the vessel, operated by the open arms charity, has been repositioning itself in the harbour in larnaca while another smaller boat towed a barge carrying aid supplies out onto the waters. believe we are showing you the live pictures right now of that ship. we are going to keep it up throughout the programme as we discussed gaza as it prepares to set sail. over the last two days, it's been loaded with around 200 tonnes of food and medical supplies. the aid will be overseen by the world central kitchen organisation. but without a working port, it's not clear yet where the ship will actually dock or how its cargo will be distributed inside gaza. world central kitchen is founded by the celebrity american chefjose andress. the us military has confirmed that one of its ships is currently sailing to the middle east, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of gaza. the support vessel, the general frank s bessonjunior, left virginia on saturday. meanwhile, talks involving mediators aimed at establishing a pause in the fighting before the start of the muslim holy month of ramadan have so far failed to reach a deal. both israel and hamas are accusing the other of preventing any progress. and the stakes are high. more than 31,000 palestinians are now reported to have been killed, according to the health ministry run by hamas, since israel began its military action following hamas�*s attack on october the 7th. around 1,200 people were killed, and more than 250 people were taken hostage. anna foster reports. 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 ally 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. i water is not recommended and it's even forbidden for a baby of her age. meanwhile, sweden and canada have said they will resume aid payments to the un agency for palestinian refugees, unrwa. we will come back to that story at some point. first, we will show you some point. first, we will show you some pictures here of a road in gaza. according to the netherlands, hundreds of protesters have demonstrated against israel's actions in gaza is the israeli president attended the inauguration ofa 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. the human rights group amnesty international put up detour signs around the museum, to direct mr herzog to the international court ofjustice in the hague. let's get more on president herzog's visit to amsterdam — our europe regional editor, danny aeberhard is following the story. 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 fate of dutch jews. it also obviously looks at other victims of the holocaust, such as the roma, but the vast majority of people who died were jewish. 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 people never to forget. let's look at the situation with unrwa once again. sweden and canada have said they will resume aid payments to the un agency for palestinian refugees, unrwa. they were among 16 countries that paused funds after israel accused at least 12 unwra employees of involvement in the brutal attack by hamas on the 7th of october. unrwa is the biggest un agency operating in gaza. it not only provides health care, education and other humanitarian aid, but also employs about 13,000 people in gaza. the un says it is still conducting an investigation. let's speak to scott anderson, who is the deputy director of unrwa affairs in gaza. scott, we really do appreciate your time. is there any more you can tell us about the status of the investigation? mil us about the status of the investigation?— us about the status of the investigation? us about the status of the investiuation? �* u, , ., , investigation? all i can tell you is the investigation _ investigation? all i can tell you is the investigation is _ investigation? all i can tell you is the investigation is ongoing, - investigation? all i can tell you is the investigation is ongoing, it i investigation? all i can tell you is the investigation is ongoing, it is| the investigation is ongoing, it is being conducted by the office of internal oversight services from the un headquarters in new york. it is the highest investigative body within the united nations and is unrwa, we have no input control over the investigation so like everyone else, we are merely waiting for the outcome and hope it will come soon. it is my understanding that unrwa has agreed to make some changes, some checks on its staff and finances in orderfor some checks on its staff and finances in order for donors alike sweden for example, to start resuming its payments. is there any more you can tell us about some of the changes?— the changes? every donor has different requirements, - the changes? every donor hasj different requirements, based the changes? every donor has i different requirements, based on their national law, and we do it best to adhere to those at all times. furtherstaff, best to adhere to those at all times. further staff, we already do a lot, we do reference checks, background checks for all our staff and in addition to that, we share our staff list with the host countries, including israel, every year, the last time we shared the staff for gaza or in west bank was in early 2023 and we have never heard from israel or any others about the status of any of our staff having ties contrary to un values. right, but in this case now you have, and an investigation had been lodged, that why these countries, some of your largest donors, 16 total build sum of theirfunding. philip lazzarini, at the time, the head of unrwa, said it was close to death after these payments had been suspended. is that still the case? i'd say were not close to death, but probably on life support would be a better way to set. thankfully, we had do now as the european union, sweden, canada, the united arab emirates that have stepped up and sent additional money there but was an increase in funding from spain recently, so many donors have really stepped up and provided additional funding. that does not mean we are out of the woods, there's still a lot of work we have to do, but the funding situation looks better, which is very important for the people we are taking care of in gaza and the entire population of million in need, and we're most critically concerned with 300,000 people in the north where there are pockets of starvation. north where there are pockets of starvation-— north where there are pockets of starvation. ., , , ., starvation. you bring up the north, which is one _ starvation. you bring up the north, which is one of— starvation. you bring up the north, which is one of the _ starvation. you bring up the north, which is one of the problem - starvation. you bring up the north, which is one of the problem is, - which is one of the problem is, isn't it, getting that aid to the 300,000 people it is estimated up north? what do you believe needs to be done to make those on land routes more viable for aid groups? do you believe aid groups like unrwa, but also others like the world food programme, are receiving the adequate amount of security they need? i adequate amount of security they need? ~ ., ., need? i think it will require all of us working _ need? i think it will require all of us working together, _ need? i think it will require all of us working together, unrwa, i need? i think it will require all of. us working together, unrwa, aap, unicef, who, to fix the problem created by the lack of surprise flowing to the north —— unrwa, wf be. it has been difficult for some of the convoys to move and what would really change the approach of the whole humanity in communities if there was an opening from israel into the north of gaza where we can transit supplies directly. there is a port and asked dad not even a0 kilometres away, we could move foot in very quickly and address the problem that might begin to address the problem of pockets of starvation.— the problem of pockets of starvation. . . . starvation. ramadan is a fast approaching. _ starvation. ramadan is a fast approaching. of— starvation. ramadan is a fast approaching, of course, i starvation. ramadan is a fast i approaching, of course, meaning there is concern around how that could increase tensions around the world. and unrwa knows guys are intimately, employs 13,000 people there. what are your concerns around this were continuing past at the holy month? i this were continuing past at the holy month?— holy month? i think i'm unfortunately _ holy month? i think i'm unfortunately gaza i holy month? i think i'm l unfortunately gaza there holy month? i think i'm i unfortunately gaza there has holy month? i think i'm _ unfortunately gaza there has been wore during the holy month of ramadan previously, when i was here in 201a. this time it is much different, the skill of the conflict, the reason for the conflict, the reason for the conflict, the reason for the conflict, the number of displaced people —— the scale of the conflict. now a population many living in tents, makeshift plastic structures, they currently do not have enough food supplies to address their basic needs and now, as you know, they fast, no water, no food between sunup and sundown, and i think it will be a much more difficult environment and i think it will make people irritable and perhaps lead to civil unrest because they find themselves in a very difficult situation at the start of ramadan and it is a time that should be for self—improvement, reflection and togetherness as a family and what they are faced with is destitution and an inability to meet their basic needs every day. and an inability to meet their basic needs every day-— needs every day. scott, before we enter the interview, _ needs every day. scott, before we enter the interview, we _ needs every day. scott, before we enter the interview, we are i needs every day. scott, before we | enter the interview, we are running out of time, i would love to know from you, then you will believe, some of the donors have, that unrwa's credibility is shot after the accusations of any complicity with the attack on the seventh. could you spell out the impact that unrwa's closure or inability to affect its services might have on the ground in terms of humanitarian assistance? it the ground in terms of humanitarian assistance? ., , ., assistance? it would be a significant _ assistance? it would be a significant impact - assistance? it would be a significant impact to i assistance? it would be a significant impact to the l assistance? it would be a - significant impact to the population of gaza. and currently is the backbone of the humanitarian response in gaza. not in work time we get a00,000 visits, 80% of children's vaccinations are done through unrwa in gaza. it is like shutting down a cabinet or branch of government, not something that can be done easily. unrwa is designed to transition to a government of palestine when there is a two state solution, so we would very much like to see unrwa shut down for that reason, but until then, we need to stay here and continue to deliver humanitarian assistance to the population. humanitarian assistance to the population-— humanitarian assistance to the population. humanitarian assistance to the --oulation. . . population. scott, thank you so much for our population. scott, thank you so much for your time — population. scott, thank you so much for your time and _ population. scott, thank you so much for your time and answering - population. scott, thank you so much for your time and answering these i for your time and answering these questions. irate for your time and answering these cuestions. ~ ., ., ,, . ., questions. we do appreciate it. thank you- _ here in the united kingdom, 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 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 photo 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 easter. police say a man arrested for crashing into the gates of buckingham palace has been sectioned under the mental health act. the car crashed into the gates of buckingham palace in the early hours of saturday morning. armed officers detained the man and he was taken to hospital. there were no reports of any injuries. the incident is not being treated as terror—related and the man has been released on bail as inquiries continue. princess diana's brother, earl spencer, has said he was sexually abused as a child. an extract from his memoir says he was targeted by a female member of staff at his boarding school, maidwell hall, in northamptonshire. let's get more on this from my colleague charlotte gallagher, who joins us from the newsroom. what more do we know? really distressing _ what more do we know? really distressing allegations - what more do we know? really distressing allegations from i what more do we know? reallyl distressing allegations from earl spencer. he said the abuse began when he was just 11 years old and at boarding school. he was targeted by a female member of staff who he describes as a voracious paedophile. he says she groomed him and other young boys and he was abused in his bed at night in his dormitory. he also makes allegations about the then head teacher, john porch, saying he inflicted brutal beatings on the boys at that school and earl spencer believes he gained sexual pleasure from those beatings. the earl says are reliving those experiences had been absolutely hellish. ., , , experiences had been absolutely hellish. . , , ., , experiences had been absolutely hellish. , ., , ., hellish. has there been any reaction from the school? _ hellish. has there been any reaction from the school? we _ hellish. has there been any reaction from the school? we have _ hellish. has there been any reaction from the school? we have heard i hellish. has there been any reaction i from the school? we have heard from the school. — from the school? we have heard from the school, maidwell— from the school? we have heard from the school, maidwell hall, _ from the school? we have heard from the school, maidwell hall, who i from the school? we have heard from the school, maidwell hall, who say i the school, maidwell hall, who say it has been sobering to learn of the experiences of earl spencer and other people's. it added the allegations of sexual abuse have been referred to the local authority designated officer. the school stressed really that almost every facet of school life had changed significantly since the 1970s and at the heart of those changes had been at the safeguarding of children and the promotion of their welfare. the school also has urged any former pupils with similar experiences to earl spencer to get in touch with the police. earl spencer to get in touch with the police-— earl spencer to get in touch with the olice. ., ~' . the police. thank you so much. of course, the police. thank you so much. of course. there _ the police. thank you so much. of course, there is _ the police. thank you so much. of course, there is more _ the police. thank you so much. of course, there is more on - the police. thank you so much. of course, there is more on the i the police. thank you so much. of course, there is more on the bbcl course, there is more on the bbc website and app. the shadow chancellor has played down expectations of a a rapid improvement in public services if labour wins the next election. in the budget on wednesday, the government cut national insurance by two pence for the second time in six months, and stole two of labour's revenue—raising policies. rachel reeves told the laura kuenssberg programme that if they win the election, there would be some extra spending, but labour would not "be able to turn things around straight away". it's clear that the inheritance that a labour government would have if we do win the next election will be the worst since the second world war. and i have to be honest that we're not going to be able to turn things around straightaway, but we will get to work on all of that. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent peter saull about what the shadow chancellor said. i think the budget on wednesday from the chancellor, jeremy hunt, presented a few challenges to the labour party. of course, the big headline was the cut to national insurance by two percentage points, and that's quite an expensive policy. so he came up with various other things to try and raise the money for that, including what was previously a labour idea to reform non—dom tax status. and labour said that they were then going to raise the money through that to spend on other things. so the obvious question to rachel reeves — and laura kuenssberg put it to her repeatedly today — was, how on earth are you going to raise the money that you are going to potentially then use to spend on other things? and she wasn't able to give a definitive answer, other than saying they would close what she calls "the loophole" in the windfall tax for gas and oil giants. i suppose it's understandable that she wouldn't want to give too much away. we don't quite know when the general election is going to be. it could be as soon as may. most people i speak to in westminster, though, think it will probably be in october or november, and the danger for labour, again, is if they say they are going to do something, conservatives might steal their ideas, like they did in the budget on wednesday. that was our political correspondent, peter saull. ukraine has insisted it will never surrender in its war against russia after pope francis said it should "have the courage to raise the white flag". the pope has come under a barrage of criticism after saying ukraine is facing defeat and should negotiate with vladimir putin's regime. the vatican later clarified that he'd used the term "white flag" to indicate an end to hostilities, not an outright surrender. an 0desa mp has suggested he go to ukraine to witness the consequences of the war. security services in north—west nigeria are searching for hundreds of school children abducted in a series of mass kidnappings. the latest, on saturday morning, saw armed men storm a school in sokoto state, taking 15 students and four women. two days earlier, more than 200 and 80 students were taken from their school in kaduna state. at least 28 pupils have managed to escape since their capture on thursday. earlier in the week, some 200 people — most of them women and children — were abducted in the north—east after leaving their displacement camps to search for firewood. it's emerged that the former british prime minister borisjohnson visited venezuela last month for talks with president nicolas maduro. the bbc has been told the talks were unofficial and not paid for by the uk government. venezuela's government faces strong international pressure to hold a free and fair election, to release activists and political opponents it has detained, and to de—escalate tensions with its neighbour guyana. mrjohnson's spokesman says he emphasised the need for venezuela to embrace a proper democratic process, but declined to say who paid for the trip by private jet. the foreign office said mrjohnson had informed the foreign secretary, david cameron of the visit. let's bring you these pictures from germany. hundreds of people have have been marching outside berlin to protest against tesla. the us car—maker wants to expand its plant there, but the plans have met with fierce resistance due to concerns about the deforestation required for the expansion and the potential impact on local water supply. people in portugal have less than an hour left to vote for the next parliament. the vote was called after the socialist prime minister antonio koster resigned over a corruption investigation involving some of his staff. neither the governing socialists or the opposition centre might block have the path to a majority. the focus is on the far right parity which has been growing a and could play the role of kingmaker. polling stations are due to close at 7pm gmt with the results expected around midnight. we will bring you updates as there was come. meanwhile, it's hollywood's big night — 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. katie razzall, bbc news, los angeles. let's ta ke let's take you straight to the red carpet because we have some live pictures. again, this is at the big night in la and you can see some of the arrivals right there. we will have a live page on our bbc news website and app detailing all the big moments from the oscars, so do please watch along whenever you get your news. of course, we will also have a big recap series on monday with my colleague nicky schiller, who will give you a round—up of all the big moments and all the big winners. again, 0ppenheimer is meant to be the big winner there. returning to our top story, the ship are preparing to set sail in larnaca will stop it is a spanish charity vessel carrying 200 tonnes of food and it's preparing to leave it stuck in cyprus are to sail along a new maritime aid corridor to gaza. 0f maritime aid corridor to gaza. of course, the stakes are high there. more than 31,000 palestinians are reported to have been killed in this war. and of course, in gaza's north, more than 300,000 are still waiting for some aid. please do stay with us on bbc news. there is plenty more to come. hello. for many of us, sunday's weather story has been one of cloud and rain and where you've been stuck under those grey and wet conditions, particularly when you've been exposed to the breeze, it has felt decidedly chilly. temperatures, though, will climb through the week ahead, albeit with some further bouts of rain at times. low pressure has been dominating things through the weekend, that low centred just to the south of us, clouds swirling around it. and this stripe of cloud that you can see here that has been producing some outbreaks of quite heavy and persistent rain. now, the rain will slowly but surely peter out as we head through the night. certainly the heaviest bursts will ease, but it'll stay quite damp and drizzly with some areas of mist and hill fog and any clear spells that you might see across, say, south wales and the south west of england will they could just fill in with patchy fog as well. so monday morning, quite a murky start. it's an in—between day, really. this low clearing eastwards, other weather systems waiting in the wings out west. but for many of us, not a huge amount going on, aside from a lot of cloud, some mist and murk, a few brighter spells, perhaps most especially for wales and the south—west of england. this area of low pressure mayjust bring some rain perilously close to the east coast of england and this frontal system will bring some rain across northern ireland and into western scotland. temperatures 6 celsius in lerwick, 12 celsius in plymouth. through monday night and into tuesday, this severe weather system saunters its way in from the west. this first pulse of wet weather bringing rain across wales, parts of the midlands and southern england as we start tuesday, that should tend to pull away southwards, but we'll see more rain getting into northern ireland, perhaps west wales, north—west england and south—west scotland as we head towards the end of the afternoon. temperatures though, beginning to creep upwards. the winds start to come from the south or the southwest. so we'll see highs between 8—13 celsius. a sign of things to come through the middle of the week. these frontal systems just continue to wriggle around but will generally shift northwards. some outbreaks of rain, yes, but a feed of pretty mild air starts to set itself up. those south—westerly winds bringing a mild, even warm feel to proceedings, actually, particularly where you get to see some sunshine, and there will be some sunshine as we head through the second half of the week and into the weekend. but some rain at times. those temperatures, though, up to around 16 or 17 celsius. bye for now. this is bbc news, the headlines — a spanish charity ship which will take 200 tonnes of aid to gaza is preparing to leave harbour in cyprus. the open arms is carrying food and medical supplies. the us military has also sent a ship carrying equipment to build a temporary pier in gaza, though it will take at least a week to arrive. 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 clean up. box office hit barbie has eight nominations, while martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon has ten.