earlier — jake sullivan held talks with saudi arabia's crown prince. it's the latest stage in the us initiative to try and halt the fighting in gaza. and police say a 14—year—old boy has died and a 13—year—old boy is in a critical condition — after they got into difficulty in the river tyne in the northeast of england. the two boys entered the water yesterday afternoon. the younger child was rescued and taken to hospital. you and taken to hospital. can get more on all of those stories you can get more on all of those stories on the bbc news website and app. and ijust and i just want to bring and ijust want to bring you more now on the breaking news in the last hour out of iran. a helicopter in a convoy carrying the president ebrahim raisi has had what state media are calling a hard landing. it

is currently unclear whether the president was on board the helicopter that state media says was involved in the accident, so there were three helicopters in this convoy. one of them had what state media are calling a hard landing. there is a lot of heavy rain and fog in the area and we are just seeing the mp for the city where the convoy was heading has told reporters in tehran that emergency rescue workers have yet to find the location of the president's helicopter, and heavy rain and fog has made the rescue very difficult. they are saying of the three helicopters, to have landed safely but there is no news on the third. some reports do say they were carrying the president and foreign minister but we have had no confirmation of that at the moment and i amjoined in

confirmation of that at the moment and i am joined in the studio by mike colleague. you have been monitoring the state media in iran. what is the latest as we know? you have presented _ what is the latest as we know? 7m, have presented it is what is the latest as we know? vol, have presented it is absolutely right, there are conflicting reports. state media is saying a helicopter in a convoy of helicopters has had a rough landing. we don't have confirmation of whether ebrahim raisi or his foreign minister who was reportedly on the plane as well were on the plane together. there is some state media reporting that suggests the president was but again we don't have that confirmed. it is clear that state media is taking this very seriously. they are rolling on this news and the interior minister has been providing updates on speaking to officials in azerbaijan who are

confirming some of what you said. the conditions right now and the fact there is heavy fog and this is a wooded area in east azerbaijan means this rescue operation and search teams are having some challenges. also, one state media agency has been asking iranians to pray for the president, an indication of how seriously they are taking it. in terms of ebrahim raisi's own role in iran, the way he is perceived, he came to power in 2021 and those elections had a record low turnout and some candidates were barred from running. while we do report on iranian elections and often put caveats in terms of the freedom people truly have, the elections are actually very important to iran. they are a

way of justifying very important to iran. they are a way ofjustifying the islamic republic and the fact there was such a low turnout was seen as a real blow for the regime. and ebrahim raisi, just to reinforce how important of a figure he is in iran, he is seen as somewhat of a pro—tj of the supreme leader and some even talk about him as a potential successor although there are complicated reasons to do with clerical rule is that i want to get into that make that a challenge and he is clearly not only president but an important figure to the operation of the regime itself. this is a blow for them in terms of the stability they are trying to project but there are so many conflicting reports that we really have to stress we don't know exactly what has happened here. as you say, i am seeing on the news wires that state tv is aiding

players for the safety of the president and the foreign minister saying things are under control and rescue teams are doing their work but we know the weather conditions are very bad in that area. yes. but we know the weather conditions are very bad in that area.— are very bad in that area. yes, and state tv has _ are very bad in that area. yes, and state tv has been _ are very bad in that area. yes, and state tv has been rolling - are very bad in that area. yes, and state tv has been rolling on - are very bad in that area. yes, andl state tv has been rolling on images of these rescue operations, of people reportedly trying to find the helicopter and you can see there is fog everywhere which understandably would make the rescue operation is more difficult. having said that, there is not much more we know. either way the idea that state media is reporting this is even a possibility is concerning. there was also one report on state media earlier and we don't know if this is confirmed, that suggests perhaps there had been some communications between some of the officials on board this convoy of helicopters and

the government and perhaps that was a positive sign. but again state media did speak to an official in east azerbaijan who said he doesn't have any figures on numbers of injuries, he himself is trying to get there to really ascertain what has happened. get there to really ascertain what has happened-— get there to really ascertain what has happened. get there to really ascertain what has hauened. , , , has happened. yes, the president was fl in: back has happened. yes, the president was flying back after _ has happened. yes, the president was flying back after opening _ has happened. yes, the president was flying back after opening a _ has happened. yes, the president was flying back after opening a couple - flying back after opening a couple of dams near the border with azerbaijan. give us an idea where the city is in the area it is around. it the city is in the area it is around-— the city is in the area it is around. , ., ., ., , around. it is a north-eastern part and it is also _ around. it is a north-eastern part and it is also worth _ around. it is a north-eastern part and it is also worth mentioning i around. it is a north-eastern part and it is also worth mentioning it| and it is also worth mentioning it is a very mountainous area so we are talking about fog and a wooded area and talking about mountainous terrain. these are not ideal conditions for search and rescue operation which is so important to the country right now. we are talking about it right now, it has global implications. again, we do not know whether president ebrahim

raisi was actually on board this one helicopter that had a rough landing. we don't know if there are any casualties or injuries at all but clearly again state media is taking this very seriously.— clearly again state media is taking this very seriously. viewers will be “oininu as this very seriously. viewers will be joining as all _ this very seriously. viewers will be joining as all the _ this very seriously. viewers will be joining as all the time _ this very seriously. viewers will be joining as all the time and - this very seriously. viewers will be joining as all the time and just - joining as all the time and just remind us what we do know, take us through the series of events. we know the through the series of events. - know the details are onlyjust coming in and we are hearing this from several state media agencies in iran that a convoy of helicopters, three helicopters, that was carrying president ebrahim raisi, including his foreign minister was involved. one of those helicopters was involved in a rough landing. an official in east as in byjan has told state media that the two others landed safely. according to local media ebrahim raisi was heading to the north—west of iran after

returning to the border with azerbaijan. again, part of the concern amid all these conflicting reports in terms of whether the president was actually on board the helicopter involved, we do know the search and rescue operations have been very complicated. they are hampered by conditions. we know there is fog and this is a mountainous and wooded area which means the process of getting these answers has been really hampered. figs answers has been really hampered. as you said earlier, the fact state television are doing a rolling coverage of this show is the seriousness with which they are taking this. seriousness with which they are taking this-— taking this. and not 'ust rolling eevage you _ taking this. and not 'ust rolling coverage, you have b taking this. and notjust rolling coverage, you have a _ taking this. and notjust rolling coverage, you have a news - taking this. and notjust rolling i coverage, you have a news agency asking iranians to pray for the president. they clearly are taking this seriously and speaking to officials and they have their own top officials trying to provide updates on trying to provide that

stability that they are on the situation. the role of president ebrahim raisi, what he represents to this country, it is not quite the same as previous presidents. the previous president was not seen as being as closely allied to the supreme leader and part of that is because ebrahim raisi, before he was even elected president in 2021, in what was an election record low turnout, he was also a top official of the judiciary, turnout, he was also a top official of thejudiciary, someone turnout, he was also a top official of the judiciary, someone seen as particularly powerful, and the judiciary in iran, we have covered this several times on the bbc and during those historic women led projects, thejudiciary is particularly powerful in iran and is seen as particularly fierce. one of the strongest arms of the islamic

republic. ebrahim raisi has always been at the heart of it. just republic. ebrahim raisi has always been at the heart of it.— been at the heart of it. just seeing this again. — been at the heart of it. just seeing this again, this _ been at the heart of it. just seeing this again, this developing as - been at the heart of it. just seeing this again, this developing as we l this again, this developing as we are covering it. iranian state tv now showing worshippers praying for the president, so again the whole nation seeming to get this news that has broken in the last hour or so. you rightly said holy city, it is somewhere that would have many supporters of the islamic republic, of the supreme leader, and of course of the supreme leader, and of course of the supreme leader, and of course of the president ebrahim raisi but it is also a city where we saw a lot of protests. it is really important to say here that it is a complicated picture. you clearly have something serious going on if you have state media rolling on it in this way, if you have top officials coming to provide updates and asking people to pray, but having said that, ebrahim

raisi is something of a divisive figure. he is closely linked to the islamic republic and is seen as close to the supreme leader and so given that there has been so much political and domestic turmoil in the country as well as serious economic problems, he is someone who is a divisive figure still in iran, but of course this is the president and you're hearing about a potentially serious accident he may or may not have been involved in. it will be a top priority for the country. will be a top priority for the count . ., ., will be a top priority for the count . ., ,, i. will be a top priority for the count . ., ,, . ., country. thank you so much for the moment, country. thank you so much for the moment. i — country. thank you so much for the moment, i know _ country. thank you so much for the moment, i know you _ country. thank you so much for the moment, i know you will— country. thank you so much for the moment, i know you will go - country. thank you so much for the moment, i know you will go back . country. thank you so much for the i moment, i know you will go back out and keep an eye on state media and if you'rejustjoining us and keep an eye on state media and if you're justjoining us letters remind you of the breaking news. a helicopter and i convoy holding the iranian president has been involved in an accident. state media saying the helicopter experienced what they are saying is a hard landing. we

have no confirmation at the moment that the president was on board that helicopter. there were three in the convoy that was taking him from opening a couple of dams near the border with azerbaijan, but what we do know is that the weather conditions in that area had what state tv are calling a hard landing. there is fog and heavy rain so it is making it hard for the rescue teams to get to that area. as i say, this is a developing story and you can get the very latest on the bbc news website and app and if we have any more developments from state media we will bring them to you here on bbc news. we are now going to turn our attention to one of the other big stories today. an inquiry into the uk's biggest health scandal will release its final report tomorrow.

more than 30,000 people in the uk were infected with hiv and hepatitis c after being given contaminated blood products by the national health service in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. in total, 3,000 people died. it's been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the nhs. victims and their families have spent decades fighting for compensation. so how much will that compensation be? ministers have been asked about the blood scandal this morning. with me is our political correspondent damian grammaticus yes, this scandal as you say has rumbled on and on for decades. thousands and thousands of people affected. two issues, one as compensation and the second is reallyjust compensation and the second is really just the simple compensation and the second is reallyjust the simple recognition and getting to the heart of what happened here and why it has taken so long. what we will get is

tomorrow the official inquiry that has looked into all of this and goes back to 2017, when that was set up. that will deliver its report. that is a key moment for the families but also a key moment politically because it then triggers this whole question about compensation that has been going on for some time. interim payments have been given to the families but only fairly recently and the question then, the government has said it will give full compensation but how much? that is the question put to the defence secretary grant shapps on the bbc this morning. reports suggesting the total amount could be in the region of £10 billion, a mass of some. this is how we answered. the ideate has taken all this time to get— the ideate has taken all this time to get to — the ideate has taken all this time to get to the trait is heartbreaking. the government have said they— heartbreaking. the government have said they will want to respond quickly— said they will want to respond quickly to it. said they will want to respond quickly to it-— said they will want to respond ruickl to it. . quickly to it. can you confirm the compensation? _ quickly to it. can you confirm the compensation? i'm _ quickly to it. can you confirm the

compensation? i'm not- quickly to it. can you confirm the compensation? i'm not in - quickly to it. can you confirm the compensation? i'm not in that i compensation? i'm not in that position. _ compensation? i'm not in that position, certainly _ compensation? i'm not in that position, certainly others - compensation? i'm not in that position, certainly others willl compensation? i'm not in that. position, certainly others will talk about_ position, certainly others will talk about it _ position, certainly others will talk about it but i do know from my own constituency casework, it is heartbreaking and it is the system over decades having let down these families _ over decades having let down these families. find over decades having let down these families. �* ., ., ,., families. and part of the reason he sa s families. and part of the reason he says heartbreaking _ families. and part of the reason he says heartbreaking is _ families. and part of the reason he says heartbreaking is because - families. and part of the reason he | says heartbreaking is because there have been people dying and continue to be. every four days it is thought on average a person is dying before seeing this result, so it is a question that will continue and potentially land in the inbox of the labour party if they win the next election. labour's shadow health secretary wes streeting, this was his response. let there be justice for victims of the scandal because every four days a victim _ the scandal because every four days a victim dies without justice and justice _ a victim dies without justice and justice has— a victim dies without justice and justice has been delayed for too lonq _ justice has been delayed for too lonq all— justice has been delayed for too long. all parties are going to have to take _ long. all parties are going to have to take some pretty heavy criticism on the _ to take some pretty heavy criticism on the chin— to take some pretty heavy criticism on the chin when the report comes out tomorrow, including us, and we will take _ out tomorrow, including us, and we will take that on the chin. even

more _ will take that on the chin. even more importantly, even in this election— more importantly, even in this election year when we are slugging it out— election year when we are slugging it out for— election year when we are slugging it out for who governs britain, i hope _ it out for who governs britain, i hope we — it out for who governs britain, i hope we can see that rare moment of consensus _ hope we can see that rare moment of consensus in — hope we can see that rare moment of consensus in our politics to put the situation _ consensus in our politics to put the situation right. i consensus in our politics to put the situation right.— situation right. i think we do see that consensus, _ situation right. i think we do see that consensus, politicians - situation right. i think we do see that consensus, politicians on i situation right. i think we do see | that consensus, politicians on all sides except this has been a huge scandal, a huge injustice and it does need to be dealt with. when that bell lands and when it is picked up, that will be a big question because it will be a significant amount of money the government will have to find, but what we will see i think initially is really a moment that is all about the families and about recognising what they have been through and trying to answer some of their questions, and then perhaps later in the week we will move on to the implications. our correspondent sophie long has been speaking to some of those affected. i found out in 2017, and that was through my doctor. my liver function wasn't very good,

so he insisted i had a hep c blood test. so he tested me for hep c, and it came back that i had hep c, so i was so shocked. there was a problem with my liver, and so further tests, and eventually i was told that i've contracted hepatitis c. both liz and dena were given blood transfusions after giving birth. it would be decades before they learned the blood they had been given was contaminated with hepatitis c. it's undetectable at the minute, but it's left me with various health conditions, the worst one being fibromyalgia for me. ibs, gastro problems, barrett's oesophagus, severe anxiety and depression. after diagnosis, their concern

was not just for themselves, but their children. there was the trauma of me thinking, well, i've had hep c. i could've passed it onto the rest the children. so then i had to tell them, one by one, "you need to get tested, cos you might have hep c. "i might have given you hep c." what i do feel angry about is that all those years, when i wasn't treated, i was a risk to other people or my children, you know, at each birth, they were at risk. and fortunately they are ok. i think that's what i feel quite upset about. it's believed around 30,000 people were infected with hiv and hepatitis c. more than 1,000 of them had the rare blood—clotting disorder haemophilia. mark was one of dozens of children who were given what was supposed to be a revolutionary blood treatment at treloar�*s college, a boarding school that specialised in treating the condition.

it initially gave him a new lease of life, but in 1985, he was told he had hiv. he was 23, was planning to get married and have children and buy houses and he couldn't do any of that. mark died in 2003, aged ai. janine was with him at the end. every time he woke up, he'd squeeze my hand, "still here, neen, still here? "make sure you carry on. "please make sure you carry on this," and i said, "i will. "while this breath in my body, i will follow it "for you, don't worry." janine is still fighting forjustice for her brother 21 years later. like mark, nick stainsbury also developed hepatitis c and hiv after receiving treatment for haemophilia. nick campaigned to find out why children had been given contaminated blood products. he gave evidence during the six—year

investigation into the scandal. he didn't live to hear its findings. even though, in his last few years, he was in a wheelchair most of the time, he would definitely have got to the hearing on may 20th, no matter what. it hasjust become so sad, because we're thinking nick would've liked to have heard this, and obviously, he's not here to do that, and it'sjust something that we're trying to come to terms with ourselves. these are just a few of the thousands of people impacted by the contaminated blood scandal. tomorrow, many of them will travel to westminster in the hope of finally finding some form ofjustice. sophie long, bbc news. and a reminder we will have full coverage of the infected blood scandal inquiry conclusion tomorrow here on the bbc news, you will be able follow it live on the bbc news website and app

and also on bbc iplayer. if you are just if you arejustjoining us if you are justjoining us want to remind you of our breaking news in the last hour. this is coming out of iran. a helicopter in a convoy carrying the iranian president has been involved in an accident, state media is reporting. this is state television you can see on screen. state media says president ebrahim raisi was on board a helicopter that experienced a hard landing on sunday. there were three helicopters and one of them had a hard landing. we don't have confirmation yet that the president was on board that helicopter that had the accident and the hard landing. some state media is reporting that he was on board along with the foreign minister. the interior minister said

rescuers were still trying to reach the site due to the difficult weather conditions. we are talking about heavy fog and rain and that is hampering the efforts of the rescue teams to get to the accident site which is in mountains in the north of iran. according to local media ——. according to local media, president raisi was heading to the city of tabriz. i want to show you state media because they have been showing pictures of people praying for the president. the semi—official news agency has called on the whole of iran to pray for president ebrahim raisi and state television has been running nonstop coverage since news of this accident involving the presidential helicopter convoy. as

you can see, state tv showing these pictures of people praying for the health of president ebrahim raisi. as i say, we don't have confirmation he was on board the helicopter that had this accident. there were three helicopters involved in the convoy that was flying the president and we are also being told the foreign minister as well. one of them had what state media are calling a hard landing and was involved in an accident. the other two landed safely. we have also been seeing on state television pictures of the foggy conditions which is making the search really difficult at this site. the visibility we are told in the mountainous and wooded area down to only around five metres so you can understand how difficult it is for the rescuers to get to that area. the local mp in the city of

tabriz which is where the helicopter was reportedly heading for said rescue workers are still yet to find the location of the helicopter. but we know those other helicopters landed safely. this footage we are showing now is from state television and it is showing worshippers praying for the health of the president and as we have said, the fact that state television is showing these pictures also in rolling news coverage means the situation is being taken very seriously, and the fact of the interior minister has also been giving updates as part of the coverage they have been running on iranian television, being able to see what the latest was, but we do

know this is going to be a difficult rescue because the area helicopter has come down as an area that is both mountainous but also there is heavy rain and rain and fog and as we said, reports saying the actual visibility down to about five metres in some of those areas. the latest we have, a convoy of three helicopters of which the president of iran was on one of those helicopters, one of them has come down with the hard landing, two have landed safely. what we don't know for sure yet is whether the president was on board the one that had a hard landing although some reports from state media do say he was on board along with the foreign minister. we will have the very latest at the top of the hour but first a check on the weather in the uk with helen willetts.

it is an afternoon of contrasts, quite chilly work with the sea fog. over the coming week we are in for some changes, cooler after the dry start because of the wet and windy weather moving in, quite widespread rain looking like at this stage. we have had some sea fog around the irish sea coast but inland there is less clout than we had yesterday and fewer showers but there are still some storms around. very isolated and slow—moving with a lot of rain. more cloud generally and thick enough to produce the odd spot of rain and drizzle and as the showers and storms fade this evening the must stand low cloud will roll in widely to central and eastern areas, further west a few fog patches as

well and a slightly fresher night for sleeping compared with last night and they cooler start compared to monday morning but murky and grey once again. a few hours before the sun trinkets to work in the burns it away. and it should retreat from most of the east coast, a subtle change in wind direction and warm in the sunshine with northern ireland seeing some of the highest temperatures and that could again trigger the odd slow—moving thunderstorm with light winds and moving on quickly. overnight monday to tuesday, mr and fog returns but a few more showers approach from the east and one or two on this weather front behind me start to break out further west. still chilly, notably in northern and eastern areas and then the showers develop across northern england and into central and southern scotland and eventually the north than this weather front brings showers to the west as well. sandwiched in between still warm and some sunshine, temperature above

average but starts to drop away. by wednesday we are pulling in this area of low pressure and the devil will be in the details as to where the low pressure is going to land but it seems that will give many parts of the uk some wet and windier weather and the temperature falls away. staying a sherry picture towards the weekend. —— show showery picture.

live from london, this is bbc news. in breaking news... a helicopter carrying the iranian president, ebrahim raisi, has been involved in an accident — rescuers are on their way to the site. and while rescuers are on the way to the site in a rainy told the reuters

news agency that the lives of president raisi and orang's foreign minister are what they describe as at risk. —— iran's foreign ministry. president biden's national security adviser meets israel's prime minister — in the latest attempt to halt the fighting in gaza. the uk's biggest ever health scandal — billions of pounds of compensation expected for the thousands of people infected with contanimated blood. who'll come out on top — arsenal or manchester city — on the final day of the premier league season? as soon as we have those pictures. we start this hour with breaking news out of iran. reports from various media say a helicopter carrying president ebrahim raisi and the foreign minister hossein amirabdollahian has had to make a rough landing. state television says rescuers are trying to reach the aircraft, which reportedly got into difficulties in heavy fog in a mountainous area in the north of the country. with me is sebastian usher our bbc world service middle east analyst.