live from london, this is bbc news. russia detains a women after a pro—kremlin blogger was killed in a bomb blast at a cafe in st petersburg. russia's wagner mercenary group claims it now controls the embattled ukrainian city of bakhmut. but kyiv insists its forces still hold it. schools in england face further closures as the uk's largest teaching union rejects the government's pay offer and calls further strikes. the man who shot and killed a nine—year old schoolgirl in north west england last year will be sentenced for her murder later. the former president of kosovo, hashim thaci, and three other ex—leaders plead not guilty to war crimes during the fight for independence from serbia. from centre left to centre right —

finland's conservative leader petteri orpo wins a nail—biting three—way election race, defeating prime minister sanna marin. hello and welcome. i'm ben thompson. russia's investigators have detained a 26—year—old woman, darya trepova, in connection with the murder of the pro—war blogger vladen tatarsky, who was killed by a bomb in st petersburg on sunday. media reports said the explosion occurred shortly after he had been given a statuette by a woman at an event in a cafe. russia's security service has accused ukraine of being behind the blast, but ukrainian officials have denied this. a short time ago russia's anti—terrorism committee said it believes the attack

was planned by ukrainian secret services, jointly with "people cooperating with" jailed opposition leader alexei navalny�*s anti—corru ption foundation. our correspondent will vernon in moscow has more. i'm just seeing a short statement that has come in from the russian investigative committee, which is russia's version of the fbi, and who have been investigating the blasts last night in st petersburg. a short statement saying, "in connection with the explosion "in the cafe in st petersburg, employees of the. i'm just translating this, sorry. "employees of the investigative committee, together with other "services, have arrested, or have detained, darya trepova." so, that 26—year—old woman from st petersburg we were talking about earlier, again, we don't know to what extent she is a suspect yet, but she has been detained, it seems, by the russian authorities. what we do know is that, last night, an unidentified explosive device

detonated in the cafe, killing vladlen tatarsky, the prominent military blogger. and several russian media said that, just before the blast, vladlen tatarsky was passed some kind of statuette, which the explosive materials could have been hidden in. you might be thinking, "why is this all important? "this was not a russian official or even military officer, "this was a blogger, albeit a very well—known one." you know, the community of pro—kremlin military bloggers have taken on this quite high profile in russia since the war started just over a year ago, and many of them even go as far as to criticise the russian authorities, the military, even the president himself, for perceived setbacks on the battlefield in ukraine. as we know, there have been plenty of those. on last night's bombing, several russian officials have already pointed the finger of blame at kyiv. a ukrainian spokesperson denied ukraine had anything to do with it. what i think is clear is that this

incident will worry a lot of ordinary russians, because this will be yet another kind of sign that, for them, the war is coming closer and closer to their homes. meanwhile, in eastern ukraine, russia's mercenary wagner group claims it's in control of the fiercely contested town of bakhmut. the head of the group unfurled a russian flag at bakhmut�*s city hall and declared this. translator: this is wagner private military company's flag. _ these are the guys who took bakhmut. in the legal sense, it's ours. the enemy remains in the western districts. and the units�* commanders, who are capturing the administrative building and the whole central district, will carry on putting these flags up. our kyiv correspondent hugo bachega told me about the significance of the mercenary group and theirclaim.

we had this claim from the head of the wagner group which has been leading the fighting in that part of the country, and he has claimed that the country, and he has claimed that the russian flag has been raised in the russian flag has been raised in the city. we haven't heard any reaction from the ukrainians this morning. we had an update from the army. it said, fighting continued in bakhmut but there wasn't any kind of confirmation that this claim was true. obviously bakhmut has been the main focus of russian forces in the east of the country, and for a very long time the ukrainians have been defending this city, the authorities here say it is important to defend bakhmut because of the russians were to capture the city, they would be in a position from which they would be able to attack major cities in the east of the country.

let's return to some breaking news this hour, and schools in england face fresh strikes this spring after members of the national education union rejected the government's pay offer. teachers have been gathering for the union's annual conference in harrogate, where pay and workload are among the issues being discussed. miniisters say ther offer was reasonable. our uk education editor branwenjeffries has the latest. the unions don't, and i havejust stepped out of the conference hall where there were whoops and cheers from the thousands of teachers attending this conference, as the union leadership announced by an overwhelming majority a vote in the last few days was to reject the latest pay offer for teachers in england from the government. that does mean that parents in england face more disruption. they have already had four strike days, now there will be two more on april 27 and may the 2nd. as we said, this is not just about pay, is it? this is about hours

and conditions too. all of that has been part of the negotiation by the government. the government has said that it is looking for ways to try to reduce the workload by around five hours for teachers. by international standards, teachers in england do spend a lot of time in the classroom. that means, they say, that it displaces a lot of their preparation, planning for lessons, the marking of pupils�* work into the evenings and weekends. so that is an important part of this discussion. at the heart of it is the fact that, with rising energy prices globally, with the cost of living in the uk going up, that teachers�* pay has not kept up and over the last decade, four experienced teachers, it has fallen by about 12% —13%.

so the government had offered a one—off payment for this year of £1000, that is about 2.4% on top of the 5% teachers already have this year. and it had proposed 4.3% for most experienced teachers next year and a starting salary of £30,000. that is the deal that is now being rejected by the union today. staying in the uk now — and the man who killed a nine—year—old schoolgirl in liverpool will be sentenced later today. olivia pratt—korbel died after thomas cashman fired a shot through the front door of herfamily home in august last year. cashman had denied murder butjurors at manchester crown court found him guilty last thursday. these are some latest pictures from manchester, showing a prison van arriving in a convoy with armed police at the crown court. those charges and their verdict was handed down on friday, sentencing will get under way a little later. let�*s remind ourselves of what happened. thomas cashman fired shots into olivia�*s family

home on the 22nd august, during what prosecutors described as a "ruthless pursuit" to execute another man. her death stunned not only merseyside but the entire country and sparked a six—week manhunt, as police appealed for information to find her killer. numerous arrests were made, but police eventually apprehended thomas cashman, a 34—year—old drug dealer. he was charged with olivia�*s murder on october 1st. his trial started in manchester last month and the court heard that moments before the shooting, olivia had come down the stairs saying, "mum, i�*m scared." last thursday, thejury found him guilty of murder and a number of other offences linked to the incident. we will have the latest for you throughout the day. survivors of the manchester arena bombing have filed a landmark legal action against a conspiracy theorist who claims the attack was faked. martin hibbert and his daughter eve, who were left with severe disabilities, are suing richard d hall for

defamation and harassment. our disinformation and social media correspondent marianna spring has more. this follows a bbc investigation that revealed the conspiracy theories and techniques used to target people like martin hibbert, behind me, who survived the manchester arena bombing in 2017 along with his daughter, that killed 22 people and left them severely disabled. we exposed in particular how one conspiracy theorist had not just posted these theories online but had tracked down manchester arena survivors to their homes and workplaces, including martin�*s daughter. he admitted he spied on her and had posted about this online. it was really distressing for martin and li—macro to, and for that reason martin has decided to take this legal action, for

defamation and harassment. —— martin and o2. defamation and harassment. —— martin and 02. he worries that courts and the law are the only way of dealing with this and he doesn�*t want survivors of the attack or any disaster to be subject to these kinds of conspiracies and the hate they can trigger. kinds of conspiracies and the hate they can trigger-— kinds of conspiracies and the hate they can trigger. many people will find it inconceivable _ they can trigger. many people will find it inconceivable that - they can trigger. many people willj find it inconceivable that someone could create stories about something that was so awful and devastating for so many families. therefore it has added importance of making sure maybe this can�*t happen again. talk to me about the longer—term implications. figs to me about the longer-term implications.— to me about the longer-term implications. to me about the longer-term imlications. ~ , ., , implications. as you mention, it is a landmark _ implications. as you mention, it is a landmark legal— implications. as you mention, it is a landmark legal case _ implications. as you mention, it is a landmark legal case because - implications. as you mention, it is a landmark legal case because we| a landmark legal case because we have seen trawls taken to court in the uk before, but not a conspiracy theorist permitting these kinds of theories and using these kinds of tactics. sued in this way. it might remind people of the case in the us with alex jones, remind people of the case in the us with alexjones, talk remind people of the case in the us with alex jones, talk show remind people of the case in the us with alexjones, talk show host remind people of the case in the us with alex jones, talk show host who has promoted and became infamous for permitting conspiracy theories about the sandy through shooting, he was

taken to court by the families affected by that shooting who were subject to hate and harassment following his conspiracy theories and he was ordered to pay almost $1.5 billion in damages. it is not as much money at they care about what it does, what martin hopes is that it will set a legal precedent in the uk and deter people. following the investigation, the youtube channel was taken down, his market stall where he was selling books and dvds permitting these theories were shut down, he has continued to post online, including about the manchester arena attack, and he seems to still suggest it was faked or staged in some way. in response to a legal letter sent by the team representing marlton, he again defended his position, i got in touch with him about the legal action being fired, he didn�*t get back to me but had it the original investigation told me he was wrong about how he operated. one positive thing is that the survivors have told me that the abuse and conspiracies they have been exposed

to have reduced since the investigation and it has caught the ahye of politicians, including manchester�*s mayor, who is now looking at campaigning for new legislation that could better protect people like martin and people who don�*t necessarily want to go through the courts in order to seekjustice but it raises questions about freedom of expression and how to deal with this kind of content, so it wouldn�*t be easy legislation to get through. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. there are people young and old to do not know that people of colour fought and died alongside their british counterparts in both world wars. 3 british counterparts in both world wars. �* . british counterparts in both world wars. ~ . . ., ., ., wars. a large crowd gathered to remember _ wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a _ wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation - wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation who - wars. a large crowd gathered to - remember a generation who crossed oceans to help britain during world war ii. ., , ., ., ., oceans to help britain during world war". ., ., ., , war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service _ war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of _ war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of these _ war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of these brave - war ii. nothing short of a disgrace l that the service of these brave men

who came all those thousands of miles from the caribbean to help this country in its hour of need, has been pretty much erased from history books. has been pretty much erased from history booke— has been pretty much erased from history books. glenn's uncles came over from the _ history books. glenn's uncles came over from the caribbean _ history books. glenn's uncles came over from the caribbean to - history books. glenn's uncles came over from the caribbean to train . over from the caribbean to train with the raf in nearby hamlin bay. he wanted a memorial for their man thousands of others who volunteered to serve. bud thousands of others who volunteered to serve. �* ., , thousands of others who volunteered to serve. �* , ., .,~ to serve. and i hope people do take notice. i to serve. and i hope people do take notice- i am — to serve. and i hope people do take notice. i am proud. _ to serve. and i hope people do take notice. i am proud. for— to serve. and i hope people do take notice. i am proud. for my - to serve. and i hope people do take i notice. i am proud. for my comrades, ou notice. i am proud. for my comrades, you know- _ notice. i am proud. for my comrades, you know- son — notice. i am proud. for my comrades, you know- son is _ notice. i am proud. for my comrades, you know. son is missing, _ notice. i am proud. for my comrades, you know. son is missing, obviously. l you�*re live with bbc news... former us president donald trump is expected to fly into manhattan later today to face charges over hush money payments to a former porn star. cbs correspondent jarred hill spoke to us from outside manhattan criminal court, where mr trump is expected to undergo �*processing�* on tuesday.

this will be a historic week because former president trump is now the first former president of the us to be facing criminal charges. we are expecting for today the former president to fly into new york from his home in florida and he will be then coming here to the courthouse in manhattan on tuesday. this is where he will be fingerprinted. there will likely be a mug in essence of the former president, we are not exciting handcuffs, because of the security concerns he will be with secret service. there will be an arraignment, where we will learn what exactly he is being charged for. this is centred around this hush money payment but the question is whether there was an illegal falsification of business documents. there are sources telling cbs news this could be potentially one felony count in relation to that, what else we might see, we will have to wait. we don�*t yet have the details of

what these charges will be, mr tom�*s lawyer says president is gearing up for a fight, this could be a bitter dispute. == for a fight, this could be a bitter disute. ~ ., , ., , dispute. -- mr tom. yes, the lawyer for the former _ dispute. -- mr tom. yes, the lawyer for the former president _ dispute. -- mr tom. yes, the lawyer for the former president says - dispute. -- mr tom. yes, the lawyer for the former president says they i for the former president says they are gearing up for a fight and they potentially might try and get this case thrown out based on an argument that this should be a federal case and not a state case. we will have to see where the judge ends up deciding when all that comes into play. this could be both a legal battle for the former president as well as a political one because he is running for president in 202a. we have already learned there is another republican, former governor, thatis another republican, former governor, that is now throwing their name in the hat for that race, also former president trump saying he should drop out because of these charges, saying this is all too much of a sideshow for the country.

former kosovo president hashim thaci has pleaded not guilty to ten charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court in the hague. the accusations of persecution, murder and torture stem from kosovo�*s independence war against serbia in the 19905 — thaci and three co—defendants, all former close associates in the guerrilla kosovo liberation army and later in peacetime politics, all pleaded not guilty shortly after hearings got under way. the leader of finland�*s main centre—right party, petteri orpo, has won a tight election race in finland and is likely to be the country�*s new prime minister. his national coalition party won 20.8% of the vote — with the right wing populist finns party coming in a close second — with a record 20.1% share of the vote. it was a bitter defeat for prime minister sanna marin�*s party, who trailed with 19.9% of the vote.

let�*s take a listen to what sanna marin had to say following the result. translation: this is a great day because we _ translation: this is a great day because we have _ translation: this is a great day because we have done _ translation: this is a great day because we have done well - translation: this is a great day because we have done well in - translation: this is a great day because we have done well in the j because we have done well in the elections. congratulations also to the coalition party and to the fins. democracy has spoken, the finnish people have cast their votes and celebrating democracy is always a wonderful thing. ms marin became the world�*s youngest prime minister in 2019 aged 34. she�*s received praise for steering the country to within days of nato membership. but she�*s been seen as a polarising figure. she came under scrutiny last year when a video of her singing, dancing and drinking became public. our europe regional editor paul moss eplained what this result means. it isa it is a bit ofa it is a bit of a cliche with elections to talk about a knife edge result but this really was it. yes, the national coalition party

centre—right came in first but that was with just over 20%, the far right finns party also gotjust over 20%. in third place this social democrats with just under 20%. neither party won a majority so there will have to be a coalition government of sorts. this makes forming a coalition very difficult because whoever goes into partnership with the centre—right national coalition party, given the closeness of the result, will want some influence. they will not be accepting a few token cabinet places like minister of pencil distribution. the negotiations to form a government will now go on for weeks and finland is now very divided over some quite serious issues. ., ~ divided over some quite serious issues. . ~ ., , divided over some quite serious issues. . ~ ., divided over some quite serious issues. ., ~ ., , ., ., issues. talk to us about the main issues. talk to us about the main issues in this _ issues. talk to us about the main issues in this election. _ issues. talk to us about the main issues in this election. because l issues in this election. because given what we are seeing around the world, the economy is a real issue, the cost of living crisis affecting many. sanna marin quite a polarising figure. many. sanna marin quite a polarising fiaure. _, ., , many. sanna marin quite a polarising fiaure. ., , , many. sanna marin quite a polarising fiure. _, ., , , ., figure. indeed, the economy first of

all, it was more _ figure. indeed, the economy first of all, it was more debt _ figure. indeed, the economy first of all, it was more debt in _ figure. indeed, the economy first of all, it was more debt in the - figure. indeed, the economy first of all, it was more debt in the case - figure. indeed, the economy first of all, it was more debt in the case of| all, it was more debt in the case of finland, which had built up as a country trying to recover from the effects of covid. very different approaches on offer, the ruling social democrats talked about borrowing to invest, the national coalition party said what was needed was cut to public spending. that argumentjust about was cut to public spending. that argument just about seems to have one. personality is also very part of it. sanna marin, often described as charismatic, the youngest prime minister in the world when she took power. she was criticised by some plain photos emerged and video of her dancing at a party, others thought it was good to have a leader who was in touch with young people. a very kettle of fish when we look at the leader of the centre—right national coalition, petteri orpo is usually described as sober end terms of what keywords and indeed in his politics, a graduate in economics, seen as a safe player of hands, not one for dramatic gestures. i think we will see a different style of

government, if as expected he becomes prime minister. let�*s return now to our top story this hour — pictures of darya trepova, she is the woman who has been detained after that attack in saint petersburg. it was an attack that killed the pro—kremlin blogger vladlen, a bomb exploded in that cafe in saint petersburg on sunday. authorities in russia are calling this attack in the centre of what is russia�*s second—largest city, they say they are treating this as a high profile murder, they say it must have been carefully planned and must have been carefully planned and must have involved several people. they named the suspect this morning, you can see her on the screen, they have since said she has been detained. russia�*s anti—terrorism committee have alleged edison was organised by ukrainian special services. they have accused people cooperating with

the opposition leader alexei navalny, who has been injail since returning to russia in 2021. that attack on sunday wounding more than 30 other people, but killing that high profile blogger that authorities say they are now cheating as a high profile murder. those the first images we have of the suspect who has been detained at treating as. one of the most prominent and influential indigenous leaders of the past century in australia has died. yunu—pingu, an elder of the yoln—gu people, was 7a. he spent his life fighting for the rights of first nations people. the gu—match clan leader championed traditional land rights against the incursions of uranium miners in kakadu national park, and later chaired the gumatj corporation, which received mining royalties from rio tinto for its use of yolngu land. yunupingu was also celebrated as a singer, artist and promoter of indigenous culture.

our correspondent in sydney phil mercer told me more about yunupingu. he was described here and australia as a colossus, a giant in indigenous affairs. a man who took on mining companies, he was advising by ministers over very many decades. for years this was a man who championed indigenous rights in this country. he did say, as he was getting older, that he felt extremely frustrated that the rights and standards of living of indigenous people hadn�*t improved much during his lifetime. australia�*s first nations people remain this advance against at pretty much every turn, they suffer disproportionately high rates of poverty, ill—health, imprisonment and unemployment. for almost all of his life, yunupingu was a champion

for indigenous people, especially when it came to land rights. land and in indigenous culture is extremely important, and yunupingu was a champion of that particular issue. passport office workers are striking, unions say walking out now because maximum disruption because people will be trying to renew their passports in time for summer travel. the british government has called the industrial action disappointing and says it is working to manage the impact. our employment correspondence has the details. it is at this time of year that the passport services at its busiest, as people get their passports renewed in time for the summer. the pcs union says it is going on strike now because maximum disruption. 1900 civil servants are directly involved in issuing passports. the union says more than 1500 of them will go on

strike. the union says there needs to be a dramatic improvement on last year�*s — 3% pay rise and then increase this year that matches inflation. it increase this year that matches inflation. , . , ., ., inflation. it is always unfortunate when there _ inflation. it is always unfortunate when there is _ inflation. it is always unfortunate when there is disruption - inflation. it is always unfortunate when there is disruption because j inflation. it is always unfortunate i when there is disruption because of strikes, but the blame should not be laid at those people who are using food banks and claiming benefits despite working full—time for this government delivering front line public services. this is all happening under the government�*s watch, more strikes in britain over the last 12 months than we have seen for decades. that�*s the fault of the government. aha, for decades. that's the fault of the government-— government. a home office spokesperson _ government. a home office spokesperson said, - government. a home office spokesperson said, we - government. a home office spokesperson said, we are i government. a home office - spokesperson said, we are working to manage the impact of strike action with comprehensive contingency plans in place. there are currently no plans to change our guidance which states that it takes up to ten weeks to get a passport. of all the public sector disputes, it is the civil service dispute that is looking like the hardest to solve. unlike health workers and teachers, there have

been no negotiations with the government over pay. business headlines next, see you soon. high pressure. settled conditions, but we do have a weather front making its way in from the atlantic, throwing more cloud ahead of it as it does so through the course of the afternoon, especially across the western isles and also northern ireland. it will be windy, gusty wind around the outer hebrides. breezy along the north sea coastline, east anglia, kent in the english channel, feeling a little bit cooler. for most, the breeze is gentle. temperatures today getting up gentle. temperatures today getting up to 15 degrees around the murray

firth, generally looking at around 9-13. firth, generally looking at around 9—13. overnight, clearskies, 9—13. overnight, clear skies, temperatures 9—13. overnight, clearskies, temperatures falling, and weather front comes in will bring thicker cloud and rain, across western scotland and northern ireland, not as cold here, but images freezing or indeed below for much of the rest of the country. high pressure still with us tomorrow, weather fronts trying to make inroads, not making a huge amount of progress. still producing thicker cloud and some spots of rain across the north and also the west. still gusty winds, cost as much as 45 mass per hour. a lot of dry weather once again, sunshine, turning hazy as the fronts tried to push that bit further south and east across eastern scotland, temperatures once again 9—15. not as cold along the north sea coastline. wednesday sees a bit more in the way of an active front, introducing

thicker cloud and some rain using steadily south—eastwards. the cloud will build but it should stay dry until later and behind it in the far north of scotland it will brighten up north of scotland it will brighten up what that will be quite late on in the day. highs of 14 degrees. towards the easter bank holiday weekend, we have the weather front stalling for a time on thursday, it clears and high pressure takes over once again. thursday, the eastern particular, some rain around and take a cloud, then the sun returns with highs potentially up to 14 or 15 celsius.

oil prices jump after opec plus shocks markets — by cutting oil output. saudi arabia says the cuts are to support stability. factory output in asia hit by weakening demand — what does this mean for economic recovery in the region? and we speak to the man who made the world�*s first ever mobile phone call, 50 years ago! welcome to world business report, i�*m ben thompson. oil prices have been surging today after the world�*s largest