i'm lucy grey in london. also in the programme... hong kong passes a tough security law. authorities say it's necessary, but critics fear it could further erode civil liberties. haiti descends into anarchy. how violent gangs now control large parts of the caribbean nation. a new picture of the princess of wales. the sun newspaper publishes photos of catherine out shopping with prince william. hello, i'm anna foster in eastjerusalem. america's top diplomat, secretary of state, antony blinken, has said that 100% of gaza's population is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. his comments come as a united nations backed report says famine is imminent in northern gaza, as the war between israel and hamas continues. the un is warning that 1 million people — that's half of the territory's population — are now facing starvation. the european union's foreign policy chief, josep borrell, accused israel of using starvation as a weapon of war,

a claim israel rejects. here's what us secretary of state antony blinken said a short time ago. the european union's foreign policy chief, josep borrell, accused israel of using starvation as a weapon of war, a claim israel rejects. here's what us secretary of state antony blinken said a short time ago. according to the most respected measure of these things, 100% of the population in gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. that's the first time an entire population has been so classified. we also see again, according to, in this case, the united nations, 100% — the totality of the population — is in need of humanitarian assistance.

blinken�*s comments follow us presidentjoe biden�*s first call with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in over a month on monday. mr biden told mr netanyahu that a major ground operation in the city of rafah would be a mistake. mr netanyahu defended the possibility saying opposing the operation was akin to opposing total defeat of hamas. let's get more on that phone call between the two leaders. joining us from new york is cbs news�* jarred hill. is this call another hardening of the white house's stance regarding a possible israeli offensive in rafah? here is what we know — according to national security adviserjake sullivan, president biden did not make any threats on the phone with prime minister netanyahu but stressed that he does not believe

israel's strategy towards hamas needs to include a massive operation in rafah and out of that phone call we know that there is going to be at least this agreement for an israeli delegation to go to washington to further discuss the buy ministry's view on this issue and what they think should be happening in the next step for this war. the think should be happening in the next step for this war.— think should be happening in the next step for this war. the us have re eatedl next step for this war. the us have repeatedly said _ next step for this war. the us have repeatedly said they _ next step for this war. the us have repeatedly said they cannot - next step for this war. the us have repeatedly said they cannot back i next step for this war. the us have i repeatedly said they cannot back and is really ground offensive in rafah without seeing a plan. is this an effort to youth think to see what that plan might be? that effort to youth think to see what that plan might be?— that plan might be? that is exactly it. we that plan might be? that is exactly it- we heard _ that plan might be? that is exactly it. we heard from _ that plan might be? that is exactly it. we heard from the _ that plan might be? that is exactly it. we heard from the secretary . that plan might be? that is exactly it. we heard from the secretary of| it. we heard from the secretary of state today they really want to see what kind of plan the israeli government and military has going for it within the next phase of this war and also after the war has ended here. the white house did not disclose any of its prepared strategies when it comes to rafah but broadly the biden administration

want to see minimal loss of life especially among civilians in rafah and also that there is this plan to maintain a humanitarian corridor going forward. fine maintain a humanitarian corridor going forward-— going forward. one of the white house's biggest _ going forward. one of the white house's biggest concerns - going forward. one of the white house's biggest concerns at - going forward. one of the white house's biggest concerns at the | house's biggest concerns at the moment and the wider situation? this is a sace moment and the wider situation? this is a space in — moment and the wider situation? t�*u 3 is a space in which nearly 1.5 million people are sheltering right thereafter war destroyed significant parts of the west of gaza. the white house is warning these people would not have anywhere else to go if they were told to leave rafah. again wanting to make sure they maintain that area in the border region between egypt and gaza. broadly, there is this question, this concern of what does the humanitarian situation look like in the gaza strip after whenever the war ends as well as making sure there is plan for government going forward. the

white house like nevis focusing on making sure whatever happens next they believe does not lead to the loss of civilian life. president biden as we mentioned has been urging mr netanyahu not to go through with a military operation there. but israel says it's necessary. some 1.5 million palestinians from other parts of gaza are seeking refuge in rafah. that's almost half the population. with rafah as a possible target, the problem becomes: where do the people sheltering there go. there's talk of moving them to al mawasi, but that's a small area comparatively and it may not be enough space. let's get more from dahlia scheindlin who's a political analyst in tel aviv.

thank you forjoining us. a lot to talk about. let's speak first of all about mr netanyahu's the line he is trying to walk. he has this pressure on one hand from the international community, the us, but also promises and assurances he made to the israeli people. how does he walk that tightrope? he israeli people. how does he walk that tightrope?— that tightrope? he is basically t in: to that tightrope? he is basically trying to fend _ that tightrope? he is basically trying to fend off _ that tightrope? he is basically trying to fend off all _ that tightrope? he is basically i trying to fend off all international pressure, that is his political persona, walking the very fine line he is working is among the israeli politicaljungle. he had a strong coalition going into the war and expanded that but he is under severe pressure domestically, not least because society is extremely divided. the polls are very harsh on him right now and the hostages are angry at him. there is the possibility of some sort of

coalition crisis and as a result he is trying to portray himself as the person who will stand up for the rest of the world. certainly the united states, even though this relationship is so important and the israelis are aware, there is no doubt israel could not prosecute this war the weight is doing without america's political support. as america's political support. as america has at least escalated some of the rhetorical pressure on israel, netanyahu has relished i think in a way his position as the defiant leader who can stand up to american pressure and we don't really know if he's going to go ahead with this rafah plan but certainly signalling he had approved the plans for the invasion was a sign to both israelis and the united states position.— states position. interesting, how how lona states position. interesting, how how long the _ states position. interesting, how how long the you _ states position. interesting, how

how long the you think _ states position. interesting, how how long the you think you - states position. interesting, how how long the you think you will. how long the you think you will continue that, such a key ally israel. it continue that, such a key ally israel. , , , , israel. it depends if they put oli israel. it depends if they put policy steps _ israel. it depends if they put policy steps buying - israel. it depends if they put policy steps buying this - policy steps buying this increasingly tense rhetoric about the need for israel to support humanitarian aid in gaza or allow more humanitarian aid, protect civilians more. we see that these words are getting tougher. the israelis listening closely to check criminal�*s speech, criticising israeli policy, we know that was backed by biden but until the us is able to say we are going to openly for example slowdown arms transfers or apply american law, to ensure the arms are being used in ways antithetical to american standards, that could actually make a difference on their ability to prosecute this war without american approval. i think they will continue with its aims, i wish we knew what

they were more clearly, but so far, there does not seem to be that kind of policy steps against israel that would cause it to restrain itself. on those talks happening again we know and is really team have been there. there was questions about whether or not mandate would be expanded, how far they could negotiate because you mentioned it as strong pressure to secure their release. , , ., as strong pressure to secure their release. , ., ., , release. there is, hostage families and widespread _ release. there is, hostage families and widespread support _ release. there is, hostage families and widespread support for - release. there is, hostage families and widespread support for them l release. there is, hostage families| and widespread support for them is expressed in demonstrations in tel aviv and other parts of the country. however this is not a government that pays attention very significantly to public pressure on the streets. remember throughout 2023, the civil society in israel mounted the most extensive mass and enduring demonstrations country had

ever seen and the government may be slowdown policies but was not willing to bend to public pressure. we do not know a lot about how far the negotiating team can go. the only thing we know are the emerging details but we have seen that over the course of the last round of negotiations that did not come to fruition. i think all that is becoming is the government is extremely reluctant to give the kind of concessions needed to be made in order to get the hostages back. that's what families are picking up on. a finance ministerfrom the religious zionist partyjust a couple of days ago said there should not have been this negotiation and if israel stop negotiating and acted even more harshly, hostages would have been released earlier. a strange position considering the government itself has been the first to delay then approve and sending

this delegation, typically with the government during this war it is not exactly clear what the strategy is. thank you forjoining us, appreciate your insight. we had from the qataris, they talked about cautious optimism but said they were nowhere near the point they could see a deal was imminent. we will continue to follow that. more to come from here in eastjerusalem, lucy. hong kong's legislature has passed a tough new security law, which authorities say is necessary for stability, but which critics fear will further erode civil liberties. the tough penalties include life imprisonment for treason and insurrection. the chief executive of hong kong has been speaking about the new measures. let's speak to the bbc�*s martin yip who is in hong kong. took us through this legislation. this has been stipulated in hong

kong's constitution, article 23. it has always been called the article 23 legislation. the idea is to write in a piece of locally to protect china's national security and interests. hong kong failed in 2003 and then we saw those protests in 2014 and 2019 because of various issues and they decided to impose its own law which is just powerful one. this time, the government took this initiative to finish what they insist that constitutional responsibility, sedition, and the hong kong legislature which is filled by pro—probe asian

legislators unanimously passed this bill in the past hour or so. figs legislators unanimously passed this bill in the past hour or so.— bill in the past hour or so. as you imaaine bill in the past hour or so. as you imagine there — bill in the past hour or so. as you imagine there has _ bill in the past hour or so. as you imagine there has been - bill in the past hour or so. as you imagine there has been concern i imagine there has been concern raised and a lot of people concerned about the ability for peaceful protest. you are watching bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

kensington palace has confirmed images taken by a member of the public and published by the sun of catherine, the princess of wales on a shopping trip with prince william in windsor. the sun newspaper has printed the picture on its front page, as well as the video it was taken from. catherine is seen smiling and walking alongside prince william. the paper says the video was taken at a farmer's market in windsor. the princess has not been seen in public since attending a christmas day church service. she had abdominal

surgery injanuary. we'll have more on this story a little later on news now. the former us president, donald trump, has reacted angrily to his failure to secure the close to half—a—billion dollar bond he needs to appeal against a judgement in his civil fraud case in new york. mr trump said that securing a bond of that size was "practically impossible". he now has to find the money through other means, or new york state authorities could begin seizing his properties. here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. this is a case in which donald trump was accused of inflating what he was worth, the value of his properties, to get preferential interest rates for loans. well, he lost the case. now he's in a position where his lawyers are saying he doesn't have the cash, the available cash, to pay the $464 million judgment against him. now, clearly, he is still wealthy, he has property around the worth to the tune of billions, but he requires cash to pay this judgment. he has now less than a week to do that. and if he can't, well,

that's why he needs a financial company, a bonding company, to come up with a bond of that amount. actually, a little bit more than that, about half a billion dollars to, in effect, cover the former president while he pursues his appeal in the case, which could go on for many months, perhaps beyond the next election. and should he eventually lose the appeal and be unable to pay, or at least have the cash to pay the judgment then, that's what the bond is for. but his lawyers are saying they've spoken to some 30 different companies, none of which are prepared to provide a bond of this colossal amount. it is an unusually high amount of money for one of these financial institutions to provide a bond. so it leaves the former president in the position where some of his properties in new york may well be sold off, and potentially sold off pretty quickly, to come up with the cash to pay this judgment. that is likely to happen within the next week or two. and clearly, this isn't something that is going to sit well with a man who has really built his image on his wealth and his ownership of property.

that is likely to happen within the next week or two. and clearly, this isn't something that is going to sit well with a man who has really built his image on his wealth and his ownership of property. the us secretary of defence, lloyd austin, has tried to reassure allies about his country's commitment to ukraine in its fight against russia's invasion. (boxed the latest us military aid package remains stalled in congress. mr austin was talking at a meeting of ukraine's international supporters in ramstein, germany. the meeting is expected to discuss ways to help ukraine overcome a shortage of military hardware. the message today is clear — the united states will not let ukraine fail, this coalition

will not let ukraine fail, and the free world will not let ukraine fail. putin will not stop at ukraine, but, as president biden has said, ukraine can stop putin, if we stand with ukraine and provide the weapons that it needs to defend itself. ukraine's survival is on the line, and all of our security is on the line. it comes as european union has draughted a law which suggests using russian money to buying weapons for ukraine. eu foreign policy chief josep borrell said it would be submitted to eu member states on wednesday. mr borrell stressed the proposal would use profits from the assets held in europe rather than the assets themselves. he said this could yield some 3 billion euros annually. the money is expected to be sent through the european peace facility fund. let's speak to olena halushka in kyiv, who is the board memberfor the anti—corruption action centre

and a co—founder of the international centre for ukrainian victory. can we talk about the proposed draft law for civil and what would be the legal mechanism for using it? it would be the profits from the russian assets rather than the assets themselves. what is the legal mechanism?— mechanism? indeed it is very important _ mechanism? indeed it is very important to _ mechanism? indeed it is very important to distinguish - mechanism? indeed it is very - important to distinguish between the profits and the main assets are frozen currently. all of the lawyers agree we profits do not belong to russia meaning they could be very easily confiscated when there is political will. european union has already made the decision to put aside those profits that were generated on the assets frozen in europe, particularly belgium aside for a different account. right now

they have to make the second step, to make the decision of the european council to transfer those profits to ukraine. ., ., ukraine. you were involved in the talks around _ ukraine. you were involved in the talks around this. _ ukraine. you were involved in the talks around this. he _ ukraine. you were involved in the talks around this. he some - ukraine. you were involved in the i talks around this. he some member states have been reluctant, haven't they? what is the likelihood of this being adopted? i they? what is the likelihood of this being adopted?— being adopted? i think first of all this proposal _ being adopted? i think first of all this proposal has _ being adopted? i think first of all this proposal has one _ being adopted? i think first of all this proposal has one very - being adopted? i think first of all this proposal has one very good l being adopted? i think first of all i this proposal has one very good use and one very bad news. good news is this profit on the frozen assets will be used for the military assistance for ukraine. that is something we have been advocating from the very beginning and something which ukraine currently needs. what is the weakness of this proposal is that it does not regard those profits that were generated in

2022, 2023 and here we see billions of euros generated by belgium which are being kept for the reserve. this would continue retaining parts of the profits, generating annually on the profits, generating annually on the russian frozen assets, that is around 5 billion euros. the custom amount, that is only 3 billion euros. there are some hypothetical risks for the financial institutions. the risks the danger ukraine is facing is very real and it's happening today so ukraine

stands the maximum of the past and future profits should be transferred to ukraine as soon as possible. thanks for talking to us. to haiti next and there seems little the world can do for the moment but simply watch the country slide further into anarchy. gangs control much of the capital, port au prince, where the bodies of at least a dozen people were discovered in a wealthy suburb. the us is hopeful a transitional council, might be able to restore order, along with the deployment of international troops, but for now the violence continues, as will grant reports from cap—haitien. just a day old, baby woodley�*s first cries are the same of those of children born anywhere — for food and for comfort. but as they get older, the children born in cap—haitien's maternity wing will find such essentials are far from guaranteed in haiti. markinsonjoseph tells me she would take her newborn boy out

of the country altogether if she gets the chance. but she doesn't have the money to flee. the first ward for pathology. as he shows us around dark and empty wards, dr clervil says the gangs�* control of the roads is making it impossible to find enough fuel to keep the lights on, let alone to bring in the drugs and equipment they need. translation: as you can see, we have beds and staff, - but often the patients just can't reach us because of their economic situation, or, more often than not, their safety. for some, it has had terrible consequences. louisemanie was eight and a half months pregnant when she came into hospital. by then, she had dangerously high blood pressure, and lost the baby. pre—eclampsia is treatable, had she been properly monitored or the baby been delivered early. louisemanie knows her loss was avoidable. the head of unicef has called the situation in haiti horrific, and likened the lawlessness to the post—apocalyptic film mad max.

the security situation aside, the humanitarian need here is critical, and the aid response so far has been painfully slow. the essential things of life are increasingly hard to find. in port—au—prince, farah oxima and her nine children have been forced from their home by the violence, and she's struggling to provide the food and water they need. "only god can change this place," she says, "because from where i'm sitting, i can't see where any other change is coming from." the gangs have such a grip of haiti, they are, in essence, dictating what happens next in this country — who can govern it, "only god can change this place," she says, "because from where i'm sitting, i can't see where any other change is coming from." the gangs have such a grip of haiti, they are, in essence, dictating what happens next in this country — who can govern it, who lives in it, and who dies. will grant, bbc news, haiti. the organisers of a football match in hong kong have begun the process

of reimbursing fans disappointed by the non—appearance of the argentine striker lionel messi six weeks ago. 46,000 fans attended the friendly between messi's inter miami and a local hong kong team, only for messi to sit out the match because of injury. ticket holders will be entitled to a fifty—percent refund. hello again. many of us started the day on a cloudy note with a fair few showers. a lot of the showers will ease through the course of the day. but as we go through the next few days, well, we are still looking at spells of wind and rain. it's going to be mild by day and by night, but it will turn colder at the end of the week. we'll be talking about significant wind chill, for example, by the time we get to the weekend. this is the kind of rainfall you can expect.

we're looking at accumulations, especially in the west where you see the dark blues and greens. this is the key. so up to 50 millimetres, possibly a bit more in places, falling on already saturated ground. now, today, a lot of the cloud will tend to break up. sunny spells will develop. there'll still be a few showers here and there. the cloud thickening in the south—west, heralding the arrival of some rain, and the wind will continue to ease. temperatures nine to 16 degrees north to south. this evening and overnight the rain gathers pace as it pushes northwards and eastwards. it will miss a lot of the south—east. it won't get into the north—west of scotland, where we'll have clear skies. here, temperatures could dip down towards freezing so we could well start the day with a touch of frost, but mild for the time of year as we push down towards the south. now, tomorrow, we start off with all this rain across parts of wales, northern england, southern and eastern scotland. it could travel a bit further north than this, but sunny skies will follow on behind, pushing eastwards. the sunnier skies, though, for much of the day will be in the south—east, where we could have highs of 18 degrees. but a lot of cloud will linger across northern england and wales with some patchy light rain. now, as we move from wednesday into thursday, the south hangs onto this ridge of high pressure,

weather fronts across the north of the country. and you can see from the isobars, it's going to be windy. in fact, we're looking at the risk of gales across the northern and western isles, the rain pushing from the west towards the east, drier conditions as you come further south. but it will be fairly cloudy, but it still is mild here — 16 degrees, 12 in stornoway. beyond that, well, you can see how a cold front comes in and pushes south, chasing away that mild air — the blues representing the colder conditions — and the wind changes to more of a northerly direction. so this weekend we will be talking about a significant wind chill. it will be wet and windy at times and the temperatures will be lower anyway. so don't put away your big coatjust yet. in and pushes south, chasing away that mild air — beyond that, well, you can see how a cold front comes in and pushes south, chasing away that mild air — the blues representing the colder conditions — and the wind changes to more of a northerly direction. so this weekend we will be talking about a significant wind chill. it will be wet and windy at times and the temperatures will be lower anyway. so don't put away your big coatjust yet.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us warns israel a planned assault on rafah in southern gaza would be a mistake, as america's top diplomat says gazans are in desperate need. 100% of the population of gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. that's the first time an entire population has been so classified. homeless and addicted to fentanyl — we have a special report on a near—death experience that

helped one user get clean, as the epidemic rages on in the us. the uk parliament tackles football — a new bill is introduced after calls for an independent regulator. and gillian anderson plays emily maitlis. the famous bbc newsnight interview with prince andrew hits netflix. the us secretary of state antony blinken has said the entire population of gaza is suffering severe levels of acute food insecurity. in some of his strongest comments so far on the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the palestinian territory, mr blinken said it was israel's duty to prioritise providing for those in need. america's top diplomat is currenly in the philippines, and will be heading back to the middle east soon, to reenergise efforts to secure a ceasefire deal in gaza. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, is travelling with mr blinken — he sent this update from manila a short while ago. well, we now know that after this

visit to southeast asia,