and, more dangerous then heroin, the bbc investigates the synthetic drugs advertised online and smuggled into the uk. hello, good to happy with i'm sally bundock. we begin with benjamin netanyahu you. benjamin netanyahu has warned that israel's military will soon intensify its attacks on hamas. in a speech on the eve of the jewish holiday of passover, he said further painful blows against hamas were needed in the coming days to secure the release of israeli hostages. 15 children are among the dead, after an israeli air strike on the city of rafah in southern gaza on sunday, where more than a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the health ministry in gaza, which is run by hamas, says more than 30,000 people

have died since the start of the war in october. as fergal keane now reports, while the world worried about a wider war between israel and iran, in gaza, the suffering continued. air-raid sirens blaring the eyes of the world were on a bigger drama, played out in the skies above israel. shouting but in gaza, nothing changed. this was rafah today after 15 children from one family were killed in an air strike.

translation: show me one man among them. l they're all children and women. you can see my identity is completely erased with the deaths of my wife and children. a pregnant woman was among the dead. her baby daughter was saved in an emergency operation. a child born to a mother she will never know. there is the story of everyday death, and the story of what follows for the families caught in the shadows of death. nawara's husband, abdulrahman, was one of more than 70 civilians killed in an israeli raid to rescue hostages in february. these were the couple's children in the aftermath of their father's death.

we went back to see nawara, now eight months�* pregnant with her dead husband's child, and in grief, awaiting the arrival of a new life. nawara's words — the elegy of a wife and mother for all that's been lost. in central gaza, israeli forces hunt hamas. they're still launching attacks from tunnels and buildings. and as the war rages on, sickness and hunger haunt gaza. these children in central gaza are queuing for food to try and feed

entire families. many are weak, listless. the un says less than half the amount of food needed is reaching the population. translation: we have been coming here for six months, l and we are completely dependent on the food charity. we come here to take food to eat and feed the other children. in the north, where the threat of famine is most acute, amjad kanu, age three, suffers from kidney disease exacerbated by malnutrition. his six—year—old brother, ahmad, provides comfort for the youngster. souad has more

than one sick child. her older boy has suspected cancer and in war—ravaged gaza, can't get the proper treatment. such are the days and lives of gaza after six months of war. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. health and emergency workers in the second biggest city in the gaza strip say they've uncovered nearly 200 bodies buried in the courtyard of a hospital. al nasa in khan younis had been at the centre of an israeli military operation until two weeks ago. the world health organization has previously said bodies were being buried within hospitals under israeli siege, but palestinians have accused israeli forces of killing some of the victims. the israeli military said it is checking the reports. israel accuses hamas of using medical facilities as command centres.

let's move on to ukraine. ukraine's president zelenskyy says the $61 billion military aid package, approved by american lawmakers will give his country a chance of victory in its war against russia. in an interview on american television, he said more weapons would help kyiv retake the initiative, especially long—range missiles. well, ukrainian forces have been coming under increasing pressure recently in the east of the country, and there have been concerns in the west about russian advances, including the seizure of the strategic town of avdiivka, back in february. james waterhouse has the very latest from kyiv. a production line waiting for a presidential sign off. freshly made artillery shells in this factory in pennsylvania usa. now, almost certain to make their way to a ukrainian

battlefield. where there are holes instead of round. after america threw its weight back behind ukraine, the message here is, you make it, we will use it. in the northeast it is the russians who are edging closer. translation: it is better now we let them attack and then at defend but when we get the shells, drones and whatever else is in this package, we can turn things around. it is hoped this usaid will save ukrainian lives in cities like kyiv. but it has been a painful weight. translation: our been a painful weight. translation: 0ur guys need help because they have nothing to protect us. we always need help because without it our enemy can advance further and can be in the centre of our city. 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. there has been a constant flow of diplomats through kyiv as they have tried to pave the way for this bill to be passed. better late than never is the reaction we hearing this weekend. neverwould reaction we hearing this weekend. never would have meant an almost certain defeat for ukraine, however late still means it will be difficult for kyiv to change momentum on the straightaway. translation: this aid will strengthen ukraine and send the kremlin a powerful signal that it will not be the second afghanistan. the united states will stay with ukraine and protect democracy in the world. this is a show of leadership and strength. while the west has wavered, russia has stayed committed to its invasion. ukraine needs to make america's return count to keep moscow and west and at bay. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. will have more on the

financial aid agreed in the united states. what it means for ukraine a little later in our business coverage in around 30 minutes. let's get some of the day's other news now. about 250,000 people have taken part in anti—government protests in cities across colombia. they were demonstrating against president gustavo petro's reforms, which include nationalising the health service. they are also angry that violence has continued, despite peace talks with guerrilla groups. the usjournalist, terry anderson, who was held hostage for nearly seven years during lebanon's civil war, has died at his home in new york. he was 76. he spent much of his time in solitary confinement, chained and blindfolded. anderson said his roman catholic faith and sheer stubbornness helped to keep him alive. the world's countries are spending more money than ever on defence. new figures show that last year nearly $2.5 trillion was allocated to military expenditure. the countries spending the most were the united states,

china, russia, india and saudi arabia. the report said that there was no region in the world where the security situation had improved in 2023. a bbc investigation has traced how deadly synthetic drugs have been getting into the uk. nitazenes, which are more deadly then heroin, have recently been linked to more than two uk deaths a week. made in labs in china, nitazenes are being advertised on social media platforms and smuggled into the country, before being mixed into other illegal drugs by criminal gangs. 0ur correspondent colin campbell has more. 21—year—old southhampton musician dylan died after a unknowingly taking synthetic opioids called nitazenes that were hidden in heroin. i wanted to cuddle him, _ were hidden in heroin. i wanted to cuddle him, put— were hidden in heroin. i wanted to cuddle him, put my - were hidden in heroin. i wanted to cuddle him, put my head - were hidden in heroin. i wanted to cuddle him, put my head on| to cuddle him, put my head on his chest. i was really scared,

i don't want to put my head on his chest because his heart was not beating. we his chest because his heart was not beating-— his chest because his heart was not beating. we have discovered the superstrength _ not beating. we have discovered the superstrength man-made i the superstrength man—made drugs linked to more than 100 uk debts are being openly advertised by chinese suppliers on major social media sites. 0n x, formerly twitter, we found more than 700 adverts for nitazenes. 0n soundcloud we found almost 3000. nitazenes. on soundcloud we found almost 3000.- found almost 3000. valley advertisements _ found almost 3000. valley advertisements on - found almost 3000. valley advertisements on the - found almost 3000. valley l advertisements on the scalp, hundreds, thousands of adverts is very horrifying. significant risk to human life.- is very horrifying. significant risk to human life. posing as a dru: risk to human life. posing as a drug dealer. — risk to human life. posing as a drug dealer, we _ risk to human life. posing as a drug dealer, we contacted - drug dealer, we contacted suppliers in china and received a flood of offers. videos of the labs whether drugs are supposedly made and bags of powder ready to be shipped. £311" powder ready to be shipped. our roduct is powder ready to be shipped. oi" product is very, very good and the purity is up to 98. d0 product is very, very good and the purity is up to 98. do have many customers _ the purity is up to 98. do have many customers from - the purity is up to 98. do have - many customers from soundcloud?

yeah, yeah. it is a music platform but they can make advertisements on it. we contacted _ advertisements on it. we contacted 35 _ advertisements on it. we contacted 35 suppliers. 30 said they could post nitazenes to they could post nitazenes to the uk. you promise it is safe. yes, we have many customers and the old give us positive feedback.— feedback. they inaudible - inaudible after we contacted soundcloud, they removed all the posts. they say they were being targeted by bad actors for the purpose of selling or trading illegal drugs. they say they use staff and software to moderate pastes, posts and promised to take every possible action to tackle the worldwide epidemic ofjob tracker thing. after contacting x, hundreds of post were removed but one—month later many removed on the platform. we asked if a failure

to adequately moderate had allowed post to remain online, while the global trade of these dangerous drugs flourishes. they did not respond. dylan used soundcloud to share his music for his mum there is only one course of action for the social media firm.— one course of action for the social media firm. take them down, obviously. _ social media firm. take them down, obviously. have - social media firm. take them down, obviously. have more| down, obviously. have more stringent things in place to stop advertisements going on. the very thing that dylan used for people know about his music and love his music also advertise the drug that killed him. �* �* ., , , ~ , him. the bbc did not buy any nitazenes _ him. the bbc did not buy any nitazenes and _ him. the bbc did not buy any nitazenes and contacted - him. the bbc did not buy any nitazenes and contacted all i nitazenes and contacted all suppliers to ask why they were willing to provide a legal and dangerous products. 0nly willing to provide a legal and dangerous products. only six responded, saying they had never sent the drug to the uk and did not know it was illegal here. the home office say mount street in the uk remain low and a recent tightening of the law mean suppliers can now face life in prison. colin campbell, bbc news. you can see that documentary

in full on the bbc iplayer. called the new drug threat, which is available to watch online, or you can download the iplayer app. do check it out. let's turn to one of the main stories developing in the uk, where 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, mr menzies 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 0ur political correspondent iain watson has been following the story.

stand at the next election and sit as an independent and i can tell you local party sorters in his constituency are worried about that. rishi sunak i'm sure will be pleased about that as well, perhaps less pleased about the publicity surrounding this mp. just to go back to the allegations, the time surge over the wiki use money donated by campaigning to pray for private medical bills and more spectacular to compensate a party official who paid 605,000... did not comment on those allegations at all. he disputed them. he said that because of pressures on him and his elderly mother he will be resigning from the conservative party and standing down at the next election. the conservative party has said that basically at the police want to take this further they will co—operate with them but because the money did not come from an official party account therefore they could not conclude he had misused conservative party funds. more details on that on our website.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the commissioner of the metropolitan police, sir mark rowley, is to meet jewish groups tomorrow, after criticism over the way one of his officers treated a man during a pro—palestinian march in london. gideon falter was told he might provoke a reaction from the demonstrators because he was �*openlyjewish.’ mr falter has called for the commissioner to resign. here's angus crawford. gideon falter wants to cross the road through a pro—palestine march. the road through a pro-palestine march. the road through a ro-palestine march. ~ pro-palestine march. when the crowd is gone _ pro-palestine march. when the crowd is gone i _ pro-palestine march. when the crowd is gone i will... - pro-palestine march. when the crowd is gone i will... he - pro-palestine march. when the crowd is gone i will... he is - crowd is gone i will... he is told that — crowd is gone i will... he is told that is _ crowd is gone i will... he is told that is not _ crowd is gone i will... he is told that is not possible. i crowd is gone i will... he is. told that is not possible. but why? inaudible this is a pro— palestinian march. i worried about the reaction of your present. when

he challenges police, he is given an ultimatum. inaudible that is not acceptable. today, he is calling for the head of the met to resign.- the met to resign. after six months of _ the met to resign. after six months of sir _ the met to resign. after six months of sir mark - the met to resign. after six l months of sir mark rowley's three catelli rights of law—abiding londoners including thejewish community to appease lawless mobs i think it is time for sir mark rowley to go. 5ir for sir mark rowley to go. sir mark rowley has apologised for the incident, the second time in three days. it will open up operational planning to greatest scrutiny. tonight gideon falter has been invited to a private meeting with the met which is accepted to discuss what more the force can do to makejewish londoners feel safe. since the hamas attacks of seven 0ctober, feel safe. since the hamas attacks of seven 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 to leave the force has got that balance wrong and also want the commissioner to go. but the prime minister does not. downing street said he was appalled by the incident and there are questions to answer. what has happened is a serious misstep because what we cannot be saying to particular groups in society that they are very presence as a provocation. you do not want anybody of any community to feel like that which is how thejewish community has been made to feel. ., ., ., feel. the london mayor said the met must _ feel. the london mayor said the met must have _ feel. the london mayor said the met must have the _ feel. the london mayor said the met must have the confidence i feel. the london mayor said the| met must have the confidence of the communities they serve and it is right they have apologised for the way the incident was handled. protest, counter protest and in the middle of the met, at times struggling to police the

divide. angus crawford, bbc news. ecuador�*s national prison agency say they are trying to establish who is behind the death of a prison director who died on sunday. his death comes as ecuadorians have been voting in a referendum to bolster security in response to a surge in violence by drugs gangs. 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(ani)and impose harsher prison sentences for "terrorism" and drug trafficking. president daniel nob—oh—a also wants to change the constitution so ecuadoreans wanted abroad for organised crime—related offences can be extradited. 0ur correspondent ione wells sent this report from the ecuadorean capital, quito. this referendum was really all

about titling security measures in the country after a wave of violence early this year that led to a state of emergency being called in the country. this included armed gunmen storming a television statement while live on air, prison riots and various politicians being killed as well. people in ecuador today were voting on a range of different measures which included enshrining the military�*s presence on the streets to help police tackle organised crime but also things like increasing prison sentences and allowing extradition of violent criminals as well. lots of people we spoke to today in ecuador were voting for these measures, saying they think it will make them feel personally safer, particularly those who may have experienced some kinds of violent crimes, kidnapping, deaths and robberies themselves. but there was also a significant amount of people who were voting no too. people who were voting no too. people who worried that for example increasing the powers of the police and military could lead to more arbitrary arrests and potentially even human rights abuses of police of the military were to abuse any of

those powers. tributes are being paid to the acclaimed british conductor, sir andrew davis, who's died in chicago at the age of eighty. he was one of the longest—serving chief conductors of the bbc symphony orchestra, and a familiarface at the annual bbc proms concerts in london, where he was famous for his funny speeches. writing on the social media platform x, the orchestra says: "we are deeply saddened to hear "we are deeply saddened to hear that sir andrew davis has died" describing him as "a vital force in british music for many decades and a friend to us all". 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 in 1998. music

that gives you a taste of two 0ur taste culture reporter noor nanji told me what made him such a well—loved conductor. he was very loved and very well—known after a career that spanned around five decades. 0ver that time he performed for some of the world's most finest orchestras, including of course the chief conductor of the bbc symphony orchestra as you said. he was regularly seen at the bbc proms and also conducted the last night of the proms on several occasions. 0ften the last night of the proms on several occasions. often he would make some quite funny speeches. there were memorable moments over that time as well, that really endeared him to audiences. his range was also diverse. he performed a wide range of repertoire, everything ranging from the rock to contemporary. he resigned from the bbc and you 2000 and moved

to that point to the us with his wife to chicago and that is where he was living when he died. he had been suffering from leukaemia and his agent confirmed to bbc news that was the cause for his death and he also said that many people would be celebrating sir andrew's career over a very long time. to andrew's career over a very long time-— andrew's career over a very lona time. ., ., . long time. to that point, what tributes have _ long time. to that point, what tributes have been _ long time. to that point, what tributes have been coming - long time. to that point, what tributes have been coming in l tributes have been coming in the voice do we have so far? tributes from across the music world have been pouring in this afternoon, ever since the news of his death broke. they include from the royal opera house, which wrote on twitter, now called x, that they were saddened by the news. julian lloyd webber, the brother of andrew lloyd webber, also a musician and conductor in his own right, he wrote that so andrew was a great musician who was wonderful with his soloists and the current chief conductor of the bbc 0rchestra said he

was remembering with greatest respect and admiration everything sir andrew had done over his career, over those many years and his involvement in music. i many years and his involvement in music. , . ~ ., in music. i will be back with a top business _ in music. i will be back with a top business stories - in music. i will be back with a top business stories next - in music. i will be back with a top business stories next on | top business stories next on the bbc news. hello there. northern ireland was certainly the place to be on sunday. light winds, sunny skies and it turned out to be the warmest day of the year in the country so far with temperatures reaching 90 degrees. ——19 degrees temperatures reaching 9 degrees. by contrast, much further east across the uk will remain cold. particularly so across north—eastern parts of england with cloud and breeze coming in off the north sea. high pressure close type and tending to edge away, allowing these weather fronts to bring cloud and even rain southwards overnight. ahead of that, clearer skies for east anglia

and the southeast. temperatures could be close to freezing first thing in the morning before that cloud comes in. there will be a lot of cloud on monday. we have the light rain and drizzle affecting northern england, the midlands and wales, heading towards the southwest and there could be few spots of rain heading towards scotland. not as much sunshine in northern ireland. not as warm on monday. it may make 16 degrees in glasgow but will be particularly chilly for the midlands and eastern parts of england. that area of high pressure continues to just get pushed away and these weather fronts move southwards overnight with clearer skies though following into scotland. could be an early frost around here. most of the cloud will affect eastern parts of england heading to the southeast and northerly wind follows and the odd light shower around north sea coast. cloud will tend to build up the sunner skies

for western scotland, northern ireland and wales, and here temperatures will be 1a, 15 degrees and it will be colder further east of there, and for the next few days, west will be best. high—pressure is no longer with us by wednesday, but with still in that colder air stream with northerly wind bringing the odd shower down some of those north sea coast where it will feel particularly cold. may see a touch of frost here and there if cloud breaks but the cloud will tend to build up through the day on wednesday and could lead to a few showers, mainly for england and wales. looking sunnier perhaps for western scotland and northern ireland but temperatures 11 degrees in belfast and that will be a typical best number on wednesday. it will be a chilly week ahead. temperatures dropping across northern areas and even the risk of frost overnight before lower pressure maybe

live from london, this is bbc news. tiktok�*s future hangs in the balance in the us as lawmakers move closer to banning the popular social media app. the benefits of nearshoring: we look at how mexico has been given a boost by us animosity towards chinese imports. and a difficult balance: how to satisfy our need for critical materials such as lithium and aluminium and still protect the environment.

hello. good to have you with us. we are now focused on the top business stories. we begin with tiktok as the house of representatives passed a bill over the weekend that brings a ban of the popular social media app in the us a step closer unless its chinese owner sells its stake within a year. fears that the data about millions of american tiktok users could land in china's hands has driven congressional efforts to split the company from the beijing—based company bytedance. tiktok says bytedance "is not an agent of china or any other country" and points out the firm is 60% owned by global investors. let's discuss this. joining me now is jasmine enberg, principal analyst on social media at emarketer. good to see you again. of course, this was talked about at length when this first came to our attention that the us plan to ban tiktok. took us

through what happened over the weekend.