this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories. devastating tornadoes tear through america's midwest, leaving at least 11 dead. politicians in iran are reacting to the flouting of headscarf laws by women by insisting the rules must be �*enforced rigorously�* byjudges. "a slap in the face to the international community." that's the assessment of ukraine's foreign minister to russia assuming the presidency of the un security counc. il a critical incident has been declared in dover as passengers are gridlocked for hours at the start of the easter getaway.

welcome to bbc news. the authorities in iran are vowing to enforce the wearing the latest series of tornadoes to have ripped through parts of the united states has left at least 11 people dead, they were killed in the states of arkansas and illinois. dozens have been injured and tens of thousands have lost power. some pictures coming through to us in the last half hour show the extent of the damage to homes in this residential area in the state of illinois. the picture is no better in arkansas where you can see homes have been completely flattened and businesses forced to close after devastating damage. the governor there, sarah huckabee sanders, has declared a state of emergency. here's sancha berg. dozens of storms and tornadoes left a trail of destruction. two of the fiercest touchdown in the southern state of arkansas, tearing off roofs, bringing down power lines, sweeping through homes

with incredible force. the volume of itjust seems rather intense and it was extremely dangerous. it came through a set of double doors and ploughed through my house. out of my front door was just steel bars in front of it. several people have been killed, dozens injured, in the state alone. the governor declared a state of emergency. today has been a very hard day for the state of arkansas. but the goodness of this is that arkansas and arkansans are tough and resilient. no matter what comes, will get back up the next day and keep moving. 600 miles to the north in belvidere, illinois, another storm hit. the roof of the apollo theatre collapsed. one person has killed, dozens injured. this latest destructive weather arrived just as present biden

was visiting mississippi, where he promised help to those hit by another tornado last week. sancha berg, bbc news. earlier i spoke to our weather presenter ben rich who explained a little more about how these extreme weather systems work. isa is a risk they live with at this time of year. the weather system is an area of low pressure. this has pushed its failed way from the pacific and was the atlantic. it has moved all the way across the usa providing a focus for severe weather, particularly along that cold front. that black line with the blue triangles as a cold front. that is a focus for those severe thunderstorms that spun up into all of those tornadoes. reports of potentially 65 tornado reports which

all had to be verified and that takes time. that severe weather now moving towards the east coast for saturday. probably not for the same intensity, not such a great tornado threat but part of georgia, south carolina and also to the north—east, upstate new york, for example. there is a risk of severe thunderstorms, scrawny wins. we've had some reports of winds causing damage. the situation is ongoing. only not with a ferocity that we seen in those spots a little bit further west. fix, spots a little bit further west. a bit of good news for people who are about to receive it. put it in a bit of wider historical context for us, what's going on?— of wider historical context for us, what's going on? tornadoes are part of life in the — what's going on? tornadoes are part of life in the springtime _ of life in the springtime particularly. what you need for a tornado as various ingredients. it's a bit like baking a cake, if you don't get the right ingredients in the right quantities, you will not get a tornado. what happened on this

occasion is that all the ingredients came together in just the right amount. very warm airfrom came together in just the right amount. very warm air from the gulf of mexico, much colder air from the north clashing and winds varying with levels, that sets the atmosphere spending which is why we saw those tornadoes and ingredients came together so well, if you like, that we had this on such a grand scale. this certainly is unusual, the warnings were very widespread. the damage has been particularly bad. it's going to be a quieter couple of days but the threat does return to similar areas around mississippi valley later this week. this is tel aviv. they have been there for the last couple of hours. you will see that perhaps over the

last couple of weeks, there have been tens of thousands of people protesting onto the streets against the government and against the israeli prime minister. this all stems from a judicial reforms, basically plans to change the powers of the judiciary and the prime minister himself saying that this plan would spot top the courts from over reaching their powers and this is what people voted for the last election. many scholars and critics say that actually this will destroy the independence of the judiciary and a couple of days ago, a us president, the key ally of israel, did suggest that they should continue down this road and protesters still out in force in tel aviv. ijust wanted to bring you

those pictures but we had them. let's go back to what you're talking about the us. i'm joined now by melissa huffman, meteorologist in charge of the regional operations centre of the national weather service's southern region. we seen pictures of the damage that's been going on, what has been going on? that's been going on, what has been auoin on? . , ., ., going on? incredible damage has occurred across _ going on? incredible damage has occurred across portions - going on? incredible damage has occurred across portions of- going on? incredible damage has occurred across portions of the i occurred across portions of the midsouth. damage hospitals, numerous hospitals, national weather survey damage teams are out today to understand the extent of the damage that occurred. that understand the extent of the damage that occurred.— that occurred. that is what's happening — that occurred. that is what's happening right _ that occurred. that is what's happening right now. - that occurred. that is what's happening right now. what i that occurred. that is what's - happening right now. what happens next? are people bracing? yes. happening right now. what happens next? are people bracing? yes, this art of the next? are people bracing? yes, this part of the country _ next? are people bracing? yes, this part of the country has _ next? are people bracing? yes, this part of the country has actually - part of the country has actually seen several severe thunderstorms episodes over the past few weeks and attach a tanning to next tuesday because it let's hope we may be dealing with another severe weather

outbreak across the midwest and wait midsouth. i5 outbreak across the midwest and wait midsouth. , . , outbreak across the midwest and wait midsouth. , ., , , ., outbreak across the midwest and wait midsouth. , . , , ., ., , midsouth. is anything unusual always as art of midsouth. is anything unusual always as part of the — midsouth. is anything unusual always as part of the usual— midsouth. is anything unusual always as part of the usual weather- as part of the usual weather patterns for the region for the time of year? in patterns for the region for the time of ear? ,, ., ,, ,., of year? in the us, and spain, we deel of year? in the us, and spain, we deeply see _ of year? in the us, and spain, we deeply see severe _ of year? in the us, and spain, we deeply see severe thunderstorms| of year? in the us, and spain, we - deeply see severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. what's unusual is that he violent tornadoes, which are on the ground for an extension amount of time. we seen that with yesterday's event. . �* , time. we seen that with yesterday's event. ., �* , , ., event. that's when you get the dama . e, event. that's when you get the damage. when _ event. that's when you get the damage, when it's _ event. that's when you get the damage, when it's on - event. that's when you get the damage, when it's on the - event. that's when you get the l damage, when it's on the ground event. that's when you get the - damage, when it's on the ground that a long time?— a long time? usually they tend to be uuite a long time? usually they tend to be quite violent- _ a long time? usually they tend to be quite violent. a _ a long time? usually they tend to be quite violent. a violent _ a long time? usually they tend to be quite violent. a violent tornado - a long time? usually they tend to be quite violent. a violent tornado it. quite violent. a violent tornado it would be a level four orfive quite violent. a violent tornado it would be a level four or five on the scale. there is a very rare but that's what does most of the damage and that's what unfortunately results in most of it.- and that's what unfortunately results in most of it. thank you very much- _ the authorities in iran are vowing to enforce the wearing

of a headscarf by women more rigorously, despite months of protests. a growing number of women have been seen unveiled in public, and hardline politicians are giving judges ultimatums to punish those who ignore the rules. earlier i spoke to bbc�*s parham ghobadi and asked what prompted this latest move. in big cities like in tehran and in other major cities, they just walk around on the streets without headscarf and without her and without hijab, it's not only headscarf, it's also a kind of trench coat that for four decades, iranian women had to wear in order to walk on the streets. so now we see, especially younger women, walking on the streets without any sort of hijab and iranian politicians and it has frustrated iranian hardliners. and so iranian regime is in a really difficult position because they have this tiny margin of supporters that are hard liners, and these are the people who are willing to pick up arms and defend the regime. now, they are extremely angry, seeing women on the streets of iran

without wearing headscarf. and how are some women being treated who are out not wearing headscarf? so there is this constant battle without iranian hardliners and iranian women. for example, a video surfaced social media yesterday, and it was it went viral. there are two young women just standing in a grocery shop and waiting, queuing up. you can see the video right now. an iranian hardliner walks in and gets into a kind of argument with them and picks up a bucket of yoghurt and hits them in the head. this has frustrated many iranians, and scenes like that are extremely dangerous for iranian regime as well, because iranjust you know, the protests started seven months ago and it went on for about six months. so does the iranian regime really want to start another wave of protests? well, that's the that's right where we are right now. just remind us how we did get here.

so seven months ago, a young iranian kurdish woman, 22—year—old masha amini, died in the police custody because there were some police vans patrolling the streets of iran and especially in tehran, and arresting women who did not abide by the rule. that was seven months ago. now, what we see in iran is that everywhere women are walking on the streets without hijab. so the iranian regime in the battle with young iranian women has technically lost. and there is no sign that iranian women are backing off to wear the headscarf again. russia has taken the presidency of the un security council despite ukraine urging members to block the move. each of the council's 15 members takes up the presidency for a month, on a rotating pattern. the last time russia had the presidency, back in february last year, it launched a full—scale invasion of ukraine. it means the security council is being led by a country whose president, vladimir putin, is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

earlier i spoke to our ukraine correspondent hugo bachega. i started by asking him to talk us through this development at the united nations. russia has taken over the rotating presidency of the security council, which is the main security body of the united nations. and obviously there's been angry reaction here from the ukrainians. the foreign minister today said this was a slap in the face of the international community. we heard from the president's chief of staff saying that this was another symbolic blow to the rules based system of international relations. so the ukrainians, since the beginning of the war, have criticised the fact that russia continues to be a member of the security council, a permanent member of the council. so in other words, it has the veto power. it can veto resolutions. and it has used this power to veto resolutions related to the conflict here. now, ukraine has tried to get russia expelled from the council,

even though there's no legal pathway for that to happen. and in the last few days, ukraine has been trying to block russia's right to to take over the presidency of the security council. but again, it was something that the members of the security council could not do. we heard from american officials saying that this is something that is not possible. so, again, angry reaction here from the ukrainians following this move by russia. ok, hugo, thanks so much for that. and as i mentioned at the top there, a second important update coming out of ukraine today. this to do with a senior figure in the church there just to explain what's happened. yeah. so this is a senior cleric of the ukrainian orthodox church. he's been arrested today. the ukrainian security services have accused him ofjustifying the invasion of ukraine and also of inciting religious hatred.

these are allegations that he denies. and i think what is happening here is that this is the church that had ties with the russian church in moscow. the church here in ukraine broke up those ties after the invasion of ukraine. the leaders of the church in moscow have been supporting the war here, but the ukrainians say that they believe that senior clerics and high level officials of the church have continued to support moscow, have continued to support the invasion of ukraine. last year, a number of buildings used by the church were raided. dozens of of senior members of the church are now being investigated. some of them are facing charges, including the charges of of including charges related to these suspicions that they have been collaborating with russian officials. now, the church denies those

allegations and they say they are being targeted by the government. and i think these developments show this split that has happened here in ukraine among the orthodox community. a separate church has been created, an independent church. and this branch of the church, the ukrainian orthodox church. the ukrainians say that this church has continued to have ties with moscow, even though they deny those allegations. here in the uk — the authorities at the port of dover, say they're trying to clear long queues of people caught in delays, heading for the continent over easter. the port says it's "deeply frustrated," that bad weather and french border checks have caused problems. some people travelling by coach say they've faced up to ia hour waits, although the government says the situation had improved significantly since yesterday. simonjones has the latest from dover. it's not such a great start

to the great easter getaway. forced to spend hours on a coach with no idea when you're going to be able to get across the channel. ok, guys, should wejust start out with the karaoke? this driver from nottingham is trying to keep the spirits of his passengers up as they face missing a day on the slopes in the french alps. we've been here four and a half hours waiting. we've had our coaches in front of us have been waiting more than 12 hours. so i have no idea how long we're going to be here to be for another 12 hours. i don't know. the police have been doing what they can to stop dover snarling up, but lorries and cars have been getting caught in the chaos, too. well, we're meant to be going to italy ultimately, but we are booked into a hotel in france this evening. but don't know if we're going to make it now. well, it's going to be a long one, i think. i we're going to be here for a while. but it's ok. it's holiday. so what's causing this? it is being blamed on a perfect storm

of huge numbers of people wanting to travel. bad weather yesterday causing delays to the ferries and according to the port. new checks introduced after brexit, meaning all coach passengers have to get out of the vehicle to have their passports checked and stamped by the french authorities. lorries were forced to queue on the outskirts of dover last night. questions are now being asked about why this has happened again, just like last easter. well, every single holiday getaway, we see this gridlock and we need to invest. that means investing in the roads, putting in lorry parks, coach parks, making sure there are proper facilities for people to wait and notjust queue in our roads all around our town. that's not fair on the people here. the port says it's deeply frustrated, insisting it had planned ahead. but the additional coach bookings taken by the ferry firms for easter have added to the challenge it will look to learn lessons. well, can ijust say how sorry i am that everybody who wanted to get away this easter break has been so disrupted, and in particular for the school kids, being a father myself, i know how anxious i'd feel. so what we've been doing is we've

been working really hard with our ferry operators and our partners throughout kent to try and make certain that all the traffic that has been backlogged can get through as quickly as possible. but spare a thought for those who haven't even got as far as the port. these students heading to croatia have been stranded at a nearby service station when their coach driver reached his daily driving limit. there's no toilet roll. they're running low on food. there's coaches arriving constantly with people sorting through the doors. there's young children there from scouts, cubs. and there's no one here to help. there's no security. there's nothing. there's people that sleep here that lays out everywhere. it's just chaotic. 5000 cars and 400 coaches will pass through the port today. for many, it's been a waiting game. simonjones, bbc news, dover. the pope has said he will take part in the mass celebrating palm sunday in the vatican. the 86—year—old was discharged from a hospital in rome in the last few hours

where he was receiving treatment for bronchitis. smiling and leaning on a cane as he left rome's gemelli hospital, the pontiff greeted well—wishers and joked he was still alive. the vatican said he'd resumed some work duties while in hospital, baptising a new born baby as well as sharing a dinner with some of the doctors and nurses. our correspondentjenny hill sent us the latest from rome. yeah. i think the message from pope francis and the vatican is very much business as usual. you talked about how he spoke to people waiting outside the hospital. he appeared to be in extremely good spirit, smiling and joking, as you say, with the reporters who'd been camped outside that clinic for several days, but also doing what he appears to really enjoy doing best, speaking to ordinary people, signing the plaster cast of a young boy, but also comforting a couple whose daughter had died in the hospital overnight. he's also, though, as you say, promised to be here tomorrow in st peter's square for the all important palm sunday mass. now, it is significant because that is the beginning of holy week, the week—long easter

tide, culminating, of course, on easter sunday next weekend. and the vatican have said that he will participate in all easter services as originally planned. now, we don't quite know what his role will be tomorrow. he will be here. he will be presiding. but a cardinal will actually celebrate the mass at the altar. presumably, the pope will be seated at the stage behind me there so people can see him. but he will be in the square, notjust up at the balcony. the new school year started last week in afghanistan. but for the second year running, a taliban ban is keeping teenage girls out of school. so, what are the options for young afghans who want to keep up their studies but are unable to return to class? shazia haya reports on one new solution being offered by the bbc world service.

across afghanistan, girls' classrooms sit empty. they have told the bbc how it feels. translation: ifind it so painful that they are not allowing us to our schools. this decision is against islam. for the past two years, every morning i go to the rooftop of our home to watch the primary schoolgirls going to school. i stay there until midday when they finish and i cry. i miss learning new things. the bbc made lessons for the children to access remotely during the coronavirus lockdown in the uk. we thought they might be useful in somewhere else. this is where the journalists and producers of bbc�*s afghan service are coming together to work on a very different task from what we normally do. working on an educational programme for young afghans, this lesson in dari and pashto, the two most widely spoken

languages in afghanistan. the show will help people learn english... ..maths and science. as well as have a bit of fun. where's afghanistan? 0k. for the presenters who are all journalists from afghanistan, it is a very personal project. my father was a teacher and he was killed in a suicide bomb attack 16 years ago. at that time, i felt that i want to be a teacher because my father was a teacher. but i became a journalist. but now, by presenting this programme, i think that i have become a teacher and fulfilled my dream and also my father's dream in afghanistan. for those unable to go to school, classes will now come to them at home. policing has rarely been more of an issue in britain with attention especially on london's metropolitan police.

in the capital — one officer has been using his skills to engage young people through a sport which more than a million children play every week in england. pc kip is harnessing the power of basketball. as sports correspondent joe wilson explains. introducing constable kypros kyriacou. and if you've never seen a police officer like this. well, that's the whole idea. a lot of the time when you're with young people, they see us as just a uniform, a robot, if you will. so basketball, when i was younger, it wasn't as popular as it is now. so it's starting to get a lot more popular. and the kids love it. they really love it. most people usually associate police officers with like crime and everything. police aren't always bad. they are good people. when you see someone like kyp jump that high, it makes basketball look more entertaining. kyp, as everyone calls him, is a south london schools officer. this is the southbank university academy. we know that policing in london right now is under real scrutiny. we hear a lot about the urgent need to rebuild, build trust.

building trust, essentially, that's what's happening on this court right here. when i would come into schools, kids would say, you know, you're not a police officer. or they would say to me, oh, you don't seem like a police officer. so i used to say, "well, how is this police officer meant to be?" and just having that rapport and building that trust with them that they were then able to come and talk to me, ask me questions, educate them about the law. one, two, three, hard work! kyp used to train with professionals, could have been one. he was recently a guest at the london lions of the british basketball league. nothing commands respect quite like a slam dunk. has he inspired you, all of you, to actually dunk? yes. yeah. have you tried it? yeah. because if kyp can dunk... we can dunk. he's one officer in one gym. but if pc kyp makes a difference,

well, then he's made his point. joe wilson, bbc news, south london. just before i go, i want to take you back to these live pictures that we've been keeping an eye on for the last couple of hours. this is israel, tel aviv. the latte hours, they have been out on the street as they have been out on the street as they have been for the last days and weeks. just coming up to 9:30pm there. it was daylight when they first took to the streets there. this is all over the judicial reforms proposed by the israeli prime minister, he says it's to stop the courts over reaching their powers. many protesters and critics say this as a threat to the independence of the judiciary in the country. we'll be keeping an eye on

those for now, this is bbc news, goodbye. hello there. the met office confirmed that last month of march was indeed a very wet month, pretty much across the country, but especially across england and wales. and we ended the month on a damp, windy, wet note with a deep area of low pressure which has been pulling away gradually. so the next few days, certainly for the first week of april, it's looking quieter as high pressure starts to build in to bring you some sunshine as well. but the legacy left behind by that area of low pressure means it will hold on to quite a lot of cloud. further spots of rain this evening across western scotland, northern ireland. but through the night it will turn drive for many. we'll see the clouds tending to break up with clear spells developing where skies clear. it will turn quite chilly under the cloud with more of a breeze in the southeast as well.

then no lower than 5 to 7 degrees. you can see this area of high pressure starting to build in. across the uk. we lose the low pressure system which will pull away from the southeast, taking the fresh northeasterly breeze with it through the day on sunday. so we'll see the clouds melting away across many areas. it could hold on, though, across central northern scotland, maybe the odd shower here. but most places will be dry, increasing sunshine, so feeling a bit warmer away from north sea coast, which will still feel quite chilly with an onshore breeze there. but the winds become even lighter across all areas through sunday night. and with clear skies, it's going to be a recipe for quite a cold night. by the end of the night, it will turn chilly enough for a touch of frost in places, some subzero values, particularly out of towns and cities. but it means as we head into monday, the start of the first working week of april, with high pressure overhead, it's going to be fine and dry. it's going to be a cold start, some frost around, early mist and fog, which will tend to lift in clare. and then most places will be dry with plenty of sunshine, including much of the north

of scotland and also northern ireland winds coming in from the southeast. so again, cooler around some southern and eastern coast, but further west with the sunshine around after that cold start, it could be up to around 13 degrees. a bit of a blip in the weather around the middle part of the week. we see a high pressure retreat allowing these weather fronts to bring some wind, cloud and rain to northern and western areas for a time. but then it looks like high pressure wants to build back in towards the end of the week and indeed for the run up to the easter weekend. so all in all, i think for many, particularly southern and eastern areas, it should stay fine, dry, unsettled.

this is bbc news. the headlines... politicians in iran are reacting to the flouting of headscarf laws by women — by insisting the rules must be enforced rigorously byjudges. russia has assumed the rotating presidency of the un security council for the month of april — a role described by ukraine's foreign minister as a slap in the face to the international community. in the uk, the port of dover has declared a critical incident with up to 70 coaches delayed overnight as they tried to cross to france. port authorities cited french border controls and bad weather for the hold—ups. at least eleven people have died after severe weather hit parts of the united states. there've been powerful tornadoes in the southern state of arkansas,