ukraine's president cancels foreign travel to help his country respond to advancing russian troops in the east. and rescuers continue to search for survivors of deadly afghanistan floods. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you so much forjoining us. officials from the slovak government say prime minister robert fico is expected to survive after he was shot in an assassination attempt on wednesday. speaking to bbc newshour, deputy prime minister tomas taraba discussed prime minister fico�*s condition and the political context behind the shooting. i was very shocked and tried to contact people in the surrounding to find out how serious is his condition and fortunately as far as i know the operation went well and i guess that means he'll survive. at the moment the state of operation should mean

that he is not in a life—threatening situation. in slovakia we won two elections, the presidential one in october and we had parliamentary elections, so our government has pretty stabile and strong support in the public but after what he did in the political arena, his presence in slovakia, we think the opposition uses false narratives often and in international politics about our government, they speak of false narratives that we want to leave the european union, that we want to join the cooperation with russia and all these false narratives and of course people from the other side who lost in the elections sometimes believe these narratives, and they can become a little bit, let's say, upset. the attack took place in the central slovakia town of handlova. our correspondent bethany bell is in the capital bratislava with more on the suspect and how the attack played out.

this was the moment a european leader was shot... gunshots ..as he greeted members of the public in front of a local community centre. robert fico was shot in the stomach and in the arm. his security team half dragged, half carried him to his car. a few metres away, amidst the chaos, security officials push a man to the ground. the suspect is believed to be in his 70s. witnesses say he shot at the prime minister several times. translation: i heard three shots. _ it was quick, one by one, like if you throw firecrackers on the ground. i saw a scratch on the prime minister's head and then he fell next to the barrier. it's a nightmare. the 59—year—old was flown by helicopter to hospital, where he had emergency surgery. officials said his condition was critical. a few hours later, a sombre

president addressed the nation. translation: i am shocked, we are all shocked by - the terrible and vicious attack on prime minister robert fico. a physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy. hateful rhetoric, which we can see in society leads, to hateful actions. please, stop it. robert fico, seen here before the attack, is regarded as a divisive figure — a populist who's accused of being authoritarian and too close to russia. the attack has been widely condemned by all sides in slovakia. translation: the attack on the prime minister - is terrible — uncivilised and brutal, pure evil. i this should provoke

just one reaction —i unite all society against evil, hate and violence. _ the suspect is now in police custody, the authorities are searching for a motive. bethany bell, bbc news, bratislava. video is circulating on slovak media purporting to show the man who shot and seriously wounded slovak prime minister robert fico saying there was a political motive for the attack. fico is a controversial political figure both wthin and beyond the borders of slovakia. he's drawn criticism from the west over his views on the war in ukraine, where he's taken a pro—russia stance. since being elected, mr fico has halted weapon shipments to ukraine. he's also threatened to veto potential nato membership for ukraine and has been a vocal opponent of sanctions imposed on russia. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky cancelled all upcoming foreign trips as troops struggle against russian advancements and shelling near the country's second—largest city of kharkiv in the northeast.

a military spokesperson says ukrainian soldiers are under heavy fire. kyiv has rushed in reinforcements, but the deteoriorating battlefield situation prompted some ukrainian troops to pull back to new positions in the region. around 8,000 people were evacuated from kharkiv since last week. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more. what we're seeing in the northeast are very deliberate and noticeable changes in russian tactics. are seeing them set up positions in this town of vovcha nsk them set up positions in this town of vovchansk on the boiler which is essentially being reduced to rubble at the moment. they are forcing ukrainian troops to withdraw from some villages. they are, it's notjust the making their size count as they've done in the past, they are using artillery fire, living in small units and gathering more trips along the border further north where an attack is also fit in

the region of sumi and giving ukrainian trips the headaches, it is overstretching already exhausted personnel that are currently our guard. all of these goings—on in the northeast are feeling a sense of urgency to the politics here in kyiv where you have the visit of antony blinken the us secretary of state who announced another $2 million of funding to help ukraine manufacture more weapons to domestically, speed up the delivery of marine weapons to the front line and give it the means to purchase weaponry from neighbouring countries —— but billiard. the message from the us is help will come, it will make a difference, but at the moment the situation is seen by president zelensky is serious enough for him to cancel his travel plans. at the moment his country is facing difficult questions, notjust of its ability to defend against this new russian incursion on a new part of the front line but also its ability to prevent future

ones. vladimir bidyonov writer all the while is sounding more confident. today he said in addressed the trips of improving positions in all directions, in all locations. russian president vladimir putin landed in beijing, thursday, for a two—day visit to china to deepenen a strategic partnership between the two countries. in an interview with chinese state—run media, putin said he's prepared to negotiate over the conflict in ukraine. the kremlin says putin and chinese president xijinping will also discuss asia, energy and trade. president biden reportedly plans to press ahead with a billion—dollar tranche of military aid to israel, just a week after suspending a shipment of bombs over concerns about israel's offensive in rafah. israeli tanks are reportedly pushing deeper into the city, as the idf says it's targeting four hamas battalions. the hamas—run health ministry says the number of palestinians killed since 7 october is at least 35,233. and it says 82 palestinians were killed on tuesday, in the largest single—day toll in weeks. meanwhile, gaza's hospitals

have warned of catastrophe due to dwindling supplies of fuel for power generators and ambulances. despite international criticism of israel's continued assault on gaza, democratic us congresswoman kathy manning told the bbc the us stands by israel and expects aid to continue. i think the plan is to live up to the agreements that have already been made to israel and wejust had a already been made to israel and we just had a briefing where we were assured that the biden administration would provide israel with everything that it needs to make sure that israel can defend itself. the other thing we heard from one of our top military advisers is that this is indeed the most difficult urban fighting that our advisor has ever seen, it is a very competent situation to fight and because hamas embeds itself among civilians

under hospitals, under masks, and of course they have built 400 miles of underground tunnel through which they operate. it is a very difficult situation, but the us is standing firmly with israel. meanwhile, there's been a rare public sign of division within neta nyahu's war cabinet. israel's defence minister yoav gallant has voiced open frustration at the government's failure to address the question of a post—war plan for gaza and urged the prime minister to rule out plans to take over civilian and military rule in the region. from jerusalem, here's our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. four days the israeli papers have been full of reports suggesting that areas misgivings in the defence establishment over the lack of a plan for her governance cars are in the days after the war. those misgivings came bursting out into the open today with the defence minister yoav

gallant saying about his efforts to try to get the government to focus on this had simply been in vain. and that the decision was leading israel down a dangerous path towards a kind of long—term military and civilian rule and gaza, something he said it would not be good for the country. and he urged the prime minister benjamin netanyahu to put into this indecision and to declare publicly that israel does not intend to rule gaza indefinitely. that was an extremely public rebuke, essentially, to the prime minister, accusing him of indecision. video hit back on social media say that he was not going to swap hamas down, as he called it, for tata motors, the function that rules the palestinian authority and the palestinian authority and the west bank. that's the most public row at the heart of the israeli government that we have seen since this war began. in the meantime efforts to try and

improve the provision of aid to the gaza strip are going to take a little notch up in the coming days because a pontoon bridge which the american military has been putting together along with a floating platform that's going to set out several kilometres off the coast of gaza is all now ready and being towed to the coast of gaza where it should be in action within the coming days. a british ship carrying aid in the form of plastic sheeting and temporary shelter equipment is on its way from cyprus adequate be among the first pallets of aid to be delivered to gaza. paul adams reporting there. officials in afghanistan say the search for bodies is continuing, five days after flash flooding tore through the north and northeast. at least 315 people have been killed by the floods, according to the taliban. as the bbc�*s carrie davies reports, survivors say they've lost everything. this used to be a village. little trace of lives

swept away... ..only the debris. sticky mud, heated — hardening. salvaging what's left is tough. translation: we haven't got even a glass left - for a cup of tea. there is nothing. this is one of the worst hit villages and people are still trying to excavate their homes, trying to salvage what they can from the rubble. everywhere you look, there are uprooted trees, there are bits of building and the destruction is just in every direction. over here, more people, more homes, more buildings destroyed, more belongings, and people here who still don't have a home to stay in tonight. flash floods tore through villages in north—east afghanistan, sweeping away everything in their path. here, a miraculous rescue — dragged alive from muddy waters. many were not. abdul�*s family's three homes stood here for 20 years. he returned to find nothing but this wall.

10 out of 18 of his family were killed, swept away. translation: we were searching for family - members in knee—deep mud. so we took off our shoes and continued searching. eventually, we found the bodies miles away from here. these stark valleys have seen flooding before, but no—one we spoke to head seen anything like this in their lifetime. on the broken road, women walk between bereaved families... ..offering graveside prayers. they will make more than one stop today. the grieving is not over. caroline davies, bbc news, baghlan. around the world and across the uk,

this is bbc news. let's look at some stories making news in the uk. junior doctors in england have entered talks with the government to try and end a long—running dispute over pay. the british medical association says itsjunior doctors' committee entered a new intensive phase of talks with the government, facilitated by an external mediator. the two have been at odds over pay for more than a year. these will be the first substantive talks since december. the home office announced that it's expanding the rwanda deportation scheme to cover failed asylum seekers. under the original plan, only people who had arrived in the uk on or after the first of january 2022 could be deemed eligible to be deported. failed asylum seekers are also eligible for a voluntary scheme announced last month. two men accused of of felling the famous sycamore gap tree near hadrian's wall in northumberland appeared in court. daniel graham of carlisle pleaded not guilty while adam carruthers from wigton entered no plea. the districtjudge said that the case was so serious that it must be dealt with at the crown court.

you're live with bbc news. france has declared a state of emergency in its south pacific island territory of new caledonia. at least four people have been killed and hundreds more injured as riots continue over voting reform which may impact the indigenous community. our reporter courtney bembridge has the latest. this is the worst unrest in the french overseas territory since the 1980s and some of the latest footage, you see smoke billowing where rioters have set buildings and cars alight. the protests turned violent on monday with shots fired at security forces, international airport had to be closed along with schools and curfew was imposed. there has been widespread damage you see here with cars that have been bad. know that the french armoury have been courted to try to restore order and sadly one

officer has been killed in the clashes and many more have been injured. all of this started when french parliament voted to allow more french citizens in new caledonia to have voting rights there. there are concerns that this will marginalise the indigenous population. let's look in more detail. new caledonia has a population of around 300000 and roughly 40% of that is the indigenous kanak people. tensions around the issue have fled previously and in 1988 the noumea accord was introduced where france gave the territory more political autonomy and also limited voting to residents who were there at that time. that in 1998. since then we know that more than 40,000 french citizens have moved to new caledonia and there are concerns that the new rule would give them eligibility and daily the vote. this is also an important consideration when new caledonia sets. using it between australia and fiji,

it's in indo—pacific region which is a key strategic area as china and the worstjostle over traded security there. it's also one of several french territories in that area. this is being watched closely at home back france. you could see the two major french newspapers leading on the story, our top story here and here. we've also heard from the french prime minister gabriel attal, let's listen. translation: violence is neitherjustifiable _ listen. translation: violence is neitherjustifiable nor- is neither justifiable nor tolerable. is neitherjustifiable nor tolerable. violence is never forced anyone's had, it has never enabled dialogue. it is through dialogue and dialogue alone that we will find a global political solution for new caledonia. the french president _ new caledonia. the french president emmanuel- new caledonia. the french i president emmanuel macron new caledonia. the french - president emmanuel macron has said that the violence will be met with a strict response. but he also said he is invited representatives from new caledonia to paris to try to come up with a new agreement. although he said if that is not

reached byjune the this law will go ahead as is. joe biden and donald trump will officially go head—to—head on the debate stage. current us president biden and former president trump have agreed to two televised debates in the coming months. cnn will host the first debate on 27june. it will take place in the battleground state of georgia. cnn says there will be no audience in attendance at the june debate. meanwhile debate number two is set for 10 september, hosted by us broadcaster abc news with a location yet to be determined. debates have traditionally been scheduled by the commission on presidential debates. but wednesdays announcements by cnn and abc came after mr biden broke that tradition by laying out his terms for debating mr trump in a social media post. donald trump lost two debates in 2020, since then he hasn't shown up to debate me, now he's acting like he wants to do it again. make my day, pal. i'll even do it twice. pick the dates, donald. i hear you are free on wednesdays. his predecessor quickly responded. in a post on truth social, former president trump

criticised mr biden�*s debate skills and policies. mr trump closed out his message by saying, "just tell me when, i'll be there. "let's get ready to rumble!" and in a later post to truth social, he confirmed the announcements from cnn and abc, saying he accepts their offers to debate his opponent. as we mentioned, debates are typically orchestrated by the commission on presidential debates. but biden and trump will break with that tradition, as their campaigns will deal directly with broadcasting networks. the bbc spoke earlier to co—chair of the commission on presidential debates frank fahrenkopf and we asked if he felt left out of the process. it was a shocker today for everybody, there was no news anywhere that this was going to happen. we normally don't have contact with the candidates until after their conventions when they become officially nominees of the parties that are on the ballots in every state.

this was an interesting thing particularly because at the time when the first debate is scheduled, i think 27june, only about seven states will have completed their ballot questions of who will appear on their ballot, so we'll have to see what happens. our goal, we are all volunteers on the commission, paid, ourjob was to be the new group in between to make sure the debates would happen and we have been successful for all those years, at times there been other things happen but they always come back to us. if they can do it and get it on, so the american people get a chance to hear the two candidates, where they are on the issues, god bless them and we will go away. with me is mark mckinnon. he's worked as a strategist and advisor for former president george w bush, as well as for former senator and presidential candidate john mccain. great to have you in the studio. why have a debate so early on in the election calendar before the conventions

have even confirmed the candidates?— have even confirmed the candidates? ~ , ., ., candidates? well, first of all, this is the _ candidates? well, first of all, this is the smartest _ candidates? well, first of all, this is the smartest thing - candidates? well, first of all, this is the smartest thing the | this is the smartest thing the biden campaign has done the whole campaign, it makes sense strategically, tactically, there was no wayjoe biden could go the entire election and not debate donald trump. by announcing it now he takes away all that average from trump, who would have had months of pounding on biden as being weak and i abates, by doing an early this helps biden reinforced his notion of strength and that's the most important perception for a presidential candidate is dragged and by not agree to debate it shows weakness but by being the one who came up first to say i'll debate here is when and how, earlier if there is a problem, gives time for recovery. problem, gives time for recovery-— problem, gives time for recove .�* �*, ._ recovery. but it's so early that you _ recovery. but it's so early that you have _ recovery. but it's so early that you have a _ recovery. but it's so early that you have a lot - recovery. but it's so early that you have a lot of - that you have a lot of americans that are not even paying that much attention. i guarantee this will be the largest debate watching audience in history. nobody at

that attendance _ audience in history. nobody at that attendance is _ audience in history. nobody at that attendance is what - audience in history. nobody at that attendance is what you i that attendance is what you heard from cnn.— that attendance is what you heard from cnn. what impact will that have? _ heard from cnn. what impact will that have? not _ heard from cnn. what impact will that have? not much. - heard from cnn. what impact| will that have? not much. the other thing that was smart for biden is he did it on his terms. biden did not want audience, he thinks that helps trump. he was able to pick the networks which also helps biden. you look at this and strategically it's a smart for biden because i think there is a case to say that it's a high—risk strategy, trump is so unpredictable, he is very good at debating, biden could lose the election by doing this debate but i think that he didn't have a choice given where he is in the contest right now, that he has got the debate to win because he has got to show that he has the strength and stamina to get on the stage. everybody has questions about their physical ability, mentalability, the ability, mental ability, the way ability, mentalability, the way to prove that is without an outcome on a stage with a debate. ., . ., debate. you are referring to the most — debate. you are referring to the most recent _ debate. you are referring to the most recent polls - debate. you are referring to the most recent polls werel debate. you are referring to i the most recent polls were joe the most recent polls werejoe biden trails at donald trump and keep battleground states

that you is a chance have to show strength, there was a question asked of him at the white house today in a press conference, is he accepting a debate or asking for a debate early because he is losing? it sounds like that's what you're saying. i sounds like that's what you're sa in. ~ sounds like that's what you're sa inc. ~ ., ~ , sounds like that's what you're sa inc. ~ ,, , saying. i think it makes sense to have it _ saying. i think it makes sense to have it early. _ saying. i think it makes sense to have it early. one - saying. i think it makes sense to have it early. one of- saying. i think it makes sense to have it early. one of the i to have it early. one of the other point is that voters are voting early. they can't wait until september anymore, voters are out there voting. there is no downside to having it early. voters are paying attention and national televised debate will have more than 100 million lawyers, that's no problem. hose lawyers, that's no problem. how would you _ lawyers, that's no problem. how would you prep _ lawyers, that's no problem. how would you prepjoe _ lawyers, that's no problem. how would you prepjoe biden and donald trump for the debate? debates are all about expectations and the expectations and the expectations are going to be very low forjoe biden, very—— donald trump. all biden has to do is get under trump cosmic skin with calmness, reassurance, his physical capability to stand on the stage next to trump but the important thing will be for him to be calm and reassuring and i

think he could needle trouble and get him off his game but at the end of the night what's really important is thatjoe biden showed up, showed that he can stand toe to toe with donald trump and take him on. what about four donald trump? what about four donald trump? what would he need to do in the debate? he needs to not come unravelled. it is to show that, the reason joe unravelled. it is to show that, the reasonjoe biden was elected in the first place as people wanted an end to the chaos so he can't be the chaos candidate in that debate. he has to show measure, control and again not come off the leash. �* , , leash. it's the first time in decades — leash. it's the first time in decades the _ leash. it's the first time in decades the debates - leash. it's the first time in decades the debates are l leash. it's the first time in l decades the debates are not being put on by the commission on presidential debates. it seems as if this is a significant break in tradition. what does it tell us about what debates mean for a presidential year? debates mean for a presidential ear? ., ,., , debates mean for a presidential ear? , , debates mean for a presidential ear? , year? nobody cares about the presidential _ year? nobody cares about the presidential commission - year? nobody cares about the presidential commission on i presidential commission on debates. in 2000 whatever, the bush campaign which i did around it but an interesting point is the reason we had them is to ensure there is a debate, they can agree on the rules. in

this case they agreed to the debate and rules, we don't need a commission. i guarantee that somebody out there, there are nonvoters out there who are saying, marge, iam not watching them because it's not the residential commission. {line the residential commission. one more question — the residential commission. one more question with _ the residential commission. one more question with 20 seconds. who do you think will in the and come out on top on 27june? it's all upside forjoe biden. he is down in the race and down because he is perceived as weak, will show great come, confident that he agreed to debate and if he shows up and has a great performance, it will exceed expectations which are lower than the first place, he has got to do this so he has no choice. he has got to do this so he has no choice-— no choice. good to get your analysis- — no choice. good to get your analysis. thanks _ no choice. good to get your analysis. thanks for - no choice. good to get your analysis. thanks forjoining| analysis. thanks for joining us. analysis. thanks forjoining us. that's our show. thanks for watching. we are back at the top of the next hour. hello, there. looking at thursday's weather, we've got some, i think wet weather on the way to parts of england and wales with some thundery rain at times.

on wednesday, here's the day of sunny spells and passing showers. some of those showers, mind you, were very heavy, for example, here in hebden bridge. but looking at the satellite picture, you can see a stripe of cloud just here, that's a weather front that stretches all the way into europe. there's our fronts. but bumping into that front, we've got this trough here, this line of very intense showers. you might get the sense that these areas of rain are merging together. well, i think that's exactly what's going on. and they will tend to run towards england over the coming hours. so weather wise, over the next few hours, not so much of an issue. we'll have some low cloud effects, some of our north sea coast, a few mist and fog patches here and occasional spots of rain or drizzle. drier weather elsewhere with temperatures around ten or 11 degrees quite widely. the problems with the forecast come tomorrow. i think there is a risk of seeing more widespread rain initially across eastern areas of england through thursday morning before moving across the midlands and on into parts of wales and the west country as we head into the afternoon.

so the details are going to be quite difficult to come by but expect the chance of seeing some heavy thundery rain at times across parts of england and wales. further northwards for northern ireland sunshine through the morning and a dry morning. the afternoon, yeah, you could see a storm or two breaking out. most of scotland, in contrast to all of that will be dry, although there will be some mist and low cloud across eastern areas and spots of drizzle through the morning, the afternoon, the best of the sunshine into the northwest and that's where we'll see temperatures at their highest, probably reaching around 23 degrees or so. heading into friday the weather pattern is still rather unsettled, but hopefully a bit more straightforward. it should be a day of sunshine and showers through the afternoon for england and wales. some of those turning heavy and thundery. the drier weather will be further north again for scotland and for northern ireland, where most places will keep spells of sunshine and temperatures well into the low 20s. that's going to feel pleasant with light winds for the weekend weather picture, we're still at low pressure close to the south of the uk, a ridge of high pressure trying to build in from the north—west. and so it's again scotland and northern ireland

that will have the dry ice weather through the weekend. england and wales, meanwhile, will have the chance of seeing a few more showers to come. bye for now.

wall street rallies as prices

in the us show signs of cooling down. despite the high cost of living, travelers are breaking boundaries in 2024 and searching for new adventures across asia. hello and welcome to business today. i'm suranjana tewari. we begin in the us where the latest data shows inflation has fallen slightly. consumer prices rose 3.4% in the 12 months to april. that figure was down from 3.5% in the previous month. as we can see here, the news sent us markets to record highs as investors count on the federal reserve cutting interest rates. our business correspondent erin delmore reports. a banner day on wall street with all three major indexes closing at record highs. that's right — the dow, the s&p 500 and the nasdaq all hit their highest levels ever.

the catalyst — wednesday's consumer price index report