this is bbc news, the headlines... syrian state media says at three people have been killed in an israeli strike on an apartment block in damascus. these are the latest pictures from the scene. the test launch of an unarmed trident missile, which holds the uk's nuclear warheads, fails for the second time in a row. rivals of the imprisoned former pakistani prime minister imran khan agree to form a coalition government, his supporters call them thieves. and the beatles are getting a fab four films made about them, a biopic for each member. parliament will vote later today on the call

the appeal continues for wikileaks founderjulian assange in his final legal bid to avoid extradition to the united states. illness is preventing mr assange from attending. the appeal began in the high court in london on tuesday morning. mr assange — an australian citizen — is wanted in the us for leaking secret military files more than a decade ago. he's been fighting extradition on espionage charges for five years. let's speak to our reporter nicky schiller who is at the high court. this is day two of a two—day extradition hearing, where mr assange�*s lawyers are trying to prevent him from being extradited to the united states. yesterday, they said the case was politically motivated and he should not be prosecuted for what they say was him doing hisjob as prosecuted for what they say was him doing his job as a journalist. back in 2010, wikileaks published a whole tranche of secret documents from the us military about the operations in

iraq and afghanistan. his lawyers said that he was only doing that as a journalist. they also alleged during his evidence yesterday that at one point the cia had a plot to either kidnap or assassinatejulian assange when he was inside the ecuadorian embassy in london. that was something that stella his wife took up when she walked into court this morning. i managed to grab a few words with her. it is unimaginable _ few words with her. it is unimaginable that - few words with her. it is unimaginable that this | few words with her. it is unimaginable that this country were delivered _ unimaginable that this country were delivered julian into the hands of the country and people who plotted his assassination. julian is very appreciative of all of the concern by the _ appreciative of all of the concern by the press and the community surlport — by the press and the community support. julian is a political prisoner— support. julian is a political prisoner and he has to be released. thank_ prisoner and he has to be released. thank you — prisoner and he has to be released. thank ou. . prisoner and he has to be released. thank yam— prisoner and he has to be released. thank yon-— thank you. have you spoken to jufian? thank you. have you spoken to julian? i spoke _ thank you. have you spoken to julian? i spoke to _ thank you. have you spoken to julian? i spoke to him - thank you. have you spoken to julian? i spoke to him this - thank you. have you spoken to - julian? i spoke to him this morning and he is too _ julian? i spoke to him this morning and he is too unwell— julian? i spoke to him this morning and he is too unwell to _ julian? i spoke to him this morning and he is too unwell to attend - and he is too unwell to attend today — and he is too unwell to attend today if— and he is too unwell to attend today. if he were not at belmarsh prison, _ today. if he were not at belmarsh prison, he — today. if he were not at belmarsh prison, he would not be in such a

poor— prison, he would not be in such a poor state — prison, he would not be in such a poor state of health.— prison, he would not be in such a poor state of health. what are you ho - in: poor state of health. what are you honing for. _ poor state of health. what are you honing for. from _ poor state of health. what are you hoping for, from today? _ poor state of health. what are you hoping for, from today? that - poor state of health. what are you hoping for, from today? that this| hoping for, from today? that this farce be brought _ hoping for, from today? that this farce be brought to _ hoping for, from today? that this farce be brought to an _ hoping for, from today? that this farce be brought to an end - hoping for, from today? that this farce be brought to an end and i hoping for, from today? that this l farce be brought to an end and that the courts— farce be brought to an end and that the courts allowjulian to be free. he is_ the courts allowjulian to be free. he is a _ the courts allowjulian to be free. he is a political prisoner and he needs— he is a political prisoner and he needs his — he is a political prisoner and he needs his freedom. that he is a political prisoner and he needs his freedom.— he is a political prisoner and he needs his freedom. that is stella assan . e's needs his freedom. that is stella assange's entrance _ needs his freedom. that is stella assange's entrance to _ needs his freedom. that is stella assange's entrance to court. - needs his freedom. that is stella assange's entrance to court. the j assange's entrance to court. the supporters are not here in as much force as yesterday, partly because the british weather has come into play. we are expecting the united states to put their case to the two judges hearing the extradition appeal. their argument is that when wikileaks published the documents, they also publish the names of informants in iraq and afghanistan, and that put them at risk. we will hear more of the united states' case later today. we don't know if there will be a judgment today or, indeed,

a ruling later in the week. thank you for that update. parliament will vote later today on the call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. the government wants an "immediate humanitarian pause", but the scottish national party has accused israel of war crimes — something israel strongly denies — and says the only way to protect civilians is for the fighting to end now. the politics around the uk parliament's debate on gaza is sensitive — and complicated — so let's explain a bit more. today's motion has been put forward by the scottish national party. among others things it says there has been a collective punishment of the palestinian people by israel. the labour party says this isn't balanced and has put forward an amendment calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire. this is nevertheless, tougher on israel than its previous position and would satisfy

nearly all labour mps. but the conservative party has put forward an alternative amandment that talks about an immediate humanitarian pause — that wording isn't as strong as labour's. only one amendment can be chosen —— conservative or labour. if it's the conservative one, some labour mps could just vote for the main snp motion — the one party leader keir starmer called �*unbalanced'. this would be damaging to his authority. 0ur political correspondent harry farleyjoins us now. so what are we expecting today? well, as you say, there are the motions, the first snp one is the most direct and calls for an immediate ceasefire and condemns, as you say, the collective punishment of palestinians. as you said, labour call that unbalanced. they take particular issue with that phrase, collective punishment. they say that

would be inflammatory to include. they have a much longer amendment to the motion, which talks about an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. it includes condemnation of hamas. but as you say, we are not sure whether labour mps are going to have the opportunity to vote on their own amendment. it's down to the speaker. the office is meeting now to decide which amendment will be chosen, the labour conservative one. it would be unusualfor labour conservative one. it would be unusual for both amendments to be chosen, but it is not impossible. we could see both the conservative and labour amendment chosen. to illustrate how sensitive this is, how delicate this is, and how precise wording really matters in this conflict, we are expecting large protests outside parliament in westminster throughout the day. the

last time the sort of motion was debated in the house of commons back in november, 56 labour mps rebelled against the party leadership, against the party leadership, against the party leadership, against the web from the party leadership, to urge them not to back an snp motion. eight frontbenchers also resigned. this is a very delicate issue, particularly for the labour party, but for all parties. it's particularly poignant for the labour party because of the rebellion they faced in november. this is when the delicate words of diplomacy run up against parliamentary procedure. it's not clear which motion and which precise wording will be voted on this afternoon. wording will be voted on this afternoon-— wording will be voted on this afternoon. . . . ., , afternoon. prince william has called for an end to _ afternoon. prince william has called for an end to the _ afternoon. prince william has called for an end to the fighting _ afternoon. prince william has called for an end to the fighting as - afternoon. prince william has called for an end to the fighting as soon i for an end to the fighting as soon as possible. what impact, if any, would that have in westminster? prince william, saying he would like to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible. i think that really highlights the feeling not just in westminster but across the

country, i think it demonstrates just how widespread the concern is, just how widespread the concern is, just how widespread the concern is, just how full mp inboxes and mailbags have been because of the conflict, because of the war in israel and gaza. it's an issue that really exercises a lot of people. i suppose we are expecting the debate today, the debate on the emotions, it will only serve to highlight that even more. it will only serve to highlight that even more-— it will only serve to highlight that even more. . . ., even more. thanks so much for the u date. even more. thanks so much for the undate- we — even more. thanks so much for the update. we will— even more. thanks so much for the update. we will have _ even more. thanks so much for the update. we will have more - even more. thanks so much for the update. we will have more on - even more. thanks so much for the update. we will have more on the l update. we will have more on the website as this develops. the nhs in england will begin to introduce �*martha's rule' from april — giving access to rapid critical care reviews if a patients condition worsens in hospital. the scheme is named after 13—year old martha mills, who died from sepsis when doctors failed to respond to her parents concerns. the coroner ruled that martha could have survived if she'd had better care.

since then martha's parents, merope and paul, have campaigned to try to prevent other families going through their ordeal. merope spoke to the bbc radio 4's today programme earlier this morning. i'v e i've been contacted by a lot of medics since writing about what happened to martha and being on the radio, consultants, doctors, nurses. 0ne radio, consultants, doctors, nurses. one of them has really stayed in my mind. it is a doctor that wrote to me and said sometimes people need to advocate, and i worry they don't know this, if they do know, i worry they don't know how to go about it. as you said, difficult to challenge doctors. i trusted the doctors who are looking after my daughter. sorry, i'll say that again. i trusted the doctors that were looking after my daughter. i didn't

know how much you needed to advocate. i expressed my worries and i was reassured. but martha deteriorated and started, ten days before she died, the three successive days leading up to her death, we three different consultants that we were worried about her and we were just told she would be fine and that this was a normal infection. when i had my doubts, i had nowhere to go. there was no ripcord to poll, ijust have to trust the doctors. i told a nurse that i was still worried and she told mejust that i was still worried and she told me just to trust the doctors. the very existence of martha's rule in hospital, the posters, stickers, people about it, it tells patients and family members, yes, sometimes you do need to advocate. and if you want to, this is how you go about

it. . ., , . want to, this is how you go about it. . . , . ., want to, this is how you go about it. . , . want to, this is how you go about it. what difference do you think it would have _ it. what difference do you think it would have made _ it. what difference do you think it would have made an _ it. what difference do you think it would have made an martha's - it. what difference do you think it. would have made an martha's case if this rule had been in place? weill. this rule had been in place? well, obviously l _ this rule had been in place? well, obviously i think _ this rule had been in place? well, obviously i think she'd _ this rule had been in place? well, obviously i think she'd still - this rule had been in place? well, obviously i think she'd still be - obviously i think she'd still be alive, because like i said, i have my doubts, i was telling a nurse i think he has got this wrong, i have to give myself a talking to, which i had never done, saying trust the doctors. like i say, this existence of the posters would have said to me, if you have your doubts, this is somewhere you can go, this is an outside team who can come and look. since martha's death, i've said to people who have gone into hospital, if you are worried, if you think something is going wrong, you should scream an award down, because that is what i didn't do. a diary will bear —— and i will regret that to the end of my days. but you don't

have to scream the ward down, because you have this rule. you must have had 70 — because you have this rule. you must have had 70 families _ because you have this rule. you must have had 70 families getting - because you have this rule. you must have had 70 families getting in - have had 70 families getting in touch? i have had 70 families getting in touch? ., ., ., , ., , have had 70 families getting in touch? ., ., ., , ., touch? i hear from other people a lot. it is difficult. _ touch? i hear from other people a lot. it is difficult. martha's - touch? i hear from other people a lot. it is difficult. martha's case i lot. it is difficult. martha's case is not an isolated incident. unfortunately i get weekly e—mails from people who, maybe like us, lost someone in hospital or they currently have a family member who is unwell and they feel they are not being heard. i've heard from a few doctors who themselves have become ill and ended up in the hospitals where they work, on a different ward, and felt patronised or ignored, and had to call colleagues... ignored, and had to call colleagues. . ._ ignored, and had to call colleauues... .,, ., [m colleagues... even as doctors? even as doctors- — colleagues... even as doctors? even as doctors. some _ colleagues... even as doctors? even as doctors. some of— colleagues... even as doctors? even as doctors. some of those _ colleagues... even as doctors? even as doctors. some of those people i as doctors. some of those people have said what i am better again, i

will really get behind the rule, because i have seen from the other side. there is obviously a problem there. there are 150 preventable hospital deaths per week. martha was one of those. that's a planeload of people falling out of the sky every single week. and i guess we don't talk about it because it is not as dramatic as a plane falling out of the sky. but it happens. and we would not accept it in any other industry. that is what we are trying to challenge with martha's rule. sorry, i'm not saying that very well. because it's not as dramatic as a plane falling out of the sky, we seem to accept it. and we shouldn't. the families of three people who were fatally stabbed

in nottingham last year say they are "optimistic" that a review of the killer's sentence will provide justice. valdo calocane admitted the manslaughter of ian coates, barnaby webber and grace 0'malley—kumar, and was handed a hospital order. the attorney general says that was unduly lenient. duncan kennedy reports. barnaby webber, grace 0'malley—kumar and ian coates were killed in nottingham lastjune. barnaby and grace had been walking home after a night out when they were stabbed. ian coates was stabbed in a different location in the city. three other people were struck by a van. they were all attacked by valdo calocane, who admitted manslaughter. he was given a hospital order after he was found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time. but that sentence is now to be referred to the court of appeal after the attorney general intervened. victoria prentis said the nation have been shocked

by the case and that... members of the victims�* families yesterday met the attorney general in private and said afterwards they were glad of her decision. i did cry. i think it's been a very long, very difficult... well, since it happened injune, but particularly the last few weeks, it's been very publicly done. i think there was a sense of being listened to. and the fact that we were online with the coates family and the 0'malley—kumar family, there's just a real sense of the beginning of hopefully justice being done here. the court of appeal will now look at the case under what's called the unduly lenient sentence scheme. the judges can keep the sentence as it is, increase it or refuse the attorney general�*s application. the victims�* families say

the current sentence doesn't reflect the planning or premeditation of the attacks and that a hospital order was insufficient. they say they hope the court of appeal will provide some of what they call appropriate justice. duncan kennedy, bbc news. we've got an incredible story for you now — about a doctor who has helped save the lives of thousands of tiny babies — and then discovered he needed life—saving medical treatment himself. dr nick embleton was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer in 2021, and told he would die without a stem cell transplant. our health correspondent sharon barbour went to meet him — and the very special friend he met along the way. for more than 20 years... how long have you been in since he was born then? dr nick embleton has saved the lives of thousands of the world's smallest patients. how long was he on the ventilator for? many here in newcastle were born at the very brink of survival, some weighing less than 500 grams.

but in 2021, nick was feeling tired and increasingly unwell and needed to see a doctor himself. just kind of wondering what on earth could be going on. you know, at that stage, i had no idea what was about to unfold. i checked in and i came into this room. in fact, it was exactly this room. the tests showed he was developing a rare cancer. this is an irreversible marrow failure. and without a bone marrow transplant, this would be a terminal diagnosis. i was fully aware that i might die. so i made a will. never made a will before. i went home and i realised then i had to kind of break this news to my wife and my kids. and i don't think i really knew what i was going to say. but actually i felt saddest for my kids. like, i didn't want my kids to... i don't know, i didn't want them to grow the rest of their lives without their dad.

nick's only hope of survival was a stem cell transplant. and so the search began. we would search the uk register first and hopefully find a match here. if we're unable to find a match, then anthony nolan would search worldwide to find a match so your match could come from anywhere in the world. a full match was found from a donor in germany, but their details had to remain anonymous. as they took the stem cells, the donor had no idea whose life depended on them. nick had to wait for two years before knowing whether the transplant was successful. only then could he try and find out who the donor was. somebody else did something to save my life. like, that feels really emotional. the donor, hearing that nick wanted to meet, agreed to fly to the uk. now, two years since learning

he had a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis, nick was about to meet his saviour. lovely to see you. lovely to meet you. hi, marius. hi, i'm nick. i'm very overwhelmed. no, no, no, i'm shaking! i'm shaking, too. the cancer cells have all gone. and so when they, when they check my blood now, i mean, all of those blood cells belong to you. i would be dead if it wasn't for you. i've got four children. four? yeah. nice. — they wouldn't have their dad. i just really want to thank you for your... you're welcome. pleasure. thanks so much.

from germany to maggie's cancer centre in newcastle. your cells kill the cancer. and 24—year—old marius recalls the moment he heard that the transplant had worked and that the patient he didn't even know had survived. after that information, all the tears comes out. i was on the way to my work and i had to park my car and get out and need fresh air, chill out. yeah. you have a lovely family. makes me really happy and emotional right now. and it was only in this moment that we learned something else. marius told us that he'd previously tried to take his own life and how, in a way, nick had helped save him.

i struggled my whole life since i'm 13, with mental issues. it's hard for me to find my way in life and my sense in life. so... just give me a sense in my life. yeah, i can say i did something right. two strangers who now have the same blood running through their veins. blood brothers and friends for life. sharon barbour, bbc news. they've been a haven for nature lovers for decades, but the farne islands — here in the uk — have been closed to visitors for two years, after a devastating outbreak of avian flu saw thousands of birds die. now they are reopening for the public next month — so that people can once again enjoy seeing its wonderful seabirds up close —

including its famous puffins. mark denton reports. a bright, sparkling february day and the sunshine brought the visitors to seahouses today. glinting across the sea in the distance, in inner farne. and no trip to seahouses is complete without a trip out to the farnes islands. but for the last couple of years, visitors have been able to go round the islands on a boat but not land on them. for the last two years, the farnes, an internationally important habitat for 23 species of birds, have been closed to visitors. bird flu caused the death of 9,000 birds, and for national trust wardens, it's meant the grimmest time. they'd have to deal with that number of carcasses at the time, it was over 6,000 dead birds in 2022. so you can be prepared for it, but it's quite upsetting. but next month inner fame is reopening to visitors again. now we feel we've got the evidence to back up the fact that there's less avian flu. the numbers of birds affected have

reduced roughly by half. often we got over 40,000 puffins will land up on the islands. so we're looking forward to all of those birds coming back. also able to look forward again, andrew, who runs boat tours. he lost half his business while the farnes were shut. you don't get any photographers because they just want the picture of the puffin with the sand eels in their bill, you know? so if you can't get that kind of picture, you know, they don't want to be up and down on a boat sometimes, so you need to be islands to be open. so fingers crossed, it's all good for everybody. the b&bs and the hotels, this willjust help them as well because people will get wind of this being back open again and they think, "0h, right, well, we'll definitely go now." yeah, i'm very pleased that it's, that people can do it again. yeah, sounds good. anything that's good to do when you're on holiday. i i would be concerned about lots of members of the public being on the islands and disturbing the wildlife. visitor numbers will be limited when inner farne reopens on march 25th, but one of the region's natural jewels can finally show us its wonders again. mark denton, bbc news.

film director martin scorsese says he's not looking to slow down and plans to keep making movies. on tuesday evening he was honoured with the berlin film festivals lifetime achievement. the director's career was celebrated at the gala ceremony and he was given a standing ovation as he walked on stage to accept his golden bear trophy. the honorary award was intended partly to honour scorsese's work preserving old films for posterity. martin scorsese s latest movie, killers of the flower moon will be competing at the oscars in just over two weeks time with 10 nominations. this is what he had to say about the future. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. the weather today is pretty wet and windy. all of the rain is going to be pushing northwards and eastwards throughout the day. behind it, we're looking at a mixture of bright

spells and some showers, but some of the showers will be heavy and thundery. and we're looking at strong winds, and we can use the same forecast for tomorrow as well. this is the rainfall accumulation chart. where you see the dark blues, this is where we could have rainfall up to 50 millimetres. the jades in south wales even more than that, up to 70 millimetres of rainfall in the next couple of days. so this is the track it's been taking, pushing northwards and eastwards. severe gales across the northern isles, brightening up behind it but still a lot of showers and some of those heavy and thundery and wintry on the hills. these black circles you can see represent the strength of the wind gusts, so widespread gales. temperatures today, though, above average for the time of year, 7—13 degrees, but when you add on the strength of the wind, the showers and all the rain, it will feel cooler than that. through this evening and overnight, we've got a band of rain pushing across the english channel and areas adjacent to it and a new active weatherfront bringing in heavy rain, potentially thundery with some hail and some wintry showers down to 200 metres in the highlands. a cold night in the north, milder in the south. so that's how we start tomorrow, with our weather front continuing to drift eastwards. it's bringing rain with it and around it, we still

are in the mild airfor a time but as the weather front pulls away, all of us will be in the colder air. here's that weather front continuing to drift southwards and eastwards. behind it, some brighter skies, some showers, some of those wintry on the hills in western areas and we're still looking at gales through the english channel. it will also be windy across east anglia. but look at the difference in the temperatures. 4—8 north to south, compared to the double figures we have been used to of late. moving on, then, into friday, still a lot of dry weather around but also still a good scattering of showers and because we're now all in the colder air, what you'll find is a lot of those showers will be wintry on the hills. almost anywhere in the uk, temperatures 6 to about 10 degrees. then into the weekend, well, it remains unsettled. there will be some rain at times,

they'll also be some showers but equally, there'll be some dry conditions too.

live from london. this is bbc news. syrian state media says that three people have been killed in an israeli strike on an apartment block in damascus. these are the latest pictures from the scene. the test launch of an unarmed trident missile, which holds the uk's nuclear warheads, fails for the second time in a row. spanish farmers take their tractors to madrid's streets, joining colleagues across the eu in protesting against rising costs. hospitals in england could introduce martha's rule from april, giving easier access to an urgent second opinion, if a patient�*s condition gets worse. we start with reports coming in from syria. state media there say three people have been killed, after