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 within 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. and in the past hour, we have seen more aid being dropped into gaza, as the push to get more supplies into the area accelerates. 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 operating licence suspended after "significant concerns" are raised over errors in the freezing of embryos.

hello. straight to cyprus with these live pictures of the first ship that would use this new maritime aid corridor being loaded with essential humanitarian supplies to be taken from cyprus to gaza. . this is expected to open the the first time in the next few hours, european commission president ursula von der leyen said yesterday that they expected everything to be ready. it would take several days for the ship to actually make the journey to gaza. it was announced yesterday, and as you can see, they are continuing to loaded ready for departure. the aid is urgently

needed — the hamas—run health ministry in gaza said 23 people have died from malnutition injust ten days. the un says a quarter of gaza's population is on the brink of famine, and children are starving to death. the sea corridor i was mentioning earlier is a joint venture, the us, the uk, united arab emirates as well, who have been responsible for some of the airdrop aid happening so far, and of course cyprus have been playing their part as well, because thatis playing their part as well, because that is the place that the ships will come from. just want to shoot these pictures as well of a fresh airdrop that has happened in the last hour or so. thejordanian air force have been dropping aid into gaza for a little while, but of course just in the last week, they have also been joined course just in the last week, they have also beenjoined by course just in the last week, they have also been joined by the course just in the last week, they have also beenjoined by the us, and you can see the parachutes opening and powers of eavesdropping into gaza. the us says that is helping to

get additional aid, but there are issues, these airdrops do not provide the same volume of aid that would and should be coming in via trucks and road that was happening. and we also saw reports yesterday from gaza, from the north of the gaza strip, but five people had been killed by one of these fallen pallets when they saw it coming from the sky, but the parish it had not properly deployed, and they were actually crushed by this palette as it hit the ground. and that is why you are still seeing continuing pressure from world leaders, from foreign ministers around the world, foreign ministers around the world, for israel to allow more aid into gaza via road. that allows the largest volume of aid to get in, and it is also the most logistically simple, at the moment, way to get that aid to people, more than i million people now, who are displaced in the south of the gaza strip, and also those people displaced from their homes in the north as well.

in the cypriot port they have been working around the clock. the spanish ship, open arms, preparing to tow a barge with 200 tonnes of food with medical aid all the way to gaza. it's a precarious untested plan with obvious risks. translation: the last mile will be the most complicated _ translation: the last mile will be the most complicated operation. i how the aid will be unloaded into gaza, where there is no port orfunctioning harbour, is not clear. air drops and some land deliveries were often swamped by thousands of desperate, hungry people. some aid agencies say that the plan is misguided, and ineffective. the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day. the un says there is a danger of famine, and children are already reported to be dying of malnutrition. all of this is happening because israel and hamas have been

unable to agree a ceasefire that would have allowed more aid in by road through israel. still the preferred, most effective route. and the fighting continues. a tower block in the southern city of rafah was hit in an air strike overnight. and israel, despite growing international pressure for a truce, says the military campaign is not yet over. wyre davies, bbc news. that growing pressure is coming from the uk. we have heard lord cameron, the uk. we have heard lord cameron, the foreign secretary, pressing israel again to allow more aid into gaza. and the us has announced it will be involved in the construction of the spear to get it into gaza, but that is 60 or so days away from completion, and in the meantime they're telling israel they need to

do more. —— the construction of this pier. 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 delivered will depend on many variables and will likely scale over time. however, we expect that deliveries could provide more than 2 million meals to the citizens of gaza per day. that is the view from the us. those calls of course continue for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, calls from the us, the uk and others, but those talks happening in cairo over the last week or so at the moment have stopped, israel did not send a delegation at all in the last week or so, and hamas withdrew theirs in the last few days. hopes that a ceasefire could put into place by ramadan are now looking

very thin indeed. it does not look like that will be achieved in time for that important day, which will be tomorrow or monday, but we are told that talks have not broken down completely and that qatar and egypt are trying to get both sides back to the table. samantha. anna, thank you. thousands of people have gathered for the tenth pro—palestinian march in central london since the 7th october attacks by hamas on israel. 0ur reporter louisa pilbeam was at the start. there are tens of thousands of people here at the start of the demonstration here at hyde park. this is the tenth demonstration that has been held since the hamas attacks on israel on the 7th of october. they have been largely 0ctober. they have been largely peaceful, but the organisers have told me they feel that actually

these events are over policed. usually they have around 1500 police officers from across the country who come to these events to keep control. but there have been a low number of arrests peer, and they are very well organised. they have been two previous protests here, and they are organised well. —— i have been two previous protests. today there is a focus on women, the organisers say, to celebrate international women's day, and also to put a focus on the large numbers of women and children who are being killed, the organisers say, in gaza. this march will go towards the us embassy, and the us embassy is actually asked its employees and anybody connected to them to stay awayjust in case of any trouble today. here, many people here, lots of families, lots of children, actually, i have seen, and it is expected to be calm, to be a

calm atmosphere, but as i say, lots of policy to keep control.— of policy to keep control. louisa pilbeam there. _ 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 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 militant islamist 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. 0ur west africa correspondent mayeni jones updated me on the story

from maiduguri. the military is currently running a rescue operation in the state and also in two neighbouring states, all kidnapping hotspots here in northern nigeria. they are working alongside the police and local vigilante groups. some of the students' parents also joined the search, going to local communities, trying to find out 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. now it's time for a look

at today's sport. the england captain ben stokes has admitted that they were completely outplayed for the last four tests in india, but has dared anyone to write them off at their own peril. they lost the final test inside three days in dharam—shala by an innings and 64 runs, losing the series 4—1. the only highlight of the day was jimmy anderson bringing up his 700th test wikcet at the age of a1. he dismissed kuldeep yadav to reach the milestone. only the late shane warne and sri lankan spinner muttiah muralitharan — both spin bowlers — have taken more wickets. they dismissed india for a77 in their first nnings but were then skittled for just 195,

84 from joe root the only meaningful resistance. tey now return home for series in the summer against west indies and sri lanka england came here with inexperienced batting _ england came here with inexperienced batting line—up, and their inexperience was in the bowling and their batting, and they have the ascendancy with bat in hand, and we needed _ ascendancy with bat in hand, and we needed to— ascendancy with bat in hand, and we needed to respond. 0ur ascendancy with bat in hand, and we needed to respond. our experience was in _ needed to respond. our experience was in the — needed to respond. our experience was in the bowl and we won those contests — there are five matches in the premier league today. arsenal can move the top of the premier leaue table later with victory at brentford. there's one match already under way at old trafford. manchester united at home to everton. united are leading 2—0, both penalties.

bruno fernandes and marcus rashford the scorers. there are three 3.00 kick—offs, and then arsenal could go top — for 2h hours at least — with liverpool facing manchester city tomorrow. every point helps, we have played them twice already, it is always tough against brentford and on saturday i expect a difficult match. anthonyjoshua took less then two rounds to win his fight against former ufc champion in riyadh last night. he delivered a destructive second—round knockout win over francis ngannou in saudi arabia. joshua floored him in the first round, and again early in the second. a dazed ngannou rose to his feet, but was stunned moments later, as the referee halted the contest. ngannou appeared to be out before he even hit the canvas,

and required medical treatment. so what next forjoshua? talk has inevitably turned to tyson fury and 0lexander usyk, the curent world heavyweight champions who are due to face each other in may. did i expect to win? i give it my best. i do not like to predict anything. i am telling you, heavyweight boxing is a league of its own. it is a different division. anything can happen. i just work extremely hard. i think i need to work a bit harder and be more dedicated but i work as hard as they can. what will be will be. the grand slam champions ireland will retain their six nations title with a game to spare if they get a bonus point win over england at twickenham later. defeat for ireland could allow scotland back into title contention, if they can beat italy in rome. that kicks off in the next hour.

we can only do what we have to do this weekend, which is deliver a winning performance, and see where we are after that with the first game. i am sure we will be watching both the next games with interest. but it is great that we're into the last two rounds of the championship still in the mix, although outside chance obviously for the championship, but a lot to play for this weekend and the following weekend in dublin. and that's all the sport for now. breaking news from pakistan. the present has been voted in for a second time, a11 votes to 181, according to the local media there

—— the president. 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. a fertility clinic in london has had its operating licence 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 a5 patients, although this has not been confirmed by the trust. let's get more now with ali price who is outside the clinic. good to see you. tell us more about what they are saying and how many people might have been affected by this. —— ellie price. the might have been affected by this. -- ellie price. �* �* , ., , ellie price. the bbc understands this is affecting _ ellie price. the bbc understands this is affecting about _ ellie price. the bbc understands this is affecting about 150 - ellie price. the bbc understands i this is affecting about 150 embryos, around a5 patients, although as you say, the trust has not put a number on it. it centres around this issue of how these embryos were frozen, and it would seem that there were errors in that process which has led to some of these embryos either not surviving the thawing process or not being detectable after that took place. the clinic has said it has called in external clinical experts to investigate. so far they have not

been able to pinpoint exactly what happened, but obviously that investigation is ongoing. the clinic has apologised to any patients affected and says it has already changed some of its working practices, and it has also asked a number of members of staff to work in pairs so they can essentially crosscheck what each other are doing. there has also been the apology, as i said, but this clinic has been referred to the fertility watchdog in the past. a couple of years ago, whistle—blowing allegations surrounding compliance and patient welfare. it kept its fertility licence then, but that licence has now been suspended, which means the clinic here cannot take on any new patients, other than those receiving fertility treatment currently, if they are taking it on the services so far, will be able to do so. ., ~

the felling of the sycamore gap tree on hadrian's wall led to an outpouring of emotion from around the world. two people are on bail after the tree was chopped down last september, in what police say was a deliberate act of vandalism. but now it could live on, as horticulturalists from the national trust have have successfully grown the first seedlings from the felled tree. harriet bradshaw reports. at a top—secret location in devon, a site of biosecurity where the national trust is protecting the legacy of the nation's most famous trees. i've been invited to witness history, hope for the future of the sycamore gap tree. a lot of people might think, "well, it's just a sycamore," you know, a sycamore, but it is a really important sycamore. the sycamore gap tree in its prime. but last september, it was chopped down. everyone seems to have a story about how they connect to the tree.

some people, literally, have been proposed to underneath it. other people just saw it as a way marker on theirjourney. and yet there are signs of life. in a race against time, the national trust managed to rescue seeds from the felled tree. and now they're growing. within this mini greenhouse, within this secret greenhouse, is a tiny little seedling. and this was the first of the sycamore gap's seeds to pop up. and the team here say when they saw this growing, they knew there was hope. but raising seedlings isn't the only way the tree's legacy can be preserved. there is also another method called grafting, using living twigs. and nine of the 20 grafts are now showing signs of life. i think there's a great deal of relief. it is a race against time because, obviously, once you cut a tree down,

it's physically dying straightaway. you know, there's a lot of pressure on us to actually get them growing. luckily we did. the grafting of the sycamore gap materials would have looked something like this. this method means that we've actually used the original- material from that tree, - so we've got a genetic clone. so, basically, the sycamore gap can live on? yeah, it is the same tree. when they've grown up, the national trust says it'll be the community and the nation who decide where they're planted. for now, seeds of hope protecting the legacy of the sycamore gap tree forfuture generations. harriet bradshaw, bbc news, devon. 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 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. just before we go, live pictures from the pro—palestine rally in central london. tens of thousands are apparently out there marching from hyde park to the us embassy. we are told by the met at the cost of policing peace process has now reached over £32 million, and since the protests started following the attacks on october the 7th, they have acquired 35,000 officer shifts and more than 5200 office at rest days to be cancelled. this latest protest comes just a day after the government's counter extremism is our ones that london streets have become a no go zone forjews during

these protests. thanks for watching, stay with us 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, 1a—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. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the european union says a maritime aid corridorfrom cyprus to gaza could begin operating in the coming hours. the first vessel is being loaded. but the us has warned a temporary dock in gaza could take 60 days to build. the urgent hunt for nearly 300 school children abducted by gunmen in nigeria. the governor of kaduna state says at least 28 have managed to escape. more than ten years after leaving office, a former pakistan president is back. leader of the people's party, asif ali zardari, is elected president for a second time. 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.