and campaign groups take to the streets across kenya to protest against a surge in violence against women. hello, and welcome to the program. we begin with the crisis facing the un agency for palestinian refugees. several countries have paused funding for unwra, the latest to halt aid being germany, its second—largest donor. eight others, including the us and the uk, have suspended funding to the agency known as unrwa. this comes after the agency announced it sacked several staff members over allegations they were involved in the october 7th hamas attacks. the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, expressed shock at the suspension of funding, saying the decision to withhold those funds threatens the lives of people inside gaza

who depend on unrwa. let's take a closer look now at unrwa's role in gaza. the agency says it spends most of its funding, about 5a%, on education, including building and running schools in gaza, followed by health, 17%, and support services, 16%. it also provides emergency relief assistance, and since the recent conflict began, shelters displaced palestinians. that is given they are living in a war zone. unrwa is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. pledges to the agency totalled more than $1 billion in 2022. the us, germany, eu and sweden were the agency's largest individual donors that year, contributing 61% of its overall funding. for more on the situation, i spoke to bonnie glick, a former deputy administrator of the united states agency for international development

under the donald trump administration. they have terminated those contracts before the investigation was even completed. is that enough action in your view? oh, that is not enough action at all. unrwa, as chris said, has as its mandate and as you laid out, education, hospitals and healthcare, but what has been uncovered through the last 113 days, since october 7th, is a vast system of tunnels that hamas has built using assistance dollars that have come from donors, including through unrwa, to build this hundreds and hundreds of miles—long tunnel system that they are holding hostages in and that they are using for their command and control. unrwa denies that. yes, they deny that. can i read you other statements from unrwa in relation

to what has happened. philippe lazarrini said any employee involved will be held accountable including under prosecution, anrwa condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent attacks on october seven. he went on to demand the release of hostages. do you believe the statements? i don't believe the statement. do you think he is lying? i think he is disingenuous. it has taken him until the moment of having his funding cut off for him to come out and condemn the attacks on october 7th, and for him to say that we will investigate what have been allegations for years and years against unrwa and its operation. unrwa has never shown any support for the attacks of october 7th. not publicly — yet. on tuesday of this week

there will be a hearing in congress where the un watch is being called as a witness to testify under oath that 3000 named employees of unrwa, in a telegram message system, all named, or with employee id numbers, all laid out, have been cheering the efforts of hamas, cheered and publicly supported the october seven massacres. unrwa denies all of these accusations and have also written letters to the state department, to congress, saying there are safeguards in place to protect against some of the things you have laid out, some of the accusations against them. it is really important to be clear about that. it is also worth saying that we are talking about a few employees here, those are the ones that evidence was brought forward from israel and yet they have 13,000 employees in gaza. so, should the whole organisation be tarnished in that way by these few employees?

look, under the trump administration, we cut all aid to unrwa. this is not something that has never happened before in the history of time. we cut all aid because it is actually illegal for the united states to fund unrwa because the palestinians support a programme of pay to slay, where terrorists who have killed israelis and other civilians are paid lifetime salaries while they are in prison, ortheirfamilies are paid annuities in perpetuity. in march 2018, the us congress passed the taylor force act in a bipartisan manner, which makes it illegal for the united states to fund... can i just say the biden administration did not agree with that assessment, that is why they started funding unrwa again. so, i also really want to get to this point which is, taking everything that you have said into account as well as these

denials, it is extremely difficult to get this assistance to palestinians in gaza. they are facing a very serious food crisis. the war has meant there are many with no shelter, food, medical assistance. who is going to give that support if it is not unrwa? a very simple question to answer. all of this can be ended when hamas surrenders and every single hostage is released. so should innocent palestinians continue to suffer because of this? with no humanitarian aid? there are six american hostages currently being held in gaza currently by hamas. hamas could be turned over by gazan civilians and hamas leaders can surrender, put down their arms and release all of the hostages. then the situation changes radically but until that moment, there cannot be any changes. sorry for interrupting, we are running out of time, but the icj has ordered israel to provide more

humanitarian assistance to the palestinians in gaza and they have one month to report back. you think israel should ignore that order, palestinians should not receive, not only additional humanitarian aid, but whatever assistance they were getting from unrwa up until now? the international court ofjustice has proven it is a kangaroo court, that it even took up the issue that south africa presented to it of this being an israeli genocide. and at the end of the day, the genocide and the genocidal intent comes from hamas. and they have stated explicitly, including all of their leaders, that this will continue, october 7th was a start. it will go on and on and on. but you don't think there should be any differentiation between the civilian lives, because kamala harris has said too many innocent palestinians have been killed in this conflict. you disagree.

can ijust add, 100 un workers have also been killed, more than 100, more than any other conflict. tell me this — did israel ask to be attacked on october 7th? the answer that is no. the responsibility of this lies 100% with hamas, including any pain and suffering befalling the palestinian people in gaza. 100% of that responsibility, as the white house has said, resides with hamas. all right, bonnie glick, thank you so much for your time. we do appreciate it. in response to unrwa's funding being cut amid gaza's humanitarian crisis, i spoke to omar shakir. he's the israel and palestine director for human rights watch. omar, thank you so much forjoining us. omar, from your perspective, do you understand why these allegations would be so severe that governments have decided to cut funding to unrwa?

the decision to cut funding to unrwa is shameful. these are serious allegations but the un responded to it exactly the way one would respond to serious allegations. they immediately opened an investigation, they terminated the contracts of these employees, even before the investigation. in fact, countries around the world have praised unrwa's response to this attack. to cut funding — unrwa serves more than 5 million palestinians. there are more than 1.7 million displaced palestinians at unrwa shelters. their lives hang in the balance and unrwa is providing critical support. that governments have cut funding is akin to collective punishment — punishing not only an institution that is 13,000 employees in gaza, but the hundreds of thousands, the millions that depend on unrwa for theirfood, their education, for basic humanitarian aid. there is no justification for that decision.

omar, more than 1200 people were killed on october 7th. more than around to 140 people were taken hostage. several members of unrwa are now being investigated for their involvement in those attacks. unrwa has found there was enough credibility in those accusations that they have terminated their contracts and are investigating it. what else would you expect governments to do? what we do expect unrwa to do? action has to be taken, doesn't it? you have to distinguish between individuals and institutions. the institution as soon as they became of allegations acted as any would in that situation. the october 7th attacks were heinous, they involve more ——war crimes, human rights watch and other groups have documented that. unrwa has condemned that. the minute they became aware of them. they investigated those accusations. we're talking about the heinous potential actions of 12 employees. i mean, we're not talking here about a policy

of an institution. your previous guest immediately went and talked about issues and not relevant to the matter at hand. just yesterday the international court ofjustice found it plausible that israel is committing genocide, in part because of their deprivation of critical aid and food to civilian population of gaza. unrwa is one of the few outlets that people in gaza have to get any assistance. and on the heels of that, not hours later, governments are now cutting on aid to a government that plausibly could be committing genocide. they are instead cutting funding to the agency providing critical support for them. there is no justification for that. to be clear, israel has vehemently denied any intention or any actions involving genocidal intent. would you agree though that israel has been arguing that the numbers, the anecdotes, the quotes coming out of unrwa need to be

severely questioned? look... one moment... considered here the evidence. they found the course plausible. it wasn't a ruling on merits, that will take years, but they put in place critical measures to protect palestinians from genocide. the story here is not unrwa. unrwa exists because palestinians were kicked out of their homes orfled in 19118. you have 70% of gazan population that are refugees. unrwa could be disbanded the day that refugees have the rights to return to their homes that they were expelled or fled from in 19118. then unrwa does not need to exist, but as long as the palestinians refugees needed, in part responsible for the entire situation, has a duty to ensure they have school, that they have... cross talk we're running out of time. you are right to really differentiate

between unrwa and innocent palestinian civilians. my question to you is, can you understand why unrwa's credibility might be shot now that this is being investigated ? unrwa is one of the only a few sources we have about what is going on in gaza. israel has been questioning that information for months. what, what credibility does unrwa have now moving forward? this has to be in the context of a years—long campaign against unrwa. under the trump administration there were campaigns to stop them. this is an effort to use these serious allegations against 12 as part of an attempt to undermine unrwa. the reality is the white house and many others question the death toll coming out of gaza and we have news reports from this week that the israeli intelligence services themselves rely on the death toll from the local authorities in gaza. this is not a question about were information is coming from.

we know there is a catastrophe. the international court ofjustice recognise that. our focus needs to be on action to end those grave abuses, not to cut funding to one of the few institutions providing vital support. it is heinous and has no justification. right. and of course there is a severe humanitarian crisis continuing to unfold in gaza. thank you for your time. saturday marks international holocaust remembrance day, and around the world, people are urged to light a candle in a window to signal their opposition to hatred and prejudice. it is now 79 years since the liberation of auschwitz, where more than than 1.1 million people, most of them jews, were killed in gas chambers, or from starvation, cold or disease. in total, nearly 6 million europeanjews were murdered by the nazis during the holocaust. earlier i spoke with the ceo of the jewish federation of greater washington, gil preuss, for his thoughts this remembrance day.

thank you so much forjoining me here in the studio, especially on a day like today. this is, of course, personal to your family history as well. you had family that fled germany? absolutely. my grandparents fled germany in the summer of 1939, pretty close to the end date when they could get out and because of that they fled to bolivia, which was actually the only country at the time that was accepting germanjewish refugees. and of course the backdrop to all of this is the war in gaza, the october 7 attacks. more than 1200 people killed, 240 people taken hostage. what is going through your mind this year? the october 7th attacks brought back memories for many people, whether it was pogroms in eastern europe at the turn of the last century or the holocaust. one of the sayings, one of the chants that people said for a long time, "never again". never again in terms

of the holocaust, but these days they are saying never again is now. that this was an effort by hamas to murder as manyjews, as many israelis as possible, and in fact the 1200 israelis that were killed in october 7 was the greatest number since the end of the holocaust, who were murdered on a single day. and we are in the united states. the biden administration had already launched its own programme to combat anti—semitism last year. the fbi has warned that hate crimes are increasing, amidst this war. how do you feel as someone living in the united states right now? it was... there has been incredible shock over the past three months. we saw the attacks in israel and very soon afterwards, the saw the rise of anti—semitism against thejewish community in the united states, whether it's on college campuses, on local schools, on synagogues, against kosher restaurants or other jewish business establishments. and so, there has been a real

sense of kind of shock of what is happening in this country and why are people attacking thejewish community so vehemently during this time, as israel tries to defend itself from people who tried to murder them. i also want to bring up the icj ruling, the holocaust memorial day talks about tolerance, it talks about ending hate, and that icj ruling has talked about humanitarian assistance for the palestinians who are suffering in gaza. what are your thoughts about that? so, absolutely. i was watching the icj ruling that morning when they were reading it out, and i first understood that the legal definition is not the definition that i understand of genocide. when i think of genocide, i think of millions of people murdered intentionally. 6 millionjews in europe.

and their definition is very different, and so that was the first thing. and the second part is i do believe that populations that are attacked should get humanitarian aid. i do worry about the suffering of people all over the world and i have a lot of sympathy and empathy for the palestinian people and the struggles they have. at the same time, we must also have the same level of understanding forjews and israelis that they should have the right to also live in peace and so that is for me one of the greatest things that we need to be worrying about today. we are going to end it there on that message for peace. thank you so much for your time here. thank you. let's turn to some important news around the world. 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. the opposition has condemned the ruling. colombia is appealing for international aid as it battles dozens of forest fires burning across the country. parks and trails in the colombian capital, bogota, have been closed because of wildfires. for four consecutive days, hundreds of firefighters and volunteers have fought the blazes tearing through the mountains above bogota, some armed with little more than water bottles and face masks. demonstrations have been taking place across major cities in kenya to protest the rising cases of femicide and other violence against women. hundreds gathered outside parliament and the president's office in nairobi, the nation's capital. some held placards with the names of those who were killed. the protests follow a series of gruesome murders against women that happened

at the beginning of the year. amnesty international says more than 500 cases of femicide were recorded in kenya between 2016 and 2023. many of the victims were killed by intimate partners or people known to them. i experienced domestic violence, people have been killed at the hands of men so i am here because i am angry and i'm here because we want to live normal lives,. there should be no reason absolutely why women should be killed on a daily basis at this frequency, whether it is in chenza —— canyon, palestine, the whole of the world —— kenya. we want to tell people who are killing us that it tell people who are killing us thatitis tell people who are killing us that it is wrong. i spoke to the bbc�*s danai nesta kupemba a short while ago. she's been covering kenya's femicide epidemic and what she calls the country's toxic online misogyny. thank you so much forjoining the programme. could you paint the programme. could you paint the picture for us and tell us

what sort of fear women in kenya are living with.- what sort of fear women in kenya are living with. with the shockin: kenya are living with. with the shocking rates _ kenya are living with. with the shocking rates of _ kenya are living with. with the shocking rates of femicide - kenya are living with. with the shocking rates of femicide and j shocking rates of femicide and gender—based violence, women in kenya are essentially trapped in a cruel and unrelenting game of russian roulette where at any given moment they themselves could fall victim to violence. no—one feels safe, no—one is safe because at any moment it could be them and i think these murders, especially in the beginning of this year, i've really shock many women to the core, especially with the brutality. they are always hypervigilant, always looking hypervigila nt, always looking over their shoulder and hypervigilant, always looking over their shoulder and fear something that is almost become a second nature feeling to canyon women at the moment because of the prevalence of violence and crime against them. ~ , ., violence and crime against them. ~ ., . them. when you say violence, there are _ them. when you say violence, there are some _ them. when you say violence, there are some stories - them. when you say violence, there are some stories that i them. when you say violence, | there are some stories that are really shocking, particularly violent episodes. is there any

one instance that comes to mind? , ., ., , mind? yes. the retailway any case. a mind? yes. the retailway any case- a young _ mind? yes. the retailway any case. a young 20-year-old . case. a young 20—year—old university student who was dismembered and her body parts were placed in plastic bags. add story really disturbed many, many women and men and people in kenya because ofjust the brutality of the case. yes. that case was absolutely horrific. and the fact that her head was found a few weeks after just head was found a few weeks afterjust kind of paints just how the society essentially almost hates women to that degree and her case has really sad and many people. when i first heard about it, i was disturbed and then i was sad and then i was filled with rage because it makes me think that her only crime was being a woman and it is as though being

a woman, you have a ready got a death sentence. —— already. that is a pretty brutal example you havejust laid out there that is a pretty brutal example you have just laid out there so naturally people are calling forjustice. what sort of reforms are they talking about? so, the protesters. what they want is they want cases of gender—based violence to be dealt with in a timely manner. the wheel of justice dealt with in a timely manner. the wheel ofjustice is slow and it dredges along very, very, very, very slowly so they want a lot of these cases to be expedited and for perpetrators to be sentenced in a timely matter —— manner and they also want the government to call for a state of emergency in regards to femicide and they also want femicide to be classed as its own crime and to not be conflated with homicide. find conflated with homicide. and danai, there _ conflated with homicide. and danai, there are _ conflated with homicide. and danai, there are also - conflated with homicide. and danai, there are also calls for more men to be taking accountability when it comes to their role in this but also

their role in this but also their role in protecting women in kenyan society. what is it women want to see? women want to have a conversation, _ women want to see? women want to have a conversation, we - women want to see? women want to have a conversation, we want . to have a conversation, we want men to understand where they are coming from because right after the case i spoke about, social media in kenya started to erupt and they started to say, well, what was she doing at a short—term rental apartment? why was she there? what was she wearing? was she after money? all these questions on what she should have done and what the proportions she should have done to protect yourself is what people were so focused on and yet of course there were women calling for the murderer to be ashamed but there was a lot of attention on everything rita should have done to protect herself and i think what women want men to understand is the owners should not be on us to protect ourselves stop it needs to be on a society as a whole. we

cannot place the burden of safety on the victim or on the minority group that is being murdered. we cannot tell women to make sure they have a weapon to make sure they have a weapon to protect themselves. make sure they don't go out at night, make sure they dress appropriately when they are the ones being killed. we need to tell men to just stop killing women and that is what kenyan women and that is what kenyan women are doing. theyjust want to stop being killed, they want to stop being killed, they want to link —— they want to live long, happy lives. to link -- they want to live long, happy lives.- to link -- they want to live long, happy lives. danai, thank ou so long, happy lives. danai, thank you so much — long, happy lives. danai, thank you so much of— long, happy lives. danai, thank you so much of your _ long, happy lives. danai, thank you so much of your time, - long, happy lives. danai, thank you so much of your time, we i you so much of your time, we really appreciate it and of course we will be following your reporting on this when it comes through.— stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. saturday brought quite a bit of sunshine to england and wales. a dry day for many, and a lovely end to the day here in north somerset. further north, though, for northern ireland and scotland, the day turned out to be quite windy and we did have a fair bit of cloud coming in off the atlantic, associated with the jet stream pattern. well, thisjet stream pattern for sunday is going to be

bringing a very mild air mass across the uk and we could well see some exceptional temperatures across northern areas of scotland through sunday afternoon, as we will see in just a moment. before we get there, though, the southerly wind at the moment is bringing occasional patches of drizzle to coast and hills for scotland and for northern ireland, although many areas will stay dry and have a dry start to the day on sunday. mild across the northwest. we've got the cooler air across england and wales. a few mist patches to start the day on sunday. quickly clearing, and then a lovely morning for most of you. into the afternoon, though, a cold front will bring a spell of rain to northern ireland and western scotland, and some very strong winds working into the hebrides and the north—west of the highlands. 60mph, maybe 70mph, gusts here, but on the other side of the mountains, helped on by the fern effect, we could see temperatures get boosted all the way up to maybe as high as 16 celsius — well above the average for this part of the world.

and the uk all—timejanuary temperature record stands at 18.3 celsius, so 16 wouldn't be that far away from that. although we don't see those dizzy heights across england and wales, it is going to be a mild day nationwide. now, looking at the weather picture into monday, we keep the mild air across england and wales, but further north, the air�*s getting colder across scotland and northern ireland. between the two, we have got a band of rain. it looks like being quite wet across this area, with 20mm to 40mm of rain. could see a few flakes of snow over the highest hills of the southern uplands. colder weather pushing back into scotland and northern ireland. i say colder, actually, temperatures are coming back closer to average. but across england and wales, still very mild. temperatures could reach 15 degrees in the warmest spots. heading into tuesday, that area of low pressure is working away. a ridge of high pressure follows in for a time from the west, so the cloud will thin and break and many of us will have a day where the weather will improve and get brighter with a bit more in the way of

sunshine coming through. temperatures near average across northern areas, still on the mild side for east anglia and southeast england. the rest of the week ahead, often quite wet and windy at times in the north, dry and bright largely in the south. bye for now.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, 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.