hello. welcome to the programme. we start this hour in the middle east. the head of the united nations agency for palestinian refugees says israel has told him it will no longer approve its food convoys to enter northern gaza. in a post on social media, unrwa's head philippe lazzarini described the move as outrageous. he said israel's decision meant many more people would die of hunger, dehydration and lack of shelter. there's been no word from israel. it comes as the country's defence minister yoav gallant is set to travel to washington, with israel leadership under increasing pressure from the us to halt its planned assault on rafah in southern gaza. israeli forces continue to carry out ground and air attacks in northern and central gaza, including around al—shifa hospital. juliette touma is from unrwa.

she says if aid from the organisation is blocked from entering gaza, famine will take hold. it is simply outrageous. the clock is ticking, and with this recent decision, the clock will be ticking even faster towards famine. there is more than a quarter of a million people who depend on unwra's food assistance in the north, and we haven't been able to reach them for the past two months. we are talking about the vast majority of the population that has been forced to flee their homes or their places of refuge, and unwra alone are hosting over a million people who live in the united nations unwra shelters. they lost everything, and they need everything, and they need the basics. and right now the most important commodity that people need is food.

i would also say that they need safety and they need protection above all, and a ceasefire, which is very, very much overdue. live tojerusalem and our correspondent mark lowen. what do you make of unrwa is saying and how important are they in getting aid into northern gaza? they are essential because they are the biggest un mission in the central palestinian territories, so without unwra getting the food in on the ground, there are few alternatives. another body, the world food programme, has managed to get a few trucks into northern gaza in the last couple of weeks, but this appears to be a very direct attack on unwra itself. the head of unwra, philippe lazzarini, was blocked by the israelis from entering gaza last week, and i went to a briefing with him, i met him and he said that what he described was a very direct attack by israel on the functions of that un agency,

and he said that since january, he has not had any contact with the israeli government direct. why is that? because injanuary, the israeli government accused some members of staff of unwra of participating in the 7th of october hamas attacks on israel. that prompted some western governments to suspend funding of that un body, unwra, and it prompted the biggest crisis in relations between the two sides in decades. and i think that this decision today, if confirmed by the israelis, it appears to be because unwra has announced it, would be another step in the breakdown in relationships between the two sides, and i have to say it comes at exactly the same time as the head of the un, the secretary general, antonio guterres, is in egypt's criticising the israeli government for the war and on the

issue of aid. find government for the war and on the issue of aid-— government for the war and on the issue of aid. �* ., issue of aid. and in the meantime we have had more _ issue of aid. and in the meantime we have had more attacks _ issue of aid. and in the meantime we have had more attacks overnight - issue of aid. and in the meantime we have had more attacks overnight in l have had more attacks overnight in the israeli operation around the shifa hospital is continuing. yes. shifa hospital is continuing. yes, israeli defence _ shifa hospital is continuing. yes, israeli defence forces _ shifa hospital is continuing. use: israeli defence forces saying that they have killed 170 terrorists, in their words, at al shifa, and have detained close to 500 people who they describe as members of hamas and palestinian islamichhad, which is a movement of hamas. it bodes very badly for the israeli military offensive in gaza that there is still such heavy fighting in northern gaza, because the israeli defence forces stormed the hospital backin defence forces stormed the hospital back in november when they accused it of being a hamas command centre, something that has always been denied by hamas, and the fact that for months on they are having to go back into the area and there is an intense battle around the hospital suggests that israel's war strategy

in gaza is not going according to plan. there has also been intense fighting around to other hospitals in the south of gaza, around khan younis, and the red crescent says one of its staff members has been killed inside a hospital there, so israel maintains that hamas uses health care facilities to launch attacks on the israeli defence forces, and that is why it is a legitimate target, but as i say, thatis legitimate target, but as i say, that is something consistently denied by hamas. find that is something consistently denied by hamas. that is something consistently deniedb hamas. ., ., denied by hamas. and looking ahead, the israeli defence _ denied by hamas. and looking ahead, the israeli defence minister— denied by hamas. and looking ahead, the israeli defence minister yoav - the israeli defence minister yoav gallant is heading to washington, and there are tensions between israel and the us particularly about the israeli planned offensive around rafah in the south. find the israeli planned offensive around rafah in the south.— rafah in the south. and israel's defence minister _ rafah in the south. and israel's defence minister will _ rafah in the south. and israel's defence minister will be - rafah in the south. and israel's i defence minister will be received rafah in the south. and israel's - defence minister will be received by his counterpart, and that is separate to another israeli delegation that will also be in washington later in the week to hear the americans telling them quite directly that they absolutely vehemently oppose and israeli

military incursion into rafah in southern gaza because there are close to 1.5 million people thought to be sheltering there, more than half the population of gaza, and there are real fears that an israeli invasion could spell terrible atrocities in a densely populated area. they believe there is an alternative route by choking off hamas, but at the moment the israeli government is determined to push on with rafah there is an alternative viewpoint which is that benjamin netanyahu by repeatedly saying he is determined to invade rafah is trying to up the pressure on hamas during ceasefire talks and also to string out this war because he knows that when the war in gaza ends, so to cut his political career.— his political career. mark lowen in jerusalem. _ his political career. mark lowen in jerusalem, thank _ his political career. mark lowen in jerusalem, thank you _ his political career. mark lowen in jerusalem, thank you very - his political career. mark lowen in jerusalem, thank you very much l his political career. mark lowen in l jerusalem, thank you very much for joining us. as the war continues to rage in gaza , approaching

the milestone of six months , there are calls from the far right in israel forjewish settlers to return to gaza. the idea has support from ministers in israel's hard—right government including the minister for public security itamar ben gvir. a prominent settler leader has told the bbc that she already has 500 families "signed up who are ready to move immediately". israel pulled out of its settlements in gaza in 2005. settlements are held to be illegal under international law. israel disputes this. from the west bank, our senior international correspondent orla guerin reports. the hills of the west bank. palestinian land, eaten away for decades by illegal israeli settlements. they are an obstacle to peace, the un says. but now many on israel's far right want to bring settlements back tio gaza. like this

man who has raised ten children in a settler outpost on the west bank. he lived in gaza in the past, and claims a god—given right to return. do you want to go back? do think that others will go back? we must do it. it is part of the israel area. this is the land that god gave us, and you couldn't go to god and say, you give me, i give other people. no. these at the 21 gaza settlements that were demolished in 2005. but daniela is already mapping out a new gaza without the more than 2 million palestinians who live there. the 78—year—old is the grandmother of israel's settler movement. gaza arabs will not stay in the gaza strip. who will stay? jews. africa is big. canada is big. the world will absorb

the people of gaza. how will we do it? we encourage it. palestinians in gaza who wish to remain in gaza, are you saying that they should be forced to go? palestinians in gaza, the good ones, will be enabled, i'm not saying forced, i'm saying enabled because they want to go. if they don't want to go... they want. the arabs want to go. if they don't, what happens? the normal people don't want to live there. what you are talking about sounds a plan for ethnic cleansing. you can call it ethnic cleansing, you can call it refugees, whatever you want. if you want to call it cleansing, if you want to call it apartheid, you choose your definition. i choose the way to protect the state of israel. also embracing a return

to gaza, itamar ben—gvir, israel's far right security israel's far right security minister, settle himself. he was among about a dozen ministers at this conference entitled settlement brings security. it's time to go back home, he says. minister, settle himself. and it will it's time to return to the land of israel. most israelis oppose going back to gaza, but since the hamas attacks on october the 7th, it is being talked about out loud. and some already have their eyes on prime real estate in the utter devastation of gaza where the death toll among palestinians is 32,000 and counting. i have friends in tel aviv, so they say, don't forget to keep for me a plot near the coast

in gaza, because it is a beautiful coast, beautiful golden sands, beautiful place. it's beautiful no more. after almost six months of israeli bombardment. jewish settlers may never get to the beachfront, but much of gaza has already been erased. orla guerin, bbc news, in the west bank. ireland is set to have its youngest—ever prime minister. one of the country's main governing parties, fine gael, has declared simon harris, who's 37, its new leader, replacing leo varadkar. he'll be formally appointed as prime minister, or taoiseach, when ireland's parliament reconvenes next month. here's a taste of what mr harris said after his leadership was confirmed, i want to thank you. i want every single person and every single community you come from across ireland. i want to thank you for your trust. and i want to promise and pledge to you today that i will repay that trust with hard work. with blood, sweat and tears,

day in and day out. with responsibility, with humility, and with civility. let's go live to our belfast newsroom and our report kevin sharkey. so, simon harris is now leader of fine gael — and now he's set to be the youngest irish prime minister at 37. just explain the next steps. this evening, simon harris is indeed one step closer to becoming the next prime minister, taoiseach, of ireland. but that is still a few weeks away, because now that he is leader of his party, he has to wait until the other side of easter, until the other side of easter, until april and ninth, when the irish parliament will reconvene after the easter recess and he will then be nominated by his party, fine gael then be nominated by his party, fine gael. that is significant, because fine gael is part of a three party coalition government and it currently holds the position of prime minister, so it can nominate

the next prime the next prime minister, and it will nominate simon harris, and he will then be supported by the two other parties in the coalition, fianna fail and the green party and some other independent members of the irish parliament. and then on april the night, he will formally become the night, he will formally become the youngest prime minister of ireland, and will replace leo varadkar. ireland, and will replace leo varadkar-— ireland, and will replace leo varadkar. , ., ,, varadkar. he said in his address that challenges _ varadkar. he said in his address that challenges never— varadkar. he said in his address that challenges never go - varadkar. he said in his address that challenges never go away, | varadkar. he said in his address - that challenges never go away, they just change. what challenges does he face as he goes to become prime minister? he face as he goes to become prime minister? ., , face as he goes to become prime minister? . , ., , ., minister? he has quite a number of domestic challenges, _ minister? he has quite a number of domestic challenges, not _ minister? he has quite a number of domestic challenges, not least - minister? he has quite a number of domestic challenges, not least a i domestic challenges, not least a growing housing crisis in the country, and there is also a fairly recent migration crisis emerging, so there are two big centrepieces that they will have to address during his premiership when he becomes taoiseach next month. and also he has been speaking today to global events, and what has been described as the illegal invasion of ukraine.

there is also what has been described as a humanitarian catastrophe in gaza, and he said that under his leadership, ireland will continue to be pro—european, so both domestically and on the global stage, he will have many challenges, but when he is elected prime minister in a few weeks, he will become ireland's youngest ever prime minister and taoiseach. kezfin minister and taoiseach. kevin sharkey in — minister and taoiseach. kevin sharkey in belfast, _ minister and taoiseach. kevin sharkey in belfast, thank - minister and taoiseach. kevin sharkey in belfast, thank you| minister and taoiseach. kevin - sharkey in belfast, thank you very much for the latest. to russia next — the country is observing a national day of mourning today, for the victims of friday's attack on a concert venue, just outside moscow. president putin lit a candle in a church at his residence outside moscow in memory of the victims. the authorities now say at least 137 people died in the attack on concertgoers in the crocus city hall. large numbers of russians have continued to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial at the concert venue — others have queued to donate blood for the many survivors. i want to take you now to some live

pictures that we are getting from moscow. several of the suspects who were arrested on saturday were transferred to the investigative headquarters in moscow, and we understand that this, you can see lots of heavily armed security there, this is where they may well appear shortly. there are four of those attackers, they are said to be foreigners. you will remember that the islamic state group said that it carried out the attack, but russia has tried to implicate ukraine, something that kyiv has outrightly rejected. the islamic state group has also released graphic footage which appears to back up its claim that it was behind the attack. caroline hawley now 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 afghanistan next, and the supreme leader of the afghan taliban has defended the practice of stoning women and public lashing, describing them as part of divine law. in an audio message, hibatullah akhundzadar said the islamist movement would continue to carry them out in rejection of western democratic principles. live to bbc world service's south asia regional editor, anbarasan ethirajan who is in the newsroom. this is a rare audio statement from the afghan taliban leader — what did he say in it. yes, indeed, he has not seen in public very often, and many people believe that he lives in the

southern kandahar region. this speech was broadcast by national afghanistan radio, and we don't know when this was recorded, but the crux of this message was that we will continue to implement sharia law, the hard—line version of it, despite the hard—line version of it, despite the objections from western countries, and we will give this punishment for those who commit adultery, they will be treated according to the law by stoning them or by giving lashing in public. since they seized power in august 2021, at least five people have been executed in football stadiums in open places. they also criticised western democracy saying this may be against western democratic policies, but this is our law. this appears to be a very defiant message to the western governments and world powers which have been saying that afghanistan taliban regime should respect human rights, women's rights, if they want international recognition. rights, if they want international recognition-—

rights, if they want international recoanition. ., ~ , ., , . recognition. thank you very much indeed. 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 obr 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. 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. charlotte gallagher reports. a busy sunday in windsor, the home of the prince and princess of wales and their three young children. a family now dealing with a cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment. i want to take this opportunity to say thank you personally. but was this announcement planned, or did the princess feel forced to address speculation? we actually understand that the princess made the decision two weeks ago, that she was going to do this public statement. and the key thing for her, as a mother, her priority was protecting those three children. she didn't want them going to school being asked even more

than they already were — they were already being affected at school, so it was always her plan that she would wait until the last day of term. but the royal family won't have been immune to the outlandish conspiracy theories circulating. it's the worst i've ever seen, and i've been in the media most of my — all my career. so what we need to think about this is time. they're a family, they're just really a bit like you and i, and lots of families have dealt with this. and what families need when they're facing cancer is time. prince william and catherine have released a statement, thanking the public for their warmth and support. they've also underlined their desire for privacy. it's a polite warning, essentially asking to be left alone. the easter sunday church service in windsor is usually a moment when the royals get together in public. last year, the prince and princess of wales joined the rest of the family — but they won't be there this year. buckingham palace says it is hopeful the king, who's also being treated for cancer, could attend. the princess of wales says she's feeling stronger every day,

but it's clear there will be no rushing back into public duties — herfocus is on making a full recovery. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, windsor. finally this half hour to france. tourists in paris today might have found themselves in the unusual position of having to dodge hundreds of waiters and waitresses swarming the streets trying desperately not to spill trays of coffee and croissants. a century—old tradition has returned to the streets of paris — the waiters' race through the city. for the first time since 2011, 200 competitors wearing aprons and carrying trays loaded with a coffee, croissant and a glass of water made their way through the french capital. there's no running — it's a brisk walk only. points are awarded for speed — and deducted for spills. runners were split in different categories given age group and gender. the mayor of paris revived the race after it was put on hiatus in 2008 due to high costs. and here is the winner of the main race — sprinting his way to the finishing line, and then a race

from the others to make the podium. it is making me want to have a cup of coffee and croissant! stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. sunday didn't turn out too badly with a bit of spring sunshine, just one or two showers. but through the next few days, the weather is looking quite changeable, decidedly unsettled, spells of rain, often windy, and it will be cold enough for snow over high ground in scotland. now let's take a look at the rainfall we're expecting to accumulate over the next five days. wet for hills in the west, very wet for eastern scotland. but, while i say rainfall, actually some of this will fall as snow across scotland, because certainly over the next couple of days, we'll hold on to some rather cold air across this northern half of scotland. in the short term, well, through this evening and tonight, we see cloud and rain spreading from the west across northern ireland, western england, wales, pushing its way a little bit further northwards and eastwards.

ahead of that, a slice of clear sky, one or two mist patches, and temperatures dropping away — but out towards the west, as the night wears on, those temperatures will climb a little bit. so, nine celsius in plymouth, for example, as we start monday morning with the cloud, with the outbreaks of rain, all associated with this area of low pressure, and a frontal system swirling its way in from the west. now, i think there will be parts of east anglia and the southeast that stay dry with some hazy sunshine throughout the day. northern scotland will hold on to some spells of sunshine, one or two wintry showers, but elsewhere we see the cloud, we see the outbreaks of rain moving quite erratically northwards. temperatures on monday afternoon across south wales, southern england, 10—12 celsius, but northern scotland, just 5—7 celsius — and it's as the wet weather runs into that cold air that we will start to see some quite significant snow. overfairly modest hills i think we could see snow, but above 300 metres elevation we could be looking at 20 centimetres of snow —

and at low levels close to the east coast, parts of aberdeenshire, angus, fife, maybe up to 50 millimetres of rain. so that brings with it the risk of flooding and disruption. and the weather across scotland on tuesday only very slowly improving, the snow levels lifting, the rain and snow tending to peter outjust a little bit. windy in the far north, really cold, as well, struggling to get above freezing for some. further south, northern ireland, england and wales, sunny spells, the odd shower, highs of 11. temperatures climbing a little bit, actually, through the week ahead, into the easter weekend, but there will still be some rain at times.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the head of the united nations agency for palestinian refugees says israel has told him it will no longer approve its food convoys to enter northern gaza. meanwhile, at least 1a people have been killed as israeli forces carried out ground and air attacks in northern and central gaza. president putin lights a candle for victims of the concert hall attack, where137 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. simon harris has been elected the new leader of the irish governing party, fine gael. he's set to become the republic of ireland's

youngest prime minister — at the age of 37 — after leo varadkar�*s surprise resignation. it's been revealed that nearly half of playgrounds in the uk are not suitable for disabled children. a survey by the charity, scope, found that more than 1,000 play areas had little or no accessibility. now they're launching a new tool to help parents find spaces that are suitable for their children. our reporter 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.

i'll be back with the full news bulletin of the top of the hour. now on bbc news — we have a 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