more food into the besieged enclave. a us military ship is also sailing towards the middle east, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of gaza — which has no functioning port — to get aid there by sea. israel has been accused of preventing aid getting into gaza, and us presidentjoe biden says benjamin netanyahu's conduct in the war is doing israel more harm than good. my colleague anna foster is in jerusalem and gave us this update. first of all, to the skies above gaza and these pictures that show the latest drop of aid that has been carried out by us central command and also by thejordanian air force as well. this is the latest air drop into gaza, which provided, they said, meals more than 11,500 meal equivalents. things like food, including rice, flour, pasta and canned food. we've seen these air drops really starting to increase over gaza in the last two weeks or so, since the us air force also got involved. but of course it is still nowhere near to meeting the huge need for humanitarian aid in gaza right now. the amount that's actually getting in by road is far, far less than it was when the war began. and we're focusing as well today on new routes by sea, to actually try and bring aid in. this is something that the european commission, the european union, are involved in, this new corridor that they hope will be used for ships to come from cyprus to gaza and bring aid. similarly, the us is sending a ship to try and build a port, a temporary port, a pier, if you like, off gaza so ships can be unloaded. but there's still no detail of how those supplies, when they actually get to gaza, will be secured and will be distributed throughout the strip. so even as people look at the aid distribution, there are still various questions that have to be asked about how the aid will get to people who, even now, months after this war started, find themselves in desperate need. there's little hope to be found amid the rubble in gaza. another night of israeli strikes has taken its toll. images like this travel around the world. across the atlantic, israel's main allies sees them too. the us presidentjoe biden said he still supported israel's right to defend itself but he cautioned the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu about the extent of the military operations he was sanctioning. he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken. he's hurting, in my view, he's hurting israel more than helping israel by making the rest of the world — it's contrary to what israel stands for and i think it's a big mistake. just two weeks ago, mr biden was optimistic a ceasefire deal could be in place by ramadan. but now, with just hours to go, there's no sign of an imminent breakthrough. that means other options to get aid into gaza at scale are still being sought, as the fighting continues. military airdrops above the strip deliver some food, but not enough. but that still won't meet the growing and desperate need. this mother can't find anything in gaza to help her child. translation: i feed my daughter with waterjust so she doesn't die. j water is not recommended and it's even forbidden for a baby of her age. in cyprus, an aid ship is ready to set sail, loaded with supplies. the charity behind it say they're confident they will be able to unload them when they arrive off gaza's beaches. in the longer term, a us ship that will build a temporary pier to do the job has set sail. but the project's completion date is still two months away. and while it's constructed, the pressure on israel to get more help to suffering civilians will continue. well, there are still channels of communication open between israel and hamas via the qataris and the egyptians, but no sign as things stand of an imminent ceasefire deal to get humanitarian aid in. so the focus remains on those airdrops, on the small amount coming in by land and on these new sea corridors that could work from cyprus to gaza. and i spoke to our correspondent quentin somerville, who is in cyprus in larnaca. local media is reporting that it will leave some point this afternoon. apparently, they're waiting for final security clearances from israel, which, of course, supervises pretty much all of the aid that makes its way into gaza. the there's about 150—200 tonnes of aid on board and has everything from flour and rice to pre—prepared meals and water. it's quite a long journey — 210 nautical miles. normally that journey from here in larnaca to gaza would take about 15 hours. but because they're pulling that big heavy barge, it might take longer. and the organisations involved have said a number of times, the most difficult part of the journey will be the last mile. you just touched on that in your report, because landing in gaza will be very difficult. it doesn't have a functioning port. and, of course, in parts of gaza, all law and order, all civil society really has broken down since israel's bombardment and ground invasion. and the need from the people in gaza is absolutely desperate. so there is always that danger that when this ship appeals on the horizon and gets closer to shore, that people will start making their way towards it, will enter the water. we've seen some pictures from world central kitchen, which is one of the charities involved, which seems to show a temporary pier being built inside gaza. there's heavy lifting equipment, large boulders and rocks are being moved towards the foreshore to make way for the preparation for when this ship finally gets under way and starts thatjourney. that's our correspondent quentin somerville in larnaca, in cyprus, watching that aid ship, which is due to be the first one to use this new maritime corridor that's being set up. now, i did mention that there were hopes, there had been hopes, and even two or so weeks ago, the us presidentjoe biden said he was hopeful that a humanitarian ceasefire may be achieved by ramadan. well, ramadan is very close now and there's no sign of that happening. but here injerusalem, particularly in eastjerusalem, where i am, there's now a focus on the holy sites in the old city, because, of course, during ramadan, muslims around the world will fast during their holy month. and muslims here in east jerusalem will visit the al—aqsa mosque and pray — it's the third most holy sites in islam. but it also shares the complex with the temple mount, which is the holiest site injudaism. and during this time, there have been violent clashes in the past in the old city. and the israeli government has really been looking carefully at how to try and manage that, particularly during this time of heightened tensions while the war continues in gaza. and we've had a briefing from the israeli prime minister's office about heightened security around there and how they intend to keep things as peaceful as possible. the entrance of worshippers to the temple mount will be permitted in similar numbers to previous years. i want to say this loud and clear. there is no threat to the holy sites during ramadan. this month and every month, we will allow safe and proper prayers and all the holiday customs. we want to safeguard the public injerusalem and in other places for the entire public — muslim, jewish and christian. a key statement there from the israeli prime minister's office. and, of course, it's worth saying that even though there were hopes that that ceasefire deal could be struck by the beginning of ramadan, we know that the channels are still open, it's believed that talks brokered by the qataris and the egyptians will continue. and even though that date that had been set out will now be missed, they are still hopeful, at least, of managing to agree to some sort of humanitarian ceasefire deal sooner rather than later. these are live pictures of the old city injerusalem. they are preparing for ramadan and thousands of police have been deployed to the old city, where tens of thousands of worshippers are expected at the mosque, which i mentioned, it is the third most sacred place in islam. the mood amongst palestinians, as you can imagine, is sombre, with the war raging in gaza. that is the view atjust war raging in gaza. that is the view at just after war raging in gaza. that is the view atjust after 6pm injerusalem, at just after 6pm in jerusalem, where atjust after 6pm injerusalem, where you can see the mosque there. in the netherlands, hundreds of protesters have demonstrated against israel's actions in gaza, as the israeli president attended the inauguration of a museum commemorating the holocaust. some of those protesting about isaac herzog's visit were themselves jewish. they�* chanted �*never again is now!', accusing him of complicity in a genocide, an allegation he and the israeli government strongly reject. 0ur europe regional editor, danny aeberhard, is following the story and explained why president herzog was in amsterdam. well, he's representing the israeli state at the opening of this extremely important museum. the dutch national holocaust museum is the first and only museum in the netherlands to concentrate exclusively on the the fate of dutchjews. it also obviously looks at other victims of the holocaust, such as the roma. but the vast majority of people who died werejewish. 102,000 dutchjews were killed during the second world war. that's about three quarters of the population. it was a very well integrated population at the time and it's the worst percentage for any nazi—occupied country in western europe. so, you know, some terrible tales of killings, also some tales of survival as well. so it's about educating the people never to forget and never to repeat this. he spoke at the ceremony marking the opening of the museum. what did he have to say? well, he spoke precisely of the dangers of anti—semitism and racism as a reminder. but he also said it was a warning about growing anti—semitism around the world. and one of the things he highlighted was a call for the immediate release of thejewish hostages being held by hamas in gaza. so he called for people to pray for that. he also spoke a little bit about the people who remained silent during the second world war whilejewish people were deported. and praised, of course, the relative minority of people who actually were involved in rescuing jews during the holocaust. and we have, since the opening of that museum, seen protests in the city continuing. absolutely. well, the most of the protests, i hasten to add, were peaceful, if voluble. but outside the museum, you had different groups. so you've had pro—israel people who are waving the israeli flags. you've got pro—palestinians and tensions have mounted. this is, of course, an extremely sensitive issue. the gaza conflict. protesters would like to see isaac herzog arrested and tried at the international criminal court in the hague for genocide. that, of course, is something that the israeli state and president herzog himself utterly reject — any association with genocide. so that is the underpinning of this. we're also, of course, at a very sensitive time, not only with the opening of the holocaust museum, but with the start of ramadan coming up now. so tensions are running extremely high. just want to bring you a line of breaking news we are getting from cyprus. you will know there is a ship waiting there to go on this maritime aid corridor to gaza. the cypriot government are saying that ship will now leave within hours. they say all permits from all parties have been granted, this news coming at a conference in larnaca this evening. the vessel is expected to leave within hours. we are being told from the cypriot government that all permits needed have been granted but the world central kitchen, operating the vessel, need to finish their final preparation. all weekend we had expected this ship to leave, it is carrying around 200 tonnes of aid on a barge behind it that will then head to gaza. it will take awhile to get there, we do not know where about it will head to in gaza because of course are no ports set up there so they will have to have some sort of temporary port to have some sort of temporary port to enable them to get that aid into gaza. world central kitchen say they are targeting the north of gaza where the need is most. we are hearing from cyprus that all permits have been granted by all parties needed and that ship should leave within hours. we will keep an eye on. you can see the ship as it was being loaded, that is the 200 tonnes of aid being loaded. that is on the barge, that vessel will tear it into gaza. we do not know exactly where it will head and how they will get that aid off the ship onto land and then distribute it around gaza. that is coming from cyprus that it should leave within the next few hours. the princess of wales has thanked the public for their support as she recovers from recent surgery. in a mother's day message, accompanied by a family photo taken at windsor, catherine said "thank you" for the kind wishes she's received since she underwent an abdominal operation two months ago. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph reports. a family photo for mother's day, that is hoped it will calm some of the more extreme gossip about the princess�* recovery. an informal image with her three children in windsor. her husband, the prince of wales, was behind the lens. with the photograph, a personal message... signed off with a "c" for catherine. the last time we officially saw the princess of wales in public was on christmas day, as she met the crowds at sandringham. thank you so much. that's very sweet of you to come and say hello to us. thank you. have a very happy christmas. a few weeks later, she was in hospital having abdominal surgery. her exact condition has never been made public and the team around her have fiercely protected her privacy. prince william has continued with royal duties without his wife at his side. flowers and messages wishing her well have become part of every engagement he now does. there is unlikely to be any more detail released about the princess�* recovery for now. there has also been a mother�*s day post on social media from buckingham palace — a photo of the king and the late queen, along with a message to those missing their mothers today. kensington palace will hope the photo of the princess addresses the public curiosity about her and quells wilder speculation. we still don�*t expect to see her back on royal duty until after after easter. that�*s our royal correspondent. now it�*s time for a look at today�*s sport with 0lly foster. hello from the bbc sport centre. we�*ve been buildng up to this game all week in the premier league, liverpool or manchester city will move to the top of the table with a win at anfield. if they draw, then arsenal will stay top. half an hour played, john stones with the opener midway through the first half. there are the three results from sunday, brighton beat nottingham forest 1—0, burnley threw away a two—goal lead against west ham. danny ings scored the hammers�* equaliser against his former club in injury time. nottingham forest remain three points above the reelgation zone after losing at brighton 1—0. and there was a huge win for spurs, 4—0 at aston villa. this was all about the battle for a top four finish, it was goalless at half—time. spurs struck twice in the space of three minutes early in the second half throuthames maddison and brennanjohnson. villa didn�*t help their cause whan john mcginn was sent off for a nasty chalenge on destiny udogie. spurs captain heung—min son and substitute timo werner both scored in injury time. they stay fifth but are just two points behind villa with a game in hand. 0utstanding. the first half, we made them work really hard, we were confident that would bear fruit in the second half and we maintained that tempo and intensity with our pressing and the quality of our football in the second half was outstanding. they are strong at home and it was a big game of significance so for us to perform like that, it�*s a credit to everyone. today we are disappointed with ourselves but we accept it, and now we want _ ourselves but we accept it, and now we want to — ourselves but we accept it, and now we want to focus on thursday's match with our— we want to focus on thursday's match with our fans — we want to focus on thursday's match with our fans here, we need them. and of— with our fans here, we need them. and of course we have to try quickly again— and of course we have to try quickly again to _ and of course we have to try quickly again to play. the six nations championship is going down to the final weekend. wales are currently bottom of the table after losing their first three games. a win over france in cardiff would see them move above the french — it�*s been a terrific game at the principality. france led by three points at the break. wales have just scored their third try. wales 24—20 france. about 20 minutes to play. australian open champion aryna sabalenka saved four match points and needed four of her own to earn a three—set win over payton stearns at the indian wells masters. the world number two was pushed to the limit in her opening match by the american outsider, who�*s ranked 6ath. she�*ll play the 2021 us open champion emma raducanu. a quick check on that game at anfield. it is still 1—0 to manchester city. as it stands, they would move top of the premier league. we will have an update in the next hour. to india now, where opposition parties have expressed concern over the abrupt resignation of the country�*s second—highest ranking election commission official. arun goel is stepping down weeks before the world�*s biggest exercise in democracy, leaving the election commission of india with only one of its top three officials. he did not give a reason for his departure. earlier, we heard from our south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan. he started by explaining the role of the election commission in india. it is an independent body, a constitutional set—up, and it holds the world�*s biggest democratic exercise. we are talking about 960 million eligible voters ready to cast their ballots in the elections due to come in the next few weeks, where prime minister narendra modi is seeking a third term. and this body is given enormous powers because they conduct national elections as well as state elections, and they can bar anyone from campaigning if they violate the model code of conduct. and they also monitor how people are spending money for the elections. so it is considered as one of the jewels in the indian democratic setup. and the resignation of arun goal has come as a surprise for many because he did not give any reason, that has led to a lot of speculations about whether he had any differences of opinion with the chief election commissioner, and he had another three years to go, and especially just weeks before the election. that has really, really surprised many people in india. what are the opposition parties now worried about? now, this has also triggered criticism from the opposition parties. for example, the main opposition congress party says that election commission is an independent body. so there should be some transparency. and if we allow all these independent institutions to be decimated, then democracy would be taken over by dictatorship. 0n the other hand, the governing bjp, the hindu nationalist bjp, denies these accusations. they say they have given a lot of powers and money to the election commission to conduct a free and fair poll and they dismiss their government. the opposition�*s criticism. tonight is the biggest night in the entertainment calendar — the oscars. final preparations are taking place ahead of the stars hitting the red carpet later. christopher nolan�*s 0ppenheimer, which has 13 nominations, is expected to sweep up many of the top awards. then there�*s barbie — last year�*s biggest hit at the box office, which has eight nods. our culture editor, katie razzall, has the latest from hollywood. a last chance to rehearse, a few final adjustments for the day that hollywood prepares for all year. this red carpet will soon be full of the a—list, stars vying for the highest accolade the movie business has to offer. and the sense here in hollywood is that this year belongs to director christopher nolan. his 0ppenheimer biopic looks set to win best picture, best director, best actor for cillian murphy, and best supporting actor for robert downeer. can you explain quantum mechanics to me? but not best supporting actress for britain�*s emily blunt. i heard you got stuck with baby—sitting duties... it would be a huge 0scars shock if the holdovers�* da�*vinejoy randolph didn�*t win that one. the only acting race that feels uncertain is best actress. and here, history could be made. if lily gladstone triumphs for killers of the flower moon, she�*ll be the first native american to win an acting 0scar. she's an experiment! but she could lose out to emma stone for her tour de force in frankenstein—esque poor things. it�*s not all red carpet glamour for oscar nominees. jonny byrne is also collecting sound for a new film while he�*s here. it�*s the background sounds, the unusual things that you only get if you go out and collect them in the real world. those are the things that give credibility to a film soundscape. byrne created the haunting sound in the zone of interest. you never see what�*s happening in auschwitz, what you hear tells the horrors. he also worked on poor things. i�*ve worked on films that have come to the oscars, but never with this much buzz around them. and obviously, to be here with two films is pretty extraordinary. so, yeah, it�*s quite wild. here we are, the oscars. with the academy trying to lure back viewers, 0scars hostjimmy kimmel made a parody film with the barbie cast. the biggest film of the year is unlikely to be taking many 0scars back to the barbie dreamhouse, but what it�*s done for cinema is something to shout about. bbc news, los angeles. we will have full coverage of the oscar winners. this is the scene oscar winners. this is the scene live in los angeles where it is coming up to 9:30am. you can see the world—famous hollywood sign the background. stars will be getting ready for the red carpet. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. for many of us, the weather story has been one of cloud and rain. it has felt decidedly chilly. temperatures will climb through the week ahead with some further bouts of rain at times. low pressure has been dominating through the weekend, that low centre to the south of us, cloud swirling around in this type of cloud has been producing some outbreaks of heavy and persistent rain. the rain was slowly but surely peter out as we head through the night, the heaviest bursts will ease but it will stay quite damp and drizzly with some areas of mist in the hills, and any clear spells could fill in with patchy fog as well. monday morning, quite a murky start, a low clearing eastwards, other weather systems waiting out west. for many of us, not a huge amount going on apart from some cloud, mist and murk. some brighter spells, especially for wales and the south—west of england. this area of low pressure may bring some rain perilously close to the east coast of england and this frontal system will bring rain across northern ireland and into western scotland. temperatures 6—12 degrees. this weather system makes its way in from deep west, this first pulse of wet weather bringing rain across southern england. we will see more rain getting into northern ireland, perhaps west wales and south—west scotland as we head towards the end of the afternoon. temperatures are beginning to creep upwards, wind coming from the south orsouth—west, highs of 8—13 degrees. a sign of things to come. the middle of the week, these frontal systems wriggle around but will shift northwards, some outbreaks of rain yes, but a feed of mild air starts to set itself up, those south—westerly winds bring in a mild, warm feel to proceedings. there will be some sunshine into the second half of the week and into the weekend but some rain at times, those temperatures to around 16 or 17 degrees. goodbye for now. this is bbc news, the headlines... the united states and jordan have airdropped more aid into gaza, as a us army ship carrying equipment for a temporary floating port heads to the strip. in the coming hours, a spanish charity vessel carrying 200 tonnes of food is also due to set sail from cyprus. the princess of wales has thanked the public for their support as kensington palace posts the first official image of her since she underwent abdominal surgery. in a mother�*s day message, catherine said �*thank you�* for the kind wishes she�*s received during her recovery. final preparations are taking place for this year�*s 0scars — before hollywood�*s biggest stars hit the red carpet later this evening. christopher nolan�*s 0ppenheimer is up for 13 awards and is expected to sweep up. box office hit barbie has eight nominations, while martin scorsese�*s killers of the flower moon has ten.