high—speed crash. hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. thailand has been plunged into deeper political and economic uncertainty, after the country's constitutional court dismissed the prime minister, srettha thavisin. the court in bangkok ruled that he'd violated the constitution by appointing a minister who'd served time injail for contempt of court. he's been in office less than a year. the ruling threatens to destabilise thailand's governing coalition. the country has faced decades of political uncertainty and governments toppled by the courts. srettha is the fourth thai premier in the past 16 years to be removed by the same court. and just last week, the court dissolved the main opposition move forward party and banned its former leader

from politics for ten years. the move could also have major implications for southeast asia's second—largest economy and impact investor confidence. mr srettha spoke shortly after the ruling. translation: i respect the verdict of the constitutional court. - i reiterate that for almost one year i have been in this role i have tried with good intentions to lead the country with honesty. let's speak to our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, who's in bangkok. he almost expressed a sense of shock at that ruling, is that the general feeling in thailand, are people surprised by this decision by the court? , . ., court? they are, even though the court? they are, even though the court has an _ court? they are, even though the court has an extraordinary - court? they are, even though the court has an extraordinary track. court has an extraordinary track record. all those prime ministers you mentioned, it has dissolved more than 13 parties and this is a court many argue is more powerful than any elected government in the country. for all that, the whole business

about this petition against mr srettha was not taken that seriously. talent�*s politics are not famous for their ethics, all sorts of colourful and disreputable people have served in parliament in the past and this was essentially a political decision and nobody thought there would be real pressure to get rid of a prime minister who is still struggling to get the economy going and only been in office thatjust under a year. we still don't know exactly what lies behind this verdict apart from reminding us aboutjust how powerful this court is. it throws the country into some disarray. there is a process for choosing a new prime minister and cabinet which will probably happen pretty quickly, we will expect a meeting in parliament on friday where the current coalition of 11 parties can discuss there has to be somebody who is already registered as a prime ministerial candidate, which of those will become prime minister, but it is clear the dominant party in the coalition did not expect this

verdict and that there is some confusion about exactly what kind of government will emerge. the? confusion about exactly what kind of government will emerge.— government will emerge. they have the clout to — government will emerge. they have the clout to lead _ government will emerge. they have the clout to lead the _ government will emerge. they have the clout to lead the next _ the clout to lead the next government, jonathan? the clout to lead the next government, jonathan? their clout has much diminished, _ government, jonathan? their clout has much diminished, this - government, jonathan? their clout has much diminished, this is - government, jonathan? their clout has much diminished, this is the i has much diminished, this is the party that dominated elections for 15 years, but in the last election it was eclipsed by the reformist move forward party who got ten more seats than pheu thai, so it had to do a lot of backroom bargaining. the former prime minister he was in exile for years, the main bankroll behind the party, to getting back from exile, the assumption was that was a grand bargain. seeing this much more reformist party come together, it is clear whatever deal that was it was not as settled as

people thought and some of that bargain has now unravelled. and what that says about thai politics is there is really not agreement on the rules, agreement on who should run thailand and the direction the country should go in and thatjust leaves a country which already has one of the most poor performing economies in the region floundering trying to find a sense of direction. you explained a bit about the power dynamics in the country, when we look at the military, the monarchy as well we should mention, as well as well we should mention, as well as now the court, but what about the wishes of the people? the? as now the court, but what about the wishes of the people?— wishes of the people? they don't really count. _ wishes of the people? they don't really count, do _ wishes of the people? they don't really count, do they? _ wishes of the people? they don't really count, do they? after- wishes of the people? they don't really count, do they? after all, | really count, do they? after all, the election last year, the results from me forward party which had already been cut down was a stunning rebuttal to those trying to marginalise it. clearly there was a huge hope for real change and real new direction, the new ideas, that was completely swatted aside and said the same court to dissolving move forward party last week, but

pheu thai which is a diminished force, cannot keep its prime minister in power and there is a real question about what consensus exists at the top of the country. at this stage we cannot say for sure how much the palace is involved, other conservative forces are involved, it was difficult to know. this was a shock decision and no one is quite sure why it happened. i suppose thejudges is quite sure why it happened. i suppose the judges themselves will simply say technically they were correct, technically it was a violation of ethics to appoint a once convicted lawyer to cabinet, but given the normal state of thai politics, everyone understands there is an awful lot of politics behind this, it is not really about ethics. jonathan, thank you so much. russia says any idea of peace talks with ukraine will be put on hold after kyiv�*s surprise incursion into russian territory that started a week ago. it comes as the governor of the russian border region of belgorod has declared a state of emergency, saying ukrainian shelling had made the situation there extremely difficult. this map shows just how rapid

the advance has been in the past seven days, with ukraine claiming to have taken more territory in a week than russia has all year. president biden says ukraine's surprise offensive has created a real dilemma for president putin. ukraine's president zelensky says his country controls more than 70 communities in the kursk region of western russia, an area of about a thousand square kilometres. russia says it has destroyed more than 100 ukrainian drones and four missiles fired at its border regions during the night. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. lots to discuss, but let's starts with ukraine's options.- lots to discuss, but let's starts with ukraine's options. let's bullet riaht with ukraine's options. let's bullet right down. — with ukraine's options. let's bullet right down. stay — with ukraine's options. let's bullet right down, stay or _ with ukraine's options. let's bullet right down, stay or leave, - with ukraine's options. let's bullet right down, stay or leave, because j right down, stay or leave, because in the past, when ukrainian incursions have gone into russia, they have used per ukrainian russian mercenaries essentially who have gone in, plundered the fly, taken a few selfies, done a bit of disruption and then cleared off back

across the border. this is not like that, it is something much bigger planned over a period of time, really cleverly executed and well organised using something called combined arms manoeuvres, in other words using notjust tanks and infantry but all the elements of modern warfare, air defence, electronic warfare, signals, artillery as well as essentially blinding the russian defence is. russia did not see this coming, or if they did they were not able to react in time so it shows they chose a weak spot, used a light division's worth of troops, charged through with western supplied kit, combined with western supplied kit, combined with drone and electronic warfare and it looks like they are there to stay for the time being. ukraine has said we have no interest in permanently occupying russian territory at all, this is not a land grab, this is about positioning themselves better for when it comes down to serious bargaining over a

peace deal and also ukraine's hope so far i think unfulfilled is it will force russia to pull troops away from the donbas which has not happened yet. we away from the donbas which has not happened yet-— happened yet. we have seen no evidence of— happened yet. we have seen no evidence of that _ happened yet. we have seen no evidence of that but _ happened yet. we have seen no evidence of that but we - happened yet. we have seen no evidence of that but we have . happened yet. we have seen no| evidence of that but we have had reaction from the kremlin saying this does not help with any kind of negotiation that might be coming their way, that is the line today anyway. but could president putin now be embarrassed by this that he literally throws everything at it, is it potentially incredibly dangerous?— is it potentially incredibly dangerous? is it potentially incredibly dancerous? ., ., dangerous? putin does not do embarrassment, _ dangerous? putin does not do embarrassment, he _ dangerous? putin does not do embarrassment, he does - dangerous? putin does not do i embarrassment, he does anger. dangerous? putin does not do - embarrassment, he does anger. and in that emergency meeting he chaired a couple of days ago, he cut off the governor of kursk and said do not tell me about these details, i want to know answers on the humanitarian side. he will throw everything at this to clear the ukrainians out of russian territory. he has appointed an overseer and it is quite a

complicated, confused picture as to the forces russia is deploying here. you have the army, the fsb, russia's internal security service, who are calling it a counterterror operation, it is not, it is a military operation. then you have the national border guard. so the control is a bit confused, a bit messy, and clearly the russians were caught on the hop, but they have a big army and lots more men and material than the ukrainians have so ultimately, ukraine will not be able to hang on this for very long, eventually they will have tissue to cross the border.— eventually they will have tissue to cross the border. great to get your thou . hts, cross the border. great to get your thoughts, thank _ cross the border. great to get your thoughts, thank you _ cross the border. great to get your thoughts, thank you so _ cross the border. great to get your thoughts, thank you so much. - and if you're interested in what this offensive could mean for the future of the war, you can listen to the latest episode of the global story podcast. just search for the global story wherever you get your podcasts. the us is stepping up pressure on israel and hamas to reach a ceasefire in gaza. president biden said such

a deal could deter iran from launching attacks on israel. the iranian government has dismissed calls from the uk and other western countries to refrain from retaliation against israel for the killing of hamas leader ismail haniyeh in tehran last month. during a meeting of the un security council, which was punctuated by accusations, the us ambassador said the temperature in the middle east must be turned down. while in washington, 20 billion dollars' worth of arms sales to israel was approved. gaza's health ministry says 39,965 people have been killed since the war broke out last october. among them were four—day—old twins, killed in an israeli air strike while their father was at a local government office registering their births. their mother and grandmother were also killed. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports from jerusalem. for four days, mohammed abu al-qumsan was a father. this day will haunt him for ever.

the day he left his newborn twins, ayssel and asser, at home with their mother, while he went to collect their birth certificates, and returned to find them killed in a strike on their building in deir al balah. today, he prepared to bury them. a new parent, comforted like a child. "i didn't even have time to celebrate them", he said. gaza's health ministry says 115 infants, including ayssel and asser, have been born and killed during this war. we asked the israeli army why the twins' family home was bombed and are waiting for a response. fighting has continued across the gaza strip, with both israel and hamas under fresh pressure to agree a ceasefire deal to calm

spiralling regional threats. today, hamas released this video which it said showed rockets being launched from gaza towards tel aviv. israel's army said one had crossed into israeli territory and fallen into the sea. in the southern city of khan younis, displaced residents, not long returned, fled artillery and air strikes again. "who will breast—feed this baby?" one resident cried over the ruins of a building. "all her family were killed, even her mother." reem abu hayyah, three months old, was pulled from the rubble, bruised and battered, the only survivor of an air strike that her grandmother says killed her parents and eight siblings, along with ten other people. translation: they are the terrorists, the ones| that kill children. they are supported by america. out of 20 people, this one is the only one left.

the focus on gaza now is shrinking as the threat of regional conflict grows. but each child left without a family, each father left without his children, is adding to the long shadow of this war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's speak to our correspondent in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, hugo bachega. there was a sense there was momentum building towards some kind of ceasefire deal, but where are we at today? ceasefire deal, but where are we at toda ? .,, ceasefire deal, but where are we at toda ? ,., w ceasefire deal, but where are we at toda ? w , today? those diplomatic efforts continue, today? those diplomatic efforts continue. so — today? those diplomatic efforts continue, so today _ today? those diplomatic efforts continue, so today here - today? those diplomatic efforts continue, so today here in - today? those diplomatic efforts l continue, so today here in beirut, president biden's special envoy as having conversations with the country's top officials. he had a meeting with the parliament speaker who is a strong hezbollah ally and he said he didn't believe a wider conflict between israel and

hezbollah is inevitable but he said there was no time to waste, so obviously this country is waiting for the response from hezbollah following the assassination by israel of a senior hezbollah commander here in beirut. this happens on the eve of the talks that have been organised by international mediators, including the us, for a ceasefire deal in gaza, but i think there is very little expectation that any significant progress can be made. huge differences remain between israel and hamas, there are questions about how or even if hamas will be represented in those talks and there are many questions about the intentions of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, many believe he is not interested in a deal, that he wants to prolong the war to guarantee his political survival. so diplomatic efforts continue, but the us secretary of state antony blinken who was

expected to come to the region has delayed his visit which i think is another sign of how difficult the situation is.— another sign of how difficult the situation is. coming up on bbc news now, we'll be in athens which has experienced the worst wildfires in a decade — stay with us.

welcome back. residents near athens in greece are counting the cost of the worst wildfires to hit the region in a decade. the blazes have now been brought under control but they've left a trail of destruction. at least one person has died and dozens more have been injured. greek media is reporting that more than 100 buildings have been damaged around the capital. less than 10% of the burnt areas were forests. let's speak to our correspondent azadeh moshiri, who's in a suburb of athens. good to see you, how are people feeling there today?—

good to see you, how are people feeling there today? lucy, they are assessin: feeling there today? lucy, they are assessing the _ feeling there today? lucy, they are assessing the damage, _ feeling there today? lucy, they are assessing the damage, so - feeling there today? lucy, they are assessing the damage, so much i feeling there today? lucy, they are assessing the damage, so much soj assessing the damage, so much so that some of the figures, the houses damaged, the amount of forest that has been consumed, those can change and helicopters have still been flying over us, trying to douse some of the remnants of the fire and also prevent new resurgence as from beginning. when they were assessing the damage, we spoke to a volunteer firefighter as well as the mayor's office and they sent us here because these points allow you to see just how barren some of the land has become. you can see how scorched the land is behind me and it was completely green before these fires began and if i take you right here, you can see how close this came to homes in this suburb of athens, one of the hardest hit. there are some scorched land over there as well, and as well as trying to assess the damage that has been caused by these wildfires, they are trying to understand the cause and of course climate change comes into play here.

the prime minister has previously called this a climate crisis, he says it is evident here in greece, so much so that he has called it a war and a lot of that is because of what scientists are telling us about climate change was that here is one of them, someone who specialises in heat. in greece it was remarkable because it was the earliest heatwave they had had on record so the conditions have been building up over the period and that is a trend that is likely to continue unless we have this transition to net zero, so we have a reduction in emissions that we know is causing the rising likelihood of the weather conditions that are conducive for wildfires to spread. what a are telling us is that climate change increases the risk of this dry, hot weather that is likely to fuel wildfires like the one

greece has seen at this past week. and they also say the globe, the world has warmed by about 1.1 celsius since the industrial era began and if we wanted to stop climate change from having this sort of role in these natural disasters that we see governments have to make steep cuts to emissions. three people have been taken to hospital after a food bank in new zealand unintentionally distributed sweets laced with a potentially lethal amount of methamphetamine. police in new zealand are racing to trace the sweets, which as many as 400 people may have received as part of food parcels. it's believed criminals may have packaged the drugs as sweets to avoid detection. the former england cricket captain turned tv presenter freddie flintoff has opened up about his life since he was injured in a high—speed crash whilst filming an episode of the bbc top gear show in 2022.

for his new series, freddie flintoff�*s field of dreams on tour, he's returned to his hometown of preston to take his cricket team to india, a trip he'd planned before his accident. 0ur sports correspondent patrick geary has this report. i promised you a trip to india. um, i'm wondering if you still want to go. freddie flintoff has been on many a cricket tour before, but none quite like this. representing england, but we're representing something far bigger than that — representing preston. a team of lancastrian youngsters who, until a couple of years ago, mostly didn't know the rules of cricket, heading to india, where the sport is woven into everyday life. catch! this is the second series of freddie flintoff�*s field of dreams. are you all right? miss me? where the great ex—cricketer turns ambassador, coach and mentor. using the sport he loves as a force to try and improve the lives of young people from his home town of preston. you're someone i want to be involved. i think it brings the best out in you.

yeah. production began not long after the first series aired in 2022, but soon everything would have to stop. in the last few minutes, _ it's been announced that the former england cricketer freddie flintoff has been taken to hospital - after being injured in an accident. exactly what happened in that accident while filming for top gear at dunsfold park in surrey has never been publicly spoken about. but the programme showed us for the first time the effect it had on flintoff. genuinely should not be here after what happened. it's going to be a long road back. i've only just started. got to look on the positive — i'm still here, i've got another chance. i've got to go at it. i'm seeing that as how it is — a second go. he would reach a settlement with the bbc, which hasn't broadcast top gear since. for months, we saw and heard nothing from freddie flintoff until he appeared in cardiff last september among the england cricket coaching staff. but travelling abroad to film field of dreams on tour would be a huge step. last night's programme showed us how big a challenge it was. i think about it all the time

and i think about going and how good it will be. i rewind and thinking, well, i don't want to leave the house, either. get on a plane and got to be away for two and a half weeks. yeah. some of these lads have had a tough life. you've got to try and put it into perspective. yeah. and i feel guilty i can't do that. i don't want to sit here and feel sorry for myself. and i don't want sympathy. but it's going from being here for seven months, really, and then going to india. which is like the extreme. everywhere i go, at the minute, i've got a full facemask and glasses on. i can't do that. i struggle with anxiety. you know, i have nightmares, i have flashbacks. it's been so hard to cope with. but i'm thinking if i don't do something, i'm never going to go. i've got to get on with it. in some ways, like, the lads might help you out. i'm a bit nervous about that, as well. you know, seeing them for the first time, being in front of them. flintoff, as he has so often, rose to the challenge and, injanuary, he reunited with his team... oh, my god, it's you.

..to make good on his offer of the tour of a lifetime. whatever�*s happened this last year for me, one thing i've been very aware of and desperately wanting to do is take you. i've heard they love you over in india. not just india, sean! are you feeling 100% now? not really. i don't know if i will again, to be honest. i'm better than i was. i don't know what completely better is. you know what i mean? i am what i am now. i'm different to what i was. that's something i'll probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. so, better? no, different. and that was freddie flintoff ending that report by patrick geary. let's return to the increasing tensions in the middle east. palestinians officials say israeli soldiers have killed five palestinians in air strikes and a raid on two towns in the north of the occupied west bank. the governor of tubas said one

man was killed there and four others in nearby tamun. the israeli army confirmed that it launched what it described as a counter—terrorism operation in the area. earlier, israeli police say they shot and killed a palestinian teenager who was climbing the wall separating jerusalem from the west bank. they say he was intending to throw molotov cocktails. we have live pictures from khan younis which is in the south of the gaza strip, we are keeping a close eye on what is happening in gaza as we always do and as we monitor these efforts to achieve some kind of ceasefire deal, we really are seeing the us government to step up their efforts to persuade israel and hamas to reach some kind of a deal. president biden saying overnight such a deal could deter iran from launching attacks on israel, you will remember iran blaming israel for the killing of hamas leader ismail haniyeh in tehran. what you are seeing here is an incredibly crowded town in the central bit of

the gaza strip, these are displaced people who have moved here and set up, as you can see the tense, temporary accommodation. lots of pressure on those involved in potentially coming up with a ceasefire deal. we will be monitoring it here on bbc news. hello again. it's been quite a cloudy start to the day and a dank one as well across some southern areas. a lot of low cloud, some rain, some drizzle, and as we go through the next few days, you will notice it is going to be cooler than it has been. yes, there will be some rain at times, but equally there will be sunshine, but it is looking dry with sunny spells for most as we head on into this weekend. so what we have at the moment is still quite a bit of cloud around, still some patchy rain, breaking up in places and as temperatures rise that could spark off a few showers. but for south—west england, wales, northern england and scotland, a lot of dry weather with a fair bit of sunshine. 0ut towards the west,

though, the clouds going to continue to build and the wind will strengthen. temperatures 15—211, possibly a little bit higher in the south if the cloud does remain broken for longer. into this evening, there will still be some residual cloud left, some clear skies, but we have got persistent rain coming in across scotland and also northern ireland. and that will get into north—west england by the end of the night. it is going to be a milder night in the north compared to last night and slightly cooler in the south compared to last night. so we start tomorrow with our weather front bringing the persistent rain through scotland, northern ireland, northern england and eventually into wales. you can see from the isobars it is also going to be quite a blustery day, and the rain will continue to advance very slowly southwards, the cloud building ahead of it. hanging on to the sunshine for the longest in the far south—eastern corner. behind the rain, we see a return to blustery showers but equally there will be some bright and sunny spells across parts of scotland and northern ireland too. temperatures down in the north,

15—18, but as we push further south, 20—26 will be the order of the day. eventually, that rain does make it into southern england, it could take its time to clear the channel and the far south—east, but to the north of that, there will be a lot of dry weather again, some sunshine around, at worst bright spells, and out towards the north and west, again some blustery showers. temperatures 14—25 north to south. as we head into the weekend, a lot of dry weather around, a fair bit of sunshine, temperatures about where we would expect them at this stage, but we could get some showery rain in the north—west on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... talks have begun in geneva — aimed at finding a way to end the civil war in sudan that has claimed thousands of lives. thailand is plunged into political turmoil. in a shock decision, the constitutional court removes prime minister srettha thavisin from office. the kremlin says that any peace negotiations with kyiv are a �*non—starter�* for the moment, as ukraine's offensive into russia enters a second week. japanese prime minister fumio kishida says he will not stand in his party's leadership contest next month. let's focus now on the devastating war in sudan — as talks aimed

at ending the conflict have begun today in geneva. civilians in sudan are desperate for peace. injust over a year, more than 15,000 people have been killed and more than 9 million driven from their homes. but the sudanese government — whose soldiers are fighting the paramilitary rapid support forces — is boycotting today's meeting in switzerland. for context, sudan is in north—east africa and even before the war began, it was one the poorest countries in the world. the conflict has seen particularly intense fighting in the capital khartoum — and in the western region of darfur — there have been warnings of genocide. with me is leila molana—allen, special correspondent for pbs newshour, who'sjust returned from sudan. before we talk about the talks, tell me what you experienced when you were there. the me what you experienced when you were there-— were there. the view from outside sudan, were there. the view from outside sudan. so — were there. the view from outside sudan, so much _ were there. the view from outside sudan, so much is _ were there. the view from outside sudan, so much is topline - were there. the view from outside sudan, so much is topline and - were there. the view from outside l sudan, so much is topline and once you were there on the ground, the

situation is worse