welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai, 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 committing 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. this has now entered the high threat area, and as you can see, they are preparing to run the gauntlet with the houthis.

island is that to have its youngest prime minister. and jasmin paris, the first woman to complete one of the world's most gruelling races, speaks to the bbc. wiped from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it is newsday. 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 very 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," says natalia, "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. without unwra getting the food out on the ground, there are few alternatives.

i mean, another body, the world food programme, which is another un agency, has managed to get a few trucks in to northern gaza in the last couple of weeks. but this appears to be a very direct attack on unwra itself. i mean, the head of unwra, philip lazzarini, was actually 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 unrwa 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 unrwa 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. iamjoined by i am joined byjohn lewis, a research fellow at the national university of singapore. thank you for coming in and speaking with me today. i want to get your thoughts on what we have been hearing about nations agency for palestinian refugees, unrwa. philippe lazzarini says he will no longer get aid approved for gaza. what do you think? the consequence _ gaza. what do you think? the consequence of _ gaza. what do you think? tue: consequence of this gaza. what do you think? tte: consequence of this decision gaza. what do you think? tt9 consequence of this decision is that it will accelerate the status of famine. even before that decision was taken by the

government, the un was estimating famine would reach gaza by may so we can assume that this might even come before that. the second thing, which is the absence of an israeli statement on that, leads us to believe that this is in a way of punishment of following the israeli accusations of some members of unrwa in the attacks. at this stage it seems the israeli government prioritised its political dispute with unrwa over the humanitarian crisis in gaza. tt over the humanitarian crisis in gaza. , :, , :, :, gaza. it is not 'ust adding to humanitarian — gaza. it is notjust adding to humanitarian concerns. - gaza. it is notjust adding to humanitarian concerns. i - gaza. it is notjust adding to l humanitarian concerns. i want to get your thoughts on another aspect of the story and we are hearing their in the far right of israel for people to return to gaza. what would be the implications?— to gaza. what would be the implications? this idea, and the rhetorical _ implications? this idea, and the rhetorical over - implications? this idea, and the rhetorical over the - the rhetorical over the resettlement of gaza, has been

looming for several weeks, several months. what is interesting, or what is actually worrying here, is that netanyahu, because of his desire to maintain his coalition with the far right, is allowing this rhetoric and does not condemn it. it does not see that as a red line because he wants to preserve his own stability, his own survival as the prime minister in israel. i assume this will probably be one of the red line also that will be discussed with the us because the us has been very clear on this. divide biden administration does not want to allow israel to resettle in gaza, so we will see how this desire of netanyahu to preserve its alliance with the far right clashes with the preservation of ties with the us.— of ties with the us. speaking of ties with the us. speaking of its relationship _ of ties with the us. speaking of its relationship with - of ties with the us. speaking of its relationship with the i of its relationship with the us, what is the us doing to rein in what israel is doing in gaza? we know that israel wants

a ground offensive into rafah, the southern city. it also seems to be a red line for the us. ,:, : , seems to be a red line for the us. _ : :, , seems to be a red line for the us. :, , :, us. the policy changes have been mostly _ us. the policy changes have been mostly at _ us. the policy changes have been mostly at the - us. the policy changes have | been mostly at the rhetorical level. we have seen a major shift in the tone of the biden administration with regards to what biden himself has said when he expressed that rafah was a red line. secretary lincoln also underlined the crisis, the humanitarian crisis and also chuck schumer of the senate for new elections in israel. but beyond that rhetoric, we did not see get any concrete measures such as suspending the military funding. i suspect this will be at the heart of the discussions during the visit this week of defence minister gallant to washington and if we see the decision regarding unrwa, i assume the us will put more pressure on the israelis to comply with the necessities of humanitarian aid. we

comply with the necessities of humanitarian aid.— comply with the necessities of humanitarian aid. we will have to watch closely _ humanitarian aid. we will have to watch closely what - humanitarian aid. we will have | to watch closely what outcomes come from that meeting in washington. thank you for coming in and speaking with me today. senior research fellow at the middle east institute at the university of singapore. 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 tojoin 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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. let's return to the middle

east. 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. let's ta ke let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. supporters of the opposition candidate in senegal�*s election have been protesting after results suggest he is in the lead. there are suggestions that he is ahead but the governing coalition says they are certain there will be a second—round vote. the supreme leader of the afghan taliban has suspended the practice of stoning women and public lashing, describing them as a part of divine law. he said that the islamist movement

rejected western democratic principles. france says it will provide special flights for vulnerable citizens who want to leave haiti. violence has continued in port—au—prince and elsewhere despite reports that tribal groups have chosen a transitional council to choose a new prime minister. 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 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. now to the story of a scottish runner. jasmin paris from scotland — the first woman to complete one of the world's most gruelling races — the barkley marathons in tennessee. it's160km up and down hills, through rugged terrain. she finished with just 99 seconds to spare. jasmin finally recovered her breath — and her voice — and spoke to the bbc. it was not until the last kilometre that i really thought i doubted that it was going to be possible and at that point i was so desperate to stop running and to walk and i knew that i could not because i could not make it. i think it was just the thought that if i did not make it it was going to be by settings and i would have to come back and do the whole

thing again. i was so oxygen deficient when i reach the end and the last few hundred metres i could not even really see anybody. i knew there were people cheering me on and there was lots of noise, but i was just aiming for the gate and everything else was blurry at the edges of my vision, and i just needed to make it at the gate, at which point i sort of collapsed down in a grasping heap on the ground. so, i did itfor me, and heap on the ground. so, i did it for me, and i am super happy that i achieved what i set out to do. ,:, that i achieved what i set out to do. ,., :, that i achieved what i set out to do. :, :, that i achieved what i set out todo. :, :, :, | to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really _ to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really glad _ to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really glad that _ to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really glad that i _ to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really glad that i did - to do. go, go. you can do it. i am really glad that i did it - am really glad that i did it for women worldwide as well — not just for women worldwide as well — notjust manners — that may be any woman that wants to take on any woman that wants to take on a challenge and especially all the young girls, how hard it is to keep young girls in sports.

this year, there was any section of the course which involved a lot of brambles — really thick funds that kind of slashed your legs. so, my legs are actually far worse, but i have 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 island race but really i think just have a bit of a rest. es, just have a bit of a rest. a rest well deserved. a sumo wrestler from japan has become the first in more than a century to win a first division tournament at his first event. he claimed the empress cup at the end of a tournament in osaka. his chances of victory seemed remote earlier when he suffered an ankle injury. he told local managing —— media

that his manager told him to pull out but he knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he did. two remarkable feats of human endeavour and that ends this edition of newsday. 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—12 degrees 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—20cm on the way here above 300m elevation. the snow could come down a little bit lower than that, perhaps to 200m 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, 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.

china makes a fresh pitch to foreign businesses at a forum in beijing as a slowdown in overseas investment continues. and the head of exxon mobil�*s guyana operation is put under the spotlight over a controversial drilling project in south america. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in china, where an annual forum attended by chinese policymakers and the leaders of global businesses is under way. chinese premier li qiang has downplayed concerns about the health of the world's second largest economy. he also pledged to give overseas businesses more access to chinese markets. foreign direct investment into china has continued

to fall after hitting the lowest level in three decades last year.