hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. an israeli military strike in southern gaza has killed at least 25 civilians and injured 50 others — that's according to the palestinian red crescent. on friday, israeli forces fired at tents for displaced people in the designated humanitarian zone of al—mawasi, near the city of rafah. and the international committee of the red cross says its office in gaza — which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced people in tents — was damaged when heavy—calibre missiles landed nearby. the statement said "firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures puts the lives of civilians and humanitarians at risk". it added that stray bullets have reached red cross facilities in recent weeks. israel says its troops were conducting �*precise, intelligence—based actions�* in the area, where an estimated half a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the raid comes as a simmering conflict between israel and the lebanese armed group hezbollah risks

turning into a wider regional war. the two sides have exchanged fire across the lebanon—israel border in recent weeks. hezbollah says it is fighting israel to support hamas in gaza. un secretary—general antonio guterres said there is real risk that the crisis on the israel—lebanon border could escalate. one rash move, one miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the borders and, frankly, beyond imagination. let's be clear — the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford lebanon to become another gaza. on x, the head of the world health organization said more than 10,000 palestinians are in gaza need urgent medical attention. he added that since the closure of the rafah crossing on may 7, no patients have been evacuated from the gaza strip.

the us military said on thursday that a temporary pier off the coast of gaza has been re—anchored, allowing the resumption of aid deliveries. the israeli army recently implemented a daily �*tactical pause�* in fighting along a key aid route stretching from the kerem shalom border crossing. but aid agencies say that the pause has had no impact on the delivery of badly—needed humanitarian supplies, as officials are still struggling to streamline enough aid to civilians. our middle east correspondent yolande knell has more from bethlehem. announcing this daily halt in fighting along a key stretch of road just inside gaza next to the kerem shalom border crossing, the israeli military said nearly a week ago, the idea was to allow the un and aid organisations to clear the backlog of aid that has accumulated at the kerem shalom crossing, something like 1,000 lorry loads of aid there. but the un and different humanitarian workers who we�*ve spoken to say they�*ve not really been able to take

advantage of these so—called tactical pauses, mainly because of the lawlessness that there is now in southern gaza where you have, they say, these organised armed groups that are smuggling and looting, using weapons to stop their lorries as they come in. and at the same time, they say there�*s been a breakdown in their own systems that�*s happened since israel�*s incursion of rafah that�*s meant that more than a million people were newly displaced. and at the same time you had the un and humanitarian agencies losing access to some of their offices, to warehouses and to the important rafah border crossing between gaza and egypt. now in rafah itself, we�*re hearing that there is fighting that is still going on in the past couple of days, particularly intense street battles between israeli soldiers and palestinian armed groups to the north and to the west of rafah, with intense israeli shelling going on as well. there have also been

deadly israeli strikes in parts of gaza city. a reminder, really, that gaza, as the humanitarian crisis deepens there, it remains an active war zone. as you heard, israel is under pressure to allow more aid into gaza, and doctors fear the situation for palestinian civilians will only get worse, especially for young children. united nations estimates more than one—million people in gaza will face catastrophic levels of starvation by the middle of next month. shortages of drinking water from gaza�*s badly—damaged water network are also putting the lives of many gazans at risk — especially in high summer temperatures. our correspondentjon donnison is in jerusalem. and a warning, his report contains some distressing images from the start. five—year—old tala is severely dehydrated and malnourished. at nasser hospital in khan yunis herfather, ibrahim, tries to offer comfort,

but he knows that scorching weather close to a0 degrees and a lack of clean water, have brought his daughter close to death. translation: the situation is getting worse. _ you can�*t imagine the temperature in our tent, and the water you drink is definitely contaminated because both old and young are getting sick. and with their houses destroyed, hundreds of thousands of gazans are now living under canvas with little protection from the scorching sun. getting water, whether it�*s clean or not, is a daily struggle. long queues form at distribution centres. the un says two thirds of the strip�*s water and sanitation system, poor at the best of times, has been destroyed. translation: we need i a tremendous international effort to re—establish water and sewage networks. we in khan younis have lost between 170 and 200 kilometers of pipes, which have been completely destroyed, along with the wells

and the water tanks. the united nations has warned more than a million gazans are facing the highest level of starvation by the middle ofjuly. the international criminal court prosecutor has accused israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. israel strongly disputes this, and its ministers have denied there is a humanitarian crisis. and the most vulnerable are affected, too. this boy is nine years old. he has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but malnutrition and dehydration mean he�*s now in hospital. his mother says before the war, he was healthy. translation: where we live now, it's polluted and there's no - food, and we have to walk a long way for water. now i�*m worried my other children will also be sick. jon donnison, bbc news.

joining me now to discuss the day�*s developments, is former ambassador to iraq and turkey, and special envoy to the global coalition to defeat isis — jamesjeffrey. looking at the developments today, news of the deaths in the humanitarian zone, at least 25 deaths of individual sheltering and israel says the troops were conducting precise intelligence —based actions but it begs the question, can you conduct precise actions if an estimated half a million people are sheltering in a small space? the question is can you conduct military operations against a terrorist force 35,000 strong in an area twice the size of washington and a population of 4 million people and the answer is no matter how careful you are there going to be lots of bullets flying around

and we heard earlier one of the aid agencies saying that stray and i�*ve been there and seen, what are we to do. the us and israel and agencies are working day and night to try and get supplies, water, food, medicine to people but it�*s an active war zone and hamas could accept a ceasefire that president biden announced on the 31st of may and the israelis could pull out which they�*ve done before and suffer another and bigger october 7 or we can try and muddle through as we are doing which is what the us is doing and what the israelis are doing and that is the common denominator in the community. we�*ve seen the rhetoric deteriorate between the white house and benjamin netanyahu. what can we deduce from that? our relations that bad or is it in public as such?

some of it is politics in both countries. you know the story that benjamin netanyahu has a difficult coalition to hold together with some very extremist ministers that give him little public running room and president biden is facing a difficult election and has a very cantankerous and unhappy left wing in the party given his policies of supporting israel so some of this is for public consumption and there is a real difference as to whether weapons are moving as quickly in israel as promised but i notice that the number two and number three in the netanyahu group met and had good conversations with anthony blinking in the white house on the day after on how to deal with lebanon and in exactly the kind of things we should be doing so the cooperation between the us and israel on working levels which must

include this is continuing. you mention lebanon. how close are we to an israel all lebanon war? i�*ve made mistakes and predictions before and i don�*t discount the danger because of war in lebanon could be far bigger than the war in gaza. but i don�*t think either israel or hezbollah or iran want want war at this point. i think both sides are still manoeuvring. again, we could be wrong but the point is the time

for gezboolah is there are tens of thousands of troops and heavy fighting has passed and there is a military force that was defeated on the israelis have more forces they could use against this, so it�*s not a pernicious point for hezbollah to want a war. what would the us do in that situation? would it support israel stay out of it, what would it do? there are many media reports that if there was a major onslaught on israel than the us would support in various ways beyond giving weapons like we did against israel and possibly more and i think there would be a very active american involvement. as always, thanks for your thoughts. more than 1,000 people

from several countries have reportedly died in extreme heat at the hajj pilgrimage in saudi arabia. temperatures during the annual journey to mecca have soared above 50 degrees celcius — or 122 degrees fahrenheit. hajj is a life—long dream for many muslims, but for families of the victims — the pilgrimage has turned to tragedy. the bbc spoke to the family of �*afandeya,�* who had traveled from egypt on an unofficial visa. the broker took advantage of her passion to go and made promises. when i called, herface was as red as a tomato. they made a tent out of bed sheets. they had no accommodation. official pilgrims have air—conditioned tents and meals. my mother�*s death broke me. saudi arabia has defended its handling of the event but there is widespread outrage across the region. tunisia�*s minister of religious affairs was sacked after nearly 50 tunisian pilgrims were confirmed among the dead. and authorities injordan have detained several travel agents who helped book unofficial travel to mecca. unregistered pilgrims do not have access to proper facilities at ritual sites, such as air conditioned tents and buses.

the bbc�*s aleem maqbool reports. now to the uk general election campaign and there�*s been criticism of the leader of reform uk, nigel farage, after he claimed that russia�*s invasion of ukraine was provoked by europe and nato. he told nick robinson, in an edition of the bbc panorama interviews, that he�*d previously said he admired vladimir putin as a political operator — but disliked him as a person. the home secretary, james cleverly, accused mr farage of echoing mr putin�*s own justification for his invasion. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. it�*s more like a police interview! time for tough questions for a man who�*s in charge of a party, standing to be an mp, and sees himself as a future leader of the opposition.

nigel farage was asked about his views on president putin. he�*d said he disliked him personally but admired him as a political operator, and what about his reaction to russia�*s invasion of ukraine, which he described as a consequence of eu and nato expansion? we provoked this war. of course it is his fault... but we provoked the invasion of ukraine? yes, and very interestingly, once again, ten years ago when i predicted this, by the way, i�*m the only person in british politics that predicted what happened. and of course everyone said i was a pariah for daring to suggest it. mr farage insists he has been consistent in his views. i stood up in the european parliament in 2014 said, and i quote, "there will be a war in ukraine." why did i say that? it was obvious to me that the ever eastward expansion of nato and the european union was giving this man a reason to his russian people to say, they are coming for us again, and to go to war. labour�*s shadow defence secretaryjohn healey said the comments were disgraceful and accused mr farage being a putin apologist. the former tory defence secretary ben wallace claimed

mr farage was refusing to see vladimir putin for what he is. as a leading champion of brexit, that subject also came up tonight. the cab driver who brought me here said, "you tell nigel, voted leave and i regret it because people like me are no better off". i�*m afraid that is what the conservatives have done with it, and that�*s why... it's always someone else's fault. if you put me in charge it would be very, very different, but of course, they didn�*t do that, did they? let's imagine you in charge. and the conservative party never believed in brexit, they never believed in it, they picked it up as a political opportunity and they failed to deliver. deregulation and immigration were the gains that we could have had, we haven�*t had them because of the conservatives. at the helm of reform uk, and with an eye on a seat in parliament, nigel farage can expect plenty more questions like these. leila nathoo, bbc news. the us supreme court upheld a law that prevents people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning a gun. this is the first major ruling

on gun rights since 2022, when the court expanded the right to bear arms. friday�*s ruling passed with an eight to one majority — in a rare legal victory for those in favour of restrictions on firearms. presidentjoe biden welcomed the decision in a statement saying, �*as a result of today�*s ruling, survivors of domestic violence and their families will still be able to count on critical protections, just as they have for the past three decades. the national domestic violence hotline — a nationwide organization supporting people experiencing domestic abuse — said in a statement "prohibiting domestic violence abusers from accessing firearms is common—sense, life—saving, and constitutional. the devastating impact of firearms in abusive relationships is horrific and can be lethal; today�*s decision saved lives". our north america correspondent nomia iqbal has the details of the case. so this case was brought

by a texas drug dealer who had threatened to shoot his girlfriend if she had reported he had assaulted her. she got a restraining order against him. and that restraining order led to his gun license being revoked and also him being disarmed. so his guns were taken away from him. and he argued that that was a violation of his right to bear arms, the second amendment. but in a majority ruling by the court, in an 8—1 ruling, the court said, no, it didn�*t. that actually the constitution does permit laws that strip guns from people that are deemed dangerous. it�*s worth mentioning that this was one of many challenges that was brought towards to the supreme court after they ruled in 2022 on a major ruling in which they — it was a new york ruling — and it basically put strict limits on guns outside the home. and so in some respects, this case really tested the scope of that law and how far the supreme court would go.

so in many respects, this is a victory for gun rights advocates. there was one dissenting voice. it was the conservative justice clarence thomas, who�*s very pro—guns. and he said that, just to quote him, that not a single historical regulation justifies the statute at issue. but as you said, this big federal law does stay in place now. and, of course, the whole issue is a big one in kenya, anti—tax protesters are in shock after a 29 year—old man was killed during nationwide demonstrations against a new finance bill. the legislation sailed through its second reading on thursday and will now proceed to the next stage where a committee will consider amendments. gunshots. ahead of the vote, thousands of protestors took to the streets denouncing the tax hikes, saying they�*ll hurt the economy and worsen the cost of living for kenyans who are struggling to make ends meet. this video — filmed by the bbc — shows police carrying what appear to be tear gas

cannisters to be used against the protesters. water cannon were also deployed to try to disperse the demonstrators, with some police on horseback. doctors say the person killed bled to death after suffering a gunshot wound in nairobi. our senior africa correspondent, anne soy, is in nairobi and told us what we know so far about the victim. there are pictures of, his name is rex. of rex that have been circulating on social media showing him carrying out the activism. and apart from the tear gas and the water cannons throughout the day, it appeared that is the kind of force the police were using against the protesters. however, things took a different turn when it got to dusk, when it got dark. and there is an aerial video that has been released now showing what is believed to be a policeman in plain clothes, chasing after crowds and shooting at them. it is not clear if that is connected to the death of rex.

the autopsy on his body is being carried out today and his parents are already at the city mortuary. so we�*ll be waiting to hear for an update after that autopsy report. but it has stirred anger online, especially among the protesters, that one of them lost his life while protesting against what they see as a legitimate cause against tax hikes by government. three people have been killed and 10 others wounded in a shooting at a supermarket in arkansas. the incident happened in the town of fordyce, about 70 miles south of the state capital, little rock. two police officers and the suspect were among those injured. their injuries are reported to be non—life threatening. others are in a critical condition.

tiktok confirmed on friday it offered the us government a so—called �*kill switch�* as part of its case against a us push to ban the app nationwide. tiktok is owned by the chinese company bytedance, which has us lawmakers concerned over data protections and national security. the kill—switch would�*ve given us officials the power to temporarily disable the app. bytedance has untiljanuary to divest tiktok�*s us assets or face a ban. four members of britain�*s richest family have been sentenced to jail by a court in switzerland, for exploiting their domestic staff —— who�*d been brought over from india to work in their luxury villa in geneva. the court acquitted them of a more serious human trafficking charge.defence lawyers denied accusations the family members confiscated their employees�* passports, and required extended workdays without overtime. they say they�*ll appeal. period poverty is a major issue across much of africa — where women and girls are unable to afford to buy basic menstration products. there are several charities and aid groups specifically trying to tackle period poverty. the founder of one of them,

in south africa�*s eastern cape, has a very direct personal experience of the problem. she says she didn�*t have access to period products as a child and was bullied because of it. we shared her story here on bbc news last year, prompting a donation that�*s allowed her to help even more young girls. our reporter gem o�*reilly has been finding out about the difference donations like these make. this is our main entrance where we off—load and unpack all of our orders. we grew up watching my mum using like old rags or clothes as a pad. during my teenage years, it was very hard for me to have sanitary pads. growing up, tamara�*s family couldn�*t afford sanitary products. it was that or food. when she got her period, tamara was severely bullied. nearly ten years later, she�*s trying to stop the cycle forgirls in herarea.

she�*s created a non—profit organisation where she donates period products to the poorest schools in south africa. we told tamara�*s story last year on the bbc and one young audience member was inspired after seeing it. i find it really sad that a lot of people don�*t know about this. they don�*t know that this is an issue. so i told my dad, i told him, "hey, i�*ve seen this. can we do something about it?" and then we worked together. we worked with her. we contacted her. we decided to donate. this was enough, i think, for tamara to secure her warehouse. she was able to then put in quite a big order, i think, for about almost half a million sanitary products, which she then took delivery of. this really kick started her business and for caity, the important thing is giving affordable sanitary products and also free sanitary products to these girls was really, really important.

caity is the one who really wanted to be part of the cause. caity is the one who was inspired by my story and encouraged herfather to then donate to the organisation, which then was life—changing for us. globally, more than 500 million women and girls are affected by period poverty. south africa is just one of many african countries experiencing this. in august 2023, the bbc led a pan—africa investigation into the impact of period poverty. it found that women in ghana on minimum wage spend one in every $7 they earn on period products alone. this is something tamara is trying to change with the expansion of her work. for once, it may be foreseen, it may be full heard, because we are talking about someone who comes from privilege who won�*t even have to go through period poverty. she was encouraged enough. she holds parts of my childhood traumas that i never thought they could be held. caity and michael�*s donation allowed tamara to expand her

business and hire staff. she is now donating monthly to schools, children�*s homes and charities. tamara is also expanding her work into congo as a result of the donation. caity will always be a hero of mine, and she made a difference not only to my life, but to thousands of girls and created opportunities for them so that they don�*t go through to what i went through. gem o�*reilly, bbc news. hello. the next few days are set to bring some summer warmth, but there is still some uncertainty about just how long it might last. the weekend will bring some warm sunshine, but it�*s not all plain sailing. a little bit of cloud and rain in the forecast as well. in fact, some rain through saturday morning thanks to this frontal system, a weak weather front that�*ll be moving its way eastwards,

but it will bring more in the way of cloud across some central and southern parts of scotland, northern england, into the midlands, eastern england as well, and parts of east anglia and the south—east could see the odd sharp shower breaking out through the afternoon. then, a slice of sunshine, but more cloud rolling into northern ireland and western scotland with the odd spot of rain. temperature—wise, well, 15 degrees for stornoway, 23 there in london. and — no surprise for hay fever sufferers, i�*m sure — very high pollen levels across most parts of the uk, away from the northern half of scotland. now, as we head through saturday night, we will see clouds and a few spots of rain and drizzle for northern ireland and scotland. more cloud and some quite misty, murky conditions developing around coasts and hills in the west of england and wales. a mild start to sunday morning, double digits for the vast majority. and then for sunday, well, we will see some areas of cloud, particularly across parts of england and wales, perhaps even the odd

rogue shower and some misty, murky conditions for coasts and hills. northern ireland and scotland seeing some sunshine, east anglia and the south—east probably holding on to sunny skies, and the air turning warmer and more humid as well. so, temperatures — 19 degrees for aberdeen, for example, 25 degrees there in london. and that surge of warm and humid airjust continues to work northwards across the uk as we head into monday. monday could be a very warm day indeed, a fair amount of sunshine, but some cloud too. and it might be a bit misty and murky again for some western coasts and hills. but those temperatures widely up into the 20s — 2a, 25 degrees in parts of northern scotland, 27 or 28 in south—east england. now, the big uncertainty is aboutjust how long that warmth might last, either because of a frontal system from the west or an area of low pressure spinning up from the south. it does look set to turn more unsettled later in the week, but a lot of doubt about exactly when that might happen and some warm weather between now and then.

this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to the media show with ros atkins and katie razzall. this week we�*ve been talking about news podcasting, how the industry has changed and what the secret to the success is. and we�*ve been hearing about what�*s happening at the washington post. there�*s an awful lot of pressure on its ceo and publisher,

will lewis. we�*ll find out why and about the issues that it raises, not just about what�*s happening at the washington post, but about american journalism and the differences between us and ukjournalism. let us introduce you to our guest this week. and we�*ve got some big hitters from the news podcast world. nick hilton is from the production company podot. also with us is lewis goodall from the news agents podcast, and tony pastor, the man behind goalhanger, which is the podcast production company he set up with gary lineker and makes all sorts of hit podcasts, including the rest is history, the rest is politics. there's something very intimate about listening to a podcast. i mean, in many ways, a bit like radio, where people have their headphones on, they're cooking, they're commuting, they're walking the dog, um, and they get very, very close to the people in their ears. they develop a relationship with the people they're listening to on a regular basis. and we find that when we do live events,

a lot of the audience comes up to our hosts and treats them