and ireland breaks its recent eurovision "curse", qualifying for the grand finalfor the first time in six years. other favourites, croatia and ukraine, also qualify. hello. i'm sally bundock. welcome to the programme. israel says it will deepen its attack on rafah in southern gaza until hamas is eliminated, or the first of the remaining hostages are released. all the defence minister said israel was ready to make compromises to secure their return but insisted that hamas only responded to force. israel has sent a delegation to cairo to resume negotiations, and hamas says the talks will be the last chance for a hostage release.

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. paul adams sent this report from jerusalem. a deal may now be tantalizingly close. but in rafah, israel's military pressure is relentless. today, severing gaza's last link with the outside world, the crossing point into egypt. and raising theirflag, sending an unmistakable message to hamas. the noose is tightening. the sounds of approaching war

echo among the displaced. hundreds of thousands of palestinians living in the sand against the egyptian border. or next to the sea. "i don't know where to stay," ahmed says. "people are fleeing from rafah "and i have my children with me." gazans have been on the move since yesterday morning, heeding israel's latest warnings, not knowing if the coming days will bring relief or despair. translation: after what we've witnessed, they've said - multiple times that there will be a ceasefire. but we're frustrated and we have no hope. there's no big hope. only a small one. for aid agencies already struggling to cope, the prospect of a full—scale israeli operation in rafah is alarming. as the operation will progress, we will lose progressively more areas to the fighting. and i'm afraid that this will also affect our warehouses,

health facilities, hospitals, and there are very, very few sites where we have the ability to give medical support. for the families of israeli hostages, these are also moments of acute anxiety. john and rachel's son, hirsch, was abducted and badly injured on 7 october. no sign of life until this hamas video two weeks ago. his parents nowjust daring to hope. when we heard the news that maybe there's a deal, we were cautiously optimistic and we remain cautiously optimistic. it's scary to have - military actions going on. they're innocent civilians, including our son. - we just, we just need this- to come to an end and we need the mediators on all sides and the two main partiesl tojust sit in the room - and hammer this out and don't come out of the room

without a deal. - away from the quiet dignity of the hostage families, friends and supporters are determined to make as much noise as possible, demanding the government do more to rescue hirsch and all the others. these israelis protesting in the heart ofjerusalem tonight feel that a deal to end this terrible war has never been closer. and so, as they protest close to the prime minister's official residence, their demands are becoming more and more urgent. israel's defence minister says the rafah operation won't stop until hamas is eliminated, or the hostages start to return. talks are continuing, a successful outcome still far from guaranteed. let's get some analysis now.

life to the border between israel and gaza. this is the southern border, where we were able to see earlier plumes of smoke emerging over rafah. this is the live shot. mohamed taha from bbc arabic is here in the studio with me. if we begin with the talks that, depending on what your viewpoint is, you could argue they have hit a roadblock, a stalemate, there is progress. what are you hearing? all stalemate, there is progress. what are you hearing? all the arties what are you hearing? all the parties now — what are you hearing? all the parties now are _ what are you hearing? all the parties now are in _ what are you hearing? all the parties now are in cairo. - what are you hearing? all the parties now are in cairo. they| parties now are in cairo. they are discussing phase one of the ceasefire, phase one should include an exchange of hostages versus prisoners, and they are discussing who should be released in this phase, and how and when. israel wants

assurances that the hostages are still alive, and hamas wants assurances that they will get the prisoners they want. but the main problem is phase two where hamas want to have sustainable call, which is another wording of permanent ceasefire, and israel does not want that. israel want to have the ability to return to attack a mass again, and to eliminate them, and in the meanwhile, they are, as you said, continuing the rafah operation. what's happening in rafah? we are seeing plumes of smoke, what is the latest. the are seeing plumes of smoke, what is the latest.— what is the latest. the rafah situation is _ what is the latest. the rafah situation is really _ what is the latest. the rafah situation is really miserable. j situation is really miserable. it is under massive attack from the israeli forces, shelling that caused the death of more than 33 people overnight, shelling including an unwra hostel. rafah is surrounded by israeli forces from the west,

rafah crossing and from the east. it is a similar situation, where israel started the attack on gaza in general. now people are trying to go to a mosque in nearby khan younis. there are not enough tents there, the humanity ship —— humanitarian situation is really dire in rafah at the moment. really dire in rafah at the moment-— really dire in rafah at the moment. ~ ., ., ., moment. what about the control of aid going _ moment. what about the control of aid going in — moment. what about the control of aid going in and _ moment. what about the control of aid going in and out, - moment. what about the control of aid going in and out, the - of aid going in and out, the fact that it is and israeli control, talks about that. you cannot go _ control, talks about that. you cannot go to _ control, talks about that. you cannot go to gaza _ control, talks about that. gm, cannot go to gaza through rafah crossing or the other. this way is completely blocked. all eyes are now on that temporary port that the americans built, or the aid coming from the north, as israel started to allow this from the north, but it is completely blocked at the moment, and even if the people, the previous talk that the

people can go across to egypt, this cannot happen because the israeli forces now are between the refugees and egypt. thank ou ve the refugees and egypt. thank you very much _ the refugees and egypt. thank you very much indeed. - let's bring you some breaking news from ukraine. officials says russia has targeted its energy facilities in several locations, including kyiv. ukraine's military said air defence systems were engaged in repelling attacks, and intercepted all projectiles launched at kyiv. there are reports of explosions in the western city of lviv and zaporizhzhia. ukrainian media say russian forces launched cruise and ballistic missiles, rockets and shahed—type drones throughout the night. now here to the uk. a uk—wide issue, which caused huge delays at passport e—gates, has been resolved, according to the home office. long queues built up

at a number of airports, including heathrow, edinburgh, birmingham and manchester. the e—gates use facial recognition to check travellers�* identity, allowing them to enter the country without talking to border control officials. the automated border gate system also crashed in may 2023, causing long queues, and hours of delays for passengers. let's speak to laura howes, who was stuck at a queue at stansted airport in london. she arrived at 11:00 at night, and more than six hours later, she's still on her way home. tell us about your ordeal. that's correct. we landed at 11pm, and we finally got into the airport for about quarter to 12, where we just were stagnant for a good hour and a half before things really started moving, but that was only the beginning of the problem. once the ego eight issue was fixed, the backlog of people that had missed the last trains from stansted airport

meant that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were completely stranded, and i'm outside a bus stop right now, this is my third leg of the journey, still not there, and i left, i can only get an uber at about liam, 3:30am, liam, so take that long. about loam, 3:30am, loam, so take that lonu. about loam, 3:30am, loam, so take that lon. .,, about loam, 3:30am, loam, so take thatlonu. , that long. gosh, so it has been uuite a that long. gosh, so it has been quite a night — that long. gosh, so it has been quite a night for _ that long. gosh, so it has been quite a night for you, _ that long. gosh, so it has been quite a night for you, and - that long. gosh, so it has been quite a night for you, and for. quite a night for you, and for many across the country, exacerbated by train strike action taking place today and yesterday. any information as to why this has happened, what caused the technological fault? i had asked and i was not given an answer. the answer i was given was that it has been fixed, for now. whether that is a long—term answer, i'm not sure. the truth other passengers went informed, we were somewhat left in the dark at times actually. find were somewhat left in the dark at times actually.— at times actually. and a busy time as well, _ at times actually. and a busy time as well, a _ at times actually. and a busy time as well, a long - at times actually. and a busy time as well, a long bank - time as well, a long bank holiday weekend comes to an end so the airports are busier than

usual. and it isjust frustrating that they should take place, because of course there are fewer humans at border control because the gates are so relied upon. find border control because the gates are so relied upon. and i think that _ gates are so relied upon. and i think that was _ gates are so relied upon. and i think that was somewhat - gates are so relied upon. and i think that was somewhat part l gates are so relied upon. and i l think that was somewhat part of the problem. there were not a huge amount of people to talk to, but when i had spoken to some other passengers, particularly one father who had a daughter who had a broken leg, she looked like she was struggling, had a very long day and she told me that staff have been very helpful to make sure he got through swiftly. other passengers said they were given water and very well looked after, so that was really good to hear. i personally did not see too many staff around to ask questions.— ask questions. thank you for talkin: ask questions. thank you for talking to — ask questions. thank you for talking to us, _ ask questions. thank you for talking to us, i _ ask questions. thank you for talking to us, i hope - ask questions. thank you for talking to us, i hope you - ask questions. thank you for talking to us, i hope you get| talking to us, i hope you get home soon. laura howells, who got stuck at stansted airport, which of course is on the london area. just to say that we have a lot more detail about that on our website, if you are travelling in and out of airports today in the uk, take airports today in the uk, take a look for the latest on that. now other news.

the president of moldova, on a visit to norway, has accused russia of trying to destabilise her country in its ambition to join the european union. maia sandu said that anti—government protests planned for may 9 were being orchestrated from moscow. rescue teams in south africa are in contact with construction workers trapped under a five—storey building that collapsed in the western cape. six people are known to have died in the incident in the city of george. the cause of the collapse, which happened while the building was under construction, is being investigated. rescuers in the us state of maryland say they have found the remains of the sixth and final victim of the baltimore bridge collapse. officials identified him asjose mynor lopez from guatemala. he was a member of the crew that had been working on the francis scott key bridge, when it was struck by a container ship in march. tiktok, and its chinese owner, bytedance, are challenging a us law that would ban the video app unless it's sold to another company.

they say it would violate the constitutional right to free speech. the law was motivated by concerns that china could use tiktok to harvest data. more on tiktok in business today. donald trump endured a tough day in court. he sat through lurid claims in new york during his trial over an alleged hush money payment to the adult film star stormy daniels. ms daniels, who was giving evidence in person, went into explicit detail about her alleged sexual encounter with mr trump — so much so, that his defence called for a mistrial. that was rejected by the judge. helena humphrey is in washington. stormy daniels taking to the stand is being seen by many as the most dramatic day of testimony in this trial so far because, keep in mind, this is the former adult film actress,

who had been paid for her silence is essentially not to speak about her alleged affair with donald trump in the run—up to the 2016 presidential election. instead, we saw her go into unflattering details about alleged sexual encounters with donald trump, at times explicit detail. she said, for example, 2006, that donald trump had greeted her wearing black silk pyjamas. she said she had tried to block out that sexual encounter from her mind. donald trump, for his part, says that it never happened. there were some heated exchanges in court during that cross examination. donald trump's legal team called for a mistrial, saying that due to the graphic nature of these details, it would only inflame thejury. thejudge, however, swiftly denied that. now this is one criminal case. donald trump is currently facing four, and in a separate development on tuesday in the florida classified documents case, we learned that, essentially, it has been put on hold

indefinitely. the presiding judge in that case, a trump appointee, says there are too many complicated pre—trial motions that first need to be heard before it can go in front of a jury, and that likely will be seen as a winter trump's team because they have been trying to delay any of these criminal proceedings until after the november presidential election. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

let's bring you the latest on the devastating floods in brazil. police have been deployed in southeastern brazil to prevent attacks on rescue workers. 95 people are now known to have died in the state of rio grande do sul. dozens of people are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced to leave their homes. the state governor has warned that more heavy rains are expected. with more on this, mimi swaby from bbc world service

joins me now. what more can you tell us? well, this station in the province of rio grande do sul has been described to me by climate scientists as unprecedented destruction. it has nearly hit 400 municipalities, it has left people homeless, more than 159,000 people, as the streets were turned into rivers by unprecedented rainfall that started more than ten days ago now. these floods have impacted directly more than 1.4 million people, so this is a vast area, bigger than neighbouring uruguay, and a huge amount of rainfall. it has meant that around 15,000 firefighters, police, volunteers, soldiers are working around the clock by plane, boat, jet skis in some cases, to try and reach thousands of residents still trapped in the completely flooded communities, as well as getting aid to those in need as well. ., ., ' ., well. the death toll 95 at the moment. _ well. the death toll 95 at the moment, could _ well. the death toll 95 at the moment, could that - well. the death toll 95 at the

moment, could that go - well. the death toll 95 at the l moment, could that go higher, and also took us through the disorder going on as well. it definitely could. more than 100 people missing. this is a tragedy we are yet to know the end of. there are more people being discovered, or looking for, but also crime is now a big aspect in this. looting is now widespread in the state, and the governor has pleaded to central government in brasilia for more support. he said the situation is going to disintegrate, deteriorate, in the coming days to try and tackle this insecurity spy, he has hired emergency staff, but this is not going to help. it is an area very inaccessible that people are taking advantage of.- that people are taking advantaae of. �* . advantage of. and the weather is not looking _ advantage of. and the weather is not looking at _ advantage of. and the weather is not looking at going - is not looking at going forward. a, is not looking at going forward-— is not looking at going forward. �* ., ., ., ., forward. a lot more rain to come, forward. a lot more rain to come. the _ forward. a lot more rain to come, the state _ forward. a lot more rain to come, the state governor. forward. a lot more rain to i come, the state governor has warned there are thunderstorm conditions as well as a cold front coming, and the high winds, which are going to push these floodwaters into new and flooded areas, so this what is going to spread and more water is coming. going to spread and more water is cominu. . ~ going to spread and more water is coming-— is coming. thank you very much

indeed. is coming. thank you very much indeed- the _ is coming. thank you very much indeed. the latest _ is coming. thank you very much indeed. the latest on _ is coming. thank you very much indeed. the latest on what - is coming. thank you very much indeed. the latest on what is i indeed. the latest on what is going on in brazil. prince harry will celebrate the ten—year anniversary of his invictus games with a thanksgiving service at st paul's cathedral later. the duke of sussex has travelled to the uk to commemorate the milestone of the games for injured veterans, but it's been revealed he won't meet with the king during his visit. our royal correspondent daniela relph has more. the duke of sussex, back in the uk, and back supporting the invictus games, the event for injured military personnel that prince harry created.- prince harry created. what started as _ prince harry created. what started as a _ prince harry created. what started as a little - prince harry created. what started as a little idea, - started as a little idea, actually stolen from the americans, and made bigger and better... �* , better... laughter it's better... laughter it's not _ better. . . laughter it's not often - better. . . laughter it's not often you i better... laughterl it's not often you can better... laughter - it's not often you can say that! . ., , ., that! recognising what the invictus games _ that! recognising what the invictus games has - that! recognising what the i invictus games has achieved is the focus of this visit. what the focus of this visit. what the trip to london won't include is a meeting with the king. leaving clarence house backin king. leaving clarence house back in february, prince harry made a flying visit to london

after the king because my cancer diagnosis, but this time round, prince harry's team say the king's full programme means there isn't time for father and son meet, it is a reminder that the family tension of recent years has not eased. these visits back to the uk are difficult for both prince harry and the royal family, difficult for both prince harry and the royalfamily, with relationships still strained. but later today here at st paul's cathedral, prince harry will be among friends and colleagues as he celebrates ten years of the invictus games. prince harry has travelled to london alone, but will be reunited with his wife, meghan, duchess of sussex later this week when they visit nigeria together, a country likely to host a future invictus games. daniela relph, bbc news, st paul's cathedral. the favourites, croatia and ukraine, are among the countries to have qualified for the grand final of the eurovision song contest in sweden. last night's semifinal also saw ireland, finland, serbia, portugal, slovenia,

lithuania, cyprus and luxembourg go through to the final in malmo. david sillito was there. chanting welcome to the eurovision song contest 2024.— contest 2024. and so it begins, eurovision _ contest 2024. and so it begins, eurovision 2024 _ contest 2024. and so it begins, eurovision 2024 and _ contest 2024. and so it begins, eurovision 2024 and the - contest 2024. and so it begins, eurovision 2024 and the first i eurovision 2024 and the first semifinal. and while the uk is automatically guaranteed a place on saturday's main event, this opening show was a chance for olly alexander to reveal his gravity defying eurovision routine. it was definitely slightly dizzying, and it's a reminder ofjust how much these daysis reminder ofjust how much these days is put into staging and spectacle. croatia's entry, they are the

bookies favourites. the song got the arena singing. and then there's ireland, which was, this year, trying something a bit different. meet band b thug and a performance with a certain wow factor. my and a performance with a certain wow factor. my name is bambi thug- — certain wow factor. my name is bambi thug. how— certain wow factor. my name is bambi thug. how would - certain wow factor. my name is bambi thug. how would you i bambi thug. how would you describe your— bambi thug. how would you describe your style? - bambi thug. how would you describe your style? we i describe your style? we jackpot- _ describe your style? 7 jackpot. non—binary, alt, which op. jackpot. non-binary, alt, which on. jackpot. non-binary, alt, which o._ ., jackpot. non-binary, alt, which op. the reaction in ireland, would you _ op. the reaction in ireland, would you say _ op. the reaction in ireland, would you say mixed? i op. the reaction in ireland, i would you say mixed? definitely a mixed reaction, _ would you say mixed? definitely a mixed reaction, some - would you say mixed? definitely a mixed reaction, some priestsl a mixed reaction, some priests not liking me very much. i don't think you're too bothered ljy don't think you're too bothered by that, are you? ida. don't think you're too bothered by that, are you?— by that, are you? no, not reall . by that, are you? no, not really- itut— by that, are you? no, not really. but behind - by that, are you? no, not really. but behind the i really. but behind the pyrotechnics, - really. but behind the pyrotechnics, there i really. but behind the pyrotechnics, there isj really. but behind the i pyrotechnics, there is a political undercurrent this year, with questions about israel taking part and

eurovision wanting to keep and the joy of our eurovision wanting to keep and thejoy of our and eurovision wanting to keep and the joy of our and making eurovision wanting to keep and thejoy of our and making it eurovision wanting to keep and the joy of our and making it to the joy of our and making it to the final. that really matters for ireland because it has the most illustrious eurovision past, but in recent years it has been a bit of a sad time. it has been six years since they qualified, but now they are finally through to the final, with bambie thug... cheering the party as well and truly under way. the party as well and truly underway. david the party as well and truly under way. david sillito, the party as well and truly underway. david sillito, bbc news, malmo. 50 under way. david sillito, bbc news, malmo._ under way. david sillito, bbc. news, malmo._ night news, malmo. so very big night for ireland. _ news, malmo. so very big night for ireland, and _ news, malmo. so very big night for ireland, and so _ news, malmo. so very big night for ireland, and so much - news, malmo. so very big night for ireland, and so much more | for ireland, and so much more detail on the website as you can see. just a mention of course the second semifinal is

on thursday, tomorrow, so if you are a eurovision fan, then be sure to be tuning in to that. something else we want to mention that is just being confirmed, or breaking as it were. the us has revealed it has paused shipment of bombs for israel over its concerns about what is happening in rafah. of course, late monday, israel began its offensive in rafah in southern gaza, and the us last week actually paused a bomb shipment for israel over concerns it was going ahead with a major ground operation in rafah. we can show you this morning the live scene from southern gaza. this is the israel gaza border in the south of the country, where earlier, just about ten, 15 minutes ago, you could see plumes of smoke over the rafah area. so overnight, there were further israeli air strikes, after

israeli air strikes, after israel forces, backed by tanks, took control of the key rafah crossing on the border with egypt. crossing on the border with egypt l crossing on the border with egypt. i will be back with the top business stories here next on bbc news. stay with us. hello. the weather has been gradually drying up over the past 24 hours or so, and we've got some more dry, settled weather on the cards through much of the week ahead, really. high pressure is going to be in charge over the next few days. but for the rest of the week, we will at times see weather fronts just trying to topple across the north of that high pressure. could bring a little bit of rain at times across parts of scotland in particular, perhaps the north of northern ireland. but it'll be warming up here. mostly dry elsewhere, though, with some spells of sunshine on the cards. so we are in for a relatively quiet few days of weather. we're likely to start wednesday morning with quite a bit of mist and fog around, especially so for parts of eastern england, also

perhaps wales and the southwest of england. could be some misty patches elsewhere. for most, they'll tend to lift and clear, so it'll brighten up. some sunny spells, particularly for england and wales. just the odd isolated shower. more rain moving into the northwest of scotland later on in the afternoon. so temperatures in the northwest, under the cloud, about 13 there for stornoway, but up to around about 21 for the likes of birmingham and london too. so there's that wet weather through wednesday evening. northern ireland, northern and western scotland seeing some outbreaks of rain. further south, most places staying dry, but there should be some mist and some fog that's going to be forming again into the early hours of thursday morning, but certainly mild — many places staying in double figures overnight. so, more of the same on thursday, high pressure still in charge. so a lot of dry weather, mist clearing away gradually. lots of sunshine, i think, for england and wales by this stage. there just could be the odd isolated shower. again, a little bit more cloud across the north of scotland. temperatures in lerwick only around 11 degrees, but for the bulk of the uk, we're looking at around

about 18—22 degrees. and that warming trend will continue as we head into friday, too. so, high pressure still very much in charge. i think by friday, we'll have less in the way of rain and cloud across the north of scotland, and quite widely across the uk. in those spells of sunshine, temperatures will be above 20 degrees. we could see 23 or even 24 down towards the southeast. again, a little bit cooler, especially across the north of scotland and the northern isles in particular. now, heading into the weekend, it looks like high pressure will be sitting out towards the east there. this weather front will just try and nudge in from the west by the time we get to sunday. but saturday, certainly looking dry, fine, pretty warm for all of us. just that chance of a few showers moving into the west as we head through sunday. bye for now.

how plugged in is the world's biggest carmaker? toyota's full year results are out shortly as it aims to hog the fast lane. tiktok launches its legal battle in the us arguing a potential ban is an extraordinary intrusion on free speech. plus, are things looking rosier in the magic kingdom? disney's streaming service turns a quarterly profit for the first time in years. hello and welcome to the first morning edition

of business today with me, sally bundock. and we start with toyota, the world's biggest carmaker by sales. it is poised to reveal how well it is doing with its latest quarterly financial results with analysts expecting revenues in the region of $67 billion. when koji sato became chairman a year ago he promised the company would finally embrace electric vehicles, but with global demannd of evs easing, the company continues to prioritise hybrids. more challenges followed, including multiple probes relating to historic regulations, several scandals, and intense competition from china. it is tough at the top. let's get the view of a big investor in toyota, masaki taketsume is a fund manager of schroder japan trust. welcome to the programme. what are you hoping to hearfrom toyota today? in

are you hoping to hear from toyota today?—