i'm anna foster injerusalem with the very latest developments on the israel gaza war. the european union says a maritime aid corridor from cyprus to gaza could begin operating in the coming hours. they are loading the first ship. but, as the humanitarian situation becomes ever more desperate, the united states says it could take up to 60 days for a temporary port to be built. live from london, i'm samantha simmonds. the urgent hunt for nearly 300 nigerian schoolchildren, abducted by gunmen. a state governor says at least 28 have managed to escape their captors. a london fertility clinic has its operation licence suspended after "significant concerns" are raised over errors in the freezing of embryos. the duchess of sussex reveals she was cyberbullied while pregnant

with her two children. welcome to bbc news. i am live in jerusalem outside the walls of the city where in the next few hours, there are hopes that a ceasefire deal in gaza could be arranged, but as talks in cairo have broken down in the last few days, there's very little sign of that happening. all of the focus now is on cyprus for a new maritime aid corridor, confirmed yesterday by european commission president ursula von der leyen, is due to come into operation in the next few hours. this will be the first time this corridor has been used, and the aid is urgently needed.

the hamas—run health ministry in gaza said 23 people have died from malnutition injust 10 days. the sea corridor is a joint operation between the eu, us, uk, and united arab emirates, aiming to take supplies from cyprus to the gazan coast. the un says a quarter of gaza's population is on the brink of famine, and children are starving to death. 0rganisers hope the plan could allow additional aid to be brought in, but they continue to press israel to allow more deliveries by road. these are the latest pictures from larnaca in cyprus where, as you can see, aid is being loaded onto a ship. paid drops happening now by the

jordan military and also the us, but the pressure continues on israel particularly from world leaders to try to allow more aid in the road, because that is the way to get a bulk in as quickly as they possibly can, and the situation now is desperate. here's pentagon spokesman patrick ryder. importantly, there will be no us forces on the ground in gaza. finally, in terms of timing, we are working to set this up as quickly as possible, but we expect it will take several weeks to plan and execute. once operational, the actual amount of aid deliverable will depend on many variables and will likely skill over time. however, we expect that deliveries could provide more than 2 million meals to the citizens of gaza per day. ——likely scale.

presidentjoe biden, just a couple of days ago as part of his state of the union address, but there are concerns that will take a long time to actually implement, 60 days or so before that will actually be operational. the humanitarian situation is the real concern here. we spoke to care country director for the west bank and gaza, hiba tibi. any planning to concurrently to increase the aid in gaza is welcome. these are unfortunately aiming to save as many lives as possible. however, we need to think of the efficiency, the speed of the action, and the existing already routes which we can take, maybe opening areas, allowing commercial trucks to enter to gather along with a safe environment for humanitarian organisations to facilitate the access of aid to the right people,

to the most vulnerable. that pressure _ to the most vulnerable. that pressure is _ to the most vulnerable. that pressure is continuing - to the most vulnerable. that pressure is continuing on - to the most vulnerable. that pressure is continuing on israel to try to bring aid into gaza through different routes. we had once again yesterday the un foreign secretary lord cameron talking about the time to put pressure on israel to allow in more aid by road. in normal times, around 500 aid trucks each day would be making their way into gaza, and lord cameron said that in the last week or so, there was an average of around 120. so a still pressure from the international community to help those civilians inside gaza who are struggling at notjust for inside gaza who are struggling at not just for food and inside gaza who are struggling at notjust for food and water, but medical aid as well. and that is why we are seeing these various different routes, as we were seeing there, the aid drops that have been happening, other reports yesterday that five people were killed in the northern part of gaza that when one of those aid drops, you can see, when the parachute opened, pictures

came out yesterday of one of those parachutes not opening properly. and of course the problem is the desperation, when people see that aid coming towards them, as we saw when the aid convoys, people moved towards them, actually trying to find a more sustainable way to get you aid into gaza. 0f find a more sustainable way to get you aid into gaza. of course, if you hear what any of them say in their speeches and the messages they are sending, both to israel and to hamas, they will say that the best way to do that is for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, but of course in cairo over the last week we have seen that those talks being brokered by qatar and egypt, egypt did not send a delegation and hamas withdrew theirs in the last few days. they hope was that something

could be achieved before ramadan, which is due to start tomorrow or monday, but the problem continues but while that fighting goes on, it is enormously difficult to get humanitarian aid to be people in gaza who desperately need it. meanwhile, the fighting continues, what is the latest on the us military, the israeli military operation in gaza? they say that they are continuing to work throughout the gaza strip. there has also been a lot of discussion about rafah, the furthest south part of the gaza strip, the party have talked about a lot because all of those civilians, more than a million of them, we were told to leave places like gaza city further north are now shuttling in rafah, and as a literary minister benjamin netanyahu has repeatedly made it clear he does not think it is possible to achieve israel's stated aim of fully removing hamas from gaza without a

military operation within rafah, the error rate at the south. but that has caused huge international concern. benny gantz, a member of the unity government, a former political rival of benjamin netanyahu, he has said that operation would begin by ramadan if they had not been some sort of ceasefire agreed. but of course people have not been won, they have not been moved out of the way, so i think and it military operation focusing on rafah is still a little while awake just yet. let's focus on that a little more and the humanitarian situation we were talking about. let's speak to david 0ttaway. he's a fellow at the woodrow wilson center and the washington post's former middle east correspondent. joe biden announced in the last few days the construction of this pier that would allow ships to deliver aid directly into gaza, but it seems

thatis aid directly into gaza, but it seems that is quite a way off, and that is missing detail as well about how that will actually be brought ashore and how it would be secured. what do you make of that plan and that announcement? i you make of that plan and that announcement?— you make of that plan and that announcement? i think first of all it is a major— announcement? i think first of all it is a major shift _ announcement? i think first of all it is a major shift in _ announcement? i think first of all it is a major shift in our— it is a major shift in our involvement in the whole issue of humanitarian aid in the country. i don't have any... i think the us military knows how to build temporary piers and build causeways etc. the physical part is probably the easiest part, in my mind, because the military is totally in control of the operation. and it is notjust control of the operation. and it is not just the control of the operation. and it is notjust the us, it is the eu. everybody, outsize powers are getting involved, and setting up a major new corridor to provide assistance outsiders really control. this is a major change. yes, it will

take a month or six weeks to get this thing going, but i think the problems will be onshore rather than offshore, which is how do you distribute this and how do you protect those who are distributing it? so we will see, but i think this is a major game changer, and our us involvement in the whole conflict. as we are speaking, we can see live pictures there of rafah in the south of the strip, and david, i wonder, we look at this plan we were just talking about, this us plan to get aid into gaza. at the same time, they are still repeatedly seem to be as real as there are better ways to do this, you need to allow more aid in, but israel is not doing that to the extent where the us and others are having to make alternative plans, so what does that say about the current diplomatic relationships and the us and others' influence on

israeli policy right now? we are cominu israeli policy right now? we are coming closer _ israeli policy right now? we are coming closer and _ israeli policy right now? we are coming closer and closer - israeli policy right now? we are coming closer and closer to - israeli policy right now? we are - coming closer and closer to tension with the is reallys. i covered the invasion of lebanon in 82 and 83, and the us and israel practically came to blows over who would control the airport, we had to give the esri lakes an ultimatum to get off the airport to come in, and it was very tense. i have seen this before in a different times, but the same issue, which israel and the united states and conflict. which israel and the united states and conflict-— and conflict. david, as you said, ou and conflict. david, as you said, you have _ and conflict. david, as you said, you have covered _ and conflict. david, as you said, you have covered and _ and conflict. david, as you said, you have covered and focused . and conflict. david, as you said, | you have covered and focused on and conflict. david, as you said, - you have covered and focused on that this region for a very long time. as we are looking at pictures of rafah, talking about what israel has said will be the next stage of its military operation, how much longer

do you think the war in gaza will continue, and how much of it is about the israeli trade minister benjamin netanyahu trying to shore up benjamin netanyahu trying to shore up support for himself domestically here in israel? i up support for himself domestically here in israel?— here in israel? i think it all depends — here in israel? i think it all depends whether - here in israel? i think it all depends whether they - here in israel? i think it all depends whether they can | here in israel? i think it all. depends whether they can get here in israel? i think it all- depends whether they can get to the next stage of the hostage release going or not. == next stage of the hostage release going or not-— going or not. -- israeli prime minister _ going or not. -- israeli prime minister benjamin _ going or not. -- israeli prime | minister benjamin netanyahu. going or not. -- israeli prime - minister benjamin netanyahu. once minister ben'amin netanyahu. once ou aet a minister benjamin netanyahu. once you get a so-called _ minister benjamin netanyahu. cite: you get a so—called temporary ceasefire, i think it will be very difficult for israel to go back and carry out a major operation at like ticking over at rafah and the border with egypt, and i think one of the reasons it is so difficult, these current negotiations over the hostages. 0nce current negotiations over the hostages. once you get a temporary ceasefire, there's enormous pressure to keep it going. ceasefire, there's enormous pressure to keep it going-— to keep it going. yeah. a very good oint, to keep it going. yeah. a very good point. and — to keep it going. yeah. a very good point, and restore _ to keep it going. yeah. a very good point, and restore it— to keep it going. yeah. a very good point, and restore it to _ to keep it going. yeah. a very good point, and restore it to see - to keep it going. yeah. a very good point, and restore it to see what. point, and restore it to see what will happen with that, don't we?

david, i do appreciate your own site. thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news. —— your insight. we wait for that ship to set sail from cyprus to gaza, more to come on that in the next few hours. and we continue to follow developments with those talks — will the be reinstated in cairo over the next few days? will that pressure for a humanitarian pause in the fighting come to bear? we will continue following the story, much more to come from here. anna, for now, thank you. in nigeria, the hunt for nearly 300 schoolchildren — abducted by gunmen — goes on. but the governor of kaduna state has told the bbc that at least 28 of those children have escaped from their captors. the nigerian army is leading the search for the children, who were abducted from the north—west town of kuriga in kaduna state. reports say students between the ages of 8 and 15 were taken, along with a teacher. the abductions have been blamed on ansaru, a breakaway faction

of the islamistjihadist group boko haram. victims of kidnappings usually pay a ransom to secure their freedom. a controversial law passed in 2022 made it a crime to make ransom payments, with a potentialjail sentence of at least 15 years. but many victims feel they have no choice but to pay. earlier, i spoke to our west africa correspondent mayeni jones. the military is currently running a rescue operation in the state and also in two neighbouring states, all kidnapping hotspot here in northern nigeria. they are working alongside the police and local vigilante groups. some of the student's parents also joined the search, going to local communities, trying to find out if if anyone has seen anything at all. what are the families of those

missing children saying? they're incredibly distressed. the state governor visited the school when the kidnapping happened on thursday. people said they felt abandoned, there was not enough security in the community, and they pleaded with him to help find their children. this has become a huge national and international story. the president released a statement yesterday saying he would do everything possible to return of the children, every single one has to be returned, he said anything less than that would not be acceptable to him, and us secretary of state antony blinken also released a statement last night condemning the abductions and saying the children should be released as soon as possible. what more is known about the 28 children who managed to escape? not very much, unfortunately. the governor spoke to the bbc yesterday, all he would say is that 28 children were released, he would not give any more details,

he said that was because he did not want to jeopardise the ongoing rescue operation, but the 28 students who have come out, their parents will be absolutely delighted to see them, particularly because this is an area of the country that is very remote. we believe they have been ta ken to nearby forests that are very dense. they would not have much in terms of water or food, so the conditions these children are in are really a cause for concern for their parents. a fertility clinic in london has had its licence to operate suspended because of "significant concerns" about the unit. the homerton fertility centre has been told it must not start new procedures, but can continue to see existing patients. the clinic said there had been three separate errors in the freezing of embryos. the bbc understands as many as 150 embryos could have been affected in incidents involving up to 45 patients, although this has not been confirmed by the trust. 0ur correspondent zoe conway is outside the homerton fertility centre with more information.

the fertility centre says in these incidents, there was an error in the freezing process that led to a tragic loss of a small number of embryos because they either did not survive or because they cannot be detected and the centre says it has called in external clinical experts to try and understand what has happened, although they have not been able to find a direct cause yet. the metropolitan police were here at the clinic yesterday, although they say they are not currently investigating. the centre also says it has tightened security measures at the unit. and what the bbc understands is that we are talking about 150 embryos affected and as many as 45 patients, although that has not been confirmed by the trust. we have spoken to one patient who says she is distraught and emotionally drained because she has discovered that one of her embryos cannot be found.

the clinic has apologised to patients for any distress that has been caused and it says for those who have already started their treatment cycle, that will continue but for future scheduled treatment cycles, those have been suspended. this is not the first time the regulator, the human fertilisation and embryology authority has raised concerns about this clinic. two years ago, the authority said that whistleblowers were concerned about the leadership, the welfare of patients and staff, and the working conditions at the clinic. let's get some of the day's other news now. campaigning in portugal for sunday's snap election has ended, with neither of the two major parties appearing set to gain a majority. 0pinion polls give the opposition centre—right democratic alliance a marginal edge over the governing socialists. the election was triggered when the socialist prime minister, antonio costa, resigned

after his chief of staff was arrested during an anti—corruption investigation. counting will start later in two referendums on changing issues around family and care in ireland's constitution. voters were asked if they wanted to expand the definition of family to include those not based around marriages. and they also voted on whether to remove a reference in the constitution to the role of women in the home, and replace it with one recognising care provided by family members. weather experts say the mainland united states has just experienced its warmest winter on record. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration says the average temperature across the 48 contiguous states was three degrees celsius warmer than the historic average. eight states across the upper midwest, great lakes, and northeast saw their warmest winters ever. the duchess of sussex has criticised the "seemingly endless toxicity" of social media, revealing she was targeted with "bullying and abuse" while pregnant with her and prince harry's two children.

meghan was the keynote speaker on a panel marking international women's day at the south by southwest festival in texas. she said she now keeps her distance from such comments for her wellbeing, saying people in certain parts of the media and online spaces have "forgotten our humanity." the bulk of the bullying i was receiving online was when i was pregnant with archie and lily, and to really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful. it is not catty, it is cruel. the us military says its ships and aircraft have shot down more than a dozen drones in the red sea after coming under what it called a sustained attack by iranian—backed houthi forces in yemen. us central command said the drones represented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, and us and coalition warships. here's david waddell.

the singapore registered propel fortune as the latest commercial ship to be targeted by the houthi movement. the bulk carrier departed and arejust under two movement. the bulk carrier departed and are just under two weeks ago with automatic identification system signalling that she was not connected to israel, supposedly to deter this kind of attack from yemen. the uk maritime trade organisation said the captain reported no significant collateral damage to the ship, and that she was bound for her next port. these attacks have been ongoing since october, but in the red sea and in the gulf of aden, because in many commercial ships and freighters and passenger liners awake to divert around the cape of good hope. this particular attack took place around 50 nautical miles south of the port of aden. here is the houthi description of what happened. translation:— description of what happened. translation: �*, ., ., , translation: yemen's naval forces and the air force _ translation: yemen's naval forces and the air force carried _ translation: yemen's naval forces and the air force carried out - translation: yemen's naval forces and the air force carried out two - and the air force carried out two specific military operations. the first targeted the american ship

propel fortune at in the gulf of aden with a number of suitable naval missiles, while the second targeted in a number of american destroyers in a number of american destroyers in the red sea and the gulf of aden, with 37 drones, and the two operations successfully achieve their goals. l115 operations successfully achieve their goals-— operations successfully achieve theiraoals. ,, ., ., their goals. us central command says their goals. us central command says the have their goals. us central command says they have shot — their goals. us central command says they have shot down _ their goals. us central command says they have shot down 15 _ their goals. us central command says they have shot down 15 unmanned - they have shot down 15 unmanned they regard this attack is an ongoing threat to naval vessels, us navy and coalition ships in the region. heavy gunfire has been heard near what remains of the presidential palace in the haitian capital, port—au—prince. there are reports armed gangs have once again invaded the international airport. a state of emergency and night time curfew have been extended for another month.

haiti's main port has also announced that it is suspending operations because of worsening security conditions, following acts of sabotage and vandalism. heavily armed criminal gangs have control of most of the capital, and attacked the main airport — preventing the prime minister, ariel henry, from returning from abroad. haiti has suffered years of instability and escalating violence since the assassination of presidentjovenel moise in 2021. it will come as no surprise to many — and others might refuse to believe it — but a us military report on ufo sightings says it's found no evidence aliens have visited earth. it also said there was nothing to support claims government agencies had covered up visits by extra—terrestrials and gained access to alien technology. the pentagon's report to congress said most sightings were of misidentified ordinary objects. some were probably caused by tests of advanced spy planes and space technology. we spoke to professor christopher french, who specialises in the psychology

of paranormal beliefs. i can understand why people are fascinated with this topic. i mean, is there life out there? is it visiting the earth? you know, these are fundamental questions about our place in the universe. i mean, you know, as a lifelong science fiction fan, i'm absolutely fascinated by this stuff. now, i think there's more or less there's certainly a growing consensus among most scientists who take a serious interest in this issue, that there probably is intelligent life out there. we don't know. nobody knows, but there probably is intelligent life out there. the universe is a very big place, and to think that it's only evolved here on our planet doesn't seem all that plausible. but that's a very different question to whether or not we're being visited by et. now, a lot of us would be so excited if that turned out to be the case.

i mean, i, for one, would be amongst that group. i'm just not convinced by the evidence. what we have is initially evidence of people seeing things up in the sky and they don't know what they're looking at. well, that's that's always been the case. why should we be able to identify everything? it's literally an unidentified flying object. the more recent claims of alien contact, alien abduction, and so on, they're really interesting from a psychological point of view. but again, there's no hard physical evidence. and i think we do have plausible psychological explanations. in many, many cases, people misperceive things, they misremember things. we know people are prone to false memories. and one of the main ways in which people attempt to recover memories, supposedly that the aliens have wiped out of alien contact is by using hypnotic regression. well, we know that that often results in false memories, but people sincerely believe that what they can now apparently remember were real events. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello. there was a lot of dry weather around on friday but the cloud varied from place to place. temperatures reached 12 degrees in hampshire. through today, a mixture of some sunny spells. this is the satellite image, some sunshine in central and eastern areas, but low pressure to the south—west throwing up this cloud and some showers. we have already had showers in south—west england, spreading into south wales for a time. a bit more cloud in northern ireland, northern england. some outbreaks of rain and drizzle at times. sunshine in the far north—west of scotland, sunshine continuing

in east anglia, part of the midlands, north wales as well. not feeling too bad in the sunshine, temperatures 12—13 celsius, elsewhere about 7—8 celsius. through tonight, more persistent rain spreading in from the south, but it will be frost—free, temperatures no lower than about 5—8 celsius. sunday, it will be pretty wet, certainly wetter than today. that rain into central and southern scotland, northern england, through the midlands, into the south—east. heavy rain at times, moving a bit further west into north wales, but for south—west wales and south—west england, some sunny spells here with a couple of showers. temperatures a bit lower tomorrow because of the more cloudy skies and rain. 7—11 celsius. into next week, the area of the pressure will continue to move eastwards, monday should be a quieter day but we still have an easterly airflow bringing quite a bit of cloud on monday towards eastern

coasts of scotland, eastern england, there might be some spots of rain. elsewhere should be largely dry, some bright and sunny spells towards western areas of the uk, and temperatures pretty typical for the time of year, about 8—12 celsius. as for the rest of the week, southern and eastern areas should remain largely dry, some spells of sunshine, temperatures actually rising, 111—15 celsius. further north and west, remaining unsettled, outbreaks of rain at times, and temperatures about 10—13 celsius. temperatures slightly above the average as we go through the week.

the european union says a maritime aid corridorfrom cyprus to gaza could begin operating in the coming hours. the first ship is being loaded. in the coming hours. a london fertility clinic has its operating licence suspended after "significant concerns" were raised over errors in the freezing of embryos. in england, the health 0mbudsman says cancer patients are being put at risk because the health service is overstretched and understaffed. a new award for public servants who die in the line of duty. the elizabeth emblem is a form of national recognition for their families. new life is springing from the sycamore gap tree — chopped down last year, sparking international outrage. seedlings are beginning to grow.