as air strikes and fighting intensify between israel and hamas. this comes as the un investigates what it says is a plausible case of israel using starvation as a weapon of war against the population in the strip. two bodies inside a submerged pick—up truck have been recovered from beneath the collapsed bridge in baltimore. and former billionaire crypto boss sam bankman—fried — who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year — returns to court for sentencing. queen camilla arrives for the annual maundy service — with a message from the absent king. we start in the middle east, where israeli airstrikes and fierce fighting between israel and hamas have continued around at least three hospitals in the gaza strip. the israeli military

says it is taking steps to protect patients and medics but there is growing concern about strikes on al shifa hospital in gaza city, with medics warning that the territory's healthcare system is close to collapse. smoke has been seen rising over northern gaza — this the view from southern israel. the hamas—run health ministry says more than 32—and—a—half thousand people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war, including at least 62 deaths over the past 2a hours. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell is injerusalem and is following the latest on the intense fighting in gaza overnight. you've still got close quarters fighting going on, israeli air strikes as well, close to three main hospitals in gaza. the shifa hospital in gaza city, that's where the israeli military now says its killed 200 hamas and islamichhad fighters since it began its raid 11 days ago. it claims that hamas has been using that hospital as a base. hamas denies it. the al—amal hospital in khan younis. that has now been evacuated

and the palestinian red crescent is raising concerns about thousands of people it says could be trapped inside the nasser hospital, which is nearby as israeli forces are moving in there. now, the israeli military says it's acting with precision in its operations close to these hospitals, it's trying to prevent harm to civilians. but you have a situation where more and more hospitals are being put beyond use at a time when they're really desperately needed. when it comes to aid, the un says about 150 lorries are now getting into gaza each day. that is well below what is needed. but israel says it is not limiting the aid that is going in there. you have the world health organization coming out saying that every day it's getting closer to a man—made famine in gaza. the un high commissioner for human rights has told the bbc that israel is significantly to blame for the appalling humanitarian situation in gaza, where famine is looming. volker turk said israel had

obligations as the occupying power, and was placing unreasonable demands on the delivery of aid. here's what volker turk said to the bbc�*s international editorjeremy bowen. when it comes to humanitarian assistance, let's be clear. israel is an occupying power, and has an obligation to provide humanitarian assistance. and if that humanitarian assistance does not come in, in the care, speed and predictability that is required, yes, very serious questions are raised. so let's get it very clear — israel is to blame? israel is to blame in a significant way, yes. this was the response to volker turk�*s comments whenjeremy bowen put them to an israeli minister. a totally irresponsible thing to say. israel is accepting all the aid that the us and the world is giving

to gazan innocent people which a lot of it goes to extend the war. how many innocent people are in gaza in your opinion? that's not... i'm not going to quote any number. i'm basically saying over 70% of gazans support the october 7th massacre. so they're not innocent? people that are supporting hamas, they have a different thought. they are an enemy. i thank our friends around the world for supporting our strategical and i'm telling you... but they don't like the way you are doing it, do they? that is tough. we are going to finish the war, we'll do everything we can to kill the hamas terrorists and to minimise collateral damage as much as we can. now to the us city of baltimore where rescue divers have recovered the bodies of two construction workers from the water beneath a bridge which collapsed on tuesday, when it was struck by a cargo ship. the bodies of the two men were found in a pick—up truck submerged in the icy waters of the patapsco river. these are live pictures from the scene where the search for the men has been suspended due to bad weather conditions.

four workers remain missing. it was carrying more than 700 tonnes of hazardous materials. our north america correspondent david willis reports. 25 feet beneath the surface, near what had been the centre of the bridge, divers recovered a red pickup truck with two bodies inside it. maintenance workers, who'd been repairing potholes at the time the structure collapsed. four of their colleagues are still missing and their bodies may never be found. today, we transitioned from search and rescue to recovery. we need to bring a sense of closure and comfort to the families, and we take that very seriously. the missing include miguel luna, a father of three from el salvador, and maynor suazo sandoval from honduras. like the rest, migrant workers from central america. the containership, dali, piled high with cargo, lost power shortly

before smashing into a support column, causing the entire bridge to collapse. the whole bridge just fell down. raining steel on to the bow of the ship and blocking one of the country's busiest trading ports. our entire focus on scene is to collect the perishable evidence. that's documenting the scene, it's taking photographs. it's taking any sort of electronics or components, whatever goes away once the scene is cleaned up. officials say the cargo included hundreds of tons of so—called hazardous materials, some of which spilled into the water. investigators have now recovered the vessel's data recorder — the nautical equivalent of a black box — and have started interviewing members of the ship's crew. in particular, they will want to know why the dali suddenly lost power so soon after leaving port.

david willis, bbc news, los angeles. our cbs news correspondent, wendy gillette has more detail on the two construction workers whose bodies have been recovered from the water. they identified them as 35—year—old alejandro hernandez fuentes and 26—year— old dorlian ronial castillo cabrera. both were construction workers living in the baltimore area. all six victims were originally from honduras, el salvador, guatemala and mexico. they were filling in potholes in the middle of the bridge when the ship crashed into it and it collapsed into the water. and what's the latest on any of the other victims? well, divers were able to recover the two victims yesterday, but can't get to the others because their vehicles are surrounded by huge slabs of concrete. the navy is bringing in barges with cranes that will help with the removal of the debris. but it's a mangled mess underwater, the water is very dark and it's going to take time to clear the bridge and what's left of it underwater. the front of the ship is now

resting on the river floor. and a few more details have been emerging about the ship itself and what happened to it in the run up to this accident and also what it was carrying. yeah, the national transportation safety board is investigating the accident. investigators released a timeline of what happened on board the ship, which includes when alarms sounded and when it lost power. police had only a few minutes to get all of the traffic off the bridge, before the ship crashed into it. there were 23 people on board at the time, 21 crew and two pilots. the ntsb is analysing the voice data recorder on the ship and will interview those on board to get additional information. the container ship that was named dolly was leaving baltimore for sri lanka. it was carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials, a lot of other containers as well. some of the hazardous material containers were breached. the ntsb says there was a sheen on the water which indicates chemical leaks. so national and local authorities are following up on that.

one of the uk's biggest water companies, thames water, has announced that its investors will not give the struggling utility giant extra cash unless customer bills rise. shareholders were due to inject half a billion pounds of funding — that's around $630,000 million dollars — needed by thames water, which has debts of around £18 billion. it's also under pressure to invest to tackle a growing number of sewage spills in rivers and seas, which have sparked fury in the uk. the bbc understands that shareholders are insisting that the regulator, ofwat, agrees to a substantial increase in bills before they make the investment. here's thames water's chief executive. we are, as i said in conversations with ofwat regarding our business plan and that is important and that is a process that will go on until the end of this year. and that creates a business plan that shareholders and anyone who might provide equity can look at and determine whether they are going to inject equity into thames.

so i think it is premature to go there at the moment. if, at the end of the day, probably well into the end of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect as i think simonjack was saying of special administration, but we are a long way from that point at the moment. i'm joined now by cat hobbs, the founder and director of we own it — a pressure group for public ownership which has campaigned around water companies. what you make of the situation? this situation is an — what you make of the situation? ti 3 situation is an outrage. let's what you make of the situation? ti 1 situation is an outrage. let's be clear about what has been happening. since 1989 since water was privatised, thames water has built up privatised, thames water has built up this mountain of debt, £18 billion worth of debt, on the backs of customers. thames water customers pay 25p in every pound to a service that debt. thames water is one of the worst water companies for sewage, it leaks away one fifth of

our water, and in the meantime, shareholders have been taking out of the company £7 billion in dividends. and now they are say, they are turning to ofwat and they are we want to increase the bills by a0%, we want to allow shareholders to continue taking dividends and we want to be off the hook for sewage. it's an absolutely unsustainable absurd situation and it highlights everything that is wrong with water privatisation in england. and it's the reason why we actually need the government to bring tens water into public ownership permanently, not by other shareholders but in public ownership to work for people and households who use it and for the environment. the households who use it and for the environment. th— households who use it and for the environment. the people always point out with three — environment. the people always point out with three nationals _ environment. the people always point out with three nationals and _ out with three nationals and utilities, the taxpayer and government is going to be burdened with their doubts and will have to fund all the investment you talked about in terms of dealing with sewage and all those problems at a time when people do not want to raise public spending. how do you

get round that issue? we raise public spending. how do you get round that issue?— raise public spending. how do you get round that issue? we are already -a in: for get round that issue? we are already paying for all — get round that issue? we are already paying for all of _ get round that issue? we are already paying for all of the _ get round that issue? we are already paying for all of the investment. - paying for all of the investment. what has happened since privatisation, investment has gone down 15%, decade on decade, and katharine ross who has worked for thames water and four of what admitted in the summer that all of the investment that goes into the infrastructure is funded by customers, is funded by our bills. we are already on the hook for this, and if we bring thames water into special administration and permanent public ownership, we will still have to pay for the date, that would have to pay for the date, that would have to be refinanced, but it would be cheaper under public ownership and the benefit would be we would not be allowing dividends to flow out of the system to investors in canada, abu dhabi, kuwait, china. that money would come back into the infrastructure to help tackle sewage and links. fist infrastructure to help tackle sewage and links. �* ., ., ., ., , and links. at the moment of what has not commented _ and links. at the moment of what has not commented publicly _ and links. at the moment of what has not commented publicly on _ and links. at the moment of what has not commented publicly on this - and links. at the moment of what has not commented publicly on this round of the row, we sources saying they are going to stick to their guns and will not be forced into rain —— back

into raising customer bills. do you think they will stick to their guns and if it what will it mean for customers? sum? they should stick to their guns. privatisation has been absolute failure, people know it, seven out of ten of us want water in public hands. we seven out of ten of us want water in public hande— public hands. we only need to look at what is happening _ public hands. we only need to look at what is happening in _ public hands. we only need to look at what is happening in scotland i at what is happening in scotland where water is in public ownership to see how much more investment goes into the system if it were in public hands. they spent 35% more. if england had invested in that rate, 28 million in our infrastructure, ofwat�*s job is to protect us, the hassle, the public, and, yes, they should stick to their guns. what we need is for the government to step in and bring thames water into permanent public ownership, that means do not allow them getting away with ripping us off in this way, bringing into public ownership permanently, that should be the start of public ownership across england. we run water in this country is very strange. it is not how the rest of the world does that.

it doesn't work because water is a natural monopoly so these investors, what they are investing in is us. we are the revenue stream but they are not investing in our infrastructure. it's not working.— it's not working. thank you very much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

it's been called one of the biggest financial crimes in us history. now sam bankman—fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange ftx which made him a billionaire before collapsing in spectacular fashion, is to be sentenced in the next few hours. the 32—year—old could now face decades in prison. our cyber—security correspondent joe tidy was the last person to interview bankman—fried before he was arrested in december 2022. he reports on the rise —and downfall — of the man once known as the crypto king. interesting thing that's been happening pretty recently is that the bitmex bitcoin perpetual futures

ran up a lot in price. this was sam bankman—fried in his element — at his desk, talking crypto and making incredible profits. his hair and shabby look were all part of the appeal and brand. sbf, as he was known by legions of fans online, portrayed himself as a maths genius who wasn't interested in personal wealth. it was all about developing the cryptocurrency industry and giving to charities. this is big. but ftx, his cryptocurrency exchange that sold bitcoin and other virtual currencies for normal money, like pounds and dollars, grew to be the centrepiece of a sprawling business worth $32 billion. so, when it all came crashing down in december 2022, more than a million customers were left out of pocket. in a high—profile trial in new york in november, he was convicted of seven counts, including fraud and money laundering. sam bankman—fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in american history, a multi—billion dollar scheme designed to make him

the king of crypto. but here's the thing — the crypto the cryptocurrency industry might be new. the players like sam bankman—fried might be new. but this kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time, and we have no patience for it. the court case saw his former staff and even his girlfriend testify against him. his chief crime was that he illegally used customer deposits from ftx to fund his other business. prosecutors are asking the judge to sentence him to 50 years in prison, but his defence team want around five years. they argue that most of the billions of dollars bankman—fried lost have now been recovered, but critics say he shows no remorse. in an interview in his luxury apartment complex in the bahamas just before he was arrested, he admitted to making mistakes but claimed it wasn't deliberate. were you incompetent or were you fraudulent? i didn't knowingly commit fraud. i don't think i committed fraud.

i didn't want any of this to happen. i was certainly not nearly as competent as i thought i was. but a convicted criminal he now is. and it's up to a judge to decide how long he'll be behind bars for one of the biggest financial crimes in us history. joe tidy, bbc news. stephanie hare is a technology author and commentator, she told me about the prison sentence sam bankman—fried is likely to face. well, his lawyers would like a handful of years, 5 to 6, and us prosecutors are calling for about 50. so we'll probably see something around, i think 25 could be a reasonable guess at this stage. and do you think, i mean, what do you think about the verdict that was handed down to him? what was it? was it did that seem fair? oh, for sure. this is an egregious crime. and commentator that was just talking before absolutely had it spot on, there's nothing new about money laundering and fraud, it's one of the oldest things in law, and they have to throw the book at him to make an example

for the rest of the world, because cryptocurrency is still highly unregulated. and how much damage has he done, do you think, to the whole idea of cryptocurrency, or the brand of it? well, he maybe has done a great public service in showing that this is in many ways a ponzi scheme, totally unregulated. there's a reason central banks are not going near it yet. and really, it's a great thing for when people say that regulation would hamper technological innovation. this shows what happens when you don't regulate — people can't have confidence. it's interesting, though, that after i mean, after it happened, cryptocurrency seemed to fall in value and people seem to lose confidence, but in the meantime, it's gone shooting back up. so do you think people have just forgotten or why do you think that is? because we're living in a very frothy time with regards to both artificial intelligence assets and cryptocurrencies. it's a rise and fall, boom and bust cycle. we're just waiting for the next bust. nine crypto craze moments — right now on bbc iplayer. and, if you're in the uk, you can watch the our programme — nine crypto craze moments —

right now on bbc iplayer. a teaching union in england says its members have reported a sharp rise in levels of violence and abuse from pupils since the pandemic. nearly one in five teachers who responded to a survey commissioned by the bbc said they had been hit by a student this year. the same number said they'd also experienced verbal or online abuse from a parent or guardian since september. here's more from education correspondent, elaine dunkley. across the country, clips posted on social media give an insight into the chaos in classrooms. the room got absolutely ransacked. the boards were ripped off the wall, displays were snapped and broken. you're going to get people shouting at you. when it comes to teenagers and what they're saying, quite sexualised. teachers pushed to the brink because of bad behaviour. the behaviour stresses me out. all my fillings fall out because i clench my teeth at night when i'm sleeping. in dewsbury, this is stjohn fisher academy. it's a school with a bad reputation.

rated inadequate and described by ofsted as unsafe for teachers and pupils. children were being suspended as early as 9:15 in the morning. there was a culture of bullying. there was frequent fighting — like, multiple fights on a daily basis. head teacher mr mackeyjoined the school a year ago. and, with the support of staff, small changes have made a significant difference to behaviour. this year, you'll see them in lessons every single day. it's hanging out. oh, sorry. it's ok. how are you doing? are you having a nice day? yeah. good. sorry, sir. that's quite all right. corridors are locked down in lesson time to stop students wandering off. mobile phones are banned and the toilets can only be used at certain times. we had a lot of internal truancy. children were going into cubicles. i'm pretty sure they were vaping in there. we were spending, at times, thousands of pounds per week on damage.

you'd be scared to walk into, like, certain corners or places in the back of a classroom or places in the playground. there's loads of staff in the playground now, making sure everyone's 0k. teaching unions say disruption and disobedience has got worse since the pandemic, and it's causing many teachers to leave the profession. teachers here tell me an increasing number of children struggling to get support for special educational needs, difficult home lives and a lack of services for mental health are all part of the problem. i think it's really important that we identify what their needs are and look at how we can adapt what we do as a school to meet those needs to ultimately make them as successful as they possibly can be. attendance and behaviour are two of the biggest challenges for schools. in response, the government says it's invested £10 million into behaviour hubs, where schools offer mentoring support to those which are struggling. your shirt�*s hanging out. elaine dunkley, bbc news.

for falsely accusing her head teacher of striking her in a heated exchange over an islamic head covering. exchange over an islamic head coverina. ., .,. , , covering. the head teacher insisted the head covering _ covering. the head teacher insisted the head covering was _ covering. the head teacher insisted the head covering was removed - covering. the head teacher insisted the head covering was removed in i the head covering was removed in accordance with french law. he resigned after death threats circulated on social media. officers found no evidence that the head teacher had struck the girl and the prime minister has stepped in to say she his to be taken to court for making false allegations. i spoke to our correspondent in paris who explained the background to the case. there was an incident one month ago where the head teacher of a school stopped three girls in the school and said to them you have got to take off your islamic head coverings in accordance with law.

since 2004, those signs such as that of religious affiliation as it is called are not allowed in state schools. so he was doing his duty, told the girls to take off their head coverings, two of them complied and a third girl did not and in her version there was an altercation in which he said he pushed her and hit her on the arm. he denies that. she went online to spread that allegation, and as a result, death threats appeared online against the head teacher. it all came to a head this week because the head teacher decided to resign and give us the reason fears for his own life. this is all taken extremely seriously here in france because two teachers had been murdered in recent times by islamist radicals. in the first case, it followed a campaign online based on something that a pupil had said. you can understand perfectly why the head teacher felt extremely exposed and threatened but there is an outpouring of indignation.

queen camilla has arrived for the traditional maundy thursday service. here is the queen a few moments ago outside worcester cathedral. maundy thursday is a major fixture on the royal calendar — normally the monarch, who is the head of the church of england, presents special coins to people recognised for their community service. this time, king charles won't be there because of his cancer treatment. but he's recorded a message praising those who "extend the hand of friendship, especially in a time of need". if you are celebrating easter this weekend you might be giving a family orfriends an easter egg. this weekend you might be giving a family or friends an easter egg. this zoo in chile, the animals enjoyed an easter egg of their own. they ate there especially prepared eggs with savoury meat, cereals and nuts. stay with us here on bbc news.

parts of south—west england and wales had some slow. for most of us today, sunny spells and heavy blustery showers. some will have thunder and lightning and some hailstones. it will be very windy, especially in england and wales and the english channel. low pressure is in charge of our weather and will be as we go through the next couple of days. we are looking at severe gales developing through the english channel, 50 mph, across southern counties, generally windy across england and wales today. you will notice it. this is the weather front that produce the rain and snow in the early part of the day moving into scotland. behind it some sunshine, you will see showers developed across northern ireland, wales and england and some of those will be heavy and thundery with some hailstones. temperatures 8 degrees in the north, 12 degrees as we push towards the south. this evening and

overnight? rain continues across scotland, still heavy, heavy showers across northern ireland and northern england, could be thundery. further showers across wales, southern england in the south—east. it is going to be a cold night. we start tomorrow with rain across the far north west of scotland. pulling away during the course of good friday, a mixture of sunshine and showers, becoming more widespread through the course of the day, we will not all catch a shower, it will feel a little bit milder because the wind is not as strong as today. as we head on through easter weekend, isobars open out, it is not going to be as windy. low pressure is driving the weather, the weather front is close to us in the south east. it looks like easter monday will be dry in the north and wait the south. first saturday, cloud in the south east, a mixture of sunshine and showers, again, some of those could be heavy, lighter winds and highs of

15 celsius, it will feel pleasant in the sunshine. easter sunday, most of the sunshine. easter sunday, most of the showers in the west, some mist and fog first thing in the morning, and fog first thing in the morning, a lot of dry weather around with some sunshine and these are the temperatures. 11 degrees in stornoway and aberdeen, 14 degrees somewhere in the south—east.

a reckoning for the fallen crypto king. sam bankman—fried is to be sentenced in the next few hours for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his ftx exchange. he faces decades behind bars. the crisis at thames water deepens as shareholders refuse to inject extra cash into the uk's largest water company. hello and welcome to world business report, i'm lukwesa burak. we start in the us, where in the next few hours sam bankman—fried — the former cryptocurrency tycoon, convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers — will be sentenced for his crimes. the 32—year old founder of

the collapsed crypto exchange ftx could now face decades in prison.