in 2022. i'm helena humphrey — good to have you with us. us presidentjoe biden has signalled he hopes to see a dealfor a ceasefire in the israel—gaza war in time for the start of ramadan, which is set to begin in about 10 days. earlier this week, he said he thought monday would be a reasonable deadline. mr biden�*s latest comments come as he announced plans on friday to order a us military air—drop to get food and aid supplies into gaza in the coming days. the air—drops will be coordinated with the jordanians, who have been at the forefront of efforts to send assistance to gaza by air. president biden�*s announcement comes after more than 100 palestinians were killed on thursday and more than 700 were injured as crowds formed around an aid convoy in northern gaza, desperate for food. witnesses say the israeli army shot

into the crowd. the israeli army, which has released this overhead drone footage, admits its soldiers opened fire — but claims most of the deaths were caused by a crush, or aid trucks running people over. the united nations reported on friday that a large number of people had been found with bullet wounds. un secretary general antonio guterres is calling for an immediate investigation into what happened. earlier we asked his chief of staff, stephane dujarric, how that's possible. at some point there will need to be an investigation. a credible investigation. there will need to be accountability for what happened. it is obviously challenging, to say the least, to conduct one in the midst of a conflict and this is one of the reasons that we want to see a humanitarian ceasefire as quickly as possible. at the end of the day, we had more than 100 people dying because they were dying to get food. and in the end, they were killed either by bullets from the israel army, trampled by others in a mode

of panic or run over by trucks. none of these is acceptable, all of this is just heartbreaking to say the least. our special correspondent fergal keane working with bbc verify spent the day piecing together more details of what happened. his report contains some distressing images. although death is everywhere now in gaza, they'd come thinking they would find aid to keep their families alive. gunshots then shots ripped through the night. people started to move. then ran to escape. in this section of the crowd, panic. as casualties streamed into local hospitals, the testimony of witnesses. translation: the situation was unimaginably crazy. - if aid is going to come to us in this way, we don't want it.

the israelis say that at 4:40am, the convoy left from here under israeli tank escort and began to move towards the crowds waiting for food. the army supplied drone footage but there's no way of telling the sequence of the images because there's no timestamp. at 4:16, the israelis say crowds began to surge around the trucks. in this sequence, bodies can be seen lying on the ground. also others can be seen crawling away. here someone looks as if they are dragging themselves using their upper body. what we don't see is exactly what caused these casualties. in its first statements, the idf said people were trampled rushing the trucks. that warning shots were fired. then shots fired at a crowd posing a threat to troops. this tank appears to be withdrawing. later the military blamed people in the crowd for the chaos.

some began violently pushing and even trampling other gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies. the israel defence forces operate according to the rules of engagement and the international law. no idf strike was conducted towards the aid convoy. earlier in the night, our cameraman met a local doctor waiting for food. here's what he said before the chaos. translation: i am here 'ust like any other person i in northern gaza. all the men are here to get flour and i am not ashamed to say it, we have reached a point of starvation. today, back at work, although wounded, he told us people panicked when shots were fired. translation: many of the men were injured because of - the trucks and some because of the shooting. the bullet penetrated my thigh and i provided cpr for myself

and stabilised my situation. i went back to the injured. i forgot the reason why i came, i forgot the food and the aid and i was doing first aid treatment for the injured. a doctor in another hospital said the dead and wounded there were all gunshot victims. today, aid was dropped byjordan�*s airforce into northern gaza. the hungry rushed towards the food. but nearly five months into this conflict, there's still no operation to deliver aid on the scale that's needed, into place where 85% of the population is displaced.

people are so desperate for food, forfresh water, for any supplies, that they risk their lives in getting any food, any supplies to support their children, to support themselves. without a secure aid operation in the midst of continuing war, the people of gaza wait for the next tragedy. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. massive crowds gathered on the streets of moscow on friday to bid farewell to opposition figure alexei navalny, who died in an arctic prison two weeks ago. tens of thousands of people defied warnings from russian authorities to turn out for navalny�*s church service and burial in a nearby cemetary. a russian human rights group said about 130 people have been detained in cities across the nation. despite a heavy police presence, there were chants of navalny�*s name throughout moscow, from where our russia editor steve rosenberg reports.

they came to say goodbye to the man who'd given them hope but died in prison. and outside the church, longer and longer, the queue of russians wanting to pay their last respects to alexei navalny. "he was our hope," anna tells me. "i feel like i'm burying my own son." he's the only person i could trust, and i was dreaming of him to become our president, really, and it's a huge tragedy for me and for my people. the kremlin had called mr navalny an extremist, a criminal, but listen to the reaction when his coffin arrived. crowd chanting: navalny! by now, the whole street was watching and chanting the name of vladimir putin's fiercest opponent. crowd chanting: navalny! navalny.

"we won't give in," they cried. and suddenly, the climate of fear that has descended on russia seemed to clear, for a time, despite all the police that were here. "no to war," they chanted. in church, alexei navalny�*s parents sat by the open coffin as an orthodox priest recited prayers for the soul of their son. mr navalny�*s death, first and foremost, a family tragedy. when the service was over, the coffin was carried back to the hearse. bells toll then, from his supporters, a spontaneous show of respect for the man who had challenged the kremlin. with carnations and roses, they sent him on his final journey. and the crowds followed.

as they walked towards the cemetery, they chanted the kind of anti—government slogans unheard on russian streets for two years. "freedom to political prisoners" and "russia will be free". the authorities did not want alexei navalny�*s funeral to become a very public event, a public display of sympathy for the man who was a vocal critic of the kremlin. but that's what it's turning into. lots of flowers, but one tribute today came in a message from mr navalny�*s wife yulia. she's abroad and may risk arrest if she returns. she said farewell by posting: "i don't know how to live without you, "but i will try my best "to make you up there happy for me and proud." as alexei navalny was laid to rest, a band played music from terminator 2 and the sinatra classic my way.

his way had been to stand up to power and imagine a different russia he wouldn't live to see. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the turnout for navalny�*s funeral is considered to be the largest opposition gatherings since his jailing in 2021. i spoke about all of this with angela stent, a senior fellow at the brookings institution. welcome back. great to have you with us. we saw thousands turning out on the streets of moscow for alexei navalny�*s funeral today. some people shouting slogans, "no to war", "russia will be free". what do you make of those scenes in the russian capital? first of all, i think we have to recognise these people are incredibly brave, showing up like that with cctv cameras all around, shouting those slogans, shouting slogans like "ukrainians are good people". so the kremlin did everything they could to prevent this from happening.

told alexei navalny�*s mother she had to have a secret burial. but she stuck to her guns and quoted the law to them. and, you know, there is vladimir putin, who puts himself forward as the saviour of real christianity, so i think in the end they did have to back down. the question is, what's going to be the follow—up? in other words, what's going to happen to all these thousands of people who did show up today? indeed, and in terms of the kremlin trying this from going ahead, what do you think their concern was? they didn't want a big public demonstration of grief and of opposition to putin. that's why they tried to prevent it from happening and they even — until the last moment, the poorfamily of navalny wouldn't even find the company to transport the hearse to the church, and in the end they did. so i think one thing this maybe was a way for the kremlin

to see how many people showed up and then to hope that maybe this will now die down and this was a one—off event. it is the biggest protest since before the beginning of the russian—ukraine war. so i think that is what they will be waiting to see and we will wait and see as well, what happens to all of these people. i mean, ithink120 people were arrested today across russia. talking about the fallout, rather poignantly, yulia navalnaya wasn't able to attend the funeral. how do you assess the risks to her, to her entourage in the wake of all of this? i think the risks were quite present. she'd made a very touching video today and of course she made a video after learning of his death saying that she was going to carry on his mission. in other words, she could have quietly lived where she is living now in lithuania and carried on with her life but she didn't, she vowed to carry on. so i would assume she has

to watch out for herself, for her children, and alexei navalny�*s anti—corruption foundation still exists. it'sjust in exile, it's in europe. they will try to carry on too. but they will still be persecuted by the kremlin to the extent that it can because i think one of the messages that the death of navalny sent to the world, from the kremlin�*s point of view, is we can do this, we can murder someone essentially at home if they are a dissident but we can also get people abroad — and we know that they have successfully poisoned and killed people who are poisoned abroad, most recently a russian in the military who defected to ukraine and was living in spain and was gunned down a week or so ago. two final thoughts, then. what do you make of the chances of success for any kind of opposition going forward and then also cognisant of the fact that we've got the election this

month, putin very likely to win, what is his next term essentially looking like for people there in russia, do you think? i think many people think and assume that after the so—called election there will even be greater repression in russia. he is running essentially unopposed and he will then use that to clamp down even further in russia. i think the future for the opposition in russia at the moment is very dim. there are obviously people who live in russia, as we saw today, who oppose putin and the war and support a free and democratic russia but they have to be very careful about what they do. navalny was the leader of the opposition. the opposition still exists in exile and at home but there's a limit to what they can do as long as putin is in power. thank you very much indeed. thank you. meanwhile, ukraine is still looking for more international assistance as it tries to hold back russian forces. dutch prime minister mark rutte

signed a security deal with ukraine during a surprise visit to the north—eastern city of kharkiv, where he met ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky. mr rutte is now the seventh western leader to sign a 10—year agreement with ukraine in the last two months. he said the netherlands will help fund the supply of 800,000 artillery shells — something ukraine is critically short of as it battles russian troops in the east. the shells could help plug a hole in ukrainian stockpiles while us military assistance remains stuck in congress amid continuing republican opposition. the promise of aid follows the recent two—year anniversary of moscow's full—scale invasion of ukraine. we've been speaking to ambassador mark green, the ceo and president of the wilson center, and former administrator of us—aid, whojust returned from ukraine. i'm impressed with the resilience of the ukrainian people. what they kept saying to us over and over again, it was interesting, all around the country, they kept saying, "tell americans that we are tired "but not exhausted". they understand that this

is a battle for their very survival, so despite the tough face, russia is one of the largest armies of the world, they're incredibly resilient, they're responsive in finding ways to try to rebuild as things go on. but on the other hand, they clearly need our help. so what was it that winston churchill used to say? "america does the right thing after it's done everything "else?" i think at the end of the day we will come forward and will help out but again, time is passing and ukrainians really do need our help. they've done enormously well against these difficult odds but again, we're seeing brutal tactics from vladimir putin and the kremlin and clearly the ukrainians are being tested. as that us aid falters, president biden is turning to italy in his drive to build support for ukraine. the nation's prime minister, georgia meloni, met with president biden at the white house friday. mr biden said the two leaders "have each other�*s backs" and "have ukraine's back."

he also urged republicans in congress to pass funding for kyiv. ms meloni said that as the chairwoman of the group of 7 nations, she was focused on "defending freedom "and building peace for ukraine." let's turn to some other important news around the world. the two largest us pharmacy chains will begin selling the prescription abortion pill, mifepristone, this month. cvs and walgreens said they will start distribution in a handful of states where abortion is legal. the move follows a decision by the us food and drug administration last year allowing pharmacies to sell the pill. mifepristone has been legal in the us since 2000 but was previously only accessible through clinics and hospitals. argentina's new president has vowed to send a new package of economic reforms to the country's congress, a month after lawmakers rejected his earlier plan. javier milei laid out some of the proposals in his first speech before congress on friday. he reiterated his position that

drastic economic reforms are needed to tackle record inflation. and he threatened to use the powers of the presidency to push through his aggressive economic reforms if necessary. kenya and haiti have reached an agreement to deploy around 1000 kenyan police officers to tackle gang violence in the carribean nation. haiti's prime minister ariel henry signed the deal with kenyan president william ruto on friday. injanuary, kenya's high court ruled the country could only send a security force to haiti via a formal bilateral deal. a former paramedic in the us state of colorado has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the killing of elijah mcclain after he was stopped by police in 2019. peter cichuniec is one of two medical workers convicted of criminally negligent homicide. they injected mcclain with a high dose of ketamine as police officers held him down. two police officers have been found guilty of criminally

negligent homicide. voters in iran went to the polls on friday to elect a new parliament and assembly of experts, which selects the country's supreme leader. it's the first test of public opinion there since a series of protests against the hardline islamic regime after the death of mahsa amini while in custody of iran's morality police in 2022. a news agency controllled by iran's revolutionary guards has estimated turnout in friday's parliamentary elections to be more than a0%. iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, urged citizens to vote. authorities framed this election as a way to strengthen iran against what they see as us and israeli influence in the region. the bbc had not been allowed to report from iran for five years, but our correspondent caroline davies was given rare permission. at a central tehran polling station, a celebratory mood. this is one of the polling stations where both foreign and local media are directed

to come, which means that for some, it's also a place that they come to if they want to be seen to be voting. a newly married couple, former ministers and families like mr rohani's, out to cast their votes here. translation: those who don't vote are cutting themselves off| from their own fate. they are saying "we don't want to decide the future "of our country". for me, it's not the right choice. early polling suggested that this could be a record low turnout across iran, but officials are optimistic. translation: the presence of people today proves that l all the threats to the country and all the negative propaganda of the foreign media has failed. still, people have come out. iran has suggested that failing to vote risks undermining the country's security, but some have other

reasons not to. shoppers were nervous to speak to foreign media today. one woman agreed, but anonymously. translation: the | economy is very bad. everything has gone very expensive and the salary we get is very low. even if i vote or not vote, my demands are not solvable. some analysts think a lost turnout means lost faith. low turnout means dissatisfaction — dissatisfaction on cultural issues, on political issues, on economic issues. i feel that people have lost their interest in politics in general, and this low turnout will be another sign of that too. today's ballot comes at a sensitive time for iran abroad, as the authorities are counting their popularity at home. caroline davies, bbc news, tehran. an election campaign also got under way in mexico on friday.

the country is likely to elect its first—everfemale president, with opinion polls showing former mexico city mayor claudia sheinbaum as an early favourite. she's currently polling about 20—30 points ahead of her main challenger xochitl galvez. sheinbaum is a 61—year—old scientist, who is a close ally of mexico's current president, andres manuel lopez 0brador. mexican voters will cast ballots on 2june, the same day they'll vote for lawmakers in both chambers of congress, eight governorships and thousands of other local officials. 0ur mexico correspondent will grant has more. the official start of campaigning for the make editors mark the beginning of a gruelling 90 days ahead of them, both vying to be mexico's first woman president. at this event for claudia, the former mayor of mexico city, the message is one of continuity, putting in essence she says to her voters and supporters is

that she will continue the economic vision and the social policies of the incumbent current president. they will be popular with these people setting out. they have been very supportive of his focus on pensions, his opening of the university grants to young people, and his social spending plan in general. nevertheless, we asked a few people in the main square of mexico city behind me what they felt the new president should focus on, what would be the main thing they should look at, and they all said the same thing. crime. translation:— all said the same thing. crime. translation: security, where i live is very _ translation: security, where i live is very dangerous. _ translation: security, where i live is very dangerous. after - translation: security, where i live is very dangerous. after a i live is very dangerous. after a certain hour, you cannot even go to the shop because people they do not go out, you will be assaulted, so yes, better security. assaulted, so yes, better security-— assaulted, so yes, better- security-_ they security. translation: they need to put — security. translation: they need to put a _ security. translation: they need to put a bit _ security. translation: they need to put a bit more - security. translation: they need to put a bit more focus. need to put a bit more focus and — need to put a bit more focus and effort on security issues. it affects _ and effort on security issues. it affects people in every seat in the — it affects people in every seat in the country. | it affects people in every seat in the country.— in the country. i think that is a calculation _

in the country. i think that is a calculation that _ in the country. i think that is a calculation that claudia's l a calculation that claudia's nearest competitor is also making, she suggests that the heart of her campaign is basically going to be about security, that she will build a mega prison for drug cartel members, that she will improve the conditions and the pension of the members of the security forces. that will go well with a certain sector of the electorate, believing that the situation on crime is deteriorating month after month, yearfor the deteriorating month after month, year for the current president. even from her anti—crime platform, she will struggle to not knock the opposing parties out, given that she is already between 25-30 that she is already between 25—30 points in the lead. and before we go, we have some hair—raising footage from the us state of kentucky, where a truck was left dangling

dramatically over the edge of the clark memorial bridge after a crash involving several vehicles. firefighters confirmed the driver was pulled from the truck using ropes and ladders, and was back safely on the bridge in about 45 minutes. she is in stable condition. officials say it was "extremely lucky" that the vehicle never plunged into the water, roughly 75 feet or 23 metres below. that's all from the team here in washington. thanks for your company. i'm helena humphrey. hello. friday was the first day of meteorological spring — but it was also a day that winter refused to relinquish its grip. here in northern ireland, enniskillen, seeing a fresh fall of fairly chunky snow. there were also some snowfall over the peak district — this is the cat and fiddle road — road that goes between macclesfield and buxton — it's quite high up, but we had some problems reported on that, as well. low pressure then has been across the uk, with this cold air

mass in place. we've got lots of showers at the moment, particularly across england and wales, northern scotland, and this band of rain and hill snow across parts of the far north of england and southern scotland. now there is a chance of seeing a centimetre or two of snow across the cheviots, the north pennines, the southern uplands over the next hour or two, so it could get quite icy here. and also in the showers affecting the higher parts of wales — again, above 200 metres elevation, you might come across an odd centimetre or two of snow across the high ground here. temperatures getting close, if not below freezing in a few areas, so there will be a risk of a few icy patches heading into the first part of saturday morning. then we've got this clump of more organised showers working across wales in the midlands — well, they could have a bit of sleet or snow mixed in, probably struggling to settle, and quite a few of those showers will still have just cold rain. it is a day where showers will be really widespread on saturday, some of them with hail and thunder. and, although there'll be a bit of sunshine between the showers, those sunnier moments, probably quite short—lived. temperatures below average, about 6—9 celsius.

now, the same area of low pressure stays with us through saturday night and into sunday. it will tend to drift northwards, tending to weaken somewhat. and so, of the two days of the weekend, sunday looks like it's likely to be the better, in terms of weather. should be a fair bit of dryer weather after a locally misty and foggy start to the day, a better chance of seeing some sunshine. there'll still be a few showers around, particularly for scotland and northern ireland, 1—2 for wales and western england, but bigger gaps between those showers and a bit more in the way of sunshine. it will continue to feel cool though, for the time of year. into next week, low pressures continue to move in off the atlantic from the west, but they're running into this area of high pressure that's centred over scandinavia. and so, we'll get something of an east—west split with the weather. for western areas, it stays quite cloudy with the threat of further outbreaks of rain. eastern areas tending to become drier, sunnier, and a bit milder, as well. that's the latest, bye for now.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. winter in slovenia. whoa! that was close. and there's no better time of year to be hurtling downhill at speed. these are thejulian alps. they may not be quite as epic

as their cousins in france or switzerland, but depending on what you're after, they can be just as much fun, and they're a lot cheaper. there is no doubt the cost of skiing can put some people off. but in slovenia, the attitude is very different. many slovenians see the mountains as a place that should be accessible for everyone. from the champion skiers to the ones just starting out. go on, simona. you can do it. and from the people alone on a mountaintop... this is probably the highest bedroom in all of slovenia. ..to the teams of champion snow builders. one hour? one hour. yes. we have to hurry up. i'm exploring the country's outdoor playgrounds to find out more about the relationship between the slovenians and their snow.