the future of scotland's government will be determined this week. two confidences votes are planned, but the first minister says there's no deal on the table. floods kill at least 76 people in kenya. officials warn even heavier rainfall is forecast across eastern africa. ukraine's commander—in—chief says the situation on the front line "has worsened". forces withdraw from some positions in donetsk as the russians advance. and gamers go head to head, with £800,000 up for grabs in the grand final of the esl 0ne tournament in birmingham. hello and welcome. i'm samantha simmonds. we start in the middle east,

where the palestinian president says only the us can prevent an israeli attack on rafah, where more than a million people have fled. mahmoud abbas is at the world economic forum summit in riyadh. he will be joined there on monday by the us secretary of state, antony blinken. other key international figures are expected in the saudi city and sideline meetings are expected to discuss the war in gaza and the way forward. that could include further ceasefire talks — a hamas delegation is reportedly in cairo for discussions there on monday. this is the appeal from palestinian president mahmoud abbas to the us, urging it convince israel to reconsider any offensive in rafah. translation: and i say here - what's happening now in gaza, | and what will happen in the coming few days, and what israel will do by invading the city of rafah, all the palestinians from gaza are gathered in rafah and it's only one small strike that would force them to flee the gaza strip.

and here, the biggest catastrophe in the history of the palestinian people would happen. we hope israel will not attack. we call on the united states of america to ask israel to not carry out the rafah attack, because america is the only country able to prevent israel from committing this crime. 0ur correspondent sameer hashmi is in riyadh, where mr blinken is due to arrive. he has more from there. well, today is the first day of the world economic forum, the special meeting that's happening in riyadh. and it's focused a lot on what's happening in gaza. we had the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, who gave a speech earlier in the morning, and in his address, he reached out and appealed to the united states and president biden to stop israel from carrying out the invasion in rafah. he said it was important the united states exerts that pressure on israel and prevents that. so that was one of the first things, and then there will be a lot of action tomorrow, and a lot of diplomacy around gaza, because us secretary of state antony blinken will be arriving here, he will be meeting a lot of leaders from the region, including the foreign ministers

of the gulf region, he'll be meeting arab leaders. and then in the evening, there will be a meeting between the five countries from the eu along with the arab countries to find a resolution to this issue, to take stock of where the situation is and how to take this process forward. so tomorrow is going to be a pretty busy day as far as gaza goes. in the past few minutes the rotors news agency is reporting that president biden is to hold a phone conversation with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in the next few hours. the rotors news agency also reporting that israel has said the amount of humanitarian aid going into gaza will be ramped up aid going into gaza will be ramped up in the coming days. that's quoting an israeli military spokesperson. let's get more on all of this. let's speak to asaf shariv. he served as consul general of israel in new york between 2007 and 2010. he also worked as the director of media and public affairs to former israeli prime ministers ehud 0lmert and ariel sharon.

thank you very much for being with us from tel aviv. let's start with that news that there is to be this phone call between president biden and prime minister netanyahu. that comes also at the same time as we have seen the secretary of state antony blinken head to saudi arabia for more talks in the region. we are not quite sure who he is going to be holding talks with, but what does that say to you about any possible progress being made when it comes to a cease—fire hostage deal? we progress being made when it comes to a cease-fire hostage deal?— a cease-fire hostage deal? we have been dealing _ a cease-fire hostage deal? we have been dealing with _ a cease-fire hostage deal? we have been dealing with the _ a cease-fire hostage deal? we have been dealing with the rafah - a cease-fire hostage deal? we have| been dealing with the rafah problem for two months, and i think this weekend will probably be a very crucial one. it goes to rough and also for the hostages issue. —— goes to rafah. in the last two months there's not a real war in gaza because we are waiting for response from hamas, and there is negotiation going on. as the american administration has said, we are waiting for hamas's response to the egyptian suggestion, and if that

will happen in the coming weekend, there will be no operation in rafah in the coming days. that is the situation. this is why the american president is talking to the prime minister and also blinken�*s visible be, among other issues, dealing with this. we be, among other issues, dealing with this. ~ ., be, among other issues, dealing with this. ~ . ., ., be, among other issues, dealing with this. . ., ., ., this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date ura in: this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date urging the — this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date urging the us _ this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date urging the us to _ this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date urging the us to put _ this. we have heard mahmoud abbas to date urging the us to put more - date urging the us to put more pressure on israel not to continue, not to go ahead with its offensive in rafah, just three weeks ago, president biden and benjamin netanyahu spoke, didn't they? and then biden told netanyahu he would he think his support for israel and less more aid was sent into gaza and more done to limit civilian casualties. are those things happening?— casualties. are those things happening? casualties. are those things haueninu? ., ~ happening? according to the american administration, _ happening? according to the american administration, this _ happening? according to the american administration, this is _ happening? according to the american administration, this is happening. - administration, this is happening. the official spokesperson has said that the aide is going out in a much higher amount than in the past, and also that hamas is responsible that

there is no cease—fire, that is by there is no cease—fire, that is by the american administration, but let's say something about ruffle some israel left rafah in 2005, in august, with the intention of never coming back. the reason here today is because what happened on october the 7th. if international borders would not be crossed by hamas, we are not here. we have no intention to be in rafah, profit is not the goal. 0ur to be in rafah, profit is not the goal. our goal is to live peacefully. but if we have not finished the issue of hamas controlling the gaza strip, and as long as they are saying they will do 0ctober long as they are saying they will do october the 7th again and again, we'rejust the problem because it is happening into month or three month orfour months —— we are happening into month or three month or four months —— we are postponing the problem for that is the problem. if there's a cease—fire now and the hostages come back, hopefully we can solve this problem as well, but if not, we have no other solution. if israel does not go into ruffle, as it said it would, if it does not limit those last units of hamas which is what it wants to do, how do they deal with the problem of hamas,

as you see it? this they deal with the problem of hamas, as you see it?— as you see it? this is one issue. the second _ as you see it? this is one issue. the second is _ as you see it? this is one issue. the second is the _ as you see it? this is one issue. the second is the border - as you see it? this is one issue. the second is the border with i as you see it? this is one issue. - the second is the border with egypt. as we speak now iran is continuing to send weapons into the gaza strip, through rafah. this is how they brought the weapons in and we saw on october the 7th, and even afterwards, they have weapons like an average european country, so if we would not solve this problem, not only hamas but also the border between egypt and rafah, and weaponry continuing to go in, this boar will never and. this is what hamas is visually explicitly saying, that it will continue to do the same. ., ., ., i. same. to what extent do you think prime minister _ same. to what extent do you think prime minister netanyahu - same. to what extent do you think prime minister netanyahu was - prime minister netanyahu was listening to what the us wants now? i think he is listening very carefully. the united states is our closest ally. and it has a huge influence on the way we conduct the war. i think if it is only the prime

minister's decision, we will go to rafah earlier, we came to the situation we have to do it. it is either cease—fire or going into rafah. there is no point of... it is not only that israel suffers, palestinians suffer as well because of the situation, because the innocent people of gaza, they are in a situation of war only because of one thing, the hamas problem has not been solved. that is the main problem. we have to solve it for peace in the region, not only for israel's sake.— israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank ou for israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank you for being — israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank you for being with _ israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank you for being with us _ israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank you for being with us from - israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank you for being with us from tel . israel's sake. asaf shariv, thank i you for being with us from tel aviv. the future of scotland's first minister, humza yousaf, hangs in the balance, as he prepares to face two no confidence motions. they could come as early as wednesday. it follows the collapse of the power—sharing agreement with the scottish greens. mr yousaf�*s asked to have meetings with all opposition parties, but only alba has so far agreed. their leader, alex salmond, told the bbc that a renewed push for scottish independence is the price of their support.

more from our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie. wow, what a view! it's been a bruising few days for humza yousaf, as he faces a vote of no confidence as first minister in a minority government... good morning, everyone. ..after he decided to end a power—sharing deal, the bute house agreement, with the scottish greens. 0ne senior snp mp made an appeal to the scottish green party. i apologise for what has happened this week. it could have happened in a different way, but we are where we are. the choice that every member of the scottish parliament has this week is, are we going to support that government under humza yousaf, to make sure that we deliver the legislation that we all agree on? but the greens insist they will not back mr yousaf in the coming days. the scottish green group have said we will vote in support _ of a vote of confidence, vote of no confidence . against humza yousaf.

and i cannot imaginej anything at this point that could change that position. this was a spectacular breach . of trust, from going on tuesday to saying the bute house agreement was "worth its weight _ in gold" to stopping it i unilaterally on thursday. that's broken. the snp leader has written to the opposition leaders at holyrood, arguing that people want to see political parties work together and inviting them to discuss their concerns and priorities. ash regan, of the alba party, could be the kingmaker. her support alone might be enough for mr yousaf to survive. alba's leader, alex salmond, has set out the political price for that support — prioritising a re—emphasis on independence. ash regan, who leads alba in the scottish parliament, is obviously in a highly influential position, given the political arithmetic. she will be meeting with humza yousaf at his invitation. she will take with her some very reasonable, positive proposals,

in which, hopefully, if the first minister accepts them, will help him to get out of a very tight political corner. the main opposition parties say the first minister has run out of road, but the snp leader struggles on, in a bid to secure enough support to keep hisjob. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. senior british conservatives have defended the prime minister after the tory mp dan poulter defected to labour. dr poulter — who also works for the nhs — accused the tories of no longer valuing public services. the home office minister, chris philp, rejected the claim and said the government was spending more money than ever on the health service. 0ur political correspondent helen catt reports. dan poulter�*s surprise defection is still being digested by westminster. a part—time working doctor and, for the last ia years, a conservative mp, who will now spend his last months in office as a labour one, abandoning his tory colleagues because he said he could no longer

look his nhs ones in the eye. it's been the case in the last eight to ten years or so the nhs is not a priority to the conservative party and to the government. we need to look to a party that has a track record when it was in government before under tony blair and gordon brown. and that's what keir starmer and the labour party i know will do, and they will be trusted, i'm sure, to do it by nhs staff as well. not so, said a government minister this morning. well, i don't accept what dan is saying at all. he talked about the nhs as a priority. well, of course, the nhs was one of only two departments that was protected during those years of necessary spending restraint after the last labour government bankrupted the country. as we heard earlier, we are now spending £165 billion a year on the nhs — that is more than ever at any point in history. for labour, the defection is a boost to its claim to be the party which can reform the nhs. the shadow health secretary denied speculation that it might have also offered dr poulter any other inducement,

like a seat in the lords. not that i'm aware of. he's said very clearly to me when i was talking to him this week about how he might help. he's going back to the nhs full—time when parliament is dissolved, which can't come soon enough, as far as we are concerned. there's been speculation over the past week that an election could come as soon asjune orjuly. rishi sunak didn't rule that out, speaking to sky news this morning. we talked about it. you're not going to rule outjuly? you're going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what i say. i'm going to always say the same thing. you should just listen to what i said, the same thing i've said all year. rishi sunak has said repeatedly that his working assumption is that he will call the election in the second half of this year, which of course does coverjuly, although many in westminster think that an autumn election is much more likely. some tories think that this talk of a summer poll is designed to scare off conservative mps who might be tempted to move against rishi sunak if this week's local elections go badly for the party. and why might that work?

well, given the current state of the polls, many tory mps are fearful they could lose their seats if an election was imminent. although chris philp voiced the hope held by some that the polls would narrow in campaign. clearly, at the moment, people do feel grumpy with the government, but as we get closer to an election, it's not so much a referendum on grumpiness, it becomes actually a choice. who do you want to run the country? for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour. rishi sunak will hope he can convince tory voters not to do the same. helen catt, bbc news. officials in kenya have warned about even heavier rainfall as downpours batter parts of east africa. more than 150 people have been killed in neighbouring tanzania, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced in burundi and uganda. there are also fears that five key dams on the tana river — kenya's longest — could overflow in the coming days, with people in affected areas advised

to move to higher ground. these pictures are from kenya's makueni county south—east of nairobi — so far, at least 76 people have died there, with a further 130,000 displaced. meanwhile in tanzania, flood waters have engulfed houses in the capital dar es salaam and displaced more than 200,000 throughout the country. tanzania's prime minister has blamed "environmental degradation" for the severity of the damage. 0ur correspondent anita nkonge is in nairobi and gave us this update. we continue to see heavy rainfall this weekend. just last night, we saw such heavy rainfall here in kenya that it caused flights to be disrupted, some delayed, some having to be diverted to other parts of the country. like you said, in burundi, 100,000 people have been displaced, in tanzania, 200,000 have been displaced, with 51,000 households affected by the floods and 155 people dead in tanzania. in kenya, over 20,000 households have been affected, roughly 131,150 people affected by the floods as well and 90 dead.

part of what we have been seeing and people posting on social media has been houses being flooded, people being stranded with the roads being cut off, trains having to be delayed. so it's definitely a very devastating time right now. the kenya meteorological department say that we should be expecting more heavy rainfall even tonight. and those who have been living in places where there are dams have been asked to go to higher ground, those in the main city have been asked to stay indoors or go to higher ground, especially if they're in areas that could be affected by flooding. and the government has been launching a multi—agency response unit to those places where they may predict flooding. the red cross even created centres in parts of informal settlements where we have seen a lot of flooding, in anticipation of houses and people being affected by flooding tonight. ukraine's commander—in—chief says

the situation on the front line there has worsened in the face of multiple russian attacks. 0leksandr syrskyi confirmed that ukrainian forces had withdrawn from positions close to the town of pokrovsk in the eastern donetsk region, where there has been fierce fighting. he also said russia had what he called "partial successes" near kupyansk but said ukrainian forces had stopped their advance. russia is trying to take advantage of its current superiority in manpower and artillery before ukrainian forces get much—needed supplies of us weapons. meanwhile, ukrainian military intelligence has released a video it says is of a drone strike on an advanced russian radar station. the radar is reported to be able to detect targets up to 300km away. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse sent us this update from kyiv. general 0leksandr syrskyi painted a bleak picture.

he talked about, as you say, the eastern donetsk region being the worst affected for ukraine, where defending troops have had to pull out from defensive lines which were established when the town of avdiivka fell earlier this year. we've just travelled from there, where we saw new trenches being dug as many as 30 kilometres back from the front line, which gives you an idea of the direction of travel. but it doesn't stop there. russia is using its air superiority, notably in the north—east, around the town of kupyansk. president zelensky says more than 10,000 bombs have been dropped positions there as the russians fly almost unchallenged in the skies. ukraine does try and counter—punch where it can. today, its intelligence released footage of a drone strike on a radar system in neighbouring belgorod region inside russia, which can see targets 300 kilometres away. so ukraine tries to hit back where it can.

but you mention that us aid package, that multi—billion dollar offering. it is meant to arrive imminently, we're told, but it is clear from today's forecast that any ukrainian benefit won't come before significant russian gains along this eastern front line and right across it, in the words of general 0leksandr syrskyi today. tesla chief elon musk has met government officials, including china's premier, in beijing. chinese state media is reporting the tech boss is there by invitation, for the promotion of international trade. they have discussed data and technology relating to electric vehicles. our business reporter david waddell explains why the visit is so significant. here's mr musk�*s challenge. he's trying to sell tesla's full self—driving software to more users, to more drivers. that's the software that enables vehicles to drive autonomously, with a driver behind the wheel but not operating it. that's available in north america, both in the us and canada. but on friday, a us report tied its wider range of autonomous driving modes to at least

13 crashes, including one death. despite that, chinese customers are angling to use full self—driving software, but it's not yet available in their market. mr musk said it would be rolled out there very soon, but here's the rub — all the data from tesla's chinese fleet is held in shanghai and, under chinese regulations, isn't accessible to tesla's us headquarters in texas. and that hampers the learnings that tesla needs to do to deliver a safe and effective product in china. mr musk needs to navigate that with chinese officials. 0ne's the premier, li keqiang. now, he's been making very positive noises, saying that china's market will always be open to foreign—funded firms and that beijing would provide a better business environment for the likes of tesla. today, there's fierce competition between tesla and its chinese rivals — byd, for example, china's biggest ev producer, and new entrants such as xiaomi, better known for its smartphones. xpeng is one to watch. it's trialling both transformer—style flying vehicles and its own self—driving software.

these companies are providing stiff competition in both the domestic and international markets and forcing tesla to compete on price. tesla's sales are falling and its share price is down almost a third since the beginning of this year. the christian leader who was stabbed in sydney nearly two weeks ago has returned to the pulpit. bishop mar mari emmanuel delivered a passionate sermon in favour of freedom of speech. the australian government has been urging social media platform x to pull down videos of the bishop's attack. and for us to say that free speech is dangerous, that free speech cannot be possible in a democratic country, i'm yet to fathom this. i'm yet to fathom this. the grand final of one of the world's biggest competitive

gaming competitions is under way in birmingham, where one team of professional gamers will win £800,000 in prize money. the esl 0ne tournament sees teams from all over the world compete in multiplayer roleplay arena game dota 2. andrew rogers, from radio 1's newsbeat, is at the tournment. in a very busy arena at the moment — as you said, esl 0ne event here in birmingham — two of the best teams in the world are playing at the moment. we'vejust had round 1 come to an end. falcons in the lead. a lot of support here in the room. they're keeping everyone nice and warm till the next round. now, if you don't know dota 2, which is the game that they're playing here, it is a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena, and it's serious stuff because these are professional players going for big sums of money. and a win would mean the difference between a team being successful — getting those new players in,

getting the talent and resources they need — and potentially fading away. an appeal has been launched by the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire to raise funds to restore one of its most striking installations. shot at dawn pays tribute to the 309 british and commonwealth soldiers who were executed during world war i for desertion and cowardice, but it's been severely damaged by flood water. 0ur reporter liz copper has the story. 0n the eastern edge of the arboretum at alrewas, this is the first memorial to be touched by the sun's rays at dawn. it has also been touched by the ravages of the elements when the nearby river tame overtops its banks. because this is built on a floodplain, we expect the water level to come up. but as of recent years, it has come up high and remained there. so though the posts look like they're in pretty good condition, you will notice at the bottom they are rotting through and they don't last that many years before they need replacing. there are 309 stakes, each dedicated to a soldier shot at dawn during the first world war.

they faced a firing squad for desertion, cowardice or simply falling asleep at their post. the stakes are arranged in the form of a greek theatre to symbolise the tragedy of those events. they will all now be replaced with recycled material to withstand floodwater. people come here — it's an educational resource. children come and visit the memorial, and they see something like this. it is a dark point in british military history, but it is very relevant and a very important story to tell. so we need to provide preserve it. this is just one area here where the effects of the weather have been felt. here, they welcome more than 300,000 visitors annually. the arboretum is open all year round. this is a living landscape. that is why staff are constantly working to adapt the site. we have areas of the site that we do know have always stayed wet, and despite putting in drainage in, they'll always stay wet. and we're selecting water—resistant species that don't mind having their feet wet for a long

period of time. without a doubt, that strategy will change and be refined as climate change changes. back at the memorial, work will begin early next month. the hope is it will ensure these soldiers' stories will never be swept away and never forgotten. liz copper reporting there. just before we go, visitors to tokyo's nightlife area were in for a shock when a 100—metre—tall godzilla was projected on to buildings. the fictional radioactive monster is 70 years old this year. tourism bosses hope that projecting images of the beast onto buildings, in the shinjuku ward, will encourage visitors to flock to the area. "digital godzilla" will be making three appearances a day at weekends and on national holidays. that's it from me. i'm samantha simmonds. thanks for watching. hello there. once again, we've had some

really contrasting weather conditions across the country with a west—east divide. the best of the sunshine certainly in western areas, despite a few shower clouds brewing up through the afternoon. pleasant enough in morecambe, lancashire. different story to the east of the pennines, though. in leeds, an afternoon of heavy, persistent rain, blustery, cool winds as well. now, we're going to flip that while the story on its head into tomorrow, with the best of the sunshine out to the east. it will be a bright and breezy affair first thing in the morning. but this weather front will introduce more cloud and outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, gradually pushing its way into scotland, north—west england, wales and south—west england as we go through the morning. so, after that bright and breezy start, into the afternoon, the best of the sunshine is likely to be anywhere from dorset over towards east yorkshire. south and east of that, we could see highs of 18 degrees. still mild, but outbreaks of showery rain continuing out to the west. an improving picture into northern ireland. here, we'll see sunny spells and scattered showers. top temperatures under the cloud and rain in scotland,

perhaps around 11 to 13 degrees. low pressure will stay with us as we move into tuesday and it will stay out to the west. so that's where we're likely to continue to see showery outbreaks of rain. but a southerly breeze means that we're going to continue to tap into that mild air, so it will be a mild start to our tuesday morning. into tuesday, then, that southerly wind feeding in the mild air, a lot of sunshine expected for most. we'll see showery outbreaks of rain into the south—west, wales, parts of northern ireland. but with that sunshine, well, it will feel quite pleasant to close out the month of april. temperatures likely to peak into the high teens and that'll feel quite pleasant. now, as we move through the middle part of the week, low pressure will continue to dominate for a while. but as we head into the weekend, some potential for that low pressure to drift away and an area of high pressure to build in from the westjust in time for the bank holiday weekend. we still continue to tap into that

milder air off the near continent, so those temperatures will still stay just slightly above where they should be for the early half of may. so, with some showers around through the middle part of the week into the bank holiday weekend, it looks a little bit quieter and a little bit drier.

this is bbc news. the headlines... us secretary of state antony blinken is on his way to saudi arabia

where he will meet other key international figures during the world economic forum summit. they are expected to discuss the war in gaza and possible ways forward. this week could be a pivotal one in scottish politics, as confidence votes are planned in both the first minister humza yousaf and his snp government. he has written to opposition leaders in an attempt to find common ground. ukraine's commander—in—chief says the situation on the front line �*has worsened' after rounds of russian attacks. ukrainian forces withdraw from some positions in eastern donetsk region, but he says they have stopped russian's advance near kupyansk. the tesla chief elon musk has been meeting chinese government officials in beijing to discuss the future of us—china relations over electric vehicles. he has described chinese car manufacturers as "the most competitive car companies in the world". now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday.