this is bbc news — i'm martine croxall 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. a thawing in relations between the us and russia as officials meet on the sidelines of the arctic council in iceland. there's increasing confidence within the uk government that existing vaccines are effective against the latest variant of coronavirus. we report from japan where politicians insist the tokyo olympics are safe but public opposition is intensifying. i don't hear people saying we should have the event, i never hear about it.

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. israel though fired more missiles into gaza on wednesday and mr netanyahu says he's "determined to carry on". he also hit back at criticisms that israeli missile strikes have killed dozens of ordinary 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 earlier palestinian president mahmoud abbas — who governs the occupied west bank gave an address accusing israel of committing " 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." with his analysis, 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, longer term, the thing that's worrying a lot of israelis is the breakdown of coexistence between israel'sjewish 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. let s get some of the day s other news. the us house of representives have voted to go ahead with a bipartisan commission to investigate the siege of the capitol building by donald trump supporters in january. the commission would be charged with examining security

and intelligence failures surrounding the riot in which trump's supporters, after he delivered an incendiary speech, interrupted the formal congressional certification ofjoe biden�*s election victory. five people died in the violence. 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 saliss 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. meeting in iceland, — the us secretary of state, antony blinken, and his russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, have sought to ease tensions in their first meeting since president joe biden took office. they have said that despite their many differences, the two countries should work together on some issues. it's the most senior in—person contact yet between the biden administration and the kremlin. i'm joined now by our correspondent will grant in washington. a precursor to in even higher level meeting perhaps? yes it definitely looks _ level meeting perhaps? yes it definitely looks that _ level meeting perhaps? yes it definitely looks that way. - level meeting perhaps? yes it definitely looks that way. it i definitely looks that way. it was interesting, wasn't it? it wasn't so long ago that president biden said that he thought putin was a killer. and

that prompted a recall of the ambassador to the, russian ambassador to the, russian ambassador to the, russian ambassador to washington for consultation. this is a very different tone. entity blink and talked of how washington now wanted a predictable and stable relationship with russia. that will be good for both sets of people in the world at large. that led later in the evening to a step to lift sanctions on a pipeline, a company that's building a crucial pipeline, that would supply two supply russian natural gas to germany bypassing various countries in the middle that russia would like to bypass. something that washington has tried to not want to see go forward but perhaps by lifting the sanctions that has been an important step, a bit of an olive leaf, if you'd like. but

distrust run _ olive leaf, if you'd like. but distrust run so _ olive leaf, if you'd like. but distrust run so deeply, doesn't it? that it's going to take a long time and a link click that leap of faith certainly by the white house to believe that they can put things back on track. �* , ,., they can put things back on track. j , , track. by both sides essentially. - track. by both sides essentially. i- track. by both sides essentially. ifound| track. by both sides. essentially. ifound it essentially. i found it interesting essentially. ifound it interesting that he was very realistic shall we say when it was his turn to speak. sort of pouring a little bit of cold water on just how divergent they are two worldviews were. i think you're right, i think there will be a lot of diplomacy involved before this gets anywhere. but it is in important step. this particular step on waving sanctions on this company building the pipeline, that is important. that is also as well an important gesture to germany which would be receiving the supplies. i think the biden administration very aware that it needs to rebuild ties with germany after they were damaged during the trump administration. a lot of

diplomacy at work here. but i think you're right, your key point that you made at the start, this is all sort of steps toward a high level talks later on. �* .,, ., ., later on. and the optics of that are — later on. and the optics of that are important - that are important internationally, are they as well? to see the two leaders of these countries which have such a difficult history actually getting together face to face. we look at some of the issues that they share. and secretary of state blinken ran through some of them. afghanistan, iran, north korea, there's a whole series of crucial and pressing world issues that they actually overlap on on many many ways. their headaches and their involvement on those things are at all and loggerheads. clearly the thinking is that it is far better to try and work on those areas where they can make progress and make inroads in some of those conflicts without there is a lot of mistrust, you're right. i think at least

if they are secretary of state, if they are secretary of state, if there speaking it sort of setting the tone for their presidents to begin to rebuild a bit of the bilateral relationship.- a bit of the bilateral relationship. a bit of the bilateral relationshi. . ~ , ., , relationship. thank you very much. here in the uk... prime minister borisjohnson. prime minister 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.

i just 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 i here it is good and nice. lam 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. the 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 theirfamilies 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, politicians in japan insist the tokyo 0lympics are safe, but public opposition is intensifying. 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 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 200 lives. the us, egypt and france have all been pushing for a ceasefire. a thawing in relations between the us and russia as officials meet on the sidelines of the arctic council in iceland. donald trump has hit back after prosecutors in new york state said they were now running a criminal inquiry into the trump 0rganisation. in a statement on his website, the former president said — 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. i've been speaking to the lawyer, and former federal

prosecutor, renato mariotti about how significant this announcement is. 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. who might be implicated? of course it will be of immense interest whether it will be donald 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 launching an investigation of the trump organisation to catch some rogue employee who embezzled money. this is an investigation that is going to 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? at this point — not a lot. 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 are 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 kind 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. the family of a young woman from london, who was murdered in pakistan, have called for the uk prime minister boris johnson to intervene, accusing the pakistani police of not listening to their pleas. 24—year—old mayra zulfiqar was shot dead in lahore earlier this month. her family say she was being threatened by two men

whose marriage proposals she had rejected. secunder kermani reports. 0utgoing and intelligent, mayra zulfiqar had a bright future ahead of her. but two weeks ago, the law graduate who grew up in london was murdered in pakistan. mayra's father and brother have travelled to lahore from london to be closer to the investigation. i still can't believe that my sister's gone. it seems like it's a nightmare.. ..that i'm going to wake up and just hug her. every day i wake up... ..i can't believe that my sister's gone. she wanted to do something, she wanted to become something. she wanted to help the poor, she was a caring person. mayra zulfiqar moved to this up—market street in lahore a number of months ago, renting a home with friends. her body was found in her room after she was strangled and shot. mayra's uncle named two suspects in legal documents,

saying she was being threatened by them after turning down their marriage proposals. mayra had previously been to the police herself accusing one of the young men of abducting her at gunpoint. she asked officials for protection. two weeks later, she was killed. "what have these people done to her? what did she ever do that was so wrong?" asks her father. "i'm appealing for prime ministers imran khan and borisjohnson to help me. i'm running from office to office here and the police aren't listening to me properly." saad butt, accused of the abduction and named by mayra's uncle in connection to the murder, denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer says he's cooperating with the police. the other man, a friend of mayra's, zahirjadoon, also denies any role in her death. both men have been granted pre—arrest bail. mayra's family say they'll do all they can

to ensure justice is done. secunder kermani, bbc news, lahore. the international olympic committee president, thomas bach, has insisted the olympic games can go ahead safely. opposition to the games, though, is intensifying with the country facing a growing numbers of coronavirus cases and a slow—moving vaccination programme. from tokyo, our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. never before has the summer 0lympics 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...

are we supposed to fight the virus with bamboo spears? are we supposed to fight the virus with bamboo spears? the head of japanese online retailer rakutan is also making headlines. he described holding the olympics now as a suicide mission. even those who have signed up as 0lympic 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 hoping they gonna cancel the event? ——hoping i think that's the public main thing. while the viruses now well into its fourth wave here injapan 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 fill to capacity. translation: we already don't have enough staff in hospital. beds for 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 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 even 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 cancelled. but for these young gymnasts the excitement they once had a welcoming the world to japan this summer is already a fading memory. the �*big five' is a

colonial—era term that refers to the most difficult animals to hunt like lions and leopards. a new photography project is turning that on its head, with 50—thousand people voting on their five favorite animals to see pictures of. the winners are the elephant, polar bear, lion, gorilla and tiger. aside from being photogenic, those five are also listed as either critically endangered or vulnerable. the initiative was founded by photographer graeme green and the environmental group one earth. the goal: for people to drop the gun, and pick up the camera. he hopes photography will raise awareness of the threats to these animals. a reminder of our top story — israel and palestinian militants are under mounting pressure to cease ten days of cross—border attacks. in his latest telephone call to the israeli prime minister, president biden has asked benjamin netanyahu for a significant de—escalation.

mr netanyahu says he'll continue military operations. 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. in iceland, a thawing in relations between the us and russia. us secretary of state antony blinken in his first meeting with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov says it's "no secret that we have our differences", but that the world would be safer if the two countries' leaders worked together. america's house of representives have voted to go ahead with a bipartisan commission to investigate the siege of the capitol building by donald trump supporters in january. 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.

now on bbc news, hardtalk.