this is bbc news, broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. i'm lucy hockings. our top stories: ukrainian authorities say russia has bombed a school in mariupol where around 400 people were sheltering — president zelensky says moscow has committed war crimes. translation: to do this to - a peaceful city that the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come. fleeing the war across the danube river between ukraine and romania — we follow those searching for a safer life. their thoughts as they reach safety themselves between one world at war and another world at peace are with those they've left behind in ukraine.

how ukraine's ballet dancers are being offered shelter and new opportunities in poland. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive in belize as part of their tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. hello and welcome to bbc news. the authorities in the beseiged ukrainian city of mariupol have accused russia of bombing a school where around 400 people were taking shelter. there's no word yet on casualties. the mayor of mariupol has accused the russian military of illegally removing thousands of residents and forcibly taking them over the border into russia. moscow has not directly addressed the claim,

but its defence ministry claims thousands of ukrainians wished to "escape to russia" and its government was helping them. meanwhile, president zelensky says russia's siege of the port is a "terror that will be remembered for centuries to come." jon donnison reports. increasingly, ukraine's eastern cities are in ruins. kramatorsk one of the latest towns to come under heavy russian bombardment. the un says it's confirmed more than 840 civilians have so far been killed across the country, but says the actual figure is likely far higher. this is the latest satellite picture of the theatre in the southern city of mariupol, bombed by russia on wednesday. four days on, officials say hundreds are still trapped in the basement but reports of fighting nearby are hampering rescue efforts. mariupol was once a bustling port city, but now after weeks of shelling, and encircled by the russians, it's almost unrecognisable.

and this morning there are unverified reports of an art school building where 400 people were sheltering being bombed yesterday, with many still trapped in the rubble. translation: the blockade - of mariupol will go down in history of responsibility for war crimes. to do this to a peaceful city that the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come. and the more ukrainians tell the world about it, the more support we find. the more russia uses terror against ukraine, the worse the consequences will be for it. and the mayor of mariupol says thousands of residents have been forcibly deported to russia, with some taken to remote cities, a claim the bbc cannot independently verify, but those lucky enough to escape west tell of days of terror.

translation: i could never imagine that a bomb would hit _ a house next to mine, that my district would be literally wiped out. the outskirts of the city were simply destroyed. and then i realised there were no safe places in the city any more. and that's now the case in a number of ukrainian cities. in mykolaiv, in the south, around 200 soldiers were sleeping in barracks when three russian missiles hit. a glimmer of hope as one man is pulled from the rubble, but with temperatures reaching lows of —6 it's feared there might not be many more sui’vivoi’s. around ten million ukrainians have now been forced to leave their homes. officials say more than 6,500 people were evacuated from cities through humanitarian corridors yesterday. among them, some of the most vulnerable.

71 babies and small children from an orphanage from the north—eastern town of sumy, they had been sheltering on a bunker under russian bombardment for several weeks but have now been moved to somewhere at least relatively safe. jon donnison, bbc news. the bbc�*s kyiv correspondent james waterhouse is in the capital and has this update us on the latest situation in the besieged city of mariupol. information as ever when it comes coming out of the south—east is very difficult to verify straightaway, but nevertheless we have another claim from authorities in mariupol that a building where people were taking shelter from the constant bombardment that has now been targeted itself. we know 400 people were inside an art school. no word yet on casualties, but it comes as rescue teams try and pull people out of the rubble at a theatre. hundreds are thought to be trapped there after a theatre housing more than 1,000 was struck a couple

of days ago, and what is making their efforts all the more difficult is fighting breaking out in the streets. there are now russian forces in the heart of mariupol, we understand, suggesting, as feared by the west, that the level of ukrainian resistance might be starting to falter under intense pressure. sustained bombardment, sustained siege for more than two weeks, where coming up to 2,500 people are known to have died. the figure is thought to be higher, but nevertheless it has come at a cost for the russians. they have sustained unexpected losses, and the thought from military experts is should mariupol fall, yes, it's strategically significant, it gives the russians a land corridor across the south east of ukraine, but it also means that the russians�* priority is to now regroup instead of launch new attacks because of

the costs they've sustained. let's speak to our correspondent james reynolds is at the train station in lviv. you are at the train station, what is happening things are relatively peaceful and quiet and about an hour ago we were talking and we wondered what the situation would be at the station. there are about half a dozen trains heading west today. when we went onto the platform there was almost nobody there. the tickets are free and so women and children will be the ones allowed on an elderly man and they will be escorted onto the trains which will then go reasonably slowly towards then go reasonably slowly towards the polish border and if people do not want to catch the train there are buses. i can count about a dozen

or maybe two dozen buses. you do not need a ticket for that either and there is a saying here that says free buses to poland. there are steady streams and trickles are people going by and i can see people walking past me know carrying a maximum of one bag each ready for a long, slowjourney towards greater safety. they might feel they have done the hard part of theirjourney. imagine coming here mariupol from our kharkiv are other cities in the east. it may have been a or three dayjourney east. it may have been a or three day journey for people, east. it may have been a or three dayjourney for people, too difficult to do in one go, so for many it may be the final push. what is life like around the city? when you walk around the city, lucy, you can go around and buy coffee and by a crass song —— by a class song

——croissant and there is a sense that some people are trying to stay to normality. but then you see soldiers in different places and we have had three different air raid sirens which mind you there is danger all around. sirens which mind you there is dangerallaround. 0n sirens which mind you there is danger all around. on friday morning we saw any strike which had four explosions on the western outskirts of town sending a black plume of smoke into the air and although it looks normal it is not normal because people will be on their mobile phones to relatives, boyfriends, husbands, fathers who have been sent to the front lines. there are positives here for people to be able to catch the breath and it may look reasonably peaceful but the anxiety is something that you sometimes just can't see. with me now is mark malloch—brown, president of the open society foundations

and former deputy secretary general of the united nations. there is such a sense of despair and frustration around the world right now about what could bring an end to this conflict. do you have any faith at the moment in the talks are diplomacy? fist at the moment in the talks are diplomacy?— at the moment in the talks are diloma ?~ diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end — diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end to _ diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end to the _ diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end to the conflict - diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end to the conflict but - diplomacy? at some point there has to be an end to the conflict but i - to be an end to the conflict but i think at the moment the odds against it remain really high. the demands of vladimir putin is side for essentially demilitarised tamed ukraine and the sacrifice ordinary ukrainians have made to resist exactly that demand means i fear the sweet spot for negotiation of both sides meaning they can bail on their own terms has not been reached so this remains a long conflict and what we are seeing in mariupol gets

repeated in other cities. the key point is there is not a whene in russia for this, there is the occupation of key cities. —— there is not a winning position for russia. still the most likely prospect, graham although it is, its massive and security in europe as the two sides contest ukraine and there is the risk russia spreads the conflict to the baltics or to poland to try to break the resolve of nato to try to break the resolve of nato to back ukraine. [30 to try to break the resolve of nato to back ukraine.— to try to break the resolve of nato to back ukraine. do you believe the russians are _ to back ukraine. do you believe the russians are genuine _ to back ukraine. do you believe the russians are genuine when - to back ukraine. do you believe the russians are genuine when they - to back ukraine. do you believe the| russians are genuine when they say they want to talk our as many people believe are they trying to buy time? russian experts cannot make up their minds whether this peace negotiation our terms of surrender that vladimir

putin thinks he is offering. there are glimmers. i had an indirect conversation with a russian minister reported to me that vladimir putin takes some silence with the evidence frustration of president zelensky with nato and thinks maybe there is deal to be done with them or neutralise ukraine but ultimately you have it in russia who does not believe in ukraine and always thinks it was part of greater russia and does not believe in the democratic nationalism of the country, so while i am sure they might wish to see the fighting stopped i'm not sure it would be in terms ukrainians would accept and that this one was risk and fear, that he has suffered this relative humiliation that russia has proved not to be this invincible modernised army he told the world that he had it makes an individual with the kind of psychology he appears to have at this point

tempted to double down and prove to everybody that she really is the bully in the playground, that you really can't prevail, so i am not sure that the chemistry is right for peace are those kind of expectations. iii peace are those kind of expectations.— peace are those kind of expectations. if that is his mentality. _ expectations. if that is his mentality, do _ expectations. if that is his mentality, do you - expectations. if that is his mentality, do you think i expectations. if that is his i mentality, do you think there expectations. if that is his - mentality, do you think there is another leader who could in any way influence? is the chinese president influence? is the chinese president in any way in the mix in that? i think there is three potential leaders and it would be fantastic if they work together. that would be president xi and the german chancellor and president macron from france. in a sense after friend from every side so it is balanced and they have the best prospects to move

forward. ~ . ., ., , forward. what can the united nations do? it is working _ forward. what can the united nations do? it is working on _ forward. what can the united nations do? it is working on the _ do? it is working on the humanitarian _ do? it is working on the humanitarian side - do? it is working on the humanitarian side and l do? it is working on the i humanitarian side and has do? it is working on the - humanitarian side and has people do? it is working on the _ humanitarian side and has people in moscow trying to work with russians anzhi millions —— and ukrainians to low at least humanitarian corridors —— to allow humanitarian corridors for people to come out and food to comment but they seem squeezed out at the political and and there is not great respect for the secretary general and we know the russians were furious with his condemnation of the attacks but it does not seem to have the inside traction with either side to make the united nations relevant. it is either side to make the united nations relevant.— either side to make the united nations relevant. it is difficult to see the united _ nations relevant. it is difficult to see the united nations - nations relevant. it is difficult to see the united nations being - see the united nations being relevant when russia is on the security council. pare relevant when russia is on the security council. are completely fair point. _ security council. are completely fair point, that _ security council. are completely fair point, that as _ security council. are completely fair point, that as i _ security council. are completely fair point, that as i was - security council. are completely fair point, that as i was been - security council. are completely| fair point, that as i was been the problem and when you have a russia that has broken the cardinal rule of the united nations, attacked a neighbour without provocation in a brazen breach of the sovereignty of

that neighbour, you have a rogue state at the heart of the organisation willing to use its veto to completely disrupt and overturn the rules of the organisation, so the rules of the organisation, so the imagination is not in an easy place but what i would say is the general assembly, which in one of those united for peace resolutions as you have reported before, did secure this massive overwhelming majority of 141 countries condemning russia. does provide a sort of global moral voice to remind vladimir putin that the course he has embarked on is increasingly isolating him in the world. [30 has embarked on is increasingly isolating him in the world. do you worry about _ isolating him in the world. do you worry about the _ isolating him in the world. do you worry about the long-term - isolating him in the world. do you worry about the long-term image j isolating him in the world. do you i worry about the long-term image of worry about the long—term image of the united nations when people look at it and think it is toothless in this situation? we are right now is the united nations being successful? i think, strangely, the united nations being successful? ithink, strangely, it the united nations being successful? i think, strangely, it reminds me of when i started in the united

nation's as a young refugee officer what it was incredibly successful at mopping up the victims, of, if you like, the was, the proxy was that the soviet versus america was created in central america and south america and africa. both sides let them get on with that but it was locked out of the big political questions of the day, and sadly that is a united nations we seem to be returning to. it would be a tragedy, and i was in new york a week ago, and i was in new york a week ago, and i was in new york a week ago, and i had not heard so many references to the league of nations as the possible future of the regulation is then and i hope it is not going that way but it's a very bad, critical moment for the organisation. in bad, critical moment for the organisation.— bad, critical moment for the organisation. bad, critical moment for the oruanisation. , ., organisation. in terms of the next week -- next _ organisation. in terms of the next week -- next few _ organisation. in terms of the next week -- next few weeks - organisation. in terms of the next week -- next few weeks or- organisation. in terms of the next i week -- next few weeks or months, week —— next few weeks or months, you mentioned about the baltic

states and poland as well, do you think the conflict will creep over into those other countries in europe will be drawn on? i into those other countries in europe will be drawn on?— will be drawn on? i think with a lona will be drawn on? i think with a long term _ will be drawn on? i think with a long term conflict, _ will be drawn on? i think with a long term conflict, it _ will be drawn on? i think with a long term conflict, it creeps i will be drawn on? i think with a i long term conflict, it creeps over with russia trying to make anonymous attacks with groups like chechen regulars trying to test the resolve of nato. i think if there is are peace agreement, the level of destruction and loss of life is so great that you have to hope there will be some kind of peace settlement. then i think the rest become something else, which is that we return to the pattern of old when russia in the east of ukraine took the donbas area are when in 2014 to crimea and somehow russia is allowed back into the unity of nations and the key thing there is to work with

partners to make sure all these war crimes are fully documented, so even if governments decide to act in a moment of collective memory loss because they want peace, and that is a perfectly legitimate thing to want, that civil society and human rights defenders around the world make the case to make sure that vladimir putin can never again lead russia without —— can never again leave russia without the risk of having some war crimes allegations slapped on him and having to attend the hague somewhere else. —— are somewhere else. pare the hague somewhere else. -- are somewhere else-— somewhere else. are you confident there will be _ somewhere else. are you confident there will be a _ somewhere else. are you confident there will be a unified _ somewhere else. are you confident there will be a unified response - there will be a unified response from the european union? i there will be a unified response from the european union? i think if there is a peace _ from the european union? i think if there is a peace agreement - from the european union? i think if there is a peace agreement there l there is a peace agreement there will be a definite effort to bury the hatchet which is what peace agreements are about and it would be legitimate for the european union in that sense as part of the deal to

remove some sanctions but the european union and britain, there are a bunch of oligarchs who have fuelled house prices in london and made lawyers and pr people retch in london, that whole network an ecosystem would quickly start to revive unless we can use public consciousness to keep pressure up. —— have made lawyers and public relations people retch. —— rich. i think governments will be all over the place and it will have to be public citizen pressure that makes justice for the people of ukraine. more than three million people have now fled the fighting in ukraine,

with the un warning the situation is creating a child refugee almost every second. for residents of the southern city of 0desa, one of the main routes out of the country involves crossing the river danube by ferry. nick thorpe has been speaking to some of those making the journey. the river danube cuts ukraine in the north from romania to the south like a knife. so many people are fleeing ukraine, it's easy to miss the few returning by river ferry. the river danube cuts ukraine in the north from romania to the south like a knife. so many people are fleeing ukraine, it's easy to miss the few returning by river ferry. you still need a ticket if you're going the wrong way. it's a romanian ship flying the ukrainian flag as a courtesy. irina is one of the passengers, a lawyerfrom kyiv. she's just taken her twin children to safety in germany. now she's on her way back to fetch her mother. i have a happy life in ukraine. my native language is russian. but i don't want putin to protect me.

i don't know his protection. ukraine was a great country. but now everything is ruined and i don't know when we will stay in my house in safety. i don't know when i can come back to ukraine. the ferry docks and a dozen or so people disembark. barely an hour later, the ferry fills with refugees. irina and her mother, natalya, among them. many are from 0desa, but there are also some from mykolaiv, the city further east still blocking any russian advance along the coast. they came by boat, by train, by car to the water crossing, their thoughts as they reach safety themselves between one world at war and another at peace are with those they have left behind in ukraine.

in romania, the ukrainians get a warm welcome. he was good, she was crying. she thinks that they will never see each other again. i will be happy when i return to ukraine. i will be happy. as the sun sets behind the granite mountains, anotherferry embarks from the romanian shore to bring more ukrainians across. nick thorpe, bbc news. as we've been reporting, unicef says one and a half million children have now fled the fighting. a short time ago i spoke tojoe english from the charity. he's in lviv in the west of ukraine where they're working to provide support to children affected by the war.

indeed, it could be anywhere in the world. what you can see behind me is the bomb shelter. every day i have been here we have had air raid sirens go off and when that happens, they find their parents and stop what they're doing and make their way into that shelter. and this is one of the safe parts of the country where people have been fleeing from elsewhere. as we continue to see these devastating attacks on schools and hospitals and places where children are meant to be kept safe, we will continue to see children making dangerous journeys does unicef have staff in mariupol? we don't have staff there, it has been described as apocalyptic and hell on earth and there are almost not strong enough words

to describe the situation. we have had reports and not been able to verify them but a little girl dying from dehydration, not enough safe drinking water and it is the 21st—century, this is medieval and we need a way to access these people and stop the bombs and bullets. not only to let humanitarian organisations get in but vulnerable children and vulnerable families get out. is any progress being made in trying to get supplies into a city like mariupol? we are ready to go when we have safe access, unicef has 85 trucks in transit to the moment and more than 850 tonnes of supplies. on friday morning we were able to get into sumy and get medical supplies and toys to the children who are living in the metro system in kharkiv. the long term needs will be huge. we are always struck by the resilience of children and how strong they are but what do you see as being the biggest need in the months to come?

will it be mental health and support that is needed? psychosocial support for children who have experienced trauma, not only from the direct violence but the associated upheaval of being forced from their homes, everything they have ever known, being separated from their fathers and brothers and setting off in search of safety. it will also be critical to get kids back into school as soon as possible and as soon as it is safe. children around the world have gone through two years of disruption to their education and we know what that does to kids that will be critical as well and we need to start providing for those kids they allow them to have a semblance of a normal childhood and start picking up the pieces of their shattered lives. picking up the pieces

a reminder — thee's more on the bbc news website — that has a live page of updates from ukraine.and you can also reach me on twitter — i'm @ lucy hockings bbc it has been a glorious weekend so far with all four nations recording its warmest day of the year so far but the top temperature was 20.2 celsius in kinlochewe. a beautiful day in highland without a cloud in the sky but today we may see a bit more in the way of fairweather cloud and it mayjust cloud and it willjust be a bit cooler with a maximum of 13 or 14 degrees.

two areas of cloud i need to point our to you, one to the south—west and affecting parts of south wales and this cloud across the low countries which may drift towards the coastline of east anglia as we go through the late afternoon. it may well produce one or two isolated showers. generally a bit more fairweather cloud to the east of the pennines and the best sunshine in sheltered western areas away from the cloud and to the south—west which could trigger an isolated shower. cooler on the east coast, nine or ten, and top temperatures of 14 degrees. tonight that cloud will continue to drift from the north sea and produce a bit more cloud across the east of england. nothing significant in terms of rainfall, further inland we will see the lowest temperatures, just below freezing and a touch of light frost in sheltered rural parts but as we go through the next few days it looks likely that warmth is set to build. again we could see that cloud just interfering with the far east coast of aberdeenshire and to the south. a little more fairweather cloud but the wind direction light, turning round to a southerly and warmer still, 15 or 16 degrees the high here and we're looking at ten to 13 degrees across scotland and northern ireland. as we move from monday into tuesday, warmer air continues to push up from the west of europe and it will get noticeably

warmer with each day. so as we move into tuesday, dry, settled and sunny, but as the warmth builds it may trigger a few very isolated showers. nothing too widespread but it is worth bearing in mind. temperatures are likely to peak into the mid to high teens in many places. that story will continue through the week ahead and we could see temperatures once again back up to 20 degrees, 68 fahrenheit, way above where they should be for this time of year.

this is bbc world news, i'm lucy hockings. the headlines: ukrainian authorities say russia has bombed a school in mariupol where around 400 people were sheltering. president zelensky says moscow has committed war crimes in the city. fleeing the war across the danube river between ukraine and romania — we follow those searching for a safer life. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive in belize as part of their tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. we'll have more on the war in ukraine in a moment, but first let's have a look at some other stories. at least six people have been killed in belgium when a car drove

into a crowd of carnival—goers. police have described what took place as an accident. several people were seriously injured. the driver has been detained. the incident happened in a small village west of the city of charleroi as people were gathering for a traditional parade. hong kong's leader carrie lam says she expects to announce a review of covid—19 restrictions on monday. the territory currently has some of the toughest measures in the world, with a ban on arrivals from nine countires, including australia and the uk. ms lam says falling infection numbers mean she hopes to announce a staged easing of restrictions. 16,500 new cases of covid—19 were reported on saturday — and 243 deaths. wildfires in texas in the us have destroyed thousands of acres of dry grasslands and forced the evacuation of residents from their homes. people living in areas of eastland county, about 90 miles west of fort worth, and brown and comanche counties have been ordered to leave. strong winds and very dry grasses are helping the fires spread quickly and are proving difficult forfire

crews to control. let's get more on the refugees leaving ukraine to find safety in other countries. the bbc�*s nick thorpe is in siret in romania. many people have arrived there in the last few weeks. he told me what was happening there today. well, this is one of the biggest border crossings i have been at in the last three or four weeks now. the first in hungary, now here in romania, as you can see behind me these are the humanitarian workers, different charity aid organisations distributing food to the people crossing the border from distributing food to the people crossing the borderfrom behind me. they are coming from a big city, of a quarter of a million people, on

they are seen in ukraine. how many children are — they are seen in ukraine. how many children are travelling _ they are seen in ukraine. how many children are travelling alone? - children are travelling alone? possibly half the 3.3 million refugees have left ukraine and half a million of them coming to ukraine so pretty much have the numbers of

the refugees, they are children and many very small. some of the happier scenes but hear me now, one of those light moments in this whole crisis but staying with the children issue, the united nations refugee energy mentioned so far of the refugees entering romania alone about 500 have been unaccompanied and honestly there is growing concern about the dangers to them and exploitations like this one has become a new or increased focus of different agencies to identify children travelling on their own and make sure they are properly looked after notjust here but obviously whenever they are going. haifa notjust here but obviously whenever they are going-— notjust here but obviously whenever they are going. how other ukrainians resondin: they are going. how other ukrainians responding to — they are going. how other ukrainians responding to this _ they are going. how other ukrainians responding to this crisis? _ they are going. how other ukrainians responding to this crisis? it - they are going. how other ukrainians responding to this crisis? it is - they are going. how other ukrainians responding to this crisis? it is a - responding to this crisis? it is a struggle for many in the country to make ends meet as it is. how many have there been of these hundreds of thousands of refugees? this

have there been of these hundreds of thousands of refugees?— thousands of refugees? this is one ofthe thousands of refugees? this is one of the poorest _ thousands of refugees? this is one of the poorest countries _ thousands of refugees? this is one of the poorest countries in - thousands of refugees? this is one of the poorest countries in the - of the poorest countries in the european union but here people are an ominously generous —— enormously generous. the individual charities, the local councils and people offering here as in other countries such as hungary and moldova and poland offering accommodation and i would say there is no fatigue here that i would witness, people are still opening their hearts and doing what they can to contribute food, clothes and biscuits and whatever. on wednesday the uk chancellor rishi sunak will deliver his spring statement, a mini—budget. the last two were dominated by covid, as he announced huge bailouts to get the country through the pandemic. but now the uk is facing a new crisis, and the chancellor is under pressure to tackle the effects of inflation as the cost of living spirals.

well, we can talk more about this with our political correspondent, ione wells whojoins me now. the chancellor is under pressure to do something with the spiralling cost of living with increasing fuel prices at the pumps. what has been announced already is a £200 energy rebate scheme, a loan for people for their energy bills which would be repaid from 2023 instalments of £40. earlier when asked by the bbc if he would step in more in the coming months and years to help the chancellor suggested there might be further interventions to come. people canjudge me by my actions. over the past two years, where we've been able to make a difference, i've tried to do that. and i've always been honest with people, government can't solve every problem. i wish i could, but i can't, especially when you're dealing with global inflationary forces that are at play, but you saw that

on energy prices already — £9 billion of support. it means four out of five households in england are going to receive £150 in direct cash support in april as the energy bills go up and more support on its way in october as well. any more specific details of what he might offer? the chancellor did not announce specifically what he would offer specifically in terms of tax policy but we got an idea of what options may be considered. he has been pretty clear he will not roll back on the commitment to raising national insurance attacks in april and the government said if they did that it would benefit some of the higher earners who pay more tax anyway. 0ne higher earners who pay more tax anyway. one of the options considered as the thresholds of where people start paying national insurance and income tax could be changed and that seems to be one option under consideration and the

other one the chancellor is facing a lot of pressure on is whether or not to do anything to cut fuel duty, given that petrol prices are so high at the moment. this is something more than 50 conservative mps about the chancellor to do and also something labour said they would support if the chancellor would introduce it. the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves said not only would labour supporter cut to fuel duty but should be a wonderful tax to some of the north sea oil companies and gas companies can making a profit. ithink, really, though, what is needed is a windfall tax on the big profits being made by the north sea oil and gas companies right now and using that money to take money off people's domestic gas and electricity bills because everybody pays the gas and electricity bills and it is the poorest people, people on low and modest incomes who are experiencing those price rises the most. so my priority would be that windfall tax to keep energy bills low and also not going ahead with this increase in national insurance contributions. we're the only 67 economy that's increasing taxes right in the middle of a cost of living crisis

when prices are going up. the government deliberately taking money out of people's purses and wallets, that is the wrong thing to do, and we oppose that. asi as i said earlier, certainly the chancellor is not considering drawing back on that commitment to increasing national insurance tax in april. also on labour's point about a windfall tax on or oil and gas from a nasty, that is not something they are keen on because they think it could dis— incentivise investment —— the north sea when the uk is trying to become more independent and produce more of its own oil and gas from the north sea. as we have already discussed the many chancellor under pressure to introduce something to mitigate this rising cost of living and prices on shelves and pumps as well. thank you

very much- — the duke and duchess of cambridge have arrived in belize, as part of their week—long tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. part of the tour, which will also see the couple visit jamaica and the bahamas, has been altered following opposition from local people. 0ur royal correspondent, jonny dymond, is travelling with the couple and has sent this report. not quite the welcome they were hoping for. at one of the first places william and kate were supposed to visit, protests forced the couple to cancel. protester: this is our land, this is our property! - they were meant to visit a cocoa farm, but some objected to prince william's links to a conservation charity that has been working in the area. what would have been the first stop of the first full day of the tour was dropped. but as this week—long caribbean trip kicked off at belize's main airport, it was all smiles from the couple.

it is the first official trip they have done together since the pandemic broke. and across three countries, all of which have the queen as head of state, william and kate will raise the royal profile. and they will be thanking people, on behalf of the queen, for their support over seven decades of her reign. jonny dymond, bbc news. that was our royal correspondent, jonny dymond, reporting from belize. a murder investigation is under way after a 19—year—old woman was found dead at student accommodation in central london. detectives say they are looking to speak to maher maaroufe, who has links to london and cambridgeshire. the metropolitan police say anyone who sees the 22—year—old should not approach him but call the emergency number 999 immediately. here in the uk, the the coronavirus vaccine booster campaign is to be ramped up again in england this week — with adults over the age of 75, care home residents and the most vulnerable over—12s being offered another jab.

it comes as the number of covid cases continue to rise across the uk. the surge in infections has prompted some people to come forward for their first booster dose, as anne—marie tasker reports. with the number of covid cases rocketing in north lincolnshire, sonia harrison decided it was time to get her booster. it has put me off from going out and it has scared me. i have asthma and copd, so i thought i really should have the booster. my son is against it, but with me having health problems, i felt that i needed to have it. it's a year since scunthorpe opened its dedicated vaccination centre, but the call to getjabbed is being made as strongly as ever with the latest wave of covid impacting on health care.

we want to see every patient that walks through the door. we want to help every single person who rings us. but if we don't have the staff to do all of that, we can't, so it has a knock—on effect on the gps and then appointments and then patients showing up to a&e, so it affects everybody. covid cases have shot up after restrictions ended last month — facemasks and self—isolation no longer legally required. i think it's down to a few things. one is that we've got a new type of omicron, which is called ba.2. that looks like it's more infectious, even more so than the first version of omicron, so more people are catching it. i think the second reason is we might be seeing some waning of immunity from the booster doses. and the third reason is that people's behaviours are changing. they're mixing more, they're not wearing face coverings, and all those three things together are driving that increase in cases. so vaccination centres are gearing up for their next campaign — fourth jabs for over—75s from next week and five to 11—year—olds next month, and anyone not fully vaccinated asked to come forward. anne—marie tasker, bbc news.

let's show you these latest pictures from belgium. a shocking incident happened there. a car has driven into a crowd of carnival—goers in a village in the south of belgium killing at least six people. about ten people have been quite seriously injured. the police say it was an accident and have detained the driver. these are the pictures were getting in from belgium. these are the pictures were getting infrom belgium. six these are the pictures were getting in from belgium. six people have been killed after a car drove into festivalgoers. let's take you to israel. we have some live pictures coming in their where hundreds of thousands of people are attending the funeral procession of the ultraorthodox rabbi who died at the age of 94. he died on friday. they

have closed the roads in this area and right across central israel for the ceremony. it is taking place there. he was a very prominent of rabbi leading a community that traced its origins to lithuania. he was revered for his knowledge of jewish religious law and the israeli prime minister has been speaking about his life and called him a giant of his generation. as you can see, people gathered on the streets at every lookout, on those buildings. the roads have been closed. hundreds of thousands of israelis attending the funeral procession of the ultraorthodox rabbi. let's return to the situation in ukraine — and my colleague in lviv, james reynolds spoke to oleg savchuk in dnipro. he managed to escaped from the besieged city of mariupol with his family earlier this week. he began by asking him

what it was like. into words, it was horrible. in two words, it was horrible. i never can imagine that in my city, this kind of things can happen starting from the third day of war. we moved from the old street to the port district to our grand parents to group together. and right after this day, everything stopped worse and worse. for example, the first day was without electricity and without gas, then without heat, an eccentric sentra and a damp it without even mobile connection and like was in a vacuum without information or something like this. this is the first part of the problem. the second one is that

everything was bombed. we didn't have any kind of food. we can't buy anything. we can't find anything at all. and still we was without any water, food and any things like we need to day to day. for example, when we was in mariupol, the temperature was minus five and everything was covered by snow. and for example, if you want to prepare some food or make some tea, we need to go outside and make a fire, but everything wet because of the snow, and we went to the nearest closed cinema october and removed windows, everything that can fire and used it to boil something. oleg, how did you get out? yeah, sorry. also, we used, for example,

snow to use for water or to drink, like we collect in snow and boil it. thank you for the question. it wasn't a green corridor. people decided on their own to move. it was a small group. on monday, they moved and even the ukrainian military said that you don't need to go because a lot of mines outside of mariupol, so it's really scary thing. but they reached another town and we decided with our neighbours, with people that we can reach that we need to go right now or we don't know if we will have such kind of opportunity later because each day it was worse and worse. and on march 15th, it was tuesday, we moved to the other town. oleg, how long will it take you and your family to recover from what you lived through in mariupol? yeah, thank you for the question.

previously, when we moved to mariupol, it took two and a half hours, but in this way it took for us 14.5 hours to reach to the other town. it was like more than ten military points from the russian ukrainian side, and it was really slow and we were lucky our family, because our neighbours who moved earlier or later need to stay in different cities, and the whole trip from mariupol to the other town took more than one day, like 25 or 27 hours. let's get more on the russian claims that it's used hypersonic missiles in ukraine. a short time ago i spoke tojonathan marcus, who's a defence analyst at the strategic studies institute at the university of exeter. and i asked him what exactly a hypersonic missile was. a hypersonic missile — there are various kinds, but essentially it flies very fast and it's particularly maneuverable, which means, in different contexts,

it can avoid defensive systems and so on. i think in the context of ukraine, i'm afraid it isjust another russian weapon. it may indicate that they want to try it out in battle conditions. it's a relatively new weapon. it may be simply that they are running out of stocks of other kinds of missiles, but i don't think it actually alters the basic facts on the ground, which is the extraordinary willingness of the russians to bombard civilian areas indiscriminately, as well as obviously trying to take out key infrastructure targets. jonathan, what kind of risk of miscalculation is there with a hypersonic missile? oh, i think in this particular case, i mean, look, no greater risk than any of the other weapons that the russians are using. now, i don't think, as i say, this particular weapon should be focused on as a game—changer. i think what's much more important

is the nature of the shift in russian strategy, if you like. i think that many analysts think now that the initial phase of this war, the first few weeks has really represented a failure on the part of the russians. they've not achieved what they wanted to. and so they're shifting now to a new strategy, which is one much more of attrition. we've seen the horrific nature of this in the besieged city of mariupol. there are fears that same kind of devastation could be visited on other ukrainian cities. and the worry is, of course, that this strategy of attrition, as the name implies, is something that would go on grindingly for some period of time and lead to many, many more civilian casualties. jonathan, i heard an mp, a ukrainian mp speaking to the bbc this morning, saying she believes that kyiv could come under attack by the russian army in the next few days. what's your assessment of what's happening around the capital? well, the ukrainian forces have been reasonably successful in trying to keep the russians back and out of certainly some artillery range of the capital.

it's interesting we've seen pictures of russian forces digging in, entrenchments, artillery positions and so on a little closer to kyiv, so i think that is a fear. i think the assessment, though, still is that the russians do not have enough forces yet to actually physically encircle the city. they may be able to bring some of its suburbs and even other parts of the city, eventually, under direct attack, direct fire but, you know, one of the notable features of the russian offensive has been the way it's been split up into many, many lines of advance and the russians have so far been unable to focus and concentrate their forces sufficient to be able to really make significant headway against some of their key urban targets. jonathan mark is there. —— jonathan

marcus there. opera houses and theatres across europe have offered to help fleeing or stranded ballet dancers affected by the war in ukraine. in warsaw, the polish national ballet has offered shelter to about 30 ukrainian dancers. the bbc visited one of their rehearsals.

the wonderful support being offered by the polish national ballet. we are keeping a close i am what is happening in mariupol because we are told the school was bombed there and 400 people were sheltering. every person we talk to paint a desperate picture of mariupol. right now, there is no electricity, no running water. we have had reports of people saying they are melting snow in order to find something to drink. it

is a desperate situation there and reports that russia has bombed a school where 400 people were sheltering. we will have more under that story coming up. it has been a glorious weekend so far with all four nations recording its warmest day of the year so far but the top temperature was 20.2 celsius in kinlochewe. a beautiful day in the highlands without a cloud in the sky but today we may see a bit more in the way of fairweather cloud and it mayjust be a bit cooler with a maximum of 13 or 14 degrees. two areas of cloud i need to point out to you, one to the south—west and affecting parts of south wales and this cloud across the low countries which may drift towards the coastline of east anglia as we go through the late afternoon. it may well produce one or two isolated showers.

generally a bit more fairweather cloud to the east of the pennines and the best sunshine in sheltered western areas away from the cloud down into the south—west which could trigger an isolated shower. cooler on the east coast, nine or ten, and top temperatures of 14 degrees. tonight that cloud will continue to drift from the north sea and produce a bit more cloud across the east of england. nothing significant in terms of rainfall. further inland we will see the lowest temperatures, just below freezing and a touch of light frost in sheltered rural parts but as we go through the next few days it looks likely that warmth is set to build. again we could see that cloud just interfering with the far east coast of aberdeenshire and to the south. a little more fairweather cloud but the wind direction light, turning round to a southerly, and warmer still, 15 or 16 degrees the high here and we're looking at ten to 13 degrees across scotland and northern ireland.

as we move from monday into tuesday, warmer air continues to push up from the west of europe and it will get noticeably warmer with each day. so as we move into tuesday, dry, settled and sunny, but as the warmth builds it may trigger a few very isolated showers. nothing too widespread but it is worth bearing in mind. temperatures are likely to peak into the mid to high teens in many places. that story will continue through the week ahead and we could see temperatures once again back up to 20 degrees, 68 fahrenheit, way above where they should be for this time of year.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lucy hockings. our top stories: ukrainian authorities say russia has bombed a school in mariupol where around 400 people were sheltering. president zelensky says moscow has committed war crimes in the city. translation: to do this to - a peaceful city that the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come. i'mjames i'm james reynolds i'mjames reynolds in lviv in western ukraine. i will bring you the very latest inside this country. fleeing the war across the danube river between ukraine and romania — we follow those searching for a safer life. their thoughts as they reach safety themselves between one world at war and another world at peace are with those they've

left behind in ukraine.