the israeli army raids southern gaza's main hospital — it says it has credible evidence hostages have been held there. hello, i'm rich preston. welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. the secretary—general of nato says america's failure to approve continued military assistance to ukraine is already having an impact on the battlefield. jens stoltenberg was speaking after ukraine described the situation on the front line as increasingly difficult. the nato chief said he expected congress would eventually approve an aid package. it's being held up by republicans in the lower house. his warning comes as russian forces appear close to surrounding the ruins of the front line town of avdiivka in the donetsk region, following months of heavy

fighting in eastern ukraine. as our correspondent, andrew harding reports from the front line, ukraine's army is struggling with a shortage of ammunition and other military supplies — and is urging the us to help out. ukrainian tanks heading into battle. we are close to the russian lines here and to a town the kremlin has been desperate to capture for months. gunfire. inside of avdiivka, it's not going well for ukraine. these troops are increasingly pinned down and struggling. gunfire. in the ditch here, a wounded soldier needing urgent help. so what's going wrong for ukraine after two years of war? a simple answer can be found a few kilometers away. a ukrainian artillery team.

last year, these men were firing 80 shells a day at russian positions around avdiivka. not any more. so these are the last two shells that you have? "yes", says the officer in charge. "and these two don't even work." it is an alarming situation. russia is now outgunning ukraine by perhaps five to one. "we're upset", says oleksii. "it means our infantry in avdiivka are fighting on their own without our support. i'm worried it will mean a lot more casualties." speaking of which, more wounded arrive at a nearby field hospital. 24—year—old andrii has shrapnel in his ankle. ukraine, with a far smaller army than russia's, can't afford to lose many soldiers. machine beeps.

in the next storeroom, 48—year—old vadym was hit by shrapnel this morning as he stormed a russian position. "we just don't have enough weapons", he says. what would you say to american politicians who are saying they're not going to give more weapons to ukraine? "i would tell them to come here just once", he says. "then they'll understand the blood and sweat required to build a peaceful world." and the surgeon has this warning. "i urge the west to be more decisive in assisting ukraine", says vitalii. "otherwise, their soldiers will end up having to fight this russian evil too. " explosion. in the woods nearby, a live fire training exercise. gunfire. ukraine is racing to rebuild its war weary army. but there aren't enough volunteers any more, so more conscripts are being drafted

in to fill the ranks. ukraine is not losing this war, at least not yet. but if it's to stand any chance of actually winning, then it's going to have to train an awful lot more men like this and find a lot more weapons for what, right now, looks like it's going to be a very long conflict. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. here is the nato secretary general speaking about the impact of the delay in us funding for ukraine. the fact that the us has not been able to make a decision so far has already had consequences. it is impacting the flow of support. to some extent, this can be compensated by increased support from other allies, and the european allies and canada are stepping up and doing more. and if they put together the military, economic and humanitarian support, actually canada and european allies

are providing more support than the united states. the united states, being by far the biggest ally, of course it's vital that they continue to provide support, and therefore i continue to expect that they will be able to make a decision hopefully as soon as possible. i spoke to hanna shelest, head of security programmes at the foreign policy council "ukrainian prism" and editor in chief at ukraine analytica. she talked me through ukraine's priorities when countering a russian offensive. on the one hand, definitely we need to prioritise. but at the same time, when you're speaking about the prioritization, you can speak probably about the east or south in terms of the land operation, but you are not prioritising the drones attacks against the russian refinery, the marine drones attacks against the russian ships in the ukrainian waters or in the black sea and the land operation. because that is three different theaters. you need three different types of the weapons, equipment

and forces for these. and in this case, the general strategy remained the same. what ukraine is really prioritizing is not only the defence line, but also leaving russia without resources, without logistics, without the supplies. and in this case, any attack that is happening, for example, in berdyansk or even against that ship that being sent yesterday, that is cutting off supply of those weapons, ammunition and personnel that is delivered by russia to the frontline. so de facto, you should not prioritise between these two things because they are complementing the grand strategy. we've heard concern up by nato chief but other allies of ukraine about this hold up in the united states to supply support to ukraine. is there in over reliance here on the united states of america? couldn't other allies be stepping into the breach? it depends what type of assistance

were talking about because even at the global arms market we have for example, what ukraine is a need is a huge amount of the ammunition. here the question is who can produce, the second who already has a necessary amount in storage is. the importance of the united states that they already have produced a significant amount of ammunition and other weapons that can be delivered not just produce. many european countries, their military industry being at peaceful time for a long time, overthe being at peaceful time for a long time, over the last year they started to step up and produce more. for them to deliver the same amount of the ammunition that we need will take quite time. itjust how the industry works with up if you imagine that france produce the amount ukraine needs per day in terms of ammunition. so in this case each countries contribution is extremely important.

the uk tipped into recession in the second half of last year as the economy shrank for two consecutive quarters between july and december. the figures — from the office for national statistics — estimates that gross domestic product — a key measure of economic activity fell by 0.3% in the last three months of 2023. that followed a contraction of 0.1% the previous quarter. it's the third time that the uk has fallen into recession in the last 25 years. the first was during the financial crash in 2008 — that was the deepest recession for decades. the most recent was at the start of covid when much of the economy was forced to shut down. this latest recession is smaller than previous ones. but the difficulty for the prime minister is that one of his five key pledges was to grow the economy. our economics editor faisal islam reports. signs of the times in harlow town centre. on the one hand, some evidence of the struggle for hairdressers,

retailers, restaurateurs and others on the high street. on the other, the need to fill recruitment gaps too. it may look like a recession — indeed it is now officially a recession — but it's not a very normal one. we went to the food bank, because some of the products are so expensive. for example, meat. never got any money, can't go out, everything is expensive now. things have changed. hopefully they will get better, i or they'll get worse, won't they? we will have to ride it through, like we've all done. _ here's one way of comparing recessions. in the �*80s, �*90s and 2000s, the hit to the economy can be seen here, how deep and long the recession lasts, with the worst during the great financial crisis of 2008 onwards. but here red is what we have seen so far in the recession now confirmed to have started last year. and how things might pan out, over the next year, if forecasters are right. it is still a recession, but a more moderate dip. the bigger picture here though,

is a economy that has failed to grow over nearly years. chancellor, do you accept that this is a recession? well, the numbers speak for themselves. but the underlying picture here is that our plan has been to tackle inflation, first and foremost. that does mean higher interest rates. that's why it's a very important period now, despite this challenging data, that we stick to a plan that is seeing inflation really start to fall. but you've again called this a turning point. how can it be a turning point when growth is going in the wrong direction? the turning point will come when inflation falls to its target level of 2%, and the bank of england feels it can bring down interest rates. the shadow chancellor blamed the recession on the prime minister. our economy is now smaller than when rishi sunak entered 10 downing street in 2022. having spent years in the slow lane, rishi sunak has now put our economy into reverse.

this is rishi's recession. and it is the british people who will pay the price. on the outskirts of cambridge, some house building is getting going. but, as this morning's figures confirmed, it's been a tough period for construction. in 2023, the word probably was turbulent. the first nine months were extremely challenging. we were still feeling the ripple effects of inflation running through the industry. and that was, in a way, compounded with rising interest rates. as we came into the back end of the year, probably the final three months, there was a level of optimism that a bit of calm that was coming to the market, albeit a little bit. if he and the forecast are right, this recession won't last long. but that can't mask an economy that's failing to grow normally, or at all right now. faisal islam, bbc news. let's get a sense of the mood among uk's smaller firms.

we can speak to michelle ovens, founder of small business britain. very good evening to you. many would say it you could see this coming a mile away. to think many businesses were caught by surprise by this? i don't think so. all small businesses we spoke you do have said how 2023 was a tough year coming off the back of several tough years. our research coming out on monday was 2000 and small businesses, nearly 80% said their biggest fearfor small businesses, nearly 80% said their biggest fear for this year was recession. and here we're. part of the challenge is, recession is data, the challenge is, recession is data, the end of last year, small businesses have felt this, they know this. everything has been a problem. interest rates are hard, in frank's chin high, costs are high. it's in

challenging —— inflations been high. but we don't want do now is get scared of the word recession and let that create a kneejerk reaction and make us be less positive going into 2024. make us be less positive going into 202a. certainly we know there have been challenges for businesses. businesses have seen that on a daily basis. what we need now is to look and feel more positive, confident and feel more positive, confident and couldn't come at 2024 and a more optimistic way. this and couldn't come at 2024 and a more optimistic way-— optimistic way. this does come after several setbacks _ optimistic way. this does come after several setbacks or _ optimistic way. this does come after several setbacks or businesses. - optimistic way. this does come after several setbacks or businesses. is i several setbacks or businesses. is there a situation in which is actually better to be small in the situation? a small businesses more nimble, fewer staff to worry about, smaller overheads. is small sometimes good in this financial picture? in sometimes good in this financial icture? , ., , ., , sometimes good in this financial icture? , ., , ., picture? in my world small is always aood. i picture? in my world small is always good- i live — picture? in my world small is always good- i live in _ picture? in my world small is always good. i live in the _ picture? in my world small is always good. i live in the world _ picture? in my world small is always good. i live in the world of small - good. i live in the world of small business. you always see a lot of us startups, last year 900,000 businesses set up, a record number

of small businesses starting despite the downturn. more businesses are agile, they can move quicker, they can respond quicker they've been moving and responding a lot in the last few years. we see a lot at the moment fatigue for small businesses. the downside of being small is that we don't have many people to turn to. it's all on you. most businesses have got less than five employees in the uk. a lot of pressure on the entrepreneur that said, one of the other things we hear is that there are opportunities, the ai for example, a great opportunity for small businesses. sustainability, a great opportunity for small businesses this year. they can change quicker, they can adapt quicker, pick up opportunities, find new ways forward, find areas for growth, gauge with the consumers again much quicker than their bigger rivals. i love to see small

businesses do that in 2024. iliaiith businesses do that in 2024. with that in mind _ businesses do that in 2024. with that in mind for _ businesses do that in 2024. with that in mind for small— businesses do that in 2024. with that in mind for small business owners out there, hearing these words, seeing those graphs, worried about the future of the business, what would your advice be to them? ignore the headlines and to look at your own business. look at the fundamentals of your own business. that is what's important. we're saying it to businesses now and into this year is think about a restart, think about recapturing that energy you had when you were a new entrepreneur. start with a new business plan, look at the world with the eyes of optimism. try not to be held back by the challenges of the past. tomorrow is a new day. the great thing that we see time and time again with small businesses and entrepreneurs as they are in an incredible level of resilience and optimism. let's try and recapture that. don't be swayed by the headlines. what we don't want is a slowdown in investment and a slowdown in investment and a slowdown in investment and a slowdown in growth and activity.

let's keep pushing forward. 2024 can be a good year and would love to see it happen. be a good year and would love to see it ha en. ., ., , it happen. 0k, ignore the headlines, not many news _ it happen. 0k, ignore the headlines, not many news organisations - it happen. 0k, ignore the headlines, not many news organisations would l not many news organisations would tell you that. thank you very much. the uk is not the only country to have slipped into recession. new figures from japan show that its economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.4% in the last three months of 2023, compared to the same period a year earlier. that followed a 3.3% contraction the previous quarter. it means japan has lost its position as the world's third—largest economy to germany. 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 number of patients in england waiting more than 12 hours for a bed on a ward — after being seen in a&e — was 19 times higher this winter than it was before the covid pandemic. new data shows there were nearly 100—thousand 12—hour waits in december and january — compared to about 5000

in 2019-to-2020. british gas has announced its profits for 2023 increased io—fold to £750m. the supplier said the jump from £72 million in 2022 was due to regulator ofgem allowing it to recover losses of £500 million it racked up in the aftermath of russia's invasion of ukraine. centrica, british gas's parent company, said its profits fell by i7% to £2.8bn. people are voting to elect new mps in kingswood and wellingborough. the by—elections will decide who'll replace former conservative mps chris skidmore and peter bone. mr skidmore resigned as an mp last month and mr bone had to vacate his seat because of a successful recall petition. results are expected early tomorrow morning. you're live with bbc news. let's turn to the middle east now — and israeli specialforces have raided one of the main hospitals in southern gaza after saying they had credible intelligence that hamas had been holding hostages there.

israel described its operation at the nasser hospital in khan younis as "precise and limited." the hospital's director has told the bbc that conditions inside are "catastrophic and very dangerous". our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports. a medical refuge, turned military target. in nasser hospital, they hunted for safety to the sounds of destruction, by the light of mobile phones. hospitals are no protection from israel's army. a message for hamas, heard by all. the israel army now is almost about to enter the hospital. their protection against israel's powerful army — a table. we have patients who need care, but after the israeli army bombed

the hospital directly, most of our health care workers here are afraid about themseelf and they have to leave the hospital. about 40 health care workers stay at the hospital right now. israel had ordered people to leave the hospital. "when people went out, they shot at them, and some were killed," mohammed said. "they said there was safe passage, but they approached us with a bulldozer and a tank. every half an hour, they let a few people go." with israeli forces surrounding the hospital, the army said it believed hamas fighters were inside. today, it said it had arrested several suspects there. because hamas terrorists are likely hiding behind injured civilians inside nasser hospital right now, and appear to have used the hospital to hide our hostages there too, the idf is conducting a precise

and limited operation inside nasser hospital. israel's army has been fighting its way through khan younis. homes, turned to battlefields, street by street. the only relics from a previous life, its people. now fleeing to the border town of rafah, the last stop for civilians in this war. the red cross has warned of unimaginable carnage if the army follows them there. but israel's prime minister has been clear, he will fight hamas wherever it hides, and rafah will be next. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's speak to the policy leader of oxfam. thank you for being with us. what do you make of the latest report you're hearing from on the ground?

report you're hearing from on the round? ., ., ., ., , ground? there are no more words in this situation. _ ground? there are no more words in this situation. today _ ground? there are no more words in this situation. today my _ ground? there are no more words in this situation. today my friend - this situation. today my friend actually gave birth in gaza. his wife needed a c—section, she had a c—section without anesthetic. i am a mother and i cannot imagine that. i'm here in palestine and i asked the audience you just imagine what it's like to be living in a tent on the street. this is a friend who had a greatjob. his son went to the best football club, he was a big football fan, he is a big football fan. to imagine that now he is destitute, homeless and having to be a father to three other children and watch his wife give birth in the most undignified situation and circumstances that no woman in the world should have to go through. the situation is that there is no more safe place in gaza. we've been saying this for months. people are

starving, people don't have water, medical access, starving, people don't have water, medicalaccess, now starving, people don't have water, medical access, now are starving, people don't have water, medical access, now receiving the lodgers hospital, the last largest standing hospital, the last largest standing hospital besieged once again like every other big hospital in gaza this is just every other big hospital in gaza this isjust a repeated every other big hospital in gaza this is just a repeated scene and a repeated scenario that we're hearing and seeing. there are no more alarm bells to ring. how long does this go on for? i’m bells to ring. how long does this go on for? �* ., , bells to ring. how long does this go onfor? �* ., , , ., bells to ring. how long does this go on for? �* ., , , ., ., on for? i'm really sorry to hear about your _ on for? i'm really sorry to hear about your friend. _ on for? i'm really sorry to hear about your friend. for - on for? i'm really sorry to hear about your friend. for people i on for? i'm really sorry to hear. about your friend. for people who are on the ground and in areas like rafah, what can they do, where can they go? we have been sa in: do, where can they go? we have been saying there's — do, where can they go? we have been saying there's no _ do, where can they go? we have been saying there's no safe _ do, where can they go? we have been saying there's no safe to _ do, where can they go? we have been saying there's no safe to go. - do, where can they go? we have been saying there's no safe to go. we - saying there's no safe to go. we have my mother—in—law and mother—in—law and father—in—law and having to make another decision to leave, where to go. they have no idea. they don't know what they should leave or stay. my colleagues

in gaza and telling me maybe it's better if we die, maybe it's better if we were killed. 30,000 lives that have been killed in the last four months, 30,000 people, how many more? if this unfolds in a way that the israeli authorities have been announcing that it will it will be like they said, mass carnage. we will see an absolute car happening. if 30,000 people were killed in four months now we have 1.4 million people crammed into a small, tiny sliver of a place with no infrastructure, nothing. what do you imagine will happen if there more bombardments and shall in? we have seen several — bombardments and shall in? we have seen several israeli _ bombardments and shall in? we have seen several israeli raids _ seen several israeli raids previously on areas including camps, schools and hospitals. israel has always said these are legitimate

targets because they have intelligence that terrorists are hiding there. israel says its special forces found dozens of terror suspects hiding inside the nasser hospital. i wonder when we hear about the situation that you are telling us about versus what israel is telling us it wants to achieve, to arrest terrace and secure the release of its hostages, what next, where do we go from here? i asked the same question to world leaders who have failed to stop this from unfolding again. we have seen this happen from the north or the cell. people crammed, squeezed into a tiny piece of land. basically like traps like rats in a cage looking for safety where nowhere safe to go. no water and no food and very limited aid allowed to come in. where are these people supposed to go and why, why should entire

civilian population of 2 million people be collectively punished? for what? wanted my friend and his wife, she did not deserve to get birds and such circumstances. there is nothing thatjustifies such circumstances. there is nothing that justifies that.— that 'ustifies that. bushra khalidi, we thatjustifies that. bushra khalidi, we have to leave _ thatjustifies that. bushra khalidi, we have to leave it _ thatjustifies that. bushra khalidi, we have to leave it there. - thatjustifies that. bushra khalidi, we have to leave it there. bushra| we have to leave it there. bushra khalidi from oxfam. to stay with us on bbc news. hello there. normally at this time of the year, maximum temperatures would be 8—9 celsius. now, today wasn't a record—breaker by any means, but it was unusually mild, particularly for england and wales — 17 celsius in worcestershire and also suffolk, and in the northeast of england, it was 16 celsius in durham. those high temperatures came because we had a southerly breeze, and we also broke the cloud up to give some sunshine here and there as well. but that was ahead of the rain. and, whilst it was 15 celsius in manchester for a while,

we have seen the cloud thickening across wales and western parts of england with some rain developing. the rain's cleared away from scotland and northern ireland, but this band of rain will push southeastwards across england and wales. should be gone by the end of the night, and it's going to leave some clear spells, but a few showers towards the north and the west, and not quite as warm as it was last night, but still a mild start to friday. and friday should be a quiet day, really. we're going to find some spells of sunshine. showers coming over the irish sea into england and wales, and a few showers for a while in the far north of scotland may well turn out to be quite sunny across southern counties of england, and the winds should be fairly gentle as well. those temperatures not quite as high as today, but 12 celsius in the central belt of scotland is above average, still around 14 in the southeast of england and across east anglia. now over the weekend, we're looking to the atlantic to see some rain. that first weather front is just going to fade away. this is the main feature of the weather through the weekend.

that rain pushing its way eastwards, starting dry for many places i think on saturday. but there will be a lot of cloud, a few spots of rain ahead of the main rain band that's bringing some wet weather over northern ireland, moving a little more quickly over the irish sea into western parts of england and wales and into western scotland later on in the day as well. but still ahead of that, we've got temperatures reaching 13—14 celsius. if it does brighten up a little bit, that band of rain moves eastwards overnight. we're all going to get some spells of rain for a while. it does clear away more readily from the northern half of the uk, but a different story further south where we could well hang on to some rain across parts of england and wales even into the afternoon. this rain pushing slowly south eastwards, eventually clearing wales more sunshine and dry weather for northern england, for scotland and also for northern ireland. barring the odd shower in the far north west of scotland, we're still in this quite mild air mass. so again, temperatures will be around 12—14.

this is bbc news, the headlines... donald trump will face his first criminal trial next month, after a judge in new york denies his bid to have the case dismissed. everything that i've heard and read, even from legal scholars, _ said there's absolutely no case here, there's not a crime. - a landmark vote in greece — it could become the first orthodox majority country to legalise same sex marriage. and queen camilla meets british acting royalty —

joined by a dozen dames to celebrate 400 years of shakespeare. a quick update on the story we begin the programme with, the advance on the programme with, the advance on the ukrainian town— in the last few moments, thejohn kirby has been speaking at a press conference and white house, saying unfortunately we are getting reports from the ukrainians that the situation is critical with russians continuing to press ukrainian positions every day. he said the town is at risk of falling into russian control, as ukraine pleads with the united states to pass legislation that will speed up united states aid for ukraine — that's currently being held up by republicans sitting in the house of representatives. ajudge in new york has refused a request by donald tump to dismiss criminal charges over alleged hush

money paid to an adult film star.