un agencies say parts of sudan may tip into famine if the civil war continues. we'll have rare pictures from the ground. as climate change continues to accelerate, can nuclear power on a small scale, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? hello, i'm helena humphrey. us presidentjoe biden is warning iran not to take military action against israel as the us government says such an attack could happen imminently. iran's supreme leader vowed retribution after an apparent israeli air strike on its consulate in syria killed at least 13 people, including a senior military commander. that attack, on the first of april, was condemned by the un's secretary general, who said diplomatic and consular premises are off limits under international law. now, nearly two weeks later, american officials are telling cbs news an iranian strike

on israel could come at any moment. as concerns mount, here's what the us president had to say. reporter: mr president, what is your message to iran in this moment? don't. we are devoted to the defence of israel. we will support israel, we will help defend israel and iran will not succeed. thank you very much. so why is the us putting out such strong warnings about a possible attack? and how are those warnings being felt in israel? our diplomatic correspondent james landale has this analysis, from jerusalem president biden has said that he expects an attack against israel from iran sooner rather than later, and unnamed us officials are saying that attack could involve hundreds of drones and missiles against military targets here in israel. now, that may be a prediction of the future based on hard intelligence, but it may also be the united states trying to deter iran to try and minimize any kind of response by talking up the threat right now.

it also could be an attempt to try and shape expectations so that if and when iran does respond, it's seen as less escalatory. now, from iran's point of view, it has promised that it will punish israel for the attack on its consulate in damascus, the capital of syria, 12 days ago. but equally iranian ministers have said they do not want to widen the scope of this war. and a massive attack using drones and missiles from iran to israel would indeed do that. there has been an attack on israel this evening, across the border in the north, hezbollah launching lots and lots of rockets. but that i have to say is a pretty regular occurrence and there's no evidence yet that is in any way linked, or that even the start of some kind of iranian—led retaliation.

the mood here in israel is calm, the streets earlier today were full of people enjoying and preparing for that their sabbath meal, but the threat is being taken seriously. and there are even reports of hospitals being put on standby. so for now, israel is on alert. and the world is watching and waiting to see what iran does next. earlier, i spoke to michael singh, managing director at the washington institute for near—east policy, a pro—israeli think tank thank you very much forjoining us out once again on bbc news and i am sure you have been looking at and read those warnings from us intelligence with regards to the possibility of an iranian attack. how dangerous do you see this particular moment as being? it is certainly a dangerous moment. the irgc, the islamic revolutionary guard corps

official who was killed reportedly by israel was probably the highest ranking irgc official killed since qasem soleimani was killed by the united states. and i think that we have heard from the iranians that they are determined to retaliate against israel. and of course that raises the spectre of a wider confrontation in a region which is already quite unstable due to the conflict in gaza, the conflict between israel and hezbollah on israel's northern border, the conflict in the red sea, due to sort of the yemen houthis and their missile and drone strikes, and so this could just add to and already tense, very conflict—ridden situation in the region. and if it does come to that, what kind of support do you think the us might give to israel. president biden has said that in that case, support will be ironclad but, of course, we know at the same time there had also been some kind

of frustration from washington with regards to that apparent strike by israel on syria and of course with regards to those elite force members? i think frustrations aside, i think the us will support israel and i think right now the us actions and us words are really meant to deter iran because there is a sense that iran may have a bit ofa conundrum. it likely does not want a direct confrontation with israel because it lacks the conventional strength that israel has. it likely does not want to take the focus off of gaza in the region, an issue which has worked to iran's advantage, arguably, and so i think the us is trying to send the message to iran by sending in destroyers, through president biden�*s words that iran should stand down, essentially, should not choose to fight here. do you think that diplomatic pressure from washington could potentially work? i think it could work to at least mitigate iran's reaction, to make iran think twice. i think the hope is that

if we see retaliation from iran, it'll be a sort of performative retaliation, a symbolic retaliation, rather than something that forces israel into a further response and really contains that risk of wider war. talking about the situation, you were mentioning gaza there, what impact do you think it will have if for israel's ability to continue its operations on gaza also at a time with talks about a ceasefire as well? israel has already withdrawn apparently most of its forces from gaza and really the fighting in gaza now is largely content to just the very south of gaza, other than some limited operations elsewhere in the strip. i think israel has the forces it needs, it has the resources it needs to defend against the kind of strike you would see from iran but i do think there is a worry that the type of conflict we could see between iran and israel, or between hezbollah and israel, because they could also become involved if there is and iran—israel confrontation, would really dwarf the gaza conflict in terms of its scale and intensity and even

the number of casualties you could have in such a conflict. do you think that is something the israeli war cabinet was cognisant of when it launched that strike, that apparent strike on syria? i think they were likely aware of the risk of iranian retaliation but they probably calculated again that iran would not want to necessarily have a direct war with israel and therefore perhaps escalation dominance, as we say, was on israel's side rather than iran's but it is a risky move, for sure, and now we will see if in fact that calculation was correct. with regards to a timeline, any thoughts on when we could potentially see something from iran? i think in a way it is a mistake to think in terms of a timeline because, as i said, we may see an initial symbolic retaliation, as we did see after the killing of qasem soleimani. but that will probably not be the end of iran's efforts to retaliate, so probably there will be perhaps for years, iranian efforts to conduct terrorist attacks, to attack more vulnerable targets and to especially attack once israel's guard is a once us�*s guard is down, that tends to be the iranian modus operandi. michael singh, great

to talk to you. the world health organization says several regions in sudan may tip into famine if conflict does not end. more than a year of war between the nation's army and opposition paramilitary forces has driven more than nine million people from their homes. the devastating humanitarian impact is especially acute in the darfur region, where it's been almost impossible for aid organisations to transfer supplies across conflict lines. the paramilitary rapid support forces now control the region, from where most aid workers have withdrawn. the army has blocked land routes from outside the country, saying the measure is aimed at stopping the flow of weapons. and while it has eased the transport of some food and other essential supplies, it's not nearly enough. zam zam is one of sudan's largest displaced persons camps, and the bbc has obtained rare video from there. our correspondent barbara plett—usher reports. and a warning: some viewers may find images

in her report distressing. infant cries. the youngest casualties of sudan's war are often not victims of bombs and bullets. this paediatric hospital in northern darfur is a front line in the country's hunger crisis. signs of malnutrition are stark. it's difficult for outsiders to get access to the region. we worked with a local cameraman to film these images. the son of this helima mohammed sulieman is getting emergency nutrition after bouts of diarrhoea and malaria. "we just don't have enough food here," she says. "we're farmers but aren't able to harvest enough now "and there's no other income. "medicine is hard to get." in the next bed, amine ahmed ali is caring for six—month—old twins, slowly recovering from weeks of dysentery. doctors treated malnutrition here before the war. much more so now.

translation: the numbers have doubled. _ every month, and the next month, the numbers increase. in the nearby zamzam camp for displaced people, they queue forfood. there isn't much of that, nor of clean water or healthcare. illnesses that could once be treated now kill. one child here dies every two hours — so says the charity doctors without borders, the last international humanitarians still on the ground. they found that one third of the camp's children under the age of five are malnourished, and so are their mothers. qisma abubarkir is living that pain. she lost three children in four months. translation: i couldn't afford to take them to hospital. - the pharmacy demanded too much money. my first child died on the way home from there and the second

child died after six days. the baby fell sick and died three days later. zamzam is one of sudan's largest camps, formed by previous conflict, so already fragile. but the latest war has displaced more than eight million people, blocked aid, shut down the economy. what's needed is full humanitarian access across conflict lines and a massive surge of food and medicine. but famine looms. i spoke to doctors without borders at their nairobi headquarters. we have a nutritional crisis. it's a catastrophic nutritional crisis. the children that we screened in the camp of zamzam is the tip of the iceberg. we are talking about only one camp. so it could be much worse. it could be much worse, yes. this little boy may live, but if the war stretches into another year, many, many other children will die.

barbara plett usher, bbc news, nairobi. the us says it welcomes the establishment of a transitional presidential council in haiti, saying it will help pave the way for free and fair elections. haiti's government issued a formal decree after weeks of political wrangling. the nine—person council, seven of whom will have voting powers, could be sworn—in at the national palace, which has been besieged by armed street gangs who hold a tight grip over the capital, port au prince. the council will be tasked with choosing a new interim prime minister and cabinet, following the recent resignation of prime minister ariel henry. in recent weeks, russia has targeted critical civilian infrastructure in ukraine leaving millions without electricity and water. on thursday the largest electricity provider for three main regions, including kyiv was destroyed. in kharkiv on friday, 10 attacks took place, cutting power to more than 200,000 people. our eastern europe

correspondent sarah rainsford travelled there and sent this report. russia's war on ukraine has entered a new phase. this power plant in kharkiv was hit with five missiles — part of a massive attack on the energy system across the country. farfrom saving ukrainians, as it still claims, russia is trying to plunge their country into darkness. leading me through the ruins, igor has worked at this plant since soviet times. you don't usually hear engineers talk like this. translation: it's like my home has been destroyed. _ it brings pain and tears. but at the same time, that mobilises us because we know a city of more than a million people is depending on us. they're still assessing the damage here, seeing what they can salvage.

this is where just one of the missiles hit, and as you can see, the result is completely devastating. this was an extremely precise attack because this power plant was hit by the russians a year ago. the company had just got it repaired, just got it working, and the russians hit again. so ukraine is now pleading with its western allies for more air defences, better protection, because the russian attacks are overwhelming. siren wails. so there's just been another air raid alert and this time, there's information that there's a missile somewhere in the sky heading in this direction, so we're going down into the bunker. there are now long blackouts in kharkiv every day. but among it all, we found a firm making bikinis — a business that's even expanded during the war, adapting to the difficulties and the danger.

it's interesting how long we can stay independent. olex shows me the car battery that's now keeping the power on here, charged by the sun. we don't think about electricity now. one problem is off. one thing solved ? yeah. but the war is always on people's minds. russia is very close, and the increase in missile attacks is worrying. so victoria tells me keeping the business going is about keeping spirits up, too, giving people faith that there is a future here. when night falls, whole neighbourhoods are left in the dark. this is a city that calls itself unbreakable — russia is doing its best to change that. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kharkiv. this all comes as us aid to ukraine continues to be stalled in congress.

npr's congressional correspondent, claudia grisales, told me what's causing the turmoil on capitol hill. there are leaders here in congress who were also sounding the alarm that they are running out of time to provide aid for ukraine. one of those are just recently of the house of foreign affairs committee, michael mccaul, the texas republican who said this really needs to be taken up soon. we know that democrats also have been moving for this to happen but there is a very vocal wing of the house republican party that has been pushing against this plan and so it is unclear if house republicans can get there but we heard tonight from former president trump, who stood alongside house speaker mikejohnson and said it was possible we could come together on a plan, perhaps it would be

based on a loan of some kind, in order to provide this aid. so if republicans are on board, that really gives the potential a lot of hope that perhaps congress could indeed work on a plan. two years to save the world, that is the existential message from un climate change executive secretary simon stiell this week, saying we need to take action and fast on global warming. his appeal comes as march set a new monthly record for global heat — for the tenth month in a row. the hunt for solutions to reduce planet heating emissions, is driving some to revisit energy sources that might be considered controversial. to talk more about this, i asked our climate correspondent carl nasman about the public perceptions of nuclear power, and its role in reducing emissions. many say now it actually is going to play a crucial role going forward. nuclear power of course does not produce any carbon emissions. the international energy agency said — they are very influential — that without nuclear

power we will not be able to meet our climate goals in time. this is technology though that is really progressing quickly. this is not your old school nuclear power plant. companies are developing what are called small modular reactors. these are like mini nuclear power stations. i have been speaking with bret kugelmass, he is the founder of a company called last energy, and i began by asking him if nuclear energy is ready to go mainstream. nuclear energy should be the premier energy source on planet earth. period, hands down, end of story. what you get out of nuclear is millions of times more powerful on a per mass basis or per material input bases than any other energy source that we have. it is an incredible way to transform society, to launch humanity into the next generation of energy. if you look at the us, it is a 20% of the energy mix.

why isn't it then bigger? there are a lot of challenges. many of our presidents, jfk ran a campaign on making it 100% of us energy source. but the whole industry stagnated back into the 705, before three mile island, before any talk of these accidents, the industry ground to a halt, much due to market incentives and structure at the time and then this notion of it being taboo as you mentioned earlier, simply arose from societal superstition more than factual reality. tell me about what are you designing? what your prototypes are? these are not your traditional nuclear reactors. we can see a few pictures, some mock—ups here behind us. these are essentially miniature nuclear power plants? in order to cost correct many of these stagnation problems the industry had had, with decided to address cost and time to delivery first and foremost. we went back to previous designs. nuclear reactors that were built on ships where you could employ standard

manufacturing processes to be able to deliver reliably and cost effectively. that is the technology that we brought to the modern era. are there concerns around safety? what is the safety protocol for these smaller reactors? many people are concerned with safety or waste and they have every right to feel that way but people's notion of radiation being this disproportionate hazard simply belies reality. that being said, people have every right to feel that way and it is incumbent upon us to address these concerns. so what we do is we employ a pretty unique strategy. we dig a giant hole, we drop our reactor in the ground, we surround it with 500 metric tons of steel and that makes everyone feel better. these are smaller reactors, they are enough to power 20,000 homes — we're talking about 920 megawatts here. how do you think these might be used and why a nuclear reactor, why notjust put up some solar panels or wind power for that electricity?

people have tried but the problem with alternative energy solutions is it does not meet what the customer needs. the customer needs power all the time, not when the wind blows or the sunshine. nuclear is uniquely capable of delivering that but even more so scaling to the abundance that humanity needs to meet future energy needs. so, where we see this most pressing right now is in europe, given their energy crisis, and specifically in the industrial and manufacturing sectors and data centres which is what we specifically have designed our product to service. that is what i wanted to ask you — who is your customer that would say, hey, let's put a nuclear power plant behind our back yard? where are these do you think going to end up being installed? we have contracts right now for over 55 of our units, the ones that you see on the screen. about half of those are for industries such as steel mills or aluminium,

or pulp and paper factories, and then the other half, especially with the advance of ai, we have seen a surge of orders coming from data centre companies. this is our biggest growth area now. looking ahead, what is the biggest hurdle standing in the way? one of your goals is to build 10,000 mini reactors worldwide... in just the next 15 years. is that possible? yes, absolutely. all we're doing is applying standard manufacturing processes from the automotive industry and we're bringing those to the power delivery industry. most power plants around the world are custom—designed for each individual site and we are taking a note out of ford's playbook to essentially bring assembly line manufacturing processes in order to be able to scale production. so 10,000 isjust the beginning of our ambition. at 10,000 units live will be delivering more energy every

year than saudi aramco. we want to get up to 100,000 online. that could end up putting a big dent in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. bret kugelmass, founder and ceo of last energy, a d—based start—up developing this modular power plants, thank you forjoining us. certainly some big ambitions sketched out there in that interview. we also saw the prototype as well. how likely is it that we will be seeing anything like that anytime soon? that prototype will be in dc on monday. he is bringing it here and it will be just a few feet from the white house. there is a lot of potential here for these smaller reactors but nuclear in general has seen a lot of speed bumps. it takes a long time to develop and build, it is still very expensive, especially when you compare it to something solar panels or wind turbines and there are of course still those concerns about safety and nuclear waste

although this next generation technology, a lot of investors saying it solves a lot of those problems, it uses far less fuel for example. at the cop28 in dubai back in december, nearly two dozen nations pledged to triple their nuclear energy capacity in the coming year so it is likely we will see more nuclear power, the question is how quickly it will be rolled out and how fast that can happen and whether it happens in time to really start to make a dent in climate emissions. and the public perception as well. thank you so much for that. let's turn to some important news around the world. poland's lower house of parliament voted on friday to advance draft legislation that could lead to the end of a near—total ban on abortion. four separate bills will go to a parliamentary committee for further study. two of those bills would legalize abortion through the 12th week of pregancy, in line with most european nations. poland, a traditionally roman catholic country, has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in europe. rapidly rising flood waters are causing thousands

of residents in the russian city of orenburg to evacuate. on friday authorities told residents to leave their homes immediately after major rivers banks burst due a historic deluge of melting snow. so far, 100,000 people have been evacuated in neighbouring kazakhstan. and finally, legendary italian fashion designer roberto cavalli has died at the age of 83. known for his flamboyant use of animal prints and patterns, as well as his innovative printing techniques. cavalli died at home in florence after a long illness. he rose to prominence in the �*70s, dressing stars including sophia loren and brigitte bardot. his styles were still favoured decades later by generations stay with us here on bbc news. our colleagues in london take over. bye for hello there. friday was a very

warm day for april. temperatures widely reached the high teens and the warmest spots had temperatures a bit higher than that. 21.5 degrees celsius was recorded at both st james' park and northolt, both in greater london, making it the warmest day of the year so far. we have something of a change in the weather forecast, though, for saturday. cooler air is going to be arriving across both scotland and northern ireland behind this cold front. and that's significant because scotland also recorded its warmest day of 2024 as well on friday — 20.2 degrees celsius in fyvie castle. but across scotland and northern ireland, temperatures widely will be dropping by around five or six degrees celsius into saturday. so you will notice that significant change. right now the weather is quite quiet, though. we've got a few patches of high cloud around, one or two areas of mist and fog and a few showers coming in across northern areas with the winds strengthening slightly. temperatures as we start saturday morning around 8 to 11 degrees celsius.

we're looking at a mild start to the day. now, a band of rain, a cold front will quickly swing its way into northern ireland and scotland. as that moves eastwards, what will follow is blustery showers with some hailstorms mixed in the winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour further southwards. now a patch of rain for northern england and across wales, otherwise largely dry. much cooler air across scotland and northern ireland arrives through the afternoon, whereas across england and wales it's going to be the last of the really warm days. temperatures, i suspect, will reach around 21 or 22 in the warmest areas of eastern england, with colder air arriving across most parts of england and wales after dark. well, that takes us into sunday's forecast. and sunday is going to be a blustery day for scotland and northern ireland. frequent showers here, some of them with hail and thunder mixed in. there will be a few showers developing through the day across northern england and wales, but it may well stay largely dry across east anglia and the south of england. wherever you are, temperatures will be much closer to average, 15 degrees in london. so a big change from the low

20s that we'll have on saturday, it will feel cooler. on into the start of the new week, monday sees low pressure move in off the atlantic with this cold front diving its way southwards across the country. and that's going to be bringing a spell of rain followed by showers, showery weather conditions around for tuesday and for wednesday. but the weather should become drier and a bit warmer towards the end of next week. bye for now.

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. hello and welcome. open ai and matter are reported to made a giant leap with the ai tools. there are reported to made a giant leap with the ai tools. they're about to unveil bots that reason, we've got the journalist who broke the story to help us understand what it all means. we will focus on donald trump social media platform truth social, who will speak to an academic was assessing its impact on news coverage in the us and we will speak to the programmer who was there right at the start. but our first guest today is the executive chairman of sky news, david rhodes has thejob executive chairman of sky news, david rhodes has the job of keeping the rolling news channel relevant in the age of social media, a tough gig but is well—qualified, his sell jobs at cbs and blomberg and his career began back in the 90s at rupert murdoch's fox news.