this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, or around the globe. i'm ben boulos. our top stories... switzerland's biggest bank, ubs, is in advanced talks to buy all or part of its troubled rival credit suisse. president vladimir putin visits mariupol, the ukrainian city which was captured by invading russian forces last year. the financial times is reporting that the country's biggest bank, ubs, has offered to buy credit suisse for up

to $1 billion, although bloomberg reports that credit suisse sees that as vastly undervaluing the bank. the swiss banking giant had been caught up in the market uncertainty triggered by the collapse, nine days ago, of america's silicon valley bank. it had been offered an emergency credit facility of more than $50 billion by switzerland's central bank, but that had not prevented a sharp fall in its share price. our business correspondent marc ashdownjoins me now. an urgency around these talks in switzerland to try and facilitate this takeover by ubs.— this takeover by ubs. yes, the shares were — this takeover by ubs. yes, the shares were sliding _ this takeover by ubs. yes, the shares were sliding all- this takeover by ubs. yes, the shares were sliding all last - this takeover by ubs. yes, the i shares were sliding all last week and there was a period of a pause for a couple of days when markets have been shut till tomorrow morning, so this has given them time to sort this out. the swiss government are overseeing these talks, and a couple of developments in the past few hours. ubs have

tabled the offer, that is $1 billion, but give that some context, the closing stock price on friday valued the shares at 1.86 swiss francs, so that values them atjust a quarter of a friend. so many feel that author is very humiliating. the swiss are perhaps pushing back on that thing it undervalues things, but that shows where the negotiations are at. and we understand that the swiss government may push through emergency legislation to change the law in switzerland, to push this through quickly. normally you would have a protracted month or so consultation with shareholders, then they will get a vote on it. we are looking at an offer which massively undervalues the bank, according to credit suisse, and if that gets forced through, how popular will that be? we are told we could get an announcement by 5pm uk time, 6pm swiss time, so that shows you the urgency here. and as you mentioned,

that's because the troubles of credit suisse have become troubles for the wider banking sector and they are keen to calm things down. if ubs does manage to buy out credit suisse, that solves the imminent concerns, but brings other complexities.— concerns, but brings other comlexities. ~ . ., ., , complexities. what about “obs? firstly theyfi complexities. what about “obs? firstly they will i complexities. what about “obs? firstly they will be i complexities. what about “obs? firstly they will be picking]- complexities. what about jobs? i firstly they will be picking through the detail now of what a deal would look like, but we understand that would be some kind of restructuring. credit suisse has about 90 banks, where people go but it also has big investments, rich clients, so they might be looking to break that up. that could meanjobs. ubs have employees and credit suisse have employees, and about 50,000 around the world. between the two banks they have 10,000 staff working here in london, in canary wharf and the city. so question marks if you do merge and jobs become duplicated, will that be an issue? some of those jobs potentially restructuring, and that doesn't sound like good news. credit suisse is 170 years old, one

of the bedrock of the financial system. there are 30 or so global banks which are considered too important to the financial system to allow them to fail and ubs is another. merging those brings another. merging those brings another set of problems, but the immediate problem is coming down the stock markets when they open first thing tomorrow morning. we understand things are moving quickly and we could well get a deal by the end of the day. we and we could well get a deal by the end of the day-— end of the day. we will pick up on that very point — end of the day. we will pick up on that very point with _ end of the day. we will pick up on that very point with my _ end of the day. we will pick up on that very point with my next - end of the day. we will pick up on | that very point with my next guest. mark, thank you. i'm joined now by susannah streeter, head of money and markets at hargreaves lansdown. mark outlined that the urgency to get this deal done. how important do you think it is that they achieve that before the markets open for the monday trading sessions? 1 that before the markets open for the monday trading sessions?— monday trading sessions? i think it is very important — monday trading sessions? i think it is very important because - monday trading sessions? i think it| is very important because otherwise there really will be market mayhem. credit suisse �*s shares fell again on friday, despite their liquidity lifeline offered by the national bank. it really failed to stem the seeping away of confidence from the bank, and we hear as well that the

run of deposit essentially has escalated, so there are a lot of deposits pulled last week, and that really intensified those worries. that's partly why that additional share price fell on friday because of fears actually, it was just becoming very unstable. and that is why you have right now regulators in switzerland, and with ubs and credit suisse, really trying to thrash out some kind of deal. the problem is, because it is such a global bank, that if it does, we don't have some kind of resolution by the end of the day, i think those fears will really rattle the financial markets in the morning. rattle the financial markets in the mornin:. ,, ., ., rattle the financial markets in the mornin:. ,, . ., ., morning. susanna, what we are talkin: morning. susanna, what we are talking about — morning. susanna, what we are talking about here _ morning. susanna, what we are talking about here in _ morning. susanna, what we are talking about here in credit - morning. susanna, what we are i talking about here in credit suisse is a huge, global banking giant, and yet this seems to have been triggered by sequence of events that began with two much smaller banks, the failure of silicon valley bank, and signature bank. they are thousands of miles away in the united states. how do we join that sequence of dots to where we have

got to now?— got to now? because those banks really rattled _ got to now? because those banks really rattled investor _ got to now? because those banksj really rattled investor confidence, and the reason why silicon valley bank found itself in so much trouble was because interest rates have shot up, and the markets did not expect them to stay at that level for as long, and certainly silicon valley bank didn't. the problem with silicon valley bank is that it was sitting on a lot of bonds that it has bought, and as a result those interest rates rising, those bonds really fell in value, which meant it couldn't cover the deposits being pulled out by the tech sector. now, it is a similar picture, a very different cause. credit suisse have been weak for some time. it has already been undergoing restructuring. but simply, investors have called time on this. they sniffed out weakness and, given what has been rattling the financial markets and the fact that credit suisse �*s largest investors said it was not willing, the saudi national

bank, to put any more into the bank, that again rattled confidence. that is why you are seeing more deposits being pulled, and also investors exiting their positions. find being pulled, and also investors exiting their positions.— exiting their positions. and for eo - le exiting their positions. and for people watching _ exiting their positions. and for people watching this _ exiting their positions. and for people watching this at - exiting their positions. and for people watching this at home | exiting their positions. and for . people watching this at home who exiting their positions. and for - people watching this at home who may have no connection to credit suisse, but who are worried that this looks like what we saw in 2008, the beginnings of a potential financial crisis across the wider system, worrying about their own deposits in their own bank, is that the situation we are approaching, or is it very different to that? i situation we are approaching, or is it very different to that?— it very different to that? i think it's very different _ it very different to that? i think it's very different because - it very different to that? i think it's very different because big l it's very different because big banks have had to really increase their capital buffers, and they haven't been mismanaged in the way that credit suisse has. in fact, what you are seeing is that people are pulling, companies and wealthy individuals are pulling deposits out of credit suisse, and they have been in the smaller us banks that have run into trouble, and pushing them into other banks that they believe a more secure. so they are potentially getting stronger as those banks are

getting stronger as those banks are getting weaker, but remember as well, the regulators say they are standing by, the europe and central bank, to offer much more liquidity and other assistance to stop this escalating. but also, because bigger banks are not overly reliant on bonds, for example, as silicon valley bank was, that is why it got into trouble because they can hold their bond portfolios for a much longer time, which reduces the risk essentially, they don't have to realise their losses, and that's another reason. at the bank of england is doing a check right now to make sure there aren't any smaller players who can also run into difficulty.— into difficulty. 0k, as always, thank you _ into difficulty. 0k, as always, thank you for _ into difficulty. 0k, as always, thank you for your _ into difficulty. 0k, as always, thank you for your analysis. l the russian president, vladimir putin, has visited the ukrainian city of mariupol. it's the first time he's ventured inside territory seized by russian forces since last years invasion. his visit, under cover of darkness, has been fiercely criticised by the exiled council of the southern port city,

which has seen some of the fiercest battles of the war. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports from the capital, kyiv. vladimir putin arrived in mariupol by helicopter, at least according to pictures broadcast by russian state television. then he drove himself into the city on what is thought to be his first known visit to parts of ukraine seized by russian forces after last year's invasion. in the dark streets, amid tight security, he met what were described as local residents, who happened to be standing by. they seemed happy to see him. "we need to start getting to know each other better," he said. "we pray for you," one woman said, "finally you are here. "we have waited for you so long." mr putin was invited inside to see one of their homes, seemingly a new apartment.

the aim, it would appear, to show a city being rebuilt after last year's devastation. for this is what mariupol looked like last year after three months of russian bombardment, during which ukrainian fighters held out at the azovstal steel plant — their long defence a symbol of ukrainian resilience. it was here, too, where russian forces bombed a maternity hospital — an early alleged war crime — along with a theatre where hundreds of civilians were sheltering and died. the mayor of mariupol told me how he felt about seeing mr putin in his city. translation: he is a criminal. he has come in person to see what he has done because criminals always return to the scene of the crime. he has come to see what he will be punished for. mr putin also visited a theatre that had been rebuilt — one that the russian authorities had

planned to use for show trials for some azovstal defenders. under bright streetlights, he was shown around a playground, only days after he was accused by the international criminal court of illegally deporting thousands of children from occupied parts of ukraine to russia. i spoke to james landale about why mr putin chose to visit mariupol. there are other places he could have visited, but mariupol was a long, slow victory last year. but it was a victory. the ukrainians held out for three months and there was a huge siege and then huge humanitarian crisis in the city, but eventually it fell to russian hands. and that

so soon after the allegations made against vladimir putin by the international criminal court that he was a war criminal. the kremlin said this visit was spontaneous, and clearly, though designed to show a degree of normality, perhaps a degree of normality, perhaps a degree of normality, perhaps a degree of defiance, almost to show the world and the people in russia that, at least from his point of view, there is an element of normality in parts of occupied ukraine. that at least is what vladimir putin was trying to show. if you look at other sources of information from the city, they show pictures of widespread devastation and ruin. a lot of rubbish. you see pictures of people queueing for food. there's reports of shortages of electricity. so it is just one side of the story being portrayed. but clearly, it will be seen as a response to those claims by the international court. a reminder of our top story — the financial times is reporting that the country's biggest bank,

ubs, has offered to buy credit suisse for up to $1 billion. that's a price tag that the bank has refused to confirm and the bloomberg news has reported that they are pushing back against this figure as the closing stock price for the bank on friday was $8 billion. you are watching bbc news. now to uk politics, and the former uk prime minister borisjohnson is to publish evidence in his defence, before he faces questions from mps over whether he misled parliament about parties held in downing street during the covid lockdown. his own government brought in the laws, banning many gatherings at the time, but mrjohnson was fined for attending drinks parties. misleading parliament is seen by other mps in the uk as a serious breach of the parliamentary rules. borisjohnson will appear before a committee of mps on wednesday in a televised session investigating his actions. 0ur political correspondent, tony bonsignorejoins me now.

all eyes will be on this session, presumably? this is a big week for the former prime minister. aha, presumably? this is a big week for the former prime minister.- the former prime minister. a huge week, the former prime minister. a huge week. yes- — the former prime minister. a huge week. yes- so. — the former prime minister. a huge week, yes. so, wednesday- the former prime minister. a huge - week, yes. so, wednesday afternoon, he will be grilled by the seven mps on the privileges committee, a cross—party committee. it is their chance to, as well as all the evidence they have amassed, since last summer when they got going in earnest, and as well as that this is their chance to try to get to the truth. this is borisjohnson �*s chance to defend himself. he is going to go out ahead of that with this dossier, including we understand unpublished messages, which he says it will prove that he did not know about it at the time. because at the heart of this, a couple of appearances in the house of commons in december 2021, when borisjohnson said, in response to questions about alleged parties, he told mps all rules were followed, he was sure that all rules were

followed and there were no parties. this is what this is about. we have had a police investigation, we have had a police investigation, we have had an inquiry by senior civil servants, but this is about what did borisjohnson servants, but this is about what did boris johnson know when servants, but this is about what did borisjohnson know when he stood up in the house of commons and made those comments, made those assertions. and, is it possible that he was in contempt of parliament if he was in contempt of parliament if he knew, and that is a big if, if he knew more than he let on. you mention the — knew more than he let on. you mention the police _ knew more than he let on. you mention the police investigation. as a result of that, he was fined, wasn't he? he was found to have breached the rules and he was fined. what more can this then leads to, if anything? is there any comeback if the investigation, if the mps conclude that he did mislead parliament. late conclude that he did mislead parliament.— conclude that he did mislead parliament. ~ . ., . parliament. we have had the police investigation _ parliament. we have had the police investigation by _ parliament. we have had the police investigation by the _ parliament. we have had the police investigation by the metropolitan i investigation by the metropolitan police and 83 people were issued with fines for lockdown busting parties, of which borisjohnson was

one. that is not in dispute. what is in dispute here is, what did he know at that time when he stood up in the house of commons? and that is why it is the privileges committee, this small committee of seven people, thatis small committee of seven people, that is looking into this. they are looking into whether he impeded the normal functioning looking into whether he impeded the normalfunctioning of looking into whether he impeded the normal functioning of parliament in terms of what he said. let's assume for a moment that they think he did mislead parliament. what can i do question what they could ask him to apologise. it depends again, the scale of wrongdoing that they might think has happened and the reason for it. they might ask him to apologise and that is one possibility. they might suspend him for a few days, another possibility. 0r, for a few days, another possibility. or, if that suspension were to be ten sitting days or more, we then get into the area of what's called a recall petition, where his constituents would be able to say we don't want this guy as our mp any more, we want a by—election. if 10% of constituents sign up to that,

borisjohnson �*s political career could effectively be so, today we had, obviously every politician has been asked this at the moment, but 0liver dowden was asked about this this morning and this is what he had to say. i've known borisjohnson reasonably well over the years. i'm quite sure that he will put forward a robust defence of his conduct. it will then be for the committee to make that determination and, if necessary, the house of commons to make that determination. i think that's the proper process to go through. 0liver dowden there. we will look ahead to the events of the week as they unfold. tony, thank you. the liberal democrats leader, sir ed davey, says his party would seek a closer economic relationship with europe, to "fix britain's trade", if it was in government. speaking at the party's spring conference, he also pledged to fix the nhs, reform social care, and tackle

the cost of living crisis. yes, we need immediate solutions to the cost—of—living crisis engulfing so many families and pensioners, like using a proper windfall tax to cut energy bills. but we need far more than that, too. the interim chief executive of the scottish national party, michael russell, says the party is in as a "tremendous mess". he replaces peter murrell, who's married to scotland's first minister, the outgoing party leader, nicola sturgeon. he resigned, taking responsibility for misleading journalists who asked about the snp's membership numbers. it lost 30,000 members injust over a year. mr russell, said trust in the party needed to be rebuilt. there is a tremendous mess and we have to clear it up, and that is the task that i am trying to take on in the short term, and the most important thing in that short term,

this is about scotland, notjust the snp, is that we have a fair electoral process. thejohn lewis partnership is looking into selling a minority stake of the business for the first time. he high street store is currentlyjointly owned by its staff. but it's understood the chairman is looking into changing the structure of the business in order to sell a part of it. the bbc understands the plan is in its very early stages and no agreeement has been made. john lewis says staff will be the first to hear about any changes. a charity that specialises in helping british muslims with financial problems, says it's been overwhelmed by people needing assistance. the national zakat foundation says it's receiving up to 2,000 applications a month for crisis grants — double the figure it was getting last year. michael buchanan reports. for a few hours a day, two—year—old ali has his house and mother to himself, before his four siblings return from school.

berlin is separated from the children's father. the family live off of £236 a week. it's not enough, and she has built up large debts trying to raise five children alone. they don't understand. they will ask me everything, "can you buy this, can you buy that?" they have to ask me for something, they want it. sometimes i say, "ah, tomorrow, we will do tomorrow," and they forget sometimes. muslim communities in britain are disoroportionally poorer than the rest of the country. poverty levels are particularly high among people of bangladeshi, pakistani and black african heritage. this charity distributes zakat — money donated by muslims to help fellow muslims in need. demand for its hardship fund is greater than ever — some months, they are seeing over 2,000 applications. zakat, especially, has always been seen in the muslim psyche in britain, certainly, as for people who are homeless, foodless,

in some far—off land. and just to overcome that, some people say, "ok, the community is here for you. zakat is yours, as well." that's difficult for us. we're seeing a record number of people accessing support. at the east london mosque, what started as a response to the pandemic has become an ongoing lifeline. a lot of our families, they live in a very overcrowded housing situation. it is a community that has always been an poverty, that has really struggled with employment. and it doesn't really help, the fact that things are really expensive. for this woman, her rent is the big problem — it's increased by £200 to £1,500 per month. translation: i have two children who i need - to feed, but i can't work. it's so cold and chilly out there and i have no alternative but to come here. there's a huge stigma in muslim communities around asking

for help from charities. but, when the bills are rising this rapidly, faith and family can only go so far. michael buchanan, bbc news. the popularity of wild swimming has really taken off in recent years, with both the physical and mental benefits being widely publicised. researchers in the uk say they now know why the pastime can significantly improve your mood — after studying brain function, following cold water immersion. edward sault has been to meet one group of swimmers on the isle of wight. it is three degrees air temperature, 7 degrees in the water, and time for me to get in the sea with these swimmers. i have a chronic kidney and bladder issue, and back pain also — i take a lot of painkillers — and this really helps.

i get a real calmness when i come here, and it's where my head, actually, it's probably the only place it really switches off. i feel really amazing - and really awake and alert. ijust love it. clears the brain of any sort of thoughts you don't need. just, like, had a mental, physical reset. swimming is something i've done all of my life, i absolutely love it. and when i get out of the water — especially this time of year — i really feel buzzing. and now researchers from bournemouth university, the university of portsmouth and university hospitals dorset say there is scientific proof. so we had participants come down to the lab who are completely naive to cold water swimming, so they weren't exactly pro athletes — they were your average people. we got them in the scanner next to us here, then they hopped out of the scanner, very quickly got into a cold water bath that we had prepared, they were in there for about five minutes and then we got them back out, towel—dried,

then back into the scanner again. it potentially opens new avenues for us, for potential treatments for some of the mental health disorders that are plaguing us at the moment. anxiety is one area that reduces with cold water immersion. we can see better brain connectivity and this is involved in our emotional responses. we can see that there is increased activation in the frontal cortex and that is involved in our emotional regulation, decision—making and high—level processes. and then also, this blog in the back, that is one area that will mean participants felt more clarity and attentive. back in the water, and the chilly temperatures aren't putting anyone off. i think it's a little bit like having a computer — switch it off and on again. nothing matters when you're in the water. it gives you some sort of buzz,

and the colder the water, the bigger the buzz. it is all about sea safety, even in the summer, and it's a good idea not to go— the summer, and it's a good idea not to go on— the summer, and it's a good idea not to go on your— the summer, and it's a good idea not to go on your own. it's always a good — to go on your own. it's always a good idea — to go on your own. it's always a good idea to swim with other people. happy— good idea to swim with other people. happy birthday to you! and good idea to swim with other people. happy birthday to you!— happy birthday to you! and how is this for a way _ happy birthday to you! and how is this for a way to _ happy birthday to you! and how is this for a way to spend _ happy birthday to you! and how is this for a way to spend your - this for a way to spend your birthday? just time to sing happy birthday? just time to sing happy birthday to pam before a well—deserved hot drink. these swimmers will be back here again tomorrow for another dose of vitamin c. edward sault, bbc news, on the isle of wight. let us finish this our by telling you about how the late queen elizabeth has been remembered by her son, charles. the king showed an image of the young queen posing with him as a young boy, along with the

other royal mothers, such as the queen consort camilla and kathryn, princess of wales. hello there. this march has been pretty wet so far. if we take a look at the rain that has already fallen, there are some parts of the country that has seen 1.5 times the march average already, even though we are nowhere near the end of the month. the weather pattern over the next week will be very wet across western and north—western parts of the country. i suspect, by the end of the month, there will be some places that see well over double the march average rainfall. the main message is grab the sunshine and dry moments when you get them this week because it does look quite unsettled. so far today, the best of the sunshine has been across southern and eastern

areas of england. there is a tendency for the weather to cloud over through the afternoon. outbreaks of rain spreading to northern ireland and, by the end of the afternoon, that is likely to fringe into the west of scotland, western parts of england and wales as well. a mild afternoon and overnight it stays cloudy with rain, heavy at times moving across northern ireland. wet weather for scotland and northern england as well. it will be a cloudy night, frost free, temperatures holding up at around six or seven celsius. looking into the new working week, low pressure will continue to fire weather systems across the uk, bringing pulses of heavy rain. it then gets windy towards the middle of the week. monday, a lot of cloud. there will be some rain working into scotland. that will be quite heavy. damp weather in wales and western areas of england. the driest weather will be across parts of eastern england where it could become very mild. 16 the high in hull. that is well above average for march. tuesday, heavy rain for scotland but away from that, generally a brighter day.

there will be plenty of showers around and some could be heavy and thundery. outbreaks of rain approaching northern ireland late in the afternoon. temperatures still mild for most — 13 to 15 degrees widely but chilly across the north of scotland and shetland. windy on wednesday and thursday, gusts could reach a0 to 60 mph across parts of the north—west and a day of sunny spells and heavy, blustery showers. the showers could have hail and thunder mixed in and downpours likely to be widespread. it stays windy with downpours on thursday, perhaps turning brighter as we head towards the end of the week. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the headlines... switzerland's biggest bank, ubs, is in advanced talks to buy all or part of its troubled rival credit suisse. efforts are concentrating on reaching a deal before the stock markets resume trading on monday. the kremlin says vladimir putin's visit to mariupol — a city captured during the russian invasion of ukraine — was unscheduled. he flew there by helicopter on saturday evening. no news of his trip was made public before he returned to russia. former prime minister borisjohnson will publish evidence in his defence ahead of a grilling by mps over whether he misled parliament about covid

rule—breaking parties. mrjohnson denies misleading mps.