welcome to bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: explosion. day five of the fighting. israel intensifies its attack on gaza and palestinian militants continue firing rockets at the israelis. britain's prime minister warns that the new indian variant of coronavirus could pose a serious disruption to tackling covid. and as the countdown continues to the tokyo olympics, fresh concerns over whether the games will actually go ahead. a deadlyjourney: more migrants die as they try to reach europe by sea. we have an exclusive report on a dramatic rescue mission.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the united nations says israel's bombardment of gaza has forced 10,000 palestinians from their homes. officials have renewed their calls for a ceasefire in the fighting between israel and hamas militants and demanded access for humanitarian aid. at least 122 people in gaza have been killed, and nine have died in israel since fighting began on monday. from jerusalem, here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. the sectarian crisis that nobody expected is deepening. tonight, arab protesters are on the streets of northern israel. this was nazareth. israel's arab citizens have forced themselves back into the wider conflict that includes gaza and jerusalem. it is ugly and angry in towns

shared byjews and arabs. violence between citizens could be a bigger crisis for israel than gaza. this was a burnt—out jewish school. yelling. police broke down the door of this family in haifa. they deny accusations their sons were attacking jews but police say their offices behaved correctly. woman screams. the father, the imam of a mosque, and his two sons were arrested for attacking police officers. the woman who filmed this said they are scared not ofjews, but of racist police. a local rabbi visited, she said, to apologise. child cries. in gaza, they buried this 13—year—old. he was hit during an israeli air strike while he waited for a new haircut to celebrate the end of ramadan.

half of gaza's 2 million palestinians are children. this is the boy's brother. in the occupied territories and in israel, events this week have exposed once again the mutual hatred and fear that are the essence of this conflict. this was hebron during a day of protest on the occupied west bank. more palestinians were killed. fireworks pop. injerusalem, palestinians pelted jewish settlers with stones and fireworks. the settlers hit back with live bullets. gunfire. this was sheikh jarrah, where attempts to evict palestinians from their homes helped the escalation to war. the conflict crosses borders. injordan, the country next door, security forces kept protesters back from the frontier.

palestinians make up more than half of thejordanian population — mostly refugees from past wars not permitted to return by israel. history never dies in this conflict. people do. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. rushdi abualouf now. hejoins us now he joins us now from hejoins us now from gaza city. give us an update on what the city is in —— what the situation is in gaza city tonight? it situation is in gaza city tonight?— situation is in gaza city toniaht? , ., , tonight? it has been a very lona tonight? it has been a very long night _ tonight? it has been a very long night involving - tonight? it has been a very long night involving killing| long night involving killing ten people, according to palestinian ministry officials. the recent as raleigh air strike had struck —— recent is really air strike had struck a three storey building, in a refugee camp in the middle of gaza city, the biggest city in the whole of the gaza strip. as a result of the attack, seven

people were killed, including four children, and a woman. he director of the palestinian youth ministry described to the bbc what happened as an ugly massacre, as he said. find bbc what happened as an ugly massacre, as he said. and what is happening — massacre, as he said. and what is happening right _ massacre, as he said. and what is happening right now - massacre, as he said. and what is happening right now in - massacre, as he said. and what is happening right now in termsi is happening right now in terms of rockets being fired back at israel? ., of rockets being fired back at israel? . , ., , ., israel? yeah, shortly after the attack in this _ israel? yeah, shortly after the attack in this place _ israel? yeah, shortly after the attack in this place and - israel? yeah, shortly after the attack in this place and other i attack in this place and other places in the north, hamas, the militants —— militant group, said they fired about ten rockets towards the israeli city of yeshivah, about a0 kilometres away from gaza, and they said the recent rockets were fired in retaliation for the killing of the innocent civilians, according to a statement by the hamas armed wing. they sent to the bbc.

rushdi abualouf, thank you very much. here in the uk, the prime minister borisjohnson has said that the new indian variant of coronavirus could pose a serious disruption to progress made in tackling the virus. cases have more than doubled in a week, mostly in england. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. long queues for immunisation in bolton, which now has the highest level of coronavirus in the uk. it is one of several areas where the indian variant has now got a foothold, encouraging people to get the jab. personally, the reason for me getting the vaccine is because i live with elderly people and i don't want them to have have worries. —— obviously want them to have less worries. it is thought vaccines will continue to protect against serious illness but the threat from the indian variant has led

to a shift in policy. the gap between first and second doses for the over—50s is being cut from 12 to eight weeks in a bid to boost their immunity. the prime minister warned the final lifting of restrictions in england onjune 2ist was now in doubt. i have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four injune. and i must stress that we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe. the indian variant, bi.6i7.2, was first identified here less than a month ago, linked to travel from india before it was put on the red list for hotel quarantine. cases have more than doubled in a week to over 1,300, but that will inevitably be out of date because it takes time to sequence samples. it now accounts for around 10% of coronavirus cases in the uk.

but we are in a far better place than we were just a few months ago. back at the peak injanuary, there were 1.25 million people infected with coronavirus in the uk. that is one in 50 people. the latest survey from the office for national statistics suggests that is down to around a7,000, or one in i,a00 people. get used to this — you are likely to see more of it. queues for pcr surge testing here in formby, merseyside — one of 15 areas in england where the new indian variant has established itself and maybe displacing the kent variant, the bii7. this is more transmissible than the b117 and we expect over time this variant to overtake and come

to dominate in the uk in the way that the kent variant took over and other variants took over prior to that. the scientific advisory group sage says the indian variant could be as much as 50% more transmissible. if it is, they warn that could lead to a substantial resurgence in hospitalisation. but for now, the number of covid patients continues to fall — at its lowest level for eight months. the big question — what will happen in the next few weeks? fergus walsh, bbc news. japan has declared a state of emergency in three more regions hit hard by the pandemic, casting further doubt over whether the tokyo olympic games should go ahead. 70% of japan's population is now under coronavirus restrictions. courtney bembridge has the details. the countdown to the olympic games continues, with the opening ceremony

less than 70 days away. but as infections continue to rise injapan, the government has declared a state of emergency in three more regions. translation: by implementing such measures, _ we will protect people's health and lives and i think it is more possible to hold a safe and secure games, and i wish to push forward with preparations. no, no olympics! many people injapan aren't convinced. this week, there have been protests and a petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the games to be scrapped. recent polling shows 37% of respondents want the games cancelled, and another 28% want them postponed. the union representing hospital doctors agrees. it has warned the games could become a superspreader event for global coronavirus variants. translation: it is a tough - story for athletes, but someone has to say that the games need to be cancelled. we think medical workers

are required to speak up. sponsors, too, are nervous. one major olympic partner, toyota, said this week: "we are conflicted every day over what the best course of action is." test events are already under way. on friday, it was skateboarding. the sport is due to make its olympic debut at tokyo. the world athletics president says we must move forward. it is important to reflect on one statistic, and it is a sobering one — 70% of olympians only make it to one games. so, you know, to lightly, you know, to lightly as some are suggesting, move it a year down the line pull stumps on this, is effectively saying for three quarters of olympians, "that's it. "that's your chance." and i think we should make every effort, if we can do it safely and securely —

which i believe we can — i think we really should go that extra mile. elsewhere in the world, they are getting ready. this is brazil's government vaccinating its athletes, coaches, referees and accredited media. overseas spectators have been banned, and a decision on whether the japanese public can attend is due injune. if it does go ahead, this is sure to be a very different olympics. courtney bembridge, bbc news. the united nations is warning of a sharp rise in the number of people dying as they try to reach europe by sea. with warm weather and falling covid rates, more migrants are attempting the journey. our europe correspondent nick beake and video journalist bruno boelpaep have this exclusive report on a dramatic rescue. stranded in the middle of the atlantic, a helpless migrant boat. the spanish military helicopters overhead have never spotted anything like this here. it's 300 miles from shore. they realise there are many bodies.

translation: this was a mass grave in the middle _ of the water, or really in the middle of nowhere. i believe their hopes had vanished into the ocean. but incredibly, there are survivors. including a 17—year—old girl called aisha, here in the red jacket. it's now a race to save them. it's the end of april and they've been drifting for three weeks. translation: there were men who could no longer stand up i and who screamed from thirst. "please, i need to drink water. "can someone please give me water?" we used a shoe to give them some sea water. aisha, a teenagerfrom ivory coast, thought europe would offer a brighter future. she saw 56 people die in front of her.

translation: after two days, we had no more water - left, no food. on the fourth day, no more petrol. at the beginning when somebody died, we'd say a prayer. by the end, there was no prayer. we didn't have the strength to throw any more bodies in the water. with summer on the horizon, thousands of mostly young men from north and west africa are trying to get to europe. some are fleeing war. others, the economic hand that life has dealt them. populist parties say tougher action is needed to stop this. it's a crisis that was masked momentarily by covid, but never solved. aisha has been welcomed with open arms in tenerife and now, a reunion — this man, who lifted her from the boat. he's brought his family to meet her.

for so many others on her boat, there was no new beginning, it was the end. aisha was one of only three survivors. this was the greatest loss of life in any single known attempt to reach the canary islands. the 2a bodies that were recovered will now be related to rest here. for the others lost at sea, there is no such dignity in death. aisha never thought she'd be able to speak to her family again, but made a good recovery during her ten days in hospital. she hopes to stay in europe, study and work here, and send money back to her parents. this man and his team head off on their next training mission, knowing full well that even the might of the atlantic ocean is not enough to stop those prepared to risk death if there is the slightest chance of a better life.

nick beake, bbc news, in the canary islands. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — a lottery washout. we'll tell you the hard luck story of the big—time winner who then became a loser. "the pope was shot, the pope will live" — that is the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism has come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort. to help the victims - of a powerful earthquake — the worst to hit the i country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess

champion gary kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news, the latest headlines: as israeli strikes against targets in gaza continue, prime minister benjamin netanyahu warns the offensive against hamas is not over yet. house republicans in the us have chosen a successor to liz cheney, a critic of former president trump who voted to impeach him, and was unceremonoiusly dumped as party chair earlier this week. they've appointed representative elise stefanik from new york, who has consistently backed the false claim by donald trump that the 2020 election

was " stolen" joining me to discuss is matt terrill, who was senator marco rubio's chief of staff during his presidential run. thank you forjoining us. what does this tell us about the whole that former president trump has in the republican party? trump has in the republican pa ? ., trump has in the republican pa ? . ., ., ., party? thanks for having me and look, we party? thanks for having me and look. we saw _ party? thanks for having me and look, we saw this _ party? thanks for having me and look, we saw this week - party? thanks for having me and look, we saw this week with - party? thanks for having me and look, we saw this week with the | look, we saw this week with the election of congresswoman elise stefanik, something that has been taking place in the republican party for quite some time, and while president trump may have exited the oval office injanuary he has not exited the political stage. his presence in the republican party is quite strong and will be for quite some time. where does that _ be for quite some time. where does that leave _ be for quite some time. where does that leave moderate - does that leave moderate republicans then? we does that leave moderate republicans then? we will see, onl time republicans then? we will see, only time will— republicans then? we will see, only time will tell _ republicans then? we will see, only time will tell but _ republicans then? we will see, only time will tell but right - only time will tell but right now it does appear that the trump wing of the party if you will, but appears to be having a great stance and great fold in the party and i think what is important to note right now is important to note right now is look, this is no disrespect

to the —— republicans in washington but the republicans in washington have not been the ones who have been in the driver seat of the republican party. it has been those republican primary voters nationwide, in many cases those very voters who got president trump alexa in 2016 —— elected in 2016, who really got in the driver seat of the party, and right now those voters are united behind president trump. given the trend in the republican party right now do you think it is too early to assume that the 202a republican candidate will either be a trump loyalist or even the president himself?- trump loyalist or even the president himself? they say a week is a _ president himself? they say a week is a lifetime _ president himself? they say a week is a lifetime in _ president himself? they say a week is a lifetime in politics . week is a lifetime in politics and we have a lot of weeks to go until 202a. to answer your question right now at this moment it is very clear among both potential candidate running for the presidency in 202a or even those 2022 congressional mid—term candidates running for those 2022 house and senate seats, that president trump, his presence right now is very

strong. and we are expecting republican primary elections at a state level or the national level at 202a, at this moment, the backing of president trump, that matters. his presence is strong in the party and that likely will change but only time will tell.— likely will change but only time will tell. thank you very much indeed _ time will tell. thank you very much indeed for _ time will tell. thank you very much indeed for that. - how do you catch a thief with his hand in the cookiejar? well, a bakery in the us state of wisconsin has managed to do just that using a rather unusual method. when man broke into the canfora bakery in milwaukee, and stole cash from the register, the bakery�*s owner decided to try find the thief by putting his picture, captured on cctv, on batches of cookies. i'm joined now by karen krieg, the owner of the bakery. thank you so much forjoining us, this is a really interesting story. just tell viewers festival all how this all came about, that you started baking cookies with this man's face on them? thank

ou this man's face on them? thank you having _ this man's face on them? thank you having me. _ this man's face on them? thank you having me. i— this man's face on them? thank you having me, i appreciate - this man's face on them? thank you having me, i appreciate the| you having me, i appreciate the opportunity to tell the story. the robbery actually occurred shortly after midnight on monday, 19 april, and it was actually a fairly clean robbery, in fact my staff didn't actually realise that we had been robbed until about... an hour into their shift and they were like, wait a minute, wedded the register go? we bake bread fresh every day, our baker starts at eight o'clock, and since the robbery had happened, early monday morning, the day we were actually closed, the staff didn't realise that there had been a break in until they realised the register was missing. and then they gave me a call and they said hey, what happened to they said hey, what happened to the register? i said... what do you mean what happened to the register? and they sent me some pictures and sure enough, the register was missing, and so we

went down to the bakery in the middle of the night, we called the milwaukee police department, they came out and investigated, and together we looked at the security footage, cctv. we were identical —— able to identify the suspect and that was about it. the next day, i reached out to the milwaukee police department and i asked them, can i share this image on social media, or see if we can't get the community to identify the individual? they asked me to wait for about a week, while they did their process of investigating, and then they did let me know that once they released the picture to the public, then i was free to the public, then i was free to do with it ever i like. and so i was like, i think i will put his picture on some cookies and invite the community to come in, let them know that we had actually been robbed, let them know this had happened to us, and see if anybody could

identify him. 50 us, and see if anybody could identify him.— identify him. so did you sell the cookies _ identify him. so did you sell the cookies or _ identify him. so did you sell the cookies or give - identify him. so did you sell the cookies or give them . identify him. so did you sell - the cookies or give them away? we gave them away. we had no intention of actually profiting from the situation, we just wanted to let our customers know that this had happened, and also, solicit their help to try and identify the individual.- try and identify the individual. �* . , , , individual. and incredibly this works, didn't _ individual. and incredibly this works, didn't it, _ individual. and incredibly this works, didn't it, your- individual. and incredibly this | works, didn't it, your amazing idea work and somebody clearly came forward, because he was arrested, wasn't he, eventually?- arrested, wasn't he, eventually? arrested, wasn't he, eventuall ? ., . eventually? correct, so the first thing _ eventually? correct, so the first thing we _ eventually? correct, so the first thing we did _ eventually? correct, so the first thing we did was - eventually? correct, so the first thing we did was we i eventually? correct, so the i first thing we did was we had the images printed and when those came back and they were finished from the printer i asked my cookie decorator if she would go ahead and put them on some cookies, and then when they were all done, i needed to let the community know that they were there and that we have them. so to invite them to come in and let them know that we needed them to take a look at these cookies, we went ahead and posted a picture of the cookie on our social media page. well, our particular page

doesn't have more than 700 followers, and so we went ahead and posted it on a community neighbourhood social media page, and within about an hour and 15 minutes, of my submission of that facebook post, to the local community facebook page, the community had identified him, and they went ahead and called the milwaukee police department to plan and identified the suspect, so now we have a name and the next day, people just came into the bakery and enjoyed the cookies and we invited them to take a bite out of crime. �* , ,, ., .,, . of crime. laughs, fantastic. karen, of crime. laughs, fantastic. karen. it _ of crime. laughs, fantastic. karen, it has _ of crime. laughs, fantastic. karen, it has been _ of crime. laughs, fantastic. karen, it has been really - karen, it has been really interesting to get your story, thank you for talking to us. thank you for having us. now how's this for a hard luck story. a californian woman claims to have missed out on a $26 million lottery prize, after the winning ticket was destroyed in her washing machine. she says she left it in the pocket of her trousers.

the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. this is the place where, but for an overly aggressive spin cycle, a life might have been changed forever. it was at this convenience store in the suburbs of la that one not so lucky woman bought a ticket for the super lotto plus. her numbers came up, the big prize was tantalisingly within her grasp, but there was one tiny problem with her ticket. her clothes were _ problem with her ticket. he: clothes were washed so when she pulled out it was all crumbled up pulled out it was all crumbled up in little pieces and she said she frantically tried to put them all together but she couldn't. , . , , couldn't. there is apparently cctv couldn't. there is apparently ccw footage _ couldn't. there is apparently cctv footage of _ couldn't. there is apparently cctv footage of the - couldn't. there is apparently cctv footage of the moment couldn't. there is apparently - cctv footage of the moment she bought the ticket, but the california lottery says any claimant needs compelling, substantial proof they were a winner. lotto fever isn't exactly a rare occurrence in the us. hugejackpots prompting long queues and furious excitement. any unclaimed prize money will be donated to the state's public school system. plenty of sympathy for the

unlucky non— winning winner, but some sage advice too. good from us. —— goodbye from us. hello there. if you're waiting for a prolonged, dry, warm spell of weather, you'll have to keep on waiting because this weekend it is going to stay cool and there will be plenty more heavy, thundery downpours. on the atlantic satellite picture you can see this big pipeline of cloud just ploughing its way from west to east. you can think of this line of cloud as something of a barrier. it's keeping the warm air away from our shores. that air will lift temperatures across parts of southern spain this weekend into the low to mid 30s. but for us, we are stuck in cool air and we are stuck under the influence of low pressure. this will bring showers or longer spells of rain through the weekend.

a band of cloud with outbreaks of rain drifting north—eastwards across england and wales, clipping into northern ireland as we head through saturday morning. behind that, well, we revert to that mix of sunshine and showers. some of the showers will be heavy with hail and thunder. not too many showers across scotland. certainly across the northern half of scotland as we go through the day. although for shetland it will stay pretty grey and damp all day long. temperatures struggling for north—eastern areas, just 11 degrees. even in the best of the sunshine, 15 or 16, that is it. through saturday evening the showers will try to fade but actually i think through the early hours of sunday morning, the showers will pep up again down towards the south—west. that is the first sign of what is going to be quite a turbulent day of weather on sunday, as this area of low pressure moves right on top of the uk. that means the air will be very, very unstable. so while most places will start with some dry weather and some sunshine, keep an eye on the skies, you will see big thunder clouds developing. some really intense downpours

with frequent lightning, some hail, some very squally, gusty wind and some particularly strong winds down towards the channel islands. there will be some sunshine between the showers but temperatures below par, 11 to 15 degrees. and as we head to the start of next week low pressure will still be close by. that means we will see further showers or longer spells of rain through the week ahead. some of those showers always with the potential to be heavy, possibly thundery. some sunshine in between, but no sign of anything warm on the horizon.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: violent clashes between israeli troops and palestinians have spread across much of the occupied west bank. israel's prime minister has warned that israel's biggest offensive against hamas in gaza in years is not over yet. it's estimated 10,000 palestinians have had to leave their homes to flee the bombardment. britain's prime minister borisjohnson has said that the new indian variant of coronavirus could pose a serious disruption to progress made in tackling covid. cases have more than doubled in a week. the government says there's no firm evidence that the variant causes a more severe disease. japan has declared a state of emergency in three more regions hit hard by the pandemic,

casting further doubt over whether the olympic games