this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: at least 26 people are now known to have died after severe storms batter the north—east of the united states. the bbc has been told there are "positive updates" in the case of british men, two of whom are pictured here, who were arrested by the taliban in afghanistan earlier this year. coach travellers in dover face estimated waits of six to eight hours, despite extra ferries being laid on overnight to help clear the backlog, as passengers travel abroad for the easter holidays. the uk's home secretary tells the bbc the government's looking at further places to house migrants. we do need to increase our detention stay. we have got several thousand places already that we use and we have got capacity there. we will need to increase some

of our detention capacity. and after becoming one of the first cities in the world to authorise e—scooter rentals, paris holds a referendum on whether to ban them. hello and welcome. ijust want hello and welcome. i just want to start straightaway with some breaking news that we are getting out of russia. this is via the reuters news agency. they are saying that one person has been killed, six injured, in an explosion at a cafe injured, in an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg in russia. reuters are getting it from tass news agency, who say they are getting it from the emergency services there.

we are checking more details as we speak, but we know so far from reuters news agency is one person killed and six injured in an explosion in a cafe in st petersburg, and just as i was finishing that last sentence, one more detail. just bear with me as i bring that up. a well—known russian military blogger is the person killed in the explosion in st petersburg. again, that is reuters citing a source there. that detail coming just as i was talking to you. a well—known russian military blogger killed in an explosion in a cafe in st petersburg. more lines and details on that will be coming in. we will be verifying and checking them and we will be bringing them to you as we get them. i want to take you to the united states for our main story this hour.

authorities in the united states have been assessing the damage caused by severe storms and tornadoes. at least 26 people are now known to have died as the storms ripped through the south and the midwest, leaving a trail devastation. hardest hit were tennessee, arkansas and indiana. in illinois, one person was killed when a theatre roof collapsed in chicago. our reporter shelley phelps has more. two tornadoes left a trail of destruction in arkansas. this was the small town of wynne, where at least four people were killed. homes and businesses lie flattened. the local high school torn apart, devastated teachers and students came to see the extent of the damage for themselves. yeah, i've taught here 25 years. this is my classroom. and when i walked out yesterday, i didn't realise that would be the last time i would teach in this classroom. it's just... god protected this town, and he will rebuild it and everything will be fine again.

i'm a sophomore. i have been here since first grade. and the school, ijust love it. we have many traditions that... ..i'm very proud of this school for. i'm just very sad over the fact it is gone. i know we can come back stronger. we can build a better school and keep those traditions going. 100 miles away in the state capital of little rock, another person was killed, over 50 people hospitalised and at least 2,000 homes and businesses damaged. cody says he was lucky to be alive after a tornado swept over his van, tearing up trees around him. the wind was just absolutely howling. it was constantly making screaming noises. i could hear it blowing through the cracks in the van,

just kind of pushing it and shaking the whole thing. if i didn't have as much equipment in that van and it didn't have the bulkhead and some other stuff attached to the van to make it a little bit heavier, i am pretty sure it would have been flown away. also hit was the central state of illinois, where a storm caused a theatre roof to collapse at a packed heavy metal gig in belvedere. inside wasjessica, whose friend had convinced her to go at the last minute. the lights go out, i hear a noise. everything crashes down, which is the ceiling, and i felt like a tornado hit. i don't know the logistics of it or anything like that. but that went down. one person was killed in the tragedy and dozens of others injured. recovery operations are under way, but some of the affected areas could face more storms on tuesday. shelley phelps, bbc news. and cbs news correspondent bradley blackburn gave me the latest.

we know that at least two dozen people have died, slightly more than that because the numbers do keep increasing. this storm system moved into the north—east last night. it's blamed for at least one death in delaware, where a tornado touched down and affected homes, knocked down trees. we've seen the death toll in places, in communities in tennessee, as many as nine people died in one county. your reporter mentioned in arkansas, five deaths there. so this storm system took a serious toll in terms of lives and many, many structures damaged. the power of tornadoes is so fascinating because it is sporadic, but it is so intense. yeah, the intensity, too. and also where this is all impacting. give us an idea of the extent of all this. it's across a broad part of the united states, multiple states, at least eight states affected by this, with it, with some serious damage. but, as i mentioned, with tornadoes, it can be isolated in particular communities.

so in illinois, where you mentioned the incident that happened in the theatre in northern illinois, we know that 90 mile per hour winds were recorded in that community. it was strong enough to pull a roof off of that theatre when hundreds of people were inside, attending a concert. it sent parts of that roof caving down on them. rescuers were trying to pull people out of that rubble. at least one death reported there and dozens of people were hospitalised. so you see pictures like that. and of course, many homes, other structures destroyed, people trying to pick up the pieces. yeah, they will need a lot of help. what assistance is there? in the us, this comes down to the state, so it's on governors to assess the damage and then request assistance from the federal government. we know that process is already under way in arkansas. the governor there, sarah huckabee sanders, has requested that president biden make a disaster declaration that would clear the way for federal funds to help with rebuilding.

that would clear the way for federal funds to help with rebuilding. she's also declared a state of emergency in her state, activated the national guard to assist with search and rescue in the town of wynne there. they were trying to comb through homes, looking for people that may have been trapped inside some of that rubble to try and render them aid. thanks to bradley for that. the bbc has been told there are "positive updates" in the case of the british men arrested by the taliban in afghanistan. the government said it had been in negotiations following the news of their detention. yetunde yusuf has more. back under taliban control since the summer of 2021, now it's emerged that three british men have been held in custody by the taliban in afghanistan. so i may be on my way back tonight, maybe next week, maybe a month. it's understood one of them is miles routledge, who was evacuated from the country during the final days

of occupation in 2021. he's gained a social media following visiting countries deemed dangerous by the authorities. two other british men were also arrested — kevin cornwell, a 53—year—old charity worker and paramedic, and another british man who hasn't been named. in the last few hours, the organisation supporting the families of the two men told us there have been some developments. we have had confirmation that the two detained britons are in good health, and we have further positive events to hopefully relay very shortly. and we believe this is a strong indicator that we're moving towards a situation of a resolution, hopefully. meanwhile, the home secretary says people should be cautious about travelling to dangerous countries. if there are risks to people's - safety, if they're a british citizen abroad, then the uk government is going to do whatever it takes i to ensure that they're safe. updates on the men are expected in the next 2a to 48 hours. yetunde yusuf, bbc news.

well, the uk home secretary has expressed her sympathy with people who've faced long delays trying to get across the channel at dover but has rejected any suggestion brexit is to blame. she's insisted the issue lies with transport companies and port authorities and that it's a busy time of year. extra ferries were laid on overnight to try to clear the backlog, which led to some coach passengers facing waits of 14 hours. in the latest developments, the port now says that more than 100 coaches are waiting to cross the channel today. simonjones has this report. day three of the delays at dover, and once again it is coach passengers who are bearing the brunt of the problems. this group is trying to get to luxembourg for a short break, but before that, it's going to be a long wait. once we arrive at the port, it will take four hours to clear customs and then get on the ferry, so we are looking at ten hours. i have got mostly elderly passengers on that have paid good money for a holiday, and basically i think some of them now want to go home.

the problem is we have got one driver, so i don't think we will get to where we are going tonight. i don't really know what we're going to do. how are you feeling? unhappy. it's supposed to be my birthday week celebration. not off to the best of starts. but, hey, what can you do? those that have made it onto the ferries are still concerned about their onward journeys. 0ur drivers will run. out of driving hours, because they have been up all night, so our tour company are having - to organise for a driver to come - and meet us so that they can take us to the resort, to start the kids' ski trip a day late. _ extra ferries were laid on overnight and freight traffic and cars are getting through without any major hold—ups. the government says the ongoing issue with coaches is a matter for the ferry companies. they have seen an acute pressure of bookings, of coaches and journeys across the channel. it's a very busy time of year. there's been some bad weather, but they have been putting on extra journeys overnight. they are positive that this will be eased very soon.

but the port itself says french immigration checks following brexit have been an issue. it says it is deeply frustrated by this weekend's problems. simonjones there. next in the uk, the home secretary has defended the government's plans to send migrants who arrive in britain by crossing the english channel in small boats to rwanda. suella braverman described the plans as being a "significant deterrent", but the opposition labour party has criticised the move, accusing the government of failing to "get a grip" of the migration system. it comes as the bbc understands the government could announce alternatives to hotel accommodation for migrants as early as next week. earlier, our political correspondent david wallace lockhart gave us this update. the home secretary is very keen to see this plan become a reality, but it is bogged down in legal challenges at the moment. no timescale yet on that. of course, this is a key plank of the government's migration policy, that they want anyone who arrives in the country without permission to be detained and then sent to another country. in the case that they can't go back

to their home country, the most likely country they would go to would be rwanda under a deal that they've signed. now, the home secretary was asked this morning when she was on the laura kuenssberg on sunday programme about a 2018 incident when there were protesters, refugee protesters in rwanda who were fired upon with live rounds resulting in 12 deaths. she didn't know about that particular incident, but stressed she's still confident rwanda remains a safe country to send refugees to. obviously, a big issue for the government at the moment due to the numbers crossing the channel in small boats. big questions around where they are kept at the moment as well. and that's something the home secretary spoke about this morning. well, let's be clear that our scheme to detain and swiftly remove does not require 50,000 new detention places. the government is in no way planning to do that. what we need to do is we do... what happens if more people arrive? we do need to increase our detention estate.

we've got several thousand places already that we use and we've got capacity there. we will need to increase some of our detention capacity. but what we believe to work is that once we are able to relocate people from the uk to rwanda, pursuant to our world—leading deal, that will have a significant deterrent effect and people will stop making the journey in the first place. they'll stop paying the evil people smuggling gangs in the first place and numbers will come down. and that's notjust a speculation, that's actually borne out of experience. so other countries who rolled out a similar scheme, for example, australia. now, that idea there that the rwanda scheme being up and running will therefore deter people trying to cross the channel, that's not being bought by opposition parties. labour have actually been criticising the policy, not really from an ethical point of view, but more focusing on the fact that they think it's expensive, they think it's unworkable. it's been talked about for months and months, yet no—one has been sent

to rwanda under the scheme. and the shadow levelling up secretary, lisa nandy, was on television this morning, essentially saying that given how long the conservatives have been in powerfor, they have to take responsibility for the state of things at the moment. let's have a listen to what she had to say. this is so far a policy that has cost the british taxpayer a huge amount of money and hasn't seen a single person go to rwanda. so i think the evidence so far suggests that this is just yet another outlandish nonsense claim from a home secretary that is unable to do the very basics of getting her own system working. she complains about an asylum system that's broken. i think she really does need to ask who broke it. and the answer to that lies by looking in a mirror. i think this is a con trick being perpetrated on the british people. the government is not processing asylum claims. they've got an enormous backlog. they've added £500 million to the costs because of these delays that have been caused by them pursuing all these new strategies. now, much of that criticism there is shared by the liberal democrats.

they've called the scheme "botched." today, they say it won't stop any boats crossing the channel. now, the home office's own figures, one of their estimations was the figures this year could reach up to 80,000. that will, of course, be something the government will be trying their best to avoid. that is not a figure they want to see, given that one of rishi sunak�*s key policies is to stop these boat crossings. but with that rwanda scheme still tied up in legal challenges, with questions about where exactly asylum seekers would be detained under the government's new migration policy, lots of questions about how that number will be avoided and when these schemes will be operating. thanks to david for that. let's get the sport now. hi, gavin. hi there.

we'll start with some big news from the premier league. leicester city have confirmed the departure of brendan rodgers, by mutual consent. it follows their loss to crystal palace, with the club now in the bottom three. rodgers was appointed in february 2019 and led leicester to their first fa cup triumph two years ago and had consecutive fifth—place finishes in his first two full seasons. in a statement, leicester said "performances and results during the current season have been below our shared expectations. and the task ahead of us in ourfinal ten games is clear." two matches in the premier league. west ham moved off the bottom of the table — and jump to 14th — after beating southampton, who stay bottom. they're stilljust a point above the relegation zone, though. nayef aguerd with the goal, his first for the club, for a vital three points for the hammers. it's half—time between newcastle and manchester united — 0—0 there at stjames park. newcastle could move above them into third, with a win. reigning formula 1 champion max verstappen won a chaotic and controversial australian grand prix that finished under a safety car after a crash—affected restart. george russell actually took

the lead at the start, overtaking the two—time world champion max verstappen. a couple of early crashes mixed things up — and soon enough, verstappen was into the lead. russell's race came to a fiery end on lap 18. the race had three red flags and two grid restarts, the last of which saw no fewer than three separate incidents, with both alpine cars taking each other out. with both alpine cars taking each other out. it meant the race was effectively done, then, with only one processional lap to go, giving verstappen his second win of the season, ahead of lewis hamilton. and it was job done for anthonyjoshua against jermaine franklin at london's 02. the british boxer won on a unanimous points decision for his first victory in over two years. joshua said he wasn't too happy with the way he won, wanting a knockout. ade adedoyin was there. anthonyjoshua, back to winning ways, but you would not have guessed it by the look on his face. not a classic, but it was compelling. no titles at stake, butjoshua's career was on the line, and he boxed like a man under pressure. it started as a cat—and—mouse affair, joshua cautious

and reluctant to apply sustained pressure on the american. when his ramrod jab and thunderous right hand found the target, franklin stood firm. there was a chance to finish it late on — it was a missed opportunity. a comfortable win in the end, but tempers flared after the final bell and the pair had to be separated. a sign of frustration from joshua that he was not able to force a stoppage inside the distance. so, solid but not spectacular, but what did joshua make of the performance? deep, deep, deep down, i'm not happy because, ultimately, the ultimate goal is a knockout. there is nothing that can top a knockout. anything short of that is not what i'm happy with, if i'm honest, but it is what it is. i can't look back any more, i only build on it. not the knockout victory many predicted, but a win nonetheless — and judging by the reaction of the crowd, he remains a huge draw.

there will now be a clamour to see him face the wbc champion tyson fury. yeah, let's see if that happens. that is all the sport for now. more sport later on. we will see you then. gavin, thanks for that. pope francis has led palm sunday mass at the vatican, just a day after being discharged from hospital, following treatment for bronchitis. the pontiff, who's 86, appeared before worshippers in st peter's square, at the start of one of the busiest weeks in the christian calendar. 0ur europe correspondent jenny hill has that story. there was a determination about pope francis this morning, a desire, perhaps, to get back to work. butjust a day after he left hospital, he cut a rather frail figure, his voice at times rather hoarse as he led the palm sunday mass. translation: i thank you for “oining me and also for your prayers, _ which intensified in recent days. i truly thank you. applause

for worshippers here, a prayer answered. it's the most important time of the church year. and pope francis is now expected to preside over a gruelling schedule of easter services. but his hospital stay has intensified speculation about his longer term future. pope francis has indicated repeatedly that he would stand down were his health to fail him. he's 86 years old, he has a number of significant health complaints, and many here wonder whether that time might come sooner rather than later. for now, celebration. the pope clearly delighted to be back amongst his people, reassuring the faithful of his devotion. jenny hill, bbc news, rome.

for the 13th weekend in a row, more than 100,000 israelis have held protests across the country against a radicaljudicial overhaul, despite prime minister benjamin netanyahu's decision to pause the reforms earlier this week. talks have been initiated between the government and the opposition, but protest organisers fear the legislation could still be brought to a vote. i can tell you that the end game 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 the future, they feel their future is in danger. to france now. paris is holding a referendum today on whether to ban street rentals of e—scooters. the french capital was one of the first cities to authorise their use, but they've faced criticism from some who say they're often driven recklessly and clutter the streets. 0ur correspondent in paris, hugh schofield, has more. in paris, the operators are producing figures to show that

there are 400,000 regular users. it's certainly very easy to find people, if you go out voxpopping, who say, yes, they rely on them for their daily trip to work. they find it very useful coming home late at night. it's cheap, they're relatively green and so on, and they're fun. so they certainly have their supporters, but to say the least, they also have their detractors, one of whom is the mayor of paris, anne hidalgo. and she's the one who's called this referendum, you know, with a clear intention, one senses, that she wants them banned. there's no question of banning e—scooters in general, but of the free floating variety. and, yes, the complaint is that they clutter up the space. though, you know, there have been moves to try and regulate that. but also that the free floating ones are often picked up by youngsters who ride very recklessly. if it's not your bike, you don't really care how you ride it. if it is your... sorry, your bike, if it is your scooter, you'll look after it.

it's your regular means of getting about, you'll ride it differently. and, i mean, it's true. i mean, everyone's had a horror story or heard a horror story or had a close brush with someone coming down the road or down the pavement towards them or down the street the wrong way. it happens the whole time. and that is why a lot of parisians, particularly older parisians, are very angry. and the thing about this referendum, so—called, is that, you know, it's going to be older people probably who turn out to vote. the younger people who use them won't be voting. and that's the point being made by the operators, who really are very, very angry about this referendum. 0ur our thanks to hugh for that. the renowned japanese composer and producer ryuichi sakamoto, admired for his electronic music experimentation, has died aged 71. his film score for the last emperor in 1987 won him an oscar, a grammy and a golden globe. he also acted, including in the film merry christmas, mr lawrence with david bowie in 1983. sakamoto had been diagnosed with

cancer for a second time in 2021. 0k, just before i go, i want to remind you of our breaking news that i started with at the top of the hour. very few details, but they are slowly coming in from russia, from st petersburg, this explosion in a cafe that has killed one person and injured six others. the name that news agencies in russia are giving at the moment is a leading war blogger and he was writing blogs on the telegram platform from the front line, sometimes criticising the way russia's villa terry and political leadership is carrying out the war. but details of the explosion are still coming in and we are still working to gather more of them, but a cafe in saint petersburg, a blast

there. one person that and others injured. we will continue to gather information on that. i am lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello there, good afternoon. following an exceptionally wet march, especially across england and wales, you may be pleased to know that there's a lot of dry weather to come now in the forecast with plenty of sunshine, too. sunny spells captured today by weather watchers in pembrokeshire and again in derbyshire. and there's a lot more of that to come as we head through the next few days. so more sunshine, it's dry and fine for most particularly away from the far north and the west. why? well, because high pressure is dominating. it's towards the south—west and also out towards the east as well, just sending this chilly northeasterly breeze towards north sea facing coast today. so here it's always going to feel a little cooler and there will be some cloud across scotland and northern ireland. small chance for a shower

here, a bit more clouds, and 13 degrees celsius. of course, a little bit more strength than the sunshine at this time of year. so in the best of that, it's going to feel pleasantly warm. now, as we head through this evening and overnight, a lot of clear skies around. the winds fall lighter and there will be some frost developing into tomorrow morning. temperatures hovering round about freezing. you can see from the blue tones here where the frost will tend to be. a little milder towards the far south—east of england and also, of course, across the far north and west of scotland and northern ireland, but cloudier and breezy here. now, as we head through monday, then there's plenty more sunshine to come in the forecast. these weather fronts all blocked by the area of high pressure. so more sunshine, a bit more cloud across northern ireland, but that will tend to break up, and across the north west of scotland too, temperatures between ten and 13 celsius. again, we've got an onshore breeze for north sea—facing coasts, so a little cooler here once again. and it's another frosty start to the day on tuesday, we start to see these weather fronts

making more inroads into the far north—west of scotland, across the western isles, eventually pushing eastwards across to eastern scotland, too. but again, more sunshine is hanging on for england and wales on tuesday, temperatures peaking between 12 and 1a degrees. now, as we head through the middle part of the week, then our weather fronts will gradually push eastwards. they're largely fizzling out as they hit the high pressure. but we could see some rain even towards eastern areas, and then high pressure builds back in as we head through good friday and the easter bank holiday weekend. a bit more cloud around than today, temperatures at or slightly above the seasonal average.

this is bbc news, the headlines authorities in the united states have been assessing the damage caused by storms and tornadoes. at least 26 people are known to have died and dozens are missing — after the severe weather left a trail of devastation. the bbc has been told there are �*positive updates�* in the case of british men, two of whom are pictured here, who were arrested by the taliban in afghanistan earlier this year. one person has been killed and six others injured after an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg — russian�*s second largest city. it's understood that a pro—russian war blogger was holding a meeting at the venue and has been been killed in the explosion. pope francis has led mass

in st peter's square in front of more than 30 thousand people, kicking off the year's