and all five members of the spice girls reunite in london to celebrate the 50th birthday of band member, victoria beckham. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. us officials say the next delivery of american military aid for ukraine could arrive within a week. after a delay of six months, the house of representatives finally approved the multi—billion dollar package last night. america already provides the bulk of international support for kyiv, having spent more than $74 billion in the first two years of the war. the new package is worth $61 billion dollars, including money to replenish stocks of us armaments, and $14 billion will pay for advanced weapons

and defence systems. president zelensky said the military aid package will give his country a chance of victory in its war against russia. translation: i think the support for the restraint in _ translation: i think the support for the restraint in the _ translation: i think the support for the restraint in the armed _ translation: i think the support for the restraint in the armed forces - translation: i think the support for the restraint in the armed forces of l the restraint in the armed forces of ukraine, and we will have a chance for victory if ukraine really gets the weapon is a system which we need so much. thousands of soldiers need so much. thousands of soldiers need so much, and thus it should not be just spreading a thin layer all over, but it has to end up in tangible weapon systems. many ukrainians have been thanking the us for the funding on social media. we've also been hearing from 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. 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". our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse is in kyiv and says it can't come soon enough for president volodymyr zelensky. he's saying he wants to minimize the time between the political decisions in washington and, in his words, the destruction of the enemy on the eastern front line. he's meeting with his defense minister to talk about installing

these incoming air defense systems on cities that need it, like kharkiv in the northeast, you'd imagine, as well as for them to be deployed on the front lines where russia enjoys air superiority. but it is on those very fortifications where president zelensky is hoping this package will change things. because just today we have russia's defense ministry claiming to have on its own, it won't mean much, but it's thought or feared here in kyiv that russia is shaping to try and take a town nearby. it's a major military hub for ukraine because of its transportation links. and what we are seeing is a direction of travel in the east, which won't be changed overnight despite the arrival of this sizable american offering of weapons. also incliuded in the us military aid package is $26 billion for israel, including $9.1 billion for humanitarian needs. matthew savill is director of military service at rusi — that's the royal united services institute thinktank.

he gave more detail on the military aid package to both ukraine and israel. well, a big chunk of this appears to be about replenishing and indeed expanding israel's integrated air and missile defense systems. we, of course, don't know the full range of what was expended when israel was defending itself against iran's attack recently. but some estimates have put it at one and a half billion pounds. and this list includes probably both missiles and new launch systems for both david's sling and the iron dome system. there's also some money in there for the laser based system that israel has been developing, the irom beam. 0k, matthew, turning to this long—awaited package for ukraine, in that war with with russia. timing, of course, is everything.

it could well arrive within the week if everything gets signed off — senate and, of course, president biden. the question is, though, how effective will it be? is this just going to extend the war or could it actually lead to a win? i mean, in terms of this package, what you're looking at here is much—needed relief to help the ukrainians effectively put up a more effective defence this year. they're obviously not in the situation they would have ideally been in six months ago when you were looking at the culmination of their counter—offensive. i mean, it's important to note that a significant chunk of this is for us operations and other activity, as you saw mentioned, the replenishment of their stocks. but there's about £28 billion here. an awful lot will depend on how quickly pre—positioned stocks that would have been put into europe ready for donation can be delivered, and that's probably going to be

heavily focused around artillery ammunition and air defense missiles. a big chunk of this is really about ensuring that they've got a solid defense in the face of incremental russian gains that have already started happening. ok. before we get to those gains, i suppose something that would help would be the patriot air defense system. it's highly sophisticated. ukraine's allies have been looking and trying to source this to help ukraine. where are we with that? well, it seems likely that there are some additional launchers and missiles that could be provided, including i think germany has announced some. and nato's secretary general stoltenberg mentioned that that would be a priority. but i suspect we're not far off the point where there's going to be a production logjam. these are obviously sophisticated systems. a lot of them take some time to develop. and so whilst you might see some of them coming in the nearfuture, at some point the industrial base is going to have to start

ramping up to produce new particularly interceptors, because ukrainians have obviously been taking a lot of incoming fire from the russians, particularly when they've been attacking civilian infrastructure. the extra us military aid package for israel comes amid the country's ongoing offensive in gaza, which the hamas—run health ministry says has killed more than 3a,000 palestinians — most of them women and children. these pictures show a plume of smoke rising over rafah in the south of the country as israel continues its airstrikes there. this is the aftermath of overnight strikes in rafah, which are reported to have killed 18 palestinians — 1a of them 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 it against a full—scale assault on the city. the bbc�*s diplomatic correspondent james landale is injerusalem and has more on the military aid

and reaction to it. 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. not surprisingly, 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. this 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. and that was our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, in jerusalem. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has criticised reported american plans to sanction a unit of the israeli military that's accused of human rights violations in the west bank. mr netanyahu said he was working to prevent sanctions he called the height of absurdity. the netzah yehuda battalion of ultra—orthodox soldiers has been at the centre of several incidents of violence against palestinian civilians. there's been no official comment from washington. let's hear some of what mr netanyahu had to say. translation: i will fiercely defend | the idf, our military and warriors. | if someone thinks they can sanction an idf unit, i will fight this with all my strength.

it comes as 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. separately, palestinian officials said that at least 1a people, including a boy and a gunman, were killed in an israeli military operation in the nur shams refugee camp, in the west bank. funerals have just been held for some of the dead. here in uk, the conservative mp mark menzies, who was suspended over allegations he misused campaign funds, is to quit as an mp at the next election.

in a statement, mark meznies said... our political correspondent iain watson has the story. this all got under way, really, when the times newspaper reported a bizarre story where apparently, last december, mr menzies, according to the times, had called, met a local official in his party, in his constituency at 3.15 in the morning demanding £5,000, which he said was a matter of life and death, because he had to be released from a flat in which he was locked by, quote, some bad people. in addition to this,

the times newspaper also alleged that some other funds that were meant to be used for campaigning had been used for private medical bills for mr menzies as well. now, he told the times newspaper he disputed those claims. nonetheless, the conservative party was carrying out an investigation into the narrow question of whetherfunds had been misused. and we got the conclusion of that investigation today. the conclusion is that funds weren't misused, but it appeared that there is a reason for that because the funds where people donated money to the party were not held in an official conservative party accounts that were held in a thing called the westminster westminster fylde group. that is not a conservative party account, it's not the local fylde conservative association. and therefore, for that reason you couldn't say that conservative party funds had been misused. however, in addition to that,

in a statement, the party did suggest that perhaps the mp had broken some of the principles of public life, such as openness, integrity, honesty. they also suggested that some of the people who managed these non—official party accounts would need some retraining and how that should be done. and there should be a whistleblowing hotline for anyone who wants to report the misuse of funds. they've also said that should the police decide to carry out an investigation into these apparently bizarre events, then they would share any information they had with the police. and just how damaging could this be for rishi sunak? it is an election year. well, i think it's embarrassing for rishi sunak that he's got another conservative mp who's now having to sit as an independent mp until the next general election. he'll bejoining some of his colleagues. in that respect, he's also deciding that he will stand down at a general election later this year, but not resign with immediate effect. so equally, although it's embarrassing for rishi sunak,

he's been spared the prospect of a by election after a more immediate election if mark menzies said he was going. what's been happening in recent by elections is thatconservative mp with rather large majorities have been losing those seats to labour and the liberal democrats to the opposition parties. mr menzies has a majority of more than 16,000. some seats from majority above 2013 had been lost. there's going to be a by election in the neighbouring blackpool south seat in lancashire in may. that's also again going to be a difficult political challenge for mr sunak. so i think he can be grateful to mark menzies in one respect that although he is resigning from the conservative party and therefore anything he does can't be any longer associated with the conservative party, at the same time, he's not forcing a by—election because the more of these elections which mr sunak loses or are lost under his leadership, the more the grumbles and discontent grows amongst the ranks

of his own mps, who look at the opinion polls and fear that perhaps their own seats are in danger when that general election comes. the uk prime minister's office says rishi sunak is appalled by the way the metropolitan police treated ajewish man, during a pro—palestinian march in london last weekend. an officer told gideon falter he might provoke a reaction from the demonstrators because he was "openlyjewish." there have been calls for the met police commissioner, mark rowley, to resign. he is due to meet the london mayor tomorrow and the home secretary during the week to discuss the incident. well, the met police has just issued a statement outlining the steps it is taking address the situation. it also says...

here's angus crawford. gideon falter wants to cross the road through a pro—palestine march. when the crowd is gone, i will escort you out. but he's told that's not possible. but why? you are quite openlyjewish. i'm not accusing you of anything but i am worried about the reaction to your preseence. if you choose to remain here,... today, he's calling for the head of the met to resign. after six months of sir mark rowley�*s metropolitan police deciding to curtail the rights of law—abiding londoners, including thejewish community,

to appease lawless mobs, i think it's time for sir mark rowley to go. sir mark has apologised for the incident, the second apology in three days, saying he wants london to be a city where everyone feels safe. since the hamas attacks of the 7th of october and israel's response, every weekend, the politics of the middle east have been brought to the streets of london, putting increasing pressure on the met to get the balance right between allowing legitimate protest and cracking down on hate speech and intimidation. strong voices, mainly on the right, believe the force has got that balance wrong and also want the commissioner to go. but the prime minister doesn't. downing street says he was appalled by the incident and there are questions to answer. what has happened is a serious misstep because what we can't be saying to particular groups

in society is that their very presence is a provocation. you don't want anybody of any community to feel like that, which is how thejewish community has been made to feel. the london mayor, sadiq khan, said... the met must have the confidence of the communities they serve. and it's right hey�*ve apologised for the way the incident was handled. protest, counter—protest, and in the middle, the met — at times struggling to police the divide. angus crawford, bbc news. to australia. thousands of people, including local and national leaders, have attended a candlelit vigil in sydney to remember those who died in last week's stabbing rampage. as the sun set on bondi beach, people were asked to light a candle in memory of the victims. six people, mainly women, were killed and twelve injured in the attack on a shopping centre. just before the vigil, one of the wounded, a nine—month—old girl, was released from hospital.

her mother died in the attack. among those paying their respects was the prime minister of australia, anthony albanese. we mourn for all the years of joy they should have known, all the memories they should have had the chance to make, the lives they should have lived here in their country. the success they would have achieved in whatever career they embraced. the happiness they would have created, the care they would have shown. the beautiful children they would have raised with such love. ecuadoreans are voting 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 noboha also wants ecuadoreans wanted abroad for organised crime—related offences to 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. 0ur south america correspondent ione wells is following the story from quito. a state of emergency and an internal armed conflict was announced by the president back injanuary, and that was because one of the top gang leaders escaped from prison. that led to mass prison riots, violence on the streets, mass increase in both killings

but also kidnappings as well. and that triggered the president at the time to announce this state of emergency, essentially a package of extraordinary measures like bringing in the military to try and control law and order in the streets and in prisons, but also introducing local curfews in certain areas, which did suspend people's rights while they were going on. so, as you say, these measures have sort of been tested at the moment. and some people i've spoken to here in the capital, quito, have told me that the measures so far have made them feel a little bit safer, that seeing the military, as you can maybe even see behind me, patrolling areas around the city is something that's given them a bit of relief after months and months of this relentless violence. 0thers, though, are particularly concerned because one thing that human rights groups have raised is that since the introduction of those measures back injanuary, there has been an increase in what they describe as arbitrary detentions and arrests, in some cases police violence and brutality as well. so that is a concern from the camp who are voting no in today's referendum.

the acclaimed british conductor sir andrew davis has died at the age of 80. 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. all five members of the spice girls have reunited, just perhaps not as you'd expect. on saturday night, victoria beckham, melanie brown, emma bunton,

geri homer and melanie chisholm, better known as posh, scary, baby, ginger and sporty spice, came together to celebrate victoria's 50th birthday in london. the bandmates partied like it was 1997, performing their classic song, stop, which we can see a bit of now. # stop right now, thank you very much... our culture reporter noor nanji has told me about the significance of this performance. this is the first time, of course, that we've seen all five spice girls coming together for some years. so it took place at victoria beckham's 50th birthday party, which was held in london last night. and david beckham, who is of course victoria beckham's husband and also the former england captain, he then shared a video of this performance, and he posted it onto instagram. and in the video you can see

the spice girls there performing stop, as we saw then. that's their classic song from the 90s. they were also doing their stop dance routine, which many of us from who grew up in the nineties will remember very clearly. now, david beckham was also seen singing along in the clip, and victoria beckham then afterwards posted it on her own social media and she said that it was the best night ever. and it definitely looked like a really fun night because afterwards some photos emerged or some of the celebrities coming and going from this london venue. they include tom cruise, salma hayek, gordon ramsay was there as well. and there was also a picture which emerged of david beckham carrying victoria in a piggyback out of the venue, probably in the early hours of the morning. so it definitely looks like a very fun night just to remind you that there is plenty on bbc news website. one of the top stories at the moment is of

course the us house of representatives agreeing on that $61 billion aid package for that war in ukraine. read more about that on the website. you are watching bbc news. hello there, good evening. the sunshine has a little kick to it for the second half of april. feeling pleasantly warm in the best of the sunshine. best spots are the western spots, this was northern ireland earlier today, but towards the north—east, it is chilly with a brisk north—easterly wind. temperatures struggling here and will continue to do so, we will be in this chilly air mass through the rest of the week so temperatures below the seasonal average. towards the end of the working week, low pressure will scoop in milder air from the south—west. it will be wet and windy but milder. keep an eye on the forecast.

high pressure for the uk today, lots of dry weather, further northwards and westwards. this warm front bringing outbreaks of rain into northern england as we head through the night. behind the front in the north and west, a milder night than last night, coastal and hill fog around. ahead of the front in east anglia, still chilly with clear skies and perhaps a touch of frost tomorrow morning. a bright start here, then our warm front pushes south and east, cloud will overtake that. quite chilly and damp. and there will be outbreaks of rain moving south across the midlands and into eastern wales and central and southern england by the end of the day. northern ireland cloudier and cooler tomorrow but scotland is looking dry and there will be some decent long spells of sunshine as well in the central belt, 16 celsius. following on behind the warm front is a cold front

so we will see chilly conditions across the northern half the uk into tuesday morning. milder in the south under the cloud. more sunshine on tuesday. a lot of dry weather, a quiet day of weather but a brisk northerly wind again bringing a cold feeling of conditions, brisk winds off the north coast. brighter skies likely towards the west once again. into wednesday, we see showers out towards the east, turning more unsettled as the week moves on into the weekend but also milder so temperatures will start to climb a little further. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. mp mark menzies quits the conservative party and will stand down at the next general election — after claims he misused party funds. president zelensky says a new 61 billion dollar us aid package, will give ukraine a chance of victory in its war against russia. israel's latest air strikes on rafah in southern gaza have reportedly killed at least 1a children. more than a million displaced people are sheltering in the area. the prime minister says he's �*appalled' by the way police treated a jewish man during a pro—palestinian demonstration in london.

now on bbc news, it,s sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall. a breathtaking match at wembley — manchester united are through to the fa cup final by the skin of their teeth — after coventry city pushed them all the way. double dessers for rangers means they'll meet celtic in the scottish cup final after defeating hearts at hampden. and liverpool leave london with three points and their title hopes still alive after a win at craven cottage. also coming up on sportsday... a record number ran in the london marathon today

and a record was broken in the women's race