this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. could it be bye—bye bibi? israel's prime minister remains defiant — despite opposition claims they have the numbers to kick him out of office. translation: same lies, same empty slogans on hate and division for someone who helps hate and division. find division for someone who helps hate and division. and someone who is perpetrating _ hate and division. and someone who is perpetrating and - hate and division. and someone who is perpetrating and the - who is perpetrating and the fraud of the century. �*a crime against humanity�* — the conmen offering fake oxygen and fake drugs to the desperate in india battling covid. south africa is increasing its coronavirus restrictions

as it tries to fight a new surge in infections. and, facing possible expulsion from the french open. the japanese tennis player who refuses to speak to the media. hello and welcome to bbc news. israel is once again staring down another deadline to form a government. a key israeli opposition party has backed a unity government that would bring to an end benjamin netanyahu's time as the country's longest serving prime minister. the ultra—nationalist leader, naftali bennett, said he'd join a governing coalition with the centrist party leader, yair lapid — who has until wednesday to try and form a new coalition government.

translation: all parties are invited tojoin translation: all parties are invited to join the government, for the government to succeed, we will all have to share restraint are both during the negotiations and later on. nobody is being asked to give up nobody is being asked to give up on their ideology but everybody will have to make some compromises. meanwhile, mr netanyahu has responded immediately to the plans to create a unity government, denouncing mr bennett as a liar and saying that a lapid—bennett government would weaken israel. translation: again, he is misleading the public. same lies, selves that make same hate and division from someone who hates hate and division. someone who is perpetrating, i must say, the fraud of the century. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem and has been following

the latest developments. it has been a night of high political drama. bennett saying he will now back with his friend, yair lapid, a former tv news anchor, a unity government. he said there was no option for a right—wing government which would have been his preference. he said there was only the choice of a unity government or a fifth election. this of course referring to the fact that israel has already had four elections in under two years. it has been an unprecedented period of political stalemate with the country really divided into a pro— and anti— netanyahu camp. mr bennett said this had been the most difficult decision of his life, to go into this new government, but he said that it was open for all parties tojoin he said that it was open for all parties to join and that all parties to join and that all parties to join and that all parties who did join would have a veto power stop we

understand that the arrangement would mean that actually, the tarlee bennett would style —— happy prime minister first if this new government takes place was that he would serve as a minister for two years and as foreign minister and then yair lapid would take over as prime minister. it also netanyahu himself came out fighting and called on all right—wing members of parliament to join what he described as a left—wing government. he said, who will take care of settlements? and he imagined what it would look like if the new security cabinet of this new security cabinet of this new government had to make key decisions about iran. and he talked about bennett is leading the scam of the century, was really very critical of him. israeli politics, as you have just described, is very complex and very, very unpredictable. our constraining with well a

coalition likely be in the country? —— how constraining? israel always has coalition governments and it is by the nature of its system of proportional representation. it is quite a fragmented political scene, but it will never have had a coalition government quite like the one that is now being talked about which would ring together parties from the far left of the spectrum to really quite far on the right and would expect them all, despite their very different ideas about many policy issues, to sit together and make key decisions. yair lapid in a previous statement, we're not expecting to hear from previous statement, we're not expecting to hearfrom him tonight, but he has that this government would be able to make key decisions on the economy and on security matters, that it would be about ringing the country together, because it has been so very divided. what really unites all of these different parties is indeed their opposition tibetan

—— opposition to benjamin netanyahu, their desire for change was up they say that as he is facing a corruption trial for charges which he denies, he is being accused of fostering division and putting his own personal interests ahead of the national interests of the country of israel. india has reported its lowest covid case numbers in more than a0 days, with around 165,000 new infections on saturday. during the country's devastating second wave of the virus, police in delhi, have made more than 350 arrests forfraud, relating to counterfeit medical supplies. many families have fallen victim to the conmen, offering fake oxygen and drugs, on social media. a senior police officer has told the bbc that these are crimes against humanity. from delhi, our international correspondent, 0rla guerin has more details — and her report contains some distressing images.

this was delhi in its darkest hour. the peak of the second wave in india's capital. patients gasping for breath. woman screams. a time of desperate prayers... ..often unanswered among dwindling supplies. enter the profiteers and the covid conmen. this was one scam among many, fire extinguishers sold as oxygen cylinders on social media. she was everything to me. she was a friend to me, a sister to me. i'm just incomplete without her. this woman is a lawyer by training but she was ensnared by scammers as she tried

to save her mother. the 50—year—old businesswoman, seen here in a family video, was fun loving and energetic. when she came down with covid, doctors prescribed injections of the antiviral drug remdesivir. she searched and chemists and hospitals all over the city. we were helpless, totally helpless. i was the one that was driving all over and my hands and my legs were shivering because there was no hope of finding injections. eventually, she and herfather paid five times the normal price for this — bought from a supplier whose number was circulating on social media. the remdesivir was fake. the real drug is on the right. they found out too late. who do you blame for your mother's death? totally, i would say, because of the fake injections, the people who gave us the fake injections.

i totally blame them, we totally blame them, so i would say the punishment for murder should be given, the harsh punishment. punishment is coming for some. this assembly line for fake remdesivir was shut down by delhi police. elsewhere, they have detained one man in sadhanna's case. they have been parading suspect after making about 350 arrests in recent weeks. this cybercrime specialist in the indian police for 30 years says he's witnessed a new low. it very painful to see this situation. you can consider this as a crime against humanity also. mankind also. people are suffering. they're asking you to deliver something to save their life and you are cheating them. the picture here is improving but if and when india suffers a third wave, covid fraudsters may not be far behind, waiting to prey on the suffering.

0rla guerin, bbc news, delhi. from monday, south africa will increase its covid—i9 restrictions to try and fight a surge in recent infections. a nightly curfew is to be extended, meaning non—essential shops, bars and restaurants, will be forced to close by 10pm. the country's president, cyril ramaphosa, has also announced that all gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 100 people indoors and face masks will remain mandatory in public. further restrictions are necessary to ensure that health facilities are not overwhelmed and that lives that could be saved are not lost. delaying the spread of the virus is especially important now to allow as many people as

possible to be vaccinated before the third wave reaches its peak. before the third wave reaches its eak. ., before the third wave reaches its eak. . ., , its peak. that was south africa's _ its peak. that was south africa's cyril _ its peak. that was south | africa's cyril ramaphosa. here in the uk, the vaccines minister, nadhim zahawi, says the government will be cautious and look at all the data, before deciding whether to end covid restrictions in england next month. it comes as the chief executive of nhs providers says, "very, very few" coronavirus patients in hospital in england, have received two covid jabs — showing that a double dose of vaccine can provide "very high" levels of protection. here's our health correspondent, catherine burns. a critical incident for the south western ambulance service — not because of coronavirus, though. there are just 13 covid patients in hospital there, but the system is dealing with a backlog in cases and a busy bank holiday weekend, so people are being told to only call 999 in an emergency.

we're expecting to see around 3000 calls a day across the south—west, and that's a considerable amount for the resources that we have available to us. it's notjust one region, though. health bosses are warning about universal pressure on the nhs across the country. we've got these big care backlogs that we're kind of trying to get through as quickly as possible, and we're tackling the most complex cases to start with, and that means that those patients need to have overnight stays, because they're difficult cases. hospitals say those complex cases are often simple problems that got worse over lockdown, so patients can need more complicated treatment and longer stays in hospital. wesley vernon was diagnosed with cataracts three years ago and is still on a waiting list. it's steadily getting worse, it is an insidious thing, it has sort of crept on, and i've had the surgery cancelled several times, and ijust don't know what's

happening, which is quite frustrating. but at the same time as the backlog, the nhs is still running that race — vaccine versus variant. we're six months in now, and the government has a new, speedier ambition. we hope to be able to protect with two doses all 1—9, all the over—50s, before the 21st ofjune. we will, you know, make sure we vaccinate at scale. but, and here's the important thing, we will share the evidence with the country on the 14th ofjune. those dates are key because june the 14th is when the government will tell us if the next stage of opening up will happen in england onjune the 21st. at that point, they'll want to meet four tests before going ahead. the first test — is the vaccine roll—out going well? the second — are vaccines stopping people getting sick or dying with covid ? the third test is about infection levels. are they getting so high they're putting too much pressure on the nhs? and the final test is about new variants of concern. are they changing

the risk level? those first two tests about vaccines are being met so far. some parts of the country like bolton and blackburn had seen the biggest increase in cases linked to the indian variant. even in those areas, though, hospitals aren't seeing a huge spike in covid patients. really, though, we need to wait a few weeks to see if the next stage of opening up will be affected or not. catherine burns, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: aiming high — the climber from hong kong who's become the fastest woman to climb everest. the queen and her husband began their royal progress to west instead. ., ., instead. the moment of grounding. _ instead. the moment of grounding, in _ instead. the moment of| grounding, in accordance instead. the moment of- grounding, in accordance with the order of servants, by a single given, the great guns of the tower.

single given, the great guns of the tower-— the tower. tributes have been aid the tower. tributes have been paid around — the tower. tributes have been paid around the _ the tower. tributes have been paid around the world - the tower. tributes have been paid around the world to - paid around the world to muhammad ali who has died at the age — muhammad ali who has died at the age of 74. outspoken rally out fought, he transcended the sport— out fought, he transcended the sport of— out fought, he transcended the sport of boxing of which he was three _ sport of boxing of which he was three times world champion. he was a three times world champion. he: was a fighter and he fought all the way till the end, even through his illness.- the way till the end, even through his illness. yes he did. through his illness. yes he did- uefa _ through his illness. yes he did. uefa imposes - through his illness. yes he did. uefa imposes an - through his illness. yes he - did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english _ did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs _ did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs playing - did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs playing in l ban on english clubs playing in europe. todayis today is the 20th anniversary of the release of the beatles�* lp, sgt. pepper�*s lonely hearts club band, and it alban discovered as —— said as the most influential of the century. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the far—right nationalist israeli politician — naftali bennett — says he will work with all his might, towards forming a new unity government — something that

would end benjamin netanyahu�*s 12 years as prime minister. �*a crime against humanity�*. the conmen offering fake oxygen and fake drugs to the desperate in india battling covid. president macron has warned that france would withdraw its troops from mali, if political instability in the country, leads to greater islamist radicalisation. it follows the second coup in nine months, in the west african nation. france currently has more than 5,000 soldiers operating across the sahel region, conducting anti—insurgency operations. the economic community of west african states — or �*ecowas�* — has also raised concerns about the military takeover. they�*ve been holding disussions in ghana, recently they have announced

that they will remove the membership of mali in the organisation. bbc africa�*s thomas naadi, has been following the story. the ecowas leaders will hold discussions with the leaders of the militaryjointer in the hotel behind me two weeks floor space that make ways of retaining the country to a civilian led government. they seized power after they were satisfied with the cabinet reshuffle. that saw two key members of the militaryjointer stripped of their positions. this latest coup has contravened a key conditionality of ecowas which insisted on a civilian led government. the situation is further complicated the constitutional kurt on friday which confirmed the colonel as the leader. western legalists including emmanuel macron have

expressed concern that this latest development could send the already fragile situation in central mali. earlier, i spoke to paul melly, from the africa programme at chatham house. iasked him how, with a backdrop ofjihadist instability in the north of the country and the wider international threat, could mr macron risk withdrawing troops from mali? he is trying to walk a very difficult and very fine line. in rwanda that was, as you say, really about repairing the relationships after some of the difficult episodes in france�*s postcolonial history in the particular case of rwanda where france was accused of not doing enough to intervene to prevent the genocide. so it is facing up the genocide. so it is facing up to difficult past history. and at the same time, france

remains one of the countries most committed and engaged in terms of supporting africa and, particularly, the west of the continent. france is increasing its aid budget. it has more than 5000 troops across the sahel, probably the largest deployment in that presence and france is politically committed to the region. french ministers are in the region constantly, macron travels they regularly but he is always at risk of being accused, if you like, of post imperial invariants that make interference so it is a difficult line to tread. more than 200 and 70 ferry passengers and crew have successfully saved themselves in indonesia after their ship caught fire. rescue teams told local media that by the time they arrived at the scene near the remote northeastern sula islands, most of the passengers had

alreadyjumped off the ship and were safely in lifeboats — one man is still missing. in tennis, the world number two japan�*s naomi osaka — has been fined $15,000 and faces expulsion from the french open if she continues to refuse to speak to the media. last week osaka said on social media that she would not give any news conferences during the tournament, writing : "i�*ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes�* mental health and this rings true whenever i see a press conference or partake in one." grand slam tournaments responded in a statement, by saying: should osaka "continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further code of conduct infringement consequences." including default and suspension from future tournaments. and in the last few hours osaka

tweeted: "anger is a lack of understanding. change makes people uncomfortable." craig gabriel is a veteran tennis commentator in paris covering the french open. he says the response from tournament organisers has been appropriate to osaka�*s behaviour. they are taking the right course of action. this is the only course of action that they can take to tell her that if she continues to behave and act in this matter it could lead to suspension. because these fines will build up and build up. she was fined $15,000 today which is on the upper echelons of fines. and you will remember novak djokovic was fined i think, $20,000 at last year�*s us open. but this cannot continue the way she has done this, it is premeditated. we do have some situations where players have lost a major match and they decided to skip a post media conference.

but this is different, completely different. and it�*s not up to her to make the decisions as to what the rules are to apply to herself. so she needs to think about this and you don�*t want it to get to a situation where she is suspended because that�*s not going to help the game, and definitely going to help naomi osaka. a mountaineerfrom hong kong has broken the record for the fastest ascent of everest — by a woman. tsang yin—hung reached the top of the world�*s highest mountain from base camp in 25 hours and 50 minutes. that was fast enough to beat the previous record, set by a nepalese climber in 2017, by more than 12 hours. after setting the new record on sunday she said she believes in aiming high. actually i�*m kind of relieved and happy because i set this target about four years before.

and i always share with my students and my friends that if you aim high and then you can achieve high. the three peaks challenge, in which walkers tackle the highest points of scotland, england and wales one after the other — is one of britain�*s most popular endurance events. but three climbs aren�*t enough for one pair of fitness enthusiasts, who are planning to throw in a fourth. their home for around six weeks. katherine and martin will eat, sleep and travel on this rowing boat between the four nations of the united kingdom, before taking on their highest peaks on foot. a challenge that�*s never been attempted before. so this is our cabin. there�*s just enough legroom to be able to lie down. and i�*m here, martin�*s here, so it�*s pretty cosy. it�*s the idea of katherine wilkins, who runs a fitness centre in northumberland. despite the mammoth challenge ahead,

she managed to get martin, who works for her, on board. i like to try things that no—one�*s ever done before. when katherine mentioned it to me, that she�*s got this challenge in mind and no—one�*s ever completed it, i was instantly, "yes, i�*m there, i�*m doing it." the pair will start their challenge by climbing mount snowdon in wales before walking to caernarfon. they�*ll then row to whitehaven, and from there walk up to the summit of scafell pike. after walking back to the coast, they�*ll cross the irish sea to northern ireland, where they�*ll tackle slieve donard. they�*ll then take on the longest rowing leg of their expedition, by sea and canal to fort william in the highlands of scotland. there, they�*ll climb ben nevis. the irish sea has a lot of challenges. it�*s got shipping lanes. it can be horrendously tidal and choppy. so we have everything crossed for a high—pressure system and a gentle crossing, but we�*re not under any illusions. the pair will be raising money for the mental health charity mind.

me being a former marine, a veteran of the marines, some lads who leave struggle a lot with mental health, including myself. so, when ijoined the forces, the forces was my family. and then to go from that to civilian life is a bit of a shock. it�*s hard, really, to find that purpose, of where you stand in civilian life and what gets you up in the morning. ijust want people to be able to talk about it, the benefits of being outside and pushing yourselves physically, and the benefits that can have on mental health. you are really going to be pushing yourself physically, aren�*t you? yes, i think we are! we are definitely going to be pushing ourselves physically, and, you know, we're probably talking 16, 17 hours rowing a day. they�*ll set off on their challenge onjune the third. is it going to challenge your friendship, do you think? we had a couple of hairy moments on the training row last weekend and we got through that and said to ourselves, there�*s no—one we�*d rather be in a boat with. alison freeman, bbc news.

you can reach me on twitter — i�*m @lukwesaburak. clear and calm out there across most of the uk and bank holiday monday promises to be another warm and sunny day. the temperatures will probably be a degree also higher but it will not be sunny everywhere. an example gear from sunday on the scottish coast, a lot of poor and see fred out to sea and we could see a repeat performance of that on bank holiday monday, this is stubborn cloud that hugs the coast and sticks around through the course of the day but inland will be sunny. the morning temperatures will be typically around 7— 10 degrees in towns and cities, a little fresher in the countryside. the morning cloud will eventually burn back to

the coast as we go through the morning and then clear blue skies nationwide apart from aberdeenshire coastline, 14 degrees were as inland we are talking in the low— mid 20s. another beautiful bank holiday monday on the way. the week ahead, this is tuesday into wednesday, we will start to see low pressure developing the south abuzz but it is still far away. that is unsettled weather heading our way but still, on tuesday, we will see a lot of fine weather across the uk. a weather front approaching ireland here so there could be a little more cloud in northern ireland but essentially speaking it is little change for most of us on tuesday. in fact, the peak of the warmth will see temperatures hitting around 26 celsius. that low edges ever closer during the course of wednesday that it this is wednesday and you can see showers than approaching south—western parts of the uk. could be thunderstorms around as well. difficult to say

exactly where because there could be hit and miss but look at that. the vast majority of the country again enjoying clear, warm, sunny weather. on wednesday we will see temperatures easily reach the 20s, possibly the mid 20s and in scotland around 22 celsius for glasgow and edinburgh. that was wednesday. beyond that? it looks like it will cool off a little bit but temperatures in some parts of the country will still hover around the 20s, for example in the south. on the whole it is not bad at all.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the far—right nationalist israeli politician, naftali bennett, says he�*ll work with all his might towards forming a new unity government — something that would end benjamin netanyahu�*s 12 years as prime minister. mr bennett threw his support behind yair lapid, who is trying to form a government. police in the indian capital, delhi, have arrested more than 350 suspected fraudsters for selling fake medical supplies to vulnerable covid patients. police found that many families fell victim to conmen offering counterfeit drugs and oxygen on social media. the japanese tennis star, naomi osaka, has been warned she could be disqualified from the french open and has been fined $15,000 for refusing to attend press conferences at the tournament. the tennis authorities said she faces being banned from future grand slam events. now on bbc news it�*s hardtalk with stephen sackur.