this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm ben boulos. our top stories... the future of switzerland's second largest bank credit suisse hangs in the balance but the financial times reports the rival ubs buys the company for more than $2 billion. ukraine condemns vladimir putin's visit to mariupol — a devastated city which was captured by russian forces. serbia's president has declined to sign an eu proposal to normalise relations with kosovo. and a charity helping british muslims with financial problems says it's overwhelmed by demand.

we'll have a special report. hello, very warm welcome to the programme. the financial times is reporting that ubs — switzerland's biggest bank — has agreed to buy credit suisse for more than two billion dollars. there's been no confirmation yet of whether the offer has been accepted. it's thought an earlier offer of $1 billion was considered too low. 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. we spoke a little earlier. it's not offering to billion.— offering to billion. they have aareed offering to billion. they have agreed that _ offering to billion. they have agreed that figure. _ offering to billion. they have agreed that figure. it's - offering to billion. they have agreed that figure. it's all. offering to billion. they have - agreed that figure. it's all moving pretty quickly. the swiss government have been overseeing these talks all weekend. they have called a press conference at 6pm uk time. what we do know it is the banks have been in talks. follows

the silicon valley bank issues but really stems from them reporting they found material weaknesses in their financial reporting. that led to competence and money pouring away from the bank. it was reported that ubs tabled an offer of1 billion us dollars. the closing price already down 90% from when it was on its peak. it felt very much a lowball offer. looks like there have been negotiations going on. also around the shape of any takeover, credit suisse has 95 banks in switzerland, domestic, and also investment around the world. it's most likely the whole thing would be restructured. but would that mean for the 15,000 employees globally? really difficult time for their futures as well. find

time for their futures as well. and the urgency _ time for their futures as well. and the urgency around getting some kind of deal agreed for rescuing credit suisse very much to get something done before the market opens for the first trading session on monday. time has been critical here, absolutely of the essence. credit suisse's have become troubles for the wider stock market. this is happening at breakneck speed. it's been hosted by the swiss government, overseeing talks with regulators as well. there will be a consultation period. but we understand it would change the law potentially to get that through as quickly as possible. i could have ramifications down the line, but right now, the priority is to restore credibility to the swiss banking system and some stability.

will that work? the vote will come when the markets open.— will that work? the vote will come when the markets open. everyone will be watchin: when the markets open. everyone will be watching for _ when the markets open. everyone will be watching for that. _ when the markets open. everyone will be watching for that. thank _ when the markets open. everyone will be watching for that. thank you - when the markets open. everyone will be watching for that. thank you very l be watching for that. thank you very much. we will speak again later. earlier on, i spoke to global leadership expert chris roebuck, a former head of leadership at ubs and i asked what this means, to the swiss government. the financial times was reporting the earlier offer to buy credit suisse for $1 billion. is a the earlier offer to buy credit suisse for $1 billion.- the earlier offer to buy credit suisse for $1 billion. is a test of leadership _ suisse for $1 billion. is a test of leadership for _ suisse for $1 billion. is a test of leadership for the _ suisse for $1 billion. is a test of leadership for the swiss - suisse for $1 billion. is a test of - leadership for the swiss government, the swiss regulator and for ubs and for switzerland as a country. we've got here a reversal of where we were in the financial crisis where ubs was hit badly and credit suisse wasn't. the reason we're here now is fundamentally that because ubs was hit badly and bailed out, it learnt the lessons. what's interesting is

since the financial crisis, it's clear that from scandals and other things, credit suisse did not learn those lessons. the fundamental one is making money is a recipe for disaster and your risk management must be right and what leadership is about integrity as much as profitability. i about integrity as much as profitability.— about integrity as much as rofitabili . , ., ., profitability. i 'ust want to touch on this profitability. i just want to touch on this reported _ profitability. i just want to touch on this reported figure - profitability. i just want to touch on this reported figure that - profitability. i just want to touch on this reported figure that ubs| on this reported figure that ubs has apparently offered to buy credit suisse for, but i'm just seeing a reuters update saying credit suisse has declined to comment on that story. if it were 1 has declined to comment on that story. if it were1 billion us dollars, is that a credible figure or not? in dollars, is that a credible figure or not? , ., .. �* or not? in terms of... i can't comment — or not? in terms of... i can't comment on _ or not? in terms of... i can't comment on whether - or not? in terms of... i can't comment on whether 1 - or not? in terms of... i can't| comment on whether1 billion or not? in terms of... i can't i comment on whether1 billion is credible because we're not completely sure exactly what elements of credit suisse ubs might

be taking over. whether it's elements sold off subsequently, but from the perspective of a global bank, 1 billion is pretty much petty cash. therefore, what's happening is the ubs side are saying, look, the culture at credit suisse is not good, the leadership clearly hasn't been that good, and what is the impact going to be on us if we take on what other people perceived to be a toxic problem? the on what other people perceived to be a toxic problem?— on what other people perceived to be a toxic problem? the other problem i want to touch — a toxic problem? the other problem i want to touch on _ a toxic problem? the other problem i want to touch on is _ a toxic problem? the other problem i want to touch on is the _ want to touch on is the impact potentially on people and jobs. credit suisse has global staff of over 50,000 last year. ubs, similarly huge organisation. what effect could this have on jobs globally? effect could this have on “obs aloball ? , ., . globally? there will be an impact. there has to _ globally? there will be an impact. there has to be _ globally? there will be an impact. there has to be an _ globally? there will be an impact. there has to be an impact - globally? there will be an impact. there has to be an impact both i globally? there will be an impact. there has to be an impact both in | there has to be an impact both in terms of global and local and in switzerland. both of them have

retail branches on the high street. you are not going to have two branches of the same branches on the high street. both will have terms... some of those can be transferred, but they won't need all of those people. the reality is there is duplication they won't get rid of their own people when they can get rid of somebody else's people when they know how good their own people are and their own people stick to the rules. so it's a massive issue around people, leadership, and change, notjust a financial point. just to reiterate, when chris and i

were speaking, the offer from just to reiterate, when chris and i were speaking, the offerfrom ubs was to buy credit suisse for 1 billion us dollars. it's been reported by the financial times that the offer has been increased to 2 billion us dollars. we expect some sort of press conference from the swiss government and those involved within the coming hours. we've been given no firm indication of what time, but we will of course bring that to you and any significant developments as we get them right here on bbc news. 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 year's invasion. his visit under the 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 on what's 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'll 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. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. you saw a clip of james landale speaking to the mayor of mariupol in that report. however, the mayor had more to say about what russia had done to his city. you've seen the pictures of vladimir putin in mariupol. how does that make you feel? translation: like all ukrainians, like all mariupol residents. i feel that today, a war criminal whose name is vladimir putin visited the scene of a crime he committed for several months in a row, meaning carried out his main mission as a war criminal, destroying the city of mariupol.

the only city where the russian aviation used carpet bombing is mariupol. the un has already assessed what happened directly in mariupol regarding the drama theatre, where the word children was written with huge letters. this did not stop the russian militaryjet, which destroyed the drama theatre and killed hundreds of people there today. this is a sign of a war crime. today's visit is vladimir putin's reaction as a war criminal to the warrant he received for war crimes committed in particular in mariupol directly. the image that russian state television and mr putin wishes to show is of mariupol being rebuilt. a new playground, a new apartment block. what is your assessment of the state of mariupol today?

translation: they don't show what he did to the city. in two months of such dense fire that the russian army, under the leadership of its main war, criminal putin in two months, only in two months, they destroyed the city by 50%. every second high—rise building no longer exists. 90% are damaged. what did they build? and most importantly, where did they build? for whom did they build? they built houses on the outskirts of the city where there's no electricity, water supply and drainage communications. they built this just to prove that their version of what's happening there is true. but they lie. they lie that they came to liberate the city. they destroyed it. this city does not exist any longer and it takes 20 years to restore it. but that's true, even with no linear.

mayor of mariupol speaking to james landale. gavin has all the sport. thanks very much indeed, ben. arsenal have extended their lead at the top of the premier league to eight points after beating crystal palace at the emirates, in the only match in the premier league on sunday. the gunners got off the mark thanks to a smart finish by gabriel martinelli, and that lead was doubled thanks to bukayo saka. arsenal were comfortable in the second half — granit xhaka made it three before palace, who sacked former gunners midfielder patrick vieira this week as their head coach, pulled one back. saka then completed the win to make it 4—1 with his second of the day. mikel arteta's side now well clear of their nearest rivals manchester city. very good, especially the way we played in the last few weeks. now unfortunately, we have to stop, play international duties and make sure everyone comes back with the same mindset and ready to go. to the fa cup now, and brighton have been drawn to face

manchester united or fulham in the competition's semi—finals, after dismantling fourth tier grimsby five goals to zero today. earlier, sheffield united came from behind twice to beat fellow championship side blackburn 3—2. this 91st minute screamer from tommy doyle was the goal that sent the blades to a wembley semifinal, where they'll meet manchester city. both games at wembley stadium. in tennis, there's a repeat of the women's australian open final at indian wells later, as elena rybakina plays aryna sabalenka. after that, carlos alcaraz has the chance to become the men's world number one if he can get past daniil medvedev. if medvedev wins, he'll become the first man since britain's andy murray in 2016 to win four titles in five weeks. it'sjust great it's just great sometimes when you beat some — it's just great sometimes when you beat some records or become world number_ beat some records or become world number one — beat some records or become world number one orwin a beat some records or become world number one or win a slam. when wre— number one or win a slam. when youhe 70, — number one or win a slam. when you're 70, you can still say you remember— you're 70, you can still say you remember the you're 70, you can still say you rememberthe yearwhen you're 70, you can still say you remember the year when you made four finals in _ remember the year when you made four finals in a _ remember the year when you made four finals in a row! that's great but in the moment, it doesn't matter. the

most _ the moment, it doesn't matter. the most important is to win this tournament and these matches. mikaela shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom at the world cup finals on sunday as the american ended the season with yet another record. the victory moved shiffrin past vreni schneider, a week after matching the swiss skier�*s mark of 20 world cup victories. the american has won seven of the last eight events and took the giant slalom world title last month. it was also shiffrin's 138th world cup podium finish, breaking lindsey vonn's record. and finally... and finally, marc leishman is leading the liv golf tournament in arizona, and he came up against a potentially deadly opponent at the gallery golf club. a snake stopped him in his tracks! looks like a rattlesnake, but leishman wasn't going to get too close to confirm it. the australian kept his cool in the desert. he says he's seen his fair share of snakes back home. but that's one thing that would definitely disrupt your round. just

to let you know, formula one in saudi arabia is very much under way. sergio perez is on par at the moment with the second grand prix of the season. that is all the sport for now. sna kes snakes and all the sports, gavin, see you later. you're watching cb �*s -- bbc see you later. you're watching cb �*s —— bbc news. the european union's top diplomat announced an agreement between the two nations. despite this, belgrade has refused to recognise kosovo's independence. earlier, on i spoke to our balkans correspondent guy delauney and asked him about the deal. there was a picture of me on social

media yesterday holding up a $10 bill saying i'm betting there will be no deal, which means that when he said there was a deal, i thought bang goes the tenor. but the devil is in the detail. straight after this meeting, straight after his statement, that when he said there was a deal, i thought bang goes the tenor. but the devil is in the detail. straight after this meeting, straight after his statement, he said there isn't a deal and there's still a lot more to do. the prime minister of kosovo said, "we've got de facto recognition." if you have got such wildly differing points of view here, the president of serbia saying there's no deal, and the prime minister of kosovo saying they have got de facto recognition, how can you possibly have any sort of agreement? there clearly isn't one. what's disappointing is we didn't really get any detail on the eu foreign policy chief last night, he didn't ask questions, and he didn't tell us precisely what has been agreed, beyond a couple of outlines which the eu has published on its website, and which clearly have a lot of detail to be filled in. when we hear that serbia's president is refusing to sign the eu proposal, has he said what changes

he would need to see, or what he would like to see, before he's prepared to normalise relations? he says he has got red lines, and those red lines are as follows. serbia will not recognise kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from serbia, and serbia will not accept kosovo's application tojoin the united nations and will do what it takes to prevent it from joining the united nations. that's what he's saying. he's not saying there's a compromise which would change that. at least 1a people have been killed after an earthquake in ecuador. 13 of the casualties were in and around the southern province of el 0ro — and one young girl also died in northern peru, when her family home collapsed. the us geological survey says the tremor had a magnitude of 6.8.

the effects were widepsread — including the collapse of this building, a museum, which was mounted on a pier at the seaside. it had stood on the same spot for more than 60 years. police in the north indian state of punjab have intensified the manhunt for controversial sikh separatist leader amritpal singh, with almost 80 of his suspected supporters being arrested. several criminal cases have been registered against mr singh, who is now on the run. internet access has been suspended across punjab for a second day and public gatherings have been banned — but despite this, supporters of the sikh preacher have been protesting on the streets. arvind chabbra has this update. i'm in the north indian state of punjab, where some people have blocked the national highway to show solidarity with amritpal singh who police say is on the run. the police is continuing its operation to arrest amritpal singh for the second day. the police said 78 associates of

amritpal signh have been arrested. a team of police have taken four of them from punjab to another state. nine weapons, including eight rifles and a revolver, have been recovered during the operation. police said the accused were involved in criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel, and obstructing the officials from performing their lawful duties. it's also said that police parties have been sent in different directions in search of amritpal singh. barricades have been put up on the main roads across the state and checking of vehicles is being done. on sunday, the state government also ordered the suspension of internet services until monday at noon. internet and sms services have been suspended since saturday. police have also taken some people into preventative custody to stop them from gathering in the streets in support of amritpal singh. meanwhile, his father claims that police have not informed the family that amritpal singh has been arrested or not. he also questioned the police actions, saying that amritpal singh was very much at home on saturday morning and the police could've easily arrested him from there.

arvind chabbra, bbc. 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 — a committee of mps on wednesday in a televised session, investigating his actions. earlier, our political correspondent, tony bonsignore, explained more about what borisjohnson can expect when he faces the committee. wednesday afternoon, he will be grilled by the seven mps on the privileges committee, a cross—party committee. it's their chance to, as well as all the evidence they've amassed, since last summer when they got going in earnest, as well as that, this

is their chance to try to get to the truth. this is borisjohnson's chance to defend himself. he's 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. cos 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, "i've been assured that all rules were followed and there were no parties." this is what this is about. we've had a police investigation, we've had an inquiry by senior civil servant sue gray, 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 knew, and that's a big if,

if he knew more than he let on. tony pounds and yuri there. 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. a 17—year—old boy has been stabbed to death at a house party in leeds. west yorkshire police said officers were called to a disturbance at a property the city where a "large number of people" had been gathered in the early hours of sunday morning. 0fficers dispersed people from the area and said no arrests have been made. west yorkshire police are treating the death as murder.

more details on all the stories we've covered this hour on the bbc news website and the bbc news app. see you soon. hello again. this month has already been quite a wet month. there are quite a few areas across the uk that have already seen more than the march average rainfall, even though we're nowhere near the month's end. the wettest place, shoeburyness, where we've had nearly 1.5 times as much rainfall as would see in an average march. in an average march, and there's loads more rain to come as well. over the next five days, the wettest weather, the largest rainfall totals, would be across western and particularly north western areas of the country. i suspect by the end of the month there'll be some areas that have seen more than twice the average march rainfall. now, today's not been a bad day. we have seen some sunshine, although the cloud thickened up with these weather fronts approaching from the west, bringing some rain to end the day.

and, indeed, that rain is still going to be with us overnight tonight. with us overnight tonight, so a wet night for northern ireland, northern england and scotland. further southwards, might see a bit of drizzle falling from the cloud that works across the rest of england and wales. it's a mild night — temperatures 6—7 for most, cold air just about still hanging on in shetland, where it should be another bright start to the day here, but otherwise, a lot of cloud around. some heavy rain moving from northern ireland across scotland during the day and another batch of rain for wales and western areas of england through the afternoon. you might find a few brighter spells across eastern england and generally not much in the way of rain expected in eastern england. temperatures could reach about 16. now, we've got more heavy rain for scotland on tuesday. elsewhere, it's a day of sunshine and heavy showers, those showers with thunder mixed in with them. the next band of rain quickly moves into northern ireland late in the day, so we've got more rain on the way. that rain through tuesday night pushes its way northwards and eastwards across scotland where it's going to be quite slow—moving. and then a windy day

on the cards for wednesday — a day of sunshine, blustery showers, hail and thunder mixed in with these, and some of the showers across western areas could merge together to give some longer spells of rain. all the while, it'll be windy with gusts perhaps 40, 50, even 60 mph across northwestern areas. it stays windy through thursday and again, it's another very unsettled day. showers will be widespread — again, some of them with hail and thunder, but it will be a bit of sunshine between those heavy downpours. temperatures for the most part still into double figures, but it's starting to get a little bit cooler in scotland — might see a bit of snow returning to some of the highest scottish hills. and then through friday, and the weekend it stays unsettled with more rain on the way. those rainfall totals continue to mount up.

this is bbc news, the headlines switzerland's largest bank ubs is prepared to buy its struggling rival credit suisse for more than $2 billion, according to the financial times. the swiss government have been focused on reaching a deal before the stock markets reopen on monday. ukraine condemns president putin after he visits the devastated city of mariupol — captured during the russian invasion. an aide to president zelensky called him a criminal returning to the scene of his crime. former british prime minister boris johnson 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. serbia's president, aleksandar vucic, says he has "declined" to sign a proposal by the european union intended