uganda's constitutional court has refused to overturn a controversial anti—homosexuality law, considered one of the toughest in the world. and the new film starring kirsten dunst warns of the threat to democracy posed by populism and polarisation. we start this hour in the middle east. israel is under increasing international pressure after seven aid workers, including three uk citizens, were killed in an israeli airstrike in gaza. president biden has said he's outraged and heartbroken by the deaths. in a highly critical statement, the us president said israel was not doing enough to protect civilians. world central kitchen released these pictures of the seven aid workers killed when a convoy

carrying staff from the charity was hit on monday. three british men — john chapman, james henderson and james kirby — were among them. israel said the strike was "unintended" and vowed to investigate. there've been calls for britain to stop selling arms to israel following the deaths. prime minister, rishi sunak, said he was appalled by the israeli attack, while the foreign secretary, lord cameron, said israel had to make changes to ensure safety of aid workers. our first report this hour is from our correspondent graham satchell. the pictures tell their own devastating story. the team from the charity world central kitchen was travelling in a convoy of three cars — you can clearly see their logo. each car was hit in what looks like a precision — targeted — attack. the charity has now paid tribute to the seven workers who lost their lives — including three british nationals. 57—year—old john chapman — who is believed to have served in the royal marines — was working for the charity as a security adviser.

james henderson, who was 33, is also understood to have served in the marines. james kirby was a7, and another armed forces veteran. all three men were trying to protect their colleagues. the charity described them as heroes. "these seven beautiful souls were killed by the israeli defense forces. theirsmiles, laughter and voices are forever embedded in our memories. we are reeling from our loss, the world's loss." world central kitchen was providing vital food aid in gaza, supplying millions of meals. the consequences of the attack will be felt here first. the charity has paused its operations, putting immediate stress on an already desperate situation. that's going to put civilians at risk — at greater risk — of famine. people are already starving to death. and what we really need now is for aid to get in quickly and to be able to be distributed safely. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said the attack

was tragic and then said "this happens in war". overnight, the head of the israeli army was far more conciliatory. we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of wck. we share in the grief of the families, as well as the entire world central kitchen organisation, from the bottom of our hearts. despite that apology, there has been global condemnation. america described the attack as an outrage. britain said the deaths were completely unacceptable. australia has demanded accountability. injerusalem, more protests on the street, as israelis demand the safe return of their hostages. pressure is growing at home and abroad — but, so far, the israeli government has been impervious to calls for a ceasefire, and is determined to continue its fight against hamas. graham satchell, bbc news.

i want to take you live to brussels. nato foreign ministers are meeting. we must stand firm in our support to ukraine. and i welcome that allies continue to make major deliveries of weapons, ammunition and equipment. but ukraine has urgent needs. any delay in providing support has consequences on the battlefield as we speak. so we need to shift the dynamics of our support. we must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to ukraine for the long haul. so that we rely less on voluntary contributions and more on voluntary contributions and more on nato commitments. less on short—term offers, and more on

pledges. we will discuss how nato could resume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment and training for ukraine, anchoring this within the robust nato framework. we will also discuss a multi—year financial commitment to sustain our support. this will set the stage for achieving consensus on these issues, as we prepare for the washington summit. nato allies provide 99% of all military support to ukraine. so doing more under nato would make our efforts more efficient and more effective. moscow needs to understand that they cannot achieve their goals on the battlefield, and they cannot wait us out. tomorrow, i will hold a meeting of the nato

ukraine council. we will address the current situation and ukraine's needs, both now and for the future. we are transforming nato's comprehensive assistance package into a multi—year programme of assistance. we are helping ukraine move closer to nato, nato standards, on everything from procurement or logistics. and we are supporting ukraine, to bring ukraine ever closer to the alliance. ukraine will become a member of nato. it is a question of when, not a. tomorrow, we will also meet through our indo—pacific partners, australia, new zealand, japan and south korea. together with the european union. we know that our security is not regional, it is global. the war in ukraine illustrates this clearly.

russia's friends in asia are vital for continuing its war of aggression. china is propping up a rush of�*s war economy, and in return moscow is mortgaging its future to beijing. north korea and iran are delivering substantial supplies of weapons, and ammunition. in return, pyongyang and iran are receiving russian technology and supplies that help them advance their missile and nuclear capabilities. this has regional and global security consequences. so, like—minded nations around the world need to stand together, to defend a global order, ruled by law and not by force. tomorrow, we will discuss how best to work together towards this end. the world has much to gain from practical cooperation on technology, and cyber threats, as well as

support to ukraine. all of this matters for european security and indo—pacific security. countering rising global threats requires a sustained spending. a record number of allies will meet at nato to present a gdp spending targets this year. i look forward to further progress. we will also discuss how to address stability in the southern neighbourhood, including the continuing threat of terrorism. we will also agree a new policy on women, peace and security, because our societies are stronger and safer when we draw on the contributions of all of our people. with that, i am happy to take some questions. the associated press. i understand you have been— associated press. i understand you have been working on an idea of... there _ have been working on an idea of... there are — have been working on an idea of... there are the — have been working on an idea of... there are the opening remarks from nato secretary—generaljens stoltenberg, from the start of the nato foreign ministers meeting in

brussels. we talked about ukraine, which is what is top of the agenda there. talking about how they need to shift the dynamics of support to ukraine, two multi—year pledges, which they will discuss. there will also discuss how to tackle north korean and iranian military support to russia. he said the world needs to russia. he said the world needs to stand together. we are also expecting the british foreign secretary, lord cameron, to speak at that meeting, as it starts. we will return to it when he does that in brussels. i want to return to the top story, the death of the seven aid workers in gaza. well a former head of the foreign office here in london, lord ricketts, has this morning told the bbc the uk should stop selling arms to israel. i think there's abundant evidence now that israel hasn't been taking enough care to fulfill its obligations on the safety of civilians. and a country that gets arms from the uk has to comply with international humanitarian law. that's a condition of

the arms export license. so honestly, i think the time has come to send that signal. it won't change the course of the war. it would be a powerful political message and it mightjust stimulate debate in the us as well — which would be the real game changer if the americans began to think about putting limits, restrictions on the use of american weapons in israel. well the bbc�*s international editorjeremy bowen is in northern israel. a few more details are coming out in the press. there are reports which i cannot personally confirm about the circumstances in which this happened. some suggestions that it might be the activities of a unit at the tactical level, rather than getting orders from on high. the thing is, all of this depends on getting some kind of investigation of the sort that the americans and others have been calling for.

what happened should not come as a great surprise, bearing in mind the numbers of people israel has been killing in the last six months in gaza, despite repeated strictures from president biden downwards that they should not be doing that, and that also includes more than 200 palestinians who have been working for the un in its aid operations. you mention president biden, him saying he is outraged. also saying that israel had not done enough to protect aid workers generally. is that going to make any difference, and the rest of the international pressure, to what benjamin netanyahu does? up to now, he's been charging on. there are a lot of critics here in israel who say that his priority is to actually prolong the war, it's more

important to him, they say, than bringing back israeli hostages, definitely much more important than preserving the lives of palestinian civilians, which is israel's obligation under international international law. that is all because, they say, that he wants to prolong the war to put off the moment of reckoning, where he faces, among other things, calls for accountability in mistakes he made in the run—up to the october the 7th attacks, that allowed hamas to sense there was an opening for them. the really big lever that president biden has is weapons supplies. you have to temper everything the white house and the president has been saying about the need for israel to follow international law, do not kill as many civilians, to allow aid workers to operate properly, saying all of that, israel is ignoring it.

on the other hand, the americans are continuing to supply the weapons that israel is using to do all of those things. so, that is the big lever that the americans have to decide to use. should they put conditions on the use of the weapons? or should i say, you know what, we are just going to stop now. i think that is highly unlikely, by the way. lord ricketts in the uk saying that the uk should stop selling arms. he's also saying that sometimes in conflict you get a moment that crystallises action internationally. he was suggesting maybe this is it. do you think that might be the case? well, in other wars i have reported on over quite a few years, that israel has been involved in, they normally have ended when, and not after months and months, but after a matter of weeks, not normally, but from time to time they have ended with an event that has been so awful that the americans particularly have said, right, enough.

they have sort of said that a few times already. but they haven't quite said it with the force that the earlier administrations might have used. one example was when there was a war in lebanon in 1996, that ended after outrage at the israelis killing more than 100 civilians in one attack who were sheltering in a un base. you know, it is possible, based on past evidence. but i think this one is different, because of the way the hamas attack did kill so many israelis, the shock and trauma that caused within israel, the support of the war still has. but, as well as that, the israelis have alienated their closest allies. and that is something where there are critics in this country who say it is unnecessary and should not have happened. they should have gone about things, they say, in a different way. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news.

taiwan has been hit by its biggest earthquake in 25 years. the government says at least nine people have died and more than 700 others have been injured after an offshore earthquake struck the east coast of the island. the quake was at a magnitude of 7.4. the deaths all occured in hualien county — a mountainous region near the epicentre — with many killed by falling boulders. some buildings are leaning dangerously and some train lines have been damaged. there have have been at least 100 aftershocks. rescuers are searching for 77 people trapped in collapsed buildings. tsunami alerts issued for nearby japanese islands and the northern coast of the philippines have been downgraded. the bbc�*s rupert wingfield—hayes is in taiwan's capital, taipei. he described what happened.

it hitjust before 8:00 this morning. and i was in my kitchen and the whole building — i live on the eighth floor — and the whole building really started to shake very, very violently, very wildly. and it was moving side to side in a very violent manner. so much so that actually i had to grab on to the the kitchen countertop to to steady myself. pots and pans were coming out of cupboards. so, stuff being sort of thrown all around the place. now bear in mind, i'm in taipei, which is about 100 miles or more from the epicenter. and so you can imagine, over on the east coast of taiwan, just how much more violent the shaking was. this was a very shallow earthquake and a very powerful earthquake. and the shaking intensity that they use here is a scale of one to seven, and it was seven. so this is a very, very intense shaking indeed. and because of that, it has done a lot of damage. particularly, we've now seen many hundreds of landslides and rockslides in the mountains of eastern taiwan, unleashed by this quake, that has caused a lot a lot of damage.

well, taiwan is pretty well equipped to deal with with disasters because it lives on the pacific ring of fire. earthquakes are a fact of life here, as are typhoons and other disasters. the military is already deeply involved. they are surveying the area with helicopters. we understand that japan, which is taiwan's closest neighbor, has also offered aid. so i would expect to see japan, which has many specialist search teams, and very well equipped for dealing with earthquakes, will be asked to come in and help. but it's mainly a case of the logistics of getting into these remote areas. and that's going to mean mainly, i think, the military going in by helicopter. because the east coast of taiwan is very, very rugged, it's very mountainous. there are many narrow, craggy valleys. and those, many of them, now will be blocked because of landslides. roads have been brought down, bridges have been brought down. the railway is currently out. so that's going to be the main problem here now, is getting to people.

uganda's constitutional court has rejected a bid to overturn a controversial anti—gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world. the law imposes life imprisonment for consensual same—sex relationships, and includes the death penalty for what it describes as "aggravated homosexuality". let's speak to our africa reporter esther ogola in nairobi. bring us up to date as to what has happened today. bring us up to date as to what has happened today-— bring us up to date as to what has happened today. good afternoon. so, toda the happened today. good afternoon. so, today the constitutional _ happened today. good afternoon. so, today the constitutional court - happened today. good afternoon. so, today the constitutional court had - today the constitutional court had its sittings, just over an hour ago, and the conclusion they had was that, as this was a matter of huge public interest, that they will not overturn the anti—homosexuality act of 2023. they did however note that the act did violate medical rights,

the act did violate medical rights, the health rights of the lgbt+ community, and noted that it was important to see how to work that out. basically, the law still stands in uganda. it out. basically, the law still stands in uranda. ., , , out. basically, the law still stands in uranda. .,, , ., ,, out. basically, the law still stands in uanda. , ., ,, ., in uganda. it was rights groups that took this action _ in uganda. it was rights groups that took this action to _ in uganda. it was rights groups that took this action to the _ in uganda. it was rights groups that took this action to the court? - in uganda. it was rights groups that took this action to the court? yes, i took this action to the court? yes, it was. took this action to the court? yes, it was- this _ took this action to the court? yes, it was. this was _ took this action to the court? yes, it was. this was taken _ took this action to the court? yes, it was. this was taken to - took this action to the court? yes, it was. this was taken to court - took this action to the court? yes it was. this was taken to court last year, and basically they were saying it contravenes the human rights laws of the lgbtq plus community in uganda, to their various rights to as to leave my coexist, assemble, and basically live their lives. they were hoping the constitutional court wouldn't delete not overturn that. but it seems today that will not happen. however, the petitioners have said they will take the matter to the supreme court and they are hoping that it will be overturned in its entirety. bm hoping that it will be overturned in its entirety-— its entirety. an overwhelming ma'ori its entirety. an overwhelming majority of — its entirety. an overwhelming majority of lawmakers - its entirety. an overwhelming majority of lawmakers voted l its entirety. an overwhelming l majority of lawmakers voted for its entirety. an overwhelming - majority of lawmakers voted for it. what are some of the punishments for

being gay in uganda? weill. what are some of the punishments for being gay in uganda?— being gay in uganda? well, one of the punishments _ being gay in uganda? well, one of the punishments is _ being gay in uganda? well, one of the punishments is that _ being gay in uganda? well, one of the punishments is that one - being gay in uganda? well, one of the punishments is that one can i being gay in uganda? well, one of. the punishments is that one can get up the punishments is that one can get up to life imprisonment, basically, for homosexual acts. and then there is also up to ten years imprisonment for what they are calling aggravated homosexual acts, which involves rape of minors or vulnerable groups, the spreading of hiv and aids. that of minors or vulnerable groups, the spreading of hiv and aids.— spreading of hiv and aids. at the time, it caused _ spreading of hiv and aids. at the time, it caused global _ spreading of hiv and aids. at the time, it caused global outrage i spreading of hiv and aids. at the| time, it caused global outrage on the us imposed visa restrictions on some officials in uganda. has that had any effect on other lawmakers on what they feel about this? so had any effect on other lawmakers on what they feel about this?— what they feel about this? so far, the sa what they feel about this? so far, they say the _ what they feel about this? so far, they say the public _ what they feel about this? so far, they say the public sentiment - what they feel about this? so far, they say the public sentiment is l they say the public sentiment is that the law of holes the cultural rights and the cultural beliefs of the ugandan people. there is still strong support for the law to remain in place. however, activists and human rights bodies are still calling for it to be overturned will

stop there has been a lot of dismay, daughter of them have called it homophobic and ill informed. —— a lot of them have called it homophobic. basically, it is seeing how the supreme court will listen to the case, and some of the issues you can imagine the partition petitioners are saying, it is very crucial in the lgbt+ community existing in uganda. many have reported being attacked or living in fear. as you know, the act also calls for people to report people who are lgbt+, it involves renting premises, it involves registering lgbtq plus bodies and ngos as well. 0k, lgbtq plus bodies and ngos as well. ok, thank you. police say three men suspected of stabbing an iranian tv host in south london have left the uk. pouria zeraati was stabbed outside his home in wimbledon on friday afternoon. detectives believe the suspects travelled to heathrow airport and fled the uk. the investigation is being led by counter—terrorism officers,

due to recent threats towards iranian journalists in the uk. iran has denied any involvement. let's get more with my colleague azadeh moshiri who is in the newsroom. what more do we know about these men? the police have identified three suspects because of cctv footage and they have recovered a vehicle they abandoned shortly before fleeing the country. they haven't said much more other than that, they are saying they have still kept the circumstances open. they are not sure about the motor. as for pouria zeraati, the presenter at iran international, the victim of the attack, he said publicly that he is feeling better, that he is in a safe place, with his wife, under police protection. the context is important here. i remember it was within hours that the met police told me the

counter terrorism command would be leading this, because of that recorded pattern of threats against iran to national, a persian line which based broadcaster. iranian journalists i spoke to inside and outside the wider community in london, they were to be shaken by this. at this point, some of them are simply indignant. it has been quite some time that the security services here in london have been recording a heightened level of threats from the iranian regime, to do with kidnapping and violence against a persian language journalists here, including some of our colleagues at bbc persia. while these journalists are doing extremely important work, exposing human rights abuses within the iranian regime, they simply don't feel safe. and those threats have

stepped up after the mass protests we saw, led by women in iran in 2022. that is why many of them were already under police protection. they thank you very much. you can see the article behind there. if you want to read more about that, you can find it on the bbc website. we have to microlight pages running on the taiwanese earthquake and the latest on the israel — gaza war. hello again. as we go through the next few days, in fact for the rest of this week, low pressure is really in charge of our weather. we've got low pressure after low pressure system rattling in from the atlantic, into the southwest,

and pushing north eastwards. each one bringing some rain, some heavy rain at that. and as we head into the weekend, you can see the squeeze on isobars. it's going to be windy, particularly so in saturday with some of us having some gales. so, with all that rain and the rainfall accumulation chart, you can see a lot of dark blues and also some of the lighter greens. so we're looking for some parts in excess of 50 millimetres, two inches of rain. what we have at the moment is a slow moving weather front across the north of the country, slowly pushing out of northern england, into southern and central scotland. rain easing across northern ireland, brightening up a touch behind before the next band of rain comes in from the southwest, with strengthening winds. still brisk winds accentuating the cool feel across the northeast, where we'll hang on to cloud and rain on and off through the day. now through the evening and overnight, a lot of this rain peters out, but there'll be a lot of cloud around, still some mountain top snow and the rain in the southwest will continue to push slowly northwards and eastwards. temperature—wise, it's going to be cold in the north, twos, threes and fours. come further south and we're looking at between six and a milder ten degrees. so tomorrow we start with this rain across southern england and wales. it's going to be pushing in the direction of the south

east and east anglia. a lot of cloud, producing some drizzle, some showers. and then more rain comes in from the southwest as the next area of low pressure arrives. temperatures still chilly in the brisk wind in the northeast at six in lerwick, to 15 in london. as we head on into friday, further rain to come across the north of the country. it's going to be windy. this rain is going to be heavy and persistent in scotland. northern ireland, there'll be some showers around as well. temperatures five in the north to 16 or 17 as we push down towards the south. so, more of us will be in the milder air, the air coming up from the south, as it will do on saturday. on saturdaym quite a lot of dry weather around. some showers in the west. the rain continuing to edge for the north, but it is going to be a windy day. gales with exposure, gusty winds wherever you are. and you could well see 20 degrees somewhere in the southeast and east anglia.

this is bbc news, the headlines. president biden expresses his outrage at the deaths of seven international aid workers in an israeli air strike in gaza. the three british aid workers killed in the strike have been named as prime minister rishi sunak says he's "appalled" by their deaths.

taiwan is hit by its biggest earthquake in 25 years, nine people are dead, at least 700 injured. uganda's constitutional court has refused to overturn a controversial anti—homosexuality law, considered one of the toughest in the world. returning to our top story, we have had a statement from the family of one of those aid workers. it is the family ofjames kirby. they one of those aid workers. it is the family of james kirby. they have paid tribute to him, they say he will be remembered as a hero, they say despite the risks his compassionate nature drove him to offer assistance to those in dire need. a genuine gentleman, james was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone even in the face of senseless violence, james lost his life trying to save others, he will never know what a void he has left, our family will never be the same.

they go on to say