left cyprus three days ago and is carrying 200 tonnes of food supplied by an american ngo. teams from the ngo in gaza have built a floating jetty to unload the cargo. food and basic supplies are desperately needed in gaza, and the israeli police force is deploying thousands of officers acrossjerusalem's old city for ramadan�*s first friday prayers at the al—aqsa mosque, with tensions high amid the war. let's go live now to anna foster at damascus gate. welcome to eastjerusalem, this is damascus gate, you are talking about the first friday prayers of ramadan which have passed peacefully. there was really tight security, all the streets were closed by israeli soldiers and police. they were only allowing worshippers from certain demographics, there was nobody here between the ages of ten and 50. a huge number of people come here for the first friday prayers and we have seenin the first friday prayers and we have seen in previous years violent clashes in this area and because of that additional security, things so far have been peaceful and quiet. while that was going on here, there was actually a meeting of israel's security and wall cabinets, about the latest moves towards a ceasefire deal. israel haven't rejected the deal, they spoke strongly about it and last night, the prime minister's office said it contained unreasonable demands, he said that what hamas vision was a step to far and israel have engaged with that. after the cabinet meeting, they said they would be sending an israeli delegation to qatar, qatar and egypt are the two brokers, they don't have direct diplomatic relations, an israeli delegation will be heading at the end of the cabinet meeting to qatar, they will be putting forward the israeli perspective. the fact that they will be around the table again is a positive thing because the last set of talks in cairo, hamas had negotiators there, israel chose not to send a delegation. so even though this is a very small step forward, it is a change in the status quo, it doesn't mean a agreement is imminent, but it does mean those channels of communication are open and working. on that ship thatis are open and working. on that ship that is on the move towards the gaza coastline, it set off from cyprus on tuesday, that is notable because it will be the first time during this war that aid has arrived by sea, important to say that humanitarian groups and world leaders have made it clear that it is no substitute for land routes that are not being used at the moment in the way they were before the war. a lot of those land routes and crossings are not using the amount of capacity that they had before the war began. that is for political reasons. there is pressure being put on israel to increase the flow of aid by land. that ship will dock at a temporary jetty that has been constructed in gaza, ahead of the us is building a more substantial one a few weeks away. the challenge will be actually unloading the aid from that ship, 200 tonnes of it, and distributing it clearly and safely and fairly as well. two a desperate population, increasingly desperate, this will go to the north where around 300,000 people are still sheltering. i will imagine that it will probably tomorrow at the earliest before we see any kind of unloading. there is only a couple of hours of daylight left and it is an operation that they will want to try to do during the day. possibly tomorrow morning, they said they want to do this properly and they haven't put a timescale, certainly a lot of focus on that aid ship at the moment. and that extra additional aid being brought in. let's speak to aaron david miller — he's a us foreign policy thank you very much for the moment. expert and a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace welcome to bbc news. let's just talk briefly about that aid ship, it seems to be approaching gaza now. it is obviously hugely important on a humanitarian front but it does show how diplomacy can move things along. sure, there are certain inconvenient realities that need to be faced. firstly, humanitarian assistance delivered by air or sea, necessary, but the reality is that you need to get the land routes working. gaza had 500 trucks before october seven, now that number in for a under 100. the only way to get aid efficiently into gaza is by land. to this end, the israelis have opened up a new crossing point in the north which yesterday functioned for the first time. i think the administration is pressing this heavily and doing more. i pressing this heavily and doing more. . ., ., a pressing this heavily and doing more. . ., ., ., more. i wanted to ask about the comments _ more. i wanted to ask about the comments from _ more. i wanted to ask about the comments from the _ more. i wanted to ask about the comments from the senate - more. i wanted to ask about the - comments from the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, stern words to the israeli prime minister. were you surprised by what he said and where do you think it leaves that relationship between the us and israel? 2? relationship between the us and israel? , . , relationship between the us and israel? , ., , ., ~ ., , israel? 27 years working on these issues for both _ israel? 27 years working on these issues for both parties, _ israel? 27 years working on these issues for both parties, i - israel? 27 years working on these issues for both parties, i have - issues for both parties, i have never heard a majority leader of the senate give that sort of speech. the impact, you have to look at the three constituencies that he wanted to influence, will this change anything in israeli politics? will it turn a passive aggressive policy that the administration has been pursuing towards the benjamin netanyahu government into a more aggressive policy? thirdly, what will this do in respect of the house and republicans and his democratic colleagues? i think it is to early to say in each of these areas, i think in israel the two issues that you criticised israeli government for, this imminent ground campaign in rafah and opposition to a palestinian state, those are two issues that most israelis agree with benjamin netanyahu. we will see if the biden agnes oration toughens up its policies now that chuck schumer has give them some political cover to do so. , , ., has give them some political cover to do so. , ., ., , to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of— to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of the _ to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of the things _ to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of the things we _ to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of the things we heard, - to do so. just to remind our viewers of some of the things we heard, he | of some of the things we heard, he said that casualties in gaza risks turning israel into a pariah. he called for elections in israel as well. and he criticised benjamin netanyahu, he said he had allowed his political survival to take precedent over the best interests of israel. i want to ask you about these ongoing discussions, about a ceasefire. we understand that a team from israel is getting on a flight to qatar, there are still huge differences between what israel wants and what hamas wants. where do you see things going? we remember a few weeks agojoe biden in that ice cream parlour saying we would have is a ceasefire by now. unfortunately, middle east negotiations have only two speeds, slower and slower. the real question is to what degree is the netanyahu government and hamas, the two major combatants in this conflict, to what degree is there any sense of urgency to cut a deal now? up until now, the most urgency has been from the biden administration and perhaps from the international community to try and get a prisoner hostage exchange. we often underestimate or somehow don't focus on the fact that it is these two combatants that are setting the tempo, the tone and objectives for this conflict since october seven. that is the central question and it is too opaque to answer. i suspect there is a reasonable chance by the end of ramadan that they could be a deal, but again hamas's proposal was deemed more reasonable, but at the same time they're not for demonstrations during ramadan. so, they are pursuing mixed motives here, i suspect so is the netanyahu government. here, i suspect so is the netanyahu government-— here, i suspect so is the netanyahu government. ., ~ , ., , . ., government. thank you very much for shafinu government. thank you very much for sharing your — government. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts _ government. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on _ government. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on those - sharing your thoughts on those ongoing talks. australia says it will resume funding the main united nations aid agency in gaza, which it paused two months ago when israel accused some of its staff of involvement in the october the seventh hamas attacks. the allegations led many donors to withhold support for unrwa, which says it is investigating the claims. canada, sweden and the european union have already said they'll resume funding. now, let's take you to ukraine, there are reports 1h people have died and another 46 are injured after a russian missile strike which hit civilian infrastructure in the city of odesa — that's according to emergency officials. i got the latest from our correspondent in kyiv, sarah rainsford. we know that there was a missile attack, the authorities are saying it was a residential location. they said a gas pipe is also on fire, they said when the rescue workers went to the scene to try and see if there was anyone under the rubble, to give first aid and rescue people there was then a second russian rocket fired, that was when two rescue workers were killed, they are saying that 1a people have been killed and that is unclear whether those are rescue workers 01’ rescue workers or civilians. that is a significant number of people and i think itjust underlines the ongoing violence, of course, violence, of people course, the ongoing aggression here in ukraine. and it comes as well at the same time as today, we've just seen a news flash that the bodies of 100 ukrainian soldiers are just being returned today to ukraine. they were captured, they were killed in the fighting. they've been returned by russia today across the border. so, you know, obviously, the toll of this war, now two years old, is extremely high, both in terms of civilians and in terms of ukraine's military. and, sarah, just remind our viewers of the significance of odesa and the geography of it. well, it's a city on the black sea. it's a port city. it's a very strategic city for ukraine. it's one of the biggest cities in this country. it is a city that russia had designs on at the beginning of this war. it certainly wanted to capture odesa. it never did that. so it is an important scene. it's also where, of course, all the grain exports from ukraine were heading out to western markets to markets around the world. so it was coming under sustained attack and regular attack on many occasions. but this appears to have been a residential area of the city which was hit at this point, not an area near the port. so we're just getting information at the moment. obviously, it's pretty much dribs and drabs for now, but it is a very significant number of people who've been killed in this attack. now to russia, where voting is underway in presidential elections — which will almost certainly see vladimir putin extend his quarter of a century, in power. the process began in russia's far east several hours ago — these pictures are from vladivostock. and let's bring you some pictures live now, there is the potential for a run—off vote if no candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round. but — with many of mr putin's opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that vladimir putin will be re—elected, without the need for that second ballot. let's take a look at the candidates facing vladimir putin. there are three token contenders, none of whom have criticised him. they include political veteran nikolai kharitonov of the communist party, relative newcomer and former businessman vladislav davankov of the new people party, and leonid slutsky of the right—wing, nationalist liberal democratic party. they all broadly support the kremlin and its policies, including the invasion of ukraine. putin's main opposition, alexei navalny, died last month in a penal colony in unexplained circumstances. despite the risk of persecution, thousands publicly paid their last respects at his grave. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is following developments in moscow. vladimir putin has been in power a long time, 25 years almost as president or prime minister. and he is expected to win a fifth presidential term. now, this whole event, this three day event which starts today is being presented by the russian authorities almost as a celebration of democracy. the kremlin, just a few days ago, described russian democracy as the best democracy in the world. critics of the kremlin would disagree, and would say that this poll is neither free nor fair, more transparent. vladimir putin does not face a major challenge, there are three other candidates on the ballot paper but his most vocal critics, his fiercest opponents are either in exile or in prison. which kind of helps you to win, what we expect to be, a landslide. there have been reports that public service workers have been strongly encouraged to come out today, on day one of this election to cast their votes. i mean, there are so many things to say about this collection, had putin dominates the airwaves, dominates the screens on russian television, much more than any other candidate. so, it will be no surprise i think, when he is eventually declared the winner. i've been speaking to stanislav andreichuk, co—chair of golos — the movement for defence of voters' rights. he told me that know mr putin is bound to win, but it's still an interesting vote. we need to understand that this campaign it is one of the worst campaigns in russian history because there is everything between people in power and the possibility to make decisions about the future of our country. what i mean, i mean that there are possibilities of observation of elections, there are made it more difficult. as a result, we see that this time we have the least number of candidates and most of these candidates are not known among ordinary people. so there are not free and fair elections. we see that a lot of people are under big pressure, there bosses of their workplaces have pressed these people to go and vote. x�*t�*aur workplaces have pressed these people to go and vote-— to go and vote. your organisation is all about monitoring _ to go and vote. your organisation is all about monitoring this _ to go and vote. your organisation is all about monitoring this vote. - to go and vote. your organisation is all about monitoring this vote. butl all about monitoring this vote. but your organisation has also been labelled a foreign agent by the russian authorities. what exactly are you going to be doing in the next few days and how will you be able to do that in open way? according to russian law we can't send our own observers to polling stations because no one outside can do it. only political parties and candidates can agree to send observers but this is the first time in the 2a year history that no one of the candidates have agreed that if people don't want money during the vote... the poorest of the whole history. of course, it makes a lot of possibilities for falsification of possibilities for falsification of elections and so forth, so far, what goes in these conditions, we might launch an observation, we monitor the whole campaign, aimed towards the mass media and so forth. it also makes the whole infrastructure, if you have problems at this moment, people can call to our hotline, use our mobile app or send a message to our telegram or our website. send a message to our telegram or our website-— our website. around the world and across the uk _ our website. around the world and across the uk this _ our website. around the world and across the uk this bbc _ our website. around the world and across the uk this bbc news. - let's look at some other stories making news. prime minister rishi sunak rules out holding a general election on the second of may, when voters will go to the polls for local elections in england. labour accuse him of "chickening out" of announcing a date, he previously said his "working assumption" is that an election would be held in the second half of the year. mps will get a 5 and a half per—cent pay rise from april —— meaning their annual salary will increase to over £91,000. the independent parliamentary standards authority says the decision was in line with the award recently agreed for senior civil servants, adding that it aims to be "fair both for mps and the public". food delivery firm hellofresh denies taking subscriptions from customers who say they had cancelled their accounts. some customers say their accounts reactivated with money taken for orders they had not made. they believe thatjust logging on to the app reactivated their accounts — but hellofresh says money was taken only when customers made a quote "proactive decision" to do so. you're live with bbc news. here in the uk, the chancellorjeremy hunt says the conservative party is absolutely transparent about the donations it receives. but so far the party has neither confirmed nor denied reports it's been given another £5 million by the businessman frank hester, on top of the ten million he's already donated. mr hester has been widely accused of racism after allegedly saying the mp diane abbott makes him want to hate all black women. the tech boss apologised for making "rude" comments about the former—labour mp but said his remarks "had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin". here's our political correspondent hannah miller. learning to use a camera on a visit, the chancellor and the prime minister can't escape the glare of scrutiny over donations to their party. this week they said that one of the comments made by one of the biggest donors is racist, but now it emerges they may have received another £5 million from that same man. a claim the chancellor didn't deny. man. a claim the chancellor didn't den . ~ ., ., man. a claim the chancellor didn't den .~ ., ., ., deny. we follow all the right procedures _ deny. we follow all the right procedures when _ deny. we follow all the right procedures when it - deny. we follow all the right procedures when it comes i deny. we follow all the right | procedures when it comes to declaring _ procedures when it comes to declaring donations, and when the time is _ declaring donations, and when the time is right we will declare any donations— time is right we will declare any donations that we have received recently — donations that we have received recentl . ., ~ donations that we have received recentl . . ,, , donations that we have received recentl . . ~ , ., ., ':: recently. frank hester donated £10 million to the _ recently. frank hester donated £10 million to the conservative - recently. frank hester donated £10 million to the conservative party i million to the conservative party last year, that is one fifth of all donations. any further money wouldn't need to be declared until april and published by the electoral commission injune. mr hester has apologised for what he described as rude comments about diane abbott after it was reported that he said seeing her on tv made him want to hate all black women and she should be shot. on a visit to inspect water quality in greater manchester today, the liberal democrat leader took the opportunity to suggest the conservative party should stop mr hester�*s money flowing into its account. i hester's money flowing into its account. ~' ., , ., account. i think the conservative party should _ account. i think the conservative party should hang _ account. i think the conservative party should hang its _ account. i think the conservative party should hang its head - account. i think the conservative party should hang its head in - account. i think the conservative - party should hang its head in shame if it doesn't — party should hang its head in shame if it doesn't give these donations hack _ if it doesn't give these donations back and — if it doesn't give these donations back and i— if it doesn't give these donations back. and i think anyone in the election— back. and i think anyone in the election who receives a leaflet from the conservatives should throw it in the conservatives should throw it in the bin— the conservatives should throw it in the bin because they know it was paid for— the bin because they know it was paid for by— the bin because they know it was paid for by someone who said in a conversation that an mp should be shot _ conversation that an mp should be shot that— conversation that an mp should be shot. that is a complete disgrace. and if— shot. that is a complete disgrace. and if there — shot. that is a complete disgrace. and if there was any doubt that election campaigning is ramping up, this is how the labour party chose to mark rishi sunak ruling out the general election on may two. the prime list will be hoping the noise about his funding doesn't roll—on until polling day. let's turn to the us where a georgia judge has ruled that the district attorney who brought 2020 election interference charges against donald trump can remain on the case if her lead prosecutor steps aside. our correspondent in washington — nomia iqbal told me what this means for the case. in theory the case should go ahead, it was pencilled in for august, that is what the chief prosecution wanted to see happen. now, this was also a months long effort by donald trump and his legal team to try and disqualify miss willis, saying that her relationship had compromised the integrity of the case. we saw both individuals giving evidence, it was televised. they were arguing against this,, this ruling came down by the judge a short while ago, 23 pages. he disagreed saying that her affair with nathan wade created an appearance of impropriety. you need to have evidence, that is what miss willis had argued. he mentioned that there were two ways to resolve it, either she leaves or he leaves. that is where we are at at the moment. in theory, this case should go ahead before november, but we are not 100% sure if that will happen. is before november, but we are not 100% sure if that will happen.— sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr _ sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr trump? _ sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr trump? i _ sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr trump? i think - sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr trump? i think it. sure if that will happen. is this a blow for mr trump? i think it is l sure if that will happen. is this a l blow for mr trump? i think it is to a certain extent _ blow for mr trump? i think it is to a certain extent because - blow for mr trump? i think it is to a certain extent because donald l a certain extent because donald trump and his legal team are employing the strategy of delaying, delaying, delaying. they have had some success, even yesterday we saw that another criminal case, the one in new york, to do with alleged hush money payments, that was the only case that was definitely going to go ahead. it is due to go ahead in two weeks, but yesterday the district attorney in that case agreed that he would be prepared to delay for up to one month. so we're still waiting to see when that will go ahead. mr trump's strategy is to try and delay all these cases this side of the election so that in theory, if they do go ahead they happen after the election and if he becomes president he can make some of these cases disappear. he can make some of these cases disa ear. �* , ~ , he can make some of these cases disauear. �* , ~ , , disappear. briefly, mr trump faces 91 charues disappear. briefly, mr trump faces 91 charges against _ disappear. briefly, mr trump faces 91 charges against four _ disappear. briefly, mr trump faces 91 charges against four separate i 91 charges against four separate cases. that is quite a number. it cases. that is quite a number. it is, and he has said that he will still do his campaigning welts going to these trials. in effect, we are seeing it already, he will make the court cases his campaign. that is the message he is giving to supporters and other people that i am being persecuted, vote for me. that is if any of these cases go ahead before november. the big question is will there be any trump trials before the election? his la ers trials before the election? his lawyers have _ trials before the election? his lawyers have said they will use all legal options to have that case thrown out. stay with us here on bbc news. the weekend will bring some whites and downs not least in terms of the temperatures, it will be a cold and frosty start, temperatures around minus two celsius for some but by the end of the weekend, 16 degrees. a mild end, and along the way we will see some rain and some spells of sunshine. today we have this area of sunshine. today we have this area of low pressure pushing eastwards, this frontal system moving south eastwards across the uk. generally, there is a lot of cloud but some bright spells developing, northern ireland having a decent afternoon. some heavy showers predicted in the south, temperature —wise, by the end of the afternoon it will be cooling off across the northern half of the uk, that sets up for a cold night. the cloud will break up, we will see lengthy clear spells, a few fog patches, some cloud and rain into the south—west, that will hold the temperatures up, elsewhere will be cold and frosty, those lows of —1 or two celsius. a chilly start under this ridge of high pressure, but then we see this next frontal system pushing in from the west. that will bring cloud and rain for some of us. as we go through the day on saturday, more of this mild air will work its way into the mix. for many places temperatures will come up nicely through the day, a sunny and chilly start for northern and eastern parts. further west, some splashes of rain, not particularly heavy, we will see slightly intense bursts for a time in northern ireland, moving into south scotland. temperatures rise during the day, 12 degrees in london, by the end of the afternoon. as we move through saturday night, this band of rain wriggles its way through and we see heavy bursts in places while we continue to feed mild air in the mix. by sunday morning, a very different start, temperatures in double digits for many places. frost free to start. without cloud, some outbreaks of rain in eastern parts, that will clear then we will see spells of sunshine and some showers. one or two of those could be on the heavy side, but a very mild end to the weekend, temperatures 13 to 16 degrees. a glitch at mcdonald's leaves customers in several countries unable to order. and from rivalry to partnership — honda and nissan agree to work together on developing electric vehicles. welcome to world business report. mcdonald's is in the bit of a pickle. it is having some unexplained technical difficulties at its restaurants across the world, leaving customers unable to order food. we're told that this issue has been fixed here in the uk but the issues have affected outlets in hong kong, australia and several other countries. mcdonald's says it's aware of a technology outage