to stick to his plan in government, as some in his party voice serious concerns. we are, at this rate, we will be lucky to have any conservative mps at the next election. brazil's president lula surveys the damage left by deadly floods, as thousands are forced to evacuate. and the king of fruits under threat? a vicious heatwave jeopardises durian crops in south—east asia. it's 6am in singapore and 1am in israel, where the country's military says three soldiers were killed and several injured after hamas fired rockets from an area in southern gaza, near the rafah crossing.

israel responded by closing the kerem shalom border point — one of the few routes to get aid into the territory. it comes as the israeli government forced the news network aljazeera to shut down its operations in israel, calling it a mouthpiece for hamas. from jerusalem, frank gardner has the latest. in a country that prides itself on free speech and democracy, israeli police shut down the offices of aljazeera today, seizing its broadcast equipment. if you are watching this pre—recorded report, then aljazeera has been banned in the territory of israel. this was one of its final broadcasts from jerusalem before the police arrived. the government accused the qatar—based tv channel of incitement to terrorism, calling it a mouthpiece for hamas. its bureau chief called it a dangerous move. israel cannot claim all the time that it is a democracy, and at the same time they are cutting, and preventing

the journalists to do theirjob. meanwhile, down on the gaza border, close to rafah, a deadly rocket attack by hamas, on the very crossing point through which it was hoped more aid could flow into the territory. it has since been shut. at least three israeli soldiers were killed. translation: today, israel's . embattled prime minister reacted to the demands for a permanent ceasefire and an israel withdrawal from gaza. the state of israel is not willing to accept this, he said, capitulating to the demands of hamas would be a terrible defeat for israel. but the government here is under pressure from parts of its own population. last night, tens of thousands of israelis rallied in protest at delays in getting the hostages out of gaza. they don't believe the government is making it a priority. the israeli government wants

its hostages out but at the same time it has vowed to destroy hamas, which is why it will not agree to a permanent ceasefire. but hamas, which holds the hostages, says it won't sign a deal unless the ceasefire is permanent, which is why the peace talks have stalled. a delegation from hamas has just been in cairo talking to mediators. they have now left to consult with their leadership. in gaza, the war continues, with airstrikes and deprivation. gazans are desperate for this war to end. so, too, are many israelis. but others in israel see this as unfinished business. they want this war pursued until hamas is utterly destroyed. frank gardner, bbc news, jerusalem. as you just heard in frank's report there, benjamin netanyahu ordered the closing down in israel of the broadcaster aljazeera — which has qatari owners — accusing it of incitement and of threatening national security.

i'm joined now by carlos martinez de la serna, program director at committee to protectjournalists. what's your reaction to this move by israel? what do you think was the tipping point for israel to make this decision? aljazeera in israel, this is an attack... it is completely unacceptable in a democratic country to ban and not allow its citizens to access different voices, those they might disagree with, those being controversial... that really enables... inaudible. netanyahu is really undermining that. now put it in context. al jazeera is one of the most important news reporting in gaza. journalists have already paid the ultimate

price. many of them have been killed, including many family members of aljazeera journalists have been killed. they bring the facts about a war that is already more than eight months old. they bring the reporting, the consequences, how the war is impacting civilians. that voice is being cut to israeli society. remind our viewers. _ being cut to israeli society. remind our viewers, reporting _ being cut to israeli society. remind our viewers, reporting from - being cut to israeli society. remind our viewers, reporting from gaza i being cut to israeli society. remind our viewers, reporting from gaza isj our viewers, reporting from gaza is extremely limited, isn't it? extremely limited. important reminders that no international journalists are allowed into gaza. so for more than eight months, we have to rely on the reports of the local journalists. have to rely on the reports of the localjournalists. they are already suffering the war, taking care of themselves, taking care of their families in dire and extreme situations. almost 100 journalists have been killed.

inaudible. aljazeera has been consistently producing some of the most important reports. now those reports won't be accessible for israeli society. what accessible for israeli society. what is israel trying _ accessible for israeli society. what is israel trying to _ accessible for israeli society. what is israel trying to achieve - accessible for israeli society. what is israel trying to achieve by doing this? i want to note as well that israel is not the only country in the middle east to ban aljazeera. i thinkjust ask israel for that question. i don't know what they are trying to achieve. i know the impact of their decisions, which is that the space is shrinking... it is a form of censorship. in gaza and now inside israel. those are the consequences. this is not about whether aljazeera is banned in other countries, it's how you

protect democracy. this is not the way to do it. protect democracy. this is not the way to do it— protect democracy. this is not the way to do it. thank you so much for our way to do it. thank you so much for your time- — later on in newsday, we'll bring you a report from our special correspondent fergal keane about the looming crisis facing the people living in rafah. in the uk, the governing conservative party has been licking its wounds after its drubbing in the local and mayoral elections. the former home secretary suella braverman urged prime minister rishi sunak to change course and move more to the right. but the transport secretary mark harper said it was still all to play for. here's our deputy political editor vicki young. across england and wales, labour won in style. mayors... councils... and police and crime commissioners. it was a terrible set of results for the conservatives, one of the few bright spots a victory for their mayor in the tees valley. the former home secretary,

no fan of the prime minister's, warned today that the party faced a wipe—out at the general election, but that there was no point ousting him now. rishi sunak has been leading us for about 18 months. he's been making these decisions. these are the consequences of those decisions. he needs to own this, and therefore, he needs to fix it. and these are her suggestions. he needs to actually lower taxes in a way that people will feel, not tweaking around the edges. if he's serious about migration, he needs to put a cap on legal migration. he needs to take us out of the european convention on human rights. that's how you actually send a message that he's serious about stopping the boats. not all tories agree. after his defeat, the now former mayor of the west midlands, andy street, urged the party to stick to the centre ground. ministers insist they are already acting decisively. we have a plan, and the plan is working. but voters are telling you they don't like it. but we're not all the way through yet. i think people want to see delivery, right, so they want to see inflation

continue to come down. they want to see the boats stopped. they want to see, for example, nhs waiting lists continue to fall. we've made a lot of progress on that, but we're not all of the way there yet. labour did see a drop in support in some areas where there's anger about its stance on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge that in some parts of the country, that was the case, and there will be some people who maybe voted labour in the past who haven't in the local elections because of this issue, and where that's the case, we'll work to get people's support back. but overall, i do have to stress, these were tremendous local election results. rishi sunak�*s fiercest critics seem to have decided against an attempt to drive him out of here, but that doesn't mean the criticism will stop. president lula da silva is paying his second visit to southern brazil as conditions worsen, following massive flooding and landslides which forced over 80,000 people from their homes. local authorities say that dozens of people have been killed, and that over 70 are missing.

further rainfall is expected. jon donnison reports. much of brazil's most southerly state is under water. roads turned into rivers and tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. translation: now, when i'm being rescued, i feel relieved, | but it's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way. it rose at a very high speed. after a week of storms and heavy rain at least half a million people are without power and clean water. translation: i need a lot of help - a lot. l we have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. we have nothing. and the very young are being impacted, too. this tiny baby had to be winched to safety by helicopter. many of those who died were killed by landslides. and at least two people lost their lives when the floods

caused an explosion at a petrol station in port alegre. president lula da silva visited the region for the second time this week to see the damage for himself. brazil's military has been brought in to help with the rescue effort and to distribute aid. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter—than—average temperatures, high humidity and strong winds. and forecasters say it's not over yet. jon donnison, bbc news. i'm joined now by constance malleret, a freelance journalist based in rio dejaneiro. constance, what's that latest picture of how devastating these floods have been? the latest figures released by the authorities an hour ago showed that 78 people have been confirmed dead so far, up from 75 earlier. it will probably rise further as at least

105 people are still reported missing. 0n 105 people are still reported missing. on top of that, hundreds of thousands have been. to leave their homes, have lost their homes in many cases. 18,000 people in shelters provided by the public authorities. a scenario of absolute tragedy, a very devastating situation. this area is facing the worst floods in its history. they are not localised, notjust its history. they are not localised, not just affecting a few its history. they are not localised, notjust affecting a few cities, but nearly two thirds of the state's areas. a state that is more than twice the size of england, so a huge region that has been affected by these rain storms and floods. the state governor said it was the worst climate disaster there ever and described the situation as a warlike scenario. ., , . ~

described the situation as a warlike scenario. ., , ., . , scenario. constance, given the sheer size of the area _ scenario. constance, given the sheer size of the area affected _ scenario. constance, given the sheer size of the area affected and - scenario. constance, given the sheer size of the area affected and the - size of the area affected and the number of people displaced, what are they struggling with most? the rescue efforts _ they struggling with most? iie: rescue efforts are they struggling with most? "iie: rescue efforts are one they struggling with most? iie: rescue efforts are one of the main issues. we saw this in the images in the reportjust now. the local authorities, the local mayor said earlier today that they need more boats and helicopters to step up rescue efforts. although the rain has continued today, there will be a reprieve over the next few days, but authorities are saying it will take much longer for the situation to go back anywhere near normal, as it will take days for the water levels to fall back to normal levels. we have seen _ to fall back to normal levels. we have seen president lula da silva is on his second visit to southern brazil due to the floods, how has his government responded to this crisis? iiis his government responded to this crisis? , ., ., , , , crisis? his government has been very emhatic crisis? his government has been very emphatic in — crisis? his government has been very emphatic in saying — crisis? his government has been very emphatic in saying that _ crisis? his government has been very emphatic in saying that it _ crisis? his government has been very emphatic in saying that it will- emphatic in saying that it will support the state in any way possible. today, lula travelled with

a big delegation of ministers and representatives from the judiciary and legislature to put on a show of unity between the three branches of government, saying every branch of government, saying every branch of government will do whatever necessary to release resources as quickly as possible for the state. not only for it to be able to keep up not only for it to be able to keep up the rescue efforts, but also going forward, to rebuild infrastructure, because the damage will be absolutely huge.— will be absolutely huge. thank you for our will be absolutely huge. thank you for your time _ will be absolutely huge. thank you for your time today. _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's return now to the conflict in the middle east. health officials in gaza say nine people have been killed in an israeli strike on a home in rafah. it comes as the united nations has warned against an israeli attack on the city of rafah, saying it risks causing many more deaths. israel has said that even if there is a ceasefire agreement,

it will be temporary, and that it will go ahead with a military assault on rafah to destroy hamas. around 1.4 million people are sheltering in rafah — many of them have sought refuge there from other parts of gaza. our special correspondent fergal keane reports now on the looming crisis facing the people in rafah. the story of desperate need, told in a single line. stretching on the road to rafah. this is the queue on the egyptian side of the border. rafah is both the hub through which most of gaza's aid passes... ..and now home to nearly 1.5 million people — five times its original population. a place where hospitals have become refugee camps. where no living space is wasted. the wards where families cook. where their children

roam the corridors of a place that is — for now — safe. 11—year—old yasin al—galban is, according to his mother, surviving on painkillers. here, the brutal truth of the war is etched on the faces of its young victims. the fear is that this is what awaits rafah if an invasion is ordered. in the coalition government, the far right finance minister opposes any deal that would spare rafah in return for israeli hostages. "there's no half work. rafah, nuseirat, deiral balah. absolute destruction," says bezalel smotrich. the israelis say there are four hamas battalions in rafah to be destroyed, with or without a ceasefire. the un is making plans for more field hospitals, but warns it won't stop a disaster. it will not avoid what we expect will be substantial additional

mortality and morbidity. a lot more people dying? a lot more people dying, a lot more death and a lot more diseases. this is where utter destruction leads. people who've lost their homes, forced to camp next to graves. rahab abudacah is the mother of seven children. she described some of the horrors she and her children have witnessed. she points to a grave covered in bricks and explains the grim reason for this. translation: yesterday, | there was a grave, and there were no rocks above it. and the family came and they found that the dogs ate part of the body. they were forced to put bricks on his grave to protect him from the dogs. translation: from ten at night to dawn, we cannot sleep - because of the sound of the dogs.

at night, our children keep holding on to me because of how scared they are. there is intense pressure for a ceasefire deal now. without it, there's only foreboding. the dread of what comes next. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the chinese president xijinping has arrived in france on his first state visit to an eu country in five years. he was greeted by france's prime minister gabriel attal. president xi has said he wants to help solve what he called the crisis in ukraine, despite fears among western leaders that he is providing assistance to moscow. panamanians have voted in sunday's general election to pick the next president in an eight—person race. the election�*s been overshadowed by the disqualification of ex—president ricardo martinelli, who was the favourite to win, until he was banned from running

after being found guilty of money—laundering. his replacement on the ballot, jose raul mulino, is leading in the opinion polls. tributes have been paid to the actor bernard hill, who's died at the age of 79. he was best known for his iconic performance as yosser hughes in the 19805 alan bleasdale bbc tv series, boys from the blackstuff. he went on to star in tv programmes and films including lord of the rings and titanic in a ao—year career. noor nanji reports. gi'us a job. go on, gi's it. bernard hill came to fame as yosser hughes in the bbc tv drama boys from the blackstuff. go on, give us a job. the iconic character for many captured the struggle to cope with unemployment in liverpool in the 1980s. you're graeme souness, aren't you? yeah. — i'm yosser hughes. it was his breakthrough role which led to many others, including

in two oscar—winning films. the show�*s writer was one of first to pay tribute today. there had to be an extraordinary character in there, who would be mesmeric, and dangerous, and also not without wit. and i can only think of one person, so it was always, always bernard hill that was going to play yosser in the original film. and everything he did, his whole procedure for working, the manner in which he worked, and the performance, was everything that you could ever wish for. 0n the big screen, he played captain edward smith in titanic, who went down with the doomed ship. he also won over fans of lord of the rings with his portrayal of king theoden. the role brought him a whole new global audience to add to those that had grown up with him in the �*80s. his work spanned generations, with another memorable performance in the 2015 drama series wolf hall.

and in the second series of the responder, which was on screens tonight, he plays tom, an absent father, in what would have been one of his last acting roles. it took bernard hill back to where it all started for him — in liverpool. the thai government has ordered officials to help durian farmers in the east, as a prolonged drought caused by intense heatwave threatens crop yields. 0ur reporterje seung lee has more details. durian, known as the king of fruits, is a popular tropical fruit in southeast asia. this spiky green delicacy is known for its pungent smell — but with a sweet and creamy taste that's just to die for. now it's one of thailand's most lucrative agricultural exports, behind rice and rubber. but due to a vicious heat wave currently sweltering thailand

and other parts of southeast asia in general, farmers have voiced their concerns because they believe this is affecting their produce — they say some of the fruits burst open even before being picked. now let's hear from some of the farmers. translation: this year is a crisis. the future of durian is over if there no water. translation: this year is very difficult, it's so hard that - i have to sell my farm. now to alleviate some of the negative impacts, authorities have been told to visit affected areas to assess the scale of the damage, as well as provide water to durian farms and give advice to farmers. puns incoming. some baking news now. france has restored national pride, reclaiming the record for the world's longest baguette. and get a loaf of this —

the creation measures more than 140 metres long, almost half the length of the eiffel tower. a group of bakers managed the feat in a competition in paris. the previous record was held by italians, despite the baguette being a classic french product, meaning the win marks a return to the status "dough"! guinness record adjudicator joanne brent was there to certify the achievement. the final measurement is taken by the length of the baguette — and, with a great, huge record to beat of 132.63 metres, i can confirm that this attempt has been successful. cheering a huge free concert by madonna has taken place in rio dejaneiro, with a crowd of over 1.5 million believed to have attended. i should warn you there are some flashing images in the pictures we are about to show you. the brazilian show had been billed as a thank you to her fans

for decades of support, and marks the end of her celebration world tour, which began in london in october last year. 0rganisers say copacabana beach transformed into the "world's largest dance floor" as madonna performed a string of hits from her ao—year career. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. we saw flash flooding in eastern scotland on sunday. showers and thunderstorms erupted through the day. quite slow—moving, not much wind, one or two locations had half a month of rain in the space ofjust a month of rain in the space ofjust a few hours. we are currently in the

grip of this fairly weak and flabby area of low pressure, not much winds with the low, to push the showers around, but they crop up again on bank holiday monday, heavy and slow moving, but with spells of sunshine in between. we start the day, the southern half with areas of mist and fog, sunny spells developing, some rain across the south—east and east anglia. northern ireland and scotland, a lot of cloud in hefty showers across parts of scotland. in the afternoon, east anglia and the south—east seeing some rain. elsewhere in the south—west and wales, the midlands and the north, a mix of sunny spells and heavy thundery showers, quite slow—moving. the sunniest spots, 19—20. more cloud in northern ireland, largely dry. hefty showers in scotland. further west, dry. hefty showers in scotland. furtherwest, drierand dry. hefty showers in scotland. further west, drier and in places a bit brighter. through monday night, the showers should slowly but surely

fade away in most locations. some fairly large cloud, patches of missed here and there, temperatures holding up between 6—10 . more showers in the forecast on tuesday. they shouldn't be as widespread. 0n the whole, not quite as heavy. mainly fine to start, some large amounts of cloud, some spells of sunshine. showers through the day, particularly across parts of england and wales. in the sunny spots, temperatures up to 20 degrees. that is a sign of things to come. deep into the weak, high pressure builds a bit more strongly. frontal systems to the north of the uk still, so a bit of rain across parts of scotland particularly. but further south, mostly dry, some sunshine. temperatures climbing, with highs of 22, maybe 23.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine two years ago didn't just send shock waves through neighbouring moldova, it opened up a host of dangerous cracks. earlier this year, moldova's president accused moscow of plotting a coup. not one but two moldovan territories seem intent on seeking russia's embrace. all of this while moldova pushes on with its bid tojoin the eu. my guest is moldovan foreign minister and deputy prime minister mihai popsoi. is the ukraine war a portent of what is to come for moldova?