this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... a un summit has reached a legally binding agreement on an environmental treaty for protecting high seas biodiversity. china's annual parliamentary session, the national people's congress, is under way in the great hall. trade, diplomacy and the environment will all be discussed during nine days of meetings. fighting in the streets of bakhmut as russian forces continue their attempt to capture the ukrainian city. the united nations and iran reach an agreement that would allow further inspections of tehran's nuclear programme. and prince harry describes

writing his memoir as an act of service. he says he hopes sharing details of his life will help others. once the book came out, i felt incredibly free. i felt a huge weight off my shoulders. after more than 15 years of negotiations, the countries of the united nations have agreed the first ever treaty to protect the world's oceans that lie outside national boundaries. the high seas treaty aims to safeguard marine life in 30% of areas that don't belong to any single country. only about 1% of these areas are currently protected. the deal is being hailed as a �*massive step�* by climate activists, as our climate

reporter esme stallard reports. the ship has reached the shore. cheering we will formally adopt the text in all six official languages of the united nations. it took all night, but countries from around the world finally agreed on how to protect the high seas. high seas are international waters not controlled by any nation. they make up two thirds of the world's oceans and play host to most of our planet's marine life, some 2 million species. until now, all countries had a right to fish, ship and research in these areas, but it has left the animals and plants there vulnerable. around 10% of monitored species are at risk of extinction. i think that this treaty that will lay the groundwork for creating 30% of the ocean

into marine sanctuaries that cannot be fished in is so important. we have to save these creatures. talks were deadlocked for years, mostly over how genetic material from plants and animals found in the high seas should be shared between nations. several important drugs, including treatment for covid—19, hiv and cancer were developed from marine life. the potential for profit is huge. but no—one knows how much ocean resources are truly worth, nor how they could be split. it's a little bit hard to even wrap our heads around how big and distant these areas are. so if you imagine a big high definition widescreen tv, and if only three or four of the pixels on that giant screen are working, that's kind of our knowledge of the deep ocean. we don't know so much of what is going on. countries will need to meet again to formally adopt

the treaty, but for many, now, there will be much relief. esme stallard, bbc news. nichola clark is an oceans governance expert with pew charitable trust and she's been following the talks at the un headquarters. thanks forjoining us. tell us what a momentous moment this is in terms of what it has achieved and what this treaty means. it achieved and what this treaty means. . , . achieved and what this treaty means. ., , ., . , means. it was an incredible moment — means. it was an incredible moment to _ means. it was an incredible moment to be _ means. it was an incredible moment to be in _ means. it was an incredible moment to be in the - means. it was an incredible | moment to be in the united nations. we have been working on trying to secure this treaty. we have been talking about this idea for over 20 years, and it took a lot of work, and there is a lot of enthusiasm and just generaljoy in the room that we were finally able to get it across the finish line. and this means a lot in terms of being able to

protect these international waters. it enables us to create high seas and marine protected areas which are some of the most important tools we have in our tool box to protect marine biodiversity and provides us a really important pathway to achieve this goal of protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030. 50. 3096 of our oceans by 2030. so, these 30% of our oceans by 2030. so, these finer _ 30% of our oceans by 2030. so, these finer details _ 30% of our oceans by 2030. so, these finer details have been bashed out and it has been agreed upon. what is in the implementation now? home agreed upon. what is in the implementation now? how does that work? _ implementation now? how does that work? right, _ implementation now? how does that work? right, it _ implementation now? how does that work? right, it will - implementation now? how does that work? right, it will have i that work? right, it will have to go through illegal scrummaging and formally adopted. but after that states will have to formally ratify. once we reach that, we can actually start to implement it with this development.- with this development. could ou with this development. could you briefly — with this development. could you briefly tell _ with this development. could you briefly tell us _ with this development. could you briefly tell us what - with this development. could you briefly tell us what this i you briefly tell us what this means to biodiversity now? it

means to biodiversity now? it means that for the first time, we have some incredible tools in our tool box to provide meaningful protections for these areas, which make up two thirds of our ocean and cover almost half of the service of our planet. we're going to be able to protect some of those incredible places through marine protected areas. we also have some baseline safeguards to ensure that the activities that take place there are sustainable and will not have significant adverse impacts on the environment. find significant adverse impacts on the environment.— significant adverse impacts on the environment. and how these countries going _ the environment. and how these countries going to _ the environment. and how these countries going to be _ countries going to be accountable to these very high standards now?— accountable to these very high standards now? sure. i have to confess i _ standards now? sure. i have to confess i haven't _ standards now? sure. i have to confess i haven't seen - standards now? sure. i have to confess i haven't seen the - confess i haven't seen the details. it wasjust confess i haven't seen the details. it was just gravelled less than an hour ago. and we have not seen the final version yet, but to say, it is going to create a number of new... it's

going to be creating a new body and a couple of different committees that will facilitate implementation and compliance. 0k, implementation and compliance. ok, i hope you get some rest. thank you very much forjoining us. china's annual parliamentary session has opened in beijing. the chinese premier lee kerchang has been delivering the government's work report. he's announced an economic growth target of about 5% — one of the lowest in years. the chinese economy grew by just 3% last year under pressure from strict covid containment policies. china's defence spending is to rise by more than 7% this year, marginally up on last year. mr lee and other officials and ministers are due to be replaced during the session by politicians close to president sheejinping. to president xijinping. ukrainian forces have come under increased

pressure from russian troops in the besieged city of bakhmut, which russia has been trying to capture in months of intense fighting. the deputy mayor of the city has told the bbc that the 4,000 civilians still living there, out of an original population of 75,000, have no gas, electricity or water. thousands of russian troops have died trying to take the eastern city. if it falls, it would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports from kyiv. this is bakhmut, or at least what's left of it, after some of the fiercest fighting since russia invaded ukraine. for more than six months, as the bbc has reported, ukrainian forces have held off a ferocious onslaught. but now russian commanders are growing increasingly confident, including the leader of the mercenaries known as the wagner group, which have been at the heart of the assault. translation: we have - almost surrounded bakhmut. there's only one road that

remains in and out of the city, the pincers are closing. before, we were fighting against the professional ukrainian army, but now we fight against old men and boys. ukrainian forces are still defending the city, street by street, and reports suggest reinforcements are being sent in. but these russian troops, say the ukrainian army, is destroying bridges like these, potentially to prepare for what western analysts call a "controlled fighting withdrawal" from parts of the city. local officials insist ukraine still controls bakhmut, but they accept there is now fighting in the streets. translation: the city is almost destroyed, i not a single building has remained untouched. currently there is no communication in the city so it's cut off. the russians are shelling everything. they want to destroy bakhmut like they did with mariupol.

for sergei shoigu, russia's defence minister, making a flying visit to his forces in eastern ukraine, seizing bakhmut would be a rare military victory for him and his bosses in the kremlin. and perhaps a much—needed diplomatic boost, after an international audience in india laughed at russia's foreign minister. the war which we are trying to stop, and which was launched against us using ukraine... audience laughs ..ukrainian people... but for now, ukrainian fighters on the ground in bakhmut still seem ready to fight their invaders every inch of the way, with russia paying a much higher and bloodier price. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. israel has seen the largest protests so far against the government's planned judicial reforms.

up to 200,000 people took to the streets, with flags and banners, for the ninth saturday in a row. the demonstrations were largely peaceful but there were some clashes in tel aviv and jerusalem. several opposition politicians joined the protests, condemning the government's proposed reforms. the changes would allow ministers to choose supreme courtjudges, and would limit the court's powers. the united nations and iranian authorities have announced an agreement that would allow un officials to carry out further inspections of tehran's nuclear programme. the announcement was made at the end of a two—day visit to the capital, by the head of international atomic energy agency, rafael grossi. his trip followed the discovery of traces of uranium, that could be enriched to an almost weapon—grade level. it was found at an underground nuclear plant in iran. here's mr grossi speaking earlier after he arrived back in vienna. in the first place, the interactions we have,

the inspections and what is expected from iran. in the second place, the issues related to some of the questions about which, you know, locations where we have been trying to find clarifications from iran. and finally, very importantly, our ability to establish monitoring and verification measures that we believe are indispensable as a very concrete, very tangible result of this important mission. the bbc�*s bethany bell has been monitoring events for us in vienna. iran and the iaea have issued a joint statement which says that iran is prepared to give

more information and more access to un nuclear inspectors who've been looking into past nuclear work by iran. and this announcement was made after a two day visit by the head of the iaea, rafael grossi. and he said this included reinstalling monitoring equipment in some sites, including cameras. now, the iaea has also, in a separate development, been concerned about the discovery of traces of highly enriched uranium at one of iran's underground nuclear site at fordow. and the concern about this is because weapons—grade enriched uranium is 90%. and what was discovered at fordow was 84%. and we know now, mr grossi says, that there will be 50%

more inspections at fordow to try to get to the bottom of this. iran says that its nuclear programme is peaceful. and although it did acknowledge that there could have been what it called unintended fluctuations at fordow. mr grossi said he hoped that this was a new phase in relations between iran and the iaea. he said he had got concrete steps that had been agreed here, but other countries may be more sceptical, saying that iran has made such promises in the past and not delivered. will it deliver now, is the big question. hundreds of schoolgirls in iran have been targeted, in an apparent poison gas attack. schools in at least 15 provinces were attacked on saturday. the incidents have been happening since november but have spread in scope and scale over the past week. nobody has been arrested

and public anger is continuing to grow. you may find some of this report by parham ghobadi distressing. mass poisoning of schoolgirls in iran, possibly with toxic gas. were attacked on saturday. students who have fallen ill are being taken into an ambulance in karaj, a city near capital, tehran. this girl says she can't breathe. here in southern iran, some are taken into a hospital while coughing. hospitals are packed. a girl shouts. the principal is nowhere to be found. a student from tehran told us despite the smell of gas, they were kept indoors for a while. translation: they wouldn't let us leave the classrooms - first, although everyone was smelling the gas. when we finally went to the courtyard they wouldn't let us leave the school. asking us not to worry and they

said the smell would go away. they feared the news would make it to the media. here, an ambulance is seen inside the school, but worried parents are kept behind the closed doors. parents are furious. they chanted, "we don't want a child killing regime." it shows they think hardline elements backed by the regime are behind this to prevent girls from going to school. concerned mothers have staged a protest in tehran. one says they were dispersed from the ministry of education. but the iranian president put the blame on the west, calling the school poisoning hybrid warfare. translation: in this. psychological and media warfare regarding schools, they are seeking to frighten our students and their parents. a distressed mother in central town of kashan shouts at an official, "why are you doing this to our children?"

some suspect this is a revenge attack because the schoolgirls joined a protest that swept the country in september. girls in iran have been fighting forfreedom. now, they are fighting for their breath. parham ghobadi, bbc news. this is bbc news, the headlines.... a un summit has reached a legally binding agreement on an environmental treaty for protecting high seas bio—diversity. china's annual parliamentary session — the national people's congress — is under way in the great hall in beijing. trade, diplomacy and the environment will all be discussed during nine days of meetings. there has been severe flooding in malaysia, in the southern state ofjohor, near neighbouring singapore. police said at least four people have died, including a man whose car was swept away by floodwaters, and an elderly couple who drowned. nearly 41,000 have been

evacuated to schools and community centres. our reporter sofia bettiza has the story. these are some of the most extreme floods to ever hit malaysia. as the waters rose, people here had to leave their homes, taking with them whatever they could carry. translation: the flooding happened too quickly, - and the water rose too fast. we couldn't salvage any of our belongings in our homes. the torrential rain flooded roads, submerged cars and damaged people's homes. some were trapped inside. translation: i've been stuck here in my room, | unable to go anywhere. only today i've been able to get out. everywhere here is flooded. thousands of people have been evacuated to schools and community centres. but as the rain keeps pouring down, relentlessly,

it is disrupting relief efforts. translation: we just accept this, whatever god has given. | what can we do? we cannot moan about our luck, because over here, everyone is going through the same thing. floods in malaysia are common during monsoon season, between october and march, but this amount of continuous torrential rain is unprecedented. and with warnings that the rain could go on until april, many fear that they have not seen the end of this yet. sofia bettiza, bbc news. prince harry has described writing his book spare as an act of service, and says he hopes that sharing details of his life will help others. in a livestreamed conversation with a trauma specialist the prince said he's not a victim and has never

looked for sympathy — but has always felt different to the rest of his family, and is grateful he'd been able to move to california. here's our royal correspondent daniela relph. for an hour and a half they talked. it had the feel of a therapy session. prince harry on grief, family and trauma. i certainly don't see myself as a victim. i'm really grateful to be able to share my story and i do not and i have never looked for sympathy in this. you had to buy a ticket to watch the online conversation. each one came with a copy of spare. harry described writing his book as an act of service and spoke of feeling trapped within the royal family. i always felt slightly different to the rest of my family. i felt strange being in this container. and i know that my mum felt the same. now, 38 years old, dad to a son and a daughter, he vowed not to repeat

what he saw as past mistakes. i, as a father, feel a huge responsibility to ensure that i don't pass on any traumas that... or, i guess, any negative experiences that i've had as a kid or as a man growing up. harry was candid about his own mental health. the doctor even diagnosed him as having attention deficit disorder, a condition that affects behaviour, and they spoke of using psychedelic medication. i started doing it recreationally and then started to realise how good it was for me. and i would say that it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and the pains of the past. on serving in afghanistan, not all of us agreed with the war, he said, but we did what we were trained to do.

there was, though, nothing about his current relationship with the royal family. no questions on whether he would be at his father's coronation. and as for his wife, meghan, he described her as an exceptional human being to whom he was eternally grateful. daniela relph, bbc news. tunisian director youssef chebbi has won the top prize at the fespaco. that's africa's largest film festival which ended saturday in burkina faso's capital ouagadougou. thousands of fimmakers from across the continent, took part in the festival which started a week ago. earlier bbc afrique's nicolas negocejoined me from ouagadougou and gave a brief background of this festival. it was really nice and exciting, you know, during more than a week, 170 films made by africans were showcased to the local population.

fespaco, as you said, is the biggest african film festival, the first addition took place in burkina festival in 1969, and since then each two years, film universe gather here in burkina festival to exchange, to talk, to discuss about the future of african cinema. and it hasn't been the most smooth week in terms of security in burkina faso. tell us a bit about that. it is usual to hear every day about an attack here in burkina faso, but for the past days, it has been pretty calm in the country. ijust would like to remind the fact that burkina faso is touched byjihadist violence, especially in the north of the country. 10,000 people were killed

during the past seven years, and 2 million people were displaced because of the insecurity. here in ouagadougou, the capital of burkina faso, thousands of people gathered for this 28 edition of fespaco, and everything happened really smoothly. so back to the festival, in terms of the big winners, who were the standouts for you? so, the big prize of the fespaco was given to the tunisian director youssef chebbi for his movie called ashkal. it's a thriller taking place in a district of tunis. a very important movie for the burkina population, sira, made by the burkina film—maker apolline traore. sira took the second place.

and in the third seat, we have the movie made by angela wamai from kenya called shimoni. so, that is for the three most important prizes of the competition which also had documentaries, tv series. a mosque in london, one the largests in western europe, has been hosting a grand reopening after a fire badly damaged its administration building. 70 firefighters were called out to the scene at the baitul futuh mosque in morden in september 2015, although only a handful of people were inside the mosque when the blaze started. it has space for 10,500 worshippers. hundreds of people were expected for this evening's opening ceremony after a £20m improvement project. a reminder of the main news this hour... after more than 15 years

of negotiations, the countries of the united nations have agreed the first ever treaty to protect the world's oceans that lie outside national boundaries. hello there. it's been a rather grey and gloomy saturday for many. a few scattered showers around as well. take a look at this weather watcher picture from thurnby in leicester, fairly indicative of the day. now, if you take a look at the satellite picture, you can see how extensive the cloud has been. there were some breaks across north east england and parts of scotland, but also some showers. and drawing your attention to this speckled cloud in the far northeast, potential for some snow showers waiting in the wings to arrive later on monday. so, through the next few hours, we keep that blanket of cloud for many, some coastal showers out to the west and east, perhaps more persistent ones in the far north east of scotland. but because of the cloud around, on the whole,

temperatures should just stay up into low single figures, but it's going to be a chilly start to our sunday morning. once again, another grey and gloomy day, almost a repeat performance of saturday's story. there will be some coastal showers around, on the whole, largely quiet and temperatures sitting between 6—9 celsius, just that little bit colder in the northern isles as that cold air starts to descend. so arctic air pushing its way steadily southwards as we go into monday. so really from monday onwards, you're going to start to notice the difference to the feel of our weather. if you haven't already heard, it's going to turn cold and windy, and snow and ice could be an issue, particularly to the far north and east. so it's likely as we go through the day on monday, this weather front will introduce the colder air. it's going to turn the rain ahead of the front into snow showers behind it, particularly across the far north and east of scotland and northeast england. to the south of that weather front we'll still keep those temperatures around generally 7—9 celsius. but then that sinks it's way

steadily south, so we start off on tuesday with some sunny spells, cold and frosty. and, yes, there will be further snow showers across northern and eastern coasts, and those temperatures are going to struggle lt—5 celsius, but factor in the strength and the direction of the wind, it certainly will feel noticeably colder. so certainly you'll need to wrap up warm. it looks likely that we are going to see that cold snap continuing through the middle part of the week as well. so if you've got outdoor travel plans monday into tuesday, do be aware that there's a potentialfor snow and ice in the northeast.

this is bbc news, the headlines... members of the united nations have agreed the basis of an international legally—binding deal to protect the world's oceans. delegates had been in continuous negotitions for almost two days before finalising a biodiversity treaty for high seas that lie outside national boundaries. china's annual parliamentary session, the national people's congress, is underway in beijing's great hall. trade, diplomacy, and the environment will all be discussed during nine days of meetings. the chinese leader xi jinping is due to be confirmed as president for a third term. the russian army and wagner mercenaries are putting increasing pressure on ukrainian soldiers to withdraw from the eastern city of bakhmut. the city's deputy mayor has said thousands of civilians

are living in shelters without access to electricity