hello, we start this hour with the news that nine countries have taken part in the largest international aid airdrop in a single day into gaza, to help provide supplies for the end of the islamic holy month of ramadan. fourteen aircraft delivered hundreds of tonnes of food and essential aid in an operation led by the jordanian air force. britain was among the participating nations. the british foreign secretary, david cameron, said thousands of people in desperate need would benefit. israel has been under international pressure to allow in more aid trucks by land, and work is continuing on a maritime aid corridorour diplomatic correspondent, james landalejoined the royal air force flight delivering aid to gaza on tuesday — and filed this report. at an airbase injordan, piles of humanitarian aid — stacked into individual

pallets, adorned with their own parachute, all of it bound for gaza. on the tarmac, 1a military aircraft getting ready for the largest coalition air drop since they began last month, a special delivery to mark the end of ramadan. inside, pilots and crews from different nations being briefed on the operation, safety a key concern in the small airspace over gaza. outside, the raf plane is loaded, each palette containing flour, rice, sugar, beans, baby food, oil and water — the basics for a meal — this, the raf�*s sixth airdrop so far. it is not that much, but i tell you what — it's the effort that counts. as in, every little helps. i'm quite proud and privileged to be involved in this sort of mission. but is it enough? will it meet the needs of the people in gaza? the aircraft's carrying 12 of these pallets. now, each of them are about a tonne, so that means this

entire payload is worth about one truck crossing a border on the ground. the aircrews here insist that, cumulatively, the air drops are beginning to have an impact. this is a sustained effort. we've been here for three weeks now, and we're continually delivering the aid. the people of gaza are very grateful for the efforts that we're going to and we'll keep delivering and keep delivering until we can't give them any more. in the air, we fly the short distance to gaza, then we're over the drop zone. the pilots are satisfied no—one�*s below and the back ramp lowers. these airdrops are expensive and inadequate, a symbol of the failure to get aid in by other means. but, we're told, they're better than nothing and they are making a difference. 12 boxes out, all on target on the northern shore. these airdrops can be dangerous — people have been crushed

in the stampede to get to the pallets — but there's little that can be done from the air. so, today, the skies over gaza were filled with parachutes. israel says more aid trucks are getting through, but how many is not clear. this aid from the air will not fill the gap, but the aircrews involved hope — believe — that it is making a difference to so many facing famine on the ground. james landale, bbc news over gaza. the wars in the middle east and ukraine took centre stage today at a high—level meeting in washington between america and britain's top diplomats. u—k foreign secretary david cameron says his government has "grave concerns" about humanitarian access in gaza, but would not be suspending arms exports to israel. he also defended his earlier meeting with former president donald trump — as �*entirely in line with precedent�*. meanwhile secretary blinken says the us does not

have a date for a potential israeli military operation in rafah, but added the state department is working closely with qatar and egypt to establish a ceasefire. no, we do not have a date for any rafah operation. on the contrary, what we have is an ongoing conversation with israel about any rafah operation. the president's been very clear about our deep concerns. about israel's ability to lose civilians out of harm's way, to care for them once they are out of harm's way and you have any kind of major military operation that doesn't do real harm to civilian, children and to women. i'm joined now by philipj crowley, who was assistant secretary of state for

public affairs under president obama. lets�*s start with the ceasefire talks there still seems to be a lot of distance between israel and hamas. what are the main sticking points? i think they are political. as lord cameron said during the press conference, the long—term goal remains expelling hamas after a cease—fire. and for the netanyahu government, they understand that at some point, there is going to be a day of reckoning, politically, for what happened on october the 7th and it is a reasonable bet that they will be pushed out of power. so you have the combatants who are not sure that a cease—fire serves either their strategic interests or their strategic interests or their political interests and thatis their political interests and that is why this conflict continues stubbornly as it does. ~ �* ., ., continues stubbornly as it does. �* . ., ., ., does. we've heard a lot of contradiction _ does. we've heard a lot of contradiction about - does. we've heard a lot of| contradiction about israel's plant assault on rafah in the south of gaza, what is your opinion on mixed messages?

everyone is stuck. hamas has been dealt a significant military below, but they are by no means defeated. and the longer that this occupation goes on, the more difficult it is for israel in the more ms. reed's inflicted upon the palestinian people. and no doubt that there are hamas fighters holed up in rafah and if israel is going to succeed in removing hamas from power, they are going to have to do an operation there. but as the united states, britain and others have said, their performance to date on the butterfield in terms of military operations while protecting civilians is far less, is totally inadequate —— on the battlefield. it less, is totally inadequate -- on the battlefield.— on the battlefield. it also appears _ on the battlefield. it also appears international- on the battlefield. it also - appears international pressure is growing.

with the biden administration sending william burns, the head of the cia, for the latest round of talks in cairo. is there a shift in how much pressure the us can apply on israel and hamas to find a truce? 01+. privately there is a great deal of pressure, publicly secretary has said we continue to have this typical conversation with the israeli government and part of the challenge is that it is unclear how much pressure is being applied to hamas. their greatest ally in the region is iran and while perjury does not want to see the situation boil out of control, they, no doubt are pleased that right now israel is on the defensive and that gives them a lot of room to manoeuvre. tehran has promised retaliation for the strike on its consulate in damascus, and accuses the us of giving a �*green light�* to israel for the attack. are you worried by the risk of regional escalation? we have already seen regional

escalation. occasionally with respect to lebanon, clearly with respect to the houthis and the red sea, i think iran likes to keep this at a simmer. it is worried about it boiling over, and in fact, since the exchange of fire and attacks on americans which yielded a stern warning from the biden white house, things have been quiet on that front. so i think iran is trying to figure out how to play this, just as other actors in the region are.— in the region are. thank you so much for _ in the region are. thank you so much for your— in the region are. thank you so much for your time _ in the region are. thank you so much for your time today. - philipj crowley, former us assistant secretary of state for public affairs. a group of women from switzerland, have won the first ever climate case, brought before the european court of human rights. the judges ruled that switzerland�*s efforts to meet its emission reduction targets, had been woefully inadequate. the judgment could influence

the law in 46 other european countries, including the uk, which is subject to the court�*s jurisdiction. with more, here�*s justin rowlatt. the swiss women arrived at the european court ready to fight... there has been a violation of article 8 of the convention. ..and they won, persuading the judges that switzerland�*s failure to do enough to cut planet—warming emissions could help create heatwaves that could threaten the lives of older people. i am so happy we could contribute to the future, to a betterfuture for our children. today�*s ruling is not open to challenge. experts say it sets an important precedent and will support the legal case for climate action in european countries, including the uk. the decision comes as new figures show this march was 1.68 degrees celsius above preindustrial levels and the hottest march on record globally.

sea surface temperatures were even more dramatic, at 21.07 celsius in march, the highest ever recorded at any time. and just look at the effect that is having on some coral reefs. this is the actual coral animal itself. coral bleaches — turns white — when it is stressed by heat and can die as a result. a mass bleaching event has already begun in the southern hemisphere and is likely to effect coral reefs worldwide. but there are efforts to address the issue, and in some unexpected places. like the university of derby. scientists here persuaded coral to spawn in the laboratory, for the first time, they say. now, they are working on a world—leading effort to develop heat resistant corals. this isjust small scale behind us and just sort of proof of concept. and it is really about generating the hundreds

of thousands of corals which are thermally tolerant, and pushing those corals back out on to the reef in a restoration programme. the good news is, the extreme heat should begin to ease back in coming months. a natural weather event known as el nino has helped push up global temperatures in the last ten months. this is how it works. normally the trade winds blow from east to west across the tropical pacific, sending warm surface water to asia, and drawing up deeper, cooler water, here on the coast of south america. with el nino, the winds weaken, or reverse, driving the warm water to the coast of south america and delivering extra heat to the atmosphere. the current el nino began injune and has only just begin to weaken. if global temperatures don�*t begin to fall — and the current high sea temperatures suggest they might not — then some scientists fear we could have entered a new phase of more rapid climate change. justin rowlatt, bbc news.

let�*s take a look at some other stories in the headlines... rescuers in northern italy are searching for several people who remain missing after an underground explosion and fire at a hydroelectric plant, near the city of bologna. at least four people are known to have died in the blast at the bargi plant on lake suviana. several others suffered severe burns and were flown to nearby hospitals by helicopter. the electoral court in south africa has ruled that the former president, jacob zuma, can stand in the election next month. mr zuma had been excluded because of a conviction for contempt of court. arizona�*s supreme court has revived a near—total ban on abortion in the state. president biden has condemned the decision as cruel. the court ruling means arizona joins more than a dozen other states where abortions have been largely outlawed, since the federal right to a termination was removed two years ago.

to the us now — the parents of a school shooter in michigan have been sentenced in a landmark case. james and jennifer crumbley are the first to be held responsible for a gun attack carried out by their teenage son. ethan crumbley killed four classmates and injured seven others in 2021 at oxford high school. he is serving life in prison without parole. his parents were both found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and face 10 to 15 years in prison. here�*s our north america correspondentjohn sudworth. ethan crumbley, was just is—years—old when he was given the semi—automatic handgun as an early christmas present. he put it in his backpack, took it to school and carried out the mass shooting that claimed the lives of four of his fellow students. such is the epidemic of gun violence in this country, of course, that his sentencing last year to life imprisonment

without parole may have been just another footnote. except for this unique development — the charging of both of his parents with involuntary manslaughter. they were convicted in two separate trials over the past few months. and i think you�*re right, gun control campaigners will be hoping that this very stringent sentence handed down — a minimum of ten years for each parent to be served — will send a message that will resonate in every home in america where guns are kept within reach of children. we should say, though, some legal experts suggest that that possibility can be overstated. there are particular circumstances in this case, and the negligence being alleged was so severe, the parents inability to secure the guns, theirfailure to heed their son�*s own warnings about his declining mental health, that we can overstate it. but nonetheless, for those who feel there is a failure of political action here, they�*ll take some comfort today in this message from the courts. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

disinformation over a cholera outbreak has been blamed for the deaths of almost 100 people after an overcrowded makeshift ferry sank off the coast of mozambique. our reporter, courtney bembridge has more from the newsroom. this is the fishing boat that was used as a makeshift ferry. there were around 130 people on board, including many children. and officials sayjust 12 people survived. one of the crew members has been speaking to local media there about what went wrong. take a listen. translation: when i saw the boat was at risk, - i asked the crew chief to increase the speed in order to avoid the worst. we dragged it to shore, but it was too late. the water filled up in the boat. the victims�* families say they were fleeing the mainland over concerns about cholera when they piled into the boat. translation: they were running away from the cholera outbreak. l

they got into the boat. the sea was rough. the boat capsized and it killed a lot of people. officials say there was no outbreak and have blamed disinformation for the panic. but these conspiracy theories come as mozambique and other southern african nations are battling a genuine cholera outbreak. according to government data, since october last year, mozambique has had 15,000 cases and 32 deaths. and the worst affected region is nampula, where the boat capsized after leaving lunga. it�*s also not the first time that false claims about cholera have caused issues in mozambique. this is an article bbc verify published last year about violence and deaths according to health officials that had been caused by false claims about a cholera outbreak. bbc verify looked into these and found that they were being spread by word of mouth and via social media.

in the uk, mp william wragg will no longer sit in the house of commons for the conservatives, after he shared colleagues�* phone numbers on a dating app. a party spokesman said he�*d voluntarily given up the whip. on monday evening mr wragg stepped down as vice chairman of the 1922 committee of conservative mps. he also told the speaker he is resigning as chairman of another commons committee he sits on. more than 100 years ago the language esperanto was created in an attempt to make international communication easier — the idea that everyone would to speak esperanto, alongside their mother tongue. well it didn�*t really take off because it required learning. but now, thanks to ai, conversing in another language, or as many as you like, is something anyone can do — as james clayton reports. the world is more connected than ever. conversations with anyone, anywhere, are just a click away.

there�*sjust one problem — we don�*t all speak the same language. i really, really wish that i could, but unfortunately i can�*t speak any other languages fluently other than english. untranslated what if i could speak polish? thanks to new ai apps, though, i can give at least the impression of being able to speak pretty much any language. this one is called heygen. so i�*m going to speak like this. i do a quick video of myself, upload it onto heygen and wait. and then, out pops a video of me, speaking the language that i chose, in this case spanish. and here�*s the really cool bit — when omar, the producer on this piece,

got into the shot, it detected his voice was different to mine and translated his voice too. you are in shot, my friend. i�*ve actually managed to fool some friends using this. it really is impressive. in london, one company called synthesia is using this kind of tech to translate ai—generated corporate videos into any language. many of these companies, of course, have divisions all over the world whom they need to, it�*s a sales force maybe that they need to train, right. and with this tool, they can create the base material in english, they can then translate it into different localities. but the company�*s founder says the tech has other benefits, too. we�*re seeing that with ngos all over the world where they can produce video content instead of written content for people who may have a difficult time reading and it will do it in local languages. sojust this kind of dissemination of information in people�*s native language via video and audio, it�*s very, very powerful. as it gets easier and easier to change the words that

come out of our mouths, there�*s also a worry that this kind of technology could increase the amount of misinformation on the internet. but when it comes to translating educational videos or sending a message to someone in their own language... untranslated james clayton, bbc news. the nobel prize winning physicist, peter higgs, has died aged 94. he gave his name to the higgs field, which fills the entire universe and gives elementary particles mass. the existence of the higgs field was confirmed in 2012 with the discovery of the higgs boson. pallab ghosh looks back on his life. we now know that the cosmos is held together because of a particle called the higgs boson. it was an idea developed by peter higgs more than 60 years ago. it was seen as far—fetched by his fellow

scientists back then. but fast—forward to 2012. applauded by the world�*s physicists and the rest of us, too, for transforming our understanding of how the universe works. i�*ve never been in a scientific meeting like that before because people got up and cheered and stamped. i regarded it as cheers for the home team, and that was what it was really about. maybe they were cheering me too, but that was a minor issue. after decades of searching, by smashing the insides of atoms together, researchers at the large hadron collider at cern finally discovered the higgs particle. and today, leading scientists who worked at cern sent their tributes to the man as well as his research. professor brian cox said... he was always charming and modest and of course his

professor fabiola gianotti, the head of cern, said... his achievements won him the nobel prize in 2013. a former neighbour congratulated me on the news and i said, oh, what news? and so she told me that her daughter had phoned from london to alert her to the fact that i had got this prize. peter higgs�*s theory is the bedrock of modern physics and the discovery of his particle is regarded as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 21st century. the physicist peter higgs, who�*s died, at the age of 94.

a court in australia has ruled that men can enter a women�*s—only exhibition in tasmania. the ladies lounge exhibit at the museum of old and new art wanted to highlight historic misogyny by banning male visitors. the venue had insisted that rejecting men was part of the art, arguing australian law allowed for discrimination "designed to promote equal opportunity" for a group of people who had been historically disadvantaged. the judge rejected that argument. before we go let�*s take you live to south korea where polls have opened in a general election that is being seen as an unofficial referendum on the administration of president yoon suk yeol. mr yoon, who won the presidential election by a narrow margin in 2022, has proved unpopular amid a cost of living crisis, a doctors�* strike and anger about corruption in politics. the democratic party of his arch—rival, leejae—myung, is expected to retain its parliamentary majority.

that�*s all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. tuesday, unfortunately brought more stormy weather with it and coastal flooding with the high tides, as well as inland flooding. a brief ridge of high pressure is pushing that low pressure out the way, but the weather fronts are hot off the heels again off the atlantic with more rain to come through the day ahead. this is what we had on tuesday — 60 millimetres and more across beddgelert in north wales. many of the other wettest places seeing 30—110 millimetres of rain. and despite the showers having ease, the rain and the winds through the night and it turns chilly with a touch of frost, potentially a few areas first thing and some mist and fog in the south. already, temperatures are rising in the west ahead of the next band of rain that you may have seen there. so wet through the morning rush across northern ireland, underneath this weather front. and as it comes in,

it�*s introducing milder atlantic air. so it will turn misty and foggy over the hills as well as the fog first thing further east. once it sets in across scotland on and off through the day, early brightness and sunshine in the east replaced by that rain as it meanders its way eastwards through the day. you can see it does ease off a little bit in southern parts, but it�*s got a legacy of cloud left in its wake. so a mild day, where we see any breaks — perhaps 16 in northern ireland. but there�*s a met office warning for the west of scotland. again, another a0 millimetres, possibly more over the hills. further south, there�*ll be a steady spell of rain and lots of misty, murky weather over the hills. another pulse comes in through the evening overnight, particularly scotland and northern ireland. it tends to weaken as it pushes southwards, but all the cloud and the wind and the winds will be strong again today, perhaps not as strong as yesterday, but they hold the temperatures up through the night. and a fairly brisk wind will continue with us on thursday. maybe some mist murk first thing, particularly in the south under the remnants of this weather front. but actually, once that clears out the way, we might see some brighter skies and sunshine

coming through before the next pulse of rain starts to materialise across western parts again. but look at the temperatures on thursday. it�*s looking mild, in fact, warm in the strengthening april sunshine. and that milder, warmer atlantic air is with us through thursday and indeed friday to end the week, perhaps even start the weekend, but not for long because we get some colder air starting to dig in behind it. and you can see for the weekend or by the end of the weekend, it�*s a return to slightly cooler weather for most.

the leaders of long—time allies japan and the united states will meet today. on the agenda — defence, security and a controversial business deal. plus, how technology is being used to digitally repatriate some african artefacts to the continent. hello and welcome to asia business report. i�*m steve lai. our top story today — japanese prime minister fumio kishida has arrived in the us where he will be meeting presidentjoe biden later on wednesday. defense and security is at the top of the agenda but economic relations have not been forgotten. on tuesday, mr kishida sent a message to american business leaders —

that the world�*s fourth largest economy is open for investment. he told a roundtable that he was keen for more collaboration on "critical and emerging technology"... like semiconductors and artificial intelligence. this comes as microsoft said it would spend almost three billion dollars to expand its cloud and ai infrastructure in japan. translation: japan welcomes investment _ translation: japan welcomes investment from _ translation: japan welcomes investment from the _ translation: japan welcomes investment from the united - investment from the united states that push forward such cooperation in critical and emerging technology. the economic growth of our country obtains their investment shall serve as the funding source of further investment into the united states by japanese entities. there is also focus on the fate of a takeover of us steel by japan�*s nippon steel. forjapan, the merger represents a major opportunity to link up operations around the world, in an industry

where bigger is better. but diplomatically, it�*s a sensitive issue