this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm rich preston. our top stories: a day of mourning declared in nepal as at least 68 people die in a plane crashjust a mile short of the airport. everybody is confused because this pilot is one of the most experienced and most well—respected pilot of nepal. ukraine suffers its worst day of russian shelling in weeks, as nato promises it will soon receive more weapons from western europe. a major disaster is declared in california, which has been hit by a succession of fierce storms. president biden asks if america will choose love over hate as he speaks at martin luther king's church in atlanta to mark the celebration of the civil rights activist�*s life.

we begin in south asia where it's just gone 9.45am in nepal, and a day of national mourning has begun for the victims of the country's worst airline disaster in 30 years. all 72 people on board a yeti airlines plane are believed to have died after it crashed near the town of pokhara, about 145km or 90 miles west of the capital kathmandu. the bbc�*s rajini vaidyanathan sent this report from nepal. footage thought to show the final moments of yeti airlines flight 691. first, you see the plane veer off course. then you hear it. thunderous roar

a raging inferno. the twin—engine plane crashed into a gorge, close to the tourist town of pokhara, minutes before it was due to land at the recently opened airport there. translation: we heard a loud, thunderous crash and raised our| heads to see what had happened. we saw a lot of smoke and realised it was a plane crash and we rushed to the site. chaos and confusion, as some sprayed water to douse the flames. but efforts to save the 72 on board were in vain. as the day drew on, a grim sight... bodies pulled from below in red and black plastic bags, then carried to higher ground. translation: security agencies have to accept this challenge. i we are actively working to retrieve and identify the bodies as soon as possible and hand them over

to the families. tonight, some of the victims have been identified. the plane's co—pilot, anju khatiawada, and journalist tribhuvan paudel. his brother told the bbc he felt airlines in nepal don't take safety issues seriously. the plane took off from here at kathmandu airport earlier this morning. tomorrow, the bodies of some of the victims are expected to return back here. monday's also been declared a national day of mourning in nepal. it's unclear still what caused the crash, but this himalayan nation has a tragic history of fatal airline accidents. as a nation mourns, some are asking if enough is being done to ensure the country's skies are safe. in the last few decades, hundreds have died in air crashes in nepal. as families grieve, they also want answers. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, kathmandu.

michael daniels is an aviation analyst and hejoins me now from singapore. thank you very much for being with us. scant information at the moment, an investigation surely under way. what will it be looking for? the surely under way. what will it be looking for?— be looking for? the first part ofthe be looking for? the first part of the investigation - be looking for? the first part of the investigation process l be looking for? the first part| of the investigation process is search and rescue, and hopefully they will recover some survivors but after that, once they shut down the certain rescue phase, and they were going to the full accident investigation mode because this can tell us that there are a lot of people around who can contaminate the investigation area and others, but it's important to secure the area because you need to look for the flight recorder, the cockpit recorder and the need to start gathering the data the

investigation process to fully begin. the air—traffic tapes, and control, and i would like to note that it appears the pilot did change runways, not before approaching the airport which leads into part of the investigation process, what will they be looking for? tell us what more _ will they be looking for? tell us what more we _ will they be looking for? tell us what more we know about the type of plane that was involved.— type of plane that was involved. , ., �* type of plane that was involved. , ., ~ , involved. ok, so the atr-72 is a ureat involved. ok, so the atr-72 is a great aircraft, _ involved. ok, so the atr-72 is a great aircraft, turboprop, - a great aircraft, turboprop, good utility aircraft as well, pretty good safety record but this particular aircraft is an aged, ageing aircraft, it categorises itself as that and thatis categorises itself as that and that is because it's 15 years old. it does not have the most sophisticated avionics, nor the most sophisticated software.

private flight displays for the pilots. so those in of itself are a challenge for pilots flying into these type of airports because you need to have good avionics, good approach procedures to properly fly. approach procedures to properly fl . , ., , approach procedures to properly fl . , . , ., fly. the plane itself may have a relatively — fly. the plane itself may have a relatively robust _ fly. the plane itself may have a relatively robust safety - a relatively robust safety record but certainly nepal is a country does not have a good safety record with aviation, does it? ., �* , safety record with aviation, does it? . �*, . does it? that's correct. nepal has had its — does it? that's correct. nepal has had its challenges. - does it? that's correct. nepal has had its challenges. one i has had its challenges. one time the international aircraft safety community blacklisted this and several airlines from nepal. the biggest challenge for nepal is actually implementing the many studies and support organisations for the country in terms of implementing what has been given to them to follow. they have had a lot of corrective

action plans but the challenge is the implementation of those plans. is the implementation of those lans. �* . ., is the implementation of those lans. �* ., ., ., ., i, is the implementation of those lans. ., ., ., m ., plans. aviation analyst michael daniel, thank _ plans. aviation analyst michael daniel, thank you _ plans. aviation analyst michael daniel, thank you very - plans. aviation analyst michael daniel, thank you very much i plans. aviation analyst michael| daniel, thank you very much for sharing your perspective, appreciated. you're welcome. ukraine has suffered its heaviest bombardment by russian forces in several weeks, with more than 100 missiles fired into the east of the country. at least 30 people were killed and many more injured when a residential block was bombed in the city of dnipro. there's also been more heavy shelling around the towns of soledar and bakhmut in the east. our correspondent andrew harding has this report. this was last night — yet another ukrainian apartment block devoured by a huge russian missile. this morning, rescue workers in the city of dnipro were still bringing out a few more survivors. a young woman, katerina, lifted carefully from the ruins and out into the freezing daylight. she and her neighbours are victims of a brutal and blundering russian campaign that shows no signs of easing.

further east in the donbas today, we drove towards the front lines, through more towns and villages targeted daily by the kremlin�*s artillery. and yet, civilians still cling on here. "aren't you scared?" i ask. "sure, wouldn't you be?" he replies. "how can we not be scared living in the donbas?" "it's terrifying" she adds, "especially for the children. "we've got used to it." but russia's military is struggling too. even closer to the front, in territory recently liberated by ukrainian forces, we come across acres of destroyed russian hardware. the russians have experienced so many losses in the past few months, and yet despite all this, they still have far more men, far more equipment than the ukrainians do — which is why the fate of this conflict still hangs very

much in the balance. to tip that balance, ukraine needs more western weapons like this one. we've been given rare access to a powerful british supplied rocket launcher hidden in a forest. as we arrive, the unit is rushing to prepare for another mission. they're getting ready to fire now for the third time this morning, attacking russian targets along the front line, just a few kilometres from here. these weapons, these foreign weapons, have made an extraordinary difference for ukraine in this conflict, but it's not enough any more. a hurried launch, then an even quicker departure before russian artillery tries to target our position. back in the forest, the commander — face hidden — talks of a catastrophic

shortage of equipment, of tanks, weapons and more basic supplies. "western help has got us this far" he says, "but we can't liberate more territory without a lot more assistance." back in the rubble of dnipro, the search for survivors has continued. rescue workers shouting out, "is anyone there?" yes, yes, yes! then "yes!", when a small voice is heard. and another woman is brought to safety, or what passes for safety here, after almost a year of war. andrew harding, bbc news, ukraine. president biden has declared a major disaster in california and promised federal aid for those in need after a series of severe storms ravaged the state, killing at least 19 people. our west coast correspondent

sophie long filed this report from santa barbara. frantic efforts to protect homes from further flooding. if we didn't get this done today, we would have lost our house. jeff bailey's wife and young children evacuated. he stayed to protect their home. it's been hard. my wife has been bringing them over, up at the top of the hill, and i've been giving them hugs and kisses and telling them how much i love them. but, you know, we all have to process it. sorry, it's the first time i have become emotional. so, yeah, you know. we're safe, we're surviving and we'lljust keep going forward. across california, after three weeks of almost continuous catastrophic downpours, rain is the last thing people here need. and yet, it keeps coming.

widespread flooding is getting worse, and roads are disintegrating. emergency services could only watch as this one collapses into the valley below. we joined the santa barbara bucket brigade, a local volunteer force formed after a mudslide killed 23 people here five years ago. what's happened here? just all came down off here. this is the road. this is the road to my mom's house. she can't get home. you can see the impact of the heavy deluges here. this road has been completely cut off. people cannot access their homes. the rains have now started again after a brief period of respite, and there's concern that more is going to come down. they were west of us. the threat of mudslides means they need to move quickly. the next stop is steve's house. that was a pretty hairy drive by my standards. so this tree i planted, 26 years ago it was this tall, and it is the only tree to survive this.

the whole thing just slid down. this is about 200 feet wide. you know, you kind of get overwhelmed with a series of emotional things, which go from hope to pride to fear to, you know, despair to all of that stuff. but at the end of the day, you know, we are a resilient lot up here, and we know what to do, so this is what we're doing today. a saturated california can only wait to see what he the next storm brings. sophie long, bbc news, santa barbara. annie gaus, who's senior editor at the san francisco standard, gave me this update from california earlier on. here in the san francisco bay area we had ourfirst major rainstorm on new year's eve and since then it has been pretty much relentless save for some breaks here and there but we had a bit of a respite this morning and it felt like the whole city rushed out and tried to get their errands done and get some fresh air and it started raining again. and just moving around

san francisco and here in the city we are by no means the hardest hit place in the state but moving around the city it is common to see downed trees and pockets of flooding all over the city especially in the low—lying areas and just damage. this storm has tested our infrastructure in ways that i have certainly not seen in my lifetime. have people in san francisco been given any evacuation warnings or been told that that may be needed? not so much here in the city but certainly in the region. tens of thousands of people have been either evacuated or been told that they may at some point need to evacuate. tens of thousands of people across the state have been displaced from their homes and again, the disruption has just been tremendous. everything from mudslides blocking roads and damaging homes to with the flooding and high winds, there was an apartment building not farfrom here that had its roof completely blown off so between the displacement and the damage and just

the overall disruption, power outages, we spoke to folks who were without power for days on end it has just been very destructive and tremendously unusual. well, tell us more about that unusual nature. how does this compare to your regular winter weather? it's really like nothing i have ever seen in my lifetime. i've lived in san francisco all my life and i cannot remember anything like this. i mean, we had thunder and lightning storms, hail — that may not sound that dramatic to some of your viewers but it is highly, highly unusual here in san francisco and to just have this prolonged, protracted type of heavy rain storms is not something i have ever seen. it's notjust been these heavy rains, these atmospheric river rain events where it's just water dumping all over the city but we're having these severe winds. for example, last night, the golden gate bridge was closed because the winds

were so powerful that it knocked over a big rig truck, so it's just all of these things coming together and the collateral damage that comes with it is completely stunning. annie gaus. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: president biden asks if america will choose love over hate as he speaks at martin luther king's church in atlanta to mark the celebration of the civil rights activist�*s life. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel

cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot — - a tide of humanity that's believed by officials - to have broken all records. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines — a day of mourning has been declared in nepal as at least 68 people have died in a plane crash just a mile short of the airport. ukraine suffers its worst day of russian shelling in weeks with more than 100 missiles fired into eastern ukraine. in the city of dnipro 30 people are confirmed dead.

i have to greece where we can bring you live pictures where the body of the second is lying in state. he died on tuesday in athens at the age of 82. his funeral will take place in athens metropolitan cathedral in a few hours' time and a private burial service will follow afterwards in the grounds of the family's former summer palace later on this morning. joe biden has become the first sitting us president to deliver a sunday sermon at martin luther king junior�*s ebenezer baptist church in atlanta in the us state of georgia. his speech marked the national holiday that celebrates the life and legacy of the civil rights activist. dr king was assassinated in 1968 in memphis, tennessee. sunday would've been his 94th birthday.

we have to choose a community over chaos. and we, the people, are going to choose love over hate. the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. it's a constant struggle. it's a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice, against those who traffic in racism, extremism and insurrection. a battle fought on battlefields and bridges, from courthouses and ballot boxes to pulpits and protest. and at our best, the american promise wins out. earlier, iasked political analyst calvin dark how significant president biden�*s speech was. it was very significant. obviously, it's historic, being the first sitting president to speak at that church. there's so much significance to that location — not only, of course, it being doctor martin luther king's home church but also, where the current pastor

is senator raphael warnock, who was just re—elected to the senate and so, even though this was billed as not a political speech — and i think biden even said as much — the politics around it were clear because he needed to speak to african—american voters, particularly in the red republican state of georgia, who defied all odds and elected biden president and two democratic senators. so, this is some foreshadowing if he wants to run in 2024, so that was part of the significance we saw today. so, president biden, as you mentioned there, looking to appeal to african—american audiences. what are african—americans looking for from president biden? i think they're looking for a plan because one of the things is biden made a lot of promises to the african—american community. some of the things he's gotten accomplished, some of the things he hasn't. and folks understand that politicians can't necessarily accomplish everything that they promise but there needs to be a plan.

we're in a time now where the house of representatives, controlled by the republicans, will not be passing any legislation, no matter what biden said today or in the future. we understand that. but we have to actually see a plan and we have to have — we have to seejoe biden doing as much as he possibly can through executive action to make efforts towards the promises he made in 2020. are there any particular unfulfilled promises that african—american voters will be looking for president biden to follow through on? i think the biggest is doing a voting rights bill — well, one has actually been passed by the house under the democrats — that will enshrine a lot of the protections that aren't available in all states, like in georgia and other states in the south, and there are other civil rights protections — there's a rise in hate crimes against african—americans, also against latinos, asians, members of the lgbtq community,

as well as the jewish community. so, there's a list of things that need to be done and biden was saying, you know, we have — we're — he's working towards the soul of america and it was pointing to a lot of those things not yet done. you were very diplomatic earlier — you said that politics does sometimes take a detour here, there and everywhere — but do you think african—american voters are disappointed in president biden? i think that they are — i think that the support is lukewarm and i think that one of the goals of the speech today was to remind the african—american community from the biden white house that they haven't forgotten, that they understand that they haven't delivered all that they said but that of the alternatives we have in the united states, they are by far the party that's at least working towards the things that are important to the african—american community. calvin dark. now to peru, where people have

come together in the capital lima to mourn victims killed during five weeks of violent protests against the president, dina boluarte. at least 42 people have died in clashes with the police. peru's government has declared a state of emergency in several regions, giving the army authority to intervene to maintain order, and suspending several constitutional rights such as freedom of movement and assembly. our reporter sofia bettiza has this report. a procession to remember and celebrate those who lost their lives protesting against peru's new government. there is pain. but also anger at the brutality of the police. yells. this young man lost his dad. translation: the use | of weapons is excessive. the police cannot confront the civilian population like that. they have to respect our lives. the violence was triggered by the impeachment and arrest of the former president of peru, pedro castillo,

in december. his supporters are demanding new elections and want his successor dina boluarte to resign. these have become some of the most violent protests in the country in decades. at least 42 people have died and many more have been injured. at this vigil, mourners wore white t—shirts to symbolise peace. but with president boluarte refusing to step down and with more mass demonstrations announced for monday, peace seems a long way off. sofia bettiza, bbc news. the australian open — the first grand slam of the tennis season — is underway in melbourne and novak djokovic has been granted a visa to take part. he will launch his bid for a 10th aussie open title on tuesday, a year after he was deported from australia because he had not been

vaccinated against covid—19. ben rothenberg from racquet magazine gave me his take on this year's australian open. novak djokovic is the story of the australian open once again in a very different way than he was last year, when he was a subject of international attention and sort of a media circus around his deportation saga, which wound up with him getting ousted from australia before the tournament began. this time, he's the story because he's the favourite to win the tournament once again. he's won the australian open nine times before and he seems to be in pretty good shape to do it again. he won the adelaide warm—up tournament at the beginning of the month. he's been dealing with a bit of a hamstring issue that maybe could flare up but it does seem like maybe not forgiven but everything has been willing to be forgotten with djokovic. people seem ready to move on from the drama of last year and just focus on the tennis this time. you can follow that story and all of our other stories on our website. oryou

all of our other stories on our website. or you can download the bbc news app. you can follow me on twitter, i'm @richpreston. thanks for watching and please get in touch. goodbye. hello there. the first half of the month was very wet. it was also very mild. but the weather this week is going to look very different. it's going to be cold and frosty, going to have some icy patches around and the risk of some snow. predicting where the snow is going to fall is going to be quite difficult, mind you. these are the temperatures we start with on monday morning. coldest in the north with clearer skies away from those snow showers. icy patches around in the morning. we've got this wet weather in the south—east. now, it's mostly rain but there could be some snow over the downs and the risk that we could see some snow to lower levels as well. it is going to pull away. cloudy for a while across eastern england with one or two showers. otherwise, we see some sunshine coming through but we'll keep some wintry showers coming in to northern parts of northern ireland and most of the snow in that chilly wind

across the north of scotland. temperature—wise — well, struggling, typically around 3—5 degrees. a cold day. and those temperatures will fall quickly after dark. another frost in most places monday night into tuesday morning. the risk of snow in the far south—west has lessened. most of the wet weather looks like it's going to be in the channel. that allows more wintry showers to feed into northern ireland, over the irish sea into north west england and north wales. it doesn't look quite so wet in the north—west of scotland on tuesday and many places will again have a dry day with sunshine, but temperatures only around three or four degrees. we're still in cold air tuesday and into wednesday as well. that area of low pressure gets close to the north—east of scotland, bringing some stronger winds here and the threat of some snow. otherwise, the winds more northerly, so northern scotland in the firing line, northern ireland and around some of these irish sea coasts. many other areas likely to be dry and sunny but another chilly day, perhaps not quite as cold — 4—6 degrees, but still a cold day with some sunshine. how long will the cold weather last? well, there are weather fronts trying to push in from the atlantic but they seem to be slowing down and ahead of that, we've got a ridge of high

pressure actually building in on thursday that will kill off most of the showers. many places will have a dry day with some sunshine again. we start to see some of that cloud coming into the far west, bringing some damp weather towards the south—west of england. but ahead of that, temperatures are still sitting at 4—6 degrees. so, for the next few days, different sorts of hazards, really. it's cold, it's going to be frosty. there's signs of milder weather, though, coming in, but probably not until next weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: nepal has begun a day of national mourning for the victims of sunday's plane crash, the country's worst airline disaster in three decades. at least 68 people died when the flight from kathmandu plummeted to the ground as it approached its destination, the tourist town of pokhara. ukraine has suffered its heaviest bombardment by russian forces in several weeks, with more than 100 missiles fired into the east of the country. at least 30 people were killed and many more injured when a residential block was bombed in the city of dnipro. california has endured its ninth successive storm in a 3—week period in which at least 19 people