this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: drumming and cheering. celebrations on the streets of colombo, as sri lanka's president, gotabaya rajapaksa, resigns, following days of mass protests. russian forces extend their reach into western ukraine, as cruise missiles hit business and residential buildings far from the frontlines. joe biden pledges that they will prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. this attack happened right in the middle of a beautiful morning, when people would have been _ morning, when people would have been out _ morning, when people would have been out and about and felt safe — been out and about and felt safe. but nowhere is safe in ukraine _ safe. but nowhere is safe in

ukraine anymore. political uncertainty in italy, after the prime minister, offers his resignation but the president refuses to accept it. and ivana trump, donald trump's first wife and the mother of three of his children, has died, aged 73. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe celebrations have been taking place in sri lanka after gotabaya rajapaksa became the country's first sitting president to quit. he did so after months of angry protests over the rapidly rising cost of living, and shortages of food and fuel. the delay in handing over his letter of resignation was, it seems, to do

with his flight from the maldives to singapore. from colombo, rajini vaidyanathan reports. music. a moment to savour, after months of struggle. now there's joy. these demonstrators had one key demand, that the man they blame for their economic woes resign. tonight, president gotabaya rajapaksa did. protesters say they are celebrating what represents a victory for people power. it's the end of the rule of the rajapaksas, after a week of turmoil on the island. just yesterday, at the prime minister's office, security forces were overrun by protesters. it was one of a number of government buildings taken over by the masses. today, protesters handed it back to the authorities,

soldiers now on guard, authorised to use force to maintain order. sirens. a country under curfew, streets once packed with protesters, now patrolled by the military. elsewhere, tensions are running high, with the basics still in short supply, only a few weeks of fuel now left in the country. in an exclusive interview, the governor of sri lanka's central bank told me that, without a stable government, the suffering will continue. we don't see a way forward and how to get enough foreign exchange to finance essential petroleum for this country. if that doesn't happen, then it will be like the whole country will be closed down. no—one will be able to do any activity. the pace of the

protests has slowed. a president gone, and a country still in limbo. this i met nusli, as he stormed the prime minister's house yesterday. he wants an interim government to be installed. we will give the interim government six months to a maximum of one year to settle all this and ease the problems as much as possible. after that, elections should happen and people can select who they want to rule the country next. but nobody knows who that should be. as they celebrate the end of one chapter in this protest movement, another difficult one is about to begin. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, colombo. let's get some of the day's other news. authorities in colombia say three children have been killed after a mudslide buried a school in the andes in the country's northwest. military officers and members

of the public helped emergency workers in the rescue effort. the mayor said 17 children and a teacher escaped the landslide. the japanese prime minister has called for more nuclear power plants to operate next winter to counter possible energy shortages. fumio kishida said the country needed a balanced mix of energy sources. but the japanese public has been wary of atomic power since the fukushima nuclear disaster. one of the sons of a former honduran president and three other young men have been killed by unknown gunmen as they left a nightclub in the capital, tegucigalpa. police said that the attack appeared to be well planned and had probably targeted said lobo bonilla, who worked with his father, porfirio lobo. the actor kevin spacey has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges dating back seventeen yea rs. the five allegations relate to three men who are now in their thirties and forties. the 62—year—old was granted unconditional bail after appearing at a court in london

where he's due to stand trial in june next year. president biden and the israeli prime minister, yair lapid, have signed a joint declaration to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons. washington says it will use all the elements of us power to prevent it, but mr lapid said only a credible military threat would work. the american leader was injerusalem to meet israelis and palestinians before moving on to saudi arabia. from jerusalem, our middle east editor, jeremy bowen reports. not the wild west, but the middle east. for all its power, america's ability to control middle eastern turbulence is limited. joe biden and israel's acting prime minister, yair lapid, signed a declaration billed as historic. in fact, it had all been said before, but israel needed him

to say it again. i made it absolutely clear we will not, let me say it again, we will not allow iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. for israel, it starts with a conventional, not nuclear, threat, on the heavily fortified border with lebanon, three hours�* drive north from jerusalem. it's one of the most dangerous potential flashpoints in the middle east. i'll show you a couple of places over here. that's because it's a front line between the israelis and iran's strongest ally and client, hezbollah. if we'll stand over here, like a couple more minutes, we will see people of hezbollah coming over here. both sides have worked hard to keep the border quiet, since hezbollah fought israel to a standstill in a war in 2006. but when hezbollah appeared, they were in israel's sights. behind the watchers in lebanon,

the israelis assumed hezbollah guns were also ready. it took one incident to spark a month of war in 2006. these men have thejob of protecting israel's northern border, but it's about a lot more than that, because this is one of the great fault lines that runs through the middle east. on that side, friends of iran. and on this, friends of america. and the division is dangerous, and it's heating up again. israel's already fighting a covert war of assassinations and bombings with iran. this border would also explode, if israel or the us mounted full—scale air strikes on iran's nuclear facilities. are you conscious that behind hezbollah down there is iran? yeah, absolutely, yeah. we can see how they're acting over here, how they're operating day and day. it's not myjob to say it, but myjob is to be over

here and protect the tactical things. but we know we can see that and everything that they have, how they act and how they are operating over here, yes. back injerusalem, what's missing is any attempt to ease the festering israeli—palestinian conflict. it used to be the top priority for visiting american presidents. in his progress around the city the israelis call their eternal capital, president biden repeated his call for an independent palestine alongside israel. on the other side of the wall, israel has built to separate jerusalem from the palestinians of the west bank, that sounds empty. he's clearly here for one case only and to help the israelis and not palestinians. he doesn't even care about us. so many presidents came in the last 10 or 15 years and we did not see any difference in our situation. along joe biden's route into bethlehem, his next stop,

are accusations that israel is guilty of apartheid. denied by the israelis and the us, widely accepted by palestinians and human rights groups. and he'll see many portraits of shireen abu aqleh, the palestinian—american journalist killed by israeli troops in may. for this american president, what matters much more are israel's security, iran's nuclear plans and the final leg of his trip to saudi arabia. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. well, earlier i spoke us israeli relations expert natan sachs who's director of the center for middle east policy at brookings. i asked him how far the us is really prepared to go in using force to prevent iran's nuclear ambitions. from the israeli perspective, where you sit is where you stand, and israel feels

much closer to iran as are some of its new arab partners. the united states is far away. that is really the significance of this statement. it is not the first time the united states has made clear that they would prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, nor that the use of force is on the table as a last resort, but there is growing suspicion or growing scepticism in the region, and perhaps in tehran as well, that the united states would actually get involved in another military operation in the middle east, something americans do not want to do. biden, when he says this, he is trying to lay those suspicions to rest in order to provide a credible threat with the idea is that a credible threat means that the threat does not have to be used. if iran fears it may be struck if it acquires nuclear weapons and hopefully they would not acquire the weapons and we can all hope there will never be another conflict around them. so are you suggesting that this idea that the us support, that the us, its influence has declined and in that case what does that mean for this attempt to reintegrate israel and normalise relations

within the region for israel? the united states is shifting attention elsewhere. china is now considered to be the pacing challenge for all national security issues and of course attention is in ukraine and with russia. nonetheless the us is still heavily invested in the middle east so i wouldn't overstate the decline of american influence. the question now is how does the united states operate with slightly less attention in the middle east? the main way to do that would be through partners and through an architecture that allows those partners to shoulder more of the burden themselves, to have more agency, to conduct more of their affairs without overt american influence. and in that context, closer relations between israel and several of the sunni arab states can be very important, allowing american partners to shoulder more of the burden and lead some of the way where america no longer wants to do so. this is a demand that many people have had of the united states

for many years, to pull out of the middle east, or to not be quite so heavily involved, and using this new partnership, this new architecture, is one means of how the united states is hoping to do so in the coming years. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: donald trump pays tribute to his first wife, ivana trump, who's died at the age of 73. radio: i see you coming down the ladder now. i that's one small step for man... ..one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight. for the first crash - in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. _ it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart

the state of yugoslavia but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. seven, six, five... thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: people in sri lanka have defied a curfew to celebrate the resignation of president gotabaya rajapaksa following days of protests. presidentjoe biden pledges that america will use all its power to prevent iran from ever getting nuclear weapons.

russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including 3 children and injuring as many as 50, according to ukrainian officials. the attack took place in the city of vinytsia, far from the frontline in the east of the country. a warning — you may find some details in sarah rainsford's report distressing. a sunny morning in vinnytsia suddenly turned pitch black. this was moments after the russian missiles hit. the staggering wounded... ..and those killed on the spot. a it was a strike on the very heart of this city. there was an air raid siren, but this is central ukraine, far from the fighting, so people ignored it. the blast was huge, and among the ruins,

we found this, smeared with blood. the four—year—old it belongs to was killed. her name was liza. her mum filmed the little girl just an hour before the attack. they were on their way to see her speech therapist. irina herself was badly injured. today, in the hague, ukraine's prosecutor general called russia's missile strike a war crime. translation: it was scary. people came running this way, covered in shrapnel injuries, so i ran in the other direction, because it was frightening. a giant department store was destroyed, including a medical centre, completely gutted on the ground floor. but it seems the russians�* target was opposite. this is called officers house, but it's a concert hall.

we saw no sign of any military here. it is really hard to see scenes like this, and to think of how russia talks about its precision missiles and its military targets. this wasn't a military target, and the force of the blast here was so huge that it wrapped that car around the base of this building. and this attack happened right in the middle of a beautiful morning here in vinnytsia, when people would have been out and about, and would have felt safe. but nowhere is safe in ukraine any more. not even people's houses. alexander thinks he heard the missile before it struck below his balcony. with so many injured and killed, he tells me he feels lucky that only his windows were shattered. translation: | ducked - like this, but then i thought,

"there's nowhere to run, it's too late." so i thought, "whatever will be will be." the missile fragments are being collected, the investigation has begun, a process once unimaginable in ukraine that's now terrifyingly familiar. sarah rainsford, bbc news, vinnytsia. more on ukraine on our website. at least 89 people have died in haiti, in a violent gang attack on a cite soleil, a slum neighborhoud with a population of 300,000. on wednesday, demonstrators in haiti blocked roads with burning tyres to protest against fuel shortages. for more let's hear from jacqueline charles, the carribean correspondent with the miami herald newspaper who just came back from haiti. she gave me her take on the issues. what we know is that this is basically an impoverished population that

has been locked in a particular area in cite soleil called brooklyn. those who manage try to get out of the city on small boat, canoes have been shot at by gangs. 21 of the 89 have been burnt to death. burnt to death, so extremely violent. gang violence has really gone up since the assassination of the president? exactly. this has been intensified. we had this before the assassination of the president just next door, in the neighbourhood calle la saline, but we have seen a number of massacres, we had one in may, east of the capital, and now this one. today i spoke with the mayor who said, quote, they are still shooting. while speaking to him you can hear the sound of automatic gunfire and while we were talking, police were actually at the port where they were searching containers that arrived, where they found at least a 17 automatic rifles, 43 magazines and ammunition. i wonder, the international

community, the un has a presence there but what kind of oversight do they have because i believe that the un security council, for them to be there, the mandate runs out imminently. what kind of control does the international community have, if any? they really don't. the mandate runs out tomorrow, friday, there has been a lot of discussions back and forth but i remind you that but i remind you that a few weeks ago, less than two weeks ago, a group of gangs basically took over the courthouse and despite the fact that haiti has a us arms embargo, arms continue coming in. the police are outgunned by these gangs, gangs have automatic weapons, police rarely have weapons, much less bullet—proof vests to go up against these guys. yesterday police officers told me they had not been paid for the month, they didn't even have fuel in their vehicles, yet they were being asked to quell the violence that was erupting throughout the capital.

there's political uncertainty in italy after the prime minister, mario draghi, offered his resignation, only to have it rejected by president sergio mattarella. mark lobel explains. temperatures are rising in italy omitted political heatwave dripping with uncertainty. it's notjust the damaging drought that needs dealing with up the country rebuilds from the pandemic. there are fragile negotiations to secure billions of euros in eu funds and pressure to reduce italy's reliance on russian gas but its political coalition is melting. italian residents are not relishing the prospect of another government facing collapse. another government facing collapse-— collapse. translation: it really seems _ collapse. translation: it really seems to _ collapse. translation: it really seems to be - collapse. translation: |t| really seems to be madness collapse. translation: it - really seems to be madness at

this time with the country recovering.— this time with the country recoverinu. , , ., recovering. this is not good. we should — recovering. this is not good. we should come _ recovering. this is not good. we should come to - recovering. this is not good. we should come to an - recovering. this is not good. - we should come to an agreement. the decision by the five star party to boycott this confidence vote on thursday prompted mario draghi, the former head of the european central bank and italy's by minister since february last year, to conclude that trust which had sustained the unity government had gone. but there was a plot twist at the presidential palace when the italian president sergio mattarella refused to accept his resignation. he is now called on mario draghi to address parliament and provide address parliament and provide a clear picture of the political situation. the five star movement was originally the biggest party in the coalition but has seen a string of defections and falling support. now it stands accused of a cynical plan to bring down the government to revise its own standing.—

the government to revise its own standing. but five star's leader giuseppe _ own standing. but five star's leader giuseppe conte - own standing. but five star's leader giuseppe conte said i own standing. but five star's| leader giuseppe conte said he could not support the package because it included measures that were bad for the environment, and he is accused of dragging italy closer to economic and social collapse and has shown total irresponsibility, according to one industry body, leaving one senior eu executive watching with worried astonishment. milan's stock market dropped as nervousness spread to investors in the eurozone's third biggest economy. italy next national elections are due next year that could come as early as this autumn if this instability persists. mark lobel, bbc news. the former first wife of us president donald trump, ivana trump, has died in the us at

age 73. born in czechoslovakia, , age 73. born in czechoslovakia,, she was model and a businesswoman. our correspondent, rianna croxford has been following the story. ivana trump fled from what was then czechoslovakia before going on to forge an illustrious career in the united states. she was a prominent skier, had worked as a ski instructor before becoming a model. during that time, she met donald trump, herformer husband of 15 years. now, those close to her often described her as a workaholic and she played a key role in developing the trump brand before later in life going on to launch her own beauty lines, her own clothing hair lines and beauty products, but really, herfamily say her pride and joy were her three children — eric, ivanka and donald trump, jr. and when it comes to reaction from the family, we know that donald trump himself has tweeted about this? that's right. on social media, her former husband described her as "a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman who led a great and inspirational life" and that has been echoed

by her children, who said they are heartbroken and, in a statement, have praised her as "a survivor, calling her a force in business, a world—class athlete and a caring mother and friend". rianna, when you were talking about her relationship with donald trump, when that was beginning, at the beginning of that, she really attracted a lot of attention, international attention as well, when that started? definitely. they were seen as one of new york city's most prominent power couples in the 1980s. the pair were married for 15 years before going to have a highly publicised divorce after mr trump had an affair. but, in recent years, she did say that had improved, writing in her memoir in 2017 that the pair spoke about once a week. rianna croxford. just sharing those memories of ivana trump, the first wife of donald trump who has died at the age of 73. much more in all

of our stories on the website. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @kasiamadera. it would be lovely to hear from you. hello. we've seen a bit of a lull in the heatwave conditions over the past 2a hours or so. it was a little bit fresher on thursday and into friday, too, but intense heat is on the way, particularly by sunday into tuesday. the met office have issued an amber warning for extreme heat across much of england and wales. we're likely to see widespread impacts from this spell of severe heat. health impacts notjust for the vulnerable — we could see transport disruption, potentially disruption to energy supplies as well. so, certainly some severe weather on the way with those exceptionally high temperatures sunday to tuesday. back to the here and now, for friday morning, we're going to be seeing a few splashes of rain across scotland, northern england, too. any showers quickly clearing from northern ireland. stays dry all day for southern england and wales. plenty of spells of sunshine

coming through and again, it is going to feel warm, so, highs in the south 25—26 degrees. we're looking at the high teens or low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. moving through into friday evening, any of those showers in the north fading away fairly quickly, so it is dry, it's clear. we'll see a little bit of a warmer night as we head into the early hours of saturday. still reasonably fresh across parts of scotland and northern ireland. we could see single figures here but down towards the south, we're are looking at mid—teens, i think, to start off your weekend. now, through saturday, a bit more cloud and a few spots of rain for the far north—west of scotland. dry elsewhere with strong sunshine — very high levels of uv this time of year — so those temperatures starting to pick up. the mid to high 20s across england and wales, the low 20s for scotland and for northern ireland. those temperatures continue to build then day on day. this is how sunday's looking. perhaps the odd rogue shower for scotland. dry, hot and sunny elsewhere.

the hottest spots in the low 30s, i think, across much of central southern england. even further north and west, we're looking at the mid to the high 20s. by the time we get to monday, that heat becomes more extensive across the map, so more of us will see temperatures in the mid, possibly high 30s, potentially record—breaking temperatures by the time we get to tuesday. one or two spots potentially 38—39 degrees as well, so temperatures like that, we don't see them very often here in the uk. they are going to cause some significant disruption. do make plans for monday into tuesday. we could see those temperatures near ll0 degrees in a few spots. thundery breakdown at last on the way by wednesday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: people in sri lanka have defied a curfew to celebrate the resignation of the president following days of demonstrations. a formal letter of notice — sent from singapore — has been received by government officials. the president fled earlier this week, after protests against corruption and inflation. yair lapid, have signed a declaration promising to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons. washington says the us is prepared to use all elements of its power to stop tehran. mr lapid said only a credible military threat would stop iran. at least 20 people have been killed in a russian