who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, returns to court for sentencing. scotland could become the first uk nation to provide terminally ill people with assistance to end their lives if a bill that has been introduced at holyrood is approved. the thames water crisis deepens as shareholders refuse to inject extra money into the uk's largest water company. and queen camilla departs the royal maundy thursday 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 a time of need. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news,

interviews and reaction. forweeks, humanitarian agencies have been warning of a prospective famine in gaza, as they struggle to get enough aid into the territory. now the united nations high commissionerfor human rights, volker turk, has told the bbc that there is a plausible case that israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. he said if that intent were proven, this would amount to a war crime. israel insists it's letting in all the humanitarian aid that's needed. from jerusalem, here s our international editorjeremy bowen, and a warning his report contains images some viewers may find distressing. gaza is no place to be ill. noora 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 significant...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, 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? it'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 minimise 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 overi million gazans considered to be in acute need will not have that option. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. this comes as israeli airstrikes 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. our middle east correspondent yolande knell gave us this update from jerusalem on the fighting in gaza. well, first around shifa hospital in gaza city, gaza's biggest hospital, that raid by the israeli military has been going on now for 11 days, and it said

in its latest briefing that some 200 what it calls terrorists have been eliminated there. it says hamas and islamic jihad had been using hospital as a base. hamas has denied that is the case. from what we understand from the hamas—run health ministry, there are doctors and there are some patients who are still trapped there, even though they have been moved to administrative building at the site. we had a spokesman from the palestinian civil defence talking about how it is very difficult for his teams to access anywhere close to the hospital. he says there are some innocent people who have been killed by the fighting that has been going on there, and that there are women and children who are still trapped in their homes, close by. if you look to the south of the gaza strip, that is where the israeli military says, around the hospital which has recently been evacuated, it has killed dozens of what it calls terrorists.

and the nasser hospital is not far away, that is why the palestinian red crescent has raised the alarm about thousands of people it says are trapped inside. we understand gunfire has been heard there. the israeli military says it has not carried out a new raid of the hospital. efforts continue, of course, to try to find a resolution. we know now that a meeting between senior israeli and us officials that was cancelled is back on, previously cancelled by the israelis. why the change? the israeli prime minister is saying this was requested by the us. i think it is an attempt, really, to try to ease the tensions that have really deepened over the past week. these two top advisers to the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, were supposed to go to washington and meet different us officials to discuss possible alternatives to israel carrying

out a major military offensive in rafah. that is something the us desperately wants to talk about. it says it can't support such an operation and it wants to look at possible alternatives. israel has been saying it has to go after hamas battalions, it said, in that area, in order to have victory in this war in gaza. now, the meeting was a trip that was called off abruptly after israel was really upset by what the us did, abstaining in that 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 as yet. give us a sense of the reaction to the comments by volker turk. we saw injeremy bowen's report, volker turk, the most senior un human rights official.

in israel, the human rights council is generally seen as a un body that is biased against israel, and israeli officials are quite dismissive of the things that mr turk has had to say 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. yolande knell in jerusalem. the former cryptocurrency tycoon, sam bankman—fried, is due to be sentenced in the us shortly, 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 asking for between a0 and 50 years.

he used his own image to attract investors, and at one point had an estimated fortune of $26 billion. 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 bankman—fried was arrested. there is a courthouse in manhattan. we will give you that sentencing when it happens. with me is our cyber correspondent, joe tidy, who was the last person to interview bankman—fried before he was arrested in december 2022. i want to let you see a clip when

you asked sam bankman—fried whether he was incompetent or fraudulent, which has been one of the key elements of the criminal case. 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 it hurt a lot of people. and that's on me, one way or another. how did you find him? use from the interview, how did you find him? use from the interview. he _ how did you find him? use from the interview, he always _ how did you find him? use from the interview, he always said _ how did you find him? use from the interview, he always said he - how did you find him? use from the interview, he always said he did - interview, he always said he did something wrong, he said, yes, and later really bad business decisions, and he said that to other reporters who all went to his luxury apartment in the bahamas and quizzed him during that period. a strange time before he was arrested, everyone except him he would be arrested. he said all along he didn't do it deliberately, that he is not a

fraudster, it said that all the way through, he painted a picture in his defence, a maths genius was out of his depth, made terrible mistakes with finances, but there was a queue of people lined up who said he knew all along what he was doing. what all along what he was doing. what are ou all along what he was doing. what are you hearing — all along what he was doing. what are you hearing about _ all along what he was doing. what are you hearing about what is going on inside the court at the moment? we are waiting on the judge to deliver the sentence. i think you are getting a little loose from inside the court. we are getting a little loose from inside the court.— are getting a little loose from inside the court. ~ ., ,., , inside the court. we have reporters, our reporter— inside the court. we have reporters, our reporter says — inside the court. we have reporters, our reporter says sam _ inside the court. we have reporters, i our reporter says sam bankman-fried our reporter says sam bankman—fried came in half—an—hour ago, and his bassjumpsuit, she said he has come in and his big hair style has come back during the court case, it was trimmed to look smart before, this is months since he was convicted. i am expecting there will be a little bit of a speech from the defence and prosecution but that is performative because we have had these months

since the conviction, and the judge has made up his mind. the reason highlights their interest in this case it because we don't know what you will get, 40—50 years, or 5—6. has any of the money that was fraudulently taken from investors been paid back? hat fraudulently taken from investors been paid back?— fraudulently taken from investors been paid back? not yet. there are about 1.2 million _ been paid back? not yet. there are about 1.2 million people _ been paid back? not yet. there are about 1.2 million people still- been paid back? not yet. there are about 1.2 million people still out i about 1.2 million people still out upon from the collapse of ftx. they couldn't withdraw their money and time before the transactions were stopped. it was like an old—fashioned bank run, the shutters down. others people still left with their crypto currency unavailable. some people will be left missing millions, one british investor aspect to. most will get some back because they have found their fans but it will not be in crypto currency. their bout get as much as they last. crypto currency now is

with about four times what it was. what has that whole episode down to confidence in digital currency? fist confidence in digital currency? git the time it was huge, it was one of the time it was huge, it was one of the real pinch points of the crypto winter when lots of people pulled their money out how they were so much my lack of confidence, but since then it has taken back—up, in the last month or so we have seen spikes in interest in the value of bitcoin because it has had money poured into, it is stronger than ever. ~ ~' , poured into, it is stronger than ever. ~ ~ , ., . poured into, it is stronger than ever. ~ ~ ,., . , ., ever. we will keep a close eye on what is happening _ ever. we will keep a close eye on what is happening in _ ever. we will keep a close eye on what is happening in that - ever. we will keep a close eye on i what is happening in that courtroom in new york, and if you are in the uk you can watch the full programme 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 of £1 billion of funding — that's around $630,000 million — 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. 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's 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. so, 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 a way around a 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, they are saying, we want to increase

customer 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 bring it into public ownership so it can work for people, for the households that use it and for the environment. the newly—formed presidential council in haiti has pledged to restore public and democratic order once it's installed. the council said it would appoint a new prime minister to organise long—overdue presidential and congressional elections. criminal gangs have continued their campaign of violence in the capital, port—au—prince, attacking government buildings and burning police stations. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal sent this update from the northern

town of cap—haitien. let's speak to jacqueline charles, caribbean correspondent at the miami herald. thank you forjoining us. what can you tell us about this new presidential council, who are they? i wouldn't say newjust presidential council, who are they? i wouldn't say new just yet, presidential council, who are they? i wouldn't say newjust yet, we're still waiting for them to be installed and we are waiting for their membership to finalised. what we have seen in the last 17 days is that different groups have been pulling their representatives, replacing them, one group has replaced a representative three times, the person representing the interfaith community resigned a few days ago. we are all watching closely to see if this installation will happen and when, and then in terms of their president, they have

decided they want to have the president, even thou they are a 7—member dating presidential council, plus two observers, and they have a hard task of deciding who the next prime minister and government will be. res, who the next prime minister and government will be.— who the next prime minister and government will be. a lot of steps before they _ government will be. a lot of steps before they get — government will be. a lot of steps before they get to _ government will be. a lot of steps before they get to that _ government will be. a lot of steps before they get to that point - government will be. a lot of steps before they get to that point by i government will be. a lot of steps | before they get to that point by the sounds of things. in this political vacuum, the grip of the gangs has strengthened, all the time. do we have any idea what this presidential council is proposing to do to actually restore order? now, you will see that _ actually restore order? now, you will see that from _ actually restore order? now, you will see that from this _ actually restore order? now, you will see that from this release i actually restore order? now, you i will see that from this release that they put out yesterday, this is their first release that they have said since they got together in jamaica two weeks ago, so they were not very specific about what it is they are going to do. i have to tell you that the current government is still there, still setting direction to the haitian national police, there is an acting prime minister in

country we see the police are holding their own. it is a difficult situation, i saw yesterday a report that said almost three dozen hospitals in the capital hadadi been. to close because of threats are because they have been looted or they have been burned. pharmacies on monday were set on fire, schools also a victim of arson attacks. the situation continues to deteriorate, the humanitarian crisis continues to get diet day by day, but we're still waiting to see what this new council is going to do. == waiting to see what this new council is going to do— is going to do. -- get dire. in terms of _ is going to do. -- get dire. in terms of normal _ is going to do. -- get dire. in terms of normal routines i is going to do. -- get dire. in terms of normal routines and j is going to do. -- get dire. in - terms of normal routines and normal life for the citizens of haiti, that doesn't exist at the moment, does it? ., ., , ., ., doesn't exist at the moment, does it? ., ., .,, doesn't exist at the moment, does it? ., ., , ., ., , ., it? haitians do not see what we have, it? haitians do not see what we have. foreign — it? haitians do not see what we have, foreign embassies - it? haitians do not see what we i have, foreign embassies evacuating their nationals that want to leave, us, canada, france, but between them we haven't seen 1000 foreigners to

leave the country, even thou we know there are more than that they are. but for the average haitian, it is difficult, i had a conversation yesterday with a young lady whose mother hasn't had dialysis since mid—february. my heartjust broke because, what can you say to this young lady? she is watching her mother died. she cannot get to the hospital because it is close. any other facility, hospital because it is close. any otherfacility, a large sum of money is required. at i spoke to doctors, how do you feel any situation, completely helpless? you cannot help your patients but you also cannot leave your house because it is a huge risk. leave your house because it is a huge risk-— 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. you can just see the image of the collapsed bridge with the great bulk of the cargo ship in the centre. the ship that crafton brought down the bridge was carrying more than 700 tonnes 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. fi refox 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 glimpse back at the courthouse in manhattan where we are expecting the sentencing to happen in the case of sam bankman—fried. we believe that it's going to happen very soon. the prosecutors in the under of the crypto currency exchange if tiezzi was found guilty of fraud and money—laundering, they want to sentence him to 50 years, stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there, good afternoon. it won't be completely dry this weekend. there's always a chance of some further showers, longer spells of rain, but a lot of dry weather around. today though, blustery showers pushing northwards, longer spells of rain at times, and coastal gales. towards the south coast of england and across the channel islands, there could be some gusts of around 60 to 65 miles an hour. a deep area of low pressure descending, the showers and the rain spiraling around it. we're seeing some particularly heavy downpours of rain across eastern areas of northern ireland. but here the rain should largely clear as we head through the rest of the afternoon, some showers arriving, perhaps again by the time we get to the end of the day. this rain will be pushing into central, eventually northern areas of scotland. otherwise, these thundery showers just pushing northward, squally gusts of wind in association with those showers, perhaps some hail at times. temperatures for most in double figures, but cooler across northern ireland and also eastern scotland, with quite a brisk easterly blowing here. now, as we head through this

evening and overnight, a lot of showers around. watch out for some icy stretches as the skies clear across northern ireland. and there could be some longer spells of rain perhaps edging into north—western scotland as well. some clearer spells too across the midlands, into north wales and perhaps for northern england into tomorrow morning. now, tomorrow, a much simpler day of weather in that most of us will be seeing sunshine and showers. that rain will clear away from north west scotland, the western isles as we head through the afternoon. and temperatures will be just that a little bit higher. just watch out for some thunder, some hail in some of those showers. it's still going to be quite blustery as well, with the brisk south—westerly wind blowing across england and wales. but the winds will lighten as we head through the easter weekend, as that low pressure pushes a little further westwards. and we will be between low pressure systems. but there could possibly be some rain grazing the south—east of england, east anglia, as we head through saturday. certainly a bit more cloud here, but some sunshine elsewhere. the focus for any showers will tend to be in the north and the west. temperatures climbing, so widely in double figures, 12 to 15 celsius. the air will feel milder and the winds will be lighter.

and it's the same again really as we head into easter sunday. so we're likely to see some showers perhaps across south—west england, up through western wales, northern ireland and maybe into northern england. but many parts of scotland could stay largely dry. dry, too, across east anglia and central southern england. bye— bye.

a reckoning for the fallen crypto king. sam bankman—fried is due to be sentenced for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his ftx exchange. he faces decades behind bars. more industrial action against amazon as workers in birmingham in the uk strike over pay and union rights. welcome to world business report. we start in the new york — where sam bankman—fried — the former cryptocurrency tycoon convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers — is due to be sentenced for his crimes. the 32—year old founder of the collapsed crypto exchange ftx

could face decades in prison.