Newshour

The head of Israel's military intelligence has resigned over his role in failing to stop the Hamas attacks on October the seventh. Aharon Haliva is the highest-ranking official to step down over the assault, in which about twelve hundred people were killed and more than two hundred others abducted. He said his department had not lived up to the task it was entrusted with.

Also in the programme: we look at the impact of Hindu nationalism with our Newshour's correspondent Jamie Coomarasamy reporting from the city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh; and we hear why senior officials in Milan want to ban afterhours ice-cream.

(Photo: Maj Gen Aharon Haliva (L), Gaza in December 2024 Credit: IDF)

In a bonus episode from Delhi, James Coomarasamy explores identity and politics in India as the country conducts the world’s biggest election. He’s joined by journalists Divya Arya and Rajesh Joshi.

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa is seeking support for tough measures to tackle gang violence, including plans for armed forces to work alongside police. We hear from Quito on the day of the vote, and ask how one of the safest countries in South America ended up with the region's highest recorded murder rate.

Also in the programme: the ultra-orthodox battalion of the Israeli Defence Forces that may face US sanctions; and new plans in France to revitalise the national cuisine.

(Photo: People wait in line to vote in a referendum proposed by Ecuador's government in Quito, Ecuador, Credit: Jose Jacome/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Ukraine's recent lack of air defence systems has been blamed for Russian forces capturing hundreds more square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. So what difference will the aid make? We speak a defence analyst and get reaction from the capital, Kyiv.

Also on the programme: Newshour’s James Coomarasamy asks if India can stick to its ambitious plans to tackle climate change and develop renewable energy sources; and we ask if the government of Sierra Leone is serious about tackling the drug, called kush, which is devastating the country’s youth?

Photo: Supporters of Ukraine wave US and Ukrainian flags outside the US Capitol after the House approved aid packages to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Credit: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

After months of wrangling, US politicians have agreed on a 60-billion-dollar aid package for war-torn Ukraine. We hear reaction from an MP for Ukraine's governing party and a former advisor to the US Republican Party.

Also in the programme: the Zambian foreign minister explains why his country is seeking international aid to help deal with an unprecedented drought; and the courageous man who rescued hundreds of people during ethnic killings in the West Darfur region of Sudan.

(PHOTO: Supporters of Ukraine wave US and Ukrainian flags outside the US Capitol after the House approved foreign aid packages to Ukraine. CREDIT: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

After months of delay, the US House of Representatives is poised to vote on tens of billions of dollars in American military aid for Ukraine and Israel. The aid could reshape Kyiv’s war effort. We hear from Kyiv where every minute counts.

Also in the programme: we’ll hear from an anti-mass tourism protest in the Canary Islands; and how the ruling BJP has had a slick social media operation ahead of the elections there.

Photo: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at the US Capitol in Washington. Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Following a presumed Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joins renewed international calls for de-escalation. Israel has not commented on the attack, which saw projectiles reach deep into Iran. Also on the programme: the US Congress moves closer to approving $60 billion of aid for Ukraine; in India voting begins in the world’s biggest election. (Picture: Antony Blinken at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri, Italy, April 19, 2024.Credit: REUTERS/Remo Casilli)

US officials say Israel hit Iran with a missile overnight on Friday, in what appears to be a retaliatory strike after weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries. There are competing claims about the scale of the attack on the Isfahan region and the extent of any damage, with Iranian state media downplaying its significance. It comes after weeks of soaring tensions between the regional rivals, which have already seen an Israeli attack on an Iranian compound in Syria, and Iran launch an unprecedented assault against Israel.

Also in the programme: we speak to Newshour's James Coomarasamy in Uttar Pradesh as voting has ended in the first phase of India's general election and we hear why so many of China's cities are sinking.

(Photo: Anti-Israel billboards in Tehran following explosions around central city of Isfahan, Iran- 19 Apr 2024. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Germany summons Russian ambassador over arrest of two men suspected of spying for Moscow. We’ll ask if Russian espionage activities are spreading across Europe.

Also in the programme, Washington reimposes partial sanctions on Venezuela; the animals in David Bowie’s music, but should nature get the royalties?

(Photo: Exterior of Russian embassy in Berlin; Credit: Shutterstock)

Qatar is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, the country's prime minister has said. Qatar has had a key role - along with Egypt and the US - in trying to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of Israeli hostages. We also hear testimony from the ground in Gaza from Medical Aid for Palestinians and the experiences of an Israeli woman, Aviva Siegel who was taken hostage in October.

Also on the programme: Votes are counted in the Solomon Islands amid fears that some candidates are being influenced by Beijing; and the father and daughter who found the fossilised jawbone of what's thought to be the largest marine reptile ever to swim the seas.

(Picture: Palestinian women react as they sit on the rubble of a residential building housing their apartments, following an Israeli raid in the Gaza strip Credit: REUTERS/Doaa Rouqa)

As fighting continues between the Burmese military and rebels in Myanmar, young men are fleeing into Thailand to avoid the draft. We have a special report from the Thai border. And we ask why Myanmar's military government has moved the detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi from prison to house arrest.

Also in the programme: the speaker of the US House of Representatives says legislators will hold a long-awaited vote on billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine on Saturday; and Ecuador is suffering from power-cuts because drought is affecting its hydroelectric power generation

Photo: Myanmar people arrive at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge checkpoint at the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sot district. Credit: RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The BBC has discovered that the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year of the war. This overall death toll is eight times higher than the only official public acknowledgement of fatality numbers ever given by Moscow in September 2022.

Also on the programme: the military regime in Myanmar has moved the jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from prison to house arrest; we ask why has Dubai suffered a years worth of rain in just a few hours? And we'll hear from actor Tom Hollander on what it's like to play the American writer Truman Capote.

(Picture: Mass grave for Russian soldiers near Mariupol. Credit: Reuters)

The Israeli military’s chief of staff said Tehran’s missile and drone attack would not go unanswered. But what could that look like? We speak to the former director of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad.

Also on the programme: UK politicians vote to ban anyone born after 2009 from ever being able to buy cigarettes, and as the Indian elections approach, how has life for women changed under Prime Minister Modi’s decade in power?

(Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

President Modi has said that India is no longer seen as a nation of "snake charmers and black magic", thanks to the IT skills of its youth. But will this affect the election?

Also on the programme: one of Denmark's most historic buildings, the old stock exchange, is engulfed by fire; and is it even possible to select un unbiased jury when the accused is as famous as Donald Trump?

(Picture: An election poster of President Narendra Modi of India. Credit: Reuters)

Unseasonably warm temperatures in southern Russia and Kazakhstan have triggered fast-melting snow, causing unprecedented high rivers and flooding close to major cities. We speak to residents in Kazakhstan's badly affected areas.

Also in the programme: Arizona Supreme Court reinstates near-total abortion ban from 1864; and we hear about the contentious reform adopted by the EU parliament to adopt stricter migration rules and shared responsibility.

(Photo: KAZAKHSTAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The Israeli military has recovered the body of a hostage in Gaza. It accused the Islamic Jihad group of murdering Elad Katzir, who was snatched from a kibbutz in southern Israel during the Hamas attacks in October. His sister blamed the Israeli government for his death, saying it had failed to strike a second ceasefire deal to allow his release. There have also been protests in Israel demanding the release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza.

It’s six months since the beginning of the war in Gaza – we speak to our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet in Jerusalem. Also on the programme: Ecuador sparks international outrage by storming the Mexican Embassy in Quito; and why boxing icon Muhammed Ali's shorts might sell at auction for six million dollars.

Picture: People attend protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling for the release of the hostages in Gaza. Credit: Hannah McKay/Reteurs)

Aid organisations have stressed the need for an independent investigation into the deadly Israeli drone strike on an aid convoy after the IDF published its first account of the event.

Also in the programme: The BBC's analysis of Israel's evacuation warnings in Gaza; we remember the Nirvana singer, Kurt Cobain, thirty years after his death; and will a new currency stabilise Zimbabwe's economy?

(Photo: Clothes of members of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) inside their destroyed car in southern Gaza Strip. Credit: EPA).