live from london, this is bbc news. israel may have used american—supplied weapons in breach of international humanitarian law "in some instances" in gaza — that's the findings of a long—awaited us government report. russian forces launch a surprise new ground offensive in ukraine, crossing the border into the north—eastern kharkiv region. this comes as president biden gives the go—ahead for more aid for ukraine. and earth is hit by the most powerful solar storm in 21 years, triggering spectacular celestial light shows in many parts of the world. hello, i'm lucy grey. a long—awaited us government report has criticised israel's use of american—supplied

weapons in the gaza war, saying its "reasonable to assess" they have been used in breach of international humanitarian law in some instances. but the carefully worded review by the state department said it did not have "complete information" in its assessment and concluded that the findings shouldn't stop more us weapons shipments to israel. it's been a difficult week for us—israel relations. president biden said the us could suspend certain arms shipments to israel if it launches a full scale invasion into rafah — a densly populated area where over1 million civilians are sheltering and in dire need of humanitarian assistance. our state department correspondent tom bateman sent this update. this report has been three months in the making. it was ordered by the white house back in february with president biden under growing pressure from human rights organisations, from part of his democratic base, over the way that american weapons were being used by the israelis in gaza.

and what we have so far are the key findings that the state department here have released, and there is a key line in this report and it is this — that it is reasonable to assess, they say, that weapons supplied by the americans have been used by israeli security forces since 7 october in instances inconsistent with international humanitarian law. so that is a deep criticism by the american administration of its key ally in the region. but the report then goes on to effectively couch this in quite a lot of caveat. they say, for example, they don't have enough information to specifically say that in certain instances there has been a breach of international humanitarian law, and they also say, crucially, that israel has given "assurances" that there is what they call "remediation", that there's an accountability process if there are any potential breaches of law, and this report says it's satisfied with those and therefore it gets to the fundamental endpoint of this — that it stops short of saying there should be

any further withdrawal or withholding of american weapons to the israelis. and i think that's one of the ways in which this report appears to try to come down in two places at the same time, and so perhaps it won't satisfy either part of the pressure that's being exerted on president biden. he's caught in a deep political bind over his support for the israelis in gaza, pressure from both sides, and that is why a ceasefire for hostage release negotiation remains politically the only way out for president biden. but those talks broken down or at least suspended for the moment in cairo with no sign at the moment of a visible breakthrough. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. as tom was saying, a lot of

caveats and this report, it doesn't look like it will change anything significantly on the us side.— on the us side. indeed, this re ort on the us side. indeed, this report and _ on the us side. indeed, this report and the _ on the us side. indeed, this report and the timing - on the us side. indeed, this report and the timing of- on the us side. indeed, this report and the timing of it i on the us side. indeed, thisi report and the timing of it is trying to put some pressure on israel to consider the ceasefire and exchange of hostages to give leeway to the american, british and president this situation. and as the talks nearly collapsed in cairo this report is trying to push into israel and giving an early warning that they will, the united states could limit the amount of weapons that it is providing to israel, putting pressure on the right wing government in israel and trying to tell them that a widescale operation in rafah is not in the interest of all parties. 50 the interest of all parties. so what is the interest of all parties. 50 what is currently going on the interest of all parties. so what is currently going on on the ground in rafah at the moment? at the moment the situation in rafah is very dangerous, continuous chilling

from the israeli troops into all parts of rafah.- from the israeli troops into all parts of rafah. rafah now is surrounded _ all parts of rafah. rafah now is surrounded completely - all parts of rafah. rafah now is surrounded completely by| is surrounded completely by israeli forces, completely sealed from any aid that could arrive to more than i million people. the only hospital that is working in eastern rafah, it is working in eastern rafah, it is not working efficiently at the moment, lacking medical supplies. the unrwa warned last night that the food supplies in rafah would end very soon, and the i rafah would end very soon, and thei million people are suffering there. some of these people that are now trying to move from rafah around the danger of war, of course, some of them decided to stay, thinking that the situation in other parts of gaza is not anymore safe. the israeli cabinet took a decision yesterday for widening the

operation in rafah, and in light of this report that the americans might not provide israel with heavyweight bombs, we are now thinking, are they going to reconsider their situation in rafah. hamas replied on that, by launching missiles for the first time since the beginning of the war, on be'er sheva, and some of those missiles hit targets in the city and missed the iron dome. �* ., , ., the city and missed the iron dome. �* ., ,, ., the city and missed the iron dome. �* ., ., ., , ., dome. and do you have any idea of where negotiations _ dome. and do you have any idea of where negotiations are - dome. and do you have any idea of where negotiations are on - of where negotiations are on the ceasefire?— of where negotiations are on the ceasefire? both hamas and israel have _ the ceasefire? both hamas and israel have announced - the ceasefire? both hamas and israel have announced the - the ceasefire? both hamas and i israel have announced the talks have collapsed, they are not going anywhere because of the main points that are differentiating between the two parties. hamas wants a sustainable truth —— trees,

sustainable truth —— trees, sustainable ceasefire, withdrawal of the israeli forces from gaza and allowing humanitarian aid to go to gaza, but israel wantsjust a humanitarian aid to go to gaza, but israel wants just a truce to exchange hostages and returned back to the war. these are the main points of difference, but still the egyptians are calling to both parties to return back to the table. the americans also are all the time optimistic and we are optimistic with them, for the ceasefire to happen, for the ceasefire to happen, for the hostages to return back home, for the humanitarian aid to go to gaza and help these people. thank you very much. russian forces have launched a surprise new ground offensive in ukraine, crossing the border into the north—eastern for months fighting has been focused in the east, where russia occupies large areas. friday's attack may be an attempt to open a new front and intensify pressure on kharkiv, which is the country's second largest city. it comes as president biden

authorised more us military aid for ukraine. small groups of russian troops with armoured vehicles pushed through the front line — military sources say they advanced a kilometre before being pushed back, amid reports of sustained russian shelling. here's president zelensky�*s reaction. translation: russia started a new wave of — translation: russia started a new wave of offensive - translation: russia started a new wave of offensive actions l new wave of offensive actions in the kharkiv region. ukrainian forces met them there with glittery brigades artillery fire. it is important to state that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction, it is a fact. —— military brigades. our defence correspondent jonathan beale sent this report from kharkiv in north—eastern ukraine. there's no doubt these are dangerous and difficult times for ukraine. remember, since the start of this year, russia has taken about 300 square miles of ukrainian territory. the focus of its efforts have been in the east where it's been making slow

but significant progress. but at the same time, russia has been massing forces, tens of thousands of troops just across the border from here, about 20 miles from the city of kharkiv where i'm speaking to you now from, and in the early hours of this morning, some of those troops crossed the border followed by what we are told from ukraine are massive air and artillery strikes and they now have a foothold in the kharkiv region. president zelensky says they have repelled those initial attacks but there are concerns that there will be another wave in the coming days. there is no doubt president putin believes he has a window of opportunity here, notjust because ukraine is outgunned or outmanned but also because of the delay in us military support, a delay of six months and that aid is only slowly coming to the front lines, so these are going to be

difficult, dangerous months for ukraine and already they are being stretched right across this 800 mile front. to understand more of what this could mean for the future of the war, we a joined now by colonel brendan kearney, former chief of staff of the us marine forces in europe. hello to you, thank you for joining us. what is your assessment of this latest development in terms of, is this the start perhaps of a spring offensive?- this the start perhaps of a spring offensive? first of all it is good — spring offensive? first of all it is good to _ spring offensive? first of all it is good to be _ spring offensive? first of all it is good to be with - spring offensive? first of all it is good to be with you. . spring offensive? first of all| it is good to be with you. but i do think it is the start of a spring offensive on the part of the russians. they want to take advantage of this obviously increasingly better weather, and with the massing of forces they made during the winter, try to go ahead and take the initiative from the ukrainians. but again, i'm not sure they going to be able to do that

because they still demonstrate an utterly... you know, it is almost incompetent, their command and control, their logistics, their co—ordination, their aviation efforts, they just cannot rise to the level that the ukrainian defence has been, let alone the ukrainian offensive operations when they start that here which i think will be later on this summer. it is a very challenging time isn't it, for the ukrainians. we were hearing about how this aid from the us is starting to come through. are you able to tell us a bit about how that can happen, how long it might take for large amounts of it to get through? what is the process here? fix, get through? what is the process here?— get through? what is the process here? get through? what is the rocess here? �* ., ., ., process here? a lot of the aid, the stuff that _ process here? a lot of the aid, the stuff that people _ process here? a lot of the aid, the stuff that people talk - the stuff that people talk about are these major weapons systems that are being

delivered to the ukrainians. we talk about himars and some of the things associated with that. but the thing the ukrainians need right now, and they have needed for a number of months, is artillery ammunition, small arms ammunition. and these things quite frankly are in europe, they are in us military dumps and ammunition dumps in germany, throughout nato, and i don't want to belittle the other nato forces that are also sending aid because all of this makes a huge deal, with the ukrainian ability to go ahead, not only fend off the russian advances but to use them to their benefit. so i think a lot of this military aid that the us congress just authorised is literally already in the hands

of the ukrainians. so literally already in the hands of the ukrainians.— literally already in the hands of the ukrainians. so in terms of the ukrainians. so in terms ofthe of the ukrainians. so in terms of the delay — of the ukrainians. so in terms of the delay of _ of the ukrainians. so in terms of the delay of getting - of the ukrainians. so in terms of the delay of getting the - of the delay of getting the granting of that aid package from the us, how much of an impact has that had gone ukrainian its capabilities? it did have an impact. i think the us congress billy dallied about this for months on end —— dilly—dallied. and it was not usefulfor dilly—dallied. and it was not useful for what they were doing, there was no rationale. the thing is that the ukrainians needed the ammunition a couple of months ago, they are literally only getting it now, we are in the last —— or in the last couple of weeks. but the thing is they will be able to use this, they will be able to use this, they will use it effectively, they will use it effectively, they will be able to use this in a manner that is so much smarter than what the russians are doing in their offensive actions. so sadly, should they have gotten it earlier,

absolutely. we can't change that, they have it now, that's the important thing.- the important thing. thanks very much _ the important thing. thanks very much for— the important thing. thanks very much for your - the important thing. thanks very much for your time - the important thing. thanks i very much for your time today, colonel brendan kearney. let's get some of the day's other news now. taliban officials in afghanistan say at least 60 people have died in flash floods caused by heavy rains in the northern province of baghlan. more than 100 have been injured. officials say two heavy storms had been forecast for friday night and the number of casualties is expected to increase. brazil's sports minister has asked the football confederation to temporarily suspend all national football competitions because of the floods that have devastated the state of rio grande do sul. at least 126 people have died and more than 400,000 have been forced to leave their homes. barron trump, the youngest son of the former us president, has declined to serve as a delegate at the republican national convention. the florida republican party had announced that the 18—year—old would be among those selecting donald trump as the party's presidential

nominee, but the office of former first lady melania trump now appears to have shot down the idea, citing "prior commitments". at donald trump's criminal trial in new york, his former white house assistant, madeleine westerhout, kicked off this week's final day of testimony. she described a complex system to get mail — including cheques — from trump tower to the white house. earlier this week, the adult film actress stormy daniels testified, clashing with mr trump's defence team during a combative cross—examination. mr trump's former lawyer and longtime fixer, michael cohen, is expected to take the stand on monday. our north america correspondent nada tawfik reports from new york. this week saw testimony from one big witnessed, stormy daniels, and next week another massive name, the star witness michael cohen, donald trump's former lawyer, is set to state the stand as early as monday. and it is really the moment

that prosecutors have been building up to for the last three weeks of their case, piecing together testimony from corroborating witnesses and pieces of evidence as they went through what they allege was a conspiracy to hide information from the voting public. bringing figures like the tabloid editor of the national inquirer david packard to outline a catch and kill scheme to buy negative stories and kill them before they reached the public. to somebody like stormy daniels' lawyer, keith davidson, who outlined that the payment was being done ahead of the 2016 election. then prosecutors moved into what they said was the cover—up, with testimony from donald trump's organisation's former controller, and another accounting executive as they outlined the payments, the physical records, invoices, e—mails, ledges and cheques

that they say all corresponded to the reimbursement of michael cohen for the so—called hush money payment. and then stormy daniels, with her vivid, salacious testimony, that was meant to corroborate her account that the alleged sexual encounter with donald trump did take place and that she was paid off to keep silent about it. the defence all throughout tried to so enough doubt in jurors' minds, but with michael cohen, he has a make or break witness for prosecutors. he has a history of lying under oath, so he is problematic. but they are hoping they have built up enough evidence to bolster his account when he takes the stand. forthe account when he takes the stand. for the defence they are hoping that they are able to attack his credibility enough to makejurors attack his credibility enough to make jurors second—guess everything he says. prince harry and his wife meghan are in nigeria,

on a three—day tour. the duke and duchess of sussex were invited by the country's chief of defence staff to meet injured service personnel as part of their work with the invictus games. our africa correpondent simijolaoso reports from the capital, abuja. serenaded with traditional music and enthusiastic dancers. greeted by rows of adoring schoolchildren. some the same age as their own children, lilibet and archie. the purpose of the visit was to open a mental health summit. but not before more performances from the students. we have got to acknowledge those amazing dance moves. cheering and applause prince harry encouraged the children to look out forfriends who might be struggling.

know that mental health affects every single person in the entire world. and the more you talk about it, the more you can kick stigma away. far, far away. for meghan, who discovered she's 43% nigerian thanks to a genealogy test, this trip is personal. she feels an affinity to those here. as i look around this room i see myself in all of you, as well. applause and that passion has resonated with students here. when people like the duke and duchess of sussex come to a school like this and talk about mental health, the children realise that it is a normal feeling to have, these emotions are valid. they mentioned that it is ok not to be ok. so it was really inspirational. this is one ofjust a few international tours that the duke and duchess of sussex have partaken in since stepping down

as senior working members of the royal family. this trip has really focused on the issues and topics that they are passionate about. a salute for the former soldier. prince harry paid a visit to the military�*s defence headquarters. they are behind the couple's trip to nigeria and are hoping to do more with the duke's invictus games foundation. having served ten years in the military himself, prince harry values those who serve their country. the couple will spend the rest of their stay here focused on a cause dear to their hearts, helping wounded and injured soldiers and veterans. simijolaoso, bbc news, abuja, nigeria. now, the eurovision song contest reaches its grand final on saturday night, with croatia, israel and switzerland among the favourites to win. meanwhile, joost klein, the entrant for the netherlands,

has not performed in the second rehearsal for the grand finale on friday while an investigation into an unspecified "incident" continues. klein's song "europapa" is considered one of the front—runners at this year's contest — which final takes place later tonight. for more on that, and who is favourite to win the festival this year, we are joined now byjasmine bear. she's a eurovision blogger and fan, who's often at the competition but isn't going this year. ido like i do like to be as often as i can but coming all the way from australia, it is a very exciting trip but an expensive one, so not every year. and if australia didn't make it through to the semifinals, but thatis through to the semifinals, but that is probably a good enough reason. a, , that is probably a good enough reason. , , , that is probably a good enough reason-_ so - that is probably a good enough reason._ so talk. that is probably a good enough j reason._ so talk us reason. maybe, yes. so talk us throu~h reason. maybe, yes. so talk us through who — reason. maybe, yes. so talk us through who we _ reason. maybe, yes. so talk us through who we should - reason. maybe, yes. so talk us through who we should be - through who we should be looking out for.— through who we should be looking out for. the first time ever we probably _ looking out for. the first time ever we probably have - looking out for. the first time | ever we probably have brighter as the big favourite at the

moment, they have been leading the odds for quite some time. definitely in it to win it this year which would be amazing. especially as we have baby lasagne, the intriguingly named baby lasagne who was not in the original nationalfinal baby lasagne who was not in the original national final lineup so it would be a cinderella story for them come through to win. we do have israel up there, we have the netherlands obviously, we are not quite sure what is going on with them at the moment, they have dropped slightly in the odds but hopefully they will come through and appear at the grand final. d0 through and appear at the grand final. ~' ., , final. do we know whether they will or not? _ final. do we know whether they will or not? do _ final. do we know whether they will or not? do you _ final. do we know whether they will or not? do you know- final. do we know whether they will or not? do you know what. will or not? do you know what is going on with that? lats will or not? do you know what is going on with that?- is going on with that? lots of rumours flying _ is going on with that? lots of rumours flying around - is going on with that? lots of rumours flying around still. is going on with that? lots of rumours flying around still at| rumours flying around still at the moment, we are not sure exactly what is happening. we do know that they had a clip of their semi—final performance played during the jury show earlier today or last night your time, so earlier today or last night yourtime, so at earlier today or last night your time, so at this stage we

are not sure, we are hoping, i am certainly hoping that they will go through and still be there as planned. sojust will go through and still be there as planned. so just still a bit... a bit up in the airat the moment. a bit... a bit up in the air at the moment.— the moment. quite a bit of controversy _ the moment. quite a bit of controversy already - the moment. quite a bit of controversy already hasn'tl controversy already hasn't there been, with people calling for protests and the like. i suppose you are just hoping that it all goes ahead without a glitch, aren't you? absolutely, it was always going to be one of the more controversial contests in recent history, but we know that the... organisers are doing everything they can to beef up security and make sure that this does go ahead as safely and normally as possible. safely and normally as possible-— safely and normally as ossible. ., , ., ., possible. so who is going to win it, possible. so who is going to win it. who _ possible. so who is going to win it, who will— possible. so who is going to win it, who will be - possible. so who is going to win it, who will be the - possible. so who is going to win it, who will be the right| win it, who will be the right at the top of the leaderboard, go on? at the top of the leaderboard, no on? ~ . at the top of the leaderboard, no on? ~ , ., go on? well, if it is not croatia. _ go on? well, if it is not croatia, if _ go on? well, if it is not croatia, if i _ go on? well, if it is not croatia, if i can - go on? well, if it is not croatia, if i can let - go on? well, if it is not croatia, if i can let myl croatia, if i can let my personal preferences creeping a little bit, i would to see switzerland up there, celine

dion was there last winner in 1988 so it was a little while, that would be amazing but it is quite an open year and we also have the likes of france, italy, just chasing the pack, ukraine as well, you cannot discount. so it could be a very interesting one. it discount. so it could be a very interesting one.— interesting one. it will be a lona interesting one. it will be a long night. _ interesting one. it will be a long night, won't— interesting one. it will be a long night, won't it, - interesting one. it will be a long night, won't it, i - interesting one. it will be a l long night, won't it, i expect you are staying up to watch all of it. thank you forjoining us. the most powerful solar storm in more than two decades has been hitting the earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows in many parts of the world — and bringing possible disruptions to satellites and power grids. such storms occur when the sun emits large clouds of particles, known as "coronal mass ejections" with scientists expecting this one to persist into the weekend. it's meant many people across britain have been able to see the northern lights — a phenomenon which isn't normally visible to people

in southern england. this was the scene in the skies over oxford, and in the east of england, this is ipswich. but these scenes in switzerland may have trumped the skies over the uk. these are pictures of the northern lights over the swiss alps. that is absolutely magical. it's first solar storm to be classed as "extreme" since 2003. eleanor macdonald, an astronomer at northumberland's kielder observatory, says there could be knock—on effects. if you have a big pocket of high—energy particles, they can interfere with anything that is electrical. so satellites can experience outages in particular, so this has an effect on gps and internet communications, but on the ground as well you can experience some significant

radio outages and the electrical grid can even be affected. that's all from me for now. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. settled and warm again on friday, with plenty of late spring sunshine around and temperatures rising across the four nations into the low 20s in celsius. the warmth is set to last as we head through the weekend. temperatures will remain above the seasonal average, warmest towards the east. and it's still dry for the vast majority of us on saturday. a scattering of showers, with the real breakdown happening on sunday. heavy, thundery showers out towards the western half of the uk. further east should stay largely dry. and here is the area of high pressure that's keeping these dry, settled conditions for the time being. it will eventually push further eastwards into scandinavia. but we've got a bit of an easterly breeze, and that's been dragging some mist and low cloud in from the north sea. but that will lift and clear across the south—east of england and east anglia through saturday morning.

still maybe a hang—back of cloud towards parts of the yorkshire lincolnshire coast, though. lots of sunshine to start the day and we'll keep the sunny skies for most through the afternoon. but a scattering of showers across scotland pushing northwards, perhaps some heavy and thundery, but they'll be fairly isolated. it's still very warm — 2a degrees celsius in glasgow. chance of a shower, too, across northern areas of northern ireland and north wales. a little cooler towards these north sea—facing coasts, with some of the cloud possibly lapping onshore again at times. 25 or 26 degrees celsius in london and south—east england. so the high pressure starts to push further eastwards as we head through sunday. that allows for these low pressure systems to roll in from the west. and this weather front will bring us thickening cloud across the south—west of england, western wales, on sunday morning. some showers across the western isles and western scotland, pushing into northern ireland, and the chance of some thunderstorms developing all across the western half of the uk. but it should stay drier further east. again, there will be a lot of sunshine here, and once again we could see temperatures in the low

to the mid—20s in celsius. but cooler out towards the west, of course, underneath the cloud and with the eventual rain. and here comes that low pressure system swinging in as we head through monday. it's going to give us quite widespread rain on monday, especially through the afternoon, so expect it to turn a lot more showery as we head through next week. and there'll be a drop in temperature, too, so unsettled and cooler as we head through next week. bye—bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a us government report has criticised israel's use of american—supplied weapons in the gaza war, saying its reasonable to assess they have been used in breach of international humanitarian law. but the review also said the findings shouldn't stop more us arms shipments to israel. ukraine says it has repelled a russian armoured attack in the north—eastern kharkiv region after moscow's forces launched an incursion across the border and sought to break through defensive lines. this comes as president biden gives the go—ahead for more aid for ukraine. and the most powerful solar storm in more than two decades hits the earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows in many parts of the world. such storms occur when the sun emits large clouds of particles, known as �*coronal mass ejections,�* with scientists expecting this one to persist

across the weekend.