welcome to bbc news, i'm vishala sri—pathma. our top stories: devastating tornadoes tear through america's south and midwest, at least 21 people are killed. another week, another protest, thousands of israelis demonstrate once more against a radical overhaul of thejudiciary. uproar as russia takes over the presidency of the un security council. ukraine calls it a slap in the face. translation: there is no form of terror that russia has not. already committed and there would be no reason why that would stop the reform of global institutions, particularly the un security council. and, fancy footwear, we'll tell you about the huge convention in asia dedicated

to the humble trainer. tornadoes and severe storms are continuing to leave a trail of destruction across the united states. at least 21 people are now known to have died in the south and the midwest. tennessee, arkansas and indiana have been hardest hit. in illinois, one person was killed, when a theatre roof collapsed in chicago. these pictures are of the storm passing a car in arkansas, and as you can see, the images speak for themselves. the bbc�*s sancha berg reports. dozens of storms and tornadoes left

a trail of destruction, two of the fiercest touched down in the southern state of arkansas. tearing off roofs, bringing down power lines, sweeping through homes with incredible force. the rate of pace and the volume of itjust seemed 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 which has steel bars in the front of it. several people have been killed, dozens injured, in this state alone. the governor declared a state of emergency. i think the real story here isn't the damage that happened but it's the heroes that were born out of the tragedy and the fact that we have firefighters who despite the fact that they had a tornado literally coming through their station were worried about the community. that tells you who they are and it tells you, i think, a lot about our state. 600 miles to the north in belvidere, illinois, another storm hit.

the roof of the apollo theatre collapsed. one person has been killed, dozens injured. this latest destructive weather arrived just as president biden was visiting mississippi where he promised help to those hit by another tornado last week. sancha berg, bbc news. joe goudsward is a senior forecaster with the national weather service in little rock, arkansas. he told me how natives of little rock were coping in the aftermath. we are currently in cleanup mode and very happy to be here, thank you for inviting me. streets are being cleaned, people are being taken care of. there is no active weather right now, it is very quiet so we are basically in recovery mode at this time. and what is the situation going forward over the next 2a hours, 48 hours? what guidance is being

given out to people? there are numerous shelters open and as far as weather is concerned we are looking at fairly quiet weather tonight so the search and rescue can continue without any weather concerns. we're expecting some rain tomorrow night in southern arkansas for the most part but unfortunately we are looking at another chance of strong to severe thunderstorms coming in for tuesday but until then the weather will be a little wet over the south but relatively quiet. and in terms of those families and individuals that have been impacted by the weather, by these storms, tornadoes which clearly have devastated people's lives here, what can they do right now? they can heed the advice of their county officials. there are curfews in effect for parts of the city, there are shelters that are open, there are roads that remain closed so the best advice that i can give is pay attention to the weather for tuesday but also pay attention to your local officials. they are the ones who are taking care of all the search

and rescues and all the shelters so just listen to what does local officials have to say. and is it safe for them to return to their accommodation? or are they best to keep away? it would depend on what part of little rock that you are in. some parts, the houses are habitable. in many parts they are not habitable so people are staying with friends and family or staying in hotels or staying in shelters. many homes are simply unlivable at this time. for the 13th week in a row, more than a 100,000 israelis have held protests across the country against a radical judicial overhaul, despite the process having been put on hold by the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, earlier this week. talks have been initiated between the government and the opposition, but protest organisers fear legislation that would give the government control overjudicial appointments could still be brought to a vote.

i can tell you that the endgame will be that we are going to win, because this is not something that we can live with. we cannot live in a state that is not democratic. these people which came out here today to cry for their future, to fight for their future. they feel their future is in danger. earlier i spoke to ron kampeas. he's the jta jewish news' washington bureau chief. he told me not many people were anticipating such a large turnout after prime minister netanyahu's delays earlier this week. i think that there was an expectation that his pause would calm things down so the fact that there are 150,000 people according to organisers at least in tel aviv and tens

of thousands elsewhere shows that israelis or the protesters are not necessarily buying into netanyahu's assurances. and in terms of the diaspora, the people that you mix with and speak to, how do they feel about it? it is a saturday night here so i haven't gotten in touch with anybody but there was a real expectation, there almost a sigh of relief here was going to put a pause on this —— after netanyahu on monday said he was comfortable was going to put a pause on this because this is really painful for americanjews, jewish people everywhere to see this, so i think they are probably going to interrogate why this is happening, why the protesters don't believe netanyahu and they are going to start asking the hard questions and see what they come up with. one thing for instance is, netanyahu is

part of this agreement, agreed to set up a national guard that would be under the aegis of the security manager, and so they are going to see that, they might have some of the same scepticism that people in the protesters in israel are having. and in terms of where you are at the moment, in the us, president biden has expressed views on these proposed judicial reforms, do you think that will have much sway with the ongoing process now? i think that the protesters arejuiced by president biden�*s expressions. i think that they know that the us alliance is the closest alliance israel has, it is considered critical to the country's survival and they will see it as pressuring netanyahu to come to a substantial compromise. russia has taken over the presidency of the un security council, in what ukraine says is a "slap in the face to the international community,", because of the on—going war. the presidency is rotated among the council's 15 members every month, and the last time russia had the role, in february 2022, vladimir putin launched his invasion. ukraine's president vlodymyr zelensky said it showed

the need for the institution to be reformed. translation: there is no form of terror that _ translation: there is no form of terror that russia _ translation: there is no form of terror that russia has - translation: there is no form of terror that russia has not - of terror that russia has not already committed and there will be no reason that that will be no reason that that will stop the reform of global institutions, or particular, the un security council. the reform that is obviously overdue to prevent a terrorist state and any other state that wants to be a terrorist from destroying the piece. terrorists must lose, must be held accountable for terror and not to preside anywhere. our ukraine correspondent, hugo bachega is in the capital, kyiv and sent this update. there's been some angry reaction after russia assumed the rotating presidency of the un security council, which is the top security body of the united nations. dmytro kuleba, the ukrainian foreign minister, said,

"this was a slap in the face to the international community" and the president's chief of staff said, "this was another blow to the rules—based system of international relations" and since the beginning of the war, the ukrainians have criticised the fact that russia has continued to be a permanent member of the security council with veto power, and russia has been using this power to block resolutions related to the conflict. but the united states, which has been a key ally of the ukrainians in this war, has said there is no legal pathway to expel a permanent member of the security council. and in the last few days, the ukrainians have tried to block russia from taking over the presidency of the security council but the us, again, said there was no means to block moscow from the post. earlier we spoke to larry korb,

a senior fellow at the center for american progress and former united states assistant secretary of defense. the united states — president biden�*s press secretary, said, "we don't like it but we hope that russia will unintelligible responsibly during the next month" - but as you mentioned, they were running the security council when the russians, you know, invaded ukraine illegally. and is there a bigger question here about the kind of relevancy, then, of this presidency position? yeah, i don't think it — because it rotates among all 15 members, including the people who — the other 11 people who are not part of the permanent, so you could have a very small country, you know, running it in the midst of a major — a major crisis. and in terms of the wider sort of sense of the kind of role or significance of the un security council, i mean, questions have been asked of this since the invasion of ukraine — do you think that's injeopardy at the moment? well, you know, basically,

the general assembly has had 140 countries vote to condemn the invasion. the security council couldn't do that because china and russia obviously were abstaining. so, ithink, basically, they have moved in that direction. the international criminal court — which is not technically part of the un — has indicted president putin, so they're doing what they can but you've got to remember when you've got great power politics, it's very hard for an international organisation to go against the wishes of any of the great powers. and from russia's point of view, i mean, are they going to be happy about this? well, you know, russia, you know, basically has vetoed all the resolutions that have come through the security council. they have vetoed about 2k

resolutions in the last year, the chinese another ten, the united states, for example, only one. and so, in terms of what happens in the future, do you think that will be sort of perhaps a review of the rules and regulations around this, because it's something that's been talked about for those reasons that you mentioned, for the vetoes of china and russia and the power they wield within the un security council? yeah, i mean, basically, what i think the russians are going to do is they're going to bring up the united states's invasion of iraq and say "we didn't condemn that. "that was illegal. "they, you know, didn't have a un support when they did it. "they invaded under false pretences," and i think they'll spend a month doing that. larry korb. thousands of people have taken to the streets of lisbon and other cities across portugal to protest against soaring rents and house prices at a time when inflation is making it even harder

for people to make ends meet. the demonstrations were organised by the �*home to live' movement and other groups. as shelley phelps reports: taking to the streets to protest against the housing crisis. government data shows more than half of workers in portugal earn less than 1000 euros a month while the average rent for a one—bed flat in the tourist hot spot of lisbon is nearly 1400. and with costs continuing to rise, those here say they're facing an impossible situation. with my salary, which is higher than the salary average in lisbon, i cannot afford renting a flat because it's too expensive. the prices went up so much in the near — in the last year. the rental and housing issue in lisbon, i think, is the worst — the worst situation in the city, than other cities in europe.

many share stories of their struggle to access housing but the situation is particularly challenging for young people. translation: people who, for example, work and are l homeless, students whose lives come to a halt and maybe can't study at the university they choose, people who are evicted because of their houses turned into short—term accommodations for tourists. last month, the portuguese government announced plans to end its golden visa scheme for investors and to ban new airbnb rentals in urban areas, but critics say it's not enough. to begin with, we are here to say that to begin with, we are here to say that the to begin with, we are here to say that the government's measures do not convince us and there is a huge housing crisis here

this is a social emergency and the government seems to remain unaware of this huge crisis, given its implements measures that will mainly benefit the real estate sector. those here say they're determined to keep banging the drum for change. shelley phelps, bbc news. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a series of devastating tornadoes have torn through america's south and midwest. at least 21 people are killed. for the 13th week in a row, thousands of israelis have demonstrated against a radical overhaul of the judiciary. a hardline member of the iranian parliament has given thejudiciary an ultimatum to come up with measures to put a stop to women flouting the rules on headscarves. his comments come despite months of mass protests demanding an end to the restriction. param ghobadi from the bbc persian service has the story. scenes like these were unimaginable seven months ago in iran. women refusing to wear the hijab in public.

videos obtained by bbc persian show women floating the islamic dress code at a sports complex in tehran on friday. it's not only women. he would also have been arrested for wearing shorts in public a few months ago. the young iranian generation is fearless. they don't want to dance to the tune of the clerical establishment. and it's not only in capital tehran. this was sent to us from hormuz island in southern iran, in the persian gulf. and this is the central city of isfahan, and here in this western town these girls are barred from entering a tourist attraction because they have no hijab. such acts of defiance has infuriated the hardliners. here a man warns a girl who is not wearing a headscarf. he then hits both women in the head with a yoghurt bucket.

the iranianjudiciary said all three were arrested. many critics say hardliners like him are emboldened due to a statement by the iranian interior ministry published on thursday. but enforcing the hijab is not that easy any more after months of protests following the death of a kurdish girl, mahsa amini, in police custody in september. iranian security forces killed over 500 protesters, according to rights groups. despite the deadly crackdown, it would seem there is no going back for iranian women. param ghobadi, bbc news. a court in romania has agreed to allow the controversial social media influencer andrew tate to leave prison and move into house arrest.

the british—american former kickboxer is being investigated for a number of crimes, all of which he denies. lucy williamson reports. the police have been here to the compound a couple of times already today. it's day one of house arrest for the tate brothers and the police have come to check they're on the premises as they're supposed to be. the judge has said they have to stay in this building for 30 days until the end of april. the tate spokeswoman said the brothers are nevertheless ecstatic to be out of police custody and that there aren't that many restrictions on them while they're under house arrest. they can have visitors into the compound, they can post material online, and they can also talk to the media. although, as you can see today, the media is being kept out here in the rain for the moment. these gates have remained largely shut today, apart from a few comings and goings. but if you look through the gaps, you can see that life is continuing pretty much as it did before. inside the lobby here looks a little

bit like the set of a tv show. there's a swimming pool and a small gym. there used to be a fleet of luxury cars, but they've now all gone. they've been impounded by the romanian authorities here at the end of the street, there are large areas that are undeveloped, really just wasteland. and we also now know that some of those luxury cars inside this compound didn't belong to the brothers themselves. they were leased from a car rental company. all of that gives a slightly different impression to the one they gave in the videos online. lucy williamson reporting there. finns are heading to the polls on sunday, with three party leaders all vying to become the country's next prime minister. opinion polls suggest it'll be a tight race, with sanna marin — who became the world's youngest premier at 3a back in 2019 — battling to stay in power. finland is on the verge of formallyjoining nato, and this election will determine who'll actually lead it into the alliance. ms marin campaigned to voters

at a rally in the capital helsinki on saturday. the situation is very tight. we have three parties that are — any of these three parties can win tomorrow and of course we hope that we will enter and continue our work that we have been doing for the last four yea rs. here in the uk, water companies could face unlimited fines for discharging sewage into waterways in england after it was revealed last year saw almost 1000 sewage spills a day. our political correspondent ione wells reports. raw, untreated sewage, pumped into rivers, lakes, streams and the sea. this happened more than 300,000 times in england last year — that's more than 800 times a day. water companies release sewage like this when there's too much demand on their treatment works in rainy periods. they can be acting illegally, though, if they pump sewage

into water when the conditions are dry or if they don't treat enough of the waste before releasing it. ministers want to clamp down on firms breaking the rules. they will announce plans for firms to face unlimited fines for polluting the environment. the environment secretary therese coffey says money from higher fines will be ringfenced and invested back into rivers, lakes and streams. the body representing water companies says fines alone won't clean up waterways. it's really important to remember that with 99% of sewage works meeting their legal conditions in full last year, you know, rule breaking is an absolute minority of the problem here. we have to rebuild the sewer system to place less reliance on overflow. but why has the government decided now to adopt stricter rules ? local elections are coming up in may. while it's not an issue councils have the power to fix, it's one coming up on doorsteps around the country. other parties have said water companies should face greater accountability.

what we need is a strong plan, mandatory monitoring, so we know exactly where this is happening, automatic fines making sure those that are responsible are held to account — that's what a plan looks like. we put that before parliament and the government, if you can believe it, voted against it. i think we need to see a different approach to prevent executives receiving their huge bonuses until this problem is sorted out, and to make dumping sewage into our bathing waters illegal. it's too little, too late _ and we need to see some much, much stronger solutions, including bringing water. companies back into public ownership. i as parties vie for votes next month, they all hope to put clear blue water between them and their rivals on plans to make these murky brown scenes a sight of the past. ione wells, bbc news. and, finally, whether you call them trainers, sneakers or sports shoes, they're big business, making up a 70 billion dollar industry.

now, singapore is hosting a convention all about them — the first of a kind in southeast asia. tim allman reports. bass riff from these boots are made for walkin' by nancy sinatra plays. they're notjust footwear — they are a way of life. # you keep sayin�* you've got something for me hundreds of millions of trainers are sold every year, worn by the athletically inclined and those who are less so. # these boots are made for walkin�* # and that's just what they'll do # one of these days # these boots are gonna walk all over you where there's money, there is always a convention, and this one is happening in singapore. organisers say around 15,000 people were in attendance, getting a kick out of their kicks.

we have people here from indonesia, thailand, brunei, malaysia. it's a really amazing thing to see sneakerheads unite from around the region to gather for this event. sneaker con is a global phenomenon, travelling to more than 20 cities worldwide. this stop was originally scheduled for 2020, but then covid happened. if they're making up for lost time, there may be no better place to do it. there's a lot of attention in asia right now, and, like, there are a lot of, like, collaborations happening with asian sneaker designers, and it's amazing where it's become, you know? # are you ready, boots? # start walkin'! next stop for sneaker con is the united states — the spiritual home of the modern sports shoe. this is an industry with big ambitions and its advice for anyone thinking of buying a pair of trainers —

just do it. tim allman, bbc news. that's it from us. you cannot reach me on twitter. hello. saturday was a brighter day for some than for others and across the east coast of england and eastern scotland, brightness was in short supply. cloud and a brisk breeze in stonehaven keeping temperatures pegged back to five degrees celsius but parts of south wales saw highs of 15 with a little bit of sunshine, and i'm hopeful that on sunday more of us will get to see some spells of sunshine — certainly, a drier and brighter day overall because high pressure is going to be building its way in, squeezing out a lot of the cloud, also squeezing out much of the rain. there mayjust be a bit of dampness first thing, particularly in the north—west of scotland. across scotland, northern ireland, parts of wales and south—west

england, i think we will keep some areas of cloud through the day, but generally speaking, some good spells of sunshine, certainly a brighter and less chilly day for north sea coasts — temperatures of nine or ten degrees. highest temperatures out towards the west — 12 for belfast and cardiff, 13 degrees in plymouth. and then, as we head through sunday night with those clear skies overhead, temperatures will drop. it is going to be a colder night than we've been used to of late. quite widely, i think we'll see a touch of frost. the temperatures you see here are for the town and city centres. minus one there in the centre of birmingham. some spots in the countryside will get colder than that, so a chilly start to monday. but at this time of year, the sun has got some strength to it, so once the sun comes up, the frost will lift and the temperatures will start to climb. good spells of sunshine through the day. this frontal system trying to push into northern ireland. it may introduce more cloud here later in the day, turning the sunshine rather hazy. temperatures ten to 13 degrees. now, into tuesday, i think we will see a weather front bringing cloud and some patchy

rain into northern ireland and scotland, particularly western scotland. best of the sunshine will be found across england and wales. temperatures there in liverpool perhaps up to 1a degrees, which won't feel too bad at all if you do get sunshine overhead. now, the middle part of the week will bring frontal systems in from the north—west. that will introduce some outbreaks of rain, particularly across the north—west of the uk. it is likely that high pressure will hold on further south and east, so there won't be a huge amount of rain here and, actually, for the end of the week and the start of the easter weekend, at this stage, it looks mostly dry.

this is bbc news, the headlines: authorities in the us are assessing the damage caused by severe storms and tornadoes across states in the south and midwest. at least 21 people in six states have been confirmed dead. tennessee, arkansas and illinois were hardest hit. more than 100,000 israelis have been protesting againstjudicial reforms for the 13th week in a row. they gathered, despite a pause in the process announced earlier this week. in tel aviv, there were scuffles between protesters and counter—demonstrators. ukraine has condemned russia's assumption of the rotating presidency of the un security council as a slap in the face to the international community. ukraine's foreign minister urged council members to thwart any russian attempts to abuse the position.

the presidency is largely ceremonial, although it oversees the agenda.