we'll speak to her about why she resigned. president putin is given a red—carpet welcome during his state visit to china in a show of bilaterial relations with president xi. thank you forjoining us. we start with the battle at the un's top cord. israel claims that the un's top court is being exploited by south africa, which has called for order an immediate halt to the israeli offensive in rafah. the international court ofjustice has been asked to consider whether israel is committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. on thursday, south africa's legal team says israel had intended from the beginning to destroy palestinian life. but the israeli foreign ministry says south africa had presented biased and false claims that relied on hamas sources. in a statement they said:

it's calling on the un's top court to reject south africa's appeal. meanwhile, south africa's lawyers accused israel of behaving with legal impunity — something israel denies. israel is escalating its attacks on palestinians in gaza and in so doing he is wilfully breaching the binding orders of this court. israel similarly breaches the binding resolutions of the united nations security council. we had posts — nations security council. we had posts that israel's army is the most _ had posts that israel's army is the most moral army in history and we — the most moral army in history and we have heard denials that there _ and we have heard denials that there is— and we have heard denials that there is famine in gaza. four months. _ there is famine in gaza. four months, people, particularly in the west. — months, people, particularly in the west, have appeared unwilling to accept that the accusations are true. our correspondent, anna holligan, sent us this update from the hague. south africa �*s lawyers were

unequivocal. they said palestinians did not need words or diplomacy, they needed an urgent intervention by this code to ensure palestinians right to live under the genocide convention was protected. the reason why they are focusing on rafah end of this provisional measures request is because it is the last refuge they say which has been destroyed, the only centre of humanitarian aid, hosted one of humanitarian aid, hosted one of the only functioning hospitals in gaza therefore they said rafah is central to sustaining palestinian life. without it, there is no possibility of reconstruction. the hearing coincides with the top israel offensive. aid in the south had come to a halt. there are urgings to provide

more sustained aid. we continued _ more sustained aid. we continued to _ more sustained aid. we continued to press - more sustained aid. - continued to press for all border crossing to be open, for overland delivery of aid, but noel must be done to address the scale of need. we have and will continue to press israel and other partners in the region to allow for to ensure the safety of humanitarian actors and activities, open land crossings and remove impairments of the delivery of humanitarian aid and do more to ensure that aid can get to the places it needs to go.- places it needs to go. those comments _ places it needs to go. those comments come _ places it needs to go. those comments come as - places it needs to go. those comments come as a - places it needs to go. those comments come as a us - places it needs to go. those - comments come as a us military announced construction is complete on a temporary floating pier in gaza. this is how the new aid distribution works. here's how the new aid distribution system works. commercial ships collect pallets from cyprus, where hundreds of tons of aid are waiting. that aid is then delivered

to a floating platform, anchored several kilometers off the coast of gaza. the aid is then picked up by smaller us military vessels who bring it to the newly constructed floating pier connected to the beach in gaza. meanwhile the biden administration said this week it would send one billion dollars worth of weapons to israel. doing so requires certain approvals from members of congress. not all of them — even president biden�*s fellow democrats — are on board with sending that military assistance, including congresswoman pramila jaya pal, whom i spoke to earlier. the most recent assistance is troubling to us because it is not really been put into context. my understanding is it is defensive weapons that are part of the weapons that have been approved for some time and that they will not actually make it to israel for several years. they still have to go through a foreign affairs committee process. but i think that what i have communicated to them is that it is very

confusing because it muddies the message and the message right now is multifold. it is that hamas and israel need to come to the table for a ceasefire. that is the only way forward, the only way we're going to release hostages, the only way we're going to get aid in and the only way we're going to be able to think about what is a long—term solution for peace peace and we cannot be complicit in the bombing of innocent civilians in gaza and thatis innocent civilians in gaza and that is why the offensive military assistance has to stop and so i think the biden administration has to be clear about that. in a sign of further discontent with the biden administration's handling of the war in gaza — its firstjewish staffer has resigned. lily greenberg call, a now—former special assistant to the chief of staff in the interior department, said in her resignation letter:

miss greenberg call is at least the fifth biden administration staffer to leave over concerns about the administration's gaza policy. israel denies any accusations of genocide. miss greenberg call is at least the fifth biden administration staffer to leave over concerns about the administration's gaza policy. lily greenberg calljoins us now. why did you decide now was a time to leave the administration? , , administration? until yesterday i was a political _ administration? until yesterday i was a political appointee - administration? until yesterday i was a political appointee and i i was a political appointee and i was a political appointee and i resigned because as an americanjew with i resigned because as an american jew with loved ones here americanjew with loved ones here in america i can no longer serve at the pleasure of the president while supporting and finding the genocide in gaza, 35,000 palestinians have been killed in the last eight months, 15,000 children are now israel is pressing ahead with the invasion of rafah and the president decided to send

another billion dollars in arms and i thought about this for a while. it is a challenging personal decision for me. i think i had hoped the president would use some of his leverage at different points in the last eight months but what has happened in the last few weeks was the straw.— was the straw. you poked on preston biden's _ was the straw. you poked on preston biden's campaign i was the straw. you poked on preston biden's campaign in| preston biden�*s campaign in 2020. present biden staunch support of israel goes back decades. we have been critical of israel and aipac, what made you then decide to work for this administration? in you then decide to work for this administration? in 2020 i was terrified _ this administration? in 2020 i was terrified of _ this administration? in 2020 i was terrified of another - this administration? in 2020 i | was terrified of another donald trump time and in 2016 i volunteered for the hillary campaign and terrified of a trumpet presidency since that was a possibility and i believed in vice president harris and in the vision for america and i knew thatjoe

biden was a strong supporter of israel but i think i did not expect something like october seven was going to happen and i was certain once a did that israel's response was of a magnitude something far worse than we had seen before but i thought... i think i was somewhat optimistic that the very smart people in this administration would see how continued support for israel's action is politically disastrous and that the israeli government is out of alignment. we spoke to congresswoman pramila jayapal early in the day and we know that she has been a vocal critic of israel's policy and is calling for a ceasefire she said it is important for people to look at the wake of the biden administration has changed its policy on israel and its tone and rhetoric.— and rhetoric. what is your response? _ and rhetoric. what is your response? i— and rhetoric. what is your response? i mean, - and rhetoric. what is your response? i mean, i- and rhetoric. what is youri response? i mean, ithink and rhetoric. what is your - response? i mean, ithink what we have to remember is that

right now american—made bombs are killing innocent palestinians in gaza and until that stops i do not think the president of that enough. how much influence _ president of that enough. how much influence does _ president of that enough. how much influence does the president have? i much influence does the president have?- much influence does the president have? i think the us has a lot of— president have? i think the us has a lot of leverage. - president have? i think the us has a lot of leverage. he - president have? i think the usi has a lot of leverage. he could broker a hostage deal, stop sending weapons and condition eight and i think you could do it tomorrow.— eight and i think you could do it tomorrow. where does that misalignment _ it tomorrow. where does that misalignment come _ it tomorrow. where does that misalignment come from? is| it tomorrow. where does that. misalignment come from? is it something the biden administration does not want to get through? i administration does not want to get through?— get through? i think our political _ get through? i think our political establishment l get through? i think our| political establishment is get through? i think our - political establishment is not listening to their constituents which are the american people. i think there is quite a lot of misalignment as a whole between folks who work for the admin and leadership and unfortunately i think people, again, they are not listening to their constituents and they are not aware how important this is notjust for the sake of palestinians and israelis on the ground but to the american public and how politically disastrous it is to continue in

that way. disastrous it is to continue in that way-— disastrous it is to continue in that way. what did hope your statement — that way. what did hope your statement and _ that way. what did hope your statement and resignation i that way. what did hope yourl statement and resignation will achieve? i statement and resignation will achieve? ., , , , , achieve? i hope it inspires other appointees - achieve? i hope it inspires other appointees to - achieve? i hope it inspires other appointees to take l achieve? i hope it inspiresi other appointees to take a public stand fault palestinian lives even if it meant resigning and i hope it motivates my community, the jewish community, to stand up against what is happening to palestinians in our name and i hope that people differs to palestinians for more leadership on this issue. thank ou so leadership on this issue. thank you so much — leadership on this issue. thank you so much for— leadership on this issue. thank you so much forjoining - leadership on this issue. thank you so much forjoining us - leadership on this issue. thank you so much forjoining us on l you so much forjoining us on bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: south west water says a parasite could have made its way into the brixham, devon, public water supply through a faulty valve.public health says 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and up to 100 people reported symptoms to their g—p in the last week. reported symptoms to their gp in the last week. the illness causes diarrhoea and vomiting. people have been told to boil their tap water until further notice. bottled water is also being handed out.

a five—year—old boy has died after falling from a block of flats in east london. he died at the scene. a neighbour who called the emergency services said the boy's parents were "inconsolable". police say the death is being treated as unexpected but not suspicious, and say they are working to establish the full circumstances. the grocer morrisons is facing backlash from angry farmers for its trial of sales of new zealand lamb in 39 of its stores. the supermarket says it's in response to customer demand for cheaper prices. it says it will still sell british lamb. the national farmers union says new zealand lamb is produced to potentially lower standards. you're live with bbc news. russian president vladimir putin and chinese leader xijinping praised their friendship and deep ties in a joint appearance before the media on thursday. putin said russia and china wanted a political solution to the ukraine crisis while xi called for a two—state solution to the war in gaza. the visit comes as russia faced hundreds of sanctions from the west

for its invasion of ukraine. it now looks to beijing for a lifeline. stephen mcdonald has been watching the two leaders. we understand vladimir putin has arrived in harbin. give us an idea of what has happened? bath? idea of what has happened? why no to the idea of what has happened? hwy go to the chinese city idea of what has happened? �*ttv�*iy go to the chinese city of harbin? the reason is, while being a chinese city, at one point it was dominated by russian residents. it is famous for its russian architecture including the iconic orthodox cathedral because it is up in the northeast of china, quite close to the border so you can imagine the symbolism of vladimir putin walking around those cobblestoned streets, a place where russian and chinese cultures meet, and in this way

he can speak about these neighbours's increasing trade relations and what have you. there is also a major expo starting there today but crucially what is after is greater backing for his war economy and already the biden administration has accused beijing of selling this dual use technology to russia so for example equipment that may seem sort to have a civilian application but really he's besting the war effort, including the manufacture of arms and the state department went one step further this week actually saying china has rebuilt russia's military industrial base and vowed to take appropriate action when the time comes. so you can see this could be a point of increased tension between washington and beijing as vladimir putin wonders around as sort of... iii

vladimir putin wonders around as sort of- - -— as sort of... if i can 'ust “um as sort of... if i can 'ust jump in. .. fl as sort of... if i can 'ust jump in... able i as sort of... if i can 'ust jump in... able to h as sort of... if i can just jump in... able to act i as sort of... if i can just l jump in... able to act like as sort of... if i can just - jump in... able to act like a statement _ jump in... able to act like a statement to _ jump in... able to act like a statement to his _ jump in... able to act like a statement to his people. i statement to his people. interesting to see that symbolism really important that but they talk about both wanting a political solution on ukraine, what do you think those words mean? the great thing about — those words mean? the great thing about those _ those words mean? the great thing about those words - those words mean? the great thing about those words as i those words mean? the great l thing about those words as they can be whatever you want them to men. if you have a look at the proposal from to men. if you have a look at the proposalfrom china, the original proposal last year, it is kind of vague, full of everyone laying down their weapons and talk to one another etc but no concrete plan really and so it takes nothing for vladimir putin to say, yes, i agree with beijing, there should be a political solution but his political solution would obviously be very different to that ukrainian government's political solution. for example it may involve russia hanging onto all the territory it has a ready grab, which is something the ukrainian government would not be happy with, so i think it is

easy to use these words when you're not speaking about actual concrete solutions. stephen, always good to talk to you. thank you so much for joining us. for more on the summit, i spoke to graham allison, former assistant secretary of defence for policy and plans and current douglas dillon professor of government at harvard university. he recently met with president xi during a private beijing visit in may. vladimir putin is coming into this meeting with china as an important ally and also financial lifeline for russia. what you think he specifically is looking to take away from this meeting with president xi? the most important thing is the personal relationship between the two leaders. this is the 33rd meeting one—on—one. they have met more frequently than any other two leaders in the world and this shores up his position both at home and in the world to say that america's

efforts or american european efforts or american european efforts to isolate russia have failed, that he has a tight relationship with the largest country in the world, with his next—door neighbour and that actually this relationship has become thicker and thicker. what about from china's perspective does xi see putin as a reliable partnership? these a great question. the problem is the relationship between china and russia is so unnatural for all the reasons of history, politics, culture, these two countries should be adversaries, so most do not believe what they are actually seeing but the accomplishments of both xi and putin are impressive in bending the

structural forces to create this unnatural relationship but the end of this unnatural relationship, there is no question that the benefit from china's point of view is that it has its longest border secured an comfortable, somebody has my back, so imagine if the us had been smart enough or the europeans had been smart enough to get rusher on our side, how this would look, how this would feel for xi. and secondly, for every bit of time that putin focuses european and american lines on ukraine and russia, it is a day or a week not focused on china and what xi wants most of all is to be left alone for china to do its own thing on its own neighbourhood.— to do its own thing on its own neighbourhood. those that mean xi is not interested _ neighbourhood. those that mean xi is not interested in _ neighbourhood. those that mean xi is not interested in reining - xi is not interested in reining in putin's or on ukraine which the west has urged china to do?

he is interested in appearing to do so but he obviously does not want it to get out of control but at the point where putin was threatening to conduct nuclear strikes he became engaged with the us and the west. but other than that, the west. but other than that, the wall is not doing him any harm and it actually now is a benefit. —— war. harm and it actually now is a benefit. -- war.— harm and it actually now is a benefit. -- war. can you help us understand _ benefit. -- war. can you help us understand how _ benefit. -- war. can you help us understand how strong - us understand how strong president xi's position is? we hear that china's economy is faltering are struggling to consolidate power. i5 faltering are struggling to consolidate power. is that the case? i think, _ consolidate power. is that the case? ithink, no. _ consolidate power. is that the case? ithink, no. i— consolidate power. is that the case? ithink, no. ithink- consolidate power. is that the case? ithink, no. ithink his. case? i think, no. i think his position is very strong. i write about him as the new emperor. in october last year, he basically got a lease one life and his term without any

expiration date and i think he imagined and i believe it is likely that he will rule china for the next decade and beyond. i had a good opportunity to see him and most of the members of his team about a month ago when i was in beijing and one of my business colleagues said that if this man feels at all insecure or uncomfortable he deserves an academy award. he seemed calm, cool, collected and in command and i think he undoubtedly sees lots and lots of challenges ahead. his story is, he said, his whole life is about challenges but i think you feel rather confident. no doubt china has had went right now but i believe you will be there helmsman and i believe he is confident he will manage to overcome them.

russia incursion into ukraine's kharkiv region continues as at least five russian drones struck the northeastern ukrainian city late on thursday. there was no immediate word on casualities. kharkiv�*s mayor said one of the city's osnovyanskyi district had been hit, triggering a fire. the air raid alert has since been lifted. this comes hours after ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said fighting in the region is very difficult but under control. ukrainian officials have since asked their american and nato counterparts to help train at least 150,000 new recruits. something the us originally said no to. however, the new york times reported on thursday that the chairman of the usjoint chiefs of staff hinted such a plan appears inevitable but would happen eventually, over time. to slovakia where 71—year—old man has been with the attempted murder of its prime minister. robert fico is reportedly able to speak but remains in a critical condition after being shot five times. officials that the government acted alone but believe it was politically motivated. at the spot where a man tried to kill a prime minister, there is a hole where a bullet hit a tree

and a faint stain of blood. small traces of a giant moment that has shocked slovakia deeply. it was early afternoon when robert fico strode out of a meeting and towards a group of supporters, but on the edges of the crowd was the gunman. he looks the other way at first, then abruptly pulls out a gun, points at the prime minister and fires five times. gunshots. by the third shot, he's being tackled by security officers as the prime minister tumbles to the floor. mr fico is then dragged to his car and rushed to hospital. the gunman detained and handcuffed. you were filming with the prime minister. dana was reporting on the prime minister's visit to her town. she says the gunman didn't stand out at all, until he attacked. nothing special. he stay and

was...looked normal. man waiting for our prime minister. robert fico had come from this event, offering support for a small—town economy. but on the big stage, he's a populist who opposes sending arms to ukraine and will block its entry to nato. he also thinks vladimir putin has been demonised. his government claims these issues infuriated the gunman and drove him to this attack. the interior minister describes him as a lone wolf, but the government's accusing the opposition here and the media of whipping up tension and hatred. given that mr fico himself often uses very confrontational language, inflammatory language himself, would you agree that he is at least, or the government is at least partially to blame for the tensions in slovak society right now? translation: robert fico won elections for the fifth time. -

then a frustrated part of the political spectrum and the media started a six—month hunt which has ended like this. i'm not pointing fingers, but you phrased a question to divert attention from the real reasons that led to this. the prime minister is still in intensive care, but his life is no longer at risk, after an attack that has exposed huge divisions here and their danger. sarah rainsford, bbc news, bratislava. let's turn to some important news around the world: brazilian authorities say they are building temporary cities to house nearly 80,000 people displaced by catastrophic flooding. 600,000 people total have been displaced. at least 148 people have died. and experts warn it could take weeks for the flood waters to go down. brazil is experiencing record rainfall. there are reports of havy fighting and shelling in the city of el—faasher in the darfur region of sudan. the paramilitary rapid support forces — or rsf — are trying to capture

the city, which is currently controlled by the sudanese army. medical workers say that since friday more than 50 people have been killed and about 400 injured. spirit error system is laying of several hundred people. they make their future luscious for boeing planes and the company has been dealing with slow production after an incident when a door blew out midflight. shifting winds are expected to push a major wildfire away from canada's major oil—producing region. this after over 6,000 people were ordered to leave their homes. wildfire season has come early this year, with thousands of people in western canada affected. more than 100 firefighters are battling the flames. and an anthrax threat prompted the evacuation a building in sacramento. a state officials said a package delivered to the

building's ninth floor included a threat that it contained anthrax. the contents have not yet been confirmed. and finally, us scientists think they've solved the mystery of how 31 pyramids were built in egypt, more than 4,000 years ago. they now stand in an inhospitable strip of the saharan desert and scientists have long wondered how the giant stone blocks were transported without a waterway. the team says they discovered a long buried branch of the river nile that they say was used to float the stone blocks. researchers think a major drought and sand covered it up. they mapped their discovery through surveys, satellite imagery, and sediment samples. thank you for watching bbc news. we will be back at the top of the next hour. stay with us. hello there. thursday brought us a real mixture of weather across the uk. it was scotland and, to a degree, the far north of england that had the best of the day's weather, with plenty of sunshine. and very warm in the highlands, temperatures reached

25 celsius in altnaharra — that was the warmest place in the whole of the uk, confirmation of the rather beautiful weather we had here. wasn't like that everywhere, though. for northern ireland, england and wales, we had rain or some thundery showers around, and across berkshire and also pembrokeshire, we had photographs sent to us of some funnel clouds there — tornadoes that don't quite make it all the way down to the ground. it was very wet for some. in nantwich in cheshire, we had 25 millimetres of rain. now on into friday's forecast, the tail end of the weather front will continue to feed in quite a lot of cloud across northern england, and we start off certainly with some mist and fog patches around some of our north sea coast. aside from northern england, though, i suspect overall, we're looking at a brighter day on friday with more in the way of sunshine. there will, though, be one or two showers popping up into the afternoon, one or two thunderstorms, but big gaps between those showers — that means probably for most of you, we're looking at a dry day with temperatures widely high teens to the low 20s. it will feel warm in the sunshine, highest temperatures, probably west scotland, where i think we'll

probably get to 24 — outside chance of a 25. on into the weekend, we've got a low pressure system threatening some heavier bursts of rain across southeast england, certainly more cloud around here as we head into the morning. otherwise, again, we're looking at a few mist and fog patches — clearing and lifting away, sunny spells, breaking through, and then, into the afternoon, one or two showers and thunderstorms popping up. temperatures still on the warm side — we're looking at highs well into the teens, 23—24 celsius in the very warmest areas. given the light winds and the may sunshine, that will feel very pleasant. for sunday, though, there is a slight change in the weather picture across scotland and northern ireland, in that there'll be a bit more in the way of cloud pushing in here — it could be thick enough to give us an odd patch of rain. england and wales mainly dry with some sunshine, but you will notice the temperatures just dropping a little bit across scotland and northern ireland, given that cloudier weather. now beyond that, into next week, looks like the start of the week should be ok — many of us will have drier weather with sunny spells —

but there's a tendency for the cloud to thicken, with rain arriving towards the second half of the week.

the dowjones hits the 40,000 mark for the first time as investors hedge their bets on interest rate cuts.

indian spices come under fire as global regulators raise safety concerns of two iconic brands. hello and welcome to business today. i'm suranjana tewari. let's begin in the us, where wall street has been on a record high this week. on thursday, the dowjones reached an intra—day fresh record of 40,000 before shedding earlier gains. retail giant walmart raised its full—year forecast after reporting better—that—expected quarterly earnings. but this positive outlook isn't shared by everyone. the bbc�*s erin delmore explains. treat on wall street finally had a reason to don their 40,000 baseball caps. they 40 , 000 baseball caps. they cross 40,000 baseball caps. they cross the threshold in mourning

trading, writing have an encouraging inflation report that said