our correspondent in jerusalem investigates the shooting of a 12—year—old palestinian boy, accused by israel of being a terrorist. and, we look at equality in the work—place — or lack thereof — as the disparities between men and women grow further. hello, i'm helena humphrey. us presidentjoe biden says he wants the senate to take swift action to pass a bill that could force tiktok�*s chinese owner to sell their stake in the platform orface a nationwide ban. this comes after the us house voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill on wednesday. lawmakers say the app poses a national security threat as its parent company, bytedance, is based in beijing and is subject to a law requiring it to share data

with the chinese government. tiktok has told lawmakers that it has taken steps to ensure the data of american users isn't compromised by employees in china. nevertheless, the legislation should head to the senate next. its fate there is uncertain. following the house vote, tiktok urged its 150 million users in the us to lobby against the bill by calling on them to contact their members of congress. tiktok influencers also protested against the bill outside the white house. here's what they told our correspodnent. i am aware that i'm giving my data, right. i'm aware. i'm ok with it. let me make that decision, you don't need to make that for me. you know, that's where i stand. to be quite honest, everything on the internet is a security risk and so, this may be — have a parent company that is foreign, but we have just as many security risks with domestic companies as well, and so i would love to see our lawmakers spend this much time and energy to pass more data protection overall, for all americans, on all platforms, on everything. democratic congressman

seth moulton co—sponsored the bill. he told the bbc that he isn't trying to ban the app, but instead explained why he wants it out of chinese control. we have already heard instances of people being banned from tiktokjust because of talking about the genocide going on the uyghurs. 170 million americans who use tiktok and about 45% of the country gets its news tiktok. i do not think they are in the height of the cold war britain would have agreed to sell bbc to the soviet union or cnn, we would not have allowed that and it is really the same situation as they. to get an idea of the bill's fate in the senate and whether it could be signed into law, i spoke to ashley gold, technology policy

reporter at axios. very good to have you here on bbc news, this legislation has passed in the house, if it's taken up in the senate, what fate if it's taken up in the senate, what fate do you it faces they? we have a lot more momentum in the senate than i was originally expecting, you have a lot of lawmakers that do see tiktok as a thread that see the influence of china as a threat and they want to get something done and it seems like this is something that could pass and get signed by the president, by there's still pretty notable oppositions in the senate and the senate majority leader is not committed to putting it on the floor so, it's really up to him and if you see this as a valuable use of floor time, and this is something at the centre should be doing so, and washing cautiously but it's the most momentum i've seen for a piece of tech—related legislation in a long time.

let's talk about china then, the tiktok ceo released a video in it he says that over recent years, we've invested to keep your data safe so talk to us a bit about the national security concerns, is there concrete evidence essentially that china is been given this data from us users? so, the concrete evidence is that the chinese government has used social media platforms like tiktok to spread divisive of messages to the american people but what i personally see, i'm nota member of the intelligence community, is that they are using american user data from tiktok to do so. manipulating social media is something any company can be subject to. we saw this happen in the 2016 election with meta. with russia. in connection to the chinese communist party and with the tiktok is actually bending over data to them, tiktok denies that, and we have seen evidence

here and there of instances where the border between us data and chinese engineers working for bytedance is pourous but i personally haven't seen a smoking report that says, chinese commoners party or even chinese workers at bytedance are using us data on any significant scale. let's talk about the impact on young people incredibly popular influencers using this as a source of income, revenue, do you anticipate resistance if this were to go further? court battles? absolutely, a couple dozen tiktok creators and influences absolutely, a couple dozen tiktok creators and influencers on capitol hill yesterday, they had meetings with lawmakers and told them how much the app meant to them how it helped them start a business and sustain theirfamilies and now that it's

passed the house and getting even more national attention, i think you're going to see a very loud community of tiktok supporters rallying against the bill. again, going back to hypotheticals — say it passes the senate, gets to the president's desk, to avoid a ban, we are seeing is bytedance having to arrange a sale, guaranteeing the tiktok is not under the influence of what is being referred to as a foreign adversary within six months, that seemed pretty challenging, isn't it? it is challenging. not only is tiktok not interested in a sale, they have said as much, it would be hard to find a buyer that one, can afford it, it's a very valuable company and also one that would stand up to antitrust scrutiny. here in the us, increasingly, the environment around big business mergers and acquisitions that our current government administration is pretty sceptical so, the buyer would have to be someone that's not

already in tech, doesn't already have a big social networking platform so not to raise any antitrust in competition, and i think tiktok is seen getting a buyer as essentially an impossible task and that's why they are calling it a ban. axios reporter, ashley gold, thank you for being with us. to the war in gaza. israel says its investigating an attack on a united nations food distribution center in rafah, after at least five people were killed, including one unrwa staff member, in an explosion at an aid warehouse in the southern gaza city. these are pictures verified by the bbc, filmed at a nearby hospital, where casualties were taken. it comes as the us and others continue to urge israel, not to launch a full scale assault on rafah, where over a million palestinians have taken shelter in recent weeks. here are images of the warehouse taken in the immediate aftermath. this the scene inside — some of the images are too graphic to broadcast. tensions also remain high in the west bank and in occupied eastjerusalem, where five palestinians

were reportedly killed on tuesday night, by israeli security forces, including a 12—year—old boy holding a firework. the bbc�*s senior international correspondent 0rla guerin reports. how was another palestinian child shot dead? rami al—halhouli lived and died in the shadow of israeli watchtowers. his home was here in eastjerusalem, sealed off by walls and fences and israel's occupation. his family say he loved school and wanted to be a pilot. last night, rami was playing with friends, holding a firework. a shot rings out. gunshot. rami is dead on the ground with a bullet to the heart. his father, moussa,

was there in seconds, struggling to hold back his mother. today, moussa is mourning his youngest child. "he used to help everyone," he tells me. "all the neighbours." then grief overwhelms him. this is the street where his son died. standing here, it's hard to imagine how rami, a 12—year—old boy with a firework in his hand, could have been any kind of threat to the border police who were down the road, beyond that high wall, with the fence at the top, heavily armed and well protected.

this was rami's friend who was by his side when he was killed. were you afraid they might shoot you, too? "i was afraid i would be shot or killed "or badly injured," he says. "and if i was shot, they would take me and torture me." israel's far right security minister, itamar ben—gvir, was backing his men today. "i love you guys," he says. but he was avoiding our questions. why did you congratulate the police officer, minister, for shooting the child 7 what evidence is there that the child was causing anybody any harm 7 do you have any evidence? minister, witnesses say the child was just setting off a firework in the air. translation: you say he's a 12-year-old. - i say he's a 12—year—old

terrorist. a 12—year—old who endangered one of our officers. the officer should be commended, not investigated. i will take steps to get him an award. back at the scene, mustafa tells me he witnessed the killing from his window. "he wasn't holding an m—16 or a bomb or an rpg," he says. "he was a child playing. how come a sniper shot him? "was itjust because he's palestinian?" and what future for the next generation, growing up under israel's watchtowers? 0rla guerin, bbc news, eastjerusalem. the united nations says it's started evacuating its non—essential staff from haiti, although workers who carry out life—saving activities

will remain. political leaders are negotiating the formation of a transitional council, set to take over after the prime—minister, ariel henry, stands down. there's hope that following henry's resignation, the violence in haiti will recede. but in the meantime, the humanitarian situation there is worsening. at least four million people are facing severe food insecurity. gangs are in control of roughly 80% of the capital, port—au—prince, and injust the last couple of weeks, more than 15,000 people have been forced to leave their homes to escape the violence. meanwhile, the un is setting up an air bridge from the dominican republic to help deliver aid. the bbc�*s central american correspondent, will grant has more from haiti's border with the dominican republic. life at the border crossing between the dominican republic and haiti is taking on a certain rhythm that every day, throughout the day, several trucks carrying undocumented haitian migrants come to this point and deport those migrants back into the country. they are being deported

into an impoverished nation facing its biggest crisis in over a decade. now the situation in the capital, port—au—prince, remains critical — the food security situation, of course, the gang violence on the streets, the problems in the hospitals and schools being closed — it is as bleak a picture as at any time since the 2010 earthquake, in the haitian capital. there is, for example, the effort by the us state department and member states of the caricom group of nations to see an interim administration take power in the coming days, but that's running into difficulties because the gang members themselves, the powerful gangs that are in control of much of the capital dispute who will be in that council, and may well want representation themselves, for example, in search of an amnesty. so it is an intractable situation for the time being,

it may take several days from this point onwards to resolve, and in the meantime, ordinary people in the streets of port—au—prince are simply trying to make a living, make ends meet amid the violence. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a top story in the uk. britain's prime minister is resisting pressure for the conservatives to return £10 million — or about $13—million dollars — or about $13 million — that was donated by the businessman frank hester, who allegedly said the mp diane abbott made him want to "hate all black women" and should be shot. rishi sunak told the commons that the alleged remarks were racist but that mr hester�*s apology for making rude comments should be accepted. here's our political editor chris mason. the government's current position is this, they say that the remarks were racist,

the alleged remarks were racist but that doesn't make mr hester himself racist. if you take half a step back, it is a position in which he says there should be a tolerance to an articulation of alleged intolerance as long as there is some contrition. meanwhlie ms abbott was not called on during wednesday's prime minister's questions. that's despite standing up 46 times. a spokesperson for the speaker said he "ran out of time" to call on her. you're live with bbc news. march is women's history month, here in the us, the uk and australia. this week also marked equal pay day, an occasion to acknowledge the gap between women's and men's pay in the workplace. and a recent world bank report shows the global gender gap for women in the workplace is wider than previously estimated. the women, business, and the law report analysed policies affecting women's economic opportunity in 190 economies. it found that no country provides equal opportunity forwomen, including the wealthiest ones.

the report also found that when considering childcare and safety, women now enjoy less than two—thirds of legal protections available to men. far fewer than the previous estimate of 77%. the findings show that closing the gap would raise global economic output by more than 20%. joining me live to discuss the report is tea trumbic, managerfor the women, business and the law project at world bank. good to have you with us. thank you for your time. your report has found the global gender gap was winder than previously thought. how wide are we talking here? the gap is much wider than we thought, previously with 77% and now it is only two—thirds. with the increasing participation of women in the

global workforce, and the slow economic growth countries express, eliminating the gender gap would essentially double the global growth rate. as you mentioned, one of the reasons why we see such a wider gap, we're looking at safety in child care, to critical issues that prevent women from having a level playing field with men when it comes to their economic opportunities. when it comes to their economic opportunities-— opportunities. you are talking about legal— opportunities. you are talking about legal protections, - opportunities. you are talking | about legal protections, things like parental leave, equal pay, for example, of course, we know a number of countries around the world have those as part of legislation, so what are you saying? are you seeing laws exist but they are not necessarily being implemented? tell us more about that. that is one key finding we have this year. forthe is one key finding we have this year. for the first time we are looking at not only laws on the books but also implementing frameworks. when it comes to equal pay for example, 98

countries have enacted laws yet only 35 of those adopted measures or enforcement measures 01’ enforcement measures or enforcement measures to address that pay gap- measures to address that pay gap. when it comes to equal pay we also still see too many countries that restrict women from jobs that might be higher paid. jobs in energy, transport, manufacturing, water and energy. they still prevent women from receiving equal pay and if that is where we see that in practice, we when have 77 cents in the $1 to men. this idea to include _ 77 cents in the $1 to men. this idea to include for _ 77 cents in the $1 to men. this idea to include for the - 77 cents in the $1 to men. this idea to include for the first time these indicators in terms of safety, childcare, speaking to a lot of women about this report, went looking at childcare, they have said, of course, it seems obvious to them. why do you think it has not been included before and it is kind of economic reports? this was seen as not the most

critical issue so when they were first looking at discrimination on the log, we were addressing things like job restrictions, and childcare was seen as something that could be handled outside of the law but what we are seeing right now and especially during the pandemic, it became increasingly clear, it is not just access to childcare but high quality and affordable childcare that matters. then we look at things like the payer, because women are paid less, they work part—time, they work less, take time off, and this works over their lifetime. this is why this year we wanted to shine a light on these issues, parents access to childcare but also women security issues. women have to be safe at home and at the workplace and that is why we are looking at issues like sexual harassment but not just in the workplace but public spaces, education and

online, and addressing domestic violence in all its form, not only physical but sexual, economic and other types. until thoseissues economic and other types. until those issues are addressed, it is difficult to talk about equal opportunity whether in the workplace or lie. we have about 30 _ the workplace or lie. we have about 30 seconds _ the workplace or lie. we have about 30 seconds left. - the workplace or lie. we have about 30 seconds left. it - the workplace or lie. we have about 30 seconds left. it has| about 30 seconds left. it has been doing well and who has a really long way to go? fine really long way to go? one thing that _ really long way to go? one thing that we _ really long way to go? one thing that we are - really long way to go? qua: thing that we are optimistic about is that change is possible. we saw 1800 implemented reforms last year particularly in regions like africa. the top three countries were sierra leone, inaudible and jordan. we are optimistic that it and jordan. we are optimistic thatitis and jordan. we are optimistic that it is possible and by providing this information and new data we have that we can inspire and accelerate reform inspire and accelerate reform in this area.— inspire and accelerate reform in this area. tea trumbic from women. _ in this area. tea trumbic from

women, business, _ in this area. tea trumbic from women, business, and - in this area. tea trumbic from women, business, and the i in this area. tea trumbic from i women, business, and the law, thank you for highlighting this issue. let's turn to some important news around the world. nigeria's president has ordered security forces not to pay a ransom for the release of nealry 300 students a ransom for the release of nearly 300 students and staff who were kidnapped from a school in the northwest of the country last week. relatives of those taken say gunmen have demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars for their release. it's just the latest instance of mass kidnapping by gunmen in the area. almost all of those released have come following a ransom. the so—called �*man in the iron lung' has died at the age of 78. paul alexander contracted polio in 1952 when he was six. the disease left him paralysed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own. doctors placed him in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his life. alexander would go on to earn a law degree and publish a memoir. the demilitarised zone between the two koreas is actually one of the most heavily militarised areas in the world. when the korean peninsula was divided in 1953,

two villages on either side of the dmz were allowed to remain. daeseong—dong — known as the freedom village — in the south. and kijong—dong, known as the peace village, in the north. 0ur correspondent jean mackenzie went to taesung and has this report. we pass through checkpoint after checkpoint on ourjourney into the heart of the demilitarized zone, the strip of land separating north and south korea. freedom main, this is freedom 6, over. but beyond the barbed wire sits a deceivingly peaceful village where a tiny community of south koreans live in the shadow of their enemy, north korea, closely guarded by an elite battalion of soldiers. like many of the villagers, mrs kim was born here before korea was even divided. she's now offered some serious perks to convince her to stay.

she doesn't pay taxes or rent, and with extreme isolation comes an abundance of land to farm. "one day when i was gathering acorns, north korean "soldiers came too close," mrs kim tells me. "i started screaming. "it was so scary." the village of taesung was established at the end of the korean war as a symbol of peace, along with another village in the north, kijong, but no one is thought to live there now. given that the north koreans have decided to abandon this village and they don't have people living there, why do you keep people living here? right, many people believe that both taesung—dong and kijong—dong exist in the hope of one day reunifying the korean peninsula. failing that, perhaps one day it could pave the way for the normalisation of relations between the two koreas.

but this hope is dying. last month, the north declared unification impossible and branded south korea its number one enemy, putting the elderly residents on the front line of escalating tensions. we're taken out to the fields along the border. beyond the rusty sign is north korea. here, farmers must be escorted by soldiers with machine guns. we're so close to north korea now. the border isjust there behind us and there is no fencing whatsoever. so there is nothing to physically stop the soldiers from walking into these fields and then on into the village. as darkness descends, the threat rises. soldiers go door to door,

checking everyone's inside. this curfew is the most restrictive part of village life. and before we go, window washing is usually seen as more functional than fun. a chore, not a sporting challenge. but a father—daughter duo in the uk would disagree. terry �*turbo' burrows has held the record for cleaning windows for 29 years, with a personal best time of three windows in 9.11; seconds. now his daughter hasjoined him at the top of the profession by clocking her own record. aliscia burrows finished in 16.13 seconds at manchester's cleaning show. terry said he was not surprised as she was "a natural" with a squeegee. that's all for now. i'm helena humphrey. thnak you for watching. hello there. the rain has been pouring down on wednesday in snowdonia, in wales —

there was about a third of a month's worth of rain injust 12 hours. things are not looking quite so dramatic over the next few days. there will be some further wet weather, rain or showers, and for many parts of the country, it's going to be mild — particularly across england and wales, where we've seen the milder air coming from a long way south. things are a little bit chillier to the north, in northern scotland. in between, we've got the weather front — that's been bringing the rain, but that's moving northwards, taking wet weather into scotland and northern ireland. there's the wet weather that we've got in northern ireland and southern scotland — that moves its way northwards. for england and wales, there may be a bit more sunshine arriving in a southerly breeze before those showers push across from the west. but we're introducing some slightly drier air from france, hence the cloud breaking up more than it did on wednesday. and so, temperatures could reach 16, even 17 celsius. quite chilly underneath that rain, though, in the central belt of scotland. and that wet weather is still around as we head into thursday evening. that low pressure will slowly pull away — we've got another one waiting in the wings here,

as we head towards the weekend. but this is how friday looks, and we've got wet weather in scotland sinking into northern england. a bit of snow over the mountains. we see some heavier showers developing further south, particularly in the south—east of england, with the risk of thunder. drier, though, for northern ireland are becoming drier in scotland, but we're getting a northerly wind here — hence the temperatures will be dropping a bit through the day. won't be quite as warm in the south—east, but still temperatures of 13—14 celsius. as that area of low pressure moves away, things will calm down just for a while before the next weather system pushes in from the atlantic. but ahead of that, we'll have clear skies and light winds, so it's going to be cold. and there may be a frost around as well, particularly in scotland, with temperatures down as low as —3 or so. and there may be 1—2 mist and fog patches, too — but those will lift. we'll have some sunshine for a while, but we've got the weather system coming in from the atlantic — the cloud will tend to increase, rain for northern ireland

coming into south west scotland, wales, and the south—west of england. eastern areas still generally dry, but after that cold start, it'll only be around seven celsius in north east scotland. most of the rain over the weekend will actually be on saturday night. and then, as we head into the early part of next week, it looks like it could be a bit drier, and it should stay on the mild side.

tiktok�*s future in the us hangs

in the balance after lawmakers vote to pass a bill that could see a ban. plus we catch up with the ceo of booking.com as the post—pandemic travel boom continues, welcome to asia business report. let's begin in the united states where lawmakers in the house of representatives have overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill that could lead to a ban on the popular social media app, tiktok. that is despite the chinese social media company calling on millions of teenaged users in the us to oppose the bill. 0ur correspondent has been following the proceedings on capitol hill and has more on what is ahead. the house vote sets the stage for what could become an ultimatum to tiktok�*s chinese owned parent company byte da nce. sell off the app or it will be banned. there is a way to go between here and there.