hello, i'm carl nasman. ministers in israel have approved the opening of new aid corridors to gaza hours after us presidentjoe biden told israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu by phone that israel must prevent civilian harm to ensure continued us support. for the first time since the start of the israel—gaza war, israel will temporarily reopen the erez crossing in northern gaza. ashdod port will also be opened for humanitarian deliveries. and more aid trucks from jordan will be allowed to traverse israel to gaza. the call between biden and netanyahu was their first since an israeli air strike killed 7 international aid workers from the charity group world central kitchen — sparking international outrage. the white house is urging israel to allow a "dramatic" increase of aid into gaza within "hours or days." in a statement released after the israeli ministers approved opening aid corridors,

the white house national security council said: speaking in brussels earlier, us secretary of state antony blinken outlined what was expressed in that phone call. the president emphasised that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. he made clear the need for israel to announce a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers. he made clear that us policy with respect to gaza will be determined by our assessment of israel's immediate action on these steps. he underscored as well that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilise and improve the humanitarian

situation and protect innocent civilians and he urged netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. no aid trucks have entered northern gaza since the israeli strike on humanitarian aid workers on monday. un officials have accused israel of blocking humanitarian supplies to gaza. the latest figures say that 1.1 million palestinians are expected to witness "catastrophic hunger". that's about half the population. residents say the price of flour has doubled in recent days, while products that were previously scarce and expensive are now all but unavailable. our correspondent hugo bachega is injersualem with more. israel was already under a lot of international pressure because of some of the actions of the israeli army in gaza where nearly 33,000 palestinians have been killed according to local authorities and a humanitarian crisis only gets worse.

charities, the united nations and some of israel's closest allies have accused the country of not doing enough to protect the civilian population of gaza, to protect aid workers and also creating obstacles to the entry and delivery of much—needed humanitarian aid to the population of gaza. weaponising aid accusations that israel denies. there has been strong condemnation and reaction from countries around the world. perhaps this is a sign that patience with israel could be running out. israel is also looking at potential fallout from the united kingdom. pressure is growing on the uk government to suspend arms sales to israel. three former supreme court justices are among 600 legal experts saying weapons exports risk breaching international law. in a letter to prime minister rishi sunak, they say exports must end, writing that: "the provision of military assistance and materiel "to israel, may render the uk complicit in genocide

"as well as serious breaches of international "humanitarian law. " mr sunak is already facing growing cross—party pressure, after seven aid workers with world central kitchen — including three britons — were killed in gaza. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has more. the air strikes that killed international aid workers in gaza have prompted global condemnation, and now they're shaping political choices. more than 600 lawyers have written to the government, urging it to suspend arms sales to israel, because they believe there is a risk it's breaking international law. the whole framework of international law, governing war, it dictates

that the fact that you have been provoked and attacked, however outrageously, does not mean to say that you can do whatever you like. it doesn't mean to say that you can indiscriminately slaughter innocent civilians and children. it doesn't mean to say that you can attack aid convoys. british arms sales to israel are small — some of it are parts for american—made warplanes like this — but halting the exports would be a huge diplomatic blow to israel. at westminster, labour are pushing ministers to publish their internal legal advice about israel's compliance with international law. the lib dems and the snp want arms sales stopped now, as do some conservatives. the sheer scale of destruction is enough for us to take a political view to say that arms should not be sold to israel. you have seen the wanton destruction of acres of land in gaza, it is leading

to starvation and famine. we have reached the obscene position where we, the uk, along with the us, are having to build a supply bridge from the sea to gaza and drop stuff from the air to try to give food to needy people when this has been created by a so—called ally. you have to ask whether they are any longer fit to be an ally of decent western countries. some mps believe the foreign office is ready to do just that but claim downing street is resisting. but officials deny this, and the former home secretary, who is visiting israel, says number 10 should stick to its guns. we owe it to israel to stand with them. i think that we should maintain this military relationship, from which we benefitjust as much as they do, and i think that it would be a tragic shame if we were to walk away from our closest ally in this region. these lethal air strikes are disrupting more than just aid supplies to gaza.

they're also causing tensions within israel's allies, and the government has a difficult decision to make. james landale, bbc news. for more on the situation, i spoke to former us ambassador to malta and president of the middle east policy council, gina abercrombie—winstanley. how serious a warning is this do you think from the us and from president biden? president biden did exactly what he needed to do. he has been saying for several weeks now and communicating to the israeli prime minister that the united states is not satisfied with how they are conducting the war, with how they are prosecuting it and quietly, behind—the—scenes, has been giving exactly what we needed to see from them in regard to the treatment of civilians, with regard to providing humanitarian assistance and, of course, protecting health workers and aid workers and journalists.

and without much to show for it. so at this point the president is being increasingly embarrassed by the prime minister and the prime minister has shown, previously, he is willing to do and it was a time to come to heel on what the us president wanted from the israeli prime minister. you said there that the president did not have much to show for his previous warnings and we now have reports that in the last few hours israel plans to take more steps to allow aid into gaza and open new routes into the territory. what do make of those announcements? does it potentially show that israel is taking this latest warning a bit more seriously? absolutely. the president needed to make a credible statement to the prime minister about what would happen if he was not listened to and it was clear and it is now clear that the prime minister heard him.

i think important lessons will be taken from this, from all sides. number one, that the united states, when push comes to shove, the president will use the leverage that he has. that it is not acceptable to behave in ways that are counter to western values and ideals, the law of armed conflict must be followed and a collective punishment is not acceptable in this situation in gaza cannot be sustained. another lesson will be next time do not wait as long to make this strong statement. i think that there will be far less room for the israelis to work, frankly, against their own best interest. the president warned them from the beginning that their international standing has been severely compromised, creating a humanitarian disaster and weakening the relationships that they have with nations in the region.

we have seen the united arab emirates come out with a strong statement saying that the diplomatic relationship is in danger. thejordanians have made this point and the egyptians have made this point. so there has been no gain in imposing this sort of misery on the gazans. on that then, sorry to interrupt, but what about the relationship with the us and israel? does this mark a turning point on the relations between those two countries? some lessons are going to be learned from this. that the united states cannot depend simply on asking nicely and standing by. i don't think there will be a drastic difference. the united states is not going to abandon israel but it is going to hold standards for israel and expect israel to meet them. i want to ask you, we have about one minute left here, but looking ahead now and prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been insistent that he plans to go ahead with an offensive into rafah in the southern

part of gaza. what do you now think this all means, and the phone call between the two leaders, what does that mean for the potential offensive? will that still go ahead? i do not believe it will go ahead unless the united states is satisfied with the precautions and guardrails put in place to protect civilians. i did not think it would happen before but i believe now it will not happen. the president has made clear he is serious. it is interesting to hear as well as we heard in the report that other countries including the uk are potentially starting to re—examine weapons deliveries to israel. could we see some changes now from the international community? the us congress, members of congress are looking at it and you have people who would never have thought of questioning providing assistance to israel six months ago, one year ago, now saying it needs to be conditioned to, that we have to maintain the standards that we have put

in place, they are in black and white. us law about the conduct of those to whom we sell and provide weapons. and israel in the past has but in the future it will be more difficult to get a pass on this. thank you, as always. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a uk story making news. the ringleader behind an armed robbery, in which a west yorkshire police officer was killed in 2005, was convicted of her murder thursday. 75—year—old piran ditta khan was found guilty at leeds crown court of pc sharon beshenivsky�*s murder, after a six—week trial. he fled to pakistan shortly after shooting two officers during an armed raid at a travel agent in bradford. as police approached the entrance, three men burst out of the office and fired at both officers, killing

beshenivsky. she will always be remembered. i would like to acknowledge the respect and dignity that sharon's family have shown over the past 18 years and i hope that today's conviction goes some way in enabling them to move on with their life. khan was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. pc beshenivsky�*s colleague was seriously injured. you're live with bbc news. emergency workers in taiwan are still trying to reach around 600 people either trapped in highway tunnels or cut off in remote areas after wednesday's major earthquake. ten people were killed and more than 1,000 injured after the biggest quake there in more than 20 years. earlier, i spoke with the bbc�*s rupert wingfield—hayes from the site of a partially

collapsed building. we can see the dramatic scene behind you, these buildings that are leaning to the side. can you give us an update on how authorities are trying to deal with the situation there? i'm close to the epicentre of the quake from wednesday and you can see behind me here the result in the city here, a number of buildings, this is one of them that has partially collapsed and leaning over at a very precarious angle. the authorities here, a few minutes ago they started the process of bringing this building down, so the plan today is they will start demolishing this building because it presents a real danger to people here. there have been aftershocks and last night there were a number of quite large aftershocks and they are worried this building could topple over, and there are a couple of others like this. a few minutes ago, they started the process of breaking out

the windows and you can see the hole in the side, that is what they did a few minutes ago. in the next few hours they will start tearing this building apart and bringing it down so it is no longer a threat to the surrounding buildings in this area of the city. now that authorities have had some time to assess the damage, what is the sense there? how widespread is it and how many buildings might have to be dealt with in the way the one behind you is? i don't know the exact figure but definitely dozens of buildings in the city here that have been structurally damaged. they are being assessed and the ones that are beyond repair are going to suffer the same fate, and it has been remarkable to see just two days how quickly the authorities here are moving to remove these structures. in a backstreet down here, there is a smaller building that was badly damaged and that was taken down yesterday morning in just a few hours. this is the way that taiwan deals with these sorts

of disasters, they move very quicklyjust to remove the buildings that are damaged and start the process of reconstruction. that is what they will be doing in the next few days and a number of buildings will come down in the city here. we can see live pictures with some heavy machinery moving in and approaching the building. we heard earlier hundreds of people are still believed to be trapped in a mountainous area, what are authorities doing to try to rescue them? what are the challenges there? a huge challenge and that is the focus of the rescue effort now. all of the rescue operations in the city has ended and everybody is accounted for. as you say, outside the city, about 15 kilometres away, ten miles from here, there are very large mountains, a popular tourist area, a very beautiful area with dramatic gorges and hiking trails and hot spring resorts. when the quake struck there were a lot of people up

there in the mountains and the gorges in hotels, and hiking trails. many hundreds of those people are still up there, still stuck. we were at a rescue station where they were bringing people down yesterday and there is a steady stream of people being brought out by rescue teams, by helicopter but also on foot. it is a massive task, such a complex geography up there and people are scattered all over the place. they are in touch — about 600 people are in touch either by text message or mobile phone, so they know that most of those people are safe but many are outside in the open and have not got food, maybe no water so there is the need to get them to make sure they are ok. it will be a long process to get those people out because there are so many of them in such a large area. a long process and a traumatic experience for many people in taiwan. you have been speaking to some survivors. what have they told you?

we saw a number of people being brought down yesterday, they are brought to a dressing station where their injuries were assessed and paramedics there who are giving them first—aid, cleaning their wounds and putting on bandages. you could see the people there were very shaken, and i spoke to a couple from singapore about what they have been through and they talked about how terrifying it had been. they had been in a famous gorge, a very popular tourist site, in a tunnel. quite a famous tunnel, right on the side of the gorge. that is when the earthquake struck and they basically were stuck there for a day and a half and they talked about in the aftershocks, rocks came down, and it was an absolutely terrifying experience and you could see they were traumatised and shaken. you are on the scene where you can see some heavy machinery beginning to take some of those damaged buildings down. thank you very much for your report. thursday marked the 56th

anniversary of the assassination of american civil rights leader dr martin luther king jr. dr king was shot dead in memphis, tennessee on a motel balcony. he was visiting the city to support sanitation workers rallying for better wages and safer working conditions. in what would be his final speech, dr king spoke of "a promised land" where all americans would be seen as equals, free of discrimination and oppression. decades later, his relatives marked his murder and draw attention to what they see as a rising threat of political violence in the us. earlier, my colleague caitriona perry spoke to his son, martin luther king iii, who believes the country is nowhere closer to that promised land as it was in 1968. thank you for being with us on bbc news. remarking the 56th anniversary of your father's assassination, the night before he delivered the famous i have

been to the mountaintop speech, and he concluded by saying i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. how far away you're our close to you think the promised land is in the us today? the promised land is in the us toda ? . , ., , ., today? that is a good question, i would have — today? that is a good question, i would have to _ today? that is a good question, i would have to say _ today? that is a good question, i would have to say that - today? that is a good question, i would have to say that if- today? that is a good question, i would have to say that if we i i would have to say that if we are to look at it directly as to where we are, 56 years after the assassination as opposed to us being closer together as a nation, we are further apart. we are very divided. civility has gone from the political space and many of the things my father and his team and my mother throughout her life fought for have basically been turned back. history is being excluded from how history is taught and so i would have to say that it does not feel we have gone in the direction of the promised land. it feels like we're just maintaining and

somehow we need to learn civility, we need to learn, as dad often stated, we must learn how to nonviolently coexist or we may face nonexistence. that is a real projection, although we do not want to embrace that is, in fact we will embrace it, but we need to acknowledge where we are if we will ever make progress forward. what you think your father was a if he was making a similar speech now in these times? i think if he had lived, we would be in a different place, we would not be addressing already addressing issues that he and his team and others from a legal perspective put in place, a law that are on the books. unfortunately our political discourse is in shambles and those of us who are working diligently to protect and expand democracy, and in our

society we have some political candidates running for officers who go on to abolish, through their mode of conduct, what is supposed to be a democratic system. i think my dad will be challenging us to come together, to move in a direction that will change our nation forever. in direction that will change our nation forever.— direction that will change our nation forever. in the us, you mentioned — nation forever. in the us, you mentioned this _ nation forever. in the us, you mentioned this year's - nation forever. in the us, you. mentioned this year's election, but we still see efforts to restrict voting rights in some constituencies. what needs to be done to prevent that happening? i be done to prevent that happening?— happening? i think the embracing _ happening? i think the embracing and - happening? i think the i embracing and engaging happening? i think the - embracing and engaging of the voter restoration act that congress has refused to vote on. that bill would protect and preserve the right to vote for everyone and create a fair set of circumstances as opposed to gerrymandering that still takes place, as opposed to very strict restrictions, in georgia

you cannot even bring someone water who were standing and line do votive has been there for hours. because the voting system is not working properly, you have so many voters standing in line. voting should be an easy process. we should be an easy process. we should be voting with our phones, we pay our bills with our to do all kinds of things with our phones, why would we not be to vote? we need to make it easier to vote, not more difficult. 0ne to vote, not more difficult. one final question, marking the anniversary of your father's assassination, and his legacy lives on through the family. how are these occasions for you personally? you do not have a long with him at all. you personally? you do not have a long with him at all.— long with him at all. you are correct _ long with him at all. you are correct. the _ long with him at all. you are correct. the way _ long with him at all. you are correct. the way i _ long with him at all. you are l correct. the way i characterise it is i have a large quality of time but a small quantity of time, and dad wasjust our body, he took a swimming, riding bikes, he took us on

some of the troops. i saw him a contact of his work but i was ten years old so i could not really analyse what he was doing. it was not until he was killed that i realised how significant the work he and his team were doing was, and over the years as i read and listened to his sermons and speeches, i began to have a far greater appreciation. speeches, i began to have a far greaterappreciation. i speeches, i began to have a far greater appreciation. i think subconsciously i knew but consciously i did not. averaging this time every year, it is emotional and being in memphis today is emotional. i know he would want us to be here continuing on this journey to make our nation and our world a better place for all of gods children. we world a better place for all of gods children.— world a better place for all of gods children. we will end on that note- — gods children. we will end on that note. martin _ gods children. we will end on that note. martin luther - gods children. we will end on that note. martin luther king| that note. martin luther king iii, thank you for taking the time to speak to bbc news today. time to speak to bbc news toda . ., ~ ,, time to speak to bbc news toda . ., ~ i. ., today. thank you for the opportunity- _ let's turn to some important news around the world. peru's congress voted against impeaching president dina boluarte, who's under

investigation for corruption. she's being investigated over the ownership of expensive rolex watches and jewellery she's been seen wearing in public. last week, police raided her home and the presidential palace. thieves in los angeles have made off with at least $30 million from a cash storage facility in one of the biggest heists on record. police have no suspects. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. the weather will be throwing all sorts at us over the next few days — some wet weather, some warm weather and some windy weather, particularly driven by storm kathleen, a storm named by the irish weather service, for impacts it will have in the republic of ireland over the weekend. but for northern and western parts of the uk, it will bring gales and the risk of disruption. here is storm kathleen developing, still well away to the south—west of our shores. but low pressure already in charge of the scene for friday, rain and snow across scotland, that tending

to peter out, but more rain pushing into southern scotland, later. for northern ireland, bands of showery rain with sunny spells in between, england and wales seeing a day of sunny spells and showers. it will be quite windy, particularly around western and southern coasts, but pretty warm — 15 degrees for belfast, 18 for norwich. still cold in the north of scotland, but it will turn milder here, as we go through friday night. further bands of heavy rain driving northwards, turning increasingly windy around some western parts, but a very mild start to the weekend. down towards the south, 12 or 13 degrees, first thing on saturday. so storm kathleen, this deep area of low pressure, well to the west of us, but coming close enough to bring some very strong winds, and with those winds coming from the south, well, they will be pulling some really warm air into the mix. it is likely that saturday will be the warmest day of the year so far, with some outbreaks of rain moving northwards across scotland, showers following on behind, some decent sunny gaps in between, but i think

it is the strength of the wind that could cause some issues, especially around western coasts. we'll see gusts of 50, 60, maybe 70 mph in exposed spots. so that could cause some travel disruption, maybe a little bit of damage. temperature—wise, though, well, values up to 20 or 21 degrees in eastern england, and certainly much, much warmer than it has been across the north of scotland. now, storm kathleen, this area of low pressure continuing to track to the northwest of us as we move through saturday night into sunday. still a lot of isobars squeezing together on this chart for sunday, so still very windy, the strongest winds up towards the north west of scotland, where there will be gales. yes, there'll be some sunny spells, but there'll be some heavy, perhaps thundery, showers, and it's going to be a windy day for all of us. not quite as warm on sunday — temperatures between ten and 17 degrees.

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. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur and today i'm on the road — and on the water — in guyana, south america, a country of extraordinary ecosystems and of vast resource potential.

the question is, which comes first? guyana has always been resource—rich. for decades, the rush was for gold. now it's for oil. guyana is fast becoming a petrostate, the fastest growing economy in the world. but new wealth has stoked old tensions. neighbouring socialist venezuela claims a vast chunk of guyanese territory. the stakes are suddenly very high. we shall never surrender an inch of our territory. heavily forested guyana has always been a carbon sink. now, with the oil and gas flowing, some call it a carbon bomb. fragile ecosystems are vulnerable to possible oil

spills and rising sea levels.