live from washington. this is bbc news. a ceasefire between israel and islamichhad militants in the gaza strip appears to be holding, despite reports of minor breaches on both sides. 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 — injust moments — the grand final of the 2023 eurovision song contest is about to crown a winner. we'll bring you the results and the reaction.

hello, i'm carl naussman. a ceasefire between israel and palestinians in the gaza strip appears to be holding, despite some reports of fighting. 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. 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. a reminder though that for now the ceasefire does appear to be holding.

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. and in the past few minutes sweden have won the eurovision song contest — loreen — the favourite — led the way from the start of the jury vote — and has the prize. here is her performance

from earlier. # you're stuck on me like a tattoo # no, i don't care about the pain # i'll walk through # no, i don't care about the pain # i'll walk through fire and through rain # just to get closer to you # you're stuck on me like a tattoo

quite the performance they are. we can go live now. live now to our very own maryam moshiri in liverpool. we finally have a winner and it is the favourite. sweden. absolutely. it is so exciting, what a show. it is absolutely extraordinary. ijust what a show. it is absolutely extraordinary. i just love the way that your cha cha cha keeps you on the seat sweden kept getting to squat over and over again finland were around fourth or fifth place and then we went to tele voting. that changes everything and clearly audiences from not only europe but around the world for the first time even audiences in the us could vote for eurovision and they voted in their trove for finland. so at one point finland was at the lead but at the very last

meeting sweden's audience votes were counted. they need 187 points to beat finland and they got over 200 points so, history is made. loreen eight eurovision ledge and already the queen of eurovision is now a two—time winner. 0nlyjohnny logan from ireland has done that before. this also means that before. this also means that sweden is now a seven—time winner of eurovision. and that puts it again on an equal footing with ireland. so i guess, next year, we will be heading to sweden. hopefully we can no heading to sweden. hopefully we can go there _ heading to sweden. hopefully we can go there together. _ heading to sweden. hopefully we can go there together. i - heading to sweden. hopefully we can go there together. i would i can go there together. i would love a trip to sweden. incredible how good sweden is at your —— eurovision. loreen only the second person to win this event twice. what was it about this performance that you think about the fans behind her and thejudges behind her? i and the judges behind her? i think it wasjust and the judges behind her? i think it was just a beautifully written and executed song. the

stage was amazing, the performance was brilliant. she had the longest as i'd ever seenin had the longest as i'd ever seen in my life. apparently they had to be removed by nail technicians after every performance. but i think also it comes down to the fact that loreen is what eurovision legend in 2012 she one with that amazing song euphoria and that amazing song euphoria and that really changed eurovision that really changed eurovision that really changed eurovision that really made eurovision a different kind of competition and i think to some degree, the song is amazing and to another, grow mike amazing and she is the queen of eurovision. —— loreen. and tattoo is a great song but finland also did really well. kaarija, a brilliant song, cha cha cha. it was my favourite i can say that now. the competition is now over. it was my favourite and actually in terms of the tele voting it was the winning song. it was just not quite enough to win the entire thing. but i know that everyone who is watching is going to think,

look, all performances were amazing in the show was amazing and liverpool has put on such a fantastic eurovision. everyone has been saying and i have to say, at the end of what has been a fantastic week. it has been a fantastic week. it has been one of the best eurovision we've ever had. it been one of the best eurovision we've ever had.— we've ever had. it looks like ou we've ever had. it looks like you have — we've ever had. it looks like you have been _ we've ever had. it looks like you have been having - we've ever had. it looks like you have been having a - we've ever had. it looks like | you have been having a great time there and the people of liverpool have been having a fantastic time in the course know that ukraine was meant to be hosting this year because they won last year. just talk about the atmosphere in the city and how it has pulled in front of her? i city and how it has pulled in front of her?— front of her? i wish you had been here to _ front of her? i wish you had been here to get _ front of her? i wish you had been here to get a - front of her? i wish you had been here to get a flavour l front of her? i wish you had | been here to get a flavour of that atmosphere because of course as he mentioned, ukraine one in 2020 and therefore should have held the event in kyiv but the war with russia deemed it to dave —— dangerous -- 2022 deemed it to dave —— dangerous —— 2022 and the uk stepped in and to mark the fact that it should have been in ukraine there have been references, sign posting, there has been a real embrace of ukrainian

culture. ukrainian music, ukrainian food. everywhere you walk in this wonderful city you see the blue and yellow of the ukrainian flag. you see photography exhibitions and ukrainian photographs come you see bands playing ukrainian music. really, a lot of ukrainians i have spoken to who come here from all over the country to liverpool to be part of this told me, liverpool feels to them like they are at home. and that really is a wonderful thing to behold and also in the show, there was a lot of referencing to ukraine as well. it all kicked off with the previous winners of last year and of course ukraine's performance, tvorchi, a stunning performance did not do as well as they did last or put as well as they did last or put a great performance nonetheless. i a great performance nonetheless.- a great performance nonetheless. ., ., ., , ., nonetheless. i have to ask you before you _ nonetheless. i have to ask you before you let _ nonetheless. i have to ask you before you let you _ nonetheless. i have to ask you before you let you go - nonetheless. i have to ask you before you let you go did - nonetheless. i have to ask you before you let you go did you i before you let you go did you have a favourite memory or a favourite moment from this your eurovision. it favourite moment from this your eurovision-— eurovision. it is really embarrassing. - eurovision. it is really embarrassing. i- eurovision. it is really - embarrassing. i interviewed, wait a minute. marco from italy, i interviewed him and he was delightful to say the very least. but the most

embarrassing moment was when chet wood, former eurovision contestant from ireland, and truths twice in this condition came to the studio and just started dancing, bullying and grinding with me and i kind of felt, what mice was to do, am i a newsreader in mice was to be serious or ms dance with them it was slightly awkward and they replayed that over and over again on the news channel so that is my most embarrassing moment. ., ~ ., ., moment. you never know what will happen _ moment. you never know what will happen in _ moment. you never know what will happen in eurovision - moment. you never know what will happen in eurovision or- will happen in eurovision or what will it will bring out of you. think you so much for all of your coverage this week with sweden now being crowned champion. thank you so much. ukraine is one well ukraine is of course one of the eurovision hosts this year, as they still deal with a brutal war at home. we want to bring you some developing news concerning the invasion. according to reports, 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. 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. how was the song contest view in ukraine this is a bar in ukraine where they still enjoying the competition. 0ur correspondent 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. eurovision 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 feel ok because you guys as britain did a very good job and we are really grateful that it is truly a ukrainian—british eurovision this yeah _ and we can feel so much ukrainian history and culture on the stage and it is amazing. and we did not even do such a good job in collaboration with the guys in britain. really huge support and i feel it here. i i don't expect some support from here right now, - eurovision, because we've already talked to this - we cannot show that but now i see it as half of the songs l

are kind of about us and support us. - and this is really important. now, let's leave eurovision, and look at rome now, where ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky, is on a one—day visit. he met the pope as well as political leaders there. the italian prime minister, georgia meloni, has promised to supply more weapons and money to ukraine. but that promise is not universally supported by her coalition partners, as sofia bettiza reports from rome. a grand welcome in rome. this is the first time that president zelensky has visited italy since russia invaded ukraine. on his arrival, he tweeted it was an important visit for the approaching victory against russia. and it was a packed agenda. first, a private meeting with his counterpart, the italian president, sergio mattarella. translation: first of all, i'm here to thank all-

of italian society. unfortunately, i do not have time to shake hands with everyone to hug them for the great support italy has provided to ukraine. then a working lunch with prime minister giorgia meloni. translation: we guarantee our support for peace as long - as it's a just peace. we're not so hypocritical as to pretend that anything that resembles an invasion is peace. this is important because peace can't be achieved through any kind of surrender on ukraine side. but italy is a country that historically has strong ties with russia, and some members of meloni's government are not so keen on sending weapons to kyiv. after several political meetings, a private audience with the head of the catholic church. this is the first time that president zelensky and pope francis meet since russia invaded ukraine last year. the pope has called for peace

in ukraine time and again, and even though he does not take political sides, this meeting is very symbolic. they spoke for a0 minutes and both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts towards the victims of the conflict. the pope told mr zelensky he constantly prays for peace in ukraine. he cannot enforce peace, but he can be an influentialfigure. the presidential candidates in turkey have finished their final day of campaigning — before sunday's the president 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. 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. 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 stran. .. 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.

now, let's go back to the excitement over eurovision — which has a long history. 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. the bbc�*s 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 l 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? 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...# some toughjudges some tough judges there. as we heard earlier, sweden's �*loreen has taken out the 2023 eurovision song contest in liverpool. shortly after her win, loreen returned to the stage once again to collect her trophy — and she spoke about what the victory meant. only the second person to win eurovision twice. how does it feel? , , ., �* feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so ha- feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and — feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and i _ feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and i am _ feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and i am so _ feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and i am so thankful. | so happy and i am so thankful. thank— so happy and i am so thankful. thank you _ so happy and i am so thankful. thank you for this. this is for you — thank you for this. this is for you. thank— thank you for this. this is for you. thank you. we thank you for this. this is for you. thank you.— thank you for this. this is for you. thank you. we are so happy for ou, you. thank you. we are so happy for you, loreen. _ you. thank you. we are so happy for you, loreen. bringing - foryou, loreen. bringing eurovision to sweden for its

50th anniversary year. it is so special. 50th anniversary year. it is so secial. , , . ., stay with us here on bbc news. hello. for the vast majority of places, saturday turned into a mostly sunny and very warm day. many parts of western england, wales, northern ireland and scotland saw temperatures up to 21 degrees. however, in eastern england, underneath this stubborn area of cloud, some places only got to ten degrees. now, that stubborn area of cloud still with us for sunday morning, but it should break up a little more effectively through the day ahead to allow more sunshine and warmth. at the same time, this cold front pushing in from the north—west will bring rain into parts of scotland and northern ireland first thing. and as that front pushes south— eastwards through the day,

it will introduce something a little bit cooler to the north and the west of the uk. so through sunday morning this clouds to start off across central and eastern england should break up a little more effectively, rolling back out into the north sea. but this frontal system pushing south—east was out of scotland south—eastwards out of scotland and northern ireland into northern england and west wales by the mid afternoon and behind that thing certainly will be a good deal. cooler 1a for aberdeen, for glasgow, for belfast. but a warmer day in eastern england, 20 or 21 degrees. now as we head through sunday nights, this weather front will push a little further south—east, which will also see this clump of showers drifting across eastern scotland and down into north—east england. actually quite chilly for monday morning across northern and western parts of the uk, four degrees there in glasgow, for example, because as we head into monday and this frontal system clears through, we will be left in some cooler air. in fact, in quite a chilly north westerly wind around the top of an area of high pressure, that wind will be noticeable through the day. it'll certainly make it feel chillier. we will see some showers running down the east coast of england and more generally,

some scattered showers breaking up, particularly across central and northern parts of the uk. not as many down towards the south, but lower temperatures, 12 to 15 degrees, actually a little disappointing or at least below the norm for this time of year. now into tuesday, there will still be some showers around. not as windy, so it won't feel quite as chilly. 11 degrees there for aberdeen, but 17 the high in cardiff. there will be some spells of sunshine and as we head deeper into the week, well, a fair amount of dry weather, high pressure never too far away. but there will be some weather systems bringing a bit of rain. at times it is set to turn a little warmer.

disses bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour straight after this programme. hello. very warm welcome to the programme. let's take a look at what's on the show. ~ �* , , , show. we've spent everything we've saved. _ show. we've spent everything we've saved. it's _ show. we've spent everything we've saved. it's the - show. we've spent everything we've saved. it's the country. we've saved. it's the country with more — we've saved. it's the country with more consumers - we've saved. it's the country with more consumers than i we've saved. it's the country l with more consumers than any other on the planet. so how do businesses tap into india's billion plus consumers? as the country's population takes over china we