and why it matters. scientists say they've established the first detailed proof that apes like to tease each other, just like humans. we talk to the lead researcher. we ta ke we take one subject at a time and tackle that, and however long it takes... she's 17 and has an iq of 161 — higher than the late stephen hawking. we'll meet a british student who's taking 28 a—levels. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live — we start this hour with reports coming from gaza that the israeli military has ordered palestinians to evacuate the nasser hospital in the southern city of khan younis, where hundreds of people have taken refuge. in this video, an announcement is being made on a speaker

attached to a drone, telling people to leave. in these images — verified by the bbc — you can see a large crowd of people leaving the hospital. the israel defense forces said its troops were opening a secure route to evacuate civilians sheltering near the hospital — but it did not intend to evacuate patients and medical staff. israel claims that hamas uses this and other hospitals in gaza as cover for its operations — a claim strongly denied by staff at the hospital. further to the south, in rafah, concerns are growing about the fate of a million people who have taken shelter in the city, after israel said it was preparing a ground assault there. the un fears that more than a million people crammed inside rafah are "staring death in the face". i spoke to bbc correspondent nick beake about the idf evacuation orders for civilians sheltering

near nasser hospital. the idf are quite adamant that in order for people to leave the nasser hospital applies to civilians who have gathered there for safety. and they are being very clear that they do not want to members of staff, doctors, nurses and patients to leave — but clearly, from some of their video that has come out today, an extremely distressing time for people there. the nasser hospital was crucial for gaza anyway, and it has been for years — but it's important now because it is one of the few functioning hospitals in the gaza strip. i say "functioning," but doctors there in recent days and weeks have talked about a real lack of medical equipment, saying in some cases they are merely carrying out first aid, rather than any sort of planned surgery or more sophisticated treatment towards patients. as you were saying earlier, there was this announcement that came through on a speaker which was attached to a drone — so this message echoing through the air, in this particular part of gaza, urging

people to leave. but as we have seen before, matthew, over a few months, a lot of people have been quite concerned about following such an order and leaving a hospital, because they have been reports of the past few days and weeks of snipers operating in the area. let's turn to the situation in rafah, are you getting any indications from the israeli authorities ofjust how close they are from actually starting this military operation on the ground? none whatsoever. i think it's quite telling that over the past few days, certainly since the announcement was given by the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, that he had asked the israeli military to come up with this plan to move some 1.5 million people from the city, we haven't heard anything, really. you might have expected to see troops building up in that area, maybe some of the people who are mobilised reservists,

who were called upon after the october 7th attacks, but there has been no indication of those people been recalled from their homes, wherever they may be in israel — and so, no, i do not think we can say with any certainty or confidence when this dual operation will begin because of course, the first part, according to the israeli government would be to move people, and the second part would be this attack on hamas fighters within the city of rafah. so no, it doesn't seem to be imminent. we hope to be speaking to james elderfrom unicef alive we hope to be speaking to james elder from unicef alive on the programme, because so many different strands of what is actually going on. of course, that evacuation order from nasser hospital around rafah, a lot of concern about the imminent israeli military operations. so of course, huge applications for children especially in the south, so we will talk to james elder here on the programme in the next couple minutes, just waiting for that long

to come up. despite an increase in the energy price cap. the figures from the office for national statistics show that prices are still going up month on month, but at exactly the same rate as december. mark, take us through the figures they are, broadly it has stayed static, so explain in a little more detail why. it static, so explain in a little more detail why-— detail why. it stayed static, beatin: detail why. it stayed static, beating expectation - detail why. it stayed static, l beating expectation because detail why. it stayed static, - beating expectation because of things like crackers, cakes and crisps. the price rises of food and furniture is rising at a slower rate and not been offset so much by an increase in electricity and gas costs. and this is the price changes between december and january. so it is the price — how the price of

goods is rising, it's at an encouraging level, according to the bank of england, and all eyes are on him because he sets the interest rates, and that's very high in the uk. he thinks inflation is on track so they can eventually see a lowering of interest rates from him. when you talk about on track, it is not because it is double what it should be, 2%, so what are they thinking in terms of how this charts over the next few months? the target for the governor _ over the next few months? the target for the governor of _ over the next few months? the target for the governor of england _ over the next few months? the target for the governor of england to - for the governor of england to aim for,, he still expected to fall, and will interestingly he told a parliamentary committee in the uk, he said specifically inflation— that rose, above 6%, and pay earnings is also high, around the 6% mark, higher than the price of goods, and

also productivity in the uk. those are three indicators that the governor is looking very closely to bring the interest rates down from 5.25%, which is very high for the uk, and where they have hovered for at least four sessions of his banking committee where they've had the chance to cut them but have held firm. , , ., ., the chance to cut them but have held firm. , ., ., , , the chance to cut them but have held firm. , ., ., firm. just looking ahead because you talk about productivity _ firm. just looking ahead because you talk about productivity there - firm. just looking ahead because you talk about productivity there in - talk about productivity there in that last answer, we will get the uk growth figures tomorrow — so what are you expecting? if growth figures tomorrow - so what are you flooding?— are you expecting? if they found that the last _ are you expecting? if they found that the last quarter _ are you expecting? if they found that the last quarter of - are you expecting? if they found that the last quarter of last - are you expecting? if they found | that the last quarter of last year, there was negative growth, it will technically look like a recession — and politically that might have ramifications here for a government thatis ramifications here for a government that is nailing itself to the mast of improving growth in the uk economy in an election year. but specifically the governor of the bank of england said he wasn't too fussed about what would happen tomorrow with the economy, he can generally tell where it's heading. he did talk about a market economy and state economy — he has seen that

there is an uptick there, whereas there is an uptick there, whereas the productivity in the private sector that he's suggesting needs looking at. sector that he's suggesting needs lookin: at. ~' . sector that he's suggesting needs lookin: at. ~ ., ., sector that he's suggesting needs lookinuat. ~ ., ., looking at. mark, thanks for taking us throu~h looking at. mark, thanks for taking us through all— looking at. mark, thanks for taking us through all that, _ looking at. mark, thanks for taking us through all that, thank - looking at. mark, thanks for taking us through all that, thank you. - us through all that, thank you. that's her turn to those reports that the israelis ordered the palestinians to evacuate the nasser hospital in khan younis, where hundreds have taken refuge in the last few weeks and months. i'm nowjoined byjames elder, global spokesperson at unicef. james, welcome to the programme once again. two strands to actually talk about in the next few minutes — one, those orders at the nasser hospital, and the other, what's going on around rafah. let's start with the nasser hospital — what are your thoughts when you hear those reports of people being told to leave the hospital, you know it well? i think there's a couple, _ hospital, you know it well? i think there's a couple, there _ hospital, you know it well? i think there's a couple, there is - hospital, you know it well? i think there's a couple, there is such - hospital, you know it well? i think there's a couple, there is such a l there's a couple, there is such a sheer lack of medical supplies. we already know doctors are working without anaesthetic and so forth, so

to have people now pushed out of their puts them triply into harm's way. there's nowhere for these people to go, as you rightly said, i saw these people, entire families, mothers and children on the space of a double bed for weeks. the fear of these people have is palpable, and i'm talking about when i saw them two months ago. so you now have a different level of trauma, you have families who are petrified who have beenin families who are petrified who have been in harm's way for months and months, and now they're being pushed out on the street. they'll be cold and without shelter, and rained on tonight. so it notjust a question of people �*s physical well—being in a conflict zone, it's now that we are reaching new depths of trauma for these children who will be absolutely petrified at the idea of walking into the darkness, into places with no toilets or shelters, absolutely nothing. i’ll places with no toilets or shelters, absolutely nothing.— absolutely nothing. i'll come back in terms of _ absolutely nothing. i'll come back in terms of impact _ absolutely nothing. i'll come back in terms of impact on _ absolutely nothing. i'll come back in terms of impact on children - absolutely nothing. i'll come back

in terms of impact on children in l absolutely nothing. i'll come back| in terms of impact on children in a moment or two, but we have a lot of focus on what could happen in rafah, with israel talking about potential evacuation plans. just out of interest, because i know the un have said they won't cooperate with any forced evacuations, have you seen at unicef and he sort of plan as we are talking now? and he sort of plan? no, we've tried so hard to — we are trying to make sure there is shelter or water to wherever they move. the occupying force asides that their version of keeping civilians safe will be to move them from place to place. those places don't have that, large areas of rafah don't have anything like shelter, or certainly not toilets or medicines, or showers. as you'll have heard many times on your show, teenage girls queuing 5—6 hours for a toilet. rafah now, which should have over 100,000 children, has more than

600,000. rafah is a city of children. i talked to a colleague today, and yesterday he said, "james, my six—year—old niece was shot yesterday." 600,000 children, if we see a ground invasion, you are talking about something apocalyptic for children there. and of course, rafah is also the humanitarian hub, where almost all our supplies come through — if that becomes an epicentre of fighting, we have to accept that no one will receive any water or food, accept that no one will receive any water orfood, or accept that no one will receive any water or food, or medicines, accept that no one will receive any water orfood, or medicines, there will simply be this intense crossfire. that can't happen, so we just keep pushing and pushing almost to the point of praying that those cease—fire negotiations come to some sort of fruition for these long—suffering children and families in gaza. in long-suffering children and families in gaza. ., , ., ., ., in gaza. in the last hour and a half, emmanuel— in gaza. in the last hour and a half, emmanuel macron - in gaza. in the last hour and a half, emmanuel macron has. half, emmanuel macron has told benjamin netanyahu that the gaza toll is quite intolerable, and the

israeli operations must cease. that comes off the back of pretty tough words from president biden, pretty clear words from the uk from the secretary — are you encouraged at all that, in terms of the international community, the response does seem to be heartening, in terms of wanting, insisting that israel's tactics of how they execute this war do actually change? iusieiiii this war do actually change? well auite, and this war do actually change? well quite. and i _ this war do actually change? well quite, and i think— this war do actually change? -ii quite, and i think you are hearing leaders speaking to international humanitarian law. speaking 2—3 months ago, the destruction of gaza will not bring peace. this isjust a reiteration of this approach that is both wrong in practice and in principle — we now literally don't know the number of children that's been killed. there are arguments that we may be at the point of 1% of

all of gaza's children have been killed. so this type of pressure is absolutely essential, it has to be meaningful. we are in an historic moment, but of course it is just language now, and to those children being caught in the crossfire, until that colleague of mine who saw his nice shot, until a friend of mine who was in tears who said, "i just need the war to stop," and his children who can no longer access nasser hospital, then these will just be words. we do need to see that action on the ground if we are to avoid yet more deaths of children. to avoid yet more deaths of children-— to avoid yet more deaths of children. , . , ., ~ to avoid yet more deaths of children. , ., , ., ,, ,, to avoid yet more deaths of children. , ., , . ~' ,, ., children. james elder, thank you for “oininr us children. james elder, thank you for joining us live. _ children. james elder, thank you for joining us live, thank _ children. james elder, thank you for joining us live, thank you _ children. james elder, thank you for joining us live, thank you for - children. james elder, thank you for joining us live, thank you for your i joining us live, thank you for your time. another development from the middle east — a woman and two children were killed in south lebanon, when israel launched what it called an extensive wave of air strikes. it was in response to a woman in northern israel being killed

by rocket fire from lebanon. video posted online shows large explosions in several areas of south lebanon. an israeli government spokesperson said its military had responded to cross—border rocket fire from lebanon. they said a barrage of rockets from across the lebanese border — which appeared to have been fired by his brother — targeted its northern command headquarters. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. the man accused of murdering emma caldwell has admitted under cross—examination that he previously indecently assaulted her. iain packer was asked about an incident involving the sex worker in glasgow eight months before her death. he said he was ashamed he continued to have sex with her after she asked him to stop — but he denies killing her. more than 100 families looking after severely—disabled adults and children outside hospital have told the bbc that the nhs is failing

to provide enough vital support. the health service says help is based on individual needs, and guidelines ensure consistency across england and wales. but some families describe the system as adversarial. violence and abuse against shop workers rose to 1,300 incidents a day last year, according to a leading trade body. incidents against staff were up by 50% in the year to september 2023 — up from 870 incidents a day the year before. you're live with bbc news. ukraine's military says it's destroyed a russian warship that was in its territorial waters off occupied crimea. these are the pictures released by ukraine's military, showing the moment the warship was hit. moscow has not commented on the incident — although it did say that its forces had shot down six aerial drones over the black sea, as well as another three over russia. olga robinson at bbc verify has

been looking in more detail at the video. you'll make this video that purportedly shows the moment russian landing ship was sunk off the coast of crimea. it was carried out by a special forces unit earlier today. in the video, we can see several vessels said to be naval drones hitting the ship, followed by an explosion that you can see here. and be analysed in the footage and several features visible in the video appear to match those of the same ship that it belongs to. for example, these two radar masts and gun demo this gun appear to match. to be clear, we can't tell from footage of its exactly the same ship as this one — but we can say that it

is the same type of class. we also know this footage is new. we've done checks and it hasn't been uploaded online before. no ukrainian officials say the ship was sunk here, off the southern coast, near the resort city. we can't indefinitely confirm the location from the video released by ukraine, but we know that there were reports in local telegram social media channels of explosions heard in that same area today. as well as this footage that we know is new, as we've checked, of a fire in the middle of this — you canjust we've checked, of a fire in the middle of this — you can just about see here. so far we don't know for sure if there have been any casualties, and the ship crew is 87 people. but we don't know how many were on board. a very popular russian telegram channel set earlier today, is very quick to say that the entire crew was alive. but that seems to contradict the claim that

the search and rescue operation was unsuccessful. we've had no official comments from russian officials yet. so why is this important? let's put into wider context. ever since the start of russia's full scale invasion nearly two years ago, ukraine is been using drones, both aerial and naval, to hit russian military targets in the occupied crimea and the black sea. and some of these attacks seem to have had an impact because last year, russia moved some of its fleet in the black sea to the area that is 300 km away from crimea, and it's much closer to mainland russia. you can see some of these vessels in this satellite image that was taken in october last year. you can literally see some of them here. in the latest step is also significant because if confirmed, it would be the fourth russian landing ship hit by

ukrainian forces in nearly two years. now this is unlikely to change the course of the war, but it does show that ukraine is making some gains at sea while it struggles to make a breakthrough on land. to the us now — and the democrats have won a special election for a new york congressional seat left vacant by the expulsion of republican george santos. tom suozzi's win over mazi pilip in a suburban district is a boost for the party in the lead—up to november's presidential election. it also chips away at the republicans' slim majority in the house. meanwhile, nato chief jens stoltenberg has urged the us house of representatives to pas a "vital" multi—billion—dollar military aid package for ukraine — warning china would be emboldednd if russia wins its war. let's speak now with north america correspondent nada tawfik. let's start with that ukraine

military package that's become so bogged down amongst partisan warfare between the republicans and democrats. we are in an incredible position where the house speaker won't bring it to a vote on the floor — now i'm reading they're even thinking of using a discharge petition to actually get a vote on the floor. i mean, that is incredibly rare — how likely is it? matthew, it's incredibly rare, and it's interesting when you hear from some in the more trumpet wing of the party who are admitting that there would be enough votes if this measure made it to the floor for it to pass. but nevertheless, speaker mike johnson to pass. but nevertheless, speaker mikejohnson saying he will not schedule a vote on this, so it remains to be seen if they will use that special measure that you mention, which would require at least 218 votes for that to happen, to get that to the floor to force

that vote. but matthew, it was just last week when we saw a bipartisan deal that connected the foreign military aid to ukraine, israel, taiwan, the humanitarian assistance to palestinians in gaza along with strengthening border security. and despite that, republicans from donald trump's wing really stuck by his side because donald trump didn't want this bill to pass, he said it would givejoe biden and election victory. so here we have republicans now saying the senate bill isn't good enough because it doesn't have border security — but when one that did have border security was in front of them, they didn't want to give an election win to democrats. so it is a sticky situation now, and of course tied up and that is that key military aid. it’s of course tied up and that is that key military aid.— key military aid. it's really interesting _ key military aid. it's really interesting you _ key military aid. it's really interesting you and - key military aid. it's really interesting you and they l key military aid. it's really - interesting you and they because key military aid. it's really _ interesting you and they because i'm hearing nowjake interesting you and they because i'm hearing now jake sullivan giving a briefing, saying he's reached out to

this so gang of eight to set up a meeting, trying to show them the evidence of why they need to move, and at the same time also saying that ukrainian troops are rationing or running out of ammunition — again trying to underline the emergency for that deal. so very interesting comments coming in the last couple moments from the white house. let's also talk about what has essentially happened overnight, the flipping of that seat in new york. because all these things are linked in some way, because some republicans coming out of that ballot saying they didn't vote republican, but democrat because of the extraordinary scenes going on with this aid package. that's right, and the white house has really tried to capitalise on this, saying tom suozzi did so well because he was backing that senate bill wilde to was against it. there was a lot of things at play here —

for example, tom suozzi was somebody who was well—known to nassau county in long island, he had been there for 30 years and was a former representative before he went on in a failed bid to win for governor. many saw mazi pilip as george santos 2.0 - many saw mazi pilip as george santos 2.0 — she was a part—time county legislator, she wasn't really out there enough on the field, so many thought she wasn't exactly up to the job. but the big issue hanging over all of this was immigration, and you have many pundits coming out now saying that tom suozzi has handed the democrats the playbook for how to deal with immigration, which will be a sore point forjoe biden. we saw in december a record number of migrants coming over the border, once a far—away issue for new yorkers, it is now a day to day concern for theirs, how the country will deal with this influx. so what we saw there from tom suozzi was him

saying immigration is notjust a republican issue, but an issue all americans care about and he wants joe biden to do more. so all these issues intertwined, and nevertheless it is a special election so it could play out different.— play out different. thank you so much. now it was a story you might have missed — a british student who is taking 28 �*a' levels. yes, 28, it's insane. manoor cheema has been talking to bbc radio's today programme. i just didn't want to narrow down my choices, and i think if i had done four a—levels, i would have been very dissatisfied with the academic challenge provided to me, so i decided to go that extra mile. but you are doing that work at home then, on your own — now, do you do all 28 in a week, or do you spend a week or two cracking

sociology before moving on to classical civilisation? so my study co—partner is my mum, and her policy has always been that we take one subject at a time, and we tackle that in however long it takes, and then we move onto the next one. my mum invested in a lot of reading and classical music, and brain—building activities when i was young. arithmetic, chess, and she inculcated a really deep passion of learning and books in me that i carry with me. incredible, 28 a levels, more on that available on our website. hello there. there's been a lot of cloud around today, and it's been quite misty and murky around some hills and coasts. a few lucky places though did manage to see a peep of sunshine coming through that cloud. that was barnsley. and this weatherwatcher picture is in newquay, and both locations reached 13 celsius this afternoon. we had temperatures reaching 15 celsius in herefordshire and norfolk, with a bit of rain and drizzle around too. but it's getting wetter actually this evening and overnight. and that wet weather will drive

its way northwards up into scotland. at the same time, southern areas may turn drier later on. temperatures are going to rise actually in scotland overnight with that wet weather coming in and elsewhere, temperatures really aren't going to drop very much at all. it'll be a very mild start to tomorrow. our air originated actually from the azores, and at the moment we're seeing a southerly breeze coming in, bringing that milder air our way ahead of this weatherfront, which will bring some rain back in from the west. but we've got a wet start in scotland. that rain moves up towards the north and rain clears northern ireland but heads back into scotland. and then we'll see some rain for wales and western england, maybe some heavier bursts later in southwest england and the midlands. but ahead of that, lincolnshire, east anglia, the southeast should stay dry and bright, maybe a bit of sunshine coming through, and these are the temperatures we'd normally get at this time of the year. but this is what we're seeing on thursday, even milder than today — 16, possibly 17 celsius is on the cards across east anglia, in the southeast, if the cloud does break up sufficiently to give us some sunshine. but that's still quite a long way off that february temperature

record set back in 2019. now, there will be some rain pushing eastwards on thursday night. there's more weather fronts queuing up in the atlantic. that one's just going to fade away. this one will bring some rain eastwards during the weekend. but with some rain overnight moving eastwards, we're going to see the last of that clear away from east anglia in the south east. and then we're all in the same boat. there'll be some sunshine coming through now and again, a fair bit of cloud, the odd shower around, but not very many of those large parts of the country will be dry. so a drier day on friday, not quite as mild, but still those temperatures above average — 12 in central scotland, 1a in the southeast of england. and we've still got that same sort of mild air in place on saturday. it could be quite a bit of cloud, best of the sunshine in the east and out to the west where we see that weather front that's bringing rain, northern ireland, western scotland and the far southwest of england. and ahead of that, it's about 12 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines. reports from gaza say the israeli military has ordered palestinians to evacuate a hospital in the southern city of khan younis. labour insists it would take decisive action to block its candidates if it emerges they are unfit to be mps. we will talk to a

political correspondent from the financial times in the next half hour. and scientists say they've established the first detailed proof that apes like to tease each other, just like humans. we will talk to the lead researcher. sport and time for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. now the football association have approved sirjim ratcliffe's bid for a minority stake in manchester united. with the purchase thought to be worth about £1 billion, owners the glazer family will retain a majority stake in the club but ratcliffe's ineos group willl take control of football operations. the sale cannot be completed until after the share office —— offer is closed which is friday night in the united states.

the champions league continues this evening and paris saint—germain and bayern munich are amongst the teams in last 16 action.