called a "comprehensive vision" to mediators. the bbc gains special access inside haiti, as the country grapples with violence and political chaos. we'll have the latest. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. thanks forjoining us. another six years in power is almost all but certain for russia's vladimir putin, as the country is in the midst of voting to choose its president. mr putin faces no serious opposition — with his rivals dead, in prison, or in exile. acts of protest have taken place across russia, including incidents involving dye being poured into ballot boxes and fireworks being set off at the polls. yulia navalnaya — the widow of putin's most vocal, late critic, alexei navalny — has called on kremlin opponents to go en masse to the polls at noon on sunday to protest the election. she's urged the west not to recognise what will be putin's fifth term as president. our russia editor

steve rosenberg, is in moscow with more. russia's democracy is the best in the world, the kremlin says. and at polling station 38 in moscow, we found a choice of candidates and plenty of voters. democracy in action, right? not quite. realistically, only one man can win this. vladimir putin! the man who's been on russia's political stage for the last quarter of a century. vladimir putin faces no serious challenger. his fiercest rivals are in exile or in prison. not that this woman, whose son is fighting in ukraine, wants any change at the top. "of course i voted for putin," she says. "i trust him." but not everyone who came out today was actually voting. this, one of a string of attacks on polling

stations across russia. they are unprecedented. after chaotic scenes here... ..an arsonist is detained. and green ink poured into a ballot box. the authorities called the attackers scum. some voters were greeted with a show. well, it's one way to bang the drum for russian elections. there is voting, too, in parts of ukraine, which are under russian occupation — what russia calls its new territories. the ukrainian government called the election here illegal. polls close on sunday night. expect a putin landslide. unpredictability is very much a feature of life now in russia, but that does not apply to elections. the political system

here is built around one man — vladimir putin — and the kremlin tightly controls that system, including elections. so mr putin's re—election is not in doubt. and neither is the message the kremlin will be sending after this. that vladimir putin has the full support of his people. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. leaders of germany, france, and poland met in berlin to ease tensions over support for ukraine. the french president, emmanuel macron, called on kyiv�*s allies not be cowards, and said he would not rule out deploying western troops on the ground in ukraine. that suggestion was rejected by the german chancellor, olaf scholz. now, european allies have agreed a mechanism to supply kyiv with long—range artillery. a shortage of weapons including ammunition, has been blamed for russian advances in the war. mr macron detailed why the eu's support of ukraine is so important. translation: it is our future, our security which is _ at stake in ukraine.

we are doing this out of solidarity for the people of ukraine, whose territorial integrity is being threatened. we are doing this to defend international law. we are doing it because the security of europeans and of earth is at stake in ukraine. it is with this determination that we want to oppose the war of aggression launched by russia. meanwhile, russia and ukraine continue to exchange fire in the battlefield. officials in the ukrainian city of odesa say, at least 20 people were killed in a double missile attack on a residential area. more than 70 people were wounded. earlier, the kremlin said ukraine carried out attacks in the region of belgorod in southern russia, and accused kyiv of attempting to disrupt russia's presidential election. our correspondent sarah rainsford is in kyiv with the latest. this is the deadliest attack in some time on odesa. and it is the details that are particularly grim, because ukrainian officials are saying two missiles were fired by russia from crimea — the first one landed on the city, and it was

when emergency teams rushed to the spot that a second missile was fired from crimea and hit exactly the same place. now we know that a medic was killed, a young firefighter was also amongst those killed and injured. many dozens of people are in hospital. now we are being told that those missiles were fired from crimea — we are saying we don't know exactly what russia was targeting, but we do know there were some interior ministry staff amongst the casualties. now president zelensky has called this a vile attack, saying ukraine's military will respond, but i think it is a stark reminder of what that vote in russia means for here in ukraine. because of course, more vladimir putin in the kremlin means more war here in ukraine, more missile attacks, and more days like today in odesa, with dozens dead and injured. sarah rainsford they are, reporting in kid. —— reporting

in kyiv. and we will have much more on what's at stake in the russian elections — and the war in ukraine — coming up, so do stay tuned for our special report at the top of the next hour. but turning now to the middle east — the white house says they are "cautiously optimistic" after a new truce proposal from hamas. the us says that it is within the bounds of a deal they have been working on for the last few months. israel's prime minister has downplayed any chances of a truce in gaza, however — saying that hamas is making unrealistic demands. despite that, an israeli team is heading to qatar for new talks about a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. meanwhile, mr netanyahu's office has approved a plan for an offensive against hamas in gaza's crowded rafah city — where almost 1.5 million palestinians are currently sheltering. israel says they are preparing to evacuate people to other parts of gaza. it comes amid emerging signs of discontent within the biden administration about a lack of progress towards a resolution between the two sides. us secretary of state antony blinken said the united states needs to see a clear plan for israel's proposed assault on rafah, including how civilians will be moved out harm's way.

and on friday, president biden praised a speech made by us senate leader chuck schumer — in which he said the israeli prime minister was a threat to peace and called for new elections. any comment on the senator schumer's speech on israel yesterday? senator schumer contacted my staff, my senior staff he was going to make that speech, and i'm not going to elaborate on his speech. he made a good speech, and i think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him, but by many americans. mr netanyahu's government has sharply dismissed the comments made by senator schumer. meanwhile, aid agencies are continuing to sound the alarm over the humanitarian situation in gaza. a ship carrying food supplies for gaza has arrived and is now waiting off the coast. it's a test run for what is hoped will become a new route to get aid into the territory. the bbc�*s mark lowen is injerusalem with more. now, a military incursion

into rafah would of course be very risky, given the number of civilians sheltering there, and also would further incur the wrath of israel's western allies like the us — president biden said just a week or so ago that an israeli military incursion into rafah would be a red line, and today, secretary of state antony blinken said the us has not yet received israel's plan for rafah. so it does seem as if an incursion is imminent, but that is still the state of detention with the israeli government. now with aid, the ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid that has come from cyprus has now started to off—load that aid into gaza, on a little smaller ships that are taking it towards gaza. it is unclear exactly how it will be distributed on the ground, and in a sign ofjust how risky that is, there was again another fatal incident on wednesday in which 21 people killed in an aid distribution point in gaza city — hamas has said it was israeli

troops who opened fire, israel has said it has investigated and its troops were not to blame, it has blamed armed palestinian men for those deaths. but it shows once again how perilous and disorderly these aid distribution points can be in a place with civil order has broken down, and where, frankly, in the sixth month of war, there is no credible local authority present. us secretary of state antony blinken says most of the parties for haiti's transitional council have named their representatives, but a couple have yet to do so. the news comes as the carribbean nation continues to face a political and humanitarian crisis. heavily—armed gangs have taken over much of the capital. violence in the region was initially quieter following former prime minister ariel henry's announcement that he would step down on monday. but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of wednesday. the united nations estimates that more than 360,000 people are internally displaced. talks are still under way to try to establish a transitional council — but gang leaders warned they may not accept any new leadership. on friday, secretary blinken

told reporters about the progress being made. what we've seen over the last 2a hours is there are seven seats on this transitional council, and most of the parties or stakeholders that were given a seat have actually named their representative to the council. there are a couple that still haven't, so that's a work in progress. but we've seen that move forward. our central america and carribbean correspondent, will grant, was recently allowed access into the country — and sent this report. after a couple get a few days at the border, we are now among the first international journalists to make it into haiti since the current wave of violence began stop and we've come, we were driven to the coastal city of cap haitian. now haiti is the poorest country in the western

hemisphere, and this current crisis is creating so much more humanitarian need and what was already an extremely complex picture. some statistics lay outjust how difficult and grim that picture is — 360,000 people are internally displaced in haiti at present, some 3000 women due to give birth may receive up silly no maternity care whatsoever with so many hospitals close, particularly in the capital port—au—prince. now the government has promised millions more in aid — and in truth, some is now trickling in, some aid has made it into the country. yet it is nowhere near sufficient to cope with the scale of this emergency. in the scale of this emergency. in the political realm, the transitional council has been agreed — however the gangs that controlled the capital port—au—prince don't recognise the council and have threatened its members in very, very stark

language. so haiti remains stuck in a complex and dangerous situation, and the civilian population — caught between the politicians and the gangs. as the unrest in haiti continues, a boat carryng 25 migrants from the island was intercepted by florida state law enforcement. the boat was stopped near the sebastian inlet in brevard county, florida on february 29th. florida fish and wildlife released a statement saying the boat was quote "carrying 25 individuals, including five unaccompanied children." officers also discovered firearms, night vision gearand drugs aboard." when briefing the public, florida governor ron desantis said the migrants were turned over to the us coast guard for deportation. after months of hearings, a georgia judge ruled that the lead prosecutor in donald trump's election interference proceedings can remain on the case. fani willis' status as lead prosecutor was in question after it was revealed she had a personal relationship with nathan wade, a special

counsel she hired for the case. —— romantic relationship. but, while ms willis can continue her prosecution of the former president, thejudge also ruled that she or mr wade would have to leave the case. hours after that ruling, mr wade resigned. mr trump had tried to disqualify ms willis, arguing her relationship with her special counsel compromised the trial. thejudge disagreed, but said it did create an "appearance of impropriety." the judge also said ms willis — the fulton county district attorney — commited a tremendous lapse in judgment by engaging in an affair with mr wade. i spoke about all of these develpoments with tamar hallerman, a senior reporter from the atlanta journal—constitution. she covers the fulton county investigation into whether former president trump or his allies criminally interfered in georgia's 2020 elections. tamar, first of all, i want to get your thoughts on the judge's ruling today. judge mcafee basically split

the baby with this ruling. on the one hand, he said that there was no actual conflict of interest that warranted removing da fani willis from the case — but he put the ball in her court and said, "either you can stay on this case, or nathan wade, your special prosecutor who's led this trump case, who you were in a romantic relationship with, or he stays." so he left the choice up to her to decide, he said there was an appearance of impropriety which is what required a move like that — and within a couple hours, nathan wade tendered his letter of resignation, which da fani willis excepted. so, so far, things will keep moving ahead. there's still a question of whether the defence will appeal, which could delay things in this case — but it seems like this nightmare over the last two months, where all sorts of salacious allegations about the district attorney, all over the headlines nationally—watched hearings, that appears to be up behind her. so what impact do you think this will actually

have on this case? well, for starters, nathan wade, the special prosecutor, was really the one leading this case behind—the—scenes. he was seen as kind of the organiser—in—chief, the quarterback who was keeping track of all the different prongs of this case. so he will now be gone, there will be a question of who will replace him? will the da elevate somebody already within her team of about a dozen who are working on this case, or will she look maybe to the outside to try and find somebody? or maybe she decides to just keep everybody who's on it and have them keep going as they were before. so we will have to wait and see on that. what about the timing of when a trial could go forward? does this mean that we could see this trial get pushed even further into the future? timing has been a major question in this case. prosecutors before this big disqualification saga wanted to begin the trial, or at least begin jury selection in august — but even back then, that was seen as highly unlikely, given donald trump's

very full legal calendar as well as the elections here in the fall. we've lost pretty much two months to all this fighting over the disqualification motion, and there a question if the defence is to appeal this ruling. it is possible that things could be paused as that appeal plays out, so we'lljust have to and see. there are also delays in these other three criminal cases involving the former president, so it's possible that because of delays in those cases, that could lead to a delay in this case as well. there are just too many uncertain factors to really determine at this point, but it really is looking less and less likely that we will see a trial again before the election or the end of the year. it is so complex, isn't it? where do you think this all leaves donald trump and his allies in georgia, but also looking at this legal calendar? sure, well on the one hand, this is not the outcome that they wanted —

they did not want fani willis to be staying in this position — but she certainly is wounded, there's all this damaging personal information that is out there in the public domain, that the da's critics plan to use at every twist and turn in all of this. you've seen the former president use a lot of this information in his campaign rallies — he wasjust in north georgia last weekend and, as he was talking about the da and nathan wade, thousands in the crowd were laughing and booing. so it's a rallying cry for him, and we even saw today him sending out fundraising appeals based on today's ruling. so it is something that no matter what will be used by her republican critics — not only donald trump, but here in georgia in the state house, where they've launched a committee with subpoena power to continue digging into her personal life. tamar, always great to speak to you, thank you so much. any time. in another development stemming from mr trump's time in office — his former vice president says he will not be endorsing the presumptive republican

nominee in the 2024 election. mike pence said it should come as no surprise he is not endorsing his former boss, whom he has publicly distanced himself from over mr trump's role in the january 6th capitol riots. mr pence said during his own presidential campaign that his life was put in danger during the siege. he suspended that campaign in october. america's top diplomat has warned a wave of highly—potent synthetic drugs including fentanyl is spreading across the world. antony blinken was speaking at a meeting of the un commission on narcotic drugs, in vienna. he said the us was the world's "canary in the coalmine"for opioid addiction. our correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken — and sent this report. while i think the fact that much of the day was spent by antony blinken at this un narcotics summit, the fact that he made a speech, the first secretary of state to do that, to this gathering shows how big an issue this has become for the united states. and how big a problem synthetic opioid and

fennel are for the us administration. remember, nearly all the travel the secretary of state has been doing of late has been around the crisis and the war in the middle east — so to spend time doing this i think shows you that they are trying to grip this issue, and therefore how much of a challenge it has become for them. he talked about the scale of the problem, and we know a lot of these facts, but you mentioned the facts, but you mentioned the fact that more than 100,000 people per year are dying of lethal overdoses in the us, the vast majority of those are from synthetic opioids, most of those are fentanyl. he tried to get across the way in which hits democrats affected every community, he talked about every town, city and state in america that has experienced this problem. he said 14% of americans knew someone who had died from a synthetic opioid overdose.

died from a synthetic opioid overdose-— died from a synthetic opioid overdose. ., �* ., ., the newly—appointed us special envoy for sudan says he's concerned that the war risks fuelling a return of islamist extremists in the area. tom perriello is on a trip to africa and the arab gulf, seeking ways to address the severe humanitarian needs of the sudanese people. mr perriello said he's seen signs of increased political will to bring the conflict to an end — including in countries that back the warring parties. barbara plett usher caught up with him in nairobi. i think we are raising the heat on all of those who are fuelling this conflict, and trying to convince them to be partners in peace. and i think what we are seeing is many of those in the region who have been involved not always constructively, in some cases quite destructively, are realising that they helped light a fire that will burn everybody involved in this. if we start to look at a failed state and a fictionalized conflict, we are seeing the return of militant extremists in the area — something that the people of sudan spent decades trying to eradicate. we are talking about a problem that could go on for 10—20

years. that could go on for 10-20 ears. �* that could go on for 10-20 ears. ~ , ., that could go on for 10-20 ears. �* y ., ~ years. and you think in the gulf, years. and you think in the gulf. they _ years. and you think in the gulf, they are _ years. and you think in the gulf, they are getting - years. and you think in the gulf, they are getting that| gulf, they are getting that message that they could be affected? i message that they could be affected? ~ ., , ., affected? i think anyone with e es affected? i think anyone with eyes wide — affected? i think anyone with eyes wide open _ affected? i think anyone with eyes wide open can - affected? i think anyone with eyes wide open can see - affected? i think anyone with eyes wide open can see that| eyes wide open can see that situation here. i think it's been publicly reported about the rise of extreme islamists within staff ranks, it deeply concerning to many of us, including our golf partners. i think we see a war that has no sign of either side having a clean victory for some so anyone who thought that was an outcome to root four, that has gone. so i think it's a very clear message that we need to end this. i think we need to keep emphasising urgency. we're talking about needing this in the next few weeks before we are in a situation where the fragility just are in a situation where the fragilityjust passes a point of no return. let's turn to some important news around the world. prosecutors in france opened an investigation into racist insults directed at the most—listened—to french artist in the world, aya nakamura. the abuse was sparked by speculation that the french—malian singer could perform a song by edith piaf at the opening of the paris olympics. a far—right group hung a racist

banner on the river seine referring to the pop star. tens of thousands of people took part in a rally in hungary's capital, budapest, to mark the founding of a new polticial party. the "stand up, hungarians" movement has been set up to challenge the current prime minister, viktor orban, and his right—wing nationalist fidesz party. the new party is calling for a constructive dialogue with the european union — in contrast to mr orban. a european charity ship rescued 135 migrants from a double—decker boat in maltese sea rch—and—rescue waters. non—governmental organisations operating in the central mediterranean sea blame italy for assigning ports further north, making them further out of reach to save lives. many migrants fleeing from the middle east and west africa traverse the mediterranean sea to reach europe. now that spring is finally here, millions of tourists will travel to japan to admire cherry clossoms in full bloom. but global warming has brought the date earlier and earlier — with no sign of stopping. sofia bettiza reports. cherry blossoms are

a symbol of spring — and the most famous cherry blossom spectacle in the world is undoubtedly in japan. now normally, peak season is at the end of march, beginning of april — but this year, they've started blooming sooner than ever before. and as you can see here, people are in the streets of tokyo admiring the flowers and taking lots of pictures. and this is a really big event in the country — the cherry blossoms only appear for 11 days. and, because of that, an estimated 63 million people travel to and within japan every year. and it's big business — it adds about $2.7 billion to the japanese economy every year. now unfortunately, the reason why the flowers are blooming so early is worrying, according to experts.

japan has seen record—breaking high temperatures in february and march. the world is getting warmer because of climate change, and the climate crisis is having an impact on cherry blossoms not only injapan, but in other parts of the world too. this is washington, dc, for example — and as you can see, the cherry blossoms there have bloomed early this year too. so experts are warning that these sorts of things are a consequence of the fact that we are overheating our planet, and that early cherry blossoms are a sign of more change to come. here in washington we have our very own cherry blossom season. blooms officially reached stage five on friday — the final step before peak bloom. butjust like japan, washington's trees are also impacted by climate change —

particularly an iconic one named "stumpy". local media reports that stumpy and 158 other trees will be cut down later this year in an effort to repair dc�*s sea walls. rising sea levels and temperatures have caused frequent flooding and decay to the tidal basin, submerging cherry blossom trees' roots. but not to worry — the national park service says that 274 cherry trees will be replanted when the repairs are finished. thank you so much for watching bbc news- _ thank you so much for watching bbc news. check— thank you so much for watching bbc news. check out _ thank you so much for watching bbc news. check out our- bbc news. check out our website. hello again. friday was a day of sunny spells and passing showers, as those shower clouds started to collapse down late in the day, we had some pretty still conditions there in the highlands. temperatures in scotland, northern ireland and wales generally quite close to average, but across large

parts of england, in contrast, it was very mild, 17 celsius in east anglia — six above average for the time of year. now the showery conditions on friday were caused by this area of low pressure that's working out of the way now. it will be bringing some heavy snow to parts of sweden and norway into saturday. get a quiet ridge of high pressure, a weather window, if you like, ahead of the next system that's working in off the atlantic. what all that means is over the next few hours, increasingly, the skies will tend to clear. and what that means is we'll see temperatures drop like a stone. and heading into the first part of saturday morning, there'll be quite a widespread frost, scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern england as well. a chilly start to the day then, but a lovely sunny morning through most of the uk on saturday. however, rain will quickly spread into northern ireland along with some strengthening winds, and we'll see some splashes of rain getting into wales and southwest england. the rain probably not too heavy here through the course of the morning. across eastern england, eastern areas of scotland after that sunny but chilly start to the day, ok, the weather will tend to turn a bit cloudier,

but it should stay dry until after dark, really. temperatures 10—14 celsius. now for the second half of the weekend, we've got a band of rain that's going to come through saturday night. the dregs of that still around across eastern england as we start the day on sunday. following that, we'll have south—westerly winds bringing mild air across the uk, and we'll be looking at some showery conditions moving back in. so, sunday weather—wise we start off with rain across east anglia, southeast england. that clears away. sunny spells follow widely, but there will be some scattered showers, some of them turning quite heavy through the course of the afternoon. the south—westerly winds drudging up some mild air across all parts of the country. temperatures about 13 celsius in glasgow and belfast, but up to around 15—16 celsius in the warmest parts of england. beyond that, southerly winds are going to kind of dominate into the early part of the new week. however, with low pressure never far away, there will be some showers or longer spells of rain affecting western areas at times. however, it does stay mild, 13 celsius, the top temperature in edinburgh through monday and tuesday, and it stays mild, really, through the week

in london with highs of around 16 celsius or so.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hourjust the headlines for you at the top of the hour just straight after this programme.

this week, we're heading into space to find out how we'll live, work and eat on the moon. we have space homes and a spacewoman... all of a sudden, it clicked in my head. "wow, the international space station "is a submarine in space." ..moon bots and moon dust. the surface is fine and powdery. i can pick it up loosely with my toe. you know, i think i've seen that chap somewhere before. jfk: we choose to go - to the moon in this decade and do the other things, i not because they are easy,

but because they are hard.