tonight at ten — moscow accuses ukraine of trying to assassinate president putin. moscow claims this unverified footage shows a drone targeting and exploding over the kremlin last night. there are still lots of questions about what happened. this has taken everybody by surprise. a drone attack in one of the most closely guarded buildings in russia. ukraine insists they had nothing to do with it. america says russia's claims should be taken with a dose of salt. also tonight... could this be a breakthrough in the battle against alzheimer's? a new drug appears to slow down significantly the progress of the disease. a 13—year—old boy in serbia

is accused of shooting dead eight children and a security guard at a school. as rehearsals continue for the coronation, police warn of swift action against any protestors on the big day. erling haaland, looking for this record here. he's done it. and erling haaland breaks the record for most premier league goals in a season as manchester city return to the top of the table. on newsnight at 10.30pm: did ukraine fly the drones at the kremlin that humiliated russia, and what will putin do next? and how a brand of beer has become the latest target in the us culture wars. good evening, russia has accused ukraine of trying to kill president putin by launching two drone strikes on the kremlin. unverified footage on social media appears to show an object flying over the kremlin before a small explosion. ukraine says it had nothing to do with it. russian officials say they disabled the drones and have described it as a terrorist assassination attempt. our russia editor, steve rosenberg,

sent this report from moscow. flying in from the left, what appears to be a drone. then an explosion over the kremlin. this footage is unverified but the kremlin says that overnight two drones targeted the residents of the president. moscow blames ukraine and says that no one was injured. on russian state tv, a dramatic start to this talk show. the present announces breaking news, there has been an attempt, he says, to assassinate putin. —— the presenter announces breaking news, there has been an attempt, he says, to assassinate putin. in daylight down at the kremlin we couldn't see any obvious signs of the explosions. lots of questions remain unanswered about what happened here last night. who launched the drones? with what aim? ukraine has denied involvement. if this was, as the kremlin claims, a ukrainian drone attack,

an attempt to kill the president in the very heart of moscow, that is hugely embarrassing for the authorities here. after all, where was the security? this is supposed to be one of the most heavily guarded seats of power in the world. last weekend, russia accused ukraine of launching a drone strike on a fuel depot in russian occupied crimea. days later bombs detonated and derailed two freight trains in a part of russia near the ukrainian border. citing security concerns, several russian regions have already cancelled military parades planned for the 9th of may, victory day, when russians mark the defeat of nazi germany. for now, the kremlin continues to insist that the big red square parade in moscow will go ahead despite last night's explosions. but there is a nervousness here. you can feel it. red square has been closed to the public since the end of april. that is unusual and reflects

the sense of unease. more than 1a months since the kremlin launched its full—scale invasion of ukraine, the war is feeling much closer to home. in a moment we'll hear more from steve rosenberg in moscow but first let's talk to hugo bachega in the ukrainian capital kyiv. it is hard to know what to make of this. flat out denials from president zelensky and ukraine are still coming under sustained missile fire from russia.— fire from russia. yes, ukraine has stronal fire from russia. yes, ukraine has strongly rejected _ fire from russia. yes, ukraine has strongly rejected having _ fire from russia. yes, ukraine has strongly rejected having any - strongly rejected having any involvement with this alleged attack. president zelensky said, we don't attack putin or moscow. but here in kyiv a top adviser to the president said moscow was planning a large—scale attack on ukraine and was planning to use this allegation as a pretext for this attack. i think particularly concerning was

the detail in the russian statement saying moscow reserves the right to retaliate. both countries have frequently traded accusations in this conflict but i think the timing of this russian claim is significant because ukraine says it is finishing plans for a much anticipated counter offensive and russian forces are now fortifying their positions in occupied territory ahead of this counteroffensive. so we could be seeing the beginning of a new phase in this war. in the meantime, russia continues to attack ukraine in towns and cities. today in the south of the country in kherson 21 people were killed including people who were killed including people who were shopping at a supermarket. steve, in moscow, as you said in your report, a lot of surprise over this explosion over the kremlin. how has the kremlin handled this assassination attempt, as they call it. w , assassination attempt, as they call it. v, , ., assassination attempt, as they call

it. w , ., ., ._ it. quite interesting. earlier today a putin spokesman _ it. quite interesting. earlier today a putin spokesman held _ it. quite interesting. earlier today a putin spokesman held his- it. quite interesting. earlier today a putin spokesman held his dailyl a putin spokesman held his daily conference call with journalists, made absolutely no mention of last night's explosions, and then a couple of hours later the public issued this dramatic statement claiming that actually last night there had been an attempt to kill president putin. that was a little bit odd. as dramatic as it looks, as dramatic as those explosions looked over the kremlin, it did not look to me as if this was an assassination attempt. what was it? cards on the table, we simply don't know but there has been lots of speculation. was this ukraine sending a message to putin that it can reach him whenever they wanted? was it the work of russian partisans or russian hardliners trying to exact a hard—line response from the kremlin? was this a full flag attack? we simply don't know. perhaps russia's response in the coming days will provide clues as to what this action was. . ~'

provide clues as to what this action was. . ~ , ., provide clues as to what this action was. . ~ i. ,., provide clues as to what this action was. . ~ ,, h, y provide clues as to what this action was. . ~ , . it's the most common form of dementia, alzheimer's, and there is currently no cure for it. but there is now hope there could soon be new drugs to treat it. after major clinical trials, an experimental drug called donanemab has been shown to slow down the progress of the disease significantly. our medical editor, fergus walsh, is here. you're very wary about using the word breakthrough. could this drug mean we're heading towards it? we're still awaiting the full results but this does look like another highly significant moment. after decades of failed trials, there are now two antibody drugs which can slow early stage alzheimer's disease. the latest is donanemab which is given as a monthly infusion. it works by clearing a rogue protein called amyloid which builds up in sticky clumps in the brains of alzheimer's patients. in a trial it slowed cognitive decline by around 35% over 18 months in a group of nearly 1,200 patients with early stage alzheimer's —

the best results reported so far. but there were some serious side effects. at least two volunteers died as a result of brain swelling. in november another antibody treatment, called lecanemab, was the first drug ever to show it could slow the progress of alzheimer's disease. dementia researchers say we are now entering a new era where alzheimer's is treatable. so what we now need when we have the full results will be regulators to make quick decisions so that the patients that could benefit from these treatments are able to benefit. we don't know how much donanemab will cost but lecanemab is over £20,000 a year per patient in the us where it is already licensed. dementia specialists say we'll need a complete overhaul of alzheimer's services here, including access to specialist brain scans, if patients are to benefit

from these new drugs. fergus walsh, thank you. a 13—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting dead eight children and a security guard at a school in the serbian capital belgrade. police claim the boy had been planning the attack for a month with a list of the children he wanted to kill. three days of national mourning have been declared. from belgrade, bethany bell reports. a 13—year—old boy is led away by police. he's the main suspect in a mass shooting at one of the best schools in belgrade. he came to school with two guns. he fired at the security guard and three girls standing in the hallway. translation: i was walking up. the stairs and while i was walking up i could hear a sound, and i thought it was maybe boys,

some kids throwing firecrackers and that they were having fun. but then i could hear it closer and the sound was coming from in front of the school. and then i saw the security guard falling to the ground so i quickly ran from where i was. i didn't want to go upstairs any more. i didn't know who was up there. he then walked into a history class where he shot the teacher before turning his weapon on his fellow students. police say the shooter planned the attack a month in advance and had drawn up a list of children to target. the 13—year—old has been put in a specialist psychiatric facility. he is alleged to have used two guns belonging to his father. both his parents have since been arrested. all day people have come to pay their respects to those who were shot. there is a deep sense of shock and sadness here. this is normally a lively part of town, but the people who live

here say it's never felt so quiet. they are struggling to understand how a day at school turned into a nightmare. with candles and flowers, this city is mourning its dead. bethany bell, bbc news, belgrade. protesters who try to disrupt the coronation can expect "very swift action" from police who will have "an extremely low threshold" when it comes to dealing with them. that was the word from a senior police officer today, one of almost 30,000 officers who'll take part in the security operation surrounding the coronation this weekend. the security update follows an incident last night when officers arrested a man after items — thought to be shotgun cartridges — were thrown into the grounds of buckingham palace. here's our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford. being led away from buckingham palace in handcuffs, the man suspected of throwing shotgun cartridges over the gates and then being found with a lock knife in his bag. he remains in custody.

explosion what the hell was that? police officers carried out a controlled explosion on his backpack, but said they're not treating the incident as terrorism. it was a reminder of the stakes on saturday, when kings, queens and presidents from around the world all gather for the coronation. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to be in the crowds. the metropolitan police are describing it as one of the most significant security operations that the force has ever led, with more than 29,000 officers deployed at some point over the coronation period. as during the queen's funeral, there'll be armed officers on rooftops. m15 and the police have been identifying terrorists and people with royalfixations, who may pose a threat. the work that's gone on between the metropolitan police and other police forces around the united kingdom and, of course, our intelligence services to make sure we know as much as possible what's going on and where incidents

could occur has been a huge effort. as the rehearsal overnight showed, there'll be thousands of military personnel involved, who will also need protection. police are considering using live facial recognition technology to help identify known suspects. not my king! anti—monarchist groups like republic have been sent letters, warning them of new protest laws that came into force this week, and the police said only lawful demonstrations would be allowed. we have an extremely low tolerance for anything or anyone who comes to disrupt this event, and what they will find is a very swift and very quick action from us to make sure that everyone can carry on celebrating, without interference or interruption. but human rights groups believe the series of laws passed in recent years have had a chilling effect on how demonstrations are policed.

the policing of the coronation - is shaping up to be a human rights nightmare, with protesters i being threatened with letters, new laws being rushed - through and the police today confirming that they intend to use facial recognition . technology during the policing of the coronation. _ the king was in westminster abbey for a rehearsal of the service today, as a painter put the final touches to the railings outside, and the police prepared for one of their greatest ever security challenges. daniel sandford, bbc news, at westminster abbey. the final flights carrying british nationals wanting to escape the fighting in sudan have been taking off ahead of a new seven—day ceasefire between warring military factions. more than 100,000 people have already fled to neighbouring countries amid warnings of a humanitarian "catastrophe" that could affect the entire region. now the un is urgently trying to get humanitarian supplies safely into the worst affected areas. our africa correspondent, andrew harding, reports. in the war—torn centre of khartoum,

in a bullet—riddled apartment, a terrified family of four. now, during the shooting, me and the kids would stay here because it's the safest area for us to stay. seen here in earlier, calmer times, widower mohamed salman and his three young children. we had the army behind us and the rsf in front of us, and they were shooting at each other, and we were in the middle. so that was the hardest point of the whole situation. we laid down. i was talking to them constantly, explaining that we were quite safe here. "look, we're on the ground, nothing's happening to us." i'm not going to turn round to my children and say, "we're in danger." for ten days, mohamed races out to find water. he's a dual british—sudanese national whose wife died three years ago. being a single—parent household, i couldn't take my kids out with me,

obviously, because it's a war zone. and at the same time, i couldn't leave them behind me, because they were panicking every time i wanted to leave the house. finally, the family make a run for it through khartoum's devastation. this is some of the damages. wow! first, they reach a neighbourhood controlled by sudan's regular army. we finally are amongst the army, our people, and feel safe. and then on, to join the crowds hoping to be airlifted out by british forces. after their ordeal, 11—year—old sadiq is ill. he and his sisters don't have british passports, but their father's is enough to get them onto the plane. relief on every face. within hours, the family reaches cyprus. and then, an emotional reunion in london gatwick.

mohamed's brother waiting at arrivals. it is bittersweet. all my work, all my business, everything is back in sudan. but i do plan to leave my kids here. they're quite happy about it. they're experiencing things they haven't experienced before. and swapping the chaos of war for a quiet street in liverpool. let's take a brief look at some other stories making the news today. the actor stephen tompkinson has been accused of causing traumatic brain injuries to a man he punched outside his home two years ago. in the case being heard at newcastle crown court, the actor denied a charge of grievous bodily harm, saying he acted in self—defence and simply pushed the man away. the case continues. police across europe have arrested more than 100 people in a crackdown on italy's most powerful mafia group. the raids targeting the �*ndrangheta were the culmination of a three—year investigation involving ten countries. assets worth more than £22 million were seized.

most of the arrests were in italy, with some in germany, belgium, spain and france. an animal welfare charity has taken the government to court, accusing it of breaking its own rules by allowing the breeding of fast—growing chickens which can suffer severe health problems and deformities. the chickens can reach slaughter weight in just five weeks — up to three times faster than in the 19505. tennis, and emma raducanu will miss the french open and wimbledon, and probably the us open as well. she says she's had a "minor procedure" on one of her hands and will be out for the "next few months". she's to have further surgery on her other hand and her ankle. local elections get underway tomorrow in england. more than 8,000 seats will be contested, in these 230 councils, most of them district councils. two weeks later in northern ireland, 11 council elections will be held. there are none in scotland or wales.

in england there's a significant change for voters who will now have to bring photo id to the polling station. it's already required in northern ireland. these elections will be watched closely — they could be the biggest test of political opinion ahead of the next general election, as our political editor chris mason reports. the labour leader and his deputy in gillingham, in kent, this afternoon. tomorrow's elections will determine who runs plenty of councils around england. they'll also give us something of a sense of the chances of keir starmer becoming prime minister at the general election, expected next year. we've got a very buzzy, positive labour team that have been working their socks off for the last few weeks. we've got a positive case to tell. this is going to be all about the cost of living. it's absolutely clear the government have got nothing to say about that. who in the room has received a text message saying you've missed a delivery? the prime minister has been focused on measures to tackle fraud today.

in the elections tomorrow, the conservatives are expecting things to be difficult, after the chaos of the last year and after 13 years in government in westminster. rishi sunak picked a spot to visit where there aren't actually any elections — amersham, in buckinghamshire. we've always said these are going to be a tough set of elections for us. we're concentrating on delivering on people's priorities to a local level. that's about low council tax, where conservative areas have council tax that's, on average, £80 lower than labour ones. crime is lower. and we fill more potholes. the liberal democrats are hoping to make gains primarily at the conservatives' expense, and support from this dog in lewes looked secure. next up, persuading those in east sussex with a vote. isabel? yes, she's my daughter. she's liberal democrat. we're getting a great response on the doorstep. people really like the liberal democrat message, whether it's on the nhs, or the cost of living, or on sewage, and with our great local candidates, and they're increasingly fed up with the conservatives. we're finding lifelong conservatives telling us

they'll never vote conservative again. the green party's done well at recent local elections, albeit from a low base. here they are in stowmarket, in suffolk. letter—box technique is everything for the campaigner, and many a doormat tonight has been carpeted with political leaflets. their pitch? it sounds like this. we've heard over and over again people are sick of the conservative party, and they're utterly uninspired by the labour party. the green party are both offering that inspiration and practical solutions to both the cost—of—living crisis and the climate crisis. the paraphernalia of democracy is taking its place. polling stations and count centres are readied for the voters and votes of tomorrow. chris joins us from westminster now. what should we be looking out for in the election results?— the election results? firstly, if there are _ the election results? firstly, if there are elections _ the election results? firstly, if there are elections where you | the election results? firstly, if- there are elections where you are,

they matter for the straightforward reason that it will determine who governs closest to you, who will mould the places where you live and work? who will run the vital public services are so many of us rely upon? if you watching tonight in scotland, wales, northern ireland all those parts of england where there are no elections tomorrow, you might reasonably ask why does this matter to me. the answer to that is that elections like this are mood makers here at westminster. going into them labour sound pretty buoyant. by contrast rishi sunak at an event in westminster tonight acknowledged that conservative councillors will lose tomorrow because of the turbulence within the conservative party within the various governments of the last year. and he sought to make something of a virtue out of what he described as our politics no longer feeling like a boxed set drama any more. it is then widely expected the will go backwards and labour will go forwards. but crucially what we need

to look out for is the extent of those two things. so how well does labour do if they do well and how badly do the conservatives do if they do badly? what is the gap between those two principal parties and to what extent do the opinion polls of recent months where labour have been miles ahead of the conservatives match up or not with real votes in real ballot boxes? we will soon find out. we will be talking this time tomorrow night as the polls close and the results start to dribble in, they will then trickle in during the small hours of friday morning and then trundle in during friday afternoon. by teatime on friday we should have a sense of how it has all panned out. we should indeed. chris mason at westminster, thank you. there are three days to go until the coronation and groups opposed to the monarchy say they will be mounting a peaceful but determined protest during it. they say the monarchy is increasingly irrelevant to modern britain and support for it has diminished sharply since

king charles came to the throne. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports on some of the challenges the king faces. god save the king! all the evidence suggests a solid majority remains supportive. but not everyone is in favour of the monarchy. those who oppose it believe this is their moment. they've been dogging the king's footsteps in recent months with their chant, "not my king", and the king has heard them. polly toynbee is a columnist at the guardian. if you think that ten years ago, over 70% of people were strongly in favour of the monarchy, and now it's sunk down to under 60, in a very short time. the young, particularly, are a majority anti—monarchist. is charles the king who can address the key issues facing the monarchy? its wealth, its relevance, particularly with younger people, and in a britain of such wide diversity. colleen harris was a senior

member of charles' staff when he was prince of wales. he has 50 years of experience that he brings to the table. he has all that knowledge and understanding. he will always find the answers. we've witnessed the family dramas, seen the withdrawal of the sussexes, and heard the suggestions of unacceptable attitudes to race and diversity. the royal family had a golden opportunity when harry married meghan to embrace all of that. and people celebrated it and said, "this is wonderful. the royal family is becoming more diverse." and somehow, they managed to blow it. whatever the situation, they needed to hold on to her, she was very valuable, and they've lost her. on the question of race, colleen harris speaks from her own experience in charles' household 20 years ago. the king recruited the first black member of the royal household, and that was me. my first event in his household was a windrush event that he asked me to organise.

he was very keen to address these issues. it's part of him wanting to understand, wanting to learn. in three days' time, all those who choose to will be able to share in a powerful moment of british pageantry. saturday will be a great spectacle, but after it's all over, what then? what then for the british monarchy, under this monarch? i very much doubt prince george will make it to the throne. young people now, a large majority, say they don't expect it to last another 25 years. the king's supporters say, farfrom this being the anti—monarchists' moment, this is the moment for charles to show what he's capable of. the issues that he brought to our attention over the last 50 years, around the environment, sustainability, supporting young people, diversity.

he tries to understand what their challenges are, and i think he will continue to do that. charles 111, a man out of his time, or a king to meet the challenges of the 21st century and take the monarchy forward? nicholas witchell, bbc news. there's plenty more information about the coronation on the bbc website, including the story of the king's crown complete with its [iiiiijewels and gemstones. you can see it all in 3d and read about its history. leeds united have sacked their managerjavi gracia and appointed the former england boss sam allardyce. "big sam", as he's known, has just four games to guide the club to safety and avoid relegation from the premier league. his first test will be a match against manchester city on saturday. football now, and manchester city are back at the top of the premier league after beating west ham 3—0.

they were helped to victory by star striker erling haaland who became the first player to score 35 goals in a premier league campaign. our sports correspondent, andy swiss, was watching. would it be another step towards another premier league title? manchester city have looked unstoppable recently but west ham's woodwork seemed to have other ideas. first jack grealish was woodwork seemed to have other ideas. firstjack grealish was denied by the post and then rodri in the most agonising fashion. how did that stay out? well, it did and it summed up city's first half. but after the break they finally struck. west ham undone at last by nathan ake's no—nonsense finish before another moment of history for a quite remarkable talent.— moment of history for a quite remarkable talent. erling haaland lookin: for remarkable talent. erling haaland looking for this _ remarkable talent. erling haaland looking for this record. _ remarkable talent. erling haaland looking for this record. he's - remarkable talent. erling haaland looking for this record. he's done| looking for this record. he's done it. ., ., ., , looking for this record. he's done it. erling haaland with his 35th premier league _ it. erling haaland with his 35th premier league goal _ it. erling haaland with his 35th premier league goal of - it. erling haaland with his 35th premier league goal of the -

it. erling haaland with his 35th - premier league goal of the season, the most in the competition's history, the latest landmark for this footballing phenomenon. and phil foden duly sealed a 3—0 win. city are now a point clear of arsenal with a game still in hand. the celebrations could be onlyjust beginning. andy swiss, bbc news. and before we go this is the elizabeth tower tonight — it's being lit up every night between now and sunday to mark the coronation with the colours of the union flag and the national flowers of all four home nations. big ben showing that i'm ahead of the coronation. looks fantastic. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. let's address the elephant in the room. everyone asking about the weather for the coronation and i'm not sure westminster abbey will look like this unfortunately on saturday morning. rain is on the way and it

will arrive potentially during the morning. not that heavy but there will be some nuisance rain around making it feel on the cool side. if you are setting off down to buckingham palace and close to westminster abbey and the mall this low pressure will move in during the early hours of saturday morning and continue to drift steadily north and east. forthe continue to drift steadily north and east. for the wider picture, plenty going off this weekend. it looks like the wettest of the weather potentially on saturday. sunday, fingers crossed, when most of the picnics and street parties are taking place, it looks better. dryer with a few light showers, good news for those at windsor castle. by sunday, sunshine and sharp showers are set to return. back to the here and now. moving to thursday, a brisk easterly breeze driving cloud across north—east england and eastern scotland. some sunshine for northern ireland, northern england and down into north wales and the south—east

corner. as we go through the day and to the south—west,