Newshour

The centre-right Christian Democrats look likely to lead in the German election, with the far-right AfD party coming second with around a fifth of the vote. We ask what it all means, and hear from politicians of both parties. Also in the programme: Christians across the world pray for the health of Pope Francis, who remains in hospital in Rome; and after major cuts to jobs in the US federal government, Elon Musk shocks civil servants with an email asking them to justify their positions. (Photo: Christian Democratic Union (CDU) supporters dance after the first exit poll results are announced in the 2025 general election in Berlin, Germany. Credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

Israeli tanks have been sent into the northern part of the occupied West Bank for the first time in decades. Israel has expelled the residents of three refugee camps in the territory as it steps up its military presence there. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said Palestinian camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams were now empty and would be occupied by the military for a year. Also on the programme: Germans are voting in one of the country's most consequential parliamentary elections of recent times; and we hear from a former BBC entertainment correspondent about the changing art of interviewing stars from Bette Davis to Ethan Hawke. (Photo: Israeli soldiers stand near a tank as it is positioned just outside the occupied West Bank on the Israeli side of the north barrier between Israel and the occupied West Bank on February 23, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Rami Amichay)

Economic woes, worries about immigration and the rise of the far right have loomed over the campaign ahead of Sunday's election in Germany. We hear the latest from our team on the ground in Berlin. Also in the programme: President Trump fires the United States' highest-ranking military officer; and the Vatican says Pope Francis is in a critical condition after a week in hospital. (Photo: German Chancellor Scholz holds final rally ahead of general election, in Potsdam. Credit: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen)

Hamas has released more Israeli hostages at highly stage- managed events in Gaza. In all, six men have been freed so far on Saturday. Television pictures of them being handed to the Red Cross were met with cheers by crowds in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square. In exchange, more than six hundred Palestinian prisoners will be released by Israel. As Germany's far right AFD party is in second place before tomorrow's election, we hear from one recent Syrian immigrant about her life in Berlin. And And we take a look at the Trump policies on American science – a Harvard professor tells us what's being cut. (Photo: The moment hostage Omer Shem Tov is released at the handover. Credit: Reuters)

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. Also on the programme: Spain's former football federation boss Luis Rubiales has said he'll appeal after a court found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing football player Jenni Hermoso without her consent; and we hear from Martin Campbell, the director of two James Bond films, about Amazon taking full creative control of the franchise. (Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the US chief envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, attend their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine on 20 February 2025. Credit: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

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)

US and Russian negotiators are planning to meet for discussions in Saudi Arabia next week about the war in Ukraine. The US envoy to Russia-Ukraine suggested yesterday that Europe would not be involved in peace talks. We speak to a European foreign minister who met with the envoy earlier today. Also in the programme: the city of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo is confirmed to have fallen to M23 rebels; and we reflect on the winners at Britain’s annual film awards, the BAFTAs. (Photo: Steve Wikoff, US Special Envoy to the Middle East and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House in Washington DC, USA, 11th February 2025. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. European states concerned about being sidelined are to hold an emergency summit on Monday. Also on the programme: the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is continuing its offensive in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and we look at what to expect at Britain’s biggest night of the year in film, the BAFTAs. (Photo: Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the first leg of his Middle East trip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 15, 2025. Credit: Reuters)

During the second day of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, there’s been debate about President Zelensky’s proposal that Europe should create its own army. We get a response from a European defence minister. Also in the programme: More Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are released as part of the phased Israel-Hamas ceasefire; and as US TV show Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50th anniversary, Kate Pierson from the pop band the B-52s offers her thoughts on why the programme has lasted. (Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to meet with the German Chancellor at the Munich Security Conference, 15th February 2025. Credit: Sean Gallup/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that Europe can no longer depend on the United States for military support. We hear from Europe's top foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. Also on the programme: Hamas has released another three Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails; and why President Trump wants to get rid of the penny. (Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference on 15 February. Credit: RONALD WITTEK/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has met JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference, after the US vice president launched a withering attack on European countries. In a hard-hitting speech, Mr Vance said said there was "a new sheriff in town" as he criticised what he called a "retreat of fundamental values" across Europe. Also on the programme: we speak to the Egyptian sportswoman whose pregnancy during the Paris Olympics stunned the world; and the study explaining why so many people feel they have a separate stomach for pudding. (Picture: US vice president JD Vance pictured ahead of the bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: REUTERS/Leah Millis)

US Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference. As Ukraine’s President Zelensky warns about Vladimir Putin’s European ambitions, is Europe now on its own when it comes to defence? Also in the programme: why did six federal prosecutors resign in protest in New York and D.C. yesterday? And the study explaining why humans feel there IS a separate stomach for pudding. (IMAGE: US Vice President JD Vance speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, 14 February 2025 / CREDIT: Ronald Wittek/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)