a vote in favour next year would make scotland the first uk nation to allow the practice. teaching unions say there's been a significant rise in violence and abuse in schools since covid. troubled times at thames water, after shareholders refuse to inject more cash, unless bills goes up. and.... king charles asks people to "extend the hand of friendship, especially in a time of need" in a recorded message, for easter. and coming up on bbc news: chelsea manager emma hayes says they can win the elusive champions league trophy in her last season with the club. they're through to the semifinals after beating ajax.

good afternoon. proposals that could make scotland the first uk nation to legalise assisted dying have been introduced in the scottish parliament. it's an issue that provokes strong emotions — with supporters of legalisation saying it would ease suffering, but opponents concerned some terminally ill people may feel under pressure to end their lives. the bill could be voted on next year. members of the scottish parliament have rejected previous attempts to legalise the practice, in 2010 and 2015. james cook, our scotland editor, has our top story. that's just my favourite photo of me and steve together. we were out at a barbecue. gillie�*s husband, steve, died less than a year ago. he had throat cancer and was 56—years—old. gillie says even high—quality palliative care did not ease his suffering. it wasn't a good death because he was distressed and he was upset.

and it wasn't what he wanted. he wanted that choice, he just wanted to go to sleep. to me, it's quite obvious thatjust to allow someone to go to sleep, it's so compassionate and kind and offers them the dignity that they want. and you think that option should now be available for people in a similar position? absolutely. i think everyone should have a choice — to decide how and when they die when they're terminally ill. that's why liam mcarthur is introducing a bill here at the scottish parliament which would allow some patients to request assistance to end their life. well, the terminal illness would need to be advanced and progressive. it would require the diagnosis not just of one but of two medics, who would also assess capacity, would discuss with the patient the reasons why they'd arrived at that decision, to ensure that there hasn't been undue coercion or pressure applied.

so how's your day been today? audrey has terminal cancer, but she does not want the option of an assisted death. instead, she has found comfort at st columba's hospice in edinburgh. having been here and feeling the way it scoops you up and it does, you know... and feeling the care and the expertise, the skills of people. and now, i mean, that may change, but now, i'm not afraid of dying. so you think there might not really be a need for this legislation if we as a society, improved end—of—life care? yes, yeah. in a very holistic sense, yes. many doctors who specialise in palliative care also have concerns about the bill. the worry is that it's notjust a choice — l it becomes a suggestion, _ which then becomes an expectation, and that our vulnerable patients are at risk _ supporters of the bill know that

moral, religious and practical objections must be overcome if the momentous change they propose is to become law. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. andrew kerr, our scotland political correspondent, is at holyrood. msps have rejected this twice before. how likely could this bill go through now?— before. how likely could this bill go through now? well, as you say, this bill has — go through now? well, as you say, this bill has been _ go through now? well, as you say, this bill has been examined - go through now? well, as you say, this bill has been examined and . this bill has been examined and debated by the parliament before, voted down twice. it looks likely the bill will be debated in the autumn and then we could get the final vote next year. the general election may affect the timetable of the bill. people who do support the legislation, like that msp liam mcarthur, he thinks that the political mood has really shifted and he is convinced this bill might now pass. but of course, this is a free vote. msps are not bound by

what their party says and the interesting thing is there are really significant people, like the first minister humza yousaf, like the scottish labour leader, who don't support this, so that could have an effect on their msps. so it looks likely that here in scotland there will be a significant decision to be made by msps on life and death. . ~ to be made by msps on life and death. ., ~ , ., ., ., death. 0k, thank you for that. andrew kerr _ death. 0k, thank you for that. andrew kerr at _ death. 0k, thank you for that. andrew kerr at holyrood. - a teaching union says its members are reporting that levels of violence and abuse from pupils has risen significantly since the covid pandemic. a survey commissioned by the bbc reveals the full extent of the problem. of the 9,000 teachers in england who took part in the research, 40% say they've seen aggressively violent behaviour in a single week that needed an intervention. 20% of those teachers revealed they'd been hit by a student this year. and the same number say they've experienced verbal or online abuse from a parent or guardian since september. so, what can be done?

elaine dunkley has more from west yorkshire. 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. 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. headteacher 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. oh, sorry. it's ok. how are you doing, are you having a nice day? yeah. good. sorry. — 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 certain corners or places in... the back of the classroom or places in the playground. there's loads of staff in the playground now, making sure everybody�*s 0k. 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 i those needs to ultimately make them as successfull as they possibly can be. bell rings. 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 and support to those which are struggling. your shirt's hanging out. managing behaviour is demanding. for many, it's a tough time to be in teaching, but despite the challenges, the rewards are high for teachers like mr mackey. ijust think it's a really lovely place to work. i'm immensely proud to be the headteacher here. and before long, it's our intention that this is the best school in west yorkshire — not only in dewsbury. elaine dunkley, bbc news. there's been fierce fighting overnight around at least three hospitals in gaza, with medics warning that the territory's health care system is close to collapse. israel says gunmen have been using

the hospitals as command centres, but hamas, along with some medical staff, deny this. yolande knell, is live injerusalem. just how close is the health care system in gaza to complete collapse? there is a new warning from the un saying that it's collapsing basically because of what it says our ongoing hostilities and access restraints. we really see that with these three important hospitals that are all now effectively out of service. in gaza city, that is where the israeli military operation is in its 11th day. we have had the israeli army coming out saying it has eliminated in its words 200 terrorists at that site, saying it is taking steps to protect palestinian civilians, that people who are there as patients, doctors as well. but there is a spokesman for the palestinian civil defence who has come out and said that

innocent civilians have been killed and that there are women and children who remain trapped by the ongoing fighting. then in khan younis, in the south of the gaza strip, there around the hospital, the israeli military says it has killed dozens of palestinian fighters in recent days, seized hundreds of weapons and that is an area that has been, the hospital has been evacuated this week. close by to there, you have the hospital where the palestinian red crescent is raising concern about the well—being of thousands of people who are trapped inside because it says you have israeli ground forces who are very close to that hospital now. . ~' who are very close to that hospital now. ., ~ , ., ., ., now. 0k, thank you for that. your land now. — now. 0k, thank you for that. your land now, leave _ now. 0k, thank you for that. your land now, leave in _ now. 0k, thank you for that. your land now, leave in jerusalem. --| land now, leave injerusalem. —— live injerusalem. divers say they've recovered two of the bodies of the six construction workers who fell into a river after a bridge in baltimore collapsed on tuesday. the men had been fixing potholes on the bridge when it was struck

by a cargo ship that had lost power and drfited into the structure. investigators have retrieved the vessel's data recorder. the port of baltimore remains closed while the wreckage of the bridge, blocks the patapsco river. a 19—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, following a stabbing in broad daylight on a train in bromley, in south east london. passengers filmed the attack, posting the distressing video online. the victim is now in hospital in a life—threating condition. officers are appealing for witnesses to come forward. the boss of thames water has told the bbc that it's "eventually possible" the company could be nationalised — if it fails to secure fresh funding from investors. but chris weston reassured customers that their water supplies wouldn't affected, whatever the outcome of the compa ny�*s financial difficulties. simonjack is at thames water hq in reading for us now. simon, first of all, why no more cash from their shareholders and

secondly, what does all of this mean for customers?— secondly, what does all of this mean for customers? thames is the biggest water company _ for customers? thames is the biggest water company in _ for customers? thames is the biggest water company in the _ for customers? thames is the biggest water company in the country, - for customers? thames is the biggest water company in the country, 16 - water company in the country, 16 million country, £16 billion in debt and that is the problem, it desperately needed an injection of new money. it was meant to get £500 million from its shareholders, which include abu dhabi and chinese state investors, they were going to put £500 million and by tomorrow. but that was conditional on the regulator ofwat agreeing to customer bills going up by 40% over the next five years. ofwat said they were not going to allow that to happen and so the investors have pulled out. they are going to need some money in due course. ten so that it has enough money in the kitty to last the next year—and—a—half nearly but it will need some more money at some stage and without new funding, the pretty new chief executive said nationalisation was possible. it is, i would like to say, a hypothetical question and it is quite a long way off. so there's a lot that

has to happen... but it is possible? it is eventually possible. but i don't want to alarm anyone and the first thing i would say about it — even if that were to happen, the services will continue to be provided. there will still be clean drinking water and we will still deal with all the waste that has to be dealt with. so that, i think, is the key message — even in that situation. thames will need tens of billions of pounds in the coming years to tackle climate change, with warmer and wetter summers and winters, and also the leaks that a lot of people have had to put up with. they are going to need to get some new funding from somewhere. but at the moment, it's difficult to see where that's coming from. deborah has been in touch with the treasury and the regulator, they are drawing up contingency plans and nationalisation is on that list. very interesting. simonjack, our business editor. sir keir starmer has launched labour's local election campaign, promising to restore "hope" in politics. speaking in dudley

in the west midlands, he pledged to bring power closer to local people. iain watson has that story. keir starmer wants to change the machinery of government — more power for mayors and for local councils. and in a bid to appeal to voters who chose the conservatives for the first time in 2019, he praised some of borisjohnson�*s ideas to help local communities. but he was less keen on the implementation. people say to me the worst thing you can do in politics is to prey on people's fear. yet, in some ways, preying on their hopes is just as bad. and that's what the tories did with levelling up. so what would he do? you talked about the decimation of public services, you talked about hope, the councils that fear they are going to go bankrupt in the next year will need more than hope, they will need hard cash.

can you guarantee that a labour government in its first year will give them more resources than the conservatives are giving them now? can i stand here and pretend to you that there is a magic money tree that we can waggle on the third or the day after the election? no, they have broken the economy. to leave your country after 111 years of government in a worse place than you found it is unforgivable, whichever political party you are in. the conservatives currently control dudley council, so in launching labour's campaign here, you might assume keir starmer is increasingly confident he can win back former tory voters. but his enemy isn'tjust rishi sunak, it is disillusionment. rubbish. they are not doing a lot for us, are they? i've been brought up in dudleyl and look how it has gone down. i don't trust any of them, to be honest. they get in, they are going to say a good thing, then they don't bother. it would be nice to see some money put into these areas. _ it would be nice to see improvements made. i can't trust nobody. labour are promising to spread

wealth and opportunity across the uk, but it could take more than hope to convince voters that a change of government can change the country. iain watson, bbc news, dudley. the deputy labour leader, angela rayner, has insisted she's done absolutely nothing wrong, after greater manchester police announced its reassessing a decision not to investigate her over claims she may have given false information on official documents. peter saul is at westminster. a bit ofa a bit of a distraction on the day labour launches its local manifesto. greater manchester police had decided there were no grounds for investigation but they have decided to look again whether an investigation might be necessary following a complaint from the conservative mp james following a complaint from the conservative mpjames daley, also deputy chair of the tory party. the claim here is angela rayner might have provided fulsome information in official documents, going back to her living arrangements, the council house she used to own in stockport

and whether it rained her principal residence after she got married in 2010 and when she eventually sold the council house whether she paid the council house whether she paid the right level of tax. she insisted she has done nothing wrong, she believes the whole thing is politically motivated, but facing calls from the conservative party to publish the legal and tax advice she has received. she says she will not do that but she is prepared to hand it over to the various different authorities. keir starmer was asked about this in dudley, he was emphatic he has full confidence, full support for his deputy. he looked pretty chipper in the piece you just saw about his party's prospects in the local elections on the 2nd of may but he could probably do without the side bar going on to do without the side bar going on to do without the side bar going on to do with his deputy�*s tax affairs. thank you, peter soul at westminster. our top story this afternoon... proposals to legalise assisted dying go before the scottish parliament. that's him, he's the one

i told you about. and coming up, the film inspired by the talented footballers who spent time sleeping rough. coming up on bbc news, jess fishlock could become the first welsh player to reach 150 caps for her country after being named in new manager rhian wilkinson's squads for their euro qualifiers next month. despite a decade passing, since the first same—sex marriages in england and wales were allowed, the bbc has found that gay weddings can only be held in just 3% of all religious settings where couples are married. the law is clear, that the church of england cannot opt in to gay marriage ceremonies, but other institutions can. calum leslie reports. you are now, legally... a decade ago tonight, in the wee hours of 29th march 2014,

the first same—sex couples across england and wales got married. ..wife and wife. as husband and husband! same—sex marriage was introduced in scotland later that year and in northern ireland in 2020. this is my wife. those changes came after civil partnerships had been brought in back in 2005. but a religious same—sex wedding can be difficult to access for many people. lioness and tottenham captain bethany england's currently planning her wedding. we're not getting married in a church. obviously, most churches, it's quite hard to accept for a gay wedding. would you like to see more churches do that — opt in to letting their ministers decide if they want to do that? as much as i'm not a religious person, i know that there's plenty of people out there that are that are in the lgbtq+ community. so i think to deny their wishes of what they want and having to wait even longer to find someone willing to do it takes away their special moment and the love that they have for each other. under the 2014 law, religious institutions were automatically not included in doing gay marriages.

they could opt in if they wanted to, but most still don't. in fact, of almost 40,000 places of worship in england and wales, which you need for a religious wedding, only around 1,100 do same—sex marriages today. that's less than 3% of all buildings where those weddings happen. northern ireland measures things differently, but it's a similar story. of nearly 2,800 religious officiants, of all faiths, 65 will marry a gay couple. the church of scotland has opted in. there isn't a total figure we can compare, but 156 of its ministers will conduct a same—sex wedding. some from the scottish episcopal church will do the same. jide is a priest and a gay man. he says he wants to see churches conduct religious same—sex weddings within the next decade. i would love to be able to celebrate and offer same—sex marriage as a priest in the church of england. i'm not alone. there are many other

priests, including many priests who are allies of the lgbt community. the church of england allows priests, if they want to, to conduct blessings for same—sex couples — a move this bishop says splits opinion in the church. when same sex—marriages first came along, ten years ago, the legislation that enabled that specifically said that the church of england cannot do gay marriage. so, as part of that, in order to get to a point of changing it, requires the church of england's own parliament and parliament itself to actually go through the process of changing that law. the church of england also says gay people are wholeheartedly welcome in its community. calum leslie, bbc news. and there's more on this in the doumentary gay marriage and me which is available on the bbc iplayer. king charles has recorded a message for this maundy thursday, stressing the importance

of extending the hand of friendship, especially in times of need. it was recorded in mid—march and was played during a service at worcester cathedral. queen camilla handed out the traditional maundy money on his behalf. here's phil mackie. cheering and applause more than 1,000 people braved the cold to greet the queen today, many had been waiting hours to grab the best spots. it has been the custom since the time of queen elizabeth for his majesty the king to give alms on maundy thursday. the annual service is an ancient tradition. historically, it usually took place in or near london. here are some of the recipients with the special maundy money. queen elizabeth changed that and during her reign it was held around the country. this was the last time it happened in worcester. the crowds then may have been slightly bigger than today, but that may have been down to the absence of the king. the news about the cancer treatment that both the king and princess catherine are receiving is very much on the minds

of the people who turned up to see the queen today. it's incredibly difficult and i think more important than ever that we support the royal family at this time. and this is a great way to show it. important— and this is a great way to show it. important to show support for the crown_ important to show support for the crown in_ important to show support for the crown in this difficult time. they are stoic and _ crown in this difficult time. they are stoic and true _ crown in this difficult time. they are stoic and true to _ crown in this difficult time. they are stoic and true to their - crown in this difficult time. tie: are stoic and true to their country, true to their people, we need to be true to their people, we need to be true to their people, we need to be true to them. true to their people, we need to be true to them-— true to their people, we need to be true to them. although the king said his absence has _ true to them. although the king said his absence has caused _ true to them. although the king said his absence has caused him - true to them. although the king said his absence has caused him great. his absence has caused him great sadness, he sent a recorded message. in this country, we are blessed by all the different services that exist for our welfare, but over and above these organisations and their selfless staff, we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need.— hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas. in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas- john _ in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas. john has _ in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas. john has devoted - in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas. john has devoted his - in a time of need. welcome to some barnabas. john has devoted his life | barnabas. john has devoted his life to the church and the service in his parish. he was one of those given

maundy money today. em parish. he was one of those given maundy money today. an enormous sense of honour, _ maundy money today. an enormous sense of honour, really. _ maundy money today. an enormous sense of honour, really. i— maundy money today. an enormous sense of honour, really. i never- sense of honour, really. i never expected — sense of honour, really. i never expected anything like that to happen— expected anything like that to happen to me. expected anything like that to happen to me— expected anything like that to hauen to me. ~ ., ., ., expected anything like that to ha en to me. ~ ., ., ., ., happen to me. what are you going to do with the money? _ happen to me. what are you going to do with the money? keep _ happen to me. what are you going to do with the money? keep it - happen to me. what are you going to do with the money? keep it and - do with the money? keep it and treasure it- _ do with the money? keep it and treasure it. keep _ do with the money? keep it and treasure it. keep it _ do with the money? keep it and treasure it. keep it and - do with the money? keep it and treasure it. keep it and show i do with the money? keep it and treasure it. keep it and show it| treasure it. keep it and show it off. ~ ., ., , ., , treasure it. keep it and show it off. ., off. we are here to protest against the monarchy... _ off. we are here to protest against the monarchy... a _ off. we are here to protest against the monarchy. .. a small— off. we are here to protest against the monarchy... a small but - off. we are here to protest against the monarchy... a small but noisy| the monarchy... a small but noisy anti-monarchy _ the monarchy... a small but noisy anti-monarchy protest _ the monarchy... a small but noisy anti-monarchy protest outside, i the monarchy... a small but noisy| anti-monarchy protest outside, but anti—monarchy protest outside, but it was drowned out by well—wishers. and the queen rewarded them for their patience as she left the cathedral. the weather has not been great today but it played ball so it was dry up until the moment the queen went into the cathedral, dry again briefly when she came out, making it a bit easier for the again briefly when she came out, making it a bit easierfor the brief walk around. around 500 people hang around until the end of the service to get a glimpse. although he could not be here today, the good news is the king will appear in public on sunday at the easter service in

windsor. thank you, many thanks, phil mackie at worcester cathedral. it seems hoarding old tech, like mobile phones and cables, has become a habit for many of us. the united nations says levels of electronic waste are rising five times faster than recycling programmes can cope, and the un is urging us all to clean out our cupboards. here's harriet bradshaw. does this look familiar? everybody has piles of stuff. things like old phones, broken things. stuff you're worried about, well, is there data on it? i think back in the day, my dad would have had a shed full of jars of screws. and the modern dad has a drawer full of 15 old mobiles. new research by material focus suggests paul is not alone in his hoarding habits of old electricals. we've all probably got a drawer of doom which has got cables in there that we don't know what they're for. it's got a dvd remote for a dvd player that we lost

a long, long time ago. uk householders now seem to be holding onto 30 items, whereas four years ago it was around 20 items. so, it seems to be growing as an issue. so, why should we care? when we look at electrical items, there's lots of precious materials in there, lots of precious metals. if we can keep them in circulation, then it reduces the need to extract raw materials, which has an environmental impact. but there are things we can do to give our electricals a new lease of life, such as sharing, and repairing can keep things going too. but some things just can't be fixed or reused. i think there is life, but not good life. yeah, i'd love to see manufacturers really stepping up here and making things that are designed to last longer and are durable, but also designing things that can be repaired. it's the end of the road for these items... ..or is it? what can be salvaged from this? hey, thanks very much for the delivery. well, there's some really good stuff here. and the really good news is, all electronics has got some great commodities and it's all very recyclable.

so, i'm told, peryear, this plant recycles 25% of the uk's small household electricals. and just to give you a sense of scale, this here isjust one day's worth of deliveries. there's a whole host of things that go into making electricals — copper, palladium, silver, plastic, ferrous metals, aluminiums, stainless steels, even gold. so, if you look at the electricals that we're throwing away and that we're holding on to, we think over £1 billion of value, treasure, is sitting there. the un warns the world's generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e—waste recycling, raising the alarm that the precious treasures inside what we think is trash should be saved. harriet bradshaw, bbc news. for any footballer, playing for your country can be life changing. and that's especially true for those involved in the homeless world cup. the tournament, in south korea this september, involves 70 countries with players who've all at one time or another had to

sleep on the streets. a film inspired by the tournament, starring the actor bill nighy, has just been released, as yasmin rufo reports. that's him. he's the one i told you about. the beautiful game, a film about the homeless world cup — a global tournament for players who've all experienced living rough, starring bill nighy. .. come on bleep! ..and here he is with the real england team, offering a few words of gentle encouragement. the film is about something i didn't know anything about, which is called the homeless world cup and i... you're allowed to laugh. i play the england coach. you're about to represent your country, so... ..officially supplied by the fa itself, so when you put on this shirt, you're putting on the history of the beautiful game. the thing that makes the homeless world cup so effective is that you can... you know, young men, for instance,

and young women will be attracted because it's about football. people like courtney... well done, courtney! let's go. ..who's had more than his fair share of ups and downs. playing football, coming here, i i forget about everything in life. ijust want to have fun. don't really think about stuff, i so what i could say is it's helped i and it's helped to try to avoid . all the homelessness because i'm out here keeping fit. so, if i'm out here doing something, |i'm not at home doing stuff that i'm| not meant to be doing. if you enjoy football, _ come have a kickabout and they'll put a smile on your face, that's all i can _ really say about that. and courtney is just one of the 500 people that is hoping to go to south korea in september to participate in the homeless world cup. and this was also a moment for bill to meet the real england manager, frankie, whose job as coach is about more than just tactics and training. it's not just always about football. we deliver, like, 30% of football. we do, like, 70% of off—pitch

support because some of them, they need to access education, access to different services. we represent england and we would like to bring the trophy, bring it home. the beautiful game, a celebration of how football really can change lives. look at that, boys. look at all these cameras. yasmin rufo, bbc news. looks really good. soggy weather around to be playing football. certainly is. it will turn drier for many of us into the easter weekend. some beautiful crashing waves recorded in devon. very windy across the south coast and the channel islands. gusts of wind up to 60 miles an hour possible for the rest of the day, yellow weather warning in place issued by the met office. windy wherever you are in england and wales, also squally showers gradually pushing further north.

lots of people out and