in a critical condition in hospital after he was shot. and: president putin turns his focus to trade on the second day of his state visit to china, in the hope of getting a boost for russia's war. hello, and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. we begin in the middle east, where pressure is growing on israel to let more aid into gaza. washington is urging israel to do more to provide sustained humanitarian access — saying they're deeply concerned about reports of imminent famine. they've called for the rafah crossing to be reopened as soon as possible. egypt stopped allowing in supplies after israel seized control of the gaza side. the two countries have blamed each other for its continued closure.

speaking at a news conference, the white house press secretary, karine—jean pierre, said more was needed to be done. so this level of aid remains insufficient, and we want to continue to press israel to increase the level of assistance moving into gaza. we understand what ijust laid out is not sufficient. we want to get more in. we are continuing to have those conversations with israel, and we have seen some progress. we need to get more in. on thursday, us troops anchored a long—awaited floating pier which will soon enable aid to enter gaza by sea. hundreds of tons of aid has arrived in cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded on to ships for delivery to the pier. but the pentagon stressed this would not be enough to meet the needs of people in gaza.

the purpose of this temporary pier is to deliver critical humanitarian assistance to the palestinian people. the pier is temporary, and not meant to replace land routes into gaza. and last, this is an internationally backed effort co—ordinated with the united nations. the us military is merely providing the logistical support to enable humanitarian aid to flow into gaza from the sea. the us concern over the amount of aid getting into the enclave has been echoed by the un. their aid chief warned that famine is now an immediate threat — and that un staff were struggling to help people displaced by the israeli offensive on rafah. the facts on the ground tell us we don't need to be scientists to see the consequence of the delivery of food. and also for famine, particularly, the removal of medical care and nutritional care, which is the precursor to, you know, famine — kills through disease, as

well as hunger. meanwhile, the israeli prime minister has doubled down on the importance of a military campaign in rafah. benjamin netanyahu was shown flying over the gaza strip with military officers. his comments come after a very public spat with his defence minister, yoav gallant, over the future of gaza. he was speaking during a visit to soldiers at a military base. translation: the battle for rafah is critical. _ translation: the battle for rafah is critical. it's - translation: the battle for rafah is critical. it's not - rafah is critical. it's not just the rest of their battalions — it's also their oxygen pipes for escape and resupply. this battle of which you are an integral part is a battle which decides many things in this campaign. i repeat — we are in a critical battle now. your action helps to end it. binyamin netanyahu's comments come as the israeli military say it's identified the bodies of two thai agricultural workers abducted by hamas.

sonthaya oakkharasr and sudthisak rinthalak were killed during the group's october the 7th attack on southern israel — and their bodies taken to gaza. at the united nations, victims of that attack have been speaking about their experiences. here's shoshan haran, who was taken hostage. they handcuffed me and pushed us all into their car, stealing our pyjama —— still in our pyjamas, and we were taken barefoot as hostages to gaza. you cannot even start to imagine what it means to be a hostage held by terrorists. total dependency for every human need, 24/7 control of every move and action. meanwhile — israel has complained that the un's top court is being exploited by south africa, which has called for an order to halt the israeli offensive

in rafah. the israeli foreign ministry said south africa had presented biased and false claims that relied on hamas sources. it insisted that israel acted in accordance with international law and its humanitarian obligations. south african lawyers told the court in the hague that israel had intended, from the outset, to destroy palestinian life. israel's legal team will present its case to the international court ofjustice on in the next couple of hours. for more on that, we are joined now by benjamin radd. he's a political scientist at the ucla international institute. welcome to the programme, benjamin. what did you make of proceedings yesterday?- proceedings yesterday? well, it was interesting. _ proceedings yesterday? well, it was interesting. several- proceedings yesterday? well, it was interesting. several things | was interesting. several things that came up in your report was the rift between yoav gallant and binyamin netanyahu in the prime minister's war cabinet, indicating clearly that there is no unity with regards to how

to proceed going forward. and that's been also a source of division between israel and the united states — primarily as to what would happen in gaza if israel were to meet its objective of ridding hamas of any civilian political leadership whatsoever. so i think it was a big deal to see that publicly be exposed between the two men, for gallant to take that position. and again, it remains consistent with what both the us president and the secretary of state have said.— us president and the secretary of state have said. what are we exectin: of state have said. what are we expecting to — of state have said. what are we expecting to hear— of state have said. what are we expecting to hear from - of state have said. what are we expecting to hear from israel. expecting to hearfrom israel today? what do you think the argument will be?— argument will be? well, the argument — argument will be? well, the argument is _ argument will be? well, the argument is simply - argument will be? well, the argument is simply going i argument will be? well, the argument is simply going to | argument will be? well, the i argument is simply going to be that what netanyahu's been saying all along — which is his position that, until he has confidence in any palestinian civilian authority to come in and to not reconstitute what netanyahu calls a terrorist entity or a terrorist state, he simply doesn't have faith in any existing organisation, political party or group to come in and do that. of course,

the bigger issue remains that, would the palestinians be doing this alone? gallant�*s position is that there has to be co—ordination with other international arab allies, co—ordination bodies. it wouldn't be solely a palestinian affair, but palestinians would have some form of control and jurisdiction over day—to—day life in gaza. d0 jurisdiction over day-to-day life in gaza.— life in gaza. do you think, 'ust life in gaza. do you think, just going _ life in gaza. do you think, just going back— life in gaza. do you think, just going back to - life in gaza. do you think, just going back to the - just going back to the international criminal court, this will have any bearing on what happens next?- what happens next? none. i mean, what happens next? none. i mean. the _ what happens next? none. i mean, the allegations - what happens next? none. i mean, the allegations and l what happens next? none. i. mean, the allegations and the charges in the icc have been floating for a while now, and it's not going to impact — ultimately, israel will continue to do what it feels it needs to do, netanyahu specifically. the icc�*s decision will be an absolute public relations black eye for the country and for the prime minister in particular. but it will not impact, at this point, what hidecision will be. his sole priority right now is to meet his own stated military and political objectives with regards to hamas and gaza. the issue of aid. _

regards to hamas and gaza. the issue of aid, of _ regards to hamas and gaza. the issue of aid, of course, is getting more and more concerning. is there the thought that this could really leave a black market on mr netanyahu's legacy — not allowing aid into the enclave? it doesn't help his legacy. it's already been tarnished. he's been labelled as overseeing the biggest failure intelligence in military and security failure in israel's history. and we've seen in the last week footage of attacks on aid convoys notjust by hamas operatives and fighters once the convoys make their way into gaza, but also before they get into gaza. we've seen reports of extremist settlers and others in israel who've attacked these convoys, preventing the aid from making its way through. so i think that, once this us operation, this pier, is set up in the mediterranean, it will help offset a lot of these logistical challenges that we're seeing on both sides of the israel—gaza divide. fik. the israel-gaza divide. 0k. thank you _ the israel-gaza divide. 0k. thank you very _ the israel-gaza divide. 0k. thank you very much - the israel—gaza divide. ok. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed.

thank you. let's get some of the day's other news now: officials in russia's belgorod region say a woman and her four—year—old son have been killed in a ukrainian drone strike. the family were travelling in a car when it was struck in a nearby village. the woman died at the scene and her son died of his injuries after being taken to hospital. the boy's father and a man driving the car were injured. the governor of texas, greg abbott, has pardoned a man who was convicted of murdering a black lives matter protester during a wave of demonstrations in the united states four years ago. daniel perry had argued that he opened fire in self—defence. the demonstrator he killed, garrett foster, was carrying a semi—automatic assault rifle. president biden has taken a step towards reclassifying cannabis as a less dangerous drug. he's begun the process of downgrading it to a schedule 3 drug, which would make federal arrests less likely. in a video statement,

mr biden described it as a monumental step. he said no—one should be injailfor possessing or using marijuana. a 71—year—old man has been charged with the attempted murder of slovakia's prime minister. robert fico remains in a critical condition in hospital after he was shot five times at close range on thursday. it was the first major assassination attempt on a european political leader for more than 20 years. ministers say they believe the gunman acted alone, describing the attack as politically motivated. our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, reports — and a warning her piece shows the moment of the shooting. 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. trade and economic co—operation is set to be the theme of president putin's second day of his visit to china. the russian leader is in the chinese city of harbin, home to a large russian population. in the coming hours, he's expected to visit a trade fair and a university specialising in research into into new military technologies. it comes a day after meetings between putin and chinese leader xijinping, where they praised their deep ties.

let's speak to our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, in beijing. hello there to you, stephen. second trip in just over six months. is mr putin desperate for the trade and the economic strength with china?— strength with china? well, certainly — strength with china? well, certainly he _ strength with china? well, certainly he needs - strength with china? well, certainly he needs backing| strength with china? well, - certainly he needs backing from china, because of the sanctions placed on his country following the invasion of ukraine. so the short is — yes, he somehow needs to make up for this. the russian economy really, i mean, it's the size — look how big russia is, it's kind of the size of one province in china, to give you a comparison of the relationship between the two. so, yeah, he does need backing for his war economy and, according to the state department in the us, essentially the chinese government has rebuilt the military—industrial base in russia and provided equipment that's enabled russia to build

tanks, drones and the like to be used in that bloody war that vladimir putin instigated. so, when he goes to harbin and talks about trade, i mean, it's all sort of interwoven with the theme of the war, really, even though it's kind of softened by going to a place can has these cultural links between russia and china and enables him to sort of walk around that place, a chinese city which once had a russian heritage, and to appear to his people as something of a statesman rather than a global pariah. statesman rather than a global ariah. ~ ., ., , pariah. what do the chinese think of mr _ pariah. what do the chinese think of mr putin _ pariah. what do the chinese think of mr putin and - pariah. what do the chinese | think of mr putin and russia? we know what the political scene makes of the relationship, but what about the chinese themselves? well, obviously people _ the chinese themselves? well, obviously people here - the chinese themselves? well, obviously people here have - the chinese themselves? well, obviously people here have all| obviously people here have all sorts of different views about russia. it is interesting, though — despite all the talk of trade between the two

countries, when you go to the border regions — and this is where vladimir putin is now in the north—east, close to the border — all along that border, those towns are kind of dying. the ones right on the border, on the chinese side, you'd expect there'd be all these russian people coming across the border and buying chinese goods and going the other way. they've built these rail connections and bridges, but the bridges don't have many cars going over them. we watched one of them for a couple of hours — didn't see a single vehicle. so itjust shows that there really isn't the interaction there that, say, china has with the us, despite all its problems. and the two leaders — there they are, they're criticising the west and saying how they're going to stand firm against the west and against the us, and yet really the us economy remains much more important to china than the russian economy. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. thank you.

the vatican will present new guidelines later on regulating the reporting of apparitions and supernatural phenomena. it will update guidelines last published almost 50 years ago. some phenomena, including weeping statues, healing relics and divine apparitions have been recognised by the vatican to be credible and miraculous, leading to pilgrimages to lourdes in france or fatima in portugal. but other cases are judged by church officials to be mere superstition, based on disinformation and rumour. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

more now on the situation in gaza, where the al—aqsa hospital is the last functioning healthcare facility. doctors around the world have been on standby to travel there to volunteer their services. professor nick maynard is one of them.

he's a consultant surgeon who's been travelling to the gaza strip and west bank for more than a decade. he says this visit is different — due to the widespread we all know there are some wonderfully talented nurses and doctors there, but it is chaos in the wards. it was very different to the first trip we had to al—aqsa. we didn't see a huge amount of trauma. we did see some trauma cases, but the amount of trauma we saw was much, much less than before. but what we did see were the most appalling effects of the malnutrition that we're seeing in gaza. severe malnutrition prevents wound healing and will prevent these patients from recovering from injuries that otherwise they would recover easily from. and you get this vicious cycle where they really, rapidly deteriorate in their health. they will then die of that, if they're not treated. but these

are often very young people who, under normal circumstances, would recover fairly well from their operations. but because they have such severe malnutritions, their wounds will not heal properly at all. one of our patients, lama, was an 18—year—old girl who had significant explosive injuries. there's no doubt in our minds she would have survived these injuries if she had not been malnourished. very sadly, she died the day we left gaza. they haven't got the equipment, the wound management bags, the equipment to deal with these. so it's just awful equipment to deal with these. so it'sjust awfulfor equipment to deal with these. so it's just awful for the patients with faeces and small—bowel contents leaking out all over them in their beds. just... ..just terrible life for them. this is all the effects of the profound

malnutrition we saw over here. we could hear the drones above us, and this was a noise we heard nonstop, 24 hours a day. it's going to get very hot in the wards. there's not enough drinking water anyway for them. we had one child who came in who had died of dehydration, essentially, from one of the surrounding camps. so that will get much, much worse and will exacerbate tremendously the effects of the malnutrition. well, it's the end of a tough two weeks. i'm sitting in a house in rafah, waiting to see whether we can leave gaza today. as we got to the rafah crossing, the frequency and

noise of the bombings surrounding us got ever worse. you can see in the distance just beyond the crossing the smoke from a bomb that landed probably two or three minutes ago. and the frequency of the bombings is getting greater as we're waiting to cross into egypt. we have very mixed feelings leaving al—aqsa. it'll be a relief to get home, but sad to be leaving our friends and colleagues, and sad to be leaving some of the patients whom we've become very attached to. i genuinely believe we're seeing the tip of the iceberg. i think it's going to get inexorably worse. there may be many, many more excess deaths related to malnutrition. here in the uk, south west water says a faulty valve in a field containing cattle has been identified as a possible source of a parasite that's contaminated water supplies in south devon. 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis

have been confirmed, and around 100 people have reported symptoms to their gp over the past week. aru na iyengar reports. the queue for bottled water stretched all the way down this road — 130,000 were handed out road —130,000 were handed out ijy road —130,000 were handed out by south west water by 5:00 yesterday. by south west water by 5:00 yesterday-— yesterday. we've got two children _ yesterday. we've got two children that _ yesterday. we've got two children that have - yesterday. we've got two children that have been l yesterday. we've got two i children that have been here all last week. we're in high brixham area. just keeping informed would be good. just about where it's going, how long it's going to be. people here are _ long it's going to be. people here are angry _ long it's going to be. people here are angry about - long it's going to be. people here are angry about what i long it's going to be. people i here are angry about what they say is a lack of clear communication. for over a week, people in the fishing town of brixham have been falling ill with diarrhoea and vomiting. on tuesday, south west water said the drinking water was safe — but by wednesday, there was a u—turn when tests showed water found near this storage site was contaminated. south west water said they'd found traces of cryptosporidium, a

microscopic parasite which can be carried in water. the company said an air valve, possibly contaminated with animal faeces, possibly contaminated with animalfaeces, could be the problem. animalfaeces, could be the problem-— animalfaeces, could be the roblem. ~ �* . problem. we've identified that there's a damaged _ problem. we've identified that there's a damaged valve i problem. we've identified that there's a damaged valve on i problem. we've identified that. there's a damaged valve on part of our network which could be the cause. we're doing further work to make sure we're absolutely confident that's the cause, and the only cause. we're working through operational procedures in the meantime. we're also doing further sampling to make sure we're really confident in that cause. it's told 16,000 households and businesses not to use tap—water for drinking and brushing teeth without boiling and cooling it first. jess blake was enjoying her holiday in brixham last week — until she fell ill. you week - until she fell ill. you exect week - until she fell ill. you exnect that _ week - until she fell ill. you expect that when _ week - until she fell ill. you expect that when you i week - until she fell ill. you expect that when you go i week — until she fell ill. you. expect that when you go abroad to have to boil water and drink bottled water, but you don't expect it when you go on a holiday to devon in your own country. i think the water board need investigating, really. board need investigating, reall . board need investigating, reall. ,. ., , really. some schools have been forced to shut. _ really. some schools have been forced to shut. eden _ really. some schools have been forced to shut. eden park- forced to shut. eden park primary was one of them. some

opportunities were allowed in, but only to tain take sats exams and then leave. they've not no exams and then leave. they've got no drinking _ exams and then leave. they've got no drinking water. - exams and then leave. they've got no drinking water. it's i exams and then leave. they've got no drinking water. it's notl got no drinking water. it's not really an acceptable situation for south west water to leave the school in.— for south west water to leave the school in. south west water sa s it the school in. south west water says it did _ the school in. south west water says it did deliver _ the school in. south west water says it did deliver water - the school in. south west water says it did deliver water to i says it did deliver water to all schools, and it's offered to pay £115 in compensation to customers — but its chief executive admitted the service had fallen significantly short of what customers should expect. it could be a week before tap—water here is back to normal. of course, all of our top stories can be found on the bbc news website. do stay with us here on bbc news. business is next. 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 toughestjob in corporate america — boeing hunts for a new boss to rebuild its reputation — but who will take on the challenge? shareholders will want some answers at a tense annual

meeting, later today. also coming up — 40,000 points — but not for long. the dowjones industrial average hits a historic milestone — but closes lower, as the wall street rally loses steam. and — feeling the heat — the uk tightens up controls on indian spices, amid fears they could contain pesticide residues, linked to cancer. live from london, this is business today. i'm lukwesa burak. we start with boeing — the aviation giant faces shareholders in the next few hours at its annual meeting, as it battles the worst crisis in its 108—year history. this week, the usjustice department accused boeing of violating a criminal settlement, over two 737 max crashes, in 2018 and 2019, that claimed 346 lives. boeing was supposed to tighten up its internal compliance and ethics, which the doj says it has failed to do, and it could now be prosecuted.