this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories: russia says a pro—kremlin military blogger has been killed in an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg. 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. passengers arriving at dover for the easter getaway to france face lengthy waits despite extra ferries to clear a backlog. the uk's home secretary tells the bbc the government's looking at further places to house migrants.

pope francis presides over palm sunday mass at the vatican, just a day after leaving hospital in rome for treatment for bronchitis. we start with the breaking news that russia says a leading pro—kremlin military blogger has been killed in a blast in a cafe in st petersburg. police say 16 others have been injured in the incident. the city is the second largest in russia after the capital, moscow. vladlen tatarsky was one of a handful of reporters writing blogs on the telegram platform from the front line and was a vocal supporters of russia's war in ukraine. it is not clear at this time who's responsible for the blast. as you'd expect, details of the explosion are still coming in and of course

as we get more on this, we'll bring it to you. to the united states now, though. authorities there 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 of 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 really 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.

let's talk about the situation in dover now. the uk home secretary has also 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. simon jones has more. inch by inch, things are slowly moving at the port of dover, the but coachloads of schoolchildren

destined for easter breaks have faced lengthy delays. we got here, down into the queue, about 2:30am this morning. we were about number 33, we're now down to 31, and we reckon we've probably got another 12 hours left waiting. this group are en route to luxembourg but have been queueing since yesterday. i've 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. now the blame game has begun. the port of dover sat ferry companies accepted extra easter bookings, which added pressure to the system. the companies say they shared all booking information in advance and have laid on extra crossings overnight to help get things moving. the port is also blaming french border processes. since the uk left the eu, there's no longer freedom of movement to the continent, so passport checks are much more rigorous. and they happen here on english soil, so when you've got, say, a coachload of 80 schoolchildren, every single person has to get off, have their passport examined and stamped. freight traffic and cars haven't been affected. the home secretary said the delays are not down to brexit. they've seen an acute pressure of bookings,

of coaches and journeys across the channel. it is a very busy time of year. there's been bad weather, but they've been putting on extra journeys overnight. last summer, there were huge queues at the start of the school holidays, and the christmas getaway saw problems because of strikes. how, then, to prevent a repeat in the future? i can imagine ministers are going to call in the port of dover, the ferry companies, and say, "right, we can't have this again," so therefore there will be mandated capacity limits, which will be carefully worked out by the port, by the ferry companies, so that they know that they can cope. there will be an early test of resilience in a few days' time, with large numbers expected to travel over the easter bank holiday. marc ashdown is in doverfor us. you've been there all day. what is the situation there now? is it improving at all? if the situation there now? is it improving at all?— the situation there now? is it imrovin: at all? , improving at all? if you look behind me, the improving at all? if you look behind me. the queue. _

improving at all? if you look behind me, the queue, you _ improving at all? if you look behind me, the queue, you can _ improving at all? if you look behind me, the queue, you can barely- improving at all? if you look behind me, the queue, you can barely see | improving at all? if you look behind l me, the queue, you can barely see it now, but there are still 80 or so coaches parked up there. and they're the lucky ones. down to about a two orfour the lucky ones. down to about a two or four hour wait, the lucky ones. down to about a two orfour hour wait, we are the lucky ones. down to about a two or four hour wait, we are told, before they keyed onto their faeries but we have seen schoolchildren playing football down here, boxes of pizza being locked, a stream of teenagers. they been using lori parks and service stations to park on the outskirts, to try and alleviate some of the pressure here —— lorry parks. different picture than friday, the first day of the weekend. a complete gridlock of coaches here as school parties try to get through the port, and as you heard me explained there, much of the blame is put down to these processes in the past, what the french do here, they have to do their checks on english soil, so they are much more rigorous now since the uk left the eu. there was some bad weather as well. that

limits how the faeries can operate. a bit of a blame game or opting, but you do feel for the schoolchildren of their teachers and their families who have been stranded here, many of them for ten, 15, 2a hours, looking to board theirferry them for ten, 15, 2a hours, looking to board their ferry and start what should've been a dream holiday. people going out will have to come back again in the next couple of weeks, most of them. we know what they can expect on the other side. hopefully not as bad as this. as i mentioned there, the blame game has really started, and i think they really started, and i think they really are in a race for time to work out what has gone wrongly before the busy easter getaway and couple of days' time. good friday, that typically is very, very busy, easter weekend. the government, you heard they are, are saying this is not to do with brexit, not to do with these after passport checks, but when you talk to the teachers here and the drivers and the coaches, they say they are stronger checks here. the report have been limited ferry operators, saying they laid on extra faeries, they took

more bookings than they could cope. the ferry companies have said that is not true. they do altogether in a kind of kent resilience forced to plan these things, so you and imagine they will have urgent talks to work at what has gone wrong. this is not the let first time we've seen this. last summer they were all sorts of delays when border force got caught in a tunnel, there were limited passport controls, and there were issues at christmas because of strikes on border force, so they really are in a race for time to sort this out so we don't get a repeat at easter and the summer holidays looming and it few months as well. ~ holidays looming and it few months as well. a . . holidays looming and it few months as well. a, . ., holidays looming and it few months as well. . ., ., ~ as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank ou. -- as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank yom -- in — as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank yom -- in a _ as well. ok, marc at dover, thank yom -- in a few— as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank you. -- in a few months _ as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank you. -- in a few months as - as well. 0k, marc at dover, thank you. -- in a few months as well. i 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 are being held in custody by the taliban in afghanistan.

so it may be i might be evacuated tonight, maybe next week, maybe a month. it's understood one of them is miles routledge, who had to be evacuated in the final days of the occupation in 2021. he's gained a social media following visiting countries deemed dangerous by the authorities. two other british men have also been arrested — kevin cornwall, a 53—year—old charity worker and paramedic, and another british man who hasn't been named. the organisation supporting the families of the two men say after three months, they finally had contact. we're not really talking about a hostage situation with controlled language. they were able to discuss personal matters, able to confirm the health and well—being of the individuals. and this is really the first time that we've seen this in any of this style of detentions. it was also an enormous diplomatic step forwards.

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. the presidium network say negotiations are still under way and that there's hope for a positive outcome. yetunde yusuf, bbc news. let's speak to bashir bakhtyar from the bbc afghan service. welcome to you. what more do we know about these negotiations? the negotiations, _ about these negotiations? tue: negotiations, the about these negotiations? tte: negotiations, the taliban have said nothing at all, books normally in case like this, they remain incommunicado. they don't want to talk about it, even if they are arresting locals or foreigners, talk about it, even if they are arresting locals orforeigners, but the government here have said, we heard the report, that the negotiation is under way, but these negotiations are not clear either,

with whom, through which channels, because the uk does not have any... it is going to be a bit difficult. yeah, and as you say the taliban are not saying anything. is it possible to get any information was yellow we know the un is in afghanistan. some other ngos are _ know the un is in afghanistan. some other ngos are working _ know the un is in afghanistan. some other ngos are working in _ other ngos are working in afghanistan. they have got good contacts with the taliban and i'm sure the uk government can benefit from those contacts and consort of open up negotiation channels if they have not yet, with the taliban, to find ways to contact these people who are held in afghanistan. find who are held in afghanistan. and tell us more _ who are held in afghanistan. and tell us more about what the foreign office are saying. the tell us more about what the foreign office are saying.— office are saying. the foreign office are saying. the foreign office has _ office are saying. the foreign office has said _ office are saying. the foreign office has said they're - office are saying. the foreign office has said they're trying l office are saying. the foreign. office has said they're trying to contact these men, but as i said it is going to be very difficult to establish direct contact with these people in afghanistan, because we do not know in which of they are held.

presumably, they are held in kabul, but we know the taliban about different secret service departments. we don't know which the partner and has taken them. and also these are high—value people. we know these are high—value people. we know the taliban are under enormous international pressure because of the nonrecognition of the regime, so when they find cases like this, they use it as a very good organ in chip. i think it will be very difficult for the taliban to come up and to say, yeah, we are holding these people and these are our conditions. what might the taliban want in return for the safe passage or return for the safe passage or return of these three men? tt is return of these three men? it is very difficult _ return of these three men? tit 3 very difficult because as return of these three men? tit 1 very difficult because as i say, the taliban, they are hungerfor international recognition, and i'm sure when they find any excuses, they want privileges, they want

advantages, they want concessions from the international community, especially the western powers like the uk. they want to help in having that recognition. in previous cases, when high—value british nationals were released from afghanistan, the uk for example said that, we do not support any military resistance against the taliban, the only solution to the afghan conflict is to negotiate, so probably some sort of concession will be made this time as well. �* . , of concession will be made this time as well. 1, , 1, ~ _, of concession will be made this time as well. 1, , 1, ~ ,~ ., ~ of concession will be made this time aswell. ., ~ as well. bashir bakhtyar, thank you very much- — ukraine's president hailed the first anniversary of russia's withdrawal from the kyiv region on sunday, saying ukrainians had stopped the greatest force against humanity of our time. volodomyr zelensky also renewed his pledge to see all occupied territory liberated. meanwhile, ukrainian officials say six civilians have been killed

in russian shelling in a town near the embattled city of bakhmut, in the east of the country. speaking from kyiv, bbc correspondent hugo bachega explained the significance of the anniversary to ukrainians. i think it's important for the ukrainians to remember what happened in those towns here in the kyiv region last year, because perhaps that changed the course of the war. the russians thought they would be here in kyiv in a matter of days, and obviously that didn't happen, because they faced strong and obviously the president is now talking about how the ukrainians had stopped the greatest force against humanity of our time. the ukrainian army... now under occupation. the president renewed his pledge to see all occupy part of ukraine liberated. parts of the south, east of the country, remain under russian control, the front lines have barely changed in recent months, but the fighting teams in the east, near the town of bakhmut,

which has been the main target for russian forces in the east of the country, russian shelling killed six civilians in the doughnuts region according to ukrainian authorities. —— don yet cs region. and... the russian appointed officials said ukrainian schelling hit a train depot and residential areas and six people were injured. hugo bachega there. the home secretary insists asylum seekers who've arrived in the uk will be safe in rwanda, if they're deported as part of the government's new migration strategy. but it remains unclear when the scheme will be up and running. 0pposition parties have criticised the cost and feasibility of the plans. 0ur political correspondent ione wells reports. this is the home secretary stepping off the plane in rwanda two weeks ago. the first plane due to take asylum—seekers here from the uk last summer never even took off. the government want to send asylum—seekers here if they cross the channel in small boats.

the plans are still facing a legal challenge. ministers can't commit to when they will stop the boats and insist rwanda is a safe country. the united nations refugee agency has evidence. 12 congolese refugees there were shot dead during protests in 2018. the bbc has verified the location and the date at which that happened. the rwandan government says it was a last resort and there was violence at the protests. suella braverman was confronted with this footage of what happened in the aftermath of that protest. well, as i said, that might be 2018. we're looking at 2023 and beyond. the high court — senior, expertjudges — have looked into the detail of our arrangement with rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful. i think we're on strong ground to say that rwanda's a safe country, it is the right solution for us grappling with our small boats problem. 0pposition parties are not convinced

the rwanda plan will ever happen. 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 cost because of these delays that have been caused by them pursuing all these new strategies, barges that don't exist, claims to send people to rwanda that haven't materialised. the liberal democrats said ms braverman�*s comments show the rwanda plan is unworkable and on hold. the number of migrants crossing the channel hit a record high last year. it will result in their detention... the prime minister has pledged to stop the boats, but he and his party know this is a political risk. they are aware, if they fail, voters could make that disappointment known at the next election. ione wells, bbc news. 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. 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. people in poland have been taking part in marches to defend popejohn paul ii, following reports

he was aware of and did not act against priests who sexually abused children when he was an archbishop there in the 1970s. the marches have been organised by politicians and conservative catholic groups and are taking place on the 18th anniversary of the polish pope's death. many people in poland consider popejohn paul ii to be the greatest—ever pope, who played a decisive role in helping to bring down the communist regime in 1989. 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. 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. a reminder of our breaking news — russia says a pro—kremlin military blogger has been killed in a blast in a cafe in st petersburg.

police say 16 others have been injured in the incident. the city is the second largest in russia after the capital, moscow. vladlen tatarsky was one of a handful of reporters writing blogs on the telegram platform from the front line and was a vocal supporter of russia's war in ukraine. he died at this scene. it is not clear at this time who's responsible for the blast. that was a little earlier. this is the scene there right now. a heavy military presence, cordoned off area, there in st petersburg, as you would expect, details of the explosion are still very much coming in, but a simple disparate website set into place at this cafe that at one time belonged to the owner of the private wagon or army that is fighting for russia in ukraine ——

private wagner army. no indication yet as to who is responsible. that is it for me. i am on twitter. stay with bbc news. 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,

but still breaking up at times across west and wales, in the far south west of england, temperatures peaking between 9—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 the russian government says one of it's leading war bloggers has been killed in an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg, russia's second largest city. sixteen other people were injured. vladlen tatarsky was a vocal supporter of russia's war in ukraine and was holding a meeting at the venue. 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.