That he is not in a life threatening situation. In slovakia we won two elections, the president ial one in october and we had parliamentary elections, so our government has pretty stabile and strong support in the public but after what he did in the political arena, his presence in slovakia, we think the opposition uses false narratives often and in International Politics about our government, they speak of false narratives that we want to leave the european union, that we want to join the cooperation with russia and all these false narratives and of course people from the other side who lost in the elections sometimes believe these narratives, and they can become a little bit, lets say, upset. The attack took place in the central slovakia town of handlova. Our correspondent bethany bell is in the capital bratislava with more on the suspect and how the attack played out. This was the moment a european leader was shot. Gunshots. As he greeted members of the public in front of a local community centre. Robert fico was shot in the stomach and in the arm. His Security Team half dragged, half carried him to his car. A few metres away, amidst the chaos, Security Officials push a man to the ground. The suspect is believed to be in his 70s. Witnesses say he shot at the Prime Minister several times. Translation i heard three shots. It was quick, one by one, like if you throw firecrackers on the ground. I saw a scratch on the Prime Ministers head and then he fell next to the barrier. Its a nightmare. The 59 year old was flown by helicopter to hospital, where he had emergency surgery. Officials said his condition was critical. A few hours later, a sombre president addressed the nation. Translation i am shocked, we are all shocked by the terrible and vicious attack on Prime Minister robert fico. A physical attack on the Prime Minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy. Hateful rhetoric, which we can see in society leads, to hateful actions. Please, stop it. Robert fico, seen here before the attack, is regarded as a divisive figure a populist whos accused of being authoritarian and too close to russia. The attack has been widely condemned by all sides in slovakia. Translation the attack on the Prime Minister is Terrible Uncivilised and brutal, pure evil. I this should provoke just one reaction i unite all society against evil, hate and violence. The suspect is now in police custody, the authorities are searching for a motive. Bethany bell, bbc news, bratislava. Video is circulating on Slovak Media Purporting to show the man who shot and seriously wounded slovak Prime Minister robert fico saying there was a political motive for the attack. Fico is a controversial political figure both wthin and beyond the borders of slovakia. Hes drawn criticism from the west over his views on the war in ukraine, where hes taken a pro russia stance. Since being elected, mr fico has halted Weapon Shipments to ukraine. Hes also threatened to veto potential nato membership for ukraine and has been a vocal opponent of sanctions imposed on russia. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled all upcoming foreign trips as troops struggle against russian advancements and shelling near the countrys second largest city of kharkiv in the northeast. A Military Spokesperson says ukrainian soldiers are under heavy fire. Kyiv has rushed in reinforcements, but the Deteoriorating Battlefield Situation prompted some ukrainian troops to pull back to new positions in the region. Around 8,000 people were evacuated from kharkiv since last week. Our ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse has more. What were seeing in the northeast are very deliberate and noticeable changes in russian tactics. Are seeing them set up positions in this town of vovcha nsk them set up positions in this town of vovchansk on the boiler which is essentially being reduced to rubble at the moment. They are forcing ukrainian troops to withdraw from some villages. They are, its notjust the making their size count as theyve done in the past, they are using artillery fire, living in small units and gathering more trips along the border further north where an attack is also fit in the region of sumi and giving ukrainian trips the headaches, it is overstretching already exhausted personnel that are currently our guard. All of these goings on in the northeast are feeling a sense of urgency to the politics here in kyiv where you have the visit of Antony Blinken the us Secretary Of State who announced another 2 million of funding to help ukraine manufacture more weapons to domestically, speed up the delivery of marine weapons to the front line and give it the means to purchase weaponry from neighbouring countries but billiard. The message from the us is help will come, it will make a difference, but at the moment the situation is seen by president zelensky is serious enough for him to cancel his travel plans. At the moment his country is facing difficult questions, notjust of its ability to defend against this new russian incursion on a new part of the front line but also its ability to prevent future ones. Vladimir bidyonov writer all the while is sounding more confident. Today he said in addressed the trips of improving positions in all directions, in all locations. Russian president Vladimir Putin landed in beijing, thursday, for a two day visit to china to deepenen a Strategic Partnership between the two countries. In an interview with Chinese State run media, putin said hes prepared to negotiate over the conflict in ukraine. The kremlin says putin and chinese president xijinping will also discuss asia, energy and trade. President biden reportedly plans to press ahead with a billion dollar tranche of military aid to israel, just a week after suspending a shipment of bombs over concerns about israels offensive in rafah. Israeli tanks are reportedly pushing deeper into the city, as the idf says its targeting four hamas battalions. The Hamas Run Health Ministry says the number of palestinians killed since 7 october is at least 35,233. And it says 82 palestinians were killed on tuesday, in the largest single day toll in weeks. Meanwhile, gazas hospitals have warned of catastrophe due to dwindling supplies of fuel for Power Generators and ambulances. Despite International Criticism of israels continued assault on gaza, democratic us congresswoman Kathy Manning told the bbc the us stands by israel and expects aid to continue. I think the plan is to live up to the agreements that have already been made to israel and wejust had a already been made to israel and we just had a briefing where we were assured that the Biden Administration would provide israel with everything that it needs to make sure that israel can defend itself. The other thing we heard from one of our top military advisers is that this is indeed the most difficult urban fighting that our advisor has ever seen, it is a very competent situation to fight and because hamas embeds itself among civilians under hospitals, under masks, and of course they have built 400 miles of underground tunnel through which they operate. It is a very difficult situation, but the us is standing firmly with israel. Meanwhile, theres been a rare public sign of Division Within neta nyahus war cabinet. Israels defence minister yoav gallant has voiced open frustration at the governments failure to address the question of a post war plan for gaza and urged the Prime Minister to rule out plans to take over civilian and military rule in the region. From jerusalem, heres our Diplomatic Correspondent paul adams. Four days the israeli papers have been full of reports suggesting that areas misgivings in the defence establishment over the lack of a plan for her governance cars are in the days after the war. Those misgivings came bursting out into the open today with the defence minister yoav gallant saying about his efforts to try to get the government to focus on this had simply been in vain. And that the decision was leading israel down a dangerous path towards a kind of long term military and civilian rule and gaza, something he said it would not be good for the country. And he urged the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu to put into this indecision and to declare publicly that israel does not intend to rule gaza indefinitely. That was an extremely public rebuke, essentially, to the Prime Minister, accusing him of indecision. Video hit back on social media say that he was not going to swap hamas down, as he called it, for tata motors, the function that rules the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Authority and the west bank. Thats the most public row at the heart of the Israeli Government that we have seen since this war began. In the meantime efforts to try and improve the provision of aid to the gaza strip are going to take a little notch up in the coming days because a Pontoon Bridge which the American Military has been putting together along with a floating platform thats going to set out several kilometres off the coast of gaza is all now ready and being towed to the coast of gaza where it should be in action within the coming days. A british Ship Carrying Aid in the form of Plastic Sheeting and Temporary Shelter Equipment is on its way from cyprus adequate be among the first pallets of aid to be delivered to gaza. Paul adams reporting there. Officials in afghanistan say the search for bodies is continuing, five days after Flash Flooding tore through the north and northeast. At least 315 people have been killed by the floods, according to the taliban. As the bbc� s Carrie Davies reports, survivors say theyve lost everything. This used to be a village. Little trace of lives swept away. Only the debris. Sticky mud, heated hardening. Salvaging whats left is tough. Translation we havent got even a glass left for a cup of tea. There is nothing. This is one of the worst hit villages and people are still trying to excavate their homes, trying to salvage what they can from the rubble. Everywhere you look, there are uprooted trees, there are bits of building and the destruction is just in every direction. Over here, more people, more homes, more buildings destroyed, more belongings, and people here who still dont have a home to stay in tonight. Flash floods tore through villages in north east afghanistan, sweeping away everything in their path. Here, a miraculous rescue dragged alive from muddy waters. Many were not. Abdul� s familys three homes stood here for 20 years. He returned to find nothing but this wall. 10 out of 18 of his family were killed, swept away. Translation we were searching for Family Members in knee deep mud. So we took off our shoes and continued searching. Eventually, we found the bodies miles away from here. These stark valleys have seen flooding before, but no one we spoke to head seen anything like this in their lifetime. On the broken road, women walk between bereaved families. Offering graveside prayers. They will make more than one stop today. The grieving is not over. Caroline davies, bbc news, baghlan. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some stories making news in the uk. Junior doctors in england have entered talks with the government to try and end a long running dispute over pay. The British Medical Association says itsjunior Doctors Committee entered a new intensive phase of talks with the government, facilitated by an external mediator. The two have been at odds over pay for more than a year. These will be the first substantive talks since december. The home office announced that its expanding the Rwanda Deportation Scheme to cover failed Asylum Seekers. Under the original plan, only people who had arrived in the uk on or after the first of january 2022 could be deemed eligible to be deported. Failed Asylum Seekers are also eligible for a Voluntary Scheme announced last month. Two men accused of of felling the famous sycamore gap tree near Hadrians Wall in northumberland appeared in court. Daniel graham of carlisle pleaded not guilty while Adam Carruthers from wigton entered no plea. The districtjudge said that the case was so serious that it must be dealt with at the crown court. Youre live with bbc news. France has declared a State Of Emergency in its South Pacific island territory of New Caledonia. At least four people have been killed and hundreds more injured as riots continue over Voting Reform which may impact the indigenous community. Our reporter Courtney Bembridge has the latest. This is the worst unrest in the French Overseas territory since the 1980s and some of the latest footage, you see Smoke Billowing where rioters have set buildings and cars alight. The protests turned violent on monday with shots fired at security forces, International Airport had to be closed along with schools and curfew was imposed. There has been widespread damage you see here with cars that have been bad. Know that the french armoury have been courted to try to restore order and sadly one officer has been killed in the clashes and many more have been injured. All of this started when French Parliament voted to allow more french citizens in New Caledonia to have Voting Rights there. There are concerns that this will marginalise the indigenous population. Lets look in more detail. New caledonia has a population of around 300000 and roughly 40 of that is the indigenous kanak people. Tensions around the issue have fled previously and in 1988 the Noumea Accord was introduced where france gave the territory more political autonomy and also limited voting to residents who were there at that time. That in 1998. Since then we know that more than 40,000 french citizens have moved to New Caledonia and there are concerns that the new rule would give them eligibility and daily the vote. This is also an important consideration when New Caledonia sets. Using it between australia and fiji, its in Indo Pacific Region which is a key strategic area as china and the worstjostle over traded security there. Its also one of several french territories in that area. This is being watched closely at home back france. You could see the two major french newspapers leading on the story, our top story here and here. Weve also heard from the french Prime Minister gabriel attal, lets listen. Translation violence is neitherjustifiable listen. Translation violence is neitherjustifiable nor is neither justifiable nor tolerable. Is neitherjustifiable nor tolerable. Violence is never forced anyones had, it has never enabled dialogue. It is through dialogue and dialogue alone that we will find a Global Political solution for New Caledonia. The french president New Caledonia. The french president emmanuel New Caledonia. The french i president Emmanuel MacronNew Caledonia. The french president Emmanuel Macron has said that the violence will be met with a strict response. But he also said he is invited representatives from New Caledonia to paris to try to come up with a new agreement. Although he said if that is not reached byjune the this law will go ahead as is. Joe biden and donald trump will officially go head to head on the debate stage. Current us President Biden and former President Trump have agreed to two televised de