live from london, this is bbc news. the first vessel to use the new maritime aid corridor to gaza is loaded in cyprus. 200 tonnes of supplies will be shipped. meanwhile, more aid is air—dropped into gaza — a method aid groups consider a last resort. a london fertility clinic has its operating licence suspended, after "significant concerns" were raised over errors in the freezing of embryos in a major defeat for ireland's government, voters reject two referendum proposals on the definition of family and the role of women. and new life is springing from the sycamore gap tree. seedlings from the famously felled tree are starting to grow. hello. i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme.

final preparations are under way to send the first shipment of aid by sea to gaza. humanitarian organisations are co—ordinating a delivery of about 200 tonnes of food and medical supplies, which will go via a maritime corridor with israel's agreement. but it's unclear how or where the boat will actually dock, and even if the aid does arrive, some groups are warning of problems in distributing the aid across gaza. wyre davies reports from jerusalem. in the cypriot port of larnaca, they have been working around the clock. the spanish ship, open arms, is 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: yes, we will tow this platform to gaza, _ where the last mile will be the most complicated operation. the disembarkation will be done on a pier that is being built

right now by the world central kitchen. how the aid will be unloaded into gaza, where there is no port or functioning harbour, is not clear. air drops and some land deliveries are 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 from 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. and wyrejoins me now live from jerusalem. thank you for your time. what is the latest we now know about the store with a much—needed aid? this with a much-needed aid? this particular— with a much-needed aid? this particular ship _ with a much-needed aid? this particular ship is _ with a much—needed aid? ti 3 particular ship is due to with a much—needed aid? ti 1 particular ship is due to tow a with a much—needed aid? t1i1 particular ship is due to tow a much bigger barge all the way to gaza, a journey that will take about 14 hours, perhaps even longer because it will travel very slowly. it is still alongside the dock in cyprus, we believe, and it is hoped at all leave before nightfall... well, it is already nightfall, but in cyprus, the few hours. we still don't know how the aid will be off—loaded, every other time has been a delivery of aid particularly to the north we have seen some pretty chaotic scenes

because of hundreds of thousands of desperate hungry people. there is a plan to build a much bigger, much more ambitious floating portjust down the coast in gaza. that'll take a couple of months to build, it will be able to take much bigger equipment, perhaps even eventually helping the rebuilding gaza itself. that will be built by american navy personnel, but it is critical, so the americans, that no american literary personnel will actually set foot on gaza itself. but that is a plant still in the development stages. plant still in the development staues. �* ~ , ., ., ., plant still in the development staues. �* ~ , . ., ., , plant still in the development staues. �* ~ , . ., ., stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of course due — stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of course due to _ stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of course due to begin _ stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of course due to begin soon, - stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of course due to begin soon, what i stages. and, wyre, ramadan is of| course due to begin soon, what are the concerns around the pressure that can bring to the situation? you are riaht, that can bring to the situation? you are right. none _ that can bring to the situation? 7m, are right, none of this would really be happening up there was a ceasefire in place between israel and hamas, because as part of any ceasefire, more aid would have commenced with the normal route, the best route, overland through israel

into gaza itself. hundreds of trucks. that is not happening as much because there is no ceasefire, so the fighting continues, israel has made it very clear that it still has made it very clear that it still has a militaryjob to do in the south of gaza, and all of this is happening when ramadan starts, a very tense time, and i think there will be some redoubling of efforts next week perhaps to get those sides back around the table for those indirect talks in cairo.— back around the table for those indirect talks in cairo. and, wyre, some reports _ indirect talks in cairo. and, wyre, some reports were _ indirect talks in cairo. and, wyre, some reports were getting - indirect talks in cairo. and, wyre,j some reports were getting around indirect talks in cairo. and, wyre, - some reports were getting around the cia and the chiefs meeting, what have we had about that meeting and what does that signify? —— what have we heard? i what does that signify? -- what have we heard? ~ , , ., we heard? i think this is about the side really holding _ we heard? i think this is about the side really holding up _ we heard? i think this is about the side really holding up the - we heard? i think this is about the side really holding up the peace i side really holding up the peace talks hamas. israel refused to go to the peace talks in cairo because it said that they refused to give it a list of hostages still alive.

america is enforcing its view that it is hamas rather than as a rule holding up the talks to model as we have seen, as has its own conditions which are preventing the agreement of a ceasefire.— of a ceasefire. wyre davies, thank ou for of a ceasefire. wyre davies, thank you for all— of a ceasefire. wyre davies, thank you for all of— of a ceasefire. wyre davies, thank you for all of your _ of a ceasefire. wyre davies, thank you for all of your information. - meanwhile, some supplies of aid are being dropped into gaza. these pictures were shot a few hours ago in gaza city, in the north of the territory. the area was where the israeli military began its operations, following the hamas attack on the 7th of october, and there have been warnings of malnutrition, and the possibility of famine there. some 300,000 palestinians are believed to be in that area. several aid organisations have reported difficulties in delivering supplies to gaza's north, and there have been reports of chaos and violence when convoys of aid have driven there, as people struggle to secure food and other essential items. aid organisations have warned that

airdrops simply cannot meet the need on the ground. live pictures from tel aviv now, anti—government protests, and these are not new protests for the government of benjamin netanyahu. he will be used to this because they have been several anti—government protests in the last few weeks. some people are calling for fresh elections, some are demanding that benjamin netanyahu resigns as it comes under pressure for the release of the remaining hostages on gaza, in reminder that benjamin netanyahu is not only dealing with pressure abroad from world leaders as well as his own allies, but also domestically on the ground. you can see they are waving israel flags,

this is something we saw throughout 2023 as well, there were already calls for benjamin netanyahu to resign before the war, before his war cabinet was formed, that is because ofjudicial reforms that benjamin netanyahu was pushing through in government. more from that protest as we have it, as they night goes on. here, thousands of people have joined a pro—palestinian rally in london. it is the tenth major demonstration in the capital since the 7th october attacks by hamas on israel. on friday, the uk government's counter—extremism commissioner, robin simcox, said weekends in london had become a no—go zone forjewish people.

our correspondent louisa pilbeam sent this report from central london. well, we're at the concluding part of the march here, just outside the us embassy. i must say that when we were with the start of the march, there were thousands of people which was significantly lower than in previous weeks. i have been here and witnessed the numbers which are very, very large numbers of people. but being here along the way, tens of thousands of people, i would say, are here now. and as you mentioned, the government's anti—extremism commissioner, he has spoken about the fact that during these marches it is a no go zone, as he put it, forjewish people to come into central london. now, when i spoke to the organiser of this march and put those comments to him, let's have a listen to what he had to say in response. i think his remarks are disgraceful. one of the things he ignores is that on every single march, you'll see it again today, we have a block of members of thejewish community, usually about 3,000 strong, who march with us.

if there are members of thejewish community who feel afraid, then possibly that is something to do with hearing people say things like, "these are hatemongers, these are islamist mobs, these are people chanting genocidal chants," where the reality, as you will see, is these are people from all walks of life, young and old, from many, many backgrounds who are here marching for peace. and as the police themselves have said, these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful. it is very loud down here. they are very vocal. but i must say that in response to those comments you just heard from the organiser, we have seen groups ofjewish people and from jewish organisations here, and they have said that they feel comfortable being here. the organiser also said that he feels that in response to policing numbers, there are around 1,500 police from across the country policing this kind of event week after week. upwards of £25 million has been spent since the first couple of months since the 7th

of october hamas attacks on israel. and the organiser feels that this is overpoliced in his words. he said he feels that that actually creates a sense of anticipation of trouble. and i have to say that it has been very well organised from what i have witnessed, and it's very peaceful, a very calm atmosphere down here. a london fertility clinic has had its licence suspended because of "significant concerns" about the unit. the homerton fertility centre said there had been three separate incidents involving errors in the freezing of embryos. our correspondent greg mckenzie is outside the clinic in hackney. greg, what do we know about the investigation? the bbc understand as many as up to

150 embryos could be affected, involving up to 45 patients. the hospital trust has not confirmed those numbers, but it centres around the freezing process of embryos. homerton fertility centre here in east london has said that it has external clinical experts to find out what has happened here, but up until now, they have not been able to determine the problems, and why this has happened. meanwhile, the uk fertility regulator has suspended the license here, the operating licence, for fertility treatment, and the trust has apologised to those patients involved, but says it has changed the way in which it

works, and those changes will include having two staff members to crosscheck each other they work to find out what actually doing. the metropolitan police have also confirmed they have been hurt to the unit, but have told us today that, as of now, they are not conducting a criminal investigation.— criminal investigation. greg, the -rocess criminal investigation. greg, the process of _ criminal investigation. greg, the process of freezing _ criminal investigation. greg, the process of freezing eggs, - criminal investigation. greg, the process of freezing eggs, having eggs fertilised, it is externally difficult, extremely emotional, what has the bbc heard from people who are affected? fine has the bbc heard from people who are affected?— has the bbc heard from people who are affected? ., , , are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc, are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc. she — are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc, she has _ are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc, she has asked _ are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc, she has asked that - are affected? one patient has spoken to the bbc, she has asked that her i to the bbc, she has asked that her name remains anonymous, and she says she is absolutely devastated, as many of the patients will be, potentially this will prevent them from ever being able to have children themselves. many people

involved, the trustee has said it has contacted all of those involved and they have sent their sincere apologies and said they hoped this will not happen again. the fertility watchdog has said the licence will be reinstated once a full investigation is carried out. as of now, no new fertility cases are being taken on here, that is private and nhs fertility treatment here at the homerton fertility centre. greg. the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank ou the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank you so — the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank you so much _ the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank you so much for— the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank you so much for your - the homerton fertility centre. greg, thank you so much for your time. i thank you so much for your time. more on that story on the bbc news website and app if you want to learn more. the uk's defence secretary grant shapps has posted footage on his social media account of hms richmond shooting down two drones in the red sea.

the incident happened last night after the royal navy frigate was attacked by iranian—backed houthi rebels. mr shapps said the uk and its allies will continue to take the action necessary to save lives and protect freedom of navigation. the us military says it has also shot down more than a dozen drones in the red sea. it blamed what it called a sustained attack by the houthis, which it said represented an imminent threat to shipping in the area. with the details, here's david waddell. the singapore registered propel fortune is the latest commercial ship to be targeted by the houthi movement. the bulk carrier departed india just under two weeks ago, with her 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

collateral damage to the ship and that she was bound for her next port. these attacks have been ongoing since october, both in the red sea and in the gulf of aden, causing many commercial ships, both freighters and passenger liners, to divert around the cape of good hope. this attack took place about 50 nautical miles south of the port of aden. here's the houthi description of what happened. translation: yemen's naval forces . and the air force carried out two l specific military operations. the first targeted the american ship propel fortune in the gulf of aden, with a number of suitable naval missiles. while the second targeted a number of american destroyers at the red sea and the gulf of aden with 37 drones and the two operations successfully achieved their goals. so the second attack was focused on us warships which have gathered in the region in greater numbers since the red sea crisis began, led by the uss dwight d eisenhower. us central command said that us naval ships and aircraft shot down

15 unmanned aerial vehicles early in the morning. they regard this large—scale attack is an ongoing imminent threat to merchant vessels, the us navy and coalition ships in the region. there's been another mass kidnapping — the third in just over a week. armed men abducted 15 students from their school in the northwestern state of sokoto in the early hours of saturday. four women were also taken. there is already a major search for the almost 300 students who were abducted by armed men on thursday. the nigerian army is leading the search for those children, who were abducted 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 a breakaway faction of the militant islamist group boko haram. and about 200 people were abducted in borno state on february 29. 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. our west africa correspondent mayenijones has more. thank you forjoining us. what is the latest on this kidnapping, this latest kidnapping this week? we don't latest kidnapping this week? - don't know very much. all we know is that it happened very early this morning in the north—west of nigeria. members of the local community told the bbc that gun men came into the town shooting into the air, they took a number of women, and as they were fleeing, they saw some students running into the

dormitories and decided to abduct them as well. a search operation is under way to recover almost 300 students taken from their school on thursday. the military, the police and local hunters are combing the forest in the region are trying to recover the students. mayeni, sadly this is not a — recover the students. mayeni, sadly this is not a new _ recover the students. mayeni, sadly this is not a new issue _ recover the students. mayeni, sadly this is not a new issue for— recover the students. mayeni, sadly this is not a new issue for the - this is not a new issue for the country. what is behind this latest resurgence of kidnappings? it is not new, but resurgence of kidnappings? it is not new. but we — resurgence of kidnappings? it is not new, but we haven't _ resurgence of kidnappings? it is not new, but we haven't seen _ resurgence of kidnappings? it is not new, but we haven't seen these - resurgence of kidnappings? it is not i new, but we haven't seen these mass kidnappings involving children for a few years now, the last was in 2021, and many in the region thought that perhaps authorities had got the problem under control. a number of suggestions have been made for the reasons why this may be happening again this week. one of them is that the holy month of ramadan is coming

up, perhaps these children were taken to do menial work in the camps. the nigerian economy is particularly bad at the moment, inflation at over 30%. traditional it gangs have extorted local communities for money, but some of these have now no money to give, so it might be that they are turning to abducting children in a way to pressure the government to pay heavy ransoms. a, ., ~ pressure the government to pay heavy ransoms. ., ~ , ., pressure the government to pay heavy ransoms. ., ~ ,, . ransoms. mayeni, thank you so much for that update. _ ransoms. mayeni, thank you so much for that update. of _ ransoms. mayeni, thank you so much for that update. of course _ ransoms. mayeni, thank you so much for that update. of course there - ransoms. mayeni, thank you so much for that update. of course there is i for that update. of course there is more on our website. in a setback for ireland's government, voters have rejected two referendums — concerning the constitutional redefinition of family and women's roles. the prime minister leo varadkar described it as a "comprehensive" defeat. while the leader of sinn fein laid the blame squarely at the feet of the government. darran marshall reports from dublin. within minutes of the ballot box is open, it was clear ireland have said

no. voters were asked to approve two amendments to the 1937 constitution, one around the definition of family and one on care. we accept responsibility for the result. it was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote yes, and we clearly failed to do so. i think we struggled to convince people of the necessity or a need for the referendum at all, let alone any detail and the wording. those who campaigned for a no vote say the government misjudged the mood of the electorate. these two amendments by the government were an exercise in virtue signalling. this was a government flying a flag of progressiveness while at the same time refusing to provide real bread and butter— time refusing to provide real bread and butter services to families who really _ and butter services to families who really need it. ireland has voted no to constitutional change, but already some of the political parties here say they will return to

darran marshall, bbc news, dublin castle. veteran pakistani politician asif ali zardari has been elected president for the second time. the pakistan people's party leader defeated his rival mahmood khan achakzai, an ally of the jailed former prime minister imran khan. members of newly elected national and provincial assemblies voted in the presidential poll. mr zardari, the widower of the slain premier benazir bhutto, previously served as president from 2008 to 2013. the felling of the sycamore gap tree on hadrian's wall led to an outpouring of emotion from around the world. it became famous after featuring in the 1991 film robin hood — prince of thieves, starring kevin costner. 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. horticulturalists from the national trust 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. some live pictures from the red carpet in los angeles. not looking particularly glamorous, but that is because these are rehearsals for the oscars, and of course oppenheimer is a big box office favourite this year, but you never know, there are often surprises, so do stay with us on bbc news. that coverage will be tomorrow, we will keep previewing it throughout the night.

stay with us here on bbc news. good afternoon. not the most inspiring weekend of weather overall. there are some brighter spots, but for many places, cloudy. some rain around. an easterly wind, staying pretty strong across northern areas through tonight, the wind using further south. we will see outbreaks of rain pushing northwards particularly across parts of anyone in wales. overnight lows generally between three and nine celsius. tomorrow, here's our area of low pressure, still with us, but big gaps between the isobars in southern areas, so the isobars in southern areas, so

the winds we have a relatively light, the isobars squeezed together further north, staying quite possibly, and where you are exposed to that blue particularly across the east coast of scotland, feeling decidedly chilly. our mix of rain for many areas, but not all the time, certainly not a huge amount of sunshine for mother's day. —— outbreaks of rain. wind is lighter than today in the south. temperatures in the south and any brightness 12 or 13 celsius, but exposed to that breeze, eastern scotland only five or six tells us. the breeze still with us, blowing in towards the eastern side of scotland, but the wind generally easing off. monday will bring a lot of cloud, bits and pieces of rain towards the south—east of england, also northern ireland. some are bright or sunny spells, beginner temperatures 11 or 12 celsius. tuesday, the changes are really only taking place very slowly. it won't be as windy on tuesday, because of

that there could be some mist and fog patches through the morning. quite a lot of cloud, sunny spells. but the weather will change in terms of the feel of things, certainly, as we head through the middle part of the week, because with areas of low pressure passing to the west of the north—east of us, we will develop winds from the south—west, and that will bring a certain way and that will bring a certain way and that will bring a certain way and that will bring certainly in my other feel. from midweek onwards, often cloudy, and some rain at times.

this is bbc news, the headlines: preparations are under way to deliver aid to gaza using a maritime corridor. two hundred tonnes of food and medical supplies will be on board a barge, towed by a charity ship. it's due to sail from cyprus. but it's not clear yet where the supplies will actually be unloaded, or how they'd even be distributed inside gaza safely. air drops of aid have continued in the meantime — here you can see supplies falling into gaza city. the us dropped more than 41 thousand meals. there's still no agreement between israel and hamas over a ceasefire and the return of hostages. and a london fertility clinic has had its operating licence suspended after "significant concerns" were raised over errors in the freezing of embryos. the clinic said a small number of embryos had either not survived or had become �*undetectable'.