this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the us says it wants to see an end to the violence between israel and the palestinians. with the fighting now in its second week, joe biden says the us is working to secure a ceasefire and has urged israel and the palestinians to protect civilians. indoor gatherings and more social contact are possible once again here in the uk as business owners hope the worst is now over. it's nice to be back as a team. it's nice to be seeing our regulars once again. covid restrictions in taiwan schools and childcare centres shut in taipei amid a rapid increase in cases

in the past week. and its a big week for new york — it is officially reopening with restrictions on transport shops, offices and theatres relaxed. hello and welcome. joe biden has expressed support for a ceasefire in gaza and said the us was engaging with egypt and other partners towards that end. in a phone call with the israeli prime minister, the us president expressed his support for israel's right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks while urging mr netanyahu to protect civilians. more than 212 people, including 61 children, have died in gaza, and ten,

including two children, in israel. with the latest here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. nightmares come true in gaza for parents and their children. this mother couldn't talk about the air strike that engulfed them last friday. eight—year—old mustafa alzahana and his mother are further down the children's ward at shifa, gaza's main hospital. she says mustafa trembles when he hears israeli attacks, ever since the one that wounded him almost a week ago as he left their home with his father to buy new clothes for the end of ramadan. his father was paralysed. mustafa's friend who went with them is dead. translation: his friend baraa was killed. - when baraa was dying he was clutching my son tightly and telling him not to leave him alone. baraa died. when my son has a fever he hallucinates about it. as well as the badly injured, 61 children in gaza have been killed in the last week.

about 20 miles north is this synagogue in the israeli town of ashkelon, it was hit by a hamas rocket. it was the festival of shavuot, the feast of weeks, usually a celebration. it's a very sad time for us over here in ashkelon. we are always on bombing. i hope it will finish fast. injerusalem the western wall plaza was almost deserted. this is the holiest place for dues to pray. it's usually packed on religious holidays like today, but some of the worshippers said people were scared to go out. the grey dome of al—aqsa mosque is one of the most sacred places for muslims. you can see how close it is to the wall. above the wall is the golden dome of the rock, both muslim shrines are built on the site of the ancient jewish temple.

the sites are all also national symbols. a month of tensions here raised the hatred levels so high it led to war. the events of the last week have shown a couple of things. first of all, the power ofjerusalem to ignite this conflict. and hamas have sent a strong message to palestinians that as far as they're concerned, they are their real protectors here in the holy city, even though hamas h0 is 60 or 70 miles away by the sea in gaza. our gaza producerfilmed his drive to work this morning. you can see the bomb sites. if palestinians and israelis could be equally safe and secure, they might have a chance of peace. right now they don't. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. i've been speaking to the middle east correspondent for the independent,

bel trew, who is injerusalem. i asked her what the chances are of a ceasefire in the coming days. it's not looking very bright, to be completely honest. benjamin netanyahu met his security, top security officials this afternoon. in a comment that he had after this meeting was to quote him "the directive is to continue to strike terror targets." so does not sound a cease—fire deal is on the horizon. hamas militants in gaza have replied saying that they would hit back. they've definitely positioned themselves in an eye for an eye situation all of their statements have been if you hit us we hate you. if you hit us we will hit you. if you take down our high—rise building we will target tel aviv. so the moment both sides are making it very clear they're going to keep going. and even though there is intense international efforts with us envoys in town and egyptian mediators that doesn't seem to be working.

both sides have things they want to achieve and they feel they haven't achieved them yet. somebody pointing out the last time we had this several years ago it took a couple of months before things finally inched towards a cease—fire. what is yourjudgment about the attitude in israel where you are towards this particular conflict? unusually, we've seen these scenes where arab israelis and jewish israelis have been taking out the trouble on each other, on the streets of israeli cities. that's relatively rare, isn't it? yes the difference with this particular round of fighting if you can call it that is that you have this internal conflict within israel amongst the mixed arabjewish cities. also in the occupied west bank and eastjerusalem as well. it really feels that the entire country and also the palestinian territories are very much on edge. it's a very interesting dynamic to the situation and possibly a calculation. i don't believe they will want this war, if you could call it that with gaza to drag on. they do have an internal crisis. it does feel almost like a civil war

within a war at the moment. and that's market to go away once the rockets are quiet, once the air strikes have stopped israel is still going to have to contend with an internal crisis within its own country. and within a potential uprising in the east bank as well. tensions are incredibly high here. i spent many, many years in this part of the world and i've neverfelt, it feels so violent, so divided and so tense as right now. across england, wales and scotland, there's been a significant easing of the lockdown restrictions making indoor gathering and social contact possible once again. the prime minister borisjohnson said people should exercise their new freedoms with �*a heavy dose of caution�*. our business editor simonjack takes a look at the situation in england. back indoors. today's reopening of inside drinking was a moment to celebrate for returning regulars at the oakes barn pub in bury st edmunds. it is so different to be back amongst company that you know

and are friendly with and everybody knows your name. landlady heather was glad to see them and her staff after a challenging few months. yeah, it's absolutely great to be back. it's great to welcome all of my staff back that have been on furlough for the last five months, so, it's nice to be back as a team. it's nice to be seeing our regulars once again. we are down, you know, financially, we are down, but we're surviving and we hope to survive. thank you very much. first time i've been able to do this, and this, for six months. it's monday lunchtime, it's not exactly heaving, but this is a very big moment, particularly for venues that haven't had any outside space, and that's 60% of them. but they're still operating at a fraction of their normal capacity, barely breaking even. the real prize isjune 21st, when it's hoped the restrictions can be totally lifted and, if that doesn't happen, today's reopening could still fall a little flat. one of the uk's biggest

brewers and pub owners, greene king, has been busy replenishing pub cellars. we've delivered 17 million pints of beer to about 4,500 customers. but the boss warned that, if the june date slips, government support measures due to start tapering off at the end ofjune will need to be extended. we all want to get back to standing up in the pub again. i certainly do. but, until that is the case, we're not going to be profitable. therefore, in my view, if we move from the 21st, the government has to move the support, as well, on business rates but also on furlough. there's a lot of costs running through our businesses when we're not trading normally, as we would have done pre—pandemic. staffing is also a real problem. this hotel and restaurant can't find people confident enough to return to an industry that's often been first to shut when the virus threat grows. we're sitting in a building here at the north gate which should be open, but we're not open, because we haven't been able

to recruit enough people to be able to run a seven—day rota. so, across our portfolio, we're losing about 8—10 trading days a week. as the day wore on and outside the rain began to fall, inside looked even more attractive. this industry has been in and out and back into lockdown. they are praying that this time it's different. simonjack, bbc news, bury st edmunds. a cyclone, classified as "extremely severe", has made landfall in india's western state of gujarat with wind speeds of up to 190 kilometres per hour. cyclone tauktae has claimed the lives of at least 12 people and is thought to be the strongest storm to hit the region in decades. hundreds of thousands of people have had to be evacuated. here's helen willetts from the bbc�*s weather team, with a look at what's to come in the days ahead. hello. this massive cloud behind me is extremely severe tropical cyclone tauktae which made landfall late monday. going forward tuesday and wednesday it's ok to bring some very

dangerous, extremely dangerous weather. it's been powerful with winds gusting around 190 kph. we've already had two or 300 mm of rain. lots of rain further south in mumbai but affecting making its way up towards new delhi in the coming few days. as i say, it's extremely powerful and likely to cause a lot of destruction in its wake. the winds have been gusting around 190 kph with several hundred millimetres of rain fall back could lead to flash flooding is well as ravine flooding. the destructive winds, the coastal flooding, three to a0 metres —— four on top of the normal tight height. look at this rain that is already fallen, well above the may average. it is out of seizing and indeed probably the most powerful for around about 30 years. this is one to watch as ever, we will keep you updated.

taiwan was seen as one of the most successful places in controlling the spread of covid—19. no lockdown was ever imposed on the island. but the rapid increase in cases in the past week has now prompted two of taiwan's biggest cities 7 the capital taipei and the most populous city new taipei 7 to shut all schools and child care centers from tuesday and advise people to work from home. 0ur taipei correspondent cindy sui reports. sunrise in the capital, taipei. up until recently, this was the norm in taiwan — streets full of rush—hour traffic, people heading to work or school, unlike in many places around the world. but in recent days, scenes like this — shoppers panic—buying — have become common as government officials ordered tough new restrictions in two of taiwan's biggest cities. translation: we require mask-wearing at all times when going out. _ avoid unnecessary outings, activities or gatherings. stop gatherings at home or social gatherings of more than five people indoors and more than ten people outdoors.

taipei and new taipei's mayors have also ordered all schools and childcare centres to close for two weeks starting tuesday. it comes as the central government had already ordered public venues such as sports centres and movie, theatres as well as bars, to shut down temporarily. until now, taiwan had avoided such measures by acting fast last year, banning almost all foreigners from entering during the early days of the pandemic and requiring taiwanese returning from abroad to undergo strict quarantine on arrival. these early actions and efficient contact tracing had helped the island avoid widespread community transmissions. its hospitals were never overwhelmed. but now beds at isolation wards are quickly filling up, and there have even been infections spread at some hospitals. the sharp rise in cases over the past week — including clusters of infections involving airline pilots, taiwanese people returning from abroad, as well as staff and customers

at hostess tea houses — has got officials worried. and with the rise in cases, there has been renewed criticism that the government has failed to impose mass testing or prioritised vaccinations, enabling the virus to spread more easily among the population. the fear now is that the number of cases will keep rising, and taiwan, which has so far escaped the severity of a lockdown, may end up doing just that. cindy sui, bbc news, taipei. stay with us on bbc news, still to come — we will look at politics in samoa — where the country is about to appoint its first female prime minister. this morning, an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield.

ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so, it's become the first country in the world to approve the change in the national referendum. it was a remarkable climax. to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a p0p singen _ it's been a peacefulfuneral demonstration so far! but suddenly, the police are tear gassing the crowd, we don't yet know why! the prelaunch ritual is well established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country, and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now, at least, it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... joe biden says the us is working to secure a ceasefire and has urged

israel and the palestinians to protect civilians. indoor gatherings and more social contact are possible once again here in the uk as business owners hope the worst is now over. the pacific nation of samoa is on the verge of electing its first ever female leader. a dramatic supreme court ruling monday looks to have cleared the way for fiame naomi mata'afa to make history after a roller—coaster year in the pacific nation's politics. it would also bring an end to the 23—year premiership of the man she'll succeed. lets get more on this with kerryn baker, an expert on pacific politics at the australian national university 7 joining me live from canberra. very live from canberra. good to have you with us. you're very good to have you with us. you're going to have to do a little bit of back explanation for our audience and me as well. the key thing about this is the dramatic rise of a woman to the top job

paradoxically nearly scuppered by a system that was designed to help women in politics. what's going on? so this is a huge shift in samoa politics. 0fficials so this is a huge shift in samoa politics. officials not so this is a huge shift in samoa politics. 0fficials notjust having a woman on the precipice of having some mowers as a prime minister but just in terms of a change in government the human rights party is beenin government the human rights party is been in powerfor almost four years. the prime minister has been in for over 20. the last election day 190 for percent of the seas. just having a viable and credible opposition party let alone them being on the verge of winning office, this is quite unprecedented in its samoa politics. the case was around the appointment of a woman's mp which would've deprived the opposition

party of a majority. and ironically stopped samoa woman from being elected. , ,., elected. they were pointing the sixth woman — elected. they were pointing the sixth woman or— elected. they were pointing the sixth woman or plan _ elected. they were pointing the sixth woman or plan to - elected. they were pointing the sixth woman or plan to appoint| elected. they were pointing the i sixth woman or plan to appoint the sixth woman or plan to appoint the sixth woman or plan to appoint the sixth woman to make up the quota affected have a woman but now the court has said that you can't do that or effectively ruled out this changed7 that or effectively ruled out this chanced? , �* . ., changed? yes. at the centre of the debate was — changed? yes. at the centre of the debate was the _ changed? yes. at the centre of the debate was the wording _ changed? yes. at the centre of the debate was the wording of - changed? yes. at the centre of the debate was the wording of the - debate was the wording of the legislation. it says a minimum of 10% but it also says five women mps. five women who were elected... we won't worry too much about the math. tell us about her. a dramatic shift in politics. she was until it not that long ago a member of the ruling party. she had been the prime minister deputy until she broke away, joined his new breakaway party thatis away, joined his new breakaway party that is now effectively going to end “p that is now effectively going to end up in power. how, what is it about

her that has made, often breakaway parties from ruling parties they are a flash in the pan. and they certainly don't come into the government in the first opportunity. she seems to makes the difference. why do you think? so, she is quite innocent extraordinary political figure. it really is her defection that has strengthened the opposition so much. she is from a really high ranking family. herfather was ranking family. her father was actually ranking family. herfather was actually samoa whose first prime minister. her mother was also in politics. she has this incredible political pedigree. more than that she's been in politics since 1995 she's been in politics since 1995 she is a very well respected and popular political figure. she is a very well respected and popular politicalfigure. she's given the opposition that credibility. and the credibility as an alternative government that other opposition parties haven't had managed to achieve. figs

opposition parties haven't had managed to achieve.— opposition parties haven't had managed to achieve. as you say it is uuite a managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day. — managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day. a _ managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day. a red — managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day, a red letter _ managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day, a red letter day - managed to achieve. as you say it is quite a day, a red letter day for - quite a day, a red letter day for samoa. tuesday she should take offers. karen baker, an expert in pacific thank you so much for being with us. guiding us gently through this rather complicated world of samoa politics. we are most grateful to you. should just say that a big uncertainty is if they overrule anything individualjudgment that anything individual judgment that could anything individualjudgment that could affect the numbers once again. we will be watching that story. america's longest—serving commander in afghanistan says he expects taliban violence to get worse as us—led forces withdraw from the country over the coming months. recent violence has included a bombing outside a school in kabul in which dozens of students were killed. from kabul our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports. a hilltop cemetery of teenagers. not enough space for all their graves. the students slaughtered in last week's triple bombing

at a high school in kabul. abdur wahid's love for his fiancee, 19—year—old shabana, now written in stone. at the school they are still writing the list of loss. more than 200 killed or injured. most of them girls. no group has said it did this, targeting schoolgirls in this minority hazara community. but they're fighting back. "i say to the enemies of education, if i had one dream for my life, now "i have ten," declares 17—year—old masooma. and suddenly a school ground that was filled with grief is transformed into a place of anger and protest, as political leaders come to visit to express support and solidarity. "you're saying you'll

protect us now. "why didn't you protect us before? " shouts 16—year—old husna. she lost her little sister. her strength a symbol of what's changed here in two decades. but many fear could be at risk once all foreign forces leave. and they'll soon be out, before the 20th anniversary of the september 11th attacks which brought them in. the soldier in the middle of it all, general scott miller, tasked with ending america's longest war. the longest serving general in this fight against the taliban. we travel with him as he meets other nato armies drawing down in the north of afghanistan and soon handing over to afghan forces, even as taliban fighters advance. did you fail?

history is going to write this story. the objectives that we set out, i think they'll be evaluated, and i think we really need to take a really honest look at the things we did not do as well as we wanted to. certainly there was some victories along the way. the future will tell the rest of the story. this fiancee's story now so uncertain. like so many afghans. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. this is a big week for new york — it is officially reopening. the city s underground subway system resumes full 24—hour service today and on wednesday pandemic capacity restrictions on many businesses including shops, offices and food service establishments and theatres will be relaxed. tom brook reports on how the city is faring.

today you can take the a—train c, d, one to any train in the first time in overa one to any train in the first time in over a year. the subway resuming full service this week is a moment of great pride for patrick foy the chairman of the metropolitan transportation authority. idea? chairman of the metropolitan transportation authority. new york's back. the transportation authority. new york's back- the 20 — transportation authority. new york's back. the 20 47 — transportation authority. new york's back. the 20 47 is _ transportation authority. new york's back. the 20 47 is emblematic- transportation authority. new york's back. the 20 47 is emblematic of - transportation authority. new york's. back. the 20 47 is emblematic of new york it's an nomadic of the mta subway. to return to that is an incredible step forward and a sign of confidence and resurgence in new york. ~ . , ., , york. with the city reopening many new yorkers _ york. with the city reopening many new yorkers are _ york. with the city reopening many new yorkers are holding _ york. with the city reopening many new yorkers are holding their - new yorkers are holding their breath. culture is seen as a driving force which could help bring about new york's comeback. in the heights a movie set in northern manhattan will open in the film festival next month. the festival helping to revive lower manhattan in the wake of the september 11 attacks. the festivals go find her movie legend

robert de niro is literally begging the drug for new york city. meier robert de niro is literally begging the drug for new york city. new york is been through _ the drug for new york city. new york is been through a _ the drug for new york city. new york is been through a lot _ the drug for new york city. new york is been through a lot over— the drug for new york city. new york is been through a lot over the - is been through a lot over the years — is been through a lot over the years it _ is been through a lot over the years. it will come back. never doubted — years. it will come back. never doubted that for a 2nd. we don't how lon- doubted that for a 2nd. we don't how long it _ doubted that for a 2nd. we don't how long it will_ doubted that for a 2nd. we don't how long it will take but it will come back _ long it will take but it will come back. �* , ., long it will take but it will come back. �*, ., , ~ back. there's no place like new york. back. there's no place like new york- iout _ back. there's no place like new york. but new— back. there's no place like new york. but new york _ back. there's no place like new york. but new york has - back. there's no place like new york. but new york has been . back. there's no place like new - york. but new york has been badly scarred by covid—19. it's also witnessed a spike in violent crime. a few months ago that new york city seemed to be dying, a sustained vibrancy of the past decades defined america's financial and cultural council has not fully returned. not everyone or everything has moved out of the shadow of covid—19. but there has been some progress. there is some optimism. i have to tell you after all these years broadcasting from the bbc thomases almost as much a fixed part of the new york skyline as the statue of liberty herself. i for one look to go back at the first opportunity to one of those broadway

shows. the tickets might be a but cheaper as well. that's it for bbc news for now. bye—bye. hello there. the torrential downpours, the thunderstorms were once again the talking point of the weather on monday. up to an inch of rain fell in some areas, and a covering of hail in others, as you can see. so, just adding to the rainfall totals that we've already seen this may. some areas such as bala in north wales having had twice as much rainfall as we'd normally see throughout the whole of may, and that's so far. and once again, for the day ahead, with low pressure sat to the west of the uk, it's going to throw showers our way. it gives the atmosphere that instability to grow the showers, and the sunshine strong at this time of year. not preventing perhaps a touch of frost for northern ireland first thing. a bit on the chilly side,

a little bit of mist and perhaps valley fog if you're up early enough. that should clear quite quickly. plenty of sunshine first thing, but already showers, in fact a more persistent area of showers moving in across wales and the south west and then pushing eastwards. and elsewhere the showers build once again. we've got a weather front also to the north of scotland. a brisk wind coming down behind it. but with the light winds for most, those will be slow—moving and torrential downpours that we see once again. perhaps fewer in southern scotland and northern england, but expect some more hailstorms and thunderstorms and for them to continue well into the evening. in fact, there might be something a little bit more organised coming towards the south as we go through the evening and overnight. once again quite chilly under the clearing skies, a little bit of mist first thing wednesday morning. but then again, it's a day of sunny spells and showers. it looks as if they may be focused across central and eastern areas. this is our weather front pushing southwards across scotland just giving more energy, more moisture to generate those heavy downpours. temperatures therefore just a little lower in the far north, but as we saw on monday, tuesday and wednesday,

probably mid to high teens at best. and then thursday looks set to bring a spell of weather, windier weather. wind may be the main feature on this weather system, with gales even across southern areas. unseasonably windy weather is what we're thinking about at this stage. obviously, it's a few days ahead, but it will push in some more general rain, continuing that wet theme for may, and then the winds will really escalate as well. we could have gales, gust of wind at 50, possibly 60 mph. it's definitely one that we'll be keeping an eye on. until then, it's a sunny spells but torrential downpours sort of picture until later in the week when there could be something wetter and far windier.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the us says it wants to see an end to the violence between israel and the palestinians. joe biden says washington is working to secure a ceasefire and has urged israel and the palestinians to protect civilians. 200,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas in gujurat state as a major cyclone makes landfall. at least 12 people are known to have died, and there are fears that the storm could also disrupt covid vaccinations. the us supreme court is to hear a new case challenging a landmark ruling which has given women the right to have an abortion for the past 50 years. if upheld, the new case would limit abortion rights established in roe v wade in 1973. taiwan has imposed its toughest covid restrictions yet, suspending entry for visitors after the country saw a spike in cases.