live from washington, this is bbc news. president biden praises the courage of alexei navalny�*s widow, as washington draws up sanctions on russia — over the opposition leader's death. at least four people are killed as a fire blazes through an apartment building in the spanish city of valencia. today, for the first time in more than a half—century, the us has returned to the moon! the us has returned to the moon! a robotic spacecraft makes the first—ever lunar landing by a private company. hello. i'm carl nasman. us presidentjoe biden has expressed his condolences to the wife and daughter of late russian opposition leader alexei navalny. meeting them in california, he emphasized that navalny�*s legacy lives on through those mourning his loss and fighting for freedom and democracy.

the us government is expected to announce a new package of sanctions against more than 500 russian targets on friday. navalny�*s mother says she's finally seen his body, nearly a week after officials said he died in an arctic prison. lyudmila navalnaya said authorities took her to a morgue on wednesday night, where she was presented with a death certificate, which she signed. navalny�*s team said the document states he died of natural causes. translation: according to the law. _ they should have given me alexei's body immediately. but they didn't. instead, they blackmail me. they put conditions where, when and how alexei should be buried. this is illegal. they receive orders either from the kremlin or from the central office of the investigative committee. they want it done secretly, without a memorial service. they want to take me to the edge of the cemetery, to a fresh grave, and say, "here lies your son." i don't agree with that. i'm recording this video because they started

threatening me. looking me in the eye, the investigator said that if i don't agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with my son's body. the investigator openly told me, "time is not working for you — corpses decompose." i don't want special conditions. ijust want things done according to law. i demand to see my son's body immediately. this saturday marks two years since russia began its full—scale invasion of ukraine. this was the map back in february 2022, when russia held crimea — which it annexed in 2014, and russian—backed separatists controlled a small section in southeastern ukraine. ff now, most of the south and east of the country are occupied by russian forces. over the course of the war, ukraine and russia have each suffered huge losses of life on the battlefield. and while ukraine has suffered the most damage,increasingly, and while ukraine has suffered the most damage, increasingly, russian towns have been shelled, and hundreds of thousands of men have been drafted into the army. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg takes a look at how the country,

and its people, have changed during the war. bell tolls. they are two years that have changed russia and set the country on a darker path. two years of war and heavy casualties, mobilisation and mutiny, and repression — alexei navalny, dead in prison. fanfare. but the president is looking confident. vladimir putin senses the tide may be turning in his favour. but what is his goal? he wants the world to live on his own terms. i don't think that he wants some kind of a takeover of poland or the baltic states or western europe. he needs ukraine, but this is not enough for him. what is enough for him? this world must accept his rules, must accept his vision of the world.

how things have changed. there was a time when russia and the west were talking about cooperation, partnership. the putin i met with, did good business with, established the nato—russia council with, is very, very different from this almost megalomaniac at the present moment. so the man who stood beside me in may of 2002, right beside me, and said, "ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation—state, "which will make its own decisions about security," is now the man who says that it is not a nation—state, and it's got to be wiped off the face of the earth. vladimir putin once said to me at a press conference that russia was squeaky clean. nothing's changed. the kremlin continues to claim that none of what's happening today is russia's fault — that it was the west that started this war. but two years ago, it wasn't the west that invaded ukraine. that was russia. and how does the russian public see things?

this is the town of sonic nagorski, sunny hills near moscow. the last two years of russia's history. it's all here in the park. the invasion of ukraine. these russian soldiers were killed there. they're portrayed as heroes. graffiti for the varna paramilitary group. and flowers — just a few — in memory of alexei navalny. for the residents of sunny hills, in two years, life has changed. "0ur factories are making things now that we used to buy "abroad, and that's good," lydia says. "but i'm sad for the young men, "for everyone who've been killed." marina praises russian soldiers in ukraine, and admits she lives in fear her own son may be called up to fight.

"we need peace," she says, "so that we don't have to fear what tomorrow will bring." and these two years have changed the war memorial on the town square. there's a whole new section — dozens of names of local men killed in what the kremlin still calls a special operation, not a war. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. turning to the war in the middle east now: the israeli government will send a delegation to paris this weekend for talks on a possible ceasefire and the release of hostages still being held in gaza. that's according to israeli media. the latest talks failed two weeks ago, when israeli prime minister rejected a proposal by hamas as "delusional." and a developing story: israeli media say benjamin netanyahu presented his plan for the post—war management of gaza to his war cabinet late on thursday night.

in the short—term, his goals remain the same, the complete destruction of the military and political infrastructure of hamas and islamichhad. he also says local officials acceptable to israel should manage gaza once the fighting is over. many of the proposals are not entirely new, but it's believed to be the first time the prime minister has presented them to the war cabinet, which would still have to approve the plans. meanwhile, israel is carrying out some of its heaviest bombardme— nt of gaza so far — mostly targeted at its southernmost city, rafah. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says 97 people were killed overnight. israel also targeted gaza city, in the territory's north. this is the aftermath there. 0ur correspondent paul adams has been following developments from jerusalem. this was the result of a cabinet meeting this evening here in israel at which the government decided that it would send a high—level

delegation to paris for talks tomorrow. there had been considerable uncertainty as to whether or not israel was willing to re—engage in a process last week when there were talks held in egypt, prime minister binyamin netanyahu declined to send a delegation. at that point, he was describing hamas�* conditions for a ceasefire and hostage deal as "delusional". something has changed since then. the us middle east envoy, brett mcgurk, who is here in israel today, is understood to have told mr netanyahu that hamas�* position has softened. we do not know the extent or the details of that softening but, clearly, the government heard enough today to think that it is worth sending the mossad boss and other top security chiefs to paris for those talks. so that is a small sign

of the possibility that these talks could yield something. this comes on top of remarks yesterday by benny gantz, a senior member of mr netanyahu's government, suggesting that there were cautious signs of progress. i don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. there is no sense of a deal being imminent. but clearly, the americans are pressing extremely hard, and they have made it plain that they want to see a deal in place before the start of ramadan — and that is in less than three weeks�* time. earlier, my colleague caitriona perry spoke to richard haass, president emeritus, council on foreign relations. he spoke about the change in stance from israel. thanks for being with us on bbc news, richard. if we can start with this breaking news that the israelis are to send a delegation to talks in paris around some kind of temporary ceasefire hostage exchange — what do you think has changed,

given how vehemently prime minister netanyahu had rejected attending these talks and, had rejected the hamas position several days ago?— several days ago? there's probably _ several days ago? there's probably several - several days ago? there's - probably several explanations. 0ne probably several explanations. one is the return of hostage — for many israelis, it is at a minimum a priority, and for many it's the priority. so it's extraordinarily difficult for the israeli government to justify a stance where they don't participate in these talks. we're not talking about a permanent ceasefire, so that ought to be acceptable to israel. plus, the united states has been circulating an alternative resolution in new york which, among other things, calls for a temporary ceasefire and the return of further hostages. so it takes a lot for the israelis to get across purposes with the united states. so my guess is all these things came together to explain the evolution, shall we say, in the israeli stance. figs say, in the israeli stance. as ou say, in the israeli stance. as you mentioned there, the change in language from the us — we have seen a strengthening of the position in recent days.

does that development indicate, perhaps, that the us is not just speaking more forcibly about this, but is perhaps forcing israel more as well? absolutely, and perhaps that the us is willing to stake out a position independent of israel. up to now, the last four or five israel. up to now, the last four orfive months, the united states has emphasised persuasion, trying to lead the israelis to do this or not do that. as we've seen for the most part, say with the exception of letting some aid into gaza, us influence has been minimal, so what i think you're beginning to see is perhaps some signs of a more independent us position that won't give israel an effective veto over what the united states says or does. a deadly fire swept through two blocks of flats in the spanish city of valencia. at least four people were killed. 14 others, including 6 firefighters, have been treated for burns and smoke inhalation. the blaze spread through the ill—storey block rapidly, fanned by high winds

from madrid, guy hedgecoe reports. sirens. firefighters in valencia were first alerted at around 5.30 in the afternoon after a blaze broke out on one of the building's lower floors. it quickly spread, with eyewitnesses saying it engulfed the entire ill—storey building in a matter of minutes. firefighters made some dramatic rescues — in this case two people were brought down from a balcony. applause. 0thers waited on balconies for firefighters to arrive. translation: i told my daughter and mother—in—law to leave. other people stayed inside. the residential block, which is situated in the campanar neighbourhood of valencia, contains around 140 flats. strong winds fanned the flames and the fire also spread

to an adjoining building. more than 20 crews have been fighting the blaze, with some military personnel mobilised. there are fears for those who may have been trapped inside the building. a makeshift hospital was set up nearby to take on people who had been injured. several firefighters were among the first to be treated. translation: 13 people injured of which six are firefighters, showing the intensity of the work they are doing. with confusion surrounding the scene, local authorities set up a helpline for those worried about loved ones. the people of valencia are wondering how such a devastating blaze could have started, and spread so fast. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, spain. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at a story we are following closely in the uk: britain's prime minister has criticised the commons speaker, sir lindsay hoyle, over the way he handled a vote on a ceasefire in gaza. rishi sunak stopped short of saying he should resign, but more than 60 mps have now

called for sir lindsay to go — after he changed parliamentary convention in a way that ended up helping labour. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffman has more. 67 — that's the crucial number being watched closely here in parliament, because it's the number of mps almost all of them conservative and snp — who have signed a motion of no—confidence in sir lindsay hoyle. a speaker of the house of commons lives or dies by their reputation as a fair referee. 67 — that means more than i in 10 of the mps he's there to serve — think he isn't a fair referee. that's a very bad position for a commons speaker to find himself in. the speaker on thursday apologised again, saying he had made a mistake. but both snp and tory mps are calling for a confidence vote. you're live with bbc news. at least three major healthcare facilities in alabama have paused in—vitro fertilisation procedures after the state's top court ruled that frozen

embryos could be legally considered children — and that a person could be held liable for accidentally destroying them. the hospital says it's concerned it could be prosecuted. president biden called the court ruling "outrageous and unacceptable". he wrote in a statement make no mistake: he wrote in a statement: "make no mistake. "this is a direct result of the overturning of roe "wade. "my message is: the vice=president and i are she has one son and wants to expand herfamily, but her life has now been up—ended. i understand the idea of

attaching emotion to the embryos. they signify potential. they signify, you know, the dream of a child. but you can't cuddle an embryo. you can't breast—feed an embryo. alabama's supreme court decision was issued in wrongful death cases brought by three couples. in 2020, they had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. the court used an already established law here to decide that unborn children are children, even outside the womb — but the court's chiefjustice went further, invoking the bible in hisjudgement, saying human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy god who've used the destruction of his image as an affront to himself. the ruling did not ban ivf, but experts say the decision has created confusion over how to use and store embryos — one of the state's biggest fertility clinics has paused procedures. it's awful. i have had to call

patients — i called several patients — i called several patients yesterday — to have to tell them that we were not able to file their embryo and transfer it. and these are patients that are ready. their bodies are ready. they're ready to go. bodies are ready. they're ready to .o_ �* ., bodies are ready. they're ready toio. �* ., , bodies are ready. they're ready toio. ~ ., bodies are ready. they're ready to go. alabama is a deeply conservative _ to go. alabama is a deeply conservative state, - to go. alabama is a deeply conservative state, with i to go. alabama is a deeply l conservative state, with very strict anti—abortion laws. there are those who oppose abortion and describe themselves as pro—life. they welcome the ruling. but there are those who are conflicted. i think the pro—life community in general would support ivf. i've known and worked with many people who have done ivf and had children, and it worked very well for them. and at the same time, they would think abortion is wrong, because this issue —— but this issue is so difficult from abortion. but pro-choice _ difficult from abortion. but pro—choice groups fear this is similar, and that other states who have strict anti—abortion laws may follow alabama, marking a new chapter in america's bitter battle over reproductive rights. let's turn to some important

news around the world: the president of senegal has announced he'll be stepping down on april 2, when his mandate ends. however, macky sall did say that he doesn't think a new leader will be elected in time to take over. his announcement on national tv comes a week after a court ruling overturned his decree to delay presidential elections until december. the vote was originally scheduled for this sunday. paris's most famous landmark is closed for a fourth day — after workers at the eiffel tower extended their strike. france's cgt union says there has been insufficient investment for the building — and are concerned that funds will be diverted away from wages. the us has landed a spacecraft on the moon for the first time since the apollo missions more than five decades ago. intuitive machines is also the first private company to reach the lunar surface. they've been contracted by nasa to carry six

scientific instruments onboard scientific instruments onboa rd that scientific instruments onboard that will help study the moon's surface and measure radiowaves. the spacecraft touched down near the south pole of the moon, where scientists hope there could be a source of water. 0ur science correspondent has more. this was a big moment for the commercial of space — the first—ever privately built and operated spacecraft to touch down successfully on the moon. but also, a big moment for the american space programme in general. you know, you've got to go back to 1972 and apollo 17, the last apollo mission, for when american hardware last touched down on the lunar surface. we do have one or two concerns going forward. the signal coming back from the 0dysseus lander wasn't as strong as i think the controllers were hoping. we thought there would be some sort of loss of signal at the moment of touchdown — that happened, but it went on slightly longer, i think, happened, but it went on slightly longer, ithink, than

anybody thought it would. we thought there might be a delay of 15-30 thought there might be a delay of 15—30 seconds, but it went on for 2, 3, 4 minutes. of 15—30 seconds, but it went on for2, 3, 4 minutes. and then this faint signal came through. it may be that there is no issue here, and engineers will be going through the data in the coming hours to try to understand precisely what the status is of the 0dysseus lander. is it upright? are its solar cells pointing in the right direction to pick up the sun's energy so that it can power its systems over the coming days? it's going to be fascinating to see what happens, to see what the lander itself is able to discern about itself is able to discern about its environment and the landscape around it. it's gone very close to the south pole — 80 degrees south. no spacecraft has ever been that far south on the moon. and it's very, very rough terrain as well. so we may see, if we get some pictures back, some really big mountains in the distance. fascinating stuff. for more on

the significance of the lunar landing, i spoke earlier with matt shindell, space history curator at the smithsonian national air and space museum. i thank you very much ijoining us here. it was a bit touch—and—go, a bit dramatic, but it now looks as though we have this lander on the moon. walk us through your reaction, first of all, to what is a successful landing — the first one in many decades by the us one in many decades by the us on the moon?— one in many decades by the us on the moon? that's right. and also the first — on the moon? that's right. and also the first ever _ on the moon? that's right. and also the first ever for _ on the moon? that's right. and also the first ever for a - also the first ever for a commercialfirm, which is commercial firm, which is pretty commercialfirm, which is pretty significant, as there have been a couple of failed attempts before for commercial lunar landers. i think folks were definitely on the edge of their seats with this one, waiting to see if it would be successful. as with all landings, whether it's on the moon or mars, there's this element of, you know, this thing happening at a great distance from you that you can't really observe happening and that you're just hoping the technology operates as it's

meant to, as advertised, and that your technology lands safely on the surface. walk us throu i h safely on the surface. walk us through just — safely on the surface. walk us through just how _ safely on the surface. walk us through just how historic - safely on the surface. walk us through just how historic this | through just how historic this moment is. you mentioned this is the first commercial company to do this. it's also the first time that the us has attempted a moon landing — what, since 1972? that's five decades. yeah, that's right. it has been quite a while. in fact, it's been even longer than that since we landed anything robotic on the moon, which has its own challenges. so it's been not since 1968 that we've landed anything on the moon robotically. so, you know, it's always been difficult. i think that's one thing that we have to keep in mind. the us ranger programme, which was designed to crash—land probes on the moon, basicallyjust trying to hit the surface, had very low success rate — only about 3 of the 9 that were sent actually managed to crash into the moon

properly. and then after that was the surveyor programme to land soft landers. in that case, 5 of the 7 were actually a success. and so, you know, if you put those two together, evenin you put those two together, even in the heyday of us lunar exploration, we were only getting about a 50% success rate on our robotic landers. what makes this so challenging? i was reading earlier that landing on the moon is a bit like trying to hit a golf ball into the hole in los angeles. does that sound about right? how hard is this?— how hard is this? yeah - i mean. _ how hard is this? yeah - i mean. as _ how hard is this? yeah - i mean, as with _ how hard is this? yeah - i mean, as with sending - how hard is this? yeah - i - mean, as with sending anything to land on any body out in the solar system — for example, we've been landing things on mars pretty successfully for decades now — there are challenges of orbital dynamics, trying to just get things on the right trajectory in the first place. first, you have to launch them successfully, of course, and then set them on that trajectory. and then once you get to the moon, you have

the problem that you really can't do this with a joystick. it has to be done autonomously by the lander. and everything has to go exactly right, timed properly, the propulsion system has to work just properly, the propulsion system has to workjust right to give you just the right amount of thrust at the right moments so that you can land softly on the moon without either crashing into the surface or bouncing off of the surface. so, you know, it's really difficult. and you have to design these autonomous systems with a lot of redundancy and sophistication. and in the case of these commercial landers, you know, they're working with much lower budgets than nasa would normally use for a mission like this. interesting. we've seen — mission like this. interesting. we've seen india, _ mission like this. interesting. we've seen india, japan, - mission like this. interesting. we've seen india, japan, and | we've seen india, japan, and china recently land these ro—baltic vehicles on the moon —— robotic vehicles on the moon as well. india and japan did it injust the last as well. india and japan did it in just the last six months. are we seeing a new space race, do you think?— do you think? well, you know, i don't know _ do you think? well, you know, i don't know if— do you think? well, you know, i don't know if i _ do you think? well, you know, i don't know if i would _ don't know if i would characterise it as a "race". as

with most things that happen in space these days, there is a combination of elements of co—operation and competition. so, you know, the us in political spheres definitely sees china as a competitor for leadership in space. but in the case of the other countries, these are potential partners who might sign on, for example, to the artemis accords and participate in this project nasa has to send humans back to the moon. so i think there are elements of competition, to be sure, but there's also, you know, a lot of diplomacy going on there — a lot of allies and partnerships being formed in space. partnerships being formed in sace. a partnerships being formed in sace. ,, space. matt shindell, space history curator _ space. matt shindell, space history curator at _ space. matt shindell, space history curator at the - space. matt shindell, space l history curator at the national air and space museum, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us.— to speak with us. you're welcome- _ to speak with us. you're welcome. thank- to speak with us. you're welcome. thank you. i to speak with us. you're - welcome. thank you. plenty more on that lunar— welcome. thank you. plenty more on that lunar landing _ welcome. thank you. plenty more on that lunar landing on _ welcome. thank you. plenty more on that lunar landing on our - on that lunar landing on our website — that's bbc.com/news. stay with us right here on bbc

news. hello there. it's been a pretty wet—but—mild february. however, thursday saw a change with this weather front bringing some heavy rain for a time, then as it pushed its way steadily east, northwesterly wind direction kicked in and that had quite a dramatic impact to the feel of the weather wednesday afternoon. temperatures above the average mid—teens quite widely. by thursday, they were half that value and just below where they should be for this time of year. that's also translated into a pretty chilly start to friday morning. low single figures for many, and we haven't seen temperature values like that for quite some time. so certainly a shock to the system. but it will also be accompanied by hopefully some sunshine through central and eastern england and eastern scotland. there will be some showers out to the west with that brisk northwesterly wind and some of these will feed further inland as the day continues.

wintry to higher ground. but a cool story again, seven to nine degrees. this is where the temperatures should be really for this time of year. now, as we go through friday evening, some of those showers will tend to fade away and under clearing skies, those temperatures will fall even further. so saturday morning is going to be a cold start with a frost likely in rural parts as temperatures fall below freezing. so, yes, a cold start, but again, this quiet theme is set to continue. a good deal of fine weather, a few coastal showers in scotland, the risk of some showers moving through south wales and southern england for a time. but on the whole, most of us seeing some dry, sunny weather. and again, those temperatures just about scraping into double figures, if we're lucky. but for most of us, generally, between seven and nine degrees. slight problem on sunday with this area of low pressure in the fronts. now, there is the potential for that to just be a little bit further north, and if that happens, the rain could be further north. so we'll need to keep firming up on those details. but at the moment, it looks

likely just to affect southwest england and the channels and maybe just fringing with the channel coast for a time. more cloud across southern england, but elsewhere, largely fine and quiet. and again, temperatures between seven and nine degrees. now, that quieter theme is going to continue monday into tuesday. but as we move through the middle part of the week, the risk is it's turning increasingly wetter. but also the milder weather is set to return as well.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. in pakistan, journalists say they are being assaulted... they started hitting my elbows, i've never had such pain in my life. abducted... what do you know about the people that took you? everyone knows everything in pakistan. and killed, just for doing theirjob. i think they have stopped him and then they shoot him. sharif met his death on sunday night. press freedom campaigners say 140 journalists were threatened or attacked with some claiming that democracy itself is underfire.