hundreds of sub—postmasters forced into bankruptcy are still demanding redress. hello, this is bbc news. we start with the latest on the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics. his family say mr navalny�*s mother has tried and failed to collect her son's body from a morgue in the arctic circle. a spokesperson claimed it is purposely being withheld by russian authorities so they can cover traces. demonstrations and vigils have taken place near russian embassies in many countries to express outrage at his death in prison. more than 100 protesters are reported to have been detained for attending memorials in russia. our first report this hour is from our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford. this was a walk towards the news that alexei navalny�*s mother

did not want to hear. way up in the fashion update, where her. so a spokesperson said they still don't have their body. we don't have any clue where he is now or what is happening to him and when it will be given to the family. alexei navalny died on friday at 14:17, an opposition politician who dared to speak out in a country where dissent is dangerous. in moscow today, supporters came onto the streets to remember him. some were arrested, dragged to police vans. since the first reports of alexei navalny�*s death, people have been leaving tributes at monuments to the victims of political repression — in stalin's time. alexei navalny had been locked up

because of his politics. the symbolism is deliberate. however he died, he had been locked up and arrested because of his politics. he denounced vladimir putin and his team as "crooks and thieves". arresting him became almost routine. three years ago, navalny fell desperately ill on a plane. tests in germany showed he had been poisoned with novichok, a nerve agent. when he recovered, he returned to russia and was sent straight to prison. the criminal charges began piling up to keep him there. navalny had been in courtjust a day before his death was announced, appearing via video link from prison. his persistent cheer was, in itself, an act of resistance. journalists used to ask navalny constantly whether he was afraid for his life and he would brush the question off. then two years ago, he was asked for his message to supporters if he were killed.

this for the situation when i'm killed, it's very simple — not give up. without navalny, though, the future for all russians who hoped for change has never looked bleaker. you saw kira yarmysh, mr navalny�*s spokesperson, in that report from sarah rainsford. well, my colleague azadeh moshiri has spoken to ms yarmysh, who told her the navalny team is still trying to learn what has happened to his body. we don't know anything about the location of his body because his colony told his mother and his lawyer that his body is in salekhard and an investigative committee took the body and are conducting some sort of investigation with it, but they told them that the body is located in a morgue in salekhard. the lawyer and his motherjust

arrived to that place and the morgue is closed. there was just a phone number on the door and they tried to call this number and they were told that there are seven people who have already called the morgue today and the body of alexei isn't there, so alexei's prison just lied to his mother and his lawyer that the body is there, and so we don't have any clue where he is now and what is happening to him, and when it will be given to the family. so they have just been calling a morgue, trying to find out what has happened to the body, whether they have it? yes, because the colony said that the morgue is opened and the body was there, but the morgue was closed when they arrived, it's about two hours�* drive from the prison to salekhard.

after they called, they were told the body wasn't there. what is your reaction when you hear about his death but also the conditions that are going on right now when it comes to the courtesy that his family is being shown? we know for sure that it wasn'tjust a death, it was a murder, alexei was killed and we are sure it was vladimir putin, president of russia, who gave direct order to kill alexei. we know this because he already tried to kill him three—and—a—half years ago. alexei was poisoned with novichok nerve agent, but he survived. now, putin was able to murder him and what is happening right now is that they are trying

to cover traces. this is why they are not giving the body to his family and this is why they are just hiding him from them. this is what putin's state looks like just now, it is hiding a body from his family. we demand that russian authorities should immediately give the body of alexei navalny to his family. kira yarmysh — alexi navalny�*s spokesperson talking to my colleague azadeh moshiri. and a reminder we have a special live page on the latest following mr navalny�*s death including those claims russian authorities are hiding his body on the bbc news website or app. next to the war in ukraine. ukrainian troops have withdrawn from avdiivka —

a key eastern town besieged by russian forces for months. the fall of the town, which is almost completely destroyed, marks russia's biggest win for months. president zelensky says the decision was taken in order to save the soldiers�* lives. he also repeated his request for more financial and military aid to help his forces against the russian invasion. our correspondentjames waterhouse is in kyiv. how significant is the fall of this town? avdiivka had become a ukrainian stronghold, it sits on the front line for the past decade. it separates ukrainian —controlled territory and the eastern city of donetsk which russian forces have controlled since 2014 and in that time, the ukrainians built real substantial fortifications. and yet in recent months the russians have

launched wave after wave of attack. they have suffered significant losses, at one point hundreds of soldiers were being killed on a weekly if not daily basis, but crucially, the ukrainian suffered losses as well. and because we are in a war of attrition where both sides are trying to exhaust each other, size is starting to count for more and i think this is what we have seen with avdiivka. 0nce more and i think this is what we have seen with avdiivka. once an industrial hub and now drained of life and almost completely destroyed. some ukrainian forces were captured as they tried to escape, president zelensky said, made the argument that his troops weren't really defending anything so they had to move out to preserve life and move to new defensive positions. and yet his own reasons as to why russia was allowed to make this of advance. dear friends. unfortunately, keeping ukraine in an artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long—range capabilities allows putin to adapt to the current

intensity of the war. and you notice he said the word artificial. he believes that the stuttering supplies of weapons from ukraine's allies is down to choice. it is down mostly to political disagreements in the us and it is america which leads the way when it comes to aid for ukraine because of the speed and scale at which it can manufacture weapons. now, a sizeable package worth more than $90 billion is still yet to be approved, and most of that includes weapons of ammunition for ukraine. any talk you hear about liberation of ukraine perhaps repelling russia completely, i think that has been very much shelved for now. ukraine, by the admission of its own admiral, and the very hope is that avdiivka won't

be that first of many. more now on our top story — the death of the russian opposition figure, alexi navalny. his spokeperson has told bbc news that his team believes president putin ordered his death and that his body is purposely being withheld by the russian authorities so they can "cover traces". mr navalny was the most prominent face of russian opposition to president putin for many years. the blogger and his group posted many videos to his youtube channel exposing what they said was corruption at almost every level of the russian state — many of the those videos frequently targeted president putin himself. one of the most famous was called putin's palace. back in 2021, it went viral on social media and has now clocked up more than 130 million views. it claimed the vast black sea property cost one billion dollars — features a casino, an ice rink and a vineyard — and was paid for "with the largest bribe in history". the kremlin denies the property belongs to the president. let's speak to investigative journalist christo grozev who was featured in the academy award winning documentary navalny.

he also exposed the operatives behind alexei navalny�*s poisoning in 2020. thank you very much for being with us, very difficult time for all supporters and friends and family of course of alexei navalny. tell us your thoughts of when you heard the news yesterday of his death? weill. news yesterday of his death? well, it was almost _ news yesterday of his death? well, it was almost deja _ news yesterday of his death? well, it was almost deja vu. _ news yesterday of his death? well, it was almost deja vu. a _ news yesterday of his death? well, it was almost deja vu. a couple - news yesterday of his death? -ii it was almost deja vu. a couple of months ago there was a moment when everybody from his team and also investigative journalist calling him thought that he might have been killed, that was a period when he was moved from one relatively centraljail in russia to the remote permafrost of siberia where he was held for the last couple of months. he disappeared for almost a month and we were all worrying, thinking that maybe if putin wanted to kill him, that would be the perfect time, with no witnesses. then he reappeared and we were so happy and then, yesterday the news, literally

brought the same fears but this time with a terrible conclusion. my first thought is what his family must be feeling right now, who have been going through three years of not knowing what is happening with their husband and dad, they kept him in solitary confinement against constitution, the russian constitution, the russian constitution, against russian laws, a total of 300 days and nights he spent in solitary confinement in the last year, and now after all this trepidation and expectation of some news about their family member, they found he was dead. imore news about their family member, they found he was dead.— found he was dead. were you shocked at the news. — found he was dead. were you shocked at the news, did _ found he was dead. were you shocked at the news, did it _ found he was dead. were you shocked at the news, did it surprise _ found he was dead. were you shocked at the news, did it surprise you, - at the news, did it surprise you, given you had investigated this poisoning four years ago? again, what we're _ poisoning four years ago? again, what we're seeing _ poisoning four years ago? again, what we're seeing now _ poisoning four years ago? again, what we're seeing now is - poisoning four years ago? again, what we're seeing now is a - what we're seeing now is a repetition of what we saw then, in terms of a cover—up. whether it surprised us, i was speaking a member of his team the day before and she was very concerned thatjust before the elections, putting likes to pull this one off and just decide

it is the time to get rid of any opposition voices that have a potential to unite the anti—putin an anti—war coalition. we have seen a lot of protests of women, mothers, and wives of soldiers against the war in ukraine and we know that even from jail, from prison, navalny was probably the strongest and best heard voices against the war. so, timing seemed opportune for putin to get rid of this voice.— get rid of this voice. thousands of eo - le get rid of this voice. thousands of peeple have _ get rid of this voice. thousands of people have come _ get rid of this voice. thousands of people have come out _ get rid of this voice. thousands of people have come out in - get rid of this voice. thousands of people have come out in russia . get rid of this voice. thousands of l people have come out in russia and indeed around the world to show their support for him and sympathy for his death or his loss. what do think it's going to happen now to the opposition movement in russia? does even exist, really, any more? it exists in prisons outside of the country. i'm really concerned about people who remain in prison in russia, what we're seeing now is an of what we suspected, putin has zero reputation costs, he really wants to

be known as a killer. he is not even hiding it, there is no denying what happened, they are hiding the body, as wejust happened, they are hiding the body, as we just heard from kira yarmysh. if he wanted this to be a cover—up, to be not seen as him, his hand and eliminating the opposition voices, he would have done better than hide the body. so, i think it is a message to all opposition leaders, all opposition figures in russia that you may be next and i think there may be more of that. on the other hand, there is, this is the one time that the world might finally get the message and decide to be much more connecting in their attempts to get rid of this regime. maybe. thank you very much for being with us. the death of alexei navalny has dominated the munich security conference. world leaders and diplomats are in the german city for high—level debates

on the world's most pressing security challenges. also being discussed is the israel—gaza war and the looming ground incursion at the rafah border. in the last hour, the us vice president, kamala harris, has addressed the conference. she spoke about the death of russian opposition leader, alexei navalny. alexei navalny has been a brave leader who stood up against corruption and autocracy, and he stood up for the truth. the reports of his death are further proof of putin's brutality. it reminds us why our support for ukraine is so important. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet is in munich for us. we have heard from the us and the uk that they are determined to do something about this, there will be consequences, they say. what could they possibly do, is the question. yes, they have all said that there should be consequences, that was

what lord cameron said when he, like all leaders here in munich and beyond, have held president putin personally responsible for the killing of the prominent russian opposition figure. but the big question is what can be done when so much is already being done. after the full—scale invasion of ukraine two years ago almost to the day, a whole raft of sanctions were imposed on russia but many people say, and we heard that from the belarusian opposition leader that she said there are so many loopholes, and the assessment is that actually the sanctions aren't working as well as they should. president putin has also been indicted by the international criminal court but it is a court that he marks. but they will certainly be concentrating their minds on how to ensure that alexei navalny�*s courage and sacrifice hasn't been in vain. we were mentioning there, introducing the situation in the middle east in

israel and gaza very much on the agenda, i know you have been talking to the egyptian foreign minister that today about the possible ground offensive into rafah in southern gaza, tell us more that what he had to say to you. i gaza, tell us more that what he had to say to vom— to say to you. i apologise to our viewers, there _ to say to you. i apologise to our viewers, there is _ to say to you. i apologise to our viewers, there is a _ to say to you. i apologise to our viewers, there is a helicopter. viewers, there is a helicopter clattering overhead, tight security here at the munich security conference. yes, gaza is another key issue on the agenda, of interest in the talks that have been going on for months now, indirect talks between israel hamas about trying to bring this war, at least to a temporary ceasefire, an exchange of hostages and prisoners stop in egypt, as the country where any of the goods going into gaza, and there are not enough, goes through the egyptian crossing at rafah. a lot of attention has been focusing in recent days, satellite imagery confirming that egypt is building a border area along its border with rafah, along that area where israel

said it will eventually carry out a ground operation, the last big southern town, it hasn't gone into, where more half of the population of gazais where more half of the population of gaza is now sheltering. and when i spoke to the foreign minister, he tried to make light of it saying that we have always, you know, been talking about consolidating per security along the border with gaza, trying to play down the real risk that hundreds of thousands of thousands could end up being pushed by as well across the border or they themselves could try to push across to seek refuge. but he again emphasised that israel should not carry out a military operation there and they should be a ceasefire as soon as possible.— soon as possible. lyse doucet in munich, thank _ soon as possible. lyse doucet in munich, thank you. _ now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. in the premier league, leaders liverpool are in action at brentford right now in the early kick off, wherejurgen klopp's side are 3—1 up at the g—tech.

——are 4—1 up at the g—tech. darwin nunez with an exquisite lob, to put them ahead at the break, he's since gone off with injury. alexis mac allister with the second after half time. mo salah's been called into action, he's in the squad for the first time since early january. he came on for diogojota and got the third. brentford have pulled one back, ivan toney making it 3—1. six more fixtures to come in england's top flight later with manchester city hosting chelsea in the late kick off — in what is arguably the game of the day. the defending champions could find themselves kicking off in third after arsenal travel to burnley with manager mikel arteta expecting a tough test of his side's title credentials. every fixture is going to play a significant role in what we want to achieve. burnley is the most important one at the moment, is extremely be here to look at the result and see how teams have drawn or beat them four more margins, they are extremely well coached and it's a team that is very, very competitive so we know

that we had a very tough match on saturday and it's the only focus for us to continue to play with the same energy and enthusiasm and play the game, compete in the game in the best way possible and the rest will come. bayer leverkusen have the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the bundesliga to eight points. they kick off against heidenheim in the next 15 minutes, before bayern munich face bochum a day later. should xabi alonso's side avoid defeat, they will equal bayern�*s 32—game record for the longest unbeaten run by a german club. translation: if we do it, i'll be very happy, but it'sl not a thought for me right now. my thoughts are on preparing. it's a consequence of the top season we've had but it's not a concern for me. and that's all the sport for now. many sub—postmasters

who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud are still fighting for compensation — despite the scandal now being recognised as one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in uk history. the cases taking the longest to solve, involve the victims who were forced to declare bankruptcy in order to pay back the losses they were accused of making. our business correspondent, emma simpson has more. tony downey is finally heading back to his old home in the lake district. it has taken him 15 years to have the courage to return. tony bought the hawkshead post office in 2001. he said it was buzzing and a dream come true. it's a childcare centre now. what's it like to be back? 0verwhelming, to be honest. a lot of emotions after 15 years of not coming back here. now i live in spain in a rented apartment with no career, no money, no pension, no nothing. tony had £35,000 of shortfalls at his branch. he and his wife used their savings and credit cards to balance the books.

when another £7,000 of losses appeared, they could not pay any more. tony resigned and sold up, advised to go bankrupt two months later. he is still nervous about who he might meet here, but not diane. she bought the post office from him and guess what — she had shortfalls too. it was tony who encouraged her to claim for compensation. i've been on antidepressants ever since all this started. we had several audits, each time they were demanding money. the last one we had said you either pay £1,200 now or you are going to be prosecuted. you think, crikey, we will be led out of here in handcuffs! this is awful! we had £3,000 and they literally made my wife go to the bank, and she went to our friends to borrow money and we had to pay it by half past four. i thought it was me, you thought it was you, and it wasn't — it wsa the computer system. same post office.

same problems. here's the thing — the post office has accepted that horizon was to blame for tony's losses at his branch but they won't admit causing his bankruptcy. so far, he has ended up withjust £10,000 worth of damages, far less than he is owed. the rest of the £140,000 worth of compensation has gone straight to the official receiver to pay off his bankruptcy debts. in a statement, the post office said...

tony is doing that. his legal team are dealing with most of the bankruptcy cases. the enemy is time. the fear and worry we have is that people are left in a situation where they have to throw the towel in because time is running out and they want some sort of resolution or some sort of access to money. he believes tony has got a very strong case. just how long will it take to unravel? emma simpson, bbc news, hawkshead. finally, this half hour it is world pangolin day. the insect—eating mammal is the world's most trafficked animal with all eight species protected under international laws. conservationists in kenya working to save the animal are using the day to highlight that three of the species are critically endangered. they say their existence is becoming more precarious because their habitats are taken by humans and in some regions they are hunted down by traffickers. their scales are used in traditional medicine and theirflesh is considered a delicacy

in some countries. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. after a dry and mild start to the day, the afternoon for most of us isn't looking too bad, but clouds will be thickening through the afternoon, and out towards the west it will already be raining by early afternoon, i think, and if you look at the satellite picture you can see a weather front sweeping towards the uk, and that clearer weatherjust ahead of it, so i think some brightness along the east coast, maybe around the midlands, the south—east, too, this is around four o'clock in the afternoon, but out in the west you can see it's wet. on top of that it's going to be quite windy, as well. where you see the green splodges, that is where the rain is heavier, for example, around the lake district,

south—western scotland, through northern ireland and into the western isles, but notice that around the north—east of scotland, actually, it's still relatively bright on saturday, and those temperatures in the north about 10, but in the south it's closer to around 14 or 15 degrees. now, all of us are in for some rain tonight. it will be quite heavy, and particularly heavy i think in the south of the country through the early hours of sunday morning, and it's going to be a mild night. in scotland, in aberdeen, around 7 degrees, 10 expected in liverpool, that's the morning temperature on sunday, and 12 in the south. now, we are a little uncertain as to how soon this rain is going to clear from east anglia and the south—east, so, yes, a wet start for many of us, for sure, but that weather front could drag its heels around this corner of the country. i think that by the time we get to around early afternoon we should be all in mostly sunny weather, and certainly the further north and west you are. temperatures 12 in glasgow, 13 in birmingham, in plymouth it will also be about 13 —

add a degree on top of that, i think, in the south—east. now, monday, a weak weather front will sweep across the country, and then this high pressure will build. here is that weak weather front in the morning. that will produce some rain, some showers for a time, then i think the skies will clear a little bit later on in the day. temperatures about what we have been used to, maybe a shade lower, say 9 in stornoway, about 10 in liverpool and 13 or so in london, and if you're planning the week it is looking unsettled. it's going to be often wet, windy at times, temperatures still into double figures and then at the end of the week ahead it could turn a little bit colder. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the family of the late russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, say they've been unable to collect his body. his spokesperson tells the bbc the authorieties are hiding it. we know that law has never been applied to alexei, and so we have no doubt that they will try to hide his body as long as possible.

aore than 100 people are reported to be arrested at navalny memorials across russia. coating murderer was being projected on buildings —— putin murderer. the ukrainian president says his forces had to abandon the eastern town of avdiivka because they'd been outgunned. now on bbc news, world questions: poland. i'm jonny dymond and welcome to world questions from the royal castle in the polish capital warsaw. the new government has been making sweeping changes as it seeks to roll back the reforms of the last administration. the audience here will put their questions to a panel of senior politicians. applause.

welcome to the ballroom of the royal castle in warsaw.