live from london, this is bbc news. a family's grief — the funeral takes place for two british—israeli sisters killed in a shooting in the occupied west bank. international delegations arrive in yemen, as talks to end eight years of war get under way in the capital, sana'a. and at least four people are killed in an avalanche in the french alps. rescuers are still searching for survivors. hello, i'm tanya beckett.

it's been a day of worship and a day of grief in israel and the occupied territories. tens of thousands ofjews gathered atjerusalem's western wall for passover prayers. not far away, hundreds ofjewish worshippers walked close to the al—aqsa mosque. and in a settlement in the west bank, the funeral took place for two british—israeli sisters shot dead on friday. from jerusalem, lucy williamson reports. as maia and rina were brought in, the wailing of rina's teenage school friends filled the prayer hall. theirfather, a rabbi, bent low over their bodies. the pain on his face hidden for a moment, in a last embrace with his daughters. today, the jewish today, thejewish people have proven that we are one. we are united.

this simple, quiet family is devastated. the whole country hurts. maia was 20 years old when she died, rina was 15. their mother, still unconscious in hospital, doesn't even know yet they are dead. they were travelling from their west bank settlement to the sea of galilee for a family holiday this week when their isreli car came under fire. among the mourners today, israel's national security minister, itamar ben—gvir — a hard—right leader, who was once a member of a banned extremist group. each unique loss here pulls up deep, unresolved questions about land, security and rights. funerals are the fingerprints of this conflict. contested land mapped by the graves of israelis and palestinians. tensions have risen sharply here this week asjewish, muslim and christian

religious festivals coincide. jerusalem's old city was packed today, with easter congregations and jews attending a blessing at the western wall. somejewish worshippers also walked past the al—aqsa mosque on a passover visit to the site, known tojews as temple mount. moments like this are watched carefully by security forces, activists and militant groups. the behaviour of israeli police here this week triggered anger in the region. today, the compound has so far remained peaceful even if, beyond it, tensions remain high. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is following events injerusalem. this is an extremely sensitive time and officials and diplomats have been warning that that could put pressure onjerusalem's most contested holy sites through this period and really could lead to an

escalation in violence. that is exactly what we've seen. during the day, there was a lot of concern about what would happen because at the al—aqsa mosque, hundreds of palestinian muslims marking ramadan had barricaded themselves in the mosque. and there were fears there could be another raiding of the mosque by israeli police, as we saw last week. that had caused regional condemnation. instead, actually, what we saw were that israeli police allowed palestinian muslims to stay. you could see that some people were praying in the courtyard of the compound, while the heavily armed police allowed hundreds ofjewish visitors to go around the site for the passover celebrations. a mass prayer that was taking place at the western walljust below, that

had brought thousands ofjewish worshippers into the old city. i mean, that went off in the end without incident. also at the holy sepulchre church, which is quite nearby, easter sunday services happened without incident. but of course, as we've talked about this funeral, violence elsewhere within the region. that's right. i mean, first of all, we saw on friday with the shooting of these two sisters as they were driving in their israeli car through the west bank. there was also, a few hours later, a suspected car—ramming attack in tel aviv by the beach, in which one italian tourist was killed. also, seven other people — most of them, tourists — were injured. really, this was a reminder of how there is this background here of high tensions. there really has been since the beginning of the year. israel has got this new government, the most right—wing government it's ever seen. it includes far—right religious

nationalist members. that's having an effect on lots of fronts. they have promised to come down with an iron fist on what they see as palestinian terrorism. and at the same time, there's a lot of concern about what policies they might have towards the al—aqsa mosque injerusalem, in particular, with palestinians worried that there might be an attempt to change long—standing rules that exist at that site, despite the repeated denials of the prime minister that that's the case. at least four people have been killed in an avalanche in the french alps. it's thought the victims were hikers. the interior minister, gerald darmanin, said several more people were injured on the armancette glacier. azadeh moshiri has more. now, this is what we know about the area where the avalanche happened. it happened in southeastern france, in the french alps. the glacier itself was

near the mont blanc. now, four people were killed in the armancette glacier during the avalanche. they were part of a group, and several others were injured. the french authorities also believe that there are still several people trapped beneath the snow. now, we're about to show you a video that's been circulating on social media. it's also been verified by the french news agency afp. this is the statement that french president emmanuel macron made on twitter shortly after. he said, "we're thinking of the victims, as well as their families. our rescuers are mobilised to find those still trapped in the snow." now, no avalanche warning

was actually issued that day. but this isn't the first time that this has happened. in 2014, two brothers were on a hiking trip. even though their experienced mountaineers, they still died in the avalanche. the region and 405! i have warned people to be careful and take caution a5 have warned people to be careful and take caution as they cannot say another avalanche would happen. but for now, search—and—rescue teams are still looking for survivors. pope francis has been leading a mass at st peter's basilica in the vatican on easter sunday. the 86—year—old expressed his "deep concern" about the escalating tensions between israelis and palestinians, and called on the international community to end the war in ukraine. from vatican city, our religion editor, aleem maqbool, reports. from the early hours, they streamed into st peter's square for easter mass. people had come from all over the world, butjust days ago, there had been doubts about whether the pope would be well enough to take part in events at all. some here told of their relief when he appeared, but there was still nervousness as to how strong he really was, after his bout of bronchitis.

once the service got under way, pope francis seemed untroubled. but it was once the mass was over that he appeared most relaxed. though for the first time, he'd missed one event on good friday, he'd now successfully negotiated the rest of the toughest week in his calendar. well, there have been moments in the week during services when the pope has seemed a little breathless, a little weak, even. but every time he's been in the crowds and interacted with people, he's really appeared to be much more energised. he looked in really good health. you know, the crowd, i'm sure, were encouraging him along, but he looked very healthy, you know, happy and doing hisjob very well. and it was great to see him in fine spirits. translation: i was very worried | when he was in hospital and i kept informed because he's so special. he wanted to fulfill all his commitments for this holy week, and to see him here, you realise how strong he is.

at canterbury cathedral, in his sermon, archbishopjustin welby said easter was a reminder that light triumphs over darkness, even in seemingly intractable conflict. we do not lose heart, but we pray and we work for ukraine and russia, for israel and palestine, with the recent tragedies especially. and for the other so often forgotten struggles of our world. pope francis struck similar themes in his final public duty this holy week, in his appearance on the balcony of st peter's basilica. but during his traditional blessing, he talked of his deep concern over events in the middle east, praying for peace in the holy city ofjerusalem and beyond. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in vatican city. saudi and 0mani negotiators have joined yemen's houthi rebels in the country's capital, sana'a. they're holding talks

in the houthi—controlled city on a new and potentially permanent ceasefire. saudi arabia has backed yemeni government forces against the rebels during the devastating eight—year civil war. 0ur middle east regional editor sebastian usher spoke to me. there was a temporary ceasefire last year, which expired in october. that helped calm the situation, that helped bring in confidence—building measures. and although it expired, there's been no realflare—up in the fighting since. so i think the very basic aim of these talks will be to ensure that another ceasefire is put in place. but i think it's more ambitious than that, and that's certainly what is coming out from unnamed sources. there's been nothing official from either the saudi side or the houthis on this, but i think the aim is to have at least a considerably longer ceasefire, if not a permanent ceasefire, which would be at least the start of the end of this war that's dragged on for eight years,

which is in pretty much a stalemate, really. this particular element of the war, the one where the houthis — who are originally from the north, but came down to sana'a — took over virtually the whole country at one point and a saudi—led coalition fighting on behalf of the government that had been forced out came in. so i think that the hope is that with the saudi delegation there, we've already seen a symbolic photo leaked by the houthis of one of the houthi leaders shaking the hand of a member of the saudi group, that this is a very, very serious mood this time, more so than ever before, to end the conflict. and it comes as there are diplomatic moves around the region that are helping that happen. today marks 20 years since the fall of the regime of the late iraqi president saddam hussein. in 2003, then us president george w bush launched operation iraqi freedom with a ground invasion involving thousands of us and british troops,

claiming that iraq had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. my colleague lucy grey spoke to balsam mustafa, a reseach fellow at warwick university, about life in baghdad my colleague lucy grey spoke to balsam mustafa, a research fellow at warwick university, about life in baghdad during saddam hussein's rule. living under a dictatorship was very hard, and before the invasion also, there was a wave of wars and conflicts, and also the economic sanctions. so, we were living through hardships and it felt like we were living in a big prison. and we were longing, or many of us were longing, to see saddam hussein's rule and the ba'athist regime come to an end one day, but we would never think at that moment that what would follow would be much worse, because saddam hussein's dictatorship and tyranny, for us, was the maximum level of brutality.

yeah. so, just talk me through how you felt in 2003, then. we're just watching images as we talk to you of that famous statue of saddam hussein in baghdad being toppled and peoplejumping around on top of it and it being dragged through the street. how did you feel then, at that moment, when that was all going on? it was... i had mixed emotions. on one hand, i wanted saddam hussein to be gone, and so seeing the statue, his statue being toppled after one year of being set up in firdos square, in baghdad, was something that was really hard to comprehend. i was happy to see him gone but, at the same time, this was led by us troops and allies. it was not at the hand of iraqis, but at the hand of invaders. bbc analysis has found that over the past winter, one in every seven hospital beds

in england was taken up by someone well enough to go home. one of those facing the wait is charlotte mills—murray. she may only have months to live, but is still in hospital many weeks after being cleared to leave. 0ur health reporter, jim reed, has been speaking to her. i'm stuck here, and just fighting to get home and to keep going. and i don't know how much fight i have left in me. charlotte has ehlers—danlos, a condition that weakens her connective tissue. she may only have months to live. she's been filming diaries from her hospital bed. i had visitors today. i always look forward to when i get some visitors. and then what happens is the visitors leave and i'm left alone again, and that's when the reality sinks in. charlotte, who often finds it easier to use sign language, was admitted last year with infections linked to intestinal failure.

in november, she was told she could go home, with care paid for by the nhs, yet another five months on, she's still stuck in hospital. so, how difficult has this been for you, charlotte? it's so wrong that we're in this situation, you know, four, five months extra in hospital that i don't need that actually increases my risk of infections and other illnesses as well. there's been a lot of tears, a lot of hard decisions. i don't think unless you were here, you can really imagine life in a hospitalfor nine months. charlotte's case here in leeds is very complex and not representative of everyone who needs care. it does, though, illustrate a wider problem. this past winter, a record one in seven hospital beds across england has been taken up by someone well enough to go home. the government has said it's making another £1.6 billion available to speed up hospital

discharge in england. often, the hold—up is because the right care in the home just isn't available. "mum, i don't know what i would do without you..." in leeds, charlotte's family say there have been repeated delays with her homecare, finding staff, training, equipment. so much time has been wasted, we've gone round in circles because everybody has changed what they said they would do, and the time wasting is charlotte's live. we can't get that back. and it shouldn't be like that. you know, it shouldn't be the person that's really poorly is the one that has to do it. charlotte's care board and hospital have said they are sorry for the long delay, they say the vast majority of patients return home quickly, but some complex cases take longer. charlotte's now spent nearly a year in this hospital bed, missing her birthday at home and time with her family.

when you have a lot of pain and illnesses and other health problems, and then you're stuck in a bed and you can't see your family easily and you can't do the normal things, you just think, if i can get home, it'll be better. ijust need to get home and it'll be fine. and all i want is for people to make that happen for me. jim reed, bbc news. here in the uk, health secretary steve barclay has accused the doctors' union the bma of taking a "militant stance" and pressing ahead with strikes that he says "carry a considerable risk to patient safety". mr barclay accuses the union of timing the four—day strikes to cause "maximum disruption". chanting: one, two, three four! we can't take it any more! junior doctors in england are set to walk out again on tuesday. that's straight after the easter bank holiday weekend, when many staff are on leave, and those four days of action will lead into next weekend,

meaning the nhs is facing ten days of reduced services. in a statement, the national medical director of nhs england, professor sir stephen powis, said: the nhs confederation, which represents hospital managers, is warning that up to a quarter of a million appointments and operations may have to be postponed if the strike action goes ahead, and professor sir stephen is warning the ongoing impact of industrial action is making it more difficult to keep key services going, and ultimately reschedule those cancelled appointments. the nhs says it will continue to prioritise emergency and neo—natal care, as well as maternity and trauma services. but nhs providers, which speaks for hospital trusts, is warning that even in those areas,

there are real concerns of an increased risk to safety. this strike is long in duration and it falls at a really critical time during the holiday season, where securing alternative cover is proving challenging for trusts. so they are deeply concerned. it's not too late for unions and government to come to the table to open negotiations and to avert this action next week. the british medical association, which represents junior doctors, is calling for a 35% pay rise, to compensate for what it describes as "more than a decade of salary erosion". but the department of health says it will only agree to talks to try to settle the dispute if the bma calls off the strike and significantly reduces its pay demand. the two sides appear as far apart as ever. simon jones, bbc news. for centuries, potters in the english county of staffordshire have been making ceramics for royal events, and with just a month to go until the king's coronation,

they are getting ready to mark the event in style. 0ur reporter liz cooper has more. the company was started by my father. we've been in business 75 years, nearly. we mainly produce china beakers, china plates, commemorative ware for celebrations. it's a special occasion, and it's an honour and a privilege to do something for the coronation and for the king. and it's a souvenir, something to keep forever, really. i'm john french, i've been a ceramic craftsman for nearly 40 years. - i decided to make for the coronation a piece that incorporates _ all the skills that i've used over the last 40 years. - the picture here that. i've actually painted on, this is actually the welsh guard |uniform, so i thought it's quite| good to get that transition from him l being the prince of wales to now. becoming the monarch. it's part of history.

i think that's the thing - about ceramics, it marks those special occasions in history, so it's a great chance for us| to produce these beautiful pieces. we're in middleport pottery. we are the last transfer printers in the world. and in 2010, one of his majesty the king's charities stepped in to preserve, regenerate this building, using millions of pounds of funds that were gathered. so the king really did save this pottery back then and it was so important to us, and that's why we're so grateful. so, for the coronation, we are producing a book, which is going to be a gift to give to the king himself. that book is a transferrers decorator's book, so it's a bit like a pattern book which our decorators would have in the factory over there. each one tells a story of our unique historic patterns, and where to cut them and where to place them, and it acts as a bit of a guide for them.

we've been making coronation designs since 1902, with the very first piece dating back to king edward vii, king charles�*s great—great—grandfather. the pieces go right through to 1937, to the coronation that never was for king edward viii. and then, in more contemporary times, under the design stewardship of walter moorcroft, to 1953, with the coronation of queen elizabeth ii. we use a technique called tube lining. everything's made by hand. each piece takes at least a week to make, from start to finish. it's an honour, every piece of moorcroft that i work with and with the people that we work with, it's an honour. but forthe king, i mean, that is an amazing achievement and something that i will remember for the rest of my life, really. this cooper reporting. —— liz cooper reporting. plans to make it more difficult for children to illegally buy

e—cigarettes in england are to be laid out by the government next week. an enforcement squad will be set up to clamp down on shops selling vapes to under—185. victoria bourne reports. with their sweet flavours and brightly—coloured packaging, there's long been concern that e—cigarettes and vapes are becoming increasingly attractive to youngsters. and despite it being illegal, government data shows nearly 10% of all under—185 in england have either tried or are regularly using the devices. but there are hopes a range of new measures set to be announced by the department for health next week could help reduce the number of young people taking up the habit. £3 million of funding will support a new team targeting rogue retailers. it will be led by trading standards to carry out more test purchases in stores, to expose those failing to carry out age verification on customers. authorities will also have increased powers to remove illegal devices from sale. while welcoming the action, some charities have questioned whether the new measures go far enough.

it's about making these products less affordable and less appealing to children. they're available for pocket money prices on every street corner, for under a fiver. this announcement on vaping is part of a broader announcement by the government, reinforcing its commitment to achieve a smoke—free 2030. but at the moment, it's ten years off—track, and that's where we really need to see far more action. current nhs guidance suggests that whilst not risk—free, vapes can be a helpful tool for adults wanting to quit smoking, and a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes. it's hoped these measures will help deter young people from taking up vaping, the long—term health implications of which remain unknown. victoria bourne, bbc news. you can reach me, should you so wish, on twitter. what could be

better? this is bbc news. do stay with us. hello there, good evening. it's been dry, settled, really quite warm across much of the uk so far this easter bank holiday weekend. plenty of sunny spells around too, some of the sunshine hazy at times with some high cloud in the way. but of course, it was never going to last. it is going to turn a lot more unsettled into next week. wet, very windy at times, and there will also be a drop in temperature and it will be feeling colder. 0vernight tonight, the band of rain across northern ireland and western scotland will start to bring in the changes, it continues to push further eastwards. some clear spells for a time for northern ireland, but then another rash of showers following on behind the main weather front. and underneath that cloud and the rain, a mild start to the day on monday. now, some very typical bank holiday

weather coming up tomorrow. outbreaks of rain through the morning. some of the rain likely to pop up for a time across central and eastern areas of england, before it clears out of the coast of east anglia, as we head towards lunchtime. but a lot of showers behind the weather front. some of the showers are likely to line up in bands and they could be heavy, thundery, there could even be some hale at times. blustery towards english channel coasts. it won't be raining all the time, there will also be some sunny spells, but also a drop in temperature through the afternoon, in that cooler feeling air. and it will be quite chilly on monday night, into tuesday, maybe even a touch of localised cross, especially across scotland. a calm start to the day. this depression will be with us as we head through tuesday afternoon. but it's not a bad—looking morning. mostly dry, a few showers out towards the west, the winds ramp up towards irish sea coasts as we head through the late afternoon in particular, and we'll start to see these outbreaks of rain spread

across england, wales and eventually northern ireland. temperatures again on the low side for this time of year, ten to 13 celsius, already feeling chillier. the band of rain stretches up into scotland, much of northern ireland through tuesday night into wednesday. wednesday, even windier still, localised weather warnings in force. coastal gales, you can see the squeeze on the isobars for parts of devon, cornwall and south wales. some of the showers swirling round this area of low pressure could fall a little bit wintry in nature across the northern high ground. and as you can see from our outlook from the capital cities, it's really very unsettled, it's cold for this time of year too. it could warm up by the weekend, perhaps. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: jewish worshippers have converged on the western wall for the passover blessing injerusalem. there's a heavy security presence as officials fear violence could breakout. meanwhile, the funerals have been held for two british—israeli sisters killed in a shooting in the occupied west bank on friday. they were named as 20—year—old maia and 15—year—old rina dee. international delegations have arrived in yemen ahead of talks on a new and potentially permanent ceasefire. saudi arabia has backed yemeni government forces against the rebels during an eight—year civil war. at least four people have been killed in an avalanche in the french alps. it's thought the victims were hikers. the interior minister, gerald darmanin, said several

more people were injured on the armancette glacier, where rescue work is ongoing.