and germany partially legalises cannabis to tackle the black market trade. coming up we have a special report. hello, i'm kylie pentelow, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories and checking out the truth behind them. we start with the latest from gaza. after two weeks of heavy bombardment, israel says it has completed its military operation in and around the biggest hospital there and all troops have left the area. during the operation at al shifa hospital here in northern gaza, the idf says it killed several militant commanders and insisted it was "preventing harm" to civilians. hamas officials say dozens of bodies have been found at the complex. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. left in ruins.

this was once the beating heart of gaza's health care system, but israel says that it had become a terrorist base. two weeks ago, its troops returned to al—shifa hospital for a second time — launching a surprise attack. they say they shot dead 200 palestinian gunmen and arrested top hamas figures without harming civilians. palestinians say many innocents were hurt and killed. translation: there are so many bodies here. - we've been getting them out ever since this morning. it's shocking. we've never seen anything like it. the fierce fighting entered al—shifa's wards and razed homes nearby. israel's military sees this as one of its most successful operations of the war so far, dealing the enemy a major blow. but critics say it's also a worrying sign of the ability of hamas to regroup in areas that israel previously conquered, and it shows the need for a convincing postwar strategy. questions over how this war

is being waged are now bringing israelis back onto the streets. after the deadly 7th of october attacks, months of mass anti—government demonstrations abruptly stopped in a show of national unity. now, israel's political divisions are back on full display. police turning skunk water on people blocking this main road. protesters accuse the prime minister of putting his own political survival before a deal to bring home the hostages held by hamas. he denies it. translation: the calls for elections now - in the middle of the war, just before the victory, will paralyse israel for at least six months — eight months, in my estimation. they will paralyze the negotiations for the release of our hostages that will bring the war to an end before the completion of its objectives, and the first to bless it will be hamas —

and that says everything. back at al—shifa hospital, palestinians take in the latest destruction. the battle here is now over, but an end to israel's longest and bloodiest ever war in gaza still looks a long way off. let's speak to our middle east correspondent in jerusalem, hugo bachega. what more do we know about the operation? we had an update from the israeli government are saying that on top of the 200 people who were killed during this operation, people that the israeli authorities have described as terrorists, they had arrested 500 people suspected of being members of groups, including hamas and islamichhad. now, we have seen images of the complex and buildings have been completely destroyed. images from inside those

buildings, rooms, wards showed that almost nothing really will be recovered, so complete destruction of the al—shifa hospital in gaza city. and i think as yolande mentioned in her report, the israeli authorities are saying this was a very successful operation, that this happened after those hamas fighters and other groups returned to al—shifa, this has been a recurring accusation by the israeli authorities that hospitals across guards are being used as bases by these groups, but it also shows that these groups, but it also shows that these groups, but it also shows that these groups have the ability to regroup and use those buildings as bases, so perhaps critics will say this shows the israeli authorities lack a long—term strategy, because onceit lack a long—term strategy, because once it is really shoulders left there was places, those groups returned —— israeli soldiers left

those places. returned -- israeli soldiers left those nam-— returned -- israeli soldiers left those places-— those places. returning to the rotest those places. returning to the protest we _ those places. returning to the protest we have _ those places. returning to the protest we have seen - those places. returning to the protest we have seen earlier l those places. returning to the | protest we have seen earlier in israel, we have not seen protests of that size and kind and some time. what any potential ramifications of those? , ., ,., what any potential ramifications of those? , ., ., ., , those? these are some of the largest demonstration _ those? these are some of the largest demonstration since _ those? these are some of the largest demonstration since they _ those? these are some of the largest demonstration since they were - demonstration since they were started again prime minister benjamin netanyahu. yesterday, there was this cute protest here in jerusalem outside the knesset, the israeli parliament. this demonstration continues this week. on saturday, there was again another huge demonstration in tel aviv, with tens of thousands of people. and i think for quite some time, people had refrained from holding these anti—government demonstrations because of the war. but i know i think we are approaching the six month anniversary of this war and many people believe it is time for prime minister benjamin netanyahu to go. many here in this country think he has put his political survival ahead of the country's interests and

now, you know people are protesting and calling for his resignation. it was really interesting that yesterday he said that any kind of early elections would only benefit hamas and, again, saying it would be bad for israel and good for hamas. you go, thank you. hugo bachega in jerusalem. to turkey now — where president erdogan�*s governing party has suffered its biggest defeat in local elections. the main opposition party, the chp, won in the six largest urban centres, including istanbul. mr erdogan has promised to respect the decision of the nation. before the election, he had said that this would be the last time he led his party into municipal elections. his term as president is due to end in 2028. translation: we will not disrespect our nation's - decision in any way, we will avoid being stubborn, acting against the national will and questioning the judgment of our nation, as we have done so far.

we will take the necessary steps by analysing the messages given by the nation at the ballot box, most accurately and objectively within the reason and in our inner conscience. this vote was held in all of turkey's 81 provinces, but it won't affect the parliament. in the last general election, nine months ago, president erdogan�*s party narrowly retained power, but it seems his support is starting to wane. the main opposition chp retained control of ankara, istanbul, izmir, adana and antalya — and won control in bursa and balikesir. it now appears to have growing support across the country. among the key reasons perhaps is turkey's stubbornly high rate of inflation, which stood, according to some measurements, at an annual rate of 67% in february. this latest set of results would seem to strengthen the position of the chp mayor of istanbul, ekrem imamoglu. he won that city with more than 50% of the vote

and told his supporters that the outcome signalled a very important message to the world. translation: in this world, unfortunately,| democracies were weakening. while these democracies were weakening, authoritarian regimes came to power. many articles around the world asked if we were coming at the end of democratic regimes. 31st of march 2024 is the day when democratic erosion in turkey ended and democracy is rising again. let's speak to esra yalchinalp from the bbc turkish service, who's in istanbul. can you start by describing how significant this election result is? these are the local elections, but they have really immense national implications and it looks like nobody really expected these

results. first of all, president erdogan�*s ruling akp had a shocking defeat, theirfirst erdogan�*s ruling akp had a shocking defeat, their first election defeat in their 22 year rule of the country. on the other hand, when we look at the main opposition party, the people's republic party, the chp, they did not expect this historic win. in addition to securing five more years of government for istanbul and at the capital, ankara, they also gained a lot of different provinces beyond their traditional strongholds. and with these results, the chp has become the country's first party for the first time in 47 years. and this is since 1977. the first time in 47 years. and this is since 1977-— is since 1977. what has been the reaction from _ is since 1977. what has been the reaction from president - is since 1977. what has been the reaction from president erdoganj is since 1977. what has been the - reaction from president erdogan and the main opposition leader to? president erdogan made a speech late last night and accepted defeat he pays a democracy and he said at the

ballot box gave a message for them and he promised self—criticism. on the other hand, ozgur ozel, the main opposition leader, whojust the other hand, ozgur ozel, the main opposition leader, who just got the seat last november, said scratch may praise his party. this is his first win as a leader of the chp. he said that the voters have decided to change at the 22—year—old picture in the political sphere in turkey and they have decided to create a new electoral map. and of course we must mention mr imamoglu, who is at the istanbul mayor once more for the next five years. he is considered to be the biggest challenge of mr erdogan in the last decades and today with the victory, with the chp victory all over the country, they have refreshed their hopes for the upcoming presidential elections in

2028, and it is likely that mr imamoglu may be the candidate who is going to run against mr erdogan in 2028, so we will see in the next few years how chp and the mayors of the chp will perform across the country and we will see who will have the wind blowing behind their back in 2028. �* , isa is a relic yoking up from the bc turkish service, thank you very much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news —— esra yalcinap.

energy prices in england, wales and scotland have fallen to their lowest level for two years today, as the regulator's new quarterly price cap comes into force. a household using a typical amount of energy will see

their bills fall by £238 compared to the previous cap. the price drop will affect 29 million households. standing charges — that's a fixed daily charge covering the costs of connecting to a supply — have risen to 60p a day for electricity and 31p a day for gas, although they vary by region and supplier. energy prices in northern ireland are not controlled by the price cap — the government provides support directly to customers. despite this new support for other parts of the uk, charities say customers still owe billions of pounds to suppliers. simon francis is the coordinator for the end fuel poverty coalition, a group of 70 charities and other organisations who tackle energy poverty. so this seems like a good top line, but people are still paying an awful lot for their bills, aren't they? yes, absolutely. what we are seeing as energy prices still roughly double what they were in 2021, and that has been now a couple of years of really harsh conditions for

people, running out of savings, using credit cards, getting into energy debtjust to try to keep the heating on and keep hot food on the table. and many people struggling to even do that. so whilst obviously any reduction in the energy prices is welcome, today is clearly not the end of the crisis were people who have also been hit by increasing bills for their internet providers and a range of other increases which are coming through, as well as of course the standing charges that go up. the problem with standing charges is if you cut your energy goes lot, as many people have done recently, these standing charges take up a greater percentage of your energy bill, so it means that you're paying just scratch make more just to be connected to the grid every single day, even if you don't use very much energy at all —— you're paying morejust to be very much energy at all —— you're paying more just to be connected. very much energy at all —— you're paying morejust to be connected. we have seen energy prices go right scratch make up right across europe, most countries are exposed to

basically the global wholesale market and to the production of energy firms and today new finds show the energy we monitor have generated more than hundred and £20 million in profit over the last four years, an obscene amount of money when you consider the suffering happening right across the world. some countries are doing better, some have better state controls in terms of places. others have invested a lot more in terms of improving the energy efficiency of their buildings, and in some countries, of course, it has a very different story. in the uk and in northern europe, we often talk about fuel poverty energy poverty is hitting people really hard during the winter. but in places like spain, for example, actually it is about keeping people cool in the summer that has the problem. that is why you have seen in spain massive investment in terms of solar energy, which will generate cheaper electricity to keep people cool in the summer. electricity to keep people cool in

the summer-— electricity to keep people cool in the summer. ,, ., . . , ., ., the summer. simon francis from into fuel poverty — the summer. simon francis from into fuel poverty coalition, _ the summer. simon francis from into fuel poverty coalition, thank- the summer. simon francis from into fuel poverty coalition, thank you - fuel poverty coalition, thank you for your time here bbc news. let's bring you some breaking news. we have had a statement from benjamin netanyahu's of this saying that the israeli... benjamin netanyahu will be released from hospital, if you remember he had a hernia procedure on tuesday afternoon. they are saying that he feels very well, he will be released from hospital after the procedure on tuesday afternoon. there he has come a benjamin netanyahu there. living on... —— moving on... a new and controversial hate crime law has come into effect in scotland. the law creates a new offence of stirring up hatred

in relation to personal characteristics including age, disability, religion and sexual orientation. the scottish government says it will protect minority groups from prejudice and hatred. but critics argue it will undermine freedom of speech, and police fear the legislation could be weaponised for political purposes. here's first minister humza yousaf commenting on this new bill. the only concern you should have when it comes to the new stirring up offences is if your behaviour is threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred. and by the way, even if that is the case, there are some defences such as the reasonable personal defence and so on and so forth. so unless your behaviour is threatening and abusive and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about in terms of the new offence that has been created. if your behaviour is threatening or abusive and does intend to stir up hatred, againstjews or muslims or disabled people or gay people, then i think the law should protect those people from being victims of that potential hatred. i think that is really important. so whether what is happening online or twitter lists that are being created, all of that frankly is irrelevant. what is relevant is

the threshold for criminality which will apply in terms of the act that is coming into force. first minister humza yousaf there. our correspondent david wallace lockhart has been following the story from glasgow and sent this update. well, this legislation was actually passed in 2021, but it's taking effect today. hence the big public information campaign encouraging people to report hate crime. now, what this law does is it consolidates some other pieces of legislation. for example, stirring up racial hatred is already illegal in scotland, but it's brought in to this legislation and there are aspects that are expanded upon. so it now criminalises threatening and abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred against someone based on other certain characteristics. these include age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and whether someone is intersex. but the legislation has been criticised on a number of fronts. so there are some critics who feel

that biological sex should have been included in those lists of protected characteristics, that women aren't given enough protection here, but the scottish government says it will legislate separately when it comes to misogyny. there's also concerns from some in the police about how much increased workload this legislation could potentially lead to, whether or not officers have had enough training and if they have enough resources to deal with this. the scottish government says that they have had enough training, that they know how to deal with vexatious complaints, that's not something that will be new to them and that they have more resources than they've ever had. but that's another quite controversial area at a time where police scotland says it will investigate every allegation under a hate crime legislation but doesn't actually investigate every other crime, including some low—level thefts. david wallace lockhart in glasgow there.

from today, people in germany can legally smoke cannabis in public. hundreds of people filled berlin's brandenburg gate at midnight for a "smoke—in" as the new law came into effect. the part—decriminalisation follows decades of contentious debate. the rules around medical marijuana are also being relaxed. our berlin correspondent, jessica parker, reports from dresden. # three little birds...# it's out in the open. adults in germany can now possess up to 25 grams of cannabis in public — enough to make dozens ofjoints — and grow up to three plants at home. while people like marcel are planning newly—permitted cannabis social clubs. not for tourists, though — just german residents. every gram from cannabis which goes from the cannabis social club is one gram that's not on the black market. what do you say to people who say, look, cannabis is addictive and it is harmful,

especially to young people? everything has dark sides. and you have to know about the dark sides and only when it's not illegal, you can freely talk about these dark sides. but these cannabis clubs in cities like dresden won't pop up overnight, and come with their own rules — exacerbating fears that demand will quickly outstrip legal supply. translation: we assume that the black market - will be strengthened, particularly at the beginning in the chaos phase, when demand would be great because of the signal this law sends. the black market and criminal networks will adapt and they will also infiltrate the social clubs. into the highly secure halls of a medical cannabis grower, who are also seeing some deregulation. cannabis will not be a narcotic any more in germany. it will be just as any other pharmaceutical product, which makes it much more easier for patients to get it from a doctor and to get

it from the pharmacy. they keep this room at around 23 degrees, but it's also really quite humid. now, there are 650—ish plants in this room and they are almost ready to be harvested. and the psychoactive substance is... the benefits of medical cannabis are debated, while the relaxation around recreational use has been contentious. this is an argument in germany that likely hasn't yet reached full maturity. jessica parker, bbc news, in dresden. joining me now is peter veelkeh, a journalist for politico. thank you forjoining us. take us through how controversial this decision is.— decision is. yes, this law, the decriminalisation _ decision is. yes, this law, the decriminalisation of _ decision is. yes, this law, the decriminalisation of cannabisl decision is. yes, this law, the i decriminalisation of cannabis has been really controversial here in germany. polls show that more than half of germans don't like this decriminalisation, they oppose it,

and they argue against it. so it is seen really critical and on the other side there are also many for this decriminalisation because they think this in the end could curb the black market that holds from the last decade show that consumption of cannabis has doubled in the last people, especially a young young people. —— pulls from the last decade show. people. -- pulls from the last decade show.— people. -- pulls from the last decade show. �* , . ., , decade show. are there restrictions on it, like whether _ decade show. are there restrictions on it, like whether you _ decade show. are there restrictions on it, like whether you can - decade show. are there restrictions on it, like whether you can drive . on it, like whether you can drive after using cannabis?— on it, like whether you can drive after using cannabis? yes. what i can tell you. _ after using cannabis? yes. what i can tell you, many _ after using cannabis? yes. what i can tell you, many things - after using cannabis? yes. what i can tell you, many things are - can tell you, many things are unclear, that is part of it. it is still unclear how many thc parts one can have in their blood, the transport ministry is working on the sand in your limit, so right now we are still working with the old limit which means drivers right now probably can't consume it cannabis at all, but the transport agency is

working on new limits, so they haven't done this already. and there are other things that are still unclear, especially in the defence ministry, within the army, discussions going on if soldier should be allowed to consume cannabis or not. they have been sent letters around the army saying soldiers should also not be allowed to consume cannabis of duty. and moreover, it is unclear if you can consume cannabis in restaurants, there are restaurants where you are allowed to smoke, but will you be able to smoke cannabis there? in the end, that is the decision of the restaurant owners, but they have to make it clear on their own, and it is all not clear right now, so there could be some interesting situations in restaurants, for example, coming up in restaurants, for example, coming up in the next weeks. also it is unclear how the minimum distance you have to keep from schools and kindergartens of 100 metres if you want to consume cannabis will be controlled effectively by the police

and authorities. they say it is really difficult to control this distance of 100 metres and they don't really know how to do it. if you look at billing, for example, there are maps showing that if you want to keep this distance of 100 metres to kindergarten, you're not allowed nearly in any point in the city to consume cannabis —— if you look at berlin. city to consume cannabis -- if you look at berlin.— city to consume cannabis -- if you look at berlin. thank you very much for “oininr look at berlin. thank you very much forjoining us- _ you can keep up—to—date with all our stories on your website, but do stay with us here in bbc news. hello there. today we have seen some rain moving very slowly northwards, hello there. followed by some sunshine and some showers. that pattern will continue over the next few days. we will keep those colder east or north—easterly winds in scotland, whereas much further south,

the winds are south—westerly, bringing milder conditions, and that is where the wet weather will be coming in from. these are our temperatures this easter monday afternoon. probably making 15 in east anglia and the south—east. a bit more chilly under the rain in northern england and southern scotland. the rain is continuing to move northwards this evening. the showers that follow tend to fade away but we will keep some showers running eastwards across southern counties of england. that rain in northern england and northern ireland pushes further north into scotland. the lowest temperatures tonight will be as the cloud breaks up in the north—east of england. we still have some patchy rain tomorrow in scotland, particularly in the north—east of scotland. early showers in the south—east will be followed by some sunny spells. cloud will build up, showers likely to develop, and then we will see some further rain in the south—west in the afternoon. temperatures are more widely going to reach 14—15 in the midlands and eastern parts of england and with some sunshine and the showers but quite a bit more chilly and the stronger wind in the north—east of scotland.

we have got some rain in the south—west during the afternoon, that is pushing northwards on tuesday night. this area of low pressure will be sitting over the uk on wednesday, keeping a very unsettled. showers or longer spells of rain moving northwards across england and wales, into scotland and northern ireland. southern parts of england and wales probably turning drier with more sunshine during the afternoon. that will give the temperatures a bit of a boost. only seven or eight with the cold north—easterly wind in scotland and also the rain as well. these are the upper level winds, the jet stream pattern. this is going to be maintained over the next few days. the jet stream picking up areas of low pressure and then sliding them up from the south—west, together with the weather fronts bringing the spells of rain. so we have some wet weather to begin on thursday northern scotland. another band of rain moves northwards, followed by some showers and then we see some further longer spells of rain arriving in southern parts of england and wales during thursday afternoon.

temperatures show the same sort of theme, milder malzer sort of theme, milder for england and wales cold i the malzer for england and wales cold in the north—east and scotland.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the home office reports a sharp rise in migrants crossing the channel in small boats, as labour slams the government's plan to "stop the boats."

this april fool's day, can you tell the difference between a fake and the real thing? we take a look at the appeal of deception. and singer billie eilish hits out at the practice of releasing multiple versions of vinyl records because of the environmental impact. now for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. jannik sinner�*s brilliant year continues. he's celebrating a third title and is also up to number two in the world behind novak djokovic. the 22—year—old italian beat grigor dimitrov in straight sets to win the miami open. he won his first grand slam title, the australian open, injanuary and also won a touranment in rotterdam. he has been beatenjust once this year, by carlos alcaraz, in the semifinals of indian wells, and he's jumped above the spaniard in the rankings. being number two is an amazing feeling.