this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm monika plaha. our top stories: protestors take to the streets in tel aviv and outside the home of prime minister benjamin netanyahu injerusalem after he fires his defence minister for condemning his controversial legal reforms. this sacking of israel's defence minister that spoke out against the legislation feels to many people here like a turning point. warnings of more severe weather in mississippi and neighbouring states after a powerful tornado kills at least 26 people. seeing the trailing go up in the air, flattened down like a pancake and then explode.

a migrant rescue ship funded by street artist banksy is seized by italian coast guards. for the first time ever — a scottish couple attempt to travel pole to pole using only green energy. what's an adventure without a challenge? wejust what's an adventure without a challenge? we just have to embrace what comes in front of us. hello and welcome. we start in israel where mass protests have been taking place in several cities after prime minister benjamin netanyahu sacked his defence minister yoav gallant. mr gallant was dismissed after he called for controversial plans to overhaul the justice system to be scrapped. the white house says it is deeply concerned about the developments. azadeh moshiri reports.

it was a sudden outpouring of rage, hordes of protesters continue to fill the streets in the early hours of the morning. demonstrations have been going on in israel for months, but these protests were spontaneous, as people surged into action. everyone here is into action. everyone here is in the army and they're serving too. we're going to protect democracy. we're here for democracy. we're here for democracy. bd is not here for democracy, thank you very much. the protests were triggered by a one line statement. israeli tv broke the news the prime minister had sacked the defence minister, yoav gallant. mr gallant is a member of the governing likud party and a former senior general in israel's defence forces. he was the first to break ranks with the first to break ranks with the prime minister. he said giving the government final say over all judicial appointments and weakening the over alljudicial appointments and weakening the powers of the supreme court was a threat to

israel's security. it cost him his job. israel's security. it cost him hisjob. mere hours after his sacking, israel's consul—general in new york quit. he tweeted: it's now time for me tojoin quit. he tweeted: it's now time for me to join the fight for israel's future, to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world. mr netanyahu insists the reforms will stop the courts abusing their powers and the people of israel voted for them in the last election. these crowds don't agree. they took over tel aviv�*s main ayalon highway. they set fire on major roads and a game of cat and mouse ensued injerusalem. they ensued in jerusalem. they evaded ensued injerusalem. they evaded security forces, breaching barriers outside mr netanyahu's home. he breaching barriers outside mr netanyahu's home.— breaching barriers outside mr netanyahu's home. he has to be sto ed. netanyahu's home. he has to be stepped- this — netanyahu's home. he has to be stopped. this prime _ netanyahu's home. he has to be stopped. this prime minister... l stopped. this prime minister... ..is not qualified any more. the united states has said it's

deeply concerned by the events in israel. and it strongly urges leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. as for mr netanyahu, he's determined to push the legislation through this week. but protesters are calling for more demonstrations. they're insisting that they are the ones defending israel's democracy. injerusalem, police and soldiers used water cannon against demonstrators near mr netanyahu's house. our middle east correspondent anna foster was there. this is a country which is no stranger to protests now. people have been demonstrating on the streets against this legislation for 12 weeks, but tonight this is a large and spontaneous gathering. this one is here injerusalem. we have followed this crowd as they marched from the residence of prime minister benjamin netanyahu, here to the knesset, the israeli parliament. on their way here, they were sprayed with water from water cannon and had

to climb through undergrowth to make it here, but you see that's not deterred these protesters, thousands waving flags, some have brought pots and pans to bang. there is chanting and strong really messages to the israeli government tonight, not just here injerusalem but across the country, tens of thousands of people turning out in tel aviv on the ayalon highway where they have closed the road down because this 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 the legislation through before the end of the week and at the moment thousands of people are here on the streets of israel to try and stop him. earlier i spoke to the executive committee member on the american israel public affairs committee harley lippman.

he told me the sacking of defence minister yoav gallant could threaten israel's democracy. the ruling coalition is trying to overhaul the judicial system in israel, which means they are trying to get thejudicial system under the control of the executive branch, which would, in the eyes of many people, make israel perhaps no longer a democracy. and this is critical because people see the supreme court and thejudiciary as truly independent, it's also leaning left, and this is the last pull the left has any israeli government. so there is a feeling that religious right is overreaching and they are trying to get control of the country, where originally they wanted money so they could study and learn the torah and pray, now they want to take control of the country. we know that mr netanyahu has dismissed mr gallant,

who was against the law change. what sort of message has this sent out? and not only to the public and political opponents but also those in his own government? it is frightening people, what they are doing. this will change israel completely. it will no longer be the democracy that we know of it, and we have friends in the region who embarked on the abraham accords who said, "we made peace with israel as a democratic nation. "we don't want israel's look anything like hamas "or the taliban or anything like that." with this being done, israel will look like that. so the israeli society is up in arms and the religious right candidly is made up of people who don't work, don't pay taxes and don't serve in the military. so that is fuelling the anger of people of the middle of the road and left and the right, you know, benjamin netanyahu's party, the likud party, and members of his own party are not in favour of this judicial overhaul because they

see it as so disruptive to israeli society. you have the military saying it will undermine morale in israel and there are reservists and elite commandos that say they won't serve if this legislation goes through and there is going to be a critical vote this wednesday. so what does this mean in terms of political stability for mr netanyahu? where does this leave his position? well, that's a great question, because everybody is wondering, is he driving the bus or is it the religious right—wing coalition driving the bus? bibi netanyahu is the most left person in the coalition government, so everybody is trying to figure that out. certainly, it will help bibi netanyahu because he does not want to go to jail or court and this would protect him. there is a feeling that this is where the country has reached an epiphany — is bibi netanyahu looking out for its own interests because he does

not want to go to jail or is he looking out for the welfare of the entire society? what's really significant is that no defence minister in israel's history has ever been fired after a coalition was just created, or after a defence minister warns that this grave danger to the national security of israel, which the defence minister said won't happen, and he was still fired. this has never happened in israeli history and israeli people have never been divided before like this in israeli history, so this is an apocalyptic event for israel. 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. our 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. tornado lifted the trailer, told me he tried to flatten it 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 federal funds 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. coast guards 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 has 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. so it is true that we are seeing an increase of departures. above 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 tunisia rather than libya. however, most of the people on those boats are sub—saharan african citizens, most of them coming through libya. so this may be an effect of the policies enacted the european union that allow the interception of people by the coast guard to return them to libya, and there may be a shift of the route from the people who then try to cross from libya to tunisia by land and then try to leave by sea from tunisia. there is also another relevant element which is that the position taken by the tunisian government, by president kais saied, on 21 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. a rescue ship funded by british street artist banksy was seized in lampedusa on sunday after italy's coastguard said the boat had disobeyed its instructions falling foul of new rules for rescue vessels. stephanie prentice reports. it's the rescue boat known for its famous financial backer as well as its top speeds, described by the crew as being able to outrun human traffickers. named after a french feminist anarchist, louise michel has reportedly saved hundreds of migrants at sea over the past three years. but the white and pink vessel provided by the british street artist banksy has now been impounded with no timeline for its release. as far as we are aware there are at least 15 distress cases as we speak... ..that we could be helping, and we're not because we're not

allowed to leave the port. in a series of tweets, its crew described a clash with the italian coastguard on the weekend. they said they were told to leave an area at sea but ignored it after coming across 3a people in the water at night. a mother holding an unconscious baby was among those they brought on board. in response, the coastguard said they were complicating delicate rescue work and said charity boats have to stick to a code of conduct. un data suggests that ten times more people are attempting to cross into lampedusa this year compared to last year and at least 29 migrants have died in recent days. but tunisia is a country facing instability on many fronts, and with better weather conditions on the horizon, the number of people trying to reach italy is sure to increase, and so are clashes between the coastguard and rescuers. stephanie prentice, bbc news.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: confusing times in lebanon — the authorities can't agree when the clocks should go forward. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants, will face a heavy fine. the president was on his 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. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: anger in tel aviv after israel's prime minister sacks his defence ministerfor condemning his controversial judicial reforms. warnings of more severe weather in mississippi and surrounding states after a powerful tornado kills at least 26 people. imagine waking up and not knowing what time it is. well, that's what's happening in lebanon. people have been waking up in two time zones this weekend, with the country's political and religious authorities unable to agree on when the clocks should go forward.

the caretaker prime minister announced that daylight saving would begin at the end of ramadan — in late april. but the christian authorities insisted on the change on the last sunday in march as it happens most years. carine torboy reports from beirut. what time is it in lebanon? well, i can't simply answer that because in the country today there are two different readings for the same moment. it all started a few days ago when the caretaker prime minister decided at the last minute to exceptionally delay the switch to summertime. which is the protocol in the country for this time of the year. but several institutions decided not to comply and to go ahead with the switch to daylight saving time. so basically, it is going to be i2pm for me and 1pm for someone else.

hi. what time is it? it's 1130 for me. for you? yes. which time are you observing? no, i didn't change my clock because it is better for me. on a personal level it is better for me to be like this because i'm fasting, it's better for me to eat at six rather than eating at seven o'clock. so yes, i think it's betterfor me. but i understand because some of my co—workers... there is a lot of confusion in the country. they are confused today. one of my colleagues came one hour before because the hour changed alone. so, yeah, i understand it's confusing. thank you. basically, it's not only confusing, that's notjust the whole story. the decision of the caretaker prime minister appeared to be improvised without consideration of its consequences and the intention appeared to be to make fasting easier for muslims

observing ramadan. but it's also triggered a massive reaction from mainly christian entities with different christian religious and political leaders refusing to delay the switch. the whole thing took a sectarian twist and made a country already messed up on different levels even more chaotic. let's get some of the day's other news. south korea's military says north korea has fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile into the sea — the latest in a series of weapons tests in recent weeks. the launch comes just days after seoul and washington wrapped up their largestjoint military drills in five years. in response, pyongyang carried out military drills of its own. 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. 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. us vice president kamala harris has arrived in ghana as part of a three—nation tour of africa. the visit is part of a diplomatic push by the biden administration to deepen ties with the continent amid competition from china and russia. after visiting ghana, she will be going to tanzania and zambia. our reporter in accra, thomas naadi, has more. vice president kamala harris' visit is a further diplomatic push to strengthen us ties in africa. the visit to this country is significant because ghana is seen as a beacon of democracy in africa. during her opening remarks at the airport, she said that america is hoping to invest more in africa.

her visit comes at a time african countries are struggling to overcome the combined effects of the global pandemic and russia's invasion of ukraine. ghana is seeking to renegotiate its debt with china with $1.9 billion. and zambia, where vice president kamala harris will be visiting, has debt exceeding $17 billion, the majority of which is owed to chinese lenders. america and its allies have been engaging china on debt relief agreement to poorer countries. china, which is africa's biggest partner and lender, has been very reluctant to play ball. the presence of other global powers like russia on the continent is growing, with its mercenaries operating in countries like mali and the central african republic, which is a direct threat to us interests. but american officials have said that their engagement is to give africa more options, rather than limit them, in what is considered a mutually beneficial relationship.

president biden is expected to visit this continent later this year. they've been preparing for a journey of a lifetime — chris and julie ramsay from scotland are about to embark on a drive which will take them from one of the earth's poles to the other. the couple are taking an electric car from the arctic all the way to antarctica. ben philip reports. a first of its kind adventure, driving an electric carfrom pole to pole. one of the most common questions we get asked is how we're going to be charging in the polar regions where there is no electricity source. there will be a wind turbine and full double solar on this device that we will be towing along in the arctic and harnessing the renewable energy sources, the wind and the sun, to power the car. starting at the magnetic north pole, the couple will navigate across sea ice into canada and then south

through the us and mexico, and into warmer temperatures in south america. 17,000 miles and 1a countries later, they will cross the finish line at the south pole in ten months' time. modifications have been kept to a minimum, but bigger tyres have been added to help cope with harsh terrain. there are also some mod cons — a coffee machine in the boot and a drone launcher so the couple can film their journey. i have got every confidence we can do it. but, yes, there will be challenges. it's not going to be an easy ride. we know that. but what is an adventure without a challenge? so, yeah, wejust have to embrace what comes in front of us. and i guess, if you don't try something, if you don't push boundaries, then you'll never know what we're capable of. chris and julie are no stranger to defying the odds. in 2017 they were the first team to complete the mongol rally in an electric car, a 10,000 milejourney from london to mongolia. their aim is to demonstrate that electric vehicles can be adopted

anywhere in the world. at the moment, all research in antarctica and the arctic use fossil fuel vehicles, the most fragile environments on the planet, and ecosystems. so if we can help stimulate that conversation, that mindset, that potential change, then i guess that's a huge part of our legacy. nearly a year on the road is a long time, so are there any home comforts they will be taking with them? i love a fried egg haribo, so definitely take some of those with me. i also would like to take some tunnock�*s tea cakes, some caramel wafers. they're always good. and not forgetting our rowies! rowies, yeah. yes, we'll maybe take some rowies with us and share it with the team and take a bit of scotland over on the expedition with us. the couple set off this week, and out of all the challenges that might face them, perhaps explaining what a rowie is to someone at the north pole might be their hardest task.

good might be their hardest task. on them. you are watw bbc good on them. you are watching bbc news. thank you very much forjoining me. you can reach me on twitter. i am monika plaha. hello there. the second half of the weekend marked a change to our weather. we saw cold arctic air spreading southwards slowly during sunday, and the cold air will be with us to start the new week. so, monday — cold, dry and bright for most of us. however, it's very short—lived because from tuesday onwards, it turns wetter and windy again and much milder, thanks to atlantic low pressure systems. but this area of high pressure is what's to bring us a fine day for monday. but we are in this cold air mass, as you can see here from the blue colour, so a cold frosty start for many. still some wintry showers affecting northern and eastern coasts, so a risk of ice here early on. any mist and fog will fade away, it stays sunny into the afternoon — just the chance of the odd light shower here and there but most places should stay dry. and after that cold start, temperatures reaching a high

of around 7—10 — could be up to 11 in the south—west as cloud and breeze starts to pick up here. as we move through monday night, we start to see this frontal system working its way into western areas, so temperatures will pick up across western areas. where the rain bumps into the cold air, it's likely to turn into snow over high ground. it's going to be another chilly night across eastern scotland and eastern england. tuesday, we're very much dominated by low pressure once again, and these weather fronts bringing outbreaks of rain. you can see the white colours there, indicating a bit of transient snow on the leading edge of that rain band as it spreads northwards. generally, it will be a cloudy, breezy day with outbreaks of rain here and there. a few drier interludes at times. and temperatures will be lifting — up to 12 in the west, still quite cool across more eastern areas. it's not until we get into wednesday where we really start to usher in some very mild air indeed around this area of low pressure. you can see the yellow and even orange colours starting to push northwards and eastwards, so a very mild start to the day on wednesday. lots of cloud around, limited brightness, outbreaks

of rain spilling up from the south and west, moving northwards. some of it will be quite heavy at times. look at these temperatures — up to the mid teens for many of us, for england and wales and northern ireland. double figures across scotland, too. stays unsettled for thursday and friday. sunshine and showers for thursday. friday could see a potent, deep area of low pressure spread across the country to bring a risk of gales. it does look like on friday, the risk of gales will be around southern and western coasts. certainly, across england and wales, it will be windy. both days unsettled but both days very mild.

this is bbc news. the headlines: large protests are taking place in several cities in israel after prime minister benjamin netanyahu sacked his defence minister yoav galant. the minister was dismissed after he called for scrapping of controversial plans to overhaul the justice system. police have been firing water cannon at protesters. authorities in the us say more bad weather could be on its way after tornadoes tore through mississippi on friday night, killing 26 people. the national weather service says there's a risk of more tornadoes, high winds, and large hail stones. the italian coast guard says a migrant rescue ship, funded by the street artist banksy, has been seized