following a huge blaze at a four—storey, building. firefighters warn the structure could collapse. and landmarks across the uk light up in purple to commemorate holocaust memorial day, marking the 79th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. hello — i'm nicky schiller. welcome to bbc news. the uk hasjoined the us and several other countries in pausing funding for the un agency for palestinians, unrwa. it follows the sacking of several of unrwa's staff, after israel accused them of being involved in the 7th october hamas attacks against israel. an investigation has been launched into the claims, as our correspondent injerusalem, mark lowen reports. crushed from the air.

lives, homes, families and now the very mission set up to help gaza's desperate is taking a hit too. the un agency for palestinian refugees, or unrwa, firing several employees for alleged involvement in hamas�* assault on israel. a body set up to protect, accused of attack. britain and a handful of other countries have now paused theirfunding. the foreign office said it was appalled by claims of complicity in what it called "a heinous act of terrorism." hamas stormed israel on the 7th of october, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting at least 240. israeli intelligence has reportedly passed on material set to show the participation of unrwa staff and the use of its vehicles and facilities. its government has seized on the allegations as the world remembers another massacre.

translation: it was proven on international holocaust i remembrance day what we have been saying for years, that the unrwa employees are collaborators with the terrorist organisation hamas and that the un has become not only a place where the existence of the state of israel is de—legitimised, but also a place where employees are physically collaborating in the extermination of israel. the un, which has frequently batted away past israeli criticism, says it is horrified by the news and will ensure any unrwa employee shown to have participated or abetted what transpired on the 7th of october or in any other criminal activity be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. but as israel's inoffensive intensifies, driving 70% but as israel's offensive intensifies, driving 80% of gazans from home, the un plays a great vital role role there and say some, a mission with 30,000 staff shouldn't be tarred by the violations of a few.

it certainly looks as if there is cause to be concerned about the actions of some of the members of unrwa, the un relief and works agency, but that does not or should it but that does not and nor should it impugn the entire agency and the entire body of work they are doing. they have helped save literally thousands of lives in gaza. they do important work. the worst attack in israel's history has left scars here that will last generations. and with trauma, comes rage. towards those who aided the aggressors, not the victims. that was mark lowen reporting from jerusalem. we can speak again to chris gunness, who's a former chief spokesperson for unrwa. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. these allegations are incredibly serious. you have been at the heart of the organisation, what is your reaction to them? the? the heart of the organisation, what is your reaction to them?— is your reaction to them? they are very serious _ is your reaction to them? they are very serious and _ is your reaction to them? they are very serious and unrwa _ is your reaction to them? they are very serious and unrwa has - is your reaction to them? they are | very serious and unrwa has taken robust action in implementing its zero tolerance policy. if you look at the statement of the commissioner

general, the head of unrwa, he made it clear he was sucking these people to protect unrwa's interests. in other words, to protect unrwa's interests. in otherwords, in to protect unrwa's interests. in other words, in advance of the results of the investigation, in the absence of evidence, unrwa has dismissed these people. so, you know, these accusations are taken very, very seriously. unrwa always takes disciplinary action up to and including dismissal and that is what we have seen in this case. and to be clear, this is disproportionate and it is punitive. it is going to hurt the million people who are, at the moment, in a war zone in unrwa installations. the women, the children, the newborn, the sick, the babies, the dying— they are the ones who are going to be punished by this, at a time where western governments are worried about the middle east war spreading, an agency which we all agree brings stability to the middle east region, having its suspended makes no sense

whatsoever. its suspended makes no sense whatsoever-— its suspended makes no sense whatsoever. ., ., , ., whatsoever. you have been at the heart of the _ whatsoever. you have been at the heart of the organisation, - whatsoever. you have been at the heart of the organisation, do - whatsoever. you have been at the heart of the organisation, do you | heart of the organisation, do you think these allegations are plausible?— think these allegations are lausible? �* ., , plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and _ plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far _ plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be _ plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it _ plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it for- plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it for me - plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it for me to i evidence and far be it for me to passjudgment. i would evidence and far be it for me to pass judgment. i would say two things. firstly, the timing is really odd. a day after the supreme court of the world, the international court ofjustice, essentially said that there are suspicions that israel is committing genocide. bang, next day, what pu what feels like a piece of news minute collision comes up. that is not to say unrwa is not taking it seriously, they do. i think the other important thing to say is that israel has put out lies and disinformation. israeli spokespeople, civilian, military, even the prime minister's office was putting out lies about us that i had to deal with throughout the 2014 war. we were continually told our schools were hit because there were militants in them. not true. this was never proven except perhaps in one incident where unrwa became very clear about it when rocket parts were found in the schools but essentially, you know, there is a

huge history of false allegations being made by israel and its supporters. unrwa is doing everything it can and i would like to see this disproportionate, punitive measure changed immediately. it is the most disadvantaged, the frail, the vulnerable who are going to be hit by this full stop and how could it possibly be in israel's interest to have the agency which is calming things down on its borders in gaza... and to be clear, unrwa works in syria, jordan, lebanon and the west bank. over 500,000 children go to unrwa schools every day. how could it possibly be in the interest of regional stability to have funding cut? my very last point i would like to make is that the icj yesterday made it very clear that the destruction of humanitarian aid was against the wishes of the court. it was a violation of the genocide convention. what do we have from those government is the very next day? we have humanitarian aid being

restricted through these punitive and disproportionate sanctions against unrwa which will backfire. it will make the middle east more unstable. the houthis and others are looking very closely at what is happening in gaza. this is going to lead to more marginalisation, more radicalisation and what we need at the moment is the complete opposite. the world does not need a desperate, disenfranchised community on the doorstep of israel. that is in nobody�*s interest and i call upon these governments, please, to reverse this decision. what do they want unrwa to do? it has sacked these people suspected of these appalling crimes and it makes no sense to punish those in gaza who desperately need the assistance of unrwa tonight. but desperately need the assistance of unrwa tonight.— desperately need the assistance of unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreian unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreign minister— unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreign minister calling _ unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreign minister calling unrwa - unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreign minister calling unrwa the | foreign minister calling unrwa the civilian arm of hamas that it shouldn't operate in gaza once the war ends, they believe that as you can understand why they want action taken? , , ., .,,

can understand why they want action taken? , , . ., ., taken? yes, israel has waged a olitical taken? yes, israel has waged a political war— taken? yes, israel has waged a political war against _ taken? yes, israel has waged a political war against unrwa . taken? yes, israel has waged a j political war against unrwa for many, many years. underthe political war against unrwa for many, many years. under the false assumption, allegation that in some way, unrwa perpetuates the refugee problem because unrwa registers the children of refugees as refugees, just as unhcr, the other un agency dealing with refugees, also registers children of refugees under the principle of family unity. israel is mistaken in thinking unrwa perpetuates the refugee problem. what perpetuates the refugee problem is the failure of the parties, including israel, to see the rights of those refugees resolved. the problems around the refugees resolved, in the context of a two state solution. refugees have rights, including the right of return, and this must be resolved in the context of a two state solution and unless and until that is all resolved, i am afraid we are destined to see this problem continue. israeland destined to see this problem continue. israel and the political forces need to grasp the knuckle and

start promoting peace and the resolution of the refugee question within the context of an overall peace deal. that is what is going to end this problem, not abolishing a un agency charged with humanitarian and human development work for as many as 6 million refugees across the middle east.— the middle east. chris gunness, former chief _ the middle east. chris gunness, former chief spokesman - the middle east. chris gunness, former chief spokesman for - the middle east. chris gunness, - former chief spokesman for unrwa, thank you forjoining us.— thank you for “oining us. thank you very much. — the us has asked china to use its influence to convince iran to rein in its support for houthis attacking shipping in the red sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. a significant amount of chinese goods bound for the west pass through the area. firefighters from the indian navy have now put out a fire on board the latest vessel to be attacked. the marlin luanda oil tanker, which is operated by a uk registered company, was hit by a houthi missile on friday while it was travelling in the red sea off the coast of yemen. the uk government says it reserves the right to respond appropriately. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. this is the marlin luanda last

night, fire visible from the bridge, threatening its cargo of russian oil bound for singapore. the houthis are quick to take credit, their spokesman saying once again that this was being done to support the palestinians in gaza and in response to what he described as american—british aggression. the fire was finally brought under control this morning as indian, french and american naval vessels arrived on the scene. the crew was unharmed and the tanker now heading for a safe harbour. it's been two weeks since britain and the us first hit back, striking military targets inside yemen, aiming

to deter the houthis. so far, the strategy doesn't appear to be working. so the attack on the marlin luanda in the gulf of aden signifies a great extension and escalation from the red sea to the gulf of aden, so a geographical extension, and also with the type of weapons. the missile used yesterday was a ballistic missile, and the houthis started their attacks in the red sea using drones, so we're seeing a technological expansion and a geographical extension. the houthis are using the attacks to bolster support at home, orchestrating huge rallies on the streets of the capital, sanaa, relishing this confrontation with the west — something they've thought about and planned for for years. they're being helped by iran. when us navy seals seized a dhow off the coast of somalia earlier this month, they found parts of ballistic and anti—ship cruise missiles. diplomats say weapons are also being smuggled through oman. this afternoon, the defence secretary grant shapps condemned what he called this "intolerable and illegal attack "and said britain remained committed to protecting freedom of navigation. paul adams, bbc news. the uk post office chairman, henry staunton,

has stepped down after talks with the business secretary, kemi badenoch. the secretary says there was a �*need for new leadership'. the post office says mr staunton was asked to go. he had been appointed in december 2022 and had extensive experience on the board of companies ranging from itv to wh smith. the post office, which is state—owned, has been heavily criticised after hundreds of branch managers were wrongly convicted of fraud and theft because of faulty it software. a major incident has been declared in liverpool, after fears a building could collapse following a huge fire in the city centre. more than 50 firefighters from the merseyside fire and rescue service were called to the blaze shortly after 2pm and are evacuating nearby buildings. they say there are no reports of casualties. the fire service is urging people to avoid the area and nearby residents and businesses to close windows and doors. king charles will stay in hospital for a second night, after a procedure for an enlarged prostate.

queen camilla visited her husband at the london clinic, where the princess of wales is also staying following abdominal surgery. our correspondent charlie rose is outside the hospital. this is day two of the king's stay in hospital here at the london clinic after undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate. his wife, queen camilla, has been to visit him a number of times over the past couple of days — three, we think. the latest visit took place this afternoon. yesterday, she told reporters that her husband was doing well after the procedure. now, she may also have been visiting catherine, princess of wales, who is also being looked after here. she has had abdominal surgery, it is her 12th day here and she is not expected to resume official public engagements until after easter when she feels much better and has fully recovered. now, we have had a statement from buckingham palace regarding the king.

saying, "his majesty would like to thank all those who sent their good wishes over the past week and is delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness." now, it is unusual for buckingham palace to speak about the king's health in this way but apparently, his majesty wanted to raise awareness and that is exactly what has happened because the nhs says that it has seen a surge in the number of men going to its website, seeking advice and help and information on enlarged prostate. now, the latest information here is that king charles is expected to spend the rest of the night here at hospital and tomorrow, too, when he may have another visit from queen camilla. charlie rose reporting. countries across the world are marking holocaust memorial day. here in the uk, major landmarks will be lit up in purple

in commemoration. here you can see the london eye in central london. people are being encouraged to light a candle in a window to signal their opposition to hatred and prejudice. 89—year—old steven frank was sent with his family to the terezin concentration camp in what was then czechoslovakia, when he was nine years old. earlier, he spoke to my colleague rajini vaidyanathan. you may find some of his descriptions upsetting. it was very restrictive. life in holland before the war was free and easy and happy with the family, and suddenly we were sort of herded into these camps, czechoslovakia was the third one iwas in. we were enclosed, it was overcrowded, there was disease everywhere, hunger was everywhere. and you just played among your peers as best you can and onejust kept going. i think probably as a child, i wasn't as worried about what the future may lay, that was more the adults

who wondered if tomorrow we were all going to be killed, i think as children you just think of the present, and you think, "well, i'm all right today, let tomorrow look after itself." and i think we very much were like that, but that feeling of hunger, you always got that pain inside your stomach. and, steven, at what point did you realise that your family had been taken to a concentration camp? or was it only after — you said you were quite young — that it was explained to you that what really happened? i knew from the very beginning we were taken off to a concentration camp. we got orders to report to the station to go to the first camp. and i knew that was a concentration camp, but that was it. it was a castle, so it wasn't what you might call a typical concentration camp, but we knew we were going to a place that was not home where we lived there with other people and we were imprisoned.

holocaust survivor steven frank talking to us a little earlier. hundreds of people turned out in major cities around kenya today to protest against a recent surge in violence against women. the demonstrations, led by human rights campaigners, follow the gruesome murders of ten women this year. amnesty international says more than 500 femicide cases were recorded in kenya between 2016 and 2023, with many victims killed by their partners or people known to them. i work with a lot of women who experience domestic violence, have been killed at the hands of men. so, i am here because i am angry and i'm here because we do not want to normalise femicide in kenya. and there should be no reason, absolutely, why women should be killed on a daily basis at this frequency, whether it is in kenya, whether it is in ethiopia, where ever, palestine, the whole of the world — we want to tell people who are killing us that it is wrong and we are tired and we want something to be done about it. the united states has warned it could restore sanctions against venezuela, after a top court there upheld a ban preventing opposition presidential

candidate maria corina machado from holding office. ms machado's disqualification upends the opposition�*s plans for elections due this year. the us state department called the ruling �*deeply concerning'. it was made hours after three of her allies were arrested on accusations of being linked to a conspiracy against the government. donald trump says he'll appeal against a court order to pay $83 million in damages to a woman he defamed. ejean carroll said the former us president destroyed her reputation when he said she'd lied about him sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. a jury in a previous civil fraud trial found ms carroll was sexually abused by trump back then. she said the ruling was a "great victory for every woman". mr trump said he'll appeal. ejean carroll has now taken on donald trump twice in court, both times emerging victorious. last may, he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation,

and ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. this second defamation trial looks set to cost him far more — $83 million. donald trump was not present when the verdict was read. and earlier, he stormed out of court when ejean carroll's lawyer was delivering her closing statement, arguing that the former president acted as if the law didn't apply to him. afterwards, he slammed the verdict on social media as "absolutely ridiculous" and a politically motivated witch—hunt directed by president biden. we will immediately appeal. we will set aside that ridiculous jury and i just want to remind you all of one thing. i will continue with president trump to fight for everybody�*s first amendment right to speak. everybody has a right to defend themselves when they are wrongfully accused, and to be able to say, "i didn't do it". donald trump has repeatedly denied raping the former advice columnist at a department store in the �*90s.

ejean carroll's lawyer submitted as evidence videos and posts where trump continued to defame her while the trial was taking place. i have no idea who she is, where she came from. this is another scam. it's a political witch—hunt. the damages awarded to ejean carroll were far more than the 24 million she asked for. it signals that the jury agreed with her lawyers that only a very large sum that would hurt donald trump financially would convince him to stop. in a statement, ejean carroll described the verdict as a victory for every woman who stands up when she's been knocked down and a huge defeat for every bully who's tried to keep a woman down. donald trump has plenty of other upcoming trials, where he faces a total of 91 felony counts and the threat ofjail time. but so far, it hasn't dented his chances of becoming the republican presidential nominee. quite the opposite — it's energised his base.

nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. live now to the bbc�*s will vernon in washington dc. trump says he will appeal and he is back out on the campaign trail later. that's right. mr trump is holding a rally for supporters later on today. that is in las vegas in that key swing state of nevada, that is one of the states that mr trump has to win if he has any hope of unseating joe biden at the election, assuming he is the republican nominee which we expect he will be. it was interesting, you know, earlier, we saw a social media post from nikki haley. she is, of course, the last remaining main a candidate to challenge donald trump for the republican nomination and nikki haley essentially asked why all this attention was being paid to donald

trump's $83 million lawsuit when, in her opinion, attention should be being paid to serious political issues such as immigration, inflation. nikki haley said in that post that america can do better than donald trump and joe biden. and that really is a strategy we have seen deployed by ms haley quite a few times in the last few days. in the early parts of her campaign, she was quite reluctant to directly criticise donald trump, to too harshly criticised donald trump. perhaps she was concerned about alienating potential supporters but now is the last woman standing, perhaps she feels she has less to lose. she has been linking donald trump and joe biden in her campaign in the last few days, essentially saying these are two men of advanced age, in the 80s or very close to it in mr trump's case. both of them, ms hayley says, mentally unfit for office and both of them with grievances, ongoing investigations into their affairs that are a

distraction. now, the polls seem to back up that view, that opinion of nikki haley that americans don't want a trump biden rematch will stop around 70% of people according to opinion polls don't want that. nikki haley has a political mountain to climb, donald trump has a huge lead in the polls. in miss haley home state of north carolina. that is the next primary election. she trails the former president by around 35 percentage points and that is a state you would expect her to do rather well in. —— south carolina. so, she does have a mountain to climb. donald trump will be watching in a few hours when he heads out onto the stage in las vegas, we will see if he has any more stinging attacks to make on nikki haley and we will see if he has any comments on that crushing defeat in a courtroom in new york yesterday. find courtroom in new york yesterday. and he has in the — courtroom in new york yesterday. and he has in the past used all of these court cases that he has faced to say it is all part of a witchhunt against him.—

it is all part of a witchhunt against him. that's right. mr trum's against him. that's right. mr trump's narrative _ against him. that's right. mr trump's narrative is - against him. that's right. mr trump's narrative is all - against him. that's right. mr trump's narrative is all of. against him. that's right. mr. trump's narrative is all of these cases, including the one we saw conclude yesterday, there are four different criminal cases, 91 criminal charges. he has said these are all politically motivated, witchhunt directed by president biden and his doj. there is no evidence to support that claim but polling has shown that a majority of republican voters believe mr trump. so, i think it is interesting, of course, donald trump has accused president biden of weapon icing the doj, the department ofjustice, to pursue him in court. that is something that donald trump himself has promised he will do if he wins the election. he has said that he will use his doj the election. he has said that he will use his d0] to pursue his political opponents, to pursue president biden and that is why biden, the democrats, progressives

in the us say that donald trump, if he is elected, would be a threat to democracy. imilli he is elected, would be a threat to democracy-— he is elected, would be a threat to democracy. will vernon, thank you very much — democracy. will vernon, thank you very much for— democracy. will vernon, thank you very much forjoining _ democracy. will vernon, thank you very much forjoining us. _ we're going to take a look at what is supposed to be the driest place in the us. this is death valley in southern california — and as you can see it's not very dry at all. this is called lake manly and it was formed by rare heavy rains last year. but you need to be quick if you want to visit — scientists say it's drying up fast, and may not be there for much longer. you are watching bbc news, stay with us. hello there. temperatures have been a little bit higher today, but we have seen more cloud around, particularly across more western parts of the uk. a lot of the cloud is still quite thin, high cloud, mind you. and if you have a look at the satellite picture, you can see all that cloud that's been coming in from the atlantic to the south of our weather front that's been hanging around

in the north and north—west of scotland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. but through the night, as we see a southerly wind picking up, we're going to blow that rain band out of the way. it still could be quite cloudy in northern ireland and scotland, bit of dampness in the air now and again. rather more variable cloud across england and wales. and last night it got to minus three at exeter airport. lowest temperatures will be across eastern parts of england where we have clearer skies and there could be a touch of ground frost first thing on sunday morning. but with that wind picking up on sunday, we should see temperatures continuing to rise and most places will have a dry day again. some sunshine at times, a bit more cloud in the south west of england, maybe moving into the midlands and ahead of our rain band approaching northern ireland and heading into the north—west of scotland, it's going to be windy with some gales in the north—west, some quite lively winds developing through the irish sea as well. but it is a southerly wind and that's why temperatures are continuing to rise. it's going to be a milder day on sunday, it could make 14 degrees in north wales and the moray firth. now those southerly winds are coming from a long way south

and they could actually pick up some saharan dust, which will get blown in towards the uk just ahead of that weather front there, which will bring some wet weather. and we've got a bit more rain pushing towards england and wales. could turn quite heavy rain over the hills of wales, across northern england. and in the southern uplands, we're likely to find some snow falling as things get colder in scotland and northern ireland. but for the midlands, many parts of eastern england it may well be dry and we're in milder air here, so temperatures are likely to reach 14 or 15 degrees. that milder air, though, will get pushed away overnight as these weather fronts move their way eastwards. could bring some snow to other higher parts of eastern scotland before that low pressure is out of the way and all the wet weather is out of the way, leaving cloud for england and wales, sunshine across scotland and northern ireland. that'll push a bit further south through the day. it will introduce cooler air, mind you, so we've got eight in glasgow. could make 12 in the south—east.

you are watching bbc news, stay with us. this is bbc news. the headlines... the ukjoins a list of countries to suspend funding for a un agency in gaza — after israel accuses some staff of involvement in the 7th of october attack. unrwa has announced it has sacked a number of staff and is investigating the accusations. a fire is extinguished on a british—linked oil tanker hit

by a houthi missile off the coast of yemen. the us is urging china to help rain in iran's support rein in iran's support for the houthi attacks. emergency services in liverpool declare a major incident following a huge blaze at a four—storey building. firefighters warn the structure could collapse. homes and businesses are evacuated. landmarks across the uk are being lit up to commemorate the anniversary of liberation auschwitz. hello, good evening, welcome to sports day this saturday night. coming up on the programme... keeping the magic of the fa cup alive — maidstone march on at the expense of ipswich town.

the story of a remarkable upset is on the way.