it's 7pm in london. this is the world today with me, ben brown. here in the uk, the labour party set out their policy on dealing with small boat crossings in the channel, saying they would scrap the rwanda plan straightaway if they came into government. the plan straightaway if they came into government-— government. the voting has been completed- _ government. the voting has been completed. please _ government. the voting has been completed. please lock _ government. the voting has been completed. please lock the - government. the voting has been - completed. please lock the machine. is really fury as the united nations general assembly backs a bid for an enhanced palestinian status at the un -- enhanced palestinian status at the un —— israeli fury. potentially paving the way for recognition of a palestinian state. israel says member countries are shredding the un charter. it’s member countries are shredding the un charter. �* , , ., .,

member countries are shredding the un charter. �*, , ., ., un charter. it's been a day of some strikin: un charter. it's been a day of some striking words _ un charter. it's been a day of some striking words and _ un charter. it's been a day of some striking words and actions - un charter. it's been a day of some striking words and actions on - un charter. it's been a day of some striking words and actions on the i striking words and actions on the floor of the general assembly, granting a lot of symbolism and a little bit of substance to the palestinian cause, over the objections of the israelis and the americans. i objections of the israelis and the american— objections of the israelis and the americans. a, ,~ ~.,, americans. i maryam moshiri, live outside the _ americans. i maryam moshiri, live outside the arena _ americans. i maryam moshiri, live outside the arena in _ americans. i maryam moshiri, live outside the arena in malmo - americans. i maryam moshiri, live outside the arena in malmo where j americans. i maryam moshiri, live - outside the arena in malmo where the eurovision_ outside the arena in malmo where the eurovision song contest will take place tomorrow night _ contest will take place tomorrow night. controversy surrounds the dutch _ night. controversy surrounds the dutch act — night. controversy surrounds the dutch act. we'lljust climb the allowed — dutch act. we'lljust climb the allowed to perform tonight? we will have the _ allowed to perform tonight? we will have the very latest for you at the end of— have the very latest for you at the end of the — have the very latest for you at the end of the programme. and have the very latest for you at the end of the programme.— end of the programme. and also cominu end of the programme. and also coming up _ end of the programme. and also coming up on — end of the programme. and also coming up on the _ end of the programme. and also coming up on the world - end of the programme. and also| coming up on the world today... end of the programme. and also - coming up on the world today... what sounds like clicking or maybe morse code? it's actually sperm whales talking. hello, welcome to the world today,

an hour of international news from the bbc. we will start in the uk. sir keir starmer says a labour government if it wins power would scrap the conservatives' rwanda policy straightaway. he's been in dover outlining measures that labour would introduce to tackle cross—channel migration. but the labour leader refused to set a target, saying he would not put "false numbers" on his plans. new figures from the home office show more than 9,000 people have crossed the channel in small boats this year. that's a rise of 35% on the same period last year. 0ur political editor chris mason spoke with the labour leader. dover this morning. the latest arrivals picked up by border force in the english channel. the ambulance a reminder of the perils of a crossing. a few miles away, the man who thinks he has a solution. and just look who's following in keir starmer�*s footsteps. the local mp, natalie elphicke, who walked into this week

as a conservative mp and ends it sitting with labour. sir keir�*s main idea is this... border security command will bring together hundreds of specialist investigators — the best of the best — from the national crime agency, the border force, immigration enforcement, the crown prosecution service, and, yes, mi5. listening, responding — the prime minister. and as far as i can tell, all the things they're talking about today are all things that we're already doing. crunching through the backlog, having more law enforcement officers do more. that's all happening already. we announced all of that more than a year ago. there is then a battle of ideas and a tussle over sounding tough. these vile people smugglers are no better than terrorists. they're a threat to our national security and a threat to life. that means new powers that will allow us to shut off internet access,

close their bank accounts. labour want to use counter—terrorism laws "to smash people smuggling gangs", as they put it. but how much difference would this make? so i think there's an open question here about what precisely these anti—terrorism powers will amount to, whether it will make it considerably easier to police smuggling gangs and ultimately whether it will have a material impact on getting small boat arrivals down. next, then, time to scrutinise labour's ideas. keir starmer, you say that you want what you call a border security command. the prime minister's set up a small boat 0perational command. what, in practical terms, is the difference? well, let me tell you. the prime minister's operation, which is good, is a processing operation here, coordinating with those in france about the boats that are actually coming across. but i want something much more ambitious than that, which is to set up a command that will take down the gangs that are putting people

in the boats in the first place. how can you be certain that the government's rwanda scheme won't be a deterrent? maybe, just maybe, it'll work. i think it's a gimmick. i think it's an extremely expensive gimmick. £600 million to removejust a few hundred people, less than i% of those that arrive via small boat. maybe it will act as a deterrent. i do not think it's going to work. i'm not going to come into government, if we're privileged enough to do so, and flog a dead horse at great expense to the taxpayer. a deeply complex issue over which keir starmer and rishi sunak grapple for credibility and long for solutions — as partial as they may prove to be. chris mason, bbc news in dover. the latest from the united nations. and in the end, the vote was overwhelming — the united nations general assembly backed a palestinian bid to become

dash mccain enhanced status at the un. eventually paving the way... here's the moment the resolution went through. the result of the vote is as follows. in favour, 143. against, 9. abstentions, 25. draft resolution a/es—io/l.30/rev.i is adopted. applause really, the vote is symbolic because of the us veto at the security council, but even so, israel has reacted with fury. its foreign minister said the vote was an absurd decision that is a prize for hamas. and just take a look now at this. gilad erdan, israel's permanent representative at the united nations,

saying that member countries have shredded the un charter. this was part of his speech just ahead of the vote. today, with sick and twisted irony, the very body established to prevent evil is now welcoming a terror state into its ranks. what would churchill say if he were alive today? what would roosevelt think? they are turning in their graves, turning in their graves! let's speak to our north america correspondentjohn sudworth, who's at the united nations, where the vote took place. lets start off with that israeli reaction, and very colourful display there from the israeli permanent representative, with that portable shredder, saying member countries had just traded the un charter. i think those kind of protest, the

gestures on the floor of the general assembly, are not new, failures will be familiar with the famous of them all, nikita khrushchev begging his shoe on the podium all those years ago. was this on a park? social media reaction somewhat mixed about the effectiveness of these kinds of gestures, but what we can be certain of is that israel, it was all designed to signal its deep unease and anger over this vote. 143 states backing this resolution. we ought to say, as you have already pointed out, this is largely symbolic. the general assembly does not have the power to confer a full membership on new states of that power belongs only to the security council, it vetoed, the us vetoed an effort to get that status for palestine last month. this was a general assembly taking matters into his own hands, but i think it does two things today. one, it read that call for

palestine to be given that status, but also but in small practical ways, it does enhance the status it already has as a nonmember observer at the united nations. so this code means that from now on, palestine will be able to take part in more of the debate, it will be able to appoint its representatives to some of the committees and propose some agenda items. they may seem like small steps, but it is significant enough, and he point the israeli ambassador was making is that in israel's you, this is ten amount to giving palestine trappings of statehood outside of the normal process —— tantamount. that was the symbolism of him shredding up the un charter. , ., ., ., ., symbolism of him shredding up the un charter. , ., ., ., ~ ., i. charter. john, good to talk to you, thank ou charter. john, good to talk to you, thank you very _ charter. john, good to talk to you, thank you very much _ charter. john, good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed - charter. john, good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed for i charter. john, good to talk to you, | thank you very much indeed for that analysis. that isjohn sudworth at the un. inside israel itself, prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his country can stand alone, after us president biden warned he'll stop sending some american weapons

there if there's a full scale israeli attack on rafah in gaza. he's already paused a shipment of munitions. more than a million palestinians are sheltering in rafah, most of them children and women. thousands have already fled the city after israel began what it called a "limited" operation there. but mr netanyahu has dismissed the us warning, and the israel defense forces said they already have enough weaponry for a full blown attack. paul adams reports from jerusalem. the fifth day of israel's ground operation in the south. israel still calling this "limited" — troops yet to enter rafah's overcrowded streets. but tanks and troops are massed nearby. the threat of an all—out assault still feels real. joe biden has warned israel not to do it and threatened to withhold weapons, but israel's prime minister says he's determined to destroy what is left of hamas. you know, we often had our agreements, but we've

had our disagreements. we've been able to overcome them. i hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country. israel is heavily dependent on american weaponry with the ministry of defence celebrating the arrival of everything from jeeps to smart bombs. joe biden�*s threat to suspend deliveries carries rare symbolic weight, but how much does it really matter? when we speak about difficulties within the idf, it would be for the long range or the medium one, for tomorrow war in gaza or tomorrow more war in lebanon, if it will happen, that will not make any difference. this week has seen a fresh wave of palestinians fleeing the fighting. most have moved multiple times before, the war following wherever they go. some are going north, searching for scraps of

open ground, often by the sea, places without any basic services. "we take water from the sea for our children," soumya says. "there are no bathrooms, no food, no tents. "look at the children. "they haven't had any breakfast or even seen food." seven months of war have totally upended life in the gaza strip, displacing most of the population, creating vast new refugee camps. with ceasefire talks still deadlocked, this desperate movement looks set to continue. paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. i've been talking to chris van hollen, the us senator for maryland, a democrat who has previously said that israel's blocking of food for children in gaza is a war crime. i asked what more measures biden could have taken regarding israel. the biden administration should have taken this kind of action sooner, should have used american leverage sooner, but i am very glad to see

the president take the step he did. and this should come as no surprise to prime minister netanyahu. president biden warned him repeatedly that an invasion of rafah would be a red line, because it would cause a huge additional increase in civilian casualties, make a desperate humanitarian situation even worse and make it harder to bring the hostages safely home. so it's important that the president took this action, to back up his words, and we will have to see how this proceeds at this point in time. we spoke on this programme yesterday to naftali bennett, former israeli prime minister, and he said, effectively, israel doesn't really care about what critics around the world might say. they will do what it takes and what they think they have to do to defend their country. that's what he said. well, that does not mean that the united states has to be complicit in every action taken

by the netanyahu government, and when you know that an invasion of rafah will cause the kind of additional humanitarian suffering that we know will unfold, then i think it's important that the united states say, "this is not a one—way street." if you're going to have a partnership, then it needs to be a two—way street, and what president biden is saying is that it's not anything goes from the united states, it's not an unlimited blank check. the president's been clear that the united states supports the defence of israel, but that doesn't mean that the united states supports all the actions that have been taken by the netanyahu government. that's us senator chris van hollen. speaking to me a little earlier on. just want to bring you some breaking news from the world of football, and

kylian mbappe has announced, confirmed he will leave paris st germain at the end of this season. itjust came out on his instagram account, a video in french, and he is leaving psg, and it is widely expected he is going to go to real madrid, although not confirm. he was hoping for a dream farewell from psg, in the champions league, but that did not happen because they got knocked out by borussia dortmund on tuesday, that deprived him of playing his last game for the club in the final at wembley next month, so that's not point to happen, but kylian mbappe ob 2018 world cup winner, will leave psg after seven years, when his contract expires at the end of the season. and real madrid is very likely to the place where he plays next. still to come on the world today:

prince harry and meghan markle on a visit to nigeria, promoting his invictus games, and how sperm whales talk to each other with rhythmic clicks, a bit like morse code. around the world and across the uk, this is the world today on bbc news.

let's just turn our attention to the latest situation in ukraine. there has been a surprise attack. one of russia's biggest land operations in north—eastern ukraine for the last two years. ukraine's president zelensky says his units are fighting back in the kharkiv region, after the new russian offensive. small groups of russian troops with armoured vehicles pushed through the front line. military sources say they advanced about a kilometre,

before being pushed back. there are reports of sustained russian shelling. here's president zelensky. translation: russia started| a new wave of offensive action in the kharkiv region. ukraine forces met them there with brigades and artillery fire. it is important to understand that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction. it is a fact. so that was president zelensky. let's give some analysis of what is going on in ukraine. let's speak to peter dickinson, the editor of ukrainealert at the atlantic council. he isjoining me now from kyiv. thanks very much for being with us. what is your analysis of this latest russian attack? was it a surprise attack or do you think it was expected? attack or do you think it was “netted?— attack or do you think it was expected? hello, ben. it was actually probably _ expected? hello, ben. it was actually probably expected. l expected? hello, ben. it was- actually probably expected. indeed, ukraine has been waiting for something along these lines for some weeks. russia has been increasing

its air assault on the city of kharkiv and the surrounding region for most of the current year, since january, preparing, presumably, the ground for something along these lines, so there's been widespread speculation that russia would look to launch some sort of a ground assault, and what we saw today was not large love and skill to be a serious attempt to seize the city of kharkiv, which is the second largest —— large enough in scale. indeed one of the largest cities in the region. that would require probably hundreds of thousands of russian troops. but we saw today was something involving thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of russian troops, believed to be around 30,000, 40,000 russian troops concentrated in the region on the other side of the border, so at this point it looks more like they are probing and testing, checking ukrainian defences, but certainly it could be a precursor to something much larger in the coming weeks.

right, and how close do you think we might be to that? because we keep hearing that ukrainians really are on the back foot, they have not had the weapons they need, although we heard from washington, $400 million worth of arms have been signed off and are on their way to ukraine from the americans, but they are short of weapons, they're short of men on the front line as well, so how do you read the bigger picture right now? russia is done after the time is of the essence for russians at this point because a lot of the eight committed to ukraine in weeks and weeks, particularly the very large aid package that was confirmed by the us congress, a few weeks ago, has yet to arrive in ukraine, so there's a window of opportunity for russia to exploit before this very, very urgently needed replenishment of ukraine stocks arrives in the country, and ukraine's forces are closer to full strength. they are

still very much understrength, so there is a window, perhaps, of a few more weeks, maybe a month, where russia holds a very significant advantage in terms of the amount of ammunition they can bring to bear. the manpower problem is another issue altogether. again, russia holds the advantage on that front. that will take longer for ukraine to fix or two of these bring it closer to parity, but certainly i would expect if russia is planning a major push, for it to come sooner rather than later, because at the moment they do have that advantage is. find they do have that advantage is. and if there is a — they do have that advantage is. and if there is a major push, i mean, however placed, given what we have been talking about, shortage of weaponry and troops as well, how well—placed is ukraine to repel any dramatic push or offensive in the coming weeks? i dramatic push or offensive in the coming weeks?— coming weeks? i think the most realistic scenario _ coming weeks? i think the most realistic scenario would - coming weeks? i think the most realistic scenario would be - coming weeks? i think the most realistic scenario would be to i coming weeks? i think the most l realistic scenario would be to look at what we saw in 2022, ukraine now is suffering from shortages of ammunition, its soldiers are

exhausted in many cases they are undermanned, but nevertheless they are significantly better armed than they were in 2022, when the war began, the troops are much more seasoned, they are much more battle experienced, whereas russia's troops russia's experienced and professional army has largely been destroyed since those days, so that we will probably see if russia launches a major offensive would be very high casualties on the russian side. however, they may be able to achieve victories if they follow the kind of strategy we have seen in recent months of simply using human waves and trying to overwhelm these defences. it would be probably very, very virtual and bloody affair, perhaps the most brutal of the entire war, it's very difficult to call how it would go.— entire war, it's very difficult to call how it would go. peter, thank ou ve call how it would go. peter, thank you very much- — call how it would go. peter, thank you very much. peter— call how it would go. peter, thank you very much. peter dickinson i call how it would go. peter, thank. you very much. peter dickinson there for us. the uk's economy grew more strongly than expected at the start of 2024.

it means the uk is out of recession that's when the economy shrinks for two three—month periods in a row, as it did towards the end of last year, when people faced higher prices in shops and higher interest rates. the prime minister said the uk economy has "real momentum", but admitted there is "more work to do". with more, here's our economics editor faisal islam. where better than rollquick in bristol to see a turn up in the economic cycle, the end of recession? it has been extreme boom and bust in the bike market since the pandemic, with changes in consumer demand, suppliers, and some retailers going bust. but now, like the economy in general, the brakes are coming off. so, from what you can see in this shop, does it feel like we're coming out of recession? it's beginning to. right now, it does feel like, yeah, things are getting busier and picking up again. from bristol's bikes to its butchers, better news from less bad news on the prices of everyday staples. no, it seems to be ok.

it seems to have plateaued a bit, so fingers crossed. it shouldn't, we hope, go up any more. ijust hope that prices will stay as they are, to be honest with you, because it's been a tough few years for a lot of people. visiting a new investment in mri scanners in oxford, the pm says a better than expected economy offers some vindication for his own plan. so, look, it is going to take time for people to really feel better, but i am confident that today's figures show that we now have momentum. the economy has real momentum. it's hard to argue with that. there are some arguing you are being delusional, that you are gaslighting the british public on the economy. all i'd say is, typical from the labour party. it's just being incredibly negative about the country, negative about the economy, talking it down when this isn't just me saying that. this is the bank of england governor yesterday saying that we've turned a corner. this is the office for national statistics, independently, who has put out figures that show we have the joint fast highest growth rate in the g7. both main parties say they want to fight the general election on the economy.

this is the first parliament on record where living standards will be lower at the end than they were at the beginning. this is no cause for celebration, no cause for a victory lap. my ambitions for britain are so much greater than merelyjust coming out of recession, which is all that rishi sunak and jeremy hunt have achieved. hi, john. hi, how are you doing? back in bristol, on the longest street of independent shops in the country, it's the carpet shop that could really show its confidence is returning. people are thinking twice. when you tell them the full price, they go, ok, maybe just have three rooms and not the stairs. so it's not like it was. it's a much harder environment at the moment. i would disagree that we are coming out of recession. i would say we are just sort of teetering. across the economy as a whole, the brief recession is now over, so normal growth is back, but up and down the nation, households and businesses aren't yet

fully healed from the economic scars of a tough few years. plenty more to come. do stay with us here on bbc news. hello. after another very warm and mostly sunny spring day today, what are the chances of this weather lasting through the weekend? well, at first, it is going to be more of the same — mostly dry on saturday, spells of sunshine. it will be very warm. but by sunday, signs of a change, some thundery showers as atlantic weather fronts start to edge in. but in the short term, this area of high pressure just about holding firm. underneath that high through tonight, we'll have largely clear skies. and it is possible, particularly across the northern half of the uk, that you might get a glimpse of the northern lights, the aurora borealis.

there's been a lot of geomagnetic activity, a solar storm heading our way, so do keep an eye to the sky. it could be an impressive display, particularly the further north you are. certainly staying dry with those clear skies, although an area of cloud likely to affect some parts of eastern england, also some areas of low cloud close to shetland. temperatures overnight not dropping far, generally between 7 and 12 degrees. so into tomorrow, a fine start, some good spells of sunshine, any early cloud in eastern england burning back towards north sea coasts. now, there is just the small chance of catching a shower, especially up over high ground in scotland. could be the odd hefty one, the odd thundery one. but most places will stay dry. in the sunshine, temperatures in glasgow, for instance, up to 24 degrees. western counties of northern ireland particularly could just see one or two showers, one or two across the far north of england. but for the bulk of england and wales, spells of sunshine, just a bit of patchy, fair weather cloud. maybe a bit murky for some north sea coasts, but highs of around 25 degrees. now, as we head through saturday night and into sunday, our area of high pressure begins

to loosen its grip and these frontal systems will start to push quite erratically in from the atlantic. so on sunday, the further east you are, a decent chance of staying dry with some very warm sunshine. a bit murky for some coasts of eastern scotland. but out towards the west, we will see some thunderstorms starting to pop up. quite hit—and—miss, but if you catch one, could give you a lot of rain in a short space of time. still, though, very warm indeed, with temperatures up to around 25 or 26 degrees. those temperatures certainly will not last. into next week, a much coolerfeel. temperatures generally between 15 and 18 degrees, showers or longer spells of rain, turning much more unsettled.

this is bbc news, the headlines the voting has been completed, please lock the machine. israeli fury as the un general assembly votes for full palestinian membership — effectively recognising a state of palestine. israel says member countries are shredding the un charter

prince harry and his wife meghan — kick off an informal