and later this hour — we'll be speaking to bangladeshi nobel laureate, professor muhammad yunus who's facing jailtime, accused of violating labour laws hello, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. the us secretary of defence, antony blinken, has said there is an opportunity for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. his comments come as leaders of the palestinian group hamas are expected to hold more talks in cairo with mediators, although israel says it will not directly attend until hamas provides a list of hostages it is still holding. hamas has been running gaza, but is also considered a terrorist organisation by a number of countries including the uk. here's what mr blinken had to say a short while ago. it's also urgent, irrespective of a ceasefire, to dramatically increase the humanitarian assistance

that is getting to people inside gaza. the situation for children, women and men who are caught in the crossfire is unacceptable and not sustainable. israel has to maximise every possible means, every possible method of getting assistance to people who need it. meanwhile on the ground in gaza, the war continues. there have been more air strikes in the south of the territory, including here, in the southern city of rafah. the world health organisation says some eight thousand patients in gaza, many of them badly injured in israel's bombardment, urgently need to be moved out of the territory. it is also warning of extreme malnutrition among children there. one other line to bring you from the middle east — a un team of experts has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe sexual violence,

including rape and gang rape, took place in at least three locations during the hamas attacks on israel on the 7th of october. they also said there was convincing information that some hostages could still be being subjected to sexual violence in gaza. hamas has rejected the accusations. earlier i spoke to our correspondent wyre davies, who is injerusalem, about the talks in cairo and the humanitarian situation in gaza. there is of course increasing pressure from the americans on the israelis, we have seen that tension rising in the last two weeks, so at least go to cairo and join these indirect talks which may hopefully result in a temporary ceasefire. the israelis have chosen not to go to cairo, it's israelis have chosen not to go to cairo, its two days of talks, the other participants, halas, qatar, the egyptians and the americans are said to be in cairo and the

americans are doing their best to persuade the israelis to go there but of course the israelis have made these preconditions that hamas must release a list of those hostages were still alive and they would be released as part of a deal. there is a level of interest —— frustration on the american side, they say openly that is a need for more aids to get into gaza, the americans now have undertaken a second a drop of over 36,000 meals by small parachutes in conjunction with the jordanian air force, dropping those into gaza. so the americans doing their wrong thing perhaps to embarrass the israelis and show them how much of a humanitarian crisis there is an gaza and the need for israel to get around the table and start these talks towards a possible ceasefire. �* �* , ., , ., ceasefire. and it's not 'ust aid, we have been — ceasefire. and it's not 'ust aid, we have been hearing _ ceasefire. and it's notjust aid, we have been hearing from _ ceasefire. and it's notjust aid, we have been hearing from the - ceasefire. and it's notjust aid, we have been hearing from the world| have been hearing from the world health organization which is saying that some 8000 patients in gaza, many who've been injured in the

conflict, urgently need to be moved out. so there are also pressures on an already ailing healthcare system. the health care system has been totally smashed. a lot of hospitals in gaza are not operational because they have been damaged. a lot of the medical staff have been taken prisoner by israel will have been killed and some of them have fled. so many of the hospitals are not functional. that means people are dying from survival illnesses, people dying from malnutrition, war wounds, infections that could be patched up. the who says about 8000 people need to leave gaza for urgent treatment. on the other part of gaza, in northern gaza, where the crisis of aid and healthcare is at its most acute according to the who children are at risk of dying from starvation and malnutrition. that is

the point where we have got to. it's pretty clear that the impact of the war and the lack of aid in food and health care getting in means people are dying. israel it must be said says it will allow in as much aid as possible or as much aid as can be delivered to it by international bodies and organisations, but clearly not in the is getting in according to those organisations and according to those organisations and according to those organisations and according to israel because close allies. now to the united states where polls have opened for what's known as super tuesday — voters in more than a dozen states are deciding which candidates they want to represent their party in this year's presidential race. will it be a biden v trump contest come november? the republican primary contest will be in all of these 15 states on the map, while the democrats will vote in the same states except alaska.

they will hold caucuses, too, in american samoa. we'll also get the results of the democratic contest in iowa, which has been ongoing by post for several weeks. as is expected for a sitting president, joe biden faces little opposition on the democratic side and is all but guaranteed the party's nomination. while on the republican side, donald trump is inching ever closer to becoming his party's candidate once again with another predicted win over his only remaining rival, nikki haley. i'm joined now byjennifer kerns, a former spokesperson for the republican party in california and the host of "all—american radio". and joining from new york is ameshia cross a democratic strategist and political analyst, joining from washington.

iam going i am going to start with you, it's basically a done deal forjoe i am going to start with you, it's basically a done dealforjoe biden but what do you think of the challenges or issues given that there were some concerns about his popularity in the state of michigan recently? popularity in the state of michigan recentl ? ~ , ,., , ., popularity in the state of michigan recentl ? ~ , ., recently? absolutely. i would say that what we _ recently? absolutely. i would say that what we are _ recently? absolutely. i would say that what we are watching - recently? absolutely. i would say that what we are watching now i recently? absolutely. i would say that what we are watching now is | that what we are watching now is quite frankly something that is very common among sitting presidents. those presidents are not really challenged when it comes to the primaries. that extends to both parties. outside of thatjoe biden knows these are competitive races, he knows that come november there are battleground states in michigan is one of them. it's seen as a purple state, not red or blue. you have to fight for every single vote. michigan also has the largest proportion of muslim americans and palestinian americans and it also has a large portion of black voters

and younger voters who quite frankly are very upset at what they are seeing in the israeli conflict. hundreds of thousands of people dying in gaza who are innocent civilians. from what we've recently seen from the joe civilians. from what we've recently seen from thejoe biden posturing calling for a ceasefire, calling for more attention paid to the death of civilians and calling for benjamin netanyahu to court —— changes action to reduce civilian casualties, i think they will make a difference in michigan and other places. imore michigan and other places. we're sure that joe _ michigan and other places. we're sure that joe biden _ michigan and other places. we're sure that joe biden as _ michigan and other places. we're sure that joe biden as of - michigan and other places. we're sure that joe biden as of now- michigan and other places. we're sure that joe biden as of now is l sure thatjoe biden as of now is going to be the democratic candidate. it's also overlooking very likely that donald trump will be the republican candidate. the question is at what point will nikki

haley is only remaining contender is going to drop out? i haley is only remaining contender is going to dmp out?— haley is only remaining contender is going to drop out?— going to drop out? i think we will see an ultimate _ going to drop out? i think we will see an ultimate nominee - going to drop out? i think we will i see an ultimate nominee conclusion until about — see an ultimate nominee conclusion until about march 19th, that is what the analysts are saying and that is what _ the analysts are saying and that is what nikki — the analysts are saying and that is what nikki haley is indicating as welt _ what nikki haley is indicating as well. tonight donald trump i think will do _ well. tonight donald trump i think will do well. he's going to sweep the state — will do well. he's going to sweep the state of california which is a winner— the state of california which is a winner take all state. and the last time _ winner take all state. and the last time this— winner take all state. and the last time this happened was when a conservative run california was back in the _ conservative run california was back in the ronald reagan era. i think donald _ in the ronald reagan era. i think donald trump is on track to have a more _ donald trump is on track to have a more of— donald trump is on track to have a more of a — donald trump is on track to have a more of a carter versus reagan era if you _ more of a carter versus reagan era if you took— more of a carter versus reagan era if you look at howjoe biden is campaigning. he doesn't seem like a luy campaigning. he doesn't seem like a guy who's _ campaigning. he doesn't seem like a guy who's out on the campaign trail very much— guy who's out on the campaign trail very much and if he —— she didn't

even _ very much and if he —— she didn't even appear— very much and if he —— she didn't even appear on the new hampshire ballot _ even appear on the new hampshire ballot the — even appear on the new hampshire ballot. the numbers i'm looking at are that _ ballot. the numbers i'm looking at are that donald trump is going to have _ are that donald trump is going to have an _ are that donald trump is going to have an extraordinarily good night tonight— have an extraordinarily good night tonight and the person who should be concerned _ tonight and the person who should be concerned here isjoe biden. if you look concerned here isjoe biden. if you took at _ concerned here isjoe biden. if you took at his— concerned here isjoe biden. if you look at his numbers and turnout in key democratic states they are significantly down from where they were in— significantly down from where they were in 2020. in some states he's only beating donald trump the 10,000 vote margin which is lest anyone by last time _ there are some people who say they would rather not have donald trump orjoe biden as the two likely candidates. what are you hearing from people about who donald trump might pick as his running mate?

senator tim scott of south carolina somebody— senator tim scott of south carolina somebody that donald trump is interested in. if you look at the history— interested in. if you look at the history of— interested in. if you look at the history of south carolina on the 2020 _ history of south carolina on the 2020 election that is the state that propelled joe biden to a victory and it was_ propelled joe biden to a victory and it was specifically the black vote and even — it was specifically the black vote and even more specifically the black female _ and even more specifically the black female vote. the support that came from tim _ female vote. the support that came from tim scott was crucial for donald — from tim scott was crucial for donald trump in the south carolina election— donald trump in the south carolina election to — donald trump in the south carolina election to allow him to beat nikki haley— election to allow him to beat nikki hatey hy— election to allow him to beat nikki haley by about 25 points. that was a state _ haley by about 25 points. that was a state that _ haley by about 25 points. that was a state that she had governed at one point _ state that she had governed at one point i_ state that she had governed at one point. i think he's looking at tim scott. _ point. i think he's looking at tim scott. he — point. i think he's looking at tim scott, he could also be looking at an independent like tulsi gaba and he might— an independent like tulsi gaba and he might also be looking at governor christina _ he might also be looking at governor christina lee. my personal favourite would _ christina lee. my personal favourite would he _ christina lee. my personal favourite would be somebody like governor sarah _ would be somebody like governor sarah huckerby sanders in arkansas. she has— sarah huckerby sanders in arkansas. she has already served as a spokesperson for donald trump, she is a mother, — spokesperson for donald trump, she is a mother, she is a common—sense elected _ is a mother, she is a common—sense

elected official, she is fighting the southern us border crisis which is popping — the southern us border crisis which is popping up in the polls as number one issue _ is popping up in the polls as number one issue for voters. i think you could _ one issue for voters. i think you could pick— one issue for voters. i think you could pick any one of those. we have afresh _ could pick any one of those. we have a fresh full— could pick any one of those. we have a fresh full of people to pick from. sarah _ a fresh full of people to pick from. sarah huckerby sanders might not be a bad debt. from a democratic perspective, who do you think donald trump would pick as his running mate? ~ ., . trump would pick as his running mate? a, . ~' , , mate? more than likely christine noel or tim _ mate? more than likely christine noel or tim scott. _ mate? more than likely christine noel or tim scott. he _ mate? more than likely christine j noel or tim scott. he recognises mate? more than likely christine - noel or tim scott. he recognises the importance of diversity on the ballot, he recognises the importance of turning out or trying to increase turnout beyond his base. he has a problem with general electric voters. it's one thing to win the republican primary but it has to be recognised that trump has

significant issues in a general election. he turns off women voters, in terms of minority voters and black voters. younger voters do not like donald trump. there are several demographics that he would have to reach to be able to win a general election and those individuals, that's one of the reasons why the biden campaign a static because trump is shown in not to be able to win a general election and despite what paul say because polls have always diminished the capacity of joe biden and joe biden has always proved them wrong. we know that in the states in the battleground states we know what's happening on the ground and we know that the biden campaign has been started at... . ~ biden campaign has been started at... ., ,, i. biden campaign has been started at... ., ,, ., ., , at... thank you both for “oining us. it's auoin at... thank you both for “oining us. as going to — at... thank you both for “oining us. we going to be * at... thank you both for “oining us. we going to be e h at... thank you both for “oining us. it's going to be a long _ at... thank you both forjoining us. it's going to be a long few - at... thank you both forjoining us. it's going to be a long few months | it's going to be a long few months until november and who knows what will happen but of course let's get

through super tuesday. we'll have coverage from across the states through today and tomorrow, and if you want to find out more about super tuesday and why it is so important in the race for the white house then head to the bbc news website or app where we have a special guide to the day along with more articles in the run up to the presidential election. china is holding the biggest event in its political calendar — the national people's congress. the country's premier delivered a major address on the economy, where he's announced that import tarrifs on advanced technology will be cut to try and boost growth. but one question which was not addressed was who the authorities in beijing would like to see winning the race for the white house. our china correspondent steve mcdonell went to the great hall of the people to try to find out more. trump or biden?

later this year in the us, they'll choose their new president. what do china's communist party elite think of this? who do they want to win? let's try to find out. it's like pulling teeth.

there is a sense, though, from the delegates hear that they don't want to speak out of turn when it comes to expressing an opinion on us politics. but they are worried about china—us relations, and they want them to improve. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories

making news here in the uk. unions representing senior doctors in england have given their backing to an improved pay offer. the deal includes an extra £3,000 for those a few years into their consultant careers. the proposals will now be put to union members to see if they're willing to accept. consultants have staged four strikes in their pay dispute so far. the family of emma coleman have pressed for a public inquiry in the criminal investigation into the handling of her murder case. he and packer was jailed last week almost two decades after her killing. police scotland have apologised to failings which left mr packer free to rate and assault more than 20 women. a toxic environment in swimming clubs in england has enabled abusive training practices and bullying to exist for years, a review has found. it says extreme competitiveness led to an ongoing and systemic culture of fear at all levels of aquatic sports and was a major threat to its future. the governing body has apologised.

you're live with bbc news. here in the uk, speculation is growing about what measures chancellorjeremy hunt will set out his spring budget tomorrow. councils in england will be told to reduce their spending on consultant and diversity schemes. and the bbc understands the chancellor will extend the freeze to fuel duty again. it's also been widely reported that jeremy hunt is considering a cut to national insurance — contributions paid on earnings, set at a different rate to income tax. our political correspondent helen catt has more details on the budget. it's the politics of this that's going to be so important because this is the last budget we expect this is the last budget we expect this government to set before it calls an election. the next general election has to be held byjanuary next year. this will be the last budget but if they went very late they could be another financial statement. this does mean that the politics behind the decisions made in this budget are going to be

important. we've had a lot of speculation in the last few days and thatis speculation in the last few days and that is normal in the run—up a budget. that field duty—free frees you spoke about, we will never know whether these things are going to happen until the chancellor stands up happen until the chancellor stands up and says it, but no chancellor has raised feel duty since 2011 so that one seems likely. then there is theissue that one seems likely. then there is the issue of personal tax cuts. we know that rishi sunak and jeremy hunt have been indicating for some time they want to cut personal taxes, they made that cut to national insurance back in the autumn statement. the government does not denying this afternoon reports the times newspaper that another 2p will be taken off national insurance tomorrow. that is a cost of around £10 billion. they had been suggestions that perhaps he could have cut income tax but that is a more expensive option for the

government and that's because national insurance is only paid by working people whereas income taxes also paid for by some pensioners. so these are the sorts of things that have been swirling. it is against the backdrop of an economy that has not been growing, it's been stagnant for some time and went into recession in the last quarter of last year. what we are also getting is a lot of speculation about what jeremy hunt might do to try and raise some money to pay for these. the things that are being suggested are that he might increase the air passenger duty on business class flights, that he might cut some of the tax breaks who have second homes and let the matter as holiday lets enjoy and most interestingly from a political point of view the idea that he might pinch some of the idea is that labour has been putting forward is the way they would fund some of the potential spending plans like for example reforming the non—dom status for people who live in the uk but have their official home elsewhere and don't pay tax on

theirforeign earnings. and also extending the levy on the profits of oil and gas companies. those are two things labour had said they would do to pay for some of the plans. that will appeal tojeremy hunt as well if you were to go down that route because it would also either push labour into saying it would have to reverse the tax cuts that he used the money to spend or to find some of the way of spending or funding the plans. the french president, emmanuel macron, is in the czech republic for a visit likely to be dominated by the war in ukraine. france has backed a czech initiative to buy up hundreds of thousands of artillery shells from outside the european union to support kyiv�*s war effort. let's go to ukraine now — where kyiv says it has destroyed an advanced russian patrol ship in the black sea, killing at least seven people. russian officials have yet to comment. ukraine has claimed several successful attacks on the russian fleet in recent months.

we asked bbc verify�*s nick eardley to check this latest claim. the war in ukraine has been going on for two years now but in the last two months they have been a lot of important activity here in the black sea. have a look at this. these three dots that are popping up show ukrainian attacks on russian ships since the start of february. according to ukraine all three of the ships sank. that's a pretty significant attack on russia's navy. let's focus on the one that happened overnight. reportedly down here. have a look at this video, this was released by ukraine and we are told that shows the drone attack on a ship. we have this video at the top as well which was posted by russian bloggers. you can see the similarities in the explosion. that makes us confident that both of these videos are from the same incident. i want to show you a bit about what we've done to verify whether this is the ship in

question. have a look here. this is from last night, this is a stark picture of the ship. if you look at the characteristics here, here and here, they are pretty similar. the boats have the same structure. on this one we can see a name or number so we can't be completely certain that it so we can't be completely certain thatitis so we can't be completely certain that it is this ship but as you can see they look very similar. we are confident this is at least the same type of ship. there are different claims at the moment about the impact this attack overnight had. ukraine claims they have been casualties and some well—connected russian bloggers have said on social media that everyone on board was evacuated. moscow officially hasn't said anything which is pretty normal for these situations. but let's go back to this map of recent attacks

since the start of february in the black sea. there are always claims and counter claims in war. but there is growing evidence that ukrainian attacks on the black sea having an impact. attacks on the black sea having an im act. �* , attacks on the black sea having an im-act. v . ~' ,, attacks on the black sea having an im-act. �*, ., ., impact. let's take you back to our main story. _ impact. let's take you back to our main story. the — impact. let's take you back to our main story, the scene _ impact. let's take you back to our main story, the scene live - impact. let's take you back to our main story, the scene live in - main story, the scene live in california, they let cameras into the polling booth in america and this is super tuesday, voting has begunin this is super tuesday, voting has begun in more than a dozen states. americans are deciding which candidate they want to represent the parties in this year's presidential race. republicans will be deciding who the candidate should be, it's who the candidate should be, its expected to be donald trump who has been winning so far in all those many contests to pick a candidate. and of course it's highly expected

to be joe and of course it's highly expected to bejoe biden who is the sitting president of course for the democrats. so will it be biden versus trump contest come november? highly likely but let's see what happens today. i will be back after a short break so do stay whether she on bbc news. good evening. it has been a day of mixed fortunes for some after a frosty start we had some lovely spells of sunshine. look at this beautiful picture of lancashire a few hours ago. but there was quite a lot of cloud for others in the cloud thickener for some drizzle. it's quite called for the dog walk today in dorset. despite the drizzle you still needed that umbrella because it is wet you through from time to time. this was the story earlier on, you can see whether cloud was across western scotland and through east

anglia and along the south coast. the weather front that brought the cloud is sitting along sim east coast will continue to feed and quite a lot of cloud through the night. more of a breeze share and the cloud will prevent temperatures from falling too far. where we have got some clear skies we could see a touch of frost and some patchy fog. that's likely to be across east wales and the midlands. a little more cloud towards the south—west and a few scattered showers as we go through the day. the frost will lift and they will be some sunshine coming through. a better morning for northern ireland. cloud in scotland and north—east eglin. a few isolated showers in lincolnshire down to the south—east. temperatures in the sun around 11 or 12 degrees. not much change in the weather pattern as we go through friday. we still have this south—easterly flow dragging in cloud from time to time of the north

sea and a bit more of a strengthening breeze here so sheltered western areas seeing the best of the sunshine and potentially the cloud may be thick enough to produce the isolated shower. we are still looking at temperatures widely into the double digits and maybe if you keep that cloud across the north—east coast it will stay at around eight stronger breeze on friday before an area of low pressure could bring some showery outbreaks of rain into the south—west for the start of the weekend. it looks like this after a dry spell we could see some wet and windy weather into the far south—west.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the family of emma caldwell meets with scotland's first minister, calling for an investigation into the handling of her murder. a new report warns of "systemic gender inequality" in women's sports and exercise research. and i'll be speaking to bangladeshi nobel laureate professor muhammad yunus in his first interview since he was sentenced for violating labour laws. time for a look at the business news now. we start with bitcoin,

because the value of the cryptocurrency has hit an all—time high. a single coin has achieved $69,202 in trading today, breaking its previous record of exactly one cent short of $69,000 which was set in november 2021. since then bitcoin went on a rollercoaster and the world of cryptocurrencies has been embroiled in controversy over failed trading platforms. michelle fleury is our north america business correspondent. what's driven this surge? after 18 months in which we've seen bankruptcies, court cases that have really led people to question the foundations of this ecosystem, suddenly here we are talking