examining the death toll as israel faces mounting pressure over the scale of civilian deaths. sarah everard — murdered by a man who should never have been a police officer. an inquiry highlights the red flags that were missed. we look at the debate on assisted dying in the uk , as the implications of possible new laws are considered. hello, welcome to verified live. more than 100 palestinians have been killed while waiting for food aid in gaza city. these are images from that attack in the south west of the city. a large number of people were gathered waiting for food aid when the incident happened — a journalist told the bbc that israeli tanks opened fire on the crowd. the israeli military issued these aerial pictures of the incident. it says dozens of gazans were �*crushed and trampled' as they surrounded the aid trucks.

separately, an israeli source confirmed its troops had fired after feeling threatened by crowds near the aid point. here's a statement from the israeli prime minister's office. the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were gazan civilian drivers, ploughed into the crowds of people. ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people. this is the account of a palestinian who was there. translation: after i they stopped shooting, we went back to get our aid. by the time i got flour and some canned goods and took it down from the truck, they shot at us. they shot me and the truck driver left and ran over my leg. i lost my nerves. if you want to get us aid this way, then you might as well not bring anything. what has already happened to us

is more than enough. we went to get flour for children. we have been eating animal feed for two months, and even that ran out. what are we supposed to do? where are we supposed to go? a short time ago presidentjoe biden was asked about the incident. more than a hundred _ was asked about the incident. more than a hundred civilians _ was asked about the incident. me than a hundred civilians have been killed. we than a hundred civilians have been killed. ~ ., than a hundred civilians have been killed. ~ . . a ., than a hundred civilians have been killed. ~ . . ., ., killed. we are checking that out riaht killed. we are checking that out right nova _ killed. we are checking that out right nova i _ killed. we are checking that out right now. i don't _ killed. we are checking that out right now. i don't have - killed. we are checking that out right now. i don't have an - killed. we are checking that out. right now. i don't have an answer yet _ right now. i don't have an answer et. , �* ., , yet. president biden there, it was noisy because _ yet. president biden there, it was noisy because he _ yet. president biden there, it was noisy because he was _ yet. president biden there, it was noisy because he was by - yet. president biden there, it was noisy because he was by his - noisy because he was by his helicopter. earlier our middle east correspondent paul adams told me what he has learnt about what happened. convoy driving into into gaza city at liam, in the dark. it had just passed an israeli checkpoint when crowds began to descend on the trucks, in scenes that we have seen already many times before. remember that the situation in

the northern part of the gaza strip is by far the worst. people are utterly desperate. any trucks that that arrive there with aid — and very, very few do — immediately get mobbed. now, this was a convoy of anywhere between 18 and 30 trucks. it had passed through the checkpoint, the israeli checkpoint, and at some point, while the crowds were swarming onto the trucks, some of those people approached to within around 70 metres of the israeli checkpoint. the soldiers there felt that they were in some danger. they fired shots in the air, according to the idf, and then at the crowd, in what an israeli military spokesman described as a "limited response." the impression we get, having listened to what the idf says and heard from an eyewitness, a palestinian eyewitness who was there, was that utter panic ensued. and the pictures that have been released by the idf this morning, shot from the air at night, show the trucks attempting to move forward while absolutely covered

in people trying to to retrieve aid, with thousands of people surrounding them. and in that mayhem, it seems a significant number of people were run over. let me show you another graph now. this one shows a comparison with the war in ukraine in its first year, and the 2003 was in iraq in the first 6 weeks. you can see the number of people killed per day, per size of population is far higher in gaza than it is in either of those. bbc verified's merlyn thomas has this analysis on the numbers killed. we've been covering this war from the very beginning, tracking the damage across gaza, from the israeli offensive following the hamas attacks on israel on the 7th of october. now, at the start of the war, the gaza strip was one of the most densely populated places on earth. it was home to over 2 million people. and today, the hamas—run health

ministry has announced that since the start of the war, more than 30,000 palestinians have been killed in gaza. now, several experts we've spoken to have said that the number of dead could actually be much higher than this. and that's because many hospitals in gaza where deaths are recorded are no longer operating. now, let's take a bit of a closer look at this. look at this graph — it's a breakdown of who exactly has been killed. and as you can see from this, the majority of those killed have been women and children. and how does this compare with previous conflicts in gaza? well, this chart shows deaths in 2008, and you can see that more men were killed than women and children. and it's a similar picture in the second war in 2014. now, have a look at this chart which shows the current war. now, the bars here for women and children show the deaths in red and purple and they're significantly higher than the one for men. keep in mind, this war has been going on for months, whereas the others lasted for weeks. so the death toll

here is much higher. now, israel has questioned the death toll, but it hasn't provided its own figures on how many civilians in gaza have been killed. so how are these casualty figures counted? well, counting the dead in any war zone is a challenge. and experts told the bbc that the real scale of those killed since then is likely to be significantly higher than 30,000. now, the figures only include bodies counted in hospitals like this one. so those buried under rubble aren't included in this tally. and the world health organization's regional emergency director, richard brennan, has previously said he considers these casualty figures to be trustworthy. now, since the beginning of the war, the israeli army has said it takes precautionary measures in order to avoid damage to the civilian population. israel also says that hamas uses gaza's civilian population as human shields. now, nearly five months into the war, this latest death toll will intensify the pressure to pause the fighting.

there is plenty more on the middle east on the bbc website will be live —— running a live page. her brutal murder shocked britain, and now an independent report into the killing of sarah everard, has found the man responsible, should never have been a police officer, and several opportunities to stop him offending were missed. wayne couzens is serving a whole life sentence for sarah's rape and murder, and was off—duty when he kidnapped the 33—year—old, under the false guise of an arrest. the chair of the inquiry into his conduct and background, says without a radical overhaul of police vetting and recruitment, there's "nothing to stop another couzens operating in plain sight." june kelly reports. he was a predatory sex offender in a police uniform. a criminal with state—sanctioned powers. wayne couzens should never have been allowed to become a police officer,

and continualflawed vetting meant he was able to stay in his role despite a series of red flags. these are among the stark conclusions of today's inquiry report into couzens. it examined his career, his behaviour and the way he was vetted. the metropolitan police service told the inquiry in 2022 that it still have recruited him if provided with the same information. i found this astonishing. now is the time for change. without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another wayne couzens operating in plain sight. the report described how in 2004 and 2008, kent police turned down couzens's application to join, but allowed him to work as a special constable. in 2011, another force, the civil nuclear constabulary, took him on as a full—time officer — despite a recommendation that he shouldn't get through the vetting because

of his heavy debts. in 2018, he successfully applied to join the metropolitan police. here, the report found the vetting was flawed. and indecent exposure allegation was one of the concerns about him which was on the system, but appear to be missed. there are no words i can use that can adequately express to the everard familyjust how sorry we are across the whole of policing. i was left aghast at the catalogue of missed opportunities, errors, red flags, to stop wayne couzens. the report describes how wayne couzens used his police powers to falsely arrest sarah everard on a street in clapham in south london during the covid lockdown in 2021. here, showing sarah his warrant card and accusing her of breaching lockdown rules. couzens then drove sarah 80 miles to kent, where he raped and strangled her. a week after sarah's

disappearance, wayne couzens was arrested. described as a man of diverse and deviant sexual interests, he allegedly committed a very serious sexual assault against a child barely in her teens before he joined the police. at a mcdonald's drive—through in the days before he abducted sarah, he indecently exposed himself to staff more than once. he's also alleged to have possessed indecent images of children. the coming days will see the third anniversary of sarah everard's death. in the report, herfamily welcome its recommendations. they say the loss of sarah pervades every part of their lives. june kelly, bbc news. the mayor of london has been speaking about the findings of that inquiry on the bbc�*s newscast podcast with chris mason and adam

fleming. flan podcast with chris mason and adam fleminu. . , , podcast with chris mason and adam flemin.. . , ,, ,, w fleming. can i begin by speaking about sarah _ fleming. can i begin by speaking about sarah everard _ fleming. can i begin by speaking about sarah everard and - fleming. can i begin by speaking about sarah everard and her- fleming. can i begin by speaking l about sarah everard and her family about sarah everard and herfamily and her siblings because it's important to remember her in the context of this conversation. i remember vividly the days after sega disappeared because i lived not far from where she disappeared from and it was during the pandemic and my wife and daughters would go for walks regularly around that area. so it brings it all back. those of us with families will be impacted by today's report. the reason why it so important is it quite clear that sexual predator and the six offender was known prior tojoining one of the three police forces he joined. so he should never have joined the police force in the first place. during his service in all three police forces it was clear, there were signals in red flags that were

not taken seriously. in the days preceding the abduction and rate and murder of sarah his inappropriate behaviour was demonstrated by the indecent exposure.— indecent exposure. which she had done uuite indecent exposure. which she had done quite a _ indecent exposure. which she had done quite a few— indecent exposure. which she had done quite a few times. _ indecent exposure. which she had done quite a few times. it's - indecent exposure. which she had done quite a few times. it's one . indecent exposure. which she had | done quite a few times. it's one of many things _ done quite a few times. it's one of many things he's _ done quite a few times. it's one of many things he's done. _ done quite a few times. it's one of many things he's done. one - done quite a few times. it's one of many things he's done. one of- done quite a few times. it's one of many things he's done. one of the reasons why i lost confidence with the former commissioner was a failure to understand the cultural failings and the plans to take action and an example of that is the fact this guy was sharing horrible photographs with fellow officers, nobody called him out, nobody reported him and no action was taken. this is an issue all three police forces must look into. we have to make sure we change the culture in the police service. it's far too easy to become a police officer, far too difficult to get rid of dodgy officers, but also the met police and all the others have to be an organisation that is anti—misogynistic, antiracist,

anti—homophobic. so there is in the culture where this behaviour is acceptable. culture where this behaviour is acceptable-— acceptable. that's the striking thin . , acceptable. that's the striking thing. that — acceptable. that's the striking thing, that this _ acceptable. that's the striking thing, that this wasn't - acceptable. that's the striking thing, that this wasn't just - acceptable. that's the striking thing, that this wasn't just a l thing, that this wasn't just a single — thing, that this wasn't just a single police force, this was not 'ust single police force, this was not just one — single police force, this was not just one force where there was a political— just one force where there was a political culture —— particular culture _ political culture —— particular culture. they were three. i political culture -- particular culture. they were three. i was reflecting _ culture. they were three. i was reflecting a _ culture. they were three. i was reflecting a couple _ culture. they were three. i was reflecting a couple of _ culture. they were three. i was reflecting a couple of years - culture. they were three. i was reflecting a couple of years ago when this came to the fore, whether you work for the bbc, city hall, sainsbury is or the police service, some sort of behaviour from your colleagues you know is out of order and you reported. but with police officers because they have this huge amount of power and discretion it's even more incumbent for there to be checks and balances. let's be clear, the only reason sarah got into that car was because this guy showed his one card. sarah up as my parents have said she would not have got into a car with a stranger. so we know sarah was abducted and rates and murdered because this man was a police officer. this is notjust a

police officer. this is notjust a police service issue and we have been trying in the last four years to change the culture within the police service of london, it's an issue for all of policing. that i am pleased chief police councillor responding as one. the scottish la er responding as one. the scottish lawyer who _ responding as one. the scottish lawyer who did _ responding as one. the scottish lawyer who did this _ responding as one. the scottish lawyer who did this inquiry - responding as one. the scottish lawyer who did this inquiry and l lawyer who did this inquiry and there _ lawyer who did this inquiry and there are — lawyer who did this inquiry and there are still two more parts of there are still two more parts of the inquiry— there are still two more parts of the inquiry to go so we could learn even _ the inquiry to go so we could learn even more — the inquiry to go so we could learn even more about how bad the police are with _ even more about how bad the police are with some things, she saysjust doing _ are with some things, she saysjust doing existing policies to stamp out misogyny— doing existing policies to stamp out misogyny better isn't enough but to me that _ misogyny better isn't enough but to me that sounds like she's being criticat— me that sounds like she's being critical of— me that sounds like she's being critical of police chiefs who are saying — critical of police chiefs who are saying we _ critical of police chiefs who are saying we don't need to come up with anything _ saying we don't need to come up with anything new to solve the culture problems. — anything new to solve the culture problems, we just need to do existing — problems, we just need to do existing things better. i problems, we just need to do existing things better.- existing things better. i know somebody — existing things better. i know somebody because _ existing things better. i know somebody because of - existing things better. i know somebody because of my - existing things better. i know somebody because of my life | somebody because of my life experiences what it's like to be different and how you are treated by the police. when i became the mayor of london and i was told by senior police officers there are some rotten apples. it's notjust some

bad apples, there are systems and cultures in place that encourage people like this to join but also they stay within this organisation without action being taken. there are other brave officers who do reported, it takes two years for that complaint to be investigated and no action is taken. the leaders don't have the proper training, there is an proper supervision. the right processes aren't in place. if you are a woman police officer you think what's the point of making a complaint. that is within the police service. ., ., ., service. you can hear that full interview _ service. you can hear that full interview with _ service. you can hear that full interview with the _ service. you can hear that full interview with the newscast i service. you can hear that full - interview with the newscast team. it's available at 7pm. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. connor chapman who murdered 26

—year—old elle edwards in a shooting outisde a pub in wirral on christmas eve in 2022, has had a challenge against his 48 year mimimum term life sentence rejected by a court of appeal. seniorjudges concluded the sentence was severe but not manifestly excessive. the prince of wales has carried out his first public engagement, since unexpectedly pulling out of a memorial service due to a "personal matter". prince william visited a synagogue in central london — where he met members of thejewish community. after fears over rising anti—semitism were voiced, william told those assembled that "it has no place in society". it was his first public engagement since pulling out of a memorial service. administrators for the cosmetics and skincare chain of stores, the body shop, say 116 outlets will stay open in the uk. but they are closing 75 shops over the next six weeks — and will cut around 500 jobs, as part of a restructuring programme.

russian president vladimir putin has given his annual state of the nation address, two weeks before russia's 2024 presidential election. in the speech, he claimed russia is gaining territory in what he insisted was a defensive operation in ukraine. he thanked the members of the armed forces fighting in ukraine — and their families at home. but he didn't mention what it might take for russia to end its military action in ukraine. and neither did he touch on what's been happening to his political rivals — including the opposition figure, alexei navalny, who died in a siberian prison this month. but mr putin also warned that any deployment of western troops in ukraine would have "tragic" consequences. the comments appear to respond to french president macron, who this week did not rule out sending western soldiers to ukraine. here's some of what president putin said.

translation: they are talking about sending nato military - contingents to ukraine. but we can recall what happened to those who used to send their contingents to our country. the consequences for these potential intruders will be much more tragic now. applause. they need to finally understand that we, too, have weapons. and they know that — i havejust mentioned — we, too, have weapons that can strike targets on their territory. and everything that they're thinking of now, everything that they use to threaten us in the world, that all this is a real threat of nuclear weapons being used, which spell destruction of civilisation. earlier i spoke to our

correspondence from the russian service. �* , ., service. it's nothing new. he behaved _ service. it's nothing new. he behaved in _ service. it's nothing new. he behaved in the _ service. it's nothing new. he behaved in the usual- service. it's nothing new. he| behaved in the usual fashion. service. it's nothing new. he - behaved in the usualfashion. he contradicted himself on a number of points, for example he said if the west tries to drag russia into the arms race, comparing it to what he says was the exhaustion of the soviet union. a few minutes later he talks about new weapons which russia is going to produce. so it seems he is going to produce. so it seems he is more than happy to accept the challenge which might have never existed if he hadn't invaded ukraine. he said russia now had a new generation of commandos who care about their troops very much and

this comes after 2023 which has become known as the year of mid—ground as an survivors of those fights told bbc russian many russian commanders were sending wave after wave into ukrainian positions. they were tricked sending poorly equipped russian soldiers in order to identify firing conditions. as always, the reality in the world in which president putin lives in doesn't often come together. he mentioned a little bit about the war in ukraine. just tell us more about what he said on that. he in ukraine. just tell us more about what he said on that.— what he said on that. he said that russia is quite _ what he said on that. he said that russia is quite successful, - what he said on that. he said that russia is quite successful, the - russia is quite successful, the economy has adapted, the army has restructured. according to mr putin

they have a serious advantage and everything is going according to plan which once again doesn't really match the reality. we see that russia does have an upper hand in certain positions but it's not a successful performance as he tries to put it. and also we see that ordinary people in russia actually feeljob opportunities in many sectors are cutting down so people are struggling despite all the promises and speeches by the russian president. here in the uk, the government is being urged to take an active role, in the debate on assisted dying, withjersey and the isle of man, now considering its legalisation. campaigners for a change in the law, such as the broadcaster, dame esther ra ntzen, say people should have a choice about the way they want to end their lives. but opponents fear that could put older or vulnerable people at risk, of being pressured by others.

here's fergus walsh. sophie blake was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. it has spread throughout her body and is incurable. she's travelling and enjoying life now, but wants the option of an assisted death if she experiences uncontrollable pain. i don't have a death wish. i love living. i love living life to the full. i've got no desire to to die. i'm not scared of dying, but i'm not ready to die yet. but if i...if and when the time ever comes and if it's ever needed, i don't want to suffer. i don't want to be in horrendous pain. today's report describes assisted dying as a difficult, sensitive, yet crucial subject which attracts passionate argument both for and against. more and more countries in europe have legalised assisted dying in some form in recent years,

along with new zealand, australia, canada and now ten states in the us. the mps say they saw no evidence that palliative and end of life care had deteriorated as a result — and, in some instances, it had improved. while assisted dying remains illegal throughout the uk, the mps say it looks increasingly likely it will be allowed injersey or the isle of man, both crown dependencies. the report says ministers at westminster should be actively involved in discussions about what the implications of that might be. i think the trend is very clear. i think maybe one of the devolved nations within the uk or one of the crown dependencies will enable assisted dying, assisted suicide within the next few years and that has implications for westminster. it doesn't mean that we therefore have to follow suit, but we, of course, have to adapt to that because it brings it nearer.

mps overwhelmingly rejected assisted suicide in their last free vote. that was nearly a decade ago. campaigners opposed to a law change fear the signal it would send to the weak and vulnerable. laws send messages, and if we change the law saying that some people don't have the same protections as others, that actually sometimes it's right to take people's life or people can make that choice, i think that sends a very significant message to people who are vulnerable, who are disabled, who are perhaps depressed and suicidal. and part of suicide prevention is part of the role of medicine. chanting. those in favour of assisted dying are pinning their hopes on the new intake of mps at the next election. but expect more scenes like this, with campaigners for and against outside parliament, whenever this contentious matter returns. fergus walsh, bbc news.

before we leave you, let's take you live to the scene across gaza at night and remind you of an update on our top story and that is that the un aid chief martin griffiths has said he is appalled by reports that more than 100 people have been killed in gaza while they waited to collect life—saving aid. even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, gaza still has the ability to shock us, he wrote on x. he added this comes as the death toll across gaza since the 7th of october hit the 30,000 mark. hello, there. quite a mixture of weather around this afternoon. across eastern areas of england, we have a slow—moving weather front, bringing persistent outbreaks of rain. further north—west, we've got heavy showers — some of these will have thunder and hail mixed in, but the rain certainly set in across east anglia, down through southeast england, where it's going to stay, really,

through the rest of the day today. so particularly wet weather here. showers in northern ireland aren'tjust going to stay for western counties. they're going to sweep right the way across with hail and thunder in those. also hail and thunder in the showers across western areas of scotland. the day's top temperature ranging from 8 to 12 celsius for most. now, overnight tonight, a new area of low pressure is set to develop with a band of rain starting to push in through the night. ahead of that feature, it will be cold with quite a widespread frost developing across scotland and northern england. and then, as we start off friday morning, we may well see some of this rain start to turn to snow. now, the greatest risk of snow is on this occluded weather front that stretches across the peak district, the pennines and on into parts of northern ireland. it is hill snow that we're talking about, and there could be some areas that see around about five centimetres of snow, but others seeing probably very little. and certainly, down at the lower elevations, it's just cold outbreaks of rain that you're going to see from this weather front. temperatures really struggling underneath it. it's probablyjust two or three

celsius for a good chunk of the day. away from that, we'll see some blustery conditions and showers spreading into wales and southern counties of england, something a bit drier across scotland with our temperatures generally a little bit below average for the time of year. now, on into the weekend, the same area of low pressure is going to be loitering over the top of the uk. ok, it's going to be weakening, but nevertheless, it will be bringing showers and the showers will be particularly widespread as we start off the weekend. so on saturday, a day of sunny spells and showers, the showers heavy with some hail and thunder mixed in, still cold enough for a little bit of snow over the very tops of the hills and mountains across northern england and scotland as well. but it shouldn't be impactful snow. temperatures around 6 to 8 celsius or so. so still feeling a little on the cold side. sunday, the same low pressure is still with us, but it's weakening, so there'll be fewer showers around, and the majority of these will tend to be across scotland and northern ireland, with fewer showers generally across more southern areas of the country. that's the latest weather. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines. as they were trying to get aid in northern gaza. the israelis say the troops did fire, but blamed the deaths ona on a crush. sarah everard, who was

murdered by a man, who should never have been a police officer, an inquiry has highlighted the red flags that were missed. and a new home for an endangered species, we look at why this champ is being moved to scotland. —— chimpanzee. time for a look at the business news now. thank you very much. we start in india. we've had economic figures for the last three months of 2023. the economy grew by 8.4%. that is compared with 7.6% growth in the previous quarter. earlier, i spoke to our south asia correspondent archana shukla in mumbai. i asked her what reaction there has been to this news. well, for one, it has surprised almost all economists because the expectation was between 6.6 and 7% growth and it came up to 8.4%, way ahead of expectations.