the us says it's chartering a plane to evacuate its civilians from the north. a state of emergency in iceland, after a fourth volcanic eruption in as many months. the village of grindavik is evacuated, only weeks after residents were allowed to return. and steve harley, the frontman of cockney rebel, has died at the age of 73. hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start with a focus on the election in russia — and bring you these live pictures from berlin where yulia navalnaya, the wife of the late opposition leader, is protesting against the vote taking place in russia. voting has entered its third and final day for the country's

presidential election, which is certain to hand ballots have been cast over vladimir putin another six years in power. ballots have been cast over three days. there has been some vandalism and a number of arrests at polling stations, but the final result is not in doubt as mr putin has no credible opponent. it comes as supporters of the late opposition leader, alexei navalny, have urged people to turn out en masse at midday in each time zone and vote for any candidate other than mr putin or spoil their ballot papers. the rolling protest has been dubbed "noon against putin". one of the main issues that voters are thinking about, is the war in ukraine. on that, here are two voters from an area just north of moscow. translator: | wish this i special operation would end as soon as possible. it is a pity people are dying, what a pity. can you imagine how many people died, and now ourfront line regions are suffering? i am an elderly person but i'm really worried about this. i came to vote for a man who does everything to ensure there is no war in the world, that our

country lives and prospers and that there is no fascism in any country, not in ukraine or any other part of the world. our russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow. it was interesting. we went to a polling station on the edge of moscow earlier today and just before midday suddenly a queue started forming on the streetjust outside the polling station. several dozen people clearly heeding those calls by opposition figures, including supporters of alexei navalny, to come out and take part in this silent protest against the system, either to vote against vladimir putin or to spoil their ballot. but by coming out to show that vladimir putin does not have overwhelming support in the country, as the official result as we expect it to be will suggest. we expect the putin landslide to be announced when the official result comes. and there have been reports of similar queues forming at polling stations in other parts of moscow

and st petersburg and other russian towns and cities. i asked one of the people in the queue today why he had come, why he decided to take part in this silent protest. he said it was important for him to see that there were other faces, other people with similar political views who believe there could be another russia, another future. and if there isn't, if it is, as we expect, a putin victory, will he use that, do you think, to continue to push forward what he has carried out already in ukraine? will it make his view even stronger on that? yeah, i think continue is the word here, because we are not going to see, i think, any change in policy, any change in direction. we are not going to see vladimir putin reborn, vladimir putin mark five. no, the direction of travel for russia is pretty clear and has been since the full—scale invasion of ukraine. i think we are going to see increased confrontation with the west.

we are going to see increased repression at home and an even more intense crackdown on dissent, on civil society. that is the direction of travel. but this election, even though we pretty much know the result already, it is important for vladimir putin because the last time russians voted for a president back in 2018, people were not voting for a war against ukraine. so when the official result is announced and we have this expected landslide for putin, that will allow the kremlin to claim that he had a mandate for his policies, for his actions, for the war in ukraine and for what he is doing inside russia, transforming this country into an increasingly militaristic society in confrontation with the west. are there concerns that he will use that to launch another round of mobilisation for that war, or that special operation, as he calls it?

it is possible and certainly that is something that does worry people because when vladimir putin announced what he called partial mobilisation backing september 2022, that caused a lot of alarm throughout russian society. all the opinion polls showed there was a spike in alarm in the population here. and the kremlin will now that the same will happen if there is another round of mobilisation. but in recent months the kremlin has been relying on contract soldiers, throwing money at this war, paying a lot of money to people who are willing to sign contracts and go and fight in ukraine. that has been the kremlin�*s preferred method. whether there is going to be another round of mobilisation, we will have to wait and see. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in kyiv. well, i don't think we should say this is about election day specifically.

that is the russian narrative, that ukraine is trying to disrupt an election taking place in russia. i think the way it looks from here is this is war as usual, a war that vladimir putin launched more than two years ago now. so ukraine, yes, has certainly confirmed that it has targeted an oil refinery in southern russia. it says there was a fire there, it calls it a successful strike. certainly zelensky, the president here in ukraine, in his address yesterday evening talked about the success of long—range drones that ukraine is now using. he called it a new strike force in the sky. so certainly drones are being used and certainly shelling is taking place in places like southern russia, close to the ukrainian border. but of course there is daily shelling and there are missiles fired every single day from russia at ukraine and that is the war that russia started and ukraine is defending itself against.

so to link it to the election is something russia is trying to do. ukraine would certainly say it has got nothing to do with the vote. this is self defence. and in the meantime, the war continues, but how much concern is there about potential funding coming up in the next few weeks even for that war effort to continue? there is a lot of concern here. ukraine, we know, the soldiers on the front line are struggling with a shortage of ammunition. the eu hasn't been able to keep its pledge to deliver as much ammunition as it promised. so those are concerns. one interesting thing that i probably should mention about the elections taking place in russia today is of course they are taking place also in occupied territory here inside ukraine. so large parts of ukraine that have been occupied by russian forces both since 2014 and then since the full—scale invasion, there is voting taking place there. i think that it's really important for russia because, remember when vladimir putin launched this invasion?

he falsely claimed that russian speakers there needed protecting from what he was calling nazis here in kyiv. that was his whole premise for this war that he has launched. so moscow really want to show that those people support putin, they are voting for putin, they are voting to reinforce the support for being annexed by russia. but i have been talking to activists and just general people on the ground in those occupied areas, and they are painting a completely different picture. they are saying they are under a lot of pressure to vote, that there are armed soldiers accompanying election officials and they also say there is resistance to taking part in this election, which they call a sham and a fake. they say there are even people who are putting their passport through the washing machine so that they are ruined and they can't be forced to vote. these are live pictures coming in from berlin where the yulia navalny, the widow of alexei navalny is in

the widow of alexei navalny is in the queue there. she is one that called for this protest, they're queueing up at all russian times, obviously russian is on a different time zone, a symbolic protest outside polling stations at midday. she has tried one of those protest outside the russian embassy in berlin and she has been present there for quite a while, queueing up outside the embassy. health officials in gaza say more than 60 palestinians have been killed in israeli bombardments overnight. the health ministry said 12 members of one family were killed when their house in deir al—balah in the centre of the territory was hit. these images are from the hospital in the aftermath of that attack. ceasefire talks are expected to resume in qatar later today, with an israeli delegation likely to join the negotiations, but it's not yet clear when it might leave. benjamin netanyahu benjamin neta nyahu has benjamin netanyahu has reaffirmed his determination to mount a

military operation in rafah in southern gaza where more than a million palestinians are taking refuge. h0 million palestinians are taking refu~e. ., ., ., ., , ,, refuge. no international pressure. us from achieving _ refuge. no international pressure. us from achieving all _ refuge. no international pressure. us from achieving all the - refuge. no international pressure. us from achieving all the goals - refuge. no international pressure. us from achieving all the goals of| us from achieving all the goals of the war. eliminating hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that gaza will no longer pose a threat to israel. in order to do that, we will operating rafah. earlier today the us secretary of state antony blinken made a brief stop in bahrain to discuss efforts to secure a potential ceasefire deal with the country's crown prince and foreign minister. he made the diplomatic stop on his way to south korea, where he'll attend a two—day summit on democracy. our state department correspondent has been travelling with antony blinken and sent us this update from the runway in seoul. we have just landed after a long trip which stopped in bahrain for refuelling. the secretary of state while we were there for around half an hour, and our had talks with the crown prince, the foreign minister. a short statement released after

that meeting round the continued push for what they are now calling at least six week ceasefire between israel and hamas in gaza in return for the release of hostages. we know that effort goes on, but few signs of a breakthrough at this stage. i imagine that intensive work will continue during this brief trip to asia. at the same time, we know that the response by hamas went to the israelis on friday, there war cabinet met and then today talks resuming in direct talks with israel, israel sending of mossad and a delegation to qatar who had been mediating these discussions along with the egyptians. these will be the first talks both hamas and

israel have attended indirectly like this, the first talks both of them have participated in since the start of ramadan. meanwhile, in israel, families of the 130 or so hostages are urging the government to do a deal to free them, before it is too late. our senior international correspondent orla guerin spoke to one israeli mother about the agonising wait for her son, who was taken when hamas attacked israel on october 7th. as soon as i turned my phone on, two consecutive messages came in that had arrived at 8:11 from hersh. the first of the messages said, "i love you." and the second one immediately after said, "i'm sorry." this is rachel's son, hersh goldberg—polin, 23 and much missed. here he is in happier times with his parents. the american—israeli is still a hostage in gaza. five months on, his

mother still in anguish. every morning when i wake up, i make a concerted effort and say to myself, "now pretend to be human," so that i can get up and try to save hersh, my son, and the other remaining 133 hostages. what i want to do is lay in a ball on the floor weeping, but that won't help them. hersh was caught up in this horror when a music festival became a killing field on october 7th. he sought refuge with friends inside a bomb shelter. but hamas was at the entrance, throwing in grenades. allahu akbar. he was last seen surrounded by gunmen, his left arm blown off, as hamas

loaded hostages onto a truck. do you believe you will get him back? i really do. hope is mandatory. and... ..i believe it — and i have to believe it — that he will come back to us. that's what all the families cling to, the belief that their loved ones will be back. they keep protesting, keep pressuring the government to do a deal. a sombre count in hebrew of every day the hostages have been held. rachel wants an end to the agony and not only for israelis. i feel that so many

people are suffering, not just those families of the 134, but there are thousands and thousands of gazan... innocent civilians in gaza who are suffering. there is so much suffering to go around. and i would love for our leaders, all of them to say, "we're going to do what we have to do so thatjust the normal people can stop suffering." everybody�*s going to have to give in. there's no perfect scenario. and we need the suffering to stop. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. there's a blockbuster fa cup quarter final to look forward to later on sunday. the stakes are usually high when manchester united meet liverpool but this time there's also a place in the last four and a trip to wembley on the line at old trafford. before that, a repeat of the 2016 final — won famously by leicester over chelsea. that started around half an hour

ago at stamford bridge. it is chelsea who lead by one goal to nil, it might have been two nil but a penalty was missed. apart from the fans of those two teams, most would consider that match as a warm up would consider that match as a warm up for the would consider that match as a warm upforthe main would consider that match as a warm up for the main event later. some games are bigger than others, manchester united and liverpool is always a big game. we are really looking forward to it. it is a special game, absolutely. it is alwa s a special game, absolutely. it is always a tough _ special game, absolutely. it is always a tough place - special game, absolutely. it is always a tough place to go for us. it is not _ always a tough place to go for us. it is not easy, it means everything to both _ it is not easy, it means everything to both fan — it is not easy, it means everything to both fan groups, it we know that. we try— to both fan groups, it we know that. we try to _ to both fan groups, it we know that. we try to show that on the pitch as well with_ we try to show that on the pitch as well with the workrate. but you'd never _ well with the workrate. but you'd never know, so there are no

guarantees, just opportunities. and we are _ guarantees, just opportunities. and we are very— guarantees, just opportunities. and we are very willing to give it a w _ and we are very willing to give it a try. bayer leverkusen will attempt to take their lead at the top of the bundesliga to 10 points later with xabi alonso taking his team to freiburg. bayern munich reduced the gap to seven with a win at darmstadt on saturday. meanwhile, wolfsburg have parted ways with head coach nico kovac with immediate effect. they were beaten 3—1 at home by augsburg on saturday and are without a win since december, taking just six points from their past 11 games. elsewhere, the fight for second place continues in serie a behind runaway leaders inter who play napoli later. juventus are playing genoa, it is goalless, there isn't too long left there. milan started the day in second, they play at verona. while atletico madrid — barcelona is 5th against 3rd in la liga. it's finals day at indian wells. the world number one iga swiatek will play greece's maria sakarri later. meanwhile, in the men's draw, the two time grand slam champion carlos alcaraz has ended jannik sinner�*s19—match unbeaten run to reach the final.

the defending champion dropped the first set 6—1 in a match that was interrupted by rain — but took charge of the second and third — this was the long rally on match point. alcaraz is aiming to win his first title since wimbledon last year and is the first man to beat the australian open champion sinner this year. i am really happy to classify for the final. it means a lot to me to play such a great level and play anotherfinal and of course winning today. 16 matches straight. and to be able to win something like this, it is incredible for me. alcaraz will play daniil medvedev in the final after the russian beat tommy paul in three sets.

medvedev says he'll have to play 20 out of 10 to beat alcaraz, who has won three of their last four meetings. a0 points from lebronjames wasn't enough to prevent the la lakers slipping to a 128 to 121 defeat against the golden state warriors for whom steph curry scored 31 points after missing the three previous games with an ankle injury. meanwhile, the new york knicks won their third game in a row, beating the sacramento kings 98—91. jalen brunson scored 42 points, becoming only the fourth knicks player to register consecutive 40—point games and he's now reached that mark in seven games this season. you can follow the football by our website, on the uk it is on bbc one. and that's all the sport for now. the us embassy in haiti says it is arranging a charter flight to evacuate us citizens from the northern coastal

city of cap haitian. many of the several hundred thousand people displaced by haiti's gang—related violence have fled there. the embassy warned that americans would have to travel to the airport at their own risk. the situation in port—au—prince remains very volatile. gangs control most of the capital. our central america and carribean correspondent will grant gave us this update on that. well, it appears there was quite an extensive swat team operation in an area of the capital, and that is where there is known to be one of the strongholds of this gang. they were clearly trying to capture the leader or kill him but they were successful in neither of those attempts. they were a number of casualties in the gangs by all accounts, but if anything it has beget more violence. today there has been more shooting in the capital, and a quite fierce response from the gangs to the operation by the police. this paints a picture of what is going on, really. it is a sort of cat and mouse game going on in the neighbourhoods,

with the police who are outnumbered by the gangs at this stage, unless they get serious reinforcements in the coming weeks and months. by all accounts, it is becoming extremely serious in port—au—prince. here where we are, the way it is seen is the fact that there are just so many people arriving from the capital whichever way they can. we sawjust now while we were waiting to come on air and speak to you, a bus coming from port—au—prince. there are very few running because it is so dangerous. it took extra hours because it had to go out of its way because of the police operation, and the response by the gangs, adding hours onto the journey. it is extremely frightening for those on the bus and travelling this way. but it is less frightening to get here and make thatjourney, than it is to remain at home. so we are seeing more than 360,000 internally displaced people, and of course the aid to deal with the humanitarian emergency is simply not coming in at the pace that it should. it is a trickle, if that.

steve harley, the frontman of cockney rebel, has died at the age of 73, his publicist has confirmed to bbc news. a statement from the family reads, "we are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and father has passed away peacefully at home, with his family by his side." david sillito looks back at his life. # you've done it all, you've broken every code... steve harley and cockney rebel, and make me smile. it wasn'tjust a huge hit, it was one of those songs that never seems to have gone away. # you spoilt the game, no matter what you say...# and right from the beginning, there was a feeling about it. they always ask me, did you know at the time that it would be a big hit? actually, we did think it would be. i knew the managing director of emi at the time who came to abbey road where i was mixing it. he said, "number one." and i said to him, "ok,

can i hold you to that?" he said, "yeah." # mr soft, turn around and force the world to watch the things you're going through. ..# during his �*70s heyday, there was more than a touch of glam theatricality and single—mindedness. some of that determination grew out of his childhood. polio had kept him in hospitalfor years. at three—and—a—half years old, here, i caught polio. there was an epidemic at that time. they said, "stephen won't live through this." but during those years in and out of hospital, he developed a passion for music, and after a spell as a journalist, he began trying out his songs at folk clubs before finally hitting the big time. but when his chart success began to slide, his attention shifted to another musical avenue. # sing once again with me...# he was given the chance to record

the single for andrew lloyd webber�*s phantom of the opera, but he was devastated when he wasn't chosen to play the role for the west end. # you've done it all, broken every code...# nevertheless, he continued to perform. the effects of his childhood polio were lifelong, but onstage in the spotlight he said it was the one place he could forget it all and simply be steve harley, the rock star. # ooh—ooh, la—la—la. ..# i look back on the life of steve harley who has died at the age of 73. just a reminder of our top story, voting is continued for a third day in russia in elections that vladimir putin is widely expected to win as there have been no credible opponents. while we have been on air, an ngo of an

organisation in russia has announced that 74 people have been arrested for protesting against the elections and you will remember that the family of alexei navalny and also his colleagues have urged people to turn out en masse at midday in all the time zones in russia and vote for any other candidate other than putin or spoil their ballot papers. yulia navalny is also done that in berlin at all. 74 arrests in russia over those protest. do stay with us. after a lot of cloud and drizzle we have seen things improving attack cloud goes away over the north sea and before we see some further rain coming in from the atlantic there is a bit of sunshine around through the rest of the day and those temperatures are higher than

yesterday. could make 17 degrees in the south—east of england and in the sunshine in the moray firth, possibly 15 degrees here. some showers around head into the evening, particularly across scotland and we have another band of rain moving into northern ireland, heading eastwards strict overnight, much rain and either side clearer skies. chillierthan much rain and either side clearer skies. chillier than last night in england and wales and some early mist and fog in the far south—east. a band of cloud and what is left of the brain dies out it runs eastwards early on monday morning, a lot of dry weather following with sunshine and then in the afternoon went pick up and then in the afternoon went pick up in the northern ireland, irish sea and far west of scotland and we start to see warmer rain arriving. still mild on monday, 14 or 15 degrees, southerly winds ahead of that weather system. that will bring more rain but mostly from the northern half of the uk overnight, clearing away as at low pressure moves away on tuesday morning. we are left with a trailing band of cloud, patchy rain heading towards

southern parts of england, brightening up elsewhere with sunshine and showers should tend to fade away. cooler for scotland and northern ireland on tuesday, still 14 or 15 for south—eastern areas, rain later in the day for the south—west, moving northwards and into wednesday perhaps across wales, northern england, south—east scotland and uncertainty about wednesday. hardly a breath of wind, much of scotland and northern ireland may be dry, and south—eastern part of england where we have milder conditions hanging on. there is another weather system to continue this very unsettled theme as we head overnight and into thursday. this one coming in from the atlantic, bringing wetter weather for northern areas by thursday. that should have cleared much of scotland and northern ireland with sunshine for a while and then increasingly high—tech patchy rain heads down across england and wales before it turns damp and cloudy later in northern ireland in western scotland. temperatures of 13 or 14 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines... yulia navalnaya, the wife of the late russian opposition leader alexei navalny, has been in berlin at a protest against vladimir putin on the final day of voting in the presidential elections. there are queues at some polling stations in russia with opposition supporters taking part in a silent ballot box protest.

a mother's plea for her son as the families of 130 israeli hostages being held in gaza urge the government to broker a deal to free them, before it's too late. as gangs tighten their grip over haiti's capital, the us says it's chartering a plane to evacuate its citizens. but it warned there would only be a limited number of flights out of the country. and a state of emergency in iceland after a fourth volcanic eruption in as many months. the village of grindavik is evacuated, only weeks after residents were allowed to return. now on bbc news — click.