the white house approves money to help the us state of maryland respond to the deadly collpase of a bridge in baltimore. and wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich marks a year in russian detention. hello, i'm caitriona perry. we begin in new york with what's being called one of the biggest financial crimes in us history. the founder of the bankrupt crypto currency exchange ftx, sam bankman—fried, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. a federaljudge at manhattan court house ruled that the 32—year—old knew he acted criminally but had shown no remorse. mr bankman—fried, who's expected to appeal the sentence, apologised for his actions but did not admit to criminal wrongdoing. he was found guilty of fraud and money laundering last year.

before his firm's collapse in 2022, the former billionaire became a celebrity atop a crypto empire. prosecutors said he raided customer accounts for bribes, illegal political donations and risky investments. our business correspondent michelle fleury has more. thejudge had to decide a couple of things and took into account age, losses involved an impact on the victims and also the message of the tarrant and he settled on 25 years for sam bankman—fried, sending him to prison for that time. it was less than lawyers who had been prosecuting the case had asked for you wanting, 14—15 years and by contrast lawyers for mr bankman—fried said he should get less than seven years. judge lewis kaplan decided that splitting the difference somewhere in the middle was the way to go. the judge clearly

thought that although mr bankman—fried has autism, as he said in court, sometimes he can be a bit socially awkward, the judge clearly thought this was a serious crime in order to send the message of deterrent and was also not convinced that mr bankman—fried had shown enough remorse and he was not convinced that he might not try to essentially cheat people potentially again. that is why he settled on this lengthy sentence, one that white—collar lawyers, professors have been telling me seemed to be the sort of right amount, but it felt right at them and one that would be hard to challenge. a short while ago, i spoke to steven ehrlich. he's the director of research at forbes crypto and he also interviewed sam bankman—fried last year in jail. a prison sentence was all but guaranteed and the question was how long. were you surprised by the 25 years? i was not terribly surprised. statutory guidelines suggested a century or more which seemed

ludicrous at the time. the prosecutors were looking for 14—15 years which is not quite a life sentence but pretty close in this case. 25 years seems to be what the prevailing expectation was before all of this happened and again takes into account, not to forgive the seriousness of the crimes, but he is still relatively young, he has no prior convictions or history of bad behaviour, and at this point he will have to serve 85% of the sentence, he is going to get out in his 50s and maybe then he will be able to be a productive member of society. 25—30 years seems to be what most of the community expected. you've interviewed mr bankman—fried. judge kaplan said there is a risk that bankman—fried could do do something very bad in the future and it's not a trivial risk. do you agree with that? it is hard to say. i have interviewed him multiple times, i actually

interviewed him hours before his arrest in the bahamas. i was his last interview as a free man. in all of his conversations and writings in his submission, even todayjudge kaplan referenced it, he did not really show much remorse. he felt the assets were always there, that creditors are going to be made whole even at november 2022 prices and he has this calculus where he is willing to take big risks if the reward is worth it, even by a sliver. it is hard to know what is in a person's heart, obviously he fooled a lot of people in the media and investment community and broaderfinance so it is hard to know what is for sure. but i can certainly understand the degree of fear that judge kaplan had that when sam bankman—fried gets out, he could do this again. he was also ordered to forfeit $11 billion and the judge said that could be used to pay back some of his victims. are those people going to see their money again?

i believe that they will but again it is hard to know for sure. the $11 billion is made to cover the total extent of the losses that ftx incurred that covers the retail investors, lenders, investors, because remote that he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy against many different groups. but again, in his submissions to the court before sentencing he talked about how creditors are going to be made whole, that will be paid back 100% but it's very important to remember that 100% in us dollars for the price of crypto in november 2022 which was the nature of this entire bear market, bitcoin is now about something 60—70% since then and other assets are even higher. customers not only had to wait at least two years for those gains, forfunds to be returned, and they have not got it yet, are not going

to see those gains. it is definitely maybe a bit of silver lining but a bitter pill to swallow for a lot of customers. the biden administration has approved maryland's request of $60 million aid for recovery efforts after a bridge in baltimore collapsed when it was hit by a cargo ship. this is a live look at the wreckage of the francis scott key bridge, where divers on wednesday found the bodies of two people in a red pickup truck underwater. eight workers were on the bridge when it was hit by the cargo ship dali, plunging them into the waters below. two were rescued on the day, but the search continues for four other men who were working on the bridge repairing potholes. all are presumed dead. investigators say the container ship that crashed — and still remains in the patapsco river — was carrying more than 700 tons of hazardous materials. the jobs of at least 8000 workers at the port of baltimore are affected by the collapse of the bridge. maryland state governor

wes moore outlined what's next. first, we need to continue to focus on recovery. because it is our obligation to bring a sense of closure to these families. second, we need to clear the channel and open vessel traffic to the port because the health of the maryland economy and the national economy depends on it. third, we need to take care of all the people who have been affected by this process and that means the families, that means the workers, that means the businesses, that means the first responders. that means everybody. and in the military, one of the things we were taught is you always take care of your people. we're going to make sure in this moment we take care of our people. and fourth, we need to rebuild the francis scott key bridge.

based on interviews with 60 former prisoners—of—war, the un has found credible evidence that russian soldiers have been torturing ukrainian prisoners to extract military information. the un says this is not in compliance with international law, and made several recommendations to address the treatment and conditions of prisoners of war. earlier i spoke with

the danielle bell, the head of mission for the united nations human rights monitoring mission in ukraine. good to have you want bbc news. this report covers three months until the end of february including the time of the second anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine. 0verall russian invasion of ukraine. overall how did the number of deaths and injuries compared to what has been seen throughout the rest of the conflict? in the rest of the conflict? in the three month period of the report, casualties were slightly higher than the previous report. we documented 479 previous report. we documented a79 civilian deaths and almost 1a00 injured in the three month period. iii 1400 in'ured in the three month eriod. ., 1400 in'ured in the three month eriod, ., ., ., “ 1400 in'ured in the three month eriod. ., ., period. if we turn to look at the issue — period. if we turn to look at the issue of _ period. if we turn to look at the issue of ukrainian - the issue of ukrainian prisoners of war in russian captivity, you are not able to access those directly but you did speak to people who had been recently freed, and almost all reported being tortured. how do the experience compared

to what you have seen before now? ~ ~:: now? we interviewed 60 ukrainian _ now? we interviewed 60 ukrainian prisoners - now? we interviewed 60 ukrainian prisoners of. now? we interviewed 60| ukrainian prisoners of war following the last prisoner exchange. in terms of the treatment conditions, it was very much similar to what we have documented since the invasion we have done about 300 interviews all up. ukrainian prisoners of war had been subjected to the most horrific treatment, torture, ill—treatment, humiliation, the worst conditions of detention that one could imagine. for example, food deprivation as well as lack of access to healthcare and with the torture sometimes the prisoners of war are beaten on a daily basis inside their cells. it is very consistent of what we have had over the years. it consistent of what we have had over the years.— over the years. it is terrific. he also _ over the years. it is terrific. he also refer _ over the years. it is terrific. he also refer to _ over the years. it is terrific. he also refer to credible - he also refer to credible allegations of the execution of 32 ukrainian prisoners of war. what evidence is you have with

out? in what evidence is you have with out? ,., , what evidence is you have with out? , . ., , what evidence is you have with out? , ., out? in the past couple of months — out? in the past couple of months we _ out? in the past couple of months we documented l out? in the past couple of| months we documented 12 separate instances of 32 ukrainian subjected to execution, and we have only been able to fully verify three cases. the reification is a bit complicated, it stems from interviews with reservoir and other sources.— other sources. your investigations - other sources. your investigations were | other sources. your i investigations were for ukrainian prisoners of war and you also spoke to russian prisoners of war who will be held in ukraine. what do they say to you?— say to you? the treatment is incomparable _ say to you? the treatment is incomparable with _ say to you? the treatment is incomparable with what - say to you? the treatment is incomparable with what the l incomparable with what the ukrainian prisoners of war are going through. the ukrainian authorities allowed us full access to interview russian prisoners of war. the conditions of detention are fully in line with international standards, so the have sufficient food, healthcare as well as measures in place for russian prisoners of what to have regular communication with their families, which is very

different to what the ukrainian prisoners of war go through what we are virtually cut off from their families. what we are virtually cut off from theirfamilies. we did document some instances of torture and ill—treatment of russian prisoners of war but not during the internment, during the period from being captured on the battlefield and transferred to the facility. the numbers are quite low and to emphasise, once inside the places of internment some of the conditions are completely in line with international standards.— in line with international standards. , , in line with international standards. �* , standards. beyond prisoners of war, how would _ standards. beyond prisoners of war, how would you _ standards. beyond prisoners of. war, how would you characterise russia's treatment of civilians in the areas of ukraine it is occupying at the moment? we ublished occupying at the moment? - published a report on this issue last week based on 2300 interviews with people living interviews with people living in occupied territory. indeed the situation in occupied territory has been incredibly difficult for civilians. during the early stages of the occupation, civilians were

subjected to extrajudicial killings, torture, detention and then later on there was the imposition of russian systems and the ukrainian systems of government and administration systematically dismantled. people living in occupied territory, because we interviewed people both while living in occupied territory as well as people when they have returned, and they have conveyed to us living under extremely difficult circumstances. ~ ., circumstances. would you say that russia — circumstances. would you say that russia is _ circumstances. would you say that russia is breaching - circumstances. would you say that russia is breaching the l that russia is breaching the norms of international law? yes. the report that we issued in many of our public statements have set out in detail areas in which russia has violated its obligations under international human rights law as well international and humanitarian law. �* ., ., international and humanitarian law._ ukraine l international and humanitarian | law._ ukraine is law. and it ukraine? ukraine is a different _ law. and it ukraine? ukraine is a different situation. _ law. and it ukraine? ukraine is a different situation. ukraine . a different situation. ukraine has been applied to the extent

possible almost with international human rights law as well as international humanitarian law. it is very, very different. indie humanitarian law. it is very, very different.— humanitarian law. it is very, very different. we were living there for the _ very different. we were living there for the moment. - very different. we were living there for the moment. thank| very different. we were living - there for the moment. thank you forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news around the uk. in the uk, three prisoners and three staff from lewes prison in east sussex have been taken to hospital for suspected food poisoning. emergency teams were sent to the jail at about midday. it's understood a number of people became ill soon after eating a curry served after a maundy thursday service. a man has been arrested in connection with the death of the gogglebox star george gilbey. the a0—year—old who was a self—employed electrician died at work after falling from a height. essex police said a man in his a0s had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

the former england cricket captain, freddie flintoff, is returning to television after his top gear accident. he was injured at the programme's test track at dunsfold park aerodrome in surrey in december 2022. he'll be back on television for the second series of the bbc one cricket documentary, freddie flintoff�*s field of dreams. you're live with bbc news. as us journalist evan gershkovich approaches a full year in russian detention, the kremlin says it won't talk publicly about the possibility of any prisoner exchange. mr gershkovich was arrested in russia last year, on suspicion of espionage. moscow accuses the wall street journal reporter of trying to obtain military secrets while reporting on the war in ukraine in the russian city of yekaterinburg. mr gershkovich, the wall street journal, and the us government all deny accusations of any wrongdoing. a russian court on tuesday

extended his pre—trial detention at a high—security prison in moscow by another three months. we've been speaking to his sister danielle, and wall streetjournal assistant editor paul beckett about their efforts to bring evan home. in early december the state department said that they made an offerfor evan and paul whelan who has been there for five years and the russians rejected it. since then we've seen him twice, one at his annual press conference at the end of his interview with tucker carlson. we know there are conversations pulling on. it is appropriate that those happen quietly and secretly and we are not privy to them but we are confident that they are happening and we hope that they benefit soon. the white house has made statements that they are serious about getting evan home which is wonderful to hear,

but we know that this is a conversation that's between governments, but we are very grateful to have contact from the team, and we are able to meet and speak with president biden, and he personally promised our family that he is going to get evan home, so we just have to keep our faith in that promise. in a unanimous ruling, judges at the international court ofjustice ordered israel to take all necessary action to ensure that basic food supplies reach palestinians facing hunger in gaza. the judges said the israeli military must not violate the international convention on genocide. it's the world court's strongest language yet on the war. it's also ordering israel to open more land crossings to allow aid into the strip. but the icj does not have any power to enforce its ruling. meanwhile, gaza's humanitarian situation continues to worsen. aid agencies are concerned for patients at hospitals that now face daily israeli bombardment. for more on the situation,

i spoke to the medical director of medglobal nahreen ahmed. she returned from her second mission to gaza last week. and just a warning that the scenes she describes may be distressing. thank you for taking the time to speak to us on bbc news. you are back from gaza and you were in various locations. talk us through all of that, but let's start with northern gaza. what did you see there? we're hearing desperate reports of people starving to death. yes, i should just highlight how challenging it is to reach the north. we have to co—operate with un agencies to join convoys to go to the north side so access is really limited. what i witnessed going from south to north was the landscape is entirely decimated, the roads are very challenging and need very specific high—utility vehicles to access the north and we saw people just absolutely starving.

we saw children, every child i saw has evidence of malnutrition. the death count has risen to 27 and that's probably just what we know. to collect that data has been extremely challenging. people are not able to access consistently food for their children, for themselves. we are seeing malnutrition and pregnant women. when i walked through the halls of one hospital, the desperation on the faces of mothers and children is heartbreaking. mothers telling us because they themselves are malnourished they can't feed their children. the most vulnerable population are pregnant, lactating women and children under two. the health effects of malnutrition are devastating.

isa is a quick process was the salvation kicks in and is painful. unfortunately what we the challenge of distributing food and aid in the north as well as the access issues. on that point, if they were to be a ceasefire, could those impacts be reversed? the tricky thing about malnutrition is it is not just about providing food and being the end of it. when somebody has severe or moderate malnutrition they need monitored so there needs to be the access not only to food but direct monitoring for those being refed because there is consequences of refeeding too quickly when someone is severely malnourished so it's notjust about bringing food but health aid and i worry that we are beyond the point of that, if aid was to rush up there, that this could be reversed quickly. i think that the effects of starvation and malnutrition are so far past

the point where we can reverse it quickly, but we need to do what we can to get aid and food distributed equitably in gaza. in terms of the hospitals that you are in in the north and in the south as well, just how functional are they? we're hearing about the shortage of medical supplies. currently most hospitals are referred to as partially functional which means that there are some services available but not all. there are six partially functional hospitals in the north and six in the south. that number has reduced from when i was there injanuary which means that hospitals that were previously functional, there are less of them now, as hospitals come under siege. and after working in nasser hospital myself injanuary and again working with our staff and some of our volunteers in al—aqsa hospital, several hospitals in

the middle, south and north, we noticed that absolutely crucial supplies are missing. for example, at one hospital in the north we have heard that there are severe fractures and trauma injuries coming in that require certain tools to fix for orthopaedic surgeons and those are nails and external fixators. because of the lack of availability of them, doctors are working with engineers that are available in the area to come up with a way to do that and make them themselves. we're also hearing about terrible infections where the proper antibiotics are not available which means people are dying from preventable causes, treatable causes. this is devastating and lack of supplies for especially maternal child health is devastating. 0ne volunteer who worked in a maternity centre, i had a chance to sit with her and some other obstetricians and to hear about the absolute devastating lack of supplies

and the lack of space, is not supplies but lack of space for patients, hospitals are overflowing, patients that are giving birth by having to leave the hospital after two hours if you can imagine that, just because there is not enough space to accommodate the number of deliveries happening at several hospitals in gaza. you travel around war zones training medical professionals how to operate in conflict. how does what you've seen in gaza compared to those other war zones, conflict areas you've been in? it is incomparable. this is by far the worst disaster i've ever seen and the hardest part of that is this is man—made. what we're seeing, the devastation, injuries, the extremely high volume of children, women and children being affected, the fact that you have so many people that cannot leave, and other crisis and conflict zones we've been to, we been able see people evacuate to get to safety. but you hear people

saying in gaza that there is no safe in gaza which is extremely true, the fact that you have nearly 1.7, 1.8 million people in rafah, an extremely small and area. it is disastrous and evolving into a public health crisis given the increase in things like acute water bloody diarrhoea, respiratory infections, hepatitis a, this is a consequence of having so many people crammed into a small space without the ability to safely leave. that's incredibly unprecedented. thank you for describing to us the situation in gaza. a new un report has described the situation in haiti as cataclysmic, with more than 1500 people murdered in the country so far this year. the un human rights commissioner, volker turk, says that gang violence and poor governance have brought state institutions close to collapse. the un estimates that the gangs now control more than 80% of the capital port—au—prince.

the report published on thursday found a significant increase in sexual violence and the abuse of children. let's turn to some important news around the world. reports from syria say that at least 33 people — including some hezbollah fighters have been killed in an airstrike on the city of aleppo. the syrian defence ministry said israel had carried out the attack. it said aleppo had also come under fire from drones launched by what it called terrorist groups. a british—based monitoring group said the strikes targeted weapons stores near aleppo international airport. at least a5 people have died in a bus crash in south africa. transportation officials there say the vehicle, travelling from botswana to limpopo province, went off a bridge into a ravine after colliding with a crash barrier. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. well, with british summertime just around the corner, thursday was a stark

reminder ofjust how fickle british weather can be. yes, we had some snow, some of it settling for a time in northern ireland on thursday. it was a wild day, wet and windy for many as well. and in fact in wiltshire we had over a0 millimetres of rain in a 2a—hour period. now it's all due to low pressure that's anchored itself to the southwest and that low is still going to be with us during the day on friday. the showers, hopefully few and further between in comparison to thursday's weather. and we'll start off on a relatively quiet note for good friday with a few scattered showers around, but they'll become more widespread as we go through the day, drifting their way steadily north into the afternoon. so some of the showers could still be quite potent from time to time. the winds quite blustery, but with a little more sunshine, a little more warmth, 9—1a degrees celsius our overall high. move out of good friday into the start of the weekend and it looks likely that saturday and sunday will continue to be a little bit quieter.

the low just shifts further away, the isobars open up, the winds will fall light. we'll need to keep an eye on this frontal system, which could bring some rain towards kent and perhaps suffolk, first thing on saturday morning and maybe a little more cloud. but generally, it will be a quieter day with more sunshine coming through, showers more isolated. there will be some moving through scotland and maybe a longer spell of rain across the channel isles and down through south west england by the end of the afternoon. but temperatures in the sunshine, 15 degrees celsuis — a pleasant day for many on saturday. easter sunday continues with that quieter story, perhaps more frequent showers out to the west on sunday. but on the whole, there will be some drier weather from time to time with some sunshine and again, some warmth with temperatures around 13—15 degrees quite widely. so as we move into monday, though, easter monday, we could see a change to something a little bit more unsettled once again, with low pressure never too far away. and we will see some

spells of wetter weather, particularly across central and southern england. so looking further ahead from monday onwards, that unsettled theme is set to continue. longer spells of rain never too far away. take care.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of

the hour, which is straight after this programme. with the full—scale war in ukraine now in its third year, the country is struggling to sustain its fight. american weapon supplies are stalled, as is the flow of something just as important — that of new soldiers to the front. we cannot win with harmed and tired and exhausted soldiers. plans to call up hundreds of thousands have been held up for months because of political wrangling in kyiv. we are all human beings. we get tired. but do we lay our hands down? no, we don't. but can they mobilise and train sufficient troops to get through the coming months? ukraine's struggle takes a daily toll.