of the brexit negotiations have been laid bare. theresa may has warned jean—claude juncker that she will prove to be a "bloody difficult woman" during the ongoing brexit talks. ten years since madeleine mccann disappeared while on holiday in portugal, one of the men questioned by scotland yard has been speaking for the first time. paulo ribeiro, who is no longer a suspect, was questioned in connection with a theory that she was taken during a burglary that went wrong. there's been widespread international criticism of president nicolas maduro‘s plans to set up a new body which could rewrite venezuela's constitution. lawmakers have rejected the move and protesters have again been out in numbers with barricades limiting traffic in cities across the country. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen

sackur. the war in yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians. that is an appalling number. but it may soon be dwarfed by the numbers starving to death. yemen is experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe which the warring parties are making worse and of which the outside world seems unwilling or unable to tackle. my guest is the un humanitarian coordinator in the country, jamie mcgoldrick. is he losing the struggle to save millions of lives? jamie mcgoldrick, welcome to

hardtalk. thank you. here use it on a visit to the united kingdom. —— you sit. your bases in yemen. what is the right word to describe the situation in yemen today? is the right word famine? fountain will come if the conditions continued. —— famine. the war, insecurity, the colla pse famine. the war, insecurity, the collapse of the economy, all of that is lending to a situation where there is no choice but to slip into it. 7 million people in the country already are in a fragile situation in terms of the lack of security. if we cannot respond with medical support and support in food and nutrition, they will famine by the end of the year. really? 7 million? i always feel that we start to talk about salmon and we start to talk about salmon and we start to talk about these sorts of numbers and there is a danger people around the world will feel that perhaps you are

exaggerating. —— famine. the idea of 7 million people facing the very immediate and real danger of starvation to death is almost unimaginable. yeah. but it doesn't happen all at once. it happens incrementally. measures we have taken in communities in 59 districts through the country, in the north and the south, shows quite clearly the fragility of the communities, the fragility of the communities, the families and individuals. if we don't do something like give more money and response and humanitarian assistance to those populations and at the same time don't give them the health support, 50% of medical services and clinics no longer function, if all of that is in place and we can do better in terms of response, those fragile people will do better. is this a man-made catastrophe? completely. this has nothing to do with nature. this is com pletely nothing to do with nature. this is completely to do with warring parties in the conflict they are not doing what they are supposed to do,

address the situation properly. the international committee does not give us the resources we need to be we have 50% funded of an appeal that requires $2.1 billion. if that is the situation, those people who are the situation, those people who are the most vulnerable, those living hand to mouth and who don't know where the next meal is coming from and cannot feed their families, where the next meal is coming from and cannot feed theirfamilies, we cannot help them because we don't have the resources and access. cannot help them because we don't have the resources and accessli wa nt have the resources and access.” wa nt to have the resources and access.” want to unpick where the situation is happening and where the blame lies. the degree to which people care. this was said the other day. yemen is the forgotten conflict. forgotten. is that the way you feel about when you sit in your office in yemen? i would not have forgotten. i was a purposefully forgotten. —— would say. yemen, you have other crises in the region which are overshadowing it. there is more involved. more is given to hom and

aleppo. did you feel that that you are not getting a message across? i know you are in hardtalk today, but you, not just you, know you are in hardtalk today, but you, notjust you, the international humanitarian machinery, including the united nations and all those agencies, they have failed. we have failed because we do not have the resources . failed because we do not have the resources. it is not that we are not telling the story properly, the parties don't want the story told. who doesn't want the story told? you talk about the suffering. the suffering is coming from the warring parties. let us name them. the houthis and the other. it is because of that. we need to do something to get that story out and alert the world to the magnitude of the suffering. 7 million people cannot feed theirfamilies. suffering. 7 million people cannot feed their families. 500,000 children underfive feed their families. 500,000 children under five are still illegal pictures you see on tv in

any crisis. —— are those skeletal. you talk about the houthi rebels, the government, which now sits in aden because it had to quit sana'a, and the third element, the saudi—led coalition. they are the outsiders in the conflict. you are pointing the finger at the richest country in the middle east as being directly responsible for keeping this crisis outside public view. is that what you are saying? what we are saying is right now the parties involved in the conflict don't really care at all about the people they say they represent. so we have a situation where you have millions and millions of people, up to 90 million people, who need some form of assistance. we cannot get resources to them. —— 19 million. we don't have the funds. because of that, people, of no fault of their own, represented by some of these groups, supposedly represented

in political discussions by these groups, they are abandoned to the rainfade, groups, they are abandoned to the rain fade, which is starvation.“ thatis rain fade, which is starvation.“ that is all true, and you are passionate about it, why did your boss, after a donors conference the other day, and to raise more than $2 billion to deal with the humanitarian crisis in yemen? why did he come away from it saying it was an outstanding success when the pledges you got only a matter to half of what you wanted. it was an outstanding success because people came around the table for the first time to talk about the humanitarian catastrophe in yemen, that hasn't been done... hang on. the message delivered to the potential donors was these people are at risk of starvation and famine right now, and u nless starvation and famine right now, and unless you make good on some financial pledges, they will die of the end you only got half of what you wanted, and you call that a

success. “— you wanted, and you call that a success. —— die. you wanted, and you call that a success. -- die. if we can turn those pledges in the real cash and deliver assistance to those people and start saving lives, that is a strong message for the second half of the year. that is a very big if. isn't it? look at the reality. look at all of northern nigeria, syria, the conflict there, afghanistan, all those! watch chance have you got, not even of getting to the $2 billion you say you need, but also the 1 billion you say you need, but also the1 billion you billion you say you need, but also the 1 billion you said you got the other day. what we hope is that we can deliver, which we are doing well, despite all the circumstances. and if we have more resources, we can save more lives. people are willing to invest in that. we have things set up. we are saving lives

and are delivering food to 3 million people a month. water, sanitation, and health, to millions every month. we have more opportunity to save lives. why would, frankly, international donors feel it is worth pouring resources into yemen when one looks at the reports from the ground and it is clear that the warring parties, and you name the saudi—led coalition, so let us stick with them, are using aerial bombardment to sit civilian targets. now, —— hit. now, they deny they do it deliberately, but the facts on the ground is clear. many, including children and women in hospitals, have been killed by the saudi—led coalition. all parties in this conflict have a blatant disregard to do with anything to do with civilians and infrastructure. just as you mentioned. 1600 kids have been used for recruitment is to military forces. —— recruitments.

0ne military forces. —— recruitments. one of the actual motives of this crisis, i think, one of the actual motives of this crisis, ithink, is one of the actual motives of this crisis, i think, is completely disregarding the responsibilities of the geneva conventions. you want money! yes. you want money to rebuild hospitals and finance the saving of lives. that, of course, means healthcare. saving of lives. that, of course, means healthca re. if saving of lives. that, of course, means healthcare. if you look at what was said by the most recent un sponsored watchlist report, what is happening on the ground, they say, quote, the coalition is responsible for repeated attacks on medical facilities and staff. they are leading these attacks to the closure of hospitals, compromise in —— compromise on children's access to medicine. are you really going to get more money from donors? we will, because of the un's necessity to do

this. the more we get, the more we can do in response to this. on the military side of things, it is not my concern. my my concern is the impact. it has to be concerned. i want all parties of the conflict to understand obligations and accept them.“ the conflict to understand obligations and accept them. is it time for you to speak out and say, do you know what, there are things on the ground i have seen and which might have seen which are tantamount to war crimes. you have seen the reports. they are already there.” am asking you. i have seen the humanitarian impact of the airstrikes, shelling, all that. i have seen the impact. who was responsible? i would lived up to the other parties, international community is. —— leave it to. the secretary general... let me ask you

a question. this is what the saudi un ambassador said, the accusation of these reports that we have attacked and bombarded civilian targets, including healthcare facilities, are unfounded. we have exercised maximum restraint and rigourous rules of engagement. what is your response to that? that is the response from the outside...“ it true? facts on the ground and reports say there need to be more investigations and legally sound arguments to say this has happened to be that has not happened because we don't have monitors and people the ground. i have no way of proving that. no one has that technical judgement and ability to make that. i absolutely understand yourjob is to co—ordinate the humanitarian efforts. there is a much you can do about the conflict in yemen or say. but the united states is, it seems,

more keen than ever to back the saudis in this, and it is, a regional conflict. does that concern you? anything that contributes to the conflict continuing is what i would worry about because of the impact it has on the lives of people. people are completely powerless. anything that adds more fuel to that fire and more arms to that fight would make the conflict exacerbated and make it difficult for us and make it difficult for a population to survive this and they are fragile anyway. a picture of what you actually can do on the ground right now. sana'a is occupied by houthi forces. there are pockets of conflict all around the country. some territory is still held by al qaedain some territory is still held by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. there is talk also of so—called islamic state having a presence in yemen today. realistically, what can you actually do and deliver? well,

the un and its partners, the ngos, red cross, and other, we have five bases, the north, south, east, west, and metal. we are through the country entirely. —— middle. there is no problem getting to people. the problem is that there is interference, the version, blockages. the biggest issue apart from that is resources. if we don't have resources, it doesn't matter how many people around the ground if we cannot deliver them to be we need resources to save lives. is itjust resources ? resources to save lives. is itjust resources? for example, , i resources to save lives. is itjust resources? for example,, i know that the most important facilities get aid into the country, for example, hadeda. it has been bombed. five of the cranes that lift goods out of the cranes that lift goods out of the ships in the port are not in

operation. it isn'tjust about money. is very much a topical issue right 110w. is very much a topical issue right now. we need that port because of the proximity to the population. the location and the fact that it has the capacity to offload both commercial and humanitarian goods. this is a company that relied on 90% of its imports to survive. if that doesn't work, then there is a problem for people to access humanitarian goods. saudi coalitions as, we cannot, at the moment, stand by and let the port do what it does, because we know that the houthi rebels are shipping significant amount of arms through that port.” think people know that the arms do not just think people know that the arms do notjust come through those ports, there are many ways they can get

into the country. yemen is awash with weapons and ammunition, it has been for decades. everyone in the country has a gun, that is the kind of country —— the saudi coalition. what you have to think about is we yourself and a significant un presence may be required inside the port to stop that. are you prepared to go in, monitor, it inspect and manage the port so that it will be an easier route for the aid to reach the country? —— inspect. an easier route for the aid to reach the country? -- inspect. we want the port not to be hurt any further, we do not want a military intervention. at the conference in geneva, key member states all made this plea to say that the port should be protected because of the assistance it gives the population. anything that the un can do to prevent that, discussion for all parties involved,

the authorities and the saudi coalition, a conversation would have to ta ke coalition, a conversation would have to take place for us to be able to deliver humanitarian aid. you told us deliver humanitarian aid. you told us that there are 7 million people who are on the brink of starvation, who are on the brink of starvation, who don't know whether they will have enough to eat tomorrow. there is not enough time for a long winded negotiations. port is still functioning, but in a diminished way. we are looking at other ways to bring food into the country. plans will be put in place in case the port gets embroiled in a military conflict. we just think it should not because it is so important. we know from saudi officials that they have gathered forces within military reach of the port. what is your message to them? the same message

that angela merkel made the other day, there is no military solution. no one has won anything of great note as yet. we have come to a situation where we are stymied. we are looking for that not to need to go any further, to come up with a solution for that port to remain a vector for ice to deliver assistance to the population in need. i don't think a military campaign will make any difference. i don't think we can see a victory there. i don't think it will be the tipping point that will bring about a game changed, it will bring about a game changed, it will be hard fought by all sides. negotiations tend to get somewhere when all sides come to a realisation that there is not going to be a military victory. do you think we have got there? i think that countries would look back and think, in two years, what have we gained? what we need to do is get the international community to put pressure on those parties to get

back to negotiations. there is no military or humanitarian solution to this crisis. we are just keeping people alive. parties must understand this is the only way forward. it takes them to start to said to themselves, you never hear political leaders saying anything about this human suffering. there is about this human suffering. there is a regional political interest, and we are looking for an opportunity to get people back to the table, stop the war, silenced the guns, give us a ceasefire and give us the resources . a ceasefire and give us the resources. what you're saying is deeply depressing, that the parties to the conflict, notjust talking about the yemeni parties, but none of them really consider all frankly, care, about the humanitarian suffering in the country.” care, about the humanitarian suffering in the country. i would say that's true. would you say that's true of, talking about saudi arabia, one of the closest strategic

partners of the saudi arabian government is the united states government, the uk government also backs the saudi arabian government. i think it is one of the inconsistencies you find in conflicts in the middle east, you get different parts of government is supporting different aspects of the conflict. it is unfortunate, on one hand we are supported in the humanitarian point of view by the parties to keep the conflict moving. iam parties to keep the conflict moving. i am trying to be to sitting in your office, responsible for staff in five countries, people telling you that the situation is deteriorating and thousands are suffering. what kind of poll does it take on new?” think it galvanises you and makes you harder and stronger, trying to

fix it. the un is the only international body inside the country, there is a lot of pressure on us country, there is a lot of pressure on us and a lot of things we should be doing more of. what i would do is, igo be doing more of. what i would do is, i go out to some of these areas. i went out two weeks ago to be on clay for the city which is closed. it took me nine and a half months to negotiate entry. there is some hope there, but you also see some negative elements. you see children dying of armenia because there are no salaries for staff and no medicine. at the same time, you see expensive cars. that inconsistency is unfortunate and inhumane. it is myjob to wake up in the morning, bang on the doors and push on with the team that is there.” bang on the doors and push on with the team that is there. i understand that desire just to push on, but there are some extraordinary figures. 462,000 babies and young children under the age of five are

ata children under the age of five are at a real threat of death because they are suffering from acute, severe malnutrition. that suggests that all of the work you are trying to do, you are failing. are failing because not getting to the people with the resources quickly enough. if you look at some of the figures and trends, while the severe malnutrition has not, it has not gone that greatly more than it was two years ago, we have still made a difference. we have an immense task ahead of us. there are children dying, or one child every ten minutes. in this programme, children who have died through preventable diseases in a hospital, if they get to the hospital, the hospital is not working. 0r, there is no medicine in the hospital. so, there are people dying in villages all around the country, and nobody is recording the

deaths. not because of the conflict, but because of the consequences of the conflict and the economy not working. famine, water problems, health problems, they kill people on a very regular basis. this cannot be properly tackled unless there is an end to the walkways alow totally. there is no meaningful peace process right now. you would need to get some kind of peace process going, that has failed. how bleak, how depressed are you right now? you would be normally, but last week i was quite pleasantly surprised by the force of support that came to us. the force of support that came to us. a better understanding and qualification of what is behind it. at the same time, quite a decent response to the appeal for $1.1 billion. the talk in the room,

conversations that critical settle m e nt conversations that critical settlement is required... one crucial moment in our exchange, you told me that you don't think any party in this conflict really cares about the scale of suffering. so it will go on? no, what is happening is a tailspin of deterioration of the humanitarian population. the responsibility for that relies with all the parties involved in that —— lies. they have to say, enough is enough. the people in yemen have said that, they can't take this any more. they are at breaking point. they have sold their land, children get married much younger, people are suffering. i think we are at breaking point. if we don't stop that soon, nobody knows what will happen in yemen. political and otherwise. it could be damaged

irreconcilable, nobody knows. jamie mcgoldrick, we have to end there, but thank you for being on hardtalk thank you. -- hardtalk. thank you. hello there. well, on tuesday we saw a big contrast in weather conditions across the country. the further west you were, the better the sunshine as you were sheltered from the easterly breeze. in fact, western scotland fared best with wall—to—wall sunshine and a top temperature of 21 degrees. it was cloudier further east, especially in the south—east. so it led to a bit of a disappointing afternoon, but it was still fairly warm. through the night, we will hold onto this contrast. breeze in the south—east. in fact, patchy light rain moving in from the near continent because of a weather system there.

further north and west, lengthy clear skies in the west. so a recipe for a chilly start on wednesday morning. a touch of frost in the western glens and a bit of mist and fog too. so we'll start the tour of scotland. plenty of sunshine through the morning. a bit of a chilly start. low cloud through the central belt — this will tend to burn away quickly. lots of sunshine for northern ireland and the north of england. the north midlands as well seeing some sunshine, as well as northern wales. some sunny spells into cornwall and devon. but elsewhere, a cloudy and disappointing start. some cloud big enough for light rain and drizzle in the south—east and maybe london as well. out on the breeze, it'll actually feel quite nippy. through the day, there will not be much change. cool and cloudy across the south—east with further patchy light rain. the further north and west, the better the sunshine. a little bit cooler than what we saw on tuesday. a top temperature of 17—18 degrees potentially across western scotland. it'll feel very pleasant

in the strong early—may sunshine. but it'll be 12 or lower on the east coast, especially when you have the cloud. the reason for the chill on the north coast is the temperatures in the ocean not more than 8—10. with the cloud, temperatures on the coast will feel disappointing for early may. so through the rest of wednesday evening, cloudy for a proportion of england and wales. light and patchy rain. for thursday, a similar picture. plenty of cloud for england and wales. patchy light rain. feeling a bit chilly. the best of the sunny spells in the north and the west of the uk. the top temperature of around 14—15 degrees. on friday, the breeze picks up even more, so it will feel nippier, particularly close to the coast. the best of the sunshine in northern and western areas. temperatures range from around 10—15 degrees. 0n into the weekend, a ridge of high pressure keeping the weather system that day. so it stays largely fine and dry. chilly on the coast. the best of the sunshine in the north and west. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe.

my name is mike embley. our top stories: as brexit talks loom, tensions deepen between britain and the european commission — a warning the road ahead could be bumpy. ten years after the disappearance of madeleine mccann, one of the men questioned by police speaks out for the first time. more protests in venezuela as the president's plan to rewrite the constitution faces widespread international criticism. and hang tight. we'll tell you the story of the surfer rescued after 30 hours adrift in the irish sea.