live from washington. this is bbc news. a ceasefire brokered between islamichhad militants and israel — but reports already of rockets fired along the border between israel and the gaza strip. volodymyr zelensky and the pope hold talks at the vatican — but the pontiff stops short of directly condeming russia's invasion of ukraine. # instead i wrote a song # bout how you did me wrong # i could've cried at home # and spent the night alone # instead i wrote a song...# and — united in music: the grand final of the 2023 eurovision song contest is about to crown a winner. hello i'm carl nasman, thanks forjoining us.

in just the last few hours, a ceasefire between israel and palestinians in the gaza strip has began, but some fighting has reportedly continued. the agreement was brokered by egypt — it follows five days of violent exchanges which have killed at least 33 palestinians in gaza and two people in israel. 33 palestinians in gaza the truce, which as you see here prompted celebration in the streets, includes a commitment by israel to stop so—called "targeted assassinations". in return, israel reportedly demanded a complete halt to rocket fire by palestinian militants at its civilians. however, just hours after islamichhad militants confirmed a ceasefire was in effect, a rocket was fired from the gaza strip, prompting rocket warning sirens across a region of southern israel. it's not yet clear who fired the rocket, but its worth noting that several smaller militant palestinian groups are opposed to the truce brokered earlier in the day. the current bout of violence erupted on tuesday when israeli strikes on gaza killed three leading islamichhad members.

however, our reporter in gaza, rushdi abualouf, explains that there's actually a debate over how the latest sequence of fighting began. well, as they have traded rockets, both sides traded accusations over who started this. but what has happened is last thursday at two o'clock in the morning, israel killed three senior islamichhad commanders. they are members of their military council. islamichhad next day started to fire rockets, they fired hundreds of rockets towards israel. they said in retaliation for the killing of their leaders. and then escalation was mounting for a couple of days until we reach today a ceasefire. egypt was there from the beginning, pushing for the ceasefire, trying to de—escalate the situation. they offered three drafts. the first one was rejected by israel, the second one was rejected by islamichhad and the third one tonight egypt succeeded to hopefully end this round of fighting.

until now, we can hear still the fighting is going on. but we have seen it in the past many times. this is the fifth major escalation in the last 15 years so always the first few hours is difficult, but egypt will do, through a team that will come to gaza maybe tomorrow, to try to put an end to the fighting and to make the ceasefire hold. from gaza to rome, where ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, is on a one day visit. he's been meeting italy's prime minister, giorgia meloni — who said italy would remain a solid ally, and provide kyiv with all the assistance it needed. prime minister meloni also stressed that the conflict would only end when russia stopped its aggression, and withdrew from all ukrainian territory, adding that any other outcome would jeopardise peace in all of europe. president zelensky then

had a private audience with pope francis. it's the first meeting between the two men, since russia invaded ukraine. president zelensky says he thanked the pope for focusing �*on the tragedy of millions of ukrainians�*. our europe regional editor paul moss has been telling us about the significance of this visit to vatican. let me set the context for you. pope francis has talked a lot in the past about the suffering of the ukrainian people. he's also condemned certain specific war crimes committed in ukraine. however, critics suggest that the pope has not been strong enough in making very clear that it's russia that's in the wrong and ukraine that's been invaded. they say he should come down on one side or the other. in fact, the pope has never criticised vladimir putin personally. he once described him as a "cultu red fellow". when he was asked to visit ukraine, he made it clear he would visit ukraine if he could also visit russia as well. for some people, again, suggesting some kind of moral equivalence. so, volodymyr zelensky went to see him today.

what was he hoping for? one presumes he might have been hoping to get the pope a bit more clearly on side. if that was his hope, i think he'll be disappointed. the vatican's now issued a statement. and it's really rather remarkable that, bear in mind we have a president from ukraine going to see the pope to talk about how his country was invaded by russia. and this statement does not mention russia once — it speaks in rather elliptic language. it says, and i'm reading here, when the vatican describing the meeting says they "discussed issues relating to the humanitarian and political situation in ukraine caused by the ongoing war. together, they agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population." no mention of why that population is suffering. in other words, because russia invaded. what the pope offered instead — he said he would give mr zelensky his prayers. well, i think mr zelensky may well have been hoping for more than prayers, a little more condemnation of russia, in which case he will be disappointed. i should say, though, that mr zelensky has expressed his gratitude. he said on telegram,

"i'm very grateful to the pope for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of ukrainians." there was something else, though, that was missing from the vatican statement. the pope has said before he has a secret mission under way to bring peace to ukraine, but no details of that. what does it mean? well, perhaps we were hoping for a little idea of what the pope meant. if so, again, disappointment. no mention of that secret mission today. well, president zelensky�*s next stop is berlin. but today he also spoke to south african leader cyril ramaposa, and urged him to help implement kyiv�*s peace plan to end the war with russia. it happened a day after ramaposa spoke to russian president vladimir putin. just to remind you — south africa has positioned itself as neutral in the conflict. we want to bring you some newly developing news. russia attacked the western ukrainian city of ternopil as the ukrainian eurovision entry tvorchi — who hail from the city —

were about to take to the stage in liverpool, reports say. the ternopil regional state administration head says two civilians have been injured and warehouses belonging to commercial companies and a religious organisations were hit. just moments after the eurovision 2023 final started, the air raid sirens sounded over almost entire ukrainian territory. most of the regions were on high alert because of missiles and kamikaze drones launched from russia. people are advised to stay in bomb shelters. explosions were heard in the city of ternopil in the west of ukraine. ukraine were the winners of last years eurovision song contest. the presidential candidates in turkey have finished their final day of campaigning — before sunday's crucial election. president recep tayyip erdogan held a rally in istanbul earlier, a city where he built his popular support as mayor more

than 20 years ago. and his secular challenger, kemal kilicdaroglu, has also been campaigning — pledging to restore democracy and improve relations with the west. from ankara, our international correspondent, orla guerin, has more on what's at stake in this election. turkey is facing a binary choice in effect after 20 years of rule by president recep tayyip erdogan. an increasingly authoritarian rule. there is now an alternative on offer, and that is the opposition candidate kemal kilicdaroglu. he is the leader of the main opposition party here, but in this election he is standing on behalf of a coalition of six opposition parties. which really is a very broad church. every kind of party — islamists, nationalists, even former allies of president erdogan are in this coalition. and they have come together with one aim only, really, which is to unseat him. we saw today that president erdogan was campaigning up to the last minute with that rally in istanbul, which you mentioned.

he's been hitting hard against his opponent, once again today claiming without any proof that kemal kilicdaroglu and his party are linked to the banned pkk, the kurdistan workers�* party, which is classed here and indeed by the us and europe as a terrorist group. that's an accusation he makes pretty regularly during the campaign. mr kilicdaroglu is very different in style and tone. he has been emphasising his desire to bring people together and appealing particularly to young turks. and there are five millions voters here who will go to the polls tomorrow for the very first time. bbc�*s nicky schiller takes a look at the details of the election. there are over 190,000 polling stations across the country. some 64 million people are eligible to vote in this election. that includes more than 5,000,001st—time voters.

0verseas, there are 3.4 million voters including here in the netherlands. but they completed their vote last week. turks are electing both a president and a parliament for a five—year term today. if any one of the presidential candidates secures more than half of the vote they will be declared to the overall winner. however if there is no overall winner and then the top two candidates will go through to a front on vote which will be held on may the 28th. there are 600 seats in parliament. turks use a proportional representation system which means they are voting for a party rather than a candidate. a party alliance needs 7% of the vote to obtain a seatin needs 7% of the vote to obtain a seat in parliament. we expect to have an idea of the presidential election result leader on sunday. pakistan's former prime minister, imran khan, has called for supporters to hold nationwide protests. it follows days of clashes between his followers

and security forces. mr khan repeated his call for immediate elections and told supporters they would have to make �*sacrifices�* for their freedom. earlier, pakistan's current prime minister, shahbaz sharif, ordered the police to arrest everyone involved in the widespread unrest. the violence was sparked by his arrest on corruption charges on tuesday. mr khan was granted bail on friday, after the supreme court ruled that his detention was unlawful. bbc urdu's saher baloch has been analysing imran khan's speech. he spoke about three things. first of all, he spoke about how the only strand... second, he spoke about how he is still in disbelief over the fact that his supporters are being accused of perpetrating violence and damaging public property and everything. so this is something very new from him because he spoke about it in a roundabout way as you may be aware on may 9th after his arrest. his supporters allegedly went out

and damaged public property and went into installations, military houses as well. a core commander's house in lahore as well. so now he was just addressing his supporters and saying how he's still in disbelief over the fact that his supporters chose violence. he didn't apologise for it, he did not condemn it, but he did say that his supporters cannot do this. some of his address was still a repetition of what he has been saying so far, but in this case it was a huge thing that he still spoke about the fact that military is misunderstanding his intentions so far. well, since imran khan is now back in his lahore residents in zaman park, since then there is a lot of quiet. last night, i came from lahore to islamabad and i was seeing how most of the containers which were used to block the roads were removed from the area, especially after pti supporters were dispersed by the police. there is already a section 144 imposed on islamabad, which means there is a ban on public gatherings. so former prime minister imran khan

could not address his supporters at that point of time. so there was lots of clarity, it's still thought he is still again going to ask his supporters to come out tomorrow, apparently. so it will be seen how they go about it, but so far, it's far more peaceful than it was two days before. around half a million people are being evacuated to safer areas in south—east bangladesh, ahead of a cyclone forecasters say could be extremely dangerous. cyclone mocha is predicted to make landfall on sunday, with speeds of up to 170kph, and storm surges of to 12 feet. there are concerns the cyclone could impact the world's largest refugee camp, where close to a million people live in makeshift homes. from cox's bazar, our south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. well, this school has now become a cyclone shelter.

and throughout the afternoon, we've seen families arrive with young children, carrying bags full of whatever they want to get them through the next few days of this terrible weather, even some people turning up with their livestock as well — with chickens and with cattle. now, the government has been telling people that they should come to one of these shelters to seek sanctuary. although away from here, we've seen a lot of people who are carrying on with their normal lives, unaware of what might actually happen. now, as you can see here, this is one of the classrooms. lots of families here. the government in bangladesh is hoping that around half a million people will eventually be moved to the shelters to stay safe during cyclone mocha, which some forecasters say could be the worst such storm to hit this area in more than a decade.

one thing is important to note — that while people here do have a safe place to see this storm out, there are close to a million rohingya refugees not too far from where we are who are living in the world's largest refugee camp in very flimsy, makeshift shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin. and the bangladesh government doesn't allow them to leave those refugee camps. and there are real concerns in the camps about how safe people will be. and here and in the camps, another concern isn'tjust that the storm may pass through this area, but it's also the aftermath — flash flooding and also landslides. and many aid agencies have already been preparing for what they fear could be a humanitarian crisis as well in the aftermath. let's turn our attention back to the uk now. the wait is over for eurovision fans — with the final of the song contest

under way in the english city of liverpool as we speak. 26 countries are battling it out for the title — you can see last year's winners kalush 0rchestra kicking things off earlier. they won last year but couldn't stage the contest because of the war with russia. finland is one of the bookies�* favourites with this track — cha cha cha. sweden�*s entry — by previous winner loreen — is seen as another big contender. and here�*s the uk�*s mae muller with her track " i wrote a song" last — performing right at the end. and let�*s bring you live pictures from liverpool — you can see the fans there in the city with the grand final underway... sweden currently in the lead we are getting the results and we will be expecting the fan vote with it is often what makes the difference. it has been such an electric atmosphere there in liverpool. fans have travelled from across the globe to be watching that contest. you can see people even outside, 160 million

people around the world expected to watch. our very own maryam moshiri has been in liverpool all week — and told us about the atmosphere in the city. 15,000 people that have gathered to watch. your vision parties going on —— eurovision parties going on. the first time pleases outside of europe countries like europe and united states are going to be able to vote in this competition. so is it the eurovision competition? it is a global song competition. 160 million people around the world are tuning and now as speak. to watch. of course ukraine are the holders — and that would mean they host the show — but because of the war — that�*s not possible. but this is a bar in kyiv —

where fans are still enjoying the competiition — and our correspondent hugo bachega has been speaking to some of them. frustrated because of the war because of lots of people die and lots of people losing their homes, businesses. relatives. it�*s hurtful in any case, but not in the case of eurovision. at eurovision it is continuing and we have our representatives, we have lots of countries that still participate so we are good. and we participate as well. i we are good. and we participate as well. , u, , we are good. and we participate as well. , , ,, we are good. and we participate as well. , , i, we are good. and we participate as well. ,, well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a — well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a very _ well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a very good _ well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a very good job - well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a very good job and - well. i feel ok because you guys as britain did a very good job and we | britain did a very good job and we are really— britain did a very good job and we are really grateful that it is truly are really grateful that it is truly a ukrainian — british your vision this_ a ukrainian — british your vision this year— a ukrainian — british your vision this year -- _ a ukrainian — british your vision this year —— eurovision. and we can feel so_ this year —— eurovision. and we can feel so much— this year —— eurovision. and we can feel so much ukrainian history and culture _ feel so much ukrainian history and culture on— feel so much ukrainian history and culture on the stage and it is amazing _ culture on the stage and it is amazing. and we did not even do such

amazing. and we did not even do such a good _ amazing. and we did not even do such a good job— amazing. and we did not even do such a good job in— amazing. and we did not even do such a good job in collaboration with the -uys a good job in collaboration with the guys in _ a good job in collaboration with the guys in britain. a good job in collaboration with the guys in britain-— a good job in collaboration with the guys in britain. really huge support and i feel guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it — guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it here. _ guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it here. i _ guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it here. i don't _ guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it here. i don't expect - and i feel it here. i don't expect some _ and i feel it here. i don't expect some suripori _ and i feel it here. i don't expect some support from _ and i feel it here. i don't expect some support from here - and i feel it here. i don't expect some support from here right . and i feel it here. i don't expect. some support from here right now, eurovision, because _ some support from here right now, eurovision, because we've - some support from here right now, eurovision, because we've alreadyl eurovision, because we've already talked _ eurovision, because we've already talked to— eurovision, because we've already talked to this _ eurovision, because we've already talked to this we _ eurovision, because we've already talked to this we cannot _ eurovision, because we've already talked to this we cannot show- eurovision, because we've alreadyj talked to this we cannot show that but how— talked to this we cannot show that but how i— talked to this we cannot show that but how i see _ talked to this we cannot show that but now i see it— talked to this we cannot show that but now i see it as _ talked to this we cannot show that but now i see it as half— talked to this we cannot show that but now i see it as half of- talked to this we cannot show that but now i see it as half of the - but now i see it as half of the songs— but now i see it as half of the songs are _ but now i see it as half of the songs are kind of— but now i see it as half of the songs are kind of about - but now i see it as half of the songs are kind of about us i but now i see it as half of the i songs are kind of about us and support us _ songs are kind of about us and support us. and this _ songs are kind of about us and support us. and this is - songs are kind of about us and support us. and this is really. support us. and this is really important _ that is the scene right now. for the uk tonight. for the uk, tonight mae muller is trying to become just the 6th uk act to win eurovision. back in 1976 nicky stevens was part of brotherhood of man when they triumphed with save your kisses for me. she still works in music today — singing to people living in care homes. 0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson went to see her at work. # kisses for me # save all your kisses for me # bye—bye, baby # a eurovision winner performing every week where you live. nicky stephens was part of brotherhood of man

when they triumphed for the uk in 1976. that�*s her second from the left in the whites. now she has a job entertaining the residents at three care homes, including bourne view in pool, and absolutely loves it. during the pandemic, lockdown came. we couldn�*t perform anywhere. everywhere was closed, theatres were closed and i saw this job advertised. and are you a singer? are you an entertainer? would you like to be a companion? and i thought, well, i don�*t care who i�*m a companion to — i can get out of the house! i was supposed to be just six months and i�*m here two and a half years later. # know you�*re only free... and it�*s clear how much it means to the residents. i saw you singing along. yes, but i would share a secret. i wasn't making a sound because i know sure that i'm in tune. you�*re a mimer, yvonne!

anyway, ijoined in, and we're all very happy up here. when you�*re 106, i think you can do what you like. don't tell anybody, but you can. singalong over, it was time for an experiment. what would the residents of bourne view make of this year�*s uk entry by mae muller? i didn't like it at all. the thing i particularly don't like is that it was almost - a revenge type of song, - and we have been talking here about the importance of kindness. i quite liked it. and i liked the way she sang it. and i liked the choreography, but i don't think it'll win the prize. i enjoyed it very much. it had a nice beat to it and i hope it does well at the eurovision. this is the most positive review we�*ve had. i don�*t care. that�*s the way i think about it.

well, you�*re allowed to be positive. mae miller could be delighted. she�*ll be punching the air that she�*s got a good review from you. just tell her. yeah. and before we left, we discovered that one resident has a very special birthday coming up. i�*mjohn whitwell, and i�*m 99 when you turn 100. when you turn 100? 14th of may. that�*s the weekend of europe. that�*s the day after eurovision, in fact. will you be watching eurovision? no. i never have done. and seeing this on television convinced me even more. john, happy birthday in advance. thank you very much indeed. there we have it. a guarantee at least one brit will be celebrating this weekend. colin patterson, bbc news. # instead, i wrote a song... eurovision truly for all ages.

a rare rolex watch — which was bought for 70—pounds in the sixties — is expected to fetch around 45,000 pounds at auction next week. the watch, which was once owned by a military rescue diver, has sparked worldwide interest, mainly because of its back story, as mike liggins explains. simon barnett was a real life all—action hero. he was diver or frog man on rescue helicopters in the royal navy. archival fo0tage: they�*re always finding more uses for helicopters. the latest extends their rescue service in combination with naval drop man who are taught to jump into the sea from a height of 30 feet. in 1964, he bought a rolex submariner for £70 but not as a fashion item. in those days a rolex submariner was a tool, not the fashion accessory it has become now. and he used that essentially to time his dive, he had to know how long he had been underwater and that was the only means by which he could do it. simon barnett was involved in a number of daring rescue missions and in 1967 he almost lost his own life

when trying to rescue the pilot of a crashed navy helicopter in the mediterranean. all the aviation fuel from the helicopter had leaked into the sea, around the helicopter, and dad was trying to get to the service, and was obviously gasping and he was breathing this fuel in but he managed to get to the surface. how i don�*t know and people told me they just do not know how we got out in those circumstances. simon passed away in 2019. he never talked about his military career and pete only found his old photographs and logbooks when clearing out his house. the rolex watch led to an appearance on the antiques road show. i would have no hesitation in putting it between £50,000 and £60,000. oh, really? your father was a very, very lucky man to have used that all his life and you are so lucky to have got it as well.

that estimate was a bit high but tw gaze, in diss, who are now selling the watch, think it could be worth somewhere in the region of £30,000 to £45,000. so this watch, what is so exciting and which brings it to life so much is that it is so very well documented, incredibly, both visibly and in terms of record of the serviceman's history throughout his life. virtually every day has been accountable. that must be if not unique, quite, quite rare. after he died, it was on my wrist all the time. i did the gardening in it. he did everything in it and then it got value £50,000, £60,000, itjust - it is a horrible thing to say but it kind of ruined it for me. peter is opening his dad�*s watch goes to a good home. it is a lovely thing but more importantly, a lovely thing with a great story behind it. mike liggins, bbc news.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. although parts of east and south—east england remain grey and quite cool all day, much of the country had a very fine and sunny start to the weekend. part two of the weekend looks quite mixed. there will be some sunshine around, particularly in wales and england. but scotland and northern ireland will start to see this weather front moving in off the atlantic, bringing outbreaks of cloud and rain, and a drop in temperature. but high pressure will bring us a fine evening and night. largely clear skies for many, but that low grey cloud across the east will start to roll back westwards again for much of eastern england and the midlands. western scotland and northern ireland will be turning wetter and breezy as that weather front pushes in. so quite a mixture of temperatures. quite cool under clear skies. but generally, for most, 6 to 8 degrees. sunday then, we start off with some sunshine around. that grey weather across the east

of england should tend to improve. the clouds burning back to the coast. one or two showers in the afternoon through the midlands. this weather front will start to move out of scotland and northern ireland. it brightens up later in the day with a few showers that will feel much cooler for scotland and northern ireland. low to mid—teens. sunny spells across parts of england and wales. again, we could be up to 20—21 degrees. sunday night, that weather front weakens — it continues to push eastward, bringing cloud, some patchy rain, clearer skies, one or two blustery showers across the north and west of scotland but under those clear skies, with this cool air mass, it�*s going to be a chilly night to come here. for south—eastern areas where we have the weather front, the cloud and rain generally seven to 10 degrees. that weather front clears away eventually and we see some further showers around the edge of this area of high pressure which will bring us north, north—westerly winds. showers for northern scotland, northern and eastern england, some of these running down to east anglia and south—east into the afternoon.

the best of the sunshine towards the south and west. we could be up to 15 degrees here, but you�*ll see it�*s a much cooler day across the board. ranging between ten and 13 celsius. that is below par for this time in may. the cool air hangs around through tuesday and again into wednesday, particularly towards northern and eastern areas but very slowly we�*ll start to see those yellow—orange colours returning. so it will start quite chilly through the week with some showers around but temperatures will recover towards the end of the week and because it�*s higher pressure nearby, we should stay mostly dry.

this is bbc news. we�*ll have all the news and headlines for you straight after this programme.