live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news — it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in the uk, and 3am in israel where tensions are high three days after iran's unprecedented direct attack on israel. the israeli war cabinet has met five times so far to discuss what it should do next. both sides have traded threats. israel insists iran would not get off "scot—free", while iran has warned israel that any action against iran's interests will definitely be met with a "severe, extensive and painful response". lucy williamson reports now from jerusalem. israel's prime minister is weighing up the risks of another war before he's

finished the existing one. today, he told new army recruits that operations in gaza were just one part of a wider conflict. translation: it's part of a bigger system. - you can see it. iran stands behind hamas, behind hezbollah, behind others. but we are determined to win there and defend ourselves in all arenas. new footage released by the army shows the moment the military focus here changed. the first interceptions of iranian missiles ordered from this control room. israel's ongoing conflicts with iranian—backed groups have been pushed into the shadows by a direct attack from tehran. how israel responds could take the world down a much more dangerous path, and international allies — the uk among them — have been lining up, urging benjamin netanyahu to show restraint.

today, the prime minister, rishi sunak, told his counterpart it was a moment for calm heads to prevail. but israel's former national security advisor says the iranian strike leaves israel with an opportunity to take on the groups it should have confronted before. we didn't wage a war against hezbollah two years ago — huge mistake. when you see them even growing, becoming stronger, you have to do something. should we wait? i think it would be a huge mistake to wait with hezbollah, with hamas and with the iranians. we have to alleviate this threat to israel, but it's notjust israel. the west is next. israel is already treading a tightrope in its conflict with hezbollah. this, an air strike on a senior hezbollah today, the army said. the war in gaza is where the crisis began, over six months ago.

the road north to gaza city today packed with people hoping to return to their homes, turned back again and again by the army. the war here has already inflamed israel's other conflicts. israel's next decision could push them into all—out war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. un agencies are warning of spiralling violence in the west bank and they have raised concerns over an escalation of the conflict following iran's attack on israel on saturday night. it comes after a wave of attacks, sparked by the killing of an israeli teenager. the un has accused israeli's security forces, of active participation, in attacks on palestinians byjewish settlers. the vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although israel disputes this. here's hugo bachega. caught on cctv — a man setting

fire to a car as israeli settlers storm a palestinian village in the occupied west bank. israeli soldiers watch outside and appear to do nothing. across the west bank on the weekend, israeli settlers went on a rampage. this was the village of mughayir near ramallah on saturday. settlers set houses and cars on fire, killing one man. jihad abu alia was 25 and planning to get married in june. translation: jihad was trying to prevent the settlers - from breaking the house door, where dozens of the town residents arrived in the home to prevent them from burning the house. it wasn't the first time settlers attacked us, but we weren't expecting a huge number of them. the violence was sparked by the disappearance of this israeli boy, 14—year—old binyamin ahimeir. he went missing on friday, and a day later was found dead. the israeli army says he was murdered.

the attacks show how tensions in the west bank are escalating. since the hamas attacks on the seventh of october, more than 460 palestinians and 13 israelis have been killed. if nothing changes, there will be even more violence. for this campaigner monitoring settlement activity, the situation is unprecedented. i think that the level of the settler violence is the highest that i remember. there is also a lot of support from the government, and probably from the public — at least their public — that the violence is kind of necessary against the "evil", which are the palestinians. it's not only settler violence that's on the rise. raids by the israeli army have intensified, killing many palestinians. the israeli army says it's investigating the arson incident caught on cctv. but across the west bank, many palestinians are living in fear.

they don't know when the next attack will come. hugo bachega, bbc news, jerusalem. now to the united states, and day two of donald trump's criminal trial has concluded in new york with the selection of sevenjurors. a panel of 12 new yorkers and likely six alternates will ultimately be chosen. the trial will resume on thursday. this case marks the first time a us president — former or current — has faced a criminal trial. it's over allegations he tried to cover up hush money payments to the adult film star stormy daniels in 2016. mr trump denies the allegations. he's once again been in the courtroom, and here he is, speaking before he went inside — repeating the same — unsubstantiated claims — regarding the fairness of the trial. every legal bond in said this wasn't the case. we have a judge who shouldn't be on this case. it is totally completed.

this is a trial that should never have been happening. it should have been thrown out a long time ago. speaking to gathered press in the last hour, donald trump once again made unsubstantiated claims that the judge was conflicted. the whole world is watching. this judge is so conflicted, you understand that, we'll take a look at that. there's never been a judge so conflicted as this. it's ridiculous. and also there's no crime. valerie hans is a law professor at cornell university and a leading expert on the us jury system. she told me why she's surprised at how quickly things are moving. i was. especially after yesterday when the first group of 96 people came into the courtroom and well over half of them declared themselves not able to be fair and impartial ina trial of able to be fair and impartial in a trial of donald trump. so today was a pleasant surprise. and what is the main challenge for the justice crew and what is the main challenge for thejustice crew loading —— for the justice crew loading —— presiding for thejustice crew loading —— presiding of the case. as already reprimanded donald trump for muttering at a potentialjuror

trump for muttering at a potential juror and warned trump for muttering at a potentialjuror and warned his potential juror and warned his lawyers potentialjuror and warned his lawyers over there line of questioning. what do you think he is worried about?— he is worried about? well, he wants to _ he is worried about? well, he wants to keep _ he is worried about? well, he wants to keep a _ he is worried about? well, he wants to keep a tight - he is worried about? well, he wants to keep a tight lid, - he is worried about? well, he wants to keep a tight lid, as l wants to keep a tight lid, as tight as he possibly can, on the parties in the case and he has already done a number of things, i think, has already done a number of things, ithink, that has already done a number of things, i think, that have spread thejury things, i think, that have spread the jury selection along. for example, allowing people to self—declared that they are not going to be fair and impartial without further questioning doesjust further questioning doesjust further questioning be typical in an ordinary case. and then in addition limiting of both parties to a certain number of minutes for follow—up questions. they also like the fact that he gave juror is a set of 42 questions and a juror questionnaire and directed their attention to the kinds of things that might bear most on their potential impartiality in this particular case. so, he's doing a lot to speed things along, as much as he and keep control of the courtroom. lats

control of the courtroom. lots of focus is _ control of the courtroom. lots of focus is being _ control of the courtroom. lots of focus is being put _ control of the courtroom. lots of focus is being put on - control of the courtroom. lots of focus is being put on this jury of focus is being put on this jury selection. both sides have been making preliminary challenges to remove jurors, how many of those do they have? well, they have a maximum of ten on each side, which is high compared to a number of other states in the us, but in this case they may need all of them to pick a fair and impartial jury. of course, thejudge to pick a fair and impartial jury. of course, the judge also has the opportunity if he is convinced that somebody cannot be fair and impartial of removing be fairand impartial of removing unlimited numbers of jurors for cause. as the number of preliminary challenges happen, we may see them remove jurors they believe are partial for cause. new zealand's prime minister, christopher luxon, has wrapped up his first official visit to singapore and will be spending the rest of his asia tour in thailand, and the philippines. high on the agendas — trade and security. i caught up with mr luxon while he was here in singapore, and started by asking for his

reaction to the escalation of the war in the middle east and the impact that may it have on this region. the thoughts really go out to the people in the livelihoods of their lives that are being impacted through this conflict. and so what we keep calling for is restraint. we want to make sure there is a deescalation of tensions within the region, as does the international community for you know, it's very important to us, ultimately, that israel is able to get round the negotiating table with the palestinians and obviously negotiate a settlement. this is not going to be resolved through military action, it's going to be through kickstarting the peace process again and ultimately driving into a 2—state solution. so it is incredibly worrying and concerning seeing the escalation of tensions in the escalation of tensions in the reasonable that's the last thing this region needs given everything it has been going through, but it requires hamas to release hostages, it requires israel to ensure civilians are protected but most importantly we want also to get around the table and to be able to negotiate. for to get around the table and to be able to negotiate.-

be able to negotiate. for that to happen _ be able to negotiate. for that to happen you _ be able to negotiate. for that to happen you need _ be able to negotiate. for that to happen you need brokers. be able to negotiate. for that. to happen you need brokers on both sides. to happen you need brokers on both sides-— to happen you need brokers on both sides. yes. what we're seeinu both sides. yes. what we're seeing with _ both sides. yes. what we're seeing with iran _ both sides. yes. what we're seeing with iran recently, i both sides. is; what we're seeing with iran recently, do you have any thoughts on how they can de—escalate? we you have any thoughts on how they can de-escalate?- they can de-escalate? we can demand that _ they can de-escalate? we can demand that action _ they can de-escalate? we can demand that action from - they can de-escalate? we can demand that action from iran. that is unprecedented action from iranian zurlon to israeli soils will new zealand be looking tojoin the soils will new zealand be looking to join the aukus security alliance with the uk and the us and australia. we would be interested in exploring the non—nuclear component of the aukus alliance. what you have seen just in the last couple of weeks is a pathway has opened up weeks is a pathway has opened up an engagement around aukus with what the possibilities with what the possibilities with that could mean. obviously for new zealand we are open to pouring that in working through would that ms ross in the coming months and year. again, you will know we have a long—standing non—nuclear position, which will remain unchanged under my government. it is a position that new zealand is old, quite rightly,

think, and is quite dear to us. that is nonnegotiable. next up is off to the thailand, developments, have been any role for geelong, when wayne messam, this is almost a look, i'm here, and sell new zealand. our strategic interest really lie in southeast asia and that's what you want to re— prioritise and reset our foreign policy so that actually messages very clear that we are going to focus on southeast asia and build deeper relationships across the region. obviously those relationships are around people to people connections, but also around events as a as as obviously economic. so it's exciting. coming into singapore was very deliberate stop it was my second decision to come to this country after australia, because this is a relationship which is multilevelled and is a gateway for southeast asia and i will be the first new zealand prime minister to visit, i think, the philippines and thailand since 2018.- thailand since 2018. long overdue- _ thailand since 2018. long overdue. yes. _ thailand since 2018. long overdue. yes. and - thailand since 2018. long l overdue. yes. and fantastic thailand since 2018. long - overdue. yes. and fantastic new leaders they _ overdue. yes. and fantastic new leaders they have _ overdue. yes. and fantastic new leaders they have had _ overdue. yes. and fantastic new leaders they have had the - leaders they have had the opportunity to meet of those

respective countries and huge opportunities for both countries to benefit with active trade but also security ties between our nations. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. india is gearing up for a general election, set to be the largest the world has ever seen. just under one billion people are eligible to vote, that's roughly one in eight of the entire global population, and more than 13 million indian citizens who live abroad can also cast ballots, but they'd need to return to india in person to do so. the voting takes place over six weeks, beginning this friday, with the result expected, at the beginning ofjune. the polls suggest the prime minister, narendra modi, will win a third successive term. but he is a controversial figure, as yogita limaye reports. "thank you, modi,"

a woman shouts, waiting for the prime minister to arrive. modi, modi! narendra modi is the reigning superstar of indian politics. rallies like these are an integral part of an indian election, but only a few leaders have evoked such a response in the country's history. what we are seeing here is the confidence of a party that very much believes it's going to win another resounding victory, and what we've also seen amid the crowds is confidence about being indian on the global stage, one of the things that prime minister modi's tenure will be remembered for. mr modi is a divisive figure, but here, among his mostly hindu following, he can do no wrong. translation: he is like god for me. -

he's made women like us feel safe. translation: he's a good speaker, and he has built. dreams and roads and villages and cities. no—one had done that till now. building infrastructure has been one of the strengths of mr modi's government. a few miles from the rally in uttar pradesh, we saw a road that was made just over a year ago, and met farmer ashok singh transporting his produce. translation: we can move freely now and security's better too, - but unemployment and price rises are big issues for us. the realities on the ground might be mixed, but the picture that reaches voters overwhelmingly one that the ruling party wants people to see. this is a local cell of mr modi's bjp. across the country, they're a key driving force for the party's success.

every member from the bottom to the top of the party is given a one—page list like this one of 60 voters... ..who they are tasked to meet several times ahead of the election. that's coupled with an unparalleled and exhaustive social media campaign. translation: every day, - i send messages on 400 groups. each of them has hundreds of members. our target is to reach at least 150,000 new people each day. sometimes, the message is far from the truth. this bjp ad states that mr modi got russia's war on ukraine paused for a few hours in 2022 to evacuate indian students, a claim spread

by the ruling party, even though india's foreign ministry itself had called it absolutely inaccurate. much of mainstream news media and bjp leaders have amplified the claim. we asked a group of first—time voters outside a university what they believe. ukraine and russia paused the warfor some times for the students to come out. translation: | think - prime minister modi paused the war, as it was important to get our students out. only a few questioned the claim. it is a crucial power, to influence what people believe to be true. ultimately, it will affect how they vote. yogita limaye, bbc news. we are ramping up our coverage of india's election. you can head over to our website or our

mobile app as our extensive coverage begins to unfold. we can see our website there, a lot of detail about what's happening and where is happening and where is happening and where is happening and how it's happening and how it's happening and how it's happening and all the players involved as well. plenty to look forward to. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. heavy rain has battered gulf states causing flash flooding, with some places recording a year's worth of rain in a single day. dubai airport was forced to divert incoming flights for around two hours, but operations have since restarted. these pictures in dubai show cars washed away in the streets, as a fierce storm causes destruction across the gulf region. more than a0 people have died in pakistan after a week of heavy rains and flooding. the deluge caused houses to collapse and destroyed roads. flash floods also disrupted power supplies and the transport network. pakistan's national disaster authority has warned of landslides and floods with more rain expected in the coming days. flooding has been reported in neighbouring afghanistan, where dozens of people were killed and hundreds of homes damaged.

one of the oldest buildings in copenhagen — the former stock exchange, dating back to 1625 — has been engulfed by a fire. the building was undergoing renovation and had been surrounded by scaffolding. staff from the nearby national museum and local residents rushed to rescue a number of historic paintings. the cultural ministers at 400 years of danish heritage had gone up in flames. to the uk now, and the government's plan to introduce some of the world's toughest anti—smoking laws has taken a massive step forward. mps voted overwhelmingly to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes. 57 conservative mps voted against the bill, including the business secretary, kemi badenoch, arguing it was an attack on personalfreedoms. here's our political editor, chris mason. smoke hanging everywhere.

in bars, beer and smelly clothes. by the time they reach the sixth form, regulations have been relaxed, to the extent that they wear what they want. and never mind what these �*70s sixth formers are wearing, they're smoking at school! and remember, lighting up on a plane was fine, too. but smoking has been slowly wafting from the mainstream to the marginal. take the ban on cigarettes on london's underground in 1984. are you going to be tempted to light up when you shouldn't? i know i shouldn't do that but, yes, lam. and the ban on smoking in enclosed public places in 2007 led to strong views being exhaled outside the bingo in stoke. not herd us out here like bloody prostitutes standing on this corner, which is what you feel like when you're standing here with a cigarette in your hand! and so, to today, and these 19—year—olds. smoking is still banned for people under age, but they still do it.

yeah. so i don't know, like. and they're more likely to maybe get into the idea of doing it because it's got such a, like, there's such an image of being cool if you're an underage smoker. anything that deters a child starting to smoke has to be a good thing. you used to be able to have your own opinions and your own thoughts on it. if you're a smoker, you're a smoker. if you're not, you're not — you just have your individual views. order! from outside parliament to inside, and the verdict of mps. the ayes to the right 383. the noes to the left 67. a substantial majority in favour of this change. a substantial minority, mostly conservative mps, opposed. earlier, the debate... there is no liberty in addiction. nicotine robs people of their freedom to choose. the vast majority of smokers start when they are young.

and three quarters say that if they could turn back the clock, they would not have started. from labour, agreement... this is a lethal addiction. a scourge on society. an enormous burden on our nhs. a drag on our economy. and it is time to consign it to the dustbins of history. and the scottish national party, too... smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in both| scotland and the uk. we know this. and so, we are surely duty— bound to act - and preventharms. the liberal democrats are conflicted... i do think that there are some good legal arguments to be made both for and against the proposal. i myself will be supporting the measures in the bill, but some of my colleagues do have remaining liberal and practical concerns. nearly 60 conservatives including some familiar faces, really do not like the idea, and voted against it... the instinct of this establishment, which is

reflected by a cross—party consensus today, in today's chamber, is to believe that they, that the government, are better at making decisions for people than people themselves. habits, the role of government, social change. this one, quite profound. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. now, a building plan that has got people talking. see if you can see why. this is the proposed design of the train station in the chinese city of nanjing which supposedly takes inspiration from plum blossoms, which the city is known for. some, though, have pointed out its resemblance to something quite different. "it is a giant sanitary pad", said one commentator on weibo. "why can we see it and the architects can't?" said another. construction is due to begin in the first half of this year. and finally, the sacred flame

for the olympics was lit at a ceremony in greece ahead of its journey to paris. the event took place at the temple of hera — that's the birthplace of the games — in olympia. it will now make its way to france, being taken around the country before being used to light the olympic flame at the opening ceremony in paris on the 26th ofjuly. not long to go now until the games take place. lots look forward to on the sporting front and lots look forward to on bbc news. goodbye. hello there. tuesday was another fairly cool day, winds a little bit lighter. but we had further showers, some heavy with hail and thunder once again. next few days, it's pretty similar, it stays on the chilly side. there will be further showers or longer spells of rain, a bit of sunshine. nights will be cool. we're still in this chilly air mass, as you can see here, for wednesday. so it means things starting off rather chilly. further showers across eastern areas, and this tangle

of weather fronts will bring thicker cloud and some rain to western parts of the uk through the day. so we'll start with some showers across eastern scotland, some snow on the hills, showers, windy weather affecting the northeast of england. could be quite cold and windy for north sea coasts of yorkshire. this area of cloud and rain pushes across the hebrides, northern ireland down into parts of wales, southwest england through the course of the day. in between, there will be some sunshine around, but it's going to be a cooler day, we think, temperatures 9—11 celsius for most of us, single digits along north sea coasts. the showers linger on for a while through wednesday night before it turns drier and clearer with lighter winds across england and wales. so, here it will turn quite chilly. temperatures recovering, though, in the northwest as wetter and windier weather starts to move in thanks to this little area of low pressure, which will bring wet and windy weather to the northern half of the country through the day on thursday. this area of high pressure will tend to keep things drier in the south. so england and wales starting off chilly but bright, plenty of sunshine, wetter, cloudier windier weather will move across scotland, northern ireland and down into parts of north wales, northern england, the north

midlands. southern england, south wales will do pretty well with staying dry, i think, with some sunshine, lighter winds here. so temperatures around 14 celsius, but windier, wetter, cooler further north. that area of low pressure clears away gradually during the course of friday, high pressure starts to topple in, but we could start off with a few showers through central, southern and eastern areas on friday, a brisk northerly breeze affecting much of the country, particularly towards the east. lighter winds further south and west, variable clouds, some sunshine, temperatures could be up to 14—15 celsius degrees in the south. still quite cool in the north. now into the weekend, we're expecting this area of high pressure to move in. so i think it'll be turning a lot drier, but we could see quite a bit of cloud around. that depends on what we'll see with temperatures. if we see some sunshine, then we could see the high teens across some central and southern areas. if it's cloudier, it could be a bit cooler than this.

higherfor longer — higher for longer — the higherfor longer — the us fed says inflation isn't like whether central bank would like it to be. and new zealand's prime minister speaks to the bbc about economy and the reversal of that controversial smoking ban.

hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. the head of the were central bank has dashed hopes that interest rates will come down anytime soon. jerome powell said data showed inflation is inquired where he would like to see it in order to start easing monetary policy. here is michelle fleury with more from new york. higherfor longer. that is the message from america's top banker, jerome powell on us interest rates. the chair of the federal reserve said policymakers hadn't seen enough progress on inflation since its rapid decline last year. and with inflation likely to take longer to return to the fed's desired target of 2%, a cut in rates, he said, didn't seem justified. we've said at the fomc that we'll need greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2% before it would be appropriate to ease policy. you know, we took that cautious approach and, sought that greater confidence

so as not to overreact to the string of low inflation readings that we had