live from london, this is bbc news. israel's prime minister vows to press ahead with the offensive in rafah, alone if necessary, in defiance to us calls for restraint. israel gets through to saturday's eurovision finals amid protests about israel's war against hamas in gaza. and the fight to save the african penguin — the species on course to become extinct in the wild by 2035. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. we start in the middle east, where israel's prime minister

benjamin netanyahu has said he hopes to overcome his differences withjoe biden but vowed to press ahead with a military assault on rafah. mr netanyahu was speaking to us media after president biden confirmed that the us had withheld a delivery of munitions and could halt more shipments if israeli forces attack hamas in rafah, a densely populated city in the gaza strip. mr netanyahu said israel had to defeat hamas in rafah. paul adams sent this report from jerusalem. haitham is trapped. after three operations for a bullet wound that punctured his lung, he needs treatment abroad. all set to leave until israel captured and closed the rafah crossing. forced to wait in a tent. "i feel helpless," he says. "the world is powerless to open the border. "the hospitals here can no longer help me."

just when rafah�*s need is greatest, its main hospital lies silent and abandoned, hastily evacuated in the face of israel's sudden advance, now dangerously close to the front line. israel insists its operation is limited. but new images of tanks massing on the border earlier this week have raised fears that rafah�*s densely populated centre could soon be attacked in defiance of washington. translation: if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. i have already said that, if necessary, we will fight with our nails. last night, a rare warning from president biden — an all—out assault will have consequences. they go into rafah, i'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem.

for one former israeli prime minister, this is a significant moment — the current government squandering the goodwill of its most steadfast ally. i ask myself, what did we do that the person that was perhaps more supportive of the state of israel than any president in the history of the relations between the two countries, reached the conclusion that he has to do it? so this is a major turning point. the most dangerous government for the state of israel on these days is not any foreign country. it's the government of israel. with ceasefire talks apparently deadlocked, rafah is being pounded. air strikes and artillery leaving trails of destruction in a city which still fears an invasion. paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. with me is said shehata

from bbc arabic. great to have you in the studio. let's start with the comments from mr netanyahu. can he afford to go it alone? i think he can because he has, according to some israeli sources, they have enough weapons to go through to rafah and it shows again with the netanyahu's determination to go there, he believes to demolish hamas energy what he called earlier in the wall a full victory over hamas and making them no longer trip to israel again, he will go to rafah because the four battalions of hamas are there in rafah and israel accused hamas over using rafah close to the crossing to launch a mortar attack against israeli soldiers near kerem shalom crossing which killed four israeli soldiers and

injured son. rafah for him as a victory or not, it is the end for him as prime minister or achieving success and returning the hostages. this is my opinion but on the other hand some former military is a really officials said it is impossible to defeat hamas —— forma israeli. analysis from different think tanks in america and the arab world and even king abdullah and others say to defeat hamas is impossible, there are other ways, evenjohn kirby, the spokesperson of the un security council in the white house that there are other ways to defeat hamas ——us. everyone with israel to defeat hamas but not through rafah because rafah will be a catastrophic disaster because there are more than i million people there, most of them displaced coming from the north, central, since 7 october, so it would be disastrous to go there. the

other looming _ disastrous to go there. the other looming disaster is the military situation. where are we with that?— military situation. where are we with that? the problem is the un complained _ we with that? the problem is the un complained about - we with that? the problem is the un complained about the lack of aid going through the kerem shalom and rafah. since israel seized the rougher clustering from the gaza site, there is no movement of aid trucks —— rafah crossing. and after they opened the kerem shalom crossing, the israeli troops, there are still complaints about many trucks on the side but kerem shalom but on the other side with opacity and there are no workers from organisations because of the fighting and bombardment because there is fear for safety because there are many people who have died over the war, more than 3a,000 people, some aid workers killed, especially the world central kitchen organisation a few weeks ago. there is some fear about that but all of that leads to more problems for the people of rafah because there is no medicine orfood and even

the hospitals according to wha, has only three days left for fuel for this hospital to operate. healthwise, foodways, maddison wild, there is a problem and with a rafah of bombardment it would complicate the situation. said shehata, thank you. problems continue to mount for us aerospace company boeing after a number of international safety incidents. on thursday morning a boeing 737—300 passenger aircraft crashed during take—off in senegal. 11 people were injured when the plane ran off a runway and caught fire. separately, two investigations involving boeing planes are under way in turkey. when also on thursday, nearly 200 passengers were evacuated from a boeing 737—800 after one of its tyres burst on landing. it comes just a day after a fedex airlines boeing 767 cargo plane landed at istanbul airport

without its front landing gear. this as a boeing whistleblower — former quality inspector santiago perades — tells the bbc he found up to 200 defects on plane parts being readied for shipping to boeing. the us transport secretary pete buttigieg has been speaking to the bbc about the latest on the investigations into boeing. the faa is investigating right now because when you hear about concerns like that, they have to be taken seriously. the context for this is we have already been in the process of putting boeing under a microscope ever since the january incident with alaska airlines. they need to demonstrate they are meeting the quality standards and safety standards that faa has set forward

and that is part of why we take these set of restrictions on the ability to increase production until they demonstrate they can do that safely. the safety record is an extraordinary thing and you cannot ever take it for granted. maintaining that requires a level of scrutiny and that is what is going on with boeing right now. if they do not meet the safety standards, what happens? there are planes are in the skies in the meantime. if the plane is not safe, it cannot fly. that is why they grounded 737s until it was established each one had been inspected following the incident. that will always be true. the faa holds these aircraft to a standard of a billion to one or better of something going catastrophically wrong, that is why we have the extraordinary safety record we do. right now it is clear that extraordinary measures are called for in order to safeguard and defend the record. the porn star stormy daniels, at the centre of donald trump's hush money criminal trial, has ended her testimony in court in new york. under fierce cross—examination, she was accused of trying to profit from the case. the former president

is charged with hiding a payment to her to cover up an alleged affair before the 2016 election. he's pleaded not guilty to sa counts of falsifying business records. sarah smith has the latest from new york. stormy daniels�* lawyer posted this picture of his client, looking very happy to have finished with a hostile cross—examination. in the courtroom, she was repeatedly accused of being a liar, of having made up the story of having sex with donald trump in 2006. referring to her career in adult films, mr trump's attorney said to ms daniels: she replied: ..referring to her alleged sexual encounter with mr trump, and then saying: donald trump denies ever having sex with stormy daniels and claims the case against him is bogus. this is a frankenstein case.

they took a dead misdemeanour, they attached it to a dead alleged federal felony and zapped it back into life. so many of us are just amazed to watch us actually walk into court, because it's not a recognisable crime. thejudge and jury kept straight faces as ms daniels described being called a "human toilet" online and replying that she was the best person to flush that "orange turd" down. because she tweeted a link to her online store selling team stormy merchandise the day mr trump was indicted, ms daniels was accused of trying to make money from this case. "not unlike mrtrump," she said. he sends out frequent e—mails to supporters, trying to raise money to defend himself. stormy daniels�* testimony over a day and a half was explicit and explosive, talking about donald trump in black silk pyjamas and describing having sex with him. but it may not have much impact on this criminal case.

legal it does not really matter what the donald trump and stormy daniels had sex. his defence team have been arguing for a mistrial saying all the explicit detail has nothing to do with the case at hand. they were denied that. donald trump does not deny paying stormy daniels to keep quiet and what is actually charged with his falsifying business expenses because he marked those hush money payments as legal expenses, so it does not really have anything to do with the sex. sarah smith, bbc news, new york. let's get some of the day's other news. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has fired the head of the department responsible for his personal protection. it comes after two of its officers were detained this week over an alleged assassination plot. the announcement did not state a reason for serhiy rud dismissal or name a replacement. a general strike against austerity measures in argentina has brought most of the country to a halt. schools, banks and shops in the capital, buenos aires,

were shut and train and metro services suspended. unions said the strike was a wake—up call to the argentinian president javier milei, urging him to review some of the cuts to subsidies and social programmes. election officials in chad have announced a victory for the military leader general mahamat deby in monday's presidential election, with 61% of the vote, based on provisional results. general deby�*s main challenger, prime minister succes masra, has also claimed victory. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

israel has reached saturday's eurovision song contest final in sweden, amid protests over israel's war against hamas in gaza.

eden golan was received with claps, cheers and some booing when she performed her song hurricane, in malmo. earlier, thousands of people protested in the city against israel's involvement. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wished her success, saying she had already won against an "ugly wave of antisemitism". david sillito reports from malmo. welcome to the second semi—final... welcome to the second semi-final. . .— welcome to the second semi-final. .. �* ., ., semi-final. .. all the attention was on the — semi-final. .. all the attention was on the one _ semi-final. .. all the attention was on the one competitor - semi-final. .. all the attention i was on the one competitor added goal and from israel. outside there had been protests from those angered about israel's actions in gaza but nothing would stop her in her progress to the final. this was for her and the israeli delegation symbolic moment for the country. out of the events of 7 october. all of this has had a wider impact on the contest. both in terms of the extra security and the competitors. for the uk, it's added a whole new level of pressure. however,

when we met he was putting all that out of his mind. the focus was the show and reflecting on his previous performance earlier this week. i? his previous performance earlier this week. # there is a lace earlier this week. # there is a place where — earlier this week. # there is a place where we _ earlier this week. # there is a place where we break - earlier this week. # there is a place where we break the - place where we break the line... what did it feel like's oh, my goodness, it's a lot of nerves, excitement, the atmosphere is like a military operation. atmosphere is like a military operation-— operation. i'm trying to understand _ operation. i'm trying to understand the - operation. i'm trying to| understand the staging. operation. i'm trying to - understand the staging. your dances are upside down, aren't they? yes, some of them are. how are they doing it?- how are they doing it? what's holdin: how are they doing it? what's holding them _ how are they doing it? what's holding them up? _ how are they doing it? what's holding them up? there - how are they doing it? what's holding them up? there are i how are they doing it? what's i holding them up? there are bars built to the side of different bits, codeveloped to the side of the walls so the dancer, sometimes one of them will literally grab one that and hurt upside down so their feet on the ceiling and their head towards, but when the cameras

flipped it looks like they are on the floor.— on the floor. you are not upside — on the floor. you are not upside down _ on the floor. you are not upside down at - on the floor. you are not upside down at any - on the floor. you are not i upside down at any point? on the floor. you are not - upside down at any point? no. the 've upside down at any point? no. they've spared _ upside down at any point? firm they've spared you that. upside down at any point? no. they've spared you that. yes. | they've spared you that. yes. you have _ they've spared you that. yes. you have to — they've spared you that. yes. you have to sing _ they've spared you that. yes. you have to sing as _ they've spared you that. yes. you have to sing as well- they've spared you that. yes. you have to sing as well as i they've spared you that. yes. j you have to sing as well as an aerobics workout?— you have to sing as well as an aerobics workout? exactly, did make things — aerobics workout? exactly, did make things easy _ aerobics workout? exactly, did make things easy for _ aerobics workout? exactly, did make things easy for myself. l aerobics workout? exactly, did | make things easy for myself. -- did not. make things easy for myself. -- did not- but _ make things easy for myself. —— did not. but while the uk has had many revision triumphs, more recently success has become... less regular. and this year we are not the bookies' favourite. do you look at the odds? idea. you're not supposed to do that. all these things, you should put out your mind. i things, you should put out your mind. . , , mind. i was quite interested in the odds and _ mind. i was quite interested in the odds and my _ mind. i was quite interested in the odds and my odds - mind. i was quite interested in the odds and my odds 1% - mind. i was quite interested in the odds and my odds 1% of. the odds and my odds i% of winning. that's fine. more than zero. �* ., ., ., �*, zero. better than zero. that's a very positive _ zero. better than zero. that's a very positive outcome. - zero. better than zero. that's. a very positive outcome. thank ou! did a very positive outcome. thank you! did you — a very positive outcome. thank you! did you ever— a very positive outcome. thank you! did you ever think, - a very positive outcome. thank you! did you ever think, why i a very positive outcome. thankl you! did you ever think, why am i doinu you! did you ever think, why am i doing this? _ you! did you ever think, why am

i doing this? why! _ you! did you ever think, why am | doing this? why! |_ you! did you ever think, why am i doing this? why! i mean, i i i doing this? why! i mean, i think it is — i doing this? why! i mean, i think it isjust _ i doing this? why! i mean, i think it isjust i _ i doing this? why! i mean, i think it isjust i have - i doing this? why! i mean, i think it isjust i have tried i think it is just i have tried to embrace the madness of the whole process, really. because i knew it would be, like i said, a crazy ride, and it definitely has proven to be that. i knew there would be a lot of attention, a lot of scrutiny and pressure, so i think you've just got to deal with it. think you've 'ust got to deal with it. ., , , with it. indeed, there has been ressure with it. indeed, there has been pressure on — with it. indeed, there has been pressure on him _ with it. indeed, there has been pressure on him from - with it. indeed, there has been pressure on him from some i with it. indeed, there has been pressure on him from some to | pressure on him from some to pull out because of israel's presence. and in a recent documentary it is clear the issue has affected him. it’s documentary it is clear the issue has affected him. it's an incredibly _ issue has affected him. it's an incredibly complicated - incredibly complicated political situation. one that i'm not qualified to speak on. i'm not qualified to speak on. i really respect people, people who do what's right for them if they want to boycott eurovision and don't feel comfortable watching. that's their choice and i respect that. he watching. that's their choice and i respect that.— and i respect that. he said it was all he — and i respect that. he said it was all he was _ and i respect that. he said it was all he was going - and i respect that. he said it was all he was going to i and i respect that. he said it was all he was going to say, | was all he was going to say, but shutting it out, focusing on the night? it’s but shutting it out, focusing on the night?— on the night? it's like being in a dream. _ on the night? it's like being

in a dream, it's— on the night? it's like being in a dream, it's such - on the night? it's like being in a dream, it's such a i on the night? it's like being i in a dream, it's such a bubble. you've managed to filter out all the chatter around because you have to consider on the night, haven't you? i deleted all my social _ night, haven't you? i deleted all my social media _ night, haven't you? i deleted all my social media apps i night, haven't you? i deleted all my social media apps on i night, haven't you? i deleted l all my social media apps on my phone so i don't look at anything. phone so i don't look at anything-— anything. you're off to instagram, _ anything. you're off to instagram, all- anything. you're off to instagram, all of- anything. you're off to i instagram, all of them? everything. instagram, all of them? everything-— instagram, all of them? eve hina. ., . ., everything. you are in a little bubble. everything. you are in a little bubble- l _ everything. you are in a little bubble. i am _ everything. you are in a little bubble. i am in _ everything. you are in a little bubble. ! am in my— everything. you are in a little bubble. i am in my bubble i everything. you are in a little i bubble. i am in my bubble and i like it that way. bill bubble. i am in my bubble and i like it that way.— like it that way. all i can say is aood like it that way. all i can say is good luck. _ like it that way. all i can say is good luck. thank - like it that way. all i can say is good luck. thank you. i like it that way. all i can say| is good luck. thank you. and have great — is good luck. thank you. and have great fun. _ is good luck. thank you. and have great fun. yes, - is good luck. thank you. and have great fun. yes, it's i is good luck. thank you. and i have great fun. yes, it's meant to be fine. of course, it's eurovision! all that's left now is the big night. on saturday. david sillito, bbc news, malmo. the city of neom is a futuristic development planned for the saudi desert. it'll cost us $500 billion and is being built by dozens of western companies. but the uk foreign secretary lord cameron says he'll be looking into allegations the saudi government is using lethal force to clear ground to build the new city. it comes after bbc verify and a bbc eye investigation

found the authorities encouraged the use of violence to evict villagers. here's merlyn thomas. promo video: this is neom. neom — saudi arabia's grand plan to transform the country and its image. a project almost the size of belgium, built by companies from all over the world, including more than a dozen from the uk. at its heart — the line. a city carved from the desert, envisaged to be 100 mile straight line, but only 1.5 miles will reportedly be built by 2030. neom's driving force is the country's leader, mohammed bin salman. so since we have empty place and we want to have a place for 10 million people, then let's think from scratch. but it wasn't empty. near the line, thousands of people lived in these three villages. for years, they objected

to being moved, but still the project went on. these satellite images show one of the villages where they lived. homes, schools, hospitals, have been wiped off the map. this former saudi intelligence officer has been living in fear since he went into exile in the uk last year. he told us he was ordered to clear one of the villages near neom in 2020 and that security forces were permitted to kill those who refused eviction. translation: the order said whoever continues l to resist should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home. he says he dodged the mission, which went ahead without him. this is the aftermath — walls littered with bullet holes. this man, abdul rahim al—huwaiti, refused to leave his home. saudi forces shot him dead.

the saudi government says he was an armed terrorist who opened fire on security forces, but the un and human rights groups say he was killed for refusing eviction. neom's grand plan also includes trojena, a ski resort built in the desert. andy wirth became ceo shortly after the shooting. he repeatedly asked about the killing of abdul rahim al—huwaiti. he resigned after less than a year. it was clearly unnecessary. it was clearly murder. you don't accelerate human progress at the detriment of other humans. you don't step on their throats with your boot heels so you can advance. that's not human progress. the saudi government and neom both declined to comment, but critics say the project has cost some saudis their freedom and their lives. merlyn thomas, bbc news. the african penguin

is on course to become extinct in the wild by 2035, warn conservationists, who are taking the south african government to court over what they say is a failure to adequately protect the species. the penguin population has reduced by 99% over the last century. from south africa, jenny hill sent this report. theirs is a story of survival. clinking on in a hostile environment. but every year there are fewer african penguins. soon there may be none at all. life on a fed's southern tip is precarious. there are predators, seals and goals, but the real enemy is human. wrecking their habitat and taking their food. you human. wrecking their habitat and taking their food.- and taking their food. you can see this one _ and taking their food. you can see this one near— and taking their food. you can see this one near the - and taking their food. you can see this one near the water. and taking their food. you can see this one near the water is| see this one near the water is quite skinny. conservationists are taking _ quite skinny. conservationists are taking the _ quite skinny. conservationists are taking the south - quite skinny. conservationists are taking the south african l are taking the south african government to court, precious

time left, they say, to save the penguins. ii time left, they say, to save the penguins.— time left, they say, to save the penguins. if the current rates of decline _ the penguins. if the current rates of decline persist i the penguins. if the current rates of decline persist into j rates of decline persist into the near future we could see the near future we could see the extension of the species within our lifetime by 2035, so the situation is extremely urgent. the situation is extremely ura ent. the situation is extremely uruent. ., , the situation is extremely uruent. . , ., , urgent. hunger haunts the last remaining _ urgent. hunger haunts the last remaining colonies. _ urgent. hunger haunts the last remaining colonies. only i urgent. hunger haunts the last remaining colonies. only so i remaining colonies. only so much local shelters can do. the birds need sardines and anchovies. but the fishing industry wants it to. south africa is entering untested legal waters. africa is entering untested legalwaters. fishermen africa is entering untested legal waters. fishermen are already banned from some areas. conservationists want the courts to close off more. in the harvest year, fury. it'll cost workers more, money and jobs. and it won't help the penguins. jobs. and it won't help the penguins-— jobs. and it won't help the penguins. jobs. and it won't help the enuuins. ., . ., ., penguins. we are a fraction of the problem- _ penguins. we are a fraction of the problem. there _ penguins. we are a fraction of the problem. there is - the problem. there is predation, seals, sharks. we .ot predation, seals, sharks. we got oil— predation, seals, sharks. we got oil and gas. exploitation.

noise — got oil and gas. exploitation. noise pollution.— got oil and gas. exploitation. noise pollution. watching the case, a noise pollution. watching the case. a man _ noise pollution. watching the case, a man who _ noise pollution. watching the case, a man who spent i noise pollution. watching the l case, a man who spent decades monitoring the wildlife year. wilfred manages one of the island colonies. penguin numbers can still recover, he believes, but it's down to people now. if believes, but it's down to people now. if government, fisheries — people now. if government, fisheries and _ people now. if government, fisheries and all _ people now. if government, fisheries and all the - people now. if government, fisheries and all the ngos l people now. if government, i fisheries and all the ngos play their_ fisheries and all the ngos play their part. _ fisheries and all the ngos play their part. i— fisheries and all the ngos play their part, i think— fisheries and all the ngos play their part, i think they've - fisheries and all the ngos play their part, i think they've got. their part, i think they've got a good — their part, i think they've got a good future. _ their part, i think they've got a good future. we _ their part, i think they've got a good future. we can - their part, i think they've got. a good future. we can overcome what's _ a good future. we can overcome what's happening _ a good future. we can overcome what's happening at _ a good future. we can overcome what's happening at the - a good future. we can overcome. what's happening at the moment. what _ what's happening at the moment. what if— what's happening at the moment. what if they— what's happening at the moment. what if they can't _ what's happening at the moment. what if they can't agree? - what's happening at the moment. what if they can't agree? then . what if they can't agree? then the penguins _ what if they can't agree? then the penguins will _ what if they can't agree? then the penguins will suffer. - what if they can't agree? then the penguins will suffer. you l the penguins will suffer. you really get — the penguins will suffer. you really get a _ the penguins will suffer. you really get a sense _ the penguins will suffer. you really get a sense of- the penguins will suffer. really get a sense of their vulnerability. many of the penguins in this colony are protecting eggs, waiting to raise their young. yet ultimately, theirfate lies in human hands. the south african government won't yet comment on the case. and illegal action can take a time. already, too late can take a time. already, too [ate some fear. for africa's

dying breed. jenny hill, bbc news, the western cape. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. our settled week of weather is set to continue. in fact, thursday, it was warmest day of the year so far. we reached a high of 24.6 celsius in st james's park, london. when you round that up to 25, that is 77 fahrenheit. we could see similar values over the next couple of days with high pressure staying with us, but this weak weather front will continue to bring some showery outbreaks of rain and a cooler feel across the northern isles. it'll be a relatively mild start to our friday morning. double digits, some early morning mist and fog quickly melting away, a lot of sunshine coming through. we'll get a little bit of fair weather cloud developing into the afternoon, but on the whole, a promising day. more sunshine as well for scotland in comparison to thursday. top temperatures here of 20 to 22 degrees. we could see 2a further south. into the start of the weekend,

we continue with this warm, sunny theme. however, the risk of some sharp showers will start to increase. now, as we go through the early hours of saturday morning, we could see some fog coming in off the north sea, anywhere from the vale of york down into lincolnshire, over into the southeast. again, double figures to greet us first thing on saturday morning. so, could be a pretty murky start across eastern england, but we'll expect that sunshine to get to work — it's quite strong at this time of year. a lot of sunshine coming through. risk of a few scattered showers anywhere north of manchester, up to the scottish borders, but top temperatures generally at around 23 or 2a celsius once again. now, as we move into sunday, we've got this weather front which will enhance the risk of some sharp, thundery downpours and some showers moving up from the near continent. now, if we get some sunshine across east anglia and south east england, we could see temperatures as high as 26 degrees.

a lot of uncertainty about the detail for sunday, but at the moment, there's a greater chance of seeing some sharp thundery, downpours developing. and so out to the west, not quite as warm. then into monday, an atlantic influence is set to return, low pressure will start to push in from the west as the high drifts away, and that means that it will turn wetter and windier. and that is going to stay with us throughout the week, so it looks likely to see showers or longer spells of rain returning.

it does look like we have turned the corner. that is encouraging. the bank of england governor sounds an optimistic note on interest rates as the bank leaves them on hold yet again. without those international students, many of those ma courses and masters courses would not be feasible, would not exist. a former president of the confederation of british industry slams the government for moves to do away with post—graduate work visas. does this represent the 'destruction of the human experience'? the new apple advert leaves a bad taste.

and we'll be looking ahead to the eurovision song