transitional council that will lead to elections. we think that is urgent that he moves forward in that direction, and start the process of bringing normalcy back to the people of haiti. meanwhile, the violence in haiti is worsening. the un high commissioner for human rights volker turk is calling for international action and says the situation is "beyond untenable". since the beginning of the year, 1,193 people have been killed and 692 others wounded by the gang violence. the un's humanitarian coordinator in haiti told the bbc that gang members are killing and raping indiscriminately, and that bodies can be seen on the streets of the capital. the un says that gangs have stepped up their campaign of violence since the prime minister travelled to kenya a week ago. for more on the situation, i spoke to our central american and cuba correspondent, will grant. will, good to see you. clearly an extremely tense situation for haiti with the prime minister stranded abroad, and then the leader of the gang that has led to all of this violence now threatening civil war. what's the latest you can tell us? it looks like those two positions are very clearly entrenched for the time being. there is no movement from ariel henry, stuck in puerto rico for now. it's clear that elements of the biden administration want to see him back, not necessarily to continue as prime minister or remain in power, in fact quite the opposite, they want him to begin the transition of power, but to be in place to give the country more stability to start the process of first resignation and then free and fair elections. but on the flip side, you mentioned the gangs and specifically one gang leader, jimmy cherizier, known as barbecue, who said he is prepared to do whatever it takes to force mr henry from power, even civil war. it's an extremely difficult situation in the country. with the airport still closed during this state of emergency, with the army and the police around the building, it looks like nothing is going to move for the time being, but we are just waiting and watching at this stage. i want to pick up on what you were saying about washington's message to mr henry, calling on the prime minister to expedite the transition of power. what are his possibilities here? one of the possibilities is he resigns from outside the country, that is certainly on the table as a possibility. probably not one he considers doing. he doesn't want to leave power or certainly not under those terms. but the pressure is growing, notjust within haiti from the criminal element but the wider caribbean region. we know the state department want things to go more smoothly, but that would be an ideal world and this is farfrom one in haiti at the moment, teetering on the precipice of being a failed state. if he doesn't resign, how does he get back and when does he get back in order to start the process of a transition of power? questions no—one can answer for the time being. some huge questions there, and i want to touch on the gang leaderjimmy cherizier. do we have a clear idea of what his aims are for the country? in the short—term, it's the resignation of ariel henry, not much more to it than that. but there is medium and long—term plans, or at least hopes. one of them, i wouldn't be at all surprised, and i have heard from journalists in haiti, that he himself would like to be in power. he sees himself as a man of the people. in interviews, he's always emphasising the plight of haiti's poorest, he speaks in the shanty towns and shows the media how bad things are. so he has designs on power himself. even if he were not to be the figure in power, he is clearly a power broker. the pure strength of the gangs that he organises and runs under his coalition of gangs, it's really a factor in whoever takes power. he has the strength, as it were, to make or break this political process. so, yeah, i think what he wants is somebody who is going to ease life for him, not bring charges against him for the criminality and the charges against human rights abuses. if indeed not to take power himself. the united states vowed to hold the houthi militia group accountable for the deaths of three civilians after a missile strike hit a commercial ship in the gulf of aden on wednesday. the attack took place about 100 kilometres south—west of the yemeni port of aden. four people were also injured. the group has regularly attacked merchant ships in the crucial shipping corridor since the israel—gaza war began, but this is the first such attack to result in any deaths. us state department spokesperson matthew miller accused the houthis of disrupting international commerce, the freedom of navigating international waters, and now endangering seafarers. i think it was sadly inevitable, the houthis have continued to launch reckless attacks with no regard for the well—being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the red sea. and now unfortunately and tragically they have killed innocent civilians. we will continue to hold them accountable, we call on governments around the world to do the same. meanwhile, the world food programme says the israeli army thwarted its first attempt in two weeks to take food aid to northern gaza. israel is yet to comment. the us military has released video of another humanitarian aid drop in gaza — 60 bundles of food, which, it says, provides more than 36,000 meals. the un says a quarter of the population is now close to famine. our correspondent wyre davies is injerusalem. israel says there is no limit to the amount of aid, food and medicines it will allow into gaza. around 100 trucks full of aid are getting too at the minute. that's clearly nowhere near the amount needed by the hundreds of thousands of people trapped in gaza, according to aid agencies and other governments. there are examples, say groups like the world food programme, of israel not allowing aid in. a convoy in the last 2a hours try to get through the middle area between israel and gaza, going towards the north, that was held up on the north, that was held up on the border and turned around by the border and turned around by the israeli army. so clearly a lot of international pressure from the americans and british in particular to allow much more aid into the people of northern gaza, because according to agencies, there is according to agencies, there is a real risk of famine, children are reportedly dying from malnutrition. the key thing that will allow this all to happen is a temporary peace deal or a truce between israel and hamas. israel at the minute refusing to go to those talks in cairo because it said hamas isn't meeting some of its preconditions, principally that hamas should supply israel with a list of hostages still alive and who would be released as a result of any such peace agreement. that agreement isn't forthcoming, only a few days now before the start of ramadan, a self—imposed deadline for the start of any peace agreement, and clearly a lot of growing international concern that a peace deal won't be reached. the latest news from cairo, no progression in the talks, perhaps no surprise, because israel isn't there. israel in particular, but hamas also, coming under increasing pressure from washington and london. wyre davies there. now ukraine's president and the greek prime minister are unharmed after a deadly russian missile strike on a city that the leaders were touring. the attack hit the port city of odesa, where the country's president, volodymyr zelensky, was showing kyriakos mytsotakis damage caused by two years of war. the two leaders later visited the site of the attack. no—one from either delegation was hurt, but ukraine's navy says five other people were killed. from kyiv, here's james waterhouse. kyriakos mitsotakis and volodymyr zelensky were hosting a press conference in the port of odesa now, this is an area that is routinely hit by russia. the city is routinely targeted. the kremlin said it carried out a precision strike on a hangar containing drones, so it's not clear, we simply don't know whether the two leaders were deliberately targeted. but it serves as a reminder of the risks that president zelensky and any leaders who visit him take in times of war. the greek prime minister described his experience as impressive. he was quite complimentary about it. most would call it petrifying. president zelensky said he saw and felt the explosion and if you go on what witnesses are saying and verified footage, we're talking about a matter of hundreds of metres in terms of how close the missile was when it struck. president zelensky is no stranger to risk. he visits the front lines. near misses might not necessarily be reported there, but this is the first time it's known that a missile has landed perilously close to him. this could have had a very different outcomes. this could have had a very different outcome. five people were killed. no—one from either delegation, we are told, but it shows how it could have been catastrophic for greece, a nato member, and ukraine, a country still at war, still being invaded by russia. now, here in the us, the woman in charge of weapons on the set of the movie rust, where a cinematographer was shot dead, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. hannah gutierrez—reed loaded a gun for actor alec baldwin, before it fired and killed 42—year—old cinematographer halyna hutchins. this took place during a rehearsal on the set of rust in new mexico back in 2021. gutierrez—reed is now facing a sentence of up to three years in prison. following the verdict, the hutchins family released a statement saying... one of the jurors in the trial spoke to media after the verdict. pretty much never did the safety checks, never checked the rounds, to look at them, shake them. i mean, with that, it wouldn't have happened. i think it was fair. someone died. you've got to take responsibility, especially when you're handling weapons and you are in charge of those. that's your job. lack of experience, whatever you want to call it, you took thejob. as for alec baldwin, this verdict is likely to be seen as good news. his attorneys can now argue that baldwin could not have foreseen there was a live round in the gun because that was the responsbility of the weapon handler — hannah gutierrez—reed. baldwin will head to trial injuly to face manslaughter charges. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at the top story in the uk. britain's new budget calls for a cut in national insurance for employees and the self—employed. and the government will increase the child—benefit threshold by £10,000 — nearly $13,000. the plan laid out by chancellor the exchequerjeremy hunt will also include higher taxes on vaping and business—class flights. still, the government will take in billions more in tax revenues over the coming decades. the bbc�*s political editor challenged mr hunt on that point. one of the reasions tax receipts are higher is because the economy is set to get back to growth. if you look at the thresholds, they are frozen as people's incomes are rising — they are paying more. yes, but even if you take account of the thresholds, what you will see next year is a big cut in taxation forfamilies earning the average income — it's a significant cut. labour leader keir starmer called the budget a "last desperate act" with people paying "more and more for less and less". it's likely the last budget before a general election. you're live with bbc news. the world food programme has warned that the world's biggest hunger crisis could develop in sudan. more than ten months of fighting between rival military forces has left thousands dead and eight million people displaced. the head of the un agency called for humanitarian access to reach those facing emergency levels of hunger. in the last day, sudan's military—led government said it would allow some aid to be delivered through neighbouring chad and south sudan. both hunger and displacement are at the heart of the humanitarian issues stemming from the war in sudan. our deputy africa editor anne soy has been following those issues, reporting on the background of the conflict. it's incredibly challenging for civilians caught up in a war described as senseless, between two military forces. the national army, the saf, and the rsf, the rapid support forces. they fell out last year. talks brokered by regional governments in africa as well as arab states, backed by western nations like the united states, but still they haven't yielded a lasting peace. that was anne soy reporting. and as the conflict continues, the spokesperson for the world food programme in sudan, leni kinzli, says the situation could deteriorate in the coming months. but looking at the current numbers, the spokeswoman said 37% of the sudanese population is facing acute hunger. that's about 18 million people stuggling to find food daily. and almost five million people in sudan are facing emergency levels of hunger — one stage before famine. that number has tripled since the beginning of the conflict. william spindler, a spokesperson of the un refugee agency, talked to my colleague caitriona perry about the situation in sudan and how to solve the humanitarian crisis. we are almost one year on from the beginning of the conflict in sudan. can you describe the situation currently? it’s in sudan. can you describe the situation currently?— situation currently? it's one ofthe situation currently? it's one of the worst _ situation currently? it's one of the worst humanitarian l of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world. there are appalling human rights violations happening in sudan. 20 years ago, you will remember the world was shocked by the atrocities happening in darfur. now the same atrocities are happening again in darfur, was very little consequence and very little attention from the world. so this is a really circuitous situation. it's leading to the suffering of millions of people, 8 million people being uprooted from their homes. and also to the possible destabilisation of the whole region. it's affecting saddam but also the countries surrounding it.— saddam but also the countries surrounding it. there are many issues at crisis _ surrounding it. there are many issues at crisis point. -- - issues at crisis point. -- affecting _ issues at crisis point. -- affecting sudan. - issues at crisis point. -- affecting sudan. but - issues at crisis point. -- - affecting sudan. but especially the women _ affecting sudan. but especially the women and _ affecting sudan. but especially the women and girls _ affecting sudan. but especially the women and girls in - affecting sudan. but especially the women and girls in sudan. | the women and girls in sudan. what is the situation right for them? ~ ., what is the situation right for them? ~ . ., , ., them? we have had accounts of a- allin: them? we have had accounts of appalling brutality. _ them? we have had accounts of appalling brutality. rape - them? we have had accounts of appalling brutality. rape on - them? we have had accounts of appalling brutality. rape on a i appalling brutality. rape on a systematic basis. cruel sexual torture. we have had statements, eyewitnesses who talk about sexual slavery of women and girls. even markets where women are bought and sold for the purposes of sexual slavery. atrocities and the accounts we have collected from refugees fleeing sudan are just appalling. this is one of the reasons why we are sounding the alarm. from any point of view, the situation in sudan is really catastrophic.- the situation in sudan is really catastrophic. and of course. — really catastrophic. and of course, millions _ really catastrophic. and of course, millions of- really catastrophic. and of course, millions of people really catastrophic. and of. course, millions of people on the point of starvation as well. , ,, ., , the point of starvation as well. ., , ., the point of starvation as well. , ,, ., , ., ., ., well. yes, sudan used to have a very flourishing _ well. yes, sudan used to have a very flourishing agriculture. - very flourishing agriculture. but since the war started, people have not been able to farm, to take their produce. so people are not getting the food they need. insecurity is a huge concern, so people cannot travel or move around. so we are really concerned about the possibility of food insecurity increasing. we already have cases of children dying of malnutrition, and compounded by diseases like measles. so the panorama is really, really dire. ~ , ., dire. do you think parts of the international _ dire. do you think parts of the international community - dire. do you think parts of the international community had i international community had forgotten about sudan at this point? the focus has shifted to the middle east and the war in ukraine? there are very serious situations elsewhere, of course. but the international community seems to be unable to face more than one crisis at a time. unfortunately, the amount of humanitarian situations in the world is growing. we are seeing situations like sudan not getting attention it needs. in the case of the unhcr, our needs for sudan this year, both inside the country and in neighbouring countries, amounts to $988 million, and so far we have received less than 10% of that. partners, other organisations are similarly underfunded, and this is really worrying, because unlike other situations that are getting the support they need, sudan seems to be forgotten. if you only have 10% of the funding that you need to provide for those millions of people in need, what's going to happen? what can you do? we will have to — happen? what can you do? - will have to make very tough decisions. we will have to stop some of our activities. let's also remember that some of the countries that are receiving the sudanese refugees are themselves facing huge challenges to provide to their own citizens, and now that situation has worsened by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees. a country like chad for instance, half a million sudan refugees have arrived in one of the poorest countries in the world. and yet it now has to deal with the situation. south sudan, another country that has received a large number of people fleeing sudan, also a country that faces huge challenges itself. so the consequence of this understanding is that we will have to stop some of the vital programmes that we are doing, like providing health, education, food, shelter, protection to hundreds of thousands of people. we will leave it there _ thousands of people. we will leave it there for _ thousands of people. we will leave it there for the - thousands of people. we will. leave it there for the moment, i'm sure we will be talking about this again. thanks for joining us on bbc news. mt; joining us on bbc news. my pleasure- — let's turn to some important news around the world. in mexico, a group of protesters have driven a pick—up truck through a door to the country's presidential palace. they were met by police officers, who used tear gas on the protesters. the group was protesting the 2014 mass disappearance of 43 mexican students. president andres manuel lopez obrador was inside the building at the time, giving a daily press conference. he said the door will be fixed, adding that the protesters will meet with members of his government. 750 national guard soldiers and 250 state police officers will be deployed to the new york city subway system. new york governor kathy hochul announced the measure to help combat an uptick in violent crime on the subway. the new deployments come a month after mayor eric adams enlisted another 1,000 nypd officers to work the subway. governor hochul said the officers are expected to patrol platforms and check commuters' bags for weapons. us republican presidential candidate nikki haley officially suspended her campaign a day after 15 states held primaries and caucuses on super tuesday. haley only managed to win in the state of vermont, and trailed far behind former president donald trump in other states. mr trump is now virtually assured of clinching the republican nominaton for president. in her speech, nikki haley congratulated the former president and wished him all the best, but stopped short of endorsing him. i have always been a conservative republican and always supported the republican nominee. but on this question, as she did on so many others, margaret thatcher provided some good advice when she said, "never just follow the crowd — always make up your own mind." it is now up to donald trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, shortly after nikki haley made her announcement, outgoing senate republican leader mitch mcconnell endorsed donald trump, writing in a statement... the next big event on the us political calendar is president biden�*s annual state of the union address on thursday. it's an opportunity for mr biden to set the legislative agenda for the year. the bbc�*s special coverage begins at 8pm eastern, or 0100 gmt. you can also follow live updates on our webiste at bbcnews.com/news or on our mobile app. we have some new developments in alabama, where lawmakers have just passed legislation to protect ivf providers and patients. in particular they would protect entities from lawsuits and criminal prossecution for the �*damage or death of an embryo' during invitro fertilization treatment. the approval comes less than a month after the state's supreme court ruled that frozen embryos should legally be protected as children, causing at least three clinics to suspend their treatments. the legislation now heads to the state's republican governor kay ivey�*s desk to be signed into law. and before we go, we want to share one of the most—read stories on our website, involving dogs and diets. scientists in the uk say that a genetic mutation makes some labradors and flat—coated retrievers constantly hungry while burning fewer calories. the so—called "double whammy" effect means dog owners must pay special attention to keeping their pets trim. more than 80 pet labradors dogs took part in the study. they were given various tests, including the sausage in a box test, where they were tempted with a hidden treat they could see and smell. dogs with the mutation tried much harder to get at the sausage than dogs without it, indicating greater hunger. we have all been there. that's all for this half—hour, i'm helena humphrey. we'll be back in 30 minutes. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. over the next few days, the winds going to be picking up from the east or south—east. it's going to be particularly windy on friday. we'll have more of the cloud affecting eastern parts of the country. i think western areas will see most of the sunshine. that's because high pressure over scandinavia will be pushing westwards against this low pressure system, so we'll start to see the isobars squeezing together. so for thursday, it's a bright start across northern and western areas. quite a chilly start, mind you — early mist and fog will clear as the wind begins to pick up. eastern areas seeing thicker cloud at times. it will stay rather grey here, maybe some spots of drizzle. a few showers into the afternoon across the midlands, into east wales. otherwise, many places should stay dry and we should see sunny spells. top temperatures 11 degrees but cooler along north sea coasts with that increasing onshore breeze. the winds continue to pick up through thursday night, pushing more cloud into the midlands, northern england, large parts of scotland. but there will still be some clearer skies, particularly through southern and central areas. so where the skies are clear, it's going to be cold. where we have the cloud, the breeze, then less cold — generally, i think two to five degrees. now, more isobars on the charts for friday. a strong east, south—easterly wind picking up as this low pressure system starts to push back against the area of high pressure, so a blustery day for all. there will be quite a bit of sunshine around, we think, for england and wales. more clouds for northern england, certainly central and eastern scotland, and some good spells of sunshine for western scotland, northern ireland. but the winds a feature for all areas, particularly so along north sea coast. so that will peg the temperatures back. although we're looking at single digits on the north sea, it could feel even colder than that. further west in the sunshine, ten or 11 celsius. into saturday, this area of low pressure sideswipes the south and south—west of the country. again, it stays quite blustery, quite a few isobars on the charts for saturday. and we'll see showers or longer spells of rain affecting parts of the west and the south—west. some sunshine around too. it's not going to be a wash—out. a lot of cloud, though, for northern england and large parts of central and eastern scotland. a bit of drizzle on the hills there. feeling quite chilly in the north, but 11 to 13 in the south, some milder air being pulled into this area of low pressure which will — by sunday into monday — pull out into the near continent. you'll see the isobars opening out. so we should start to see some drier weather, lighter winds as we head through sunday, into monday and tuesday. but east—facing coasts will always see more in the way of cloud, perhaps still with a little bit of drizzle over the higher ground. china's foreign minister says the country will be a force of peace and stability as he addresses the press on the sidelines of the two sessions and meetings. we take a look at how small businesses in singapore are getting acat swift left. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. as we mentioned, china's foreign minister wang yi is addressing the press on the sidelines of the country's annual two sessions meetings. it is china's annual parliamentary session where it! at the last year and enhances policies and goals for the year ahead. katie silva joins us with the latest from the newsroom. what are the main talking points he has been discussing so far, in terms of his policies and goals for the year ahead? his policies and goals for the yearahead? he his policies and goals for the year ahead?— year ahead? he has really addressed _ year ahead? he has really addressed a _ year ahead? he has really addressed a lot _ year ahead? he has really addressed a lot of - year ahead? he has really addressed a lot of issues. | year ahead? he has really - addressed a lot of issues. the major overarching theme i would say was positioning china as a force for global security and peace, stability. he says for example it is about win—win cooperation, a shared went for the future of mankind and says chinanot develop taps the rest of the world. this was very much put encounter to the way he then characterised the us's relationship with china, saying for instance that strides have been made since the two parties met in san francisco last year, but that the us is continuing to fulfil its promises up to bewildering levels and that misperception continues. wang yi said china