hello. within the next hour, alexei navalny�*s widow yulia will meet eu foreign ministers, who are holding talks in brussels. before the meeting, she said that vladimir putin had killed her husband, because he couldn't break him. and that she wants to help build a free russia. the ministers are expected to ask for new sanctions against moscow, after the sudden death last week of mr navalny, russia's most prominent opposition leader. the eu's top diplomat, josep burrell, told the bbc that a message of support must be sent to the people of russia, who want to live in freedom. the kremlin has accused foreign politicians of making �*vulgar�* comments about the death of mr navalny, whose mother 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 died. the navalny family representative said alexei's mother and her lawyers arrived at the morgue early this morning. they were not allowed to go in. one of the lawyers was literally pushed out. when the staff were asked if alexei's body was there, they did not answer. first, that interview withjosep burrell, who spoke to our chief international correspondent lyse doucet, about the significance of the invitation to mr navalny�*s widow. it is a way of, first, honouring navalny. secondly, to express our deep sorry for this death and third and maybe 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. let me share what his widow said. another person it says should be here in my place, but that person was killed by vladimir putin somewhere in a prison beyond the arctic circle. he didn't only kill luca alexei navalny is presently wanted to kill our hope, freedom in future. we know why he killed alexey three days ago and will tell you soon but most important thing we can do right now is to go on fighting. i will continue alexei navalny�*s work. just some of what his wife said in a video statement that she is released on social media.

let's talk to our correspondent in brussels bethany bell. bethany, we know she's got this meeting with eu foreign ministers today as well. what she expected to say to them? we today as well. what she expected to say to them?— today as well. what she expected to say to them? we are waiting to hear what she says _ say to them? we are waiting to hear what she says to _ say to them? we are waiting to hear what she says to the _ say to them? we are waiting to hear what she says to the foreign - what she says to the foreign ministers here in brussels, but we've heard from some of the foreign ministers that she is going to be meeting today. the german foreign minister said germany won't propose new sanctions relating to the death of alexei navalny. and also we heard from the eu foreign policy chief josep borrell saying they wanted to send a signal of support to the political opposition in russia and he suggested that there would be new sanctions directly relating to the death of alexei navalny and he suggested that matt targett individuals responsible for his

treatment, including people in the russian prison service. now, of course, this is before these ministers began meeting and they are already discussing a 13th package of sanctions against russia in terms of its war on ukraine which is being discussed for some time now, but there is a suggestion of more targeted sanctions in response to alexei navalny�*s death. it targeted sanctions in response to alexei navalny's death.— alexei navalny's death. it was interesting — alexei navalny's death. it was interesting picking _ alexei navalny's death. it was interesting picking up - alexei navalny's death. it was interesting picking up on - alexei navalny's death. it was interesting picking up on whati alexei navalny's death. it was - interesting picking up on what you said there, whenjosep borrell spoke to our chief international correspondent that point was made again about sanctions and, as you say, there are so many sanctions already in place, what can more sanctions hope to achieve? is that all they will look at?— all they will look at? well, there are the sanctions _ all they will look at? well, there are the sanctions that _ all they will look at? well, there are the sanctions that the - all they will look at? well, there are the sanctions that the 13th . are the sanctions that the 13th package of sanctions which is

currently being looked out at the moment, they are waiting, at the moment, they are waiting, at the moment hungary is the only eu state not to have signed up to that. that's a package of sanctions targeting firms, companies, export bans on companies which are suspected of helping russia evade some of the other sanctions. but what we heard from josep borrell this morning as they could be specific sanctions against individuals responsible for alexei navalny's treatment but, yes, their options are somewhat limited. idietitian options are somewhat limited. when we look at the _ options are somewhat limited. when we look at the wider _ options are somewhat limited. when we look at the wider reaction of the international community over the last few days, and particularly the reaction of russia as well, they have pushed back strongly on this, haven't they?— haven't they? yes, they have. it's interesting _ haven't they? yes, they have. it's interesting listening _ haven't they? yes, they have. it's interesting listening to _ haven't they? yes, they have. it's interesting listening to the - haven't they? yes, they have. it's interesting listening to the eu - interesting listening to the eu ministers this morning. a lot of them were of course condemning the death of alexei navalny, many were

blaming vladimir putin for that —— but also they were seeing it as part of europe's efforts to support ukraine, arguments, it was important they said to support freedom and democracy and they should support ukraine more, specifically now after the death of alexei navalny, as well. , the death of alexei navalny, as well, , , the death of alexei navalny, as well. , , well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes _ well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes at _ well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes at a _ well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes at a time _ well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes at a time when - well. sorry, carry on. of course, this comes at a time when the i well. sorry, carry on. of course, - this comes at a time when the united states is struggling to agree aid to ukraine and there are concerns about the future of that and you are feeling very much the responsibility to support ukraine but of course, complicated matters. bethany, thank you, in brussels. a member of israel's war cabinet has given hamas a deadline to release all the hostages or the military will launch an offensive in the southern city of rafah. benny gantz said that unless they were freed by the start of ramadan, expected to be on 10th march, israeli troops

would move into the city. these are live pictures of rafah at the minute. people are living in tents. it's currently overcrowded because this is the place right of the southern end of the gaza strip where people have fled to from the north and from the central strip, at least 1.4 million palestinians are believed to be sheltering there after having to move away from the fighting and a ground offensive in other parts of gaza. mr gantz 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 correspondent in jerusalem jenny hill 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. headteachers in england have been given government guidance on how to stop children from using mobile phones at school. ministers had already committed to introducing a ban, but many schools already have their own restrictions in place, and there are questions over how much difference this new advice will actually make. 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. 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. 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 sunday morning. the 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. earlier i spoke to our news correspondent, danjohnson who is in bristol. this has totally rocked people here, that something so awful can have happened to children so young on what is a really quiet residential street. the semidetached 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, but 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 taking place at the house 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, the independent office of police conduct, because of prior contact between the police and this household — the iopc 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 iopc 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, awful family tragedy. the czech authorities are dealing with a mass protest by farmers in the capital, prague. hundreds of tractors have parked outside the agriculture ministry to demand that the government ends its support for the eu's green deal. the farmers say plans to halve pesticides, reduce fertiliser use and slash greenhouse gas emissions, will ruin their livelihoods. well, it was a big night for the film oppenheimer at the british academy film awards. it won seven baftas, including best film and best director, as well as leading actor for cillian murphy. but, the biggest—grossing movie

of last year, barbie, didn't get any love in the end. it had five nominations and came away with nothing. our culture editor katie razzall was at the ceremony. last night, london was a who's who of the film world. britain and america united to celebrate movies, with the irish out in force. all in front of the world's photographers, and the president of bafta — the prince of wales. this red carpet is heaving with the kind of star power only the biggest night of the british film calendar can deliver. a night to celebrate talent on screen and behind the camera here in britain and across the world. it is no exaggeration to say this room has in it the greatest actors in the world. yes. inside the royal festival hall, master of ceremonies, david tennant, got down to business. right. let's give out some baftas. a night of laughter, but also emotion, particularly

when da'vinejoy randolph picked up best supporting actress for playing mary lamb, a bereaved mother and school cook in the holdovers. there have been countless marys throughout history, who have never got a chance to wear a beautiful gown and stand on this stage here in london. best actress went to emma stone for poor things. the frankenstein—style fantasy walked away with five awards in all. i really want to just thank my mom because she's the best person i know in the whole world. and she inspires me every single day. and stone beat, amongst others, margot robbie. barbie, the biggest—grossing movie of the year, was entirely snubbed at the baftas. bradley cooper's maestro and martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon also walked away with nothing. the zone of interest. instead, a british film in german, about the holocaust triumphed. the zone of interest picked up three awards. best sound, outstanding british film and film not in english. the award for rising star went

to mia mckenna—bruce, whose performance in how to have sex has won so much praise. to kind of get to do the thing that i love most in the whole entire world, and people be like, "yeah, that's kind of cool." it's amazing. cillian murphy. murphy's acclaimed director, christopher nolan, had never won a bafta. oppenheimer, his film about the father of the atomic bomb, now has seven — including best actor. one man's monster is another man's hero. and that's why i love movies, because we have a space to celebrate and interrogate and investigate that complexity. oompa loompa. doompa—dee—dee... wonka's hugh grant riffed on his character. ..now the best director cate—gor—ee. christopher nolan, oppenheimer. it's an incredible honour being back home, getting this from bafta - in the festival hall, _ where my mum and dad used to drag me

to make me have some culture. michaelj fox, diagnosed with parkinson's disease 30 years ago, got a standing ovation. a movie can change your day. it can change your outlook. sometimes, it can even change your life. in a surprise appearance, he handed out the biggest award — best film. oppenheimer. oppenheimer�*s night to celebrate — a night that mayjust be repeated at the oscars in three weeks. let's return to our main story, a live page running on the bbc news website at the moment about the death of alexei navalny. you can see all of the information is coming through there in real time and also at the top of the page it's referring to this video statement his widow has released. now this is all in russian, but i can tell you a bit of what she is saying here. she says another person should be here

in my place, but that person was killed by vladimir putin somewhere in a prison beyond the arctic circle. he didn't only kill alexei navalny as a person, with him he wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, ourfuture. she goes on wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future. she goes on to say we know exactly why vladimir putin killed him three days ago and we will tell you soon, but the most important thing we can do for alexi now and ourselves is to go on fighting. i will continue his work, continue to fight for his country and i call on you to stand alongside me to share not only the grief and unending pain which has enveloped us in but let go, i also ask you to share the theory and hate for those who dared to kill our future. i speak to you in the words of alexi, in which i believe truly there is no shame in doing little, there is shame in doing little, there is shame in doing nothing. in allowing them to scare you. what we need is a free, peacefuland them to scare you. what we need is a free, peaceful and happy russia, the wonderful russia of the future my

husband so drained of, that's what we need. she goes on and says i am not afraid, don't you be afraid. she's going to address eu foreign ministers today. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. as we go through this week the weather will turn a bit cooler with temperatures closer to where we would expect them at this time of year. what we have the moment is a back edge of that weather front clearing away and a ridge of high pressure building in behind it settling things down before the next two weather fronts come our way. into the afternoon, a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, some scattered showers, and a bit cloud turning the sunshine hazy in the west before this weather front comes in introducing some rain later. temperatures, 8—14. down a little on yesterday but still above average for this time of year. through this evening and overnight, the weather front comes in from the

west pushing eastward across scotland and then the second one comes in bringing more rain, strengthening wind, and more cloud. the far south—east remaining fairly clear and this is where it will be clueless especially in east anglia with overnight lows of 4 degrees. that takes us into tomorrow, a weather front coming from the north—west, continuing to push steadily southwards and eastwards. as you can see from the isobars, it's been a breezy day as well but about one, initially across scotland and northern ireland, and that band of rain continuing to sleep 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 eight in lerwick, 14 in london. as we move on into wednesday, things change attach. heavy rain pushing northwards and eastwards, snow in the hills, of wales, northern england and scotland, and as the rain clears we will see a return to bright spells of sunshine and showers, but it's going to be widely windy but strong to gale force winds

across the north of scotland and also into the northern and western isles but temperatures still rant about 11—13. that will change. as we lose the south—westerly and pull in the north—west early on thursday, friday on the weekend, temperatures dipping back to roughly where we would expect them to be. on thursday, a band of rain sweeping towards the east which may linger longer in the south of england. behind it we will see wintry showers, most of these on the hills, but we could see some sleet and even hail at lower levels of the temperatures going down for most. six in lerwick, 12 in london.

japan pledges more money in a bid to help rebuild ukraine the dragon takes flight — domestic tourism soars in china during the lunar new year holiday,but can it revive the country's economy? welcome to world business report. i'm ben thompson. we will begin with the war in ukraine because japan has pledged a new bilateral tax treaty with kyiv. the announcement was made during the japan—ukraine conference for promotion of economic reconstruction that's been

under way today in tokyo. since the start of the war in ukraine, japan has pledged more than $10 billion worth of financial aid as it seeks to show solidarity with kyiv�*s war effort. it comes as president biden has stepped up calls over the weekend for the us congress to pass a huge package of military aid for ukraine after russian forces captured the town of avdiivka. a white house statement blamed the defeat on american politicians forfailing to provide enough ammunition. republicans in the house are holding up the release of billions of dollars in additional support to kyiv. i'm joined by cassia scott—jones, an analyst for bmi. what could this money be used for? good morning. the damage costs in ukraine are absolutely immense. the world bank estimates that ukraine

now needs