and the wait is nearly over for the world's largest live music contest — eurovision week kicks off in style in sweden. hello, i'm lauren taylor. we begin this hour in the middle east. israel's military has said it's begun ordering palestinian civilians to leave parts of eastern rafah ahead of a planned operation in the southern gaza city. in this video by the israeli defense forces, they are urging those in eastern rafah, closer to the border with israel, to move to what they call a �*humanitarian zone�* in the al mawasi and khan younis areas. the idf have said this is a limited operation and should affect about 100,000 people. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu continues to insist that a military operation in rafah is necessary to seek out remaining hamas fighters — despite widespread humanitarian concern for those sheltering there. western and arab leaders have repeatedly warned against such a wide ground operation,

because of the prospect of high numbers of civilian casualties. meanwhile, officials from israel and its closest ally, the us, have been holding meetings to discuss alternative, more focused plans. it's not yet clear if the new evacuation orders are part of those. let's speak to james elder who's a spokesperson for the united nation's children's fund — also known as unicef. juan tell us what you think the impact will be of this evacuation. absolutely devastating. you have families in rafah, their coping capacity has been smashed, this is six months of injuring this wall, moving many times, probably having lost a home already, the children are malnourished, they have already been living in conditions with one shower for 3500 been living in conditions with one showerfor 3500 people, being told to move to a "humanitarian zone", unilaterally declared humanitarians and, not a unilaterally declared humanitarians and, nota humanitarian unilaterally declared humanitarians and, not a humanitarian zone where

humanitarians are able to provide the services they need to. i've been speaking to colleagues and friends in rafah this morning and they are terrified. i was speaking to a young woman and she said, i know this has been coming but i don't know what to an area in gary barlow where there is more sewage in the streets, or maybe two the beach area of al mawasi but as unbearable as this is it is going to be horrific. find mawasi but as unbearable as this is it is going to be horrific.— it is going to be horrific. and they onl no to it is going to be horrific. and they only go to specific _ it is going to be horrific. and they only go to specific areas, - it is going to be horrific. and they only go to specific areas, or- it is going to be horrific. and they only go to specific areas, or can l only go to specific areas, or can they choose?— only go to specific areas, or can the choose? ., ., , , . . they choose? no, there are specific areas without _ they choose? no, there are specific areas without a _ they choose? no, there are specific areas without a doubt. _ they choose? no, there are specific areas without a doubt. partly - they choose? no, there are specific areas without a doubt. partly they l areas without a doubt. partly they will have to choose from those people who have the means to leave. hospitals cannot cope with the number of injuries. there are a lot of children who have had amputations back living in tents. those families will find it hard to move. geographically and logistically, no, a lot of families will not be able to move to the north if they had hoped to. khan younis is impossible.

that's another city bordering rafah. that's another city bordering rafah. that is rubble, not a little bit but street after street of rubble so they will be pushed into this area cold al mawasi, a beach area, it is sand, there's next to no sanitation or hygiene, and it's getting hot right now in gaza, it is raining today but it is getting hot. so they will be in tents side by side in the final six times the population density of new york city but all on the ground, not a high—rise to be seen, with no hospital can. the last hospital of any size is in rafah, the european hospital, donated by the european hospital, donated by the people of europe. it is 20,000 people hiding there and thousands more in care. they will have to move somewhere without the medical care that they need. you somewhere without the medical care that they need-— that they need. you said that the israeli army _ that they need. you said that the israeli army had _ that they need. you said that the israeli army had set _ that they need. you said that the israeli army had set up _ that they need. you said that the l israeli army had set up these areas without the assistance of the humanitarian community. what can you do in terms of providing help if people are moving? is there anything you can do? it is people are moving? is there anything ou can do? , ., people are moving? is there anything you can do?— you can do? it is a great question. the whole — you can do? it is a great question. the whole aid _ you can do? it is a great question. the whole aid operation _ you can do? it is a great question. the whole aid operation has - you can do? it is a great question.

the whole aid operation has been | you can do? it is a great question. l the whole aid operation has been so fragile because of denials and restrictions and insecurity and bombardments. let's not forget our colleagues from the world central kitchen, a week later unicef group came underfire. another kitchen, a week later unicef group came under fire. another crossing thatis came under fire. another crossing that is the lifeline of aid, if we are going to get close to meeting the needs of people, that crossing will now be closed and i don't know how far along. we have to be clear. you cannot unilaterally declare a safe zone. the other side will not consider it as that and secondly because the united nations needs time to actually try and support one or 2 million people. i said in november, unicef and the un has said this from the start, in november and december, this safe so narrative is very dangerous because a safe zone legally must also provide water, food, sanitation and protection. these stones don't have that four people, and quite frequently as the people, and quite frequently as the people in rafah will tell you, save sends also get bombed.—

people in rafah will tell you, save sends also get bombed. james elder from unicef. — sends also get bombed. james elder from unicef, thank _ sends also get bombed. james elder from unicef, thank you _ sends also get bombed. james elder from unicef, thank you for _ sends also get bombed. james elder from unicef, thank you for taking - from unicef, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. we will hear from our correspondent injerusalem shortly. let's move on now. china's president xijinping is in france on his first state visit to the region in five years, with the war in ukraine and trade with the eu expected to dominate the agenda. president xi will hold talks with french president emmanuel macron — and european commission president ursula von der leyen in paris. in an article for the french newspaper le figaro, president xi said he intended to work with france and the entire international community to uphold "world peace and stability". 0n the war in ukraine, he wrote: that's despite us claims that china is providing vital war material to russia. president macron is expected to warn president xi against backing russia in the conflict.

earlier, we were joined by our paris correspondent hugh schofield. he told us why mr xi has chosen france as the first stop on his tour. i think that the chinese aim, the chinese vision is to try to broaden any gap that they can between europe and the united states. they are worried that there is a hardening line in europe against china. for two decades, europe's policy on china has been very simple — trade, trade, trade, make money, make money, make money. that is ending. there is far more of a suspicion now in europe towards china. in other words, a kind of close alignment with the hardline american view of china. there is this policy of de—risking, which has taken hold here in europe as well both in america towards china, which means that you are not so happy to invest in china and you are worried, more and more worried, and this has been very clearly articulated by macron, about the political rise of china

about the geopolitical rise of china and its potentially destabilising influence on the world. so, in that context, what the chinese want to do is to try and broaden any gap between europe and america, to try to play on any differences between europe and america and i think what xi jinping is trying to do with france is try to say to france, "you are a wonderful, very important member of the global community, we think you are fantastic, and we love it when you say that you want to pursue an independent third way between america and the rest of the world, that is exactly how we see the world, too". they are going to flatter the french and macron into taking a softer position towards them, and we will have to see whether it pans out. it certainly doesn't look like it is going to be a particularly easy visit because macron, at the same time this is going on, is adopting a very, very tough language towards china. let's speak to our colleague, martin yip, whojoins us from hong kong.

just picking up on that, there are quite a few areas of tension, in spite of it being the full state visit being accorded to xi. yes. visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed. visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed- itut — visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed. but at _ visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed. but at least _ visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed. but at least china - visit being accorded to xi. yes, indeed. but at least china is i visit being accorded to xi. 1a: indeed. but at least china is trying to come from the state media point of view, they are trying to emphasise this point that china is in a good relationship with france, that this relationship is at the front of all of china's relationships with the entire europe, and trying to play up a good picture when xijinping europe, and trying to play up a good picture when xi jinping himself is in france. 0n the agenda, like everybody is talking about, will most likely be about ukraine. france is not the only country thinking it is not the only country thinking it is important to persuade china who has so much length with moscow,

probably between president xi jinping and president vladimir putin, trying to persuade russia to get easier on ukraine, or even end the war with ukraine that has been going on for years. at least both sides are trying to give a friendly picture to build up this meeting between the two presidents, president macron and president xi in the coming minutes. we also know that ursula von der leyen from the european commission is going to be there, too. the european commission is going to be there, too. ., , ., ., ., , there, too. the european union has been tough — there, too. the european union has been tough with _ there, too. the european union has been tough with china _ there, too. the european union has been tough with china recently - there, too. the european union has been tough with china recently on l there, too. the european union has been tough with china recently on a j been tough with china recently on a certain number of competition issues, hasn't it?— certain number of competition issues, hasn't it? yes, indeed. in particular— issues, hasn't it? yes, indeed. in particular the _ issues, hasn't it? yes, indeed. in particular the electric _ issues, hasn't it? yes, indeed. in particular the electric vehicle - particular the electric vehicle spat, if i can put it that way. against the backdrop on whether china has been subsidising some major electric vehicle firms. you

have seen so many chinese brands literally conquering different parts of the world with their cutting edge technology in electric vehicles and now the eu is launching a probe into these kind of matters. china has also launched some counter probes on european products such as brandy from france and other european countries. so this kind of trade thing is so important, especially when europe, germany, dosso france, is a major motor manufacturing country. so it isjust is a major motor manufacturing country. so it is just hard to avoid this kind of conflict when china's electric vehicles are really going into the world.— electric vehicles are really going into the world. martin yip, thank ou ve into the world. martin yip, thank you very much — into the world. martin yip, thank you very much indeed. _ into the world. martin yip, thank you very much indeed. let's - into the world. martin yip, thank l you very much indeed. let's return to our top story and talk to our correspondent injerusalem, yolande

knell. bring it up to date with the evacuation as far as what we know so far. ., , , ., , ., far. early this morning we started to hear that _ far. early this morning we started to hear that flyers _ far. early this morning we started to hear that flyers had _ far. early this morning we started to hear that flyers had been - far. early this morning we started i to hear that flyers had been dropped ijy to hear that flyers had been dropped by the israeli military on parts of eastern rafah and they have also been using social media, broadcasts in arabic, and text messages telling people to get out of this area to the east of the southernmost city. and basically head towards two humanitarian zones that have been set up, tent cities in al mawasi, which is closer to the coast, there has been expanded in recent years by the israeli army, and also a tent cityjust the israeli army, and also a tent city just outside the israeli army, and also a tent cityjust outside of khan younis in the south. and already witnesses are telling us that people are starting to flee from that area. they are using donkey carts, cars where they have them available, packing up their belongings and moving. some of them also going of course to weston rafah, a bit closer. and yet the

fear does remain, despite the israeli military saying this is a limited operation, that this could be expanded, into a wider ground offensive. the israeli military when it was talking to journalists this morning, talked about things happening in a gradual way. they are very aware, of course, that there has been a lot of criticism of the idea of a full—scale ground offensive in rafah from western powers, including israel's closest ally, the us. we have at the un and humanitarian agencies all saying that this could result in a dire humanitarian situation, both when it comes to aid and also in terms of civilian casualties because you have so many people crammed into this area right on the border with egypt. took us to the timing of this. israel appearing to suggest it is somehow linked to the failure of the talks to come to a conclusion on a ceasefire in hostage releases.

that's very much what the suggestion is from a statement that came out from israel's defence minister yoav gallant. basically saying that he had called at the us defence secretary overnight, had warned him about this operational plan by israel, and had said that it became necessary because of what they said was himars�*s rejection of the framework of the new deal on a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages. a hamas spokesperson has come out and said these new evacuation orders could result in a dangerous escalation. hamas had not been saying that the latest talks had broken down on a new ceasefire, only that a hamas delegation had left cairo where they had been meeting egyptian mediators and had gone back to doha to consult the senior hamas leadership. certainly there had been signs that things had hit a rocky patch, after things had hit a rocky patch, after thing sounded very positive after the end of last week. and we did

have yesterday as well about ten rockets fired by hamas towards the kerem shalom crossing, this key crossing for aid entering into gaza, the hamas military wing saying it was targeting israeli forces in a military base just nearby. there were three israeli soldiers killed and about a dozen wounded according to the israeli military. it then launched strikes inside rafah and the israeli military spokesperson has been using what happened yesterday to basically say that the presence of hamas inside rafah remain something extremely dangerous, something that israel has to deal with. the dangerous, something that israel has to deal with. ., ., dangerous, something that israel has to deal with-— to dealwith. the land now, thank ou ve to dealwith. the land now, thank you very much — to dealwith. the land now, thank you very much indeed. _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

uk prime minister, rishi sunak, has acknowledged the conservatives may not win the next uk general election. speaking to the times newspaper, the prime minister said one analysis

of thursday's local election defeats suggested the uk was on course for a hung parliament — and said voters would not want to see sir keir starmer "propped up in downing street" by the snp or smaller parties. here's our political correspondent, helen catt. in the calm after the elections, there's a lot for the prime minister to think about. rishi sunak appears safe from a challenge from his own mps, despite a very bad set of election results for the conservatives. mr sunak told the times he was determined that his party would come together and show people they were delivering. a view echoed by his party chairman. i think it's sort of self—indulgent for us to be talking to ourselves and talking about ourselves at the moment. whenever i go on the doorstep, i'd agree with some others who've spoken and said what they want to see is us putting forward a clear vision for the country. you know, i think we've seen a lot of that from the prime minister over the last few days. i just want to say thank you.

among the losses, andy street, now no longer the mayor of the west midlands, along with nearly 500 councillors. mr sunak has said those losses were bitterly disappointing. yesterday the former home secretary suella braverman said the prime minister had to own the results and change course. i think he needs to show people that he really cares _ about some of the things that he's talked about. _ he needs to actually lower taxes i in a way that people will feel, i 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 i the message that he's serious about stopping the boats. and while some are urging mr sunak to change position, others in the conservative party are clear that their best chance is to stay firmly in the centre ground. so while any imminent threat to eject mr sunak from here seems to have gone away, the long—term pressure on him to change conservative fortunes has not. for labour, this week holds a very different picture.

they won the blackpool south by—election, along with a number of councils and police and crime commissioners. the man in charge of their campaigns said the challenge they had was not to get complacent. there is a sense of belief there, but that sense of belief should never be confused with any sense that the job is done. here's to four more years. rishi sunak was out on friday celebrating the one bright spot for the tories — ben houchen keeping hisjob as mayor of tees valley. the prime minister is expected to be back out from today showing he's getting on with the job, knowing some of his mps think that might not be enough. helen catt, bbc news. let's speak to now to our political correspondent harry farley. all the parties absorbing what these figures mean for them in the run—up to a general election. what is your impression with the government? will there be any change in direction? rishi sunak certainly not short of advice from his own backbench mps.

you had suella braverman, the former home secretary, urging him to make some fairly radical moves to leave the european convention on human rights, put a cap on migration and also the prominent backbench conservative mp miriam cates is urging him to come in her words, the voters want levelling up, they want patriotism, and they want to be proud of family and they want, in her words, proud of family and they want, in herwords, cultural proud of family and they want, in her words, cultural security, not mass immigration. but then on the other hand from the more moderate wing of the conservative party which is of course a very broad church, you have got damian green saying that any shift to the right politically would be irrational. i think what rishi sunak are saying as he is arguing in the times newspaper today, that his is the only party that can offer solutions and has a plan for what voters want to see. i think one thing that we need to pick up think one thing that we need to pick up on his his analysis based on figures from the local elections expert michael thrasher is an

analysis that the uk is heading for analysis that the uk is heading for a hung parliament. we need to be a bit cautious of that because those figures are based on a selection of local authority wards and then extrapolating those vote results out is if the whole country had voted the same. the problem with doing that from a local election to a general election is that people vote very differently from a local to a general election, the evidence shows that smaller parties tend to do a bit better and independent candidates also tend to do better than they do in a general election. the otherfactor is than they do in a general election. the other factor is that scotland in these local elections didn't vote, so the assumptions made in those figures are that scotland will have the same number of mps in 2019 when in fact polling suggests labour are likely to be rather better in scotland in this year's general election than they did in 2019 so i think we need to be cautious about that analysis that the local election results suggest we are on for a hung parliament. buti election results suggest we are on for a hung parliament. but i think

the broader purpose of what rishi sunak is doing is to try and instill some enthusiasm, some energy into his mps. i'm struck when i speak to conservative mps at how despondent many of them are and how tired and flat many of them sound. at their prospects at the general election which we expect later this year. i think what he is trying to say is there is everything to fight for but i think we should be a little bit cautious about that suggestion that the local election results suggest we are on for a hung parliament. harry farley, thank you very much indeed. president putin has ordered the russian military to hold nuclear weapon drills, involving the navy and troops based near ukraine. meanwhile, front—line ukrainian soldiers have told the bbc the army needs to re—think how it conscripts men to fight. they say a failure to train and mobilise enough recruits means some have been fighting without a break since russia's full—scale invasion more than two years ago. 0ur ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has the story.

under the green canopy of a ukrainian spring, an artillery unit waits for their next order. some of these men have been fighting for months, if not years. translation: my men know each vehicle, says their commander. i it's like a woman with her own characteristics. as russian forces inch closer, they're hunkering down and waiting for billions of dollars' worth of long delayed american ammunition to finally be delivered. this time last year, ukraine was preparing for a counter—offensive, but this time it's different — they're preparing for what might be coming. this ammunition will help but ukraine is also grappling with trying to mobilise enough men to replace these ones. kyiv is widening the call—up age but radio operator 0leksandr, who works and lives in this bunker, thinks it's more than just a numbers game. translation: if we all go home, | inexperienced soldiers might be | able to hold the line,

but a lot of them will die. in the nearby city of kramatorsk, ilya, a front line medic, tells me officials are not honest with recruits, who are thrown into the front line indefinitely with little training. he thinks there should be a limit on the toughest deployments. it would be more truth and effective, if military recruitment office would say, "right, you will have super hard job — infantry but, for example, for half a year. then, you'll go to next level training and you'll got more specific tasks to do." ministers are trying to restore trust in the way the army recruits, whilst turning up the pressure for men to sign up. inna sovsun is a kyiv mp, whose partner is fighting, and she thinks there are enough men to swap in and out from the front line.

there are more people, who are not serving than those who are serving. and the numbers is not even one to one, it's a much bigger ratio. just how much by the fact, you know, the fact your husband, your partner is serving, how much has that shaped your view? of course, my understanding is shaped by who i am, by the fact that i, you know, spend countless nights worrying about where my partner is, if he is ok and so on and so forth. it's an anxiety shared by millions of ukrainians. tired soldiers are torn between needing to defend their country and wanting to go home. james waterhouse, bbc news, the donetsk region. stay with us here on bbc news. keeping an eye on pictures coming in from france which is where president xijinping is having a state from france which is where president xi jinping is having a state visit there and we expect shortly the

arrival of ursula von der leyen, the european commission president who is expected tojoin the european commission president who is expected to join the french president, emanuel macron, to push forfairer trade president, emanuel macron, to push for fairer trade policies and for china to use its leverage with russia to end the war in ukraine. stay with us, we are continuing to monitor these images and the meetings there in paris. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. we're set to see a bit of a mix of weather types through the bank holiday monday. we have got some warm sunshine out there for some of us, but in other areas, some pretty heavy downpours and more persistent rain around, particularly across the southeast of england and southeast scotland as well. close to areas of low pressure that are still driving our weather at the moment, this low pressure towards the south will slowly ease away through the day and higher pressure is going to build in as we head through the rest of the week. but back to today, then, for the rest of monday,

we've got that rain sitting across the southeast of england, fairly patchy in nature, but a few heavy spells. there could be the odd thunderstorm. it's fairly cloudy here. there'll be more sunshine through parts of devon and cornwall, into wales, through the midlands as well. so sunny spells but also a peppering of showers, if you do catch one it could be heavy and thundery some of the warmest spots, for instance, up to about 19 degrees. but we're typically looking at the mid to high teens for northern ireland and northern and western scotland, a fair amount of dry weather on the cards, some sunshine, a bit more cloud working into the north here. but for central and south east scotland, you're going to keep the cloud. the rain will be easing out through the day. and into the evening hours, most of us lose the showery rain. it'll slowly clear away from the southeast, but may just linger for the likes of kent, for instance, to start your tuesday morning. and there'll be some low clouds, some mist and some fog patches, especially for scotland where we've got that wet ground. eastern england for instance as well, a few fog patches towards the southwest, but it should brighten up through the day tomorrow.

so some sunny spells for many of us. still some showers bubbling up through the day, but they won't be as heavy or as frequent as the showers we've got out there today. top temperatures probably a degree or so warmer, 19, 20 degrees for some of us. but if you are stuck under the cloud across parts of scotland, for instance, about 13 for aberdeen. now, into wednesday, high pressure is building in. so it's squeezing away most of the showers. a lot of dry weather for england and wales, can't rule out the odd showery showery spell, but for most places a much drier spell of weather. a bit more cloud working in from the north west ahead of this area of rain. but top temperatures quite widely around 19 or 20 degrees. and then high pressure stays with us towards the end of the week. it's just sitting towards the south. so we'll start to see a few weather fronts toppling around the northern end of that high pressure. at times that'll bring a little bit of showery rain to parts of scotland, northern ireland too. but for most of us things are looking much drier through the week ahead and it'll be warming up. we could see those temperatures in the mid 20s by next weekend. bye— bye

this is bbc news. the headlines. israel's military begins what it calls a "limited and temporary" evacuation of civilians from rafah in southern gaza. john swinney�*s expected to be confirmed as the new leader of the scottish national party later, after a potential challenger pulls out of the race. and the wait is nearly over for the world's largest live music contest — eurovision week kicks off in style in sweden.

live pictures coming in from paris now. it is a start of the official state visit of xi jinping in paris, the first in five years, and he will also be visiting france, serbia and hungary and will hold talks with emmanuel macron and the european commissioner. we will bring you any developments as soon as we get them. israel's military says it has begun ordering palestinian civilians to leave parts of rafah in southern gaza, ahead of a planned operation in the city. in this video by the israeli defense forces, it says about 100,000 people are being directed to head towards tent cities in nearby khan younis and al mawasi — but stressed it was a �*limited and temporary evacuation�*. israel�*s prime minister has said that, despite concerns about the fate of palestinians who have taken refuge in rafah, an assault on the hamas fighters

there is crucial for the success of the war.