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. at least four people are killed in an avalanche in the french alps. rescuers are still searching for survivors. international delegations arrive in yemen, as talks to end eight years of war get under way in the capital, sana'a. and pope francis calls on the international community to help end conflicts in ukraine, syria, and elsewhere in his easter blessing at the vatican.

hello, i'm tanya beckett. it has 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, 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... 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.

they died, even though they were experienced mountaineers, they still couldn't survive the avalanche. in this instance, the region and the ski resort have warned people to be very careful and take extreme caution as they can't guarantee another avalanche won't happen. but for now, rescuers who are engaged in a search and rescue operation as they search for more survivors. migrant rescue charities have raised a safety alert for some 400 people on board a boat that they say is adrift and taking on water in the mediterranean sea. one group, called alarm phone, says the boat left tobruk in eastern libya, and is currently at this location, which is in malta's search and rescue area. according to the charity, those on board say the captain abandoned the boat. 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 energized. 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 doing his job 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. 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". simonjones reports. 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. 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. a little earlier, i spoke to our middle east regional editor sebastian usher. 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. 0lly foster has the sport.

the final round is underway at the masters. after much of saturday's play was abandoned because of the weather, the players had an early start to complete their third rounds before heading back out on the course. the american brooks koepka was two shots clear of spain'sjon rahm after 5a holes, but they are now level. jordan victor hovland had been third but has gone backwards with a double bogey on the sixth. tiger woods had been bottom of the leaderboard when play was called off on saturday and he withdrew early on sunday. here's our correspodnent andy swiss. tiger woods just managed to make the cut yesterday, but in the afternoon at the start of the third round when the rain was at its worst,

he was really struggling. you could see him hobbling around the course — remember it's only two years since he had that career—threatening car crash, and this morning before play started, tiger woods issued a statement saying he was withdrawing from the rest of the tournament because of an aggravation of a foot problem. so that is sad news for the masters. tiger woods had said before the tournament he wasn't sure how many more masters he had left in him, so fingers crossed he'll be back here next year. premier league leaders arsenal threw away a two—goal lead to draw 2—2 with liverpool at anfield. gabriel martinelli and gabrieljesus put the gunners two up inside half an hour. mo salah pulled one back by the break, and also missed a penalty early in the second half, dragging his spot—kick wide of the post. substitute roberto firmino scored the equaliser inside the last five minutes, and liverpool were denied victory by a number of stunning saves from keeper aaron ramsdale. arsenal are now six points clear

of manchester city, but they have played a game more and face city later this month. well, i imagine from the outside world, it was a great game to watch. we started the game really well and were really dominant in the first half. we scored the first and second one, then just before that half—time we conceded a goal and we gave liverpool some momentum. we need a lot of resilience and our goalkeeper and the right moment. then we had 3—4 big opportunities in the counter, but i think at the end it was a fair result. just staying with that game at anfield — refereeing chiefs are investigating after liverpool's andy roberston appeared to be elbowed by one of the assistants constantine hatzidakis at halftime. robertson was remonstrating with the linesman who then raised his arm and made contact with the defender. the pgmol say they are aware of the incident and will review the matter in full.

robertson was subsequentlky booked for his reaction. one of eight yellow cards shown in the game that had a number of flashpoints. it's really tight towards the bottom of the table, there was a huge win for crystal palace, 5—1 at leeds united. that moves palace up to 12th, leeds remain two points above the relegation zone. leeds actually took the lead through patrick bamford, but palace levelled just before the break through marc guehi, and leeds unravelled in the second half, jordan ayew scored twice, eberechi eze and 0dsonne edouard were also on the scoresheet for palace. that's two wins out of two for them since roy hodgson returned to palace, and they are six points above the relegation zone. and that's all the sport for now. here in the uk — the conservative party has rejected a suggestion from its leader in scotland that voters could tactically back labour to oust

the scottish national party. speaking to a british newspaper — douglas ross said "where there is the strongest candidate to beat the snp — you get behind that candidate." but he seemed to take a slightly different tack in a later interview with the bbc. i reject the scottish iurge i urge every scottish conservative to vote for the scottish conservative party. but our biggest competitors are the snp. we have the greatest possible chance of defeating many snp mps, which will clearly send a message that the public want our politics in scotland focused on their priorities, not another divisive independence referendum. let's cross live to westminster and speak to our political correspondent, iain watson. why is he saying any of this now? there's a reason he's certainly

trying to focus opposition to the snp - trying to focus opposition to the snp — they are in some degree of turmoil with its chief executive and a husband of theirformer leader, nicola sturgeon, being investigated by the police, arrested, then subsequently released because of an investigation into the snp�*s finances, also there's been a divisive leadership contest that was one by 50 2—48%. i don't think he's lying —— is language today has been entirely consistent because in an interview with a conservative sporting newspaper, the sunday telegraph, it said as he was though very —— he was very much suggesting that voters vote for any candidate besides the snp. he said, "if parties look beyond their narrow party agenda and do what's best for

the country, then for him as a scottish conservative, what would be best is if the grip of the snp could best is if the grip of the snp could be loosened." now that tends to suggest perhaps people should therefore vote for the biggest opposition party throughout the uk, the labour party, though they have only one seat in scotland, or perhaps the liberal democrat party instead. at that god, shall we say, a farfrom welcome instead. at that god, shall we say, a far from welcome reaction from the uk labour party. they said there should be no vote democrat tactical voting, then douglas ross tried to say that if anyone gets behind the scottish conservatives, we can have a go at the snp. it didn't seem to be exactly what he was saying initially, and actually enough, there are fellow conservatives who are worried enough as if he was throwing in the towel, he was keen to jab at the snp�*s weakness. they

might be best placed perhaps to inflict that damage on those who wanted to break up the united kingdom. wanted to break up the united kinudom. ., , wanted to break up the united kinadom. . ., , kingdom. either way, clearly when it indicates is that _ kingdom. either way, clearly when it indicates is that the _ kingdom. either way, clearly when it indicates is that the focus _ kingdom. either way, clearly when it indicates is that the focus is - kingdom. either way, clearly when it indicates is that the focus is now - indicates is that the focus is now turning to the next election. absolutely, the next election will probably be sometime next year, and certainly the conservative party are trailing the labour party in the current opinion polls. therefore they are especially sensitive to any suggestion they are perhaps throwing in the towel. elsewhere, labour are very keen to make progress in scotland, but since 2015 the snp have had the vast majority of seats, and i think certainly the uk wide parties are now thinking that might be a better change because of the snp's be a better change because of the snp�*s own internal difficulties. the snp�*s own internal difficulties. the snp are still ahead in national opinion polls in scotland, but if the other parties do well in scotland at their expense, they are hoping that might also help them right here in westminster at the

next general election, a westminster election — scottish elections will take place several years after. thanks very much. 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—18s. 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—18s 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. this is bbc news, 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 frost, 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, 10—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.