Newshour

The Israeli prime minister has accused Hamas of a cruel and evil violation of the ceasefire in Gaza, after forensic testing revealed the body returned from Gaza on Thursday was not that of the Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas. We hear from Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son was one of the hostages released by Hamas last Saturday.

Also in the programme: Apple is removing its highest level of data security for customers in the UK; and Newshour's James Coomarasamy is in Germany ahead of Sunday's election.

(Photo: Israelis sit together as they light candles and hold posters with the images Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. Credit: REUTERS/Itay Cohen)

Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal after forensic testing revealed the body returned from Gaza on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas.

The three other bodies handed over have been identified as her sons, Ariel and Kfir, who would have been aged five and two, and peace activist Oded Lifschitz, 84, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Hamas have said Shiri's remains seem to have been mixed up with other bodies under the rubble of a structure after an Israeli air strike.

Also in the programme: Can Arab countries come up with a plan to change Donald Trump's mind on Gaza?; and a BBC investigation looks into the companies fuelling West Africa's opioid epidemic.

(Photo shows Israeli soldiers carrying the coffins of deceased hostages on 20 February 2025. Credit: Handout via REUTERS)

The news conference with General Keith Kellogg and President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to take place in Kyiv, where they met on Thursday; the cancellation followed a heated exchange between the Ukrainian leader and President Trump.

Forensic medical experts in Tel Aviv are trying to confirm the identities and cause of death of four Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas. It is the first time Hamas has returned captives dead since the ceasefire began last month,

The bodies, taken by convoy from Gaza earlier, are believed to be those of a mother and her two young children and an elderly peace activist.

Also in the programme: As the rift deepens between the US and Europe over whether the Ukrainian president is a dictator or a democrat, how should the British prime minister handle his visit to the White House next week? and the former boss of Spanish football is found guilty of kissing a player without her consent.

(Photo shows a young woman holding an Israeli flag reacting as a convoy transports the bodies of deceased hostages Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas nearby in Tel Aviv, Israel on 20 February 2025. Credit: Nir Elias/Reuters)

Donald Trump has stepped up his verbal attacks on Volodymyr Zelensky, branding him a dictator who could lose his country, after the Ukrainian leader said the US president had been taken in by Russian disinformation.

Also in the programme: The Netherlands is to return more than a hundred Benin bronze sculptures to Nigeria, where they were looted by British forces in the nineteenth century; Microsoft has unveiled a chip powered by a new state of matter, which it says shows a quantum computing revolution is only years away; and two months after a failed coup, we hear from supporters of South Korea's impeached and imprisoned president.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at US President Donald Trump's suggestion that Ukraine started the war and that his popularity ratings are low. In forthright comments from a former close US ally, Mr Zelensky said Mr Trump was trapped in a disinformation bubble created by Russia. It comes as he is due to have talks with US envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. We get the reaction of a Ukrainian MP and hear from the city of Odesa.

Also in the programme: Hamas says it’s willing to release all remaining hostages in one go in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza; and the discovery of the first ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb in more than a century.

(Picture: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 19, 2025. Credit: Tetiana Dzhafarova/Pool via REUTERS)

Diplomats from Moscow and Washington agree to press ahead with negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The talks, which are taking place in Saudi Arabia, are underscored by the absence of any Ukrainian representative. We talk about the latest diplomatic developments and the role of sanctions in the conflict.

Also on the programme: we hear from the patients in Nigeria who are affected by cuts in USAID’s HIV care; and Britain’s new National Poetry Centre.

(Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attending a press conference after negotiations with US officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Credit: Shutterstock)

The US and Russia have met in Saudi Arabia to begin negotiations on ending the Ukraine war. The high level meeting, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, was the first since Moscow's full-scale invasion three years ago.

Also in the programme: Israel pulls out of villages in southern Lebanon as part of its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, but leaves some hilltop outposts in a move the UN says violates the deal; and as the first legal challenge to an action by the Trump administration reaches the US Supreme Court - will it shift the limits of the president's powers?

(IMAGE: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Saudi National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. / CREDIT: Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Today, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Riyadh ahead of Russia talks . Simultaneously, European leaders have met in Paris, to discuss Ukraine and defence spending. We hear from Dimiti Trenin a Russian foreign policy expert and former military intelligence officer, on what Russia hopes to achieve from a potential deal. We also hear what role Saudi Arabia is playing in negotiating with the USA on the future of Gaza.

Also on the programme: why some scientists have suggested the reintroduction of wolves to the Scottish Highlands to combat climate change and; a new BBC documentary has spent the last nine months following the lives of four young people in Gaza.

Image: French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen react following a meeting with European leaders on Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 17, 2025. (Credit: Abdul Saboor via Reuters)

European leaders hold an emergency summit on Ukraine, as direct talks get under way between the US and Russia. The Russian foreign minister says Europe should mind its own business.

Also in the programme: as the US Secretary of State tries to persuade the Saudis of Donald Trump's vision for a Gaza without Palestinians, we have a Gazan child's-eye view of the war; and we hear from the writer whose novel has been turned into the award-scooping movie about a papal election.

(IMAGE:The presidential Elysée Palace in Paris, where European leaders are meeting to discuss the crisis over Ukraine / CREDIT: Daniel.Wittenberg / BBC)