live from washington, this is bbc news. five people were reportedly killed in gaza when a parachute delivering aid failed. separately, countries agree to a new humanitarian sea corridorfor the area. desperate parents in nigeria call for the return of their children, after more than 200 students were kidnapped by gunmen. and we hear from a former ambassador to haiti about the unravelling situation there, as heavy gunfire is reported near the presidential palace. hello. i'm helena humphrey. glad you can join glad you canjoin me. we begin with the war in gaza. after months of warning about an impending famine,

the united nations says children and adults are now starving to death, and that more than 500,000 palestinians are on the brink of famine. ceasefire talks between israel and hamas have stalled, making it unlikely a deal will be reached by the start of ramadan this weekend. reports have emerged that five palestinians were killed friday after being hit by an air dropped aid package that failed to deploy its parachute. the bbc has not been able to independently verify the claims of civilian casualties. however, this social media footage, verified by the bbc, shows aid being dropped on friday, and a number of parachutes failing to open. the us is among countries air dropping meals to gaza. the pentagon says it delivered more than 11,000 meals on friday by air. us central command released this statement in the last couple of hours: "we are aware of reports of civilians killed "as a result of humanitarian airdrops. "we express sympathies to the families of those "who were killed. "contrary to some reports, this was not the result "of us air drops." other countries carrying out air drops to gaza include

jordan, egypt, france, the netherlands and belgium. earlier, a pentagon official defended the practice of air drops and denied that any us aid package failed to properly land. these humanitarian aid reps contribute ongoing us government efforts to provide life—saving humanitarian assistance to people of gaza and are part of sustained effort to get more aid into gaza. 0f effort to get more aid into gaza. of note, press reports that us air drops resulted in civilian casualties on the ground a false as we have confirmed that although aid bundles landed safely on the ground. at the state of the union address on thursday night, president biden announced a new plan for getting us aid into gaza. the plan includes constructing a floating pier off gaza that would allow aid to be delivered via sea. the pier would be constructed from us ships and then moved closer to shore. officials say the project could take more than 30—60 days to complete. separately on friday, the european union announced the opening of a sea corridor that it says will begin channeling aid to gaza

from cyprus as soon as this weekend. 0ur middle east correspondent, wyrie davies, has more on the plans. the opening up of this so—called maritime corridor is an ingenious idea. the plan is this idea, this would leave cyprus bound for gaza. there's no obvious way of off—loading this aid, and there will be no foreign troops on the ground. there's a lot of scepticism particularly amongst aid agencies that this is a plan that will work. it also comes on the back ofjoe biden�*s plan to build some sort of temporary harbour in gaza to allow aid and construction materials to help with the reconstruction. the israelis at the minute are only getting about 100 trucks�* worth of aid in every day.

that's way short of the 500 loads needed by the people of gaza because in the north of gaza, there's malnutrition and children are dying from hunger. the reason we're at this point is because there is no ceasefire. there had been hopes for a ceasefire announced by this weekend by the start of ramadan, that hasn't happened. israel and hamas will maybe try and go around the table. that would be next week, but without the ceasefire, they can't get as much aid they want to into gaza, so they have to go down this maritime route. perhaps something that will become a bit more permanent in future. earlier we asked the eu's ambassador to the us what exactly europe's role will be in establishing the sea channel from cyprus. first of all, to ensure the maritime corridorfor first of all, to ensure the maritime corridor for that, to co—ordinate with the un and the government of israel to make

sure that aid not only reaches the shores but as well is provided for the people who are in need, and cyprus for a long time has been a part on the way to the region, so hopefully this could really help because five eu member states are on board and we see the possibility to increase the aid and have the possibility provided as soon as possible. meanwhile, violence in the occupied west bank has surged since the start of the conflict last october. according to the united nations, a16 palestinians have been killed there since then as israeli forces search for militants. 15 israelis have been killed in that same period. the un says children account for a quarter of the palestinians killed. our special correspondent, fergal keane, reports now on the case of 10—year—old amar najjar, shot dead

in the village of bureen on monday as he went shopping with his family. you may find his report distressing. they knew him from the beginning. long before he was made into a symbol of angry times. ten—year—old amr najjar, wrapped in the colours of hamas. but he was just a schoolboy, killed going shopping with his dad. because he was killed by israeli troops, the factions celebrated him as a martyr. the plo, the marxist—leninists, hamas. all bore him to his grave, enveloped by their flags. this is a story about the killing of a child, not a symbol. amr najjar was one of three children. a good student.

0n 4 march he was being driven by his father, mohammed, with his younger brother through burin when they encountered an israeli patrol. they stopped near this shop on the corner. the army had been in burin since earlier in the afternoon. this image was captured by a local at around 3pm. the military said they'd been stoned by youths. a local told us it was quiet when mohammed najjar�*s minibus arrived sometime between 4:30 and 5pm. then, a shot was fired directly through the windscreen, where amr, his father and brother were sitting.

all of this was witnessed by amr�*s younger brother, sitting beside him here. violence has surged across the west bank since 7 october. over 400 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces and jewish settlers — one quarter of them aged between 10—17, according to the un. 15 israelis have been killed by palestinians. burin has long been a flashpoint. 0verlooked byjewish

settlements, whose residents have been filmed attacking villagers, destroying their property. bleeps in burin, villagers say the army sides with the settlers and fails to protect them. creating what amr najjar�*s mother says is a living nightmare. human rights groups in israel and the west bank accuse the army of disregard for palestinian lives, including children. the israel defence force rejects this. they told us they'd faced a surge in terrorist attacks since 7 october. that they do not target non—combatants, including children. and that live fire was only

used after all other options had been utilised. this human rights lawyer says soldiers will not be held accountable by israel and should be prosecuted by the international criminal court. there is no accountability. nobody will hold them accountable. they are protected, even. so i believe that if there is an international accountability system in force, i'm sure they will change their mind. i'm not sure that all of them, they will stop, but at least i know that there will be something different than now. the family of amr najjar do not expectjustice. and while the israeli military says it's investigating the circumstances of his death, there's a hunger to fight back. they're angry and they're afraid. a generation trapped.

fergal keane, bbc news, the west bank. meanwhile, russia has accused the us of double standards following a security council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in sudan during the month of ramadan — a resolution that has yet to be adopted for the war in gaza. the british—drafted resolution urges a truce between sudan's army and paramilitary forces during the month—long holiday which begins early next week. war broke out back in april of 2023, prompting widespread turmoil, displacement, and hunger. the un says nearly half of sudan's population is in need of aid. more than 280 nigerian school pupils have been abducted in the town of kuriga in kaduna state, located in the north—west. reports say that students between the ages of 8—15 were taken away, along with a teacher. victims of kidnappings usually pay a ransom to secure their freedom. in an attempt to curb nigeria's lucrative kidnapping industry, a controversial law passed in 2022 has made it a crime

to make ransom payments. it carries a jail sentence of at least 15 years for those who break the law, but many victims feel they have no choice but to pay. for more on the situation, our west africa correspondent, mayenijones, sent this report. this has become an all—too—familiar sight — desperate parents begging the authorities for help. 280 children, some as young as eight, were dragged out of their morning school assembly by armed men and were taken into a nearby forest. some managed to escape, but hundreds are still missing. their parents are beside themselves. "please come and help us," this mother says, "where is the president? "where is the governor? "our school children were taken away. "seven children from one family were all kidnapped." this latest attack has shocked the community of kuriga — so many taken, so young.

translation: we are ordinary civilians, what can we do? - they're treating us like we're worthless. we plead with you in the name of god, do something to secure the release of our children. the local governor is promising to bring every child back home. we are sending a strong message to the mothers and we made it clear to them that one of the most important roles of the government is to ensure that we protect the lives and properties of our citizens. but many say nigeria's government is failing to do this. it's the second mass abduction in less than a week. across the country in the northeast, the residents of the state of borno have been terrorised by islamist militants for 15 years. 2 million have fled their homes to live in camps and fortified towns protected by the army, but beyond the gates, the gunmen are in control. 150 kilometres down this road in the region of ngala, dozens of internally

displaced women and children were abducted last week. we can't get there because the area still has a heavy presence of boko haram militants. although the authorities have worked hard to make this area a lot safer than it was ten years ago, large swathes of borno are still too dangerous to access. in april 2014, boko haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from the town of chibok. the group said it was against western education. many of the girls were forced to marry their captors. now boko haram is splintered and weakened. these days, kidnappings of children in nigeria are often motivated by money, with ransom demands for their release. abduction, kidnapping, became a way of getting money. even in the capital now, we have up to three kidnappings per weekjust to have quick access to money. no word yet on the fate of the children now in the hands of the armed gangs and there is little sign

that the government here has the power to rescue them or to bring their captors to justice. myenijones, bbc news. violence continues in haiti with reports of heavy gunfire taking place near the country's presidential palace in port—au—prince on friday. the news comes after haiti's main port says it is suspending operations due to security worsening in the capital city. the port operator said it had been forced to stop all services following acts of sabotage and vandalism. heavily armed criminal gangs are now in control of most of the capital, after attacking the main airport and preventing prime minister ariel henry from returning from abroad. a state of emergency has been extended for another month. the un is warning that haiti's health system is nearing collapse, with many clinics closed and a shortage of medicine and staff. the un's immigration office says that at least 15,000 people have had to flee the violence. gangs have been expanding their control in the country since the assassination of presidentjovenel moise in 2021. for more on the situation,

the bbc spoke to former us ambassador to haiti pamela white. she said that the us�*s call for democratic elections in haiti will not bring an immediate end to the violence. we could not, we should not be talking about elections, we should not be talking about transferring or establishing democratic institutions. no, that is way down the pipe. people are dying every day. starving. 2 million people are eating less than one meal a day. they are getting scraps. they are living in tents or in the street. there are muggings and kidnappings going on day in and day out and murders. we can't think about, wouldn't it be nice to have an election, wouldn't it be nice

to have a democratic institutions reestablished? we need to only focus on stability and security. we're going to have to give that six months to a year. we don't need a governmental transition at this point. we need a peacekeeping consul that can get us just through the devastation that's going on right now. pamela white, former us ambassador to haiti. let's turn to some other important news around the world. a court in new york has found the former president of honduras guilty of conspiring with drug traffickers. they also found that juan 0rlando hernandez had used the honduran military and police to enable the smuggling of several tons of cocaine into the united states. mr hernandez denied allegations that he had received bribes from drug traffickers, including the notorious drug lord, joaquin �*el chapo' guzman. the us senate narrowly averted a partial government shutdown on friday with the approval of spending legistlation that keeps several government agencies funded. the passage comes just hours before current funding was set to expire at midnight.

the $467.5 billion spending package funds departments including agriculture, transportation, housing and others until the end of september. it now heads to president biden�*s desk to be signed into law. and the former prime minister theresa may is stepping down as a conservative mp at the next election. mrs may led the country from 2016—2019 in the wake of the brexit vote. she said the "difficult decision" to leave the seat she's held for nearly three decades would enable her to spend more time on "causes close to my heart". lawmakers here in the us are expected to begin voting next week on a bill that would ban the popular app tiktok if it doesn't break ties with its china—based parent company. the legislation would force bytedance to sell the app within six months or face a ban — something the company says would hurt free speech and small businesses relying on the app. a campaign by tiktok

urging its users to call members of congress has been flooding capitol hill with complaints. the short—form video app is incredibly popular, with more than 1.5 billion users globally and more than 150 million monthly users in the us alone. i've been speaking with the bill's co—author, congressman raja krishnamoorthi of illinois, about why he believes the app poses a danger to the us. bytedance, beholden to the chinese communist party, is required by the chinese laws, specifically the national security laws, to provide access to american user data to the ccp upon its request. the second issue which is even more insidious is that bytedance routinely manipulates the algorithm of tiktok to suppress content that is critical of the ccp and amplify content that is favourable to the ccp. and now that has become well documented.

after yesterday's stunts that bytedance and tiktok pulled to try to interfere in a vote in congress on the very bill that you are talking about, it has been clear that to many legislators that this legislation is necessary. the stunt was very simple. they basically used the app to geo—locate minor children she call correctional offices to spread misinformation about legislation. our offices were flooded with calls from kids the question, what is a congressman, what is congress? they had no idea what was going on and of course their parents did not either. this caused the house energy and commerce committee to the unanimously, 15—0 in favour of this legislation. what that does show there is young people becoming very engaged in a political topic which is not always the case.

tiktok is a way of life for many young people. do you understand their concerns? i definitely don't want to see tiktok go dark, i don't want to see people not be able to enjoy the content on tiktok. however, the ownership of tiktok via bytedance is deeply problematic and that is why we have arrived at this bill that requires the divestment of tiktok by bytedance. this is not without precedent. we done this before with regard to grinder, the popular lg btq dating site. at one point that was owned by a chinese company but because it possessed sensitive personal data about military and government officials in the us government and military, the american administration required the chinese to divest that app and they did. there was no change whatsoever to the user experiences of americans and that's exactly what's going to happen with tiktok.

that was democratic congressman raja krishnamoorthi speaking with me. for the past 45 years, clubbing and partying have been illegal in iran. but in the late �*90s, with the introduction of satellite dishes — also illegal — people were introduced to electronic dance music, and an underground party scene began emerging. now, more and more iranian female djs arejoining the illegal dance floors of iran and some are even touring the world. bbc�*s faranak amidi met two of them. translation: because in iran most of the things we are interested in are either taboo or banned, when we start doing those things, those acts become acts of protest. anyone like me who has grown up in iran knows that consuming alcohol, mingling, and dancing with the opposite sex, and general partying can get you in serious trouble. you can get fined, jailed or even lashed. so wanting to be a techno or house dj, especially if you're a woman, wouldn't be easy.

translation: the first time i went to a party outside of tehran. i was looking at the dj all the time and thinking to myself, i would like to have that samejob. nesa azadikhah is one of the first female djs in iran. she built her career djing at underground raves in tehran in a scene that women weren't always welcomed. translation: | remember. reactions weren't that great. people looked at me as if there was something wrong with me. some men even thought because of what i was doing they could easily touch or kiss me. thousands of miles away from iran's restrictions, the dance music industry is still very much male dominated. based on the international music summit's 2023 report, women make up only 15% of the top 100 dj bookings at festivals and clubs globally.

paramida is an iranian—german dj. she lives in berlin and is a resident dj at one of the most famous clubs in the world. as a woman you get judged twice. first, your appearance, and then your skills. for her, djing is more thanjust playing music. the fact that i'm able to do what is forbidden for so many women in iran makes me actually a living protest. all these restrictions led to nesa deciding to leave iran. she is now in france and plays across europe. translation: playing outside iran _ for me is liberating. i feel relaxed and don't worry about being arrested or the event getting cancelled. but for me, nothing beats the vibe of iran's underground parties. and for paramida, there's still one place she hasn't played yet.

one of my biggest dreams is being able to go back to tehran or iran, and even do a love on the rocks night there. how amazing would that be? faranak amidi, bbc news. in a much—anticipated new report, the pentagon has revealed that a huge spike in ufo sightings in the 1950s and �*60s were actually caused by extensive military tests of highly advanced spy planes and new space age technology. the pentagon says a number of secret projects involved circular or saucer—shaped aircraft like this fighter—bomber. as you can see, it looks a lot like the ufo's we have seen in films. officials also said there was "no evidence" that the us government had encountered any alien life, but accepted that despite this declassification of evidence, it's unlikely to quell popular beliefs about extra terrestrial life. that's all for this half hour. i'm helena humphrey. i'll be back in 30 minutes with a special look at us foreign policy following prsident biden�*s state of the union, so do join us for that.

hello there. there was a lot of dry weather around on friday, but cloud varied quite a bit from place to place. southern england had some lovely sunshine, with temperatures reaching 12 celsius in hampshire, 13 celsius in wiggonholt, in sussex — which was the warmest spot in the country — whereas eastern scotland, with all this cloud around, temperatures struggled to around six celsius. we also had something called the helm wind that blew across northern england. this is the uk's only named wind — prevailing winds 20—30mph across northern england. but look at that, 71mph up over the top of great dun fell, and those strong, gusty winds were pulled down into the eden valley, with gusts reaching 55mph there. that is the helm wind, the uk's only named wind. now, at the moment, we've got still a lot of cloud across the country, still with gusty winds — that's keeping the temperatures up at around 4—5 celsius

as we head into saturday. but the weekend really is dominated by this area of low pressure to our south. these weather fronts get a little bit closer and start moving across the uk as we head through the weekend, so there will be some rain at times. now, the greatest risk of seeing some rain, really, saturday morning will be southwest england, wales, northern england. through the day, we'll see some thicker cloud push into northern ireland and scotland, bringing the threat of some rain, as well. the rain is likely to be quite light and patchy. eastern coasts of england and scotland will stay cold, with that chilly north sea wind. but there should be some hazy sunshine for the midlands, east anglia, and south east england — and that will boost temperatures to around 13 celsius. 0n into the second half of the weekend — well, generally speaking, we're looking at further outbreaks of rain coming up from the south. this time, the will be a bit more extensive, and it'll be a bit heavier, as well. there'll be a few places that dodge the downpours — maybe south west england and southern wales doing 0k. generally, temperature's a little bit lower and, on the whole, below average for the time of year, but feeling particularly cold around those north sea coasts once again.

into next week, well, the weather becomes quieter for a time, but then we start to see some weather fronts move in off the atlantic from the west. and so, there will be something of an east—west split, i think, for eastern areas. computer's probably a bit pessimistic, really — there will be some days that are dry and generally bright, probably tuesday and wednesday not looking bad at all. whereas across the western side of the uk, yes, you are more likely to see outbreaks of rain, and the rain will be quite heavy at times, especially towards southern wales and south west england.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. since retaking power in 2021, the taliban have imposed severe restrictions on everyday life in afghanistan... ..limiting freedoms for women and banning non—religious music. and the consequences for those who dare to defy them are dire.