hello, i'm anna foster. the mother of the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, has been refused access to his body for a third day. his representatives say she was not allowed to enter the mortuary near the remote arctic prison, where he suddenly died last week. the navalny family representative said: a couple of other developments — in the last hour, the kremlin has slammed what it calls �*vulgar accusations�* over alexei navalny�*s death and navalny�*s widow, yulia, is due to address european foreign ministers in brussels shortly, at the invitation of the eu's

foreign policy chiefjoseph borrell. the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lyse doucet spoke with him about the significance of the invitation, and the wider concerns around russia and ukraine. it isa it is a way of first honouring navalny. secondly, to express our deep sorry for this death and third and may be the most important thing is to provide a voice to the russian opposition. because in russia, there are people who want to live in freedom, like you and me, and these people have been fighting, together with navalny, and many which are anonymous have also been sent to jail and may be dead. these people deserve support. we try to support them but the best way of supporting them but the best way of supporting them is to give them a voice. navalny died for that and now the fight continues. the

navalny died for that and now the fight continues.— navalny died for that and now the fight continues. the united states and the united _ fight continues. the united states and the united kingdom _ fight continues. the united states and the united kingdom have - fight continues. the united states and the united kingdom have said there must be consequences for russia, with alexei navalny�*s death. what can the consequences be as far as europe is concerned? could there be sanctions?— be sanctions? more sanctions. i don't know _ be sanctions? more sanctions. i don't know how _ be sanctions? more sanctions. i don't know how many _ be sanctions? more sanctions. i don't know how many sanctions | don't know how many sanctions against russia since the war started. sanctions, ithink against russia since the war started. sanctions, i think it is 18 packages of sanctions. i don't remember the exact number because it changes every month. but yes, there are sanctions against russian authorities, against the people responsible for the death of navalny. there is a lot of economic sanctions against the russian economy in order to weaken their capacity to continue doing war against ukraine. i am ready to go to the european council and present proposals for sanctions. the ones we could can see is responsible for the

death of navalny. but you know who is the greatest responsible for the death of navalny? mr putin himself. and you feel you have done everything you can to punish him or restrain him? he everything you can to punish him or restrain him?— restrain him? he is already under sanctions. _ restrain him? he is already under sanctions, under _ restrain him? he is already under sanctions, under european - restrain him? he is already under sanctions, under european union| sanctions, under european union sanctions. he is also under the services of the international community court. it cannot go out of russia because if he goes to a country which is a member of the international court, he can be arrested. in international court, he can be arrested-— arrested. in reality, there is nothina arrested. in reality, there is nothing more _ arrested. in reality, there is nothing more you _ arrested. in reality, there is nothing more you can - arrested. in reality, there is nothing more you can do? l arrested. in reality, there is. nothing more you can do? do arrested. in reality, there is - nothing more you can do? do you arrested. in reality, there is _ nothing more you can do? do you have any suggestions- _ nothing more you can do? do you have any suggestions. how— nothing more you can do? do you have any suggestions. how do _ nothing more you can do? do you have any suggestions. how do you - nothing more you can do? do you have any suggestions. how do you feel- any suggestions. how do you feel about ukraine _ any suggestions. how do you feel about ukraine as _ any suggestions. how do you feel about ukraine as critical- any suggestions. how do you feel about ukraine as critical aid - any suggestions. how do you feel about ukraine as critical aid is - about ukraine as critical aid is being held up in the us congress? can you make up in the shortfalls in aid from america? we can you make up in the shortfalls in aid from america?— can you make up in the shortfalls in aid from america? we are not there. journalists aid from america? we are not there. journalists all — aid from america? we are not there. journalists all these _ aid from america? we are not there. journalists all these anticipate - aid from america? we are not there. journalists all these anticipate the i journalists all these anticipate the bad possible needs.— journalists all these anticipate the bad possible needs. president trump, lookin: for bad possible needs. president trump, looking for a — bad possible needs. president trump, looking for a second _ bad possible needs. president trump, looking for a second term _ bad possible needs. president trump, looking for a second term in _ bad possible needs. president trump, looking for a second term in the - looking for a second term in the united states, is already having an

impact on delaying the funding from the us congress.— the us congress. yes, that is right. it is the us congress. yes, that is right. it is something _ the us congress. yes, that is right. it is something for— the us congress. yes, that is right. it is something for everybody - the us congress. yes, that is right. it is something for everybody who l it is something for everybody who wants to ukraine to prevail is a serious concern. every day that the decision is being delayed in washington, someone pays the highest possible price and this is something that the people who have the capacity to take decisions should keepin capacity to take decisions should keep in mind. you capacity to take decisions should keep in mind-— capacity to take decisions should keep in mind. you have expressed our keep in mind. you have expressed your consent _ keep in mind. you have expressed your consent before _ keep in mind. you have expressed your consent before that - keep in mind. you have expressed your consent before that the - your consent before that the european defence industries cannot keep up with the amount of ammunition that is needed by the ukrainians as they fight on many frontss. ., , �* ukrainians as they fight on many frontss. . , �* ., �* frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because _ frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because it _ frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because it is _ frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because it is my _ frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because it is my duty - frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm worried because it is my duty and i frontss. certainly, i'm worried, i'm. worried because it is my duty and my job to make everything possible in orderfor the ukrainians job to make everything possible in order for the ukrainians to continue receiving a flow of ammunition, for them to continue resisting. i know that even if we have done a lot, russia is increasing its capacity

and we have to keep the pace. but, you know, it is going to be very difficult to imagine that the europeans alone can substitute the war effort that the us is doing in supporting ukraine. this is a call to the responsibility of us lawmakers.— to the responsibility of us lawmakers. . ., , g , to the responsibility of us lawmakers. . , lawmakers. that was joseph borrell, the eu foreign _ lawmakers. that was joseph borrell, the eu foreign policy _ lawmakers. that was joseph borrell, the eu foreign policy chief— lawmakers. that was joseph borrell, the eu foreign policy chief speaking l the eu foreign policy chief speaking to lyse doucet. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford gave us this update. well, this is a comment that's come from kira yarmysh, who is navalny�*s spokeswoman, and she has said exactly that — that the investigative committee, a very powerful body in russia, has informed the family that its investigations, its inquiry is ongoing, its continuing. there's no time frame for when it might finish and there are even no interim results. so no official word on why exactly alexei navalny died on friday afternoon.

so all we have for now, still, is the prison service's initial statement, which says he was out, they say, for a walk in the prison facilities at the prison there and that he collapsed suddenly and he died because medics couldn't resuscitate him. so very, very little information coming forward. also, alexei navalny�*s mother, who has been up in the arctic region for several days now, trying to get access to her son's body, has been refused access to the mortuary where she thought his body was being held, but where in fact staff have not even confirmed that basic fact. that's why all navalny�*s team are now extremely concerned and they're accusing the authorities are essentially covering up what's happened, trying to cover up what �*s happened by deliberately delaying by deliberately delaying the entire process. what's the continuing international reaction to that? i think there is of course concern and it's interesting that today, yulia navalnaya, even at this most hideous time for her as a wife,

now as a widow, she is in brussels and she'll be speaking to eu foreign ministers today to try, i think, to keep pressing home the message that alexei navalny�*s family and his friends and his team believe that whatever happened, however alexei navalny actually died on friday, they hold the russian authorities directly responsible for everything that's happened to him. i think the fundamental thing to remember in all of this is that alexei navalny was in prison because of his political position, because he was the most vocal, the most obvious, the most powerful rival to vladimir putin and he was first poisoned in 2020 with a weapons grade nerve agent, novichok, and when he survived that and went back to russia, he was thrown in prison. he was there serving extremely long consecutive prison sentences, charged on multiple charges but essentially, he was imprisoned because of who he was and because of his politics.

that was sarah raynsford in warsaw. a member of israel's war cabinet has given hamas a deadline to release all the hostages — or the military will launch its offensive in rafah. benny gantz said that unless they were freed by the start of ramadan — expected to be on the 10th march — israeli troops would move into the city. these are live pictures of the situation in rafah at the moment, right in the south of the gaza strip. you can see there, people living in tentss. rafah is currently overcrowded with at least 1.4 million palestinians sheltering there, after being made to move away from northern and central parts of the ctrip. —— of the gaza strip. speaking on sunday, mr gantz, a former defence minister in the israeli goverment, said the message was clear. if by ramadan hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere — to include rafah area.

we will do so in coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians, in dialogue with our american and egyptian partners to minimise the civilian casualties as much as possible. our correspondentjenny hill who is injerusalem spoke about a possible date for an offensive in rafah. essentially, it means that if the israelis are serious about this and if negotiations don't come up with a temporary ceasefire or the return of those hostages, and at this stage it doesn't look as though that's anywhere on the horizon, then there are just three weeks to get more than1 million displaced civilians out of harm's way before that ground offensive begins. that, of course, is the subject of focus of huge international concern. it was quite interesting that mr gantz made these comments at a meeting ofjewish—american leaders last night. the us of course, israel's closest ally, has been among the most vocal of foreign governments,

urging the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to show restraint, to spare rafah, or at the very least have a care to millions of civilians sheltering there. over the weekend, we've heard from mr netanyahu also striking a really defiant tone in the face of that growing international pressure. his position, of course, is that there are battalions of hamas fighters still in rafah, he says, and he's insisted over the weekend several times over that he intends to push on with his plans and as he puts it, "finish thejob". jenny, you spoke there about moving those sheltering palestinians in rafah out of harm's way, what are the realistic options to actually do that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies are saying, there aren't really any good options. we have seen some people leaving rafah. it is of course the southernmost city. these people are sheltering

at the southernmost point of gaza, up against the egyptian border. quite literally in some cases, people in tents, really next to the border wall. it is possible for people to head to the north and west of rafah but the ground there is simply open scrubland. aid agencies warning there are no facilities for people there. as we already know, conditions in rafah itself are very difficult, it's very difficult for people to get hold of food, clean water and so on, let alone medical supplies. if they move to these other areas, the thinking goes they will be in an even more difficult situation. many of these people have been displaced several times over. you'll remember at the beginning of this military operation, which israel launched of course in response to the october 7th attacks, israel itself told civilians to get out of gaza city, then to get out of khan younis, to get out of harm's way as israeli troops swept from the north down through the centre of the gaza strip. now, of course, they are at the southernmost point

without anywhere to go. there is the possibility that some of them might try to cross the border into egypt. it's a border which is closed to them. we've seen reports in recent days that egypt looks to be building some kind of walled enclosure on its side of the border, which, the suspicion is, might be used as a facility to house people who come across the border. the egyptian authorities have denied that they're making any such preparations. that was our correspondent in jerusalem, jenny hill. just some figures to bring you release by the hamas run health ministry in gaza. these numbers but the number of palestinians killed and injured since the war began on the 7th of october. 29,092 palestinians killed and 69,028 injured in israeli strikes on gaza since the 7th of october, that is from the hamas run health ministry in gaza. around the world

and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a major search operation is under way after a child fell into the river soar in leicester. police say the two—year—old boy was with his family when he fell into the water on sunday afternoon. emergency services, including water rescue teams, attended the scene just after 5pm gmt but were unable to locate him. a man was taken to hospital. in bristol, two 15—year—old boys have been charged with the murder of another teenager. 16—year—old darrian williams was fatally stabbed in rawnsley park play area in the easton area of the city last wednesday. the two attackers were wearing masks and fled the scene on bicycles. they have also each been charged with possessing a knife in a public place. the business secretary kemi badenoch will make a statement to mps today — after accusing the former chairman of the post office of misrepresenting the circumstances of his departure.

it follows a newspaper interview in which henry staunton claims he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payments for victims of the post office scandal. you're live with bbc news. headteachers in england have been given government guidance on how to stop children from using mobile phones in schools. ministers had already committed to introducing a ban last year as yunus mulla reports. i need that one too. good friends and in the first year of high school. but with year 7, there's also more time on their mobiles and screen time away from home. i can't find my friends at school because we normally have different... sometimes we have different lessons. sometimes i need to contact my parents. perhaps no surprise to find talk of taking those devices away during school hours hasn't gone down well. like when you're trying to learn, it can be distracting. but like, i don't really see the harm at, like, lunchtime or break.

i think it would, like, take away your freedom when you needed to call your parents or talk about something you don't know how to talk to a teacher about. for parent olivia, her daughter having a mobile away from home is reassuring. and although the school has a strict policy, there are concerns. outside influences, i guess, sort of having access to the internet — that worries me and that she's not concentrating at school. and again, bullying is probably the biggest thing for me. according to government data, almost a third of secondary school pupils said mobile phones were being used without permission. one survey found 44% of primary school parents are concerned about the time their children spend on electronic devices. that figure increases to half of all parents in secondary schools. many schools already have restrictions in place when it comes to using mobiles in classrooms and on school premises. the guidance is aiming to make that approach consistent

across all schools and they will be supported. in recent weeks, the mother of brianna ghey has called for tougher regulations on the use of social media. her daughter's killers had accessed and watched harmful and extremely violent material on their phones. i would like to see the law changed, so that children only have access to children's mobile phones. that could look exactly the same as an adult�*s mobile phone, but without the ability to download social media apps. year 6 is kind of the prime... you know, they're that little bit older, it's that transition to secondary school. tony guise is currently the longest serving secondary school headteacher in calderdale, west yorkshire. he doesn't know of a single headteacher who hasn't already taken action. the problem isn't the phones. the problem is what's on the phones. it's the social media and access to social media on the phones that is causing the issue. isn't it a sign that government is making this a priority for you? when i go into school on monday,

this isn't going to be on the top of my to do list. finding the next maths teacher, the next science teacher will be. balancing my next budget where school funding has not kept up with inflation. that's on my to do list. wondering which bit of the roof has blown off in the storm or which leaks i'm going to have to patch because of the rain — that'll be on my to do list. but actually, we implemented a mobile phone policy a long time ago. the move is being seen as bringing england in line with other countries, including france and italy. but some will question if it is too little too late. yunus mulla, bbc news. a 42—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder, after three children were found dead at a property in bristol. avon and somerset police made the discovery when officers attended a concern for welfare call in the early hours of yesterday morning. the arrested woman is in police custody in hospital. in the last hour, neighourhood chief inspector vicks hayward—melen addressed the public with an update on their investigation.

i'd like to start by saying that this is a terrible and deeply distressing tragedy, in which three young children have lost their lives. our thoughts are very much with the children's loved ones who are going through an horrendous ordeal. we were first called by a member of the public who was concerned for the welfare of the occupants early on sunday, the 18th of february. officers arrived at about 12:40am, and found three children whose lives could not be saved. forensic postmortem examinations will now be carried out on the children to establish the cause of death. and it is important that we don't give further detail on this until the proper processes have been carried out. the postmortem examinations are not likely to be completed until the middle to the end of this week at the earliest. formal identification has not yet taken place, but we believe the victims are a boy aged seven,

a girl of three and a ten—month—old boy. their next of kin have been informed and are being given all of the help and support that they need by specialist family liaison officers. a 42—year—old woman was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital due to injuries that she had sustained. her condition is not life threatening, and she remains in police custody at this time. let's speak to our reporter in bristol danjohnson. we heard a little about the police investigation there but you are in that community and i imagine this is a terribly difficult morning for them? , . , , , a terribly difficult morning for them? , , , them? yes, absolutely, this has totally rocked _ them? yes, absolutely, this has totally rocked people _ them? yes, absolutely, this has totally rocked people here, - them? yes, absolutely, this has totally rocked people here, that| totally rocked people here, that something so awful can have happened to children so young on what is a really quiet residential street. the semi detached house the police were called to just after midnight on saturday is just around there. the neighbours really are stunned by what has happened. it is such an awful, tragic incident and the

police had been describing how people have been affected, about how they have come together and the staff, the police officers and paramedics who were involved in this have been affected as well. talking about the welfare services that will be available to them in the aftermath. there is a murder investigation going on here. there is still forensic examination work going on at the health and in the garden of the property as well. the police are waiting to question that 42—year—old woman who was injured herself and who is in hospital, although she is under arrest on suspicion of murder. avon and somerset police has also referred itself the police watchdog because of prior contact between the police and this household, the i opc says that was some contact earlier this month. we are talking about something two or three weeks ago. it is not something that happened in the immediate run—up to this incident but something that will be examined by the police watchdog.

they have made that referral. the i opc is considering what to do with that evidence, with that information, how much further to take that investigation. but the murder investigation here is progressing as the neighbours try to absorb what sounds like a truly shocking, awful, awfulfamily shocking, awful, awful family tragedy. shocking, awful, awfulfamily traced . shocking, awful, awfulfamily traced. . ~ shocking, awful, awfulfamily traced. . ,, shocking, awful, awfulfamily traced. . tragedy. damn, thank you. dan johnson tragedy. damn, thank you. dan johnson in _ tragedy. damn, thank you. dan johnson in bristol. _ when conjoined twins mari—am and nay were born in senegal, doctors only expected them to survive for a few days. at the age of two, they moved to the uk for treatment at great ormond street hospital — and since then the girls have defied all the odds and recently celebrated their seventh birthday. our reporter lucy owen has their story what is it now? marieme and ndeye, playing with their friends at mount stuart primary. their dad always wanted them to go to mainstream school. it's a way for me to show

that they are part of society. this is what i wanted — for them to have a normal life. to see kids, to play with them, to laugh with them, to make friends, to develop as individuals. they are both so pretty. marieme's favourite colour is my favourite colour too. | that's why they're together, because they really love each other. they may share a body, but the girls are two very different characters. marieme is very quiet, very reserved, introverted personality. it's completely different from ndeye. she's very independent. she wants to be in charge of everything. when they were born, doctors in senegal didn't expect them to live more than a few days. they thought separation was their best hope of survival. but when the girls arrived in the uk, it was discovered that marieme's heart was too weak for the complex surgery and the decision was made not to separate them. i can't allow myself to choose

who will live, who will die now. let the doctor listen to your heart. marieme and ndeye share one pair of legs, one pelvis, and each has a spinal—cord and heart. they have regular checkups at the children's hospital for wales. what you can clearly see here are two spines. so this is illustrating the approximate place of where they are joined. what does everybody say when you're in the standing frame, girls? oh, you look tall! now the girls continue to surprise everyone around them. at school, they to spend time in a standing frame to get them used to being upright, in hope that one day they may walk. we're going to live. how long, i don't know, i don't want to know now. i don't want to know. ijust concentrate on the present, and celebrating life.

if you take a look at the bbc knew what website you can follow along with many of the stories we are looking at today, in particular there is a live page right now over there is a live page right now over the death of alexei navalny. his widow is going to address european foreign ministers in brussels very shortly. of course, we will bring you all the details of that on bbc news. just wanted to show you some live pictures as well of rafah in the southern gaza strip. again, this is another story we have been covering for you this morning, as benny gantz, a member of israel's war cabinet, suggested in three weeks' time when ramadan is due to begin, if the remaining hostages being held by hamas in gaza have not been released by that date, then israel will begin an offensive in rafah. as i say, that is live pictures you can see of rafah. you

can see those tents in the foreground. some 1.4 million displaced civilians displaced in the south of the strip. stay with us on bbc news. hello again. as we go through this week, the weather will turn a bit cooler, but temperatures will be closer to where we would expect them at this time of year. what we have at the moment is the back edge of that weather front clearing away and a ridge of high pressure builds in behind it, settling things down before the next few weather fronts come our way. so into the afternoon, a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, some scattered showers and a bit more cloud turning the sunshine hazy in the west before this weather front comes in, introducing some rain later. temperatures 8 to 14 degrees north to south. so down a little on yesterday, but still above average for this time of year. now through this evening and overnight, ourfirst weather front comes in from the west, pushes eastwards across scotland. then the second one comes in, bringing in more rain,

strengthening winds and more cloud. the far southeast, though, remaining fairly clear. this is where it will be coolest, especially in east anglia, with overnight lows around about 4 degrees. so that takes us into tomorrow. a weather front will come in from the northwest and continue to push steadily southwards and eastwards. as you can see from the iso bars, it's going to be quite a breezy day as well, but a wet one initially across scotland and northern ireland, with that band of rain continuing to sweep southwards into england and wales, followed by sunny spells and scattered showers and preceded by a fair bit of cloud and some bright spells. temperatures, 8 in lerwick to 14 in london. then as we move on into wednesday, things change a touch in that we've got some heavy rain pushing northwards and eastwards, some snow in the hills of wales, northern england and scotland. and as the rain clears, we see a return to bright spells, sunshine and showers. but it's going to be widely windy, with strong gale force winds across the north of scotland and also into the northern and western isles.

but temperatures still round about the 11 to 13 mark. but that will change. as we lose the south—westerly, we pull in more of a northwesterly from thursday, friday and into the weekend. so temperatures dipping back to where roughly we would expect them to be. now, on thursday, we've got this band of rain sweeping towards the east. it may linger longer in the south of england. behind it, we'll see some wintry showers, most of these in the hills, but you could see some sleet or even some hail at lower levels. but the temperatures going down for most — 6 in lerwick to 10 in hull, 12 in london.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the mother of alexei navalny has again been refused access to his body as moscow extends the inquiry into the opposition leader's death. a member of israel's war cabinet warns the military will launch a ground offensive in rafah in three weeks unless hamas releases israeli hostages in gaza. and here in the uk, headteachers recieve new guidance to try and stop pupils using mobile phones during the school day. we've been talking this morning about new government guidance that's been issued to headteachers in england, aimed at stopping children from using mobile phones in schools. although the advice has been welcomed by some,

there are questions over how much of a difference the guidance will make. the education minister gillian keegan shared her thoughts on the new guidance. i think, to be honest, that this will be successful because where it has been successful, you can see, and many people say, the improvement in behaviour, the improvement in performance, the improvements in the whole school culture is really tangible. so i think many, many head teachers want to do this and this helps empower them to do it. and we're not the first country in the world, other countries have done this as well, but what we want to do is be consistent and ensure consistency across our schools and reset that social norm. but geoff barton, from the association of school and college leaders, said the government should be focusing on other, more urgent situations facing schools. i think there is a little bit of a sense of deja vu all over again, of a government that wants to seem like it's saying something powerful but largely if it wants to say something powerful, could they do it on the

things that matter?