amid fears of an attack by iran after an israeli strike on the iranian consulate in syria. the inquiry into the post office it scandal will shortly hear from adam crozier who became the royal mail chief executive in 2003. a warning that a catastrophic hunger crisis in sudan is even worse than feared, according to doctors. we'll bring you rare footage from the country's darfur region. sir keir starmer says a labour government would aim to increase defence spending to 2.5% of gdp, matching goals set by uk chancellor jeremy hunt. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. we start the programme in the middle east where american diplomats and their families in israel have been told not

to travel outside of tel aviv, jerusalem and beersheeva. the us embassy said it had made the order "out of an abundance of caution", due to fears about a possible attack by iran. earlier the israeli defence minister, yoav gallant, has told his us counterpart that israel will respond appropriately if it is directly attacked by iran. washington continues to try to dissuade iran from launching a retaliatory strike following the attack on its consulate in syria last week. let's speak to our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, in jerusalem. heightened sense of alert. what more can you tell us?— can you tell us? four days we have been talking _ can you tell us? four days we have been talking about _ can you tell us? four days we have been talking about those _ can you tell us? four days we have been talking about those warnings | been talking about those warnings that have come from american officials saying the iranian response is a matter of when and not if. ithink response is a matter of when and not if. i think the most dramatic warning came from president biden

who said a day ago that the iranians were preparing a significant attack. with that warning came also a threat that the americans would respond if there was an attack from iran and israel. and i think there have been some reports quoting unnamed american officials saying that this could happen in the next few days. so we don't know how this attack will be, what this possible attack will be, what this possible attack will look like. the iranians have been saying they will retaliate the attack that happened last week in syria was humiliating for the iranians. it hit an iranian diplomatic compound in damascus, and it killed several iranian military advisers, including a top iranian general. i think the iranians need to be seen to be giving a response, to be seen to be giving a response, to be seen to be giving a response, to be doing something. i think the fear here is that the iranians could launch an attack on israel. the israelis have been saying any kind

of attack that comes from iran would lead to an israeli response. we have seen that iran has been using its proxies across the region to carry out attacks, including hezbollah in lebanon, which has been attacking israel on a daily basis. but what the americans are saying is that this is likely to be different, it's likely to come from iran itself. so the warnings are there, but we still don't know how this is going to play out. we don't know how this is going to play out. ~ ., don't know how this is going to play out. ~ . ., , ., ., out. we have also been hearing from israel's defence _ out. we have also been hearing from israel's defence minister _ out. we have also been hearing from israel's defence minister yoav - israel's defence minister yoav gallant. what has he been saying? again, he had a phone call with the american defence secretary. he said that any kind of attack that comes from iran would lead to an israeli response. so there have been those concerns. this is obviously something people here in israel are talking about. a senior american general has been sent to israel to

have conversations with top military officials to talk about the possibility of this iranian attack and an israeli response. again, there is an anxiety and a concern but there is no panic here. there is no run on shops or banks. this is obviously something that people are talking about, that has been discussed on television, in newspapers, but there isn't panic here. but everyone is waiting to see how the iranians are going to respond and whether this response will come in the next few days. hugo bacheaa will come in the next few days. hugo bache . a in will come in the next few days. hugo bachega in jerusalem, _ will come in the next few days. hugo bachega injerusalem, thank you for that update. next, there are warnings that a catastrophic hunger crisis in sudan is even worse than feared. the medical charity doctors without borders has screened tens of thousands of children and women in a displaced peoples camp in north darfur state. it found a third were malnourished, double the threshold for a nutrition emergency. a year of war has had

a devastating humanitarian impact across the country especially in the darfur region. the bbc has managed to get rare footage from there, our correspondent barbara plett usher now reports. viewers may find some images in this report distressing. crying. the youngest casualties of sudan's war are often not victims of bombs and bullets. this paediatric hospital in northern darfur is a front line in the country's hunger crisis. signs of malnutrition are stark. it's difficult for outsiders to get access to the region. we worked with a local cameraman to film these images. the son of this woman is getting emergency nutrition after bouts of diarrhoea and malaria. "we just don't have enough food here," she says. "we're farmers but aren't able to harvest enough now and there's no other income. medicine is hard to get."

in the next bed, another woman is caring for six—month—old twins, slowly recovering from weeks of dysentery. doctors treated malnutrition here before the war. much more so now. translation: the numbers have doubled. _ every month, and the next month, the numbers increase, despite the fact that we in northern darfur, we had a system, a full nutritional programme, which continued. but it lapsed because of the war. it's a refuge of last resort, but those who make it here are the lucky ones. in the nearby zamzam camp for displaced people, they queue forfood. there isn't much of that, nor of clean water or health care. illnesses that could once be treated now kill. one child here dies every two hours — so says the charity doctors without borders, the last international humanitarians

still on the ground. they found that one third of the camp's children under the age of five are malnourished, and so are their mothers. this woman is living that pain. she lost three children in four months. one was three years old, another two, another was six months. translation: i couldn't afford to take them to hospital. - the pharmacy demanded too much money. my first child died on the way home from there and the second child died after six days. the baby fell sick and died three days later. people are sick and hungry. the displaced people have nojobs. zamzam is one of sudan's oldest and largest camps, formed by those who fled ethnic violence in darfur 20 years ago, so already fragile. but the latest war between the army and its paramilitary rivals has displaced more than 8 million

people, blocked aid, shut down the economy. these images showjust how grave the situation is in other parts of darfur. a regional emergency worker sent them to us from the southern and central states. the boy's mother pleading for help to feed her children. anything, she says, even something small. aid agencies say without much greater access and more food supplies, that won't happen. i spoke to doctors without borders at their nairobi headquarters. we have a nutritional crisis. it's a catastrophic nutritional crisis. the children that we screened in the camp of zamzam is the tip of the iceberg. we are talking about only one camp. so it could be much worse. it could be much worse, yes. this little boy may live, but if the war stretches into another year, many, many other children will die. barbara plett usher,

bbc news, nairobi. barbara joins me now from nairobi. some difficult images on your report which brings to light the scale of the crisis. is there anything that can be done to alleviate the suffering, and we will talk about the war in a second, butjust to alleviate the suffering of those children? , ., ., ' ., ., children? there is a real effort to t and children? there is a real effort to try and get _ children? there is a real effort to try and get food _ children? there is a real effort to try and get food supplies - children? there is a real effort to try and get food supplies to - children? there is a real effort to try and get food supplies to that l try and get food supplies to that camp but also other vulnerable parts of darfur. the issue has been that since the war started the aid has been blocked, especially in displaced persons' camps that are almost 100% reliant on it, they are not getting food supplies. both sides of the warring parties have been accused of obstruction but more

recently the sudanese army blocked entry points at the border with chad and there has been an international effort to try to get them to open those points. they said it was to stop weapons coming in but it also stopped food coming in. there has been a little movement on that, the wfp got a few convoys in late last month but it is much wider than that as well. although you are talking about food supplies, both not having enough supplies and not being able to get around and deliver them the country itself has lost its resiliency, the civilian intra— structure is destroyed in many places and health care services have collapsed. it will be the new growing season, the new agricultural season starting in may, and the country is not in a position to do a proper planting of crops and harvesting of them. all the conditions are there, say aid agencies, forfamine. some say conditions are there, say aid agencies, for famine. some say that is now inevitable. the question is how we can work to try to make it more bearable. it’s how we can work to try to make it more bearable.— more bearable. it's nearly a year since the civil—

more bearable. it's nearly a year since the civil war _ more bearable. it's nearly a year since the civil war broke - more bearable. it's nearly a year since the civil war broke out. - more bearable. it's nearly a year - since the civil war broke out. where are we when it comes to any sign of that conflict ending? we are we when it comes to any sign of that conflict ending?— that conflict ending? we have no sins that conflict ending? we have no si . ns of that conflict ending? we have no signs of the _ that conflict ending? we have no signs of the conflict _ that conflict ending? we have no signs of the conflict ending - that conflict ending? we have no signs of the conflict ending so i that conflict ending? we have no | signs of the conflict ending so far. the un had called for a ceasefire in ramadan and that was not observed. the latest is that the new us envoy for sudan has said they will try to start another round of peace talks, hopefully in mid april. this time they will bring on board notjust they will bring on board notjust the players themselves but representatives from the regions, and especially countries like egypt and especially countries like egypt and the united arab emirates, which backed the different sides, support the different sides in the conflict, hoping that will create some momentum. also the envoy said the odds of succeeding are in question, but perhaps conditions right now will help to push things forward, including, as you mentioned, one of them, the threat of looming famine. barbara plett usher watching events

in sudan from nairobi, thank you. let's turn to what's been described as one of the worst miscarriages ofjustice in british legal history — the post office scandal. an inquiry is examining how the faulty it system, known as horizon, led to hundreds of people who ran post offices being wrongly convicted of theft and fraud. a former managing director of the post office has told the horizon inquiry he was sorry a sub—postmistress was wrongfully jailed while pregnant. david smith had originally described the jailing of seema misra as "brilliant news". today, adam crozier, who became the royal mail's chief executive in 2003, will be giving evidence. former subpostmistress seema misra has now responded to that apology from david smith. it has now responded to that apology from david smith.— has now responded to that apology from david smith. it was horrible. i have seen the _ from david smith. it was horrible. i have seen the e-mail _ from david smith. it was horrible. i have seen the e-mail before. - from david smith. it was horrible. i l have seen the e-mail before. seeing have seen the e—mail before. seeing it again, it makes me more and more angry. you know, like, his apology,

having accepted it, it was really bad. they missed so many chances to apologise before they missed that. how can they simply apologise? they need to apologise to my ten—year—old, they took his mum away on his birthday. i was eight weeks pregnant, they need to apologise to my younger son. i haven't accepted the apologies. let's speak to our correspondent azadeh moshiri, who's outside the inquiry in central london. when you watch something like that, it reminds you of so many of the lives that were completely ruined and destroyed by what happened years ago because of this faulty it system. seema misra there, itjust really hits home. let's talk about what we heard yesterday to sum up, before we look ahead to today, what did we hear in the inquiry yesterday?—

did we hear in the inquiry esterda ? ,, �*, ., ., , yesterday? david smith's apology was one of the big — yesterday? david smith's apology was one of the big moments, _ yesterday? david smith's apology was one of the big moments, because, - yesterday? david smith's apology was one of the big moments, because, as| one of the big moments, because, as so many victims have been telling me here over the last few days, while they have heard apologies and heard answers that the executives are giving, they don't actually care about the answer is that much. in their view they have heard enough and what they want to see is accountability. david smith also had to answer for the fact that, about his role, what he knew and his responsibility as a managing director at the time. it has been a common refrain of, well, these discussions may have taken place but the structure at the time meant that maybe this information didn't receive and go to them at the right time. there were so many questions about why he didn't consider the horizon system a priority from the moment he got there. those are similar questions that are probably going to be directed towards adam crozier, who isjoining the inquiry. it's his turn to answer questions now. he was chief executive from

2003 to 2010 and those are key years because hundreds of prosecutions against subpostmasters happened during that time, using horizon data, according to evidence at the inquiry. adam crozier is also going to be asked about testimony from subpostmasters that they alerted him to the issues. once of most master said he e—mailed him, received no response but was told never to e—mail adam crozier again. there will be questions around the relationship between royal mail and the post office. while they were part of the same organisation during that time, there was a separate board which adam crozier did not sit on, which is why previously in response to the scandal adam crozier has said that he wasn't involved in the horizon issue. he was deeply sorry for the lives that were ruined ijy sorry for the lives that were ruined by this ordeal. and so he is going

to be asked about what he knew, when he knew it, and also whether he had seen the e—mails that were sent to him. this is a man who is used to being under pressure. there were a nationwide postal strikes while he was at royal mail and he has been at the helm of big organisations like the helm of big organisations like the football association, saatchi & saatchi, itv and bt, where he is currently chairman. this saatchi, itv and bt, where he is currently chairman.— currently chairman. as a day machinery. _ currently chairman. as a day machinery, thank _ currently chairman. as a day machinery, thank you - currently chairman. as a day machinery, thank you for - currently chairman. as a day l machinery, thank you for that update. when the inquiry resumes we will stream it on bbc news iplayer, on the bbc news website and we will have updates here on the news channel. now to the united states, and there's been more reaction to the news of the death of the american football star oj simpson — who died of cancer at the age of 76. one of america's most notorious figures, he was cleared of murdering his ex—wife and herfriend in 1994 after a murder trial which gripped the us and the world. his acquittal came after a police car chase when oj simpson fled on the day he was due

to turn himself in. both the car chase and the murder trial were watched by tens of millions around the world at a time when rolling news was in its infancy. david willis reports from los angeles. let's speak to cbs correspondent naomi ruchim in new york. what has the reaction been in the us? oj simpson was such a divisive figure throughout his life? for many americans the _ figure throughout his life? for many americans the reaction _ figure throughout his life? for many americans the reaction to _ figure throughout his life? for many americans the reaction to oj - americans the reaction to oj simpson's death has been as complicated as his legacy. some say they are not shedding any tears over they are not shedding any tears over the star football player and accused murderer. while others say they are devastated by his death. he was nicknamed thejuice and burst onto the national scene is a star running back winning the 1968 heisman trophy before going onto a hall of fame nfl career so he had a lot of fans. off the field he was a commentator,

pitchman, film star. but the case of not guilty verdict has divided the country to this day. in interviews after the death was announced, some said they believed he was guilty of the crime. others say the jury has spoken and he was acquitted on back to the end of it. polling from 2017, the year oj simpson was released from prison for a separate crime, shows that most americans at the time did believe he was guilty of the 1994 murders. 71% believe he did it, a slight increase from the 67% who thought so back in october 1995. however, there is a bigger difference among black americans. while 69% believed he was guilty at the time, the 2017 poll showed that black americans were more evenly divided them. i black americans were more evenly divided them.— black americans were more evenly divided them. i was reading that the famil of divided them. i was reading that the family of one _ divided them. i was reading that the family of one of _ divided them. i was reading that the family of one of the _ divided them. i was reading that the family of one of the victims - divided them. i was reading that the family of one of the victims wants i family of one of the victims wants to know via lay claim to get some of his estate. tell me more about that. in a statement, ronald goldman's father and sister said the

following. they said the news of ron's killer passing a way is a mixed bag of complicated emotions and reminds us that the journey through grief is not linear. for three decades we tirelessly pursued justice for the ron and nicole and despite a civiljudgment and his confection, in if i did it, the book, the hope for true accountability has ended. we will continue to advocate for the rights of all victims and survivors, ensuring our voices are heard within and beyond the courtroom. you can tell those families still have a mission there, although the one you mentioned is a monitoring mission. they made it clear in their statement after his death that their goal really is to make sure that all survivors of violence and victims of violence get their voices heard, whether it's in the courtroom or beyond. and they too are not shedding tears over the death but do wish there had been some accountability at the very end. naomi ruchim joining us from new york, thank you for bringing us up to date.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

ukraine's president has warned that the country is fast running out of air defences and artillery to fend off russian attacks. volodmyr zelensky warned that if us congress continues to hold up a multi—billion dollar military aid package, then ukraine will lose its war against russia. on thursday power plants were attacked in a russian bombardment with hundreds of thousands of people being left without power. our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, sent this update. i think what we're seeing here now is clearly a sustained and a deliberate assault by russia on ukraine's energy system. and it started actually back in march — there were two massive attacks on this country with drones and missiles that, here in kharkiv, destroyed all the power stations, essentially. so it left this city without power for some time. they've worked to restore it, but there are rolling blackouts here, a real limit on the amount

of electricity available, customers urged to avoid using too much. there's also generators everywhere you go on the streets. and then on thursday morning, in the early hours, we got this next huge attack — dozens of drones and missiles fired by russia that overwhelmed ukraine's air defences. and in kyiv, a major power plant there has been completely destroyed. and i spoke to the boss of the company that ran that plant, and he says that they can repair it — if they get the spare parts from allies in the west then, in theory, they can rebuild that power station — get it up and running again. but he asked me what the point of that would be if they can't protect it. and that is the problem. if there are renewed russian attacks — which looks like it will happen — then the problem is air defences. in ukraine, they are extremely stretched, extremely limited, and it is very difficult to protect these power plants. so that's why we've heard again from president zelensky a real plea to the west to help ukraine with its air defences.

a sense of frustration, i think, about lots of promises being made, but very limited aid coming through, specifically in terms of air defences. and i think that's important because it is quite clear that russia is continuing these attacks, and they're not only becoming more intense, these attacks, they're also more accurate. and that means, for ukraine, they're more devastating. sarah rainsford there. we are getting reports that russian forces have shot down four ukrainian drones in russia's rostov region, home to an oil refinery. previously targeted by kyiv. the governor of that region is said friday's attack hasn't caused any damage or casualties. us presidentjoe biden has assured the leaders of the philippines and japan that us defence commitments are ironclad, amid tensions in the south china sea. president biden hosted japan's prime minister, fumio kishida,

and the philippine president, ferdinand marcosjunior, at a summit in the white house on thursday. he said washington was ready to defend manila from any attack in the south china sea and that he wanted to strengthen ties between the countries to ensure security and prosperity. when we stand as one, we're able to forge a better future for all, and that's what this new trilat is all about in my view — building a better future for people across the indo—pacific and, quite frankly, beyond, around the world. so thank you both for being here and i look forward to this first summit and many more in the years ahead. president biden there. england football captain's harry kane's football ca ptain's harry kane's three football captain's harry kane's three eldest children were taken to hospital with minor injuries after being involved in a three—car crash in germany. the accident happened on monday near munich where the

football star plays for bayern munich will stop a spokesperson for harry kane said the children were fine and were taken to hospital for a routine checkup. to madagascar, where the next generation of eco warriors are learning how to protect endangered turtles. turtle island, as it's known, is home to the green turtle, which is not only being threatened by predators but by plastics too. that means only three eggs out of a thousand hatch. but local children are on hand to help — they are being taught lessons in conservation, with hopes they can help the turtles thrive for years to come. that's it for this half hour. more on all the stories we have talked about on the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we still have the same

south—westerly breeze on thursday but more sunshine led to a warmer day. the highest temperature in the sunshine was measured in norfolk with temperatures reaching 20 degrees. in northern ireland, whilst it did a cloud over later on and we got some rain as well, temperatures here reached 18 celsius, the warmest it has been in northern ireland so far this year. this is the temperature anomaly map, the red country showing it is warmer than average across the uk. we will get some of similar temperature again on friday. over the weekend it will get cooler from the north—west, friday. over the weekend it will get coolerfrom the north—west, cooler weather arriving in the south—east on sunday. heading into early friday, some sunshine to begin with in scotland, showery bursts of rain heading back into northern ireland, cumbria, and showers pushing into scotland. for england and wales, though, the cloud should break up. we will get more sunshine were widely although some western coast could get grey and cloudy. in the sunshine it will feel warm, temperatures in the south—east and east anglia reaching 20 or 21 degrees. again in the north—east of scotland, 18 degrees, where we are missing those showers. but the

weather starts to change into the weekend because we have a few weather fronts coming down from the north—west bringing more cloud, some rain in some cool air too. the first with a friend here is bringing this cloud and patchy rain across northern ireland and wales, pushing into the midlands and south—west england later. following on behind a lot of showers for scotland and northern ireland, some of them heavy and sundry with some hail. a blast of warmth and some sunshine still across east anglia and the south—east, temperatures of 20 degrees here. but elsewhere those temperatures are going to be several degrees lower on saturday. we are replacing that woman south—westerly wind with something much cooler, a westerly wind which will bring in more showers on sunday. we will see showers particularly in scotland and northern ireland, just for a while there could be some wintriness over there could be some wintriness over the mountain tops. they will be a few showers coming in over the agassi into north—west england and north wales but further sound and east it may well be dry but it is certainly going to be cooler. we've got to put us back down to 15 degrees, which is near—normalfor this time of year but struggling to

ten or 11 across much of scotland and northern ireland. here we will find a lot of showers overnight and into monday. low pressure moving down across the uk. that's going to bring a stronger north—westerly wind and make it feel chilly on monday, but after that the weather should improve just a little with fewer showers and it won't be quite as windy.

this is bbc news, the headlines

the us restricts travel for diplomats in israel amid fears by an attack by iran after an israeli strike on a consulate in syria. the post office it scandal will hear from adam crozier today, the chief executive of royal mail in 2003. a warning that the catastrophic hunger crisis in sudan is worse than feared according to doctors.