narendra modi is sworn in as india's prime minister for a third consecutive term — only the second time in indian history. however, he'll be leading in coalition. on the uk campaign trail — cabinet minister mel stride insists rishi sunak "apologised unequivocally" for leaving d—day events early — and the labour party pledges to build more prisons. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. a mammoth four—day, 27—country european election is coming to a close today. about 360 million europeans can vote to elect 720 new members of the european parliament — or meps, as they are more commonly known. christian fraser is in brussels —

and he'll be leading our coverage throughout the evening. hello, christian. good evening, welcome to brussels. the room is filling up quite nicely, around 1000 journalists here from around 1000 journalists here from around the world to report on the elections. and down there are some very nervous party officials. in the next hour we will start to get the first national estimates of the 27 countries that have been looting. —— have been the voting. 21 of the 27 countries voting today, until late afternoon although polls in italy, which has 76 seats in the parliament not due to close

until 11:00 tonight. it does feel a little bit like the eurovision here, we have presenters on the stage from time to time warming up. each country will report as we go through the night. this is the end of a journey for us. we have been covering the campaign for eight weeks now, we have been to the netherlands, france, spain, germany, poland, before we arrived here in belgium. and although the issues vary from country to country, very often the vote is a reflection of what is going on domestically. there are some broad themes that are shaping this vote. migration, cost of living, the economy, and defence — the key issues.

ina number of in a number of countries now, this green revolt against the burden that farmers and small business owners say the parliament has put on them. this is what the parliament looked before we swept it clean. remember, the bigger the country, the more seats they get. germany gets 96, france 81, malta, cyprus and luxembourg six each. but you will see that they do not set according to nationality. the parties and at the 27 countries organise themselves within seven broad groups. you have the left, the greens, the socialist democrats, the liberals. then at the biggest group of them all, the centre—right european people's party. to the right of them is the the european reformists, which the party of giorgia meloni sits.

and then to the right of them the identity and democracy group, in which marine le pens meps will sit. here was the last poll of polls that we got which showed that probably the epp will remain the biggest grouping, but there are signs that the power in europe is shifting to the right and to the hard right in some countries. let me bring you at the first edge estimates that we have got. the dutch were the first to go to the polls, on thursday, to choose their 33 meps. in germany they see both finish first with 27% of the vote. but the ift, the hard right coming in the second. 0laf scholz�*s party coming in third with a record low 40% of the vote. just next door, i have just come from the room with the

european greens are having their election, and there are tears there. their projected seats have been cut in half, 12 projected seats from 25. with me here in brussels is the director of carnegie europe. just give me a comment on those first exit polls we are seeing. it does seem that the polls before the polls close were broadly correct. it seem that the polls before the polls close were broadly correct.- close were broadly correct. it looks as thou . h close were broadly correct. it looks as though the _ close were broadly correct. it looks as though the overall— close were broadly correct. it looks as though the overall picture - close were broadly correct. it looks as though the overall picture is - as though the overall picture is confirmed. the europeans people's party, the centre—right. in some countries it looks like it has been gaining some seats according to the first coming out. but certainly the surge of the far right seems to be confirmed, perhaps not as not as widespread as some had expected, but it does seem to be confirmed. as you mention, the centre—left, the greens are struggling in many countries. 50

what you're are struggling in many countries. so what you're saying is not necessarilyjust what you're saying is not necessarily just a shift to the what you're saying is not necessarilyjust a shift to the hard right, it is a shift generally towards the centre—right and further towards the centre—right and further to the right. what is that going to mean when the plum jobs are handed out here in europe? from mean when the plum “obs are handed out here in europe?_ out here in europe? from early prejections _ out here in europe? from early prejections it — out here in europe? from early projections it looks _ out here in europe? from early projections it looks like - out here in europe? from early projections it looks like the - projections it looks like the current majority could be confirmed in the next european parliament, so you could still have a coalition thatis you could still have a coalition that is between the european people's party, the centre—right. the liberals at the centre and the socialists and democrats to their left. it is possible to see the next european parliament with a degree of continuity. however, because the radical right has been doing so well. it could influence especially the centre—right in terms of content and policy. you can see the

centre—right drifting toward the radical right in order to accommodate what they centre—right thinks are the demands coming from the radical right. so that is a possibility, that the radical right is influential on policy decisions. you mentioned the agreement backlash, i think this is the one policy were radical rights could be influential even if it does not gain enough votes. certainly it will gain enough votes. certainly it will gain enough outs to form a coherent group, a single coherent group. but it is also unlikely to join in a coalition agreement with the dpp, because the socialists and the greens and the liberals have more or less ruled it out. 0bviously greens and the liberals have more or less ruled it out. obviously there is a lot of speculation. but my best bet remains that the current coalition will be confirmed, but it will be far more heavily influenced by the demands coming from the radical right.

by the demands coming from the radical right-— radical right. thank you for that. we are continuing _ radical right. thank you for that. we are continuing to _ radical right. thank you for that. we are continuing to watch - radical right. thank you for that. we are continuing to watch the i we are continuing to watch the screen behind us. i can see some of the polling stations are still open in the 27 countries. imagine what it must be like here in belgium, because they have got federal, regional and at the european elections in belgium today. the big question is how a very divided country here in belgium will come together. in the dutch speaking region, the extreme right is ahead in the polls. the extreme left is in charge in the french speaking region of wallonia. back in 2011, they went 541 of wallonia. back in 2011, they went 5111 days without finding an agreement on putting a government together. we will keep watching belgium, there is split in the way it without sear. we will be back at eight o'clock uk time, nine o'clock european. we will have a special hour of analysis on the results. i hope you'lljoin for

hour of analysis on the results. i hope you'll join for that. the wife of the radio and television presenter, michael mosley, has confirmed his body has been found, after he went missing on a greek island. search teams made the discovery close to a busy beach at agia marina, on the island of symi. the 67—year—old was last seen early on wednesday afternoon, when he went for a walk alone in a remote mountainous area. joe inwood reports. 0na barren on a barren hillsidejust metres from the safety of the beach he had been heading for, the search for doctor michael mosley finally came to an end. the greek authorities, who worked so hard to find a broadcaster, carefully prepare to move him. it was on that beach of agia marina that the body now confirmed as michael mosley was

found. he was found thatjust to the right side of the fence over there, so really close to where people would have been relaxing and playing on this popular and busy beach. we spoke to a police source who said the body of michael mosley had been there for a number of days. but despite an extensive search and rescue operation, involving police, fire, helicopterand rescue operation, involving police, fire, helicopter and dogs, rescue operation, involving police, fire, helicopterand dogs, even members of the public, in the end he was found by accident. it has emerged that a greek television crew were filming with the mayor and only notice the body in the shot when they got back to edit their pictures. translation: ~ translation: when we returned here in 5 mi and translation: when we returned here in symi and the — translation: when we returned here in symi and the footage _ translation: when we returned here in symi and the footage was _ in symi and the footage was prepared, we spotted the body of a man. we inform the mayor, so the coastguard was immediately mobilised with the doctors. it coastguard was immediately mobilised with the doctors.— with the doctors. it was a sad end to a story that _ with the doctors. it was a sad end to a story that began _ with the doctors. it was a sad end to a story that began on - with the doctors. it was a sad end i to a story that began on wednesday, where michael mosley left a beach where michael mosley left a beach where he had been with his wife,

clare, at1:30pm. he was where he had been with his wife, clare, at 1:30pm. he was then picked up clare, at 1:30pm. he was then picked up on cctv, the a0 of town heading towards agia marina. michael mosley�*s death was given by his wife, clare. she said... iam incredibly proud of his disappearance and death has been felt keenly by the community of the small island, by the many people who appreciated and loved his work, but most of all by the family she leaves behind.

bbc news like that has many of the tributes to michael mosley, they have been coming in all afternoon. you can head online to the bbc news website or app and it would do for yourself. you can also follow the latest updates. officials from the hamas—run health ministry in gaza way that the israeli raid on a refugee camp on saturday — which led to the rescue of four hostages — led to the deaths of nearly 300 palestinians. a spokesman for the armed wing of hamas says that three hostages were also killed during the operation. we haven't been able independently to verify that claim. several hundred palestinians were also wounded in the raid. hamas accused the israelis of carrying out a massacre. that phrase was echoed by the european union's top diplomat, josep borrell — who described the deaths as "another massacre of civilians." more footage has emerged of the rescue. israel used helicopters to evacuate the hostages from an area around the nuseirat refugee camp in central gaza.

the head of the hospital where they are being treated said none of them require emergency care or large procedures, but that they will need long—term evaluations. being deprived of so many things for so long and living under this unbelievable stress is something that leaves its mark, both on the body and on the soul. let's speak to our correspondent, jon donnison, who's injerusalem. if we are expecting a number of key developments this evening to come

from the region. let us start off with that line from the hamas—run health ministry that nearly few hundred people, the hundred palestinians were killed as part of thatis palestinians were killed as part of that is really operation. how are we able to verify a figure like that? we can't at the moment, certainly not today. but the hamas—run health ministry are saying at least 27a people were killed and a 700 were injured. many of those people were civilians, including children. we have certainty at the two hospitals in the centre of the gaza strip absolutely overwhelmed with patients, people laid out in the corridors, struggling to get treated. certainly when the operation was taking place, we saw footage of missiles raining in, large explosions, gunfire echoing around the streets. it was clearly

an operation that used a massive amount of force, but an operation that israel believes was justified. i wonder if you can update us. we are expecting to hear news... why is the significant? he are expecting to hear news. .. why is the significant?— the significant? he was expected to rive a the significant? he was expected to give a news — the significant? he was expected to give a news conference _ the significant? he was expected to give a news conference yesterday, l the significant? he was expected to i give a news conference yesterday, he cancelled it at short notice when we had news that this raid was taking place. he was rightly expected to resign his position in israel's war cabinet. he is a leading opposition figure, but hejoined benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet and a kind of act of unity in the wake of the october 7 attacks. we don't know what he's going to say today. this weekend, the prime minister urged benny gantz not to quit the war cabinet. he might do, he might not. evenif cabinet. he might do, he might not.

even if you were to leave, that is not going to bring down prime minister netanyahu's government. what it would do is feel further isolate, i guess, the israeli prime minister at a time when much of the country is looking for unity. let's speak to nizar farsakh in washington dc. he is a former advisor to the palestine liberation organization and adjunct professor at george washington university. welcome to the programme. others like to start off with your thoughts on events over the last 2a hours. differently it is quite fantastic news. eight months into the war and this is the first actual getting of hostages. it is of course there are good news for the four families. however, apparently that is news

just now that three other hostages was also killed. what is unfortunate and tragic about this war is that some lives are more important than others. that is very, very unfortunate, as you say, there are over 200 palestinian deaths. that is a claim we are _ over 200 palestinian deaths. that is a claim we are seeing _ over 200 palestinian deaths. that is a claim we are seeing time - over 200 palestinian deaths. that is a claim we are seeing time and - over 200 palestinian deaths. that isj a claim we are seeing time and time again, certainly on media. what do you make of this strategy by israel? the collateral cost that palestinian people are having to pay, it is not sustainable, is it? edit people are having to pay, it is not sustainable, is it?— sustainable, is it? of course not, it is not sustainable. _ sustainable, is it? of course not, it is not sustainable. but - it is not sustainable. but unfortunately that is that school of thought that benjamin netanyahu is representative of, that israel is to live by the sword and that is no way back to continuously have wars and the use of force in order to keep israel safe. unfortunately for him,

that argument is hard to send when after 75 years of israel's existence, october 7 was the day with the most this ofjewish people since the holocaust. that i guess remains the main thrust of the politics. it is the politics of narratives, whose narrative wins kicks in this case, benjamin netanyahu is trying to argue that his way of dealing with things is the correct way.— his way of dealing with things is the correct way. they seem to be a lot of division _ the correct way. they seem to be a lot of division in _ the correct way. they seem to be a lot of division in israel— the correct way. they seem to be a lot of division in israel and - the correct way. they seem to be a lot of division in israel and within i lot of division in israel and within the coalition government about the day after and what happens to gaza once all of this ends. i wonder if you canjust put once all of this ends. i wonder if you can just put it all into context for us. would those politicians in israel ever be able to come up with a day after that that would satisfy everyone? that is so much so much can be read on what others are

saying. to can be read on what others are sa inc. ., , . can be read on what others are sa inc. .,, . ., saying. to be fair we are in uncharted _ saying. to be fair we are in uncharted territory. - saying. to be fair we are in uncharted territory. where | saying. to be fair we are in i uncharted territory. where we saying. to be fair we are in - uncharted territory. where we were on october 6 was an israeli society, in general, that was under the impression that israel is capable to defend itself by itself. now after eight months of the war, they managed to secure, i believe, only seven hostages. many hostages were killed by friendly fire. israel is unable to continue the war without american munitions. they are fighting a militia that was besieged for 17 years. the challenge that all israeli politicians have is to make the israeli public believe that they are indeed of defending themselves. that is going to take years.

therefore nobody can really answer what the day after is going to look like because we are in uncharted territory. like because we are in uncharted territo . ., ., like because we are in uncharted territo . ., ,, , ., , . like because we are in uncharted territo . ., ,, , . ., territory. thank you very much for our territory. thank you very much for your thoughts _ territory. thank you very much for your thoughts on _ territory. thank you very much for your thoughts on this. _ in the election campaign, the main parties have been asked how they'd fund some of their key pledges. the conservatives want to spend millions on mental health support, while labour says it'll reform prisons, without having to raise household taxes. here's iain watson. the main parties are preparing to launch their manifestos this week. the whole country has been longing for and waiting for this election to come. . ,., .,, for and waiting for this election to come. . .,, , ., , ., come. labour was promising to rovide come. labour was promising to provide more — come. labour was promising to provide more prison _ come. labour was promising to provide more prison places - come. labour was promising to provide more prison places an. provide more prison places an clampdown on anti—social behaviour. but they do parties know you can pay for policies with small change.

the labour leader was keener to talk about growing the economy than cutting spending or raising tax. as all of our plans are fully funded and fully costed and none of them require tax rises over and above the ones that we've already announced. what we do need to do, just to take up the challenge that's being put to us, is we do need to grow the economy. the prime minister's keen to move on from his d—day misstep. today's his party wasn't talking about warfare, but welfare. they've been looking for cash for tax cuts and claimed they could save £12 billion from the benefits budget by the end of the next parliament. in my area of welfare, we've saved {7.7 billion over measures that we've brought in over this parliament. we cut fraud and error within the welfare system, within benefits, by about 10% last year, and we can go still further. the lib dems have been making a lot of noise about their spending pledges. today it was 100 more hospital beds to take pressure off the ambulance service. but by also promising not to increase income tax and vat — how will they pay for them?

how are we going to fund our proposals will be laid out in great detail in our manifesto launch tomorrow. but what i can tell you is that we have identified areas where there is money available, which has been spent, we believe in the wrong way. the snp accused the main westminster parties of being deliberately in denial about the public finances. it's important at this election that people focus on the conspiracy of silence that is going on between the labour party and the conservative party. the tories have signed up to £18 billion worth of spending cuts, according to the institute for fiscal studies, and labour, according again to the institute of fiscal studies, have not demurred from those figures. the parties�* manifestos will provide a political sense of direction, but they may be less clear aboutjust how rockier road lies ahead. and if you're here in the uk, you'll be able to watch the first of a series of panorama interviews with party leaders. nick robinson will be interviewing the prime minister tomorrow night at 8:00 on bbc one and iplayer.

narendra modi has taken the oath of office and has been sworn in for a third term as india's prime minister. he will lead a coalition government, after his hindu nationalist bjp failed to win enough seats in the general election to govern alone. thousands of guests attended the inauguration at delhi's presidential palace, including the heads of several neighbouring countries. for more on narendra modi, i'm joined now by the host of the economist's the modi raj podcast, avantika chilkoti. welcome to the programme. many people are saying that indian democracy has spoken. definitely. i think auoin democracy has spoken. definitely. i think going into _ democracy has spoken. definitely. i think going into this _ democracy has spoken. definitely. i think going into this election, - think going into this election, absolutely no good d can plausibly say they thought narendra modi was not coming back with a majority. in recent years, you have seen a real clampdown on democratic institutions under narendra modi's government.

you have seen the press centre, opposition politicians put into prison, ngos were having funding cut. the fact that the indian public have decided that narendra modi is back but with the checks of a coalition government, it really goes to show that the public can change things. more than any of that, this vote has really turned on lower castes, so it is really democracy in action this week. aha, castes, so it is really democracy in action this week.— action this week. a lot of the opposition — action this week. a lot of the opposition parties _ action this week. a lot of the opposition parties in - action this week. a lot of the opposition parties in this - opposition parties in this power—sharing agreement is secular. narendra modi is known for his hindu first policy and drive. what is this going to mean for india moving forward? aha, going to mean for india moving forward? �* ., , going to mean for india moving forward? ., , ., ., forward? a lot people are into m stic forward? a lot people are into mystic that — forward? a lot people are into mystic that india's _ forward? a lot people are into mystic that india's hindu - mystic that india's hindu nationalism, this drive under narendra modi, will now come to an end. tojunior ministers are reliant

on the muslim without. i have spent the last eight months diving into narendra modi's life. this hindu nationalism runs deep. narendra modi was eight years old when he joined a hindu nationalist group. for an hour a day as a child he was going to daily meetings, where he had yoga and physical exercise, but he also had lessons in a —ism and hinduism. this is really deeply instilled in him. the way he made it into politics as by climbing the ranks of this organisation. the links between this organisation. the links between this paramilitary group and narendra modi's bjp group is frankly umbilical. modi's bjp group is frankly umbilical-— modi's bjp group is frankly umbilical. ~ ., ., ., umbilical. we have to leave it there. thank _ umbilical. we have to leave it there. thank you _ umbilical. we have to leave it there. thank you very - umbilical. we have to leave it there. thank you very much l umbilical. we have to leave it - there. thank you very much indeed. the next challenge of course is divvying up those key positions. don't forget, all at the top stories

can be found on the bbc news website, including the latest including the discovery and identification of the tv and radio presenter, michael mosley, on the greek island of symi. hello there, no signs of any hot, dry, sunny weather on the horizon. things have been cold for the time of year for the last week or more. it looks like the temperatures will be taking even more of a tumble. sunshine and showers for much of the week, we could see some dry weather through the middle part of the week. but knights will continue to be on the chilly side. rain spreading across much of the country tonight, it will be heavy across central, southern and eastern england for a while. but where we have the cloud

and the rain, clearer skies for scotland and northern ireland, where it will turn chilly. monday, low pressure sets out to watch scandinavia, feeding in northerly winds across the uk, really making it feel cool for this time in june. we it feel cool for this time injune. we have it feel cool for this time in june. we have that it feel cool for this time injune. we have that rain it feel cool for this time in june. we have that rain across eastern england, east anglia through the morning. it will take his time to clear away, eventually able to do and then we have a bright day with sunshine and scattered showers. the showers when tree over the hike ground in northern scotland. temperatures disappointing. monday night we hold onto the showers, though they fade away through the overnight period for many. they continue around some northern coast. another chilly night, temperatures in low single digits out of town, maybe a touch of frost in some

sheltered glens of scotland. tuesday, an area of high starts to topple from the west, that should cool off a lot of the showers. it will be a bright start with lots of sunshine, the cloud will build through the day. central, northern and eastern areas... the wind strongest across eastern areas. when if say, looks like a writ of dry pressure will bring dry unsettled weather. first they will bring unsettled conditions to our shores. thursday and beyond, temperatures recover a little bit but it does start to turn which once again.

this is bbc news. the headlines... europe decides — leaders cast their votes as millions head to the polls in the european parliament elections. 27 countries are voting to elect 720 new members to the european parliament with exit poll results starting to come out now. the family of tv and radio presenter michael mosley confirms his body has been found on the greek island of symi. his wife clare paid tribute to her wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband. narendra modi is sworn in as india's prime minister for a record—equalling third term at a special ceremony in delhi. this time though he won't have an outright majority.