftas. don't forget to go to the life page. i met rajini vaidyanathan. i'll be back after a short break. do stay with us here.

hello. as the weekend draws to an end, so does the generally dry and very warm weather. storms have been breaking out across western parts of the uk and that pretty much sets the scene for the week ahead. it's going to be more unsettled and not quite as warm. and this evening and overnight, it's an area of low pressure is approaching us and that spells rain for some of us on monday. but more recently, it's been about the storms and here are the lightning strikes and the satellite image and see across northern ireland, southwestern parts of the uk and some thunderstorms breaking out across western scotland to no storms further east or south. and through the evening we will have seen these storms, local downpours, flash flooding in places moving northwards and towards the east. but in some areas, we still have clear skies tonight. and guess what? i know that last night was disappointing, but tonight, if you're inclined to have a look, there is a chance of seeing a faint aurora almost anywhere in the uk, say between around 11pm and 2am, if you're inclined to know when going to work first thing. now, here's monday's forecast. so, we start the day with some hazy sunshine, temperatures 10—13 degrees.

outbreaks of rain with this weather front sweeping into cornwall, devon, wales through ireland into the irish sea, but never reaches at least during the day, eastern parts of the country here, some hazy skies and very warm — 23 in norwich, hull and also newcastle, much fresher with that cloud of rain towards the west. they're about 15 celsius and it's a slow—moving weather front, and one of the reasons is because this low pressure kind of stalled here. it's not really moving anywhere. so the weather front is rotating around and back into the center of the low, and that means that on tuesday, it's eastern areas that are stuck underneath the cloud and the outbreaks of rain probably not as persistent by that stage — bigger gaps in the clouds. i think by that stage, we have some sunny spells, but i think lower temperatures for all of us. and this is more or less bang on the average, be it a little on the high side.

but i think overall, if we look at the weather icons, i think shower clouds most days on average temperatures, i think in the south, typically in the high teens. that's it for me. thanks for watching.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the israeli military says it's opened a new humanitarian crossing into the gaza strip — as it carries out more strikes on gaza, and tells tens of thousands more palestinians to leave rafah. it comes as britain's foreign secretary says restricting arms supplies to israel would not be a wise move. the commander of ukraine's armed forces says his troops are struggling to hold their positions in the northeastern region of kharkiv, after russian troops launched a fresh assault last week. moscow claims to have captured another four villages, after seizing five yesterday. and the best television programmes of 2023 are being honoured at the bafta tv awards in london. the bbc�*s police drama happy valley and sky atlantic's succesion are leading the way with five nominations apiece, while netflix's the crown has four.

now on bbc news, it's sportsday.