# stop right now, thank you...# and friendship never ends — the spice girls get back together to celebrate victoria beckham's 50th birthday. david beckham shared the moment on instagram. 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 would give his country a chance of victory in its war against russia. translation: i think this support will really strengthen _ the armed forces of ukraine, and we will have a chance for victory if ukraine really gets the weapons system which we need so much, thousands of soldiers need so much. and this aid should notjust to be sprayed in a thin layer all over but it has to end up in tangible weapons systems. many ukrainians have taken to social media to thank the us for the funding. this is what residents in the capital told the bbc. translation: of course it is not too late. - in any case, it is needed, and whether it would be later

or earlier, in any case it will help. translation: it will help a lot, i i think our guys will be alive, l that's the most important thing, the most important, so that we have something to defend ourselves with both the people and our boys, they are our guardians, they are protecting us, they are saving 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 ukranian." our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse is in kyiv and says it can't come soon enough for president 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 called bohdanivka. 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 called chasiv yar. 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. some breaking news that has just come in via reuters news agency, it

has been reported that at least five rockets were launched from a town in iran. and they were fired towards a us military base in north—eastern syria. two iraqi sources have been speaking to the reuters news agency, the attack targeting the military base would have been aimed at military forces and is the first since early february when the iranian—backed groups in iraq stopped their attacks against us troops, but always important to remember of course, also, that syria and iraq have been part of this latest trade—off of missile strikes between iran and israel. we are going to watch that little bit closer and as we get more details as to who was responsible for these five rockets, the exact reasoning behind the firing, we will bring those to you, but there is of course

a lot going on in the middle east at the moment. let us return to the us aid. this us aid is actually part of a larger four—bill 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 for both ukraine and israel. 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 £1.5 billion. 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. 0k. 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. there was testimony that was heard as part of the signing of a face and

the head of the us european command said the russian army is now 15% larger than when it first invaded ukraine. overthe larger than when it first invaded ukraine. over the seven months, ukraine. over the seven months, ukraine is going to have to achieve a lot before winter sets in once again, how is the russian army looking, in terms of military and troops as well, troop personnel? how well sourced — troops as well, troop personnel? how well sourced are _ troops as well, troop personnel? firm" well sourced are they? at the moment, we'd seen a significant expansion in their ability to refurbish equipment, so that is where a lot of their industrial capacity has gotten into, and that has given them this temporary advantage over the next 12 months where 80% of the material has been added to the front line comes from refurbishment, it means they been able to significantly outmatched by five or six to one the weight of our artillery, and at the moment, their mobilisation means they are able to sustain their forces, even taking

pretty horrendous casualties, 2o sustain their forces, even taking pretty horrendous casualties, 20 to 30,000 a month. so, what we are looking at is in essence ukraine is not going be in a position to launch any significant counterattack this year. what the supplemental gives them an opportunity to do is inflict casualties on the russians, hold as much ground as they can, put up a strong defensive line, even if they probably will have to seek additional territory. in parallel with that, and this is their big challenge, they have to immobilise their own forces, free up enough personnel to do more training, particularly in combined manoeuvres, the ability to effectively launch complicated operations, and then maybe be in a position to launch another counteroffensive, probably much more towards the middle or later on in 2025.— much more towards the middle or later on in 2025. that was matthew savo. -- savile. _ 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.

in the last few hours, we have learnt that health workers in gaza have discovered dozens of bodies buried in the courtyard of a hospital in khan younis. the world health organization has previously said the bodies were being buried under the hospitals under israeli siege. we will bring you more details as we get it. those exhumations are continuing but we will bring you more, as and when we get it. 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. so let's remind you of the news that has come to us here at bbc news, it has come to us here at bbc news, it has been reported via the reuters news agency that at least five rockets were launched, reportedly launched from a town in iraq, and they were aimed towards a us military based in north—eastern syria. these rocket launchers took place as we understand on sunday. if

this is a direct attack on us troops, in iran, it will mark the first time, in iraq, rather, the first time, in iraq, rather, the first time, in iraq, rather, the first time since early february that groups who are largely believed to be backed by iran but based in iraq, affected rather targeted us troops. more when we get it. now it's time for a look at today's sport with lizzie greenwood—hughes. 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 first throwing away a 3—0 lead and being let off after coventry had a goal disallowed in extra time. and united very nearly lost the shoot out as well. but coventry missed two to their one. so they scraped through to set up an all—manchester final next month. the way we did it isn't 0k

the way we did it isn't ok because we should have managed it better but if you analyse this game, the first 70 minutes of total control, we scored great goals, but we then allowed them to return the game, and we shouldn't have allowed that. i we shouldn't have allowed that. i don't think any other team has been as close _ don't think any other team has been as close to— don't think any other team has been as close to getting to a final without _ as close to getting to a final without getting there. i don't think they deserved it. i think we deserved to go through, we were literally— deserved to go through, we were literally 20 seconds from away from going _ literally 20 seconds from away from going into _ literally 20 seconds from away from going into the final. and the offside. _ going into the final. and the offside, ridiculous, really, but it is what— offside, ridiculous, really, but it is what it— offside, ridiculous, really, but it is what it is _ in the premier league, everton�*s hopes of staying up 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. it isa it is a very poor decision of anthony taylor, a very poor decision of the var, a very poor decision, and it is happening to us over and over again. and it is happening to us over and overagain. it and it is happening to us over and over again. it is difficult to tell the players to ignore it and keep going on because it is very clear. as a club, we have made a formal complaint, saying that we would like to change the var situation. they didn't do it and then it is here to see so, it is not good. 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. this track is very heavy on the tyres so i was managing around that to make it work.

but yes, it was an incredible weekend when it was really enjoyable to drive the car. american nelly korda is out in front on the final day of the first women's major of the year — the chevron championship. she's three shots ahead of the chasing field after 11 holes at the woodlands in texas — a win would mean she becomes one of only three players to win five consecutive lpga events. and that's all the sport for now. lizzie, thank you very much. here in uk, the mp mark menzies who was suspended from the conservative party 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 account, they were held in a thing called the 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. it's what fans have really, really wanted to see. a reunion of all five members of the spice girls, who attended victoria beckham's fiftieth birthday party last night. 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 somebody

with a human touch...# it's 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 is 50th birthday party which was held in london last night. and david beckham, who is of course victoria beckham is husband and also the former england captain, he then shared a video performance and he posted it on to instagram. and in the video, you can see the spice girls, they are performing stop, as we saw, that is their classic songs from the 1990s. they are also doing their stop dance routine which many of us who grew up in the 1990s will remember very clearly. now, david beckham was also singing along in the clip and victoria beckham posted it afterwards on her own social media and she said it was the best night ever. and it definitely looked like a really fun night because afterwards some photos emerged of 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 for everyone who was there.

stay with us here on bbc news. plenty more on our breaking story, five rockets fired from iraq to a us base in syria. more coming up. 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. gaza's health ministry says the death toll has exceeded 311,000. british mp mark menzies has quit 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'. 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 added... 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.

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. the energy secretary says the number of compensation payouts made to people wrongly put onto prepayment metres is "completely unacceptable". just 1,500 out of 150,000 people assessed have had financial redress

from energy suppliers who forced—fitted the metres into their homes. claire coutinho says she has spoken to the regulator to sort compensation payouts "as soon as possible". but energy suppliers only believe about 2,500 people require compensation. well, you may remember there was huge criticism after it emerged that some vulnerable customers were wrongly having pre—payment metres, forcibly installed in their homes and off the back of that ofgem asked all energy firms to review their cases over a period of about 13 months to see whether the these procedures had been followed correctly and where they haven't, that they could offer those customers some financial redress. now ofgem say that so far around 150,000 cases have been reviewed and of those 1,500, as you say, customers have received compensation and totalling just over £340,000 between them. now, when asked about that number of payouts by laura kuenssberg this morning, the energy secretary said, as you say, was completely

unacceptable and said that she had made it clear to the regulator that she wanted to see people get these payments as quickly as possible. these figures aren't final and often do say that another 1,000 people have already been identified for compensation payments and suppliers have set aside around £200,000 to pay those. and ofgem says they're still working with suppliers to try and make sure that eligible people are identified and that their compensation levels are appropriate. but as the uk who represent the energy companies say that these figures just reflect the small proportion of cases where they say in their review they found the correct processes weren't followed and that's why customers are being compensated as a result. so an update on these figures is expected in the summer. and the minister said today that when she has those figures, she will consider if any further action on this is needed. the distributor of two of the uk's most popular vape brands says it is well—equipped to survive

the ban on disposables products. elfbar and lost mary have already launched reusable versions of their popular disposable vapes. the company behind both brands said it was "addressing demand" for a tool to help smokers quit. but councils have warned the government that it shouldn't let producers exploit "loopholes" in the ban. preliminary results from the parliamentary elections in the maldives show the party of president mohamed muizzu has won a landslide victory. mr muizzu's people's national congress is on course for a super— majority, confirming the archipelago's pivot towards china. the house had been dominated by the pro—india maldivian democratic party. sunday's vote was seen as a crucial test for mr muizzu's plan to press ahead with closer economic

cooperation with china. since he was elected in september, mr muizzu has also been trying to send home the small garrison of 89 indian troops stationed in the archipelago. to australia. thousands of people, including local and national 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 were asked to light a candle in memory of the victims. six people, mainly women, were killed and 12 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 — the prime minister of australia, anthony albanese. we mourn for all the years ofjoy

they should have known all the memories they should have had the chance to make the new life they would have lived here in their new 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 noboa 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. our 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. others, 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. here in the uk — the issue of pollution and sewage seeping into our rivers and seas is one that has regularly been in the headlines in recent months. it has prompted one canoe club coach on the river thames to get in touch with the bbc to share

how his sessions are regularly being disrupted by �*sewage discharge'. our reporter wendy hurrel has the story. the hambledon weir in berks, not farfrom henley, creates the perfect wave for practising sailing canoe skills. but the sport puts these paddlers more than on the river thames, they are literally in it, and with frequent sewage discharges into its waters, they are taking precautions. as experienced paddlers, there are things we can do to minimise the risk of getting ill, so we never eat or drink when we are out on the water, we make sure we wash before we do eat or drink afterwards. we are very careful not to swallow the water. the sharks canoe club operates in different locations around west london. we've had to curtail activity since the end of november, the amount of rain has been excessive, so we have not taken any of ourjunior paddlers out and we have not taken any new paddlers during that time.

nowhere on the river thames is a designating bathing area, so it does not have to be monitored by the environment agency and that information made public but of course there are many who have a vested interest in water quality. our approach is it is important we do try to continue to use the rivers, we are the witnesses to what's going on and i think we can be part of the solution, by raising awareness, and demonstrating that it's a resource that the community really wants to be available to them. james steen of the henley boating company says he has seen lots of raw sewage in the river. it affects myself and potentially my health. i have been cleaning my boats and i need to make sure i properly wash up and disinfect, but also part of what i do

is for the love of the river and the wildlife and the wildlife don't get a chance to wash up afterwards, they are in it, the fish have been affected, the birdlife has been affected. a thames water spokesman said... these river users agree the problem is complex and we all play a part in protecting these natural resources and want to be part of the solution. mountain rescue volunteers are calling for extra signs to be added to some of the lake district's most popular — and dangerous — hiking trails. a teenage walker has spoken about his terror after falling in freezing conditions on the descent of scafell pike. it took 19 hours for volunteers to get ben longton and his two dogs to safety. mark mcalindon has the story.

this was the moment that ben longton was finally lifted out of piers gill below the summit of scafell pike last month, a moment he didn't think would come. i thought i was dead, i didn't think anyone would call, so i thought, i'm just going to go sleep cos it'll be a less—painful death than staying awake. in deep snow, ben had lost the path on his way down. the fall broke his femur and left him trapped in the notorious ravine alongside his two dogs. look at you. hello. i'm penny. ben came to meet the mountain rescue volunteers who'd spent 19 hours first identifying where he was and then working out how to get him out. it was extremely challenging from all angles. we had an access problem where we needed technical ropes rescue to get down into the gill, logistical problems to get all the gear up with limited people. and then medically, quite a difficult challenge in rescue in difficult winter conditions

and in a gale with water flowing all around. in the last eight years, there have been four deaths and 40 rescues, some involving serious injuries. volunteers say it's too easy to take a wrong turn, as ben longton did. do you think having signage up there would have prevented some of the fatalities and serious injuries that you've seen on piers gill? yes, undoubtedly. i would be loath to see a lot of signage, but i think there are points where because specifically on scafell pike, the topography tends to draw people one way or another at specific points, i think it could be really helpful. the landowner, the national trust, though, is reluctant. it says signs on scafell pike would set a precedent for elsewhere in the lakes, and that information on safety is available at its lakehead car park in wasdale. ben longton says he wouldn't have fallen if there had been signs or a fence and he says he owes his life to rescue volunteers. mark mcalindon, bbc news. now — to the coast where walkers

came across quite the surprise in the vale of glamorgan earlier this month, when they discovered centuries old bones in southerndown. experts say they could belong to shipwreck victims from as early as the sixteenth century. archaeologists are examining them, and will dig further if they're found to be historic. elinor rice has been to the site, at dunraven bay. it is the beautiful beach where people just keep finding bones, it was here at dunraven bay in the vale of glamorgan were walkers got more than they bargained for earlier this month. part of an ancient wall collapsed and unearthing the remains of what is thought to be shipwrecked sailors from more than 500 years ago. i came to the spot where they were found to meet a local historian.

is it still exciting getting news of finds like this? absolutely, even though the sort of thing is comparatively regular, it happens quite often down here, the best thing about it happening now is the advances we have made in technology. what is it about this part of the glamorgan coast that means these bones keep turning up? there are two things which are quite unique, first we have a very brittle cliff face so there occurs constantly rock falls here. the other thing is the geology is remarkably good at preserving human remains. elsewhere in wales is acidic soil which corrodes remains very quickly, but those likely candidates are going to be from the 18th century when there were a number of shipwrecks in this area because trade along the bristol channel resulted in a boom of traffic, there was nothing to help ships navigate, no lighthouses until 1830. it is far from the first time there has been a discovery like this along the stretch of the coast. in 2019, the skeletons

of six people found nearby at nash point, they were believed to be those of 16th century shipwreck victims. at the same site in 2014 cliff erosion revealed to leg bones, skull fragments and teeth dating back to as far as the 14th century. experts say is more of the coast is eroded, fines like these will become more common. what if you make a discovery on your trip to the seaside this weekend? contact the police, because of a sleeper is a possibility what you have stumbled across as a crime scene. —— because obviously. and let the process deal with itself. archaeologists are looking at the dunce now to find out how old they are, where they have come from, how they ended up here. and they will work out how to excavate the site further. untilthen, under the watchful eye of the police. 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. multiple milestones have been reached at the london marathon today, with the winner of the women's only race peresjepchirchir breaking a world record. the kenyan olympic champion broke into tears after crossing the line in two hours 16 minutes and 16 seconds. 51 seconds faster than

the previous record. in what was the event's biggest—ever recorded crowd of 50,000 runners, there were also some famous faces, who took on the challenge to raise money for charity. it's my first marathon. i sort of gave up running a few years ago because ijust didn't really enjoy it very much. and then it was my brother that suggested we should all run for alzheimer's research uk and so we all started training about six months ago orfive months ago. and you've got dad written on your hat, tell me about that. so my father was diagnosed with alzheimer's two years ago, and he ran the very first london marathon in 1981, and he did it in 3 hours, 15 minutes, which is an extraordinary time. so we all thought it a fitting tribute to try and to run itfor him. my body is a little bit a little bit wrecked at the moment. so i know it's a bit, but it's you know, it was a good

day out there. how nice was it to be running back in possibly more familiar surroundings? yeah. oh, it's amazing. it's not quite as hot as the sahara desert or the congo, so that's good stuff. and then, you know, the amount of people out here, the energy from the crowd, everyone in it going together. you see all these people crossing the finish line, you know, really going for it. it's great stuff then. i'm running for- the children's trust. it's an amazing charity. they help children with brain injuries, young people - with brain injuries. it's such an incredible charity and i've been lucky enough. to be involved with them for several years now. i my brother in law has a brain injury through a road traffic accident, - and it's devastating what brain- injuries can can have on the victims and also their families. so the support that the i children's trust give them is totally invaluable. running any marathon is a massive achievement, but imagine doing it not

on pavements or roads, but sand. the annual marathon of the sands has taken place in morocco. it's described as the toughest footrace on earth as it covers 252 kilometres spread over six stages. nearly 900 athletes from 58 countries have been taking part. moroccan runner rachid el—morabity won his tenth title covering the final 21 kilometre stage in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 5 seconds, just two seconds ahead. it's what fans have really, really wanted to see. a reunion of all five members of the spice girls, who attended victoria beckham's fiftieth birthday party last night. david beckham posted this video of the five joining togetherfor a rendition of their hit stop. i spoke to spice girls superfan samuel zernig, who gave us his reaction to the reunion. i haven't stopped smiling. christmas truly came, came early.

it was truly the night the five became one. see what i've done there? victoria gifted us all for her 50th birthday with the greatest gift is a five member spice girls reunion. it's worth mentioning this was the first time in 12 years. can you believe the olympic games has been 12 years ago, that all five members of the spice girls performed together at the same place in the same venue. with people like tom cruise, eva longoria, gordon ramsay in attendance, this truly seemed the night not to be missed. gosh, all those celebs were there! my goodness. how long have you been a super fan? because you really don't look old enough, if you don't mind me saying. it's the lighting, thank you. and truly, since 1996, as you can hearfrom my accent that i'm actually german. so i moved to the uk to embrace the spice girls lifestyle, as i like to say.

it's just a 12 second grainy video taken on david beckham's phone, it's truly something absolutely special. so just tell me about some of the, actually, let's just take you back to the moment that this video dropped on social media. i didn't believe it was them. i really didn't. did you know straightaway? yeah, i think it was like 3am, so i was like, am i asleep? am i am i dreaming? but it turned out no, i actually was very much awake. it is very, very grainy, as you said. it's very dark, but it's truly them as confirmed by all five members. and it's just so wonderful. and it's really wonderful to see that it's been 30 years since the spice girls formed and just this tiny, tiny video generated global headlines. you could see it in germany today or you could see it in america. and it just shows just how strong the spice girls spread still is.

he really was a super fan. plenty more coming appear on 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 chilli and a brisk north—easterly wind blowing temperatures here really struggling and will continue to do so we are all going to be in this chilly air masses be had through the rest of the week's attempters below the seasonal average, frosty night and then towards the end of the working baby will start to see low pressure scoop in some milderair will start to see low pressure scoop in some milder airfrom the south—west. it will be quite wet and

windy but milder as we had into next weekend, keep an eye on the forecast. high—pressure scented of the uk lots of dry weather through around drifting further north and westwards. this form print bringing outbreaks of rain into northern england is we had through the night, bind to the front of the north—west milder the lesson that some coastal health fog around the head of the front across east anglian south—east enlist chilli with some clear skies may be a touch of frost into tomorrow morning but a bright start here as the worm for and push southwards and use words receive the cloud overtop that cold feeling error so always quite chilly and damp and that will be outbreaks of removing southwards across the midlands and east to eastern wearers eventually essentials up in england by the end of the day. northern ireland is cloud year and coolly fuelling but scotland is looking dry and there will be some decently long spells of sunshine around in the centre but we could get to 16 celsius. following behind the warm

front is a cold front. people seek chillier conditions across much of the northern half of the uk is vented to tuesday morning. milder in the south underneath all of this cloud. there will be more centred around on tuesday, a lot of dry weather, fairly quiet day of weather, fairly quiet day of weather, but we have a brisk northerly wind bringing cool feeling conditions, brisk winds to north sea facing coasts. the highest temperatures, brightest of the skies, likely out towards western areas once again. as we head into would say, we start seizing showers out towards these. it will turn more unsettled as the week wears on into the weekend, but milder. temperature starting to climb little further.

live from london, this is bbc news. more grief in gaza, as 20 members of one family die in an israeli air strike. president zelensky says a new $61 billion us aid package will give ukraine a chance of victory in its war against russia. translation: i think this support will really strengthen _ the armed forces of ukraine. british mp — mark menzies — quits the conservative party and will stand down at the next general election after claims he misused party funds. the prime minister says he's appalled by the way police in london treated a jewish man during a pro—palestinian march.

# stop right now, thank you very much...# and friendship never ends — the spice girls get back together to celebrate victoria beckham's 50th birthday. hello, welcome to bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. we start in the middle east, where 15 children are among the dead, after an israeli air strike on the city of rafah in southern gaza. israel has been carrying out almost daily air raids on the city, where more than a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says he wants to increase the pressure on hamas with a ground offensive into rafah, while the health ministry in gaza, which is run by hamas, says more than 30,000 people have died since the start of the war, back in october. as fergal keane now reports, while the world worried