and i then breaks its recent eurovision curse qualifying for the grand final of the song contest for the first time in six years. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. we start with the war in gaza and let's bring you these live pictures from the israel gaza border, where the israeli bombardment has been particularly intense around rafah. more than a million palestinian refugees are sheltering in the city in the south of the strip. it's emerged that the us paused a shipment of bombs to israel last week, over fears they might be used in an assault on rafah — that's according to a senior administration official who's been speaking to cbs news, the bbc�*s media partner in the us. israel says it will deepen its attack on rafah, until hamas is eliminated, or the first of the remaining

hostages are released. israeli forces went into rafah on monday night in defiance of international pressure, seizing the border crossing with egypt. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has warned that a full—scale assault on rafah would cause a humanitarian nightmare. qatar has called for international intervention to prevent the city from being invaded. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem. we know that for weeks now the us has been warning israel against a full—scale offensive of rafah. this really because of the high numbers of displaced people who are living in that city, crammed up next to the border with egypt. and the us had been talking to israel about more limited options for going in there to tackle the hamas presence. now, this does look to be a really significant development, the idea that a us shipment has been halted to israel.

it's the first time we've heard of such a thing in seven months of war. and it really does reflect, i think, the level of us concerns about this operation, in particular. we understand that the shipment included 2,000lb bombs, and of course, if they had been used in such a densely populated place, that could have had a really devastating effect. and, yolande, much of the concern was around humanitarian issues. of course, there are more than a million people in rafah, but there was also concern about the aid crossings. what's the latest we know about aid being able to get into rafah? so through the rafah crossing itself, gaza's crossing with egypt, that remains closed to humanitarian agencies at the moment since the israeli military took over on the palestinian side. and we're not getting any of those palestinian patients who were cleared to go into egypt for treatment outside.

they're not being able to pass either. but this morning we have had the reopening of the kerem shalom crossing. this is the other main crossing for aid going in to gaza right down there in the south of israel, close to the egyptian border. already, lorries had been queuing up there waiting to go in. the white house had said last night that it was promised by israel that this step would be taken. it had been closed, the kerem shalom crossing, after hamas rockets killed four israeli soldiers close to the crossing point on sunday. and israel had kept the crossing point closed, saying that there were ongoing security concerns, that it was continuing to see mortar fire aimed at the crossing. and yolande, meanwhile, the timing of this is significant given there are ceasefire talks. what's the latest we know about those talks? well, those talks are taking place in cairo. importantly, you have there, alongside the regional mediators, qatar and egypt, with the us

involved as well, both a hamas and an israeli delegation for these indirect talks. now, we know on monday that hamas leaders agreed to a three—stage proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release. israel said that that did not meet its core demands. it sent over a relatively low—level team of negotiators with a fairly limited mandate, basically to see if any kind of agreement can be reached. we understand from israel that it has some particular issues with the text that was approved. some things do seem to be issues that could be overcome through negotiations. they said, for example, that they wanted israeli women soldiers who are being held by hamas to be released much earlier in the process. but fundamentally, the problem here remains about the end to the war. there is language in the text, the document that has been seen byjournalists, about a permanent,

a return to sustainable calm. and that is really very problematic for israel to agree to at this point, because it has said that its war in gaza is about dismantling hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and ensuring that it cannot remain in power. yolande knell in jerusalem. i asked nebal farsakh, the spokesperson for the palestine red crescent society, what she'd heard about the impact of the operation in rafah. the palestine red crescent is extremely worried regarding the situation, the catastrophic situation, in the gaza strip. military operations threaten the lives of civilians and in rafah and as we know there is almost half of gaza's population, 1.4 million people are sheltering in rougher. they are trapped and feeling terrified. they live in fear and panic,

not knowing what to do or where to go because there is nowhere safe in gaza. and at the same time it is so hard to find your way to flee or evacuate since there is no available transportation whatsoever. so this makes it even harder, especially for elderly people and people with disabilities. you say there nowhere safe to go. israel said it directed about 100,000 people to what it called humanitarian areas. what you know about those humanitarian areas that israel is talking about?— israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian _ israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian areas _ israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian areas that _ israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian areas that can - israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian areas that can fit - israel is talking about? there is no humanitarian areas that can fit 1.4| humanitarian areas that can fit 1.4 million _ humanitarian areas that can fit 1.4 million palestinians. there is no practical— million palestinians. there is no practical way to evacuate this number— practical way to evacuate this number of people safely, and at the

same _ number of people safely, and at the same time, — number of people safely, and at the same time, what the israeli forces talk about, — same time, what the israeli forces talk about, there are already a lot of people — talk about, there are already a lot of people who left during the previous months when there was an operation, — previous months when there was an operation, so practically there is no safe — operation, so practically there is no safe place for them to go, and there _ no safe place for them to go, and there are — no safe place for them to go, and there are no _ no safe place for them to go, and there are no terms are anything available — there are no terms are anything available for those people who have been _ available for those people who have been flea — available for those people who have been. flea many times, as you know, since _ been. flea many times, as you know, since the _ been. flea many times, as you know, since the beginning of the war, civilians — since the beginning of the war, civilians have been forced to flee all the _ civilians have been forced to flee all the way to rafah, and many of them _ all the way to rafah, and many of them were — all the way to rafah, and many of them were forced to flee multiple times, _ them were forced to flee multiple times, and now again they are under the same _ times, and now again they are under the same threats, living in panic and fear. — the same threats, living in panic and fear, not knowing what to do. at the same _ and fear, not knowing what to do. at the same time, the health care system — the same time, the health care system is — the same time, the health care system isjust collapsing, and even yesterday. — system isjust collapsing, and even yesterday, the main hospital in

rafah— yesterday, the main hospital in rafah was forced to evacuate all patients, — rafah was forced to evacuate all patients, and the wounded left the hospital. _ patients, and the wounded left the hospital, and this is also risking the lives — hospital, and this is also risking the lives of potential casualties and injuries, because of the operation. as you know, the health care system — operation. as you know, the health care system is already collapsing, and hospitals are still operational, partially— and hospitals are still operational, partially operational, they all suffer— partially operational, they all suffer the shortages of medical sopplies— suffer the shortages of medical supplies and medications, and the military— supplies and medications, and the military operation means any target, absentlv_ military operation means any target, absently dozens of people will be killed _ absently dozens of people will be killed and injured, and there will have _ killed and injured, and there will have no— killed and injured, and there will have no place to go to receive emergency medical care. let's turn to ukraine now, where officials say russia has launched another large—scale missile and drone attack, across the county. ukraine says its air defence forces downed dozens of russian missiles and drones overnight. there are also reports of explosions in the western city of lviv, and zaporizhzhia. 0ur ukraine correspondent,james

waterhouse is in kyiv. seven regions were affected from ivano—frankivsk in the west to zaporizhzhia in the south—east and it seems the targets were ukraine's infrastructure once more. we are told three major thermal power stations have been damaged in the southern city of kherson. the railway station as well as surrounding tracks have reportedly been damaged too. we are also told that residential buildings in some of cities like lviv have been damaged as well and that civilians have been injured. but we don't have any idea on numbers yet. ukraine likes to count the number of projectiles that make their way in and overnight it was 76. 59 of which were intercepted, they say. so these are drones and missiles that were launched from over the caspian sea to the east of ukraine by russian bombers. they were launched from inside russia itself,

as well as from occupied territory inside ukraine. so things have been quiet for a while, but it's clear that russia has the means to launch such attacks of this size alongside waging its war on the vast front lines in the east and south of ukraine. the chinese president xi jinping is in belgrade for a visit that aims to deepen political and economic ties with serbia. mr xi is holding talks with the serbian president, aleksandar vucic. the chinese leader's visit coincides with the twenty—fifth anniversary of us air strikes on china's embassy in belgrade. beijing has invested heavily in serbia in recent years. the two countries signed a free trade agreement last year. 0ur balkans correspondent guy de launey is in belgrade. if we are looking at the relations between serbia and china, this isn'tjust a one—time thing, this isn'tjust xi jinping stopping here to make some sort of symbolism to tie in with the 25th anniversary

of nato bombing the chinese embassy in belgrade. he was actually here eight years ago as well and between them now we've seen numerous agreements between serbia and china. we had a comprehensive partnership agreement back then, we had a free trade agreement signed last year and today we are expecting to hear about dozens of agreements, presumably not so substantial as those, but still lots of agreements between the two countries being signed and once again emphasising how strong the ties are between serbia and china. and before this trip, president is easy and pain did talk about the nato attack, it's definitely one that you references quite regularly when it comes to his concerns about the western military alliance there can you give us an context about how this applies to the trip? it

can you give us an context about how this applies to the trip?— this applies to the trip? if you want to speak _ this applies to the trip? if you want to speak critically - this applies to the trip? if you want to speak critically in - this applies to the trip? if you | want to speak critically in nato you're never going to find a more receptive audience than the one in serbia. the mass majority of people here are opposed to their country during nato, even though almost all their neighbours have, and that dates back to the bombing campaign in 1999 when nato was trying to force the troops of president slobodan milosevic, who was then out of kosovo, during the kosovo crisis, and during that time, on may the 7th 1999, the chinese embassy in belgrade was bombed. nato has always insisted that was an accident. china at the time did accept an apology and financial compensation, but president xi did say before he arrived that they will never forget this, chinese people cherish peace but they were never allow such tragic history to repeat itself, and that sounds like a bit of a warning.

he also won crack might he also said that they share a bond with serbia. it is a warning to the established alliances in the region. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

on every single day over the past year, the world's oceans have broken temperature records, thought to be because of climate change. figures from the eu climate service copernicus show last month was globally warmer than any previous april in records dating back to 1940. 0n much of australia's great barrier reef, you only have to dive below the surface to see the impact our warming oceans are having. just look at the coral — it bleaches turns white when the water gets too warm and can die as a result.

last month, ocean experts announced record world sea temperatures had led to a global mass coral bleaching event, the fourth ever recorded. and it's easy to see why. this grey area shows the range of average global sea temperatures over the last 40 years. now, look at this. the red line shows the sea temperature last year and this is how warm they've been this year. as you can see, the oceans are significantly warmer than in earlier years. should people be concerned? very much so. i mean, this is... these are real signs of the environment moving into areas where we really don't want it to be. and if it carries on in that direction, the consequences will be severe. it isn'tjust tropical seas that are changing. in cardigan bay, off the coast of wales, scientists have been using traces of dna to track the progress of this — an invasive sea squirt that carpets the sea floor,

preventing the growth of native organisms.