russian president vladimir putin says all four gunmen involved in the deadly attack on a concert hall in moscow, have been detained. at least 133 people were killed in the assault, when masked men burst into the venue friday, firing indiscriminately, and detonating explosives. in the russian capital, people have been leaving flowers and lighting candles. memorials also appeared outside russian embassies in several countries — and armed police have been patrolling the area around the crocus city hall. in a televised address, mr putin called it a "barbaric terrorist act" and connected ukraine to the attack. that's despite the islamic state group claiming it carried out the mass shooting. ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, reacted angrily to accusations his country was involved. translation: one more thing, what happened in moscow yesterday, it's obvious that putin and other scumbags are just trying to find someone else to blame. their methods

are always the same — we have seen it all before, destroyed buildings and shootings and explosions and they're always looking for someone to blame. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, has been to the scene of the attack — and a warning, you may find some of the details in his report, upsetting. it was hard to believe that only yesterday this was a concert hall. in what was left of crocus city, the full horror of what had happened became clear. the attackers had torched the building. a rock concert became an inferno. shooting but first, the gunmen had opened fire. to kill as many of the audience as possible. in one constant stream of bullets. russia says the four gunmen who did this have been arrested, and claims they planned to cross into ukraine. kyiv denies any connection to the attack.

it's islamic state that's claimed responsibility. president putin promised vengeance. translation: all the perpetrators and organisers of this crime and those who ordered it will be justly and inevitably punished. whoever they are, whoever is guiding them, those terrorists, murderers, monsters face the same unenviable fate — retribution and oblivion. in moscow, there were long queues to donate blood for the many who'd been wounded in the attack and rushed to hospital. outside crocus city hall, a hint of the devastation inside. the first thing you notice here isn't the sight of the building — it's the smell. the air is thick with smoke because the concert hall was burning all night. and the next thing you notice is what's happening over there — people are bringing flowers, creating a makeshift shrine to the dead. margarita knows she's lucky.

she was in the building when the shooting began and got out alive. translation: when i got home, i hugged my children, _ fell to my knees and said, "i can't begin to describe what happened there. they were shooting at us." i was hysterical. my husband could barely watch. the children were terrified. theyjust hugged me. but so many died here. there were so many victims of the deadliest attack in russia in 20 years. president putin has declared a national day of mourning. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. what do we me about those who may have launched this attack. here is our security correspondent gordon corera. chaos and confusion as gunmen

begin shooting inside the concert hall at crocus city. this footage verified by the bbc shows the gunmen in the foyer, but who are they? isis, the group calling itself islamic state today issued a statement saying its men seen here were responsible. that's not something we can independently confirm and the issue of who was responsible is deeply contentious. more than two weeks ago, the us issued this warning to its citizens in moscow saying what it called extremists thought to mean isis might target large gatherings including concerts. it communicates the intelligence directly to moscow. but three days before the shooting, a kremlin statement was issued in which vladimir putin dismissed that warning describing it as provocative and an attempt to destabilise russia. the russian

security services say they stopped this car and that the four men involved in the attack have been arrested. but rather than say anything about isis, the kremlin suggested they were heading away from the scene and towards ukraine — that might be an attempt to deflect blame there and away from moscow. one of russia's tv channels even broadcast this last night... ..afake video of a top ukrainian security official suggesting ukraine was involved. bbc verifies established two different videos were put together to make this with the words most probably generated by artificial intelligence. after any attack, there are always questions about whether it could have been stopped. but in this case, those questions look especially difficult for moscow. gordon corera, bbc news. there has been reaction to that attack in russia, here in the us. the united nations security council has called it "heinous

and cowardly" — while the biden administration has said their thoughts were with the victims of the shootings. our north america correspondent, will vernon, gave us this update a little earlier. we have just received a statement from the white house press secretary expressing condolences and condemnation of this attack and that statement specifically mentions isis and the us says intelligence confirms that isis claim that it was responsible. officials here have been very clear — the us had information that an attack like this was coming and that information was shared with the russians both publicly and privately and president putin dismissed that warning a few days ago as an attempt to destabilise russia. but we heard there, didn't we, that president putin seemed to suggest that ukraine was somehow involved. i think there will be efforts now by the white house in the days ahead to push back against that, to re—enforce the message that

america believes this was isis and not ukraine. i think that the concern here in washington now will be that president putin could somehow use this horrific tragedy to ratchet—up the conflict in ukraine even further. joining me live is colin clarke — director of research at the soufan group and author of the book after the caliphate: the islamic state and the future of the terrorist diaspora. thank you forjoining us. i want to ask you first of all about the islamic state's group claim of responsibility here. how credible does it seem to you that the group could have been behind this attack? i think there's no doubt the islamic state rarely, if ever, issues false claims of responsibility. all the pieces fit here. in fact, i wrote an article for foreign policy last may, may 2023, which was called the islamic state's new target — russia. isis makes no bones

about wanting to target the russians for what they see as vladimir putin's role in spilling muslim blood in various conflicts from chechnya to syria. i various conflicts from chechnya to s ria. ~ ., i. various conflicts from chechnya to s ria. ~ ., ., various conflicts from chechnya tos ria. ~ ., ., ., to syria. i know you have also been studying _ to syria. i know you have also been studying islamic - to syria. i know you have also been studying islamic state . been studying islamic state terror groups extensively, you probably have been looking at a lot of this footage that's been coming out on social media. what stood out for you so far from what we have seen of the footage of the actual attack? these were trained militants. if i had to guess likely trained, you know, in afghanistan. but if you look at the way that they shoot, the way they move, the spacing between them, you know, tactics, techniques and procedures, have all the hallmarks of a classic islamic state attack. and so that combined with the claim of responsibility. and let's not take for granted the us warning here. the us doesn't make these, you know, claims lightly, right. these were the warnings for the russians to be on guard. the russians either

dismissed it or weren't able to disrupt the plot before it was able to take place. is disrupt the plot before it was able to take place.— able to take place. is has several — able to take place. is has several of _ able to take place. is has several of these - able to take place. is has several of these different j several of these different global branches, doesn't it? what do we know about which branch might have done this? some us sources pointing to isis k? ., , ., . ,, ., isis k? yeah, the islamic state koreson province _ isis k? yeah, the islamic state koreson province in _ koreson province in afghanistan, but also with probably some logistical support from local militants. there's a number ofjihads from the caucuses who used to be an isis caucus branch which was quite robust. there are a large number of radicalised central asian extremists in russia living there. there's some information that some of these individuals may have been in turkey and so, look, this is a global network. the group has suffered significant losses over the past several years. very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to _ very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to ask _ very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to ask you _ very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to ask you about - very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to ask you about that| i wanted to ask you about that because a lot of the world's attention obviously has been on the situation in gaza, the

conflict in ukraine, is it possible potentially that the world has — has its eye elsewhere and that a group like islamic state might try to take advantage of that?— advantage of that? without question- _ advantage of that? without question. this _ advantage of that? without question. this is _ advantage of that? without question. this is a - advantage of that? without question. this is a group i question. this is a group that's incredibly patient. they're opportunistic and i think, you know, if you look at the russian security services their band width is stretch, overstretched with the war in ukraine. you know, my concern is that western intelligence services that are focused — not only on ukraine but also on gaza have taken their eye off the islamic state. it's something i have been writing about and speaking about for the past couple of months saying, you know, we're kind of reaching a crisis point here where in the united states in particular we have pivoted away from counter terrorism towards this concept of great power competition with china and russia and when you talk to folks in the intelligence community, the cupboard is bare. all the that's a major concern. i bare. all the that's a ma'or concern. i don't want to be alarmist — concern. i don't want to be alarmist and _ concern. i don't want to be alarmist and obviously - concern. i don't want to be i

alarmist and obviously we're still waiting for more information, we want to verify these claims by the islamic state group, but if this was, indeed, isis k, what's the potential for future attacks not only within russia, but potentially elsewhere? yeah, it's aood potentially elsewhere? yeah, it's good to — potentially elsewhere? yeah, it's good to be _ potentially elsewhere? yeah, it's good to be sober - potentially elsewhere? yeah, it's good to be sober about i it's good to be sober about this, right, and not to be alarmist. but, you know, there's been a steady drum beat and uptick in disruptive plots. that gives you a sense of intent. we have now seen capabilities. in fact, intent. we have now seen capabilities. infact, on tuesday, earlier this week, capabilities. infact, on tuesday, earlierthis week, i actually tweeted out isis k is knocking on the doorstep or knocking on the doorstep or knocking on the doorstep or knocking on the door in europe, i'm very concerned about a potential attack. three days later this attack happens. why did i say that? us warning, a failed plot against the synagogue in moscow, another disrupted plot in germany that was targeting sweden, so we have seen a kind of steady, again, you know, kind of operational template from this

group and it was only a matter of time until they launched a successful attack. this one was highly athlete lethal. you believe russia _ highly athlete lethal. you believe russia could - highly athlete lethal. you believe russia could have ignored this attack. what does a domestic attack potentially a terror attack on russian soil mean for president vladimir putin? ~ ., ~ , mean for president vladimir putin? ~ . ~ , ., ., ~' putin? well, makes him look weak, putin? well, makes him look weak. and — putin? well, makes him look weak, and vulnerable - putin? well, makes him look. weak, and vulnerable although putin has already tried to to ukraine. he'll use this to his advantage to try to recruit and potentially con script, you know, new manpowerfor potentially con script, you know, new manpower for the wa in ukraine most likely. interesting stuff. thank you very much for your thoughts. thank you. the united nations chief, antonio guterres visited the rafah crossing on saturday making a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. his call came as the hamas run health ministry in gaza said 19 people waiting for aid were killed by israeli forces. israel has denied firing on the crowd. mr guterres said it is time

to silence the guns and stop the nightmare — describing the ongoing loss of life in gaza as a moral outrage. the un estimates 1.1 million people in gaza are struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. mr guterres called on israel to give "total, unfettered" access to humanitarian goods throughout the territory. it's time to truly flood gaza with life—saving aid. the choice is clear — either surge or starvation. choice is clear — either surge orstarvation. let's choice is clear — either surge or starvation. let's choose the side of help, the side of hope, and the right side of history. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is also in egypt near the rafah crossing. he sent us this update on efforts to get aid into gaza. this is the egyptian side of the rafah crossing with gaza and one of the main entry points for humanitarian assistance into the territory.

here, hundreds of trucks are waiting to be allowed to enter gaza. now, western officials, aid groups, have been criticising israeli authorities for this inspection process. they say that it's been extremely slow and they say that some of these trucks have been turned away because they have been carrying some items that have been banned by the israeli authorities, such as medical scissors and also sleeping bags. now, some of these trucks have been here for weeks waiting for these inspections and the un says more than 1,500 trucks are waiting here in egypt and obviously the humanitarian situation in gaza is worsening. today, antonio guterres is back here. the un chief is again calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in gaza and for israeli authorities to do more to allow more humanitarian aid into this visit happens just

days after an un—backed report said half of gaza's population of 2.2 million people faced catastrophic levels of hunger and that famine in northern gaza was imminent if there was no pause in fighting and a surge in aid. i talked with james elder, a unicef spokesperson who is in rafah on the gaza side, about conditions he's seeing there. this is absolutely horrendous. in rafah where i am now, a population of 300,000 is now closer to 1.5 million, people on the streets, sanitation obviously broken down, not enough access. i don't know if you can hear it now, i can hear bombs now. that might be in rafah, that might be next door in khan younis is devastated. i have never seen that level of annihilation on a city in my 20 years with the united nations. hospitals are utterly non—functional. two—thirds of them at least and people in the north can't — i have been in the north, you know, you drive

past and doing that — that universal sign of hunger much less than the children who are dying of famine—like conditions, yes it is a moral outrage and families are living through this day in and day out, somehow incredulously it's getting worse. us secretary of state antony blinken urged mr netanyahu not to launch an assault on rafah during a visit on friday. to get more on what negotiations may look like, i spoke to former us ambassador to pakistan, lebanon, and jordan. the wilson center's david hale . great to have you here. i want to start with what we saw there with the un secretary general on the egypt side of this rafah crossing. again calling for an immediate ceasefire. are there any signs, you think, that that could be on the cards any time

player... reached a any signs, you think, that that player... reached a deal obviously the intention here is to have a ceasefire in exchange of hostage releases and see if that can be built into a longer—term cessation you also saw friday, the un security council failed to pass the resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza linked to a release of hostages. russia and china used their vetoes. this almost seemed like a reversal of roles, didn't it? because we have seen the us vetoing similar proposals. what did you make of that scene there at the un on friday? to be perfectly honest, i worked un on friday? to be perfectly honest, iworked in un on friday? to be perfectly honest, i worked in the security council myself and i don't want to diminish the importance of actions in the security council, but often they really don't have much bearing on the situation on the ground. more about manoeuvring and public relations than they are about actually contributing to real—life improvements for the people who are suffering from this war. so i think the important thing really is to focus on our own efforts, bilaterally and with our like—minded countries to try to bring hamas and israel to a

point where they both find an interest in having a ceasefire and then the un can come in and ratify that. and then the un can come in and ratify that-— ratify that. let's talk about those efforts. _ ratify that. let's talk about those efforts. the - ratify that. let's talk about those efforts. the us - ratify that. let's talk about - those efforts. the us secretary of state antony blinken making his sixth visit to the region since this war broke out. he's been meeting with arab leaders, israeli leaders, is there anything more he can do? it does seem to feel as if the us's influence over any kind of ceasefire is waning here? ii ceasefire is waning here? if you look at the history of israel's responses to the kinds of attacks that the occurred on october 72006 with hezbollah and south lebanon, 19805 with beirut, typically american presidents don't israelis how to conduct the war. our role is really telling them how to conduct the peace. once they reached a point where there's no longer a military goal that can be attained we need to help guide them into a diplomatic and political process that makes sense and that can stabili5e and improve the situation. so i hope that soon we're able to do that. i don't detect any way at this point a realistic game plain plan for the day after on the part of

either israel or the united states at this stage.- states at this stage. was interesting _ states at this stage. was interesting to _ states at this stage. was interesting to see - states at this stage. was interesting to see as - states at this stage. was j interesting to see as well because we know there was some sort of discussion at least from mr blinken in terms of a postwar plan or going forwards, some sort of peace plan. he's pushing for two—state solution. he's pushing for the palestinian authority to govern gaza. do you think those plans are something that israel might agree to? i are something that israel might aaree to? ., �* are something that israel might aaree to? j , are something that israel might aareeto? .,�* , agree to? i don't believe so. these 90 — agree to? i don't believe so. these go back— agree to? i don't believe so. these go back to _ agree to? i don't believe so. these go back to g7 - agree to? i don't believe so. | these go back to g7 meeting the5e go back to g7 meeting where the secretary of state outlined seven or eight principles among those were included. you know, it's a new reality today of unfortunately that struck the middle east and old 5olution5 that struck the middle east and old solutions may not be the ones that are able to tackle the new realities. so while we may all dream and want a two—state 5olution, may all dream and want a two—state solution, we all may dream and want moderates to be in charge of gaza, we're a long way from getting to that point and particularly the psychological climate among those palestinians and israelis tho5e palestinians and israelis after all the violence is going to be a very, very tall — tall to be a very, very tall — tall to climb over.

to be a very, very tall - tall to climb over.— to be a very, very tall - tall to climb over. we know that mr bfinken to climb over. we know that mr blinken was _ to climb over. we know that mr blinken was in _ to climb over. we know that mr blinken was in cairo, _ to climb over. we know that mr blinken was in cairo, he - to climb over. we know that mr blinken was in cairo, he was . blinken was in cairo, he was meeting with several other leaders in the regionful he did not meet, of course, with iran, but iran doe5 not meet, of course, with iran, but iran does have a role to play here, doesn't it, not only in the conflict or any sort of peace process or ceasefire going forward. at, peace process or ceasefire going forward-— peace process or ceasefire auoin forward. . , ., going forward. a very important oint to going forward. a very important point to bear— going forward. a very important point to bear in _ going forward. a very important point to bear in mind _ going forward. a very important point to bear in mind is - going forward. a very important point to bear in mind is that - point to bear in mind is that iran is point to bear in mind is that iran i5a point to bear in mind is that iran is a major player here. major protagonist. while we have to have to address the real needs of israelis an but we have to israelis are trying to block u5 we have to israelis are trying to block us from achieving tho5e to block us from achieving those goals. if you look at who is the biggest opponent of a two—state 5olution, who is the biggest advocate for violence, it is iran. so we have to have a strategy that also takes into account the iranian problem and puts pressure on them so put5 pressure on them so they're not able to be 5poilers. they're not able to be spoilers-— they're not able to be soilers. �* , ., ., spoilers. briefly we have about a minute left, _ spoilers. briefly we have about a minute left, but _ spoilers. briefly we have about a minute left, but we - spoilers. briefly we have about a minute left, but we have - spoilers. briefly we have about| a minute left, but we have seen increasing pressure now on the biden administration, a group of democratic senators, we saw more than 70 former officials e55entially calling to restrict military assistance to israel.

if humanitarian aid doe5 military assistance to israel. if humanitarian aid does not begin to really flow into gaza, do you think the restrictions on aid to israel could be something that the us or the biden administration might begin to consider?- biden administration might begin to consider? well, that's reall a begin to consider? well, that's really a domestic— begin to consider? well, that's really a domestic political- really a domestic political calculation, but i would hesitate to advocate for it because i don't believe that it one helpful in getting the israelis to act in a responsible way. the more they feel isolated and in threat, the more likely they are to continue to take 5trong extreme action5 exactly what we don't want them to do. they need to know that the united states has them behind their back but also have good advice for them to move from a military phase to a political phase.— political phase. interesting stuff. david _ political phase. interesting stuff. david hale, - political phase. interesting stuff. david hale, global. stuff. david hale, global fellow with the wilson centre, former us ambassador to pakistan, lebanon anjordan. in a newly released statement, kensington palace says the prince and princess of wales are both enormously touched by the public response to catherine's announcment that she is receiving

treatment for cancer. in a video released friday, catherine said the diagnosis came as a "huge shock," and that she's in the early stages of chemotherapy. our royal correspondent, daniela relph has more. this is the national with erica johnson. catherine, the princess of wales, made a shocking announcement... making headlines globally. kate middleton... the impact of the princess's diagnosis has been felt far and wide. her video message was the most direct and personal we have ever seen the princess. this, of course, came as a huge shock... it was also an attempt to shut down the rumours. i think what the princess of wales is hoping is that this message will be direct enough to appeal to people's better nature5 and say, look, the invasion of privacy that has been going on, on social media for the last couple of months has just been way too much. people need to stop and think and not engage in that kind of activity going forward. and now a fresh statement from kensington palace, a public thank you. it said... "the prince

and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the uk, across the commonwealth, and around the world, in response to her royal highness'5 message. they are extremely moved by the public�*5 warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time." family has rallied around the princess, including those with whom relations are strained. the duke and duchess of sussex sent a public message of support. the bbc understands they have also reached out privately. in windsor today, where the prince and princess live, public sympathy remains strong. we've been thinking of her all along and wish her the best. they're going through something so private and hard and, you know, the public eye on it, it's really tough, to be honest. yeah, she's got. young kids, right? and she's a human being, so i thought it was - all quite upsetting. protecting her three children has been a priority for the princess of wales. she said she's taken time to explain and reassure george, charlotte and louis.

i think it's really important, when parents are approaching, talking to their children about their cancer diagnosis, that they plan it, they think about it carefully. and also they get the right support to help them deal with the emotions that it creates in them. the new message from the prince and princess is both a thank you and a polite warning. they now want to be left alone. we don't expect to hear from them over the easter holiday. instead, we may see the king back in the royal spotlight. christmas at sandringham, the last full gathering of the royal family. next sunday, many will be back for the easter church service in windsor. buckingham palace are hopeful that the king will also be there. daniela relph, bbc news. some of the world's most famous landmarks have gone dark. they're taking part in earth hour, to raise

awareness of environmental issues and the impact of climate change. let's take a live look at the empire state building in new york, joining iconic buildings that have gone dark. stay with us here on bbc news hello there. well, it's certainly been a lively start to the weekend weatherwise. loads of showers around on saturday, some of them with hail and thunder, some of them with mammatus clouds — always a sign of a good storm. now, the showers that went through south parts of greater london, around kent, they really dumped the temperatures. look at that — ten degrees at midday, just two degrees celsius a couple of hours later in the afternoon. that would have felt really cold, especially with those gusty winds. now, over the next few hours, many of the showers will tend to become confined to more northeastern areas of the uk should become drier over the next few hours in the west. temperatures as we head into the first part of sunday morning, quite chilly around 3 to six degrees celsius. now, sunday will continue to be dominated weatherwise by this area of low pressure —

it's the same one that we had on saturday, but it's starting to pull away into the near continent, but still influencing our weather. certainly there'll be lots of showers across northern areas of scotland and a few affecting the east coast of scotland running down east and coastal counties of england as well. some of the showers for these areas will continue to be quite heavy with some hail, whereas across western areas of the uk many areas should have a dry day with some bright or sunny spells. temperatures for most about 10 to 12 degrees — that's average for the time of year. northern scotland, about six to eigh,.tthat�*s a little on the cool side. then into monday, we get another area of low pressure forming and moving in off the atlantic. this is going to be bringing further outbreaks of rain on monday to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. probably a dry and bright day for eastern areas of england. the rain starts pushing northwards across scotland and starts to move into the chilly air that we have here. temperaturesjust six in aberdeen. so through monday night we might actually start to see some of that rain turn to snow.

it is going to be quite high up in the high hills of scotland, probably above 300 metres elevation or so, but that could continue to be a risk into tuesday. so you might see a little bit of snow on some of the very high—ish scottish routes in the north. otherwise at lower elevations it's just outbreaks of rain, sleet and a bit of hail that you'll see mixed in. a cold day on tuesday — temperatures around nine or ten for england and wales, just five there in aberdeen. so overall, we're looking at a very unsettled week ahead, a cold start to the week, yes, but it does tend to turn milder as the week goes by. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. with the full—scale war in ukraine now in its third year, the country is struggling to sustain its fight. american weapon supplies are stalled, as is the flow of something just as important — that of new soldiers to the front. we cannot win with harmed and tired and exhausted soldiers. plans to call up hundreds of thousands have been held up for months because of

political wrangling in kyiv. we are all human beings. we get tired. but do we lay our hands down? no, we don't. but can they mobilise and train sufficient troops to get through the coming months? ukraine's struggle takes a daily toll. kataryna saw her husband off to war. he'd been called up. and afterjust two months at the front, he was killed by a russian shell. his family and friends remember the brightest of spirits.