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. thousands of people march in central london in support of gaza — the tenth major protest in the city since the october 7th attacks. 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, 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 orfunctioning 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. at least ten people were reported to have been killed today in an air strike on a refugee camp in central gaza.

israel, despite growing international pressure for a truce, says the military campaign is not yet over. wyre davies, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, supplies of aid continue to be dropped into gaza. these pictures were shot in gaza city, in the north of the territory. the us dropped more than 41,000 meals and more than 20,000 bottles of water. 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. 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. around 300,000 gazans have been reported to be there at the moment.

aid organisations have warned that airdrops simply cannot meet the need on the ground. let's cross now giorgios petropoulos, the head of the un's office for the co—ordination of humanitarian affairs gaza. thank you so much for your time and joining the programme. we have been talking about this effort to build a temporarily floating port, and the pentagon has said it would take 60 days. it is of course needed for a ship to actually dock there. knowing the humanitarian need, what is your reaction to that timeline?_ the humanitarian need, what is your reaction to that timeline? thank you for havin: reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me- _ reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me. it _ reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me. it is _ reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me. it is true _ reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me. it is true that - reaction to that timeline? thank you for having me. it is true that they i for having me. it is true that they were continuous, we have had more than 100,000 casualties now and we have about 300,000 people in north gaza, somewhere around there. at risk of starvation. 60 days is obviously way too long. i think this is understood by everyone trying to

find solutions and at this point we are open to any kind of intervention that well turner is back from this terrible brink of malnutrition —— turn us back. while airdrops are not enough, while the real only viable option of providing enough food and water, specialised medical supplies and a lot of other equipment and aid thatis and a lot of other equipment and aid that is required is en route, organisations like world central kitchen, using seabird roots, we hope it becomes a viable option. the issueis hope it becomes a viable option. the issue is time. the issue is time. and you're saying the issue is time, when the only viable option is truly focusing on those land routes as well, what do you need, what to aid

groups need to ensure aid can get to gazanis groups need to ensure aid can get to gazan is a safetybecause organisations like the world food programme have been saying it is very dangerous further aid convoys on the ground? there has been a lot of time lost discussing and negotiating access routes, especially to north gaza and we have essentially boiled those down to two checkpoints that are assertive on the wadi that bisects gaza. getting the wadi that bisects gaza. getting the amount of trucks required through those checkpoints, in what is essentially a war zone is simply, i guess by now we have discovered, too complicated and complex and effort. we have been calling for it —— we have been calling for more crossings to open, it is viable and i think to be frank, if we had done this weeks ago, we would not be where we are now. we

this weeks ago, we would not be where we are now.— this weeks ago, we would not be where we are now. we have seen deaths of children, _ where we are now. we have seen deaths of children, dozens - where we are now. we have seen deaths of children, dozens of - deaths of children, dozens of children from malnutrition. it has been preventable. we have not prevented it and it is tragic. find prevented it and it is tragic. and what about _ prevented it and it is tragic. and what about security? the us has made clear they will not put any bits on the ground. what is being done to ensure the security of those tracks? —— any boots on the ground. do you need help from any other states? the securi of need help from any other states? the security of food need help from any other states? tta: security of food going need help from any other states? tt2 security of food going to north gaza is a vicious circle, we have to feed people enough so that they are not in this terrible ordeal of having to feed themselves and running out after the first food they see. but in order to do that we need security. it is a war zone, you see air strikes every day. there is fighting, parts of north gaza where people are not safe and they will not go there. and so at this point, we need this answer to be taken

seriously as the only option to get food inside. in terms of boots on the ground, i can tell you, and i understand as you said already, there are more than one maritime option, but for now, we are working from our side on continuing to try to resolve at the land option. mil to resolve at the land option. all riuht. to resolve at the land option. all right. georgios petropoulos from the un, thank you so much for your time. i want to bring you some live pictures from tel aviv. we have been monitoring the situation from throughout the night. these are live protests of anti—government protests in tel aviv, these protests will not be new to benjamin netanyahu, there have been several in recent weeks, which is why there has been a police presence in the area to contain them. a lot of people there, protesters there have been insisting on benjamin netanyahu resigning. they are calling for fresh

elections, dissatisfied with any word. and of course, benjamin netanyahu is under increased pressure when it comes to getting the remaining hostages in gaza back home safely. hostage families have also been demanding more results and are concerned about the safety of their loved ones. the government, of course, says military action is the best way to get those hostages home. we will keep bringing you those pictures throughout the night as that police presence there continues to respond to protests. those are happening regularly in tel aviv now. here, thousands of people joined a pro—palestinian rally in london. it was 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 forjews".

welsh singer charlotte church also joined the pro—palestinian protesters. she spoke to the crowd at the end of the rally — showing her support for people in gaza. our correspondent louisa pilbeam sent this report from the us embassy in london. well, the protest has now come to an end and people have dispersed. it was a well—organised and friendly, warm atmosphere, actually, here today. and we spoke tojewish people and organisations who said that they felt welcome and they said it was important for them to be involved today and they were made to feel involved. now, there is still a police presence here, a significant police presence, and there was all day today, but there didn't seem to be any trouble. the organisers did say, though, that they feel that this event has been overpoliced. on a day like today, there are around 1500 police officers who could be involved, and they say that that's not a good thing for these events.

a short time ago, the met police issued a statement following today's demonstrations. they say that 2300 officers policed 11 major events across london today, including sporting matches and protests. five arrests were made during protests — one of which was for holding an offensive placard, and two were for chanting offensive slogans. the statement also said, "there was no significant public order disturbance in any protests today." let's look at tensions in the red sea now. the uk's defence secretary grant shapps has posted video 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 at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles — or drones — in the red sea between between about 4am and 8:20am local time. they added that no us or coalition navy vessels were damaged in the attack, and that no commercial ships reported damage. 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 navy ships and aircraft shot down 15 unmanned aerial vehicles early in the morning. they regard this large—scale attack

as an ongoing imminent threat to merchant vessels, the us navy and coalition ships in the region. 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. i asked our correspondent greg mckenzie to explain what had happened. the bbc understand as many as up to 150 embryos could be affected, involving about 45 patients. now, the hospital trust has not confirmed those numbers, but it centres around the freezing process of embryos — some of those embryos have simply not survived or when thawed were undetected. homerton fertility centre

here in east london has said that it has called in 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 regulator has suspended the licence here, the operating licence, for fertility treatment. the trust has apologised to those patients involved, but says it has changed the way in which it works, some of those changes will include having two staff members to crosscheck each other�*s work to find out what they're actually doing. the metropolitan police have also confirmed they have been here to the unit, but have told us today that, as of now, they are not conducting a criminal investigation. greg mckenzie. now it is time for a look at the depots and export with you. —— at the sport with hugh.

hello from the bbc sport centre. england ended ireland's hopes of back—to—back six nations grand slams with a dramatic one—point victory at twickenham. marcus smith, on his first appearance in the championship, kicked a stoppage time drop goal to stun ireland who thought they'd won it courtesy of james lowe's second try of the match. the result means that england are still in with an outisde chance of winning the six nations when they travel to france next week. ireland will clinch the title with a win at home to scotland. for the team, i think obviously we didn't get the result we wanted last time but i think this team is going to take a lot of pride and confidence from that performance. we challenged one of the best teams in the world through the 80 minutes, it ebbed and flowed, they got ahead, we got ahead. i think it was a brilliant spectacle for the fans and i know that the boys will be very happy with that one. we have been very good at winning, everyone is a good winner, aren't they? we've got to be a good loser as well, we've got to be honest and review that properly and make sure we come into work on monday with a smile on our face, because as you say, there is a championship to be won. earlier on saturday,

italy beat scotland 31—29 in rome to secure their first victory on home soil for 11 years. they trailed scotland by six points a half—time. and even though they were outscored by four tries to three, four penalties in the match helped them get their noses in front and they secured their first win in the tournament for two years, which also follows a draw against france in their previous game. well done to the boys. we have done amazin: well done to the boys. we have done amazing preparation. _ well done to the boys. we have done amazing preparation. we _ well done to the boys. we have done amazing preparation. we work - well done to the boys. we have done amazing preparation. we work so - amazing preparation. we work so hard. we have been working a lot on your details and today we give it everything, so i couldn't be prouder. and now we have another big week in front of us and we have to go for it as well. arsenal have gone top of the premier league, ensuring there's just a point�*s gap between each of the top three ahead of liverpool's meeting with manchester city on sunday. their 2—1 win over brentford was secured late on at the emirates, with kai havertz heading the crucial goal in the 86th minute after goalkeeper aaron ramsdale had made a mistake to allow brentford's equaliser.

it's an eighth straight league win and it sends arsenal a point clear. i'm really, i' m really, really i'm really, really satisfied with the performance and the result, obviously, but in the manner we did it, it was a very different game to the one we played in the last few weeks. against a team that demands a lot of emotional control a lot of nerve, a lot of maturity in certain moments, and we've done it any great way and we showed so much determination, quality, courage, and at the end we got rewarded. elsewhere, manchester united beat everton 2—0 thanks to penalties from bruno fernandes and marcus rashford. luton and bournemouth both scored injury time equalisers in their games against crystal palace and sheffield united. while wolves win over fulham takes them eighth. harry kane scored a hat trick for bayern munich to take his tally for the season to 36 in all competitions as thomas tuchel�*s side thrashed mainz 8—1 in the bundesliga. it reduces leverkusen�*s lead to seven points ahead of their game on sunday.

meanwhile, jadon sancho scored his first goal for dortmund since his return on loan as they overcame werder bremen 2—1. in italy, inter continued their march to the title with a 1—0 win at in form bologna. atletico madrid, their opponents in the champions league this week, slumped to a surprise 2—0 defeat at lowly cadiz, while in ligue 1, second—placed brest are currently paying at lens. it is currently goalless. max verstappen has helped red bull continue their perfect start to the new formula one season, winning the second grand prix of the year in saudi arabia. it's the world champion�*s ninth successive victory. and he finished ahead of teammate sergio perez for a second red bull one—two of 202a. behind another dominant verstappen performance, 18—year—old oliver bearman came seventh in his first race. he's the third youngest driver to start in formula 1, and stood in for ferrari's carlos sainz at late notice. and that's all the sport for now. much more on the website. thank you. there's been another mass

kidnapping in nigeria — the third in just over a week. armed men abducted 15 students from their school in the north—western 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 from the north—west town of kuriga in kaduna state. reports say students between the ages of eight 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. our west africa correspondent

mayenijones has more. we don't know very much. all we know is that it happened very early this morning in sokoto in the north—west of nigeria. members of the local community told the bbc that gunmen 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. this comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region. a search operation is under way to recover almost 300 students taken taken from their school in kiduna on thursday. the military, the police and local hunters are combing the forest in the region are trying to recover the students. 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 boxes opening, it was clear ireland had said no. voters were asked to approve two amendments to the 1937 constitution, one around the definition of family and the other on care. government leaders say they respect the decision but are disappointed. as head of government and on behalf of the government, 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 the need for the referendum at all, let alone the 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 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 the issue after the next general election. darran marshall, bbc news, dublin castle. the famous sycamore gap tree on hadrian's wall made headlines after it was chopped down last year. but now horticulturalists from the national trust have successfully grown the first seedlings from it. 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. stay with us here on bbc news. there is plenty more to come.

hello. sunshine amounts have varied across the uk today. some areas got stuck with a lot of clouds and outbreaks of rain, but for others the cloud did break to reveal some sunshine. that was how it looked for one of our weather watchers in shetland. on the earlier satellite picture, you can see this swirl of cloud in the centre of which lies an area of low pressure that is dominating our weather right now. it will continue to do so. and because we are on the northern flank of that low, we have an easterly wind. that wind staying pretty strong across northern areas through tonight, the wind easing further south. we will see outbreaks of rain pushing northwards, particularly across parts of england and wales. overnight lows generally between 3—9 celsius. so tomorrow, here's our area of low pressure still with us. but notice big gaps between the isobars in southern areas, so the winds here relatively light. the isobars squeezed

together further north. so it will stay quite blustery. and when you're exposed to that breeze, particularly across the east coast of scotland, it is going to feel decidedly chilly. many areas will see outbreaks of rain at times, but not all the time. certainly not a huge amount of sunshine for mother's day. best chance of brightness i think will be in the far north, also for parts of south and west wales, the south—west of england, and the channel islands. the winds will be lighter than they have been today in the south. temperatures in the south, in any brightness, 12—13 celsius, but exposed to that breeze, eastern scotland, only 5—6 celsius. that breeze still with us on monday, that easterly blowing in towards, say, the eastern side of scotland. but that wind generally easing off. monday will bring a lot of cloud. there'll be some bits and pieces of rain towards the south—east of england, also northern ireland. some bright or sunny spells and again, temperatures 6—11 or maybe 12 celsius. and for tuesday, the changes 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, some sunny spells. i think many places will be dry. temperatures between 8—12 celsius.

but the weather will change in terms of the feel of things, certainly, as we head through the middle parts of the week, because with areas of low pressure passing to the west or the north—west of us, we will develop winds from the south—west. and that will bring certainly a milder feel. from midweek onwards, temperatures getting up into the middle teens celsius, but it will often be cloudy, and there'll be 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 how the supplies will be safely distributed inside gaza. 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. armed men have abducted 15 students from a school in northern nigeria — the third mass kidnapping in the country in just over a week. four women were also taken. a search led by the nigerian army is already underway for almost 300 students abducted on thursday.