live from washington, this is bbc news after days of deadly exchanges, a ceasefire between israel and islamichhad militants in the gaza strip appears to be holding. volodymyr zelensky and the pope hold talks at the vatican, but the pontiff stops short of directly condemning russia's invasion of ukraine. 215 points — we have a winner! a historic end to eurovision, with sweden's loreen becoming the first woman to win the contest twice. hello, i'm carl nasman. palestinians poured out on the streets in gaza city as a ceasefire between israel

and the militant islamichhad went into effect. crowds celebrated in the streets. emergency services and civil defence vehicles had their sirens blaring and lights flashing. the truce came into effect a few hours ago, signalling an end to the worst episode of cross—borderfire in the last years. the agreement, brokered by egypt, follows five days of violent exchanges which have killed at least 35 people, all but one of them palestinians. there has been no comment from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, or other officials since news of the truce emerged. a palestinian source told the bbc that the new agreement included a commitment by israel to stop so—called targeted assassinations. israel has been demanding a complete halt to rocket fire by islamichhad at its civilians. for more on this i spoke earlier to khaled elgindy, senior fellow at the middle east institute and the director of its programme on palestine and palestinian—israeli affairs.

it would seem the ceasefire is being welcomed. what is your sense? there's no doubt, particularly in gaza, which has been under bombardment for five days. gazans have been all over social media talking about the terror that they've felt over the past five days, and so there's no question that there is a huge sigh of relief there in gaza. in particular since, obviously in terms of firepower, what israel possesses and can unleash is far greater than any single or group of palestinian actors could ever inflict on israel. how fragile of a truce is this likely to be? i think it's very fragile.

i think we have to remember the way things began five days ago. eight days before that we had a ceasefire agreement, and then this week israel unilaterally broke that ceasefire agreement because it — apparently for a combination of reasons, but a lot of it had to do with domestic pressure from the more extreme wing of israel's already very extreme government. there are people in the israeli government who were not satisfied with the ceasefire the week before and wanted israel to basically resume its policy of assassination. that's how this ceasefire broke, and then, of course, islamicjihad responded with various barrages of rockets. so neither of these two sides have a particular good record in terms of keeping their commitments to ceasefires.

we've seen a number of outbreaks in the past couple years. and all of this kind of speaks to the absence of, you know, at the end of the day, there is no military solution to whatever the problems are. israel can't impose a quiet simply by bombing gaza, and certainly palestinian rockets aren't going to achieve anything other than more death and destruction brought on by israel's military. but all of this kind of points to the fact that there is no political process, there's no diplomatic process, and there aren't even really any responsible third—party actors beyond the egyptians, let's say, who clearly have a direct stake in stability in gaza because they have a border with gaza.

but one glaring absence is the role of the united states. i think this outbreak has been met with sort of a collective shrug, and besides kind of boilerplate... should they doing more? is there a political will in the united states to step in? we see egypt getting involved. i don't think there is any political will in washington or, frankly, from the european side. there's a lot of fatigue about the issue. i think he biden administration in particular has downgraded the whole issue of the palestinians, the two—state solution, many people feel is no longer possible. and the administration pays lip service to two states but isn't interested

in pushing the issue, in large part because to do that would require seriously confronting and israeli government that is very, very extreme and has already abandoned the idea of two states and is, in fact, much more aggressive in his dealings with the palestinians on a whole range of issues. so the us administration does not want to pick a fight with the israeli government, and frankly doesn't want to spend political capital on the palestinians. you mentioned at the beginning that this is a truce that could be fragile. what is the key to at least extended, if not permanent, peace in the region? how can they get a ceasefire to finally stick? well, the key would be to connect the ceasefire to a bigger political process that addresses the core issues of the conflict, and they are many, and they are actually increasing. i mean, there is a ioo—year dispute between israelis and palestinians. you have two national groups

with competing national claims, but only one of them has a state, and quite a powerful state. and the other half or so, about 5 million palestinians, are stateless and living under israeli rule. so if there was a way to address that, to end 56 years of israeli occupation and, you know, then there would be hope. but like i said, there's no political will to deal with these very difficult issues. there's no way to address the core issues of the conflict without putting pressure on israel, and that's something that the united states, in particular, does not want to do. never an easy solution in that region. khaled elgindy, seniorfellow at the middle east institute and director of the programme on palestine and israeli palestine affairs, thank you so much. let's turn to ukraine, and some developing news. 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, air raid sirens sounded across most of ukrainian territory. many regions were on high alert due to missiles and kamikaze drones launched from russia. people have been advised to stay in bomb shelters. explosions were heard in the city of ternopil in the west of ukraine. so that's the latest. ukrainian president volodymyr is in berlin. earlier on saturder zelensky was in rome on a one—day visit. he met the pope as well as political leaders there.

the italian prime minister, giorgia 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 it 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's 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 had can be an influentialfigure. sofia bettiza, bbc news, rome. 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. now, we saw today that president erdogan was campaigning up to the last minute with that rally in istanbul which you mentioned. he has 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. so 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. a look now at some other stories making headlines. 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. around 500,000 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 i70kkm/h and storm surges of to 12 feet. northern parts of spain have been experiencing a freak may snow storm. the mountainous area of asturias saw the unexpected

covering of snow. this is la raya, and other areas in spain were affected by storms which saw catalonia and valencia battered by hailstones and torrential downpours after months without a drop of rain. the winner of this year's eurovision song contest has been declared, with sweden taking the crown for a record seventh time — with singer loreen�*s song, tattoo. this was the moment her victory was announced. it was a closely—fought battle with neighbour, finland. now, loreen was already the bookies�* favourite — she won in 2012. but she now becomes the second person to ever with the contest twice and the first woman to achieve the feat. the bbc�*s david sillito was following all the action. live from liverpool, this is the grand final of the reason song contest 2023. it

the grand final of the reason song contest 2023.— song contest 2023. it began with last year's _ song contest 2023. it began with last year's winners. - song contest 2023. it began i with last year's winners. there was, as promised, a strong ukrainian flavour to this liverpool eurovision. the opening and artful blend of ukrainian eurovision tunes and some very british elements, including the piano skills of the princess of wales. the eurovision's _ the princess of wales. the eurovision's contest - the princess of wales. tue: eurovision's contest 2023! the princess of wales. the - eurovision's contest 2023! and then it was _ eurovision's contest 2023! and then it was down _ eurovision's contest 2023! and then it was down to _ eurovision's contest 2023! and then it was down to the songs with the 4 million eurovision spread of style... you got epic from sweden's loreen, the hot favourite. finland brought manic energy. croatia brought

this. and the last of the 26 songs, the uk's own. # then i wrote a song... cheering. and the cheer at the end, better check the rivets on the arena roof after that. it is auoin arena roof after that. it is going wild- _ going wild. music plays. the interval act a celebration of liverpool. # in your heart, # and you will

never walk alone. # you'll never walk alone! it's not often _ # you'll never walk alone! it's not often the _ # you'll never walk alone! it's not often the show has to have a pause to wipe away the tears. a tear in my silly old i. you don't do that every day. sweden took an early — don't do that every day. sweden took an early lead. _ don't do that every day. sweden took an early lead. 243 - don't do that every day. sweden took an early lead. 243 points. i took an early lead. 243 points. we have a _ took an early lead. 243 points. we have a winner! _ took an early lead. 243 points. we have a winner! and - took an early lead. 243 points. we have a winner! and stayed | we have a winner! and stayed there. we have a winner! and stayed there- mae — we have a winner! and stayed there. mae muller— we have a winner! and stayed there. mae muller came - we have a winner! and stayed there. mae muller came a - there. mae muller came a disappointing 24. uk devontae one winner on the night discuss liverpool. david sillito, bbc news. so, that was the moment loreen took victory. shortly after she reflected on what this win means to her. let's listen.

only the second person to win the eurovision contest twice, johnny logan being the first, now you. how does it feel? this is overwhelming. i'm so happy and i am so thankful. thank you for this. this is for you, thank you. we're so happy for you, loreen, bringing eurovision to sweden for abba's 50th anniversary year. it's so, so special. while it's called eurovision, the song contest has plenty of fans here in the us as well. and this year, for the first time ever, americans — and fans from anywhere in the world — could actually vote — even if their own country didn't compete. alesia michelle is one of those superfans. i caught up with her after a large watch party here in washington and asked her why she thought sweden's loreen was a two time winner.

then look at eurovision pre—20 2012, when euphoria one, that really changed how the song contest was even ta ken really changed how the song contest was even taken in by europe. so the fact she is now our second time second winner of eurovision, it doesn't feel that crazy, because she really was someone who marked a moment in the eurovision song contest and now we're seeing it, i think, graduate again. it was something that was radio friendly. i think it was something that fell current. i think it was something they didn't feel like just eurovision. it felt like something that, oh, this is just what people would be interested in listening to in 2012. and i think a fair critique of the eurovision song contest is that maybe it was just a touch behind. maybe it was just three years behind, maybe it was five years behind

with the actual charts were, but if you look at 2012 and you look at her when in 2012 it felt like something that, oh, no, we can hear this on the radio now. no, we can hear this on the radio nova— radio now. alesia michelle there. despite not being able to host due the the war, many ukrainians were still keen to follow along from home. but this is a bar in kyiv, where fans still enjoyed the competition all the same, and our correspondent hugo bachega has been speaking to some of them. frustrated, but because of the war, because of lots of people dying and lots of people losing their homes, businesses, relatives. it's hurtful in any case, but not in case of eurovision. yeah, eurovision is continuing, and we have our representative. we have lots of countries that still participate, so we're all good. and we participate as well. i feel ok, because you guys as britain did a very good job,

and we're really grateful that it's truly a ukrainian—british eurovision this year. so we watched with my friends, and we can feel so much ukrainian history and culture and energy on the stage, and it is amazing. maybe we did not even do such a good job in as we dud 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 that half of the songs are kind i of about us and support us, j and this is really important. flushing back in eurovision history to 1976, nicky stevens was part of the brotherhood of man when they triumphed with saviour kisses for me. —— save

your kisses for me. she still works in music today, singing to people living in care homes. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson went to see her at work. # kisses for me, save all your kisses for me. a eurovision winner performing every week where you live. # don't cry, honey, don't cry. nicky stevens was part of brotherhood of man when they triumphed for the uk in 1976. # kisses for me. that's her second from the left in the white. now she has a job entertaining the residents of three care homes, including bourne view in poole. and absolutely loves it. during the pandemic, lockdown came. we could perform anywhere, brotherhood of man. everywhere was closed, theatres were closed. i saw this job advertised and, are you a singer, are you an entertainer, would you like to be a companion? i thought i don't care who i am a companion to, i can get out of the house. it was supposed to be six months and i am here 2.5 years later.

and it's clear how much it means to the residents. i saw you singing along. t means to the residents. i saw you singing along.— you singing along. i will share a secret. _ you singing along. i will share a secret. i _ you singing along. i will share a secret, i wasn't _ you singing along. i will share a secret, i wasn't making - you singing along. i will share a secret, i wasn't making a i a secret, i wasn't making a sound. i am a secret, i wasn't making a sound. iam not a secret, i wasn't making a sound. i am not you're a in sound. iam not you're a in june. sound. i am not you're a in june. ., . . , sound. i am not you're a in june. ., . ., , ., june. you are a my mum, yvonne. an a , june. you are a my mum, yvonne. anyway. i've — june. you are a my mum, yvonne. anyway. i've joined _ june. you are a my mum, yvonne. anyway, i've joined in _ june. you are a my mum, yvonne. anyway, i've joined in and - june. you are a my mum, yvonne. anyway, i've joined in and we - anyway, i'vejoined in and we are all very happy up here. when you are 160 i think you can do what you like, frankly. don't tell anybody, but you can -- 160. it don't tell anybody, but you can -- 160. ., , ., ., --160. it was time for an experiment. _ --160. it was time for an experiment. what - --160. it was time for an experiment. what wouldl --160. it was time for an i experiment. what would the residents are born ute of this year's uk entry by mae muller. i didn't like it at all, the thing they particularly don't like is that it was it was an almost a revenge type of song and we have been talking here about the importance of kindness. t about the importance of kindness.— about the importance of kindness. ~ �* kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked _

kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked the _ kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked the way _ kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked the way she - kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked the way she sang l kindness. i quite liked it. and they liked the way she sang it and they— they liked the way she sang it and they liked the choreography. but i don't think it will— choreography. but i don't think it will win — choreography. but i don't think it will win the prize. | it will win the prize. i enjoyed are very much, it had a nice _ enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat— enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat to _ enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat to it _ enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat to it and _ enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat to it and they - enjoyed are very much, it had a nice beat to it and they hope i nice beat to it and they hope it does— nice beat to it and they hope it does well— nice beat to it and they hope it does well at _ nice beat to it and they hope it does well at the _ nice beat to it and they hope i it does well at the eurovision. this— it does well at the eurovision. this is— it does well at the eurovision. this is the _ it does well at the eurovision. this is the most _ it does well at the eurovision. this is the most positive - this is the most positive review we have had. they don't care, review we have had. they don't care. this _ review we have had. they don't care. this is _ review we have had. they don't care, this is how _ review we have had. they don't care, this is how i _ review we have had. they don't care, this is how i think - review we have had. they don't care, this is how i think about l care, this is how i think about it. ., ., ., , it. you are right to be positive- _ it. you are right to be positive. mae - it. you are right to be positive. mae mullerl it. you are right to be - positive. mae muller would be punching the air she has got reviews. before we left we discovered that one resident has a very special birthday coming up. has a very special birthday coming urn-— has a very special birthday comina-u.�* �* " coming up. i'm john. i'm 99, turn 100 _ coming up. i'm john. i'm 99, turn 100 on _ coming up. i'm john. i'm 99, turn 100 on 14 _ coming up. i'm john. i'm 99, turn100 on 14 may. - coming up. i'm john. i'm 99, turn100 on 14 may. does - coming up. i'm john. i'm 99,| turn100 on 14 may. does the weekend _ turn100 on 14 may. does the weekend of _ turn100 on 14 may. does the weekend of eurovision! - turn100 on 14 may. does the weekend of eurovision! thatl turn 100 on 14 may. does the l weekend of eurovision! that is the day after eurovision, in fact. will you be watching eurovision?— fact. will you be watching eurovision? tia. laughter. eurovision? no. laughter. i never have _ eurovision? no. laughter. i never have done. - eurovision? tic. laughter. i never have done. on seeing this on television convinced me even more!— this on television convinced me even more! john, happy birthday in advance- _ even more! john, happy birthday in advance. thank— even more! john, happy birthday in advance. thank you _ even more! john, happy birthday in advance. thank you very - even more! john, happy birthdayj in advance. thank you very much indeed. there _

in advance. thank you very much indeed. there we _ in advance. thank you very much indeed. there we have _ in advance. thank you very much indeed. there we have it, - indeed. there we have it, guaranteed _ indeed. there we have it, guaranteed at _ indeed. there we have it, guaranteed at least - indeed. there we have it, guaranteed at least one l indeed. there we have it, - guaranteed at least one breath will be celebrating this weekend. colin patterson, bbc news. great story there. we want to leave you with a little more of one lovely moment from the eurovision 2023 final — that you've seen a glimpse of already. you'll see some eurovision allstars, in both liverpool and kyiv, coming together to sing you'll never walk alone. # walk on, walk on. # with hope in your heart. # and you'll never walk alone. # you'll never walk alone. #

cheering. 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 had to allow more sunshine and warmth. at the same time this cold front pushing in from the north—west will bring rain into part of scotland and northern ireland first thing and as that front pushes southeastwards 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 cloud 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 southeastwards out of scotland and northern ireland and into northern england and west wales by the mid afternoon and behind that things certainly will be a good deal cooler. 14 for aberdeen, for glasgow, for belfast, but a warmer day in eastern england, 20 or 21 degrees. now, as we head through sunday night this weather front will push a little further southeastwards and we will see this little clump of showers drifting across eastern scotland and down into north—eastern 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 will 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—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. 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 and it is set to turn a little warmer.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme.