is no longer focussed on public services. israel's foreign minister says his country's military could defer its planned incursion into rafah — if there is a deal on the hostages. as a russian missile narrowly misses a kharkiv hospital president zelensky again calls on ukraine's allies to provide more air defences. and thousands of people take to the canals of amsterdam to celebrate the dutch king's 57th birthday. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. here in the uk, a british conservative mp has defected to the opposition labour party, in a blow to the leadership of prime minister rishi sunak. dan poulter has been the mp for central suffolk and north ipswich since the 2010 election. he combines his political career

with practising medicine as an nhs hospital doctor on a part—time basis. he confirmed he was defecting to labour in an interview with laura kuenssberg — take a listen. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience. and ifeel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how it is run and governed. the party i was elected into valued public services. it valued...it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society. i think the conservative party today is in very different place. its focus is not on delivering or supporting high quality public services. our political correspondent ben wright told me more about dr poulter. he has been an mp since 2010. he represents central suffolk and north ipswich. hejoined the party under david cameron. he is very much

a cameroonian conservative. he is in the centre of the party, a one—nation tory. he is a working doctor in the nhs, working in mental health, and he has continued to do that alongside his time in parliament. he was briefly a minister but has been a backbencher for the last few years. this has come out of the blue. there has been speculation for a long time that the despondency and anger simmering on the tory backbenches could burst into a defection at some point. today we have it. i think it is a big blow for rishi sunak. we are going to have big local elections in a few days which the tory party is braced for being bad. the clock is ticking down quite fast to a general election. the prime minister doesn't have long to try to gee up his troops and prove he has a plan for pulling this back. here you have a stinging intervention, actually. what he says about public services, where he thought the tory party used to be compassionate — in his view they no longer are. he feels that the conservativism

he joined the party to represent has been abandoned by the current prime minister and his team, and i think this is quite wounding. it is intended to be. defections don't come out of the blue. i am sure this will have been orchestrated to an extent. there will have been talks going on for a while, perhaps, between dan poulter and keir starmer. it is certainly a coup for the labour party. it is a big blow for rishi sunak. yes, tell us about... i don't think we've had reaction from the conservatives but what about the labour party? sir keir starmer on social media said it was fantastic to welcome dr poulter to the changed labour party. "it is time to end conservative chaos, turn the page and get britain's future back. pleased that dan poulter has decided to join us on this journey and dan poulter says he would like to see an election happen now. it is not about to, i don't think. the expectation still is that the general election will probably be towards the autumn. he intends to stay in parliament. there is no requirement to have a by—election if there is a defection like this

but he will now be sitting in labour's ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers of their mps choosing not to stand at the next election for various reasons. which again, is indicative of a political cycle. i think it is about 70 have decided they would rather do other things after the next election, whoever wins. i think defections like this often seem to symbolise a moment as well. they are quite rare. this is the third defection from the conservative party that we have had since 2019. christian wakeford left the tories in 2022 when borisjohnson was still prime minister, during the partygate scandal. he switched to labour. just last month lee anderson, former deputy chair of the party, was suspended and then went to join reform uk. his journey is indicative of some of the anger and disillusionment there is on the right of the party. what dan poulter�*s move suggests

or represents is concern within the centre of the tory party about the direction it is heading in. how do you think the tories are going to be able to manage this? they will hope to move on very quickly and it is going to be difficult. but quickly, i think, our attention will be shifting to the local elections later next week and the results coming in friday and saturday. that i think will be a very big moment and there is speculation around that that could potentially uncork a wider rebellion among tory mps against rishi sunak. i'm not quite sure myself but the numbers are there for that to happen. this is a political punctuation mark, this sort of defection, that often symbolises a moment. i think this is how it will be seen. and viewers in the uk can can see the full interview with dan poulter on �*sunday with laura kuenssberg' at nine o'clock on sunday morning, on bbc one. now to the middle east — where israel's foreign minister has

said that his country's planned military incursion into rafah in gaza could be suspended — if there is a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by hamas. this comes after egyptian mediators arrived in israel — and local media are reporting there's been "notable progress" in finding common ground. in the past hour the us state department said antony blinken, the us state secretary, will visit saudi arabia this coming week to discuss how to achieve a ceasefire in gaza and the release of the hostages. meanwhile hamas has posted a new video, which shows two of the hostages captured during its attack last october. keith siegel, and 0mri miran, both identify themselves. while the video is not dated, there is a reference to the recent passover holiday. it's the second such video that hamas — considered a terror group by the uk and us governments — has published in the past few days.

in gaza itself, the hamas—run health agency says at least 50 people have been killed in israeli attacks in the past day. on saturday, people searched through the rubble of rafah, trying to recover what they could, after two houses were struck in the southern gaza city. let's show the scene live in tel aviv where there are two protests. this is the anti—government protest. we have seen increasing numbers of those in the past few months, for the prime minister benjamin netanyahu to stand down, and for elections to be called. increasing numbers are unhappy with the way he is increasing in his efforts to secure any kind of ceasefire deal, angry at him and remaining in power. many feel there should be an election. these are the hostage protests as well, people calling for the hostages to be returned home. it

has become renamed as hostage square in central tel aviv, with people holding up posters of their loved ones. more than 130 people have been held by hamas for more than six months now and there certainly is a growing urgency and a sense of desperation for their loved ones to see them return home. desperation for their loved ones to see them return home. meanwhile, the bbc has learned that british troops could be deployed to gaza to help deliver humanitarian aid. soldiers may be used to drive lorries across floating causeways on a new sea route, dropping supplies onto beaches. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports from jerusalem. some aid is getting into gaza by land. some trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies. some are struck by air that unite and save the enough. there are plans for aid to come by sea. the us army is building floating platforms like this off the coast, where aid will

be taken off ships and put into trucks. that floating causeway is expected to be anchored on the beach somewhere near here, where israeli forces will secure a distribution area. the us says there will be no american boots on the ground. the uk is considering whether british forces should drive the trucks along the causeway, that may look something like this. that would mean british forces being put in harm's way, on the beaches of gaza, so—called wet boots on the ground. potentially at risk from hamas fighters. potentially at risk from hamas fiuhters. . . , potentially at risk from hamas fihters. . . , . potentially at risk from hamas fiahters. . . , ., ., fighters. hamas, at the end of the da , fighters. hamas, at the end of the day. could — fighters. hamas, at the end of the day. could try _ fighters. hamas, at the end of the day. could try to — fighters. hamas, at the end of the day, could try to interrupt - fighters. hamas, at the end of the day, could try to interrupt this. . fighters. hamas, at the end of the day, could try to interrupt this. i l day, could try to interrupt this. i would like to think they won't come and probably they won't, but it's possible they could. unfortunately in these sorts of operations you end “p in these sorts of operations you end up in places you wouldn't want to have gone to. up in places you wouldn't want to have gone to— up in places you wouldn't want to have gone to. british forces could be deployed _ have gone to. british forces could be deployed from _ have gone to. british forces could be deployed from this _ have gone to. british forces could be deployed from this uk - have gone to. british forces could be deployed from this uk air- have gone to. british forces could| be deployed from this uk air base have gone to. british forces could i be deployed from this uk air base in cyprus, but as of now, it is just an option. there has been no decision and it is yet to pass the prime

minister's desk. the mod refused to comment. sending british troops to the beaches of gaza would be a big decision. they would be at risk in a war zone. they would be operating in the holy land for the first time since the 1940s. but someone has to drive these trucks and they have to make a decision soon. the us says this new aid corridor is going to be “p this new aid corridor is going to be up and running by early next month. james landau, bbc news injerusalem. ukraine says its energy infrastructure has been hit again, in another night of russian air attacks. officials in kharkiv, the country's second biggest city, said one missile had hit the grounds of a psychiatric hospital, damaging buildings and injuring a woman. there were also attacks in the dnipro region in central ukraine and in the western areas of lviv and ivano—frankivsk. officials say equipment was damaged and at least one energy worker injured. russia has repeatedly targeted ukrainian energy infrastructure over recent months. 0ur ukraine correspondentjames

waterhouse, has been even by the standards of this war this was a night of busy skies, where you have the ukrainian authorities saying that russia launched 3a missiles from land, sea and air, and it was a large—scale attack where you have these power stations reportedly hit in the far westerly parts of ukraine, as well as in the east around the eastern city of dnipro, as well as kharkiv city in the north—east, where we are told a psychiatric hospital was narrowly missed, with 1,000 people inside. president zelensky has used the strikes to renew his pleas for air defence systems. yes, this western aid is coming in, but he is saying that western allies have the resources to stop every russian missile from hitting ukrainian targets. he has used that political opportunity. but this wasn't a night of one—way traffic. you have russian authorities in the southern krasnodar region saying they intercepted more than 60

drones launched by ukraine. they say two oil refineries were hit and there are reports that an airbase too. the us at one point warned ukraine about hitting energy sites inside russia overfears of energy price rises and an escalation in this war. it is clear from last night that kyiv still does not share in those concerns. it's attacks such as these that have led to the us providing more aid for ukraine. the united states outlined what will be included in a $6 billion package of military assistance. it's part of a larger $60 billion commitment which was approved by congress a week ago following six

months of delays. the package will focus on air defence and includes interceptor missiles, anti—drone systems and artillery ammunition. what's not included are the new patriot air defence batteries, which ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky says are critical. peter dickinson is the editor of ukrainealert at the atlantic council. he isjoining me now from kyiv. with the list what they will be providing in terms of a defence is, how significant will they be? good evenina. how significant will they be? good evening- it — how significant will they be? good evening- it is _ how significant will they be? good evening. it is significant _ evening. it is significant contribution and it is essentially a lifeline. it has given ukrainians a major morale boost this past week with the passage of this aid, this aid package. but frankly it is not enough to secure the country against russian air attacks in particular. it is likely, at least it is hoped, from the ukrainian side, that this new injection of american military support will allow for a stabilisation of the front lines. but it is far short of being able to secure the country from what has

been an escalating air attack in recent months. ukraine has been clear. they need a significant number of patriot systems. at this point there is no sign they are coming. point there is no sign they are cominu. ~ , ., point there is no sign they are coming-_ every - point there is no sign they are - coming._ every country... coming. ways that? every country... there are hundreds _ coming. ways that? every country... there are hundreds of— coming. ways that? every country... there are hundreds of patriots - coming. ways that? every country... there are hundreds of patriots that l there are hundreds of patriots that are potentially available according to ukrainian officials. every country says, yes of course, it is a great idea and we support it, but obviously we can't provide them. everyone has their own reasons for not doing so, be it their own security or limitations of their own stockpiles, their own obligations. and so forth. at the moment the only country that has come forward and said, yes, we will supply another patriot system, is germany. there is speculation, there have been comments, from different officials, from ukraine officials in particular, saying they are moving forward in talks to get more systems, but at this stage, frankly, it does not look very promising. we

are hearing now, talk of ammunition being provided, to the existing systems, but the delivery of patriot systems, but the delivery of patriot systems is unclear and at the moment, perhaps not very optimistic outlook. flan moment, perhaps not very optimistic outlook. ., , ., , ., outlook. can you tell us what the main challenges _ outlook. can you tell us what the main challenges are _ outlook. can you tell us what the main challenges are when - outlook. can you tell us what the main challenges are when it - outlook. can you tell us what the l main challenges are when it comes outlook. can you tell us what the - main challenges are when it comes to ukraine's air defences. is it about a volume of stuff that they need? i think the first point would be that ukraine is a large country. it is the largest country holy in europe. it is a huge area to cover. many people noted that america, britain and france were able to help protect israeli air space recently. that was true and that was some things ukrainian notice. israel is tiny compared ukraine to stop it is a vast country. russia is also learning. russia launched a major air offensive in the first winter of the war. ukraine was able to largely defend itself against that. but the russians are learning and they

improve their tactics. they have improved their weaponry. they have managed to study the ukraine energy system more and more thoroughly. so it is a combination of factors. ukraine's size, dwindling supplies of air defences, and the fact that russia's tactics, russia's bombing tactics, are improving and becoming more effective. you put them together and it is a deadly cocktail for ukraine. the only solution ukrainian sea is to have a far greater defence network in place. peter dickinson, good to get your analysis. police in the united states have moved in on a pro—palestinian protest at northeastern university in boston. officials said about 100 people were detained as they were moved from the site, but that those with student id would be released and not face any legal action. these are pictures from a different university — columbia — where students have inspired other pro—palestinian demonstrations across the country. the protesters are demanding the university cut all its ties with israel because of its attack on gaza. 0ur north america correspondent will vernon is following

developments from washington. the main incident today has been at northeastern university in boston, as you mention. the university administration have just told us that over a dozen people who were detained were released after showing their student id. as you mentioned around 100 of them detained at that protest. but it is notjust boston. there are protests going on all over the country this morning, in indiana, in colombia. these protest camps have spread across the country and the situation really has escalated in the last week or so. that is after an incident at columbia university in new york when the nypd were called in to clear one of these protest camps and dozens of people were arrested there. that really ignited the situation and then all these encampments sprung up right across the country and these protests carry on this morning.

the protesters are demanding that... well, they are demanding a ceasefire firstly in gaza. they are unhappy about us government support for israel. and they are demanding that the universities divest, so cut off ties with any companies that have links to israel. manyjewish students say that they feel intimidated by these protests. there have been reports ofjewish people being verbally or even physically assaulted by pro—palestinian demonstrators. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, many others in congress too, have said these protests are anti—semitic. the protesters deny that there is anti—semitism there and many universities say that a lot of the trouble is caused by outside elements, by radicals who have infiltrated the students. that is certainly the case with northeastern university.

in a statement earlier they said that the police were called in after anti—semitic language was used during the protests and that professional organisers had infiltrated the students. police in london say they arrested two people at a pro—palestinian march — on suspicion of holding an offensive placard, and for making a racist remark. several thousand people took part in the march, which was organised by the palestine solidarity campaign — calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. another demonstration, organised by the pro—israeli group enough is enough also took place — that was a static gathering, along the route of the pro—palestinian march. a man who'd paid to join the small boat crossing from france to the uk this week, has told the bbc he decided against making the journey because he was worried

the dinghy was overcrowded. five people — including a young girl — died. an investigation is continuing into exactly what happened. jon donnison reports from calais: chaos, desperation and violence as more than 100 people tried to cram onto a small boat in the early hours of tuesday morning. among them was 16—year—old marcus, not his real name, from south sudan. where are you here? i'll be on this side. on that side? yeah, this side. five people were killed, including a seven—year—old girl. and how did people die? there were too many people. they were crushed maybe. i didn't see them die. ijust wanted to save myself. 30 or a0 guys were trying to force themselves on the boat because they did not pay the money. marcus, who is fleeing life as a child soldier in south sudan, says he paid people smugglers $1,000 to make the crossing and even though he was injured in the last attempt, he's willing to pay more to try again. you can see today that the sea is calm and the wind has dropped, and that means more attempted crossings. here you've got a boat that's been abandoned,

it looks like police have slashed it open. you've also got a tear gas canister, which police have been using, and some abandoned children's clothing. despite the dangers, people like marcus are not going to give up. and what of the government's rwanda policy? the government is saying they will deport people who cross to rwanda. does that worry you? that will not stop me, i will never give up. i will try my best to cross the english channel. and the chance came sooner than we expected. after we left marcus this morning, we heard that he'd headed to the beaches once more for another attempt to reach the uk. jon donnison, bbc news, in calais. celebrations have been taking place across south africa — to mark the 30th anniversary of the end of apartheid. president cyril ramaphosa paid tribute to the people who he said had brought peace and

freedom to the country. he described the first democratic elections three decades ago as a victory for human dignity, and progress against racism. on that day, as we cast our votes for the first time, a great heaviness lifted from our shoulders. 0ur shackles have been cast off. the shackles that have tied us down for hundreds of years. the weight of centuries of oppression was no longer holding us down. even though our backs bore scars of the cruel lashes of those who had whipped and subjected us for more than 300 years — on that day, as a united people we stood tall, as south africans. a british man seriously

injured in a shark attack in the caribbean has been named. 64—year—old peter smith from hertfordshire was attacked off the north coast of tobago, close to the shore in courland bay. he suffered multiple injuries and has had surgery to reattach some of his fingers. officials on the island say the man is stable and expected to recover. seven beaches were closed to allow the coastguard to investigate. thousands of people took to the canals of amsterdam on saturday to celebrate the dutch king's 57th birthday. dressed in orange — the national colour — they packed small boats and made their way down the historic waterways of the capital. king willem—alexander and his family celebrated his special day with a walkabout in the northern city of emmen — where he proved where he proved to be quite popular. translation: all these people came i to your birthday? yes, how about .

oh, you want to kiss from the king? yes, exactly. i expect the king to at least kiss my hand. that | is what i came for.— your best birthday present? absolutely, it would make my day. so — a royal fan expecting something rather special to mark the birthday she shares with king willem—alexander. .. and this is what happened when the monarch walked by(tx sot so — a royal kiss did happen. here's what the happy recipient thought of her peck on the hand. translation: well, i first asked him to kiss me on the cheek but he - thought it was a bit much. so i said, at least kiss my hand. then for a moment he looked like, should i do it, and then i got a kiss on my hand. he did it. it made my day.

a gold pocket watch worn by the wealthiest passenger on the titanic has sold for £900,000 at auction. when taxes and other fees are taken into account, the anonymous buyer will have to pay nearly £1.2 million. that's more than seven times its estimated pre—auction price — and a world record for a single item from the titanic sold at auction. it belonged tojothacob astor, who died when the titanic sank in april 1912. a brown leather violin bag owned by wallace hartley, the leader of the orchestra who, with his colleagues, famously played on as the ship sank, fetched £366,000, including taxes and fees. that is it from me. stay with us here on bbc news. plenty more to come. hello there. it certainly has been a saturday

of contrasts across the country. we started off grey and wet across southern england. the rain petered out to a blanket of cloud and drizzle. a lot of cloud across wales, the midlands, for much of the day. further north it was a different story. sunny spells and scattered showers but escape those showers, a beautiful afternoon in fife, as you can see. we have more heavy rain though arriving through the night tonight. it is across the south. that rain — some of it really quite intense — will gradually drift its way steadily north and east as we go through sunday. once again a day of contrasts because the rain will continue to move its way out of the midlands, up into the north—east of england and eastern scotland. west will certainly stay drier and brightest for longest. into the afternoon we should see an improving picture across much of england and wales. sunny spells, a few scattered showers, and temperatures peaking at around 13 degrees. it will be windy on those exposed east coasts. sheltered western areas clinging onto some glimpses of sunshine. a little more cloud generally and the rain still quite

heavy and persistent, with gusts of wind across the east coast of 40—50 miles an hour. that makes the eight degrees in aberdeen feel pretty disappointing. that low eases away. the isobars squeeze together. it stays blustery into monday. 0n the whole a relatively quiet start to the working week. temperatures to greet us first thing — we are looking at around 2—6. it will be dry, there will be some sunshine coming through early on. breezy but a southerly wind will make it start to feel just that little bit milder, particular in the sunnier moments. here is the low moving into northern ireland and perhaps clouding over across western coastal fringes as we go through the day. temperatures in the sunshine should peak at 16 degrees. starting to feel a little better. tuesday, final day of april, could actually see a little more warmth. we have still got this low pressure out to the south—west. because the winds are circulating around that low we are tapping in to a milder south—easterly. that is driving in some warmth from the near continent

and you really will start to notice the difference. for our final day of april, yes, it is likely that we could see temperatures peaking in one or two spots into the high teens. there will be some showers around but a little bit quieter and a little bit warmer than of late.

this is bbc news. the headlines... british mp dr dan poulter has quit the conservative party to join the opposition labour party. speaking to the bbc, he said the conservatives were no longerfocused on public services, and a general election was needed as soon as possible. ukraine says russia has carried out another air attack — narrowly missing a hospital. the us says it will "rush" patriot air defence missiles and ammunition to ukraine — president zelensky says they are "urgently" needed. hamas has published a new video showing proof of life for two hostages in gaza. meanwhile, israel's foreign minister says his country's military could defer its planned incursion into rafah — if there is a deal on the hostages. and scotland's first minister seeks to save his political career — inviting leaders of other parties to talks — hoping to change their plans to oust him.

now on bbc news, it's sportsday.