humphrey at the universi of _ humphrey at the university of california, - _ humphrey at the university of california, lesl university of california, los angeles, where there is a growing police presence here on the ground and protesters in this encampment have been ordered to leave or face arrest. israel reopens the erez crossing into northern gaza — allowing more humanitarian aid into the famine—threatened territory. disgraced hollywood film producer, harvey weinstein, will be re—tried after one of his rape convictions was overturned. and the face of 75,000—year—old neanderthal woman revealed. scientists at cambridge university recreate a sd model from a crushed skull discovered in iraq. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak.

pro—palestinian protesters in an encampment at the ucla campus in california have been told to disperse by police or face arrest. these are live pictures outside the camp, where more and more students are gathering to show their support, as demonstrations against the war in gaza continue at universities across the united states. earlier, california's governor, gavin newsom, has accused the police of being too slow to respond after counter—demonstrators attacked the camp on tuesday night. in texas, riot police broke up a similar encampment, accusing the demonstrators of breaching trespass laws. we'll have a report from texas in a minute, but first let's go live to los angeles where we can speak to our correspondent helena humphrey who is at the ucla campus.

so the ucla protests have been declared unlawful by police. i'm assuming those are police standing behind you. i understand the encampments, the protests, have been declared unlawful. what does that now mean? . �* , , ., mean? that's right. they have been ordered _ mean? that's right. they have been ordered to _ mean? that's right. they have been ordered to leave - mean? that's right. they have been ordered to leave or - mean? that's right. they have been ordered to leave or to i been ordered to leave or to face arrest. i can tell you that the la police department has now been put on tactical alert. if you just pan around in this direction, you will be able to see those lines of police gathering, both in the direction they're facing there of the encampment and then also of the encampment and then also of the encampment and then also of the student protesters here as well who are allowed to remain protesting for the time being. tactical alert means that all of the officers have been put on standby. if this ramps up then they could be called and deployed to the scene. if we come back in this direction, i want to show you the encampment where people have been told to leave. what you will be able to see is those wooden boards and in the

past few hours we have been hearing hammering, essentially, as we believe the protesters, the pro—palestinian protesters, are still inside, and have been reinforcing those barricades after those violent scenes that we saw over the course of the night. about a couple of hours ago, few of those protesters raised their heads above those walls there. we were asking them, are you going to leave? they wouldn't speak, they were simply just they wouldn't speak, they were simplyjust shaking their head. as we go into this direction i want to show you the scenes, as you were mentioning, hundreds of pro—palestinian student demonstrators have been coming here over the course of the night. i was speaking to some of them who were actually inside the encampment last night and they reported seeing scenes as those counter moved in in that area and some of them saying that they simply had to leave, that there was teargas, fireworks, lobbed into the crowd. they were reluctant to speak on camera, they were covering theirfaces to speak on camera, they were covering their faces saying they were worried about

reprisals from the university. i spoke to another faculty member who was also protesting saying it is about reminding students about the first amendment, about being able to protest peacefully but i think it is certainly fair to say that it remains to be seen what happens now in the coming hours here. to happens now in the coming hours here. ., . , , here. to what extent is this dominating _ here. to what extent is this dominating us _ here. to what extent is this dominating us media? - here. to what extent is this| dominating us media? what here. to what extent is this i dominating us media? what is the narrative there? it absolutely is dominating the us media. we've seen hundreds of arrests across the country over the course of the day and i think those violent scenes were shocking for people to wake up to here in los angeles. and across the country what we saw were counted demonstrators, many of them from outside of the student body saying that they support israel, wearing masks, clashing with the demonstrators. we saw 15 people injured, one person is in hospital. talking about that narrative, what this is really

showing is even when we have seen the scenes at columbia university with that encampment cleared out and others throughout the course of the day, even if those protests are dismantled, what you are seeing in this country is that, particularly among the younger generation, there is a growing disquiet with how israel is prosecuting the war in gaza and the us�*s support for it, while at the same time, there are growing reports of anti—semitism on us campuses as well as islamaphobic incidents as well, and this is really causing a wrestle, particularly for universities, about how they allow students to protest while also keeping their population safer. helena humphrey. _ population safer. helena humphrey, thank- population safer. helena humphrey, thank you i population safer. helena i humphrey, thank you very population safer. helena - humphrey, thank you very much for that and we will be keeping an eye on those protests that you see. we are waiting to see what will happen next as the police are called in. the lapd have said that they have not and will not use force but we

will see what happens next after it was declared unlawful assembly. as we mentioned riot police in the state of texas riot as we mentioned riot police in the state of texas have broken up a similar encampment, accusing the demonstrators of breaching trespass law. our correspondent, tom bateman, was at the university of texas in dallas, as the authorities moved in, and sent this report. this particular spot was where there was a tented encampment, a very peaceful protest when we arrived, people were singing and chanting. they are around 12 or more gazebos on the spot here. the protesters were then handed a written note from the university administrations saying that they were breaching criminal trespass laws and if the tents were not removed, that would be forcibly taken out and people risked arrest and we saw the state troopers, right police armed with batons,

many of them with zip cuffs and sticks, they moved in in waves here towards the crowd, they have been some barricade, place by some of the protesters effectively part of the banners that they have been using, and the police forced their way through. and ripped down that sense in they gazebos, we saw around a dozen or so protesters lake gardens, get them on the ground, they were very forcibly dragged away by the police here. now we have this stand—off, so you can see the situation with the protesters still gathered here. over this way, if you look to the left of the protesters, the remnants of what were the tents and the food and supplies that they had, that's all being trotted away? by the police. and now we have a protester that was, during the entire time that we were here, was very calm, it was the arrival of the police that changed the mood here.

it become quite angry, you can sense the frustration of the protesters about what has happened, some of the chance have been around demanding that they shouldn't be taken place, they've been saying, "where were you in uvalde?" a criticism of the police year in texas, and as i say, the mood very, very differently and adding to the sense of this protest escalating. for the first time since the attack by hamas on october 7, israel has reopened the main crossing into northern gaza for humanitarian aid. the united nations is warning that more than 70% of the population face catastrophic levels of hunger. israel's opening of the erez crossing follows sustained international pressure — with the move long called for by aid agencies. our special correspondent, fergal keane, reports from the erez crossing. a gate towards the war. where israel's army today showcased how it planned to boost aid reaching gaza.

this is the erez crossing in the north of the gaza strip, with gaza devastated on the other side. the plan is to get 500 trucks a day into gaza from here. the un wants many more to avert what it calls a man—made famine. the optics, designed to convey an israel listening to america and other allies. every day, every day, we won't stop... all very different to the beginning of the war, nearly seven months ago. "we're putting a complete siege on gaza," said israel's defence minister, yoav gallant. "no electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it's all closed." this exercise comes after weeks of pressure on israel from the international community to allow more food, medicine, supplies into gaza

— and, after one senior un official warned israel might be committing a war crime, using food as a weapon of war. the international criminal court is reportedly considering arrest warrants for israel's war leaders. are you worried that you, other senior idf officers, might be charged with war crimes as a consequence of that? we never set any bar, any limit regarding the entrance of humanitarian aid and specifically not food. the un and aid agencies say that simply isn't true. here, the charity world central kitchen reopened, a month after seven of its workers, including three britons, were killed in an israeli attack. this is a lifeline in central gaza, where the elderly and children are acutely vulnerable from hunger and war. nine—year—old mayam al—al is dug free

from the rubble ofan airstrike. 16 other children in her extended family were killed. hers is a life broken by war. mayam told us that now she wanted to go to god. a ceasefire won't bring back the dead, but it might allow mayam to believe again in life. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, us secretary of state antony blinken has met with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu injerusalem warning against a ground invasion of rafah — wherei.1i million displaced palestinians are sheltering. mr blinken also called on hamas to accept the terms of a ceasefire deal, that would see a pause in fighting and the release

of some israeli hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners. for more on the meeting, i'm joined now by mohamed taha from bbc arabic. lovely to see you this morning. let's start off with that meeting yesterday. what was the outcome between mr lincoln and mr netanyahu? we outcome between mr lincoln and mr netanyahu?— mr netanyahu? we saw some differences — mr netanyahu? we saw some differences between - mr netanyahu? we saw some differences between both - differences between both parties regarding the rougher operation. —— rafah. mr netanyahu said he will do the rafah operation whether opposing fighting will happen or not and antony blinken confirmed that the us would never agree on operation in rafah with more than i million refugees are there. so there are some differences there. but imagine —— benjamin netanyahu's statement is really alarming in the time that everybody is waiting for hamas poles response or —— on the israeli

proposals regarding the truth. if he is saying he will go to rafah whether they will be a pause in fighting or not, so why on earth hamas would accept a pause in fighting if they are invited to hand over the hostages voluntarily, except the israeli military presence in gaza voluntarily and expecting once the pause infighting would finish that israel would make an operation in rafah, but it looks like netanyahu is inviting hamas to refuse the pause infighting. with all that uncertainty, all those questions of those tracks, some strikes have continued on rafah of course. what are those that have sought refuge in rafah doing. where could they possibly go? very quickly. could they possibly go? very cuickl . , , , ., quickly. yes, this is what the united states _ quickly. yes, this is what the united states wants - quickly. yes, this is what the united states wants israel i quickly. yes, this is what the united states wants israel to j united states wants israel to give assurances of, are they going to cross to egypt? are

they going to return back to their homes in the north? and khan younis, are they going to build another refugee camp somewhere else? there is no assurance from the israeli side where these refugees would go if they would attack rafah and we saw overnight attacks on rafah left more than 30 people dead and in rafah and so this operation goes on.— dead and in rafah and so this operation goes on. thank you very much — operation goes on. thank you very much indeed, _ operation goes on. thank you very much indeed, thank- operation goes on. thank you j very much indeed, thank you. a 36—year—old man has been charged with the murder of a 14—year—old boy, who was killed in a sword attack in east london on tuesday morning. 14—year—old daniel anjorin was walking to school when he was killed. louisa pilbeam reports. pictured in his school uniform, ranjit —— daniel anjorin was ascribed as a true scholar by his teachers, dedicated to his studies and a positive, gentle boy. but, the iii—year—old, the son of a teacher, was killed as he made his way to school. the

local community left flowers for daniel and his family as they tried to comprehend what took place. valo please god, i feel for the parents of the child, really so. this child didn't want to be identified but said he saw daniel being attacked. fix, but said he saw daniel being attacked. �* , . ., , attacked. a very nice family and ou attacked. a very nice family and y°u1u5t_ attacked. a very nice family and you just can't _ attacked. a very nice family and you just can't imagine l attacked. a very nice family - and you just can't imagine what they are going through now. it is a complete tragedy. a young boy should not be walking to school and being stabbed before his doorstep. school and being stabbed before his doorstep-— his doorstep. prosecutors announced _ his doorstep. prosecutors announced last _ his doorstep. prosecutors announced last night - his doorstep. prosecutors announced last night that| announced last night that 36—year—old marcus arduini monzo has been charged with daniel's murder and a series of other offences including two counts of attempted murder. this doorbell footage shows the bravery of police officers as the attacker brandishes his sword, the officer on the left uses his taser twice and then the policewoman in the centre hazes him again. —— tasers.

lock your doors! lock your doors! �* ., , ., . doors! before these, two police officers were — doors! before these, two police officers were seriously - doors! before these, two police officers were seriously injured l officers were seriously injured as well as two other men. daniel's school in east london flew their flag at half mast. a boy who went there for a bright future who was a gifted football player. now the man charged with his murder will appear in court today. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to india next where the general election is under way. all this week the bbc has been speaking to influential voting blocs. amongst them, more than 18 million new, first—time voters heading to the polls. for more on this, i'm joined by our south asia correspondent samira hussain.

first—time voters, outlook, right across the world we are seeing that there are elections taking place. india as well and first—time voters are really very influential and so we decided we wanted to speak with first—time voters in two states — here in kerala and also in the north, to get a sense of what is on their minds as they head to the polls for the first time. are you talking with your friends about the election and what are you guys talking about? _, , ., ., about? the constitutional ri . hts about? the constitutional rights of _ about? the constitutional rights of indian _ about? the constitutional rights of indian people. i about? the constitutional- rights of indian people. which -a i rights of indian people. which party i need — rights of indian people. which party i need to _ rights of indian people. which party i need to vote. - rights of indian people. which party i need to vote. this - rights of indian people. which party i need to vote. this is i party i need to vote. this is my first _ party i need to vote. this is my first vote so i don't want to waste _

my first vote so i don't want to waste it.— to waste it. everyone is working _ to waste it. everyone is working for _ to waste it. everyone is working for their - to waste it. everyone is working for their own . to waste it. everyone is - working for their own benefit. what — working for their own benefit. what is — working for their own benefit. what is something _ working for their own benefit. what is something that - working for their own benefit. what is something that you i working for their own benefit. i what is something that you want to see changed in your country? due to lack of financial structure.— structure. voting is a constitutional - structure. voting is a constitutional right . structure. voting is a l constitutional right for structure. voting is a - constitutional right for me, i don't — constitutional right for me, i don't want to waste that right. i don't want to waste that right. i need — don't want to waste that right. i need to— don't want to waste that right. i need to change disconnection from _ i need to change disconnection from this— i need to change disconnection from this country. | i need to change disconnection from this country.— from this country. i think opinions. _ from this country. i think opinions, we _ from this country. i think opinions, we can - from this country. i thinkj opinions, we can actually from this country. i think- opinions, we can actually vote for the — opinions, we can actually vote for the first _ opinions, we can actually vote for the first time _ opinions, we can actually vote for the first time right - opinions, we can actually vote for the first time right now- for the first time right now and — for the first time right now and see _ for the first time right now and see how— for the first time right now and see how it— for the first time right now and see how it is- for the first time right now and see how it is going - for the first time right now and see how it is going tol and see how it is going to unfold _ and see how it is going to unfold so— and see how it is going to unfold so that _ and see how it is going to unfold so that is - and see how it is going to unfold so that is very- unfold so that is very exciting _ unfold so that is very exciting.— unfold so that is very excitinr. ~ ., , exciting. what is the most important _ exciting. what is the most important issue? - exciting. what is the most important issue? india - exciting. what is the most i important issue? india lacks structure- — important issue? india lacks structure. they _ important issue? india lacks structure. they have - important issue? india lacks structure. they have been i important issue? india lacks- structure. they have been times when i was sexually harassed and the government should focus

on giving as such public transport where women can feel safe. if transport where women can feel safe. ., , safe. if government is providing _ safe. if government is providing security - safe. if government is providing security to l safe. if government is - providing security to women safe. if government is _ providing security to women and female _ providing security to women and female students then they will be female students then they will he more — female students then they will be more educated people in the remote — be more educated people in the remote areas of india. if we go to smell— remote areas of india. if we go to small villages people have two travel a lot to get better treatment and plus the government, hospitals. there is some kind _ government, hospitals. there is some kind of — government, hospitals. there is some kind of dictatorship - government, hospitals. there is some kind of dictatorship going | some kind of dictatorship going around — some kind of dictatorship going around in — some kind of dictatorship going around in the _ some kind of dictatorship going around in the country. - some kind of dictatorship going around in the country. that - around in the country. that should _ around in the country. that should not— around in the country. that should not be _ around in the country. that should not be done. - around in the country. that should not be done.- around in the country. that should not be done. does anyone else feel like _ should not be done. does anyone else feel like that? _ should not be done. does anyone else feel like that? having - should not be done. does anyone else feel like that? having a - else feel like that? having a clash between _ else feel like that? having a clash between two - else feel like that? having a - clash between two communities, it is going to be really messy. political parties should not support— political parties should not support any political —— particular community or religion. particular community or religion-— particular community or relirion. ~ . . religion. we all have the right to profess _ religion. we all have the right to profess our— religion. we all have the right to profess our religion - religion. we all have the right to profess our religion or - to profess our religion or culture _ to profess our religion or culture and _ to profess our religion or culture and we _ to profess our religion or culture and we should i to profess our religion orl culture and we should not to profess our religion or- culture and we should not get influenced _ culture and we should not get influenced by _ culture and we should not get influenced by anybody - culture and we should not get influenced by anybody else. l culture and we should not get i influenced by anybody else. we need influenced by anybody else. need somebody who can influenced by anybody else.“ need somebody who can spread peace and make india unite again. there are some differences

between what first—time voters were saying here in the state of kerala versus the north and some of that can be explained by the differences in terms of the socio—economic levels of both states. you see that in kerala a very high level of education, a very high healthcare and some of the more pressing daily concerns aren't as much of an issue. where some more pressing issues for people in the north are things like the sense of communal violence and the fact that we're seeing and the fact that we're seeing a lot more joblessness there in the north. 5 a lot more “oblessness there in the north._ the north. 's era, the scale and the — the north. 's era, the scale and the timeline _ the north. 's era, the scale and the timeline of- the north. 's era, the scale and the timeline of this i and the timeline of this election is well worth underscoring for our viewers. seven phases, why? you can't have almost — seven phases, why? you can't have almost a _ seven phases, why? you can't have almost a billion - seven phases, why? you can't have almost a billion people i have almost a billion people voting at the same time because think about the number of people voting for the first

time and then also the number of people that need to be employed to actually run the election and so what they've done is they've cut up the country into seven different bases. we've already had two phases of voting and now we will have another five so we are actually not going to get the results of this election until the beginning ofjune. 0k. until the beginning ofjune. ok. samira hussain, thank you very much. samira following those elections throughout until we get the result. local elections are being held across england and wales today to select mayors, councillors and police and crime commissioners. there's also a by—election in blackpool south, following the resignation of the former conservative, scott benton. polls open at 7:00 and close at 10pm local time.

let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. senators in the us state of arizona have voted to repeal a 19th century state law banning abortion, unless the mother's life is in danger. it was revived after the us supreme court overturned the constitutional right of women to a termination. arizona's senate voted by 16 to iii votes to repeal the near total abortion ban. police have fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators outside georgia's parliament where legislation, critics claim could silence dissent, has been provisionally approved. protestors waved georgian and eu flags as they tried to block entrances to the building. they say they're defending free speech. the �*foreign agents' law requires organisations to state whether they are funded from abroad. the disgraced hollywood film producer harvey weinstein will get a retrial, after having one of his rape convictions overturned in a court in new york last week.

his lawyers claim he did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted back in 2020. the 72—year—old will remain in jail because of a separate rape conviction in california. our correspondent, nada tawfik, is in new york. harvey weinstein did appear here in court, just days after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned. he was brought in in a wheelchair wearing a navy suit and a blue tie. he did to shake their hands and waved to the legal teams appearing in good spirits. now, prosecutors said that they wanted this case to be retried because they still believed in it. they still felt it was a good case. and after conferring with the defence, the judge decided the trial could take place as early as september. now, prosecutors said that they were there alongside one of the two women who helped put harvey weinstein in jail. jessica mann, they said, was there to prove that she would not back down and that

while weinstein had privilege and power, that she had the truth. one of the other women, mimi haleyi, wasn't there in court, but her attorney, gloria allred, was. she said her client was still deciding whether or not to testify in any potential retrial, noting it wasn't an easy decision for her. now, harvey weinstein's lawyer, arthur aidala, proclaimed that harvey weinstein was innocent. he said he had serious medical issues, but he was sharp as a tack and would be able to participate in his defence. let's catch up with the weather. hello. on wednesday evening in france, we saw some pretty nasty storms with hail and thunder, gusty winds, and they have been drifting towards us. if we look at the satellite picture over the radar superimposed, the rainfall, you can see these dark blue colours indicating the very heavy rainfall

and drifting in from the south towards the uk. so i think through the early hours we will have had some downpours. if they haven't reached you already, they may be on the way, but of course not everybody is going to get them. it's near enough impossible to exactly predict where the storms will be, but north of that, it's a completely different picture across northern england and scotland. some clear skies overnight. now let's have a look at the early hours. this is widespread rain in the south—west. i think the more vicious brief downpours with hail, thunder and lightning and flash flooding in places will be further towards the east. and some of these heavy showers may last through the morning and possibly pop off during the afternoon as well again around here. but by the time we get to northern england, northern ireland and scotland, it's mostly sunny, but note windy weather on the north sea coast, a chilly breeze. so it will keep things cool here. maybe only 12 degrees on the north sea coast, 20 possible elsewhere across england. but i think the best of the weather for sure around the western isles with light winds and sunny skies.

now, the weather front�*s still with us on friday. i don't think that is going to be itself producing any thunder. the showers could be developing across more northern parts of england through the course of the day. and again, it's across the north and the north—west of scotland where we have the best of our weather. once again, 20 degrees celsius. compare that to so many other major towns and cities, only around 13 or iii degrees. and this does sometimes happen when we have easterly winds, that sheltered part of western scotland tends to warm up in the sunshine. now, here's saturday. you can see a fairly cloudy picture with a few blobs of rain here and there, maybe sunnier skies for a time in the south. and the temperatures are recovering somewhat, typically the mid teens to the high teens. now, overall, the bank holiday weekend is looking quite mixed for most of us. temperatures stabilising around the average. i think the high teens across the south of the uk and not far off the average across many other parts of the uk, but for the time being, watch out for those

storms in the south.

live from london, this is bbc news. the us federal reserve keeps the cost of borrowing unchanged, as inflation proves to be more persistent than expected. trouble at sea — we'll hear how shipping giant, maersk, is coping with disruption of freight routes,

when they report later today. with india's election in full swing, we examine how women are playing a key role in that mammoth vote. and shares of e—retailer, ebay, sink after it presents a pessimistic outlook. hello, good morning, and welcome to our look at business news. america's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25% and 5.5% as stubbornly high inflation continues to hold off the timing of the first rate cut. the decision, which was expected, comes days after new government data showed that the pace of us economic growth is slowing.

from new york, here's the bbc�*s north america