of israel using starvation as a weapon of war against the population in the strip. it comes as medics warn the heathcare system is close to collapse in gaza as air strikes and fighting intensify between israel and hamas. former billionaire crypto boss sam bankman—fried — who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year — returns to court for sentencing. thames water crisis deepens as shareholders refuse to inject extra money into the uk's largest water company. two bodies inside a submerged pickup truck have been recovered from beneath the collapsed bridge in baltimore.

hello, i'm annita mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. for weeks, humanitarian agencies have been warning of famine and as a man as they struggle to get it into the territory. the un high commissionerfor human rights has told the bbc there is a plausible case that israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's — as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent _ as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent were _ as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent were proven, i that if that's intent were proven, it would amount to a war crime. israel and says it is letting on all the humanitarian aid that is needed.

from jerusalem, jeremy bowen. gaza is no place to be ill. noura mohammed had lung and liver problems before the war. now, after months of starvation and without the right medical care, she is deteriorating fast. "my daughter can't move," says her mother. "she's anaemic, always sleeping and there's nothing nutritious to eat." there is plenty to eat only a few miles away in the lorries that are backed up on the egyptian side of the border, and much more that could come from israel — if the israelis let it into gaza. from geneva, volker turk, the un's most senior human rights official, told me there is plausible evidence that israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. look, 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 scale, speed and predictability that is required, yes, very serious questions are raised. so let's get it very clear. israel's to blame? israel is to blame in a significant way, yes. you're aware, of course, that israel says they're not to blame at all, that they give as much aid as is possible. that if anyone's to blame, it's the un and it's particularly hamas. it is absolutely clear what happened on the 7th and the 8th of october by hamas and some of the other armed groups is unconscionable. these are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights. at the same time, the brutality of the attack by israel and the method of warfare, it begs the question of the proportionality of the response. you're saying "questions". you say there is no doubt about hamas. are there any doubts about israel? you always have to prove the intent. but as i said, collective

punishment, the collective punishment that was declared with the siege indeed amounts to a war crime, and it needs to be dealt as such. on social media, false claims circulate that famine in gaza is a lie. the hebrew caption says there's more shawarma in gaza than in israeli haifa, and israel's government dismisses the un's accusations. total nonsense, total 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 that over 70% of gazans support october 7 massacre. so they're not innocent? people that are supporting hamas, they have a different thought. they're an enemy. i thank our friends around the world

for supporting our strategic goal. and i'm telling you... but they don't like the way you're doing it, do they? that's tough. we're going to finish the war. we'll do everything we can to kill the hamas terrorists and to minimize collateral damage as much as we can. the evidence of gaza's humanitarian catastrophe is overwhelming, and it is deepening international pressure on israel. swollenjoints, wasted limbs and dermatitis are classic symptoms of acute malnutrition. these children reached hospital. most ofjust over one million gazans considered to be in acute need will not have that option. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. this comes as israeli air strikes on gaza continue — with fierce fighting between israel and hamas continuing around at least three hospitals in the territory. thousands of people are believed to be trapped in one of them, with israeli tanks

outside the building. live tojerusalem and our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, who's following the latest developments. let's pick up first of all on the situation around the hospitals and give us an update on the fighting. are round chef hospital in gaza the biggest hospital, the road by the israeli ministry has been going on for ii israeli ministry has been going on for 11 days and it said in the latest briefing that some 200 what it calls terrorists have been eliminated there. it says hamas and islamichhad had been using the hospital as a base. hamas has denied that, and from the hamas run health ministry, there are doctors and patients who are still trapped there although they had been moved to an administrative building at the site, and we had the head of the palestinian, spokesperson for the palestinian, spokesperson for the palestinian defence talking about

how it's very difficult for his teams to access anywhere close to the hospital and he says there are innocent people who have been killed by the fighting that has been going on there and there are women and children who are still trapped in their homes close by. if you look to their homes close by. if you look to the south of the gaza strip, that is where the israeli military says around at another hospital which recently been evacuated, it has killed dozens of what it calls terrorists. also at the nasser hospital, not very far away, israeli ground forces are close by and that is why the palestinian red crescent has raised the alarm about thousands of people trapped inside, we understand there has been gunfire heard there but the israeli military says it has not carried out any rate of the hospital.— of the hospital. efforts continue to t and of the hospital. efforts continue to try and find _ of the hospital. efforts continue to try and find a _ of the hospital. efforts continue to try and find a resolution. - of the hospital. efforts continue to try and find a resolution. we - of the hospital. efforts continue to try and find a resolution. we knowi try and find a resolution. we know now that a meeting between senior israeli and us officials that was cancelled is back on, previously

cancelled is back on, previously cancelled by the israelis. why the change? cancelled by the israelis. why the chan . e? , . cancelled by the israelis. why the chance? , ., ~ , change? the israeli prime minister said it was requested _ change? the israeli prime minister said it was requested by _ change? the israeli prime minister said it was requested by the - change? the israeli prime minister said it was requested by the us. i l said it was requested by the us. i think it is an attempt to ease the tension that have developed and deepened over the past week. these two top advisers to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was supposed to go to washington and meet different us officials to discuss possible alternatives to israel carrying out a major military offensive in rafah. the us desperately wants to talk about and cannot support such an operation and wants to look at possible alternatives. israel has been saying it has to go after hamas battalions in that area in order to have victory in this war in gaza. the meeting was originally called off, the trip was called off quite abruptly after israel was upset by

what the us is dead, abstaining in the key vote at the un security council when a resolution was passed for the first time demanding a ceasefire in this war on monday, but now we understand this meeting should take place in the coming days but no actual timetable has been given for it as yet. flan but no actual timetable has been given for it as yet.— but no actual timetable has been given for it as yet. can you give us a sense of— given for it as yet. can you give us a sense of reaction _ given for it as yet. can you give us a sense of reaction to _ given for it as yet. can you give us a sense of reaction to those - a sense of reaction to those comments we saw in that report, the un most senior human rights official. in un most senior human rights official. , ., ., official. in israel, the human ri . hts official. in israel, the human rights council _ official. in israel, the human rights council is _ official. in israel, the human rights council is generally i official. in israel, the human i rights council is generally seen official. in israel, the human - rights council is generally seen as the un body that is biased against israel and israeli officials are dismissive of the things that he has said in recent days. when it comes to this notion that starvation is being used as a weapon of war and that could amount to a war crime, what israeli officials have said is that really hamas cannot be absolved of responsibility here.— of responsibility here. thank you very much- _

the former cryptocurrency tycoon, sam bankman—fried, is due to be sentenced in the us in the next few hours — following his conviction in one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history. the 32—year old — who founded the cryptocurrency exchange ftx — could now face decades in prison — with us prosecutors are asking for between forty and fifty years. he used his own image to attract investors — and at one point had an estimated fortune of 26 billion dollars. ftx allowed people to trade their normal money for digital currencies like bitcoin. but money stolen from ftx was used to fund an investment fund, alameda research, as well as to buy luxury property in the bahamas and donate to politicians who might support cryptocurrency—friendly laws. both companies went bust in 2022 and he was arrested. with me is our cyber correspondent,

joe tidy, who was the last person to interview bankman—fried before he was arrested in december 2022. can you reflect first of all on what your impressions were of this man because when we see the image of him, he looks like an overgrown teenager, channelling teenager computer geek look. that teenager, channelling teenager computer geek look.— teenager, channelling teenager computer geek look. that is what you not. he computer geek look. that is what you got- he turned _ computer geek look. that is what you got- he turned un _ computer geek look. that is what you got. he turned up to _ computer geek look. that is what you got. he turned up to the _ computer geek look. that is what you got. he turned up to the interview i got. he turned up to the interview in white socks, shorts and sandals and his hairas in white socks, shorts and sandals and his hair as we have entered from the trial, part of his brand, that is what he wanted to show the world how he was. we had an interview in a luxury apartment he owned in the bahamas, it was a very strange period where the empire had collapsed, there were more than i million people out of pocket, there were executives writing off their loans and investments in the company, sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars, and he went into hiding. and then he started to accept requests from journalists for

interviews. there was no restriction on the time, we talked about 45 minutes, it was a bizarre situation, we could ask anything we wanted, and he would answer them in a kind of self fly jittery way. he was trying to punish himself. all along, yes, he admitted to making bad business mistakes but he was convinced he was not a criminal. nothing he had the most elaborate. the not a criminal. nothing he had the most elaborate.— most elaborate. the question of whether he _ most elaborate. the question of whether he was _ most elaborate. the question of whether he was incompetent i most elaborate. the question of whether he was incompetent or| whether he was incompetent or fraudulent was certainly the crux of the criminal case, wasn't it? i think we can bring you a clip of you asking him about that specific point from that interview. 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. it was a really bad mistake and that it hurt a lot of people. and, like, that is on me, one way or another.

i heard one commentator earlier saying that we are living in a frothy time was the word she used when it comes to cryptocurrency. she talked about boom and bust cycles. i wonder what impact all of this and the sentencing coming up today, what impact it has had on the credibility of that coin and other digital currencies? fist of that coin and other digital currencies?— of that coin and other digital currencies? �* , ., , currencies? at the time, this was hu . e, currencies? at the time, this was huge. sam _ currencies? at the time, this was huge, sam bankman-fried - currencies? at the time, this was huge, sam bankman-fried was l currencies? at the time, this was huge, sam bankman-fried was a j currencies? at the time, this was - huge, sam bankman-fried was a hero huge, sam bankman—fried was a hero to the crypto community, crypto is based on faith, an idea that this coin will be worth something tomorrow because there is no financial institution backing it. it's how much money people are prepared to pay for it. for people like sam bankman—fried, followers on social media, going around the world, shaking hands with the great and good of the politics world, he was a big figure and the empire was massive. if the x was the second biggest crypto exchange in the world and it came crashing down. you can see on the chart of bitcoin valley

you can see where it happened, there was a drop. i asked him, have you killed crypto? it was in the doldrums. we had seen previous scandals in 2022 and his was the worst by far. he said at the time i hope not, and i don't think it has because i think it stronger than that. it turns out he was right. if you look at the state of crypto now it has slowly this year built up and built up and it is stronger than ever. . ~' built up and it is stronger than ever. ., ~ , ., y built up and it is stronger than ever. ., ~ i. , . built up and it is stronger than ever. . ~' y . ., ever. thank you very much. you will be back with — ever. thank you very much. you will be back with me _ ever. thank you very much. you will be back with me in _ ever. thank you very much. you will be back with me in a _ ever. thank you very much. you will be back with me in a little _ ever. thank you very much. you will be back with me in a little while. i we're expecting sentencing to take place in new york in the coming hours. we will of course bring you the latest from the courthouse as soon as we get it. you can watch our programme right now on bbc iplayer. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

one of the biggest water companies in the uk, 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. the bbc understands that the shareholders are insisting that the regulator, ofwat, agrees to a substantial increase in bills before they make the investment. here's chris weston, chief executive of thames water speaking to the bbc this morning. 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. cat hobbs, the founder and director of we own it — a pressure group for public ownership which has campaigned around water companies — spoke to us earlier. this situation is an absolute outrage. let's be clear about what has been happening. since 1989, since water was 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 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 saying, they are turning to ofwat and they are saying we want to increase customers' 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 thames water into public ownership permanently, not bail out the shareholders but into public ownership to work for people and households who use it and for the environment. officials in the us city of baltimore say all their efforts to find any more people still missing after tuesday's bridge collapse when it was struck by a cargo ship, have been exhausted. divers recovered two bodies trapped in a vehicle in the water beneath. four men

who were working on the bridge repairing potholes are still missing. the container ship that crashed and brought down the francis scott key bridge was carrying more than seven—hundred tons of hazardous materials. with more on the police operation here's our north america correspondent, david willis: 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.

a bill that could make scotland the first uk nation to provide terminally—ill people with assistance to end their lives will be introduced in the scottish parliament today. supporters of the assisted dying bill say it would ease suffering, but opponents are concerned that some terminally ill people may feel under pressure to end their lives. it could be voted on next year. the campaign group dignity in dying says that more than 200 million people around the world have legal access to some form of assisted dying. let's take a look at some of them. switzerland has allowed assisted dying since 1942. the practice is lawful irrespective of the condition of the person who requests it. in the us, medically assisted dying for adults is legal in ii of the 50 states — — including california, newjersey and washington.

the benelux countries belgium, the netherlands and luxembourg — — all have laws that allow people who are not terminally ill to receive assistance to die. but in many countries, like japan, the practice of assisted dying is illegal. let's speak to martha gill, a political columnist at the observer. she has written about attitudes around assisted dying. thank you for joining us on bbc news. we talked about switzerland changing the law in the 1940s to allow assisted dying. i wonder over the deck is how the conversation has changed around the conversation has changed around the subject or are the fundamental arguments the same? the conversation has chan . ed arguments the same? the conversation has changed broadly _ arguments the same? the conversation has changed broadly across _ arguments the same? the conversation has changed broadly across the - arguments the same? the conversation has changed broadly across the west i has changed broadly across the west as we grow older, more liberal and less religious. 30 years ago it was illegal pretty much everywhere apart from switzerland, and as you have

explained now it is legal and quite a few countries. when it comes to the uk, the public has broadly been in favour of this since the 1980s actually. steadily in favour and we still are, 70 to 80% of us want assisted dying. parliament is the place that has lagged behind but it is apparently catching up, there is an ex mp campaigning on this issue. in 2015, there was a big vote against assisted dying in parliament but apparently we are now moving closer to a majority. liii< but apparently we are now moving closer to a majority. closer to a ma'ority. uk membership ofthe closer to a ma'ority. uk membership of the swiss — closer to a majority. uk membership of the swiss assisted _ closer to a majority. uk membership of the swiss assisted dying _ of the swiss assisted dying association, it rose by 24% to 1900 people in 2023. does that reflect and the wider conversation around the subject reflect about what you've been saying about changing attitudes? �* ., you've been saying about changing attitudes? ~ ., , , , .,, attitudes? along with spokespeople and prominent _ attitudes? along with spokespeople and prominent people _ attitudes? along with spokespeople and prominent people such - attitudes? along with spokespeople and prominent people such as i attitudes? along with spokespeople | and prominent people such as esther rantzen speaking about the issue. in terms of the fundamental arguments

on either side, they are sort of the same but there has been some changes. on the pro side it has always been about patients having autonomy over their own death. and also having some control. it might ease your suffering to know there is a way out even if you do not decide to take it. on the cons, the religious arguments are reducing, become less religious, but there is also an argument that there are risks. people might be pressured into dying based on things such as their economic situation, whether they are depressed or vulnerable. you know, when we say there can be safeguards in place, we forget that this is not an easy as it might seem because it's a very radical thing to think of suicide in this way. itide think of suicide in this way. we need to leave our conversation there. we want to bring you some

pictures now from worcester cathedral where queen camilla has arrived for the traditional royal maundy thursday service. this was the queen a short while ago outside the queen a short while ago outside the cathedral. maundy thursday a major fixture on the royal calendar, normally the monarch, king charles who is head of the church of england present special coins to people recognised for their community service. king charles not here on this occasion because of his cancer treatment. he has recorded a message praising those who extend the hand of friendship especially in a time of friendship especially in a time of need. queen camilla deputising for king charles outside worcester cathedral, live pictures from the cathedral today. you're watching bbc

news. it will not be completely dry this weekend, a chance of showers and rain. dry weather around. today, blustery showers, long spells of rain at times in coastal gales. the south—west of england and the channel islands, some costs around 60 to 65 miles an error. the deep low pressure descending. we have seen how heavy downpours across eastern areas of northern ireland. here the rain should clear as we head through the rest of the afternoon, some showers perhaps by the time we get to the end of the day. the rain will push into central and northern areas of scotland. otherwise, thundery showers going north, squalid gusts of wind in association with the showers, some hailstones. temperatures in double figures, cooler across northern ireland and eastern scotland but the brisk easterly wind. as we head

through this evening and overnight, a lot of showers, watch out for icy stretches as this skies clear across northern ireland. long spells of rain in north—western scotland perhaps. clear spells across the midlands and into north wales and northern england tomorrow morning. tomorrow, a simpler day of weather, most of us will see sunshine and showers. the remotely away from north of scotland, the western isles as we head through the afternoon, temperatures little bit higher, watch out for some thunder and hail stones in the showers. still quite blustery as well with the brisk south—westerly wind blowing across england and wales. the wind is well liked and as we head through easter weekend, the low pressure pushes west, it will between low pressure systems, possibly some rain in the south—east of england, east anglia as we head through saturday, about workload. sunshine elsewhere, the focus for showers will be in the

north and west. temperatures climbing, wildly and double figures, 12 to 15 celsius. the air will be out there and the wind is lighter. the same on easter sunday. some showers across south—west england and west wales and northern ireland and west wales and northern ireland and maybe into northern england. many parts of scotland largely dry, dry across east anglia and central southern england.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the un investigates what is says is a plausible case of israel using starvation as a weapon of war against the population in the strip. it comes as medics warn the heathcare system is close to collapse in gaza as air strikes and fighting intensify between israel and hamas. student behaviour in schools is getting worse, with one in five teachers reporting to have been hit by a pupil this year in england. the france school headscarf row — now the country's prime minister pledges legal action against a pupil. and queen camilla arrives for the traditional royal maundy service — there's a message from the absent king. we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in the time of need.