this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. ramping up the pressure on israel. joe biden tells benjamin netanyahu to dial back the attacks on gaza today. japanese politicians insist the tokyo olympics are safe and secure — but with the country facing a growing numbers of coronavirus cases — opposition to the games is intensifying. hm i is intensifyin-. don't hear people sayin- we should have i don't hear people saying we should have the _ i don't hear people saying we should have the event, i never hear about it. there's increasing confidence within the uk government that existing vaccines are effective against the latest variant of coronavirus. former president trump says he's been "unfairly attacked" —

after new york's prosecutor launches a criminal inquiry, into his property empire. and rising tensions between washington and moscow — spill over into the arctic, we have a special report from russia's northern—most military base. well, they've brought out all the toys now. these are the bastion anti—ship missiles. and this is a bit of a show of russian might. hello and welcome. us presidentjoe biden has told israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, that he expects israel to significantly de—escalate its military campaign in gaza. the us — a long—standing ally of israel has so far opposed a joint statement by the un security council on the conflict. but benjamin netanyahu isn't on the same page as mr. biden. israel fired more missiles on gaza

today and the prime minister says he's "determined to carry on". he hit back at criticisms that israeli missile strikes have killed dozens of non militant palestinians, including women and children. we try to target those who target us with great precision. that is not. ..as surgical an operation it is, even in the surgical room in a hospital, you don't have the ability to prevent collateral damage around the infected tissues. even then, you can't. and certainly in a military operation, you cannot. but there is no army in the world that does more than the israeli army, than the israeli security services, the israeli intelligence, to prevent collateral damage. to have israel criticised for that is absurd. a senior hamas official has told reuters that he expects israel and gaza militants to reach a ceasefire "within a day or two". but even if a ceasefire is agreed —

the ten days of cross border violence will have ongoing consequences for the region. earlier palestinian president mahmoud abbas — who governs the occupied west bank gave a televised address accusing israel of committing "organized state terrorism and war crimes." "what the occupation is doing in gaza, including vicious attacks on civilians, deliberate shelling of residential areas and institutions, destruction of infrastructure, as well as the killing of women, elderly and children is organised state terrorism carried out by the israeli occupation, and war crimes punishable by international law. we won't spare any efforts to bring those responsible in front of international courts." for the latest — here's our middle east editor jeremy bowen in jerusalem. the i think that mr netanyahu is in expert at standing up to pressure from american democratic presidents. he did it with president clinton, with president obama, he exasperated

them. and with biden when he was vice president as well. but speaking to senior israeli officials, they are focusing on the part of the statement that said progression towards a cease—fire. and put together what's coming out of israeli side and the palestinian side i think there are indications that the next 2a hours will probably be some kind of a cease—fire. now what's going to have changed if anything? both israel and hamas will claim that they've accomplished with they set out to do. first of all, the israel leads restore deterrence as they put it and hamas will say that they have shown that they are defending jerusalem for palestinians. now, the essentials of that conflict are not going to change. and until they do there will be more trouble in the future. potentially lots of it.

so it has to be a political process that doesn't exist right now to deal with that. now, longerterm, the thing that's worrying a lot of israelis is the breakdown of coexistence between israel's jewish majority and arab minority. that is a consequence of what's happened and that is something a lot of people here are very bothered about. here in the uk — prime minister borisjohnson said there is �*increasing confidence�* that the existing vaccines for coronavirus are effective against the so—called indian variant of the virus. almost three thousand cases of the indian strain have now been identified across the uk. but health experts warn they still can't say for certain how infectious the new variant is. our health editor hugh pym reports. the drive to get more people vaccinated has added momentum, with concern about rising cases of the indian variant. whatever you do, don't run away after you've finished, because i'm going to have stuff to give you. at this vaccine bus in the london borough of brent, no bookings are needed. government officials say second doses should be pulled forward for certain groups, and that is what those we spoke to had come along to get.

ijust thought when the time is right i would get my second dose. i saw the van and thought i would pop along now. we cannot ignore what is still going on. - just all do our bit, really. for the people who live here it is good and nice. iam happy and i am relaxed. ministers believe vaccines can work against the variant. we have increasing confidence that the vaccines are effective against it. that means that our strategy is the right one. to carefully replace the restrictions on freedom for protection from the vaccine. what is your current assessment of how fast this new variant is spreading relative to the existing uk variant? we have a credible range that goes from a few percent more transmissible through to — and you have probably read the sage papers —

through to 50% more transmissible. i think most people feel it is going to be somewhere in the middle rather than at the extremes of that band. he said things would be clearer from data next week. more pockets of cases of the indian covid variant are emerging, including five at a school in shropshire. a testing centre has opened and all secondary school pupils, staff and their families in the newport area have been urged to take a test. in the south side of glasgow, where the variant had been detected, there was surge testing for the first time. three secondary schools have asked senior pupils to stay at home for three weeks unless they have assessments. back in brent, the focus is on parts of the borough where take—up of the vaccine has been low. for some people it can be difficult to get to big vaccination centres, for example a couple of bus rides or more. the idea here is to use the vaccine bus to get to the heart

of local communities. they are monitoring developments with the variant. we are seeing an increase in the variant that was first described in india, and while many of the cases are associated with travel, or contacts of people who have travelled, there has been some community transmission. the uk—wide situation is encouraging. some intensive care units have no covid patients. for the second successive day, total hospital admissions have been below 100. the question now is whether the variant changes that picture in any way. hugh pym, bbc news. japanese politicians insist the tokyo olympics are safe and secure — but with the country facing a growing numbers of coronavirus cases and slow—moving vaccination programme — opposition to the games is intensifying. a new poll commissioned by one ofjapan s newspapers suggest more but the international olympic committee president thomas bach again insisted on wednesday that the games can go ahead safely. from tokyo our correspondent

rupert wingfield—hayes reports. never before has the summer olympics face such overwhelming opposition from the people of the host nation. as japan's covid pandemic continues to get worse, the opposition is growing louder and more prominent. this double page spread has appeared in several newspapers. it's an old photo from world war ii of japanese children training to fight the americans with bamboo spares. except now the enemy is covid. no vaccines, no drugs... the head ofjapanese online retailer record time is also making headlines. he described holding the olympics now as a suicide mission. even those who have signed up as olympic volunteers are saying it is time to stop. definitely so. i don't hear people saying we should have the event, i

never hear about it. they're just all thinking they gonna cancel the event? ——hoping i think that's the public main thing. while the viruses now well into its fourth wave here in japan has barely begun vaccinations. so far just 3% received a single shot. this is the city of nagoya in centraljapan. i've come here because this city has just been placed under a state of emergency because of rapidly rising covid infection. i've also come because medical workers here are up in arms that they have been requested to volunteer at the olympic village in tokyo when they are desperately needed in hospitals here. this young nurse who doesn't want to show her face has watch the covid unit in her hospital filled to capacity. translation: we already don't have i enough staff in hospital beds for i

covid patients. people already dying at home because they can't get into the hospital. they want 500 nurses to volunteer for olympics. that means more covid patients won't get the care they need. far to the north of the amid the rice fields the small town has been preparing to host the russian gymnastics team. some of the gymnasts are trying out the new equipment, specially installed for the russians. he tells me the town spent over a half a million us dollars on all of this. because of covid the russian team will now never use it. long—timejapan resident and sports promoter thinks there is one very obvious solution. to delay the olympics again. whenever you asked the people in charge, "why would you not consider 2022". there's really no answer.

there is only very direct and firm "we do not organise in 2022, it's now_ or never". i argue for the exact opposite because i think that everybody involved here is better off with an organisation in 2022. it may already be too late for another delay, it looks like the olympics will either go ahead or be canceled. but for these young gymnasts the excitement they once had a welcoming the world to japan this summer is already a fading memory. let s get some of the day s other news. the health authorities in malawi have destroyed more than nineteen— thousand expired doses of the astrazeneca covid—i9 vaccine. malawi is the first african country to publicly destroy expired vaccines. authorities there say the move is intended to convince the population that alljabs they're being offered are safe and in—date. brazil's environment minister —

who is in charge of conserving the amazon rainforest is at the centre of a police investigation into an illegal timber trafficking ring. ricardo salesh has presided over a wave of deforestation in the amazon since taking office in 2019. a supreme courtjudge has authorised access to his bank and tax records as part of the probe. china has released the first images of their "zhu rong" rover on the surface of mars. the uncrewed spacecraft tianwen—i landed on the surface of mars on saturday. the rover will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere, and look for signs of ancient life. china is the second country to land a craft on mars, after the us. donald trump has hit back after prosecutors in new york state said they were now running a criminal inquiry into the trump organisation. in a statement on his website, the former president said — �*there is nothing more corrupt

than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime. the attorney general of new york literally campaigned on prosecuting donald trump even before she knew anything about me.�* the investigation centres around allegations that mr trump had inflated the value of his assets to banks when seeking loans, and understated them to lower his taxes. joining us now is lawyer, and former federal prosecutor, renato mariotti. thank you very much forjoining us. how big a shift is this then? is no longer a civil matter but criminal. it's longer a civil matter but criminal. it�*s a very important shift. for any company a civil matter is something you can resolve by paying money, a criminal matter it means that executives could end up in prison. so it has very significant consequences for a company. it means that they have to disclose that, for example, to lenders, investors if they have any sale of assets they would have to disclose it. it can create a burden for employees,

reputational damage, very significant consequence for business. significant consequence for business-— significant consequence for business. ., , , business. who might be implicated? of course it will _ business. who might be implicated? of course it will be _ business. who might be implicated? of course it will be of _ business. who might be implicated? of course it will be of immense - of course it will be of immense interest whether it will be donald trump and his family.— trump and his family. well, essentially, _ trump and his family. well, essentially, this _ trump and his family. well, essentially, this is - trump and his family. well, essentially, this is about. trump and his family. well, - essentially, this is about financial statements that were false, allegedly false and either contain false statements. it can be people high up in the organisation was at whether it�*s a cfo or members of, potential members of the trump family. i think they are not wanting an investigation of the trump organization to catch some rogue employee who embezzled money. this is an investigation that is going to try to get straight to the top. {lit try to get straight to the top. of course donald trump is always said that these things are politically motivated. he�*s no longer in office. what can he do to avoid the sort of scrutiny? fist what can he do to avoid the sort of scrutin ? �* , ,., ., ., ., scrutiny? at this point not a lot. he had a lot _ scrutiny? at this point not a lot. he had a lot of _ scrutiny? at this point not a lot. he had a lot of tools _ scrutiny? at this point not a lot. he had a lot of tools at - scrutiny? at this point not a lot. he had a lot of tools at his - he had a lot of tools at his disposal when he was president of

the united states. as a private citizen who is going to learn that at least for when was a prosecutor and now on the defence side, you often are all gone by the government. you have to do what you can to try to stay a step ahead to investigate the matter yourself. it can be very difficult to put a government investigation to rest if the government is intent on pushing forward. what evidence will prosecutors be looking for? they�*re going to be looking for evidence that shows an attempt to defraud. there were false statements in financial documents on a somewhat regular basis. whether intentional or not. but what makes something a crime in this case, a fraud is that somebody intended when they put those numbers in there to trick the other side, to mislead someone whether it�*s the bank or investor. it�*ll either be e—mail, text messages, communicate to that time or testimony. we have of course,

there been reports alan weisel berg is somebody who has been under investigation. high up official like that might be somebody who would provide testimony others like the trump family. provide testimony others like the trump family-— provide testimony others like the trum famil . . ~ , . trump family. thank you very much for “oininu trump family. thank you very much forjoining us- _ stay with us on bbc news, still to come... music and — power pop and syrupy ballads — the eurovision song contest took a year off but now, it�*s back. 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 peaceful funeral demonstration so far! - but suddenly, the police i 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... israel and hamas are coming under renewed pressure to end a conflict that�*s claimed more than two hundred lives. the us, egypt and france have all been pushing for a ceasefire. there is increasing confidence

in the uk government that existing vaccines are effective against the latest variant of coronavirus. the us and russian foreign ministers are meeting in iceland to discuss their strained relationship and to try and organise a summit between both countries�* presidents. rising tensions are spilling over into the arctic ? where a senior russian military commander has told the bbc that us forces are acting more aggressively than they have in decades. our correspondent sarah rainsford has just returned travelled to the remote archipelago of fraanosef land, where her team were given rare access to russia s northern—most military base. this was our flight almost to the edge of the map, a russian military cargo plane carrying us far up into the arctic. we were among the first foreign journalists invited to visit russia�*s most northern military base, a site that�*s making some in the west nervous. the new airstrip here can now

receive planes all year round, though for humans it�*s like stepping out onto in ice rink. amidst all the whiteness, the building itself is a statement — the colours of russia�*s national flag. it is the second modern base the country�*s opened in the arctic, as it returns troops to a region it all but abandoned when the soviet union fell apart. the us calls this comeback a worrying militarisation of a region where tensions are meant to be low. well, they�*ve brought out all the toys now. these are the bastion anti—ship missiles and this is a bit of a show of russian might. there was a much bigger show earlier this year, when three nuclear submarines burst through the ice simultaneously, a dramatic display that was a world first. but russia insists it�*s not the aggressor in the arctic. before our flight north, we boarded

russia�*s biggest battle cruiser, to meet the commander of the northern fleet. he told me the us and nato were the threat. translation: we haven't seen so many of their forces - for many years, decades, not since the second world war, so of course we view such activity by foreign states close to our borders as provocative. we have assets here that are very important for our national security. i mean strategic nuclear forces. so this island outpost is protecting those forces, as the chill in relations between east and west intensifies. up here on the top of the world, there is a vast expanse of ice and of emptiness, and yet russia has made deploying its military up here to these extreme conditions a real priority. it�*s created this space here, the furthest north of all. it�*s a reminder that russia has great ambitions for the arctic and real interest

here that is determined to secure. the shipping route that skirts this island is one of them. global warming will gradually make the sea here more accessible, as well as the oil and gas beneath. the base commander tells me there�*s no difference between securing russia�*s economic interests here and its border. so the troops are settling into this harsh landscape, as russia stakes its claim to a region of untapped potential. sarah rainsford, bbc news, fraanosef land in the russian arctic. its eurovision week. the world s biggest televised singing competition is happening in the netherlands this year. two countries have already been forced to isolate, after a member of their delegations tested positive for covid. but that hasn t stopped the fans flocking to watch the semi finals. our reporter anna holligan is with them in rotterdam. waterloo by abba

plays over speakers. an iconic eurovision anthem pumps out of the traffic lights, providing fans with a soundtrack for their long—anticipated arrival at the ahoy arena. i heard it and i saw it on television. and i said, "i�*m going to rotterdam. " whatever happens, i�*m going. yeah, i think this is much safer than sitting on a terrace in the town. i think so. because everyone is tested. baby's first concert, actually. well, we thought we might as welljust go all in. - it's a once—in—a—lifetime experience~ _ for her, as well, i guess. 3,500 people are allowed in to watch each of the live shows. there are nine of them in total. a ticket and a negative covid test are essential. the glitter, optional. it�*s just nice to be in front of a crowd again. the vibe off them is brilliant, having been in lockdown like everybody for so long. so it�*s just such a great buzz. it really is. how did it go?

everything went crazy, and, yeah, it was really good. we are extremely happy to be here, yes. so, lithuania there, just coming off stage, and here we have ireland�*s lesley about to go on. this is what the fans are so excited about. finally, the chance to see live music again, and everyone who�*s got a ticket for this year had one for last, too, but that was cancelled because of covid. so the usual eurovision fever is heightened because all of these people have been waiting so long for this moment. while people are excited, there are concerns, too. two delegations have recorded positive tests since reaching rotterdam. i haven�*t been outside, actually, in a week! laughter. um, but, yeah, right? we�*re still dealing, and it�*s a very real threat to everyone�*s health still. # i�*m breaking the rules!

the organisers and dutch government are adamant eurovision is being conducted in the safest possible way in the context of a pandemic. you test when you leave, you test when you arrive, then you test when you get in here, and then you pretty much stay at the hotel, within your delegation, and you come here to do your work. over the course of this week, more than 31,000 spectators will have the chance to witness what everyone here hopes will provide a model for the global revival of live events. anna holligan, bbc news, rotterdam. if i'm if i�*m allowed to say, my monies on iceland. just update you this hour. america�*s house representative have voted to go ahead a partisan commission because of the seizure of the capitol building by trump supporters in january. the capitol building by trump supporters injanuary. the supporters in january. the commission supporters injanuary. the commission will be charged with it security failures after trump

supporters after he delivered in an sentry speech interrupting the formal certification ofjoe biden formal certification of joe biden selecting formal certification ofjoe biden selecting two election victory. five people died in the violence. you are watching bbc news. hello there. wednesday was another unsettled day. the majority of the showers that formed were across eastern areas through the afternoon, so we had some of these thunderclouds going across the skyline in cambridgeshire. further west, though, wales and western england, well, it was a largely fine afternoon with some long spells of sunshine at last. but it�*s not going to stay that way. on the satellite picture, we�*ve already got our next weather system. it�*s been moving quite quickly across the atlantic, but it�*s going to put its brakes on and become really quite slow—moving as the low spins its way across the united kingdom. so, we�*ve got rain and strong winds to come for the next couple of days. now, that rain is already beginning to arrive across westernmost areas, and that process will continue

for the next few hours. whereas across eastern areas, it stays drier. a dry start to thursday morning and not particularly cold. the winds picking up across the south west, though, quite quickly in the morning. bright start across eastern areas, and to be honest, there probably won�*t be that much in the way of rain across the south east. northern scotland not faring too bad either. but, otherwise, a lot of rain to come across western areas, with some strong winds blowing into the coast of wales in particular. gusts here around 50—60 mph. winds that strong will likely bring down a few tree branches. there could be some localised transport disruption. the low pressure�*s still there on friday. heavier rain this time going in across into the south east of england through the afternoon. and the strongest winds going through the english channel. again, we could see some localised disruption, but the majority of the rain will start to spin away from northern ireland. here we�*ll see some brighter weather pushing in, but probably with a few showers as well. what about the weekend? well, the rain clears, showers follow to saturday. and then we�*ve got another dollop of rain for sunday. so, there�*s no end in sight, really,

to this unsettled run of weather. marginally, saturday looks like being the better of the two days of the weekend, although rain never too far away from the south east of england. and there will be some heavy showers around as well. still, there will be some areas that get through the gaps between those showers and stay dry with some sunshine. temperatures continue to be pretty disappointing. sunday starts off on a promising note across the east, but we do have this band of rain that�*s going to be pushing in from the west as the day goes by. so, many of us will see some rain at times, and those temperatures still pretty rubbish for may. what about next week? well, the rain clears, but showers follow. yes, monday and tuesday looking pretty unsettled.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the us president, joe biden, has told the israeli prime minister that he expects to see a significant de—escalation in the conflict in gaza. benjamin netanyahu has defended his military campaign against palestinian militants. there�*s "increasing confidence" in the uk that the existing vaccines for coronavirus are effective against the so—called indian variant of the virus, according to prime minister boris johnson. the lower house in the us is holding a vote on whether to create a commission into the riot on the capitol injanuary. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said he will oppose the measure, making it unlikely. new york�*s attorney general has told the trump organization that a civil investigation into the former us president�*s business dealings is now a criminal probe. mr trump has called the investigation corrupt.