presidentjoe biden and donald trump make competing visits to the us—mexico border to address a surge in illegal crossings — a key theme for voters. thousands of south korean trainee doctors refuse to return to work on thursday, the day the government set as a deadline to end a mass walk—out. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. we start this hour with events in the middle east. international criticism of israel is mounting over the deaths of dozens of palestinians desperately seeking aid in northern gaza. the eu's foreign policy chief, josep borrell, has described the incident as completely unacceptable carnage.

french president macron said the situation in the territory was terrible, and called for an immediate ceasefire. it comes as the hamas government says more than 30,000 people have been killed in the territory since this conflict began in october. our special correspondent, fergal keane, reports jerusalem. the hunger created by war made this tragedy. that is a fundamental fact of what happened today. the dead and wounded were starving people, simply hoping to feed theirfamilies. translation: | am| one of the wounded. i was on al—rashid street. we were there all day in order to get food for our children, but we paid for that aid with our blood. thousands had gathered in the pre—dawn darkness. they'd heard trucks

were coming with aid. there were farmers, mechanics, our bbc cameraman, teachers, a doctor from a local hospital. an israeli drone filmed people crowding the aid trucks. it is a striking depiction of human desperation. the military said tanks were securing the convoy to ensure aid was distributed, and blamed people in the crowd for the chaos. some began violently pushing and even trampling other gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies. the unfortunate incident resulted in dozens of gazans killed and injured. the army also said troops opened fire, first in the air as a warning

and then at the legs of people it said posed a threat to soldiers. watch this man crawling along the ground away from the food convoy. hospitals in northern gaza say they treated many gunshot wounds. translation: after the israeli military stopped shooting, - we went back to get our aid. this survivor was shot and run over. translation: by the time i got flour and some canned goods and took it i down from the truck, they shot at us, they shot me, and the truck driver left and ran over my leg. we go to get flour for our 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?

this incident comes on a day when gaza marks a reported 30,000 deaths since the war began overfour months ago. there is the dying that happens in the open and suddenly. and there is the hunger silently attacking life. in kamal adwan hospital, there are babies with severe malnutrition. like ahmed moussa. translation: this child is suffering from severe dehydration due - to lack of milk. his mum breast—feeds him but she hasn't eaten and there is no artificial milk. he was rescued from the rubble when he was one—month—old. he lost 2a members of his family. the girl in the red incubator died as our cameraman filmed, an already serious medical

condition worsened by hunger. nearby, great struggles still for little bodies. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. an er doctor who works at al—shifa hospital in north gaza was at the street when israeli troops opened fire, and told the bbc what he saw. at 4:00 this morning, i witnessed a horrible catastrophe f about 100 people dead everywhere. and about 12,000 or maybe more injured patients. that was horrible. lots of people dead around me. and i had a gunshot in the left thigh. i'm injured right now. iforget gunshot in the left thigh. i'm injured right now. i forget food and i forget the reason why i went there. and i stopped my bleeding and

make first aid for other people. as we've heard, the hamas—run health authorities in gaza say more than 30,000 palestinians have been killed since israel started its military action in october. bbc verify has been examining how many of those killed were members of hamas. here's frank gardner. bbc verify has been covering this war ever since the october the 7th raid on israel. it's a war that has ravaged one of the most crowded places on earth — home to over 2 million people. the red arrows show what's been destroyed since the start of the campaign. so, how has this 30,000 deaths figure been arrived at? it's based on the number of dead bodies brought to hospitals. the world health organization has previously endorsed gaza's health ministry casualty figures as credible. if anything, 30,000 could even be an underestimate, due to bodies still buried under the rubble. so let's break this down. as you can see from this graph here, the vast majority of those killed

have been women and children. nearly half of gaza's population is under 18. nearly half of gaza's population is under18. separating nearly half of gaza's population is under 18. separating out civilian deaths from hamas fighters is not easy. those fighters are often embedded amongst the civilian population — some are in uniform, some are not. israel has accused hamas of using gaza's civilian population as human shields. but there is no question that those civilians are suffering the brunt of israel's military operation. so, how many hamas and other militant fighters have been killed? at the start of the war, it was widely assumed hamas had around 30,000 fighters. 0n assumed hamas had around 30,000 fighters. on 19 february, hamas reportedly admitted 6,000 of their fighters had been killed — but they later denied that. as of today, the israeli military say they have killed at least 13,000 fighters — some of whom israel says were as young as 16 or 17. but in the end,

the most shocking thing about these 30,000 deaths is the extraordinarily high proportion of civilians killed. that's down to a combination of a densely packed residential area from which there is no escape, and overwhelming israeli firepower. this conflict is now the most lethal one for palestinian civilians since the creation of the state of israel. officials in bangladesh say a massive fire at a commercial building in the capital dhaka has killed at least 43 people. reports said the blaze started at a restaurant and spread quickly through the building, trapping dozens of people. ealrier, i spoke to our south asia regional editor, anbarasan ethirajan. families are trying to find out what really happened to their loved ones who just went out on an evening to eat in a restaurant in bailey row, right in the heart of the capital, dhaka, when this fire started, trapping dozens of people. this

7—storey building housed clothing shops and several mobile—phone shops, and people suspect that the fire could have started in one of the restaurants because they all use cooking gas cylinders, and then it spread very rapidly through the building. 0ne eyewitness was saying how, in panic, people ran towards the rooftop and there was no emergency exit, which means they were really trapped because of the single staircase. that was one of the reasons, according to one fire department official, many people tried tojump from department official, many people tried to jump from the building department official, many people tried tojump from the building — because they could not get down and they were seriously injured. according to the health minister, more than 40 people have been killed and some of those injured are said to be in a critical condition. so people are really evaluating what really happened, but the fire department officials say now the fire has been brought under control. i suppose investigations are underway. have authorities given more information about what they

think may have caused the fire? it’s think may have caused the fire? it's bein: think may have caused the fire? it�*s being investigated, but the suspicion is about the restaurants and some of those who were in the building. they were talking about how many cooking gas cylinders were left in the staircase itself. and that was one of the reasons why the fire spread so rapidly in this building. many people are worried because some of those injured in the hospital were really affected by the smoke. and most of the victims were due to suffocation and smoke, and there are about 40 people in hospital. now, the authorities are trying to find out what were the safety measures which were not followed by this building — whether this building had all the firefighting equipment or whether it had an emergency exit, and why there was only one staircase, especially in a commercial building. so bangladesh is not very —— it's not very uncommon in bangladesh to have fire accidents, because mostly they are blamed on lax safety rules. we're looking at live images outside

the hospital, where the victims have been taken. quite a large crowd gathering outside. stories like this, you mention, are not uncommon in bangladesh. is there going to be a loud outcry, do you think, from people there about another fire like this happening?— people there about another fire like this happening? every time this kind of incident happens, _ this happening? every time this kind of incident happens, there _ this happening? every time this kind of incident happens, there is - this happening? every time this kind of incident happens, there is a - this happening? every time this kind of incident happens, there is a lot i of incident happens, there is a lot of incident happens, there is a lot of debate about what they should be doing. dhaka itself is a densely populated city with very high—rise buildings — several residential and commercial buildings, and bangladesh is also home to one of the largest clothing factories. 10 years ago, there was a major fire at a clothing factory, killing dozens. in fact, two years ago in 2021, there was a majorfire in a two years ago in 2021, there was a major fire in a food processing factory, killing more than 50 people. so they all blame lack of safety rules and how far the authorities are really serious about giving fire safety clearance to these commercial buildings. because

first of all, they have give fire clearance so that these commercial buildings can operate, so people might question — how come this building was allowed to operate so many restaurants with cooking gas cylinders and without an emergency exit? to texas, where both presidentjoe biden and former president donald trump are visiting the us — and former president donald trump are visiting the us—mexico border. the pair locked in a high—stakes political duel, on an issue which could ultimately decide this year's presidential election. joe biden is visiting a border city called brownsville, its recently seen a drop in the number of people illegally crossing into the us. donald trump, meanwhile, is in eagle pass, the texas border town where republican governor greg abbott has defied the biden white house by using state national guard soldiers to detain undocumented migrants and erect border barricades. mrtrump mr trump spoke mrtrump spokea mr trump spoke a very short time ago. two rival border visits from two men who know migration will be

a top election issue. joe biden wants to highlight a recent plan to beef up border security and close particularly busy crossing points. a plan he says was cynically sabotaged by donald trump and republicans. he said a planned policy was issued, instead of telling members of congress to block this, join me or i willjoin you. immigration is donald trump's signature issue. visiting borderfortifications with the texas governor, he is promising more of this if he's re—elected — and the largest deportation ever of illegal immigrants. now the united states is being overrun by the biden migrant crime, it's a new form of vicious violation to our country. 0n patrol along the border, law enforcement officers like deputy constable santos constantly having to intercept and detain migrants. they say they are being overwhelmed and think this crisis needs to be tackled from the top.

i'm at the bottom of the totem pole, to be honest. the president needs to give the orders to shut down the border or top or federal government to see how they are going to stop this because it's getting out of hand. the river marks the boundary between mexico and america. and if the deep waters are not deterrent enough, a few metres in you have this really long boundary fence, which is covered with razor wire — but even that doesn't prevent migrants from getting through, which pretty much symbolises the problem that's now become the most divisive issue in american politics. major reforms to try and stem the flow of migrants were almost agreed in congress last month and then blocked by republicans at the behest of donald trump. democrats say republicans don't want to fix immigration before the election. for years, they've been crying

and whining the sky is falling on this border security issue and we had the perfect opportunity. they failed not only their party and constituency but they failed our country. this is now the starkest dividing line in american politics. a 3,000—kilometre—long battleground over which the next presidential election will be fought. sarah smith, bbc news, eagle pass, texas. elsewhere in texas, hundreds of first responders are battling some of the biggest wildfires in us history. 0ne of the biggest wildfires in us history. one person has died in the fires, which have now burned 1.1 million acres of land — that's larger than the entire us state of rhode island. texas officials believe the smokehouse fire, as it has been named, is a result of dry grass, high temperatures, and strong winds. it's currently only 3% contained, and governor greg abbott hasissued contained, and governor greg abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 60 texas counties. around the world and across the uk,

this is bbc news. now it's time for a by—election update. counting is continuing in the rochdale by—election. this is the scene live at the rochdale leisure centre, where the declaration will be made maybe in the next few hours. turnout was 39%. voters in the manchester seat are choosing a new mp following the death of sir tony lloyd in january. mp following the death of sir tony lloyd injanuary. there are 11 candidates. in the last hour, george galloway�*s team speaking on bbc news has claimed it is oncourse to win, saying if he does, it would represent a total rejection of mainstream party politics. 0ur represent a total rejection of mainstream party politics. our team at the count are also hearing that an independent candidate may have some second. we will be live at the count at 1:30, but our special live page is up and running continuously on the bbc news website. you can find that at bbc.co.uk/news, or on

the bbc news app. you're live with bbc news. russia's president vladimir putin has warned western governments against considering any deployment of troops to ukraine, and accused them of trying to weaken his country. in his annual state of the nation address in moscow, he claimed his forces were advancing confidently inside ukraine, two years after the invasion. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. fanfare it was president putin's 19th state of the nation address. and he used it to send this warning to western nations. "don't send your troops to ukraine." translation: they need to understand once and for all that we have _ weapons, too, that can strike targets on their territory.

and everything they think up and scare the world — and everything they think up and scare the world with risks nuclear conflict and the end of civilisation. regarding russia, he pledged to reduce poverty, boost the birth rate, and raise incomes. well, there is an election coming up. the kremlin clearly wanted russians to see this speech. it was shown live on billboards. even in some cinemas. although this moscow movie house wasn't exactly overflowing. putin and popcorn — not an obvious combo. this address was part campaign speech, part state of the nation, and state of the world as vladimir putin sees it, with warnings to the west and promises to his people that life here will get better if he stays in the kremlin. as for the current wave of repression in russia and the intensifying crackdown on dissent, there was no mention of that. and the audience — russian mps and senators —

had little to say about the death in prison of the country's most famous opposition leader. are you not concerned about the state of the nation or its reputation after the death of alexei navalny? who's that? i am ready to comment on the message which vladimir putin delivered but not on other issues, so thank you. the president, too, has stayed silent on mr navalny�*s death. alexei navalny is expected to be buried tomorrow at this moscow cemetery. his allies have accused the russian authorities of blocking their plans for a public memorial service for him. as for the kremlin, the choreography here sent a clear message — that on russia's political stage, there is only room for one man. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.

south korean officials and doctors are at odds over staff shortages. doctors walked out last week in protest against the government's plans to increase the number of people admitted to medical school each year. the deadline has now passed for them to return to work. anyone still striking on friday will have their licenses revoked. the defiant doctors argue that more recruitment won't deal with the fundamental flaws in the system. but the government is not backing down and has accused doctors of putting patients' lives at risk. here's a government minister speaking on thursday. translation: isn't yourjob to cure translation: isn't your “0b to cure atients? translation: isn't your “0b to cure patients? doctors h translation: isn't your “0b to cure patients? doctors exist _ translation: isn't yourjob to cure patients? doctors exist for - patients? doctors exist for patients, and the patients are anxiously waiting for you. if you want to oppose the government, leaving your patient is not the right way to do it. doctors have hit back — saying that issues such as poor pay and working conditions should be dealt with first. with tensions high, some of them feel victimised by the government. here's the view of one doctor.

translation: please stop insulting trainee doctors _ translation: please stop insulting trainee doctors by _ translation: please stop insulting trainee doctors by treating _ translation: please stop insulting trainee doctors by treating them - trainee doctors by treating them like criminals. patients are waiting for us. and their families like criminals. patients are waiting for us. and theirfamilies are anxious. in kenya, for more than a decade, the family of this woman, agnus anjuru, has been awaiting justice. she was last seen alive in 2012, leaving a hotel with a british soldier. her body was found in a septic tank near a british military base two months later. she left behind a two—year—old daughter. an inquest found ms wanjiru was unlawfully killed by british soldiers, but no—one has been charged. in an interview with the bbc, the ministerfor armed forces and veterans offered to personally meet the family, and said he sympathises with the family's anger at how long the process forjustice was taking. at how long the process for 'ustice was taking.— was taking. happy to meet and discuss and _ was taking. happy to meet and discuss and sympathise - was taking. happy to meet and discuss and sympathise and - discuss and sympathise and understand as best i can. it's an awful thing that's happened, and her daughter is now grown up. the uk

government is supporting the kenyans in their investigation whenever we are asked to do so. and we will support whatever requests are made of us in the future up to and including charging and an extradition. it's been a long wait for her family. here they are, pictured in court last year, after another postponement of their hearing. an investigation was opened in 2019, but no results have ever been made public. the family had hoped to meet britain's commander—in—chief, king charles, during his royal visit in october. the meeting with britain's defence secretary is seen by the family as a compromise. agnus�* leaf told the bbc she remains unsure her family will ever getjustice. told the bbc she remains unsure her family will ever get justice.— family will ever get 'ustice. we're ho . in: family will ever get 'ustice. we're hoping that. h family will ever get 'ustice. we're hoping that. out_ family will ever get 'ustice. we're hoping that, out of— family will ever get justice. we're hoping that, out of the _ family will ever get justice. we're hoping that, out of the meeting, | hoping that, out of the meeting, that it will be fruitful. why has it taken

to afghanistan: a journalist group says the taliban rulers have warned that if female journalists do not cover their faces on television, women could be banned from the media altogether. the message was conveyed to media firms during a meeting in kabul. since gaining power three years ago, the taliban has imposed restrictions on girls from work to school and public life. moving to sports news: the formula 1 racing boss, christian horner, who heads the red bull team, has again denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour after a series of messages allegedly written by him were leaked. horner was cleared yesterday of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague, following an internal red bull investigation led by an external barrister. 0ur sports news correspondent laura scott has been following developments. it correspondent laura scott has been following developments.— following developments. it was a aractice following developments. it was a practice session _ following developments. it was a practice session ahead _ following developments. it was a practice session ahead of- following developments. it was a practice session ahead of this - practice session ahead of this weekend's bahrain grand prix

ongoing, but 149 people involved in the sport received an anonymous email containing a file of messages purporting to involve christian horner. the list of recipients included officials from formula 1, the sport's governing body, team principals, and the media. in response, horner — who's been team principal of red bull racing for nearly two decades — said, "i won't comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, i have always denied the allegations." this all comes after an independent investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour against horner were made by a female colleague that culminated yesterday in the team's parent company saying that the grievance had been dismissed — but that wasn't the end of the matter, because today red bull's main rivals, mercedes and mclaren, called for transparency on how that investigation had been carried out. tonight, we understand that key figures in the sport are urgently seeking clarity on this latest development as, once again, horner�*s future in the sport may hang in the balance. before we go — congratulations are

in orderfor one of before we go — congratulations are in order for one ofjapan's before we go — congratulations are in orderfor one ofjapan's most eligible bachelors. baseball superstar shohei 0htani, who announced in an instagram post on thursday that he's married — the 29—year—old los angeles dodgers player, who's closely guarded his private life, has not revealed his new wife's identity, leaving fans guessing. last year, 0htani made history when he signed a record—breaking ten—year, $700 million contract with the dodgers. that made him one of the world's most highly paid athletes. do stay with us on bbc news. hello there. well, february was mild on the whole, and it was also very wet for many of us, particularly across parts of east anglia, where some spots saw as much as three times the average february rainfall. now, as we head into march and the start of the meteorological spring, well, it's all about to turn colder. there'll be some frosty nights and the possibility of some of that rain, the showers turn into snow

over the higher ground. now, mostly any snow will be over 200 metres elevation. so that does include the high ground of northern ireland, the welsh mountains, the pennines and the cumbrian fells. and some of that rain and snow will be pushing towards the southern uplands as we head towards the end of the day where the snow levels could start to drop a little bit. but there will be a lot of heavy rain as we head through the morning across england, wales and northern ireland. it's all clearing its way northwards and eastwards showers, brighter spells following on behind for many of us, blustery winds up through the channel and for north sea facing coast as well. some of that rain clearing away from northern ireland. it's going to be feeling cold, largely dry across much of scotland until we get to the end of the day when we could start to see some snow just feeding its way in from the south and then gradually pushing northwards as we head throughout the night. the snow levels starting to drop. it's another cold night on friday in to saturday. there will be a frost out there for many sheltered spots. temperatures down to low single figures. watch out for some icy stretches, of course,

as we start off the weekend. now, on saturday, a low pressure is very much centred right across the uk and it's just spiralling around all of these showers. there could be showers just about anywhere as we head throughout the day on saturday. still brisk northerly winds blowing across the north west of scotland, down through northern ireland. but elsewhere, the winds will fall a little lighter. there will be some showers again, wintry over the high ground. it's still feeling cold as well, with temperatures peaking only between seven and nine degrees celsius. that's a little below the seasonal average, of course, feeling colder and exposure to the wind and underneath the rain. it's the same again on sunday, but it looks drier for most of us. so fewer showers around. so, fewer showers around. but the showers that we do see again could turn wintry over the higher ground. the winds will be lighter as that low tends to fill. as we head through into the start of next week, another area of low pressure swings in from the southwest. so again, it's looking wet and it's looking windy at times. but after we get to tuesday and wednesday, things will start to settle down. it could turn a bit milder. bye— bye.

hello. you're watching bbc news and coverage of the rochdale by—election. this is the scene live at rochdale leisure centre, where the votes are being counted. we know that the turnout in the vote was 39.7%. that is lower than the 60% in

the 2019 general election, but we do know that by—election turnout tends to be lower. voters in greater manchester are choosing a new mp following the death of sir tony lloyd, who died injanuary at following the death of sir tony lloyd, who died in january at the lloyd, who died injanuary at the age of 73. lloyd, who died in january at the age of 73. election officials have suggested we could get a declaration in the next hour or so. this, as you may know, was a chaotic campaign as labour disowned its candidate, azhar ali, after comments he made in the past. in the last hour, george galloway from the workers�* party of britain has claimed that he has won. we�*re also hearing that an independent candidate, david tully, is also doing well. speaking on bbc news, the leader of reform uk alleged there had been campaign intimidation. we�*ll have more on that in a moment. first, though, labour�*s shadow immigration minister, stephen kinnock, was asked

for his reaction to the by—election. well, to