the parent firm of the uk's largest water company defaults on a loan worth hundreds of millions of pounds. emergency workers in taiwan are still trying to reach about 600 people trapped by wednesday's earthquake. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan, welcome to verified live, bringing you three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. the israeli military has said that air strikes on a convoy in gaza, which left seven aid workers dead, happened after a series of "grave mistakes". israel has sacked two senior officers, and it's now given its first detailed account about how and why it carried out the attack. here are the key points. the idf says the strike should not have happened, and expressed its deep sorrow for the incident.

it says those who approved the strike were convinced they were targeting hamas operatives. the strikes on the three vehicles were carried out in "serious "violation of standard operation procedure" and that the brigade chief of staff, an officer with the rank of colonel in reserve, and the brigade fire support commander with the rank of major will be dismissed from their positions. the strikes this week left seven aid workers dead, three of them british. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has been monitoring today's events and gave us the latest. the investigation�*s findings are stark — this should never have happened. monday's devastating attack, a combination of mistaken identification and bad decision—making. the israeli army has been giving more details about what they say happened on monday night. they say about half an hour after the convoy left the pier near gaza city, a gunman was seen boarding one of the aid trucks. after the aid arrived at its destination in deir al—balah, point three on the map, the convoy appeared to split —

one vehicle, with clearly visible gunmen on board, headed to a nearby hangar, numberfour. mistakenly believing that hamas gunmen were inside the other three vehicles, all three were hit, one after the other, over the course of four terrifying minutes. the army's statement is clear — the strike on the aid vehicles was a grave mistake, stemming from a serious failure due to mistaken identification, errors in decision—making and an attack contrary to the army's the standard operating procedures. the army says two senior officers will be dismissed and another formally reprimanded. world central kitchen calls these important steps but israel's apologies represent cold comfort, they say. "without systemic change," they said this morning, "there will be more military failures, more apologies, more grieving families." israel claims it was a tragic accident. i think there needs to be an independent investigation. if it is a tragic accident,

as they claim, i think the idf is inept and incompetent, if a known humanitarian convoy operating in their zone... meanwhile, signs from israel it will do more to get aid into gaza, especially the north. after months of resistance, it says it will allow humanitarian supplies into its container port at ashdod, close to gaza. it is finally opening the major erez crossing, attacked and ransacked by hamas gunmen on october 7th. both moves came after there was a tense phone call between president biden and israel's benjamin netanyahu. future american support, the president warned, could depend on how israel responds. we welcome the steps announced by israel, opening erez as a new crossing point and shipments going directly from the ashdod port, maximising the route from jordan. these are positive developments,

but the real test is results, and that is what we are looking to see in the coming days and weeks. as hunger and disease take hold in gaza, aid workers say things need to change quickly, food, medicine and personnel all needed to bring a desperate population back from the brink. paul adams, bbc news. lieutenant colonel peter lerner from the idf spoke to the bbc news channel a short while ago — he was asked what went wrong. the identification of the gunmen raised the red flags in the brigade level. the fire support officer raised the issue to his senior commanders asking for approval. he did not receive approval to strike because they were delivering humanitarian aid, despite the fact that the gunmen were identified.

and then what happened was that the convoy of the world ck vehicles, four vehicles in total, joined the convoy of the trucks, which the field, the operators in the field did not in the field, did not have that information. so this is failure number two. and as the the incident continued, the assumption which was made was that the vehicles that were accompanying the trucks were actually hamas vehicles. and this i think, weighs on that assumption that that was a failure, which was a mistake and was the result of this unfortunate, tragic incident. this was the response of the us secretary of state antony blinken in the past hour. it's very important that israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. it's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable. even more important is making sure that steps are taken going forward to ensure that something like this

can never happen again. prime minister netanyahu indicated to president biden that israel would be making further changes to his procedures to make sure that those who are providing assistance to people who so desperately need it in gaza are protected. so we're going to be looking very carefully at what those steps are, how it achieves better deconfliction, better coordination, so that aid workers are protected. let's cross live now tojerusalem where we can speak to our correspondent hugo bachega. hugo, it is always good to talk to you. what more have we heard from this report from the israel defense forces? can you hear me? weird is going to attempt to make contact. i

will that question again now that we have re—established contact. i want to ask you again what more we know about that from the israeli defence forces about what happened earlier in the week?— in the week? yeah, this raises very serious questions _ in the week? yeah, this raises very serious questions about _ in the week? yeah, this raises very serious questions about the - in the week? yeah, this raises very serious questions about the idf - in the week? yeah, this raises very| serious questions about the idf and the way the israeli military operate in gaza. we know there was a massive breakdown in communications on the ground, those units had not been informed by the israeli military leadership that this was a massive aid operation that was happening, that the movements of this convoy had been coordinated with the idf, and this was a route that had been agreed by the israeli military to be used by these aid workers. then, i think the suggestion here is, the threshold for the use of lethal force is extremely low, because we have seen that this convoy was repeatedly targeted by the israeli

military after this misidentification, so we now know that this unit misidentified one of the workers in this convoy, who was carrying a bag, as being a gunman. the gunmen had been spotted earlier. lots of questions for the idf, but what is very concerning is that aid organisations are saying that this is not an isolated case, aid convoys, aid workers have been targeted in the past, and what aid organisations are saying is that there is a culture of impunity, that these cases are not fully investigated by the idf, there is no transparent investigation of these cases, so we really never get to know the truth behind those incidents. lots of very difficult questions for the idf after this report that was published today. hugo, with the latest injerusalem, thank you very much. in a separate development,

the un human rights council has backed a resolution demanding a halt to all arms sales to israel, because of its conduct in the war in gaza. the vote, while not binding, comes from the un's top human rights body, and will increase the diplomatic pressure on israel to change course. this is the moment it happened. four delegations to express their vote. for delegations to express their vote. the vote is closed. then resolution l30 is adopted by the council by 28... applause. yes, 13. please, please, just. i request please to let me just announce the result for the council, for the council... for more on that vote and the pressure the united states is facing on this,

we can speak now to oliver feeley—sprague, arms control and policing programme director at amnesty international. oliver, you have 25 years' experience working on the global arms trade. we have seen many different votes in the un since the war began. why is this one so significant? this the un since the war began. why is this one so significant?— this one so significant? as you said the are, this one so significant? as you said they are. it — this one so significant? as you said they are. it is _ this one so significant? as you said they are, it is part _ this one so significant? as you said they are, it is part of _ this one so significant? as you said they are, it is part of a _ this one so significant? as you said they are, it is part of a growing - they are, it is part of a growing political pressure on the israelis to alter the course of their bombing campaign in gaza. —— as you said earlier. there have been numerous human rights council is resolution on the situation in gaza, but in my living memory, as far as i'm aware, this is the first one that has called for a comprehensive arms embargo, something amnesty�*s been calling for since 2011. that's the one thing i would like to say here. we have been here before in gaza. in the 2000, there have been numerous

times where the conflict has escalated, and it is a similar pattern of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, huge numbers of civilian casualties, deep disruption of aid surprise, targeting of humanitarian workers... —— aid supplies. this is the worst i have seen it. -- aid supplies. this is the worst i have seen it— -- aid supplies. this is the worst i have seen it. ,, ., , ., , ., have seen it. the us and germany are the bi est have seen it. the us and germany are the biggest suppliers _ have seen it. the us and germany are the biggest suppliers to _ have seen it. the us and germany are the biggest suppliers to israel. - have seen it. the us and germany are the biggest suppliers to israel. how. the biggest suppliers to israel. how will this resolution change things for both those countries and others? it has long been my work to ensure that the uk government upholds its end of the bargain and implements its arms export controls responsibly. it has been incredibly disappointing, it has been awful, in fact, that the uk has so far knotts has decided to suspend any of its export arms licences, —— so far not

decided, one is that it believes could be used in the conflict. that is untenable, and i expected to be changed in the coming week. it is an international thing. even though the us is the largest backer of military equipment to israel by far, the uk is a significant contributor, up to 15% of the current f 35 advanced combat fighterjets 15% of the current f 35 advanced combat fighter jets that the israeli government are using. there are pressure points. the uk should be saying to the americans, we don't want our parts, components, sprayers, going anywhere near the aircraft being used to bomb gaza. we've heard from people in the uk government saying that uk defence exports are relatively small, something like $53 million in 2022, but more broadly there is a lot of

pressure notjust on the uk like you have been talking about, but on america. i want to ask you about miracle, because we are looking at changing and evolving relationship between the us and israel, particularly this week? yeah. again, from what i've _ particularly this week? yeah. again, from what i've said _ particularly this week? yeah. again, from what i've said earlier, - particularly this week? yeah. again, from what i've said earlier, the - from what i've said earlier, the pressure is building, and we are in unprecedented times. we talked about the length of time that i've been working on these sorts of issues, and the kind of language we are seeing coming out of israel, biden's conversation with netanyahu conversation with neta nyahu yesterday, conversation with netanyahu yesterday, i would much rather the us government was saying we will stop the supply of arms until you can guarantee that you will uphold to the principles of international humanitarian law, rather than saying we will keep supplying but we expect you to improve. i think all governments have got this the wrong way round. the whole point of arms export control regulations is preventative. we are supposed to look at a risk and stop the supply of those weapons before the problems

have hit, not wait until they have hit and then try and stop them. having said that, it is very significant that the us is using such strong diplomatic terms to signal its disapproval.— such strong diplomatic terms to signal its disapproval. from amnesty international, _ signal its disapproval. from amnesty international, thank _ signal its disapproval. from amnesty international, thank you _ signal its disapproval. from amnesty international, thank you very - signal its disapproval. from amnesty international, thank you very much i international, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on that story. we have plenty more on all those different developments from the middle east on the bbc news website. we are still running a live page with regular updates. there are concerns over the financial position of the uk's largest water and waste water company thames water — after it was announced its parent company, kemble, has defaulted on debt interest payments. kemble told lenders it's been unable to pay a £400 million debt, which was due this week. so what does this mean for thames water — which looks after water supplies for some 16 million people here in the uk? our business editor simonjack

is here to explain. simon, first of all, just tell us exactly what has happened with kemble? ,., , , kemble? ok, so kemble is the parent coman of kemble? ok, so kemble is the parent company of thames, _ kemble? ok, so kemble is the parent company of thames, the _ kemble? ok, so kemble is the parent company of thames, the biggest - kemble? ok, so kemble is the parent| company of thames, the biggest water company of thames, the biggest water company in the uk, and it has run out of money. basically, it submitted a plan to regulators saying it wanted to see thames water, the company that it owns, see their customers' bills go up above inflation over the next five years, inflation over the next five years, in order so it could finance improvements and put the company back on a secure footing. the regulator said no, and at that point, kemble, the parent company, said without that, we are not going to put any money in and they will run out of money. they told us that week that this would happen, and at the dominoes are falling. they can't refinance a £190 million loan due at the end of this month, and today they informed us that they have not paid the interest on £400 million worth of loans elsewhere. that

renders the company effectively insolvent. it doesn't mean that the company itself goes bust yet, it is ring fenced and has enough cash and overdraft facilities to last until may of next year. at some point, it will need to raise fresh cash. it is very unclear when that money will come from, and both the regulator and the new chief executives have admitted that nationalisation, temporarily, possibly, is a possibility eventually. a lot of people, a lot of talks going on behind—the—scenes about war—gaming for that scenario. i behind-the-scenes about war-gaming for that scenario.— for that scenario. i guess the one thin that for that scenario. i guess the one thing that many _ for that scenario. i guess the one thing that many people _ for that scenario. i guess the one | thing that many people watching, myself included as a thames water customer, want to know, is how this impact people's bills? i customer, want to know, is how this impact people's bills?— impact people's bills? i think inevitably — impact people's bills? i think inevitably people's _ impact people's bills? i think inevitably people's bills - impact people's bills? i think inevitably people's bills will. impact people's bills? i think- inevitably people's bills will have to rise. this is a company that lead pipes on the ground in queen victoria's iraq, about a years ago.

in suburbs that were fields at the time, now built up areas. it will need tens of billions of pounds of investment, to upgrade and... it is inevitable bills will have to rise, but for the time being, people hearing thames water is going bust, don't worry, the tap was to go on, the loo will still flush, but behind—the—scenes they are going to have to figure out how to shore up finances that are very important public utilities sometime in the next year. public utilities sometime in the next ear. . ~ public utilities sometime in the next ear. ., ~ , ., public utilities sometime in the next ear. ., ., , next year. thank you for guiding us throu~h next year. thank you for guiding us through that _ next year. thank you for guiding us through that breaking _ next year. thank you for guiding us through that breaking story. - around the world and across the uk, this bbc news.

this is bbc news. rescue teams in taiwan are searching for dozens of people still missing after this week's earthquake. many are trapped in highway tunnels — or cut off in remote areas after wednesday's earthquake. at least ten people were killed in the island's biggest quake

in more than a quarter of a century. but authorities say more bodies are expected to be recovered. rupert wingfield—hayes updated us from the capital taipei. well, it seems the situation has improved quite a lot today with those people who are trapped up in a gorge about 15 kilometres, or about ten miles, to the west of here. that is a very deep gorge. there are many landslides that have blocked the roads in there, but rescue teams have managed to get in to where the people are stranded. there's about 640 people trapped up there in a village where there is a hotel and there are other buildings. so they are being sheltered there. we understand around 400 of them are sheltering in the hotel and the others in other buildings there, so they are safe. they're not in immediate danger. they are now getting supplies in there by helicopter. but it is very difficult to get them out because the road is blocked by landslides. you can only get in and out by foot. they are bringing them out in small groups. we saw about 40 people brought out today, including people with young

children and elderly people. a group of elderly tourists from america were brought out. but it is going to take just quite a long time to get so many people down that road in small groups, especially as we've had a lot of aftershocks here today. and every time there's an aftershock, that operation has to stop because it's bringing more rock coming tumbling down the mountainsides. and very briefly, rupert, looking at those efforts behind you, what's the situation like with trying to stabilise buildings which have been affected by the quake? yeah, well, this is one of the buildings that was partially brought down by the quake on wednesday morning. it's leaning over at a very precarious angle. they have been reinforcing it. but the plan now tonight is to start tearing that building down. and the reason they want to bring it down is because it represents a real threat every time there's an aftershock. so they want to bring it down in a controlled way.

our correspondent in taipei speaking to my colleague, anita mcveigh. scientists believe they've learned why asthma causes so much damage to people's bodies. their research shows cells lining the airways are squeezed to destruction during an attack. they are hoping to develop new drugs which might help break the cycle of harm caused by the condition. that could have a great impact in the uk, where more than five million people live with this lung condition. a closer picture shows that approximately one in 12 adults, and one in 11 children are affected by it. for more on this we can speak now to the director of research and innovation at the asthma lung uk organisation, dr samantha walker. welcome to you bbc news, doctor walker. tigges riwai this is so significant. i walker. tigges riwai this is so significant-— walker. tigges riwai this is so siunificant. ~ ., ., , , ., , significant. i think for many years asthma has _ significant. i think for many years asthma has been _ significant. i think for many years asthma has been assumed - significant. i think for many years asthma has been assumed to - significant. i think for many years asthma has been assumed to be | significant. i think for many years l asthma has been assumed to be an inflammatory condition, meaning the sentence people get like wheezing,

coughing, shortness of breath, during asthma attacks have been caused by shortness of breath —— information. the very mechanics of airways narrowing, that process itself is damaging to the airways, and sets up a cycle of damage, which if you could stop earlier on, it would potentially mean people would not have to take anti—inflammatories to solve the problem afterwards, if you see what i mean. to to solve the problem afterwards, if you see what i mean.— you see what i mean. to break the sound of someone _ you see what i mean. to break the sound of someone who _ you see what i mean. to break the sound of someone who is - you see what i mean. to break the sound of someone who is not - you see what i mean. to break the sound of someone who is not a - sound of someone who is not a scientific that i perhaps should be, when people are given inhalers with steroids, for example, to try and treat their asthma, what is that doing, and is there a problem with the way they work? is this new research trying overcome that problem? research trying overcome that roblem? . ., ., problem? the current treatment for asthma is a — problem? the current treatment for asthma is a blue _ problem? the current treatment for asthma is a blue inhaler— problem? the current treatment for asthma is a blue inhaler which - problem? the current treatment for| asthma is a blue inhaler which opens up asthma is a blue inhaler which opens up your airways to let the other drugs in, and to let you be able to breathe. steroid inhalers that you mentioned are there to control the

inflammation that narrow your airways again afterwards. your kind of working on two mechanisms, and you need both really to manage asthma symptoms. the problem is with the inhaled steroids is that you have to take them all the time. asthma can fluctuate from morning to evening, day—to—day, month to month. you will find it really difficult with this concept that they have to take inhalers all the time to manage something that happens intermittently. if you can find a drug that stops them airways narrowing or treat of the consequences of the airways narrowing, it might mean that you then don't have to take those anti—inflammatory drugs day in, day out for many years, which i think people asthma would very much welcome. ., , ., . ., welcome. code the research come to this breakthrough? _ welcome. code the research come to this breakthrough? people _ welcome. code the research come to this breakthrough? people have - welcome. code the research come to this breakthrough? people have for. this breakthrough? people have for some time trying — this breakthrough? people have for some time trying to _ this breakthrough? people have for some time trying to work _ this breakthrough? people have for some time trying to work out - this breakthrough? people have for some time trying to work out the l some time trying to work out the difference between airway narrowing and information, because treatments,

despite being revolutionised since the 1980s, have really plateaued, with 1100 people dying every year and 80,000 or 90,000 hospital admissions. there is a desire that we have not got it right yet, and we need to be looking ahead further at very basic mechanisms that you can start to unpick to develop new treatments.— start to unpick to develop new treatments. . . . ., ~ ., ~ treatments. samantha walker, thank ou ve treatments. samantha walker, thank you very much _ treatments. samantha walker, thank you very much for — treatments. samantha walker, thank you very much for taking _ treatments. samantha walker, thank you very much for taking us - treatments. samantha walker, thank you very much for taking us through l you very much for taking us through that ground—breaking research on asthma. before we leave you in this half an hour, let's show you a break—in which has been surrounded ijy a break—in which has been surrounded by mystery. that is in los angeles, where thieves stole 30 million in cash from a money storage facility by breaking into the building on easter sunday cracking the safe. according to the group, sophisticated bird came in through the roof to gain access to the vault, but they didn't trip any alarms. it took until monday to realise that the cash was missing, and that the safe didn't show any

outward signs of a break—in. now the los angeles police department and the fbi are jointly investigating that case. there you have it, from los angeles. we will be back after a short break. stay with us here on bbc news, and all of the day's news is available on the bbc news website. hello there. we saw some very big temperature contrasts from north to south across the country this morning. it was cold with some disruptive snow across scotland through the morning period. it stays rather grey here with further outbreaks of rain. it stays on the chilly side, as well. but for northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, a lovely bright afternoon to come. plenty of sunshine around. a few passing showers being blown on a very brisk south—westerly wind and very mild for the time of year at 18 or 19 degrees. it's still quite chilly

across the north. that rain pushes its way northwards across scotland. through the night we see the next batch of wet, windy weather spreading up from the south. some of this rain could be quite heavy in the north and the west as it pushes its way northwards. by the end of the night, though, temperatures will be lifting, even across scotland, so turning milder here, but very mild further south. that takes us into saturday. this deepening area of low pressure hurtling towards the west of ireland has been named by the irish met service storm kathleen, as it's across ireland where we'll see the biggest impacts with the winds. but it's the feel of the weather as we head through saturday. it's dragging in some very warm air from southern climes. it could be up to 21 or 22 degrees across eastern england on saturday, despite the strong wind. so storm kathleen is likely to cause some impacts on saturday. northern and western parts of the uk could see some travel disruption, especially to the ferries around irish sea coasts. that rain pushes its way northwards early in the morning across scotland and we'll see further showers across western areas. a few of them trying to get in towards the east, but a lot of dry weather around and plenty of sunshine too. despite the widespread gales it's going to feel very warm indeed, but gusts could be up to 60,

maybe 70mph across the north and the west, so this could be disruptive. despite that, with the sunshine around and those warm southerly winds it could be up to 21 or 22 degrees in the east of england. mid to high teens across scotland, so much warmer there, as well. saturday night stays very windy. storm kathleen passes to the north—west of scotland. a real squeeze in the isobars here as we move into sunday, so we could see severe gales across the hebrides for a time on sunday. elsewhere, it stays very windy. we'll see more showers in the mix, some of them heavy with some hail and thunder mixed in. there will be some sunshine around too, but it won't be quite as warm on sunday as what we have on saturday. but still, those temperatures are above the seasonal average. it stays unsettled into next week. we could see another spell of windy, wet weather for southern britain and then just signs of it perhaps settling down by the end of the week.

let me be clear, if there are breaches of international this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's investigation into the killing of seven aid workers — the idf admits it was a grave mistake and sacks two officers. we need to ensure that humanitarian organisations like the world central kitchen can conduct their activity, their essential humanitarian activity, and we have clearly failed in this instance. rail passengers across england, scotland and wales are facing major disruption as the latest wave

of strikes begins. #at # at waterloo napoleon did surrender. # and 50 years after abba's eurovision win, the city that hosted the 1974 competion marks a special moment in music history. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's tanya. thank you very much indeed. qualifying for the women's european championship is under way — there have already been wins for romania over armenia and bulgaria have beaten kazakhstan. later the defending champions england start their campaign at home to sweden. france and the republic of ireland are the other two teams in what's a tough group, and the england manager, sarina wiegman knows their victory two years ago counts for nothing that was then. that was a great moment, but we all move on. there have been lots of things

happen in between that period — that time and now — and we're in a new situation now.