the way for free and fair elections in the country. that comes as the us state department is urging citizens to leave as soon as possible, with the country bracing for more violence. tensions remain high in haiti, after one of the country's most powerful gang leaders warned that there will be a civil war if prime minister ariel henry does not resign. jimmy cherizier, who is also known as barbecue, has been opposed to the prime minister since he took power following the assassination of presidentjovenel moise in 2021. mr henry was not yet elected to his current position. on tuesday, the prime minister landed in puerto rico after his plane was denied permission to land in haiti due to security concerns. the us ambassador to the united nations addressed the situation on wednesday, saying that while the us is not pushing for mr henry to resign, it does want to see a political transition. what we've asked the haitian

prime minister to do is move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transition council that will lead to elections. we think thatis lead to elections. we think that is urgent that he moves forward in that direction, and start the process of bringing normalcy back to the people of haiti. meanwhile, the violence in haiti is worsening. the un high commissioner for human rights volker turk is calling for international action and says the situation is "beyond untenable". since the beginning of the year, 1,193 people have been killed and 692 others wounded by the gang violence. the un's humanitarian coordinator in haiti told the bbc that gang members are killing and raping indiscriminately, and that bodies can be seen on the streets of the capital. the un says that gangs have stepped up their campaign of violence since the prime minister travelled to kenya a week ago. for more on the situation, i spoke to our central american

and carribbean correspondent, will grant. good to see you. clearly an extremely tense situation for haiti with the prime minister stranded abroad, and then the leader of the gang that has led to all of this violence now threatening civil war. what's the latest you can tell us? it looks like those two positions are very clearly entrenched for the time being. there is no movement from ariel henry, stuck in puerto rico for now. it is clear that elements of the biden administration want to see him back, not necessarily to continue as prime minister or remain in power, in fact quite the opposite, they want him to begin the transition of power, but to be in place to give the country more stability to start the process of first resignation and then free and fair elections. but on the flip side, you mentioned the gangs and specifically one gang

leader, jimmy cherizier, known as barbecue, who said he is prepared to do whatever it takes to force mr henry from power, even civil war. takes to force mr henry from power, even civilwar. it's takes to force mr henry from power, even civil war. it's an extremely difficult situation in the country. with the airport still closed during this state of emergency, with the army and the police around the army and the police around the building, it looks like nothing is going to move for the time being, but we are just waiting and watching at this stage. i waiting and watching at this staue. ., ., , waiting and watching at this stae. . ., , , ., stage. i want to pick up on what you _ stage. i want to pick up on what you were _ stage. i want to pick up on what you were saying - stage. i want to pick up on | what you were saying about washington's message to mr henry, calling on the prime minister to expedite the transition of power. what are his possibilities here? fine transition of power. what are his possibilities here?- his possibilities here? one of the possibilities _ his possibilities here? one of the possibilities is _ his possibilities here? one of the possibilities is he - his possibilities here? one of the possibilities is he resigns| the possibilities is he resigns from outside the country, that is certainly on the table as a possibility. probably not one he considers doing. he doesn't want to leave power or certainly not under those terms. but the pressure is growing, notjust within haiti from the criminal element but

the wider caribbean region. we know the state department want things to go more smoothly, but that would be an ideal world and this is far from that would be an ideal world and this is farfrom one in haiti at the moment, teetering on the precipice of being a failed state. if he doesn't resign, how does he get back and when does he get back in order to start the process of a transition of power? questions no one can answer for the time being. no one can answer for the time beinu. , ., , being. some huge questions there, being. some huge questions there. and — being. some huge questions there, and i— being. some huge questions there, and i want _ being. some huge questions there, and i want to - being. some huge questions there, and i want to touch i being. some huge questions| there, and i want to touch on there, and i want to touch on the gang leaderjimmy cherizier. do we have a clear idea of what his aims are for the country? in idea of what his aims are for the country?— idea of what his aims are for the count ? , ., the country? in the short-term, it's the resignation _ the country? in the short-term, it's the resignation of _ the country? in the short-term, it's the resignation of ariel - it's the resignation of ariel henry, not much more to it than that. but there is medium and long—term plans, or at least hopes. one of them, i wouldn't be at all surprised, and i have heard from journalists in haiti, that he himself would

like to be in power. he sees himself as a man of the people. in interviews, he's always emphasising the plight of haiti's poorest, he speaks in the shanty town and show the media how bad things are. so he has designs on power himself. evenif has designs on power himself. even if he were not to be the figure in power, he is clearly a power broker. the pure strength of the gangs that he organises and runs under his coalition gangs, it's really a factor in whoever takes power. he has the strength, as it were, to make or break this political process. so yeah, i think what he wants is somebody who is going to ease light for him, not bring charges against him, not bring charges against him for the criminality and the charges against human rights abuses. —— to ease life for him. it is indeed not to take power himself. thousands of people have fled their homes in port—au—prince to escape violence.

serge dalexis leads the office for the international rescue committee in haiti, and is currently in montreal after leaving haiti on sunday evening. the bbc spoke to him earlier. what we are hoping for now is to have a safe environment where we can deliver aid and assistance to the population is haiti right now, because we have half of the population on the brink of famine, into hunger, going hungry every day right now, and the situation on the ground is dire. now we have the ground is dire. now we have the gangs controlling more than 80% of the capital city. as mentioned earlier, the situation looks very bad for every normal haitian, or everyone there right now. a group of protesters in mexico city have driven a pick—up truck through a door to the country's presidential palace. they were met by police officers, who used tear

gas on the protesters. the group was protesting the 2014 mass disappearance of 43 mexican students. president andres manuel lopez obrador was inside the building at the time, giving a daily press c0 nfe re nce . he said the door will be fixed, adding that the protesters will meet with members of his government. the united states vowed to hold the houthi militia group accountable for the deaths of three civilians after a missile strike hit a commercial ship in the gulf of aden on wednesday. the attack took place about 100 kilometres south—west of the yemeni port of aden. four people were also injured. the group has regularly attacked merchant ships in the crucial shipping corridor since the israel—gaza war began, but this is the first such attack to result in any deaths. us state department spokesperson matthew miller accused the houthis of disrupting international commerce, the freedom of navigating international waters and now endangering seafarers. i think it was sadly

inevitable, the houthis have continued to launch reckless attacks with no regard for the well—being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the red sea. and now unfortunately and tragically they have killed innocent civilians. we will continue to hold them accountable, we call on governments around the world to do the same. the iranian—backed group began strikes in the region back in november. they say attacks will continue until "the siege on the palestinian people in the gaza is lifted." our security correspondent frank gardner has the latest. it's the first fatal attack in nearly four months of these attacks by the houthis on these ships. a dangerous threshold has been crossed now, because it calls into question the effectiveness, or the efficacy, of the us led military campaign to hit back at the houthis to deter them from these attacks on ships. the houthis say they are doing this in solidarity

with the palestinians in gaza and that they are only targeting shipping that is linked to israel, the uk or the us, but a linked to israel, the uk or the us, buta number of linked to israel, the uk or the us, but a number of other ships with no such links have been targeted and hit. the point is, it is deterring a large amount of global shipping from passing through the red sea, and sending it thousands of miles out of its way around the far side of the far coast of africa, adding huge prices and costs, but also making this a very strategic choke point, the strait separating djibouti from yemen, a very dangerous place for shipping to cross. so now we have seen fatalities, not just threats and missiles, but personalities on the site, there is a real risk that there is going to be calls for the us and the uk and others to step up and the uk and others to step up their military campaign. —— but fatalities on the site. to

hit the houthis harder, escalating this war in the southern red sea and on yemen. ukraine's president and the greek prime minister are unharmed after a deadly russian missile strike on a city that the leaders were touring. the attack hit the port city of odesa, where the country's president, volodymyr zelensky, was showing kyriakos mytsotakis damage caused by two years of war. the two leaders later visited the site of the attack. no—one from either delegation was hurt, but ukraine's navy says five other people were killed. from kyiv, here's james waterhouse. kyriakos mitsotakis and volodymyr zelensky were hosting a press conference in the port of odesa now, this is an area that is routinely hit by russia. the city is routinely targeted. the city is routinely targeted. the kremlin said it carried out a precision strike on a hanger containing groans, so it's not clear, we simply don't know whether the two leaders were

deliberately targeted. —— and training and containing groans. the greek prime minister described his experience is impressive. he was quite complimentary about it. most would call it petrifying. president zelensky said he saw and felt the explosion and if you go on what witnesses are saying and verified footage, we are talking about a matter of hundreds of metres in terms of how close the missile was when it struck. president zelensky is no stranger to risk. he visits the timelines. near misses might not necessarily be reported there, but this is the first time it's known that a missile has landed perilously close to him. this could have

had a very different outcomes. five people were killed. no one from either delegation, we are told, but it shows how it could have been catastrophic for greece, a nato member, and ukraine, a country still at war, still being invaded by russia. the world food programme has warned that the world's biggest hunger crisis could develop in sudan. more than ten months of fighting between rival military forces has left thousands dead and eight million people displaced. the head of the un agency called for humanitarian access to reach those facing emergency levels of hunger. in the last day, sudan's military—led government said it would allow some aid to be delivered through neighbouring chad and south sudan. both hunger and displacement are at the heart of the humanitarian issues stemming from the war in sudan. our deputy africa editor anne soy has been following those issues, reporting on the background of the conflict. it's already the world's biggest displacement crisis. even those who have led sudan

into neighbouring countries are still facing issues getting food. that is because they are fleeing into countries that are themselves fragile, which have humanitarian crises they have been dealing with, which are grossly underfunded. so the humanitarian organisations are warning that they are struggling to meet the needs of the people on the ground, the people who are fleeing into neighbouring countries, many of them displaced multiple times. it's also incredibly difficult for them to get to those who are in sudan, stuck in the war zone. up to 90% of them have not been reached. the situation is deteriorating. for weeks now they have not had access to the internet, which means they are cut off from family and friends who have been supporting them. it is an incredibly challenging situation for civilians who have been caught up in this war that has been described as senseless, between two military forces, the national army, the

saf, and the rsf, the rapid support forces, who fell out last year. i have been talks brokered by regional governments in africa as well as arab states, backed by western nations like the united states, but still they haven't yielded a lasting peace. this is what really the head of the world food programme has said will bring respite to people in sudan, to change the situation for them. to find lasting peace, which at the moment looks a long way away. and as the conflict continues, the spokesperson for the world food programme in sudan, leni kinzli, says the situation could deteriorate in the coming months. but looking at the current numbers, the spokeswoman said 37% of the sudanese population is facing acute hunger. that's about 18 million people stuggling to find food daily. and almost five million people in sudan are facing emergency

levels of hunger — one stage before famine. that number has tripled since the beginning of the conflict. so the question now is about what is being done to fix the problem. william spindler, a spokesperson of the united nations refugee agency, explained that support for sudan is falling behind as the world grapples with multiple wars. there were very serious situations elsewhere, of course. the international street community seems to be unable to face more than one crisis at a time. —— the international community. unfortunately, the amount of humanitarian situations in the world is growing. we are seeing situations like sudan not getting attention to what it needs. in the case of the unhcr, our needs for sudan this year, inside the country and in neighbouring countries, it amounts to 988 million us dollars, and so far we have

received less than 10% of that. other organisations are similarly underfunded, and this is really worrying, because unlike other situations that are getting the support they need, sudan seems to be forgotten. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at the top story in the uk. britain's new budget calls for a cut in national insurance for employees and the self—employed. and the government will increase the child—benefit threshold by £10,000 — or nearly $13,000. the plan laid out by chancellor the exchequerjeremy hunt will also include higher taxes on vaping and business—class flights. still, the government will take in billions more in tax revenues ove the coming decades. the bbc�*s political editor challenged mr hunt on that point. one of the reasions tax receipts are higher is because the economy is set to get back to growth. if you look at the thresholds,

they are frozen as people's incomes are rising, they are paying more. even if you take account of the thresholds, what you will see next year is a big cut in taxation forfamilies earning the average income — it's a significant cut. labour leader keir starmer called the budget a "last desperate act" with people paying "more and more for less and less". it's likely the last budget before a general election. you're live with bbc news. turning now to a major development in a story here in the us. the woman in charge of weapons on the set of the movie rust, where a cinematographer was shot dead, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. hannah gutierrez—reed loaded a gun for actor alec baldwin, before it fired and killed 42—year—old cinematographer halyna hutchins. this took place during a rehearsal on the set of rust in new mexico back in 2021. gutierrez—reed is now facing a sentence of up to three years in prison.

one of thejurors in the trial spoke to media after the verdict. pretty much never did the safety checks, never checked the rounds to look at them, shake them. i mean, with that, it wouldn't have happened. i think it was fair. someone died. you've got to take responsibility, especially when you are handling weapons and you are handling weapons and you are handling weapons and you are in charge of those.

that's your job. you are in charge of those. that's yourjob. lack of experience, whatever you want to call it, you took the job. as for alec baldwin, this verdict is likely to be seen as good news. his attorneys can now argue that baldwin could not have foreseen there was a live round in the gun because that was the responsbility of the weapon handler — hannah gutierrez—reed. baldwin will head to trial injuly to face manslaughter charges. let's turn to some important news around the world. 750 national guard soldiers and 250 state police officers will be deployed to the new york city subway system. new york governor kathy hochul announced the measure to help combat an uptick in violent crime on the subway. the new deployments come a month after mayor eric adams enlisted another 1,000 nypd officers to work the subway. governor hochul said the officers are expected to patrol platforms and check commuters' bags for weapons. the international organization for migration says that 2023 was the deadliest year for migrants since records began a decade ago.

more than 8,500 people died on migration routes around the world. the un agency report says that's a 20% increase from the year before. the most dangerous journey continues to be the mediterranean sea crossing, with over 3,000 deaths and disappearances. prosecutors in new york have dropped a case against three men charged with conspiring to sell handwritten lyrics to the famed eagles hit hotel california. former eagles member don henley had claimed a notepad with the song's lyrics was stolen before being put up for sale in 2012. new evidence called the case's fairness into question. the three men had pleaded not guilty to the charges. us republican presidential candidate nikki haley officially suspended her campaign, a day after 15 states held primaries and caucuses on super tuesday. ms haley only managed to win in the state of vermont and trailed far behind former president donald trump in other states. mr trump is now virtually assured of clinching the republican nominaton for president. in her speech, nikki haley

congratulated the former president and wished him all the best, but stopped short of endorsing him. i have always been a conservative republican and always supported the republican nominee. but on this question, as she did on so many others, margaret thatcher provided some good advice when she said, "neverjust follow the crowd. always make up your own mind." it is now up to donald trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and i hope he does that. our north america correspondent tom bateman gave some analysis on how the general election is shaping up following the suspension. what all of this means is we are heading for a rematch, joe biden and donald trump now cruising ahead and all but certain to clinch the

nominations for both of their parties. i thought it was interesting, as nikki haley withdrew from the race in her speech, she stuck to the seems she had campaigned on throughout this year—long challenge, and attempt to try to take the nomination. very much presenting herself as the responsible, conservative republican, in stark contrast to donald trump, and the juggernaut of his movement which has swept aside the other candidates in the race for the republican nomination. she didn't endorse donald trump, and that's really significant. saying, rather, that he had to earn the support of her followers, conservative republicans, as she put it. that could become a really interesting and quite decisive group of people. some of the polling suggests 40% of republican leaning voters who have supported nikki haley

would not be prepared to vote for donald trump for president. now, these are people who see themselves traditionally as republicans, but don't think donald trump basically fits their values, to the extent that they wouldn't be prepared to vote for him. what you are seeing now is an attempt byjoe biden to live away those people, tweeting that they are welcome in his campaign. —— to lure away. crucially some of the donors as well that were giving money towards nikki haley, that part of the republican base. shortly after nikki haley made her announcement, outgoing senate republican leader mitch mcconnell endorsed donald trump.

the next big event on the us political calendar is president biden's annual state of the union address on thursday. it's an opportunity for mr biden to set the legislative agenda for the year. the bbc�*s special coverage begins at 8pm eastern, or 0100 gmt. you can also follow live updates on our webiste at bbcnews.com/news or on our mobile app. and before we go, we want to share one of the most—read stories on our website, involving dogs and diets. scientists in the uk say that a genetic mutation makes some labradors and flat—coated retrievers constantly hungry while burning fewer calories. the so—called "double whammy" effect means dog owners must pay special attention to keeping their pets trim. the mutation was found in one—in—four labrador retrievers and two—thirds of flat—coated retrievers. more than 80 pet labrador dogs took part in the study, which makes it sound like one of the more adorable scientific studies i can think of.

i'm helena humphrey, thank you for waching. i'll be back in 30 minutes with the headlines. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. over the next few days, the winds going to be picking up from the east or south—east. it's going to be particularly windy on friday. we'll have more of the cloud affecting eastern parts of the country. i think western areas will see most of the sunshine. that's because high pressure over scandinavia will be pushing westwards against this low pressure system, so we'll start to see the isobars squeezing together. so for thursday, it's a bright start across northern and western areas. quite a chilly start, mind you — early mist and fog will clear as the wind begins to pick up. eastern areas seeing thicker cloud at times. it will stay rather grey here, maybe some spots of drizzle. a few showers into the afternoon across the midlands, into east wales. otherwise, many places should stay dry and we should see sunny spells. top temperatures 11 degrees but cooler along north sea coasts with that increasing onshore breeze. the winds continue to pick up

through thursday night, pushing more cloud into the midlands, northern england, large parts of scotland. but there will still be some clearer skies, particularly through southern and central areas. so where the skies are clear, it's going to be cold. where we have the cloud, the breeze, then less cold — generally, i think two to five degrees. now, more isobars on the charts for friday. a strong east, south—easterly wind picking up as this low pressure system starts to push back against the area of high pressure, so a blustery day for all. there will be quite a bit of sunshine around, we think for, england and wales. more clouds for northern england, certainly central and eastern scotland, and some good spells of sunshine for western scotland, northern ireland. but the winds a feature for all areas, particularly so along north sea coast. so that will peg the temperatures back. although we're looking at single digits on the north sea, it could feel even colder than that. further west in the sunshine, ten or 11 celsius. into saturday, this area of low pressure sideswipes the south and south—west of the country. again, it stays quite blustery, quite a few isobars on the charts for saturday.

and we'll see showers or longer spells of rain affecting parts of the west and the south—west. some sunshine around too. it's not going to be a wash—out. a lot of cloud, though, for northern england and large parts of central and eastern scotland. a bit of drizzle on the hills there. feeling quite chilly in the north, but 11 to 13 in the south, some milder air being pulled into this area of low pressure which will — by sunday into monday — pull out into the near continent. you'll see the isobars opening out. so we should start to see some drier weather, lighter winds as we head through sunday, into monday and tuesday. but east—facing coasts will always see more in the way of cloud, perhaps still with a little bit of drizzle over the higher ground.

the foreign minister in china says the country will be a force for peace and stability as he addresses the press on the sidelines of a two session meeting. and we take a look at how small businesses in singapore are getting a �*swift lift�*. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. the foreign minister in china is addressing the press on the sidelines of the countries annual two session meeting. it is the annual parliamentary session but looks back at the

last year and announces policies for the year ahead. let's have a listen in. translation: let's have a listen in. tuna/mom- let's have a listen in. translation: �* , translation: all the chinese should be released _ translation: all the chinese should be released and - translation: all the chinese should be released and all - should be released and all actions that harm civilians should be stopped. the calamity in gaza is another wake—up call for the world that the long occupation of the palestinian territories is a fact that should not be ignored. the long aspiration of the palestinians are independence day should not be evaded anymore. more importantly, the historical injustice to the palestinians must not be allowed to continue uncorrected from generation to generation. restoring justice to the palestinian people and fully implementing the two state solution... fully implementing the two state solution. . ._ fully implementing the two state solution... talking on the sidelines _ state solution... talking on the sidelines of _ state solution... talking on the sidelines of the - state solution... talking on the sidelines of the two - the sidelines of the two sessions meeting, addressing theissues sessions meeting, addressing the issues in the middle east and gaza. our reporter katie

silva