hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start this hour in the middle east. a growing number of countries are calling for an independent investigation into an israeli drone strike on an aid convoy that killed seven people, after the israeli military published its first account of monday's deadly attack. britain has echoed calls by the charity world central kitchen for an independent review into the strike on a convoy of the organisation's vehicles. the attack on monday killed seven aid workers, including three british nationals. the british foreign secretary, lord cameron, said london would carefully review the initial report by the israeli military. he welcomed the suspension of two senior israeli officers as a first step, but said israel must publish its findings in full. and within the past hour australia's foreign minister, penny wong, said the australian government expects "full accountability" over the deaths.

this has been a deadly failure of deacon flexion. complexion is the by which humanitarian agencies engage with defence forces to ensure they are protected in conflict zones, and it was obviously a deadly failure. it cannot be rushed aside or covered over and i do not believe that any australian would expect us to do anything other than to continue to demand the transparency and accountability. the former united states house speaker nancy pelosi — a close ally of president biden has signed a letter together with almost forty congressional democrats calling for a halt to weapons transfers to israel. the letter urges the white house to conduct its own probe into an israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers on monday. it says the strike against the humanitarian convoy — along with the ever—worsening humanitarian crisis in gaza makes it unjustifiable to approve

further weapons deliveries. so along with the growing number of countries aid organisations have stressed the need for an independent investigation into the deaths of the aid workers. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more on the fallout from ashdod in israel. one of the vehicles carrying seven aid workers killed in an is really our strike on monday. there are charities logo clearly visible here but not say israeli authorities seen by the military drone operators. israel has sacked to idf officers after investigators concluded that even if they had not been mistaken, they did not follow protocol and their actions would not have been justified. actions would not have been “ustified. , ~ actions would not have been 'ustified. , ~ ., justified. the strike on the ureat justified. the strike on the great aid _ justified. the strike on the great aid vehicles - justified. the strike on the great aid vehicles is - justified. the strike on the great aid vehicles is a - justified. the strike on the l great aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from serious operationalfailures, steak mistake stemming from serious operational failures, steak and classification, and identification, errors in decision—making and strikes that were conducted in violation of standard operating procedures.

violation of standard operating procedures-— procedures. barely a day after us president _ procedures. barely a day after us president joe _ procedures. barely a day after us president joe biden - procedures. barely a day after us president joe biden said i procedures. barely a day after| us president joe biden said us us presidentjoe biden said us continuing support for israel would depend on increasing humanitarian relief and working towards an immediate ceasefire, israeli authorities say they are opening to new routes for humanitarian deliveries. one they say will temporarily run into the gaza strip from israel at erez gate. the other will allow aid to flow from egypt. it is news that is being welcomed but timing and details are yet to be announced. bid are yet to be announced. aid workers are yet to be announced. c workers should never be targeted. over 200 have been killed in this conflict. israel must do much more to protect them and to ensure their safety so they can deliver urgently needed life—saving humanitarian assistance. six. needed life-saving humanitarian assistance-— assistance. six months on from the start of _ assistance. six months on from the start of this _ assistance. six months on from the start of this conflict, - the start of this conflict, concerns about the humanitarian situation in gaza grow. the

families of those taken hostage by hamas on seven october continue to call for their return. now real concerns that the conflict could escalate. these were the scenes in iran where funerals were held for the nationals who were killed in an israeli strike on a consulate building in syria. the united states, which is called for an immediate ceasefire, says it isn't on high alert for a retaliatory attack on israel by iran. sean dilley, bbc news. the united nations and aid agencies have expressed doubt that israel's promises to open more food aid routes into gaza will be enough to ease the plight of starving palestinians. the un secretary general antonio guterres said "scattered measures" were not enough. in the aftermath of this

tragedy united nations was also informed by the israeli government of its attention to allow a substantial increase in humanitarian aid distributed in gaza. i sincerely hope that these announced intentions are effectively and quickly materialised because the situation in gaza is absolutely desperate. our international editorjeremy bowen, who is in israel, now asesses whether opening aid routes will be enough to quell the criticism of israel. clearly president biden got through to mr netanyahu in a way he has not since the war started. they made that announcement about opening new routes in the middle of the night here injerusalem after they had their call. i think that while mr biden certainly is at a tipping point on this, is at a tipping point on this, is the water turning point? well, i think is the water turning point? well, ithink it is the water turning point? well, i think it can be measured but it is going to take a few weeks. first of all, the numbers of palestinian civilians continuing to be

killed by the israeli military, thatis killed by the israeli military, that is one measurement to see if things have changed. also theissue if things have changed. also the issue of hunger and acute malnutrition and the imminent famine that was declared a month ago, and that has progressed to the degree of hunger. so all those things can be assessed also, whether the israelis go ahead with their attack on the southern town of rafah which they say they want to do and the americans are against. and a reminder you can get more on the israel gaza warn on the bbc news website, including this analysis from merlyn thomas and jake horton from the bbc verify team on how close israel is to eliminating hamas six months on. you can find that at bbc.com/news or on the bbc news app. to australia next. more than 150 people have been rescued after floods in northern sydney. other residents have been told to be prepared to flee their homes because of the rising floodwaters. the area's main reservoir which supplies most of the city's drinking water, has started to overflow. there's been three days

of torrential rainfall across eastern australia. people living in parts of new south wales have been told to stay indoors. it is important to note that flood levels in some of the rivers, particularly in western sydney, i continuing to rise and that presents a real danger to some communities, so it is very important for those who live in communities that are low—lying flood prone areas that you continue to listen to emergency broadcasts from the ses. let's speak to our sydney correspondent phil mercer. how bad is it phil?. across sydney we have bright blue skies today but as we heard there from the new south wales state premier chris minns, that is no sign for people in this city to ignore emergency warnings because all this rain that we have had in the last three days means that

ever so slowly, rivers and creeks in many parts are beginning to swell. some of them are overflowing. that is why evacuation orders have been issued in certain northern and western parts of sydney. further to the south in other larger towns and cities in the state of new south wales, residents have been told to stay indoors because the storm activity is moving south we have just heard in the last few minutes that the body of a man has been found in water in western sydney. we don't know the circumstances of that but if it is related to the floods, it does mean that this weather emergency in eastern australia over the last few days has had a fatal turn. we over the last few days has had a fatal turn.— a fatal turn. we can see some dramatic _ a fatal turn. we can see some dramatic pictures _ a fatal turn. we can see some dramatic pictures at _ a fatal turn. we can see some dramatic pictures at the - dramatic pictures at the moment. how unusual is it that this time of year to have this sort of weather?— this time of year to have this sort of weather? australia is a land of extremes. _ sort of weather? australia is a land of extremes. this - sort of weather? australia is a land of extremes. this is - sort of weather? australia is a land of extremes. this is a - land of extremes. this is a country well used two natures

extremes, and scientists have for years been warning that climate change will make these sort of extreme events more common and more intense. so what we have seen in the last three days as record—breaking rainfall in parts of eastern australia, notjust here in new south wales, the country's most populous state but further to the northern parts of queensland as well. there is some respite on the way. we hear from forecasters by the end of the weekend, these storm cells should have moved off the coast. of course the flood risk continues as those rivers continues as those rivers continue to rise and evacuation orders are in place for many residents in parts of sydney so yes, this is a land of extremes but once again this ferocious weather event has caught many people by surprise, and the clean—up will be long and arduous. let's get some of the day's other news now. thousands have been

evacuated from their homes after a dam burst in the russian city of orsk near the border with kazakhstan. a state of emergency was declared in the orenburg region after levels in the ural river rose dangerously because of melting ice. officals say an estimated 10,000 people may be in the flooding zone. police in serbia are searching for the body of a two—year—old girl whose disappearance ten days ago has gripped the country. danka ilic was last seen playing at her grandfather's house in bor, in eastern serbia. police say they have two men in custody who have confessed to hitting her with their car. instead of seeking help they claim they took her body to a landfill site but the authorities have yet to locate it. new york city has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a class—action lawsuit brought by two muslim—american women. they said that after arresting them, police violated their rights by forcing them to remove their hijabs to be photographed. the settlement protects both men and women from having to remove religious attire.

the metropolitan police have launched an investigation into unsolicited explicit images and messages sent to a number of mps and people working in politics. it comes as the conservative mp luke evans revealed that he was one of those targeted in the so—called honeytrap scam. fellow conservative william wragg had earlier apologised, after admitting giving other mps' personal phone numbers to a man on a dating app — he said he'd been scared, because the individual had compromising information about him. our political correspondent helen catt has the story. here's a video i didn't expect to make on a friday evening. the conservative mp luke evans is the first man to identify himself publicly as a possible victim of a suspected westminster whatsapp scam. the first set of messages i got was on a day i was with my wife, and i got a one—time—open

photo on whatsapp of an explicit image of a naked lady. as soon as i got this, the next day, i reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip. leicestershire police, which cover his bosworth constituency, are investigating. dr evans is one of a number of men in westminster who have been sent unsolicited messages by a person claiming to be someone they've met before, variously using the names abbie or charlie. but how might they have got hold of the numbers? another mp has suggested he may be responsible for leaking some of them. william wragg is a senior conservative who chairs a committee scrutinising the government. this he's admitted to the times that he passed on colleagues' numbers to a man on a dating app, aftersending him intimate pictures of himself. mr wragg told the paper he was scared the individual had compromising material on him and he was mortified and sorry. the mp involved has given a courageous and fulsome apology, but the lesson here for all mps is that they need to be very careful

about cybersecurity. tonight, the met police confirmed they are investigating reports of a number of unsolicited messages sent to mps over recent months. that is right that there is a proper investigation into this. in positions of responsibility, we always have to think about our actions, but there are also malevolent players out there who are trying to influence politics. it's not only mps who have been affected but also some staff and politicaljournalists. this man, who works for an mp, got an unexpected message from abbie back in october. "oh, hey," she said, "long time no speak, but i think i saw you from a distance yesterday, how are you?" the staffer replies once to ask, "who is this?" but on being told its 'abi' and that she'd met him on a campaign, he stops replying. abi, though, keeps messaging, three more times on different days. what felt off about it to you? it was still a message out of the blue and they used

a name i didn't recognise and it felt quite blunt. but i didn't check with a colleague in case there had been a name i'd just forgotten and i was being rude. william wragg, conservative mp, has come forward and said he gave out some numbers, but is he someone you know, do you think he is conceivably someone who could have had your number to pass on? that's why i was slightly surprised and why i think there are more questions. i don't think i've ever met him or been in the same room as him. i'd be very surprised if he had my number. for now, it's not known whether this is the fallout from an individual lapse ofjudgement or a malicious attempt by unknown others to gain influence behind these walls. this mps have been warned against speculating while investigations continue. helen catt, bbc news, westminster. to the united states next. president biden has said he'll move heaven and earth to help the city of baltimore recover from last month's deadly bridge collapse. mr biden called on congress to authorise funding to rebuild the structure as soon as possible. it was destroyed when a huge cargo ship ploughed into a support column, killing six people.

the wreckage is still blocking one of the busiest ports on the us east coast. i fully intend as the government knows to have the federal government cover the full cost of rebuilding this entire bridge, all of it. as they have done in other parts of the country in similar circumstances. i stand here and i call on congress to authorise this effort as soon as possible. our washington correspondent will vernon sent this update from the francis scott key bridge in baltimore. joe biden came here to send a message of support and reassurance of the people of baltimore, ten days after the catastrophic bridge collapsed. he surveyed the scene from the air, met local officials who briefed him on the recovery operation and also met the families of the six construction workers who were tragically killed in the bridge collapsed.

in his speech, mr biden told the people of baltimore that, "the nation has your back." he pledged government money to fully rebuild the bridge and also support local workers and businesses that have been affected by this. the main impact is up here, the port of baltimore. that is more less at a standstill now. there is traffic going in or out. that is one of america's busiest ports and the reason it is at a standstill is because the river is full of wreckage, full of debris, concrete, metal from that collapse. the main priority for the authorities is to get the channel open. there are several heavy lifting crane barge is here supplied by the us army that are already begun the process of cutting up the wreckage and lifting it out of the water. the authorities hope that they will have that port back to full capacity

as soon as the end of may. the investigation here is ongoing, a team of investigators is in baltimore and have been interviewing the crew of the container ship and have been studying the data of the on—board data recorder. there are bodies that have still not been recovered. they want to continue that investigation. the investigation here is ongoing, a team of investigators is in baltimore and have been interviewing the crew of the container ship and have been studying the data of the on—board data recorder. that is what we call a black box on an aircraft. they are hoping there will be some clues in the data that will lead them to the answer of the main question here. what caused the catastrophic power failure on board the ship shortly before impact? staying in the us, engineering teams have been inspecting roads and bridges in new york city after a rare

ii.8—magnitude earthquake struck the east coast. here are pictures of the statue of liberty as the tremor struck. the actual epicentre was in the state of newjersey. some aftershocks have been reported in the hours since the quake. the last one of this size struck new york in 1983. our correspondent john sudworth has more. new york of course is the scene of many a disaster movie but i don't think this story is going to make the fortunes of any hollywood script writer. the excitement and chatter is all of course focused on the fact that this is a relatively unusual event rather than its impact. a magnitude 4.8 quake is much bigger than the infrequent sometimes largely unnoticed quakes that occasionally it eastern side side the united states. this one was centred on the state of newjersey, way to the west, on

the other side of the hudson river. although it is some 50 miles away was big enough that in moments, residents of this 60 were lighting up social media with their accounts of buildings shaking apartments rattling. the key of is that the authorities say there have been no reports of major damage, no injuries and although they are warning of the possibility of after—shocks, the real message is that there is no need to panic. as always new york is taking this in its stride, with a bit of a shrug and lots of talk about it. alexander gates is an earth sciences professor at rutgers university and he explained why the new york quake was different to ones on the us west coast. the first is that the earthquakes in this area tend to be very shallow so for example the one today was only one kilometre deep, so basically when happens, you

build—up the stress enough so that it breaks the rock, so if you think of it like snapping a pencil, you build—up the stress and then snapped, hear the snap go off but what happens here is that they are so close to the surface, you can sometimes hear the earthquake go off. it sounds like an explosion in the waves are very sharp and close to it and they taper off as you go away. to it and they taper off as you to awa . , ., to it and they taper off as you uoawa. , ., go away. they do say that new york is the _ go away. they do say that new york is the city _ go away. they do say that new york is the city that _ go away. they do say that new york is the city that never - york is the city that never sleeps and one t—shirt store in manhattan definitely was not caught napping. it quickly started printing souvenir t—shirts to mark the event and they proved to be very popular with tourists and new yorkers alike snapping them up. here's the store owner kerry colley. this is $10. this is promotional. it is definitely a fun shot. it's cheaper than a regular shirt. although we are running out of the original colour, we can do almost

anything from extra small 25 xl. ., ., ., .., ., xl. love that. you can get more that earthquake _ xl. love that. you can get more that earthquake including - that earthquake including pictures of new york landmarks shaking on the bbc news website or app. the remains of a large roman villa have been unearthed during work on a new housing development in oxfordshire. large quantities of pottery and roman coins were also found. archaeologist francesca giarelli took us on a tour of the site: the scale of the building, the richness of the fines and the amount we found is quite unusual. amount we found is quite unusual-— amount we found is quite unusual. being a very tall building _ unusual. being a very tall building for— unusual. being a very tall building for roman - unusual. being a very tall| building for roman times, unusual. being a very tall - building for roman times, these would have been seen from very far away. would have been seen from very faraway. it's would have been seen from very far away. it's not everyday that you can have to dig a site like this, especially finding the painted plaster that is not just wide already, but we are blue or yellow ingredients. it's quite special. in roman times, you would have to have that stone important all the

way through afghanistan, and especially with the romans we can bet every type of vessel, dish, jar, there are a range of more or less 25 years. the little tablet and rectangle, remnants left. we would go into a temple and have inscribed either your wishes or curses towards everyone that wronged wrongdoer life or did something good for you. for me the most exciting thing is the little acts. that is quite special. it's quite special. it is not the normal archaeology would do every other day in the uk. a cute pooch, missing in california, has finally been reunited with its owners, after turning up almost nine months later, and more than 2,000 miles away, from the family home. mishka, a terrier—mix, went missing in san diego,

back injuly last year, but somehow, ended up, in detroit in michigan. neda tawfik reports now, on a strange shaggy dog tale. this mishka the dog is finally home with her overjoyed family, a happy ending to a cross—country tale that began when she disappeared lastjuly in san diego, california, only to be discovered more than 2,000 miles away in michigan. how the terrier mix ended up there is a mystery. her owners, mehrad and miz houman, posted flyers around town and feeds on social media. and had gone months without any encouraging news. then, just as they were planning to travel for easter weekend to minneapolis to see relatives, they got a call from an animal welfare group that mishka had been found. daddy's bringing her home. once the family landed in minnesota,

mehrad drove ten hours overnight to michigan for the emotional reunion. yeah, it's wonderful. lilly, what do you think? are you so happy? we are so overjoyed and still in shock that she's here, but we couldn't be more happy. because mishka had been chipped, the grosse pointe animal adoption society was able to match her with her owners. we don't know who or how she got here to michigan. we know she didn't walk but that's about all we know. only mishka can tell us, and she's not talking. mishka is healthy and doing great and the humans even discovered that she has learned a few new tricks. with the family home once again, they've nicknamed her the miracle dog. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. if only dogs could talk we could find out exactly how she did that. finally this half hour to the most read story

on the bbc news website and app. sacha baron cohen and isla fisher have announced they are getting divorced after two decades together. in a social media post announcing the split, the actors said theyjointly filed to end their marriage last year. the pair, who have three children, met in 2001 and got engaged in 2004. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. storm kathleen will dominate our weather through this weekend — a deep area of low pressure passing well to the west of the uk but close enough to bring gales in northern and western parts. one other consequence, though — some very warm air being drawn up from the south. here's how the storm developed during friday. a strong and powerfuljet stream really energising this area of low pressure, this curl of cloud developing here. wherever you see a weather system spinning up into a curl like this, well, it shows that it really will mean business. this deep low passing to the west of ireland, lots of isobars squeezing

together, so some very strong winds but also some very warm air. northern scotland far warmer than it has been over recent days. parts of eastern england could get to 21 or 22 degrees. some rain to start off across the northern half of scotland — heavy rain at that. it will pull away northwards and then, essentially, it is a sunshine and showers day. some of those showers could be on the heavy side but it is going to be windy for all, particularly around these western coasts — gusts of 50, 60, 70 miles per hour in exposed spots — so that could cause some disruption, certainly some very rough seas as well. but with those winds coming from the south, yes, it is going to be warm with temperatures peaking at 21 or maybe 22 degrees in eastern england. now, through saturday evening, this weak cold front will exit

the east of england, so that will leave some slightly fresher air into the early hours of sunday morning. still windy, still with quite a few showers. not as mild to start sunday morning but still very mild for an april morning. and then into sunday, well, it's another sunshine and showers day, the showers likely to join together into bands, so some places could see quite a few of those heavy and possibly thundery showers. windy again. but then, as we head into the start of the new week, we are watching this area of low pressure. now, there's still a bit of uncertainty about this but this could bring another bout of wet and very windy weather to southern parts of the uk as we head

through monday and into tuesday. that's all for me. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a growing number of countries are calling for an independent investigation into an israeli drone strike that killed seven aid workers, after the israeli military published its first account of monday's deadly attack. britain has echoed calls by the charity world central kitchen for an independent review into the strike on the organisation's vehicles. two british police forces are investigating claims that a number of mps were targeted in a suspected parliamentary honeytrap plot. luke evans, the conservative mp

for bosworth in leicestershire is the second person to say publicly that he received unsolicited explicit images. the tory mp, william wragg, also says he was targeted. and more than 150 people have been rescued from flood waters in northern sydney — as more residents prepare to flee their homes. the area's main dam supplying most of the city's drinking water has started to overflow. now on bbc news — the travel show: azerbaijan. i'm on a journey to explore azerbaijan. neither asia nor europe, this is a country where a colourful past and prosperous present intertwine. the price of the caviar in azerbaijan is like four times less than in the uk. filled with ancient wonders, it's a place where the natural world has shaped its history for generations. a unique country, with nine climate zones.