welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: funerals begin for the victims of the stampede in israel — at least 45 people died at a crowded jewish festival. as india deals with a huge surge in coronavirus cases — the us announces it will restrict travel we have a special report from mali, as british troops join what's been described as the world's most dangerous peace—keeping mission. and, heading back to the dancefloor — without social distancing. it's part of a uk pilot on how to gather safely without spreading covid.

the first funerals have been held in israel for the victims of a deadly crush at a religious festival. at least 45 people are known to have died, and more than a hundred and 50 were injured at meron, the site of the tomb of a revered second—century rabbi. almost all of those affected were ultra—orthodoxjews, in attendance to mark the lag baomer holiday. our middle east correspondent tom bateman sent this report from the scene. and a warning, it contains distressing images. they came to celebrate and to be blessed. tens of thousands ofjewish pilgrims at the mountain tomb of an ancient rabbi. but instead they were met with panic and a deadly crush. men and boys left the shrine, descending a narrow walkway which was badly overcrowded.

those at the front became trapped. people tried tearing away metal barricades to free them. all of a sudden we saw paramedics from mada and whatever, running by, like mid—cpr on kids and then one after the other started coming, ambulances, then we understood, something is going on here. pilgrimsjoined paramedics in a desperate search. dozens had been suffocated or trampled on. children became separated from parents and army helicopters evacuated the wounded. in the hospitals, there has been anguish as relatives wait for news. many of the dead still have not been formally identified.

this man took his two young sons to the festival. when it got crowded, he says they tried to get out. "we reached a ramp," he tells me, "where there was a river of people. i fell on my back and others piled on top. i prayed. my ten—year—old son was screaming for help, shouting, �*i'm dead' and my 13—year—old son, he was gone." his ten—year—old made his way home by himself but the teenager was missing. the family searched hospital wards for news. later, he was confirmed dead, among at least seven children who lost their lives. the annual festival sees ultra—orthodox jews flock for the night of prayer. bonfires are lit too. this was the country's biggest gathering since the pandemic. israel has lifted many covid restrictions after the world's fastest

vaccination rate, and police had planned for crowds. so what went wrong? this is where the surge took place. crowds were heading down this metal ramp here. eyewitnesses have said it was slippery. people were then turning around this corner, heading down the steps. and some have said that a barrier was blocking the route and that is where the crush took place. at the scene, prime minister benjamin netanyahu called it a national disaster and promised a full enquiry. this afternoon they began burying the dead. amid the grief and the funerals, questions mount over whether it could have been prevented. after a night of ritual, this was the one no—one wanted. tom bateman, bbc news, mount meron, in the galille. let's get some of the day's other news. a huge blast in eastern afghanistan has killed about 30 people and injured dozens more. officials said a car bomb went off near a guesthouse in pul—e—alam, the capital

of logar province. it's not yet known who carried out the attack. a study has found the brazilian part of the amazon released 20% more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the past decade than it absorbed. large scale logging and deliberately lit forest fires are being blamed. police in houston, texas have found more than 90 people crammed into a 2—storey suburban house and suspect it was being used in a people smuggling operation. the victims, most of them men, were found huddled together in different rooms and many hadn't eaten for days. some were showing symptoms of covid. police say there weren't any children in the house. the us will restrict travel from india next week to try to stop the spread of covid—i9. the measure will come into force on tuesday. vice president kamala harris said at the same time the us would send more than $100 million worth of supplies. mark lobel reports. grasping valuable oxygen, receiving care in a car. others still urgently seeking it. translation: we are waiting

here in the hope _ they will help us a bit. and in the meantime we are trying to organise oxygen from another source. as the now all—too—familiar cues for oxygen continue. it is notjust oxygen, wood is in short supply too, with so many cremations like this taking place. translation: people are hoping for help - from their fellow human beings because the government has given up. everything now depends on god. there's a shortage of vaccines too. this centre no longer able to offer promised jabs for the young. to stop the virus spreading elsewhere, australia has temporarily made it illegal for its citizens to return home from india. and this from america... we have announced that there's going to be a travel restriction starting

on tuesday on the advice of the center for disease control, our covid—i9 experts, medical experts, our national security advisers. but some flights will take on extra importance. it's much needed needed aid arriving from the us, including oxygen, diagnostic kits and masks. alongside help from belgium, bahrain and china, as part of a ito—country effort to deal with the situation in india. although that country remains in the grip of a civil crisis, we are encouraged by the demonstration of international support for india. in mumbai, a group of dentists had joined their country's front line, where it's all hands to the deck. somebody has to be there to save lives. but even if cases are now successfully contained, it is predicted there is still a tough month ahead. the daily case count is likely to peak around mid—may, and the daily death count will possibly peak around two weeks later,

towards the end of may. and with another deadly fire at an indian hospital treated coronavirus patients, this time in the state of gujarat, claiming a lease a dozen lives, india's battle with this pandemic remains on many fronts. mark lobel, bbc news. as india enters phase 3 of its vaccination programme, i asked dr prashant yadav, a lecturer on global health supply chains at the centre for global development in washington, how he thought they would cope with this next stage. so, india's current production in the last couple of months has been averaging around 2.5—3 million doses a day, or about 75 million doses a month. india's rate of vaccinating on a daily basis has averaged around 2.5—3 million. on good days it has gone as high as 4.5 million. and we have to keep in mind,

this was for the phase 2, this was for people over 50 or those with co—morbidities. so i think supplies are still very constrained. and the early phase of india's vaccination when supplies were higher and demand was lower, those have either already been used up or were part of the exports that india did to covax and to other countries. so i think now it is at a stage where the expansion of manufacturing probably will take 3—4 months or the start of new vaccines that india is adding to its portfolio also will probably take a couple of months so during that period there will be a phase where demand will far exceed supply. the film and tv industry has sought to distance itself from the british actor and director noel clarke, who's facing multiple claims

of sexual harassment. mr clarke is known for playing mickey smith in doctor who and also for his film trilogy kidulthood, adulthood and brotherhood. he is also a writer, director and producer. in a statement the 45—year—old said: his statement comes after 20 women accused him of harassment and bullying. broadcasters itv and sky have now dropped his shows — and he's been suspended by bafta, almost three weeks after the british film and television academy gave him an award for his outstanding contribution. it's just reminding everyone that #metoo is not something that happened in 2017, it's something that continues to affect people within the film and television

industry, effect people outside of that, across the world, so we need to be more diligent and start taking some action and doing things to stop allowing these things to go on for so long. the biggest uk military operation since iraq and afghanistan is under way in the west african state of mali. 300 british soldiers have joined part of what the un is calling the most dangerous peacekeeping mission in the world — nearly 250 un troops have lost their lives since the mission began eight years ago. mali is suffering from a rise in violent islamist extremism, coupled with severe poverty. it has a scattered population of 20 million people and the size of the country alone makes it very difficult to counter the threat with limited security forces. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale and cameraman james anderson are the first broadcast journalists to join british troops on patrol. british troops are back in harm's way, in their most dangerous deployment since the wars in iraq and afghanistan. this time as part of a un peacekeeping mission in mali,

a country in crisis, suffering extreme poverty, the impact of climate change, weak governance, and a surge in violent extremism. more than 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. we're now looking to try and understand the sorts of terrorist activity. if you've got any security concerns in the area, try and identify that as well as looking for anyone who does look suspect. we were among the first journalists tojoin them out on patrol. they're on high alert. they soon notice a group of men leaving on motorbikes. groups of five to six motorcyclists who have seen us, it's just a bit suspicious. strangers coming through the area. us as soon as they've seen us, it's just a bit suspicious. strangers coming through the area. they know extremists have been here, but for the locals there's often a fear in speaking out. they're reluctant to say

what the issues are, which suggests that there are some sort of fear of reprisals if they are starting to open up of the true issues they do face, and it's giving them a sort of understanding and being a presence to provide that security. jihadist groups have been conducting a reign of terror. this, a propaganda video of the group calling itself islamic state in the greater sahel. they're in competition with other extremists linked to al-anda. these long—range reconnaissance patrols are designed to gather intelligence, to protect the local population, and to drive the extremists out. but they're having to cover a vast area of thousands of miles. and the question is, can a few hundred british troops really make a difference? tens of thousands have become refugees in their own country. these families have left their villages for the relative safety of a nearby town — the victims of the violence. he said they killed some of theirfamily, most of theirfamily. killed most of their family?

anything we can do to allow them to live a normal life fear from fear of rape, murder or robbery, is a success for us. they're having to work alongside mali's own security forces, who have been accused of committing human rights abuses. but they're taking casualties too. 30 malian soldiers were killed in an ambush here just a few weeks ago. so what if the british become the target? if someone's going to attack us we're not going to sit and watch them do that. we will defend ourselves. and if someone is going to attack or is about to attack the local nationals then our job is to protect them, and if protecting them involves using violence then we will use violence. the uk's committed to this peacekeeping mission for at least three years, but thousands of french troops have been fighting in a separate counter—terrorism mission here since 2013. for britain the question is can it really help bring peace to mali, or is this another long, unwinnable war? jonathan beale, bbc

news, eastern mali. you are watching bbc news, the headlines: mourners in israel have begun burying the victims of the stampede, after at least 45 people died in a crush at a crowded jewish festival. the united states has announced it will restrict travel from india next week — to try and halt the spread of covid—19. the european commission has formally accused tech giant apple of anti—competitive behaviour, by disadvantaging rival music services on its app store through the use of high fees. the commission said that apple's policy of charging a 30% commission on subscriptions amounts to abuse of its dominant market position. the case was launched two years ago following a complaint from music streaming service spotify. the commission's findings are preliminary — but if they're confirmed, apple could face heavy fines. this is what eu's anti—trust regulator had to say: to reach apple users,

music streaming providers, they have to go via the app store and accept the rules that apple imposes on them. our preliminary finding is that apple exercises considerable market power in the distribution of music streaming apps to owners of apple devices. on that market, apple has a monopoly. earlier i spoke to australian anti—trust expert, associate professor rob nicholls from the university of new south wales. he explained why the eu described apple as a monopoly. what you have got is for the apple store, essentially, you can only get apps and content out to apple users, iphone users, via the apple store and the same works with the google play store as well. so, if you're in one ecosystem, you can't move to the other one, and there are only two, and both have very similar

approaches. what kind of changes might apple be compelled to introduce? well, one of the approaches is to say, well, treat your own services in the same way as you treat services that are on the app store. so, for example, it's possible to rate spotify — what do you think of their app. but it's not possible to rate apple music. it's not clear that apple music is treated differently to spotify. these are things that start to say, probably, there is an abuse of market power going on. so, making the process much more transparent, and making sure that there is no favouring of apple services over services that go via the app store is one way of making a difference. professor, looking at this historically, are companies like apple and other companies which we all know dominate the online world, are they in

a historical context, too big, too powerful, and in danger or, in need of being broken up? i don't personally think that breakup is right approach. the logical way of dealing with this is using existing antitrust and competition law to say you can have market power, but you can't abuse market power. and, so, with the getting so big comes a responsibility to act in a way that is fair, transparent, reasonable and pro—competitive with others. the risk is if apple and the other major players don't actually respond to that, then the option will be exercises to break them up, but i don't think we're quite there yet. some of the biggest names in the english premier league are taking part in a social media boycott, in protest

at ongoing abuse directed at players. the four—day blackout is designed to put pressure on the likes of facebook and twitter to stop the abuse. earlier i spoke to to the us soccerjournalist and broadcaster brian sciaretta. i asked whether this boycott will lead to any policy change by these social media giants. i mean, it's always unlikely just because there are so many users on places like facebook and twitter. being able to contain it is a difficult thing. it's a noble effort. and a broad base of followings i was going to be vulnerable to this. but i think it's a good thing. anything that batters discourse and conversation is a good thing. are there any practical, easy steps these companies might take or that players might recommend those companies take? yeah, there —— they are going

to have two increase all their budgets to look at the clear and obvious abuse instances and harassment. they are obviously things that go way over the bounds of decency and there are clearly people who are asking for it. not regulating opinion, but regulating abuse. just increasing the budget for that, to hire more people to look into it. surely you are always going to be overwhelmed when you have tens and tens of hundreds of millions of people involved in some of these platforms. is it always clear where the line is between criticism of a player's performance, and personal abuse? yeah, you know it when you see. you don't ever want to ratchet it down too much when it's a legitimate opinion. but certain terms and certain words trigger that line crossing that i think everyone should be, you know, should agree that

crosses the line. and i think if you start limiting it to those things at least to start, it really does kind of go a long way. you can go on these platforms and see words that are obviously only used in harassing situations. and that differentiates it from opinion, in my opinion. and those words are not triggering an alarm anywhere? i don't think so. if you go out into twitter and facebook, i mean, i'm sure you can find some of them regularly, but it's a matter of these things getting reported. and there are also different ways you can spell things to get the same point across in still a racist and homophobic way, and you want to avoid that. i think more money needs to be spent on it, and i think that includes hiring more people, which is what it will come down to. we have heard about abuse players in the uk are facing.

what about sportsmen and women in the united states? sure, it exists here. it exists, you know, in everywhere. they are starting to get more outspoken on it, and i think they will follow the european lead here. but i think sometimes when you start getting the mega athletes over here, i don't know how much they respond to people because are so big, but were certainly not immune from the problem here. clubbers have been deprived of the dancefloor for more than a year now — but to their delight thousands returned here in england, and without masks or social distancing. it's all part of a uk government pilot programme to establish whether large crowds can safely gather without spreading covid. 6,000 people are attending a two—day event in liverpool this weekend. dan johnson reports. the masks are off and

the volume is rising. finally, we're free to do what we want to do — embracing music and each other. anywhere else, this would be illegal tonight. i think it's really going to be like a magical moment in history, to be honest. and look what it means to be back in front of a crowd. i think it's going to be electric, i think everyone is going to be absolutely buzzing. people are literally walking into the venue and going, "oh my god," like, just screaming their heads off, like, so excited. and this city is leading the way. i have literally spent about three weeks at home preparing for this outfit. oh, so long. genuinely. yeah! deciding what to drink, deciding what to wear. big up liverpool for having the first non— socially distance eventin first non— socially distance event in this country. we love this city. all of us are excited. we're all on the verge of tears _ honestly, yeah, we're.

not even drunk yet, so, we're just — - we're ready for it. we haven't been around so many people in so long, and it's weird to get back into it, i'm excited, a bit nervous, but i'm excited. this comes after the quietest year for everyone in live events. i will be looking at the data. i will be looking at the data. i am really keen on that stuff anyway, yeah. film i am really keen on that stuff anyway. yeah-— i am really keen on that stuff anyway, yeah. oh my goodness, there are people _ anyway, yeah. oh my goodness, there are people everywhere, i there are people everywhere, and they— there are people everywhere, and they are dancing and exciting! it and they are dancing and exciting!— and they are dancing and excitina! , ~ , exciting! it feels like hey, we shouldn't be doing this, but i shouldn't be doing this, but it's ok, everyone is tested, and it is really cool. i it's ok, everyone is tested, and it is really cool.- it's ok, everyone is tested, and it is really cool. i am so excited- _ there will be cameras and ai looking at the movement of people. so, are there any bottlenecks that could be removed? are there any pockets of stale air? we've chosen a deliberately big, airy venue. fresh air is really important for covid safety.

so, we will monitor carbon dioxide levels. and by everyone being here they are taking part in building that evidence while it is safe to do so and while virus rates are very low. and on sunday there is an even bigger gig. 5,000 in sefton park will also be tested before and after. we asked people to take a pcr test five days afterwards and that absolutely allows us to understand the transmission. we want people to enjoy themselves, we want people to have a good time. it's the first event for over a year. so, it's really important for individuals, but it's also part of a scientific experiment and it's essential we capture the learning from it. this is just a taste of what we'ave missed. hopefully it brings us all closer together. before we go, a different kind of ocean crossing caught our eye. it is a ship without passengers, the world's first autonomous ship. it will soon leave the south—west coast of england on a journey across the

atlantic. according to those behind it, nobody will get seasick on the trip. that is the way to travel, do stay with us. hello there. we are seeing a change in the month, but not too much change in the weather. it is staying cold. if we look at april 2021, it's been exceptionally cold the past month or so. in fact, the overnight temperatures on average have been the lowest in almost 100 years, and it is going to stay quite cold on into the first part of may as well. this was the picture on friday. the final day of april brought us sunshine and april showers, and those april showers will be rolling on through the course of the first weekend in may as well. so, sunny spells in store, but also some scattered, fairly heavy downpours. we're in between a couple of areas of low pressure at the moment, this one waiting in the atlantic. that will be more of a pair by the time we get to bank holiday monday, but for the here and now, we've got these cold northerly winds drawing in this chilly arctic air, so still cold

for the time of year. after that frosty start to saturday for some of us, lots of sunshine around through the day. cloud will tend to bubble up as the ground heats up and that will bring some scattered showers almost anywhere during the course of the afternoon. so, they're going to be hit and miss. if you do catch one, there's a risk of hail and some thunder mixed in as well. still quite chilly around the east coast — 7—11 degrees. further west, 13 or 1a celsius. so, heading through saturday night overnight into sunday, showers clear away for the most part, so clear and dry and cold once again. so, an overnight frost, i think, as we start out the day on sunday, with temperatures in more rural spots getting down below freezing once again. sunday evenings another day of some sunny spells and a few scattered showers. probably fewer, i think, on sunday compared to saturday, but again, by the afternoon, it will be that hit—and—miss risk of catching those heavy downpours. possibly a little bit warmer than saturday — up to about 13 or 1a degrees fairly widely. still chilly across the north of scotland. but then it's all change into bank holiday monday as low

pressure approaches from the atlantic, so something we haven't seen in a while — quite a deep area of low pressure. although many areas start off dry, the strong winds and the fairly heavy, persistent rain will move across most areas. probably just dry across the far north of scotland, could be some mounting snow mixed in as well. not only the rain, but the strong gusty winds for many of us on bank holiday monday, it will feel cold with temperatures only about 9—12 degrees. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: funerals have been held for victims of the stampede in israel which saw at least 45 people die. almost all of those affected were ultra—orthodoxjews, attending a festival to mark the lag baomer holiday. prime minister netanyahu promised an inquiry would ensure such a tragedy did not happen again. president biden has banned nearly all travel to the united states from india, to try to stop the spread of covid—19. most non—us citizens will be barred from entering from tuesday. the white house described the number of coronavirus cases in india as extraordinarily high. leading british teams and players from sports including football, cricket and rugby have begun a four—day boycott of social media. they want facebook, instagram and twitter to take stronger action against people who post racist and sexist comments. all three social media platforms say they're taking action to tackle online abuse.