Newshour

The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) has announced they have mobilised troops to defeat Hamas and secure the freedom of the remaining hostages. Bombardment has intensified and troops are gathering near the borders. We get an on-the-ground update and speak to a father whose son is being held hostage in Gaza.

Also on the programme: Romanians return to the polls tomorrow for a defining Presidential election which will shape the country's future, and, we speak to the producer of a Taiwanese TV show which depicts a fictional Chinese invasion on the controversy surrounding the programme.

(Photo: Israeli tanks stand near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel May 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen)

The UN's human rights chief Volker Turk has condemned Israel for its escalating bombardments of Gaza, saying it's apparently seeking to permanently displace the population and that this amounts to ethnic cleansing. We speak to a young mother and aid worker in Gaza and a politician from Israel's ruling party.

Also in the programme: A breakthrough in gene editing therapy, after a promising treatment of a baby in the US; and how just appearing on the Eurovision Song Contest can be enough to help new talent taste success.

(Photo: Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee their homes, after Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip May 16, 2025. Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)

The civil defence agency in Gaza says the Israeli military has killed almost one-hundred people in the past twelve hours in another intense wave of strikes in the north. The Israeli military said it had hit scores of "terror targets" and was trying to dismantle their infrastructure. We will hear why the medical charity MSF rejects a new plan to deliver some aid to Gaza by the US-backed organisation the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Also in the programme: the first direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in more than three years have led to an agreement to swap 1,000 prisoners of war, and the American composer, Charles Strouse, who wrote the hit Broadway musical Annie has died aged 96.

(Picture: Displaced Palestinians flee their homes in the town of Beit Lahia, north of Gaza City. Credit: HAITHAM IMAD/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he's still ready for talks with Russia's President Putin, but that Moscow is not serious about negotiations. He was speaking in Turkey, where he's met President Erdogan. Mr Zelensky accused Russia of disrespecting Turkey and the United States by sending a comparatively low- level delegation to Istanbul for talks, after Mr Putin decided not to attend. Mr Zelensky said he'd nevertheless send a delegation there, led by his defence minister.

Also in the programme: More deadly Israeli airstrikes in Gaza - more than 100 people killed; and President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship is heard in the US Supreme Court.

(Photo: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: Getty)

President Zelensky has arrived in Turkey for peace talks with Russia but Vladimir Putin isn't there - and the Ukrainian leader has accused the Kremlin of sending “stand-in props” instead.

Also on the programme: how the expansion of renewable energy sources is now driving down China's emissions of greenhouse gases; and the surprise discovery of an original version of one of the earliest and most important bills of rights in history – the Magna Carta.

(Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint media statement with Malaysia's prime minister following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 14 May 2025. Credit: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Health officials in Gaza say Israel has killed more than eighty people on Wednesday as its bombardment of Gaza intensifies. We hear from Tomo Potokar, a surgeon at a hospital that's come under fire. The former head of Mossad, Danny Yatom, tells us why Israeli reservists are speaking out against the war in Gaza.

Also, evidence from Uganda that chimps practice first aid with medicinal herbs.

And the changing mood in Poland towards refugees from neighbouring Ukraine.

(Photo: Gazans inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in the north of the Gaza strip on May 14, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)

Donald Trump has met the interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa -- a day after Washington announced it would lift all US sanctions placed on Syria. The meeting, which took place in Saudi Arabia, is seen as a significant moment for the new Syrian leader, who is a former jihadist, once linked to al-Qaeda. Newshour hears from US businessman Jonathan Bass, who led a US delegation earlier this month to Damascus, and from Syria's minister for social affairs and labour, Hind Kabawat.

Also in the programme: chimps using first aid; and an interview with author Isabel Allende.

(Picture: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Credit: Saudi Press Agency)

The US and Saudi Arabia say they have signed commercial deals worth $142bn during Donald Trump's ongoing trip in the Middle East. Also on the programme, the head of the UN agency for Palestinians has told the BBC that Israel's blockade of food deliveries to Palestinians inside Gaza constitutes a war crime; and, a self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.

(Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman exchange a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during a ceremony at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

US president Donald Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia on his first major overseas tour of his second term. He attended a lavish lunch with some of America’s most prominent economic and tech leaders He will then fly on to Qatar - which has controversially gifted him an airliner to replace Air Force One - and then the United Arab Emirates.

Also in the programme: the head of the main UN agency for Palestinians has told the BBC that Israel's blockade of food deliveries to Palestinians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, a claim that Israel denies; and we speak to the British adventurer who climbed Mount Everest to complete the world's longest triathlon.

(Picture: US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman after arriving in Saudi Arabia. Credit: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court)

The Israeli military says Edan Alexander, the last living hostage in Gaza with US citizenship, has returned to Israel after being released by Hamas. Also on the programme, global stocks have risen after the United States and China agreed to reduce tariffs on each other's goods, pausing a trade war that's caused huge economic disruption; and, how Britain's prime minister is making a risky move on immigration.

(Photo: A woman touches a picture of the Israeli-American hostage, Edan Alexander, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, on the day Edan Alexander is expected to be released from captivity by Hamas in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)