partner bernie taupin receive the prestigious gershwin prize for popular song. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. america's top diplomat, the us secretary of state, antony blinken has just arrived in the egyptian capital, cairo, where he'll meet senior ministers from six arab states and the palestinian authority, as the us pushes for a pause in the fighting in gaza. these are pictures of mr blinken arriving in cairo a short while ago. he's pushing for more desperately needed aid to enter gaza. it's mr blinken�*s sixth trip to the region since the war began and comes after a un—backed food security assessment warned that a man—made famine in gaza is imminent.

let's go live tojerusalem and our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. this knell. is mr blank and's six the trip to this is mr blank and's six the trip to the region. is he having much success —— mr blinken. we to the region. is he having much success -- mr blinken.— to the region. is he having much success -- mr blinken. we will have to unaue success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that _ success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that at _ success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that at the _ success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that at the end _ success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that at the end he - success -- mr blinken. we will have to gauge that at the end he is - to gauge that at the end he is planning to talk to these arab leaders about, he says he wants an immediate increase in humanitarian aid going into gaza, he's going to talk to them about the ongoing ceasefire talks, we have the egyptians and the qataris among those present, they have both been serving as mediators in the indirect talks between israel and hamas, and there is also a continued mention of there is also a continued mention of the need to come up with a post for gaza that we are hearing from the americans on this trip, what they are referring to as the post—war architecture, an architecture for lasting peace in the region. they say that they want to prevent hamas from coming back into powerfrom

being able to carry out the kinds of attacks that triggered the war back on the 7th of october. also, they want to look at, it seems, the palestinian authority which was ousted from gaza by hamas some 17 years ago now. a revitalised palestinian authority. they will be a senior palestinian official among those present. the different arab countries, he is looking for the roles they can play in future for help with governance in gaza and reconstruction. this is a longer term part of the plan which the arab states are very keen to push as well. ., , states are very keen to push as well. . , . ,., states are very keen to push as well. . , ., ,., ., ., well. he has also added an unexpected _ well. he has also added an unexpected stop _ well. he has also added an unexpected stop in - well. he has also added an unexpected stop in israel. | well. he has also added an. unexpected stop in israel. it well. he has also added an - unexpected stop in israel. it comes as some senior us military officials and diplomats, former officials are calling for the us government to take a tougher line on israel. do we sense america's approach to israel is changing? you

sense america's approach to israel is changing?— sense america's approach to israel ischanuuin? ., , ., , , is changing? you can see how this is -la in: is changing? you can see how this is playing into — is changing? you can see how this is playing into domestic _ is changing? you can see how this is playing into domestic politics - is changing? you can see how this is playing into domestic politics with i playing into domestic politics with this being such a sensitive year with the presidential election campaign, with mr biden, and how this is hurting his campaign and a change in tune we have heard from the americans. they said they want to come here talking about some of the usual things, of course the ceasefire and hostage release deal they so desperately want, they want to talk about israeli plans to go into rafah because washington has said they believe this would be a mistake with so many displaced people, more thani million of mistake with so many displaced people, more than i million of them now based down there right in the very south of the gaza strip, but is well insisting it needs to go in there to tackle the remaining hamas battalions. they will talk about aid with your israelis. we have heard from the us secretary of state is the us will be pushing, or put into the us will be pushing, or put into the un security council a new proposal calling for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in return for the release of hostages and a big increase in aid going in to

gaza. this is different from what we have seen from the americans before when they have repeat calls for some kind of a ceasefire in the un security council resolutions and mr blank and has indicated to the media they hope there will be support for they hope there will be support for the resolution that will now be put forward. figs the resolution that will now be put forward. �* , ,, the resolution that will now be put forward. ~ , i. ., forward. as you mentioned, diplomatic— forward. as you mentioned, diplomatic pressure - forward. as you mentioned, i diplomatic pressure increases forward. as you mentioned, - diplomatic pressure increases on the israeli government, but it says it will continue with its plans to stage a ground offensive in the rafah. what we know about the situation in rafah where more than half of gaza's population is sheltering at the moment? the situation there _ sheltering at the moment? the situation there is _ sheltering at the moment? tue: situation there is desperate. sheltering at the moment? tte: situation there is desperate. we know that of course in the north and that's where we have been told by the un that famine is imminent. in the un that famine is imminent. in the south of the gaza strip, round rafah you have very overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, still a lot of difficulty getting aid in despite the fact you have people there closest to the land border crossings

where aid is coming from rafah through the israeli kerem shalom crossing. but there is also concern from the americans about what any operation against hamas in the south of the gaza strip would mean in terms of age distribution as well as what it would mean for that huge number of people who are displaced there. israel's fighting goes on. we have how it is continuing with its offensive to the north of khan younis which is in the south of the gaza strip as well. also they are fighting, they say, the centre of the gaza strip command operations are still going on in gaza city in the al—shifa hospital, the biggest hospital in gaza, where the israeli military has returned just since the start of this week. it is now saying that they have killed what they call 50 terrorists in the comedy killed around 140 altogether since they began their operation there, and we are hearing some unconfirmed reports

of a building having been demolished there. we are trying to verify those at the moment.— at the moment. yolande knell, in jerusalem. _ at the moment. yolande knell, in jerusalem, thank _ at the moment. yolande knell, in jerusalem, thank you. _ could working in extreme heat increase women's risk of miscarriage and stillbirth? as our planet heats up, research shared with the bbc suggests working in extreme heat during pregnancy doubled the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage in india. india is one of the countries most exposed and vulnerable to heat. let's put that into context. over the past five decades, india has experienced more than 700 heatwave events. which have killed at least 17,000 people. climate experts say that india's extreme heat events could �*cross the survivability limit�* by 2050. researchers are now working with scientists in the uk to better understand how extreme heat could have an impact on advice for pregnant women globally. our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has been to the state of tamil nadu to meet some of the women who took

part in the study. summer is coming. and india is predicted to become one of the first countries where temperatures will top the safe limit for healthy people who arejust sitting in the shade. it's workers like these who will be, and already are, most affected by the heat. these workers start early in the morning to avoid the worst of the hot sun, it's around 28 degrees at the moment and very humid. i have been sweating all morning. this is just one of three jobs sandia has to help feed her two children. there was also a third child who she lost six months into her pregnancy. translation: i would work the whole day in the heat. l my legs would swell. i felt thirsty all the time and out of breath.

one day i was cutting the crops, i suddenly felt intense pain and i started bleeding. i went to see the doctor, and he told me my baby had died. most of us women who have miscarriages never find out why their babies died. do you think that working in the heat could have had anything to do with it? translation: i think so. i think standing in the heat for hours could have had an impact. sandia is one of hundreds of pregnant women who took part in a study about the impact of heat stress at work on pregnancy. 800 pregnant women took part and researchers found that those who worked in extreme heat faced double the risk of stillbirth, preterm birth, miscarriage and low birth weight. the study took into account the heavy workload but they still found that heat was a key risk factor. throughout their five—year study,

the researchers set up this temperature gauge in women's workplaces. translation: it measures the various ways that heat affects our bodies. there is a long way to go in order to find the exact biological mechanism behind this. that may help to improve the reproductive health of the women globally. ina in a nearby field she harvests cucumbers. in a nearby field she harvests cucumbers-— in a nearby field she harvests cucumbers. ,, �* , , ., , cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works _ cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works and _ cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works and she _ cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works and she was - cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works and she was 12. - cucumbers. she's been doing this sort of works and she was 12. she also lost her baby while taking part in the study. translation: t was also lost her baby while taking part in the study. translation: i was so tired. ifelt in the study. translation: i was so tired. i felt very _ in the study. translation: i was so tired. i felt very unwell— in the study. translation: i was so tired. i felt very unwell so _ in the study. translation: i was so tired. i felt very unwell so i - in the study. translation: i was so tired. i felt very unwell so i went - tired. i felt very unwell so i went to the doctor who told me i would have a miscarriage. ijust lost it. i could not tolerate the fact that my baby was gone. tt’s i could not tolerate the fact that my baby was gone. it's impossible to know why she — my baby was gone. it's impossible to

know why she lost _ my baby was gone. it's impossible to know why she lost her _ my baby was gone. it's impossible to know why she lost her baby. - my baby was gone. it's impossible to know why she lost her baby. we - know why she lost her baby. we research is getting under way in the uk and india to better understand the physiology. she did get pregnant again within a couple of years, and having got advice on how to look after herself from the researchers and doctors, she went on to have two healthy children. much of the power to protect these low—paid workers are rests with the bosses of these types of workplaces. thank you for inviting us here. the owner of this brick kiln says he is adopting to frequent hotter days by providing additional shade for his workers. before this was all open? open, open. the sun would be on the workers? making these and other changes, he says, is also making him more money. translation: women no longer have to toil under the sun. _ this kind of work can be difficult for them. they used to have mroe health problems. since we started using

the machinery and got these sheds, they do not suffer as much. this kind of work, mainly undertaken by women, is only going to get harder as the planet heats up. scientists investigating the impact on the most vulnerable warn that the world must adapt now. tulip mazumdar, bbc news, southern india. you can watch the full documentary on the bbc iplayer, search for indian mothers: bearing the heat. this weekend there will be a special documentary on the same report here on bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now. the centre—right leader in portugal, luis montenegro, has been appointed prime minister at the head of a minority government. mr montenegro's democratic alliance won the most votes in the general election two weeks ago, but failed to gain a working majority.

a court in brazil has ruled that the former international footballer, robinho, must serve his prison sentence there for a conviction handed down to him in italy. robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison for the gang robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison. the uk and australia have signed a new defence agreement — which will make it easier for their defence forces to operate together in each other�*s countries. the new deal also includes a commitment to share military intelligence, work together in areas such as undersea warfare — and develop a joint climate action plan. the vietnamese president vo van tuong has resigned, after only one year in office. after a meeting of the ruling communist party, the government issued a statement saying he had broken party rules and had negatively affected public opinion, and the reputation of the political group. he is believed to have resigned

over his links to a corruption scandal in his home province. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're a live with bbc news. to haiti now. the head of the united nations children's agency, unicef, says it is unable to get enough aid into haiti and that "many, many people" are suffering from serious hunger and malnutrition. this comes as gangs still control more than 80% of the capital port—au—prince and the country lacks a functioning government. our central america and caribbean correspondent will grant reports. to describe some of the living conditions in port—au—prince as "precarious" is an understatement. but sarah molin�*s are particularly tough. this 20—year—old student and her family had to flee their home because of gang violence and now live in a temporary camp inside an abandoned theatre.

on some days, she says, they do not eat at all. "i go to school with no food, spending the day food, spend the day hungry and then go to bed with nothing in my stomach," she says. now she sees no choice but to abandon her studies. the daily struggle to find enough food in haiti is nothing new. the difference now is the scale of the emergency in food insecurity. potentially millions of people are in danger of falling into malnutrition and already do not know when or where the next meal is coming from. there are some success stories. this child was deemed malnourished a few weeks ago dangerously but a local ngo second mile was able to hospitalise him and he is thankfully putting on weight. over the years, their residential malnutrition centre has pulled hundreds of children back from the brink. mothers typically spend four weeks at the centre receiving

urgent care for their malnourished children and instruction on providing high nutrition on a limited budget. the ngo says it's had huge success with just 1% of children being readmitted after they leave. with aid still barely making it into haiti, this work is crucial but the ngo fears mistakes of the 2010 earthquake disaster response could be repeated in this crisis. a lot of these larger ngos fly and in fly out and they are handed all of the supplies and all of this aid and suddenly all of these funds to now hire all of these people. you are actually hiring from all of these local ngos when you could just help pay their staff members and help and give them the aid to distribute. tilling the land in haiti is a dry, thankless work.

climate change has meant crops of maize and beans often yield a poor harvest or fail altogether. as haiti unravels, it is clear malnutrition is no longer a temporary passing crisis here and aid alone will not solve it. rather it is becoming the norm and are parts of the country's dire new reality. will grant, bbc news, haiti. the uk government has suffered fresh defeats over its contentious plan to deport some asylum seekers to rwanda. the house of lords proposed changes including a need to give due regard to international law. the legislation is intended to stop court challenges to efforts to send some asylum seekers to rwanda, by declaring the east african country to be safe. deportation flights were stopped by a supreme court ruling last year, which said the system could lead to human rights breaches. joining me now is our correspondent barbara plett usher in kigali. but first let's speak to our chief political correspondent

henry zeffman at westminster. what's the response of the rwandan government? where do we stand with this legislation? tt where do we stand with this legislation?— where do we stand with this legislation? it is stuck in the parliamentary _ legislation? it is stuck in the parliamentary process. - legislation? it is stuck in the parliamentary process. we l legislation? it is stuck in the i parliamentary process. we had yesterday the second time that the house of lords, the upper chamber, took a look at this legislation and for the second time in a row they said to the house of commons that they wanted to make various changes to it. so now it gets sent back to the house of commons, the elected chamber, they will look at it again, although not until after easter, so midway through april. i expect the government to insist again on removing all of those changes, almost all of those changes made by the house of lords. i think this bill is still going to pass almost in entirely unamended form, in almost the exact form the government wants by the end of april and then the question becomes about practicalities. can the government do what it was not able to do before

which is get one of those flights off to rwanda with asylum seekers on it? and then, if so, does it act as the deterrent that the government hopes it will be for those crossing the english channel in small boats, or does it in fact, as the labour party argues, turn out to be a gimmick which has no practical effect at all?— effect at all? how close is the government _ effect at all? how close is the government to _ effect at all? how close is the government to achieving - effect at all? how close is the government to achieving its i effect at all? how close is the i government to achieving its goal effect at all? how close is the - government to achieving its goal of sending some asylum seekers who are under? t sending some asylum seekers who are under? ~ , , .,, ., under? i think most people now exect under? i think most people now exoect most _ under? i think most people now expect most people _ under? i think most people now expect most people in - under? i think most people now- expect most people in westminster, expect most people in westminster, expect that will happen at some point the question is, how effective it will end up being because ultimately the goal from government, the goal of the by the way, worth remembering, is the first 2022. the goal of the policy is not to send some asylum seekers to rwanda for the sake of it. the goal is to act as a deterrent for people arriving to the uk illegally. and whether it

will serve as sufficient deterrent to achieve that i think is a much more contested question than the question of whether actually a plane will end up taking off to rwanda. most people assume that will happen injune most people assume that will happen in june but whether that acts as a deterrent i injune but whether that acts as a deterrent i think is in june but whether that acts as a deterrent i think is untested. there is a secondary question quickly which is also political. for lots of conservative mps, and remember this is an election year in the uk, for lots of conservative mps, they believe that getting a few flights off to rwanda will really reverse the political predicament that the conservative party in where opinion showed they are way behind the labour party. again, we may well find out injune whether that's right or not. find out in june whether that's right or not-— find out in june whether that's riaht or not. ., ,, , . right or not. thank you very much, hen . right or not. thank you very much, henry- we — right or not. thank you very much, henry- we can _ right or not. thank you very much, henry. we can turn _ right or not. thank you very much, henry. we can turn to _ right or not. thank you very much, henry. we can turn to our - right or not. thank you very much, henry. we can turn to our africa i henry. we can turn to our africa correspondent upper plett usher who is in kigali. what is the view there and what is the response to all the politics happening in the uk? —— barbara plett usher.

politics happening in the uk? -- barbara plett usher.— politics happening in the uk? -- barbara plett usher. speaking to --eole in barbara plett usher. speaking to people in the _ barbara plett usher. speaking to people in the rwandan _ barbara plett usher. speaking to i people in the rwandan government here this week you get the sense they are quite happy and prepared to accept asylum seekers when they should arrive. but also happy to let the process play out in the uk. and so i think there is a really a sense of watching and waiting here. in the meantime they are taking their own steps to address some of the concerns raised by the uk supreme court which, as you know, was that it found rwanda was not a safe country for refugees. one of the reasons for that, it said, was there was a substantial risk that the asylum seekers could be deported back to their countries of origin. rwanda had already promised that that would not happen in a treaty signed with britain. but it is now revamping its asylum law. there is a new asylum bill here as well in kigali and the parliament is going to be voting on that fairly soon, we are told. more broadly, the rwandan government has always objected to this view that it is not a safe country for refugees. it consistently says that it's one of

the safest countries in the world. if you look at crime indices, it is the safest country in africa when it comes to crime. but the more broad criticism which has been going on for years is that the government strongly represses descent. that was what we heard again from an opposition figure here that we interviewed. and even the uk expressed concern in 2021 about restrictions on civil and political rights and on media freedoms. something the rwandan government denies and something that this british government, it seems, would go ahead with its and so, barbara, this plan is expected to go ahead. it is rwanda ready to receive migrants from the uk? tt is it is rwanda ready to receive migrants from the uk? it is very read . migrants from the uk? it is very ready- their _ migrants from the uk? it is very ready. they have _ migrants from the uk? it is very ready. they have been - migrants from the uk? it is very ready. they have been ready - migrants from the uk? it is very ready. they have been ready forj ready. they have been ready for almost two years now. we have just visited the hope hostel, the place where the migrants would be taken. like many otherjournalists before us. it is pristine, it is neat, it is well supplied, it is actually

staffed but it is empty. and so the person was showing me around the said if we knew today people were coming we would be ready today to receive them. so they make a point of saying they are super prepared. the will be given to the refugees is they will get full board, accommodation, health care and support for at least the first five years. of course the british government is paying for this. it has already spent £240 million, around $300 million on this project, so they are ready. some of the other criticism that had been mentioned locally is rwanda is a developing country. it should be focusing on helping its own people with their problems rather than refugees. but again, the government says it has much experience with giving refugees, helping refugees, and it wants to help. refugees, helping refugees, and it wants to help-— refugees, helping refugees, and it wants to hel. ., ~ , . wants to help. thank you very much, our africa correspondent _ wants to help. thank you very much, our africa correspondent barbara - our africa correspondent barbara plett usher. before that we were speaking to our chief of the respondent henry zeffman in westminster. the bank of england is expected

to hold interest rates at 5.25% for the fifth time in a row — the highest they've been for 15 years. it's also expected to be cautious about signalling when future rate cuts will be, despite lower—than—expected february inflation figures. in ukraine, 13 people are reported to have been injured in kyiv as the city was under a missile attack on thursday. according to its mayor vitali klitschko, air defence units were engaged in repelling the attack, purpotedly coming from russia. he said missile debris fell in different parts of the city. you're watching bbc news. that's the update from kyiv. this is the story that there has been fresh missile attacks over the city. and a reminder of our headlines here on

the bbc, which is that the us secretary of state antony blinken has just arrived in the egyptian capital cairo where he will meet with senior ministers from six arab states. that is a story that we will be following closely here on the bbc and are bringing you more updates on that throughout the day. stay with us on bbc news. hello again. we had the warmest day of the year so far yesterday. in england, temperature reached 18.8 celsius in charnwood in surrey. now, today, it still is going to be mild in the south, but wet and windy conditions are already with us and have been with us all morning across parts of the north and they're being provided by a cold front.

and if you have a look at the spacing of these isobars, particularly across scotland and northern ireland, it tells you it's going to be a windy day, especially so across the far north. now, ahead of this band of rain, which is sweeping slowly southwards, we're looking at a fair bit of cloud around, but already we're seeing some sunny spells develop. and depending on the length of sunshine that we see, we could well hit 16 or 17 degrees somewhere in the south. but widely, we're looking at the low teens through this evening and overnight a cold front sinks further south with its cloud and rain still brisk winds across scotland and northern ireland under clearer skies. it's going to be colder and we will also see some showers, some of those wintry on higher ground, but still mild in the south itself. tomorrow we start with cloud and rain across southern areas of england. it will be slow to clear a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, but there will be showers coming in. and again, we're looking at gales, especially so across the far north and especially the northern and western isles. some of those showers will be wintry on higher ground and temperatures 9 to about 12 degrees. then as we head into the weekend, it turns colder and windier, it will be quite a noticeable wind chill, but there'll also be some sunshine and showers.

this is our cold front pulling away, taking the milder air represented by the yellows with it. and then we are all in the colder air represented by the blues with some weather fronts crossing us, enhancing the showers. so on saturday will start off with some dry weather, but there'll be a packet of showers coming in. some of those, again, wintry on higher ground, some snow on higher ground, some sleet, maybe even some hail and some thunder and lightning as well. and with the strength of the wind and the direction of the wind, it will feel colder than these temperatures suggest as we head into sunday, brisk winds, especially down the north sea coastline. we will start with some showers, but a ridge of high pressure builds in from the west, settling things down for a time before low pressure comes in later. and these are our temperatures, 7 to 12.

this is bbc news, the headlines... america's top diplomat arrives in cairo, where he will meet arab foreign ministers to discuss a post—war plan for gaza. new research from india shows that working in extreme heat can double the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth for pregnant women. millions are suffering from hunger and malnutrition in haiti, as the un warns it is unable to get enough aid into the country.

# you can tell everybody. # this is your song.# and, eltonjohn and his long time writing partner bernie taupin receive the prestigious gershwin prize for popular song. millions of women here in the uk, born in the 19505, who were affected by the government's decision to raise their state pension age in line with men's, will find out today whether they could be entitled to compensation. the campaign group women against state pension inequality — also known as waspi — says the change plunged tens of thousands of them into poverty. our reporter azadeh moshiri has more. # heigh—ho, heigh—ho. ..# could this be the day they have been fighting for? waspi have been demanding compensation for years after their

retirement plans collapsed.