welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories: presiden biden says the us is working to secure a ceasefire after more than a week of violence between israel and palestinian militants. he urges both sides to protect civilians. 200,000 people are evacuated from coastal areas in india's gujurat state, as a major cyclone strikes. at least 20 people are known to have died. 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 versus wade in 1973. just twelve covid—related deaths throughout the pandemic, but now taiwan issues tough new restrictions amid a dramatic rise in cases.

and we visit one of the many british museums to open their doors again — after nearly five months of lockdown. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. 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 also 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 forjews 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 ancientjewish temple. these sites are all also national symbols. a month of tension 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. 0ur 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.

professor rashid khalili is an author and of modern arab studies at columbia university and i asked him for his reaction to mr biden and his response to little encouragement from. the president's— little encouragement from. tue: president's position little encouragement from. tte: president's position has moved glacial the that he does not yet seem to be pushing the israelis at all. and without pressure from the united states, given the position taken there will be no ceasefire, there will be no cessation of horror in gaza or the firing of rockets from israel. t the firing of rockets from israel. , , ,.,, the firing of rockets from israel. , , . ., israel. i suppose the clear issue would _ israel. i suppose the clear issue would be _ israel. i suppose the clear issue would be that - israel. i suppose the clear issue would be that israel| israel. i suppose the clear. issue would be that israel is responding to rocket attacks. this is how it is framed. which are coming from organisations which are committed to the destruction of israel. so it is difficult to order israel to cease fire.— difficult to order israel to ceasefire. . , ., cease fire. except that misses

the context. _ cease fire. except that misses the context, the _ cease fire. except that misses the context, the context - cease fire. except that misses the context, the context thatl the context, the context that israel promotes this with extraordinary actions in jerusalem, an assault on the mosque the eviction and so forth. and also the violence which we see right now of the patient and the siege of gaza is constant when the media are not paying attention to it. it is perpetual. so i think that addressing the causes of this is the only way to stop it. these attacks on gaza or the attacks on israel are symbolic of something that american administrations have avoided. t administrations have avoided. i think everyone would recognise the perpetuation of the status quo is just of no use to anyone and yet it feels like a world in which any peace process has broken down and is non—existent. how on earth do you start to put the pieces

together? do you believe that you can? together? do you believe that ou can? ., ., , ., you can? you remove israeli impunity _ impunity for one thing. the mantra of israel is entitled to defend itself is something only used vis—a—vis the palestinians. they have been in the victims of a continuous war and where see aspects of it in the evictions. what is necessary from the united states is to cease its complicity and cease to shield israel from international pressure. with all strikes from the security council that the american ambassador has stonewalled and prevented the security council from taking action. the us could send a clear signal to israel and many americans, an increasing number of americans, senators and congresspeople are putting pressure on the president. find pressure on the president. and that was the — pressure on the president. and that was the last _ pressure on the president. and that was the last point. what you made of that because it does seem to be a growing

number of progressive democrats who are more interested in the palestinian perspective than you might have seen for some time. . , , time. that is definitely true. but it is also _ time. that is definitely true. but it is also true _ time. that is definitely true. but it is also true that - but it is also true that when there is not a paroxysm of violence like this there is a dome of silence over the everyday violence inflicted on the palestinians by occupation full and the shift is not taking place when things like this happen more and more people realise exactly what is at stake and all the bromides and things that shield israel from responsibility and ensure its impunity and begin to fall away. we have seen congressman sanders who rarely anything taking a position opposite to that of netanyahu saying that there must be a ceasefire and the israeli government does not seem willing to do that at this point. in seem willing to do that at this oint. ., ., ., ., point. in a moment or two we

will speak— point. in a moment or two we will speak to _ point. in a moment or two we will speak to the _ point. in a moment or two we will speak to the executive i will speak to the executive director of the washington institute for near east policy. stay with us for that. 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 — that's 120 miles an hour. cyclone tauktae travelled along india's western coast, narrowly missing the city of mumbai. at least 12 people have been killed and 200,000 evacuated. mark lobel reports. emergency officials evacuate coastal areas as india faces disaster on several fronts. this cyclone comes amid a covid—19 wave that has also flooded india's hospitals. this the navy has sent three warships to try to rescue hundreds of people stranded off the coast. even mumbai's meteorological department is affected as winds of up to 190km/h hit people,

property and powerlines in the most powerful cyclone to strike the region since the late 90s. storms and cyclones... now, what is happening, the arabian sea temperatures, the ocean's south—west temperatures, are warming rapidly. cyclone tauktae has travelled up the coast, claiming lives in kerala, karnataka, goa. it's made landfall in gujarat, threatening storm surges of up to four metres high in some coastal districts. this is the fourth consecutive year when a cyclone has formed during the april—june season in the arabian sea region. and this might be the third one moving very close to the west coast, for this season, again. and that means we need to be better prepared for the west coast. it's forced the temporary closure of mumbai airport and disrupted local rail services. there are wider fears it

could accelerate the spread of coronavirus, as more than 150,000 people in low—lying areas have been moved into densely—packed shelters. a vaccine drive in several coastal towns has been paused. the storm is also adding to the challenges faced in india's hospitals, as some critical patients are forced to move buildings. it's hoped that having made landfall, the cyclone will lose some of its wind strength, but heavy rainfall still poses a threat to parts of northern india. mark lobel, bbc news. the us supreme court has agreed to hear a case from the state of mississippi challenging roe v wade — the 1973 ruling which gave american women the right to abortion. it's the biggest abortion case to come before the court in 30 years, and the first time its new six/three conservative majority will consider the highly charged issue.

mary ziegler is a professor of law at florida state university and the author of abortion and the law in america: roe v wade to the present. and shejoins me now from santa rosa beach, florida. thank you very much. we could not ask for a more pertinent guest on this issue. spell out for me what this change would mean compared to the status quo, the situation now. i think that the two likely outcomes in this case would either be that the court overrules it all together which would most likely allow but not require the states to prohibit abortion or the court could eliminate via liability as —— limit viability. and then the question becomes if viability is not the limit what is it? is it early in pregnancy or late

in pregnancy? but one way or another but it seems byjune of next year the states will have a lot more latitude to restrict unlikely ban abortion. viability being the viability of the foetus to survive outside the womb. i think that is set at 2a weeks. this mississippi position is 15 weeks. �*,, ,, ,, mississippi position is 15 weeks. a, ,, ,, weeks. mississippi has taken the position _ weeks. mississippi has taken the position that _ weeks. mississippi has taken the position that states - weeks. mississippi has taken i the position that states should be allowed to ban abortion. mississippi is an outlier in that respect and other states, conservative states have 20 weeks is the limit but scientists don't think it is viable until later in pregnancy. but from the standpoint of the conservative supreme courtjustices is that viability is not as early as 15 weeks and the kinds that make supreme court concedes. your

lan . ua . e supreme court concedes. your language there, _ supreme court concedes. your language there, you _ supreme court concedes. your language there, you said - supreme court concedes. your language there, you said that the conservative supreme court members, it is a conservative majority supreme court at the moment so what is your suspicion, if i could put it strongly is that as to the outcome? t strongly is that as to the outcome?— strongly is that as to the outcome? ., , ., outcome? i would be a little surprised — outcome? i would be a little surprised if— outcome? i would be a little surprised if the _ outcome? i would be a little surprised if the court - surprised if the court overturns roe out of the gate. they have settled the case since september so there clearly was either someone hesitating to take the case or hesitating to take the case or hesitating to take the case or hesitating to confront the kind of political blowback that would come if the court does overturn it so i expect this case is more of a teeing up of a letter ruling, perhaps in 2023 or 2024, undoing roe altogether and if that were to happen, the 50th anniversary will be in 2023 thought would be ironic, indeed, if the print cord reversed it half a century after it came down. tt cord reversed it half a century after it came down.— cord reversed it half a century after it came down. it would be incredibly _ after it came down. it would be

incredibly contentious, - incredibly contentious, wouldn't it? ~ , �* wouldn't it? absolutely. an important _ wouldn't it? absolutely. an important thing _ wouldn't it? absolutely. an important thing to - wouldn't it? absolutely. an l important thing to remember wouldn't it? absolutely. an - important thing to remember is that if the court were to overturn it it would be far from the end of the story. anti—abortion lawyers would be backin anti—abortion lawyers would be back in the court asking the court to recognise a right to life which would prevent states from allowing abortion and you would see the administration considering everything from a federal law protecting abortion rights to expanding the size of the supreme court. you would see heated battle state—by—state especially in proverbial swing states but in other states as well determining the contours of abortion legislation. so whatever happens, the battle will continue unlikely we will see something explosive in an election year so abortion would be at the top of the national agenda in the united states for some time to come.— some time to come. thank you very much- _

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: after nearly five months of lockdown — we visit one of the many british museums who are now open to the public again. 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 pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far! - but suddenly, the police - are tear—gassing the crowd — we don't yet know why! the pre—launch 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: president biden says the us is working to secure a ceasefire, after more than a week of violence between israel and palestinian militants. he has urged both sides to protect civilians. let's stay with that. we can now speak to rob satloff, who is the executive director at the washington institute for near east policy. thank institute for near east policy. you very much indee joining thank you very much indeed for joining us rpi just wonder what you make of president biden's shift towards the language of

ceasefire? t shift towards the language of ceasefire?— ceasefire? i think that this is a lo . ical ceasefire? i think that this is a logical development, - ceasefire? i think that this is a logical development, after| ceasefire? i think that this is i a logical development, after no more than a week of conflict, he didn't insist on a ceasefire by a certain time or deadline, he didn't call in the israelis to immediately end their action, he reckoned most the importance and urgency of their response to the attacks from hamas and that demonstration is quite appropriately working with all parties to try to achieve a ceasefire. i don't think that this is an unusual declaration by him, i think it is of a piece with his support for israel's response to the attacks from hamas and a logical development. t attacks from hamas and a logical development. i 'ust wonder what i logical development. i 'ust wonder what you i logical development. i 'ust wonder what you thinkh logical development. i just i wonder what you think might logical development. ijust wonder what you think might be driving it? is it the reality of deaths on the ground, if they can put it that way, or is it perhaps the real politic, 27

senators pushing for a ceasefire? t senators pushing for a ceasefire?— senators pushing for a ceasefire? ~ ., ceasefire? i think that there is a lot of — ceasefire? i think that there is a lot of factors _ ceasefire? i think that there is a lot of factors that - ceasefire? i think that there is a lot of factors that go - is a lot of factors that go into this sort of decision. the most important is an assessment that israel has probably based on conversations with the israelis, that they have gone quite far to achieving their object gives and responding and limiting the attacks from gaza, that they have gone far in restoring the deterrence, that was the objective of their response to the hamas attacks. i'm sure all of the other factors that you cite, the global discussion, the discussion here in the united states all play a role, but i think gut reaction of the president was to recognise that he is responding to attacks from a terrorist organisation and to give at the time necessary to respond

appropriately.- necessary to respond appropriately. necessary to respond auroriatel. . ., , appropriately. there are many commentators _ appropriately. there are many commentators who _ appropriately. there are many commentators who would - appropriately. there are many commentators who would say | appropriately. there are many - commentators who would say that the view they'd had of the biden expression up to now was very much let's take a backseat, let's wait for the elections, palestinian israeli, to give us something concrete to work with before we jump in. i wouldn't say he's been called out by it, but he's been called out by it, but he's been called out by it, but he's been called a bit short, perhaps, by the way this has blown up into a conflagration right now. tt blown up into a conflagration right now-— right now. it is certainly no surprise — right now. it is certainly no surprise that _ right now. it is certainly no surprise that the _ surprise that the administration had a different approach to prioritising middle east peace process issues compared to previous administrations, republican and democrat, and wanted to not throw the president's prematurely into something that has no chance of success and holding back, so nobody saw that this would emerge as this

front—page headline issue, and without an american ambassador injerusalem, without in jerusalem, without high—level injerusalem, without high—level engagement, yes, i mean, you could say that the administration wasn't set up well to respond, but the natural response of this and really any administration would be to give the israelis enough room to respond appropriately, and then to engage in diplomacy. when all is said and done and the ceasefire is in place, there will be a certain diplomacy to win the ceasefire, because the goal is notjust to stop the fighting, the goal is also to ensure that hamas does not get political benefit from having launched this process. (crosstalk) indeed. rob, sorry to cut you short the. robert satloff, the executive director for the washington institute for near

east policy. taiwan was seen as one of the most successful places in controlling the spread of covid—19. but a rapid increase in cases in the past week has now prompted two of taiwan's biggest cities — the capital taipei and the most populous city new taipei — to shut all schools 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 j 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.

museums in england, scotland and wales have re—opened their doors again and one of those welcoming the public was the museum of natural history in oxford. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito went to have a look at one rather familiar object on display. oxford university, the museum of natural history, and not even the rain could dampen the enthusiasm for today's grand reopening and its new work of art. an object that's affected us all. we're here face to face with the thing we've all been trying to avoid, the virus. it is some 8 million times bigger than the real thing. but it does allow you to get up close to something that is both terrible but also strangely beautiful. it's made up of tens of millions of pieces of scientific data, crunched and slowly assembled to reveal this. and the moment of revelation

came, i was just taken aback cos i thought, i'd been working for months and months and months during lockdown on my own listening to radio, television, hearing about this dreadful, evil virus and it was just strangely beautiful. it was kind of hauntingly beautiful, and that kind of took me aback. and unveiling it was someone who knows it all too well, the lead developer of the oxford vaccine. it's quite a chilling thing to look at because this is the virus that's been our enemy for the last 17 months now. we've been trying to defeat it. and so to come face—to—face with a large version of the virus is quite thought—provoking. new research suggests that the total number of wild birds on the planet is at least 50 billion, but could be as high as 430 billion. this study is the first attempt

to estimate the world population of birds, species by species. this is bbc news. 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 wetter, 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 really escalate as well. we could have gales, gusts 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: president biden has voiced his support for a ceasefire after eight days of violence between israel and palestinian militants in gaza. he urged israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of civilians. 200 people have been killed in the gaza strip. ten have died in israel. the indian state of gujarat is being buffeted by the most powerful storm in the region for decades. around 200,000 people were evacuated with wind gusts of up to 200 kilometres an hour. at least 20 people are known to have died. the us supreme court has agreed to hear a case challenging roe vs wade — the 1973 judgement which gave american women the right to an abortion. it will be the first time the court's new conservative—majority bench has considered the issue, after a ban in the state of mississippi.

now on bbc news, monday in parliament.