The World Tonight

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has defended the cuts to disability benefits announced in the Spring Statement. The Department for Work and Pensions’ own assessment warned that the changes would push 250,000 people into poverty.

Also on the programme: Donald Trump announces new 25% tariffs on cars from overseas. And a new film audiences have called ‘intense’ and ‘overwhelming’ - the work of five artists, all autistic, who want us to experience the world as they do.

Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have sharply criticised the Trump administration after a journalist was added to a group chat featuring top officials discussing matters of national security. President Trump has dismissed the breach as ‘a glitch’.

Protests continued in Turkey for a sixth night after the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a major political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. President Erdogan labelled the protests "evil" and blamed opposition political parties for provoking a "movement of violence". More than a thousand people have been arrested, we speak to a man who saw his fellow protesters being detained during a police crackdown.

A journalist in the US has revealed that he was accidentally included in a messaging group in which the Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen.

And we explain what's behind a spiral that stargazers noticed in the skies above the UK.

Heathrow’s chief executive has apologised to thousands of stranded passengers after a fire at a nearby electrical substation resulted in a loss of power to the airport. It has now reopened after being closed for most of the day, and says it hopes to run a full operation tomorrow. We examine what it means for the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.

Protesters in Istanbul have clashed with riot police after the arrest of the city’s mayor, and rival to President Erdogan, this week.

And as the Soundtrack Festival kicks off in London, we speak to a composer who has won a Grammy for his work on video game music.

Israeli forces on Thursday began ground operations inside Gaza again, as part of their renewed military offensive in the Strip. Meanwhile on the domestic front a long-simmering political crisis is coming to a head as Israel's cabinet considers the recommendation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sack the head of the country's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet. Netanyahu says he's lost trust in Ronen Bar, but his critics accuse him of trying to usurp power and extend control over the country's institutions.

In the UK, military officials from the "coalition of the willing" met to formulate details of a plan to protect Ukraine.

And five years on from the first UK lockdown, we consider the impact and lessons with former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen and psychotherapist Philippa Perry.

Ekrem Imamoğlu of the CHP opposition party has been arrested days before his likely nomination as a presidential candidate. We speak to the deputy chair of the party and gauge international reaction to what is being described as an attack on democracy. Also on the programme, the effect 'The Knowledge' test taken by London cab drivers has on the brain, and a dispatch from Bergamo in northern Italy, five years after military trucks brought home the reality of the unfolding Covid pandemic.

Vladimir Putin agreed not to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days after a phone call with US President Donald Trump. The Trump administration had hoped to broker a full ceasefire, agreed to by Ukraine, during the phone call. Instead they've said they'll continue negotiations with Russia in the Middle East.

As we went on air two astronauts who'd been stuck at the international space station for nine months on a mission that was meant to last eight days, finally returned to Earth. They splashed down off the coast of Florida.

And we explore what the government's welfare reforms will mean for those with long term health conditions, and whether public attitudes to benefits claimants are hardening.

The prime minister is under pressure from his own MPs as he prepares to announce changes to the welfare system tomorrow. With speculation the reforms could include tougher assessments of those applying for disability benefits, we hear from someone who used to judge such claims.

Also on the programme:

Ahead of a phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin to discuss peace in Ukraine - and the divvying up of "land and power plants" - we hear from a woman from a part of the country occupied by Russian forces - who fears it may stay that way.

And as a statue is unveiled to the anti-war campaigner Brian Haw - who spent a decade camped outside Westminster - we hear from the actor Sir Mark Rylance who campaigned for him to be remembered in this way.

Germany's Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Green Party have struck a deal that will see them vote to amend the country's constitution in order to ramp up defence and infrastructure spending. The deal will be voted on next week and requires a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. It comes as the G7 backed security guarantees for Ukraine and Donald Trump said he'd had "good calls" with Russia and Ukraine on his ceasefire proposal.

The BBC has heard evidence of atrocities committed by retreating fighters in a battle which is raging for control of Sudan’s capital Khartoum.

And a British explorer is aiming to become the first woman to walk solo across Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle.

Vladimir Putin says there are many details still to be ironed out before he'll back a ceasefire in his war with Ukraine. It's a blow to Donald Trump's peacemaking efforts. Meetings are still going on in Moscow tonight between President Trump's envoy and the Russian leader - we ask where Vladimir Putin's comments leave the prospects for an end to the fighting.

Also on the programme:

More money is pledged for frontline health services, as the Government scraps the administrative arm of the NHS in England. We ask what difference it could make for patients.

We hear about the incresae in non-fatal strangulation - choking - during sex among younger people. We ask what's behind the rise in cases like this.