deal in gaza. hamas is still holding more than 100 people. plus, donald trump appears in court briefly as part of his defence in a defamation case brought by writer e jean carroll. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. we start with breaking news. alabama's governor confirmed the execution of convicted murderer kenneth smith by nitrogen gas on thursday. it is the nation's first execution using the method. the news comes hours after the us supreme court ruled that the state of alabama could proceed with the execution by nitrogen gas. three of the nine justices dissented. justice sotomayor slammed alabama's decision, stating that it "has selected him

as its guinea pig to test "of a method of execution never attempted before." it's the state's second attempt to execute mr smith, who was convicted in 1989 of murdering a preacher�*s wife in a hired killing. in a statement following the execution, governor kay ivey says: alabama is one of 27 us states where the death penalty is still legal. however, there are executive orders in six of those states, shown in orange, that have placed a hold on executions. that includes california and oregon. all this is data from the non—profit death penalty information centre. with me is the bbc�*s david willis.

thank you forjoining. what more do we know about the execution now? in more do we know about the execution now?— more do we know about the execution now? in the last few minutes the — execution now? in the last few minutes the governor - execution now? in the last few minutes the governor of - execution now? in the last few minutes the governor of the i minutes the governor of the state of alabama has issued a statement confirming the execution of smith by nitrogen gas. that is after the united states supreme court rejected various appeals by kenneth smith's lawyers for a stay of execution. and he was convicted more than three decades ago and fact of the death of a preacher�*s wife, elizabeth sennett, in a state of alabama. you mentioned the statement from governor kay ivey, the alabama governor, and i'll read you more of that. it has after more than 30 years in attempts after attempts to gain the system, mr smith has answered for his horrendous crimes. the execution was lawfully carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by mr snowdon as an alternative to

lethal injection. —— mark smith. the statement from the alabama governor kay ivey says i pray elizabeth sennett�*s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with their great loss.- with their great loss. there were concerns _ with their great loss. there were concerns about - with their great loss. there were concerns about the i with their great loss. there - were concerns about the matters in particular they've used. that's right. it has not been used before. basically other forms of execution in a state of alabama have a right out of chemicals in part because the eu and other bodies have put bands on the export of those sort of chemicals, so this was really all that was left after that watched lethal injection attempt more than a year ago. 0pponents attempt more than a year ago. opponents of the death penalty argued that this form of execution amounts to suffocation by the state. they say that it is equivalent to torture. ., ~ , .,

say that it is equivalent to torture. ., ~ ~ torture. david, thank you. we will have _ torture. david, thank you. we will have more _ torture. david, thank you. we will have more for— torture. david, thank you. we will have more for you - torture. david, thank you. we will have more for you as - will have more for you as updates come in and we learn more. earlier, just before the news of the execution came through, i spoke withjustin mazzola, who is the deputy director of research at amnesty international usa, an organisation focused on human rights. justin, can i first get your reaction to the supreme court decision to not hold this process? —— halt. yes, thank you. it is not surprising considering what was just mentioned around the conservative nature of the court and how they have been handling death penalty cases. emergency state yesterday and the appeal from the 11th circuit today was denied. the justice's dissenting comments were prescient in terms of where we stand in terms of what's about to happen. what are your specific concerns here about the method being used?

amnesty international is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, and all forms and method of execution. it is the ultimate cruel and inhuman and degrading punishment. there are a number of issues specifically with kenneth smith and this method of execution particularly troubling. for one, like the dissenting justice said, using him as a guinea pig, it is untested. we do not what will happen specifically and they are basically using him as a lab rat to try this new method. there is no humane method for a state to kill somebody. i cannot state that enough. the alabama state government should work towards abolishing the death penalty rather than coming up with fixes. justin, just to interrupt there, his lawyers though, in their appeals, even said that they would rather have methods like a firing squad. could you explain that? yeah, because obviously there are a number of

concerns from the fact that kenneth smith underwent a lethal injection execution 14 months ago was basically tortured on the gurney. we know that method is not going to work because their inability to find veins. this is basically putting him through something that he has been described as having ptsd now from that experience and placing a mask over his face and trying to force him to inhale nitrogen gas, there are real concerns that he could end up vomiting, issues with him vomiting for the past few days. their decision to address that was basically to not feed him since ten o'clock this morning. so, obviously there may be other ways to kill him that would be better for him specifically to be executed. but obviously in terms of how amnesty international views this issue is there is no humane way to do this, whether by firing squad or nitrogen gas.

can i push back a little bit in that, could you not argue that this has been going through several courts now, notjust the us supreme court obviously, and that this decision has been made and the legal process has been fulfilled? exactly, but we are also trusting alabama. this is a department of corrections and a state that has a series of botched executions and they are basically saying, trust us, we know it when doing. they have told us that they have better debt but how and on whom? the potential for bust execution is very hike especially considering the untested method. you are against the death penalty as a whole, if i understand it correctly, what you say to people that would argue that he murdered someone? he was hired to kill someone? and shouldn't the penalty fit the crime?

yes, obviously people who support the death penalty will feel that way but under the fact that there is no way, humane way to kill somebody and the fact that should not even be on death row to begin with due to a change of law in 2017, which he was convicted and sentenced by a jury to life without parole, but the judge then overrode that decision. this practice was outlawed in 2017 but never applied retroactively. the alabama legislature has just introduced a bill to do exactly that. but even if it does pass this session, it will be too late for kenneth smith to take advantage of that. there are a number of issues with this specific case. even if you oppose the death penalty in all cases, there are a number of issues with this case and the method of execution which make us come out and say this should not go forward and governor ivey should do all she can stop this execution

and move forward on this bill with the legislation, hb27, to take not only kenneth smith but also roughly 30 other individuals off death row, who had theirjury sentences overridden by thejudge in those circumstances. justin, i appreciate your time. thank you for coming on. thank you. justin mazzola there. us presidentjoe biden has appointed william burns, the head of the cia, to broker a deal to secure the release of israeli hostages in gaza. burns will meet with qatar's prime minister and a top israeli intelligence official this weekend for talks on another hostage deal. meanwhile, on the ground in gaza, israel has ordered tens of thousands of palestinians sheltering in a un compound in the embattled city of khan younis to leave within 2a hours. 0ur middle east correspondent, mark lowen, is following the latest. the un palestinian agency has confirmed to us that an israeli evacuation order has been issued for those sheltering in a training centre

in khan y0unis in southern gaza. there are thought to be around 30,000 people sheltering in the facility who are now being told to evacuate by friday at 5pm to move south towards rafah right on the southern tip of gaza on the border with egypt, a city now thought to be sheltering some 1.5 million people. that's after, out of gaza's population of 2.3 million. that facility was hit in fire on wednesday, which killed at least a dozen people and injured more than 70. israel says it was not behind that attack. it has investigated and said it could have been a hamas rocket. meanwhile there has been renewed fighting around hospitals in khan younis. one of three remaining partly functioning hospitals has now closed and said that women who had given birth by c—section in the middle of the night were forced to evacuate.

and that hospital has now closed. the world health organization said two thirds of hospitals across gaza are no longer functioning at all. now, there is a diminishing number of health facilities in the south. facilities, something hamas and medical authorities deny. the humanitarian situation remains a pressing issue, and there are continued fears about the limited amount of aid getting in the territory and how it's distributed once it does arrives. 0n the border between israel and gaza at kerem shalom near rafah in the south, families of israeli hostages held in gaza have prevented aid from reaching the city. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, reports from there. and a warning, some viewers may find content in her piece distressing. in gaza city, hunger sometimes offers the best chance of survival. crowds drawn to a delivery of humanitarian aid yesterday driven away by gunfire. bullets arrive faster

than starvation. sirens blare today at the same aid delivery point 20 people were killed by shelling, according to the hamas—run health ministry. more than 100 injured. translation: we were heading to get flour and they shelled - us four times, and some people were martyred and injured, and i was injured in my hand and leg. rockets are not the only threat to life in gaza. food stripped from trucks by hungry people as soon as they arrive. the un is warning of famine. doctors say diseases are spreading. ruba's chronically ill father died a week after moving to this refugee camp, she says. she shows our cameraman the makeshift drain beside her tent.

"this is where the sewage accumulates," she says. "when it rains all our bedsheets, blankets and clothes "are soaked with sewage water". protesters arrived at israel's main crossing point today, calling for the release of family and friends held hostage by hamas — barring the path of aid trucks. if they need that aid, they will give us our people. they will get all of the aid. we are not monsters. we cannot give them without we get something back. it's very simple. do you feel any kind of conflict in your heart when you stop those trucks? nope. i feel that i need my people home. israel's prime minister is under international pressure to get more aid into gaza and under domestic pressure to get the hostages out.

he's sticking to his promise that military pressure is the way to free the hostages, but not everyone in the country or the cabinet agrees. lior peri's father, chaim, is being held in gaza. he thinks israel's prime minister has made a choice to continue the war — at the expense of a deal to free the hostages. he keeps saying the same thing. that he still thinks there are two objectives to the war, after it's been proven over and over that they cannot work together, those two. either you bring down hamas and you give up the hostages or you stop the war and you bring back the hostages. chanting in gaza, too, some families called for a ceasefire today and the release of prisoners. the price of peace measured in israeli lives as well as palestinian ones. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.

well, there is plenty more on the conflict on our website, bbc.com/news, including a preview of what we can expect from the international court ofjustice on friday, which is set to deliver its highly anticipated verdict interim ruling in south africa's genocide case against israel. you can read the details on the website. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a major tech story making news. starting in march, apple users in the european union will be able to download apps from rivals to the tech giant. until now they've only been able to access apple's own store. it's a major u—turn for the company. our technology editor zoe kleinman has more. the eu hopes that opening up apple's ecosystem will make it easier for both customers and businesses to find more choices, but apple's warning that it will also come with increased security risks. there is no chance of this happening here in the uk at the moment, although we do have proposals

for similar legislation to the eu going through parliament right now. apple had been accused of creating a monopoly, giving customers and developers no choice but to go through its own channels. it also charged developers commissions of up to 30%. that's meant that developers who either fail to meet apple's standards for being on its app store or do not wish to pay its fees are excluded from millions of consumers. you're live with bbc news. four minutes — that's how long former us president donald trump took the stand for his testimony in a new york court on thursday. trump was testifying in the defamation trial brought by writer e jean carroll. she is seeking more than $10 million in damages for comments trump made in 2019 after she accused him of raping her in the 90s. trump denies ever meeting carroll, but that's despite a previous ruling

that he did, in fact, sexually assault her. in 2019, trump accused carroll of making up the sexual assault to boost sales of her memoir. a jury has already ruled those claims were defamatory. 0ur correspondent in new york, nada tawfik, has more. in court, outlining the ground rules for donald trump's testimony took longer than the testimony itself. thejudge, in conversation with his lawyers, left no room for mr trump to go beyond the agreed terms so he couldn't launch into a monologue or campaign from the witness stands. he answered just a few questions in four minutes, saying that he stood by his deposition, that ejean carroll's claims that he raped her were a hoax, that he didn't instruct anyone to hurt ms carroll and that he had himself wanted to defend himself, his family and the presidency. the latter part the judge ordered stricken from the record. but that didn't stop the former president from uttering, "this is not america"

and "i never met her", from the defence table where he wasn't under oath. now, donald trump is testing the limits of the courts in his legal cases, but it is keeping his supporters invested and tuned in. and, more importantly, he's receiving considerable press coverage as he campaigns for the republican presidential nomination. now, closing statements will be next. and then this case will go to the jury to decide how much in damages donald trump should pay for defaming e jean carroll. nada tawfik reporting there. meanwhile, donald trump's former senior adviser, peter navarro, has been sentenced to four months in prison for two counts of contempt of congress. navarro was also handed a fine of $9,500. the 74—year—old was convicted in september after he ignored a subpoena from a house committee, investigating alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. federal prosecutors said

navarro chose allegiance to former president trump over the rule of law. the former trump aide appealed the conviction to chat about it all, joining me is annemarie mcavoy, a former federal prosecutor from new york. thank you forjoining us. i want to start by talking about the stakes here, could you remind us of them? a court has found that he did actually sexually assaulted e jean carroll. ., , ., sexually assaulted e jean carroll. ., . carroll. there was a civil court finding, _ carroll. there was a civil court finding, so - carroll. there was a civil court finding, so a - carroll. there was a civil court finding, so a civil l carroll. there was a civil i court finding, so a civil trial and he was found guilty in the civil trial, so this case is only about damages. that is why thejudge barred him from even saying that he denies the allegations, because the allegations, because the allegations are not an issue in this particular case, only the amount of damages is what will be determined. you amount of damages is what will be determined.—

be determined. you said the 'udue be determined. you said the judge barred _ be determined. you said the judge barred me _ be determined. you said the judge barred me and - be determined. you said the judge barred me and my i judge barred me and my colleague alluded to this, but thejudge also said colleague alluded to this, but the judge also said strict parameters. could you lay those out and whether they work? the 'ud . e out and whether they work? the 'udue did out and whether they work? tie: judge did his out and whether they work? tue: judge did his best to out and whether they work? tue judge did his best to try to keep donald trump to a yes or no answers, part of why the testimony was so short, and he did not want the former president to be using this to have an opportunity to spout off anything he wanted. he kept them on a very short leash, so to speak, with any of his answers. to speak, with any of his answere— to speak, with any of his answers. _ , to speak, with any of his answers. ,, , ., , answers. he did say - she has some outbursts _ answers. he did say - she has some outbursts like _ answers. he did say - she has some outbursts like i - answers. he did say - she has some outbursts like i never. answers. he did say - she has l some outbursts like i never met her and this is not america. will those outbursts have any impact on this case? the will those outbursts have any impact on this case?- impact on this case? the “my is there. fl impact on this case? the “my is there. so i impact on this case? the “my is there, so anything i impact on this case? the “my is there, so anything he i impact on this case? the jury is there, so anything he says| is there, so anything he says is there, so anything he says is still heard by the jury, evenif is still heard by the jury, even if thejudge is still heard by the jury, even if the judge admonishes him for it. potentially if the judge admonishes him, the jewellery will look at donald

trump differently but that is unlikely. donald trump is using these cases as an opportunity to get his message out way beyond this particular courtroom. as you can see, this is covered worldwide, every word he uttered is covered by the press in every outlet you can think of. that is really what he is looking to use this for, in a way, a bit of a pulpit for him to get his message out. that this is not fair, he is being persecuted essentially by the legal system, and this is not america, that is his message. he used it effectively today and in a less than three minutes of testimony he got his message out there, despite there. message out there, despite there, , .,, message out there, despite there. , there. some people say he has turned his _ there. some people say he has turned his court _ there. some people say he has turned his court appearances . turned his court appearances into a campaign trail. i want to return to peter navarro now because he has been sentenced for contempt. could you explain that to us?—

that to us? the 6 january committee _ that to us? the 6 january committee in _ that to us? the 6 january committee in the - that to us? the 6 january committee in the house i that to us? the 6 january i committee in the house has requested documents and testimony from him and he refused, saying that it was against executive privilege, to wonder executive privilege he is not allowed, assuming it applies, he is not allowed to talk about conversations with the president, for instance. thejudge found that the president, for instance. the judge found that the executive privilege did not apply and it was never actually invoked so he was found guilty of two misdemeanours and today thejudge of two misdemeanours and today the judge has of two misdemeanours and today thejudge has now sentenced him to four months in prison. there will be an appeal. he may or may not be sent to prison while the appeal is pending, it is likely he will not, steve bannonin likely he will not, steve bannon in his case is also on appeal, almost exact circumstances. also sentenced to four months. he has not served his time here while the appeal is pending. t

served his time here while the appeal is pending.— appeal is pending. i want to ask because _ appeal is pending. i want to ask because the _ appeal is pending. i want to ask because the judge i appeal is pending. i want to ask because the judge did l appeal is pending. i want to l ask because the judge did say something in the case, they said they had a great deal of respect for peter navarro. what else do they say? the respect for peter navarro. what else do they say?— else do they say? the 'udge felt that he i else do they say? the 'udge felt that he had i else do they say? the judge felt that he had diminished | else do they say? the judge i felt that he had diminished the authority of the 6 january house committee, that he had not acted appropriately, that he had been defiant, essentially, in his attitude and that really is why he was doing this, to sentence him to the four months in prison. he could have given him probation, two misdemeanours, peter navarro certainly has no prior convictions of any kind. the judge did decide to make an example of him, as steve bannon has been made an example of, and sentenced him to jail time. if either of them goes to jail, they will be the first in over 50 years to go to jail for

contempt of congress. thank you so much for— contempt of congress. thank you so much for your _ contempt of congress. thank you so much for your time. _ and finally, we have two space stories for you. one a celebration of a job well done, and the other a tale of... well, it was worth a shot. first up, nasa's ingenuinty mars helicopter has made its final flight after three years of service. it sustained damage during a recent landing and is no longer capable of flight. the mini—aircraft made history by achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet in 2021. the last of its 72 flights took place last week. this is the final picture it sent back to earth, showing damage to its rotor blade tip. well, as one mission ends, another one has had a disastrous start. last week, japan launched a mission to land a research vehicle on the moon. but despite achieving the difficult task of landing, the spacecraft was struggling to generate the power needed to start operations, confusing the team back on earth.

well, we now have the answer. 0n the left is how the spacecraft is supposed to look. and on the right — well, that's how it looks instead. it landed upside down, on its nose. meaning the solar panels that power the $120 million space craft were unable to deploy. tough time getting that's the other way around. thank you for your time this evening. stay with us here on bbc news. there is plenty more to come. hello. thursday was a pretty cloudy but very mild day. temperatures reached 14.1; celsius in a couple of spots. friday won't be quite as mild. a little bit cooler, a little bit fresher, but more in the way of sunshine. and just for some of us, a few showers around, particularly across parts of scotland. but an overnight weatherfront has brought a lot of

us some rain. that's just pushing its way eastwards. now through the early hours of friday it'lljust be lingering across parts of east anglia, the south—east of england as well. so early rain for some in the south and east that clears away. and then we're left with clear spells for all blustery showers coming in across the north—west for scotland over the higher ground. they could be falling as snow for a time. perhaps one or two showers for northern ireland and northern england, but they'll be few and far between. further south, you should stay dry all day. temperatures in the afternoon about 5—9 degrees. so for some of us, i think they're actually going to come down a little bit through the day. these are the wind gusts that we're expecting. it's going to be particularly windy up towards the northwest of scotland. western isles could see gales at times. into friday evening, more blustery showers in the north and the west, clearer and lighter winds to the south and east. and we could see some mist and fog patches forming through perhaps the midlands, east anglia, the southeast as well. temperatures getting down to two or three here in the towns and cities, so a slight frost. further north, they've got more of a breeze, more cloud and patchy rain to keep those temperatures from falling too low.

and then into the weekend, then it is back to the mild air, particularly by sunday. the winds coming in from the south where the front approaching from the west later on sunday. but for saturday, early morning mist and frost clearing away quite quickly. a bit of rain for parts of northern scotland where it will still be breezy and perhaps some patchy rain into northern ireland later in the day. but for central and southern scotland, much of england and wales are dry day. top temperatures around about nine or ten degrees. into the second half of the weekend, sunday probably going to be that a little bit warmer than saturday. again, quite a bit of sunshine around, a little bit of cloud drifting around here and there and more rain into northern ireland and western scotland later on in the day. but before it arrives, look at those temperatures, 12 or 13 degrees. so above average, certainly for this time of year. into next week, low pressure starts to try and move its way in from the atlantic. we've got higher pressure across the continent, but things could turn a little bit more unsettled, particularly in the north for the middle part of the week onwards. but it's remaining mostly dry in the south. and certainly for all of us, it's looking mild.

bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. jose andres is one of the most famous chefs in america. he also runs one of the biggest food charity organisations in the world. and i wanted to sit down

with him to find out what it's like feeding people in high—end restaurants, and in disaster zones. can you tell me what's happening in here? yeah. i don't even know what's happening in here. i lost control of this kitchen many years ago. katty laughs hi, guys. don't be shy. hi, chefs. when somebody takes a bite of food... ..in a jose andres restaurant, what do you want them to experience? mm—hm. well, listen. um... ..restaurants are... ..without a doubt, just part of the ecosystem of... ..of cities, of the countryside. they are like oases

in the middle of... ..of the beauty of the mountains, or...