diplomat visits saudi arabia amid a renewed diplomatic push. the london hospital which treated the princess of wales says it will investigate after reports that staff tried to access her private medical records. hello, i m matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories and checking out the truth behind them. we start in ireland where the prime minister leo vardkar has resigned. in an unexpected announcement, mr varadkar described the period leading his country as "the most fulfilling time of his life". he will step down before the next general election in the republic of ireland. mr varadkar became ireland's youngest taoiseach in 2017 when he became leader of fine gael.

i know this will come as a surprise to many people and a disappointment to some, and i hope at least you will understand my decision. i know that others will, how shall i put it, cope with the news just fine. that is the great thing about living in a democracy. there is never a right time to resign high office, however, this is as good a time as any. budget 2024 is done, negotiations have not yet commenced on the next one, the institutions of the good friday agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the uk in the post—brexit era is settled and stable. the new taoiseach will have a full two months to prepare for the local and european elections and up to a year before the next general election. my reasons for stepping down are both personal and political. i believe this government can be re—elected and i believe my party,

fine gael, can gain seats in the next dail. most of all, i believe the re—election of this three—party government will be the right thing for the future of our country, continuing to take us forward, protecting all that's been achieved and building on it. but after careful consideration and some soul—searching i believe that a new taoiseach and a new leader will be better placed than me to achieve that. to renew and strengthen the team, to focus our message on policies, to drive implementation and after seven years in office, i don't feel i'm the best person for thatjob any more. i spoke to caitriona perry, a chief presenter and former anchor for the irish broadcaster, rte. she's followed leo varadkar since his early days, and gave us her reaction. i suppose it is the timing which is the shock part to it. he left here on sunday night after several glorious days, as they would be perceived,

spent with the great and good of washington dc, including meetings over three separate days with the us presidentjoe biden, and so the timing of that, kind of having that last glory moment, would come as a surprise to people. obviously there were two referendums held in ireland in the last couple of weeks which the government lost both of those, there are local and european elections coming up in ireland at the beginning ofjune and fine gael, leo varadkar�*s party, is not doing well in the polls. so there is a sense i suppose of all the lines lining up at this point, that this is a good moment to go on a high without further electoral defeats. as to what comes next for him, well, we don't know. he said in his speech that there was no secret reason for this and he thought people might speculate about that, but that he just felt that it was better for the party, for the country, for somebody else to lead fine gael into those local and european elections and into the next general election, which must be held by the spring of next year. he talked in that statement

about expanding ireland's diplomatic footprint on the global stage, he is absolutely right about that, isn't he? yeah, during his time in office, ireland opened several new embassies around the world and many ministers have been visiting them just over the last few days for st patrick's day, that is the big diplomatic moment of the year for the irish government and irish businesses and so on, massive delegations travel all around the world to visit different countries to sell the story of ireland, that there is peace on our island, prosperity there, obviously the institutions were restored in northern ireland just in the last month, the first and deputy first minister were here as well in the last few days and spent a lot of time with the taoiseach and with the presidentjoe biden selling that good story of northern ireland and good story of ireland.

moving to breaking news, we arejust hearing here in england thatjunior doctors here in england have voted in favour of continuing industrial action in their long—running dispute over pay, 98% of members of the british medical association voting to back further walkouts, the turnout was 62%, it means the dispute will continue into a second year. over the last 12 months there have been ten walkouts byjunior doctors in england and the long—running pay dispute centres on pay, the bma has asked for 35% as a pay, the bma has asked for 35% as a pay rise to make up for what they say is 15 years of below inflation pay deals, the government of course have described that as unreasonable. but that ballot just have described that as unreasonable. but that ballotjust coming in, the top line, thatjunior doctors in england voting in favour of continuing with their industrial action, so, we will have more on that here on the programme in the next little while. let's turn to a

special bbc report on what is being described as a war the world has forgotten. civilians caught up in sudan's civil war have given our correspondent graphic accounts of rape, ethnic violence and street executions. top united nations officials say the conflict has plunged the country into "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history". the latest round of violence started in april last year. the un says around eight million people have been displaced, tens of thousands have been killed, a backdrop that could trigger the world's largest hunger cirsis. feras kilani has been to the front lines near the capital khartoum and sent this exclusive report. gun shots. the front line of a war the world has forgotten. vehicle horns blare. sudanese army troops celebrating a rare success as they push towards the capital. a fragile victory over their rivals, the rapid support forces.

this market used to be the life of the city. now look at it. normal life here, destroyed. we heard stories of rape, looting and indiscriminate violence at the hands of the rsf. this war is taking everything from people. millions across the country have had to leave their lives behind. few have stayed. 64—year—old mukhtar took us to see what used to be a town square, now a makeshift graveyard. translation: there are 150 people here. | i knew many of them. mohammed, abdullah, jalal. .. there's just me left. a moment to remember their names. for many, a grave is only a number.

the un says both sides face accusations of horrific abuses, even war crimes, claims both deny. the army was keen to show us the damage they say was inflicted to the city and its people by the rsf. they tightly controlled what we saw and where we went. children in sudan are facing a living nightmare. aid agencies warn an entire generation is at risk. 300 families are crammed into this school here in port sudan. these classrooms should be full of children learning. instead, desperate people from across sudan are

these classrooms should be full of children learning. instead, desperate people from across sudan are sheltering here for safety. but there are horrible stories hidden here. five people have died of cholera and others are suffering from severe diseases. zubaida, a mother of eight, has leukaemia. she hasn't been able to get her medication since the war erupted last april. translation: my last pills finished three days before the war. - from that moment on, i'm suffering. i'm in constant pain. i'm so tired. zubaida's husband is fighting in khartoum with the army. she hasn't heard from him for two months. this clinic feels like a front line of a humanitarian disaster the world doesn't know is happening. starving children getting what little help they can. we meet ikram, who has lost all hope, struggling to keep her three—year—old daughter menasik alive.

she could barely tell us the rsf stole her home, stole her life. families clinging on for survival, but it could get a lot worse. so we're facing right now a lethal combination of displacement, mass displacement, hunger and disease outbreaks, and that's putting sudan on the brink of famine. the world has been distracted with other wars, other suffering, but the appeal from here is clear — the world is being urged not to forget sudan. feras killani, bbc news, sudan. the london hospital which treated the princess of wales says it will investigate any breach of patient information after reports that staff tried to access her

private medical records. the bbc royal correspondent sarah campbelljoins me now. tell us more, what more is the hospital saying about this story? 50. what more is the hospital saying about this story?— about this story? so, this all relates to — about this story? so, this all relates to this _ about this story? so, this all relates to this day _ about this story? so, this all relates to this day that - about this story? so, this all - relates to this day that katherine brunt has made at the london clinic, thatis brunt has made at the london clinic, that is a clinic in central london, that is a clinic in central london, that people will be family with pictures of it because it is where royals have stayed and been treated for years, the lecturing was treated there, prince philip was treated there, prince philip was treated there, the king of course had his procedure for an enlarged prostate there and at the same time catherine princess of stayed 13 nights are backin princess of stayed 13 nights are back in january. princess of stayed 13 nights are back injanuary. and it emerged overnight the daily mirror reported that one member of staff, at least one member of staff potentially could have looked through or tried to access the princess's medical records, and the information commissioner's office said that it had received a what it called a breach report and it was making inquiries, and so we have been waiting for the london clinic to put

out a statement, and they did. in the last couple of hours, the chief executive our russell, it was a fairly lengthy statement, but in summing it up, they said, there is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach of the trust of any of our patients or colleagues and that they do have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and in the case of any breach, or appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken, so one assumes from that that they are urgently looking into the matter. fine that that they are urgently looking into the matter.— that that they are urgently looking into the matter. one more question, which is, into the matter. one more question, which is. we — into the matter. one more question, which is. we all— into the matter. one more question, which is, we all know— into the matter. one more question, which is, we all know what _ into the matter. one more question, which is, we all know what the - which is, we all know what the backdrop to this story is, so, is there any sign of the hole for all actually dying down? . there any sign of the hole for all actually dying down?— actually dying down? , have you looked on _ actually dying down? , have you looked on social— actually dying down? , have you looked on social media? - actually dying down? , have you looked on social media? no, . actually dying down? , have you| looked on social media? no, it's actually dying down? , have you - looked on social media? no, it's the simple answer. and you will know that over the last few weeks —— furore —— it has built and built, and there have been various incidents which have added to it, the photograph which was released on

mother's day, the absence from a memorial last month when prince william did not go for a personal matter, and all of this has built up and built up and it simply does not show any signs of diminishing. any story involving kate is still on the most read on the bbc news website and on social media, if you look at what is trending. so, one does feel that until the princess actually makes her first public appearance, and let's not forget she is convalescing from serious surgery that she underwent injanuary, not expected to undertake any royal engagements before easter, is the latest, we are told that line has not changed from kensington palace, and so i think everyone waiting for that first royal engagement. sarah cambell, that first royal engagement. sarah campbell. thank— that first royal engagement. sarah campbell, thank you _ that first royal engagement. sarah campbell, thank you very - that first royal engagement. sarah campbell, thank you very much. i campbell, thank you very much. around the world and across the uk, you're watching bbc news.

in the middle east, israeli air strikes have killed dozens more people in gaza overnight, including at least 23 organising security for aid deliveries to gaza city. but efforts to secure a ceasefire also continue. the us state department has confirmed that secretary of state antony blinken will travel to israel as part of his current trip to the middle east. he's injeddah, where he's meeting the saudi leadership. talks there will also focus on gaza's long—term, post—war future. mr blinken�*s visit comes after he warned that gaza's population is starving, saying that its two million people are experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity". today, the uk's largest delivery of aid to gaza has crossed the border and is being distributed by the world food programme. a full uk field hospital has also been set up in the territory.

meanwhile israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says that preparations are under way for the invasion of rafah in the southern gaza strip but that such an action "will take some time". let's speak to our correspondent injerusalem mark lowen. mark, several strands to talk about, let's start with what the prime minister has been saying in the last little while, again, repeating that the plan is to move into rafah despite the outcry from the international community, what is the likely timeline of that?— likely timeline of that? well, ben'amin likely timeline of that? well, benjamin netanyahu - likely timeline of that? well, benjamin netanyahu said - likely timeline of that? well, | benjamin netanyahu said that likely timeline of that? well, - benjamin netanyahu said that he likely timeline of that? .m benjamin netanyahu said that he had approved the operational plan for rafah and he would soon greenlight the civilian evacuation from there. that is a city in the south of gaza that has an estimated 1.5 million civilians sheltering there, which is why there has been this international condemnation of israel's stated aim to send its army into rafah and warnings about the atrocities that could ensue. benjamin netanyahu said that the incursion could take some weeks to begin and that he was aware of the

need to evacuate this civilians first, but so far, the united states for example has said that it has not received any credible plan for the evacuation of citizens, civilians, before the israeli army moves in. and i have to say, matthew, also it does not really spell much hope for the continuing ceasefire talks that are ongoing in qatar between an israeli delegation and qatari and egyptian mediators. a senior hamas official has just given a press conference in the last hour or so in which he said that the proposals were met with a generally negative response from israel and that in his view that constituted a step backwards. view that constituted a step backwards-_ view that constituted a step backwards. n, ~ , backwards. mark, given the prime minister has— backwards. mark, given the prime minister has been _ backwards. mark, given the prime minister has been talking - backwards. mark, given the prime minister has been talking about i backwards. mark, given the prime l minister has been talking about that rafah operation, the un has repeatedly made it clear it won't be part of any sort of organisation of moving people, and the secretary—general again today in the last couple of hours warning that time is running out to actually get a significant amounts of aid into

the gaza strip?— a significant amounts of aid into the gaza strip? a significant amounts of aid into the gaza stri - ? , . ., , the gaza strip? yes, and we had this re ort a the gaza strip? yes, and we had this report a coople _ the gaza strip? yes, and we had this report a coople of— the gaza strip? yes, and we had this report a couple of days _ the gaza strip? yes, and we had this report a couple of days ago, - the gaza strip? yes, and we had this report a couple of days ago, from . report a couple of days ago, from several un bodies and aid agencies warning that farming would be declared in northern gaza as early as may ceasefire, an urgency spy was not declared and if aid did not start pouring into the gaza strip. —— an urgent ceasefire. there is a little bit more aid coming in on a daily basis, i went to a briefing with the un palestinian refugee agency yesterday and the head of it said that they have had a couple of successful aid convoys reaching the north over the last couple of weeks which gives them some encouragement for an area which has not seen any significant aid really since the start of the year. the uk has just got its biggest aid shipment into gaza since the war began, with britain saying that 2000 tons of british food aid got into gaza, that would be enough, they say, for 207 to 5000 people. but actually in reality that only constitutes about

100 trucks of aid now, before this war broke out in october, 500 trucks of aid were getting into gaza every single day. so, 100 trucks finally getting in, 100 trucks' worth of aid finally getting in after almost six months of this war from britain is just a fraction of what is needed on the ground. just a fraction of what is needed on the ground-— just a fraction of what is needed on the round. a ~ g the ground. mark levin in jerusalem, thanks a lot — the ground. mark levin in jerusalem, thanks a lot for _ the ground. mark levin in jerusalem, thanks a lot for that. _ the european union's foreign policy chief, josep borrell, has proposed that the bloc takes 90% of revenues from russian assets, frozen in europe and transfers them to buy weapons for ukraine. under mr borrell�*s plan proceeds from the assets such as interest payments would go to the european peace facility, which provides military aid to countries outside the eu. russian officials have called the move theft and warned about potential consequences for those who make this decision. earlier i spoke to timothy ash, who's an economist and an associate

fellow in the russia and eurasia programme at chatham house. he talked me through the figures. it is 3 billion euros to 4 billion euros a year, the total amount of russian assets frozen in western jurisdictions is about $330 billion, that is cash, russian government cash, in westernjurisdictions. the cost to fund ukraine annually is about $100 billion a year. unfortunately 61 billion is stuck in the us house of congress, there is a massive hole in terms of ukraine's financing. western governments should really allocate the underlying assets, that is the 300—odd billion which would help ukraine meet that financing gap, fund its military needs, it would be able to buy the weapons it needs to defend itself and ensure victory. so this is not really success from the europeans, it is a big fudge. you describe it as a fudge but if they were to cross that line, is there anything which really stops them going much further,

as you suggest? well, it has been done before. remember in the first gulf war, iraqi central bank assets were seized by the international community and were allocated to kuwait. also afghani central bank reserves were done. there is a sovereign state immunity defence, but actually, the argument against is a countermeasures argument — that sovereign immunity only counts when that country is acting according to international law. russia clearly isn't. it has invaded ukraine, it has committed war crimes, crimes, probably genocide. the moral, national defence, economic argument, for actually seizing the assets and giving them to ukraine is pretty strong, i would argue. yes, in terms of moscow and vladimir putin, moscow has already called it theft, the act of bandits, breaching international law, all of that you would expect to come from the kremlin, but are there actually any practical obstacles that actually would prevent this happening? not really. it is political will, ultimately.

laws are made by politicians, our governments want to do it, unfortunately at the moment what is happening is that the 100 billion bill is essentially being paid by western taxpayers, where russian taxpayers' money is stuck in western banks, but our governments are not willing to go after it, they would rather spend western taxpayers' money than actually spend russian taxpayers' money, which i would think should be a political scandal in western countries, but politicians are sweeping this all under the carpet. i have only got about a0 seconds left, so briefly if you would — the impact on russia if they were to do this, because these are assets that have been frozen now for two years so they have lived without this money, to so does it have any significant impact in terms of russia itself, do you think? actually the more interesting question is what happens if we don't give it to ukraine? if we don't give ukraine this money, it does not have the money

to fund its own defence, it loses the war, the impact it loses the war, and the impact on europe of tens of millions of ukrainians fleeing west, the fact that we will have to spend a lot more on our own defence, will be up to 2% of gdp, that is hundreds of billions of dollars annually extra, and it will create huge social, political instability in europe, so i think that is the most important point. now, cleaning your house can sometimes feel like a bit of a chore. but imagine doing it for a world famous landmark. well, the annual spring clean is currently underway at the london eye. john maguire has been to find out how it's done. it became an immediate fixture among the icons on the silhouetted london skyline. the giant wheel was hoisted into place on the south bank of the river thames almost 25 years ago. the original plan for the millennium wheel

was for a five—year life. but approaching its silver anniversary, the london eye, as it's now known, has carried more than 100 million visitors. its name has seen changes. so have many of the buildings that surround it. but the panoramic views from the 32 glass pods remain spectacular. each minute of the slow, half—hour long rotation offers a different perspective. at 145 metres high, it's exposed to the elements. january's storm henk saw the attraction closed briefly after one of the pods' rooftop hatches was blown open in the high winds. considering its size, maintenance is a major undertaking with a programme of painting and cleaning running from january to june. the landmark views from the pods may be its major drawcard, but as it takes centre stage

in london's new year's eve fireworks display, the views of it are beamed around the world every year. that is quite a view. the business headlines and the main news headlines and the main news headlines are next here on bbc news. don't go away. for england and wales we have got weakening low pressure this afternoon, cloudy with drizzle, damp conditions loitering in eastern scotland, the north and west of scotland and northern ireland, the weather system is disappearing with sunshine following, the stripe of cloud on the horizon in orkney is the weather system disappearing over the horizon. for the rest of today, damp and drizzly conditions for wales, the midlands, a swathe of northern england, eastern scotland, drizzle,

reluctant to clear away. some sunshine for south—east england, temperatures could get up to 17—18 here. in the north of the uk the weather will be feeling quite chilly, particularly for the east coast of scotland. overnight tonight there could be one or two mist and fog patches and then later in the night we will have rain moving into scotland and northern ireland. the rain is associated with the next weather system moving in off the atlantic. this warm front will be bringing some milder air back into northern areas of the uk so temperatures will be climbing by a few degrees. however, it is going to be a wet day, particularly for scotland on thursday, with some strong winds across the far north where we will see gusts running into 50mph, damp weather for wales and northern ireland and the far north of england in the afternoon, further south you might see the cloud thin and break and we could see some pretty high temperatures for the time of year. friday, a cold front pushing across, bringing cloud and rain,

followed by sunshine and showers. across scotland, northern ireland and the north—west, could be heavy, with some hail. temperatures near average for the time of year, 10—12, but feeling quite a bit cooler than it has done. for the weekend low pressure stays in charge, sunny spells and showers on saturday, the showers having some hail mixed in with them, and we could have a bit of sleet over the hills in the north of the uk and there will be a chilly wind knocking the edge off these temperatures, feeling cool. further showers are in the forecast on sunday but probably with bigger gaps between them. some places will stay dry. on monday, with colder air moving in across the north of the uk, we might actually see a bit of hill snow in parts of scotland.

this is bbc news. the headlines.. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, announces he's going to step down before the next general election. the un says the appeasement of myanmar�*s military rulers must stop, along with the flow of money and weapons to the regime. vaughan gething becomes the first minister of wales — the first black leader of a european country. and netflix drama the crown's final season takes the most nominations

at the bafta tv awards. all of those stories here in a short while. time for a look at the business news now. ben thompson is here in the studio, good afternoon. good afternoon, matthew, thank you. we start in the united states, where president biden�*s government says it's throwing billions of dollars more into the global battle over computer chips. in about an hour from now he's going to tour an intel facility in arizona to discuss the us' role in an industry in which many countries are competing and that is crucial to the future of the global economy — powering everything from electric vehicles to artifical intelligence. $8.5 billion is going directly to the chipmaker intel to help it make more chips in the us. it's also getting billions more in loans. the aim is for 20% of the world's computer chips to be made in the us by the end of the decade.