live from london, this is bbc news. uk labour leader sir keir starmer sets out his policy to stop migrant boat crossings, promising new powers to tackle people—smuggling gangs. the uk is officially out of recession, with figures showing the economy is growing again. israel's prime minister vows to press ahead with the offensive in rafah in defiance of us calls for restraint. the duke and duchess of sussex arrive in nigeria for a three—day visit to the country. i'm at the eurovision song contest, where excitement is growing ahead of the final on saturday. the controversy surrounding israel's entry continues, as they go forward

into that final with other favourites, ukraine, france and the netherlands on saturday. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. bordersecurity, migration, and asylum—seekers crossing the channel in small boats are expected to be major issues during the uk election. labour leader sir keir starmer is in dover, outlining how his party will tackle them. here's what he had to say. as the first step in this plan, a new manifesto commitment, we will set up a new command with new powers, new resources, and a new way of doing things. border security command. now this is about leveraging the power and potential of dynamic government based on a counter—terrorism approach, which we know works.

an end to the fragmentation between policing the border force and our intelligence agencies, a collecting of the standards. so the border protection becomes an elite force, not a cinderella service. let's have a look at what labour is planning to do. sir keir starmer is promising to set up a new border security command to crack down on people—smugglers if his party wins power. he is also pledging to hire hundreds more specialist investigators and cross—border police. meanwhile, counter—terror powers would be extended to cover organised immigration crime, including the power to search people suspected of being involved in people smuggling, close bank accounts, restrict their travel and trace their movements before an offence has taken place. and he says £75 million of the money allocated for the first year of the rwanda scheme would fund its plans. let's get more on this with our political correspondent harry farley.

harry, a lot of this is coming down to deterrence, isn't it?— to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's riuht. i to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's right- i think— to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's right. i think what _ to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's right. i think what we _ to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's right. i think what we saw - to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's right. i think what we saw from . to deterrence, isn't it? yes, that's. right. i think what we saw from keir starmer this morning is labour�*s would be approach to tackling the small boats crisis and the government saying that they would do. labour saying they would scrap the rwanda scheme, the plan to send those arriving in small boats to rwanda. laboursaid those arriving in small boats to rwanda. labour said they would take a law enforcement approach, implementing our border security command. sir keir starmer characterise the rwanda scheme is a series of gimmicks that wouldn't tackle the problem. he pointed to other ideas like a wave machine in the channel that appeared in newspapers that didn't make it into policy. he said the rwanda scheme is just another in the latest series of gimmicks. he was asked afterwards

how many small boats his supporters security command would tackle, how many the numbers crossing would produce. we didn't give a specific figure, saying he would look to reduce the numbers, but didn't put a number on it, saying his scheme would stop small crossings. sir keir starmer made a lot in a speech about how he would improve asylum processing in the uk by putting more funding into it, by hiring new caseworkers, to process those who are in the uk trying to claim asylum. he said they would be processed more quickly and those failed to get asylum would be returned. the difficult question is the largest nationality that came overin the largest nationality that came over in small boats to the uk last year was from afghanistan, and we don't have a return agreement with afghanistan because it is currently run by the taliban, so he said he

didn't really have an answer for where those people who come from countries like afghanistan or iran would be returned to you. so a couple of caveats there, but certainly a stark difference between the conservatives and labour taking a more law enforcement approach to the small boats crisis. the a more law enforcement approach to the small boats crisis.— the small boats crisis. the rwanda scheme meanwhile _ the small boats crisis. the rwanda scheme meanwhile is _ the small boats crisis. the rwanda scheme meanwhile is still - the small boats crisis. the rwandaj scheme meanwhile is still pressing on, isn't it? scheme meanwhile is still pressing on. isn't it?— on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the government _ on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the government saying _ on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the government saying they _ on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the government saying they are - on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the | government saying they are hoping on, isn't it? yes, that's right. the - government saying they are hoping to get the first likes ofjoanna in july. we had a couple of weeks ago that the first detentions had taken place, so asylum seekers they come to the uk in small boats were being detained and the government hoping to get those first flights over the summer. rishi sunak saying he wanted to see a regular rhythm of flights and the government arguing that they would provide a deterrent to deter people from crossing the channel in small boats because the idea is that if people thought they were going to be sent to rome and that they would

make the crossing in the first place. sir keir starmer saying that there are scheme would tackle i% of those crossing the channel every year and in his words he said it was neither an effective deterrent to know a good use of your money, so labour centre would scrap the plan altogether, even if it was working they would ditch the rwanda scheme and focus on this scheme with the border security command which sir keir starmer and labour argue would target the people smuggling arms and try to break their business model as opposed to offering that deterrent the government says is necessary. thank you for that update. officialfigures released on friday show the uk economy is no longer in recession. the economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of this year. the uk entered recession when output fell during two consecutive quarters at the end of last year. most economists had

predicted growth of 0.4%. this is the fastest growth rate for more than two years. shadow chancellor rachel reeves also responded to friday's figures, saying the economy should be doing better. well, i think it's encouraging that we, in the last quarter, have grown faster notjust in france and germany, but also the united states. we welcome the fact that the economy is no longer in recession, but it's hardly cause for a victory lap. and if you look at the forecasts

from the oecd, who look at the major industrialised economies, they say that of those economies, of the g7 economies, the uk will have the second slowest growth rate this year and the lowest growth rate next year. i don't think that is a cause for celebration. my ambition for britain is so much greater than merely the economy not being in recession. earlier our economics correspondent andrew verity broke down exactly what this means. we have some figures showing the economy is expanding, but does that mean that we are each, individually, getting better off? not necessarily. so, what is the economy? what do we mean by economic growth? it is worth remembering what we are talking about is just people and their economic activity. the economy can grow just by adding people. sometimes economic growth just means we have a bigger population. the figures within this show gdp per capita, gross domestic product, all of the goods and services, divided by people. that has grown in the first quarter of the year but it is still 0.7% down on where it was a year ago. the fact is, people can get better off in recessions and worse off in recoveries.

how we fare as individuals does not necessarily align with whether the economy is growing or not. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has said he hopes to overcome his differences withjoe biden, but vowed to press ahead with that military assault on rafah. mr netanyahu was speaking to us media after president biden confirmed that the us had withheld a delivery of munitions, and could halt more shipments if israeli forces attack hamas in rafah, a densely populated city in the gaza strip. mr netanyahu said israel had to defeat hamas in rafah. well, i think those latest comments by mr netanyahu, speaking in english,

to an american audience, certainly, he was talking about efforts to overcome disagreements with israel's closest ally. and he was reiterating the need on israel's behalf to go into rafah, to have a bigger invasion there, to deal with hamas battalions that he says are still in that city, and to therefore be able to get a full victory over hamas in gaza. of course, what the us and what the world is really worried about is that rafah is so crammed full of displaced people, there are more than one million of them there, close to the egyptian border. already what we have seen in the past few days, with the relatively limited incursion of rafah by israeli forces, is that humanitarian operations there are in a new crisis. meanwhile, there is so much hope and focus on those ceasefire talks — where do they stand amidst

all of this back—and—forth? those talks really broke down last night. we saw hamas in israel sending away their delegations. although the mediators, the egyptians, the qataris and the americans, they say they are continuing to work on closing the gaps, the fundamental difference remains there. hamas has said it is ready to sign up to mediators�* proposals, that would basically see a phased end to this war. they want the complete withdrawal of israeli troops. they want an end to the war in gaza. whereas israel has said it is really only prepared to sign up to a truce in return for the release of its remaining hostages, still being held by hamas. at this stage, it's not ready to agree to an end to the war. the war in gaza is casting a shadow over the eurovision song contest, in sweden. israel has reached the final, with a song performed by eden golan. she received claps, cheers, and some booing, when she took to the stage in malmo.

earlier, thousands of people protested in the city against israel's involvement. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, wished her success, saying she had already succeeded against an "ugly wave of antisemitism". politics creeping into your vision? yes, and the organisers will tell you this is a song contest, politics should not and does not factor in anything, but that is not something that people who have been protesting here yesterday agree with. there are protests planned again for tomorrow. i spoke to one of the organisers of the song contest here and she told

me that police are expecting protesters to arrive in the city tomorrow. absolutely, this is the 60th eurovision song contest to be held and one of the most controversial. israel is the subject of the controversy. they have been taking part in this contest since 1973, they have won it four times, but this year because of the war in gaza people are unhappy about their inclusion in the song contest. sarah rainsford has been taking stock of those protests. speaking to police officers here, the mood is pretty relaxed, in actual fact. there are lots of them. they're definitely being vigilant. we know that the terror threat in sweden as a whole is pretty high at the moment. but in terms of policing the process, the authorities are trying to keep this as calm and as peaceful as possible. they have community police officers. they call them dialogue police. they are right along the route of any of the protests. and the mood has been peaceful, although the mood of the protesters themselves is passionate, too. they are angry that israel has been

allowed to take part in eurovision this year, at a time when the israeli military is bombing gaza, at a time of humanitarian crisis. and the slogans and the chants are pretty furious. so, the mood is strong. the crowds are growing. there were probably 10,000 or so protesters there, according to police yesterday, although some quotes and estimates are a bit higher than that. but as i say, it has been peaceful, it has been contained. all of this is organised and planned in advance with the authorities. we haven't seen any spontaneous protests of any particular size. so i wouldn't say it was tense here, but i would say that there are plenty of people who want to make their views heard and that view that eden golan, israel, should not be at eurovision, particularly talking about what they call hypocrisy, because of course russia has been banned from eurovision because of the full scale invasion of ukraine. and lots of people at the protest will mention that when they tell you why they've come out to protest. i should just mention as well,

perhaps sweden's most famous political activist was also in the crowd of protesters yesterday. i had a quick chat to her, greta thunberg. she told me it was her moral obligation to speak out. she was joining the protest, she said, because she considers it considered it inexcusable for israel to be taking part in eurovision whilst the bombing of gaza continues. i have been walking around the city and security is really, really tight. there are police absolutely everywhere, including all around the arena behind me. there is however an music contest going on and excitement growing towards a big final tomorrow. there are lots of countries taking part, 26 in all, including the five big names and sweden, last year's winner. i will be covering all the very latest in terms of music when i come back in

about a0 minutes or so. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the duke and duchess of sussex have begun their visit to nigeria. here they are, prince harry and his wife, meghan, being greeted at an event in abuja. it's the start of a three—day trip, which is at the invitation of the chief of defence staff. harry will attend a reception to honour military families, and meghan will co—host an event for women in leadership. they'll also attend several events together — including a visit to a school, where they spoke about mental health. so it applies to us, but after today, no more being scared, no more being unsure. if you are unsure, then ask. ask your teachers, ask your friends. be there for one another.

if you see your friend as you walk past not smiling, what are you going to do? are you going to check on them? are you going to ask them if they are ok? because it's ok not to be ok. applause. we celebrate all the good stuff and we are there in the moments that ar bad. we are just together, sew together we appreciate all of you. inaudible. applause. let's turn to the us. a school board in virginia has voted in favour of restoring the previously removed names of three confederate military leaders to two schools. the motion undid a decision from 2020, which had removed the names of the men who had fought

for the pro—slavery southern states during the civil war. before making the decision, the school board heard arguments both in favour and against the proposal. i'm a black student, and if the names are restored, i would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves. that makes me feel like i'm disrespecting my ancestors and going against what my family and i believe, which is that we should all be treated equally and that slavery was cruel and an awful thing. tearing down statues and monuments and erasing history while indoctrinating children is exactly what adolf hitler did in the late 1930s in germany. we learn from history to become a better people. let's get more on this with cbs news correspondent jarred hill. good to have you. it is a complicated issue. a lot of history there and there was pressure from there and there was pressure from the community. there and there was pressure from the community-—

the community. that's right. the comment period _ the community. that's right. the comment period alone _ the community. that's right. the comment period alone went - the community. that's right. the comment period alone went on l the community. that's right. the i comment period alone went on for hours last night at this local school board meeting. all of this goes back to 2020 when the school district in the shenandoah valley area, a ruralarea of virginia, decided to rename these two schools in light of the racialjustice conversations that were happening in 2020 after the death of george floyd and a number of other black people at the hands of law enforcement. there were a couple of events in the past to try to reverse that decision and finally we get to the space now were last night in the dead of the night the school board decided 5—1 to bring back those confederate names. , , ., ,, to bring back those confederate names. , , . , , ., names. this is an issue that the nation as _ names. this is an issue that the nation as a _ names. this is an issue that the nation as a whole _ names. this is an issue that the nation as a whole has _ names. this is an issue that the nation as a whole has been - names. this is an issue that the i nation as a whole has been dealing with, hasn't it?— with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. while this _ with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. while this is _ with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. while this is the _ with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. while this is the first _ with, hasn't it? yes, that's right.

while this is the first time - with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. while this is the first time that i with, hasn't it? yes, that's right. | while this is the first time that we know of at least school district has reverted back to the confederate names, a movement arts it seems in the us to push back against some of the us to push back against some of the initiatives brought up in the wake of 2020. we have seen a number of states as well as organisations starting to get rid of the inclusion programmes put in place, a kind of reversal of some of that movement we saw four years ago. reversal of some of that movement we saw four years age-— saw four years ago. thank you so much for that. _ conservationists are warning the african penguin is on course to become extinct in the wild, by 2035. they're taking the south african government to court over what they say is a failure to adequately protect the species. jenny hill reports. theirs is a story of survival, clinging on in a hostile environment. but every year there are fewer african penguins. soon there may be none at all.

life on africa's southern tip is precarious. there are predators, seals and gulls. but the real enemy is human, wrecking their habitat and taking their food. so you can see this one near the water is quite skinny. now conservationists are taking the south african government to court. precious time left, they say, to save the penguins. if the current rates of decline persist into the near future, we could see the extinction of the species within our lifetime by 2035. so the situation is extremely urgent. so this happened when they're very emaciated. then you can start with fish or food after 24 hours. hunger haunts the last remaining colonies. 0nly so much local shelters can do. the birds need sardines and anchovies, but the fishing industry wants them too. south africa's entering untested legal waters. fishermen are already

banned from some areas. conservationists want the courts to close off more. in the harbours here, fury. it'll cost, workers warn, money and jobs, and it won't help the penguins. we're a fraction of the problem. well, there's predation, seals, sharks. we've got oil and gas exploration, noise pollution. it's going to be a little bit bumpy. watching the case, a man who spent decades monitoring the wildlife here. wilfred manages one of the island colonies. penguin numbers can still recover, he believes, but it's down to people now. if government, fisheries and all the ngos play their part, i think they've got a good future. we can overcome what's happening at the moment. and what if they can't agree? then the penguins will suffer. you really get a sense

of their vulnerability. many of the penguins in this colony are protecting eggs. they're waiting to raise their young, and yet ultimately their fate lies in human hands. the south african government won't yet comment on the case and legal action can take a long time. already too late, some fear, for africa's dying breed. jenny hill, bbc news, the western cape. let's get some of the day's other news now. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has sacked the head of the guards responsible for his personal protection after an alleged assassination plot. two colonels were arrested earlier this week over the scheme, linked to russia. a general strike against austerity measures in argentina has brought most of the country to a halt. schools, banks and shops in the capital, buenos aires, were shut and train and metro services suspended. unions said the strike was a wake—up call to

the argentinian president, javier milei, urging him to review some of the cuts to subsidies and social programmes. a section of the m25 motorway around london will be fully closed for only the second time in its history from this evening as part of a £317 million upgrade. the work being carried out over the weekend is aimed at improving traffic flow and reducing pollution. drivers are being warned they could receive penalty charges if they don't follow official diversion routes. finally, justin bieber has announced he's going to be a father. he and his wife — the model hayley beiber — are expecting their first child. the couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony in new york in 2018. followers of the couple's separate social media accounts were also treated to a video that apparently shows them renewing their vows at an open—air ceremony.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. 0ur weather is going to stay warm, sunny and dry for the next couple of days. yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 2a.6 celsius at st james's park in london. that figure is going to be beaten later on today, when we could see temperatures hit 26 and the hot spots. 27 is possible. this very warm weather is here for another few days just yet. the only real exception to the theme of the dry, sunny and warm weather is shetland, where we have some thick cloud, a bit of morning rain here. should be a bit drier and brighter in the afternoon. sunshine a little hazy for scotland and northern ireland. there will be a bit of cloud bubbling up across england and wales into the afternoon. but it will be warm. temperatures widely 20—2a celsius. a hot spot could hit

26 degrees later on. 0vernight, there is low cloud in the north sea that is going to move into the coastal areas of lincolnshire and india part of east anglia. of lincolnshire and into part of east anglia. could even see an odd spit of drizzle from that. otherwise, it is dry with clear spells, temperatures holding on for many of us into double figures. low cloud to start the day, mist patches will burn back to the coast pretty quickly. then we are looking at another fine day with lots and lots of sunshine. the wind staying light, the temperatures getting a little bit higher. through the afternoon, we should see highs reaching around 21—23 degrees for scotland and northern ireland. the hottest spots across england probably reaching about 27 celsius. then we see something of a change as we get into sunday. we are going to see some showers and thunderstorms breaking out on sunday, they will begin to move in from the south—west. so, fairly heavy downpours are possible here during the course of sunday. with more cloud pushing in as well, those temperatures are going to be lower across western areas.

however, for eastern areas of england and eastern areas of scotland, there will still be some pockets of warmth and we could still see temperatures up at around 26, 27 degrees. that is just about possible. 0n into next week, it is all change. the message is to make the most of the warm sunshine while we have it, because we are not going to have it on monday. low pressure is moving in and it is going to be wet, and even as the low pressure eases, there will be plenty showers around and a much cooler look to the weather deeper into next week. �*bye for now.

back to growth — the uk economy comes out of recession. a crushing experience for apple after an outcry over this ad. and attention eurovision fans — we'll find out why the contest could boost the fortunes of the host city malmo. welcome to business today. the uk economy saw faster than expected growth at the start of the year as it came out of recession. it grew 0.6% between january and march, and that's the fastest rate in two years.

the news comes after the boss of the bank of england, andrew bailey,