could suspend its planned incursion into rafah if there is a deal where hamas releases its remaining hostages. the latest stand—off in a wave of pro—palestinian sit—ins in the us — police detained hundreds on university campuses across the country. former health minister and conservative mp daniel poulter defects to labour, saying he disagreed with the conservative party's handling of the nhs. and a gold pocket watch worn by the wealthiest passenger on the titanic sells for six times the asking price. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. we start in the middle east — where israel's foreign minister has said a planned ground assault on the southern gaza city of rafah could be

suspended, if a deal emerges to free the hostages still held by hamas. israel katz said their freedom was a top priority. hostage release also forms a key part of international mediation efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the gaza war. hamas has posted a new video, which shows two of the hostages captured during its october attack. keith siegel, and omri miran both identify themselves. while the video is not dated, there is a reference to the recent passover holiday. it's the second such video that hamas, considered a terror group by the uk and us governments, has published in the past few days. our correspondent, anna foster, sent this update from tel aviv. omri miran�*s father was actually already on the list of confirmed speakers for this event tonight. when he got up on the stage, he talked about the moment, he said he was sitting having coffee

with someone and talking about his grandchildren when the man he was talking to held his phone and said, "look, they have released a video of omri." what was also interesting was as the crowd were gathered here tonight, is they showed that video in full, it is not something that normally happens because of course when you see the people in it, the two men in this case looking very malnourished, obviously speaking under duress, sending messages to their families and urging the israeli government to come to some sort of arrangement, some sort of deal to try and achieve their release. now, of course that deal and those talks have been going on for weeks and weeks. the last time we saw a significant hostage release was at the end of last year. at one point, we were told the talks had very much broken down, the two sides weren't really in communication at all but the egyptian delegation�*s visit this week and the further efforts of the us and us secretary of state antony blinken, we are led to believe that perhaps they are moving slightly closer in terms of trying to achieve

a deal, but certainly those powerful messages we heard tonight on the stage from the hostage families, they were talking directly to israel's leaders, directly to the politicians and were saying, you need you to do a deal. while we know they are alive, you need to do what they can to ensure their release now. antony blinken, us secretary of state heading back to the region. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is set to travel to saudi arabia on monday as negotiations between israel and hamas remain in limbo. this will be his seventh trip to the middle east since the war began. it is part of president biden�*s efforts to encourage a ceasefire and prevent the conflict from spreading. he will also call for the release of hostages from the october 7 attack. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. a lot of the emphasis is on the hostages? take us through where we are in terms of

hostages? take us through where we are in terms of the hostages? take us through where we are in terms of the talks? hostages? take us through where we are in terms of the talks? i like what you said in your introduction the introductions —— the negotiations are in limbo, that is putting the negotiations in perspective. both parties are putting a massive amount of pressure on each party to accept the hostage deal without massive amount of conditions. so israel is putting pressure, they are intensifying the military operation, they are threatening of starting the operation and rougher overnight we saw 30 people died in shelling in middle gaza and gaza, ten were children, israel believes only military pressure on hamas will make them accept the hostage deal. 0n the other side we saw hamas releasing these hostage videos urging the israeli government to accept that deal. i heard a clip of hamas

official saying israel wants them to voluntarily hand back them to voluntarily hand back the hostages involuntary to accept them occupying gaza involuntary except for not having a permanent ceasefire. the hamas would say why on earth would would accept all of this without a perspective of ending this war? what was anthony blink and likely to achieve? he has a big job? anthony blink and is trying to put this conflict in a wider context. he is trying to convince the arab countries the united states is committed to the two state solution, it is committed to the longer term solution to the palestinian cause. he is trying to convince saudi arabia to return to the part of normalisation, the relationship with israel, he is trying to get the wider

perspective and even hamas announced last week they are willing to discuss being disarmed, if the two state solution, path would be viable. so he is trying to do that. israel is only trying to achieve the two main aims of this war, destroying hamas, releasing the hostages and the united states trying to find a longer term dealfor the palestinian cause which would give the americans peace of mind for an give the americans peace of mind foran amount give the americans peace of mind for an amount of time. mohammed thank you very much indeed. hundreds of pro—palestinian protesters have gathered at the building hosting the annual white house correspondent�*s association dinner in washington where president biden was giving a speech. some wearing vests with the names of palestinian journalists killed in gaza lay down on the ground in front of the venue as guests filed in. more than 20 palestinian journalists this week issued

an open letter urging their american colleagues to boycott the dinner. meanwhile, police have moved in on a pro—palestinian protest at northeastern university in boston. officials said about 100 people were detained as they were moved from the site, but those with student id would not face any legal action. it's the latest stand—off in a wave of pro—palestinian sit—ins at campuses around the united states, including this demonstration, which has been ongoing at columbia university in new york. 0ur north america correspondent, will vernon, is following developments from washington. there have also been arrests today at indiana state university. 69 people, we understand, detained there — at indiana university, too. and negotiations are ongoing at columbia university in new york over the protest camp there. and that's what really sparked this latest escalation in the protests, really.

pro—palestinian demonstrations have been going on for several months now at a number of universities, but the mood has really changed in the last week or so, and that was because of an incident at columbia. 0n the 18th of april, the nypd were called onto the campus to take down a protest camp there. dozens of people were arrested and that really ignited tensions. and a number of other protest camps were then pitched at various universities across the country. now, the protesters say that they're unhappy with the us government's support for the israeli military campaign. they want a ceasefire in gaza, but also they're demanding that their universities divest, so cut ties with companies with links to israel. but manyjewish students say that they feel intimidated by these demos. there have been a number of reports of verbal assaults or even physical attacks onjewish people by the pro—palestinian demonstrators.

the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, as well as many people in congress here, say that these protests are anti—semitic. of course, the demonstrators deny that. and university administrators say that a lot of this trouble is being caused by radical outside elements that have infiltrated the ranks of the students. and that's certainly what we heard from northeastern earlier today. they told us that while around 100 were detained, only about 12 or maybe a bit more than that of them actually had student ids. so many of them were not from the university at all. let's speak to shawn hubler, a reporterfor the new york times covering california. come to the programme. 0bviously come to the programme. obviously you are following the process very carefully based in the united states. how have they been seen?— the united states. how have they been seen? they are seen it depends _ they been seen? they are seen it depends on _

they been seen? they are seen it depends on the _ they been seen? they are seen it depends on the political - it depends on the political party i guess you belong to, in a lot of ways what has happened on the campuses here is a reflection and a product of the polarisation that has happened in the united states. it's very different to i gather the campus situation in europe, here, university administrators have been put on the spot, because of political differences in an election year, and on one hand they don't want to crack down on free speech issue because it tends to inflame the situation, on the other hand, they also do not want to seen to be unable to manage their campuses. i have had those sorts of allegations made against them by members of congress, who have seized on this issue and made hay out of it. mb? have seized on this issue and made hay out of it.— have seized on this issue and

made hay out of it. why do you think it has _ made hay out of it. why do you think it has escalated _ made hay out of it. why do you think it has escalated so - think it has escalated so quickly?— think it has escalated so cuickl ? ., ., ., quickly? part of it as social media. part _ quickly? part of it as social media. part of _ quickly? part of it as social media. part of it _ quickly? part of it as social media. part of it is - quickly? part of it as social| media. part of it is genuine concern on all sides of the issues, on all sides of the united states, people are genuinely concerned about what is happening in the middle east. but part of it is when the arrests occurred on the columbia campus it set off a cascade, it shocked to students, police were bought in, the introduction of that law enforcement element, created, kind of raised the stakes for a lot of student, and it triggered more outrage at more campuses, more quickly thanit at more campuses, more quickly than it might otherwise have, at the universities acted differently. i

at the universities acted differently.— at the universities acted differentl . ., , ., differently. i wonder if you could talk— differently. i wonder if you could talk me _ differently. i wonder if you could talk me through - i differently. i wonder if you j could talk me through - as could talk me through — as their power and student activism in the united states? absolutely. 0f activism in the united states? absolutely. of course. the students are for one thing they are potential voters, and the upcoming presidential election, the country is narrowly divided. president biden in particular very much is hoping to get the youth vote, needs the youth vote in order to prevail, remain in office. there are a lot of parents who are concerned about what is happening at these universities. there is a long history of dissent in the united states so there is a generational aspect of it as well, parents are seeing their kids on one hand, get involved, and political discourse, but on

the other hand, potentially be in a situation where they have an arrest record, or they might be in dangerand an arrest record, or they might be in danger and at the same time, there is a pretty sophisticated element of community organising that washes in and out of the campuses. in a lot of these universities, many of the people who are protesting our students, but some of them are not students, and there have been charges as your reported noted of outside education as well. ,, . , noted of outside education as well, ,, ., , ., ~' noted of outside education as well, ,, . , . ~' , ., well. shawn hubler. thank you very much _ well. shawn hubler. thank you very much indeed, _ well. shawn hubler. thank you very much indeed, from - well. shawn hubler. thank you very much indeed, from the i well. shawn hubler. thank you l very much indeed, from the new york times. here in the uk, a conservative mp has defected to the opposition labour party. dan poulter has been the mp for central suffolk and north ipswich since the 2010 election. he combines his political career with practising medicine as an nhs hospital doctor on a part—time basis. in an interview with laura kuenssberg, he confirmed he was defecting to labour. the prime minister

under pressure. the doctor departing the tory tribe. dan poulter has been a doctor and a conservative mp for 1h years, but in that rare move, a political defection, he's quit and is joining labour too. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience. and ifeel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. since 2010, though, constituents in your suffolk home have chosen you, sent you to westminster as a conservative. some of them might be angry that you have left the party that they chose. what do you say to them? i thought about it and i thought, "well, what's the best thing or the right thing to do"? and on balance, i thought because there will be an election very, very soon. it makes sense to have a by—election. i thought, on balance, it was better to continue to work diligently

for my constituents through until the end of this parliament. a conservative spokesperson said, "what dan says is wrong. "sir keir starmer has no plan for our nhs "under the conservatives, "we are raising nhs funding to a record £165 billion "a year, helping it recover from the effects "of the pandemic and driving forward its first ever long term workforce plan". but last month, lee anderson walked away from the tories tojoin the reform party. in 2022, christian wakeford quit to join labour. defections create noise and disruption because they are so rare. so it's a damaging departure for the conservatives when polls suggest voters are deserting, too. just days from council elections for millions, another political accident that rishi sunak can ill afford. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. and viewers in the uk can see the full interview

with dan poulter on sunday with laura kuenssberg at 9 o'clock this morning, on bbc one. and in scotland, it will be a difficult week for first minister humza yousaf. he faces a confidence vote following his decision to end the snp's power—sharing agreement with the greens. humza yousaf has reached out to opposition leaders to find common ground but a source close to him has denied any electoral pact with the alba party. 0ur scotland editor james cook has more. these are difficult days for humza yousaf, facing an uncertain out as he tries to shore up support for his minority government. that is because he decided to end a power—sharing deal with the scottish greens. it power-sharing deal with the scottish greens.— scottish greens. it is in the best interest _ scottish greens. it is in the best interest of _ scottish greens. it is in the best interest of the - scottish greens. it is in the best interest of the people | scottish greens. it is in the i best interest of the people of scotland to pursue a different

arrangement. the scotland to pursue a different arrangement.— arrangement. the greens are still furious _ arrangement. the greens are still furious and _ arrangement. the greens are still furious and insist - arrangement. the greens are still furious and insist they i still furious and insist they will not back humza yousaf and a confidence vote in coming days. nonetheless the snp leader has written to all the opposition leaders at holly road arguing people want to see political parties work together and inviting them to discuss their concerns and priorities. ash beacon of the alba party could be the kingmaker, who support alone might be enough for humza yousaf to survive. the leader of alba party told the sunday times three might win her over by striking an electoral pact in which snp candidates stood aside in favour of alba party in some seats in future elections. but a source close to humza yousaf called the ida fantasy and ridiculous. the main opposition say the first minister has run out of road. i say the first minister has run out of road.— out of road. i think it's an act of desperation - out of road. i think it's an act of desperation on - out of road. i think it's an j act of desperation on part out of road. i think it's an i act of desperation on part of the current first minister. humza yousaf is one of the

first— humza yousaf is one of the first -- _ humza yousaf is one of the first —— most divisive and incompetent ministers scotland has ever — incompetent ministers scotland has ever seen.— incompetent ministers scotland has ever seen. even so the snp leader hepes — has ever seen. even so the snp leader hopes to _ has ever seen. even so the snp leader hopes to hold _ has ever seen. even so the snp leader hopes to hold talks - has ever seen. even so the snp leader hopes to hold talks with | leader hopes to hold talks with his opponents as he struggles to get enough support to keep hisjob. a teenager who'd paid to be on the small boat channel crossing earlier this week, that resulted in tragedy has told the bbc he decided not to make the journey because he was worried about the number of people getting on board. an investigation is continuing into exactly what happened when violence broke out, resulting in the death of five people, including a young girl. 0ur correspondentjon donnison, reports from calais. chaos, desperation and violence as more than 100 people tried to cram onto a small boat in the early hours of tuesday morning. among them was 16—year—old marcus, not his real name, from south sudan. where are you here? i'll be on this side. on that side? yeah, this side. five people were killed, including a seven—year—old girl. and how do people die?

there were too many people. they were crushed maybe. i didn't see them die. ijust wanted to save myself. 30 or a0 guys were trying to force themselves on the boat because they did not pay the money. marcus, who is fleeing life as a child soldier in south sudan, says he paid people smugglers $1,000 to make the crossing and even though he was injured in the last attempt, he's willing to pay more to try again. you can see today that the sea is calm and the wind has dropped, and that means more attempted crossings. here, you've got a boat that's been abandoned, it looks like police have slashed it open. you've also got a tear gas canister, which police have been using, and some abandoned children's clothing. despite the dangers, people like marcus are not going to give up. and what of the government's rwanda policy? the government is saying they will deport people who cross to rwanda. does that worry you? that will not stop me, i will never give up.

i will try my best to cross the english channel. and the chance came sooner than we expected. after we left marcus this morning, we heard that he'd headed to the beaches once more for another attempt to reach the uk. jon donnison, bbc news, in calais. the un security council has expressed deep concern over an imminent attack on the sudanese city of al—fashir by the paramilitary rapid support forces. al—fashir is the last big city in the darfur region, where sudan's army is still holding out against the rsf, who've been accused of carrying out a wave of violence against non—arab ethnic groups. civilians in al—fashir are said to be afraid that they will be killed if they attempt to flee. civilians are trapped in the city, they are afraid of being killed if they attempt to flee.

this dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies, and deliveries of commercial goods humanitarian aid have been heavily constrained by the fighting. the commissioner calls for an immediate dizzy deescalation of this catastrophic situation and end of the conflict that has been in the country for over a year now and investigation of all alleged abuses of human rights law and humanitarian law. let's get some of the day's other news now. officials in kenya have warned people to brace for even heavier rainfall, as severe downpours continue to batter parts of east africa. at least 76 people have now been killed by the flooding in recent weeks and more than 130,000 displaced. the extreme weather has also wreaked havoc across neighbouring tanzania, burundi and uganda. a tornado has ripped through the southern chinese city of guangzhou, killing at least 5 people and injuring more than 30 others. officials said 140 factories

were damaged, whilst residential properties were largely unscathed. the city is the capital of heavily industrialised guangdong province, where flooding after torrential rain claimed 4 lives earlier in the week. iraq's parliament has passed a law imposing heavy sentences for sex acts deemed to promote moral depravity. it criminalises same sex relations with up to 15 years in prison, while anyone promoting homosexuality or prostitution faces a seven year term. transgender people will be sentenced to between one and three years injail, as will any doctor performing sex—change surgery. a gold pocket watch worn by the wealthiest passenger on the titanic has sold for £900,000 at auction. 0nce fees are added, it's the highest price ever paid at auction for a single item recovered from the scene of the disaster in 1912.

a leather violin bag owned by the leader of the orchestra which famously played on as the ship sank fetched £290,000. duncan kennedy reports from the auction in wiltshire. there's nothing like the titanic to evoke memories, passion... ..and buyers. this auction included one of the items that titanic collectors desire most of all — it's the gold pocket watch belonging to a passenger believed to be one of the richest people in the world, jothacob astor. he and 1,500 others died when the ship sank in april 1912 in the north atlantic. what i] astor's watch represents is something touchable from history, which is why people are still willing to pay so much money for it. the bidding for the watch started way beyond the estimate of £150,000 and kept climbing... at £900,000...

gavel thumps add on all the fees and the anonymous buyer will pay £1.17 million — a world record for an item from the titanic. at the end of the day, this price reflects not only the importance of the astor watch, but also the enduring appeal of the titanic story. books, films and documentaries have kept the titanic story alive, but it's artefacts like these that make it tangible and desirable. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in wiltshire. space x has launched its falcon 9 rocket. three, two, one. ignitions. engines full flower. go, galileo. this was the moment it took off from the kennedy space centre in florida. it's the 20th launch for this falcon 9's first stage.

space x has already launched 41 orbital missions in 202a. it is the first time an american—made rocket has taken off from the us. earlier, we told you about the protests outside the annual white house correspondent�*s association dinner in washington. president biden delivered an election—year comedy roast in front of journalists, celebrities and politicians. and made fun of himself, and his rival donald trump. of course, the 2024 election is in full swing. and, yes, age is an issue. i'm a grown man! running against a six—year—old! we will see more of that. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we're seeing some changes to the weather this weekend.

part two of the weekend promises to be quite wet across some eastern areas. another chilly but bright day further west that you are. but it marks a change to our weather because, as we move into the new week, we'll start to draw up some warmer air from the near continent. many areas will actually turn a lot warmer than what we've had over the past week. this area of low pressure will continue to bring some rain to central, southern and eastern parts of england through the night. so, early sunday, this is the position the rain will be in. less cold for england and wales — 5—8 degrees — but another cold night to come for scotland and northern ireland with a touch of frost, but it's here you'll have the best of the sunshine from the word go for sunday morning. further east, it'll be a cloudy, wet picture with that rain slowly pulling away from eastern england, becoming confined to north—east scotland, the northern isles. elsewhere, plenty of sunshine around and a few scattered showers developing into the afternoon and a windy day to come, particularly close to the north sea, close near to that area of rain. temperature—wise, the low teens for many but distinctly chilly again across this northeast corner. that rain continues to clear northwards into the northern

isles during sunday night. it turns a lot drier for many with clear spells. we'll start to see thicker cloud and some showery bursts of rain pushing into western areas, though, by the end of the night — though many areas will stay dry. temperature—wise — well, actually milder for many, particularly scotland and northern ireland, than what we've had of late. still a few chilly spots there for northeast scotland. this is the picture for monday, you see there the pressure picture. we've got low pressure out toward the west. this will be bringing south or southwesterly winds across the country and, actually, for large parts of england and wales, particularly towards the south and east, it's going to stay dry all day with some good spells of sunshine but rain will be splashing into western areas and moving across the irish sea as we move through the course of the day. some of this will be quite heavy. we've got the low teens celsius in the north and the west. could be up to 16 or 17 celsius in the southeast with that sunshine and the warm wind coming off the near continent. for the rest of the week, we hold on to lower pressure towards the west of the uk. that will continue to bring our air source from the southeast

or the east at times and there will be weather fronts close by, so it's an unsettled theme, i think, but it's going to feel warmer throughout this week than what we've had over the past week. it could be up to 20 degrees in the warmest spots across the southeast. but with low pressure nearby, it will tend to remain on the unsettled side. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

israel's foreign minister says a planned ground assault on the city of rafah could be suspended if a deal emerges to free the hostages still held by hamas. israel katz said their freedom was a top priority, hours after hamas released a video of two of the hostages. us police in riot gear have clashed with students staging sit—ins — the latest escalation in a wave of pro—palestinian protests that have sprung up at campuses around the country. students are calling for colleges to boycott companies with ties to israel. the sit—ins have seen some graduation ceremonies cancelled. and a gold pocket watch worn by the wealthiest passenger on the titanic has become the shipwreck�*s most expensive item ever bought at auction. the timepiece, owned byjothacob astor, was bought by an anonymous bidder for more than £1 million, including fees. now on bbc news, click.