live from london. this is bbc news the us again vetoes a draught un security council resolution... blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in gaza. as international pressure mounts on israel to pause its offensive, the world health organization stages a second rescue mission from gaza's nasser hospital. illness prevents wiki leaks founderjulian assange from attending his last ditch hearing against extradition to the united states. the police have found a body in the river thames while searching for abdul shookor ezedi. and we will talk about this alligator who was found with 70 coins in his stomach.

hello, i'm ben thompson, welcome to the daily global, we start this hour in israel where pressure is mounting on the government to pause its offensive in gaza. the country's most important ally, the united states, has put forward a draught un resolution which calls for a temporary ceasefire. here in uk, prince william released a statement calling for an end to the fighting. in the last few hours, foreign secretary lord cameron said he was �*deeply concerned' about a potential israeli offensive on the city of rafah in southern gaza. in a letter to the foreign affairs committee, he says any attack would have a �*devastating humanitarian impact�*. meanwhile, the world health organization says it has evacuated more than 30 patients, including children, from gaza�*s nasser hospital. the hospital, in the southern city of khan younis stopped functioning last week after an israeli raid. the idf has described its operation as "precise and limited"

accusing hamas of "cynically using hospitals for terror". who staff said conditions around the hospital were "indescribable", and have released video from their mission showing their efforts to get patients out. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. one patient in a wheelchair. one patient on a stretcher can be set in the ambulance.i in the darkness of nasser hospital, a rescue under way. for 14 patients, some of them elderly, a chance to escape a hospital on its knees. the war is nearby. this was not a simple operation. we don�*t see them here, but israeli soldiers control the hospital. the mission had to be carefully coordinated. the hospital is filthy, large parts of it deserted.

this is the former emergency department of national medical complex. and it�*s a death zone. the hospital director looks shattered. he and a handful of staff keeping patients alive during days of military siege and occupation. my words are not enough to express the respect that i�*m feeling not only for you, but for these people that are work here. you can think about the worst situation ever. you multiply it by ten and this is the worst situation i have seen in my life. it's the debris, it's the light, working in the darkness, patients everywhere. israel says it had no choice but to raid the hospital. hamas, it says, was here in force. the army finding weapons and arresting scores of suspected gunman. in the car park, vehicles stolen from israel during the attacks of october the seventh. and in the pharmacy, a chilling discovery. medications supposed to be given to vulnerable israeli hostages. the medications remain, the hostages are gone. israel insists nasser hospital is functioning, but the un still wants to get patients out.

and the charity medecins sans frontieres says nasser is no longer capable of treating patients. what�*s left of gaza�*s health system, they say, is barely functioning. paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. as we heard there, the us — which has consistently vetoed proposed un resolutions calling for a ceasefire — has now draughted one of it�*s own. it�*s calling for a "temporary" ceasefire — and is cautioning israel against it�*s planned offensive in rafah. it says that would "result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighbouring countries". i spoke to aaron david miller — a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace who was also a former us state department adviser on arab—israeli negotiations to both republican and democratic administrations. i asked him whether this could be the u—turn that many are touting it to be. i�*d be very careful in jumping

to conclusions that somehow we�*re on the cusp of a major change in us policy. the notion of a temporary ceasefire has been used by the president, certainly in a private conversation. if the reports are to be believed, with prime minister netanyahu. i�*m not sure we�*re on the cusp of a major change in policy. we�*re certainly not on the cusp of a major breach with the israelis. the administration logic here, i think, is very clear. the only way that you�*re going to get de—escalation in gaza, the fundamental alteration of israel�*s military campaign, an extended temporary cease fire, cessation of hostilities for the time being, six weeks, eight weeks, and the release of hostages, presumably in exchange for an asymmetrical trade of palestinian prisoners, is through an israel—hamas agreement. i think the hope is maybe

the expectation on the part of the administration that within the next couple of weeks, you may see not a big deal on hostages, but perhaps a sort of medium course where in exchange for a month or six week temporary cease fire, to use the administration�*s language, you get a release of some a0 hostages, primarily women and children, not idf soldiers that are being held, and probably not adult males, but the few children who remain and the women. i mean, i can see that, frankly, as a realistic objective. i mean, nobody ever lost money betting on against arab—israeli peace. but in this case, i think it may well be that within the next couple of weeks, you could see such a hostage for prisoner exchange. but it�*s going to be limited if it occurs at all. yes. and is it your assessment, therefore, that that deadline announced by israel this week is simply a negotiating tactic designed to put pressure to bring about the release of some of those hostages sooner rather than later? because ultimately, all the world warnings are that this operation cannot,

must not, should not go ahead. and i think that does represent a change in the administration position. i think the administration is coming to the conclusion that any operation... massive ground campaign in rafah is to be avoided at all costs. so we haven�*t seen the end of that story with respect to what the administration may do if the israelis proceed apace. i would hope that maybe the deadline by the israelis was put out in order to increase pressure. however, i have absolutely no trust in the current israeli prime minister who�*s conflated his own legal and political travails with this war. so it seems to me, i mean, i think benjamin netanyahu would like nothing better than to proceed with a ground campaign. as we mentioned, in a rare move, prince william has released a statement calling for an end to the fighting. he says: "i remain deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the middle east since the hamas

terrorist attack on october seven. too many have been killed. "i, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible. there is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to gaza. it�*s critical that aid gets in and the hostages are released.“. the prince of wales released the statement shortly before visiting the british red cross in london. the organisation has provided humanitarian and medical support in the region. red cross workers told the prince about their work to support those traumatised by the loss and destruction. he is said to have felt strongly about what has happened in the middle east and is also said to be "deeply moved as a father". the labour party has changed its position on the war in gaza and, for the first time, is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. shadow foreign secretary david lammy told my colleague rajini vaidyanathan,

labour shifted its stance because the situation in gaza had "evolved". there were people calling for a cease—fire a few days after october the 7th, and into the beginning of november. we took the view, and many of our allies took the view, that at that point we would not get a cease—fire, and the reason we wouldn�*t get a cease—fire is because no hostages had been released at that point was stop so, because for a pause. we got that pause and we did see many hostages released, although sadly over 100 hostages are still in situ in gaza. and, importantly, we saw many more trucks coming to gaza across the rafah crossing, and people gets in the humanitarian aid that they needed. very sadly, fighting resumed. here

we are, and, it is clear the suffering is intolerable. we absolutely stand against further action or offences on rafah, 1.5 action or offences on rafah,1.5 million people having been displaced from northern gaza to southern gaza, and we join with the bulk of the international community insane that the time is come for an immediate humanitarian cease—fire. hostages can be released, aid can come into support people, and peace can come after negotiation, and we can get back to political dialogue. let me ask ou back to political dialogue. let me ask you this. _ back to political dialogue. let me ask you this, you _ back to political dialogue. let me ask you this, you mentioned - back to political dialogue. let me ask you this, you mentioned sir. back to political dialogue. let me i ask you this, you mentioned sir keir starmer�*s speech at chatham house on the 31st of october, at that point more than 8000 civilians had been killed in gaza, according to the figures from hamas. was that knotts already intolerable?—

already intolerable? every life lost in any form _ already intolerable? every life lost in any form for _ already intolerable? every life lost in any form for is _ already intolerable? every life lost in any form for is intolerable. - already intolerable? every life lost in any form for is intolerable. butl in any form for is intolerable. but at that point. _ in any form for is intolerable. but at that point, on the 31st of october, sir keir starmer rule out a 0ctober, sir keir starmer rule out a cease—fire and in fact he said a cease—fire and in fact he said a cease—fire always freezes any conflict in a state where current allies, and he also said hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately. be emboldened and start preparing forfuture violence immediately. has any of those things changed western mark? ., ., ,., , ., any of those things changed western mark? ., ., ,._ ., ., mark? you heard me say that not oint no mark? you heard me say that not point no hostages _ mark? you heard me say that not point no hostages had _ mark? you heard me say that not point no hostages had been - mark? you heard me say that not - point no hostages had been released, at that point there been no pause, at that point there been no pause, at that point little aid had got in at that point little aid had got in at all, so that was a situation at the back of october. the situation here today, has changed on the ground dramatically, in many ways. it is absolutely clear now that hamas have also been significantly degraded, i don�*t think anyone can

test that, all of the intelligence suggests that, so the time has come for an suggests that, so the time has come foran immediate, humanitarian for an immediate, humanitarian cease—fire, foran immediate, humanitarian cease—fire, we are absolutely clear about that. just as our allies in australia, new zealand and canada, the vast bulk of europe and the european union, the international community are as well. let�*s bring in bbc political correspondent iain watson. what�*s your assessment of how significant this u—turn might change in tone, whatever we want to call it, it feels different this time, doesn�*t it? it it, it feels different this time, doesn't it?— it, it feels different this time, doesn't it? it does and as they shadow foreign _ doesn't it? it does and as they shadow foreign secretary - doesn't it? it does and as they. shadow foreign secretary david doesn't it? it does and as they - shadow foreign secretary david lammy was saying, situation has changed so undoubtedly the that has played on labour mind. also domestic considerations, many labour mps were under pressure from some activists in their party and also areas where the large muslim communities for example, labour mps were under pressure to back and cease—fire

which they hadn�*t previously done. keir starmer, the party leader had said the fighting had to ended but had not previously called for a cease—fire, so to some extent they may be trying to take on that pressure from below. also, the argue that some of uk allies are calling for something similar, including that some of uk allies are calling forsomething similar, including new zealand and australia, but in addition to that, the pressing question for it labour is what they are going to do in the house of commons vote tomorrow. that vote has been called by the scottish national party, the third biggest party at westminster, and they are calling for an immediate cease—fire. so there is a prospect that many members of the keir starmer�*s own party might back the s&p position, not labour position, unless they hardened up their own support for a cease—fire. the last time this was debated back in november, when

labour calls for a pause rather than cease—fire, more than 50 mps within against the party line and the loss of a number front bench spokesperson, they felt they had to resign because they backed another party. in some attempt, this is an attempt to diffuse the division in labour ranks, and if this is voted on tomorrow, it means any revolt in labours rank with shrink. 0r on tomorrow, it means any revolt in labours rank with shrink. or the mentor a procedure it measures as well, even though labour has changed your position, is not guaranteed that their motion tomorrow calling for the cease—fire will be debated or voted on, what was definitely be voted on is the another motion by the scottish national particle and fund an immediate cease—fire and amendment from the conservative government calling for a pause. that would be debated and it still an open question whether parliamentary authorities would allow labour to get in on the acts and get their

distinctive position which has evolved over the past few months. thank you, in for that clarification. staying in the uk — police say a body has been found — in the river thames — by officers searching for the chemical attack suspect abdul shokoor ezedi. authorities had been looking for him for almost three weeks after a woman and two children were attacked in south london. the 35—year—old was last seen on 31 january on cctv — leaning over the railings of london�*s chelsea bridge. our home editor mark easton reports. with the tide low close to london�*s tower bridge at around four yesterday afternoon, the crew of a passenger boat saw what looked like a body in the water. scotland yard�*s marine policing unit attended and recovered a corpse which detectives working on the clapham chemical attack inquiry quickly concluded was their key suspect, abdul shakoor ezedi. because of the amount of time

that the body has been in the water, it has not been obvious to do an easy visual identification, or indeed to get immediate fingerprints. however, with the very distinctive clothing that was being worn and the property that we have found on the body, we are able to strongly believe that this is abdul ezedi. detectives spent ten intense days hunting ezedi after the attack in clapham, in which a 31—year—old woman was seriously injured and her two young children hurt. ezedi, an afghan refugee, had lured the women to a meeting after their relationship had broken down. she got into his car, whereupon a strong alkali was thrown into herface. ezedi, in the dark hoodie, fled on foot, his movements tracked on cctv. he walked for hours along the thames before police concluded hejumped into the river at chelsea bridge. across 20 days, his body floated downstream, retracing the journey of more than 11.5 miles ezedi had

made on foot. finally his body was recovered from the water at tower pier, close to the tower of london. every year around 30 bodies are recovered from the thames. most are people who have gone into the river deliberately to end their lives. abdul shakoor ezedi, it appears, is the latest notorious addition to that list. ezedi�*s victim is now stable in hospital, but has a life changing injuries. it was a crime and an investigation that shocked the british public. unaware ezedi was already dead, there were questions as to how this fugitive was able to evade capture for so long. finally it seems the river thames has yielded some answers. mark easton, bbc news, tower bridge. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. the sentence of the man found guilty

of stabbing three people to death in nottingham last year is to be reviewed. valdo calocane was given an indefinite hospital order on the basis of diminished responsibility. the attorney general, victoria prentis, said the sentence was "unduly lenient". relatives of the victims have welcomed the announcement. cough syrups containing codeine linctus will no longer be sold in chemists in the uk because of concerns people are becoming addicted to the medicine. several brands will now only be available with a prescription. the uk medicines�* regulator says there have been rising reports of dependence on codeine medicines over the past five years. the national trust is reopening the farne islands, off the northumberland coast to visitors for the first time in two years. the bird sactuary is home to around 200,000 seabirds, including puffins and arctic terns. it had been closed because of an outbreak of avian �*flu. you�*re live with bbc news.

the mother of the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has made a direct appeal to president putin to release his body to her. standing outside the arctic prison where her son alexei died suddenly last week, lyudmila navalnaya said she wanted his body to be released immediately so she could give him a decent burial. take a listen. translation: behind my back, there is a colony - _ k3, the polar wolf — where on 16th february, my son alexei navalny died. it�*s the fifth day that i cannot see him. they won�*t hand over his body to me and they won�*t even tell me where he is. i speak to you, vladimir putin. the decision on the question depends only on you. let me finally see my son. i demand you immediately hand over the body of alexei so that i can bury him. meanwhile, the russian news agency tass says prosecutors have opened a criminal case against 0leg navalny, the brother of alexei navalny.

it�*s not clear what he�*s accused of, but tass says police are searching for 0leg navalny, who was already on the wanted list in connection with another matter. in 2014, 0leg navalny was sentenced to three and a half years in prison forfraud, in a case kremlin critics said was trumped up and designed to pile pressure on his late brother. meanwhile, a russian military pilot who defected to ukraine last year has been killed in spain. maxim kuzminov piloted his helicopter across the border to ukraine in august 2023, saying he was opposed to the invasion of ukraine. his death has been confirmed by ukraine�*s main intelligence directorate. the wikileaks founderjulian assange has begun his latest attempt to fight his extradition to the united states. he�*s wanted in the us for disclosing secret military files more than a decade ago. opening a two—day long hearing in london, mr assange�*s team said that his prosecution was an example of "state retaliation".

dominic casciani, reports from the high court. us, uk, can�*t stop assange. us, uk... a moment of legal reckoning, but not going quietly. the scene outside the high court this morning asjulian assange�*s lawyers prepared for what might be his last opportunity to persuade britishjudges to stop his extradition. hundreds of the wikileaks founder�*s faithful turned out, all outraged at his treatment, all believing he�*s exposed major war crimes and is being punished for revealing the truth. the road to this hearing starts with these shocking pictures from 2010. leaked us footage published byjulian assange�*s organization... light them all up. come on, fire. ..showing a military helicopter gunning down civilians in iraq. two years later, mr assange was holed up here, ecuador�*s embassy in london, claiming asylum, fearing he�*d spend the rest of his life in a usjail.

he was dragged out seven years later to face extradition to the us, an order that was approved two years ago by the courts and home secretary. but in court today, edward fitzgerald kc for mr assange said he was a victim of a politically motivated plot. his client was being prosecuted for engaging in ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information, information that is both true and of obvious and important public interest. former president donald trump had even asked the cia for detailed options on how to assassinate mr assange, his lawyers claimed. 0utside court, his wife, stella assange, acknowledged time might be running out. julian will try to bring his case to the european court of human rights, and he will try to obtain an order to stop the actual extradition of him getting on being put on a plane. in this case, there would be irreparable harm.

so we are confident that the european court of human rights will recognise that julian�*s life is at risk. tomorrow, the court will hear from the united states team. they say the case has been totally misrepresented. they want their man, and they�*re not giving up. dominic casciani, bbc news, at the high court. earlier, i spoke to nick vamos, a lawyer and former head of extradition at the crown prosecution service. i asked him what would happen if mr assange lost his appeal this is his last chance to persuade a uk court that his appeal should be allowed. if they turn him down, which i don�*t think they�*ll do this week — i think the judges will take a bit of time to produce a judgment. if they turn him down then the us would have 28 days to come and collect him. he could, during that period, apply to the european court of human rights for an emergency injunction, in effect, what�*s called a rule 39 interim relief. but i suspect that would fail. the uk would wait to see what the european court did, but if that application was turned down, then yes, he would be on the plane to the us.

and so is mr assange now running out of options? well, the arguments he�*s running in court today, although he�*s put some new evidence in and he�*s developed some of the arguments a bit further, they have, in effect, been rejected twice. once in the magistrates�* court and again on paper a few months ago. and this is his renewed application following that paper refusal. so he�*s trying his best. he�*s got an excellent legal team. the arguments are interesting, but i think ultimately the court here will say, "you know, you should be making these arguments to the trial courts in the us. these are not reasons to buy your extradition". he and his supporters, one of the key tenets of their case has been that the information he released was true. they say "it was of obvious and important public interest". does that hold any sway in this case? well, it�*s not an argument that the uk extradition court

really needs to entertain. there is a technical question about whether if the acts he committed — which the us say were criminal — had they been committed in the uk, would they also be an offence? so that�*s what�*s called a dual criminality question. and it�*s always been the case that the same... it would also be an offence in the uk to to do this kind of thing. that�*s never really been the question. so then you get into these public interest arguments that this is journalism and not spying and so forth. and, really, those arguments should be made in the us. the uk extradition court only has to answer the question whether it�*s fair to extradite him. if the facts presented by the us taken at their highest would also be a crime if they�*d occurred in the uk, then a public interest defence is not really something that the uk extradition court needs to consider.

i'll i�*ll be back with the headlines for you shortly. stay with us. hello there. the next couple of days look pretty unsettled. we�*ll see two areas of low pressure moving in. bringing wet and windy weather to our shores. could see some issues with localised flooding in places as the ground is already so saturated. but one thing noticeable for the next few days, despite the wind and the rain, it will stay very mild before things turn colder from thursday onwards. now through tonight, that wet, windy, milderweather spreads its way northwards. but initially ahead of that rain, it will turn quite cold across some northern and eastern areas. a touch frost perhaps for northeast scotland, but temperatures recovering — nine or ten degrees across southern and western areas by the end of the night. and here it is, this area of low pressure, a fairly deep feature with quite a few isobars on the chart indicating windy weather with gales certainly around coasts of irish sea coasts, northern and eastern parts of scotland could see the strongest gusts. the rain splashing its way eastward through the morning.

into the afternoon, starts to push out into the north sea. skies brighten up behind it, but it does remain blustery for all areas. some showers running into northern and western scotland. but it might hang back, i think across eastern england with regards to the cloud and the rain. but these temperatures again above the seasonal norm, 11 to 13 celsius. as we head through wednesday night, it�*s dry for a time. then we see another area of low pressure gathering force out west that will bring a band of showery rain into northern and western areas. that rain starts to pep up, begins to cross england and wales. again, a fairly mild night to come across the south, something a bit cooler working its way into northern and western areas. that�*s a sign of things to come as we head through thursday, as this low pressure system, with its heavy rain and strong winds across the south, spreads across the country and pushes on in towards the north sea, starts to open the floodgates to a much colder west northwest. that�*s when you can see that�*s evident here with the blue colours, not particularly very cold, but certainly colder than what we�*ve had over the last week or so.

so a rather unsettled, wet day to come, i think, for much of the country, certainly england and wales on thursday, windy in the south. as the rain pulls away, the colder air starts to move in. so those showers begin to turn wintry over the higher ground of northern and western hills. and notice the temperatures as well. it will be noticeable. five to nine degrees factor in the wind. it�*ll feel colder than that. it stays fairly unsettled into the weekend. sunshine and showers again, these wintry over northern and western hills and nights will be turning colder with some frost.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the us again vetoes a draught un security council resolution, blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in gaza. as international pressure mounts on israel to pause its offensive, the world health organization stages a second rescue mission from gaza�*s nasser hospital. farmers in poland protest against cheap ukrainian grain flooding the market and eu regulations on pesticide and fertiliser use. and see you later, alligator — a zoo exhibit heads off for surgery, after dozens of coins were found in his stomach.

we will have that very important