the un security council endorsed a ceasefire proposal for gaza on monday. it is the first time the council has passed a resolution demanding a stop in fighting after eight months of war. the resolution urges both hamas and israel to fully and quickly implement the three—phase plan. 1a countries voted in favour and russia abstained. reactions to the resolution between the two parties have been mixed. hamas says it welcomes the endorsement and that it's ready to work with mediators. a senior israeli diplomat said her country would continue to pursue its objectives.us ambassador to the un linda thomas—greenfield says the resolution shows hamas that the international community is united. colleagues, today this council sent a clear message to hamas. accept the ceasefire deal on the table. israeli has already agreed to this deal and the fighting could stop today if hamas would do the same. i repeat, the fighting

could stop today. the bbc�*s nada tawfik has more from new york. what we heard from the united states was that this was the best possible way to secure a durable end to the war, saying that it really is a deal that was israel's initiative, it outlined three phases that they said would eventually, you know, lead to the complete withdrawal of israeli forces, the release of all hostages, in exchange for palestinian prisoners, major reconstruction of gaza, eventually. but, i think, from different members, you heard different positions. you know, while the united states says this resolution passing means that the international community is united, and that this will help put pressure on hamas to accept the deal, you know, algeria said they still had some reservations about the text, but supported it, because they felt it wanted to give diplomacy a chance, wanted to give a glimmer of hope to palestinians.

but from russia and china, a lot more scepticism. you know, russia said it didn't want to block this resolution, because the arab group of nations supported it, but it questioned whether israel had really accepted the deal, as the resolution states, and they pointed to a number of statements by israeli officials, including prime minister benjamin netanyahu, that they will continue the war until hamas is defeated. china, as well, questioned if, you know, parties will actually implement these three phases of presidentjoe biden�*s proposed deal, and china noting that the other security council resolutions that have been passed weren't implemented, including a permanent ceasefire, including getting more aid in at scale into gaza, questioning, you know, whether this will have a tangible impact on the ground. so i think it remains to be seen if this resolution will, in fact, be different than the other ones.

meanwhile, us secretary of state antony blinken is visiting the middle east for the eighth time since the october seventh attacks. secretary blinken is fiercely advocating for the ceasefire deal proposed by president biden ten days ago. mr blinken met with egyptian president abdel fattah al—sisi, before heading tojerusalem for talks with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a state department spokesman said secretary blinken assured mr netanyahu that the proposal would "unlock the possibility" of calm along israel's northern border. for more on the security's visit and the proposed ceasefire plan, i spoke to a former ambassador to turkey and iraq and chair of the wilson center's middle east programme. i want to start with the un security council adopting this resolution that welcomes this three—phase ceasefire agreement that was outlined by president biden on may 31. do you think israel is going to accept this ceasefire?— israel is going to accept this ceasefire? yes, in the sense

that israel. _ ceasefire? yes, in the sense that israel, first _ ceasefire? yes, in the sense that israel, first of _ ceasefire? yes, in the sense that israel, first of all - - that israel, first of all — it's an israeli proposal, a [ls—page proposal that the president basically — underline basically — underlined a week ago friday. the important thing is the ultimate departure of israeli troops from gaza and a permanent ceasefire, which is at the end of what we call the second six—week phase, isn't automatic. that requires negotiations. these negotiations. these negotiations could go on. and in the terms of the agreement, although president biden�*s tried to play this down, the israelis or hamas could break off in the initial six—week ceasefire at the end of those six weeks could be terminated. what's the difference between what president biden outlined and what the israelis want and what hamas is asking for? the israelis, again, _ what hamas is asking for? the israelis, again, are _ what hamas is asking for? tue: israelis, again, are agreeing there are other things such as some hostages come back, there's aid pouring in, people can go back to their homes. the basic thing is, for six weeks, the israeli military stops fighting and pulls out of the major urban areas. it basically

will hold a strategic terrain along the egyptian border, the sea, and other places, but stops fighting. and in return — as will hamas. and in return, will negotiate on a possible permanent ceasefire during those six weeks if. they haven't achieved a breakthrough by then, they can extend that six—week seizer if while they continue to negotiate. but, importantly, they don't have to. and if one or the other side decides after the six weeks to break off the negotiations, we would go back to fighting. so this puts pressure on hamas. that's the israeli proposal. president biden is stressing how important it is to keep those negotiations going on forever, because then the initial six—week ceasefire will look like a permanent ceasefire. right. right. that's really interesting. i mean, if you look at one part of this proposal, of course, it does lead to the release of the hostages who are in gaza. do you think the freeing of four hostages over the weekend, four israeli hostages who have been held in gaza, changes the equation at all for prime minister netanyahu? we know the

families of the remaining hostages are putting even more pressure on his government. first of all, it overshadowed the departure of minister gantz, which was an important blow to, i think, netanyahu, and it will lead to, i think, less moderate israeli policies. but we'll see. nonetheless, this was a military victory, a huge cost for the palestinian side, but a huge cost for the palestinian side, buta military huge cost for the palestinian side, but a military victory, and strengthens israel's position not only inside israel, but also vis—a—vis hamas. israel, but also vis-a-vis hame— israel, but also vis-a-vis hamas. ~ , ., ., hamas. we saw vision of the raids leading _ hamas. we saw vision of the raids leading to _ hamas. we saw vision of the raids leading to those - hamas. we saw vision of the l raids leading to those hostage and, as you said, benny gantz has left the war cabinet. what impact does it actually have on prime minister netanyahu? does it mean that he is more beholden to the right—wing forces in his government? fin forces in his government? on the forces in his government? 0? the margins yes —— forces in his government? (m the margins yes —— margins, yes. but he has support from minister lapid, who said he and

his party would support netanyahu if netanyahu went along with the ceasefire. and thus, netanyahu — even if the two very—right—wing ministers in the parties pulled out of the 64 out of 120 knesset—member coalition, netanyahu knesset—member coalition, neta nyahu could stay knesset—member coalition, netanyahu could stay in power. so i think, all in all, we're in the potential endgame. the key will be — what's in those negotiations for the second phase? it won'tjust be how israel leaves. it's going to be — who governs gaza? you'll notice nobody talks about this. there's a third phase of major reconstruction. i have provided my recommendations to both the us and israeli government, as have others on how to do this. but what's important is — and this is new — israel has signed up this is new — israel has signed up in this agreement to the eventual — under the right conditions — departure of all israeli forces. that means that the idea of permanent israeli occupation of gaza, which we feared, was the position of the netanyahu government, is no longer really on the table if we get the right conditions.

what is your recommendation, then, on what postwar governments would look like in gaza? fix, governments would look like in gaza? �* , ., ., ., governments would look like in gaza? �* ., ., ., gaza? a stand-down of hamas - i think that will — gaza? a stand-down of hamas - i think that will be _ gaza? a stand-down of hamas - i think that will be negotiated - think that will be negotiated in the second phase, where it's a ceasefire not only against israel, but against the people, and anybody who tries to govern gaza. then an international presence — various ideas of arab, european, other players would come in and do governance, do reconstruction. would palestinian leaders be open to that? t would palestinian leaders be open to that?— open to that? i think they would be _ open to that? i think they would be subject - open to that? i think they would be subject to - open to that? i think they would be subject to an . open to that? i think they i would be subject to an awful lot of pressure, and they would also want a certain role. and that's where you get the negotiations with the israelis. but that's normal in every one of the maybe two dozen ceasefires i've been involved in in the last 50 years. this can be an endgame. it isn't an endgame yet, but we're moving towards that direction. fine towards that direction. one tuick towards that direction. one quick final _ towards that direction. one quick final question. - towards that direction. one quick final question. secretary of state blinken is again in the region. what do you think his aim is in this visit? simply to show that we're not going to spend a week without at least one senior official visiting israel in the region. but the real work is between

back channels between washington and jerusalem. back channels between washington and jerusalem. here in the us: the us president's son, hunter biden, tells the bbc he believes his federal gun case now before a jury �*went well.�*jurors began deliberating monday after closing arguments wrapped. our correspondent carl nasman a spoke to mr biden in downtown wilmington, delaware a few minutes away from the courthouse. hunter biden is accused of is accused of lying about his drug use on a federal form while buying a weapon in 2018, and of illegally possessing a firearm while he was allegedly a drug user. for more on this, carl nasman has this report. the jury will return to this courthouse behind me here in delaware on tuesday morning to continue its deliberations to weigh the evidence and testimony that they've heard in this trial over the past week or so. much of that has been very detailed and sometimes difficult to listen to. the prosecution has laid out its case that hunter biden

was addicted to crack cocaine, that he was using the drug on or around the time that he purchased that revolver on october 2018. and that he then lied about that on a federal form. of course, all of this evidence — the text messages, the pictures, video, even some audio snippets from hunter biden�*s memoir — has played out notjust for the jury, but also for the biden family itself. many members of that family were again in court today sitting just behind hunter biden in a show of support. among them was the first lady herself, jill biden. this is already an historic case, an historic trial. but a conviction here would also be historic. hunter biden would become the first son of a sitting president to be convicted in a federal courthouse. that would carry a maximum penalty of about 25 years. it's unlikely he would serve that amount of time — the discretion would be up to the judge — but, of course, it's

in the hands of the jury now. they will continue those deliberations on day two here on tuesday. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making headlines in the uk: an initial postmortem concluded that dr michael mosley died of natural causes, brought on by the conditions of a strenuous walk. the bbc presenter�*s body was found in a rocky area of the greek island of symi sunday, four days after he went missing while on holiday. joe inwood reports. it was just near the beach bar that his body was found yesterday, not by search and rescue teams, but by local journalists, the mayor, and the staff of agia marina. he passed out of the land. michalis was one of the first on the scene. he is still in shock, and feels guilt for not finding him sooner. we did our best. we gave whatever we can to do, and i'm very sorry about it. i'm very sorry about the end.

cctv footage — which has not been released — shows the final moments of dr mosley�*s life. it confirms that the presenter died before his family had realised he was missing. dr michael mosely was 67 years old. you're watching bbc news. french political parties are scrambling to prepare for legislative elections less than three weeks away. it comes after president emmanuel macron�*s surprise decision to dissolve parliament and call a snap vote. mr macron made the announcement on sunday after his allies suffered a resounding defeat by the far—right in european polls. but, as nicke beake reports, his first day of the campaign was marked not with a rally, but with a memorial service. emmanuel macron visited the site of one of the worst nazi massacres in france, perpetrated 80 years ago today. he's been drawing on the past to highlight what he claims is the current threat confronting the country — from the far right.

in the face of his opponents' success this weekend, the president has taken an almighty gamble in calling a snap election. 40 miles outside paris, this is coulommiers, the land of cheesemaking, where support for macron has crumbled. the members of the monday club said they hadn't veered to the right. but then we met 31—year—old mum of three noemi, a worker in an elderly care home, who says she's desperate for something new. translation: what frightens people could actually do them j good, so we should try the national front, because france is getting worse. i'm scared to leave my house and the public transport is not safe. whatever the result of these snap parliamentary elections, emmanuel macron is set to stay on as president for another three years, but a national rally victory could have a huge impact here and in

many parts of france. it would also be hugely symbolic, too, because injust six weeks' time, the country will host the olympic games and by then, france could have its first far—right government since the second world war. this is the 28—year—old who could be france's prime minister in a month. through his social media, jordan bardella has been winning young supporters in particular, focusing on the cost of living, softening the image of a party once condemned as unelectable, and working alongside marine le pen. she hopes to replace macron as president in 2027. so can national rally translate their victory at the european elections to the national vote? so they have some kind of, say, a political virginity — people say, we do not know what they will do if they come to power but nevertheless, let's give them a try,

and if we are not happy, we will have election next time and we'll get rid of them. it's not clear what the president's thinking is, but his legacy will be defined in the coming weeks. nick beake, bbc news, outside paris. for more on the snap election, i spoke to craig copetas, a writer and correspondent based in paris. what impact do you think the french president calling snap elections is going to have not only on france, but across the eu? well, it started a large pr campaign by both the left and the right throughout europe, but it's essentially a french story. macron had to do this because he has wanted to put a stop to the rise of ultra—right right—wingism in france, which many here call fascism. you know, the right wing here approximately tax up 40%

short of a majority of the 289 seats that's going to be required to get in the parliament in the national assembly to take a majority. they have 577 seats. so macron�*s decision here — which is a political calculation, a tricky one — he just wants to shut down the ultra—right—wing once and for all. he thinks he can do it. you said this is a french story, but we did also see a surge for right—wing parties in austria, italy and germany. you don't think we will see this kind of ground—breaking snap election in any other country? no other country has yet announced a snap election. and i think viewers have to remember that the european union parliament elections have always been a vehicle to express national discontent, frustrations, in local issues back home. a good illustration, of course, is nigel farage from the uk. so, macron knows this, and again this is another reason why he intends to host the shutdown, this attempt of le pen, jordan bardella, and of course

her niece, marichelle and the other cronies, to take them on in the french elections in two years. which according to the polls right now, the french right wing has a good chance of taking. france's snap election is just part of the fallout of this year's european parliament election — an enormous undertaking, with 373 million eligible voters across the eu's 27 member states. the parties in the centre still dominate the legislature. the centre—right european people's party, led by european commission president ursula von der leyen, gained seats and is still the largest bloc. ms von der leyen said "the centre has held", but she acknowledged that more extreme parties also made gains. in her native germany, chancellor olaf scholz�*s social democrats were pushedinto third place by the far—right alternative for germany, afd.

unlike president macron, the chancellor rejected calls to hold early elections following these results. he rebuffed suggestions that he should take responsibility for his party's result and said gains and in italy, the party of populist prime minister giorgia meloni secured a clear victory. she said the italian people had sent a strong message for her party to go ahead with greater determination. but elsewhere, right—wing parties did not perform as strong. in poland, the governing centrist civic coalition has claimed victory. for more analysis of the results across the continent, i spoke to liana fix, a fellow at the council on foreign relations focusing on europe. looking at the success of right—wing parties in a number of eu countries, what do you think voters were casting their ballots on? immigration? the war in ukraine? cost of living? all of the above? in opinion polls ahead of the european parliamentary elections, european voters said that they're primarily concerned about health care, about poverty, and about social exclusion. so, very traditional social welfare topics. another item on the agenda was also

security and defence for the first time — a third of the european electorate said the third—most—important priority is actually security and defence, making europe secure after russia's war against ukraine. but social welfare has been on the minds of the european electorate, much more than immigration, surprisingly. we have seen the presence of right—wing parties in previous european elections. why do you think we're seeing, however, this surge now? i think that there's a story of a glass—half—full and glass—half—empty. on the one hand, the european centre in the european parliament still holds. which will allow, for example, european commission president ursula von der leyen to have a comfortable majority to be re—elected. on the fringes, we have this far—right surge, as you said. this goes back to national member states and their current political situation. we have germany with the alternative for germany. the far—right has been strong there. marine le pen and her party in france have doubled the votes of macron�*s party.

other member states, however, the future doesn't look as dire as in france and germany. so, across the board, we do see a surge in the far—right. but if we look down and drill down, it is specifically certain member states where the far—right has been very successful. let's talk about consequences. we saw president macron call a snap elections. could we see that in germany as well? we know that there is pressure on chancellor scholz to call a no—confidence vote? yes, indeed especially because germany will face a number of regional elections in the eastern part of the country where the afd and the far—right has traditionally been very strong. this will be a tough item for this coalition in berlin. however, it is unlikely that early elections will be called in contrast to france — the germans are actually much

more hesitant about political instability, political surprise moves. they don't appreciate calling early elections. and for the three parties that are in government now, early elections might actually not be beneficial, because they are already in such a dire position right now. for germany, the outlook doesn't look as urgent as for france. what about the impact on the european level in brussels, and how the far—right will have a presence there? i mean, could we see the centre—right, as you said — it has held with european commission president von der leyen — could we see the centre—right actually turn to working with the far—right? that was indeed a major concern before the elections, because we have already seen this on the level of member states that centre—right governments have entered into a coalition with far—right parties or have been supported by far—right parties, for example. sweden, netherlands, finland, have all pursued this kind of model. at the european level too, it would be tempting for the centre—right to form

a coalition with the far—right. but the election results so far suggest that this will not be necessary, that for the election of ursula von der leyen as the commission president, if she gets confirmed, and a majority from the centre will be sufficient. but she has flirted with opening up to the far—right. so this story is not yet at its end. one more question — what do you think all of this means for relations with the eu? we are here in washington, of course. will the relationship with the eu change at all with these different moving pieces on the european end? the relationship with the eu, if we just look at the outcome of the parliamentary elections, we'll probably remain stable. because the outcomes within the parliament are not too surprising. a little bit of a surge for the far—right, but not a radical break. more concerning is the domestic developments in france. if we have a far—right government in france, which might be a possibility after the two

rounds of elections that emmanuel macron has announced, then this will have a significant impact on the european—us relationship too. if it remains as it is right now, then washington can count on probably ursula von der leyen remaining an important actor working together with russia, working together with the white house on a regular basis, and steering europe into a direction of a stronger stance on china, more support for ukraine, and also stronger climate policies. four instructors affiliated with iowa's cornell college were injured in a "serious incident" at a park in china, the college says. the instructors were in china for a teaching partnership programme with a local university. the college's president said in a statement they were injured during a visit to a public park and that no students were a part of the programme.

a us state department spokesperson told our news partner cbs that they are aware of "reports of stabbing" injulin, which is in northeast china. let's turn to some important news around the world: former us president donald trump attended a pre—sentencing interview with a probation officer on monday — after his hush money trial conviction last month, according to our partners at cbs news. the interview was part of the report the probation department would submit tojudgejuan merchan to help decide mr trump's punishment. sentencing is set forjuly 11. in may, mr trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony. apple unveiled its ai technology on monday — called apple intelligence, at its annual worldwide developers conference in california. the new ai system will be integrated across its apps, including siri, to generate images and text. the company has partnered with openai to add chatgpt into their devices — which has faced concerns over data security. apple executives said privacy safeguards have been built into its new technology.

that is our programme at this hour. from washington, thank you for watching bbc news. stay with us. hello, there. for most of us, it has been a disappointing start to the week, in terms of the weather. a frequent rash of showers, particularly across scotland, gusts of winds coming from the north, and in excess of 30 mph, at times. temperatures struggled to get into double figures, but it was a slightly different story, further south and west. just look at anglesey — beautiful afternoon, lots of sunshine and temperatures peaked at around 18 or 19 degrees. high pressure is continuing to nudge its way in from the west, so west will be best, through the course of tuesday. there's still likely to be a few showers around, but hopefully few and further between. most frequent showers, certainly, are going to be across eastern scotland and down through eastern england. so, sunny spells and scattered showers going into the afternoon.

that will have an impact with the temperature, 14 or 15 degrees, but again, with a little more shelter, a little more sunshine, 17 or 18 celsius not out of the question. a few scattered showers moving their way through northern ireland and scotland. hopefully, some of these will ease through the afternoon, but you can see those temperatures still really struggling — ten to 15 degrees at the very best. now, as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, this little ridge of high pressure will continue to kill off the showers. so, wednesday is likely to be the driest day of the week — and make the most of it — there's more rain to come, but it will be a pretty chilly start, once again, to wednesday morning. single figures right across the country, low single figures in rural spots. but, hopefully, the showers should be a little bit few and further between and more favoured spots for those showers, once again, to the east of the pennines. more sunshine out to the west. temperatures, generally, similar values to what we've seen all week, 10 to 18 degrees the high, but the wind direction will start to change, as we move into thursday. unfortunately, towards the end of the week, this low pressure

will take over. we'll see further spells of rain at times, some of it heavy. but the wind direction will play its part, a little — a south—westerly wind means that we will see temperatures climbing a degree or so. don't expect anything too significant, because we've got the cloud and the rain around. but it's not out of the question that across eastern don't expect anything too significant, because we've got the cloud and the rain around. but it's not out of the question that across eastern and southeast england, we could see highs of 20 celsius. take care.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. forfive decades, colombia was ravaged by political violence, cocaine, cartels and corruption. then came a peace deal with the main rebel group, the fa rc. and two years ago, the election victory of a former guerrilla—turned—democratic politician, gustavo petro — a story of national

recovery and redemption. well, not necessarily. my guest is the renowned colombian novelistjuan gabriel vasquez, who weaves powerful stories out of fact and fiction. is there anything magical about colombia's current reality? juan gabriel vasquez, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it's a pleasure to have you. now you inhabit two different intellectual worlds. you are a political commentator.

it is yourjob to have instant, strong opinions for newspapers.