live from london, this is bbc news. an italian man has died and three british citizens are among the wounded after a car ploughed in to tourists near a beach in tel aviv. in iran, local media report that dozens of schoolgirls have been poisoned in several schools across the country. the taiwanese president's visit to the us sparks three days of military exercises from china. and the king and queen consort have invited hundreds of volunteers and charity workers to next month's coronation.

hello and welcome, i'm tanya beckett. an italian man has died and three british citizens are among the wounded after a car ploughed in to tourists near a beach in tel aviv. the attacker was shot dead by police. it comes after two british—israeli sisters were killed and their mother injured in a shooting in the occupied west bank on friday, in what has been a week of heightened tensions in the region. our correspondent lucy williamson reports from tel aviv — a warning, her piece contains some distressing images. last night, tel aviv�*s holiday crowds became targets. gunfire. this, the moment when police surrounded the attacker and then shot him dead. people shout. you can hear the fear of people filming nearby. the driver was a 45—year—old man from a nearby town who drove his car into pedestrians,

killing an italian man named as alessandro parini, and injuring five others, and injuring seven others, three of them british. we heard gunfire. we saw shots and then we saw people sprinting across the street, and then we heard sirens and we decided it was time to get out of here. today, the car's journey through the grass is marked with flowers and candles. with flowers and candles — tributes to the tourist who died. this is where the attack happened last night, right on tel aviv�*s promenade. hours afterwards, you've got locals and tourists already gathering here. on a warm weekend evening, this place would have been packed with people. one of the doctors treating the injured said some had broken bones and one a fractured spine, but an event like this leaves psychological wounds, too. i think that nobody's prepared ever for this type of situation. you know, it's impossible, ithink, to understand the fact that somebody one day decides to take the life

of another person. this was the second attack to hit israel yesterday. two british israeli women were killed in a shooting attack in the occupied west bank. tensions between israel and palestinian militants have spiralled this week. the flowers along tel aviv�*s seafront today, an uncomfortable reminder that places like this are an easy target against the backdrop of a conflict that seems very difficult to resolve. lucy williamson, bbc news, tel aviv. these are life pictures in tel aviv. protests against a planned judicial overhaul in israel are to go ahead for the 14th week in a row, amid a security crisis that has seen a call—up of army and border police reservists. to iran now, where local media reports that dozens of schoolgirls have been poisoned in several schools. this phenomenon began last november

and since then there have been reports of poisoning incidents from gases or toxic substances. in some cases, students have been hospitalised. let's go to our newsroom to learn more about this and bbc persian service's parham ghobadi is standing by. how widespread is this. it seems extremely widespread? just before cominu extremely widespread? just before comin: to extremely widespread? just before coming to the _ extremely widespread? just before coming to the studio, _ extremely widespread? just before coming to the studio, the - extremely widespread? just before coming to the studio, the targeted | coming to the studio, the targeted rose to six, and as you remember, for several months, we have the story of iranian school poisonings but it went quiet for a while. the reason was there was persian new year and students were on a break. they went back to school on monday and reports of poisonings started appearing here. today is the most widespread one. as i already

mentioned, six city across iran were targeted and some of the cities, multiple schools were attacked and start receiving videos from the city of the iranian vatican. parents are furious and talking to officials and shouting and there are scenes of chaos. we have obtained videos from hospitals where parents are picking up hospitals where parents are picking up girls who have fainted, others are crying and gasping for breath. we have reports in the northwestern town and in the southern kurdish town and in the southern kurdish town in western iran, the hospitals are packed with schoolgirls. we have any information _ are packed with schoolgirls. we have any information or _ are packed with schoolgirls. we have any information or indication - are packed with schoolgirls. we have any information or indication as - are packed with schoolgirls. we have any information or indication as to i any information or indication as to how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer. — how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so _ how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so that _ how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so that is _ how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so that is one - how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so that is one of- how they being poisoned? there's no clear answer, so that is one of the i clear answer, so that is one of the reasons that iranian parents are really furious, because the authorities have not given them any clear explanation. they said they

have made some arrests, but they are not being really clear that who are these people that have been arrested and what is their intention. that's why it is raising suspicion that iranian hardliners, religious hardliners might be behind these attacks, which kind of links it to the iranian protests. as you remember, iranian girls, especially at the schools at the forefront of the protests, calling to an end for mandatory hitjob —— hijab. the protests, calling to an end for mandatory hit job -- hijab.- the protests, calling to an end for mandatory hit job -- hijab. mandatory hit 'ob -- hi'ab. there is some mandatory hit job -- hi'ab. there is some suggestion h mandatory hit job -- hi'ab. there is some suggestion that _ mandatory hit job -- hijab. there is some suggestion that the _ mandatory hit job -- hijab. there is i some suggestion that the government is putting away the hypothesis this is putting away the hypothesis this is psychological. is putting away the hypothesis this is psychological-— is psychological. that's correct, but the videos _ is psychological. that's correct, but the videos we _ is psychological. that's correct, but the videos we are _ is psychological. that's correct, but the videos we are seeing, l is psychological. that's correct, i but the videos we are seeing, and is psychological. that's correct, - but the videos we are seeing, and we were just talking to a schoolgirl in iran a few minutes ago, and she was saying they smelled something unusual at the school. it didn't immediately cause panic, so they went back to the classroom, their principal told him everything is

fine. they went back to the school �*s student started falling sick one by one, and that created the panic among the students. we are talking to many students in iran and all of them categorically have rejected that idea and are saying they smelled something unusual, the spell of tangerine of garlic, and then they fell down. the videos we saw, students are gasping for breath. it's really not possible that so many students across the country start painting or pretending to be sick. . ~' , ., , start painting or pretending to be sick. . ~ , ., , . ., sick. thank you very much indeed for “oininu us. china has started three days of military exercises off the coast opposite taiwan. beijing — which views taiwan as a breakaway province of china — called the operation a "stern warning" to the island's government. taiwan says 71 chinese planes and nine ships crossed the taiwan strait median line, an unofficial dividing line between chinese and taiwanese territory.

the mobilisations began hours after taiwan's president returned from a trip to the united states, where she angered china by meeting the house speaker kevin mccarthy. let's dig deeper into this with siabel hilton. she's head of the china dialogue here in london. what is the scale of these exercises, isabel? they're pretty important _ exercises, isabel? they're pretty important. there's _ exercises, isabel? they're pretty important. there's a _ exercises, isabel? they're pretty important. there's a very - exercises, isabel? they're pretty important. there's a very large l important. there's a very large deployment of ships, a large deployment of ships, a large deployment of ships, a large deployment of aircraft flying into the air defence zone. essentially into taiwan's airspace. the ships are crossing the median line in the taiwan straits, and there was a bit of live fire across one of the islands, which is the island closest to the mainland. so, it's unmistakably large deployment, and

beijing is calling it an exercise in encirclement — in other words, saying we can blockade taiwan whenever we want to and this is how we do it. , we do it. understood. the backdrop, the political — we do it. understood. the backdrop, the political backdrop _ we do it. understood. the backdrop, the political backdrop is _ we do it. understood. the backdrop, the political backdrop is important. l the political backdrop is important. if you talk us to the sequence of events of visits to china and the us and how they plan to this. it’s and how they plan to this. it's been and how they plan to this. it's been a re and how they plan to this. it's been a pretty busy _ and how they plan to this. it's been a pretty busy week- _ and how they plan to this. it's been a pretty busy week. the _ and how they plan to this. it's been a pretty busy week. the one - and how they plan to this. it's been a pretty busy week. the one that i and how they plan to this. it's been i a pretty busy week. the one that has resulted in military exercises was of course president tsai's visit to the us. she didn't meet president biden, but she did need kevin mccarthy in california. the thing about kevin mccarthy is that the house has to vote on arms to taiwan,

so they uk military support requires the approval of the house. clearly, tsai ing—wen has to maintain warm relations with the house speaker. that's not difficult because they are trying to support taiwan, much to beijing's fury. we are the european union at the same time, president macron of france, 50 important businessmen, and the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen visiting china. president macron was warmly received, ursula von der leyen rather less warmly because she's conspicuously more critical of china's position on russia and in general and the relationship between the eu and china. this general and the relationship between the eu and china.— the eu and china. this is a very difficult line _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to tread _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to tread for. - the eu and china. this is a very| difficult line to tread for. simply because of china's opaque role in this war. ., , , .,

this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support _ this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to _ this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to russia. - this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to russia. if. substantial support to russia. if you look at the trade figures, trade has increased hugely. china's been picking up the slack on a lot of energy exports and it's been sending drone supplies and digital information, which is used in the front line. so, china tries to say it's neutral, but actually, its actions tell you something different. it's trying to position itself as the peacemaker at the same time. but there's very little sign that it's exercising any influence on putin, so it's a pretty hollow claim. unless china can put some action behind that plan, then it's going to lose credibility.-

going to lose credibility. isabel hilton, thank— going to lose credibility. isabel hilton, thank you _ going to lose credibility. isabel hilton, thank you very - going to lose credibility. isabel hilton, thank you very much i going to lose credibility. isabel - hilton, thank you very much indeed. there's uncertainty about access to a widely used abortion pill in the united states after conflicting court rulings. a federaljudge in texas suspended government approval of mifepristone after anti—abortion activists claimed it wasn't safe. the biden administration appealed against the ruling and a federal judge ruled access to the drug must be preserved in 17 states. samantha simmonds explains. this row is all about this drug, mifepristone, which has been in common use for 20 years as a widely used anti—abortion drug. it was given full fda approval and tested for its safety back in 2000, as you can see from this headline here in new york times. now, though, a trump—appointed judge in texas — this man, judge matthew kacsmaryk — has ordered a hold on the approval of the drug after an anti—abortion group argued that its safety was never properly tested. one of those isjonathan keller

of the california family council. we are encouraged that the federal judiciary is finally taking a look at the approval of mifepristone and really holding the fda to account for cutting corners and failing to protect women and children with the approval of the drug originally. well, the biden administration immediately appealed against that ruling. on top of that, a federaljudge in washington state ruled that access to the drug must be preserved in 17 states and challenged the attempt to block it. vice president kamala harris says that banning the drug sets a dangerous precedent. it is contrary to what makes for good public health policy to allow courts and politicians to tell the fda what it should do. this is a drug that the fda have proved as safe 20 years ago, and has been proven to be safe for 20 years.

since roe was overturned, removing constitutional protection for abortions last year triggering a wave of state—by—state bans, the us abortion battle has increasingly focused on abortion pills. banning them would be another win for the anti—abortion movement. so, what happens next? well, the ban on mifepristone doesn't actually go into immediate effect, so nothing will change in the short—term, and the duelling court orders actually mean it's likely the issue will escalate to the us supreme court. samantha simmonds there. let's get more on this now with our correspondent, jessica parker, who's in washington. jessica, where does the legal situation stand now? particularly with the backdrop. it may surprise some people that this pill is still available, giving the overturn of roe versus wade.— available, giving the overturn of roe versus wade. obviously what ha--ened roe versus wade. obviously what happened with — roe versus wade. obviously what happened with roe _ roe versus wade. obviously what happened with roe versus - roe versus wade. obviously what happened with roe versus wade i roe versus wade. obviously what | happened with roe versus wade is roe versus wade. obviously what - happened with roe versus wade is the supreme court overturned that, but opened the door for individual

states to ban or severely curtail abortion access, which is led to a kind of patchwork of access across the united states. we've seen it all being played out in the courts as well, and this particular court ruling, orthe well, and this particular court ruling, or the two we've had in the last day or so, some are describing as the most significant abortion related rulings since roe v wade was overturned because of what is potentially seeking to deal with the implications in terms of maybe limiting access or taking away the approval of a pill that's part of a 2—stage regiment used by many women across america, accounting for over half of abortions. but i have to say, i've reported from countries before, like malta, where abortion is banned, but many women still use or order these pills illegally. what or order these pills illegally. what is the role of _ or order these pills illegally. what is the role of the _ or order these pills illegally. what is the role of the fda _ or order these pills illegally. what

is the role of the fda here? the i is the role of the fda here? the food and drug _ is the role of the fda here? jj—ug food and drug administration is the role of the fda here? jug food and drug administration are is the role of the fda here? rug food and drug administration are the ones that approved this pill over two decades ago, and legal experts say the fda has now been left in a pretty tricky situation because you have one ruling saying that approval is suspended. the biden administration is seeking to put a block on that and it doesn't kick in for another seven days, and you have another ruling from washington state applying to 17 democratic states and the district of columbia as well that says that access to the pill should be retained. 0ne legal expert speaking earlier was basically saying the fda mightjust have to use its discretion here because it can't follow both, and then wait for how this plays out in the courts, and as many people are saying, could end up in the marine corps eventually.— end up in the marine corps eventuall . . ~' , ., , . eventually. thank you very much indeed. eventually. thank you very much indeed- -- _ eventually. thank you very much indeed- -- in— eventually. thank you very much indeed. -- in the _ eventually. thank you very much indeed. -- in the supreme - eventually. thank you very much | indeed. -- in the supreme court. it's likely to be the biggest party of the year — the coronation of king charles the third. and invites have been sent out

to hundreds of community and charity representatives from across the uk. invitations have also been extended to hundreds of british empire medal recipients. azadeh moshiri has more details. now, this is the invitation to the coronation, and you can't tell from my screen, but it's made from recycled paper — fitting for a king who's made the environment a lifelong focus. now, if you look a little closer, you'll see if there are other symbols that represent the environment — flowers, fruits, plants — but also, right at the bottom, there's a symbol from english folklore, and that's the green man. according to the palace, he represents spring as well as renewal and rebirth, and that's to represent the king's new reign. now, king charles and queen camilla, as she's referred to in the invite, as she's referred to on the invite, have invited 850 community champions. a50 of these are from local communities, but there are also 400 younger champions, who have come from organisations like the scouts, but also girlguiding uk.

now, we caught up with three of them to see what this invite means to them. franstine jones was the first female president of the national black police association. she is seen there with the then home secretary theresa may and she explained what this invitation means to her. you don't see many people like me in suffolk being awarded for the work they do, so yeah, i do feel like i'm representing the community. it's notjust my award, it's the award for all people who look like me who live in suffolk. now, manju malhi is a british chef who was awarded a british empire medal by the queen during her birthday honours list. a british empire medal by the queen during her birthday honours list, and that's because of services she offered to vulnerable people around her during the covid—i9 pandemic. during lockdown, there were a lot of people feeling so lonely and isolated, a lot of us were.

but some of the older members of the community, theyjust felt really lost and felt no direction, so we started doing conference call cooking sessions online for those who weren't so tech savvy. and this is one of the young champions. sahil usman, at only 15 years old, helped his community in blackburn during the pandemic, as well, and he did so while he was facing a very serious personal challenge. i was diagnosed basically injuly 2018 with leukaemia. _ but what happened was during covid, i was in the extremely. i vulnerable category and i knew that l i wouldn't have anyone there for me. i mean, it will have someone there for me. _ but the elderly won't have anyone there for them. i so what i did, i gathered around 300 hampers, going to the shops- and getting all the essential items and i put them together— and i basically gave them out to the elderly people - in my community of lancashire. here in the uk, a 12—year—old boy has appeared in court charged with the murder

of 60—year—old marcia grant. ms grant died on wednesday in sheffield after being hit by a car. the boy is too young to be named publicly. as well as murder, the defendant was also charged with possession of a bladed article. the bbc�*s 0livia richwald was in sheffield crown court. the defendant is too young to be publicly named. he's 12 years old. he appeared here at the city's youth court with two charges. the first is the murder of marcia grant and the second is possession of a bladed article. the defendant appeared in the dock wearing a blue shirt which was too big for him and a navy knitted jumper. he displayed no emotion and he didn't speak, but nodded to confirm his name, age and address. but nodded to confirm his name, age and address, and the hearing only lasted about half an hour. the case was sent to sheffield crown court and the boy remanded into youth detention. marcia grant was hit and killed on wednesday evening in the greenhills area of sheffield. her family have described her as warm and loving, a mother, grandmother,

sister and friend and the pillar of her community. this case will next be heard on tuesday, april 11th. the former first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon has vowed to "fully cooperate" with police after the arrest of her husband, the snp�*s former chief executive — during an investigation into the party's finances. in her first public comments since peter murrell�*s arrest, ms sturgeon said recent days had "obviously been difficult" as she gave a short statement outside the couple's glasgow home. there is obviously nothing i can say about_ there is obviously nothing i can say about the _ there is obviously nothing i can say about the ongoing investigation, as much _ about the ongoing investigation, as much of— about the ongoing investigation, as much of the things i might want to say, i'm not— much of the things i might want to say, i'm not able to do so, other than _ say, i'm not able to do so, other than to— say, i'm not able to do so, other than to say— say, i'm not able to do so, other than to say that as has been the case: _ than to say that as has been the case, there _ than to say that as has been the case, there will continue to be full cooperation. the last few days have obviously _ cooperation. the last few days have obviously been difficult, quite dramatic— obviously been difficult, quite dramatic at times, but i understand

that is— dramatic at times, but i understand that is part — dramatic at times, but i understand that is part of a process. nicola sturgeon there. the operator of ukraine's electricity network says russia has launched more than 1200 missiles and drones at its energy facilities so far during the war. the operator described it as the largest attempt ever to destroy a european country's energy system. on friday, ukraine said it could start exporting electricity again, having overcome what it called "the most difficult winter". the easter weekend is a key period for churches across the uk, but they're struggling due to the cost of living crisis. many have stopped running activities and some are having to turn down the heating to save money. 0ur religion editor, aleem maqbool, reports. this easter, many worship services are chillier than normal. in spite of helpful energy bills from the church of england and an extension of the government relief scheme, a lot of parishes are still struggling to meet costs, and are turning down their heating

and cutting activities. beautiful as it is, this 12th century church in wendover was not built with efficiency in mind. in the period from november to march, we've found that our bills have been about £5,000, so about two and half times the amount that it was this time last year, and that's with the energy support that's been in place. so, had that not been there, it would've been £10,000. that's a huge amount of money for us to be finding to keep this church warm. there are those who see this as an opportunity. st george's church in rugby has made the switch to renewable energy. if you think about combining it with the global warming question and carbon emissions, this is giving us a big incentive to reduce our energy. so, in our own church,

we fitted solar panels on the roof, and that was quite a difficult project to get people interested in, partly because there weren't the high—energy costs at the time. but in some ways, when the energy bills went up, there was, that helped to get some of that interest and enthusiasm? yes, not only in our church, but because we were a pioneer, people from other churches and other institutions have been in touch, asking for advice as to how to do it. of course, making the switch to renewable energy involves an upfront cost and churches are already stretched. there are calls for more help, notjust to pay bills, but for long—term solutions, to make sure the important services churches offer can be safeguarded. aleem maqbool, bbc news. let me take you live to the vatican

in rome, where we can bring you live images of the traditional easter vigil. pope francis is due to lead the easter vigil mass. as you can imagine, it's rather a hectic week. yesterday, the pope missed the good friday procession due to "extremely cold weather in rome". about 10 degrees. he was released from hospital only a short while the go from hospital only a short while the 9° " from hospital only a short while the go —— ago having suffered from bronchitis. we will keep you up—to—date as the easter week on roads. you can reach me @bbc tanya beckett. i'll be back soon, thanks for your company.

hello there, good evening. it's been a beautiful day of weather for most of the uk with lots of blue sky and sunshine, as captured by our weather watcher here in derbyshire, but a bit more cloud towards eastern coastal areas. even, here, some sunny spells breaking through, and it's more or less the same again tomorrow — in fact, it could feel a little warmer for most, but there will be some rain later on in the day out towards the north and the west. most of us won't be seeing that rain until early on bank holiday monday morning. but overnight tonight, it's set to stay dry. lots of clear spells, especially through the central swathe of the country. 0ut towards eastern coastal areas, some cloud, the cloud thickening, too across northern ireland. more cloud and a bit more of a southerly breeze, cloud thickening, too, across northern ireland.

more cloud and a bit more of a southerly breeze, so frost—free without so much mist and fog as we start off sunday morning. so, easter sunday, lots of sunshine around for the vast majority of us. it will be quite cloudy towards eastern coastal areas — again, the cloud just coming in from the north sea, but that should break up, especially through the afternoon, so a sunnier day here. cool underneath the cloud across aberdeenshire, outbreaks of rain moving into northern ireland from our weather front, approaching western scotland by the end of the day. temperatures slightly higher, between 15—17 celsius quite widely. if we see 18 celsius — always possible, especially across central, southern england — it will be the warmest day of the year so far. but of course, it's not set to last, the dry, warm weather, because we've got outbreaks of rain from these weather fronts, sweeping eastwards from sunday night into bank holiday monday morning. it's a much milder start to the day on bank holiday monday, outbreaks of rain clearing the east anglian coast as we head through the morning. there will be some bright and sunny spells behind, but also some rather hefty showers,

and raining for much of the day — longer spells of rain towards the south coast, especially across the channel islands. temperatures gradually dropping throughout the day. this is how we'll end the afternoon, between about 10—14 celsius, so obviously not as warm with all that wet weather around, and it's staying unsettled as we head through much of the rest of next week. a deep area of low pressure swinging across england and wales, into scotland as we head through tuesday night and into wednesday. some strong gusty winds potentially on this and some outbreaks of rain. here's the outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. as you can see, it is going to be really very unsettled, wet and windy, especially towards the northwest, and also feeling a lot cooler.

this is bbc news. the headlines... israel mobilises its police and army reserves following deadly attacks in tel aviv. on friday, an italian tourist was killed and the attacker was shot dead by police. several others were also wounded including three british citizens. ukraine says its energy export can resume — despite russia firing a total of more than twelve hundred missiles and drones at key energy facilities throughout the war. they say the country survived "its most difficult winter". china begins three days of military excercises off the coast opposite taiwan, following president tsai ing—wen's trip to the united states.

and, buckingham palace has invited more than 850 community