a re are a moment where we should days are a moment where we should more the loss of these brave humanitarian workers, including the three british citizens that tragically were killed. taiwan is hit by its biggest earthquake in 25 years — nine people are dead, at least 700 injured. uganda's top appeals court has refused to overturn a controversial anti—homosexuality law, considered one of the harshest in the world. police say three men wanted in connection with the stabbing of an iranian tv host in london left the uk within hours of the attack. hello i'm nicky schiller. we start in the middle east. israel is under increasing international pressure after seven aid workers including three uk citizens were killed in an israeli airstrike in gaza. president biden has said he's outraged and heartbroken by the deaths.

a few moments ago, the british foreign secretary lord cameron said he mourned the deaths of aid workers in gaza, including three british nationals, are completely unacceptable. three british men — john chapman, james henderson and james kirby — were among them. they were working as security advisers. israel said the strike was "unintended" and promised to investigate. the family ofjames kirby — one of the three british nationals killed in the strike — have released a statement. it said... "despite the risks, his compassionate nature drove him to offer assistance to those in dire need. a genuine gentleman, james was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone, even in the face of senseless violence. james lost his life trying to save others. he will never know what a void he has left, ourfamily

will never be the same." there have been calls for britain to stop selling arms to israel following the deaths. prime minister rishi sunak said he was appalled by the israeli attack, while the foreign secretary, lord cameron, spoke to the media. it isa it is a moment where we should more the loss of these brave unitarian workers, including the three british citizens that tragically were killed. we should also send our condolences to their families, and our thoughts should be with them. i welcome what the is waydey foreign minister said yesterday to me about a full, urgent and transparent inquiry into how this dreadful event was allowed to happen, and we want to see that happen very, very quickly. i also welcome the fact, he spoke about much more aid getting into gaza, up to 500 trucks a day. that is essential, we have been

promised these things before and it really needs to happen, including longer opening times at the vital crossing points. but of course the extra aid won't work unless there is proper... unless aid can be taken around gaza and we avoid the dreadful incidents like we have seen in the last couple of days, that is vital, and britain will be watching very closely to make sure that that happens. 3 very closely to make sure that that ha ens. �* ., ., ., happens. a former head of the forei . n happens. a former head of the foreign office _ happens. a former head of the foreign office here _ happens. a former head of the foreign office here in - happens. a former head of the foreign office here in london i happens. a former head of the i foreign office here in london has this morning told the bbc the uk should stop selling arms to israel. i think there's abundant evidence now that israel hasn't been taking enough care to fulfill its obligations on the safety of civilians. and a country that gets arms from the uk has to comply with international humanitarian law. that's a condition of the arms export license. so honestly, i think the time has come to send that signal. it won't change the course of the war. it would be a powerful political message and it mightjust stimulate

debate in the us as well — which would be the real game changer if the americans began to think about putting limits, restrictions on the use of american weapons in israel. well, the bbc�*s international editor jeremy bowen is in northern israel and gave us this update on the incident. a few more details are coming out in the press. there are reports which i cannot personally confirm about the circumstances in which this happened. some suggestions that it might be the activities of a unit at the tactical level, rather than getting orders from on high. the thing is, all of this depends on getting some kind of investigation of the sort that the americans and others have been calling for. what happened should not come as a great surprise, bearing in mind the numbers of people israel has been killing

in the last six months in gaza, despite repeated strictures from president biden downwards that they should not be doing that, and that also includes more than 200 palestinians who have been working for the un in its aid operations. you mention president biden, him saying he is outraged. also saying that israel had not done enough to protect aid workers generally. is that going to make any difference, and the rest of the international pressure, to what benjamin netanyahu does? well, up to now, he's been charging on. there are a lot of critics here in israel who say that his priority is to actually prolong the war, it's more important to him, they say, than bringing back israeli hostages, and definitely much more important than preserving the lives of palestinian civilians, which is israel's obligation under international international law.

that is all because, they say, that he wants to prolong the war to put off the moment of reckoning, where he faces, among other things, calls for accountability in mistakes he made in the run—up to the october the 7th attacks, that allowed hamas to sense there was an opening for them. the really big lever that president biden has is weapons supplies. you have to temper everything the white house and the president has been saying about the need for israel to follow international law, to not kill as many civilians, to allow aid workers to operate properly, they're saying all of that — israel is ignoring it. and then on the other hand, the americans are continuing to supply the weapons that israel is using to do all of those things. so, that is the big lever that the americans

have to decide to use. should they put conditions on the use of the weapons? or should i say, you know what, we are just going to stop now. i think that is highly unlikely, by the way. lord ricketts in the uk saying that the uk should stop selling arms. he's also saying that sometimes in conflict you get a moment that crystallises action internationally. he was suggesting maybe this is it. do you think that might be the case? well, in other wars i have reported on over quite a few years, that israel has been involved in, they normally have ended when, and not after months and months, but after a matter of weeks, not normally, but from time to time they have ended with an event that has been so awful that the americans particularly have said, right, enough. now, they have sort of said that a few times already. but they haven't quite said it with the force that earlier administrations might have used.

one example was when there was a war in lebanon in 1996 that ended after outrage at the israelis killing more than 100 civilians in one attack who were sheltering in a un base. so, you know, it is possible, based on past evidence. but i think this one is different, because of the way the hamas attack did kill so many israelis, the shock and trauma that caused within israel, the support the war still has. but, as well as that, the israelis have alienated their closest allies. and that is something where there are critics in this country who say that that is unnecessary and should not have happened. they should have gone about things, they say, in a different way.

taiwan has been hit by its biggest earthquake in 25 years. the government says at least nine people died and more than 700 were injured, after an offshore earthquake struck the east coast of the island. the quake was at a magnitude of 7.4. the deaths all occured in wua—lien county, a mountainous region near the epicentre, with many killed by falling boulders. some buildings are leaning dangerously and some train lines have been damaged. there have have been at least 100 aftershocks. rescuers are searching for 77 people trapped in collapsed buildings. tsunami alerts issued for nearby japanese islands and the northern coast of the philippines have been downgraded. the bbc�*s rupert wingfield—hayes is in taiwan's capital, taipei. he described what happened. it hitjust before 8:00 this morning. and i was in my kitchen and the whole building — i live on the eighth floor — and the whole building really started to shake very, very violently, very wildly. and it was moving side to side

in a very violent manner. so much so that actually i had to grab on to the kitchen countertop to steady myself. pots and pans were coming out of cupboards. so, stuff being sort of thrown all around the place. now bear in mind, i'm in taipei, which is about 100 miles or more from the epicentre. and so you can imagine over on the east coast of taiwan just how much more violent the shaking was. this was a very shallow earthquake and a very powerful earthquake. and the shaking intensity that they use here is a scale of one to seven, and it was seven. so this is a very, very intense shaking indeed. and because of that, it has done a lot of damage. particularly, we've now seen many hundreds of landslides and rockslides in the mountains of eastern taiwan unleashed by this quake that has caused a lot a lot of damage. well, taiwan is pretty well equipped to deal with with disasters because it lives on the pacific ring of fire. earthquakes are a fact of life here, as are typhoons and other disasters.

the military is already deeply involved. they are surveying the area with helicopters. we understand that japan, which is taiwan's closest neighbour, has also offered aid. so i would expect to see japan, which has many specialist search teams, and very well equipped for dealing with earthquakes, will be asked to come in and help. but it's mainly a case of the logistics of getting into these remote areas. and that's going to mean mainly, i think, the military going in by helicopter. because the east coast of taiwan is very, very rugged, it's very mountainous. there are many narrow, craggy valleys. and those, many of them, now will be blocked because of landslides. roads have been brought down, bridges have been brought down. the railway is currently out. so that's going to be the main problem here now, is getting to people. the authorities in taiwan now confirming that 127 people are now known to be trapped as a result of

the earthquake, of which 77 they say are trapped inside tunnels under mountains in that worst—hit area. we have a live page up and running on the bbc news website, you can scan the bbc news website, you can scan the qr go to follow that. let's speak to brian hioe, who is a writer and translator and experienced the earthquake this morning in taipei. thank you very much forjoining us. just describe what happened? 50. i just describe what happened? so, i was woken up _ just describe what happened? so, i was woken up this _ just describe what happened? srr, i was woken up this morning just describe what happened? s57, i was woken up this morning by just describe what happened? s513, i was woken up this morning by an earthquake, and it began with clattering in the kitchen, hearing my coffee machine fall off the table, and then i realised there was an earthquake going on. i do live in 11 stories up, so that was a really good shake. the question was how long will it go on? this time around it went on much longer than the many earthquakes i have experienced. taipei doesn't always have the most seismic activity, it is often off the east coast of taiwan. the intensity, based on the past when buildings have collapsed. events

that have taken place that have been potentially fatal. and so luckily, taipei avoided the worst of it. it was definitely one of the longer it experiences of an earthquake i have ever had before. fix, experiences of an earthquake i have ever had before.— ever had before. a lot of people are sa in: it ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was _ ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was very — ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was very strong, _ ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was very strong, you - ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was very strong, you run i ever had before. a lot of people are saying it was very strong, you run a | saying it was very strong, you run a coffee shop there, did you have customers at the time and what have the rest of taipei felt in terms of damage and services, have they been affected? 50. damage and services, have they been affected? ., , ., ., , ., affected? so, i was not open at the time but i affected? so, i was not open at the time but i was _ affected? so, i was not open at the time but i was worried _ affected? so, i was not open at the time but i was worried about - affected? so, i was not open at the time but i was worried about the i time but i was worried about the potential for broken glass and things to fall off the shelves and those kind of things. luckily, that didn't occur, to my own surprise, because it is on the first floor, but most coffee shops and other businesses did run normally. was disruption due to things falling, walls cracked for many buildings, for supermarkets i am sure there were many products which fell off of shelves, but things have gone on, even the trains, after about an hour sat of safety inspections, began running again. find sat of safety inspections, began running again-— sat of safety inspections, began running again. and the rest of the count ,

running again. and the rest of the country. we've — running again. and the rest of the country, we've seen _ running again. and the rest of the country, we've seen the _ running again. and the rest of the country, we've seen the pictures, | country, we've seen the pictures, much more dramatically affected, i know you probably have friends across the country, what is the situation elsewhere in taiwan? 50. situation elsewhere in taiwan? 50, it does seem _ situation elsewhere in taiwan? sr, it does seem like most situation elsewhere in taiwan? sf, it does seem like most people are unaffected, fortunately, but there are those people that did die, and there are incidents that are still in existence, we mentioned the tunnels. many of the fatalities came from buildings collapsing due to cost—cutting and safety measures, in incidents in the past, and luckily that does not seem to have happened this time around, which is why the fatality count is low, but people were affected partly on the east coast, where it was more intense, and there is the possibility of after—shocks for the next 48 hours as well. after-shocks for the next 48 hours as well. ,, , ~ after-shocks for the next 48 hours as well. . . ~ ., , ., , ., as well. (hack in taipei, to should very much — as well. chack in taipei, to should very much for— as well. (hack in taipei, to should very much forjoining _ as well. (hack in taipei, to should very much forjoining us _ as well. (hack in taipei, to should very much forjoining us here - as well. (hack in taipei, to should very much forjoining us here in i as well. (hack in taipei, to should l very much forjoining us here in bbc news. and a reminder, we do have that special live page up and running, along with some of the dramatic video of the moment it hit and the aftermath, you will find that on the bbc news website. ——

brian hioe in taipei. today, nato foregin ministers will meet in brussels to discuss how nato could assume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment, training and financial support for ukraine. earlier nato's secretary general spoke to the press ahead of the foreign ministers meeting. let's a take a listen to what he said. nato allies provide 99% of all military support to ukraine. so, doing more under nato would make our efforts more efficient and more effective. moscow needs to understand that they cannot achieve their goals on the battlefield and they cannot wait us out. tomorrow, we will hold a meeting of the nato ukraine counsel. with the minister, we will address the current situation and ukraine's needs both

now and for the future. we are transforming nato is comprehensive assistance package into a multi—year programme of assistance. we are helping ukraine move closer to nato, nato standards on everything from procurement or logistics. and we are supporting ukraine's efforts to bring ukraine ever closer to the alliance. ,, , bring ukraine ever closer to the alliance. . , ., ., . alliance. that is the nato chief jens stoltenberg _ alliance. that is the nato chief jens stoltenberg talking - alliance. that is the nato chief jens stoltenberg talking at - alliance. that is the nato chief| jens stoltenberg talking at that meeting in brussels. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

more now on the news that seven aid workers including three uk citizens were killed in an israeli strike in gaza. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in poole in dorset outside the company that the three british men who were killed worked for. duncan what is the latest from where you are?—

where you are? well, i think we could sum _ where you are? well, i think we could sum it _ where you are? well, i think we could sum it up _ where you are? well, i think we could sum it up with _ where you are? well, i think we could sum it up with two - where you are? well, i think we could sum it up with two wordsl where you are? well, i think we| could sum it up with two words - could sum it up with two words — disbelief and sadness. i had a quick word with somebody from solace global a few moments ago and he said they were all devastated. these three men were security advisers who were working alongside the aid workers. in the past few minutes we have heard from the managing director of solace global, somebody called emily roberts, who said that she drove more than 12 hours yesterday to inform each member of those families in person about what had happened. she said that the men were incredibly proud of what they did and accepted the dangers involved. some of the three men, some of the three british men, have asked for privacy at this moment, but the family of james asked for privacy at this moment, but the family ofjames kirby asked for privacy at this moment, but the family of james kirby have issued a statement in the past couple of hours, and they say that... as a family, we are utterly heartbroken by the loss of our

beloved james kirby, alongside the other six individuals who tragically lost their lives, he will be as a hero. statement says that james served in the armed forces, it does not say what branch, and that he had also served for the british armed forces in places like bosnia and afghanistan. the statement says that he understood the risks of what he was doing in gaza, and that they were incredibly proud of what he achieved. the sense here overall, as reflected by that statement, is one of complete devastation and really deep sadness at the loss of these three men. deep sadness at the loss of these three men-— deep sadness at the loss of these three men. , u, , ,, ,, three men. duncan kennedy in poole, thank ou three men. duncan kennedy in poole, thank you very — three men. duncan kennedy in poole, thank you very much. _ three men. duncan kennedy in poole, thank you very much. and _ three men. duncan kennedy in poole, thank you very much. and another - thank you very much. and another line of political reaction here in the uk to those that, the liberal democrats have called on the government to suspend arms sales to israel following the deaths of those seven aid workers including three british nationals in that airstrike. you will remember earlier in the

bulletin we had from lord becketts who also said that the uk should now stop selling arms to israel. that reaction in from the liberal democrats. to uganda next. the country's constitutional court has rejected a bid to overturn a controversial anti—gay law that is considered one of the harshest in the world. the law imposes life imprisonment for consensual same—sex relationships, and includes the death penalty for what it describes as aggravated homosexuality. earlier, i spoke to our africa reporter esther 0gola in nairobi. so, today, the constitutional court had its sittings, just over an hour ago, and the conclusion they had was that as this was a matter of huge public interest, that they would not overturn anti—homosexual act of 2023. they did however note that the act did violate the medical rights, the health rights, of the lgbt+

community, and noted that it was important to see how to, you know, work that out. so, basically, the law still stands in uganda as per the constitutional court today. and it was rights groups that took this action to the court? yes, it was. and this was taken to court last year, and basically they were saying that it contravenes the human rights laws of the lgbtq+ community in uganda to exercise their various rights to exist, to assemble, to basicallyjust live their lives, and they were hoping that the constitutional court would overturn that, as it seems would overturn that, but as it seems to be, that will not happen. however, the petitioners have said that they will take the matter to the supreme court, and they are hoping that it will be overturned in its entirety. yes, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers voted for it. what are some of the punishments for being gay in uganda? well, so, one of the punishments

is that someone can get up to life imprisonment, basically, for homosexual acts. and then there's also up to ten years, up to 14 years' imprisonment, for what they are calling aggravated homosexual acts, which involves rape which involves rape of minors, vulnerable groups, spreading of hiv and aids. spreading of hiv and aids. at the time, it caused quite a global outrage, and indeed the us imposed visa restrictions on some officials there in uganda. has that had any effect on other lawmakers and what they feel about this? well, so far, because they say that the public sentiment is that the law upholds the cultural rights and the cultural beliefs of the ugandan people. there is still strong support for the law to remain in place. however, activists and human rights bodies are still calling for it to be overturned. there has been a lot of dismay,

a lot of them have called this ruling heartbreaking, homophobic and ill informed. so, moving forward, it's basically just to see how the supreme court will listen to this case and what are some of the issues that will emerge which the petitioners are saying are very crucial in basically the lgbtq+ community existing in uganda, because many have reported being attacked, many have reported living in fear. as you know, there is also, the act also calls for people to report people who are lgbt+, it involves renting premises, it involves registering of lgbtq+ bodies and ngos as well. police say three men suspected of stabbing an iranian tv host in south london have left the uk. pouria zeraati was stabbed outside his home in wimbledon on friday afternoon. detectives believe the suspects travelled to heathrow airport and fled the uk.

the investigation is being led by counter—terrorism officers due to recent threats towards iranian journalists in the uk. iran has denied any involvement. and before we go, here's a question for you: what time is it, right now, on the moon? well, soon, we might actually be able to answer that question. nasa has been asked by the us government to establish a standardised time zone for the moon. the white house says it's vital to set international norms, as more nations and private companies race to establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface. time moves more quickly there because gravity is less powerful thanit because gravity is less powerful than it is on earth. now i want to show you some pictures out of south korea. hundreds of people braved heavy rain to bid a tearful farwell to the first giant panda born in the country.

fu bao has left the zoo. she was born in 2020 in a high—tech non—vibrating climate controlled truck to return to china. some breaking news, the former president of the spanish football federation has been arrested, as part of a corruption allegation, it happened upon his arrival in madrid from the dominican republic. the former president of the spanish football federation, luis rubiales, has been arrested. stay with us here at bbc news. for the rest of this week, low pressure is really in charge of our weather. we have got low pressure after low pressure system coming in from the atlantic into the south—west and pushing north—eastwards, each one bringing some rain, some heavy rain, and as we head into the weekend you will

see the squeeze on the isobars, it is going to be windy, particularly on saturday, with some of us having some gales. so, with all that rain and the rainfall accumulation chart, you can see a lot of dark blues and also some of the lighter greens. so we're looking for some parts in excess of 50 millimetres, two inches of rain. what we have at the moment is a slow moving weather front across the north of the country, slowly pushing out of northern england into southern and central scotland. rain easing across northern ireland, brightening up a touch behind before the next band of rain comes in from the southwest, in from the south—west, with strengthening winds. still brisk winds accentuating the cool feel across the northeast, where we will hang on to cloud and rain on and off through the day. now through the evening and overnight a lot of this rain peters out, but there'll be a lot of cloud around, still some mountain top snow and the rain in the southwest will continue to push slowly northwards and eastwards. temperature—wise it's going to be cold in the north, twos, threes and fours. come further south and we're

looking at between six and a milder ten degrees. so tomorrow we start with this rain across southern england and wales. it's going to be pushing in the direction of the south—east and east anglia. a lot of cloud, producing some drizzle, some showers. and then more rain comes in from the south—west as the next area of low pressure arrives. temperatures still chilly in the brisk wind in the north—east, six in lerwick...to 15 in london. as we head on into friday, further rain to come across the north of the country. it's going to be windy. this rain is going to be heavy and persistent in scotland. northern ireland, there'll be some showers around as well. temperatures — five in the north to 16 or 17 as we push down towards the south. so, more of us will be in the milder air, the air coming up from the south, as it will do on saturday. on saturday, quite a lot of dry weather around. some showers in the west. the rain continuing to edge further north, but it is going to be a windy day. gales with exposure, gusty winds wherever you are. and we could well see 20 degrees somewhere in the south—east and east anglia.

global energy systems under

pressure. is the path to net too bumpy to navigate? sales drop at test level. why are consumers switching off? welcome to world business report. i'm lukwesa burak. we start in europe, where inflation fell to 2.4% in march, according to the latest figures. that's lower than expected. the drop has been led by smaller increases in food and goods prices. the news will be welcomed by the eurozone's central bank, the ecb, which meets next week to discuss if and when it will loosen monetary policy. experts predict a long—awaited interest rate cut may come as early asjune. so is this a sign that we're now at the end of the region s worst cost of living crisis for a generation?