hello, i'm tanya beckett. the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics has been confirmed by his family. they say they've had no access to his body — and they believe it's being deliberately withheld to allow the authorities to cover their tracks. russian officials say it's because an investigation is ongoing. vigils mourning mr navalny and expressing outrage at his death have continued around the world — this was the scene outside the russian embassy in london today. in san francisco, people gathered outside city hall, some holding banners accusing president putin of murder. in russia itself, more than 350 people have been detained for attending memorials. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. in moscow, they continue

to bring flowers and pay respects to alexei navalny, the kremlin�*s most vocal critic who has died in prison. "move along, you can't stay here," the policeman says. "we have a right to be here," she shouts. "we want to and we will stand here." someone adds, "this street isn't yours, it belongs to everyone." but the riot police don't seem to think so. there are cries of disgrace, shame, as police start to clear the area. and then the arrests. across russia, hundreds of people have been detained at events commemorating the late opposition leader. these are the last known images of alexei navalny from two days ago. the russian authorities claim he died the next day after falling unconscious.

today, mr navalny�*s mother arrived at the remote penal colony where he died, beyond the arctic circle. she was told her son's body had been taken to a local morgue, but... the body of alexei isn't there, so alexei's prison just lied to his lawyer and his mother that the body is there. 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. we do know one thing — the russian authorities are saying very little about what happened. the death of alexei navalny is a huge story — outside russia, but here it's being kept out of the headlines, barely mentioned by the state media, as if the kremlin is hoping out of sight, out of mind. not everyone is out laying flowers — but everyone we spoke to had heard about mr navalny�*s death,

though there was a mixed reaction. a "it's very sad," anton says, "and it's bad there are political prisoners." but she says she's not interested, she doesn't care about politics. such indifference suits the authorities. to his supporters, alexei navalny will always be a symbol that change is possible. but the kremlin will be hoping most russians won't care enough to make him a martyr. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. anti—corruption campaigner bill browder was a friend of alexei navalny�*s. he spoke to the bbc at the munich security conference. it's heartbreaking. absolutely heartbreaking. he was the hope for russia. he was what russia should be. he was against corruption. he was for democracy. he was for free speech.

and he was going against these criminals, these murderers, and he was calling them out. and the most important thing is that in spite of how hard they were grinding him, sending him to siberia and sending him to solitary confinement, he alwaysjoked, he always smiled and he always showed that nothing they could do could break him. and that symbolism for the russian people was so important because everybody is in one way or another imprisoned in russia, even if they're not in prison. and losing him, having them kill him — and make no mistake, this was a murder, this was a politically motivated murder — it's heartbreaking for me, for his family — most importantly for his family — but also for the people of russia. let's speak to sergey sanovich, a fellow at the hoover institution, stanford university. welcome to the programme. you posted today a picture in which you and alexei navalny feature together. it

is dated back to 2005, but tell me about how your paths have crossed and glided over the years? i was about how your paths have crossed and glided over the years?- and glided over the years? i was a student in moscow _ and glided over the years? i was a student in moscow and _ and glided over the years? i was a student in moscow and i _ and glided over the years? i was a student in moscow and i watched l and glided over the years? i was a i student in moscow and i watched the political rise of alexei navalny, the initially local activist about issues about urban development. and i should say, the interesting thing about him is that, yes, he was against corruption, but he didn't take an easy path arriving to this enlightened. psychologically speaking, he is closer to putin. alexei navalny was the son of a junior military officer with a rural background so his path was not without mistakes, but i think what was unique about him was his

capacity to learn. he moved very quickly all the time. his learning was not for the sake of learning. he brought us style campaigning to russia, he organised events, greeted a network of supporters and, through that, learned the value of democracy and free speech. so this combination, the ability to see eye to eye with ordinary people, even his prison guards, even they couldn't conceal their affection to him. , couldn't conceal their affection to him, , ., couldn't conceal their affection to him. , ., , a couldn't conceal their affection to him. sorry to interrupt. as you say, he learned — him. sorry to interrupt. as you say, he learned very _ him. sorry to interrupt. as you say, he learned very quickly, _ him. sorry to interrupt. as you say, he learned very quickly, he - him. sorry to interrupt. as you say, he learned very quickly, he used . he learned very quickly, he used social media and american style campaigning, but he didn't hesitate to put himself in harm's way, did he? ., ~

to put himself in harm's way, did he? . ~' . he? he never did, and i think that aaain is he? he never did, and i think that again is something _ he? he never did, and i think that again is something unique - he? he never did, and i think that again is something unique about | he? he never did, and i think that l again is something unique about his personality. it was such a stark contrast with all the ruling russian elite. he never was elected anywhere he was allowed to run, this did not stop him from making an impact in russia. he was universally recognised in the country. but at the same time, it prevented him from developing this typical russian leadership, sort of ignorance. he really was prepared to modernise himself first. relationship with a family, how he treated his staff and supporters, and then bringing those values to the whole country, and

this is a big tragedy that he will not be able to make a further impact on russian development after putin. the question now is the size of the following he developed and what that following he developed and what that following does now after his death. well, the russian government did not prosecute alexei navalny personally, a number have his supporters were persecuted and are currently on trial. they face up to a decade or more in prison. recently they arrested several of his lawyers, other lawyers that he had had to leave russia but several were not able to so they are currently behind bars. and there's our lengthy prison sentences. so his network was unique among russian opposition and that is why putin punished alexei navalny so brutally and so openly but even went

after his supporters. not his close associates, but some buddy that was with him some points several years ago, these people are under threat. so putin is taking it very seriously. so putin is taking it very seriously-— so putin is taking it very seriousl . w ., ., , seriously. the fact that he had this followin: seriously. the fact that he had this following and _ seriously. the fact that he had this following and this _ seriously. the fact that he had this following and this huge _ following and this huge international profile, does that suggest now that putin's days are numbered?— suggest now that putin's days are numbered? ~ ., ., _ ., numbered? well, i would not say that i exect numbered? well, i would not say that l exnect any — numbered? well, i would not say that i expect any immediate _ numbered? well, i would not say that i expect any immediate consequences for putin. his regime is strong and doesn't face significant opposition inside or outside. but after putin, this is the key question, because they would be a opening at some point, and the questioning how it would be used. would there be people who learnt the mistakes of the past. alexei navalny openly stated that the first thing he should do if he acquires power is to restrict it, to

turn russia from a one—man dictatorship to a parliamentary republic, akin to a westminster system, where nobody can wield as much power. system, where nobody can wield as much power-— much power. sorry to interrupt, i 'ust want much power. sorry to interrupt, i just want to _ much power. sorry to interrupt, i just want to ask _ much power. sorry to interrupt, i just want to ask you _ much power. sorry to interrupt, i just want to ask you very - much power. sorry to interrupt, i just want to ask you very briefly i just want to ask you very briefly about his vision concerning the war in ukraine? i about his vision concerning the war in ukraine?— in ukraine? i think he clearly took an anti-war— in ukraine? i think he clearly took an anti-war position _ in ukraine? i think he clearly took an anti-war position right - in ukraine? i think he clearly took an anti-war position right after. in ukraine? i think he clearly took| an anti-war position right after the an anti—war position right after the annexation of crimea. you know, the details of that evolved, but after the full scale invasion two years ago he clearly said that crimea is ukrainian and russia, to have any future, has to take its troops out of ukraine, save russian lives, save ukrainian lives and get back to "a

normal european democracy," as alexei navalny put it. president putin has congratulated the russian army for its capture of a key city in the east of ukraine, following the withdrawal of ukrainian troops. for months, russian forces had been on the offensive around avdiivka and now almost completely encircle it. ukraine's president zelensky says the decision to withdraw was taken to save soldiers' lives. speaking at the security conference in munich, he repeated his request for more financial and military aid. mr zelesnky also spoke to the us president today. the white house sastoe biden reiterated america's unwavering support for ukraine, and emphasized the need for congress to approve the latest package of aid for kyiv. he also warned the withdrawl from avdiivka was down to a lack of ammunition for ukrainian troops.

0ur correspondent andrew harding is in the donbas region, close to the city, and sent this report. ukrainian troops film themselves as they withdraw from avdiivka. exhausted after the longest and perhaps the bloodiest battle of the war so far. russian shells still landing close by. in the town centre, a russian flag is raised and another on a rooftop in one of the town's industrial areas. the kremlin is already crowing, releasing footage of russian fighterjets in action. air power has played a big role in this victory. 0n the ground, ukrainian forces have also been struggling with acute shortages of men, and in particular of ammunition. so these are the last two shells that you have? "yes," this artillery officer told us this week, blaming western nations

for halting supplies. the result? ukrainian infantry fighting to hold on to avdiivka have been heavily outgunned, by as much as 10 to i. and so, eventually, ukraine ordered a withdrawal. at times, well organised — but not always. here, a ukrainian armoured vehicle is hit by a drone. overall, though, russia has lost far more men here, perhaps tens of thousands. so, now what? on its own, the fall of this one small town won't change the course of the war. but again, russia has shown its sheer determination, its massive firepower and its willingness to sustain very heavy casualties. and none of that is good news for ukraine. no wonder towns nearby are nervous. every day, i think about the future. not only this town, but every town.

kostiantynivka, dniprovske... that they may be next? yes. for now, in avdiivka, the russians are once more lords of the rubble. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. for more on what's happening in ukraine, we spoke to defence analystjonathan marcus, who told us how significant recent gains by russia have been. it's very significant. it's the first significant russian advance since much earlier last year. russia clearly now has the initiative, it's on the point of trying to take back territory that the ukrainians captured last year, and a number of other areas, too. of course, much of it is due to the fact the russians are willing

to expend huge numbers of lives and losses of equipment to make this headway, but also the fact, as president zelensky was saying in munich earlier today, the ukrainians are suffering from a dramatic shortage in ammunition. this is in many ways an intensely artillery war. shells are being fired at volumes perhaps nobody has seen or even imagined would be the case in modern warfare for a very long time now. and because of essentially the us delay, the halt in this huge aid package to ukraine — largely because of the republicans in the house of representatives — the ukrainians are starved of ammunition. you hear stories of batteries down to very small numbers of shells, or no shells, they have propellant with the fire but no ammunition as such. they have the ammunition but don't

have the propellant, or whatever. so it's a very serious case — the ukrainians have pulled back into avdiivka. i think they had little choice — they wanted to extricate their men and equipment. as i say, it means the russians have the initiative, and the hope clearly for president zelensky and supporters of ukraine is that these events galvanise opinion in the west, and perhaps bring about some sort of serious urgency in actually giving ukraine the wherewithal to defend itself. the former south africa cricket all—rounder mike procter, has died aged 77, according to his family. procter played seven tests for south africa before they were banned from international cricket in 1970 because of the country's racist apartheid policies. proctor spent ia seasons with gloucestershire,

later coaching south africa when they returned to the international arena. liverpool and arsenal have benefited from manchester city's first dropped points in the premier league for two months — with the title race taking another twist on saturday. liverpool stay top. they won 4—1 at brentford with mo salah scoring on his return from injury, while city needed to win to have chance of staying second. but they couldn't. held 1—1 by chelsea at the etihad on a day erling haaland missed a host of good chances. the champions were heading for defeat after raheem sterling scored against his former side. but rodri's late equaliser at least kept their year—long unbeaten home record intact. the draw though does end a run of 11 straight wins in all competitions. we played an incredible second half. the first half was a little

bit not our level, will happen with many games. you have to play 90 minutes, notjust a half. arsenal have now scored 11 goals in two games after winning 5—0 at burnley. the floodgates opened early through martin 0dergaard, then bukayo saka got two of the four that followed as arsenal went above manchester city into second, two points behind leaders liverpool. the purpose that we are playing with, the form that the players are in, they want more. they way they tried back at 96 minutes, it tells you a lot about how they feel at the moment. it's about maintaining momentum now. aston villa are back into the top four after they beat fulham 2—1, while spurs lost by the same scoreline against wolves. plenty more reaction to all the days games on the bbc sport website. in germany, bayer leverkusen equalled bayern munich�*s record of 32 league matches without defeat as they beat heidenheim 2—1. xabi alonso's side move eight points clear at the top of the table ahead of bayern's match with bochum on sunday — a game thomas tuchel

knows they need to win to respond to a week that included losses to both leverkusen and then lazio in the champions league. translation: it's been a very bad week for us so far. - we imagined it to be completely different with the three away games, but there's still one game left and giving up is not an option. neither for us in the title race or in the champions league. it's still on, and you have to prove yourself as a coach and as a player. iga swiatek has won the wta qatar open title for the third straight year. the world number one beat elena rybakina in straight sets, although it wasn't straightforward. the first set took almost 90 minutes! it was the first title of the year for swiatek and the 18th of her career. alex de minaur remains on course to win his first atp tour title in almost a year. that's after a straight—sets win over grigor dimitrov in the semifinals of the rotterdam 0pen. fifth seed de minaur broke dimitrov in the opening game of the match and went on to win 6—4, 6—3.

but he'll face top seed and australian open championjannik sinner in the final. he's just beaten tallon griekspoor in straight sets. england are in a real bind in the third test against india in rajkot, but the man who scored a century in their first innings doesn't sound too concerned. ben duckett raised a few eyebrows after he said when it comes to their eventual chase: "the more the better." well, after collapsing to 319 all out, they're 322 runs behind india, who are 196—2 in their second innings. it was one of those days and ifeel like it's one of those where you have to give credit to india. i thought right from this morning they were very good, they didn't make it very easy to score at all, it seems like their plans were a lot better than maybe last night. and unfortunately, wejust kept losing wickets at the wrong time. and it was one of those days. and that's all the sport for now.

israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu has vowed to carry on the war against hamas regardless of international pressure. in a televised speech, he insisted victory was within sight. he said nothing would stop israel achieving its goals, which included destroying hamas in rafah where a million palestinian refugees have sought shelter. he said not entering the southern gazan city would mean losing the war. translation: we are now fighting in khan younis, . the capital of terrorism. and in recent days, we've reached places we've reached places the enemy could never have imagined us reaching. we have demolished most hamas battalians and we will not stop until we destroy all of them. this is a necessary condition in order to achieve absolute victory. we will hunt down the terrorists, the leaders of hamas who are escaping from one tunnel to the next underground, and we will reach them ultimately and settle the score. it's only a matter of time.

two days ago, i spoke again with president of the us, joe biden. i speak with leaders from different countries every day and i say to them unequivocally israel will fight until it achieves absolute victory. and, yes, this includes also operating in rafah. once we will of course enable the civilians in the combat zone to move on to safer places. those who seek to stop us operating in rafah are actually saying to us that we should lose this war, but i will not agree to that. benjamin netanyahu there. here in the uk, tens of thousands of people have taken part in a pro—palestinian march in central london. 11 people were arrested. the protesters walked to a location near the israeli embassy, where speeches were made. demonstrators were calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. now, how would you like to live on mars?

i'v e i've been asked that question before. the question is, have you? us space agency nasa is looking for four new volunteers to spend a year living and working inside a base that simulates the martian surface, to prepare forfuture missions to the red planet. 0ur reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. this is real footage of the surface of mars. it has been taken by nasa's rover that's been on the planet since february, 2021, collecting rock samples. now, this is sand at thejohnson space center in houston, texas. it is meant to mimic the surface of mars. the reason? well, the space agency wants martians. well, volunteers who are willing to spend a year inside an artificial complex. the 3d—printed habitat is 518 square metres. it simulates the challenges of a mission on mars. the space includes four bedrooms, a living area, medical room,

and a vertical farm to grow things. whilst locked inside, the crew will be given a series of challenges that will mirror those of a true mars mission. they will have to overcome isolation, equipment failure, communication delays, and conduct experiments to measure the impact of life on mars for possible future missions to the red planet. officials hope the data gathered will help them plan for everything, from the mental impact to more mundane things like furniture layout. so, if you fancy a life on mars, you're going to need to be healthy, motivated, between the ages of 30 and 55, a nonsmoker, speak english and be a us citizen. oh, and you're going to have to get used to eating space food for a year. there is already a crew of four inside the complex. they are due out later this year and have already been conducting experiments. now, nasa itself says it hopes to launch astronauts up to mars in the late 2030s or early 2040s, and thatjourney itself

will take seven months. ican i can feel a reality show coming on. what about you? stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. good evening. some very mild air across the uk at the moment. some pretty spring—like scenes, too, such as here in perth and kinross — lots of snowdrops. but for many it's been a grey, damp and drizzly day today. the ground already saturated, too, in places, especially out towards the west. and there's a band of heavy rain sweeping eastwards overnight tonight — could potentially lead to some more surface water flooding. of course, some very large puddles out there as this heavy rain just pushes southwards and eastwards through the night, moving into shetland and lingering across east anglia and the far south east of england. but some clear spells developing

behind, although temperatures won't drop very far, staying in double figures for most. a few isolated showers out towards the north and the west as we head into tomorrow morning. but a rather soggy start to the day across the southeast of england, down towards the south coast as well, east anglia and across shetland. the rain will eventually clear, but it could linger on for some as we head even into the first part of the afternoon, but it will turn gradually more showery. cloud behind it, the cloud breaking up to leave us with some bright and some sunny spells. but for many, i think it will stay largely dry through the day on sunday. some isolated showers again out towards the west of scotland, perhaps western wales and northern ireland, but mostly dry. temperatures again well above the seasonal average, peaking between 10 and ia, maybe even 15 degrees celsius. next week, though, temperatures will be dipping back down to the seasonal average. so it will be feeling colder, particularly by night. and it's still going to be rather unsettled. various areas of low pressure moving in from the atlantic, including another one on sunday night and into monday. and that's going to bring us some

showery outbreaks of rain. it's all pushing its way further southwards and eastwards, gradually fizzling out. lots of brighter skies behind it, along with a northwesterly wind. and again, a few isolated showers in the north and the west, but a definite dip in temperature there, feeling a little fresher by a couple of degrees. and it will be feeling cooler, too, on monday night, with many of our temperatures widely dropping back into mid—single figures. there's another weather front coming through on tuesday. strong, gusty winds as we head through wednesday, with more heavy, persistent rain for the south of england. so here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. it will be feeling cooler and it will stay unsettled. wet, very windy at times. bye— bye.

this is bbc news — the headlines. the whereabouts of the body of the late russian opposition figure alexei navalny remain unknown after the russian authorities refused to release it to his family. 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. the us vice president has warned republicans in washington not to play political games over support for ukraine, after a front line town was lost to invading russians. israel's prime minister has insisted

he won't bow to international pressure over israel's offensive in gaza. and as the biggest names in haute couture sashay down the catwalk for london fashion week's 40th year, we meet some of the designers trying to develop a range of sustainable clothing. let's get more on our top story — russia says it won't release the body of alexei navalny until a postmortem examination is complete. the 47—year—old was a prominent critic of vladimir putin. mr navalny�*s team say the authorities killed him and are now concealing the evidence. western governments say the blame lies with russian authorities for his sudden death, while foreign ministers from the g7 group of rich countries have called on russia to "urgently clarify" the circumstances surrounding it. earlier here on bbc news, we heard from kira yarmysh, who was alexei navalny�*s spokesperson. she spoke to my colleague

azadeh moshiri and explained what they were demanding to know from the authorities in russia. we don't know anything about the location of his body because employees of 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... ..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 employees of 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. they found the morgue closed and 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 a 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. let's return now to the munich security conference. among world leaders and diplomats in munich for high—level debates on the world's most pressing security challenges are the european commission president ursula von der leyen and china's foreign minister wang yi, who addressed saturday's session. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky also addressed the conference, and called on europe to respond to the russian president putin. labour leader sir keir starmer has also been at the conference. he spoke to our security correspondent frank gardner and shared his reaction to the news of alexei navalny�*s death. just a tribute to navalny himself, what a courageous individual fighting corruption in the most awful circumstances. i was very moved by the words from his wife so soon after his death, and she was right

to say that russia has to be held to account and the international community has to be clear about that. it is a reminder that russia is an ever—present threat. it's one of the reasons i'm here at the munich security conference to talk about an incoming labour government, if we are privileged enough to get that far, and how wejoin with our international partners in meeting that ever—present threat from russia, but it has to be held to account. we've heard a very impassioned plea here from president zelensky of ukraine for more help from europe. basically, he's trying to give a wake—up call to europe. if you become prime minister, what more can ukraine expect from the uk? i thought they were very powerful words from president zelensky as they always are. i had the opportunity and privilege to go to kyiv last year and meet president zelensky myself, one—to—one. the purpose of that was to assure

him that should there be a change of government in the uk, we've obviously got big elections this year, and a labour government comes in, there will be no lessening of support for ukraine. we have obviously stood with the current government, united in the face of russian aggression. that will continue and double down in our support for ukraine and in the face of russian aggression, so i've given that assurance personally to president zelensky and that is the open position of the labour party. turning to the middle east, the scottish labour party is supporting an immediate ceasefire. where do you stand on that, in gaza? i think anybody, all of us are shocked and appalled at the ongoing violence in gaza. we have hostages that continue to be held and we have thousands upon thousands of civilians who have been killed, including a very high percentage of children. nobody can stand in the face of that evidence and believe that we don't

need to take action. we do need to get to a ceasefire, we all want a ceasefire. the question is, how do we get there? the fighting has to stop. any assault on rafah must be repelled. we must not allow that to go ahead. have you made that clear to the israeli government? we have been clear in our communications with all of our partners about this, but that needs to create the space for hostages to be released, for desperately needed humanitarian aid to get in, in a much greater volume than it is at the moment. but equally important, if not more important, to use that stopping of the fighting to create the space for the political dialogue that is the only way out of this in the long run towards a two—state solution, making and continuing to make the case for a secure israel, a viable palestinian state, and being absolutely clear that recognition of palestine

has to be part of that. do you worry that a future trump presidency is going to make america more isolationist and leave europe possibly under—defended? one of the issues that everybody here at the munich security conference is discussing is what the various elections across the globe will mean for security in the future. i think there is a feeling that the challenge will enhance as we go forward, and that europe needs to stand together and talk about the defence, notjust now but of the future. obviously, as you would expect, if we are elected into government, we will deal with whoever the american people choose to be their president. including donald trump? whoever they choose to be their president, but, of course, we redouble our commitment to nato. that's one of the reasons i'm here in munich, talking about the challenges,

not just of today but tomorrow, and how the uk can play its full part in that. let's get a few of the other stories we're following from around the world. prosecutors in paris say police shot dead a man who'd threatened them with a meat cleaver at a tram stop. they say officers opened fire after using a taser on the sudanese—born man, who'd refused to drop the cleaver. two investigations have been launched. hungary's prime minister viktor 0rban has promised a package of new child protection laws, in response to a paedophile scandal that has shaken his party. in his state of the nation speech, he praised president katalin novak for her decision to step down, and called for parliament to urgently elect a new head of state. thousands of people have demonstrated in senegal�*s capital, dakar, demanding presidential elections take place soon. it follows the country's top court blocking president macky sall�*s attempt to postpone the election, originally scheduled for this month. the controversial decree,

backed by parliament, triggered a political crisis in senegal, once regarded as a bastion of democracy in west africa. african union heads of state are in the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, for an annual meeting as the continent continues to grapple with insecurity and the effects of climate change. before the gathering, the african union commission head moussa faki mahamat voiced alarm at the violence gripping many nations, both in africa and other parts of the world. to find out more, i spoke earlier to mm—ma ekeruche, a senior research fellow at the centre for the study of the economies of africa. i think the agenda is very informative and very relevant, you know. these summits take place annually. for this year, a lot is on the table. so first, the defining issues of our time, whether it is climate change or the reform

of the international financial system. also, issues that are undermining our growth and development as individual countries and also collectively as a continent. so education, for instance. the theme for this year, the african union theme for this year is education. countries are trying to develop ways to improve efficiency in education spending, to rejig school curricula, to ensure that the students being turned out of universities are employable. also, to harness the resources of the private sector in improving education. also, like you mentioned, political stability, that is, you know, top on the agenda as well. forgive me for interrupting, does the fact this summit is taking

place imply that there is more unity on the continent? because that has been a problem in the past, hasn't it? it is also riven with conflict, as are many parts of the world, but africa is particularly associated with that, and also, climate change. these are two other problems it is facing. well, this summit has been taking place annually for years now. so to a large extent, the continent has been united, you know, under the african union. yes, there has been an increase in, you know, armed conflict and terrorism. for instance, the drc is one case where there is a lot of conflict around mining and, you know, global attention is, you know, getting there. there are also increases in election—related violence. but, you know, on the whole, holistically, the continent has been very well united.

there are resurgences of military rule in countries like burkina faso, niger, mali, but those are just... those are happening in silos, right? they are happening in very few countries. here in the uk, the government is considering plans to allow dentists from abroad to work in england without taking an exam to check their education and skills. the proposal, subject to a three—month consultation, aims to deal with the severe shortage of nhs dentists. it is hoped a quicker process would attract more dentists. but the british dental association has accused the government of avoiding the issues "forcing" dentists to quit. eddie crouch is chairman of the british dental association. well, we know a significant number of people who sit the current overseas registration examination are unsuccessful.

so, there is a cohort of people that are taking the current exams that the gdc deem unfit to actuallyjoin the register. but the significant problem here is that the government are trying to fix a problem by filling up a bucket, a leaky bucket of people who are leaving the profession. and there is absolutely no guarantee that these overseas graduates, when they come to the uk to work, will enjoy the system in the nhs any more than home—grown dentists, and they too will end up perhaps leaving the nhs. the gdc themselves say that there is no guarantee by importing more dentists that it will solve the problem of nhs dentistry, and that needs to be fixed first. many british sub—postmasters wrongly accused of theft and fraud are still fighting for compensation after one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in uk history. the cases taking the longest

to resolve 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 was 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 £1a0,000 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. reports of romance fraud have risen nearly 60% in england and wales since 2020. scammers often steal real photos to set up fake social media profiles, before forming relationships and convincing people to send them money. josie hannett has been investigating. itjust kind of seduced me, even though my head was saying, "this is a scam." they are so convinced, they are engaged with me, whatever i say when they write me,

they attack me, i'm the fake guy. mary and christian have one thing in common — they were both targeted by romance scammers. mary and her husband julian were together for 23 years. he died in 2020 and a couple of years later, she felt ready to get back into dating. a teacher and actor from sussex, she was approached on facebook by a man claiming to be a trauma surgeon called danny. this man just seemed to know exactly what to say to push the right buttons, and i was open, totally receptive. hejust lured me into his... his — it was like a spider's web. iwas, you know, or like a moth to the flame. i was really missing that — that intimacy but notjust the intimacy but the sharing and, you know, saying what i'd done in my day and all that kind of stuff. he asked mary for money for medical research and gift cards for his son. she sent him nearly £1,000 before her bank intervened.

there were lots of things that made me think, "ah, this is a bit weird" and one day, he said, "0h, here i am!" and i thought, "where are you?" it was so dark, i couldn't see anything! and ijust couldn't quite make out if his lips were in sync with what i was hearing. i mean, iwasjust lying all the time. i lied my stepson because he said, "oh, it sounds like this may be a scam" and i said, "yeah, it might be a scam" and he said, "he hasn't asked you for money, has he?" and i said to him, "no, no, no, of course he hasn't". danny isn't the man in these pictures. this is christian boving. these are real images of him. he's a doctor and he's from denmark. but scammers have been using these pictures for years and even photoshopped them to make him look like he is in hospital, and with messages to try to convince people the relationship is real. every day, i'm reporting new profiles. it has been hard. yeah, iwas... i think i was nearly going into a depression because i felt used, misused.

i feel degraded. i couldn't get any help from anywhere and i was... i was also... i didn't want to tell people about it in the beginning. we work with a company called scamalytics who work- across all the dating platforms - to remove profiles and disrupt those fraudsters, because that one profile or that one image or, _ i most importantly, lots of profilesl created from the same ip address, may be being used - across multiple websites. are you happy, ready to meet her? yes, of course. 0k, right, let's bring her in. mary thought she was in relationship with christian for months, but now is the first time they've ever actually met. mary. can you see me now? we can see you! this is... hi, mary! this is so weird, christian, that you're there in real life! i'm actually a real person! i'm so sorry to hear about your story and... well, i'm just so sorry for you that

it's been going on for ten years! i'm so pleased to meet you, mary, and good to get, like, a real you on the screen as well. yeah, i'm very pleased to meet you, having seen your picture, and that's what i've seen! poor man! it's unbelievable! we sent 1a fake profiles pretending to be christian to facebook�*s owner meta. within 2a hours, they've removed the accounts. the most important thing for these two victims is raising awareness of the crime to prevent scammers from striking again. josie hannett, bbc news. and the biggest names in fashion are hitting the catwalk as london fashion week begins. among them, charity daisy chain, whose creations are made from thousands of bags of old clothes and fabrics, highlighting fashion waste. gerry jackson reports.

just a couple of the 2,000 bags of clothing and accessories that arrive at the daisy chain warehouses every week. some can be sold on but what can't might still be useful. we know that we're kind of the last stop for these textiles before they might end up in landfill so we decided to do something with the textiles that would give them a bit more longevity and a bit more life in the fashion world. neuthreads is this charity's answer to our global throwaway culture, using every kind of fabric, textile, even handbags and luggage straps. new clothing can be created that's not only unique but good enough to catch the eye of the fashion industry's trendsetters. this dress is made from a duvet cover. some of you might recognise this. and then we got the cuffs from a child's jacket and we used it as the sleeves. we also used the zips from handbags and we used the zips from other things that we put onto these to create the whole design, so every one is unique

in its own way. unique and sustainable, and the ambition doesn't end there. all profits are being ploughed back into causes supporting north east people with autism and other neurodivergent conditions. as far as i'm aware, nobody does what we do. certainly no—one does this in the north east of england — for design and environmental design but also ethical where we are ploughing the money back, straight back, into social enterprise which affects people's lives in the north east of england, to enable them to live a better life if you're neurodiverse. there's lots more where this came from, but sadly, what they're actually taking to london fashion week is a fairly closely—guarded secret. national lottery money has helped get them this far but it's hoped their own catwalk at fashion week could really make success materialise. it's just beyond our wildest dreams. we just never thought this something like this would happen, with hundreds of people coming to see our designs in the biggest stage

in the uk for fashion so we don't know where this could go. it could only go up, we hope, so it's just going to get bigger and bigger. gerry jackson, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. good evening. some very mild air across the uk at the moment. some pretty spring—like scenes too, such as here in perth and kinross, lots of snowdrops. but for many it's been a grey, damp and drizzly day today. the ground already saturated too in places, especially out towards the west. and there's a band of heavy rain sweeping eastwards overnight tonight. could potentially lead to some more surface water flooding. of course, very large puddles out there, as this heavy rain just pushes southwards and eastwards through the night, moving into shetland and lingering across east anglia and the far south east of england. but some clear spells developing behind, although temperatures won't drop very far, staying in double figures for most. a few isolated showers out

towards the north and the west as we head into tomorrow morning. but a rather soggy start to the day across the south east of england, down towards the south coast as well, east anglia and across shetland. the rain will eventually clear, but it could linger on for some as we head even into the first part of the afternoon, but it will turn gradually more showery. cloud behind it, the cloud breaking up to leave us with some bright and some sunny spells. but for many, i think it will stay largely dry through the day on sunday. some isolated showers again out towards the west of scotland, perhaps western wales and northern ireland, but mostly dry. temperatures again well above the seasonal average, peaking between 10—111, maybe even 15 celsius. next week, though, temperatures will be dipping back down to the seasonal average. so it will be feeling colder, particularly by night. and it's still going to be rather unsettled. various areas of low pressure moving in from the atlantic, including another one on sunday night and into monday. and that's going to bring us some showery outbreaks of rain.

it's all pushing its way further southwards and eastwards, gradually fizzling out. lots of brighter skies behind it, along with a northwesterly wind. and again, a few isolated showers in the north and the west, but a definite dip in temperature there, feeling a little fresher by a couple of degrees. and it will be feeling cooler, too, on monday night, with many of our temperatures widely dropping back into mid—single figures. there's another weather front coming through on tuesday. strong, gusty winds as we head through wednesday, with more heavy, persistent rain for the south of england. so here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. it will be feeling cooler and it will stay unsettled. wet, very windy at times. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. the whereabouts of the body of the late russian opposition figure alexei navalny remain unknown after the russian authorities refused to release it to his family. the us vice president warns republicans in washington not to play political games over support for ukraine after a front—line town was lost to invading russians. israel's prime minister insists he won't bow to international pressure over israel's offensive in gaza. hello.

welcome to bbc news. the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics, has been confirmed by his family. they say they've had no access to his body — and they believe it's being deliberately withheld to allow the authorities to cover their tracks. russian officials say it's because an investigation is ongoing. vigils mourning mr navalny and expressing outrage at his death have continued around the world — this was the scene outside the russian embassy in london today. in san francisco, people gathered outside city hall, some holding banners accusing president putin of murder. in russia itself, more than 350 people have been detained for attending memorials. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. in moscow, they continue to bring flowers and pay respects to alexei navalny, the kremlin's most vocal critic who has died in prison. "move along, you can't stay here," the policeman says.