final preparations are under way to send the first shipment of aid by sea to gaza. humanitarian organisations are co—ordinating a delivery of about 200 tonnes of food and medical supplies, which will go via a maritime corridor — with israel's agreement. but it's unclear how or where the boat will actually dock, and even if the aid does arrive, some groups are warning of problems in distributing the aid across gaza. wyre davies reports from jerusalem. in the cypriot port of larnaca, they have been working around the clock. the spanish ship, open arms, is preparing to tow a barge with 200 tonnes of food and medical aid all the way to gaza. it's a precarious, untested plan with obvious risks. translation: yes, we will tow this platform to gaza, _ where the last mile will be the most complicated operation. the disembarkation will be done on a pier that is being built right now by the world central kitchen. how the aid will be unloaded into gaza, where there is no port orfunctioning harbour, is not clear. air drops and some land deliveries are often swamped by thousands of desperate, hungry people. some aid agencies say that the plan is misguided and ineffective. the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day. the un says there is a danger of famine, and children are already reported to be dying from malnutrition. all of this is happening because israel and hamas have been unable to agree a ceasefire that would have allowed more aid in by road through israel — still the preferred, most effective route. and the fighting continues. at least ten people were reported to have been killed today in an air strike on nuseirat refugee camp in central gaza. israel, despite growing international pressure for a truce, says its military campaign is not yet over. wyre davies, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, supplies of aid continue to be dropped into gaza. these pictures were shot in gaza city in the north of the territory. the us dropped more than 41,000 meals and more than 20,000 bottles of water. the area was where the israeli military began its operations, following the hamas attack on the 7th of october, and there have been warnings of malnutrition, and the possibility of famine there. remember, there are about 300,000 palestinians reported to be in the area in gaza. several aid organisations have reported difficulties in delivering supplies to gaza's north, and there have been reports of chaos and violence when convoys of aid have driven there, as people struggle to secure food and other essential items. aid organisations have warned that airdrops simply cannot meet the need on the ground. jeremy konyndyk is president of refugees international and previously led the 0bama administration's response to international disasters. thank you so much for your time. we really do appreciate it. when it comes to this maritime solution that the us is focusing on now, some aid groups, including doctors without borders, are saying the problem here is not actually logistics, it is politics, and they are saying israel simply needs to allow more aid in. do you agree? i do agree with that. the fundamental issue here is a political blockage. israel could chose to open border crossings tomorrow that would make a seaport unnecessary. find tomorrow that would make a seaport unnecessary-— unnecessary. and as for the fact that a floating _ unnecessary. and as for the fact that a floating port _ unnecessary. and as for the fact that a floating port would - unnecessary. and as for the fact that a floating port would take l unnecessary. and as for the fact l that a floating port would take 60 days to be built, knowing they need the humanitarian need on the ground, what do you make of that time then? that is time that we simply don't have in gaza. we have been saying for several months now that famine is looming. i think based on what has come through in the last few weeks, we can now confidently say famine in starting. 0nce weeks, we can now confidently say famine in starting. once a famine is underway, people famine in starting. once a famine is under way, people will begin dying in larger numbers because famines tend to build momentum over time as the hunger degrades any physical condition of more and more people and exposes them to disease and creates a lot of starvation death as well. waiting i— creates a lot of starvation death as well. waiting 1— two months once thatis well. waiting 1— two months once that is under way is simply not tenable. if they had begun this back in september when famine risk was being predicted first, it might be useful now. at this point, i solution that has won— tanak months away is not a solution that will work given the conditions. —— that is one or two months away. work given the conditions. -- that is one or two months away. talking about land rights, _ is one or two months away. talking about land rights, it _ is one or two months away. talking about land rights, it is _ about land rights, it is particularly difficult, and they have talked about safety, do you believe that security needs to be provided to aid groups?- believe that security needs to be provided to aid groups? there has been a breakdown _ provided to aid groups? there has been a breakdown in _ provided to aid groups? there has been a breakdown in social- provided to aid groups? there has been a breakdown in social order. | provided to aid groups? there has| been a breakdown in social order. i think it is important to understand thatis think it is important to understand that is because there has been such a sustained deprivation in the north for so long and the supply of aid is still so inconsistent that any time an aid convoy shows up, extremely desperate people who don't know when or where the next convoy may be coming from are understandably going to be very anxious and very desperate to get that aid. the solution there is to ensure a much more steady supply of aid. the israeli government has blocked many, many movement requests to northern gaza by un agencies. they blocked another world food programme compo this week that was held at a israeli checkpoint for three or four hours then turned around. the people they are desperate. the solution is not to deprive the population even more connectors to flood the zone with aid, so that people's desperation goes down and they do not need to put so much importance on any single convoy that comes up.— convoy that comes up. when it comes to floodin: convoy that comes up. when it comes to flooding the _ convoy that comes up. when it comes to flooding the zone _ convoy that comes up. when it comes to flooding the zone with _ convoy that comes up. when it comes to flooding the zone with aid, - convoy that comes up. when it comes to flooding the zone with aid, how- to flooding the zone with aid, how do you make sure that it gets to the people who need it? resident biden has said there will be no boots on the ground. we have mentioned the world food programme, who have said there are chaos and violence of our convoyis there are chaos and violence of our convoy is just now. should be security as a solution as well? i think the question then is who is going to secure it? the israeli military has a pretty chequered track record on doing that, as we saw with the horrible event around the convoy a little over a week ago where 100 people were the convoy a little over a week ago where100 people were killed after israeli forces began shooting in the distribution zone. it is a difficult problem right now and i think it will be very messy for the next few weeks. i think it also bears noting that convoy security had previously been provided by the civilian police, who have links to hamas, they were targeted by israeli military, and that has again contributed to the situation now as they stopped eating the convoys. find they stopped eating the convoys. and airdro -s they stopped eating the convoys. and airdrops have been called a last resort? , ' ~ airdrops have been called a last resort? , ' . ., ., ., resort? very inefficient and do not deliver very _ resort? very inefficient and do not deliver very much _ resort? very inefficient and do not deliver very much aid. _ resort? very inefficient and do not deliver very much aid. one - resort? very inefficient and do not i deliver very much aid. one planeload deliver very much aid. 0ne planeload is the equivalent of one or two truckloads, so the us has been doing if few play modes every few days, which really does not make a substantial difference relative to the value needed dashing a few plane loads. there are 300,000 people in a north gaza so dropping enough for one tenth of them to have one meal for one day every three days does not make an enormous difference, and it does not really change the fundamental calculus here which is that israel needs to open border crossings, needs to stop blocking aid convoys from moving, and really just need to do everything it can to facilitate rather than obstruct the humanitarian operation. we are now entering a famine, it is going to kill a lot of people, and we are still fighting over what form of obstruction the israeli government is conducting here. theyjust need to totally change their posture. right. and for their part, they are saying they are trying to ensure the safety of their own hostages as well as dealing with an area that has a proscribed terrorist organisation there. but thank you for that detail. thank you for giving all those logistical explanations there. they were really helpful, thank you, jeremy. here, thousands of people joined a pro—palestinian rally in london. it was the tenth major demonstration in the capital since the 7th october attacks by hamas on israel. on friday, the uk government's counter—extremism commissioner, robin simcox, said "weekends in london had become a no—go zone forjews". welsh singer charlotte church also joined the pro—palestinian protesters. she spoke to the crowd at the end of the rally, showing her support for people in gaza. it's so antithetical to my sense of being jewish to support something that is so heinous and so appalling, but i feel obliged to be here. that is so heinous and so appalling ——that i feel obliged to be here. here to support all the people who think that it's time that the fighting should stop. everyone knows what's going on, but our leaders are asleep. - theyjust need a double slap- on their face so they can wake up. 0ur correspondent louisa pilbeam sent this report from the us embassy in london. well, the protest has now come to an end and people have dispersed. it was a well—organised and friendly, warm atmosphere, actually, here today. and we spoke tojewish people and organisations who said that they felt welcome and they said it was important for them to be involved today and they were made to feel involved. now, there is still a police presence here, a significant police presence, and there was all day today, but there didn't seem to be any trouble. the organisers did say, though, that they feel that this event has been overpoliced. on a day like today, there are around 1500 police officers who could be involved, and they say that that's not a good thing for these events. that was louisa pilbeam. a short time ago, the met police issued a statement following today's demonstrations. they say that 2300 officers policed 11 major events across london today, including sporting matches and protests. five arrests were made during protests — one of which was for holding an offensive placard, and two were for chanting offensive slogans. the statement also said, "there was no significant public order disturbance in any protests today". let's look at tensions in the red sea. the uk's defence secretary grant shapps has posted video on his social media account of hms richmond shooting down two drones in the red sea. the incident happened last night after the royal navy frigate was attacked by iranian—backed houthi rebels. mr shapps said the uk and its allies will continue to take the action necessary to save lives and protect freedom of navigation. the us military says it has also shot down at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles — or drones — in the red sea between between about 4am and 8:20am the us have responded from their social media account, but we have more information from david waddell. the singapore—registered propel fortune is the latest commercial ship to be targeted by the houthi movement. the bulk carrier departed india just under two weeks ago, with her automatic identification system signalling that she was not connected to israel — supposedly to deter this kind of attack from yemen. the uk maritime trade organisation said the captain reported no collateral damage to the ship and that she was bound for her next port. these attacks have been ongoing since october, both in the red sea and in the gulf of aden, causing many commercial ships, both freighters and passenger liners, to divert around the cape of good hope. this attack took place about 50 nautical miles south of the port of aden. here's the houthi description of what happened. translation: yemen's naval forces . and the air force carried out two l specific military operations. the first targeted the american ship propel fortune in the gulf of aden with a number of suitable naval missiles, while the second targeted a number of american destroyers at the red sea and the gulf of aden with 37 drones, and the two operations successfully achieved their goals. so the second attack was focused on us warships, which have gathered in the region in greater numbers since the red sea crisis began, led by the uss dwight d eisenhower. us central command said that us navy ships and aircraft shot down 15 unmanned aerial vehicles early in the morning. they regard this large—scale attack as an ongoing imminent threat to merchant vessels, the us navy and coalition ships in the region. here in the uk, a london fertility clinic has had its licence suspended because of "significant concerns" about the unit. according to an investigation, three separate incidents involving the freezing of embryos took place. i asked our correspondent greg mckenzie to explain what had happened. well, the bbc understands as many as up to 150 embryos could be affected, involving about 45 patients. now, the hospital trust has not confirmed those numbers, but it centres around the freezing process of embryos, and some of those embryos have simply not survived or when thawed were undetected. now, homerton fertility centre here in east london has said that it's called in external clinical experts to find out what has happened here, but up until now, they've not been able to determine the problems and why this has happened. meanwhile, the uk fertility regulator has suspended the licence here, the operating licence for fertility treatment. and the trust itself has apologised to those patients involved but says it has changed the way in which it works here. some of those changes will include having two staff members to cross—check each other�*s work to find out what they're actually doing. now, the metropolitan police have also confirmed they have been here to the unit but have told us today that, as of now, they are not conducting a criminal investigation. that was our correspondent greg mckenzie. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh. hello from the bbc sport centre. england ended ireland's hopes of back—to—back six nations grand slams with a dramatic one—point victory at twickenham. marcus smith, on his first appearance in the championship, kicked a stoppage time drop goal to stun ireland, who thought they'd won it courtesy of james lowe's second try of the match. the result means that england are still in with an outisde chance of winning the six nations when they travel to france next week. ireland will clinch the title with a win at home to scotland for the team, i think obviously we didn't get the result we wanted last time but i think this team is going to take a lot of pride and confidence from that performance. we challenged one of the best teams in the world through the 80 minutes, it ebbed and flowed, they got ahead, we got ahead. i think it was a brilliant spectacle for the fans and i know that the boys will be very happy with that one. we have been very good at winning, everyone is a good winner, aren't they? we've got to be a good loser as well, we've got to be honest and review that properly and make sure we come into work on monday with a smile on our face, because as you say, there is a championship to be won. earlier on saturday, italy beat scotland 31—29 in rome to secure their first victory on home soil for 11 years. they trailed scotland by six points a half—time and even though they were outscored by four tries to three, four penalties in the match helped them get their noses in front and they secured their first win in the tournament for two years, which also follows a draw against france in their previous game. well done to the boys. we've done amazing preparation. we've worked so hard. we've been working a lot on the details and today we gave it everything, so i couldn't be prouder. now we have another big week in front of us and we have to go for it as well. arsenal have gone top of the premier league, ensuring there's just a point�*s gap between each of the top three ahead of liverpool's meeting with manchester city on sunday. their 2—1 win over brentford was secured late on at the emirates, with kai havertz heading the crucial goal in the 86th minute after goalkeeper aaron ramsdale had made a mistake to allow brentford's equaliser. it's an eighth straight league win and it sends arsenal a point clear i'm really, really satisfied with the performance and the result, obviously. but in the manner we did it, it was a very different game to the one we played in the last few weeks. against a team that demands a lot of emotional control a lot of nerve, a lot of maturity in certain moments, and we've done it in a great way and we showed so much determination, quality, courage, and at the end we got rewarded. elsewhere, manchester united beat everton 2—0 thanks to penalties from bruno fernandes and marcus rashford. luton and bournemouth both scored injury time equalisers in their games against crystal palace and sheffield united. while wolves win over fulham takes them eighth. harry kane scored a hat trick for bayern munich to take his tally for the season to 36 in all competitions as thomas tuchel�*s side thrashed mainz 8—1 in the bundesliga. it reduces leverkusen�*s lead to seven points ahead of their game on sunday. meanwhile, jadon sancho scored his first goal for dortmund since his return on loan as they overcame werder bremen 2—1. in italy, inter continued their march to the title with a 1—0 win at in form bologna. atletico madrid, their opponents in the champions league this week, slumped to a surprise 2—0 defeat at lowly cadiz. while in ligue 1, second—placed brest are currently paying at lens. they are trailing by 1—0. max verstappen has helped red bull continue their perfect start to the new formula 1 season, winning the second grand prix of the year in saudi arabia. it's the world champion�*s ninth successive victory and he finished ahead of team—mate sergio perez for a second red bull one—two of 202a. behind another dominant verstappen performance, 18—year—old 0liver bearman came seventh in his first race. he's the third youngest driver to start in formula 1 and stood in for ferrari's carlos sainz at late notice. much more on the website, but that is all for now. thanks, hugh. there's been another mass kidnapping in nigeria — the third in just over a week. armed men abducted 15 students from their school in the north—estern state of sokoto in the early hours of saturday. ——in the north—western state of sokoto in the early hours of saturday. four women were also taken. there is already a major search for the almost 300 students who were abducted by armed men on thursday. the nigerian army is leading the search for those children, who were abducted from the north west town of kuriga in kaduna state. reports say students between the ages of eight and 15 were taken, along with a teacher. the abductions have been blamed on a breakaway faction of the militant islamist group boko haram. 0ur west africa correspondent mayenijones has more. we don't know very much. all we know is that it happened very early this morning in sokoto in the north—west of nigeria. all we know is that it happened very early this morning in an area called gada in sokoto in the north—west of nigeria. local members of the community told the bbc�*s hausa service that gunmen came into the town shooting into the air, they took a number of women, and as they were fleeing, they saw some students running into their dormitories and decided to abduct them too. this, obviously, is coming at a time of heightened tensions in the region. this, obviously, is coming at a time of heightened tensions in the region. a search operation is under way to recover these almost 300 students that were taken from their school in kaduna on thursday. the military, the police and local hunters are combing the forest in the region trying to recover the students. in a setback for ireland's government, voters have rejected two referendums — concerning the constitutional redefinition of family and women's roles. darran marshall reports from dublin. within minutes of the ballot boxes opening, it was clear ireland had said no. voters were asked to approve two amendments to the 1937 constitution, one around the definition of family and the other on care. government leaders say they respect the decision but are disappointed. as head of government and on behalf of the government, we accept responsibility for the result. it was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote yes, and we clearly failed to do so. i think we struggled to convince people of the necessity or the need for the referendum at all, let alone the detail and the wording. those who campaigned for a no vote say the government misjudged the mood of the electorate. these two amendments by the government were an exercise in virtue signalling. this was a government flying a flag of progressiveness while at the same time refusing to provide real bread and butter services to families who really need it. ireland has voted no to constitutional change, but already some of the political parties here say they will return to the issue after the next general election. darran marshall, bbc news, dublin castle. horticulturalists from the national trust have grown the first seedlings from the famous sycamore gap tree that was chopped down last year. harriet bradshaw reports. at a top—secret location in devon, a site of biosecurity where the national trust is protecting the legacy of the nation's most famous trees. i've been invited to witness history, hope for the future of the sycamore gap tree. a lot of people might think, "well, it's just a sycamore", you know, a sycamore, but it is a really important sycamore. the sycamore gap tree in its prime. but last september, it was chopped down. everyone seems to have a story about how they connect to the tree. some people, literally, have been proposed to underneath it. other people just saw it as a way marker on theirjourney. and yet there are signs of life. in a race against time, the national trust managed to rescue seeds from the felled tree. and now they're growing. within this mini greenhouse, within this secret greenhouse, is a tiny little seedling. and this was the first of the sycamore gap's seeds to pop up. and the team here say when they saw this growing, they knew there was hope. but raising seedlings isn't the only way the tree's legacy can be preserved. there is also another method called grafting, using living twigs. and nine of the 20 grafts are now showing signs of life. we're just a day away from the oscars and preparations are in full swing in hollywood. you're used to seeing a lot of glamour on the red carpet. today, they are getting ready for all of it and this caught our eye, rehearsing the very start, walking along the red carpet. you can see who is expected from the signs around 18's next. we'll leave it up to you to decide who deserves the oscar for best pretending—to—be—a—star! and we'll have coverage of the academy awards, with special programming, here on bbc news — dojoin us for that. my my colleague nicky schiller will have a wrap—up on monday, so please watch that well. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. sunshine amounts have varied across the uk today. some areas got stuck with a lot of clouds and outbreaks of rain, but for others the cloud did break to reveal some sunshine. that was how it looked for one of our weather watchers in shetland. on the earlier satellite picture, you can see this swirl of cloud in the centre of which lies an area of low pressure that is dominating our weather right now. it will continue to do so. and because we are on the northern flank of that low, we have an easterly wind. that wind staying pretty strong across northern areas through tonight, the wind easing further south. we will see outbreaks of rain pushing northwards, particularly across parts of england and wales. overnight lows generally between 3—9 celsius. so tomorrow, here's our area of low pressure still with us. but notice big gaps between the isobars in southern areas, so the winds here relatively light. the isobars squeezed together further north. so it will stay quite blustery. and when you're exposed to that breeze, particularly across the east coast of scotland, it is going to feel decidedly chilly. many areas will see outbreaks of rain at times, but not all the time. certainly not a huge amount of sunshine for mother's day. best chance of brightness i think will be in the far north, also for parts of south and west wales, the south—west of england, and the channel islands. the winds will be lighter than they have been today in the south. temperatures in the south, in any brightness, 12—13 celsius, but exposed to that breeze, eastern scotland, only 5—6 celsius. that breeze still with us on monday, that easterly blowing in towards, say, the eastern side of scotland. but that wind generally easing off. monday will bring a lot of cloud. there'll be some bits and pieces of rain towards the south—east of england, also northern ireland. some bright or sunny spells and again, temperatures 6—11 or maybe 12 celsius. and for tuesday, the changes really only taking place very slowly. it won't be as windy on tuesday. because of that, there could be some mist and fog patches through the morning. quite a lot of cloud, some sunny spells. i think many places will be dry. temperatures between 8—12 celsius. but the weather will change in terms of the feel of things, certainly, as we head through the middle parts of the week, because with areas of low pressure passing to the west or the north—west of us, we will develop winds from the south—west. and that will bring certainly a milder feel. from midweek onwards, temperatures getting up into the middle teens celsius, but it will often be cloudy, and there'll be some rain at times. this is bbc news, the headlines. preparations are underway to deliver aid to gaza — using a maritime corridor. two hundred tonnes of food and medical supplies will be on board a barge, towed by a charity ship. it's due to sail from cyprus. but it's not clear yet where the supplies will actually be unloaded, or how they'd even be distributed inside gaza safely. tens of thousands of people have marched in central london in support of gaza — the tenth major protest in the city since the october 7th attacks. the met police said five arrests were made during the protests — one for holding an offensive placard, and two for chanting offensive slogans. and a london fertility clinic has had its operating licence suspended after "significant concerns" were raised over errors in the freezing of embryos. the clinic said a small number of embryos had either not survived