a re are defying the by extremists who are defying the will of _ by extremists who are defying the will of the — by extremists who are defying the will of the whole international community and killing with impunity. two police forces in the uk are now investigating reports that a number of mps were sent explicit messages in a parliamentary honeytrap plot. and — more than 150 people have been rescued from floods in sydney — as more residents prepare to flee their homes. hello, this is bbc news. we start this hour with the war in the middle east. presidentjoe biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party to pause us arms sales to israel. nearly forty congressional democrats have signed a letter calling for no weapons to be sent — until a full investigation is completed into monday's airstrike on an aid convoy in gaza. 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.

the politicians who have signed the letter include one of mr biden�*s key allies — the former speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi. now this letter comes as a growing number of countries are calling for an independent investigation into the israeli drone strike that killed seven aid workers. that's after the idf 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 its convoy of vehicles. of those seven aid workers killed — three were british nationals. three were 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 couple of hours — australia's foreign minister, penny wong, said the australian government expects "full accountability" over the deaths. this has been a deadly failure of deconfliction. deconfliction is the process by which humanitarian agencies engage with defense forces to ensure that they are protected in conflict zones. well, there was obviously a deadly failure. it cannot be brushed aside and it cannot be covered over and i don't believe any australian would expect us to do anything other than to continue to demand the transparency and accountability. with more on that letter to president biden calling for a pause in us arms sales to israel here's our north america correspondent peter bowes this is a strongly—worded letter. nancy pelosi, dozens of other congressional democrats, nancy pelosi, known to be close to president biden, but this is a letter really full of criticism of the biden administration. it does show that there is a growing amount of unease amongst democrats about us policy towards israel. these congressional democrats saying

that they have a shared concern and outrage at the airstrike that resulted in the deaths of seven aid workers. they say that they strongly urge the biden administration to carry out an independent investigation into what happened. now, really, just a few hours before this letter was released, the white house ruled that out, an investigation by the us. john kirby, the national security spokesman, saying that it wasn't going to happen, so it seems no immediate change in policy there. the letter goes on, it says, "if the strike is found to have violated us or international law, future arms packages should be withheld until those responsible are held accountable". now, it seems, clearly, that there won't be any immediate change in us policy towards israel and the way that this war is being conducted, but this is the kind of criticism from within the democrats, and especially involving people like nancy pelosi, that is quite likely to hit home with president biden,

especially during an election year, and it may well influence policy in the weeks and months to come. 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. sean dilley reports. one of the vehicles carrying seven aid workers killed in an israeli air strike on monday. their charity's logo clearly visible here — but not, say israeli authorities, seen by military drone operators. israel has sacked two 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. the strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from serious operational failures, mistaken classification and identification, errors in decision—making, and strikes that were conducted in violation of standard operating procedures. barely a day after 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're opening two 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 through the point where the borders of israel, gaza and egypt meet. it's welcome news, but the united nations says it will watch closely what happens next. aid 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 months on from the start of this conflict, concerns about the humanitarian situation in gaza grow. the families of those taken hostage by hamas on october 7 continue to call for their return. for all those asking for an immediate ceasefire without the release of the hostages, where is your moral compass? the call should be to hamas to release the hostages, to put down their arms, and to allow the whole region to breathe once again. now real concerns that

the conflict could escalate. these were the scenes in iran, where funerals were held for their nationals who were killed in an israeli strike on a consulate building in syria. the united states, which has called for an immediate ceasefire, says it is on high alert for a retaliatory attack on israel by iran. sean dilley, bbc news. our chief international correspondent lyce doucet is injerusalem and joins us now. six months for that she was from allies has shifted this week, has in reaction of. it allies has shifted this week, has in reaction of-— reaction of. it is starting to a ossible reaction of. it is starting to a possible turning _ reaction of. it is starting to a possible turning point - reaction of. it is starting to a possible turning point in - reaction of. it is starting to a possible turning point in this| possible turning point in this small, eversince possible turning point in this small, ever since israel launched its tally for the strikes against hamas after the assault on southern israel that the most powerful backing from allies us and britain.

but six months on as we have been hearing the friends of israel and asking tough questions about its conduct during the war. a short time ago i spoke withjonathan foreign minister and asked mckay turning point. for six months, we've seen nothing but an israeli government that is defying the will of the whole international community, proceeding with a massacre that have produced nothing but death and suffering and destruction to the palestinians. six months into this massacre, the world has to act more assertively to ensure that israel complies with international law, international humanitarian law. not only stop killing palestinians through this war, but also stop the starvation which is claiming more lives day in, day out. so it is way past time that israel is held responsible for what it has done and stopped this massacre and allow all of us then to come together and see how we can get

beyond this misery and work towards a future that will ensure peace and security for palestinians and israelis. israel has made a few steps to get the desperately needed aid into gaza concluded crossing, a court in israel and expanding the capacity. i asked vicky difference. i've heard those promises before. we'll believe them when we see them. thus far, in the last six months, only an average of 100 trucks a day have entered gaza compared to what the un estimated was 800 trucks needed on a daily basis. so the the amount of humanitarian aid entering into gaza is completely insignificant as of yet. we'll wait and see if israel really does take any action to allow more aid in and also to allow humanitarian agencies into gaza, because without the un being there in charge of those operations, without ngos being able to work,

without the threat of being bombed and killed, the issue of distribution will also be a major problem. so what's needed now is opening all land crossings into gaza and allowing the un and other ngos full access and full ability to receive the aid and to distribute the aid. he said what must be done soon. the us and are also seeing tangible steps that israel addresses concerns about the protection of has an of humanitarian aid. that entered the bbc�*s today package. earlier, i spoke to michael stephens, associate fellow at the royal united services institute. i asked him if us aid to israel is under threat.

this is settling a chapter on the pathway, do nothing we have crossed the line. there are numerous instances where both the united states and united kingdom and other governments have expressed concern and their own diplomatic reporting has shown they have deep concerns over the way in which israel has conducted the war. that has not yet led to any sanctions in terms of arms sales, you currently have in the background a large proposed sale of f—iss from the us to israel, but i do not think that will be stopped so there are large aspects of the israel defence needs related to iran and not necessarily palestine so the us is going down this route i do not suspect they will anytime soon it would be quite a complex box to open

and unpick because there are so many different aspects of the defence relationship between the us and israel that are ongoing and have been for many years. i would not hold your breath is the answer. when it comes to the uk, we talk about the support from the us but there are conversations here about curtailing sales to israel, what is the level of support the uk provides to israel and how essential is it to the country. certainly not of the level the us is providing but that has been a long—term relationship between the uk and us, the advanced reconnaissance materials going from the uk to israel and israeli technology from israel to the uk. it is not huge but substantial in a sense that it causes the british government a bit of a headache when issues like this happen because there is domestic pressure on all sides. it was clear that the head

of the former fails committee committee was recorded saying the foreign office has evidence there were procedures not forward correctly by the israeli military. six people have been killed during a russian drone attack on ukraine's second—largest city, kharkiv. the city's mayor says iranian—made drones hit several buildings, including a residential blocks of flats, early on saturday morning. 10 people were injured. to australia next. more than 150 people have been rescued from floods in northern sydney. other people have been told to be prepared to leave their homes because of the rising floodwaters. the area's main reservoir, which supplies most of the city's drinking water, is overflowing. there's been three days of torrential rainfall across much of eastern australia. people living in parts of new south wales have been told to stay indoors. it's important to note that

flood levels in some of the rivers, particularly in western sydney, are continuing to rise and that presents a real danger for some communities. so it's 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. earlier i asked our sydney correspondent phil mercer where things stand now... we know there are two deaths have been associated with these wild days of weather in eastern australia. on thursday a 71 year old man was found in floodwaters near brisbane, and earlier today a body was found in floodwaters in western parts of sydney. the police say they do not know the circumstances of the second fatality but it has been a wild few days in eastern australia, record—breaking amounts of rain have fallen.

here in new south wales across one 24—hour period a month worth of rain fell so there are still evacuation orders in place in parts of sydney but thankfully for the residents of the city the storm system is moving south and expected to head out to sea over the weekend but as you would imagine the flood warnings are continuing because the rain is flowing into rivers which are rising so with them the risk of flooding to low—lying areas. was there any way to prepare to avoid some of the issues and dangers people are facing? australia is a land well used to extremes, the authorities are very good at giving advance warnings to motorists and homeowners and commuters but people

find themselves still facing peril. dozens of people have had to be rescued by emergency services so it is a mercy that although two people have died tragic for those family members but it is an indication that australia is pretty good at giving warnings to citizens when these extreme events rumble through communities in this country. let 5 get some of the day 5 other news now thousands have been evacuated from their homes after a dam burst in the russian city of orsk near its 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 grandfathers 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 dollars 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. two police forces, the met and leicestershire, are now investigating claims that unsolicited, explicit images and messages were sent to a number of mps and people working in westminster. yesterday luke evans, the mp for bosworth, revealed he was targeted in the so—called honeytrap scam. 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 these, 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've been sent unsolicited messages by a person claiming to be someone they've met before, variously using the names abby 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 scrutinizing the government. he's admitted to the times

that he passed on colleagues' numbers to a man on a dating app after sending 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 mp5 is that they need to be very careful about cybersecurity. the met police confirmed they are investigating reports of a number of unsolicited messages sent to mp5 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. for now, it's not known whether this is the fallout from an individual lapse ofjudgment or a malicious attempt by unknown others to gain influence behind these walls.

mps have been warned against speculating while investigations continue. helen catt, bbc news, westminster. mexico has suspended relations with ecuador in protest at a police raid on the mexican embassy in quito to arrest a former ecuadorean vice—president, jorge glas.he'd been sheltering in the compound since december but was wanted on corruption charges, with mexico saying it had granted glas �*political asylum'. in response to the raid, mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador ordered the suspension of diplomatic ties with ecuador. the body of a construction worker who was killed after last month's baltimore bridge collapse has been month's baltimore bridge collapse has been recovered. father—of—two, maynor suazo—sandovalfrom honduras, had been repairing potholes on the bridge when a container ship hit one of its support columns. three other workers

are still missing. it comes as the us presidentjoe biden has said he'll move "heaven and earth" to help the city recover from the tragedy. our reporter will vernon has the latest. eleven days after the disaster, the site of the baltimore bridge collapse still astonishes. president biden came here to see things for himself, meeting officials who briefed him on the progress of the recovery operation. mr biden paid tribute to the construction workers killed when the bridge collapsed from under theirfeet. the damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking. eight construction workers went into the water when the bridge fell. six lost their lives. most were immigrants, but all were marylanders, hard—working, strong, and selfless. after pulling the night shift fixing potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck. the authorities are desperately trying to clear wreckage from the river. a vital shipping lane

to and from the port of baltimore remains cut off by this disaster, and that's having a big impact on the local economy. president biden came here to send a message of support and reassurance to the people of baltimore, promising more funds to help local workers and businesses. but there are also questions here about exactly why this happened. what caused that catastrophic power failure on board the ship? investigators are studying the black box data recorders, trying to piece together the events leading up to impact, and they've been interviewing the crew of the container ship, who are still on board. officials say they'll release an early version of the report in around a month, but it could take years to establish the full facts of what exactly led to this tragedy. will vernon, bbc news, baltimore.

staying in the us, engineering teams have been inspecting roads and bridges in new york city after a rare four—point— eight magnitude earthquake struck the east coast. (00v)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 city were lighting up social media with their accounts of buildings shaking apartments rattling. the key 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. to slovakia next and voters are at the polls today to choose a new president. the current one zuzana chap—ut—ov—ah decided not to seek re—election after receiving what she said was a torrent of abuse including death threats. two men are bidding for the largely ceremonial but highly influential

post ? the pro—western peta pellegrini, the candidate of the populist nationalist government. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. a very blustery weekend of weather right across the uk, with gusts of wind widely of a0 to 50mph. gales towards western coasts, perhaps locally severe gales. it's all because our next named storm is with us today, storm kathleen. that area of low pressure has been deepening over the last 2a hours or so. you can see this beautiful swirl on the satellite picture here, that lovely curl of cloud, a very strong jet stream. that low is gradually pushing northwards as we head through the next day or so. a real tight squeeze on the isobars,

particularly for these irish sea coasts, but because it's a southerly to south—westerly wind, we're also dragging up some very warm air, so quite a dramaticjump in temperatures across parts of scotland and we could even see 22 degrees celsius across parts of east anglia later on this afternoon, making it the warmest day of the year so far again. we've seen that rain clear away from scotland through the morning. there will be some blustery showers here. another line of showers gradually pushing eastwards and gradually easing. a lot of sunshine and plenty of dry weather out towards eastern areas of england. a very windy day towards these irish sea coasts. there could be some gusts of wind of up to 70mph. it's enough to cause some transport disruption and, of course, some very large waves, as well. but some very warm air — temperatures well above the seasonal average. overnight tonight, there will still be some blustery showers around. in fact, there could even be a rumble or two of thunder. it does stay very windy too, but because the cold front will have cleared its way eastwards, we will also see some slightly fresher conditions

into tomorrow morning. but temperatures still mild for this point in april, still double figures towards the south. tomorrow, another day of sunshine and some showers. again, some of those showers could be heavy and thundery, they could even start to form in lines at times. all of this is pushing further southwards and eastwards. lots of dry weather too, but staying very windy. gusts of wind strongest out towards western areas of scotland. these will be the day's temperatures. as you can see, they are lower than today's, but still mild for the time of year — generally 12 to 17 degrees. it's not quite it either for the unsettled conditions. another deep area of low pressure will be spinning its way northwards and eastwards as we head through monday and tuesday. i think monday could be dry for many eastern areas, but we'll see some wet weather out towards the west. lighter winds, but it does stay very unsettled as we head through next week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel following an israeli air strike which killed seven aid workers. led by former house speaker nancy pelosi, around a0 democratic members of congress have signed an open letter expressing outrage at the deaths. two police forces in the uk are now investigating reports that a number of mps were sent explicit messages and images, in a suspected parliamentary honeytrap plot.

a murder investigation is under way, after a human torso was discovered wrapped in plastic in woodland near manchester. 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. let's get more now on the story that the conservative mp dr luke evans has said he was a victim of "cyber flashing" and that he alerted police who are now investigating a suspected westminster honeytrap. he spoke to the leicestershire force last month after receiving unsolicited pictures of naked women on whatsapp. the metropolitan police has also confirmed it is investigating explicit images and messages sent to mp5. our political correspondent charlotte wright has more.