this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: the united nations says the world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since 1916. she has put people off complaining if they have had a drink. reports from syria say a0 people have been killed and dozens injured in the capital city damascus. also, the government cracks down on ticket touts. computer bots that by hundreds of tickets in seconds are to be made illegal. and in half an hour, tackling air

elution, testing of thermal imaging camera that can detect asses in visible to the human eye. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war. that's the assessment of the un's most senior official responsible for help those at risk. stephen o'brien says more than 20 million people face for help those at risk. stephen o'brien says more than 20 million people face the threat of starvation and famine in four countries in africa and the middle east — nigeria, somalia, south sudan and yemen. the un say 5.5 billion

pounds is needed, byjuly, to avert disaster. and the middle east — nigeria, somalia, south sudan and yemen. the un say 5.5 billion pounds is needed, byjuly, to avert disaster. for months now, it's been known that millions of people, including young babies like this, in yemen, have been starving. she was just four months old when a bbc team met her in december. and across yemen, hundreds of thousands more children have so little to eat they are struggling to stay alive. and the threat of mass starvation is affecting three other countries. this is a refugee camp in south sudan, which, like yemen, has been torn apart by conflict. families forced to flee their homes and left with little to eat. already a family has been officially declared here, with almost half the population in urgent need of help. we stand at a critical point in our history. already at the beginning of the year, we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the united nations. now more than 20 million people across four countries face

starvation and famine. without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. the number of people the un says is now in danger is huge. almost two million in nigeria. nearly five million in south sudan, and 1a million in yemen. the un predicts without serious help, 1.a million people could die before the end of the year, unless more aid money is found. they're calling for 5.6 billion to tackle this crisis. apart from conflict, another major cause of the crisis is drought. this is somalia, which has been particularly hard hit. in this hospital in the capital mogadishu, doctors have been treating people who've travelled almost 200 miles to get medical help. in most cases, the death

cause is dehydration. we are doing the rehydration of the child and we have given some antibiotic. some basic aid is reaching those in need, but nowhere near enough. so it's possible famine could be declared in all four countries, unprecedented in modern times. i spoke to the executive director for unicef uk, michael penrose to get his reaction to the warnings. a female judge has warned women who get drunk that they are putting themselves in danger of being targeted by rapists. lindsey kushner qc said what she called ‘disinhibited behaviour‘ could put women in danger. the comments have been described by the campaign group rape crisis as outrageous and misguided. if you want to leave a legacy

message, it would be far better be directed at the men who are raping. those predatory men who deliberately pick on a bold rebel young woman, whether it is because she is drinking, that her wits will not be about her, they are deliberately focusing on someone because of their vulnerability. it would be overwhelmingly better to say that that predatory behaviour is well understood and will be treated with very strong sentencing. u nfortu nately, if very strong sentencing. unfortunately, if you focus, and she herself acknowledged that judges unfortunately, if you focus, and she herself acknowledged thatjudges are criticised for focusing too much on the conduct of the complainant and not on the conduct of the rapist, if you focus on the young woman, or the young man, because of course it happens to them as well, and say that if they have been drinking, seem to be less likely to be

believed, or more likely to have consented to the individual, then it looks as if you are shifting the responsibility over to that person. i know she said that you can do what you want with your body, it you can print yourself to a standstill if you want to do that but then went on to say that if you do that, you will put yourself at greater risk of rape. it is a worry that what she has done, consciously or unconsciously, and i am sure it is the latter, if she has put people off complaining if they have had a drink. and i really would want to send the counter message that however much drink people have had, this is actually a bit of a throwback message. the criminal justice authority will deal with that and people should report and not be at all put off if they have been. she says you -- you say this may put off women from bringing entirely legitimate complaints of

rape, she is saying that one of the things that makes women reluctant to come forward is whatever feelings they have about what happened that night, that they fear this will be thrown back at them. she is saying, actually, if you haven't been drinking, bad does that mean there isn't a risk of attack because there are auditory men out there, it might mean you are better able to to protect and defend yourself and it may be that you are improving the chances of being treated with respect that you deserve. the likelihood is she will be less likely to report it if she was drunk because maybe she cannot remember but if they go on it and will court, a girl who is/ is less likely to be believed, rightly or wrongly. well, thatis believed, rightly or wrongly. well, that is a worry. if the judges heard to say, i mean, look, we all send down these public information messages, we have a system up here

which is keys, money, phone, plan to get home, which means everyone encourages people to ensure they have a spare pocket full of money so that they do get into drink,. those m essa g es that they do get into drink,. those messages about keeping yourself safe are out and about everywhere. the difficulty is if you talk of a person because they are in drink being less likely to be believed, if they complain of rape, and being more likely to have believed to consent, then anyone who has had a drink is likely to be put off reporting because they are worried about that. that is dame vera baird, the police and crime commission in northumberland talking to me earlier. reports from syria say at least a0 people have been killed and dozens injured following two explosions in the capital damascus. it's thought two suicide bombers targeted buses transporting shiite pilgrims near an ancient cemetery in the city. it's not yet clear who was behind the attack. 0ur correspondent richard

conway is in the city. he sent this report. this is the largest attack to hit damascus in some time. the suicide bomber detonated his device in this district in the centre of damascus, killing a0 people, injuring dozens more. the target was shia pilgrims. the president wants to visit his country returning to normal but it is a long way off from happening. let's get more now on the news that the un is warning that the world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war. with me is alasdair roxburgh who is the head of humanitarian campaigns for save the children. thank you for being with us. how would you describe the combination of circumstances that is putting these four countries are such great risk? we are seeing a combination of prolonged, severe droughts in places

like somalia, combined with a number of conflicts in different areas. this combination has left many that risk of starvation and we need to address this. the huge appeal from the un, one that totals $a billion and is urgent and imperative that the international community act upon this and take sticks immediately to other disaster. how impractical terms the usefully applied by organisations like your own? save the children is already working on the children is already working on the ground in places like somalia. taking clean water supplies. but we are stretched come a massively so. we need a huge investment from the international community to make sure that the people that need this get it as soon as possible. in places like let —— yemen, we have had

conquered the two years. that is massively limiting humanitarian access to that country and has put millions of lives at risk. 90 millions of lives at risk. 90 million people already need humanitarian assistance and we need access to get supplies into that country to help people who need it most. so, war and drought two of the biggest factors. presumably there are longer term problems where people are displaced by fighting, they cannot cultivate their land, they cannot cultivate their land, the next season's crops can't actually be planted and harvested a few months later. presumably, it doesn't end this year, even if we prevent people from starving to death. that is why it is imperative that the international community a cts that the international community acts quickly. they need to raise this money are many to get supplies into these countries byjuly. in the coming months, two of the real disaster. stephen 0'brien coming months, two of the real disaster. stephen o'brien said this morning that the situation there is

the worst humanitarian crisis since the worst humanitarian crisis since the second world war. the international must act and must act fast. the governments of various countries have said, yes, we will give money, but on this occasion, as on previous occasions, the promises have not always been followed up. how much different does that cause in terms in promoting the relief operation? if countries don't make sure there is humanitarian access and the funding in place for the scale of response required, we face a disaster, one that will affect millions of lives. the international community cannot turn a blind eye to this, they must act fast, and men must act now. the headlines on bbc news. a plea for help from the un — which says the world faces its largest humanitarian crisis since i9a5 —

as millions of people face famine in parts of africa and the middle east. two bomb attacks in the syrian capital damascus have killed more than a0 people near a shia pilgrimage site. a fire has caused damage to guys marsh prison in dorset, after a prisoner was able to start a blaze on the roof. more than 60 prisoners have been moved to safety. in sport, manchester city have booked their place in the semifinals of the fa cup with a comfortable 2—0 win in middlesbrough. in the six nations, france have a commanding 33 .211 in the six nations, france have a commanding 33 .2 11 lead. england will retain the title if they beat scotla nd will retain the title if they beat scotland later. and britain have won it gold women in the —— gold medal in the skating championships in the 1500 metres. more on those stories later. more than 60 prisoners were evacuated from a jail in dorset

last night after a large fire was started by an inmate. it's believed he climbed onto the roof of hmp guys marsh near shaftesbury after complaining about a change of regime at the prison. fiona lamdin reports. flames and thick smoke filled the night sky above hmp guys marsh. after an inmate thought to be drunk, wearing many layers of clothes, set light to them on top of the prison roofjust after eight o'clock last night. as firefighters controlled what they described as the large fire outside, inside, 6a prisoners were moved from their cells to the safety of the gym. in an unannounced inspection, two—and—a—half years ago, investigators found this place in crisis. they said staff and managers had all but lost control. they said one in four prisoners felt unsafe as gangs operate openly. from where you are here, what could you actually see? we could see out of our bedroom windows some flames. george bolton lives

opposite the prison. as i understand it, he ripped tiles off the roof and set fire to his close and it caught the timbers of alight. that's where the fire came from. we didn't see flames, because we can't see past that house there, but we did see the glow. another blaze in another prison. it's just one in a long string, 50 fires are reported each week in prisons in england and wales. these figures have doubled in two years, a strong indication of the problems going on behind the country's prison fences. fiona lamdin, bbc news. earlier, shadowjustice minister yasmin qureshi told me that she was not surprised about the situation in prisons across the country. as we have been noting, there have

been complaints of governments successively for a number of months, they've is this problem in prisons across the country where there are these types that the tees, there are assaults on prison officers, assaults on prison officers, assaults on prison officers, assaults on inmates from each other, high levels of suicide in our prisons are lots of drugs and other issues of those nature in our prison system. things have been getting out of hand for quite a period of time so i'm not surprised to hear about this particular incident occurring. we are told by the ministry of justice that our long—term plans on some of them are coming into effect as we speak, in terms of recruitment of extra prison officers, designed to ameliorate some of the difficulties. we have a prison system that is old in large parts and we have demand for prison places thatis and we have demand for prison places that is high, how would you change that is high, how would you change that balance? there are two ways of approaching this. one is when the government came in 2010, they can't

down a quarter of the prison staff numbers. that is one of them reasons we have these difficulties. whilst the government say they are trying to recruit 2500 more prison officers, they have not been able to recruit many at all in one of the reasons is that a lot of them are coming in but leaving within a short period of time because the stress on them of the prison guards is actually tremendous, they don't want to carry on. so, they do need to continue to recruit. we have suggested to the admin that the prison guards who were made redundant should be pulled back, short term contract of one year or two years, short term contract of one year or two yea rs, to short term contract of one year or two years, to deal with this it to racial, because they need experienced guards to deal with this. they are often the first person of the only people prisoners talk to. secondly, you are right, we have a lot of prisoners that are

overcrowded. 0n the one hand, there isa overcrowded. 0n the one hand, there is a feeling that the maximum number of people should be locked away for the maximum period centres and every order on to have that kind of risen policy, it is quite often. you need loads of prisons, loads of prison officers, and loads of rehabilitation and education programmes when prisoners come out so they are able to lead lives. the turkish president has described the government of the netherlands as nazi remnants and fascists in an escalating diplomatic row between the two countries. his comments come after turkish foreign minister mevlut cavusoglu was stopped from landing in rotterdam amid concerns about his bid to drum up support for mr erdogan. dutch prime minister mark rutte said that mr cavusoglu's visit would be a threat to public order. turkish rallies have been cancelled in other parts of europe including germany due to fears over possible human rights abuses

following last year's failed coup against president erdogan. earlier, mr cavusoglu gave this comment to cnn turk earlier, my colleague maxine mawhinney spoke to our correspondent mark lowen in istanbul. he explained the reaction in turkey. it started off last week with germany banning turkish ministers from coming to germany to speak to the turkish diaspora there for campaign rallies. austria followed suit. there was a swiss city that banned turkish ministers. and now you have the netherlands actually banning the plane of the turkish foreign minister from landing in rotterdam. it is really unprecedented for this to happen. what is equally unprecedented is the reaction from turkey. the turkish government is calling the governments of other nato allies nazis, nazi remnants carrying out nazi practices. 0n the one hand, you might think this is a chaotic collapse in relations between turkey and its european partners, but on the other hand,

you have to think that mr erdogan is a canny political operator. he knows he thrives when turkey and when he is seen as the underdogs. by having this situation, this stand—off with the netherlands, germany and others, he can present turkey and himself as being oppressed by europe, and that he is standing tall to represent turkish nationalism, and that will play well in the run up to the turkish referendum in six weeks' time, in which he is seeking for more powers. he will be able to rally his nationalist support base behind him. given that the netherlands have introduced this ban, are we expecting to hear from the president with more? he had an immediate reaction, calling them nazi remnants but i think there could well be ramifications in terms of some kind of attempt to block dutch planes coming here, although no dutch ministers are coming here in the next few days, the netherlands faces an election in four days' time. could there be sanctions placed on the netherlands? could there be protests?

we have already seen a few people gathering outside the dutch consulate in istanbul. mr erdogan is a very competent president, he is one who knows that he wants to cater and speak to his half of the country that is nationalist, that will be reassured by his stance here. the other half of the country is recoiling in horror at his behaviour, and of course europe is recoiling in horror as well. he is a man who doesn't care much about the other side of the country. the turkish government, having protested over the decision not to allow the foreign minister's plane to land in rotterdam have now announced that the family affairs minister is travelling by vehicle but overland to rotterdam and will ta ke but overland to rotterdam and will take part in a rally there as soon as he or she arrives. it is likely to cause some anger in the

netherlands. it may also worth the giving back and in terms to why the dutch have taken this line. there are these rallies taking place, supported by the turkish government which is trying to win support for a referendum in turkey and there are many turks who live in western europe and central europe who will have a vote in those elections and thatis have a vote in those elections and that is why these ministers are coming to other countries to rally support for a referendum which if he wins will give resident erdogan more powers. the prime minister is of the neverland has described his claims as crazy. it is possible because of the challenge of the far right political party that perhaps some of this rhetoric can be explained by the elections in the netherlands and this referendum campaign in turkey. so that is perhaps a little bit of context as why these two countries appear to be at each other‘s throats this particular week. for 50 years the laws on abortion

have remained unchanged, meaning a woman must have the consent of two doctors to end her pregnancy. under those rules a woman who takes a pill at home could potentially face life imprisonment. now a labour mp is calling for the legislation to be updated. but pro—life critics say it could pave the way for sex selective abortions and terminations on demand. jayne mccubbin reports. my first reaction was, i don't want to have a baby. straightaway, how am i going to care for this being when i can't even care for myself? emily tells me why she had an abortion. she was broke, she had depression, she couldn't cope. she had to wait one month for a termination. that was the worst month of my life. i was googling ways to induce miscarriage and i think that in itself proves it's too long. you're risking women's lives because i could have really hurt myself during that time. you could have faced a jail sentence? i don't have any words for that. to punish a woman who is already in such an unstable and vulnerable position, what do you think you're

doing to that woman's life? just under 200,000 abortions were carried out in the uk in 2015, most in rooms like this. the nhs says women should wait around two weeks, but it can be more than twice that. figures indicate these tablets used to miscarry are increasingly being bought illegally online by women who refuse to wait. two doctors sign off every abortion. now, this is unlike any other medical procedure. but no other procedure involves ending a life and that's what's key here, isn't it? we're in the 21st century. we trust women to make decisions about their lives, about their healthcare, and abortion should be no different. but others say the delay that comes with not one but two gps is essential when deciding the fate of not one but two lives. many women go for that initial consultation and by the time

they come back they actually change their minds. it's an important step in the process to make sure women are making the right decision for them. do you have any statistics to back that argument up? we do know that about 30% of women who go for initial consultations never go through with the process. the difficulty with the termination is once you have done that, if it's a rushed process, you can't change your mind. her office later said this figure had been given by a leading clinician. we could find no evidence of it. abortion is an emotive subject. but while the royal college of midwives has backed the the proposal, more than a thousand midwives have joined a "not in my name" petition. they fear it could pave the way for sex selection abortions on demand. we didn't achieve what i always believed was what women needed, which was choice. diana monday was a key figure calling for change in the ‘60s, just as she is today.

i was a lone public voice, but i was not a lone person who had had an abortion. they were all there, the voices, but they were unheard and unfortunately they still are unheard. i am appalled. 50 years later on, we are still fighting for this. oh, my goodness. this is the hate mail? yes. she shows me the hate mail her campaign attracted in one file. letters from women who begged for help in another. that fine line between the rights of a woman and the rights of an unborn child will be scrutinised again on monday. 0nline touts who bulk buy tickets and sell them for inflated prices will face unlimited fines under new government plans. it will also be illegal to use so—called bots or automated computer software to bypass limits on the maximum amount of tickets that can be bought.

well, earlier i spoke to our business correspondent, joe lynam, who began by explaining how the software works. about six months ago tickets for a u2 concert in new york, madison square gardens went on sale, about 25,000 tickets. they were all gone in one minute. one minute? within a few minutes of that, many of those tickets, thousands of tickets suddenly appeared on totally legitimate secondary markets, stubhub, letmein, viagogo, etc. perfectly legitimate for these secondary markets to sell these tickets, but what is not legal is, and it will be criminalised, with these bots, which is an algorithm or bit of software that hunts the availability of these tickets, snaps them up, they have a whole array of credit cards they can use, snaps them up and then puts them back on these markets at vastly inflated prices. that is the key thing. so you and i, if we stay up late at night, until one second after midnight, we're still not going to be able to buy that ticket, there is a good chance?

this is what is making the fans livid, but the musicians themselves, they are livid their genuine fans, who really want to go, are priced out of the market. so sometimes a ticket has a face value of £50 or £60 will be for sale for 200, 300 more. but there is clearly a demand for those tickets at those price, they are still being sold. somebody is buying them, so how much responsibility rests on customers to just say, sorry, i am not prepared to pay these ludicrously inflated prices, however much i want to see my idol. you and i might be sane consumers. some of the time! exactly. but if, for example, you absolutely must see a certain act, whatever it is, rene and renata, rolling stones, whatever it is. you are showing your age! you will pay what you need to pay. if that means this is going to cost an arm and a leg, but this is a special concert that i'm not going to go without, it is fine. it goes back to the point of pricing the legitimate fans out of the market because they cannot afford often to pay £1,000 for a ticket.

you on your incredible salary will be able do that. maybe once in a lifetime. i am interested, you know, the rhetoric is good, the industry is saying this is great news, i can't imagine fans and musicians won't by saying the same, how enforceable is it? that is the key issue. you can come after these bots if these companies are based in britain, or the individuals are that run it are based in the uk, you can arrest them, but the vast majority are not based in britain. they could be operating out of an apartment in bangalore for all we know. the other thing to remember is, i have spoken to a few ticketing experts today, and they are saying that these bots may not be robots at all, they may be real human beings being paid a pittance in sweat shops outside the uk to make these purchases, and then put them on the secondary market. they maybe paid 25 cents to buy each ticket for which the price quadruples an hour later. he said as he tried to get out of

the path of a motorised, i shouldn't laugh, could have been terribly dangerous and, he sently put his foot on the accelerator, i have done that. the result was to say the least embarrassing. fortunately nobody was injured and he was rescued by local police officers and not a scratch on him. but boy, he must be relieved. i don't know what it meant for the people inside the house. let us look at the weather. hello. although it has been a cloudy start for many of us it is mild out there and the cloud starting to break up across the south—east and the far north of scotla nd south—east and the far north of scotland and northern ireland. just sandwiched in between the two a weather front bringing cloud and drizzly rain, really. nothing particularly significant but it will spoil your dayjust a particularly significant but it will spoil your day just a little. particularly significant but it will spoil your dayjust a little. it is mild