tonight in his state of the union - tonight in his state of the union address. i think it was a case and my sense speaking to officials in the administration that for many days now, there has been the growing sense of frustration with the israelis, that had been this played publicly, and it is thatjoe biden wanted to announce something on the humanitarian front in the state of the union address for happen today. as for the plans, it's a massive logistical operation. it's been talked about for months. in fact, the uk had been involved in some discussions around it and the problems in gaza is there is no deep water port, a small efficient harbour but nothing bigger. there's never been the ability to get big ships to gaza to deliver anything. with the increasingly desperate situation and the un no warning that more than a quarter of the publishing in gaza is on the brink of finding, the incident last week was a tipping point for the us administration, where we sought more than 100 desperate and hungry people killed around and aid convoy. palestinians say most of them shot by the israelis, the israelis said most were killed in a stampede. i think there is a moment for the administration, and we heard joe biden states it is released publicly, no excuses, that aid in. and we have had us air drops but this is really crumbs when you're talking about the aid delivery that is needed. so ships are the answer as far as the us and its goals allies are concerned. you can deliver thousands of truckloads over a course of days from these big ships. what she would announce is a seaport that would be constructed by the us military out at sea and then floated towards the shore. the problem is that he doesn't answer the big question, which is who is going to first of all connect that to the shore itself via some sort of temporary causeway, and then once the aid is on the beach or on the coast, how would it be secured western mark the vacuum of security has been what has been causing these desperate conditions where the un has been unable to get aid, particularly into the north of gaza. the only managed six —— six missions during the months of february, lead into the devastating conditions underground. there is a big announcement here which is bereft on announcement here which is bereft on a list of the details which leaves a lot of questions unanswered for some in any case, it would take anywhere between a month or two months to build the thing, so we are not talking about some solution in the coming days, and as a send many questions about this remain. . coming days, and as a send many questions about this remain. , thank ou tom. let's speak now to shaina low who is a communication adviser at the norwegian refugee council. give us a bit of a reaction to what you have been hearing about this potential port. how desperate is a situation now in gaza? the situation is incredibly — situation now in gaza? the situation is incredibly dire. _ situation now in gaza? the situation is incredibly dire. already, - situation now in gaza? the situation is incredibly dire. already, we - situation now in gaza? the situation is incredibly dire. already, we have | is incredibly dire. already, we have heard reports of 20 children dying from starvation and dehydration in northern gaza. we simply cannot wait and why we encourage all modes of aid delivery to the desperate publish in gaza, we note that it would be complex and possibly to get this temporary port up and running first test. as your correspondence that it may take up to month, and that it may take up to month, and thatis that it may take up to month, and that is time the people of gaza simply do not have. there are more easier and cost—efficient means to deliver and aid, most namely the crossings, including one in southern gaza, which has not been running at capacity, and it's important to remember that israel, as occupying power, has a legal duty to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief. it is unfortunate that states continue to appear to be unwilling to press israel on meeting those obligations. israel on meeting those obligations. israel says it welcomes and fully supports the us plan to deploy temporary docs in gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.— temporary docs in gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. what israel should be doinu is humanitarian aid. what israel should be doing is allowing _ humanitarian aid. what israel should be doing is allowing and _ be doing is allowing and facilitating the delivery of aid through the crossings it controls, including the kerem shalom crossing including the kerem shalom crossing in southern israel directly into got —— rafah. there are hundreds of trucks in egypt waiting to enter gaza, which are within is really screening and permission to enter and those are trucks that have the supplies that people need now. one month for now, it would be great to have additional supplies coming in from the dui sport, but in the meantime, we need ways to stop the starvation that is already spreading throughout gaza, where we have already seen 20 people die in just the last week or so. already seen 20 people die in 'ust the last week or mi here in the uk — a mother who went on the run with her newborn baby and partner has denied doing anything to harm her daughter, sayng she did nothing but "show her love". 36—year—old constance marten has been speaking for the first time in her trial with her partner mark gordon over the death of their baby victoria, while they were living in a tent on the south downs in wintry conditions last year. they both deny manslaughter by gross negligence. from the old bailey, here's daniel sandford. the subject of a nationwide manhunt, this was constance marten and mark gordon injanuary last year, as they tried to evade the authorities following the birth of their newborn baby, victoria, who they were worried would be taken into care like their previous four children. 0n the 1st of march last year, police found victoria's body in a shopping bag in a shed on a brighton allotment. today, constance marten gave evidence in the witness box at the old bailey, weeping as she told the jury that she and mark gordon loved their children more than anything in the world. asked if she'd been cruel to baby victoria, constance marten said... "no. i did nothing but show her love. i gave her the best that any mother would." talking quietly and with a very well spoken accent, she described how she became estranged from her wealthy family because of a traumatic event in her childhood, arguments over her grandmother's will, and because herfamily disapproved of mark gordon. she said she'd met him in an indian shop in london and that they'd married in peru. she explained that before the birth of their first child, the couple moved to wales to avoid her family. they ended up living in a tent — that was how social services got involved. ultimately, all of their first four children were taken away. they'd tried to avoid the authorities after the birth of their fifth child, victoria, but after their car caught fire, police realised they'd had another baby. so the couple took to a tent on the south downs, where constance marten said the baby died while she slept sitting up. she tearfully told the jury... "i held onto herfor a few hours, then i wrapped her in my black scarf i was wearing and i said some parting words to her and then placed her in the bag for life." where is the child, madam? when constance marten and mark gordon were arrested last february, they didn't tell police where victoria was. they both deny manslaughter by gross negligence. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the old bailey. drop it now! with more on this is our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford. co nsta nce constance marten comes from a wealthy family, what did she say about herfamily wealthy family, what did she say about her family background? the 'u heard about her family background? tue: jury heard because about her family background? tte: jury heard because of her family's wealth, she had coming into her bank account every month £3000, from her from the trust fund, and she was able to ask for more money when she went to the buy things like a car or a newcomer. the family was wealthy, but the picture she tentatively was a family riven with disagreements. she spoke about this traumatic event in her childhood which caused big rifts in the family which did not specify what that was. she spoke about huge arguments about her grandmothers will, which she disagreed in which the outcome had been, where her grandmothers what had been set aside. she said as a result of those disagreements with her family, result of those disagreements with herfamily, she result of those disagreements with her family, she was result of those disagreements with herfamily, she was being trailed by private detectives to stop she said her family did private detectives to stop she said herfamily did not private detectives to stop she said her family did not approve of her relationship with mark gordon, that is why, because they were trained to avoid the private detectives, they went off the wheels before the birth of their first child. the picture painted then was of a couple who were losing their children to social services, which wasn't explained fully to the jury white that children were being removed to social services, and this woman fallen out with her family of her account, making this decision after it became clear that their fifth child had been born and that the police and authorities were looking for them. they made this decision to go into this tent on the south downs which was a wide area of southern england and there she tearfully explained to the jury that she had is sleep one night, on the south downs, not long after they had been camping there on her account, sitting up with the baby in her arms and when she woke up the baby was dead and at the back of the court was her mother a centralfigure in this family should been describing, who herself was also crying during evidence still to come on the world today —. and hundreds of women and children are abducted in two separate kidnappings in nigeria. around the world and across the uk. this is the world today on bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk... three teenage boys have been found guilty of killing sixteen—year—old mikey roynon. mikey — from kingswood in bristol — was stabbed with a large zombie knife during a row at a house party in bath last year. jurors found one boy guilty of murder and the other two guilty of manslaughter. they can't be named for legal reasons. a committee of mps has concluded that the post office is not fit to run the compensation schemes for sub postmasters wrongly convicted because of the horizon it scandal. the business and trade committee said it was a disgrace that 80 % of the money for redress payments still hadn't been spent. the nationwide building society has reached an agreement to buy virgin money in a two—point—nine billion pound deal — which would see the brand eventually disappear. it would create one of the uk's largest mortgage and savings groups. nationwide said it would not make any material changes to virgin money's 7,300 employees �*in the near term'. sweden has officiallyjoined the transatlantic alliance nato — becoming the second country to do so following russia's invasion of ukraine.. the move breaks with two centuries of neutrality and two years years of diplomacy.. sweden is now officially the 32nd member of the alliance. swedish prime minister ulf kristerson was in washington today, handing over the final documentation to the us government — the last step in securing the backing of all members to join the military alliance. here's what he said afterwards... we are humble but we are also proud we will live up to high expectations from all nato allies. united we stand. in unity and solidarity will be sweden's guiding light as a nato member. we will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with other allies. today is, as secretary blinken said, a victory for freedom today. sweden has made a free, democratic, suffering and united choice tojoin nato. there is an overwhelming support in our parliament and among our people. that is a strength, both for sweden and the airlines. sweden's road to nato has not been easy and has frustrated other alliance members in the face of russia's invasion of ukraine. in may 2022, finland and sweden declared their intent to join nato, and presented their official letters of application. finland became a member in less than a year. sweden, however, faced a few obstacles on the way. first, turkey was not happy with it's support for kurdish separatists and said it would not agree to its nato membership unless it prevents anti—turkey protests. then hungary delayed the process, unhappy with sweden's criticism of the hungarian government. after a few visits and long negotiations hungary's parliament ratified sweden's bid last month , ending more than a year of delays. earlier, i sasked our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, what this means for nato going forward. well, i think strategically it matters immensely, because what it does is it beefs up nato's support for the baltic states. at the moment, the three baltic states, latvia, lithuania and estonia are members of nato's. but they're joined tonight by a very small little gap of land between belarus and a bit of russian territory. sweden now means that nato will be able to resupply the baltic states if they ever needed to be resupplied. there's a massive great island in the baltic sea called gotland, which is swedish, that will now become like a sort of physical aircraft carrier full of nato's forces. so it beefs up that northern flank. it also means that nato's gains all that have swedish expertise, it also means that nato gains all that have swedish expertise, expertise about the arctic, expertise about submarines and things like that, which the swedes are very good at. so that's what it brings in a sort of strategic, tactical gain. but more broadly, what it does is it just means that, yes, again, russia, having launched this invasion of ukraine, was trying to push back against nato, has actually ended up with more nato's on its border. the us secretary of state antony blinken said that russia's invasion of ukraine was a key factor which led to sweden joining nato. and in eastern ukraine, russian forces are continuing to advance, forcing many people who live there are to pack up their belongings, and move away. ukraine says its forces are holding on, but in the donetsk region, several villages have been captured after invading forces took the town of avdivka, and there are fears more settlements could follow. 0ur ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has been to meet families living just behind the front line. eastern ukraine is being eroded. russian forces are approaching taking village after village. and for the people living here, death or occupation feels imminent. valeriy and his grandson denys have taken up the offer of evacuation. their home in toretsk is in russia's sights. here, it's making its size and ammunition reserves count. ukrainian forces are going backwards. and with valeriy�*s town now constantly shelled, it's time to go. translation: i lived my life already. - but i need to save the little one. police take them to kostyantynivka, a place of relative safety — but increasingly less so. the city is used to being close to the battlefield, but its risk of being captured is growing. when ukraine liberated territory more than a year ago, there was hope. but the tide hasn'tjust changed — it's approaching. now there is fear that cities like kostyantynivka will be gradually destroyed and its people will be forced to flee. this is what russia does when it tries to take ukrainian territory, and this is what moscow still calls liberation. for tetyana and her daughter, mariya — maybe notjesse the dog — strikes on the city leave them with a difficult choice. translation: we are tired all day. we have bad moods and panic attacks, constant depression. it's scary to go outside. so are you both going to leave? translation: i've already left twice. l what's the point? it's scary everywhere, everywhere. the whole country is on fire. while tetyana is staying, mariya is already sending her belongings west. today, it's the tv — taking the route she and her son eventually will. translation: i hope she will follow. my mum only has us and we only have her. in nearby kramatorsk train station, the faint sounds of artillery provide a sobering reception, as well as a reason to leave. for all of the geopolitics, the donetsk region is at the coalface of russia's invasion — and its people are feeling it more than ever. translation: a year ago, we still hoped we would . receive help from the west and that the counter—offensive would work. not any more. people used to believe, but not any more. ukraine hopes its east will once again be somewhere safe to live. but right now it's not clear what people will be returning to. james waterhouse, bbc news, the donetsk region. meantime, the uk is set to deliver more than 10,000 new drones for ukraine's armed forces. the announcement of the £325 million package was made in the past hour by defence secretary grant shapps during a visit to kyiv. we're really here to of course both promote what the uk's doing in terms of bringing the drones here, the biggest package of any country when it comes to drone warfare — it's become very important. but also i think to raise the alarm because i'm very concerned. we cannot have a situation where a democratic country is invaded. what does it say about our values of democracy and freedom if we allow that to happen? and in a sense, it's a wake—up call to the world to make sure that we back ukraine. and that's why i'm here — as we've been right from the very beginning and the united kingdom, and we're here now and will be right the way through — to remind the world that this battle continues and it must be won. let's turn to nigeria now — where there have been two mass kidnappings — one in the northeast and one in the north west of the country. let's start with the incident in the north east where authorities are searching for at least 200 people kidnapped by suspected boko haram militants. the victims are thought to be mostly women and children who feed their homes after an attack by insurgents. our correspondent in the nigerian capital, gave us the latest details on what happened to the missing people... at least 200 internally displaced people living in a camp in the area may have been abducted, and according to the statements, this group had gone out of their camps in search of firewood. they wanted to sell this wood in order to augment whatever food was given by the government in order to survive. let's turn to the other ongoing kidnap situation. more than 100 nigerian school students have been abducted in the north—western town of kuriga. the students, between the ages of eight and 15, were taken away, along with a teacher. with the latest — here's our west africa correspondent mayeni jones. now the armed forces here say they've carried out a search and rescue operation to try and find some of the dozens of young women and children that went missing late last week in the area of ngala, which is a few hours drive from where we are now in maiduguri, the capital of borno state. it's a joint operation between the army and the air force. they say they're using helicopters to comb the forest area to see if they can find them. but we still don't know exactly how many of these internally displaced people were taken. reports vary widely from 57 to 200. the governor of borno state, governor zulum, has said that these numbers are wildly exaggerated and he's even questioned whether these women were taken. he says he believes they may have willinglyjoined boko haram because they threatened to do so, complaining of the amount of food that the government was providing them. now, as this rescue operation is taking place here in borno state, across the country in kaduna, in northwest nigeria, reports of another mass abduction of schoolchildren started to emerge this morning, around 830. armed gunmen on motorbikes stormed the school grounds of a school in kaduna, taking hundreds of students with them. one schoolgirl was shot and is now in hospital. and what these incidents reflect is despite the fact that security here in northern nigeria has improved massively in the last decade, mass kidnappings of people are still being carried out by groups like boko haram and still pose a threat to the security of people here. and i think it's particularly poignant that the anniversary of the chibok girls, the 276 schoolgirls that were abducted here in borno state ten years ago last month. that as that anniversary is coming, we're seeing a resurgence of the abduction of children. and it shows that this area is still very much insecure. one of the film crew on the alec baldwin film where a woman was shot dead has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. hannah gutierrez—reed was responsible for looking after weapons during the making of rust, a western. but she allowed live ammunition on the set in new mexico, and during rehearsals, baldwin shot the film's cinematographer, halyna hutchins. our north america correspondent, emma vardy, reports. alec baldwin was the actor on set that pulled the trigger? alec baldwin? yes, sir. where's he at? this was the scene on a ranch in new mexico after a rehearsal for the western movie rust went terribly wrong. a talented cinematographer, halyna hutchins, had been shot dead after the gun alec baldwin was rehearsing with fired a live round. 0k. all righty. are they 0k? 24—year—old hannah gutierrez—reed, the stepdaughter of a well—known hollywood weapons handler, had been responsible for ensuring guns used during filming were safe. it was her first time as lead armourer on a movie set. prior to beginning your deliberations... during the trial, the prosecution said hannah gutierrez—reed had mixed up dummy rounds, meant to look like the real thing, with live bullets that belong to her. there's your silver primer. other live bullets, they said, had also been found dotted around the set. we find the defendant, hannah gutierrez, guilty of involuntary manslaughter as charged. it took just a few hours of deliberation for the jury to deliver their verdict. her mother watching as hannah gutierrez—reed, was taken into custody. what happened here at the bonanza creek ranch has now changed the approach to gun safety in the movie industry to try to make sure such a tragedy never happens again. while real guns are still used, increasingly, directors are opting for digital effects in post—production to simulate gunfire. during the case, the jury was shown footage of alec baldwin rehearsing. he's due to stand trial injuly, also accused of involuntary manslaughter. prosecutors will argue that he, too, did not follow basic safety rules when handling a weapon. emma vardy, bbc news, new mexico. you're watching the world today with mariam machinery, stay with us. hello there. this afternoon's weather is looking dry for the bulk of the country. cloud will vary a lot though, from place to place. we have seen some mist and low cloud loiter across parts of the midlands, like here in shropshire. the best of the sunshine generally today is once again across western areas, although there are a few breaks in the cloud across the south, as well. sunny skies, then, across parts of highlands of scotland today. a lovely picture from the nairn area sent by weatherwatcher rothesay. thanks for that. there's a vanishingly small chance of catching a shower today across parts of england, and wales, for the vast majority of the country, just stays dry. keeping a lot of cloud, though, across eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england, with still some mist patches loitering throughout the afternoon in to parts of coastal aberdeenshire. overnight tonight that feed of cloud will continue to affect the north sea coast of england and scotland, probably a few clearer spells for a time across the south, a few patches of rural frost are possible, but otherwise temperatures generally a degree or so less cold than it was last night. on into friday's forecast, low pressure to the south—west, high pressure to the north—east, the pressure gradient, the isobars squeezing together a bit more closely. and so, it's going to be a windier day. it's the isobars and the pressure gradient that make the winds blow in the first place. the strongest winds will be up and to the west of high ground. the uk's only named wind, the helm wind, will be blowing across fell and into cumbria, gusts could reach around 40 or maybe 50 miles an hour, up into the west of high ground. so it will be quite a blustery kind of day and that wind will make it feel a little bit cooler. on into the weekend, the low pressure to our south still influencing our weather, still bringing the threat of some patches of rain. probably the greatest threat will be across parts of wales, south—west england and northern ireland through the course of saturday. north—west scotland favoured for staying dry with some sunshine. eastern scotland will probably have quite frequent showers working into the hills, so it could turn out to be quite a wet day here. some bright or sunny spells coming through and temperatures for the most part around about average for the time of year. on into sunday's forecast, again, there is the threat of seeing some rain at times, but it won't be raining all day. the rain is likely to be patchy in nature, the best of any sunshine again, probably towards the north—west of scotland. that's the forecast for now. this is the world today from bbc news. the headlines. as the crisis in gaza worsens, the us is set to build a port on its coast to deliver aid into the territory by sea. nato has just got bigger as sweden officiallyjoins the security alliance, breaking with a two century long policy of neutrality. in the murder case of a newborn baby that script written, the mother denies causing her baby's death when she went on the run with her partner. is your labrador a bit on the hefty side? blame the jeans as scientists cover labrador�*s greed may be due to genetic mutation. we return now to israel and gaza, as a hamas delegation has left talks in egypt aimed at securing a ceasefire. a statement from the militant group said israel had �*thwarted' attempts to reach a deal. israel hadn't sent a delegation to cairo, saying it first wanted a list of surviving hostages. around 130 hostages remain unaccounted for. earlier, i heard from michael levy, the brother of or levy, one of the captured hostages.