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. "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. "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. i spoke to sergey sanovich, a fellow at the hoover institution, stanford university and began by asking him about a picture he posted today — showing him together with navalny after an opposition rally in 2005. i was a student in moscow and i watched the political rise of navalny, the initially local activist, about issues about urban development. and i should say, the interesting thing about him was that, yes, he was against corruption,

for democracy and free speech, but he didn't take an easy path arriving to this enlightened views. he himself is from a humble background. psychologically speaking, he's closer to putin than to boris nemtsov, who had a phd in physics and started as an activist interviewing andrei sapper. 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, innovating all the time. his learning was not for the sake of learning. he brought us—style campaigning to russia. he was probably the only true retail politician in russia. he organised events, created 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. how popular was he? sorry to interrupt, as you say, he learned very quickly, he used social media and american—style campaigning. in that sense, he learned very quickly. but he didn't hesitate to put himself in harm's way, did he? he never did, and i think that again is something unique about his personality. it was such a stark contrast with all the ruling russian elite. he never was elected anywhere and he was allowed to run in elections only once. this did not stop him from making an impact in russia. he was universally recognised in the country as the only equal to putin. but at the same time,

it prevented him from developing this typical russian leadership incuriosity, you know, sort of ignorance. he really was prepared to modernise himself first. relationship with his 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 does now after his death. well, the russian government did not persecute just 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 also face lengthy prison sentences. so his network was unique among russian opposition and that is why putin punished navalny so brutally and so openly but also went after his supporters. not maybe his close associates, but somebody that was affiliated with him some point several years ago, these people are still under threat. so putin is taking it very seriously. the fact that navalny had this following and this huge international profile, does that suggest now that putin's days are 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 there would be a opening at some point, and the question is how it would be used. will there be people who learn the mistakes of the past? 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 as putin accumulated over the years. sorry to interrupt, ijust want to ask you very briefly about his vision concerning the war in ukraine? i think he clearly took an anti—war position, right after the annexation of crimea.

you know, the details of that, his thinking 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 on the path to be "a normal european democracy," as navalny put it. president biden has blamed congressional inaction for ukraine's defeat in a front—line town in eastern ukraine. in a phone call with president zelensky, he said the withdrawal by ukraine's troops came after they'd been forced to ration ammunition. mr biden stressed the need for congress to approve the latest tranche of military aid for kyiv, which is currently being blocked by republicans.

president putin has congratulated the russian army for its capture of avdiivka. president zelensky has said the decision to withdraw was taken to save soldiers�* lives. our 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. on 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 a week ago, 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 in such circumstances, we consider this a successful operation.- this a successful operation. playing down the significance _ this a successful operation. playing down the significance of— this a successful operation. playing down the significance of the - this a successful operation. playing down the significance of the day's l down the significance of the day's retreat. 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. and we'll be joined live by andrew harding in eastern ukraine shortly. 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. here, the leader of the opposition labour party — sir keir starmer — has told the bbc he wants to see a ceasefire in gaza, but stopped short of calling for it now. it comes as the scottish labour party passed a motion calling for an "immediate ceasefire" at its annual conference in glasgow. sir keir was asked at the munich security conference where he stood on the issue. 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. 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. 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. many british... many british subpostmasters 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 resolve involve 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's 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? overwhelming, 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's 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're going to be prosecuted. you think, crikey, we'll 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 up to our friends to borrow money and we had to pay it by a30. i thought it was me, you thought it was you, and it wasn't — it was the computer system. 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's ended up with just £10,000 worth of damages, far less than he's 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've got 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's got a very strong case. just how long will it take to unravel? emma simpson, bbc news, hawkshead. more now on the fall of the eastern ukrainian city of avdiivka to russian forces. president biden has blamed congressional inaction for the loss, saying ukrainian forces withdrew after being forced to ration ammunition. and andrew harding joins us live from eastern ukraine. what does this victory for russian forces mean for the course of this war? . ~ , , forces mean for the course of this war? ., ~ , , ., ., , forces mean for the course of this war? ., , ., , war? frankly, it is hard to be sure. riuht war? frankly, it is hard to be sure. right now. — war? frankly, it is hard to be sure. right now. the _ war? frankly, it is hard to be sure. right now, the russians _ war? frankly, it is hard to be sure. right now, the russians have - right now, the russians have conquered essentially a city, town

of rubble, nothing more. it doesn't have any particular strategic value of its own but it might allow the russians to start making inroads to more important towns and railway junctions here in the donbas. what i think it does show is that both sides now realise that this is going to be a very long conflict. the russians are currently pushing hard, notjust russians are currently pushing hard, not just around avdiivka russians are currently pushing hard, notjust around avdiivka but russians are currently pushing hard, not just around avdiivka but also russians are currently pushing hard, notjust around avdiivka but also to the north, and they are hoping to build on their success in avdiivka over the coming months. the russians will carry on doing that, the ukrainians have made it clear they are digging in now and are hoping over the next few months to exact a heavy price in terms of russian manpower, russian equipment for every yard, every kilometre that the russians may or may not advance. and then the ukrainians say it will be their turn then the ukrainians say it will be theirturn again, then the ukrainians say it will be their turn again, they are hoping to get more western weapons like they did last year, but even more long—range missiles from the west

and perhaps even fighterjets, and then perhaps later this year, perhaps next year, the ukrainians can be in a position to launch another counteroffensive, and they will be hoping that it is more successful than the one you may remember last year, which really sputtered out, particularly in those huge russian minefields that caused so many casualties on the ukrainian side. , ., , .., , ., side. the question then becomes to what extent — side. the question then becomes to what extent the _ side. the question then becomes to what extent the united _ side. the question then becomes to what extent the united states - side. the question then becomes to what extent the united states and l what extent the united states and europe, being their main supporters in this conflict, are going to continue to offer that support? exactly, and everyone here is talking about america watching what the republicans are saying particularly about arming ukraine. there is, i think, particularly about arming ukraine. there is, ithink, increasingly particularly about arming ukraine. there is, i think, increasingly and understanding among ukrainians that they are going to have to be self—sufficient in as much they can be because they realise they cannot rely on europe on our america to do theirfighting or to do all of

rely on europe on our america to do their fighting or to do all of the arms and weapons supplies that ukraine wants. on the other hand, i think without those western supplies, ukrainians longer term are going to be in trouble.— going to be in trouble. thank you very much _ going to be in trouble. thank you very much for— going to be in trouble. thank you very much forjoining _ going to be in trouble. thank you very much forjoining us. - let's get some of the day s other news now. 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 over the incident. thousands of people have demonstrated in senegal�*s capital, demanding presidential elections take place soon. the protests follow the country's top court blocking president macky sall�*s attempt to postpone the election, originally scheduled for this month. the controversial decree, which was backed by parliament, triggered a political crisis in senegal, once regarded as a bastion of democracy in west africa. hungary's prime minister, viktor orban, has promised a package

of new child protection laws in response to a paedophile scandal that has shaken his party. in his annual state of the nation speech, he praised president katalin novak for her decision to step down, and called for parliament to elect a new head of state urgently. now, how would you like to live on mars? not much, i would imagine. not much, iwould imagine. well, thatis not much, iwould imagine. well, that is not exactly what is being offered. 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 prepares forfuture missions to the red planet. our reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom — not on another planet — 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. excellent. i hope the in—flight service is good. and finally, a stranded dolphin has been rescued after becoming stuck in mud in a shallow inlet in cornwall, south—west england. a team from british divers marine life rescue managed to get the mammal to shore before the tide went out. the female dolphin was given first aid and then released back into the sea. we will bring you more animal news

just as soon as we can. 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 southeast 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 1a, 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. more than 100 protesters have been detained for attending memorials in russia. in the us, the words "putin murderer" were projected on to the embassy building. president biden has blamed congressional inaction for ukraine's

defeat in the front line ukrainian town of avdiivka. he's stressed the need for congress to approve the latest tranche of military aid for kyiv, which is currently being blocked by republicans. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. "troublemaker" isn't a word that my guests normally use to describe themselves. but my guest on political thinking this week, a conversation with, rather than interrogation of, someone who shapes our political thinking about what has shaped theirs, does call herself a troublemaker. she is the deputy chair of the bma, the british medical association, which is planning another series ofjunior doctors' strikes.