we cannot stand by and watch palestinians risk starvation. that's not us. that is not what we stand for together. we have a special report from cap—haitien where displaced people from the gang violence have been fleeing to. # come up and see me, make me smile # or do what you want...# and steve harley, the frontman of cockney rebel, has died at the age of 73. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. we start in russia, where official results are starting to come in, in the presidential election.

an exit poll has suggested that — as expected — president putin is heading for a landslide win, taking nearly 88% of the vote. the final day of voting saw large queues form at some polling stations, in an apparent show of dissent. allies of the late opposition leader, alexei navalny, had called on people to come out at midday in moscow and elsewhere to vote for any other candidate or spoil their ballots. there were no protest chants and the authorities had warned that activists could be arrested. a rights monitoring group in russia says more than 70 people were detained. mr navalny�*s widow, yulia, was amongst those who queued for several hours outside the russian embassy in berlin to vote. she was greeted by supporters with flowers and applause. after voting she told reporters that she had written the name of her late husband on her ballot paper. she also thanked her fellow russians

for queuing so long. a russian election official says more than eight million russians cast their ballots online. this is the first time that electronic voting has been used in a russian presidential vote. our first report is from our russia editor, steve rosenberg. singing it is a strange feature of russian elections that they often don't look like elections. outside polling station 1321 they were putting on a carnival to entertain the voters, the cast of actors a large one. but when it comes to who'll be president, there's only one star of the show. in this race, vladimir putin was pretty much unbeatable. there were other candidates, but no serious challenger. potential rivals are quickly removed from the political stage, forced into exile or put in jail and elections tightly controlled by the kremlin.

but if they couldn't win, mr putin's opponents could at least protest. and they did in many parts of russia. opposition figures had called on russians to flood polling stations at midday to vote against putin or spoil their ballots. a symbolic protest against the system. we were here. i've never seen queues like this before at a russian polling station. before his death in prison, alexei navalny had backed the protest. it took courage to come. the authorities had warned that large crowds at noon would be viewed as illegal gatherings. i was here. ivan, not his real name, told me why he'd come. it was important for me to see faces of other people who would come here today and to see that i'm not alone in my political views. for now, there'll be

no change in the kremlin. this election was never about, would vladimir putin win or wouldn't he? elections here are designed to ensure he wins and wins big. from the outset, for the kremlin, this vote was about creating the impression that mr putin has a mandate from his people, not only for war in ukraine, but also for what he's doing at home. transforming russia into an increasingly militaristic society in confrontation with the west. but across town, muscovites continue to pay tribute to alexei navalny, the man who'd wanted to be russia's president. here, a ballot paper in place of putin's name, navalny�*s, and this message. "he's the candidate we wanted." steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the russian election has been condemned as a sham by president putin's adversaries abroad.

the white house said it was obviously not free or fair. germany called it a pseudo—election, with a result that would surprise nobody. with me is francis scarr who follows russia for bbc monitoring. hello, francis. we are starting to get reaction now to the astounding result, if it is true. {iii get reaction now to the astounding result, if it is true.— result, if it is true. of course the kremlin will— result, if it is true. of course the kremlin will result _ result, if it is true. of course the kremlin will result any _ result, if it is true. of course the kremlin will result any -- - result, if it is true. of course the kremlin will result any -- rejectl kremlin will result any —— reject any accusations of this not being a free or fair election. any accusations of this not being a free orfair election. we have any accusations of this not being a free or fair election. we have seen today on russian state tv various so—called international election monitors being wheeled out and telling the russian domestic audience that they have witnessed a fully transparent election according to the highest international standards. this is of course the message that the kremlin will be keen to put across to people within the country and have also been keen to stress the high turnout this time, it's around 74% which is higher than ever before. president putin is using this election as a

propaganda tool to say he is a popular mandate and he is a legitimate president who is there to listen to the opinion of ordinary russians. ~ . ., ., ., russians. what we have at the moment on the screen. — russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, _ russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, i— russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, i don't - russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, i don't know - on the screen, francis, i don't know if you can see that, that's one of the polling stations in moscow. and counting has been taking place there. we also saw electronic voting take place for the first time. what more can you tell us about that? the kremlin has — more can you tell us about that? tue: kremlin has pulled more can you tell us about that? tte: kremlin has pulled out more can you tell us about that? tt2 kremlin has pulled out all the stops this time to increase the turnout and one of the methods they have usedis and one of the methods they have used is electronic voting which has been used before in lower level elections on the regional level. but this is the first time it's been used on the presidential level. this is aimed ostensibly, the kremlin says, to making it easier to vote. we have also seen early voting take place in occupied ukraine where russia has also been holding elections. in the past, early voting has only taken place in very remote areas in rural siberia, places you

need a light aircraft or a boat to get to that several days away from settlements. and another thing that they have done is to make this a three day vote rather than a one—day vote. this was also used during 2020 in the coronavirus pandemic when president putin help this referendum to take constitutional changes which will allow him to stay in power until 2036. all in all this is about boosting the turnout as much as possible and allowing the kremlin to put across this narrative, to push this narrative that putin has a mandate from the whole nation. it is funny you say that because we have volodymyr zelensky of ukraine making that point are volodymyr zelensky of ukraine making that hoin ., ,, ., , volodymyr zelensky of ukraine making that ..oin . ,, . , that point are essentially saying, cominu that point are essentially saying, comin: to that point are essentially saying, coming to us _ that point are essentially saying, coming to us via _ that point are essentially saying, coming to us via the _ that point are essentially saying, coming to us via the reuters - that point are essentially saying, l coming to us via the reuters news agency, they have picked up on this comment, describes mr putin as a dictator, simulating another election and that mr putin was sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever. so it's not the first

time we have heard that this is going to be a term until the end for president putin. what do we know about his opponents? who were they? did they even count? hat about his opponents? who were they? did they even count?— did they even count? not really. any real opposition _ did they even count? not really. any real opposition to _ did they even count? not really. any real opposition to president - did they even count? not really. any real opposition to president putin . real opposition to president putin was removed before the ballot paper was removed before the ballot paper was even finalised. the three people who were allowed to stand where mps in the parliament, the parliament of course doesn't contain any real opposition. there are different parties but they only campaign against the ruling party on very technical small issues and in terms of majorforeign policy technical small issues and in terms of major foreign policy and technical small issues and in terms of majorforeign policy and other decisions taken by the kremlin they are fully behind president putin. francis, thank you very much. ijust wanted tojump in quickly. we believe it there now. butjust to add that from the from the uk the foreign secretary lord cameron has also reacted, posting that the polls have closed in russia following the illegal holding of elections on

ukrainian territory, lack of choice for and no independent osce monitoring. this is not what free and fair elections look like. francis, thank you very much. more reaction as and when we get it. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky, as i said, also reacting, saying vladimir putin wanted to live forever. he posted his nightly video address. mr duszynski said russia's presidential election was an illegitimate imitation. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford who is in kyiv says that most ukrainians will find predictions of a landslide win for mr putin comical. i think people here willjust laugh at that, frankly. they will also say it underlines a difference these days between russia and ukraine which is a democracy versus a dictatorship. but of course, for ukraine this does have significance, even though people will be shrugging off the result to some extent.

i think this does mean at least six more years of vladimir putin in the kremlin and that does mean more war in ukraine, more missiles, more drones, more violence from russia towards this country. so it is important. i think it has also been important in another way, in the sense that, of course, much of eastern and southern ukraine, or parts of eastern and southern ukraine, are occupied by russian forces and the election has been taking place in those territories. and russia wants that election, those people in that part of ukraine to show their support for vladimir putin. they want a big display, kind of display of support for russia, for putin, for the annexation which russia has announced in those regions. obviously that's the official picture. i think the true picture is completely different because we have been speaking to activists on the ground who said turnout in actual fact has been very low and that people are under extreme pressure to

take part. but they have been resisting. they have been hiding their passports, even destroying their passports so that they don't have to vote for a president of a country they never wanted to be a part of. there had also been reports that there had russian soldiers, turning up at people's there had also been reports that there had been military, russian soldiers, turning up at people's homes and effectively telling them to vote. it's quite common in russian elections for people to have mobile ballot boxes brought to their houses if they live in remote areas, difficult to access areas. what's been happening in occupied areas of eastern ukraine is those people have been going out with those ballot boxes but with soldiers, too, armed men accompanying the election officials as they go around the houses. probably russian officials would say that is for security reasons, there is an active war going on. but obviously it is also a means of intimidation. and certainly we have also heard reports, i've heard reports directly from people

in those areas that soldiers are accompanying election officials when they take ballot boxes, closing at polling stations, taking the ballot boxes to the marketplace because they want to persuade and pressurise people in busier spots like markets and shopping centres to cast their ballot. so this is not an election like any other in any kind of democracy. it is a show of democracy. it is all about of course engineering putin's return to the kremlin. what will this now mean for the war in ukraine? is it more of the same? yes. that's what it boils down to. more of the same. i mean, it's been more than two years now since the full scale invasion. vladimir putin launched it, saying he was protecting russian speakers in eastern ukraine against nazis. that rhetoric hasn't changed, the rhetoric against the west has not changed, in fact it is only intensified so we can only expect more of the same from russia.

and obviously for ukraine that is a pretty depressing prospect. sarah rainsford, thank you very much indeed. as we mentioned, there have been protests in cities around the world as people cast their ballots at russian embassies. in berlin there were long queues outside the embassy. yulia navalnaya, the wife of the late russian opposition leader alexei navalny, was amongst those to cast her vote. these pictures are from the french capital, paris, where demonstrators held anti—putin banners near the eiffel tower. an effigy of president putin was burnt in prague. several dozen, mostly russian nationals, took part in the protest in the city's square. in the us many people gathered around the embassy in washington dc for the noon against putin protests. to japan next, where again people queued at the russian embassy in tokyo around midday. and here in london, there were protests and long queues. our correspondent, frances read, sent this update from outside the embassy. well, thousands of people have come out to vote here since midday today, really.

the queue has been stretching back as far as you can see. and at the moment, if you have a look over here, this is the front of the queue. so this is people going in to vote. i'vejust spoken to someone in the queue. they said they got here at around "240 this morning. so we're talking about several hours to actually get to the front of the queue as well. if you then have a look down this way, we can see just how far the queue actually stretches. so it's been stretching as far as the eye can see. and if we just have a quick walk down here, you can seejust — i mean, really, you keep going and the queue just keeps going and going and going. a lot of the people that we've spoken to here today said, yes, they were here to vote, but they were also here to take part in those so—called midday protests. a lot of them said that that's why they wanted to be here today. that's why they'd come out and queued since really midday today, some of them a little bit

earlier as well in the day. it's not yet known whether all of this queue will actually get a chance to vote. voting apparently closes here at 8:00 this evening. that was frances read. our north america correspondent will vernon is in washington, dc and just returned from the protest at the russian embassy in the city. hello. talk us through those protests.— embassy in the city. hello. talk us through those protests. there was an enormous queue _ through those protests. there was an enormous queue outside _ through those protests. there was an enormous queue outside the - through those protests. there was an enormous queue outside the russian| enormous queue outside the russian embassy in washington, dc. several hundred people have turned up to vote. that's a large numberfor somewhere like washington. this part of the us is not somewhere that has a particularly substantial number of russians living here. and several of the people in that queue, lots of them actually left russia after the war in ukraine broke outjust over two years ago. many of them leaving russia either to escape repression or mobilisation, orjust because

they didn't feel comfortable staying in a country that unleashed this war on its neighbour. but outside the embassy it was certainly a very colourful spectacle. there were banners and flags and placards. they had assembled a stage where people were giving speeches. and i got chatting to one of alexei navalny�*s closest aides, worked with him for many years. she told me alexei navalny, were he alive today, of course he died in that arctic penal colony last month, if he were here to see this today she said he would be so happy to see the number of people who had turned out not only in russia but abroad as well to register their protest vote against vladimir putin. 2s, register their protest vote against vladimir putin.— vladimir putin. a white house official said _ vladimir putin. a white house official said uppishly _ vladimir putin. a white house official said uppishly these - official said uppishly these elections were not free, nor where they refer. elections were not free, nor where they refer-— they refer. that's right the osition they refer. that's right the position of— they refer. that's right the position of the _ they refer. that's right the position of the us - they refer. that's right the - position of the us government very clear —— nor were they fair. they

condemned not only the voting process taking part in occupied parts of ukraine, as we know there have been votes cast their often at gunpoint. the us state department said that was a sham election. but also washington says that these elections for ordinary russians are not free and fair. there are no genuine independent candidates on the ballot paper and a state department said that once these elections are over, which they are being watched very closely he said ijy being watched very closely he said by washington, there will be a lot to say about them. but remember, the war in ukraine and russia, president putin, it is a hot political topic here in the us. it's an election year here and you have two candidates with very different approaches to russia. former president donald trump often speaks fondly of vladimir putin. president biden calls him a war criminal. iinstill biden calls him a war criminal. will vernon, biden calls him a war criminal. will vernon. thank— biden calls him a war criminal. will vernon, thank you very much indeed.

and a reminder we have a special live page up and running on the bbc news website and app — with the very latest from russia as the official results come in from the presidential election. now to the middle east. the german chancellor, olaf scholz has said his country cannot stand by and watch palestinians risk starvation in gaza — and called for a longer—lasting ceasefire. the health ministry says 61 palestinians were killed overnight, including 12 members of the same family whose house in deir el—balah was hit. medical sources say most of the victims were women and children. this girl has been speaking about her cousin who was killed. translation: honestly, what do they want from us? — translation: honestly, what do they want from us? to _ translation: honestly, what do they want from us? to kill— translation: honestly, what do they want from us? to kill her? _ translation: honestly, what do they want from us? to kill her? there - translation: honestly, what do they want from us? to kill her? there are l want from us? to kill her? there are no more kids in gaza. if we want to rebuild gaza we need many years. look at the house, it's destroyed. we don't love hamas and have no relations with them. nothing is left. she is dead. only her dress is left. she is dead. only her dress is left. this is the best gift from

her. speaking after talks with benjamin netanyahu injerusalem, mr scholz said he had shared his concerns with the israeli prime minister over what he called the �*terribly high costs' of the war in gaza. we cannot stand by and watch palestinians risk starvation. that's not us. that is not what we stand for together. much more humanitarian aid is needed continuously, reliably. i shared my concerns with the prime minister. that provision of aid from israel into gaza and the conditions for distribution must be urgently and massively improved. and finally, we need a hostage deal with a longer—lasting ceasefire. i know how difficult it is to reach an agreement with the hamas terrorists, but we understand the hostage families who say after more than five months, the time has come for a comprehensive hostage dealfor saving those who are still held captive. mr netanyahu said israel would not leave palestinian

civilians trapped during its planned military operation in the city of rafah in southern gaza, where more than a million people are seeking refuge. i assured chancellor scholz that our goal in eliminating the remaining terrorist battalions in rafah goes hand—in—hand with enabling the civilian population to leave rafah. it is not something that we will do while keeping the population locked in place. in fact, we will do the very opposite. we will enable them to leave because our consideration for reducing and minimising civilian casualties has guided us and will continue to guide us in the future. after weeks of deadly violence in haiti, police say several gang members have been killed in an operation to clear roadblocks and seize weapons in the capital port—au—prince. the united nations estimates 350,000 people have been displaced by the unrest, adding to an already complex political and security situation.

our central america correspondent will grant is one of the first journalists to be able to get into the country and reports now from cap—haitien in the north — where most displaced people have been heading. cap—haitien suffers from almost all of haiti's deepest problems — grinding poverty, chaos, disorder and corruption, but crucially, not gang violence. so it's becoming the main safe haven for people forced to leave the gang—controlled capital, port—au—prince. another bus—load arrives, having run the gauntlet of a dangerous journey. "it took us hours longer than it should, as we had to reroute around the gang checkpoints and there was gunfire," says this passenger, who was clearly shaken. little wonder when you see what he's fleeing. one of haiti's main gangs has released a slickly produced video currently circulating online.

it shows a well—armed militia, a group prepared to take on the haitian state and any international force which might be deployed here. mr pierre also fled to cap—haitien six months ago. it's almost impossible to pull yourself from poverty in haiti. he had managed it. but becoming a middle class businessman made him a target. the gangs destroyed his business, ransacked his house and tried to kidnap him, and in the process plunged him and his family back into poverty. translation: this is just 2% of the life i used to live. infact, i'm not living. i'm just existing. the longer the power vacuum in haiti continues, the worse the humanitarian emergency here becomes. in turn, more and more displaced people will flock to the city of cap—haitien in search of refuge from the violent gangs

that have such a tight grip on the capital. while the security situation is that of a failed state, so are the politics. we have violence in haiti. uri latortue was the head of the senate and is currently under us sanctions for alleged links to drug trafficking and gangs. that's something he denies and points the finger of blame at his opponents instead. the government works with the gangs and this is the problem. the government, during the past three orfour years, work with the gangs and in this situation police can't do anything. amid the worsening crisis, the us state department has laid on a charter flight for americans to leave cap—haitien for florida. several dozen took up the opportunity to flee. however, that's a luxury most haitians aren't afforded and must seek a safer place inside haiti instead. will grant, bbc news, cap—haitien, haiti.

in iceland, a state of emergency is in force in the southwest of the country after the latest volcanic eruption. the small town of grindavik has been evacuated, as has been the blue lagoon geothermal spa, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. lava flows cut off one road overnight, but they've since slowed down. the peninsula has seen increasing activity since december, with the local system of volcanic fissures erupting four times in as many months. steve harley, the frontman of cockney rebel, has died peacefully at home at the age of 73. # come up and see me, make me smile... i? this track's his best known song. it went to number one in the charts in 1975. the musician who had still been touring until recently, had cancelled dates to undergo treatment for cancer. today is st patrick's day — as thousands of people gathered in towns and cities across ireland to celebrate.

this was the scene in dublin city centre where 5,000 people took part in the traditional parade. the irish president, in his st patrick's day message, paid tribute to all irish women and men engaged in peacekeeping and humanitarian work around the world. president biden also hosted a st patrick's day brunch for the prime minister leo vardakar in washington dc. whilst the white house fountain was turned green to mark the event. that's the latest. plenty more on the bbc news — that's the latest. plenty more on the bbc news website. _ once the cloud and rain moved away we started warming up, 17 degrees across southern parts of england, warmer than it was yesterday. we're still in the mild air as we head overnight and into monday. this

weather system here eventually some rain. ahead of that we have two bands of cloud with a little rain, not much on those at all. the second band of cloud heading eastwards seeing the rain tending to die out late in the night. clear skies ahead of that means temperatures will typically be around five, six, 7 degrees so that's a bit cooler than it was last night across england and wales. early mist and fog patches in the south—east of england. you can see how the band of cloud and any rain just dies out. lots of sunshine then following on behind. in the west in the afternoon the winds will pick up through the irish sea, northern ireland, western scotland and we start to see the weather system bring in some rain. ahead of that, decent —looking day with some sunny spells around, still in mild air, temperatures ia or 15 degrees air, temperatures 1a or 15 degrees thanks to the southerly wind ahead of that weather front there. that will bring rain in from the atlantic, most from northern areas, that will get swept northwards together with the low pressure centre overnight so tending to dry off in the north—west on tuesday. we

are left with a band of cloud and patchy light rain heading southwards followed by some brighter skies, some sunshine and a few showers as well. it's beginning to turn cooler across scotland and northern ireland on tuesday. still pretty mild in the south—east. there could be some rain in the south late in the day that could push northwards command into wednesday affect wales, northern england and south—east scotland. still lots of uncertainty on that rain. there is no wind to move things about. scotland and northern ireland looking generally dry, cool air here, mild and generally dry in the south—east of england. that band of rain willjust tend to fizzle out because it's going to get swamped by the next weather system coming in from the atlantic to bring some wetter weather for the northern half of the uk, mainly overnight. by thursday that may have cleared scotland and northern ireland and we will cease and patchy light rain heading down across england and wales. it may turn more cloudy and damp late in the day across northern ireland. but much of scotland enjoying some sunshine, especially in the north—east and temperatures

12-ia c.

this is bbc news, the headlines... exit polls and first results show vladimir putin has won a predictable landslide in russia's presidential election — in an election his opponents condemned as a sham. the last day of voting was marked by silent protests at polling stations. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, says his country can't stand

by and watch palestinians risk starvation in gaza. speaking injerusalem, mr scholz emphasised the terribly high costs of the war against hamas on civilian lives. ukraine says it hit an oil refinery in southern russia overnight, as part of a campaign to undermine russia's economy. the kremlin says the attacks were timed to disrupt the russian election. 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, it's sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. the headlines this evening... a seventh goal on a day of mayhem at manchester united. they beat liverpool to reach the fa cup semi—finals.