hello, i m annita mcveigh.ving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in russia, where vladimir putin has vowed to strengthen the armed forces and prioritise the war in ukraine, after yet another landslide victory in an election that western leaders have criticised as neither free nor fair. exit polls give him 87.8% of the vote in the presidential election — which was tightly controlled by the kremlin, with no credible opposition candidate allowed to run.

annita mcveigh will be here very shortly with bbc news now, we will have the latest from baltimore, but hello. it's been pretty miserable for the morning rush with driving rain, hill snow across the north, and even a dusting of snow in the heavier downpours further south, as well. this is exmoor earlier. so, it is slightly windier today, as this area of low pressure to the west of us continues to deepen. so, there are more isobars around, particularly in the south and the north, where we'll have gale force winds to accompany this rain and this hill snow. so, a pretty cold day here. after the heavy rain moves away from northern ireland, heavy showers will follow, those heavy showers pushing their way across england and wales as well, after some sunshine first thing. the sunshine does return, but with it, some heavier showers, hail and thunder mixed in. and so the strength of the wind as well will temper the feel, even though we'll get to perhaps 9—12 celsius. 0vernight, the rain breaks up in the north, the showers follow. we've got more rain and hill snow to come in southern areas, hill

hello, i'm annita mcveigh.ews and reaction. we begin in russia where vladimir putin has vowed to strengthen the armed forces and prioritise the war in ukraine, after yet another landslide victory in an election that western leaders have criticised as neither free nor fair. exit polls give him 87.8% of the vote

hello, i'm annita mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction

hello, i'm annita mcveigh.elcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in russia where vladimir putin has vowed to strengthen the armed forces and prioritise the war in ukraine, after yet another landslide victory in an election that western leaders have criticised as neither free nor fair. exit polls give him 87.8% of the vote in the presidential election — which was tightly—controlled by the kremlin, with no credible opposition candidate allowed to run. the electoral commission says turnout was 77% — which would be a post—soviet record. mr putin said the result demonstrated people's trust in russia's current path, and when russians were united, no—one could intimidate or suppress them. as our russia editor steve rosenberg reports, in a rare move mr putin also mentioned his late critic, alexei navalny, by name. for vladimir putin, six more years in the kremlin. russia's president is sounding more confident than ever. translation: whoever might want to intimidate us

hello, i'm annita mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reactioneks, humanitarian agencies have been warning of famine and as a man as they struggle to get it into the territory. the un high commissionerfor human rights has told the bbc there is a plausible case that israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's — as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent _ as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent were _ as a weapon of war in gaza. he said that if that's intent were proven, i that if that's intent were proven, it would amount to a war crime. israel and says it is letting on all the humanitarian aid that is needed. from jerusalem, jeremy bowen. gaza is no place to be ill. noura mohammed had lung and liver problems before the war. now, after months of starvation and without the right medical care, she is deteriorating fast. "my daughter can't move," says her mother. "she's anaemic, always sleeping and there's nothing nutritious to eat." there is plenty to eat only a few miles away in th

mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.he democratic unionist party — which is the largest unionist party in northern ireland — says that it's leader sirjeffrey donaldson is stepping down with immediate effect — after confirming that he has been charged with what they say are allegations of an historical nature. sirjeffrey, who has had an almost ao—year career in politics, was elected to the northern ireland assembly in 1985 — becoming the youngest person to win a seat at stormont at the age of 22. he became dup leader injuly 2021 following the resignation of edwin poots. pending the outcome of the judicial process, the dup have confirmed the appointment of gavin robinson as interim party leader. after news of sirjeffrey�*s arrest, the democratic unionist party met early on friday morning. in a statement it said that in accordance with the party rules, our correspondent sara girvin joins me now from outside the northern ireland assembly, at stormont. asi as i look is standing there and thinking back only a matter of weeks s

hello, i'm annita mcveigh.come to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we start this hour in the us city of baltimore where crews have now found the data recorder of the ship which crashed into a major bridge yesterday causing it to collapse. officials are looking into whether dirty fuel may have caused the vessel to lose power. six missing construction workers who were on the francis scott key bridge at the time are now presumed dead and rescue efforts have turned into a recovery operation. these are live pictures from the scene — where it is 9am local time. as well as the recovery operation, the other focus is the investigation into what went wrong. the vessel, the dali, is registered in singapore and the port authority there says it passed two inspections last year. the container vessel lost power after departing from baltimore's port, causing it to crash into the bridge. the governor of maryland has been speaking in the last hour and says it's imperative that the bridge is

hello, i m annita mcveigh.elcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in russia, where vladimir putin has vowed to strengthen the armed forces and prioritise the war in ukraine, after yet another landslide victory in an election that western leaders have criticised as neither free nor fair. exit polls give him 87.8% of the vote in the presidential election — which was tightly controlled by the kremlin, with no credible opposition candidate allowed to run. the electoral commission says turnout was 77%, which would be a post—soviet record. mr putin said the result demonstrated people's trust in russia's current path. translation: whoever might want to intimidate us, - whoever might want to suppress us, ourwill, our conscience, they have never been able to do it and never will. mr putin had no credible opponents — with all his opponents dead, jailed or in exile. one of the three men who ran against him even said he was happy with the outcome, calling it a victory. but

mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.

hello, i'm annita mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reactione begin in the middle east, where israel is reported to have carried out air strikes in syria. observers say the strikes happened in aleppo and may have targeted a depot storing rockets — run by the militant group hezbollah. the reports suggest that at least 42 people were killed, including six members of hezbollah and 36 members of the syrian army. israel hasn't commented on the claims, but there've been sporadic clashes between the israeli military and hezbollah on israel's northern borders since the outbreak of the war in gaza. if israel did carry out these air strikes, it may have been linked to that confrontation. there have also been air strikes in gaza overnight — palestinian officials say at least 12 people were killed when a building was hit in the southern city of rafah. and the hamas—run health ministry says several other people were killed or injured in other air strikes across the palestinian territory. they say several of the victims were children. fighting on the ground

hello, i'm annita mcveigh.

hello, i m annita mcveigh, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reactiontart this hour in the us city of baltimore where divers have now found the data recorder of the ship which crashed into a major bridge yesterday causing it to collapse. the crash caused that bridge to collapse. six missing construction workers who were on the francis scott key bridge at the time are now presumed dead and rescue efforts have turned into a recovery operation. these are live pictures from the scene — where it is sam local time. as well as the recovery operation, the other focus is the investigation into what went wrong. the vessel, the dali, is registered in singapore and the port authority there says it passed two inspections last year. the container vessel lost power after departing from baltimore's port, causing it to crash into the bridge. let's discuss more now the implications of the bridge collapse on trade in the region and beyond. we can now speak to guy platten... he's secretary—general of the international chamber of shipping — a global trade association for sh