This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Wednesday the 17th of April,

these are our main stories.

The UN says Israel is continuing to impose unlawful restrictions on aid to Gaza and calls on

it to do more to stop the escalating violence in the West Bank.

Belgium's Prime Minister has criticized a decision to

shut down a meeting in Brussels of hard-white politicians from across Europe. A bill

banning anyone who's currently 15 or younger from ever buying cigarettes has cleared its first major hurdle in the British Parliament.

Also in this podcast?

So given the chance, this black hole will certainly suck in any material that it can get,

but at the minute it's not doing that, so it isn't active,

and that's why we can't see this black hole directly.

Astronomers have made a surprising discovery, a black hole, not that far from planet Earth,

just a mere 2,000 light years away.

Until Iran's attack on it last weekend,

Israel had been facing increased international pressure to allow more food,

medicine and other vital supplies into Gaza. Now despite its claims that it is allowing

more aid convoys in after repeated

warnings about a looming famine, the UN says Israel is still preventing urgently

needed aid from getting into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The UN Human Rights Spokesperson is Ravina Chamblissani.

Israel continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance,

...