people were killed appears not to be terror—related. and the head of ukraine's military warn the situation in the east has "significantly worsened" against russia. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. president biden has cut short a weekend trip to return president biden has cut short a weekend trip to his home in delaware — to return to the white house — for urgent discussions on the middle east — amid rising tensions over a probable armed conflict between israel and iran. and in the last hour — israel's mililtary announced a state

of alert and ordered all schools to be closed on sunday. the military has also announced new restrictions on civilian gatherings — the move comes hours after iranian special forces seized a container ship linked to israel in the straits of hormuz. the white house has demanded the immediate release of the ship and its crew, accusing iran's revolutionary guards of an act of piracy. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has the latest from jerusalem. an iranian special forces helicopter has been seen in footage that has been verified by the bbc, hovering over the deck of the ship. you can see one person on the deck, two people climbing down the rope, and iranian state media have been very clear and vocal about attributing that to iranian revolutionary guard naval special forces. in response, israel's foreign

minister has accused iran of an act of piracy, and the military spokesman daniel hagar here in israel has said iran will bear the consequences for this escalation. what i think is really interesting about this is that this is a relatively unusual event to happen. if you think about it, most of the stories we've done recently have been about ship seizures on the other side of the iranian peninsula, in the red sea, those have been largely carried out by iranian allies, the houthis in yemen. so this is quite unusual for iranian forces to do this themselves. that is why some analysts believe this could be the start of an incremental response to the attack on iran's consulate in damascus at the beginning of the month, which killed a number of iranian generals. stay with me, james, because there is another development within the region. israel's defence minister is warning

against revenge attacks after a missing israeli teenager was found dead in the occupied west bank. that in turn has sparked attacks in the immediate region, and a palestinian man has been killed and 25 reportedly hurt after dozens ofjewish settlers stormed a village during a manhunt for a 14—year—old boy who had taken his flock of sheep out to graze from a nearby settler outpost. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu has commented and has said the boy's killing was a heinous murder. so, james, i understand that violence has spread to other villages now in the west bank. just how tense are things? i think this is just a reminder of the fact that for many months now, our attention has been focused very much on gaza

and the situation there, and occasionally when the exchanges of fire between israel and hezbollah, the armed militia based in lebanon, that flares up. but quite often we forget that in the west bank itself, there has been a huge amount of violence since the hamas attack on israel in october last year. hundreds of palestinians have died at the hands of israeli security forces and settlers and that violence continues. this latest outbreak is an example of that. a young boy, a 14—year—old shepherd, goes missing. israeli settlers go on the rampage, burning homes and cars while they are searching for him. the body of that young boy is now found, and that provokes yet more violence. violence is begetting violence and that is continuing to develop in the west bank, and it is something which i think is worrying a lot of people. here in the uk, the metropolitan police say nine people have been arrested for public order offences during pro—palestinian

and counter protests in central london. tens of thousands marched to parliament square — calling for a ceasefire and urging the government to stop all arms sales to israel. the counter—protesters exchanged chants with the larger pro—palestinian march as it passed, calling for a release of hostages held by hamas. now to the deadly attack at a shopping mall in australia. police in sydney say they don't think it was terror—related. at least six people were killed and eight were taken to hospital with stab injuries — including a 9 month old baby — whose mother was among the dead. panicked shoppers inside the westfield centre — just minutes from the famous bondi beach — fled the attacker�*s path, before he was shot dead by police. officers said he was known to the authorities. katy watson reports now from the scene. shouting

fear and panic in bondi. chaos in one of sydney's busiest shopping centres. police were called after reports of multiple stabbings, and this is the scene they were met with. the attacker entered the shopping centre just after three in the afternoon, maiming people in his path. i think they are telling everybody to go to the nearest exit. amid the panic, there was also huge bravery. see how this this man in a white t—shirt wards off the attacker with a bollard. outside, shoppers ran for their lives out of the mall. there was relief — and terror. everyone move back! i was hiding in the back room, just hearing gunshots. it wasjust like the worst thing ever. we saw these people running towards us, i and then we heard a shot. my husband dragged us into a shop and the lady locked the doors. - but many feel it could have been much worse. a lone police officer headed towards the danger.

eyewitnesses described how, after he turned around and wielded his knife, she shot him dead. just as we were coming around the corner, there he was, - he just came in and started floating towards us. - all i heard was, "put it down," and then she shot him. - if she didn't shoot him, i he would have kept going. he was on the rampage. her colleagues also praised her courage. the police officer that attended is enormously courageous. she is doing well under the circumstances. as i said, she's shown enormous courage and bravery. this attack took place at the busiest time of the week, saturday afternoon, and the start of the school holidays. the shopping centre was packed. and this is an affluent area, a short distance from bondi beach. this is an incident that has shocked a nation little used to violent attacks like this. today, bondi junction was the scene of shocking violence, but it was also witness to the humanity and the heroism

of our fellow australians — our brave police, ourfirst responders, and of course, everyday people, who could never have imagined that they would face such a moment. australians are waking up this morning, searching for answers on how a sunny saturday afternoon in bondi turned into tragedy. katy watson, bbc news, in sydney. the acting premier of new south wales briefed the media — and said she'd convened a crisis cabinet with other ministers. penny sharpe added that the premier, chris minns, joined the call remotely. he'd been on a visit to japan — and had not left tokyo airport since hearing of the incident. this was penny sharpe speaking earlier. there are really more difficult days ahead. tonight we hold in our hearts the families and the friends of those who have lost loved ones. we stand with those

who are waiting to hear for those that have been injured, and we really stand by all the medical staff who are fighting to save their lives. but we also thank the ordinary people who will deal with this. what we saw today and what we have seen on our television screens, particularly this afternoon, it's the number of innocent people going about their business who have witnessed shocking events. this is going to be difficult. it's going to be hard for days to come. there's been a lot of reaction from around the world — with royalty and others sharing their messages of support for the people of sydney. a statement from king charles read... there was also a message from the prince and princess of wales.

and support from new zealand's prime minister, christopher luxon, who said... the head of ukraine's military has warned that the situation in the east has "significantly worsened." general oleksandr syrskyi said russia was benefitting from warm dry weather, which made the terrain in eastern parts of ukraine more accessible to its tanks and other armoured vehicles. russia was making tactical gains, the general said, continuing to attack ukrainian positions at various sites along the battle —fro nt. joining me now from odesa, is hanna shelest, a defence analyst and editor—in—chief at the ukraine analytica. thanks forjoining us. i want to start off, when we talk about

strategic territorial gains, what are the key gains that have been made by russia?— are the key gains that have been made by russia? good evening. we cannot say that _ made by russia? good evening. we cannot say that russia _ made by russia? good evening. we cannot say that russia made - made by russia? good evening. we cannot say that russia made any . cannot say that russia made any strategic territories or logistic lines since probably spring 2022, and after this, definitely, the front line is quite flexible, and there have been losses on both sides, but those towns that were lost since last summer, and none of them are strategically that important. they were important before but at the same time as they are the biggest successes for russia. they are close to other places in terms of the railway and

roads which are important for the ukrainian forces in terms of the front line and if ukraine cannot keep the defence line where we are standing, that potentially could lead to these gains especially on the north. ., . ., ., ., , the north. how much advantage is russia gaining _ the north. how much advantage is russia gaining by _ the north. how much advantage is russia gaining by targeting - the north. how much advantage is russia gaining by targeting the . russia gaining by targeting the ukrainian infrastructure system? ukrainian infrastructure system ? significant, ukrainian infrastructure system? significant, because first of all it is notjust critical infrastructure but energy, and in kyivjust a few days ago, a missile completely destroyed the electric station that have been providing heat for two big regions of ukraine, so try to imagine that, suddenly not having that supply. the same if you go to kharkiv in the same in odesa, and now we are in spring, that is ok,

but if you imagine, we are speaking about huge technological... something that you need several years to reconstruct and in some of the regions you will need to start from scratch, so you already have a shortage of electricity and you would have significant problems with heating in autumn is three months would not be enough to reconstruct to the same capacity. the would not be enough to reconstruct to the same capacity.— to the same capacity. the military advantaae to the same capacity. the military advantage that _ to the same capacity. the military advantage that russia _ to the same capacity. the military advantage that russia has - to the same capacity. the military advantage that russia has at - to the same capacity. the military advantage that russia has at the i advantage that russia has at the moment on the eastern front, what do they have that ukraine desperately needs? we have the military aid stuck in congress in the us at the moment, so what is needed on the battlefront?— moment, so what is needed on the battlefront? �* ., ., ., battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, _ battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, of _ battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, of all _ battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, of all types, - battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, of all types, as - battlefront? ammunition, ammunition and ammunition, of all types, as you | and ammunition, of all types, as you can imagine. you need ammunition for defence and you cannot intercept strategic missiles with small drones. you need ammunition for the

artillery to keep the line at the front line allows the infantry not to move further, and you need ammunition to stop the tank attacks and you need ammunition to keep the soldiers save because it is not the 19th century, when you are infantry without any proper support, and you definitely need the air force because none of the real air defence can be finalised without air superiority and also none of the counter offence can be started without the air superiority. thanks for “oininu without the air superiority. thanks forjoining us- _ without the air superiority. thanks forjoining us. editor— without the air superiority. thanks forjoining us. editor in _ without the air superiority. thanks forjoining us. editor in chief- without the air superiority. thanks forjoining us. editor in chief of. forjoining us. editor in chief of the ukraine analytic, thank you. here — police say human remains of a young baby have been found at a house in wigan. five people — aged between 20 and 70 — have been arrested on suspicion of concealing a death

and unlawful burial. our reporter yunus mulla gave us this update. the remains of a baby were found here in the marsh green area of wigan after police were contacted by a partner agency understood to be social services. police have searched two different properties and as a result of their investigations, five people have been arrested on suspicion of concealing death and unlawful burial. the five are aged between 20 and 27. now, we understand that some of those people that were questioned and then released on bail had special needs. this kind of discovery clearly is going to have a huge impact on the community here, police say. and as a result of that, they say that this is a truly heartbreaking discovery and they've devoted several teams here and also specialist resources to try and get

some answers for people here. at this stage, though, they are keeping an open mind, but they do not believe that there is a wider threat to the public. and they say this is an isolated incident, but over the next week, there will be an increased police presence here to try and reassure the community. and they said if anyone has any concerns, to contact them. now it's time for a look at today's sport. it's olly foster. hello from the bbc sport centre. manchester city are top of the premier league table and they've boosted their goal difference with a 5—1 win at home to luton town.

they took a very early lead through an own goal, erling haaland's volley cannoned off daiki hashioka's face and into the luton goal. haaland also scored a penalty inside the final 15 minutes. mateo kovacic, jeremy doku and josko gvardiol also scored for city. ross barkley getting the hatters' goal, but they were three down at that stage and and remain in the bottom three. city are two points clear of arsenal and liverpool who both play tomorrow. we played really good, a lot of chances, but it was not clear until 3-0, but chances, but it was not clear until 3—0, but we played really good against a side who dropped a lot, which we did not expect, but we played really good and the performance from any was excellent. —— from many players was excellent. manchester united are ten points off the top four, after drawing 2—2 at bournemouth. united went behind twice, but skipper bruno fernandes scored both their goals to earn a point. bournemouth should have scored more

and were given a penalty deep into injury time to win it, but it was overturned by var. the foul on ryan christie was just outside the box. a let—off for united. the good thing is, twice we fought back from a losing position. which is good. you see the team spirit is good but by the end, it could have been a bit more composed and calm, and then we could have made more chances. and also i thought the opponent was struggling. brentford beat bottom side sheffield united 2—0. burnley picked up a point at home to brighton, but are still six points off safety. and nottingham forest remain one point above the relegation zone after a 2—2 draw at home to wolves. newcastle united are up to sixth place, thrashing tottenham 4—0 and the hit on the goal difference for

tottenham it sees them drop out of the top four down to fifth place. the leaders are out on the course in the third round of the masters at augusta. there was a three—way tie at the halfway stage. world number one scottie scheffler, bryson dechambeau and max homa all on 6—under. sheffler, who is paired with nicolai hoejgaard, has birdied the first. he is now one clear. collin morikawa is having a good round, too. there were some suprising results in the semi—finals at the monte carlo masters. sunday's final will be bewteen stefanos tsitsipas and casper ruud. ruud beat the world no i novak djokovic for the first time. it went to a deciding set, the 25—year—old norwegian taking it 6—4, for the biggest win of his career.

it was a rematch of last year's french open final. emma raducanu and katie boulter both produced wins as great britain secured their spot at the billiejean cup finals in seville, taking the tie 3—1 over france. earlier, boulter beat clara burel in straight sets, before raducanu made it two wins in two days with a dramatic victory against diane parry. raducanu came from a set down and survived a late fightback from parry in the third set, before closing out the match on a tie break. it was the grand national at aintree today. i am maximus won it — the joint—favourite trained by willie mullins, his second national winner, and a first for jockey paul townend. the full story of the race and reaction on the bbc sport website. and that's all the sport for now.

tens of thousands of people whojuggle caring for a loved one — with paid employment may be forced to cut their working hours. that's a warning from the charity, careuk — which says recent increases in pay and the national living wage could actually leave carers financially worse off. the government is facing growing pressure over demands made on some carers to repay thousands of pounds they received in accidental overpayments. dan whitworth from bbc radio 4's money box explains. when it comes to caring for loved ones in the uk, there is no shortage of people willing to help — more than 5.5 million people regularly care for friends, family members and even neighbours. nearly a million get ca rer�*s allowance worth just over £80 per week. of those, around 175,000 work alongside caring for a loved one. they cannot take home

more than £151 per week. if they do, even byjust a few pence, they lose their entire allowance. carers uk says recent pay rises and a near 10%jump in the national living wage mean some carers face having to face cutting their hours, or risk losing their allowance. the dwp are not really in a real—life situation. i don't think they understand how important it is for us to get out and work for our own mental health and ability to earn as well. so the impact of having to cut hours will actually result in us claiming more benefits, so it is a bit of a vicious circle. carers uk wants the government to raise the earning limit to the equivalent of 21 hours of the national living wage per week and modernise the entire system.

we should be doing more to help carers and give them peace of mind that they are able to do that without the worry of going over the earnings limit or making them take the really difficult decision between trying to still get their benefits or giving up work to care, which can be catastrophic in both the short and long term for theirfinances. there is also growing political pressure as a number of former dwp ministers are calling on the government to pause demands for repayment of sometimes thousands of pounds some carers may unwittingly have received in over payments. the dwp says it recognises the vital work carers do but it is right to recover taxpayers' money when claimants haven't told it about any change in circumstances, and that those on low income households may be eligible for extra support. to turkey now — all passengers who were stranded in a cable car in the southern resort city of antalya —

have been rescued. the cable car was immobilised after a pod crashed into a broken pole, killing one person. a video released by turkey's interior ministry showed rescue personnel tied to safety ropes climbing into cabins. ten helicopters and hundreds of rescue workers were involved in the operation in antalya. now to delaware in the us, and you can see marine one, a helicopter taking president biden are back to washington, dc. he had planned to spend the weekend at his beach residents in delaware but because of the situation in the middle east and rising tensions, he will be heading back. we have been told he is

expected to meet his national security team to discuss those tensions and a number of key developments have taken place in the last few hours. israel has put the country on a state of alert in the last hour. schools have been ordered to shut their doors on sunday and we know thatjordan has closed its airspace. it lies between iran and israel. all this in anticipation of an imminent attack by iran in retaliation for israel striking a consulate in damascus in syria on the 1st of april. more on this as and when we get it. hello. well, it's been really quite warm in the last few days, with temperatures exceeding 20 celsius. today, that warmth generally reserved for southern

and south—eastern parts of england. and the outlook is pointing to very much the opposite — colder weather on the way. if we look at the satellite picture, you can see a gentle drift of the clouds from the south—west here. but the colder air is waiting in the north atlantic, and that's where the shower clouds will come from as well. and in fact, over the next few days, the colder air will have its origin in the arctic. so a real chill on the way for some of us. i think we'll feel that chill particularly on monday. ok, back to the here and now, and evening temperatures will have still hovered around the high teens in east anglia and the south east, but already, only single figures across most of scotland. and through this evening and overnight, we'll have clear skies across the bulk of the uk. but we will also have showers for a time crossing scotland, some of them wintry across the hills. the winds not particularly strong overnight. fairly chilly in the morning on sunday, perhaps a touch of frost in the sheltered glens of scotland. and further south, in our bigger towns and cities, temperatures in the

range of, say, 6—8c. so sunday's weather forecast — lots of sparkling sunshine right from the word go. a beautiful start to the day, but then clouds will bubble up. first, the small fairweather clouds and then the bigger shower clouds, and showers are certainly possible across more northern and north—western parts of the country. and look at the temperatures — 15 in london, 10 degrees in glasgow. that is the average for the time of the year. it'll feel colder on monday, with this low pressure barrelling across the uk. look at the isobars and the winds coming in from the north. a cold, cutting wind, really a very chilly wind for some of us, bringing showers, also hail and thunder possible, but also, some sunny spells in—between. and the temperatures, well, below par for the time of the year, with this air originating from the northern climes. possibly around about 12 degrees in london and single figures across northern ireland, scotland and parts of northern england as well. is it going to stay chilly for most of the week? it is, to an extent, with further showers on the way. but i think as we head

towards thursday and friday, there is an indication that there will be another change in the wind direction, and we'll see those values rising once again — just a bit. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: israel has put its armed forces on alert and ordered schools to remain closed, amid fears that an iranian

attack may be imminent. police in australia say a stabbing at a shopping mall in which six people were killed appears not to be terror—related. eight others were injured in the attack, including a nine—month—old baby. and they are currently being treated in hospital. the head of ukraine's military warns the situation in the country's east has "significantly worsened", with president volodymyr zelensky labelling the situation "difficult". and iran has seized an israeli—linked ship in the strait of hormuz. state media in tehran said special forces from the revolutionary guards boarded the container vessel. from helicopters. now on bbc news: the travel show.