this is bbc news. welcome, if you're watching here in the uk, or around the globe. i'm lisa—marie misztak. our top stories — america says a russian fighterjet has forced one of its surveillance drones to crash into the black sea, using tactics that have been condemned by officials. several times before the collision, the su—27 has dumped fuel on and flew in front of the mq-9 in a reckless and unprofessional manner. tougher background checks announced on gun buying in america, as president biden tries to stop mass shootings. tropical storm freddie has killed more than 200 people in malawi and mozambique, after striking for a second time. clashes in pakistan, as imran khan's supporters try to stop police arresting him outside his home, a move the former pm says

is "outside the law". it is not the law of the land, it is the law of the jungle. and the uk's biggest horse racing festival is kicking off, with stricter rules around jockeys whipping horses. the us has summoned the russian ambassador to express concern about a collision between russian fighter jets and an american drone over the black sea. washington has accused moscow of irresponsible behaviour, and said the drone was involved in a routine operation in international airspace. russia denied the us claims, instead saying the drone crashed, after it lost altitude while manoeuvring sharply. this was the pentagon spokesman, a little earlier. we are continuing to assess exactly what happened, but i think, based

on the actions of the russian pilots, it's clear that it was unsafe, unprofessional, and i think the actions speak for themselves. what we saw again were fighter aircraft dumping fuel in front of this uav, and then getting so close to the aircraft that it actually damaged the propeller on the mq-9. we assess that it likely caused some damage to the russian aircraft as well. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, explained what we know at this stage. the pentagon says that this clash of the us drone and russian fighterjet lasted for some 35—40 minutes, so quite a long time, and that's when they say those jets essentially intercepted the drone by moving in front of it, and also dumping fuel onto it and damaging its propeller. that is when it seems the decision essentially by the remote operators of the drone was made to crash it into the sea, and it

was a complete loss, it was completely broken up. but we are hearing now is really quite a war of words, and very different accounts as to why this happened, with the russians saying, in fact the ambassador in washington saying, that it was being provocative, being in that area. the americans saying it had every right to be in international air space over international waters, and that it was carrying out routine duties. interestingly, the pentagon not being specific as to exactly what this drone was doing, and also not being specific in saying exactly what its location was. earlier, we spoke to larry korb, who is a retired navy flight officer, and former united states assistant secretary of defense. this is how uncommon he says

it is for one air vehicle to strike another. it is very uncommon. it's not uncommon, no, for planes from different countries, like the united states and russia, who have been traditional competitors for a long time, to fly near each other to send a message. the russians scrambled when the reapers started coming close to russia when they launched their attacks on ukraine and it was sent up there to send a message. the real question is whether they were told to do things like dump fuel or to hit its propellers. could this potentially have been an accident? seeing asjohn kirby said that there had been some intercepts in the last few weeks. yeah, i think it probably was.

i cannot see the russians deciding at this time, given what is happening in ukraine, to spark an incident which would give the united states the ability to send its own planes into the war in ukraine. as a former us assistant secretary of defence, what is your assessment on what might happen next? i think the real question is what will happen the next time we send up another reaper, these drone aircraft. what will the russians do? and as admiral kirby said, they have had a lot of these intercepts for quite a while, so i suspect that we will send a reaper up, just as we had scheduled before, and see what happens. if nothing happens, we will chalk it up to, well, these things happen. you may remember a chinese and american plane crashed into each other, back in the bush administration, there was a surveillance plane,

and the chinese were trying to monitor it, and as i can recall from my days up there, you are moving pretty fast and the slightest mistake can cause an accident. the us has asked for the russian ambassador to be called. what do you expect will happen in the conversations that they might have? well, basically, ithink the united states will make it clear that, if this is the beginning of a new pattern, there will be severe consequences. basically, i think that is the message that they will send them, and the russians claim it was just an accident, and nobody really meant anything, the fact of the matter is it could have been a renegade pilot who decided he is tired of what is happening in ukraine with all his fellow citizens being wounded or killed. president biden has signed an executive order to enforce

tighter rules on gun sellers, which moves the us a little closer to what might be considered universal background checks. he made the announcement in the los angeles suburb of monterrey park, a community affected by a mass shooting injanuary, that claimed 11 lives and injured nine other people. last year, after the mass shooting in buffalo, new york, and uvalde, texas, i signed into law, after being both places, the bipartisan safer communities act, the most significant gun safety law in almost 30 years. that was in addition to me signing more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any of my predecessors, at this point in the presidencies. today, i am announcing another executive order that will accelerate and intensify this work, to save more lives, more quickly. first, this executive order helps keep firearms out of dangerous hands, as i continue to call on congress to require background checks on all firearms sales... cheering and applause.

..and in the meantime, in themeantime, my executive order directs my attorney general to take every lawful action possible to move us as close as we can to universal background checks without new legislation. it is just common sense to check whether someone is a felon, a domestic abuser, before they buy a gun. let's get some of the day's other news. the greek government says rail traffic will resume, "gradually", from next week, more than three weeks after the deadliest train crash in the country's history. 57 people were killed, when a passenger train and freight train collided, head—on, at the end of february. the state of ohio is suing the company whose freight train derailed near the city of east palestine last month.

the state's attorney general wants norfolk southern to pay for the clean—up of the toxic chemicals that were leaked. the case alleges that 58 federal and state laws were broken, when more than a million gallons of hazardous material was spilled. the uk's chancellor of the exchequer is set to use wednesday's budget to promise a major expansion of free childcare in england, as part of a drive to encourage more people back to work. the treasury hasn't formally commented, ahead of the budget. the annual rate of inflation in argentina has topped 100%, the highest level in over 30 years. argentina has been in economic difficulty for years, and three quarters of the population now live in poverty. the left—wing government has being trying to control rising prices by putting caps on the prices of food and other products. a court in romania has rejected a bail application from the controversial influencer, andrew tate. he's been held since december, as part of an investigation into people trafficking and sexual abuse, allegations which he and his brother deny.

more than 200 people are now known to have been killed in malawi, in one of the most powerful storms to ever hit southern africa. dozens of children are among the dead, and thousands of people have been left homeless. in an unusual weather pattern, it's the second time in a month that storm freddy has struck southern africa, previously hitting neighbouring mozambique and madagascar, before reaching malawi, as our africa correspondent andrew harding reports. this is southern malawi. whole neighbourhoods have been swept down hillsides, washed away by the storm that won't stop. there are plenty of houses, plenty of houses, but they are all gone. here in blantyre, malawi, grieving relatives queue outside hospitals, waiting to identify the dead. rescue workers, already grappling with a cholera outbreak, are entirely overwhelmed. cyclone freddy first hit

mainland africa last month, but instead of petering out, as expected, it swerved back out to sea, picked up more strength, then headed back to shore, tearing through one of the poorest corners of the continent. in the hospital, where i am speaking from at the moment, they've had around 119 deaths. at least half of those are children, and the residents where the mudslide was said that there were an awful lot more people buried in the mud. so i think this is going to get worse as we get a fuller picture of what's going on. freddy first took shape off the coast of distant australia. it's since become one of the longest and most powerful storms on record. only four storms have made the journey all the way across the indian ocean from australia to africa, so this is really unusual. now, as for climate change, will it make long—lasting

storms like this more common? that is really unclear. but we know, in a warmer world, we expect more rainfall, more flooding, so the impacts will get worse. right now, this region needs urgent help. tens of thousands of people are homeless, and the full extent of the destruction caused by the relentless cyclone freddy is not yet clear. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. police in pakistan have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse supporters of the opposition leader, imran khan, from outside his residence in the city of lahore. the clashes broke out after police officers arrived, reportedly to arrest the former prime minister following a warrant issued by a court. he is facing allegations that he incorrectly declared gifts received from foreign dignitaries while in office. he says the case is

politically motivated. our pakistan correspondent caroline davies has been speaking to former prime minister imran khan, who said he is ready to face jail time. i have been following everything from here. first of all the attack came. the police came in. without any knowledge. i mean, suddenly we saw news that the police were coming to arrest me. and we didn't have that many workers. so they immediately tried to remove the workers. so, they then stood their ground. and then there was the first water cannons, then this tear gas shelling. and inside my house, i mean, we were all... we had all eyes smarting here, and we were, sort of, washing ourfaces because it came right inside the house. so, now there is a lull. they are gathering more force. i'm more mentally prepared that i'm going to be spending my night in a cell. god knows how many nights, but i'm all prepared for that.

but i think they're determined this time they want me behind bars. so why are you resisting arrest when the police are coming now? we had taken bail, protective bail, till the 18th. so, on 14th, there was no reason why they should have come to arrest me. and the worry is that this is not... this is all... what i would want in pakistan is rule of law. and rule of law means, simply, whoever breaks the law should be punished. now, whether it is someone in my party or someone against me, or an opponent, they should all be subject to the law of the land. the law of the land says that there is an arrest warrant out for you, that you are resisting. so are you not following the law of the land? it is not the law of the land, because i had a protective bail to the 18th. they've come four days earlier. it's not the law of the land. it's the law of the jungle. that was our correspondent caroline davies interviewing pakistan's former prime

minister, imran khan. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — the uk's biggest horse racing festival is kicking off, with new rules around how often jockeys can use whips. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was - on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand - now that the search for it has i become an international search.

above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us says a russian fighter jet has forced one of its surveillance drones to crash into the black sea — using tactics that have been condemned by officials. president biden signs an executive order tightening rules on who can buy guns in the us. here in the uk, a woman has beenjailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of lying about being raped and trafficked. eleanor williams, who's 22 and from barrow—in—furness in the north of england, was convicted injanuary on nine counts of perverting the course ofjustice.

the judge sentencing her said her allegations were "complete fiction" and she was criticised for showing "no significant signs of remorse." she said she'd been beaten and made to attend sex parties by an asian grooming gang. our correspondent nick garnett reports. when eleanor williams told cumbria police she had been raped, assaulted, drugged and abused by a series of men, they took those claims seriously. arrests were made, charges brought, but everything she said was a lie. for the men she accused, it made their life health. they smashed the windscreen... mohammed ramzan was targeted after she said he ran a grooming gang. in actualfact, he ran an ice cream van. today at court he described the lasting impact. i'm not sure how my family and i are going to recover from this. the mud sticks, and ifear

it may take some time. but as a family we remain strong and we will be strong, and we're determined to move forward positively with our lives. in barrow—in—furness, her claims spread like wildfire. horns honking right—wing protests took place in the town. there was an upsurge in hate crime. on facebook she claimed a grooming gang had attacked her with a hammer, the photos went viral. but these were self—inflicted injuries. she was uncovered when detectives found cctv of her buying the hammer she had used in a supermarket. she created fake social media accounts, sent text messages to herself. one of the men she falsely accused was remanded in prison. like two other victims of williams, he tried to take his own life. i've got complex ptsd from it all, i've had mental health problems from it all, i've tried ending my life over it all. i couldn't have a bond with my son when he was first born because of it all.

when i was in custody, there was no help and support for myself. i lived every day in my cell. no—one deserves to be in prison if they've done nothing wrong. today, williams was given an 8—and—a—half—year sentence for perverting the course ofjustice, half of which she will spend in prison. the judge told preston crown court the implications of williams�* lies are serious for genuine victims of sexual abuse. the harm of this offending extends to an undermining of public confidence in the criminaljustice system. we are aware that sex trafficking of young females does occur. there is a risk that genuine victims will, as a result of this defendant's actions, feel deterred from reporting it. people may be less likely to believe their allegations. cumbria police say they are used to people telling lies as part of their investigations, but not this extreme. the judge says he's taken into account williams�* age. she was only 16 when she carried out the first of her crimes. but the length of the sentence has angered some of those

who were her victims. outside, williams�*s mother accepted the court's sentence. i think thejudge has been really fair in seeming to take into account her age and vulnerabilities. and, you know, for her to be able to move on and find a life as well. she's really young. the judge today said we may never know what motivated eleanor williams to lie the way she did, but the impact of her deception could be far—reaching. nick garnett, bbc news, preston. heavy snow has caused the roof of a shopping mall in the us state of minnesota to collapse. police say the roof at the miller hill mall in duluth caved in just before nine in the morning and staff and early shoppers were evacuated. they say no—one was injured. over the weekend more than 30 centimetres — 12 and a half inches — of snow fell in duluth. large parts of the us have seen huge snow storms this winter. a public swimming pool in britain is being heated by a small data centre the size of a washing machine. the project in devon, believed to be a uk first, is saving the council—run leisure centre thousands of pounds in energy costs,

asjenny kumah reports. this pool in exmouth is the first in the country to use a pioneering technology to heat the water and cut down on carbon emissions. and this is where the magic happens. so, here it is, this is a deep green unit with the computers immersed in oil. so, when you put stuff in the cloud, they could end up on a data centre like this? exactly that, yeah. so, we all rely on the cloud in our everyday lives, whether for your online banking or doing your tesco order. the trouble is the computers in those data centres which run the cloud generate enormous amounts of heat, so data centres have to get rid of that heat somehow. most of the time, that just gets thrown into the atmosphere. this system is different, where we're immersing the computers in oil and flowing that oil into a heat exchanger to give the pool free hot water. energy costs have gone through the roof... exmouth leisure centre says that, like business all around the country, it's had to deal

with astronomical rises in its energy bills. they've gone up from 18,000 to 80,000 in a year. they say this new technology will bring them big savings. we're hoping that this will bring a significant reduction in our gas costs, maybe 50, 60%, so potentially 40, £50,000 a year of savings. we need to be doing this stuff going forward, - particularly in the current climate as well and - particularly, you know, j with the financial strain we have, and pools shutting all over the country. - it sounds excellent, it sounds excellent. if it saves their bills, if it brings down their bills, fine. a really good idea, cos i got very cold getting in there yesterday morning. i squealed! the governing body swim england has warned more than 100 pools across the country are under threat of closure or reduced services because of high running costs. the sector has welcomed today's announcement of £63 million of government funding to help. this funding is brilliant, it's really helpful. it will allow us to look at investing in additional

technology as well as the deep green technology, things such as air source heat pumps, so that we can move away from gas entirely within the pool in the next year or two. seven other pools in england have also signed up to the heating scheme used here. the company behind it feel they're offering an innovative solution that can help keep the nation's leisure centres financially afloat. jenny kumah, bbc news, exmouth. the indonesian island of bali is planning to ban foreign visitors from using motorbikes following an increase in cases of people breaking local traffic laws. police say there have been more than 170 traffic violations by tourists visiting the popular destination in late february and early march alone. under the new proposals, tourists will only be able to get bikes from authorised travel agents. the new law is likely to come into force later this year.

around a quarter of a million people are expected at the uk's cheltenham festival this week. what's new this year are the rules on how much the jockeys can use their whips during the four days of racing. too much — and they could be disqualified. andy swiss reports. and they're off! the first race of the day, to get through the turnstiles as fans and, of course, horses descended on cheltenham. this quiet corner of the cotswolds one again the centre of the racing world. the cheltenham festival is often described as the olympics ofjump racing. for the jockeys riding here it is always a challenge, but this year, how they ride is under the spotlight. rules on the number of times jockeys can use the whip have been tightened and serious breaches could mean disqualification. ultimately we wanted the jockeys to think more carefully about how they use the whip. it is not a welfare issue, it is about engagement in the sport, and it's about fairness. come the big race, though,

the focus was on the sport's new wonder horse, constitution hill, the hot favourite for the champion hurdle and he lived up to his billing with the most emphatic of victories. but the days most special win was this. rachel blackmore on honeysuckle, the horse's last race before retiring and what a way to go out. for trainer henry du bromhead, whose sonjack died in a riding accident last year, it was a most poignant victory. it is massive. we know jack is always with us and i am sure he was there on rachel's shoulder and, you know, she has been a huge part of our life and he just adored her. so, i think, she did it for him as much as all of us. andy swiss, bbc news, cheltenham. a cheltenham. reminder of our top story. washington a reminder of our top story. washington and moscow are giving very different accounts of an american surveillance

drone that plunged into the black sea. the us is two russian jets intercepted the drone, striking a propeller. that is all for now. thank you for your company. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lmmisztak. hello. this week, we've got some very big swings in temperatures from one day to the next. yesterday, widely, we had temperatures double figures, whereas today, it's been about 9 celsius colder than that. for example, boulmer, 1a yesterday, just five this afternoon — now, that's a drop. temperatures has brought with it much colder air, and in turn, we've seen some snowfall over the staffordshire moors again here and here at low levels in the carlisle area. so, across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england, we have seen some snow getting down to quite low elevations, risk of a few showers pushing across the midlands, east anglia, south east england, but clearing later in the night with clear skies then following, well, we are looking at a widespread and sharp frost in our towns and cities. temperatures widely between —2 and —6 celsius, and where we've seen those showers, there is a risk of some icy stretches to start the day on wednesday. otherwise, it should be a fine start with lots of sunshine.

now, in the west, we'll see cloud quickly thicken in northern ireland, outbreaks of rain spreading in here. you might even see a little bit of snow just on the forward edge of this weather system. but ultimately, the air is turning milder in northern ireland, so any snow will be transient, it will turn back to rain. however, during wednesday evening time, we could well see some more troublesome snowjust for a time across parts of northern england and scotland. the snow potentially could come down to quite low elevations, but it's across the hills and particularly to the north of the central belt, where we'll probably see the snow lasting longest. but as we go through wednesday night, again, we are going to see milder air push in from the southwest, so by the end of the night, most places will have temperatures above freezing. now, for thursday, friday and the weekend beyond, this area of low pressure is going to be in charge, the weather unsettled, and with those south—westerly winds feeding in, it will be turning a lot milder. that milder air will be arriving for most parts of the united kingdom on thursday, although it will be accompanied by brisk winds and some heavy outbreaks of rain.

temperatures will be climbing to around 12—14 degrees pretty widely, so very mild for the time of year. but the cold air hasn't quite left our shores — lerwick, just three celsius. through friday, generally it is going to be on the mild side with outbreaks of rain at times, but the cold air never far away across the north of scotland, and there are signs it could start moving southwards again early next week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: washington and moscow are giving very different accounts about an american surveillance drone that plunged into the black sea. the us says two russian jets intercepted the drone, striking a propeller. russia's ambassador to the us called the aircraft's presence a provocation. president biden has signed a new executive order on gun control to try to reduce the number of mass shootings in the united states. at the moment, the rules vary from state to state. the president made the announcement at the site of a mass killing in california. tropical storm freddie has killed more than 200 people in malawi and mozambique after striking for a second time.

at 3a days, it could be the longest—lasting tropical cyclone on record.