the syrian government blames israel for daily air strikes near the city of aleppo, which killed 42 people. rishi sunak faces criticism after giving a knighthood to wannabe party's giving a knighthood to wannabe pa rty�*s largest giving a knighthood to wannabe party's largest owners. new evidence emerges in the it systems scandal with the post office. and beyonce is back with her first ever country album. hello. welcome to the programme. we start this hour in the middle east. syria has blamed israel for airstrikes on the northern city of aleppo which have killed at least 42 people and wounded many others. they include syrian soldiers and some fighters from the lebanese group hezbollah. in gaza, israel has said it s looking at ways to increase humanitarian aid

being sent to the gaza strip and has denied that it places any limits on the amount getting in. on thursday the un's top court ordered israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies reached the palestinian population. i spoke to our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, about the latest developments. well, we're hearing from the syrians very clearly that they blame israel for the strikes. but when i spoke to the israeli military a short time ago, asked them for any comment, they said that they don't comment on reports in the foreign media. that can be quite a stock reaction when it comes to cases in syria of this kind. so, it's areas in the countryside around aleppo that were hit, we understand. the uk—based syrian observatory for human rights is saying that these were near to rocket depots belonging to hezbollah, the powerful lebanese armed group that does have sites inside syria.

and we're hearing from the syrian observatory for human rights and from other sources that there were hezbollah members among those killed. the syrian state media had initially come out saying that it was syrian military personnel and also civilians that were killed in these strikes overnight. really a large number of people killed, when we compare to similar sorts of action that we have heard reports of in recent months and years. if we could move to the un court, it ordered israel to enable the unhindered flow of aid into gaza yesterday. has there been any reaction to that from israel? there has. i mean, israel has been given a month by the court to give details of how it's complying with this new provisional order. but we had the israeli foreign ministry spokesman coming out, giving an initial response. he said that israel wishes no harm to the civilian population in gaza and that it's already taking steps to ensure the continuous flow of aid

going into the gaza strip, working with the un and other humanitarian partners to bring in aid by air, sea and land. he accused hamas of trying to commandeer and steal aid, and also said that really hamas was the party that was responsible for the situation in gaza and had started the war. i mean, it's quite specific, some of the detail in this new provisional measures — that it's food, water, fuel, shelter, medicines, hygiene and sanitation kits that should be allowed into gaza. there's a demand for israel to open up more land border crossings and to open them up for longer hours as well. and all the time, the aid agencies are saying they're not managing to get enough aid in, particularly into northern gaza. that's correct. and it's in northern gaza,

of course, that the un has now been consistently warning of a man—made famine breaking out. and the icj does say that the catastrophic living conditions have deteriorated further since its earlier provisional measures were announced. and it said that people are no longer facing the risk of famine, but that famine is now setting in. and if we could also look... today, we've seen pictures of people going in for friday prayers in the al—aqsa mosque. of course, it also comes as we have easter celebrations amongst the christian population. that's correct. and quite soon now there will be the processions by the christians along the via dolorosa, through the old city, the stations of the cross, remembering the events — the biblical events — around the crucifixion ofjesus. and at the same time, you have palestinian muslims going into the old city for friday prayers. of course, friday prayers during ramadan, the islamic holy month, it's a special time.

but this is also a tense time, and what we've seen in terms of numbers of palestinians, particularly from the occupied west bank, being able to go along to those processions, to those prayers as they normally would, they have been very much limited by the ongoing situation, by restrictions that are put in place. yolande knell they're yolande knell they�* re reporting yolande knell they're reporting from jerusalem. one of the conservative party's largest donors has been awarded a knighthood after being recommended by rishi sunak. labour said the decision to give an honour to the billionaire, mohammed mansour, showed the prime minister didn't expect to be in office for much longer. earlier, i spoke to westiminster correspondent shelley phelps about the unusual timings of these honours. the timing is a bit surprising, because we typically get honours lists at new year and then on the king's birthday, which is injune. birthday, which is injune you also get dissolution honours. and there has been a lot of comment about the timing

because it's in recess, so mps are not at westminster. it has raised a few eyebrows. this has come out on a friday, on the easter bank holiday weekend. you know, critics kind of saying, "well, is it likely to get a bit less coverage?" and of course, will fewer people notice it because they are enjoying their easter weekend and eating their chocolates? the controversy particularly after mr sunak awarded one of the conservatives�* largest donors with that knighthood? yeah, that's right. so most of the attention in terms of the names on this list has focused on mohamed mansour. as you said, he's a conservative party donor and businessman. last year, he donated £5 million to the party, he's a senior treasurer at the conservative party. and you've mentioned just a moment ago, there has been criticism from labour about this. but number 10 sources are pointing to what they say is his extensive experience in terms of charity work and public work. there are also four conservative mps on the list, so, they include tracey crouch, who's standing down at the next election, but she's a former sports minister.

she's known for having done a lot of work into football governance. there's also philip davies. now, his wife, esther mcvey, is a cabinet minister. he's a gb news presenter. but it wasn't all politicians on the list. there are some interesting names from the tech and creative industries. christopher nolan and his wife, emma thomas, who are known for their work on oppenheimer. mr nolan, he got an oscarfor this. they were also given gongs in this list. and shelley, it has, of course, opened up more general election speculation — the fact that we have got this honours list now. some suggesting could that mean a summer election? yeah, you're right, there has been a bit of speculation around that. in the labour criticism, anneliese dodds, what she said is, she said this is the actions of someone who knew they were on their way out, so feeding a little bit into that speculation. interestingly, though, michael gove, the communities secretary, he wasjust on a podcast yesterday, he was saying that he doesn't think that the election will be until november, although he did say he didn't have any insider knowledge.

and of course, there is inevitably so much rumour and speculation about when that general election is going to be. we know the latest it's going to be is byjanuary 2025. but as our political correspondent, sheuey but as our political correspondent, shelley phelps. the police service of northern ireland has said a 61—year—old man has been charged in relation to sexual offences. a 57—year—old woman has also been charged for aiding and abetting additional offences. both are due to appear before newry magistrates' court on the 24th april. police say the offences are non—recent and that all charges will be reviewed by the public prosecution service. next, a development in what's been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages ofjustice in british history. sub—postmasters who ran local post offices were prosecuted for theft, even though a computer system was known to be faulty.

now secret papers have revealed the post office knew that the computer system could be tampered with — but still fought sub—postmasters in court. aruna iyengar has more. it's the latest twist in the ongoing post office drama. between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters hundreds of sub—postmasters and sub—postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted because of faults with horizon, an it system created by fujitsu and used for tallying up the books. the postmasters took their cases to court in 2019, and won. they became known as the 555 group. but now, this secret 2017 draft report uncovered by the bbc shows the post office spent £100 million fighting sub—masters in court when it knew its defence was untrue. commissioned by the post office, the bramble report by deloitte said, "fujitsu employees had the ability "to amend or delete transactions entered by branch staff. "the system wouldn't flag up to a postmaster if a change had "been made, and those changes could cause a shortfall

"in branch accounts." it also said a malicious actor could potentially change data, though there's no evidence this happened. labour mp kevanjones sits on the horizon compensation advisory board. he's called on the police to investigate. if they knew about this — and they clearly did because if you read the report, it said they used part of it selectively in their case against the 555. .. if they knew about it, surely they've put themselves in a very difficult position in terms of their legal obligation to release all information to the court. the post office has said it's deeply sorry for the impact the scandal has had on people, and has told the bbc the public inquiry�*s next phase would look at the issues raised. fujitsu said the group regards the matter with the utmost seriousness and offers its deepest apologies to the sub—postmasters and their families.

janet skinner, a former sub—postmistress from hull, lost herjob and was sent to prison in 2007 based on information from the horizon system. they could've prevented that court case — you know, the 555 that went to that court case. they could've prevented that and they could've saved a lot of time, money and tears. for many, delivery ofjustice is taking far too long. aruna iyengar, bbc news. to south africa next. emergency workers have been working through the night to recover the remains of 45 people who were killed in a bus crash. the bus was travelling from botswana to the limpopo province. the department for transport says the vehicle plunged off a bridge into a ravine after colliding with the crash barrier, and burst into flames when it hit the ground. an eight—year—old child was the sole survivor and has been taken to hospital with serious injuries. our correspondent, shingai nyoka, is in harare and gave me an update. well, what we know,

as you said, is that those emergency workers are at the scene. so far, they have retrieved about a dozen bodies. nine of those have since been identified. but the transport minister was talking to south african media earlier on and said that the process ofjust recovering those people has been hampered by accessibility to the site. the bus crashed into a ravine, which was about 50 metres below the bridge itself. what they are saying is that the driver lost control of that vehicle, but that it was an alternative route and so it wasn't a busy road. there was no oncoming traffic or vehicle. and this happened at about 11am on thursday morning. and so, the suggestion that they are looking at is that perhaps this was a driver error, but those investigations are still going on. when you look at the pictures, it is amazing that that eight—year—old survived. do we know any more

about their condition? well, she is in... she has serious injuries, we understand, but is in a stable condition at a nearby hospital. and the story we're hearing, why she survived and why everybody else perished, is that she was thrown out of the vehicle as it tipped over into that ravine. the process of identifying the people that have died is still going on, but i think it's complicated by the fact that many of them were not from south africa, they were travelling from botswana. and so, there is diplomatic negotiations and discussions that are happening, to take place. the south african government, however, has said that it will help in the repatriation of those bodies. shingai nyoka reporting. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

relatives of the wall streetjournal reporter, evan gershkovich, are marking the anniversary of his detention in russia. mr gershkovich is the first american to be charged with spying by the russian authorities since the end of the cold war. the us government and the wall streetjournal have dismissed the charge — they say he is being used as a bargaining chip by moscow. my colleague, sumi somaskanda, has been speaking to evan's co—worker at the wall street journal, paul beckett, and his sister danielle. she asked danielle how evan was doing. it's really hard for him, but we're so proud of him. he's very resilient and he is working really hard to stay strong. he worries about us. we try to make sure that he knows that we're doing well. and he even recently sent women in his life some bouquets for international women's day — march 8th — which was really nice.

paul, i want to ask you, his detention was extended for a fifth time this week. what can you tell us about that? it's a pattern we've seen since the start of this. every two or three months, the russians produce him in court and ask for more time to investigate. we haven't seen any evidence through that whole process. now it's been extended for another three months, which means we don't know when there will be a trial. so really it's pretty foggy when you look forward and that just increases the urgency of bringing him home and increases the urgency of the us and russian governments and any other other government that can be helpful figuring out a way to get him back. and paul, last time we spoke, we discussed also the prospect of a possible swap for evan. where do those discussions stand right now? well, we saw in early december the state department said that they had made an offer for evan and for paul whelan, who's been there for five years, and the russians

rejected it. since then, we saw president putin mention evan twice, once in his annual press conference and then at the end of his interview with tucker carlson. so we know there are conversations going on. obviously, it's appropriate that those happen quietly and in secret. quietly and in secret, and we're not privy to them, but we're confident that they're happening and we just hope that they bear fruit soon. danielle, can i ask you about that as well, what the communication has been like with the white house as this process has been ongoing? well, we have heard several times the white house has made statements that they're serious about getting evan home, which is wonderful to hear. but we know that this is a conversation that's happening between governments. but we're very grateful to have contact from speha team. and we were able to meet and speak with president biden, and he personally promised our family that he's going to get evan home.

evan gershkovich's sister, danielle gershkovich, talking to us a little earlier. let's get some of the day's other news now. police in south africa say they've arrested a man for reckless and drunken driving, after his car collided with that of the former president, jacob zuma. no—one was injured in the incident on thursday evening. police say the vehicle was deliberattely targeted. the us government has authorised an initial $60 million to help the state of maryland clear the debris of the bridge that was brought down by a giant container ship on tuesday. the biggest crane on the east coast is being sent to baltimore to join the emergency effort. officials say the first priority is to find four workers who are missing, presumed dead. a teenager has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing on a train in south london. 19—year—old rakeem thomas has also been charged with possession of an offensive weapon. he has been remanded in custody. the victim, who is in his 20s, is in a "critical, but stable condition" in hospital.

beyonce has released her newest album today — and her first ever country album titled, act ii: cowboy carter. let's have a quick listen. white jaxa ain't no hold �*em # so lay your cards down, down, down... # 16 carriages driving away # 16 carriages driving away # whilst i ride with my dreams away # whilst i ride with my dreams away # to a... #toa... # across her previous albums she has already sold over 200 million records — whilst racking up 22 top—10 singles on the billboard charts. and that includes nine number one hit singles. she's also accumulated great critical acclaim, having last year achieved the record for individual grammy awards at 32. jack remmington is

a beyonce superfan. what does he make of the album? i think the only thing we know with beyonce is to expect the unexpected. we knew it was going to be country tinged, but she reinvents herself in any genre she steps foot into every time, so i think it is fantastic. yes, texas hold them, as we played a bit off there, it is across all of social media, i go on to tiktok and youtube shorts, there it is when i turned the radio on. that one in particular is so catchy.— particular is so catchy. yes, i think it is _ particular is so catchy. yes, i think it is and _ particular is so catchy. yes, i think it is and i _ particular is so catchy. yes, i think it is and i think- particular is so catchy. yes, i think it is and i think it - particular is so catchy. yes, i l think it is and i think it speaks particular is so catchy. yes, i - think it is and i think it speaks to her universal worldwide appeal and the fact that we don't necessarily historically think, oh, beyonce, country, and yet she puts her mind to it, studies the history and then we get the art piece that is the recent album and the singles in it. yes, it is interesting because you posted that the album was born out of an experience i had years ago where i did not feel welcome. a lot of the country industry doesn't really like beyonce, a lot of the

country stations are not playing the songs, are they? country stations are not playing the songs. are they?— songs, are they? yes, it is widely acce ted songs, are they? yes, it is widely accepted and _ songs, are they? yes, it is widely accepted and we _ songs, are they? yes, it is widely accepted and we presume - songs, are they? yes, it is widely accepted and we presume that i songs, are they? yes, it is widely accepted and we presume that is| songs, are they? yes, it is widely - accepted and we presume that is from her 2016 performance in the country music awards chicks, she sang danny lessons, and unfortunately there is a hostility to certain people who don't look or act a certain way within the country genre and i think the presence of beyonce fresh and certain people. so, she even said in her own personal instagram and the artwork was revealed for this album that that is what spurred her to drive a little deeper into the history behind country music and this album has been born actually feels like a letter to —— a love letter to country, but also her upbringing and specifically to black women who she has performed on the album, which is an amazing thing country doesn't often do. truth? album, which is an amazing thing country doesn't often do.- album, which is an amazing thing country doesn't often do. why do you think it is? because _ country doesn't often do. why do you think it is? because i— country doesn't often do. why do you think it is? because i think— country doesn't often do. why do you think it is? because i think taylor - think it is? because i think taylor swift, of course, started off as a country artist and has done phenomenally well, but the country industry not taking too beyonce? i

find that quite strange. yes. industry not taking too beyonce? i find that quite strange.— find that quite strange. yes, i think unfortunately, - find that quite strange. yes, i think unfortunately, we - find that quite strange. yes, i j think unfortunately, we would find that quite strange. yes, i - think unfortunately, we would like to think the world is all roses and daisies, but i do think race has a large part to play. i think some people almost feel beyonce needs to be in her box, which is why it is so special that she has worked alongside linda martell, for instance, who was the first commercially successful black woman, who was raised in segregated carolina in the 1940s, who even herself in a track on the album says, genres are a funny thing. you know? it is this idea that beyonce wants to be able to mould and melt things together, sorry, and i think to some people they take that as a bit of an affront to historically quite a white industry.- bit of an affront to historically quite a white industry. yes, do you think the fact _ quite a white industry. yes, do you think the fact that _ quite a white industry. yes, do you think the fact that now _ quite a white industry. yes, do you think the fact that now beyonce - quite a white industry. yes, do you | think the fact that now beyonce has a country album is going to encourage more people into the genre generally? encourage more people into the genre aenerall ? , , ., , encourage more people into the genre uenerall? , , ., , , generally? yes, exactly, and this is what i don't — generally? yes, exactly, and this is what i don't really _ generally? yes, exactly, and this is what i don't really understand - generally? yes, exactly, and this is what i don't really understand of. what i don't really understand of the opposition. if you are someone who says you love country music, surely you would appreciate any and all eyes on the country genre that

beyonce is now bringing from her massive markets elsewhere? and if thatis massive markets elsewhere? and if that is still an issue to you, i would perhaps beg the question, you know, why is it so upsetting to you that a black woman who has historically made been made to feel uncomfortable within that genre is excelling? perhaps that is something in that discomfort you need to unpack, ratherthan in that discomfort you need to unpack, rather than a job beyonce needs to do for you. unpack, rather than a 'ob beyonce needs to do for you._ needs to do for you. yes, i'm 'ust readin: , needs to do for you. yes, i'm 'ust reading. she fl needs to do for you. yes, i'm 'ust reading, she sings i needs to do for you. yes, i'm 'ust reading, she sings to i needs to do for you. yes, i'm 'ust reading, she sings to a i needs to do for you. yes, i'm just reading, she sings to a melody i needs to do for you. yes, i'm just i reading, she sings to a melody that bookends the album, the old ideas are buried here, amen. yes. bookends the album, the old ideas are buried here, amen.— bookends the album, the old ideas are buried here, amen. yes. there is thou~ht are buried here, amen. yes. there is thought there — are buried here, amen. yes. there is thought there that _ are buried here, amen. yes. there is thought there that where _ are buried here, amen. yes. there is thought there that where perhaps - thought there that where perhaps where renaissance was a love letter to unclejohnny where renaissance was a love letter to uncle johnny and where renaissance was a love letter to unclejohnny and disco tinged, this album is much more of a love letter to her mum. we know from a track and trend 16, my daddy alabama, my mum, louisiana. she is from texas, she is soaked in country roots, she has always been someone who is surrounded by country music, so i think it makes sense and playing up to their religion, her mum was brought up catholic, so

nothing beyonce does is accidental, everything is deliberate and i think we are very lucky to exist at the same time as and to be able to dive to the art she creates for us. that is jack remington, _ to the art she creates for us. that is jack remington, a _ to the art she creates for us. that isjack remington, a beyonce fan. it is jack remington, a beyonce fan. it is jack remington, a beyonce fan. it is top level trending at the moment, beyonce, because fans are having their say on the album and critics have as well. we have just published the album and critics have as well. we havejust published on the album and critics have as well. we have just published on our news website some of the comments from our reporter who has been looking at them. the guardian newspaper says there she is impressively capable of doing what she wants and gives the album four out of five stars. another newspaper says it is the album we desperately needed. and did not disappoint. while the times newspaper said that act ii: cowboy carter is worth four stars, praising it as a slick western epic with a sense of fun and adventure. if you haven't seen it, it includes duets with miley cyrus and postman own. there is also a cover of dolly

parton's jolene and there is also a cover of dolly parton'sjolene and even the beatles song, blackbird. you get can more on beyonce's new album online, including this review from our music correspondent mark savage, who asks is it yeehaw or no, ma'am? just head to to the bbc news website or app to find out what he thinks. finally this half—hour, i want to show you some stunning pictures of mother nature in action in iceland. a volcano continues to erupt there, but, as you can see, it has been caught spewing lava at the same time as the famous northern lights display. so you have the red hot lava spewing from the ground at the same as the green glow of the natural light display in the sky. the timelapse video was shot in south—western iceland, where the volcano has erupted several times since december. the volcano is near the coastal town of grindavik. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. given what we've had recently,

the weather this easter weekend is actually all right for this stage in march. ok, plenty of showers around today, some of those in the heavy side, but the weekend, saturday, sunday, fewer showers around. the north looking dry on monday too, but we will see more persistent rain return across some southern areas. here we go, the details through the next few days. out there at the moment showers developing quite widely, england, wales, northern ireland and returning to southern scotland after the departure of this morning's rain. the northern half of scotland, though, fewer showers, lightest winds here and, wherever you are, temperatures up a little bit on yesterday — 10—14 degrees. around bang on average for where we should be for this stage in the year. as you go through this evening and overnight, we will see some showers continue in scotland and into the west, but many of you will be dry, lengthier clear skies. it's going to be chilly tonight. even though temperatures lifting by day, the nights still quite cool. we could see a touch of frost in one or two spots to start your saturday morning. but for saturday, the area of low pressure, which is the focus for showers, actually drifting a bit further westwards, so we will see fewer showers, lighter winds, but we have to watch for this

weather front moving northwards out of france and belgium. it could bring a cloudy day to east anglia and the far south—east and even some rain at times in coastal districts. showers heaviest out towards the west through saturday, so the far south—west of england, south—west wales, northern ireland. a rumble of thunder can't be ruled out. but much of scotland, england and wales will see isolated showers, which mean more of you will spend the bulk, if not all day, dry and feeling pleasant enough in the sunshine with light winds. a chilly night will follow. of course, as we go through into sunday morning, easter sunday morning, the clocks will have gone forward an hour, so the evenings will be lighter, the mornings a little bit darker to begin with. not a bad start, though. a lot of dry weather around. there will be some showers in the west to begin with and more will develop through the day, heavy, thundery towards the south—west, but many of you again will spend the bulk, if not all the day, dry. temperatures 1a, 15 degrees in western scotland and through parts of central england too. as you go through into monday, this is where low pressure develops again towards the south. exact details may change a little bit, so i'd keep

across the forecast, but it does look like across southern counties of england, south wales, the potentialfor some longer spells of rain again. away from that, cloud and a cool breeze down some north sea coasts, but to the north and west the best of your easter monday sunshine. whatever you have planned, enjoy. take care.

global stock markets enjoy their strongest quarter for five years, taking a major world index to a fresh all—time high. bitter harvest — how the soaring cost of cocoa is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of chocolate lovers. welcome to world business report. hot and getting hotter — global stocks have risen more in this past three months than at any time in the past five years. the msci world index of global stocks phas gone up almost eight % this year alone to its highest ever level — that figure now standing at 3,436. it's been a broad—based surge in stocks, but some of the world's biggest tech companies which have done especially well and seen their valuations rocket. the msci world index of global stocks phas gone up almost eight %

so what's behind this?