welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. protestors take to the streets in tel aviv — including outside the home of prime minister benjamin netanyahu injerusalam — after he sacks his defence minister for condemning his controversialjudicial reforms. warnings of more severe weather in mississippi — after a powerful tornado kills at least 26 people. two boats carrying migrants sink off the coast of tunisia. 29 people have died and others are still missing. anger grows as new figures show nearly 3 thousand children were strip—searched by police forces in england and wales over four years. and the campaigner who's run 200 marathons in the last year to highlight the issue

of water overconsumption hello and welcome to the programme. we begin today in israel, where prime minister benjamin netenyahu has sacked his defense minister, yoav gallant, after he called on the government to suspend overhauling the judiciary. these are live pictures from tel aviv tonight. the skill of the protests have been growing and mass protests that are been taking place in several cities in the country. after dissecting his defence minister.

let me show you these live pictures from israel. tens of thousands of protestors returned to the streets on sunday night waving israeli flags following the dismissal of defence minister yoav gallant. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu removed mr gallant after he called on the prime minister to halt legislation on his proposed changes to the judiciary. the controversial bill has divided the country; many see it as a threat to israeli democracy earlier i spoke to barak ravid, who is a journalist and middle east correspondent for the digital news website axios in tel aviv. i asked him what's at stake here. thank you for having me and what is at stake at the moment is the future of israel's democracy. this is not about this or that law. when the government came into office,

three months ago, it announced a judicial overall plan that includes a set of something like 20 different laws that when you put all of them together, you see that the result is that israel will be less democratic. the government was planning to take over all appointments of the judges, giving the coalition of foal majority in picking supreme courtjudges, limiting supreme court judges, limiting supreme courtjudges, limiting supreme court ability to strike down laws in the list of, 20 other measures that again, the result of all of them is that its review will be less democratic. and the people —— israel. and slowly, people are realising and people on the left, in the centre and on the right realise that this was not something that this was not something that this was not something that this government told people that it was going to do during the election campaign and at the end of the day, yes?

sorry tojump in and at the end of the day, yes? sorry to jump in there, we're looking at life pictures of the moments of that scene, the scale of the protests and demonstrate is growing by the second there in tel aviv where you are and as i understand it, this evening. you've talked us through the opposition to these laws but what is it exactly that the prime minister is trying to achieve with changing the judiciary reforms in this way? the judiciary reforms in this wa ? ~ ., ., , , way? we have to remember he is facin: a way? we have to remember he is facing a trial— way? we have to remember he is facing a trial right _ way? we have to remember he is facing a trial right now. _ way? we have to remember he is facing a trial right now. at - facing a trial right now. at the same time, he is trying to decide who we are going to be the supreme courtjustices that might need to decide on his appeal. and he has a lot of other plans, like for example stocking the attorney general and hold such of other issues

that are all meant to influence his own trial and to make sure that he doesn't go to jail. i think that when theirs is the occasion, he allowed many other radical elements to take control of thisjudicial radical elements to take control of this judicial reform and take it to very extreme places. i and take it to very extreme laces. , �* and take it to very extreme laces. , ~ , ., places. i see. and 'ust to say that he has h places. i see. and 'ust to say that he has of_ places. i see. and just to say that he has of course - places. i see. and just to say that he has of course been i that he has of course been denying those allegations. but i want to put to the fact that we have seen the sacking of the defence minister. how serious is this for the government there in terms of stability going forward. do you see more people voicing their opposition and also, as a result being sacked? , and also, as a result being sacked?— sacked? just so that you understand _ sacked? just so that you understand the - sacked? just so that you understand the reaction| sacked? just so that you l understand the reaction to sacked? just so that you - understand the reaction to his decision to fire minister of defence governor, right now in tel aviv there are close to —— and it's iam now. there are close to 100,000 people demonstrating in the streets at one a: m.. demonstrating in the streets at one a:m..100,000 people. and

why did he fire mr gallen, the minister of defence? because yesterday he gave a speech and warned that this judicial overhaul, it has become a clear and immediate dangerfor and immediate danger for israel's and immediate dangerfor israel's national security. this is not me saying that. i am quoting him, the minister of defence warned about the threat to israel's defence and as a result he was fired by the prime minister. i think people realise that those kind of steps and decisions by the prime minister show that he lost touch with reality. that was a journalist _ lost touch with reality. that was a journalist in - lost touch with reality. that was a journalist in the - lost touch with reality. that was a journalist in the middle east, correspondent for acts he is in tel aviv speaking to us a little earlier. to the us now, where president biden has ordered federal aid to be sent to the southern state of mississippi, as emergency services work to help hundreds of people left homeless by a powerful tornado. at least 26 people have died, and dozens have been injured.

0ur north america correspondent, sophie long, reports from one town that's been virtually destroyed. as you drive into rolling fork, you can see the extent of the destruction. the tornado has completely obliterated this community. from the air, you can see the direct path it took. some trees have been stripped of their branches and uprooted. others are totally untouched. then as you reach the town, total devastation. and this is the moment it struck a school nearly four hours drive away in amory, indicating just how far it travelled without losing strength. salvage what i can. in rolling fork, survivors sift through what remains of their flattened homes. trying to make sure i get all their shoes. stifling tears as they think of loved ones who didn't survive the storm. darrell lost his uncle.

told me to lift the trailer up, told me he tried to flatten down flat and it blew up. his roommate was in the truck. he tried to get back to the house, but he couldn't get in the house. so he dived in the truck. he told me seeing the trailer go up in the air, flattened down like a pancake and just explode. president biden has promised federalfunds and the support they need to rebuild their community. i want to personally thank president biden and his team for very quickly signing the emergency declaration that we sent up on yesterday. obviously, the resources that the people here in rolling fork and throughout mississippi need... the help is on the way. but it's hard to imagine how this devastated community can ever fully recover. i hope that we can bounce back from this, man. i know it's a lot. i know i'm saying a lot, and i'm hoping for a lot. but we lost a lot. so i'm hoping. all we can do is hope and pray.

the clear up operation is only nowjust beginning. they have a huge task ahead. sophie long, bbc news rolling fork, mississippi. cbs correspondent mike hellgren has been spending time on the ground in rolling fork and gave us this update about relief efforts. neighbours are helping neighbours. we have seen so many charitable organisations providing food and drink to those who need it. there are shelters available. and as you heard that federal government help us on the way. it so much needed. these scenes are just heartbreaking. behind me you see very little left of this house. a woman survived in her closet there. i talked to her son just a short time ago. her husband was trapped underneath a mattress. he also survived. you can see just a short distance away, there is a pick—up truck that was just

thrown onto a pile of debris. so that help is very much needed. but we are seeing so many from even outside this community coming in and trying to provide assistance to people who desperately need it here right now. mike, as you mentioned the rebuilding is going to take some time of course. but now we are hearing more bad whether is to come. how bad could it get? well, right now you can see it's raining just a little bit. according to the national weather service there is an enhanced risk for severe weather, possibly more tornadoes in this area, winds more than 100 km an hour, and hail. that's going to be coming through tonight so people are bracing for that. you can see there's not much left here, but a lot of people have tried to gather up what belongings they could salvage. before that severe weather comes in within the next few hours, and people are urged to pay attention to any weather bulletins.

in parts of the uk the police have been accused of failing children, following a highly critical report, into their use of strip searches. new figures show almost 3000 children were strip—searched by police forces in england and wales, between 2018 and mid 2022. the youngest was just eight years old. more than half didn't involve an appropriate adult being present, as required by law, except when there's a serious risk to life, and black children were up to six times more likely to be strip—searched, compared to the rest of the population. the children's commissioner for england says she's deeply concerned about the findings, as celestina 0lu—loday reports. a year ago, thousands marched in solidarity with child 0, a black schoolgirl strip—searched by police in 2020. wrongly accused of carrying cannabis, the 15—year—old was on her period at the time.

her ordeal has encouraged others to come forward. 0ne teenager recounted his experience being strip—searched at the age of 13 to the children's commissioner. after being arrested at school, he was taken to a police station. the children's commissioner has raised concerns about locations where the strip searches were carried out. i have seen data sharing strip

searches in a fast food outlet, in an amusement park, and in a number of schools and police vehicles. both totally unacceptable. there needs to be training for all staff who might do this. there needs to be better data and record keeping. it is shocking to me, and parents need to be informed. the commissioner says that strip searches are necessary in certain circumstances like us right to life but stresses the bar must be high. responding to the findings, the national police chiefs' council said... but this campaigner says more action is needed. there should be a complete cessation on searches - until we have thosel safeguards in place.

until there's a proper system of reporting i of scrutiny, of oversight, because otherwise we're| allowing potentially abusive situations to continue - to be perpetuated. the children's commissioner says she will be calling for more police data next year. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. we'll hear from the campaigner who's run 200 marathons in the last year to highlight the issue of water overconsumption. the accident that happened here was the sort that can produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked but they didn't work quite well enough to present some old fears about the safety features of the stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to burn smoking from the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up and offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. , , ., , ., , fine. the president was on his wa out fine. the president was on his way out of _ fine. the president was on his way out of the _ fine. the president was on his way out of the washington - way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. a small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many prescience wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower is birthday is being re—enacted by the first descent of gustav eiffel. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm in singapore. 0ur headlines... anger in tel aviv after israel's prime minister sacks his defence minister for condemning his controversialjudicial reforms.

let's get more now on those protests in israel. the bbc�*s anna foster has been following the protesters injerusalem and she's just sent this update. this is a country which is no stranger to protest now. people have been demonstrating for 12 weeks, but tonight this is a larger and spontaneous gathering. this one is here in jerusalem. we followed this crowd as they marched from the residence of prime minister, here to the race of the parliament. 0n the way here, they were sprayed with water from water cannon. i had to climb through undergrowth to make it here but you can see that has not deterred these protesters. thousands of them waving flags, some of them have brought pots and pans to bank. there is chanting. there are really strong messages to the israeli government tonight, not just here injerusalem but across the country. tens of thousands of people have turned out in tel aviv, on the island highway, but they have closed

that row down because there sacking of israel's defence minister who spoke out against the legislation feels to many people here like a turning point. it feels like a moment when benjamin netanyahu needs to try and keep this country in order. he wants to push this legislation through before the end of this week. at the moment, thousands of people are here on the street of israel to try and stop him.— here on the street of israel to try and stop him. that was my colleague _ try and stop him. that was my colleague anna _ try and stop him. that was my colleague anna foster, - colleague anna foster, reporting on that story for us. coastguards in tunisia say 29 people are now known to have drowned when two boats carrying migrants sank within hours of each other. the vessels were heading to italy — as part of an increase in crossings that's seen several other boats sink, and dozens more reach the italian island of lampedusa. four other boats have gone down in the region in the last three days amid an unprecedented series of departures from north africa. earlier i spoke to giorgia linardi, spokeswoman for sea watch, one of the charities that runs rescue vessels in the sea between italy

and north africa. i began by asking her what was behind the increase in migrant boat crossings. thank you and good evening. so it is true that we are seeing an increase of departures. 20,000 people have reached the italian shores in 2023. that's more than three times compared to the same period of time in the past two years. it's also true that we are looking at a shift in the central mediterranean route. most of the departures are right now from tanisha/ however, most of the people on those boats are sub—saharan african citizens. most of them coming from libya. so this may be an effect of the policies enacted the european union that allow

the interception of the people by the coastguard to return them to libya, and there may be a shift of the route from the people who then tried to cross from libya to tunisia by land and then try to leave by sea from tanisha. there is also another relevant element which is that the position taken by the technician government on the 21st of february has literally talked about an attempt of ethnic substitution by the sub—saharan migrants in tunisia, and since then there has been literally a hunt against sub—saharan african migrants in the country, and this may also be the basis of departures from the country. when your rescue vessels encounter these people in the oceansa, what are they telling you and how are the authorities dealing with this? well when we encounter these people, we normally operate in the central mediterranean

route so we usually rescue people who are fleeing from libya. the first thing they usually tell us is that if we return them to libya they would rather die in the mediterranean sea. however, this is the destiny they are facing in most times when no one else is there to rescue them apart from rescue ngos who are currently blocked by a recent decree issued by the italian government which has been recently converted into law. this is a law that obstacles the presence od rescue and the mediterranean sea. the italian coastguard is doing what they can but it is clear that without a european union with the search and rescue mandate, it is impossible to cover the needs in terms of search and rescue in the mediterranean sea. well, i want to bring you some reports that are coming in now from north korea. according to

both the south korean military and the japanese coastguard that are being referenced by a variety of media reports saying that north korea has fired at least one identified ballistic missile this monday. the latest in its flurry of missile tests in its flurry of missile tests in recent weeks. according to chief of staff, the statement coming and there, it is an unidentified ballistic missile towards the east sea. the launch coming of course just days after they wrapped up their largestjoint military drills and five years last week. we will have more in that story as we get it. but for now let's leave that there and let's leave that there and let's tell you about the fact that the us and the world needs to urgently modify their consumption of water. the world needs to urgently modifiy it's consumption of water — that was the key message at the end of the un's first

water security conference in almost half a centruy. un secretary—general, antonio guterres told the three day conference in new york that the future of humanity depended on its adoption of an agenda for water use based on science. the conference heard water scarcity is becoming endemic due to over—consumption and pollution. 0ne campaigner has literally gone a long way to highlight this issue, running 200 marathons in one year, from her native australia to america. thejourney taking mina guli through the outback down under... via the mountains and snow... in places like central asia and europe. and across the plains of africa before finally arriving in the us. that's a trek of more than eight—and—a—half thousand kilometres. the australian arrived at her final destination outside the un headquarters in new york city on wednesday. she says she set out looking for a water problem, but discovered a global "catastrophe". mina guli joined me earlier. i began by asking her about the most striking image or story she encountered on her amazing journey. ultimately i wanted to use the

stories of the people on the ground to help drive this, action from governments, act action from governments, act action from governments, act action from companies who represent 90% of our global water consumption, and action by individuals. and what i found was absolutely catastrophic. whether it was trekking up to the tops of mountains and central asia where i climbed up glaciers and witness the absolute melding of a thousand glaze years, you look out the valley and what should be filled with ice is barren land. and what was even parts of australia which have been wrecked by droughts and floods and depredation, having an opportunity to meet some of the farmers they are, or whether it's through some of the deserts of africa where women and girls have to walk for hours every day to go fast water. but it's even in populated places like europe where i am able to run under bridges because the water levels are at their lowest ever. these are all striking images that will stay with me forever. i hope this will help

me to drive the action from governments and companies that we are going to need to solve this global water crisis. absolutely, mina. those images are going to stay with us for some time as well. what exactly is it that you are looking for companies and governments to do? what kind of action do you want to see? 50 do? what kind of action do you want to see?— want to see? so what i want is that governments _ want to see? so what i want is that governments and - want to see? so what i want is - that governments and companies, particularly put water in mind and every decision that they make. whether it's making decisions about investments or decisions about investments or decisions about investments or decisions about where they purchase or make new acquisitions. i came from a business background and i realised that in the process of making assessments, nobody is factoring water risks. so i'm asking companies and governments to do great things. firstly, understand their water risk. secondly, understand the gap where they should be on water and where they are now. and thirdly, plan and implement a plan for how to close that gap- a plan for how to close that gap. there are lots of examples, lots of opportunities

for collaboration. a river basin management, working with other ngos to implement strategies which will help to manage our water more efficiently, and ultimately, help to reduce the risk for companies and help governments to manage the risk for water to all of us who are members of their communities. the first protest has taken place in hong kong since china imposed sweeping restrictions on the rights and freedoms of people living in the territory. the small rally was closely monitored by the police. demonstrators had to wear numbered tags and were banned from wearing masks. they took to the streets to campaign against a land reclamation project that will be used to build rubbish collection facilities. and let me take you to some live pictures we are getting from myanmar�*s capital naypyidaw, where army troops are marching in a parade to mark the armed forced day. you can see it's very early on monday there, still dark, and they are celebrating

the 78th anniversary of the founding of its national army during world war two to fight against the japanese invasion. practice from us. thank you so much for watching. the cold air will be with us to start the new week. so monday cold, dry, and bright from both of us. however it is very short—lived because on tuesday it turns wet and windy again and much milder. this earlier high pressure brought us a fine day for monday. we are in this cold air mass as you can see here from the blue colours. a cold frosty start for many. still some wintry showers and a risk of ice early on, but any mist and fog will fade away. most places should stay dry.

after that cold stop temperatures reaching a high about seven to 10 degrees. we could be up to 11 degrees in the southwest as cloud and bree starts to pick up here. as we move through monday night we start to see this frontal system working its way into western areas. temperatures will pick up but the rain bumps into the cold air was slightly just to know about the high ground. another chilly night across scotland and england. tuesday, we are very much dominated by a low pressure once again in these weather fronts bringing outbreaks of rain. you can see these colours indicating the rain, it's going to be a cloudy breezy day with outbreaks of rain here. a few dryer interludes at times. temperatures will be lifting after 12 degrees in the west, still quite cool across more eastern areas. as we get into wednesday we really start to usherin wednesday we really start to usher in some very mild air indeed around this area. low pressure you can see the yellow and even orange colour starting to push northwards and eastwards. so a very mild start

of the day on wednesday. lots of the day on wednesday. lots of cloud around, limited brightness, outbreaks of rain spilling out from the south and the west moving north but some of it will be quite heavy at times. look at these temperatures, up to the mid—teens for many of us including whales, northern island double figures across scotland too. it stays unsettled for thursday and friday, sunshine and showers for thursday, friday, sunshine and showers forthursday, friday friday, sunshine and showers for thursday, friday we could see a potent deep area of low pressure spread across the country to bring a risk of scale. it does look like on friday the risk of gales will be around southern and western coast it will be windy both days, unsettled, but both days very mild.

welcome to hardtalk, from prague, i'm stephen sackur. how solid is put in�*s home front? welcome to hardtalk. vladimir putin hoped that

europe's determination to stand with ukraine after russia's invasion would not last.