welcome to newsday. it is eight in the morning here in singapore, and eight in the evening in washington, and we begin with the strong words from joe biden on the war in gaza. in an interview with american cable network cnn, the us president warns will cease certain arms supplies if israel invades rafah. he also deplored that the bombs the united states has supplied to israel in its war against hamas have been used to kill palestinian civilians. have a listen. civilians have been killed in gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres. i made it clear that if they go into rafah, they haven't gone into roughly you

—— have not gone inter alia, i am not supplying equipment to go into there. we need to make sure israel is secure in terms of iron dome and responding to acts like those that came out of recent times. let's cross to washington and speak to our correspondent, will vernon. this is the clearest signal that the us is unhappy with how israel is conducting the offensive in gaza. what else did biden say?— offensive in gaza. what else did biden say? you heard mr barton say — did biden say? you heard mr barton say america - did biden say? you heard mr barton say america would i barton say america would continue giving israel weapons that needs to defend itself but he said the us would not supply heavy weapons, bombs, artillery shells that could be used in a major offensive in the city of rafah. weapons he said they could be used in major population centres and mr barton added us but weapons have already killed civilians in gaza. human rights groups say it is exactly these kind of munitions that have been

responsible for the total devastation in gaza and little earlier us officials confirmed that one shipment of these heavy bombs was delayed last week and other shipments are under review. that was an incredibly significant development, an historic development, an historic development, not for a0 years has america held up any kind of farm supplies to israel for this reason. of course america is israel's bigger supply of military equipment, its most important ally and i think mr barton will come under a lot of criticism for this especially from republicans in congress who accuse him of abandoning a key us ally. i think mr barton is hoping this will fire a warning shot across the bowels of the israelis, that this wasn't a clear to them that after months of criticism by biden and other officials of the conduct of the war, of the plans to invade rafah, warnings

that have been more or less ignored by the israelis, he hopes this will send a sufficiently clear message that the israelis should change course. and i think he is hoping that the announcement that some shipments are being delayed will also appease many people here at home as well because there are a lot of traditional democratic voters who are extremely unhappy with the biden administration of�*s support for the israeli military offensive, many of them are young people, minority groups, key groups of voters in an election year. the other thing we should mention that mr biden talked about an interview as he said it is important to think about what comes next in gaza, after the war and what will happen then? mr 0beid said he has an agreement from five arab leaders who said that they will rebuild gaza after the war is over, guarantee security perhaps help to put in place am

sort of palestinian administration and transition to a two state solution —— biden. but that depends on the israelis. it biden. but that depends on the israelis. ., , ., ., israelis. it does. thanks for caettin israelis. it does. thanks for getting us _ israelis. it does. thanks for getting us up _ israelis. it does. thanks for getting us up to _ israelis. it does. thanks for getting us up to speed - israelis. it does. thanks for getting us up to speed with j israelis. it does. thanks for- getting us up to speed with the remarks from presidentjoe biden. israel says it has reopened one of the main aid crossings into the territory — but a un relief agency says no supplies have passed through. there has been heavy fighting and bombardment near the city of rafah, where the israeli military says it began a limited operation on monday. with almosti million displaced people taking refuge there, aid agencies have warned the consequences could be devastating. the un says around 600,000 palestinian children are among those currently sheltering in rafah. let's hear from some of them. translation: we are afraid of war and terrified - of the storming of rafah. we are terrified of the israelis who have been bombing rafah. indie

israelis who have been bombing rafah. ~ , ., ., israelis who have been bombing rafah. ~ , . ., ., rafah. we feel very afraid and uncomfortable _ rafah. we feel very afraid and uncomfortable and _ rafah. we feel very afraid and uncomfortable and can't - rafah. we feel very afraid and uncomfortable and can't bear| rafah. we feel very afraid and l uncomfortable and can't bear it any longer. it's distressing for all_ any longer. it's distressing for all of _ any longer. it's distressing for all of us and we hope the will and _ for all of us and we hope the will and we can go home. people have _ will and we can go home. people have lost— will and we can go home. people have lost a — will and we can go home. people have lost a sense of comfort and — have lost a sense of comfort and security. we must get at night — and security. we must get at night because of the bombardment.- night because of the bombardment. , ~ , ., bombardment. they kill everyone without differentiating _ bombardment. they kill everyone without differentiating between . without differentiating between children — without differentiating between children and _ without differentiating between children and old _ without differentiating between children and old people. - without differentiating between children and old people. the i children and old people. the whole — children and old people. the whole thing _ children and old people. the whole thing is _ children and old people. the whole thing is terrifying. - whole thing is terrifying. we've _ whole thing is terrifying. we've been _ whole thing is terrifying. | we've been experiencing whole thing is terrifying. - we've been experiencing seven months — we've been experiencing seven months of— we've been experiencing seven months of suffering _ we've been experiencing seven months of suffering and - we've been experiencing sevenl months of suffering and no—one considers— months of suffering and no—one considers us _ months of suffering and no—one considers us or _ months of suffering and no—one considers us or cares _ months of suffering and no—one considers us or cares about - months of suffering and no—one considers us or cares about us. i the humanitarian situation on the ground is already dire and getting worse. an investigation by bbc verify has found over half of gaza's water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the war. here's caroline hawley. water in gaza is an dangerously short supply, posing serious health risks to the population. bbc verify has analysed more than 600 water annotation facilities. here the dots represent a mixture of water wells, tanks, desalination and

sewage treatment plants. the red dots are all those that have been destroyed or damaged. that's more than 300 facilities across the gaza strip. gaza used to have sex a functioning wastewater treatment plants which are crucial to preventing the buildup of sewage and the spread of disease. this was one of them. here it was before 7 october. and now after. three 0ctober. and now after. three others are also damaged or destroyed and we've been told the remaining two are out of action largely because of a lack of fuel. to compound the problem, officials and gaza say they are struggling to repair damaged infrastructure after an attack on a key warehouse where fuel and spare parts were stored. this shows the warehouse before. and after it was struck at the end of january. the idf is that it was targeting hamas fighters nearby. it accused a group restoring weapons and ammunition inside civilian structures including in any water facilities. structures including in any waterfacilities. all of structures including in any water facilities. all of us structures including in any waterfacilities. all of us has had a very direct human

consequence. the world health organization says the average 0rganization says the average person needs 15 litres of water each day for drinking washing or cooking but most people in gaza are getting just a fraction of that. and that scarcity of water and untreated sewage are causing dehydration and disease. we sewage are causing dehydration and disease.— and disease. we are seeing -- cominu and disease. we are seeing -- coming from — and disease. we are seeing -- coming from the _ and disease. we are seeing -- coming from the outbreaks - and disease. we are seeing -- coming from the outbreaks of| coming from the outbreaks of disease in the highly vulnerable and small children, in the elderly and pretty women. hepatitis and print women. hepatitis and print women is very dangerous. this is killing people.— is killing people. people in gaza have _ is killing people. people in gaza have told _ is killing people. people in gaza have told that - is killing people. people in gaza have told that thankl is killing people. people in i gaza have told that thank you for hours to access drinking water. 0thers for hours to access drinking water. others are drinking dirty water. aid agencies wanted trucking and what about say they can't because limited access to fuel and this isn't just an acute problem now, interbedded by the current israeli operation in rafah, gaza's infrastructure will take years and decades to rebuild. you can see our full analysis on the bbc news website.

iurge i urge you to check out the content we have on gaza. we will move away from the middle east for now. chinese president xijinping is in hungary on the final leg of his european tour. he arrived in budapest — just in time for a gala dinner with hungarian prime minister viktor 0rban. president xi is due to hold talks with hungarian president tamas sulyok, before visiting chinese investments in hungary. earlier on wednesday, xi was in belgrade. his serbian counterpart aleksandar vucic told thousands of supporters — many waving chinese flags — that the government in beijing was a sincere friend. i analysed xi's visit to europe with elaine dezenski — a senior director at the foundation for defence of democracies. i think it is pretty clear that xijinping doesn't have a lot of friends in europe and going to serbia and hungary pretty much guarantees that he'd get a friendly reception as these are two countries that are actively pursuing greater investment from china

and they've been recipients of significant infrastructure investments and signed cooperation agreements that are moving from the economic sphere to the security sphere. there is a very strategic intent behind those two countries. president xi is in hungary which was the first european to sign to the chinese road and bell initiative. what more should we know about the relationship? it is an interesting case because of the chinese perspective, they see it as an opening to the broader european economy and the market and to political engagement. 0rban has been very supportive of this relationship for many years and as reaped benefits from this growing investment and it certainly caused some disturbance within the european union and certainly in brussels

where there is a growing concern about the nature of this relationship but the implications are more broadly for the eu. it is setting up a bit of attention that i think is an interesting and potentially challenging narrative facing xi jinping of the future. he's taking a bit a gamble by taking this divide and conquer kind of approach by going to hungary and going to serbia and pushing back against some of the concerns that the eu has raised around the relationship with china. so, it is creating a bit of a divisive environment and at the same time, i think what the europeans really looking for is a bit more assurance about access to the chinese market and about the quality of the trade relationships so you have these dynamics that are working perhaps against each other and it is a difficult narrative

to balance, particularly for xi jinping. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. hong kong's appeal court has approved the formal banning of a protest song previously used as a rallying call by pro—democracy campaigners. a lower court last year rejected the government's application to outlaw the song glory to hong kong. but officials have now successfully appealed against that decision. amnesty international described the ruling as a worrying sign of the authorities' growing unwillingness to respect human rights and uphold their obligations. thailand is to relist cannabis as a narcotic, two years after becoming the first country in asia to decriminalise its recreational use. the prime minister, srettha thavisin, said he wants usage restricted to medical and health purposes only. he said drugs were destroying thailand's future with too many young people addicted. the domestic retail market for marijuana has flourished in thailand since legalisation. australia is to raise the amount of savings international students

will need to get a visa in order to study in the country. it has also warned several colleges of fraudulent student recruitment practices as part of efforts to rein in record migration. from friday, international students must show proof of savings of at least 20,000 us dollars in order to get their visa. in the us, a republican congresswoman's effort to re m ove mikejohnson as speaker of the house of representatives has failed. marjorie taylor greene had demanded johnson be kicked out due to his support for a $61 billion aid package for ukraine. however, democratsjoined republicans in a 359—a3 vote to kill her motion. now to the devastating floods in brazil. police have been deployed in southeastern brazil to prevent attacks on rescue workers, following widespread looting and attacks from criminal gangs. 100 people are now known to have died in the state of rio grande do sul.

dozens of people are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced to leave their homes. the state governor has warned that more heavy rains are expected. meghan 0wen has more on the damage caused. this is a calm agricultural region but it has been pretty hit by some extreme weather over the last few years and this is no exception. i want to take you through some of the striking satellite images of the fighting. before, this was the fighting. before, this was the football stadium in the capital porto alegre and we can see that the floods completely swamped that football ground. next, we have a river that has completely burst its banks. we see on the satellite image just how much that water has overflowed there. next is the local airport. since the flooding, the runway and the roads have been again completely submerged by that

water, except for the buildings. finally, we have more of a residential area. here is a river which since the flooding, it has burst its banks into all of those residential areas. this isjust a small part of the flooding and we know that many people have been affected. in terms of people being displaced, over 200,000 people have been made homeless and la million people have been affected. it has led them to try dramatic attempts to escape their homes. this is a footbridge in the region people have been camping out on. there has also been a number of rescue efforts and we know that military and police and volunteers have been trying desperately to evacuate people who are stuck in these areas. many of them are unable to access clean drinking water. the governor of the region has also said that there is more

rainfall expected over the next week. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. new analysis shows that the world's oceans have broken temperature records every single day over the past year — caused mainly by climate change. the news comes as figures from the eu climate service, copernicus, also show that last month was the warmest april on record for our oceans. they absorb around a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans produce and soak up excess heat, so evidence that they're heating up at record levels raises concerns they won't be able to do this as effectively as before. the menai bridge between north wales and the island of anglesey. a team of scientists have been monitoring the plants and animals on the sea shore here and at other spots around the uk for almost 70 years.

it's invaluable and it tells us so much about where species were, how quickly they've moved. in that time, average uk sea temperatures have warmed by about one degree celsius. the big thing that i've seen is species aren't all moving at the same rate — so things are moving further north, but not at the same speed. so, all the community compositions are changing everywhere. some creatures can't move at all — like barnacles. so, nova, this is a really disruptive process for ecosystems ? i think if i was a barnacle, i'd be quite worried, yes! if one species vanishes, or a new one comes in, it can affect all the other plants and animals in the system. at aberystwyth university, scientists track the changes with the same technology the police use at crime scenes. i think we're going to put this down about five metres. they collect the traces of dna animals leave in the water. it is known as edna —

environmental dna. it's possible to use edna to track the movement of invasive species. there is a japanese species of sea squirt. it's called a carpet sea squirt. they form a blanket, a carpet, if you like, over the sea bed. they prevent the growth of native organisms in the areas that they colonise. what we are finding is that the ones that are more invasive appear to be responding more strongly to global warming and increasing water temperatures. it is evidence that, as our seas continue to warm, we can expect unpredictable changes in the marine life of the uk. justin rowlatt, bbc news, aberystwyth. this record—breaking year of heat has a devastating impact on coral reefs, with ngos describing the ongoing coral bleeching as wildfires underwater. i am nowjoined by anna marsden, managing director of the great barrier

reef foundation. you are seeing firsthand the impact of this heat. how damaged is the great barrier reef and cannot be restored? the great barrier reef like every coral reef on the planet in this last summer is experiencing coral bleaching. it's not new to us working in the sector we understand coral reefs said very much on the front line of climate change. i guess our wake—up call and i6 and i7 guess our wake—up call and i6 and 17 was when we realised we are not responding to these underwater wildfires in a commensurate level. the cure to this is a stronger action on climate change but increasingly scientist conservation groups are being able to dispense treatment and fundamentally thatis treatment and fundamentally that is about reef restoration, adaptation, how to rebuild these underwater forests in critical areas so that the integrity of the ecosystem still continues to function and supports a quarter of all

marine life that call coral reefs home.— marine life that call coral reefs home. the knock-on effects for _ reefs home. the knock-on effects for this _ reefs home. the knock-on effects for this is - reefs home. the knock-on effects for this is what - reefs home. the knock-on effects for this is what i i reefs home. the knock-on i effects for this is what i want to ask about next. talk us through the consequences of coral bleaching across the world when it comes to biodiversity. world when it comes to biodiversi . . , , , biodiversity. absolutely. these are known _ biodiversity. absolutely. these are known as _ biodiversity. absolutely. these are known as the _ biodiversity. absolutely. these are known as the rainforests i biodiversity. absolutely. these are known as the rainforests of the sea. this is the hartlett of a finance' a biodiversity. we are a blue and we would not know what it would look like to lose all coral reefs in about and if we do nothing now the projection of 2050 as we will lose 90% of these ecosystems. we are seeing rapid change to the ecosystem and animals are changing where they call home, the whole system is in a state of flux. it's a very worrying future and one everybody is focused on not making that our reality. the actions we have right now in this critical decade to restore these ecosystems and understand the connectivity of the system to try to give it more resilience

in that the difference in whether we have these ecosystems, 2051 or we don't. when it comes to these issues, two words often use our mitigation and adaptation. where does the great barrier reef stand on both of those? these are two levers we must pull. we must mitigate against climate change but as your earlier report spoke about, there are still so much inherent heating and oceans are taking so much of the access carbon dioxide that we are on introductory of significant loss. that's why that second lever of adaptation and resilience building is so important. if we asked to rate to my mitigation we will lose the reefs so those two strategies may have and our work is focused on the adaptation and resilience, how to help reduce the local pressures and how to help the system be tougher, able to withstand the threats of climate change. what we hope

for is how can coral reefs live with climate change to essentially buy time for the mitigations energy to take shape. mitigations energy to take shae. ,, up mitigations energy to take shae. ,, ., ., shape. quickly on that, when it comes adaptation, _ shape. quickly on that, when it comes adaptation, what - shape. quickly on that, when it comes adaptation, what can i shape. quickly on that, when it comes adaptation, what can bej comes adaptation, what can be done to help coral reefs withstand what happening to them? . ., , ., , ., them? fundamentally corals are livin: them? fundamentally corals are living organisms _ them? fundamentally corals are living organisms and _ them? fundamentally corals are living organisms and adapting i living organisms and adapting every year. they are not adapting fast enough but we are seeing because this is the fifth coral bleaching about to happen in the great barrier reef, we are seeing surviving corals and those become parents for surviving children so the system is toughening up but it's not happening enough. there is a role for science to help enhance the adaptation and the other thing we have to do is take every other pressure of coral reefs, so there is also water quality challenges or a star flesh hurting the health of the reef, how to remove those other pressures. it's similar to what we do in a human system if we are not well, there are things we can do to help us, we don't smoke, we have a better diet, in

addition to treatment while we wait for the cure. we see those parallels day and day in protecting these. parallels day and day in rotectinu these. ., ~' , ., ., protecting these. thank you for s-ueakin protecting these. thank you for speaking to _ protecting these. thank you for speaking to us. _ protecting these. thank you for speaking to us. it _ protecting these. thank you for speaking to us. it helps - protecting these. thank you for speaking to us. it helps to i speaking to us. it helps to create a picture and help us understand the situation better. anna marsden, managing director of the great barrier reef foundation. malaysia says it will start giving orangutans as gifts to major trading partners who buy its palm oil. the government says it hopes to generate the same goodwill as china does with its �*panda diplomacy�*. the development comes amid concern that the forests where the orangutans live are being chopped down to make way for palm oil plantations. animal protection groups say it would be better to concentrate on preserving these animals in the wild, rather than handing them out as gifts. the bbc�*s world service asia pacific editor, michael bristow has more. the commodities and plantations minister expressed his desire to essentially gift orangutans to essentially gift orangutans to countries, major countries that trade with malaysia when it comes to palm oil, we are

talking about india, china, european union countries. essentially as a goodwill gesture to try and convince those countries that malaysia is serious about notjust developing its economy in parma the particular, but also protecting the national habitat, the national habitats which are vital for orangutans and by giving these mammals and animals and apes to these countries, it is like a token of their desire to keep them alive. the flame for this year's paris 0lympics has arrived on french soil after completing its mediterranean crossing from greece to the port of marseille. it will be one of the longest olympic torch relays in history. over the next 10 weeks, about 10,000 people — ranging from sports stars to survivors of terrorist attacks and a 102—year—old veteran of the french resistance — will take turns to carry the symbolic flame. the torch will travel through more than a00 french towns and territories. and stay with us here on bbc news — in a few minutes we'll

have business today, and an exclusive interview with a former quality inspector at the company's biggest supplier. stay with us. goodbye for now. hello. we've got a long—awaited spell of dry and sunny weather for many of us over the next few days. not quite dry everywhere. a bit of rain around across the far north of scotland. and we'll also see some misty, murky patches during the mornings. they could be a little bit slow to clear. so, not wall—to—wall blue skies for the next few days, but high pressure is bringing a lot of dry, settled weather, with light winds, too. now, we're likely to start thursday morning with that patchy rain in the far north—west, but further south, i think some mist and some fog patches around here and there, particularly so for parts of the southwest of england and wales. could be some mistiness creeping into east anglia. around some of these irish sea coasts, the isle of man, towards cumbria, some of that fog could be quite slow to clear. for scotland, there'll be some brighter spells across eastern

areas — like aberdeenshire, for instance — but there'll be more cloud and outbreaks of rain moving in across the western isles, parts of highland too. that rain looks like it eases away, pushes a little bit further northward. so for much of the uk, dry with sunny spells, and that's going to lift those temperatures to somewhere between around 19—22 degrees for many of us. just a little bit cooler across the north of scotland. now, through thursday evening, overnight into friday, we've got some more rain that'll push across parts of highland. elsewhere, dry once again, relatively mild temperatures — in double figures for many of us. but again, i think friday morning could see a few misty patches that will gradually clear away. so friday itself, i think longer spells of sunshine on offer, light winds and those temperatures probably up a degree or so. so more widely, we're looking at temperatures in the low 20s, possibly the mid—20s in the south. still a little cooler than that for stornoway and lerwick, for instance. into the weekend, high pressure still close, but it slips away towards the east, and that willjust open the doors for areas of low pressure to try and move in from the west. but i think saturday itself, a good deal of dry weather. cloud will tend to bubble up

through the day, and that could just spark off one or two showers, perhaps northern england, southern scotland, but they'll be hit—and—miss. temperatures are again up in the mid 20s — could see 2a in one or two places. similar start to the day on sunday, but you'll notice these showers trying to push in towards the west. they could be quite slow—moving, potentially heavy and thundery in places. where it does stay dry, probably towards the south and south—east, we could well see temperatures again in the mid—20s, but then it looks like the showers will dominate as we head into next week. so, more unsettled weather on the cards for the start of next week. still a little bit warmer than average, but not as warm as the next few days.

more boeing safety claims. a former quality inspector at the company's biggest supplier tells all. plus, you know k—pop, but have you heard of p—pop? we catch up with one of the philippines' biggest sensations. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin with our top story. a former employee of boeing's biggest supplier has claimed that sections of 737 max aircraft regularly left its factory with serious defects. spirit aerosystems builds fuselages for the 737 max, which are then shipped to boeing's own plant

for final assembly. speaking publicly for the first time, former quality inspector santiago peredes told the bbc that some managers actively tried to discourage him from flagging up flaws in half—finished planes. 0ur reporter theo leggett asked him just how many problems he would typically find on aircraft reaching the end of the production line. anywhere from 50 to 100, 200. you were regularly finding more than 100 faults on a plane that was being shipped? oh, yeah. and that's because ijust inspect certain areas. so in totality, with all the inspectors, if you total them out, yeah, you'd be over the hundreds. now, you were picking up on these faults, you were highlighting them, you were flagging them up to be repaired. what kind of response did you get from your managers? did they support you? my managers weren't always there. the production managers always made a fuss about why i was finding it, why i was looking at it,