for the victims of friday's attack on a concert venue, just outside moscow. in the last hour, the russian president, vladimir putin, lit a candle in a church at his residence outside moscow, in memory of the victims. at least 137 people died in the attack on concertgoers in the crocus city hall — the latest death toll from officials. mourners have also been placing flowers at a makeshift memorial at the concert venue — others have queued to donate blood for the many survivors. the islamic state group has released graphic footage, which appears to back up its claim of responsibility, for the attack. caroline hawley reports and a warning it contains some images you may find distressing. 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. gunfire. 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. to the middle east now, and the head of unrwa says israel has told the un it will no longer approve the palestinian refugee agency's food convoys to the north of gaza. unrwa's head, philippe lazzarini, says the restrictions must be lifted. it comes as israel's defence minister travels to washington with prime minister benjamin netanyahu 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. israel and hezbollah have been exchanging near—daily fire over the border in southern lebanon since the gaza war began in october. that's resulted in tens of thousands of people in southern lebanon and northern israel being displaced. earlier i spoke to hesham shawish from bbc monitoring about the situation in the region. there have been a number 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 lebanese media were saying about these latest strikes is that a residential building was struck yesterday, a four—storey residential building, in which four civilians were wounded, and the strike happened very close to the home of a hezbollah official. overnight, we also saw strikes over the border in syria's qalamoun mountain range, where a hezbollah weapons depot was struck. and then a short while ago, in the beqaa valley, we also saw reports of a strike targeting a car. no—one was killed there, but it happened right next to the masnaa border crossing with syria, which would be very, very busy on a sunday afternoon, with people coming and going. no—one was killed in that strike, but two civilians were wounded. here in the uk — the chancellor has confirmed the conservatives will have a commitment to keeping the so—called triple—lock on pension increases, in their election manifesto.

under the pledge, state pensions rise every april, in line with whichever is highest out of inflation, average wage increases, or 2.5%. georgia roberts has this report. 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 particular for 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 very 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 0br say that we will get back to 2%—ish growth over the next few years... but ijust want to be clear... ..and that means that we can start to make very important commitment. 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, j unfortunately, jeremy hunt has threatened with _ the national insurance changes that he's 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've 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.

polls will soon close in delayed presidential elections taking place in senegal. the outgoing president, macky sall, had tried to postpone the vote till december, long past the end of his mandate. it took considerable domestic and international pressure, and a ruling by senegal�*s constitutional council, to get today's date agreed. seven million people are eligible to vote for the 17 candidates. our correspondent thomas naadi is in senegalfor us. the voting process has been largely peaceful. there are long queues at some polling stations. this country has a very young population and many of them are determined to get their voices heard in this election. 0pposition candidate diomaye faye voted here earlier today. he called for a peaceful election and urged all parties to accept the outcome of the polls. former prime minister amadou ba of the ruling party also called for a peaceful election and said he was confident of a first

round victory after casting his ballot. senegal is one of africa's most stable countries in a region where military coups are common. yet most of these voters see this election as a turning point for their country's democracy. whoever wins this election will have to tackle unemployment, rising cost of living, institutional reforms to safeguard the country's democracy and, of course, to efficiently manage the country's natural resources. as senegal begins oil and gas production later this year. thomas naadi, bbc news in western senegal. in nigeria, nearly 300 school children who were abducted in the north—west of the country have been freed according to local officials. last week the abductors demanded nearly 700,000 dollars in ransom — but no details were given about how the pupils were freed.

the students aged between eight and 15 were taken along with their teacher earlier this month. in a statement, the governor thanked president bola tinubu and nigeria's army for helping secure their release. now it's time for a look at today's sport with gavin. for once in a long while, max verstappen didn't have it all his own way in formula one and missed out on record equalling 10th fl victory. carlos sainz stole the show at the australian grand prix, capping off a remarkable return to form and fitness 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, two weeks after having his appendix out. ahead of ferrari team mate charles leclerc, with the mclaren of britain's lando norris completing the podium.

you start the year with the bad news of the nonrenewal, and i've been thinking, what is next in my life? then you prepare yourself, you go to training, you do your winter testing, and then a good start to the season, and then we alone will i be back? we'll be back in good form and how long will it take to get up to speed and be confident. and suddenly you come back and win, and itjust shows how beautiful is life in that sense, life is good sometimes. drama in the moto gp in portugal too — asjorge martin won for his first victory of the season, following a bizarre incident towards the end. ducati's enea bastianini took second from aprilia's maverick vinales, on the penultimate lap. vinales slowed on the pit straight — allowing bastianini to come through, before the aprilia rider and sprint winner ran off at turn i and crashed on the dusty run—off area. that allowed pedro acosta to finish

third in his debut season. world champion francesco bagnaia also crashed out. england are in control, but it's not going totally to plan against italy, in their six nations opener. the defending champions, and favourites again for this year's tournament, were 10—0 up in parma at half time after taking their time to break italy's resistance. hannah botterman and abbie ward with the tries. but sarah beckett has been sent off for an illegal tackle. 15—0 now in the second half. they have scored a try since the second half started. elsewhere this weekend, wins for france, and scotland. lots to come at the miami 0pen, including matches for andy murray and coco gauff. but the australian open champion aryna sabalenka has been knocked out — after what's been a tough week for her, following the death of her ex—boyfriend. number one men's seed carlos alcaraz will play gael monfis 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 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 — that kicks off shortly. the merseyside derby has finished — everton drew 0—0 with liverpool at goodison park. 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. tadej pogacar wrapped up the 2024

volta a catalunya in style on sunday, winning the seventh and final stage in a sprint finish in barcelona. it was the 25—year—old slovenian's maiden victory in the event and marked the 12th stage race title of his career. pogocar finished 3 minutes and 41 seconds ahead of spain's mikel landa in the general classification and more than five minutes clear of colombia's egan bernal in third. and that's all the sport for now. 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. here in dublin we are expecting simon harris to speak shortly. this is taking place at the moment, in the bottom right—hand corner is simon covdi, the deputy leader of fine gael. simon harris has cleared the vote, simon cove said he has already spoken to simon over the last few days, he said he thinks he has done a really good job. this is significant

because fine gael is one of the three parties involved in government, it will mean simon harris becomes the taoiseach, the prime minister, the country's youngest ever prime minister, or taoiseach. it comes after leo varadkar stepped down citing va radkar stepped down citing political and varadkar stepped down citing political and personal reasons. we will bring it to you when he speaks. well, 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 fine gael party, and that in itself is significant, because fine gael is currently part of a three—party coalition government in ireland, and fine gael currently holds the position of prime minister in that coalition government, so it basically has the pick

for the next prime minister, and it will now go on to nominate simon harris at a meeting of the irish 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 in the coalition government, fianna fail and the green party, so he will be elected as the next prime minister of ireland next month, and as you say, when he is elected he will be the youngest ever prime minister of ireland. can you remind us what brought us to this point? well, rathersuddenly, a few days ago, leo varadkar announced he was stepping down as leader of fine gael and as taoiseach, irish prime minister, for political and personal reasons, so that set in train a sequence of events which are now moving towards his replacement, and when simon harris eventually replaces him next month, he will have much to do.

he will have domestic matters, and in ireland at the moment, right at the top of the political agenda is a housing crisis. he will have to find a way to try to address that, and then there are the issues abroad, and notably with ireland's closest neighbour, britain, he will be working with the british government and the british prime minister, not least to underpin the institutions in northern ireland just recently restored. so, both at home and abroad, when simon harris is elected as the next and youngest prime minister of ireland on the 9th of april, he will have much to do. it's been revealed that nearly half of playgrounds in the uk are not suitable for disabled children. louisa pilbeam, has more. whoa! nine—year—old benjamin loves playing with his brothers in the playground. but because he has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and is registered blind, it's not always this easy because not all playgrounds

are like this one, where equipment can be used by disabled children. according to new figures, half of the uk's public play areas are unfit for children with disabilities. one day, we went to the local park, we lifted him into the standard toddler swing and he actually got stuck, where his legs had gone really stiff from his cerebral palsy. we really struggled to remove him from the swing safely. and that was the defining moment for me, thinking as a family, i have three very active boys, as a family, are we actually going to be able to access and enjoy local play parks? we quickly realised that the answer was no. and despite benjamin's diagnosis, he absolutely loves to be swung high, he loves to go down a slide really fast. and he loves to be included. the latest research comes from disability charity scope, who interviewed families of disabled children about their experiences of 1,000 playgrounds across the uk. common problems include gates that aren't wide enough

to get a wheelchair through. no step—free equipment, or the floor being made of a material not safe for those who have extra needs. it's 2024 and we're still having to make the case for accessibility. the fact is that disabled children want to play too, and why shouldn't they? and it's perfectly achievable, it's not that difficult to make our playgrounds more accessible, more inclusive. scope have launched a digital map to try and help families where you can look up playgrounds across the uk and find out how they've been rated by other families. the charity is calling on the government to do more. a government spokesperson said in a statement... those changes are needed to ensure that children like benjamin

don't miss out in life. louisa pilbeam, bbc news. that's it from me for now. let's take a quick look at the weather. hello there, so they didn't turn out too badly. and settle, spells of rain and it will be cold enough for snow over high ground in scotland. let's take a look at them in rainfall we are expecting to accumulate over the next five days. when it fails in the west, very wet freeze in scotland, but what they say were rainfall, actually some of this will fall as snow across scotland, because certainly over the next couple of days were going to hold onto some rather cold air

across this northern half of scotland. in the short term, through this evening and overnight we see cloud and rain spreading from the west, across northern ireland, western england, wales, pushing its way further north and east was, i had that a slice of clear sky, one or two mist patches and temperatures dropping away, but out towards the west of the night wears on temperatures will climb a little bit, so 9 degrees in plymouth for example as we start monday morning with the cloud, with the outbreaks of rain, all associated with this area are pressuring the frontal system is willing its way in from the west. i think there will be parts of east anglia in the south—east and stay dry with some hazy sunshine throughout the day. northern scotland to hold onto some spells of sunshine, one of the wintry showers, but also we see the cloud, the outbreaks of rain move quite erratically northwards. temperatures on monday afternoon across south wales, southern england, ten, 11, 12 degrees, those in scotland just five, 6 or 7 degrees. as the wet weather runs on

tobacco there we will start to see some quite significant snow. 0ver very modest hills we can see snow, but over 300 metres elevation we could be looking at 20 centimetres of snow, and at low levels close to the east coast, parts of aberdeenshire and east fife, up to 15 millimetres of rain, bring the risk of flooding and disruption. the weather only slowly improving, rain petering outjust a little bit. windy in the finals, really cold as well, struggling to get above freezing for some. further south, northern ireland and wales, highs of ii, northern ireland and wales, highs of 11, temperatures climbing a little bit through the week ahead into the easter weekend, bit through the week ahead into the easterweekend, but bit through the week ahead into the easter weekend, but there will still be some rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... president putin lights a candle for victims of the concert hall attack, where 137 people, including three children, were killed. large numbers of russians continue to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial near crocus city hall as the country marks a day of official mourning. the islamic state group says it was behind the attack. israel tells the un it will no longer approve the palestinian refugee agency's food convoys to the north of gaza — that's according to the head of unrwa. meanwhile, at least 14 people have been killed as israeli forces carried out ground and air attacks in northern and central gaza. and the prince and princess of wales thank the public for their support following catherine's announcement she is being treated for cancer.

details of the cancer have not been disclosed. now on bbc news, newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello. it's paddy in the studio. and laura in the studio. and henry at home. laura's had a scoop, so she got the chancellor to commit to the triple lock in the conservative manifesto. because you hinted this week that the triple lock, which guarantees pensioners�* income, keeps pace with inflation. you hinted that might be reviewed, but will the triple lock be in the tory manifesto this time round? well, i can confirm it will be, yes. and there's two very important things i would say about that. when we came to office in 2010,

pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups.