we begin with some breaking news. officials in russia now said the death toll on the concert hall has risen to 137. russia is observing a national day of mourning today, for the victims of friday's attack on a concert venue, just outside moscow. these are live pictures outside what remains of the concert hall. it's 5pm local time. mourners have been placing flowers there at a makeshift memorial. others have queued to donate blood for the many survivors. in the last few moments, officials in russia have said the death toll from the attack on the crocus city hall has risen to 137. the islamic state group has released graphic footage, which appears to back up its claim of responsibility, for the attack. caroline hawley reports. a growing mountain of tributes in memory of those killed in russia's deadliest attack

on civilians in two decades. many had been attending a concert. among the dead, three children. the country is in mourning and in shock. inside the venue this morning, a complex rescue operation was still under way. such was the damage, they're having to cut through debris to try to gain access to the music hall itself, where it's feared that more bodies could be found. translation: overnight, a hole| in the main building was created, in order to get engineering equipment inside the concert hall and ensure the work of rescue workers. plans were also made to extinguish small fires on the roof of the building. a glimpse here of the terror of friday night, as the gunmen shot their way into the hall. people finding whatever shelter they could from indiscriminate firing. imagine you had a relative at the concert and hadn't heard from them since. translation: the last| time yana contacted me was from the concert hall.

she sent me one photo and then a second. i wrote to her and sent a second message. the first message was read on whatsapp. the second wasn't. the islamic state group says it carried this out, and the us had told russia it had intelligence of an imminent extremist attack, a warning that vladimir putin then publicly dismissed. he's tried to link ukraine with what happened here, saying the attackers were attempting to flee across the border when they were caught, prompting a furious denial. 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've seen it all before — destroyed buildings and shootings and explosions — and they are always looking for someone to blame. this is an image released by the islamic state group. bbc verify has also been looking at graphic footage released last night — which we're not showing — and have matched the logo

on a t—shirt in that video with one worn by this man, under arrest. the attack has prompted an outpouring of grief in russia, and in the minds of mourners, there are bound to be questions. caroline hawley, bbc news. our russia editor steve rosenberg has more from krasnogorsk, just outside of moscow. well, we haven't heard much more today from the kremlin, but i can tell you what, on this national day of mourning, there is a long queue of people outside the crocus city hall here. people queueing up with flowers, roses and carnations, lining up at the makeshift shrine to the victims of this attack. people have been leaving messages, too. one that i read was addressed to the attackers and it read, "you are scum, we will never forgive you." and just from talking to people here, there is a deep sense of shock at what has happened, and a mixture, i'd say, of grief and also anger.

one woman was in tears when i spoke to her. she said that she felt a great sense of loss and had to come. one man said that he wanted president putin to remove the moratorium on the death penalty. he was very, very angry. as to who was behind this, people here are not sure, but as you mentioned, russian officials have been hinting very strongly that in some way, somehow, ukraine is connected to this attack. even though islamic state says it carried out the mass shooting, even though islamic state has released these graphic images of the attack, and even though american officials have said they have no reason to doubt that claim of responsibility by islamic state. the feeling is that the kremlin is trying to convince russians that somehow, ukraine played a role in this.

i want to remind you before we move on of the latest death toll that is common in the last few minutes from russian officials, they said it is now confirmed 137 people were killed in the attack. it is expected the death toll is likely to rise. according to the afp news agency, russian officials say they found weapons and ammunition in their search of that concert venue. ukraine and russia have been trading missile strikes overnight. ukraine's military said it struck two large russian landing ships, a communications centre and other infrastructure used by russia's black sea fleet in crimea. a russian—installed official in crimea reported a major ukrainian attack, saying air defences shot down more than ten missiles over the crimean port of sevastopol. this comes following a night of air strikes on the capital, kyiv, and the western city of lviv. the mayor of kyiv, vitali klitschko, says there were several explosions.

these images show an explosion of a missile seen on the kyiv skyline, confirming ukraine's statement that air defence systems repelled much of the attack. in lviv, close to the polish border, there's been damage to critical infrastructure. the polish army has issued a statement saying they want answers from russia, after a missile violated the airspace for under a minute, before adding that poland's airspace is now safe. israel's defence minister is heading to washington, as the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, comes under increasing pressure from the us to halt its planned assault on rafah in southern gaza. the health ministry in gaza, which is run by hamas, says 19 people waiting for aid near gaza city were killed by israeli forces on saturday. israel denies firing on the crowd. meanwhile, the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, has continued his call for a humanitarian ceasefire

after a visit to egypt, saying israel should remove remaining obstacles from getting aid into the territory. our middle east correspondent yolande knell is following developments from jerusalem. the israeli military says that it's hit 65 targets in the gaza strip in the past 2a hours. still the main focus of its operations there remains the shifa hospital in gaza city. its troops returned there for a major raid last monday, and we are hearing from the israeli military that now something like 800 people have been arrested in that area, and it says that something like 480 members of hamas and islamichhad are among those who have been arrested, also 170 people it's calling terrorists have been killed. it's very difficult to contact palestinians in the area. communication are poor, but palestinians there, including displaced people, medics and patients, well,

we've been hearing from some of them that conditions are desperate. it's very hard for them to get access to any medicine and food, and innocent people are among those being killed. five patients are said to have died. meanwhile, palestinian medics are saying that there is also fighting very close to two hospitals in the south of the gaza strip, and it's still not clear exactly what happened a day ago, when hamas officials in gaza say that israeli forces killed 19 people and wounded 20 more as they were waiting for an aid convoy to arrive in gaza city. the israeli military has denied that its forces opened fire, and say that they are still investigating exactly what happened there. meanwhile, those talks are still going on in qatar, indirect talks between israel and hamas on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal, but we've got the members of the us delegation, the cia director and also the head of the israeli delegation, the head of the mossad spy agency, leaving the talks

for the moment, a palestinian official close to them telling journalists that big gaps remain between the two sides. israel has carried out air strikes deep into lebanon, targeting an area in the eastern city of baalbek, known to be a stronghold of the militant hezbollah group. this footage — released by the israel defense forces — claims to show an air strike on what the israeli military called "a hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons". lebanese media say at least four people were injured when a two—storey building was hit. let's speak to hesham shawish, with bbc monitoring. what more do we know about what happened? what more do we know about what ha--ened? what more do we know about what ha ened? ., , what more do we know about what ha ened? . , ., happened? there have been a number of israeli strikes _ happened? there have been a number of israeli strikes over _ happened? there have been a number of israeli strikes over the _ of israeli strikes over the weekend deep inside lebanese territory, deeper than what has been occurring over the past six months, and it

comes after a week of de—escalation between israel and hezbollah. what they're saying about the later strikes is that residential building was struck yesterday, full story residential building, in which civilians were wounded, and the strike happened very close to the home of a his hezbollah official. we saw strikes over the border by a mountain range where hezbollah struck, and a short while ago in a valley we saw reports of a car. no one was killed there, but it happened right next to the border crossing with syria which would be very busy on a sunday afternoon, with people coming and going. no one was killed in that's right, but people were injured and one is in critical condition. can people were injured and one is in critical condition.— critical condition. can you talk about the _

critical condition. can you talk about the significance - critical condition. can you talk about the significance of - critical condition. can you talkj about the significance of this? critical condition. can you talk - about the significance of this? we often hear about retaliatory strikes to and fro of the lebanese border with israel, south of lebanon, but this happened in the north of the country, close to the border with syria. has significant is it we are seeing these strikes?— syria. has significant is it we are seeing these strikes? whenever we seeing these strikes? whenever we see strikes deeper _ seeing these strikes? whenever we see strikes deeper into _ seeing these strikes? whenever we see strikes deeper into lebanese i see strikes deeper into lebanese territory raises tensions. the strikes follow a week where we saw a marked reduction in cross border clashes between hezbollah and israel, and that de—escalation was attributed to french mediation. the previous week we saw the france intelligence agency meeting senior hezbollah figures, but these strikes the stakes, and raise fears of a spread in the conflict. figs the stakes, and raise fears of a spread in the conflict.— spread in the conflict. as you mention. _ spread in the conflict. as you mention, this _ spread in the conflict. as you mention, this is _ spread in the conflict. as you mention, this is raising - spread in the conflict. as you . mention, this is raising concerns spread in the conflict. as you - mention, this is raising concerns of an escalation of the conflict in the region. can you talk us through how this has been reported in lebanese media? in this has been reported in lebanese media? , .,

media? in terms of the pro-his- brother- mack | media? in terms of the - pro-his-brother-mack outlets, media? in terms of the _ pro-his-brother-mack outlets, they pro—his—brother—mack outlets, they print covering the response to these strikes in the valley, so hezbollah launched 60 rockets at the israeli occupied golan heights, aimed at military barracks, but because they went into occupied territory, and fell into open areas, it suggests that hezbollah doesn't want the conflict to spread, does not want an escalation. other media outlets in lebanon are reporting the strikes factually, but we'll see a lot more reaction of the coming days. what happened in the past, over the past ten days, when israel struck deeper into lebanon is that we saw a lot more overt criticism of hezbollah and their handling of the conflict, so we saw lebanon's president, former president, telling his brother delegation in a closed meeting that he was not convinced with hezbollah handling of the

conflict, and it shows the type of discourse that is happening, the tension is raised when strikes, suspected israeli strikes go further, deeper into lebanon. thank ou ve further, deeper into lebanon. thank you very much- _ nominations to replace leo varadkar as the leader of the fine gael party have closed. it's believed simon harris is the only name in the hat. if chosen, it paves the way for him to become the youngest ever taoiseach at 37. reporter kevin sharkeyjoins me now from our belfast newsroom. good to see. talk through the timeline here. what can we expect? simon harris is a senior member of the current irish government, and what is happening now is sequencing, if you will, towards him being eventually elected as the prime minister of ireland next month. later this afternoon he will be confirmed as the new leader of his

own party, and that in itself is significant, because fine gael is currently part of the three coalition government in ireland, and currently holds the position of prime minister and the government, so basically have the pick of the next prime minister, so it will go on to nominate simon harris in the nomination of the parliament, that won't happen until the 9th of april, a few weeks away yet, and when he is nominated he will be supported by the other members and parties of the government, so we will be elected as an extra minister of ireland next month, and as you say, when he is elected he will be the youngest ever foreign minister of ireland. can elected he will be the youngest ever foreign minister of ireland.- foreign minister of ireland. can you remind us what _ foreign minister of ireland. can you remind us what brought _ foreign minister of ireland. can you remind us what brought us - foreign minister of ireland. can you remind us what brought us to - foreign minister of ireland. can you remind us what brought us to this l remind us what brought us to this point? remind us what brought us to this oint? ~ . , , point? well, rather suddenly, three da s aao, point? well, rather suddenly, three days ago. leo _ point? well, rather suddenly, three days ago, leo varadkar _ point? well, rather suddenly, three days ago, leo varadkar and - point? well, rather suddenly, three days ago, leo varadkar and he - point? well, rather suddenly, three days ago, leo varadkar and he was | days ago, leo varadkar and he was

stepping down as leader of fine gael and taoiseach for personal reasons, and taoiseach for personal reasons, a sequence of events moving towards his replacement, and when he was replaced next month he will have much to do. in ireland at the moment, right at the top of the political agenda is a housing crisis. he will have to address that, and there are other issues abroad, and notably with our olympus my closest neighbour, britain, he will be working with the british government and british prime minister, not least regarding the institutions in northern ireland just recently restored. when simon harris is elected as the next and youngest feminist of ireland on the 9th of april he will have much to do. ~ . . ., 9th of april he will have much to do. ~ . ., ., ., ~ do. much ado indeed, kevin, thank ou ve do. much ado indeed, kevin, thank you very much- _

much more that on their website and the app. now it's time for a look at today's sport with gavin ramjaun. a shock in formula one, as max verstappen failed in his attempt to equal his record of ten successive wins earlier at the australian grand prix. those plans went up in smoke — quite literally — as a brake fire put an early end to his race. carlos sainz completed a remarkable comeback from appendix surgery two weeks ago, to come first in melbourne. sainz started alongside world champion verstappen, who was on pole. but the dutchman handed him the lead, after having to retire his red bull with brake problems. the race finished under safety car conditions, after britain's george russell crashed his mercedes at the end. he was unhurt, and sainz claimed victory ahead of team mate charles leclerc, with the mclaren of britain's lando norris completing the podium. the opening weekend of the women's six nations continues. there were wins for france and scotland on the opening day, while england are away at italy. that gets under way in less than an hour. england are after the title for a sixth year in a row, with captain marlie packer set for her 100th cap for the red roses.

she says the team is hungrier than ever for success. the goal for this six nations is to go out there and win it, like, a grand slam win. but we need to make sure that, you know, we perform in each game. and it's notjust about the points on the board. it's how we come off as players, like, we have targets within defence or attack that we want to hit in those games. that's what i think us as red roses will be defined whether this six nations has been successful or not for us. next to tennis — the two—time australian open champion aryna sabelnka has been knocked out of the miami open. it's been a difficult week, following the death of her ex—boyfriend. she lost in three sets to ukraine's anhelina kalinina in the third round. meanwhile, in the men's draw, the number—one seed carlos alcaraz will play gael monfils next, after beating roberto carballes baena in straight sets. having just won the title at indian wells, alcaraz cruised through 6—2, 6—1, but says the win wasn't as easy as it sounds.

it was difficult with the humidity. you know, the court, the balls, everything, it was difficult to adapt my game to these conditions. but really happy with the level that i hit the ball, that i solved everything and hopefully keep going. a remarkable collapse from england handed new zealand a dramatic three—run victory in the third t20, as the hosts kept the series alive in nelson. england were cruising in pursuit of 156, needing only 29 runs from 29 balls with eight wickets left, but then lost six for 25. that left them needing eight from the last over, but they scored just four and lost two wickets. england lead the series 2—1, ahead of the fourth match in wellington on wednesday, in the five—match series. credit to them.

i think we got put under a lot of pressure and today maybe didn't come up well against it. but i think that's a big learning curve. this team is always about learning opportunities and it's all right to make mistakes but we have to learn from them. i guess it is one to learn from big time. a busy sunday in the english women's super league as chelsea aim to return to the top of the table with a win over west ham. the merseyside derby is into the second half — everton hosting liverpool to goodison park. with the score 0—0. spurs area spurs are a goal up. all the other matches on your screen. third place arsenal start the day nine points off leaders manchester city — they're away at aston villa in the late game. you can stay across all of that on the bbc sport website. and that's all the sport for now. here in the uk — the chancellor has confirmed that the conservatives will have a commitment to keeping the so—called triple—lock on pension increases, in their election manifesto. our political correspondent

georgia roberts has more. will the triple lock be in the tory manifesto this time around? well, i can confirm it will be, yes. the chancellor was determined to spread some economic cheer this morning after recent news of falling inflation, and some cheer in particularfor pensioners came, with a clear commitment to the triple lock if the conservatives win the next general election. when we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups. now, because of the triple lock that we introduced, they are less likely to be in poverty, and i think that's a really important social change. it's a policy that's been criticised as unsustainable because of its hefty price tag. a recent report by the institute for fiscal studies think tank said the triple lock added an extra £11 billion a year to public spending. butjeremy hunt said he could pay for it. what we saw in the budget was, because we have a plan for growth, the obr say that we will get back to 2%—ish growth over

the next few years... i just want to be clear... that means that we can start to make very important... labour's party chair was asked what they would do. we'll set out those plans for our manifesto in detail. however, we don't want them to be threatened by that £46 billion black hole that, unfortunately, jeremy hunt has threatened with the national insurance change he proposed. the labour spokesperson told the bbc they are committed to the triple lock, too, but won't confirm it will be in their election manifesto. the liberal democrats dismissed mr hunt's pledge as a shameless election trick, but they have already committed to it themselves. this election year, all parties will have to spell out whether they think the policy really is affordable in the long term, with an economy that isn't out of the woods yet. georgia roberts, bbc news. the prince and princess of wales say they have been moved by the public�*s warmth and support, since catherine's announcement on friday, that she is receiving cancer treatment.

a statement from kensington palace, also said the couple were "grateful" that the public understood their request for privacy. here's daniela relph. 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' 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 natures 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: 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've also reached out privately. 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. 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 the king will also be there. daniela relph, bbc news. before we go let's take a look at the scene in moscow. it's just coming up to 5:30pm there. a national day of mourning in moscow following friday evenings attack. official said the death toll has

risen to 137 people. we will keep you posted on that story and although the stories right here on bbc news. hello. many of us have had at least some spring sunshine to enjoy so far today. but the forecast for the week ahead looks decidedly on spring, like with spells of rain. it will often be windy and it'll be cold enough over scottish hills for some significant snow, at least for a time now. this chart shows the rainfall we're expecting to accumulate over the next five days, particularly wet for some western hills and also in eastern scotland. now i say wet across scotland. certainly over the next couple of days that wet weather will be falling in this very cold air. and that is why we have that potential for some snow, as i'll show you in a moment. but in the short term, the rest of the afternoon will bring some spells of sunshine, scattered showers. it's a little bit less chilly than it was yesterday, but cloud and rain gathering out

towards the west and that will push its way in across many western parts of the uk as we go through the night. ahead of that, some clear skies, maybe the odd mist patch. it will turn chilly for a time by the end of the night, certainly becoming milder out towards the west. but we will see a frost across the northern half of scotland. so into tomorrow, it's a story of low pressure swirling its way in from the west with this frontal system running its way northwards and eastwards. now, i think some parts of eastern england are likely to stay predominantly dry with some spells of rather hazy sunshine. but rain across western england, wales into the midlands, northern england, northern ireland, southern scotland. and as that rain gets into central parts of scotland where it will start to turn to snow up over high ground. we'll be quite cold through tomorrow afternoon in northern scotland, 5 to 7 degrees south wales, southern england, 10 to 12 degrees. but through monday night into tuesday, this wet and indeed wintry weather will become quite

persistent, with 50 millimetres of rain likely across some parts of eastern scotland. but come inland snow even overfairly modest hills above 300 metres elevation. you could be looking at 20 centimetres of snow, only slowly petering out through the day on tuesday. windy in the north of scotland, very cold as well. some places, particularly where snow falls, will struggle to get much above freezing. further south, some sunny spells, some showers and a little bit milder. it does turn a bit milder for just about all of us as we head through the week towards the easter weekend. but there will still be some rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the death toll from friday's mass shooting at a concert call on the edge of moscow has risen to 137 people, including three children — that's according to russian authorities. russia is observing a day of mourning today with flags flying at half mast and many events have been cancelled. the islamic state group says it was behind the attack. ukraine's armed forces say they've hit two russian landing ships and a communications centre in russian—occupied crimea. the claims follow ukrainian attacks overnight on the crimean port city of sevastopol. helping out friends and family with a spot of decorating is one thing, but what about two of the beatles? after becoming one of the defining artists of the swinging sixties, dudley edwards did just that. paul mccartney and ringo starr both

invited him to live with them while he painted murals in their homes. sixty years later he's back home in yorkshire with a new exhibition. our reporter michelle lyons went to meet him. voiceover: it isn't a car at all, it is a painting. i that's what joint owners douglas bourne and dudley edwards say. and if you want your carjazzed up and have several hundred pounds to spare, this is the place to take it. the swinging �*60s catapulted halifax artist dudley edwards well and truly into the spotlight. having been to art college in bradford, he headed for the big smoke to make his mark in the world and, boy, did he do that. we moved down to london and all we had was a chest of drawers and a couple of chairs. and we said, "well, we're artists we may as well colour "them and paint them". david bailey had his studio directly opposite our studio. and he bought it. their colourful style took off and it was partly influenced by their yorkshire roots.

when i was a student at bradford art college, the first asian immigrants had arrived in bradford and i suppose they came from such a colourful place, as pakistan and india, they painted their doors these really vivid and bright colours. and itjust really stood out, likejewels in a gold mine. so we wanted to kind of perpetuate that. to bring colour and joy to london. it was dull and grey. from furniture to cars to murals, dudley was in demand. he even got a commission from paul mccartney. paul had seen the car and he wants his piano doing. doug and i decided to go our separate ways. at the time, i was broke, more or less. and somebody got the message through to me that paul wanted me to do a mural in his house and to live with him

while i'm doing it. this took place over three months or more. i didn't get much mural work done because he was always dragging me out to either restaurants or nightclubs. i was with him in the nightclub the bag of nails the night he met linda. paulsaid, "ringo wants a mural doing." well, ringo lived way out in weybridge. as did john lennon and george harrison. so i went over to weybridge and i worked with ringo for a while. but doug always wanted to get back to his roots, so he returned to yorkshire to his first love of painting. most of the paintings were abstract. not quite as decorative as the �*60s work, but nonetheless abstract. but i gradually, it transformed into figurative work.

you are approaching your 80th birthday. is this exhibition a culmination of your work, a celebration of your life? i hope not! i want another 30 years. michelle lyons, bbc news. now on bbc news, we have this special programme on how the princess of wales announced her cancer diagnosis in a special message to the world. from the princess of wales, a deeply personal statement. it has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family. her operation injanuary had been successful, said catherine, but there was a problem. it was thought that my condition was non—cancerous. the surgery was successful. however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. that meant she was now undergoing chemotherapy. this, of course, came as a huge shock and william and i have been doing everything we can to process

and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. it followed a flood of speculation about her health, so will that come to an end now and what next after kate's cancer diagnosis? she is one of the most popular royals, whether hosting events herself or at the side of her husband, the prince of wales, catherine has played an active role as a senior royal since marrying william in 2011. catherine is a hugely popular member of the royal family and she is a very important member of the royal family for that reason. you know, when she steps out looking glamorous, she will be on the front page of every magazine, of every newspaper, and that is important for a royal family that needs to be seen. there are fewer senior members of the royal family out and about and i think part

of the reason why this social media frenzy has developed over the last couple of months is because she hasn't been as visible because she has been taking time out for this recovery and she has been missed. the princess of wales is a key player within the royal family and she is of huge importance to their regular goings—on. . if you think of annual events, like trooping the colour, - the horse guards parade, i all the things that we have to look forward to within - the royal family's calendar. but separate from that, - she possesses her own brand. that is really valuable - to the people and to herself, that connection she has _ with the people separate to her role within the royal family has really | made her this international icon. j but for now, her public activities are on hold after her statement on march 22nd, 202a. i wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your

understanding whilst i have been recovering from surgery.