and detonating explosives. in the russian capital, people have been leaving flowers and lighting candles. memorials also appeared outside russian embassies in several countries — and armed police have been patrolling the area around the crocus city hall. in a televised address, mr putin called it a "barbaric terrorist act" and connected ukraine to the attack. that's despite the islamic state group claiming it carried out the mass shooting. ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, reacted angrily to accusations his country was involved. translation: one more thing, what happened in moscow - yesterday, it is obvious that putin and other scumbags are just trying to find someone else to blame. their methods are always the same. we've seen it all before, destroyed buildings, shootings and explosions, and they are always looking for someone to blame our russia editor,

steve rosenberg, has been to the scene of the attack — and a warning, you may find some of the details in his report, upsetting. it was hard to believe that only yesterday this was a concert hall. in what was left of crocus city, the full horror of what had happened became clear. the attackers had torched the building. a rock concert became an inferno. shooting. but first, the gunmen had opened fire. to kill as many of the audience as possible. in one constant stream of bullets. russia says the four gunmen who did this have been arrested, and claims they planned to cross into ukraine. kyiv denies any connection to the attack. it's islamic state that's claimed responsibility. president putin promised vengeance.

translation: all the - perpetrators and organisers of this crime and those who ordered it will be justly and inevitably punished. whoever they are, whoever is guiding them, those terrorists, murderers, monsters face the same unenviable fate — retribution and oblivion. in moscow, there were long queues to donate blood for the many who'd been wounded in the attack and rushed to hospital. outside crocus city hall, a hint of the devastation inside. the first thing you notice here isn't the sight of the building — it's the smell. the air is thick with smoke because the concert hall was burning all night. and the next thing you notice is what's happening over there — people are bringing flowers, creating a makeshift shrine to the dead. margarita knows she's lucky. she was in the building when the shooting began and got out alive.

translation: when i got home, i hugged my children, _ fell to my knees and said, "i can't begin to describe what happened there. they were shooting at us." i was hysterical. my husband could barely watch. the children were terrified. theyjust hugged me. but so many died here. there were so many victims of the deadliest attack in russia in 20 years. president putin has declared a national day of mourning. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. as we've been hearing, the islamic state group has said it was behind the attack, but president putin says the gunmen were trying to flee to ukraine. that's an allegation kyiv has described as "absurd". so what do we know about those who may have launched the attack? here's our security correspondent, gordon corera. gunfire chaos and confusion as gunmen begin shooting inside the concert hall

at crocus city. this footage, verified by the bbc shows the gunmen in the foyer. but who are they? isis, the group calling itself islamic state, today issued a statement said its men, seen here, were responsible. that is not something we can independently confirm and the issue of who was responsible is deeply contentious. more than two weeks ago, the us issued this warning to its citizens in moscow, saying what it called extremists thought to mean isis might target large gatherings, including concerts. it communicated the intelligence directly to moscow. but three days before the statement a kremlin statement was issued in which vladimir putin

dismissed that warning, describing it as provocative and an attempt to destabilise russia. the russian security services say they stopped this car and that the four men involved in the attack have been arrested. but rather than say anything about isis, the kremlin suggested they were heading away from the scene and towards ukraine. that might be an attempt to deflect the blame there and away from moscow. one of russia's tv channels even broadcast this last night. a fake video of a top ukrainian security official suggesting ukraine was involved. bbc verify has established two different videos were put together to make this, with the words most probably generated by artificial intelligence. after any attack there are always questions about whether it could be stopped. but in this case those questions look especially difficult for moscow. gordon correra, bbc news.

there has been reaction to that attack in russia, here in the us. the united nations security council has called it "heinous and cowardly" — while the biden administration has said their thoughts were with the victims of the shootings. our north america correspondent, will vernon, has more. expressing expressin- condolences and expressing condolences and condemnation of this attack. that statement specifically mentions isis, and the us says intelligence confirms that isis claim that it was responsible. officials here have been very clear, the us had information that an attack like this was coming and that information was shared with the russians both publicly and privately, and president putin dismissed without warning a few days ago as an attempt to destabilise russia. but we heard there, didn't we, that president putin seemed to suggest that ukraine was somehow involved. i think there will be efforts now by there will be efforts now by the white house in the days

ahead to push back against that, to reinforce the message that, to reinforce the message that america believes this was isis and not ukraine. i think that the concern here in washington now will be that president putin could somehow use this horrific tragedy to ratchet up the conflict in ukraine even further. the united nations chief, antonio guterres visited the rafah crossing on saturday making a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. his call came as the hamas run health ministry in gaza said 19 people waiting for aid were killed by israeli forces. israel has denied firing on the crowd. mr guterres said it is time to silence the guns and stop the nightmare — describing the ongoing loss of life in gaza as a moral outrage. the un estimates 1.1 million people in gaza are struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. mr guterres called on israel to give "total, unfettered" access to humanitarian goods

throughout the territory. it is time to flood gaza with life—saving aid. the choice is clear, either search or starvation. let's choose the side of help, the side of hope in the right side of history. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is also in egypt near the rafah crossing. he sent us this update on efforts to get aid into gaza. this is the egyptian side of the rafah crossing with gaza, and one of the main entry points for humanitarian assistance into the territory. and here, hundreds of trucks are waiting to be allowed to enter gaza. now, western officials, aid groups have been criticising israeli authorities for this inspection process. they say that it is extremely slow and they say some of these trucks have been turned away because they have been carrying some items that have been banned by the israeli authorities, such as medical

equipment and sleeping bags. some of these trucks have been here for weeks waiting for these inspections. and the un says more than 1,500 trucks are here in egypt. and obviously, the humanitarian situation in gaza is worsening. today, antonio guterres is back here, the un chief is again calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in gaza and for israeli authorities to do more to allow more humanitarian aid into gaza. this visit happens just days after a un backed report says half of gaza's population of 2.2 million people face catastrophic levels of hunger and that famine in northern gaza was imminent if there was no pause in fighting and a surge in aid. well a little earlier, i spoke to james elder, a unicef spokesperson who is in rafah on the gaza side.

we appreciate you joining us, antonio guterres is at the rafah crossing today and called the conditions they are a "moral outrage" i know you are in rough on the gaza side. do you agree with the secretary—general? you agree with the secretary-general? you agree with the secreta -general? ~ ., ., secretary-general? without a doubt. this is absolutely horrendous in rafah, where i am now. a population of 300,000 is now closer to 1.5 million. people on the streets, sanitation has broken down. not enough access. i don't know if you can hear it now, i can hear bombs now, that might be in rafah, it might be next door in khan younis. khan younis is devastated, i've never seen that level of annihilation on the city in my 20 years with the united nations. hospitals are utterly nonfunctional. two thirds of them at least, and people in the north, you know can you drive past, doing that universal sign of hunger, much less

the children who are dying of famine like conditions or even infamine. it is a moral outrage and families are living through this day in, day out, somehow incredulously it's getting worse. i saw that you had filmed a video along a line of aid trucks waiting to enter gaza. you said, and this is a quote, "feminists are terrifyingly close to gaza and infuriating, lifetime —— life—saving supplies or even closer." the line of trucks carrying food, aid and medicine is making their way? are these trucks getting into gaza and getting to people who need these supplies and aid?- to people who need these supplies and aid? sorry, more exnlosions- — supplies and aid? sorry, more explosions. same _ supplies and aid? sorry, more explosions. same story - supplies and aid? sorry, more explosions. same story as - supplies and aid? sorry, more explosions. same story as it l explosions. same story as it has been for months, unfortunately. yes, some aid is getting in. the united nations is getting what we are allowed to get into my food, water, medicine. unicef, everyone will tell you it is simply not

enough. we know it is not enough. we know it is not enough. arbitrary denials, more and more denials today. one border crossing, one border crossing where i was today, and thatis crossing where i was today, and that is a long way to the north with that imminent famine, opening more crossings, would be the most objective straightforward way for the occupying power, israel is the occupying power, israel is the occupying power, israel is the occupying power as a legal responsibility to ensure people get life—saving aid. unfortunately, no, to the level people need, we are nowhere near the amount of aid that is coming in. near the amount of aid that is coming im— coming in. james, i know you are hearing — coming in. james, i know you are hearing explosions, - coming in. james, i know you are hearing explosions, if - coming in. james, i know you are hearing explosions, if it l are hearing explosions, if it is unsafe, please let us know. i want to ask about the level of safety there. does it feel secure for aid organisations, for un organisations to be operating on the ground right now? ., ., , ., now? the united nations, we are in a difficult _ now? the united nations, we are in a difficult place, _ now? the united nations, we are in a difficult place, somalia, - in a difficult place, somalia, afghanistan, the front lines with ukraine on the russian federation. this is what the united nations does, stays and

delivers, but this is a very unsafe place to be. the idea of safe zones is simply not valid. they are not safe because they don't have sanitation or water or protection for people. they are not safe from the bombardment. we have seen more aid workers killed in this war than any other war before. same with journalists. than any other war before. same withjournalists. so, no, this is absolutely not a safe place to operate and it won't be a safe place with this level of bombardment. the ferocity, the indiscriminate nature of it, which is why the secretary—general has for months and months been calling for the cease—fire. months and months been calling for the cease-fire.— for the cease-fire. prime minister _ for the cease-fire. prime minister benjamin - for the cease-fire. prime - minister benjamin netanyahu insisted again this week that israel doesn't tend to push ahead with its plans for a military incursion into rafah, which is where you are. from what you have seen, what effect would that have on the citizens living there?— living there? the depth of horror living there? the depth of honor in _ living there? the depth of horror in gaza _ living there? the depth of horror in gaza is - living there? the depth of. horror in gaza is surpassing our ability to describe. the word catastrophic has been used

many times. rafah is gaza's last hope. rafah is twice the population density now of new york city, but no high—rises. people are literally on the streets, intents on the streets. rafah is now a city of children. all those people who were told to leave from the north moving three or four times, home destroyed, go to a shelter, shelter under attack, come to rafah. a military incursion here would be utterly devastating for people who are already just devastating for people who are alreadyjust holding on. indie devastating for people who are alreadyjust holding on. already 'ust holding on. we are about alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of— alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of time _ alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of time but _ alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of time but i - alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of time but i do - alreadyjust holding on. we are about out of time but i do wantj about out of time but i do want to be sure to ask you because you mention the children living there. what sort of lasting effects will the conflict like this leave on a generation of young people in gaza? you are sot on, young people in gaza? you are spot on. it's — young people in gaza? you are spot on. it's a _ young people in gaza? you are spot on, it's a generation, - young people in gaza? you are spot on, it's a generation, we. spot on, it's a generation, we are in uncharted territory as i heard from child psychologist. every child here, every child will need some sort of psychological help. there is a drone now, drums are surveillance, but children also

know drones are bombs. drones are almost 24/7 and have been for months and months and months. children with parents killed, with loved ones moving house all the time, no education, there is a level of mental scarring here that i don't think we've seen before and it is a young population with the right skills, the right opportunity, it is a demographic boom right now. they are getting the worst of every aspect of humanity. james elder, spokesperson _ every aspect of humanity. james elder, spokesperson for- every aspect of humanity. james elder, spokesperson for unicef, | elder, spokesperson for unicef, they are in rafah, thank you very much. they are in rafah, thank you very much-— they are in rafah, thank you ve much. ., , there's been an outpouring of support for catherine, princess of wales, after revealing she's receiving treatment for cancer. in a video statement, catherine said the diagnosis came as a "huge shock," and that she's in the early stages of chemotherapy. health leaders praised her for being "brave" in "speaking out" about her diagnosis. kensington palace, says it's confident the princess will make a full recovery and on saturday evening it issued a statement, on behalf of the prince and princess of wales, saying quote...

our royal correspondent daniela relph gave us this analysis followng the statement. well, this new message from the prince and princess of wales is double edged. it does both of thank you and a polite warning. they now want to be left alone. they now want to be left alone. they want to this public of the princesses diagnosis to go quiet for a while now and for them to be left on their own. they have around three weeks off now for their three children's school holidays. they will be spending that privately and they will be focusing on the princesses treatment and her recovery. theyjust treatment and her recovery. they just want this stage of the story to die down and they want all the speculation to stop. and they hope they have

done that with put the video message and now the new statement. instead, the focus is going to fall on other members of the royal family. next weekend, easter weekend, one of the biggest gatherings of royals that we see over the course of the year. the family will be attending church in windsor next sunday, and we may see the king back in the royal spotlight that day. buckingham palace say they are hopeful that he will be able to attend. daniela relph reporting. in revealing her diagnosis, her royal highness made sure to speak more widely — to all people suffering with cancer. her message: don't give up hope. but how to do that in the face of such a daunting diagnosis? for more, i spoke to dr william dahut, chief scientific officer of the american cancer society. thank you forjoining us. catherine, certainly not alone when it comes to a cancer diagnosis, so many people have been affected, what are some ways

that we can support them? yeah, i think it is really difficult for the individual who has the cancer diagnosis, even beyond simply the cancer treatment. i think that discussion with loved ones, family members, friends, you know, is also really difficult. so i think one needs to be thoughtful about that. here you have a cancer diagnosis, petrified about what could really be a life—threatening event, and then you need to share this with people who you love who you are going to immediately upset. in some ways you've actually changed your role, in some ways you become the physician who is telling somebody about cancer, only it is your cancer. so you can see how hard that can be for folks. so that is why it is really important to be particularly supportive of the cancer patient as they explain information about their cancer not to ask too many questions, allow for privacy. people always say,

you know, what can i do? and patients almost always say i'm good, i'm fine. so one piece of advice that we have, a lot of this is on our web page, is not to simply say what can i do, but to say what you are going to do. what kind of pizza do you like? bring over a pepperoni pizza on tuesday night. and also work with the caregiver, because that caregiver who is helping the cancer patient i think working through that person oftentimes you can find out which is really need to come and talk to the caregiver, and not simply say what can i do, i think concrete things particularly with the caregiver to my being thoughtful about the communication about the cancer diagnosis kind of to allow for privacy but coming up with thoughtful ways to be helpful is probably the most effective. i think one of the things from the video message from catherine that really resonated with a lot of people is she said she needed

to take the time to explain the situation to her young children and to reassure them that she was going to be ok. how can families talk about cancer with young children? that seems to be a pretty difficult conversation to have. if you think about simply as i talked about earlier, trying to tell somebody, you know, your sister, your mum, telling her young child is particularly difficult. really upsetting for a parent to upset their child who they are trying to protect, so i think a couple of things number one, children are actually much more perceptive than one may imagine, and they often know something is going on. so i think it's important to be as honest as possible. you need to sort of let folks know, your kids know it is a serious illness and let them know there is a plan for what is going on so they understand things.

kids oftentimes blame themselves, so you need to reassure them it's not their fault because they didn't do their homework, they yelled at their younger brother or sister, that wasn't the reason why. titrate the explanation based on the individual child, some kids can actually understand and want to know more and others don't want to know anything at all. some of at his age, or maybe gender—based. and in divide individualise the information you give. but kids have some time to process it, be honest, ——let kids have some time to process it, be honest, let them know it is serious, don't overwhelm them and make sure they know it is not their fault. briefly, if you don't mind, i want to come back to one other thing she said do not lose faith or hope, you are not alone. what effect do you think the princess picking up so publicly about cancer might do overall for awareness

——what effect do you think the princess speaking out so publicly about cancer might do overall for awareness about cancer around the world. i think it's incredible a powerful and incredibly meaningful. i think it's great that someone could see a young vibrant woman with a cancer diagnosis in a situation where you can see the impact of the cancer, others look like someone walking down the street, i think the fact that people can see there is someone out there who might look like them and that's what the doctors are saying screening and early detection, some things we know that can actually lead to a better outcome, but there is also this tremendous fear of having this diagnosis and to see someone like her get up and say we can

do this together i think it would have an incredibly powerful impact. we thank you for shedding some light on a subject that is not always easy to discuss, so, thank you. always easy to discuss, so, thank yon-— always easy to discuss, so, thank ou. ., ~ . thank you. thank you so much for having _ thank you. thank you so much for having me _ thank you. thank you so much for having me on _ thank you. thank you so much for having me on today. - let's turn to some important news around the world... at least seven people have been killed in heavy rainstorms near rio dejaneiro in brazil. the rain triggered a landslide that destroyed homes. rescuers have been searching through the rubble. the us states of missouri and louisiana are holding their presidential primaries on saturday. presidentjoe biden and former president donald trump have already secured enough delegates to become their parties' presumptive nominees. mr biden will appear in the democratic primary in both states. republicans will vote only in louisiana as missouri held caucuses earlier in the month. some of the world's most famous landmarks have turned off their lights and been plunged into darkness —

taking part in earth hour. the global event aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and the impact of climate change. here is the moment the sydney opera house in australia flicked the switch, in unison with the sydney harbour bridge. injapan — this is the tokyo tower having its lights switched off. a sight rarely seen — hong kong's victoria harbour and city skyline in darkness as part of the campaign. and here's bangkok s iconic temple of dawn, going dark. and this was the moment the lights on the eiffel tower in paris went off. the 16—year—old initiative takes place at 8:30pm local time. major us landmarks including the empire state building, the space needle, niagara falls, and willis tower will all go dark for one hour. that is all from us here in

washington. we will be back in about 30 minutes with more news and more updates on our stop start —— top stories. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. well, it's certainly been a lively start to the weekend weatherwise. loads of showers around on saturday, some of them with hail and thunder, some of them with mammatus clouds — always a sign of a good storm. now, the showers that went through south parts of greater london, around kent, they really dumped the temperatures. look at that — ten degrees at midday, just two degrees celsius a couple of hours later in the afternoon. that would have felt really cold, especially with those gusty winds. now, over the next few hours, many of the showers will tend to become confined to more northeastern areas of the uk should become drier over the next few hours in the west. temperatures as we head into the first part of sunday morning, quite chilly around 3 to six degrees celsius. now, sunday will continue to be dominated weatherwise by this area of low pressure — it's the same one that we had

on saturday, but it's starting to pull away into the near continent, but still influencing our weather. certainly there'll be lots of showers across northern areas of scotland and a few affecting the east coast of scotland running down east and coastal counties of england as well. some of the showers for these areas will continue to be quite heavy with some hail, whereas across western areas of the uk many areas should have a dry day with some bright or sunny spells. temperatures for most about 10 to 12 degrees — that's average for the time of year. northern scotland, about six to eigh,.tthat�*s a little on the cool side. then into monday, we get another area of low pressure forming and moving in off the atlantic. this is going to be bringing further outbreaks of rain on monday to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. probably a dry and bright day for eastern areas of england. the rain starts pushing northwards across scotland and starts to move into the chilly air that we have here.

temperaturesjust six in aberdeen. so through monday night we might actually start to see some of that rain turn to snow. it is going to be quite high up in the high hills of scotland, probably above 300 metres elevation or so, but that could continue to be a risk into tuesday. so you might see a little bit of snow on some of the very high—ish scottish routes in the north. otherwise at lower elevations it's just outbreaks of rain, sleet and a bit of hail that you'll see mixed in. a cold day on tuesday — temperatures around nine or ten for england and wales, just five there in aberdeen. so overall, we're looking at a very unsettled week ahead, a cold start to the week, yes, but it does tend to turn milder as the week goes by. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines at the top of the hour which is street after this programme. hello and welcome to unspun world, the programme where we ask the bbc�*s unmatched correspondents what's really going on in the world. in this edition, vladimir putin has won himself six more years as russia's president. so what will he do now? further confrontation with the west, a continuation in this edition, vladimir putin has won himself six more years as russia's president. so what will he do now? further confrontation with the west, a continuation of the war with ukraine and continued

repression at home. how worried should we be about the forecasts of serious trouble in america, as biden and trump go head—to—head? i speak to people all the time who clearly believe that donald trump is the one thing that stands between them and some kind of tyranny in america. and they're the size of a potato, they're 30 million years old and they come from the depths of the ocean. should we be mining seabed nodules to sort out our shortages of rare metals? the environmentalists, the greens come in and they say, look, we shouldn't be pushing the frontier of the exploitation of metals to this last pristine wilderness on earth. vladimir vladimirovich putin! cheers so, russia's presidential election, such as it was, is over and done, and vladimir putin

now has until 2030 as president and maybe, if he chooses