and friendship never ends — the spice girls get back together to celebrate victoria beckham's 50th birthday. hello, 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, 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: | think - the support for 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, and thus it should not be just spreading a thin layer all over, but it has to end up in tangible weapon systems. 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 defence minister to talk about installing these incoming air defence systems on cities that need it, like kharkiv in the north—east, 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 defence ministry claiming to have taken a small village. 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 sizeable american offering of weapons. this us aid is actually part of a larger $4 billion package worth a total of $95 billion for key american allies around the world — including taiwan. israel will receive $26 billion — of which $9.1 is for humanitarian needs. matthew savill is director of military service at rusi — that's the �*royal united services institute' think—tank. 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 defence 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 iron 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 defence in the face of incremental russian gains that have already started happening. 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 311,000 palestinians — most of them women and children. these pictures show a plume of smoke rising over rafah in the south of the territory, 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. the idf says it's begun an investigation and a command review into the circumstances is under way. 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... "it has been an enormous privilege representing the people of fylde since 2010, but due to the pressures on myself and my elderly mother i have decided to resign from the conservative party and will not stand at the forthcoming general election. this has been a very difficult week for me and i request that my family's privacy is respected." 0ur 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 whistle—blowing 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. 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: "we remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure jewish londoners feel safe in this city. we will do everything we can to constantly develop our approach in response to operational challenges to ensure the trust and confidence of all londoners. this is complex, but we will continue to seek the support and insight of all voices who can help us deliver the service london deserves. 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 presence.

when he challenges police, he's given an ultimatum. if you choose to remain here,... that's not acceptable. 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.

we're starting with an extraordinary game of football at wembley stadium today where manchester united survived one of the greatest fa cup comebacks to reach the final. they beat the championship side — coventry city on penalties but only after throwing away a 3nil lead. and they very nearly lost the shoot out — casemiro doing a barnado silva, then they were thrown a lifeline when coventry missed not one but two of their spot kicks and rasmus hojland put his away to seal the win for united. the result sets up an all manchester final next month. united will need to perform far better than i did today in that finite manchester city, a repeat of last years final, city won last year, united will be hoping they can turn things around in the final this year but certainly they will have to show an awful lot more composure than they did here against coventry city. in the premier league,

everton�*s hopes of staying up were given a huge boost when they beat relegation rivals nottingham forest 2—0. but the result left forest fuming — and the fa are investigating after the club posted an incendiary social media statement on x. forest posted "three extremely poor decisions — three penalties not given — which we simply cannot accept. we warned the pgmol that the var is a luton fan before the game but they didn't change him." there's been no response yet from the pgmol — who are in charge of premier league officiating. elsewhere in the premier league, aston villa are on course for a champions league spot after their win over bournenouth. crystal palace are surely safe now after thrashing west ham. and liverpool kept their title hopes alive with a win at fulham — they're now second in the table, equal on points with arsenal, but manchester city have a game in hand. a record number of people took part in the london marathon with around 50,000 finishing today. and there was also a record broken in the elite races with kenya's peresjepchirchir

setting a new women's time as she stormed to victory. she crossed the line in two hours, 16 minutes and sixteen seconds to break the record by 45 seconds. in the men's, alexander mutiso munyao made it a kenyan double, beating the legendary kenenisa bekele. the british duo of emile cairess and mahamed mahamed finished third and fourth which qualifies them for the olympics. yet another victory for max verstappen in — what appears to be an unstoppable run to a fourth formula one world title. he started from pole and went on to win the chinese grand prix in shanghai ahead of mclaren�*s lando norris. verstappen is already 25 points clear at the top of the drivers' standings after four wins from the season's first five races. nelly korda is out in front on the final day of the first women's major of the year — the chevron championship. she's two shots ahead of the chasing field approaching the turn in herfinal round — a win would mean she becomes one

of only three players to win five consecutive lpga events. that's the sport for now. let's get some of the day's other news now. ecuadoreans are voting in a referendum on proposals to tighten security in response to a surge in violence by drugs gangs. the measures includejoint military and police patrols, longer sentences and the extradition of criminals wanted abroad. as he voted, president daniel noboa said the outcome would define state policy in fighting violence, corruption and organised crime. more than 1,000 residents of the serbian city of nis have been evacuated after the discovery of an unexploded bomb left over from the 1999 nato bombardment of the country. the 1,000 kilo bomb was successfully removed from the construction site, where it was found, to be destroyed at a safe location. thousands of people, including

national and local leaders, have attended a candle—lit vigil in sydney to remember those who died in last week's stabbing rampage. as the sun set on bondi beach, people lit candles in memory of the victims. six people, mainly women, were killed and 12 injured in the attack on a shopping centre. 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 # i need someone with a human touch...# let's speak to spice girls superfan samuel zernig, a comedian and member of online community spice girls net. you haven't stopped smiling comic billy haven't. i you haven't stopped smiling comic billy haven't-— billy haven't. i haven't stopped smilin: , billy haven't. i haven't stopped smiling, christmas _ billy haven't. i haven't stopped smiling, christmas truly - billy haven't. i haven't stopped smiling, christmas truly came l billy haven't. i haven't stopped - smiling, christmas truly came early, it was truly the night that five became one, see what i've done there. victoria gifted us with the greatest gift of this was the first time in 12 years that all five members of the spice girls have formed together at the same place. people like tom cruise, eva longoria, gordon ramsay in

attendance, this truly seems a mite not to be missed.— not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs there. _ not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs there. how _ not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs there. how long _ not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs there. how long have - not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs there. how long have you | not to be missed. gosh, all those - celebs there. how long have you been a super fan? celebs there. how long have you been a superfan? you really don't look old enough, if you don't mind me saying. old enough, if you don't mind me sa inc. �* , . ~ saying. it's the lighting, thank ou. i'm saying. it's the lighting, thank you. i'm actually _ saying. it's the lighting, thank you. i'm actually german - saying. it's the lighting, thank you. i'm actually german so . saying. it's the lighting, thank you. i'm actually german so i | saying. it's the lighting, thank - you. i'm actually german so i moved to the uk to impress the spice girls lifestyle. for me seeing them together, even if it is just 12 second grainy video taken on the david beckham's phone, it is something truly special. let's 'ust take ou something truly special. let's 'ust take you back�* something truly special. let's 'ust take you back to i something truly special. let's 'ust take you back to the i something truly special. let's 'ust take you back to the moment h something truly special. let'sjust take you back to the moment this j take you back to the moment this video dropped on social media, i didn't believe it was damp, i really didn't believe it was damp, i really didn't then, i really didn't. it didn't believe it was damp, i really didn't then, i really didn't.- didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i _ didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i was, _ didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i was, am _ didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i was, am i _ didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i was, am i asleep, - didn't then, i really didn't. it was 3am and i was, am i asleep, i. didn't then, i really didn't. it was | sam and i was, am i asleep, i am 3am and i was, am i asleep, i am awake, ami 3am and i was, am i asleep, i am

awake, am i dreaming? it is very, very grainy, but it is truly damp, as confirmed by all five members. it is wonderful and it is wonderful to see, it has been 30 years since the spice girls formed. there were global headlines, it shows how strong the spice girls are. it is funny when — strong the spice girls are. it is funny when you _ strong the spice girls are. it is funny when you talk _ strong the spice girls are. it is funny when you talk about strength and plastic spice girl, we had scary spice on saturday kitchen and people were just beside themselves to see her back and her character was absolutely the same. of course, you are well known to the spice girls, aren't you? i mean, they get in touch. ~ ~' ., ~' aren't you? i mean, they get in touch. ~ ~ ., ~ touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend _ touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend if— touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend if they _ touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend if they get - touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend if they get in - touch. well, i like to think so. it may depend if they get in touch | touch. well, i like to think so. it. may depend if they get in touch but once in awhile our paths cross and

it has been wonderful to spread the gospel according to the spice girls for so years doing my stand—up show. samuel, i would for so years doing my stand—up show. samuel, iwould have for so years doing my stand—up show. samuel, i would have loved to have spoken more about this and what it means if they did for unite, but we've run out of time, thank you very much. 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. president zelensky says a new 61 billion dollar us aid package, will give ukraine a chance of victory in its war against russia. he said it would help kyiv slow russia's advance and save thousands of lives. 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. mp mark menzies quits the conservative party and will stand down at the next general election — after claims he misused party funds.

the tory party said he had shown behaviour, which fell below standards for mps. the prime minister says he's �*appalled' by the way police treated a jewish man during a pro—palestinian demonstration in london. the man was steered away during a protest after an officer said he appeared �*openlyjewish'. now on bbc news, zeinab badawi meets sir bryn terfel, one of the most distinguished singers of our age. i've been an opera fan for decades, and i want to share my passion with you. so i'm on a mission to find out how opera is trying to attract new audiences and reinvent itself. this time, i meet welsh bass—baritone sir bryn terfel, a giant in the opera world, both in achievements and physical stature. sir bryn terfel is an artist who's just known all around

the world. he's sung all the great opera roles.