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 improvement 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? funding, special needs, the need for us to stop crumbling schools? all of those things are the big issues for parents, rather than something about mobile phones in schools yet again. when conjoined twins mariam 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. what is it now? marieme and ndeye enjoying playing with their friends at mount stuart primary. theirfather always hoped they'd 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 don't have to hide from anybody. dad applied for them to come to nursery here because we were local. they were three at that point and joined our nursery part time and we were frightened and we were scared that we'd get it wrong. but we knew that we could build a good relationship with dad and that if we could build the relationship with dad, that we could make it work. the wonderful thing about children is they only see their friend. they're both so pretty. i like cats too and they like cats. they're really kind to us and they're really nice to play with. ndeye's favourite colour . is my favourite colour too. that's why they're stuck together — because they really love each other. and we always do girl power with them. girl power!

the twins need regular monitoring and hospital checkups. the doctor will listen to your heart. thanks. can you feel it? where can you feel it? can you feel it there? are you going to tell me? are you already training to be a doctor? - they've got one pair of legs . between them and one pelvis. moving up through their abdomen, they've got a lot— of different organs. so we've got bowels and we've got a urinary system. - they've got two totally separate i spinal cords with all their nerves, yet somehow they completely l co—ordinate and they don't have to tell each other how to move an arm or how to move a leg. i itjust works. and again, two separate hearts. but we know they're linked - and they can't survive on their own. this is an x—ray of the girls�* pelvis and the lower abdomen. and what you can clearly see here are two spines. normally, you'd have a spine going straight up out of the pelvis

but here we've got one here and one here. so this is illustrating the approximate place of where they are joined. when we first met them, you know, they were babies and i think there was a lot of uncertainty. could they be separated or what might happen? and, having worked through those very, very difficult conversations, now we've just had two years where we've hardly seen them in hospital, and that's been really, really good. i think there is no doubt their life is going to be complex. i think we've still got serious risks of infection and serious risks to their hearts. i think that is probably the area where they're going to struggle. if you develop an infection in your bladder or your kidneys and you can't get on top of it with antibiotics, there is a risk of that evolving into sepsis. so that's a real risk for them. and, also heart failure. it's getting a balance between being prepared, being realistic, but not talking

about that all the time. shall we go and show everybody in the classroom? yeah. one of the main hopes for marieme and ndeye is that they will be able to stand and perhaps one day walk. at school, they spend time in a standing frame to get them used to being upright. they have a standing frame because if you've been in a wheelchair all your life, you're not used to being upright. so we're training them to get some strength in their legs. what does everybody say when you're in the standing frame, girls? oh, you look tall! whatever challenges the girls face, their dad believes their courage can inspire others. as i say to many people, "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 making every day a surprise and celebrating life. for more on the twins�* story, a documentary called inseparable sisters will air

on wednesday night at 10.45pm on bbc one and on the bbc iplayer. a group of pupils from are believed to have become the first disabled children in the world to complete their gold duke of edinburgh award expedition. five pupils from st nicholas school in canterbury travelled to the arctic circle in finland to complete the challenge. the latest set of designs for trafalgar square's fourth plinth have been revealed today. as always, there's a variety of sculptures in the running, including a black cat and a sweet potato. barry caffrey's been taking a look. the fourth plinth is one of the most important art commissions worldwide, putting new work by renowned artists into the heart of london. and this year marks 25 years since the first work was displayed. when we put a new piece on the fourth plinth, we're inviting visitors and audiences and passers by coming through the square to look

and to think about the role that contemporary art can play in their lives and in the conversation that we have as a city and as a society. seven artists have been shortlisted for the next fourth plinth commissions in 2026 and 2028, and these maquettes will be on display here at the national gallery until 17th march. it's hoped the shortlisted pieces will bring out the art critic in everyone. it's 25 years, can you believe it, that we've been putting bold contemporary art on the fourth plinth in trafalgar square and it's now world renowned. i think it's the biggest contemporary art commission in the world. it's copied all around the world. and it's a great statement about london, about london as a contemporary, vibrant, dynamic, creative capital. tschabalala self is one of the artists and is delighted to have the exposure that comes with being shortlisted. a public square. the public space is a perfectl opportunity to share my work with many individuals, many more individuals

than i would normally, _ even within a more curated space like a gallery or a museum. as well as inside the national gallery, the proposals will be available to view online and people can have their say on the artworks. the two winning works will be announced next month and installed on the fourth plinth in 2026 and 2028. barry caffrey, bbc london. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. we're starting the new week off on a fine note. in fact, a ridge of high pressure bringing quite a lot of dry and sunny weather to our shores. another mild day to come, maybe not quite as mild as what we had over the weekend, particularly across northern and western areas. it's here where we will see more of a breeze through the afternoon, a little bit of cloud here and there, maybe just one or two showers, as well. elsewhere, variable cloud, but a lot of sunshine around, feeling quite pleasant, with lighter winds in the south. up to 13 or 14 degrees again across the south—east, nine to ii or 12 further north.

through this evening we see the first front move into scotland. that will bring thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain, a strengthening breeze. then, by the end of the night, this next front will arrive across the north—west of the country. that will bring more substantial rain here. more cloud around generally across western areas and more of a breeze too. it's the east and the south—east, which will see the lowest temperatures under the clearer skies, low single digits there, whereas temperatures will be rising a little bit further north and west as this weather front arrives. tuesday, then, looks a bit breezier generally. the isobars are closer together and we'll have this weather front spreading southwards across scotland and northern ireland. into the afternoon it will be pushing southwards across england and wales. skies brighten up behind it, but there will be some heavy, blustery showers, maybe some snow on the hills above 300 metres. some hail and thunder mixed in too. ahead of it, rather cloudy skies, but again mild. up to 14 degrees here, a little bit fresher, further north and west behind the weather front.

then, as we move through tuesday night into wednesday, we see a more substantial area of low pressure hurtle in off the atlantic. that is going to bring a pretty wet and windy day for many of us on wednesday. the heaviest of the rain will be pushing through during the morning period. strong winds, as well. gales across northern areas, windy around the irish sea coast, but it does brighten up into the afternoon. most of the rain clears through into the north sea. we'll see some scattered, blustery showers across northern and western areas. again, pretty mild for the time of year at 11 to 13 degrees. but the mild air doesn't last. from thursday onwards we open the floodgates to more arctic airflow. it will be turning cooler for all areas. low pressure always nearby, so it will stay relatively windy. in fact, we could see gales at times into next weekend. it will be showery at times, some sunshine, but we'll all notice it feeling a little bit cooler.

live from london, this is bbc news. alexei navalny�*s widow yulia, who's meeting eu foreign ministers in brussels, says vladimir putin "killed" her husband because he "couldn't break him". translation: three days ago, vladimir putin _ translation: three days ago, vladimir putin killed _ translation: three days ago, vladimir putin killed my - translation: three days ago, | vladimir putin killed my husband come alexei navalny. putin killed the father of my children. he took away the nearest thing they had. 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. effort by ramadan hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere to include rafah area ——

if by ramadan. here in the uk, headteachers receive new guidance to try and stop pupils using mobile phones at school. hello, welcome to bbc news now. we will we will start we will start with we will start with the we will start with the main we will start with the main developments after the death of alexei navalny. his widow yulia is in brussels, invited tojoin brussels, invited to join the meeting there. she did not see any words beforehand, but we have now heard a bit of reaction on social media from european council president. he says, "we express the eu's deepest condolences to yulia. vladimir putin will be heard accountable for the death