security after a surge in gang—related violence that's seen two mayors killed just this week. hello. welcome to the programme. we began with the breaking news that in the past few minutes mark menzies has announced he will stand down at the next general election. in a statement he has said... but due to the pressures on myself i have decided to resign from the conservative party and will not stand at the forthcoming general election. he added... asa

as a reminder, he was suspended from the conservative party over claims that he misused funds. the times reported that he is accused of receiving funds from tory donors which was used for private medical expenses and to pay off who he called bad people who had locked him in a flat. alex —— mark menzies. now, to ukraine. we start this hour with ukraine, which has welcomed the 61 billion dollar package of military aid, finally approved by us lawmakers last night. russia says it shows that washington is wading deeper into a war that will end in humiliation. the foreign ministry spokeswoman, maria zakharova, said the aid — which includes ammunition and air defences, was evidence that the us wants ukraine "to fight to the last ukrainian".

the bill will see a $61 billion dollar package for ukraine, package for ukraine, including ammunition and air defences. presidentjoe biden welcomed the deal, which he said would "answer history's call". ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky described the american support as "vital" and said it would save thousands of lives. russian officials on the other hand, said it would further ruin ukraine and result in the deaths of even more ukrainians. there's a huge reaction from ukrainians to the news of the funding, many of them thanking the us on social media. let's hearfrom residents in the capital, kyiv. translation: of course it is not too late. - in any case, aid is needed. and whether it would be later or earlier, in any case it will help. it will help a lot. i think that our guys will be alive. that is the most important thing, the most important, so that we have something to defend ourselves with, both peaceful people and our boys. they are our guardians, they are protecting us. this will save our lives. the focus is now on when that aid

will arrive, washington says the first deliveries of american military hardware and supplies could be in ukraine within a week. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more on the reaction from ukrainian and russian officials. well, dmitry peskov, who is vladimir putin's official spokesman, said that the passing of this bill would cost more lives, more ukrainian lives. that was his claim, and that it would damage america's image in the world. i think it's a reaction that you would expect when the west were united behind ukraine fully once more after a very costly six months for ukraine. i think on a ministerial level here in kyiv, they're certainly keen to talk up this military aid package finally arriving. i think the foreign minister called it a bad day for vladimir putin. maybe, maybe he will be privately frustrated that america has fallen into the same... fallen in line with other european allies.

nevertheless, his forces have still capitalised. the last six months not only have seen russia mobilise men at a faster rate and use their deeper resources, they've also gained momentum, taking more and more ukrainian territory and bringing ukrainian cities firmly into the firing line. so while this might be a political setback for vladimir putin, and we often hear the word "game—changer" thrown around a lot in this war, i think it's far too early to say what long term impact this aid will have, other than on paper, it gives ukraine the means to continue fighting this war. whether it's enough to fully liberate its territory, i think that's an enormous if at this moment in time, but we shouldn't underplay the diplomatic breakthrough this has been for kyiv. that was james waterhouse in kyiv. the us house of representatives also overwhelmingly approved a military

assistance package for israel. that's amidst the country's military offensive in gaza — ever since hamas attacked israel on october the 7th. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by western governments and israel says around 1,200 people were killed in that attack and around 130 israelis and foreigners are still being held hostage. gaza's health ministry says more than 311,000 palestinians have been killed inside gaza so far, most of them women and children. these pictures have just come these pictures havejust come in. they show a plume of smoke in rafah. this is the aftermath of overnight strikes in rafah. 18 palestinians have reportedly been killed — mostly children. the israeli war cabinet has been planning an offensive against hamas in rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million displaced palestinians are sheltering. but the us and other allies have warned israel against a full—scale assault on the city. earlier i spoke to the bbc�*s

diplomatic correspondent james landale — here is his analysis. well, what it does is it's a reminder ofjust the core of the relationship between israel america and it's one that is purely military. the united states gives israel $3 billion worth of military aid every year. it's a law that was passed in america to say that this must happen. so the extra money, the $13 billion there has been announced today, agreed by the house of representatives. that is on top of all of that. a lot of it will go to replace missiles for the iron dome self defence air defence system that they have here in israel. but equally a lot of it willjust go on buying arms that israel needs at the moment. so it is a substantial amount of money. it will be naturally welcomed by the israelis. the prime minister said that it was much needed and thanked

the united states saying that it was all part of an attempt by the united states to help israel defend western civilisation. that was the way he put it. unsurprisingly, palestinian groups have not taken that view. a spokesperson for the palestinian authorities here said that this is an act of the aggression by the americans. arming of the israelis they said would lead to thousands more casualties in gaza simply because of the amount of military support that it is getting. so although there have been differences between the united states and israel diplomatically, the core support of the united states, namely, military kit, continues to grow. to that point, james, we did talk about that warning from the us israeli allies about this offensive, potential full out offensive in rafah. so there coming through.

so there is aid coming through. but what is the state of relationships between the white house and benjamin netanyahu in particular? well, i think they are pretty difficult at times. there has been some moments where i thinkjoe biden, the us president has expressed his frustration pretty clearly at some of the decision—making that is going on here. and the americans, the secretary of state antony blinken and others have been an incredibly explicit about saying to the israelis, do not carry out this offensive in rafah. you simply cannot do it. when there are so many civilians packed into such a small space the potential impact on civilians is huge. the potential for bloodshed is enormous. so the question remains, how are the israelis going to get round it? are they going to ignore the americans? try and mitigate some of the impact? but at the moment the israelis are making very clear that at some point they do feel they are going to have to launch

this offensive in rafah. and, you know, the potential for bloodshed is huge. james landale in jerusalem there for us. earlier i spoke about the importance of the us aid both to ukraine and israel to niall stanage, who is white house columnist for us political website, the hill. as the war was dragged on, we have seen republican support really eb very considerably for the notion of aiding ukraine particularly at the intensity that we have seen so far. you see this in opinion polls, it's not only limited to elected officials, over half of republican voters believe the aid to ukraine should be decreased. we saw that reflected in the house of representatives vote where, in fact, slightly more republicans voted against aid for ukraine then voted for it but overall it passed

comfortably because it had overwhelming democratic support. how does the candidate for the republicans, the presidential candidate donald trump fit into all of this? it is partly his influence that is creating a bit of division within the republican party on this as well, isn't it? 100%. notjust on ukraine but on the general issue of how engaged the united states should be with the world beyond its borders. essentially, the former president donald trump is someone who believes in what he would term an america first idea. critics would term that into isolationism. simply the idea that america needs to take care of its own difficulties and shouldn't be spending money elsewhere. now, when it comes to ukraine specifically, of course we have the former president's very contentious relationship with russian president vladimir putin.

and the fact that trump suggests that he could bring the war to ukraine with an end of one day within getting to the white house. it is assumed that he means he would pressure ukraine to make significant concessions with that goal in mind. when it comes to the aid for israel, things aren't much easier for the democrats either, are they? could you talk about some of the internal challenges thatjoe biden has faced when it comes to what is usually staunch support for israel? yes, absolutely. that is changed markedly over the past six months. when we see the democratic party split right in the centre. in the centre on the issue of isreal and the palestinians. democratic disapproval of israel's actions has risen. now the same kind of opinion polls is indicated on the republican side, with parallel sympathy of palestinians.

there are significant numbers of very pro—israel democrats. that's what makes the politics of this issue very difficult for president biden. he hasn't really satisfied anyone in his own party. we saw almost a0 democrats voted against this aid to israel. is there any sort of concern here for the white house when it comes to what the us�*s foes may be thinking as they are watching this battle out? yes, i think there is. there is clearly a concern that the polarisation here in the united states affecting both domestic and international issues is hollowing out american strength and is leading to these kind of log jams in congress where either nothing happens at all or something happens at the last second when the situation is particularly perilous. there is a realfear, particularly in foreign policy circles that russia or china or other potential american adversaries look at these kind of things and feel that america

is becoming almost self—defeating in the way that its political culture is seizing up to a large extent. the palestinian red crescent says one of its drivers was killed in the occupied west bank while trying to treat people injured by gunshots fired by israeli settlers on friday. the health ministry in the territory gave a similar account of the death of 50—year—old mohammed awad allan. some hebrew—language media reports said he was killed by firing from the israeli armed forces, others that he was shot by armed settlers. there was no immediate comment from the idf. now, separately palestinian officials said at least 1a people including a boy and the gunmen were killed in an israeli military operation in a refugee camp also in

the west bank. these pictures showed the west bank. these pictures showed the destruction from that rate. voting is getting under way in ecuador in a referendum on proposed tougher measures to tackle a surge in gang—related violence, which has seen two mayors killed in the last week. measures include an expansion of military and police powers that will allow the military to patrol the streets alongside the police. they'll also signicantly boost gun controls and impose harsher prison sentences for "terrorism" and drug trafficking. president daniel noboa also wants to change the constitution so ecuadorans wanted abroad for organised crime—related offences can be extradited. a state of emergency was announced injanuary after a top gang leader escaped from jail, there were prison riots, an armed attack on a tv station and several politicians were murdered. in the last year alone 8,000 violent deaths have been recorded. but human rights groups are concerned that if these measures are passed it could lead to abuses

such as police brutality and arbitrary arrests which, they say, have already increased this year. these are some live pictures of the referendum. we spoke to an expert and she said that these measures already taken place in this referendum is about legalising them. we will share the updates as we get them here on bbc news. here — the prime minister says he is "appalled" after a met police officer described an anti—semitism campaigner gideon falter as "openly jewish" and suggested his presence at a pro—palestinian demonstration in london last week might antagonise protesters. the incident has prompted campaigners to call for the metropolitan police commissioner, sir mark rowley to step down. the force has apologised twice for the remarks. let's see a video clip of the exchange which has been

posted on social media. gideon falter told the bbc how shocked he was at what happened. i think it's time for sir mark rowley to go. he has had long enough to get to grips with the situation, to get his police force under control, to tell his front line officers, don't worry, we are going to send enough police to back you up so that you can make the right decisions. and instead, he hasn't done that. and because of that, he has to go.

the time has come. a little earlier our reporter angus crawford outlined the pressure now lying upon the met police commissioner. well, it's been very interesting. here in london, since the 7th of october attacks and israel's response, if you like, the politics of the middle east has been played out on the street every weekend with demonstration and counterdemonstration. the met police has come under huge pressure to get the balance right. what balance? the balance between allowing peaceful process and cracking down on anti—semitism, hate speech and intimidation. the response we have had from downing street today is very interesting. it is very measured. although downing street said it is appalled by the incident itself, it is not calling for the head of the metropolitan police sir mark rowley to step down. it simply saying that there are

still questions to answer. that was echoed by ministers who went on a television round this morning, they were all appalled by the incident. they said they were questions to answer but they weren't calling for sir mark rowley to step down. mr falter, who you saw in that clip, is definitely calling for sir mark rowley to step down. he said that the force isn't anti—semitic but has been pandering to extreme elements of those demonstrations. those comments are backed up by suella braverman, who called the events of last saturday gross incompetence. and she said that sir mark rowley had no choice but to step down. the acclaimed british conductor, sir andrew davis, has died at the age of eighty. he was one of the longest—serving chief conductors of the bbc symphony orchestra, and a familiar face at the annual bbc proms concerts in london, where he was famous for his funny speeches. let's have a listen to the bbc symphony orchestra rehearsing

�*the damnation of faust�* at the royal albert hall for the bbc proms, conducted by sir andrew davis in 1998. more than 50,000 people have been taking part in this year's london marathon — setting a new record for the event. runners from kenya won the men and women's races, while two athletes from switzerland won the wheelchair races. let's go live to our sports reporter matt graveling who is at the finish line of the marathon. give us some of those updates. i know you have been speaking to everyone around you. people are walking slowly behind you now. they are clearly recovering. what is it

like? figs are clearly recovering. what is it like? ~ , ., are clearly recovering. what is it like? a ., are clearly recovering. what is it like? 2 are clearly recovering. what is it like? �*, ., ., like? as a day, it's heart-warming and bizarre — like? as a day, it's heart-warming and bizarre in _ like? as a day, it's heart-warming and bizarre in equal _ like? as a day, it's heart-warming and bizarre in equal measures. - like? as a day, it's heart-warming and bizarre in equal measures. a i and bizarre in equal measures. a turtle just walked past me, or at least a person dressed up as a turtle. it would take the title very long time to do this. five hours is the time that they are achieving now as they come through. it's been a phenomenal day here in london. the women's only world record has been set here by perezjepchirchir, the reigning 0lympic set here by perezjepchirchir, the reigning olympic champion from kenya. it's been a fantastic day all round. can you also taking the win in the men's. and it's been a very good day for switzerland in the wheelchair elites. both the men and women winners came from switzerland. but this year it's all about raising money for charity. among some of the fun runners we have been spotting a few celebrities. i caught up with an actress many may know from things

such as the affair. she told me that her dad who gave her advice was in the very first london marathon 43 years ago. sol the very first london marathon 43 years ago. so i spoke to her and she said that a lot of things have changed. a lot of things have changed. a lot of things have changed. anotherfantastic changed. a lot of things have changed. another fantastic comedian duo who were running who last year did it in some three hours, this time he was pushing rosiejones the whole distance. i asked rosie what it meant to her that this year the elite women and wheelchair participants would be getting equal prize money. it participants would be getting equal prize money-— prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we _ prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we decided _ prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we decided to _ prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we decided to do - prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we decided to do it, - prize money. it was very nice. as soon as we decided to do it, all. prize money. it was very nice. as l soon as we decided to do it, all the suppori— soon as we decided to do it, all the support we — soon as we decided to do it, all the support we needed we got. yes, now it's support we needed we got. yes, now ii's when_ support we needed we got. yes, now it's when can — support we needed we got. yes, now it's when can we do it again? i�*ve it's when can we do it again? i've not to it's when can we do it again? i've got to us- _ it's when can we do it again? i've got to us- you — it's when can we do it again? i�*e: got to us. you obviously enjoyed it

today. is this the start of a budding relationship in a team sense? what is next for you guys? i will do as many marathons as rosy as happy— will do as many marathons as rosy as happy to— will do as many marathons as rosy as happy to do— will do as many marathons as rosy as happy to do with _ will do as many marathons as rosy as happy to do with me _ will do as many marathons as rosy as happy to do with me.— happy to do with me. organisers are callin: this happy to do with me. organisers are calling this the _ happy to do with me. organisers are calling this the most _ happy to do with me. organisers are calling this the most inclusive - calling this the most inclusive london marathon ever. as a result, changes to the finish line. a prayer space at the finish line, also a quiet space for runners who may be neurodivergent to get away from the crowd. this year's london marathon is for everyone. if you would like to take part in next year's, the ballot is opening today.- to take part in next year's, the ballot is opening today. thank you ve much ballot is opening today. thank you very much for— ballot is opening today. thank you very much for that. _ ballot is opening today. thank you very much for that. there - ballot is opening today. thank you very much for that. there are - very much for that. there are updates on our website as well as a live page. before we go, i want to give you more details that are coming in on that story about mark menzies, the mp who says he is standing down at the next general election. a reminder of that, he is accused of misusing tory funds and abusing his position after allegedly

asking an activist for money to quote pay off bad people. let me bring some of those details as they are coming in. we talk to you in a statement he said it's been an enormous privilege representing this constituency but due to the pressures on me and my mother i will not stand at the forthcoming general election and immediately before he made his announcement, the conservative party announced the result of its own investigation into whether party funds had been misused. let me bring you that statement. it isjust misused. let me bring you that statement. it is just come misused. let me bring you that statement. it isjust come in. the conservative party has now completed its investigation into whether there was a misuse of conservative party funds. remember, that's the accusation here. the money in question that was sent to mark menzies was signed off by two signatories of the group. this body

set outside of the remit of both the conservative party and conservative association. therefore, we cannot conclude that there has been a misuse of conservative party funds. that is the big wonder that they are saying that there was not a misuse of conservative party funds, as far as they can conclude. however, we do believe there is a pattern of behaviour that falls below the standard expected of mps and individuals looking after donations to local campaign funds which lie outside of the directjurisdiction of the conservative party. we will therefore be recommending... people across the party how to manage these accounts that fall outside of the remit on the conservative party and we are introducing a whistle—blowing helpline. that's important right now. the conservative party saying that while they were unable to conclude there was a misuse of

conservative party funds they are introducing new measures and that includes retraining individuals across the party emits all these allegations and how to set up a whistle—blowing helpline. stay with us here on bbc news because we will take you through more of this in the coming hour. hello there. good afternoon. well, april sunshine has a little bit more kick to it and it will feel quite pleasant in the best of that out towards western spots of the uk for the rest of the afternoon. lovely start to the day here in pembrokeshire, albeit a chilly one. the air is cold for the time of year and it's exceptionally cold towards north sea facing coasts with a brisk northeasterly wind blowing and that colder air marked in blue is just set to stick around as we head through much of the rest of the week, although it could turn milder and more unsettled from the southwest by the time we get into next weekend. but lots of dry weather around today. high pressure centred over the uk. a warm front though bring in some occasional rain, most of it light and patchy across many central eastern areas of scotland

down through north west england cloud ahead of the front, but some sunny spells still across east anglia and down through south east england. small chance of an isolated shower, best of the sunshine for western scotland and particularly northern ireland, where temperatures will rise in the rest of the sunshine to 18 degrees celsius. now as we head through this evening and overnight, it's milder for most towards the north and the west, a warm front gradually sinks further southwards and eastwards, introducing some rain as north wales and northeast england as well. some coastal and some hill fog behind the front forming but clear skies across southeast england, in east anglia here, maybe a touch of frost again into tomorrow morning. and then as our warm front introduces more cloud into these areas moving south, west and eastwards, then that cloud will overtop the cold start to the day. so it's going to feel really quite damp and very chilly for many of us, i'm afraid. through the day on monday there'll be further outbreaks of rain too, moving into eastern wales and across the midlands. some spots here may not get much

past six degrees celsius perhaps, but further north and west, well across northern ireland it's cloudier and it's a little cooler. the best of the sunshine probably across scotland where some spots in the central belt perhaps could get as high as 16 degrees as we head through monday and into tuesday. then there's a cold front sinking southwards that's going to introduce more of a northerly wind. so again, it's a cold feeling day for the time of year, the best of the sunshine out towards parts of the west. it's always cloudier towards north sea, facing coasts with rain, gradually clearing away from east anglia and the south east of england, but feeling chilly once again for the time of year.

this is bbc news, the headlines... ukraine has welcomed the approval by us lawmakers of billions the mp mark menzies has resigned from uk �*s conservative party. the party says it cannot conclude there was a misuse of party funds after there were allegations. ukraine has welcomed the approval by us lawmakers of billions of dollars in military aid to help it combat russia's invasion. moscow says it shows that washington is wading deeper into a conflict that will end in humiliation. israel's latest air strikes on rafah in southern gaza have reportedly killed 18 people —

including 1a children. gaza's health ministry says more than 311,000 palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far. the uk prime minister says he is "appalled" by the way police treated a jewish man during a pro—palestinian demonstration in london. now on bbc news...it�*s time for newscast with laura kuensberg and paddy 0'connell. newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the — newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the studio. _ newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the studio. it _ newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the studio. it is _ newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the studio. it is paddy - newscast from the bbc. hello, it is laura in the studio. it is paddy in i laura in the studio. it is paddy in the studio- _ laura in the studio. it is paddy in the studio. and _ laura in the studio. it is paddy in the studio. and nick— laura in the studio. it is paddy in the studio. and nick from - laura in the studio. it is paddy in - the studio. and nick from newsnight. after months — the studio. and nick from newsnight. after months and _ the studio. and nick from newsnight. after months and months _ the studio. and nick from newsnight. after months and months of- after months and months of wrangling, which we have talked about lots of times, on saturday evening us congress finally passed a bill to send just over $61 billion

of aid to ukraine. not clear when it