welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines... president putin lights a candle for the 137 victims of the concert hall attack — as the four suspected gunmen appear in court — charged with "commiting an act of terrorism". the head of the un agency for palestinian refugees says israel has told him it will no longer approve its food convoys to enter northern gaza. attacks by the houthis in the red sea — are becoming more deadly — we have a special report from on board a royal navy warship. as you can see, they are preparing to run the gauntlet with the

houthis. ireland is set to have its youngest— ever — prime minister with 37—year—old simon harris declared as fine gael leader. and jasmin paris — the first woman to complete one of the world's most gruelling races — speaks to the bbc. live from our studio in singapore— this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we start with events in russia following the deadly attack on a concert hall in moscow, which killed 137 people. the four suspected gunmen in the moscow concert hall attack have appeared in court accused of committing terrorism. they've been ordered into custody pending a trial set to take place in may. the authorities said one of them — a citizen of tajikistan — has pleaded guilty. a nationwide day of mourning

was observed on sunday with president putin lighting a candle in a church at his residence outside moscow, in memory of the victims. the islamic state group said it was responsible and has posted graphic videos online of the attack. russian officials, without evidence, have tried to implicate ukraine — which kyiv has rejected outright. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, has the vesry latest. in moscow, wherever you looked, wherever you turned, you could see this was a country in mourning. and in shock. across russia, flags flew at half mast for the victims of the concert hall massacre. and at the scene of friday's attack, crocus city hall, the queues grew longer and longer. the national day of mourning experienced most acutely here. there was an outpouring of sympathy, a mountain of tributes to the dead. as well as leaving flowers

and candles, people have also been bringing soft toys and sweets, because amongst the dead there were children. they have also been leaving messages. one is addressed to the attackers and it reads, "you are scum, we will never forgive you." among the crowd there was a mixture of grief and anger. it was a big shock because i live nearby and i saw it from my windows. it is horrific. and the big tragedy. "such a terrible loss, i'll never forgive or forget." bring back the death penalty for terrorists. for sure. this is how the attack had begun. with gunmen in the foyer and desperate attempts to take cover. the attackers moved on to the auditorium.

by the end of this, more than 130 people were dead. four suspects have been arrested. russia claims they were captured trying to flee to ukraine and had contacts there. kyiv fiercely denies any link to the attack. the islamic state group says it was behind the shooting. and on this day of mourning, silent prayers from a sombre—looking president putin. the kremlin says he lit a candle for the victims in church at his country estate. and russia is praying that there will be no more attacks. if there are, that will test people's faith in the president to keep them safe. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. now to the middle east and 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. let's get more from our correspondent, mark lowen in jerusalem. they're essential, really, because they are the biggest un without getting the food in on the

ground, without getting the food in on the round, there without getting the food in on the ground, without getting the food in on the round, there are without getting the food in on the ground, without getting the food in on the nround, there are a without getting the food in on the ground, without getting the food in on the nround, there are a few ground, there are a few alternatives. another un agency 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 itself. the head of unrwa is blocked by the israelis from entering gaza last week. and i went to a briefing with him, i met him, and he said 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. now, why is that? well, 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 actually suspend funding of that un body, unrwa, and it really prompted the biggest crisis in relations between the two, between the two sides — between the israeli

government and unrwa — in decades. and i think that this decision today, if confirmed by the israelis — but it appears to be, because unwra has announced it — would be another step in the breakdown in relationship 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 of the un, antonio guterres, is in egypt, criticising the israeli government for its conduct of the war and for depriving gaza of aid. so it appears to be a pretty direct attack on the un itself. the captain of a royal navy warship in the red sea has told the bbc that the attacks are becoming more deadly — with the houthis in yemen launching more ballistic and cruise missiles — which are harder to defend against. the houthis say they're targeting merchant vessels and warships in solidarity with palestinians in gaza. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale is the first journalist to join the destroyer, hms diamond, while facing the threats in the red sea. security, security, security. this is coalition warship listening channel one—six.

the royal navy's hms diamond, sailing in the red sea towards danger. they're here to protect merchant shipping and, for this mission, to escort a naval task group. and they're armed and ready. this task group has now entered the high threat area. and, as you can see, they're preparing to run the gauntlet with the houthis. in the operations room, the ship's nerve centre, they've already donned fire protective clothing. with their powerful radar, they can track multiple objects from hundreds of miles away. and this is what happens when they identify a threat. firebomb, 293 at 165! siren sounds. the drills they've rehearsed many times before. air threat warning red, air threat warning red. | missile inbound to the ship,

starboard quarter. - time to go two minutes. but now it's deadly serious. this, one of two occasions we witnessed when the houthis fire ballistic missiles, travelling at more than three times the speed of sound. the missile has splashed the water north of the task group, therefore air threat warning now yellow, air threat warning now yellow. between the time it's fired and by the time it impacts, you've got about two minutes to react. that's why we're in state 2, that's why we're wearing our clothing all the time, so that within that timeframe, we'll be in absolutely the right posture to be able to deal with those. but yeah, it can feel a bit intense. obviously, someone's trying to potentially shoot something at you. houthi drones are the other danger. that's a uav, faring 350 range. it's now got two airborne in the north. obviously, our position now, we anticipate they may come south. air threat warning is... it's a potentially deadly

version of hide and seek, but the drone doesn't spot them. this time, diamond hasn't fired its main sea viper missiles, but it's already shot down nine drones — seven of them in just one night in january. diamond's captain believes they have saved lives, but they haven't stopped increasingly sophisticated houthi attacks. it seems to me that they're using more advanced and more lethal weapons than they were in the earlier parts of the operation. and where are they getting those from? i couldn't tell you that, i'm afraid. i guess they're smuggled in from somewhere, but i'd be speculating. but diamond is looking out for suspicious activity. they board a dhow. it's declared stateless, but it's flying an iranian flag. the search finds nothing illegal. it's proving just as hard to stem the flow of weapons as to stop the houthi attacks. jonathan beale, bbc news, on hms diamond. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines...

as votes are counted in senegal following sunday's presidential election, at least four opposition candidates have conceded, saying they believe the anti—establishment politician, bassirou diomaye faye, has won. provisional results broadcast by local media gave an early lead to mr faye, putting him ahead of the former prime minister, amadou ba.counting is still going on and turnout seems to have been high, especially among young people. the vote follows weeks of political unrest after the outgoing present, macky sall, postponed the election, triggering deadly 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, hiba—tullah akhund—zada said the islamist movement rejected western democratic principles. more than 130 school children abducted earlier this month in nigeria have been freed. the army says they were rescued in the early hours of sunday. it's not clear if a ransom was paid. pictures of the released children show them looking emaciated and traumantised. 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. mr harris has just been speaking to the media, and he was asked whether a general election might be on the horizon. it's my view and my intention that this government should run full term. i am very conscious that governments take on a rhythm of their own. and i'm very conscious that all people need to act in good faith. and events can happen in irish politics, of course they can, but we've a lot of work to do and i don't think there needs to be any mystique around my intention, where you guys ask me every second day where my head is at. i am planning for this government, should i be lucky enough to form one and to become taoiseach. i would like to see this government run full term, and that's my intention, as of now. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. with the war still raging in gaza there are calls from the far—right in israel forjewish settlers to return to gaza — where israel had settlements until 2005. 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". there are 700,000 jewish settlers in the israeli occupied west bank and eastjerusalem.settlements are considered illegal under international law. israel disputes this. from the west bank, our senior international correspondent, orla guerin sent this report. 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 to gaza. like yehuda shimon, who has raised ten children in this settler outpost in 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 you think that others will go back? we must do it. it's part of israel area. this is the land that god gave us. and you couldn't go to god and told him, ok, you give me, i give other people. no. these are the 21 gaza settlements that were demolished in 2005. but daniella weiss 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 we do it? we encourage it. palestinians in gaza who wish to remain in gaza, are you saying they should be forced to go? palestinians in gaza, the good ones will be enabled. i'm not saying forced. i say enabled because they want to go. if they don't want to go... no, no, they want. if they don't. .. the arabs want to go. if they don't want to go... no, no, they want to go. if they don't, what happens? normal people don't want to live in hell. what you're talking about sounds like a plan for ethnic cleansing.

you can call it ethnic cleansing. you 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 minister, a settler himself. he was among about a dozen ministers at this conference entitled settlement brings security. "it's time to go back home," he says. "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's a beautiful, beautiful coast. beautiful, golden, 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. the 2024 commonwealth heads of government meeting is to be held in samoa later this year. leaders will assemble to discuss the major issues impacting the pacific — and top of the agenda is climate change, following a string of natural disasters in the region. i'm joined now by commonwealth secretary—general patricia

scotland who's in samoa. you've just launched the commonwealth heads of government meeting — climate is front and centre on the agenda — particularly where you are in the pacific islands — what responsibility does the commonwealth have to these islands? well, as you know, we are 56 countries in all. 11 of our countries in all. 11 of our countries are in the pacific. the pacific has always been a very powerful voice in the commonwealth, but particularly on the issues of climate change. the commonwealth was the first international organisation to identify climate change as posing a potential existential threat for many of our members. it was way back in 1989 in malaysia when there then leaders said that if we didn't deal with this issue, then it would be an

existential threat for a number of our members. and it's a tragedy when you look at that decision, the declaration that was made, because, unfortunately, almost everything that was set out there was and has come true. and what is really soul destroying is the commonwealth has been fighting since 1989 to make sure that the world would wake up. and it has now woken up. we arejust desperately committed to making sure that it's not too late and we do things as fast as is necessary to reverse this climate disaster that many of our members face, particularly in this vulnerable region in the pacific, but we have 33 small states, 25 of them are island, small island philippine states and they, unfortunately, are

suffering. states and they, unfortunately, are sufferinn. �* . ., states and they, unfortunately, are sufferinn. a ., ., , states and they, unfortunately, are sufferinn. n ., ., , ., , suffering. action really does need to benin. suffering. action really does need to begin- does— suffering. action really does need to begin. does the _ suffering. action really does need| to begin. does the commonwealth suffering. action really does need - to begin. does the commonwealth have much authority here to get funding in line with the paris agreement to support the worst affected countries?— support the worst affected countries? ~ ., ., countries? well, we are doing everything _ countries? well, we are doing everything we _ countries? well, we are doing everything we can. _ countries? well, we are doing everything we can. we've - countries? well, we are doing . everything we can. we've created countries? well, we are doing - everything we can. we've created in 2015, and it became put in operation in 2016 when i became secretary general, the commonwealth finance access hub. we've received a really small amounts of money when you think about the enormity of the problem, just about $8 million, but from that $8 million, we have already delivered into the hands of our member states $357 million to deal with climate action, and what's been really thrilling isjust deal with climate action, and what's been really thrilling is just this week, last week, we have been able to deliver more than 30 point... we seem to have lost our connection

there with our commonwealth secretary—general, who was speaking to us in samoa ahead of those commonwealth government meetings taking place next year. so we will move on to our next story. now to the story of jasmin paris from midlothian, the first woman to complete one of the world's most gruelling races — the barkley marathons in tennessee. 100 miles that's 160km. up and down hills, through rugged terrain. she finished with just 99 seconds to spare before the 60 hour cut—off. jasmin has finally recovered her breath — and her voice — and spoke to the bbc. it wasn't until the last kilometre that i really sort of doubted that it was going to be possible. and at that point, i was just so desperate to stop, to stop running and to walk. and i knew that i couldn't because i wouldn't make it. i think it was just the thought that if i didn't make it this time, it was going to be by seconds and then i would have to come back

and do the whole thing again. because i would never have let it rest. i was so oxygen deficient when i reached the end. and the last few hundred metres, i couldn't even really see anybody. cheering and applause. i knew there were people kind of cheering me on and there was lots of noise and... but i was just aiming for the gate and everything else sort of went blurry at the edges of my vision, and ijust needed to make it to the gate. at which point, i sort of collapsed down in a gasping, kind of heap on the ground. cheering and applause. so i did it for me and i am super happy that i achieved what i set out to do. go, go, go! i'm really glad i kind of did it for women worldwide as well. notjust runners, but maybe any woman that wants to take on a challenge, and especially all the young girls, you know, how hard it is to keep young girls in sport. this year, there was a new section

of the course, which involved a lot of kind of brambles, really thick ones that slashed your legs. so my legs were actually far worse, but i got quite a few scratches on my arms and hands. but this is nothing, compared with my legs. i guess the next thing i'm going to do is the scottish highlands peaks race. but, really, i think i will maybe just have a bit of a rest. yes, well done to her. and before we go — a 24—year—old sumo wrestler from northern japan has become the first in more than century to win a top—division tournament at his first attempt. takeru—fuji claimed the emperor's cup at the end of a 15—day tournament in osaka. his chances of victory appeared remote only 2a hours earlier — when he suffered an ankle injury during a bout. the young wrestler told local media that his manager had advised him to pull out of the tournament. but he said he knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he did.

pain is temporary, glory is forever. goodbye for now. hello there. many of us saw some spells of sunshine on sunday, and i think it was the sunshine that kind of offset the coolness of the air. now, there won't be as much sunshine around on monday — low pressure is moving in and not got much snow in the scottish mountains at the moment, but that is set to change over the next 2a hours. low pressure is developing to the west of the uk and this low pressure is going to be bringing outbreaks of rain widely over the next 2a hours. the rain already with us in northern ireland will continue to spread northwards and eastwards over the next few hours, reaching across wales into western and central england, south—west scotland, too. northern scotland, one place where you are likely to see some frost, but at least it should be a bright start to the day here. otherwise, a lot of cloud and rain around on monday morning. probably little, if anything, reaching east anglia and south—east england, where it might actually brighten up for a time.

temperatures about 10 to 12 degrees celsius for most — that's near average for the time of year. but cold in scotland, atjust sixes and sevens. and then, on the big picture, we've got a feed of cold air coming down from greenland around an area of high pressure. that's running into northern scotland, bumping into our advancing weather front. now, through monday night, it looks like we'll see a spell of snow. it's going to be quite high up in the mountains of scotland, 10 to 20 centimetres on the way here, above 300 metres elevation. the snow could come down a little bit lower than that, perhaps to 200 metres elevation. what all that means is monday night and into tuesday, there's a risk of disruption over some of the higher level roads in scotland, maybe for some of the railway lines into tuesday morning as well. if you live down at sea level, well, you're more likely to see rain or maybe a bit of sleet mixed in. it will be quite windy across the far north of scotland as well. elsewhere, a bit of rain trickling its way eastwards

across east anglia and south—east england. the weather turning a bit brighter across the south—west of the uk. a cold day in scotland — temperatures really struggling here, particularly underneath that rain and hill snow. on into wednesday, we've got another area of low pressure forming. that's going to be bringing loads of showers across northern ireland, wales, southern and western parts of england. the showers, notjust frequent — they'll be heavy, with some hail and thunder mixed in as well, and temperatures just running a bit below average. these showery conditions last through the rest of this week and into the easter break beyond as well. that's your latest weather. bye for now.

this bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. one way of measuring the scale of haiti's political, economic and security collapse is to compare it with its neighbour, the dominican republic. these two nations share the same caribbean island, but while haiti is the poorest state in latin america, the dominican republic boasts the region's fastest—growing economy. and that, you might think, would enable the dominican republic to play a role in easing the crisis next door. well, think again. my guest is president of the dominican republic, luis abinader.

is his strategy simply adding to haiti's woes?