live from london. this is bbc news. four gunmen accused of carrying out the moscow concert hall attack — which killed at least 137 — are charged with terrorism. the un agency for palestinian refugees says israel won't approve its aid deliveries to enter northern gaza, where famine is imminent. and attacks by the houthis in the red sea become more deadly — we have a special report from on board a royal navy warship. this task group have entered the high direct area and as you can see they are preparing to run the gauntlet. hello.

a warm welcome to the programme. i'm sally bundock. we start with events in russia following the deadly attack on a concert hall in moscow, which killed 137 people. the four suspected gunmen in the moscow concert hall attack have appeared in court accused of committing terrorism. they've been ordered into custody pending a trial set to take place in may. media reports have named all four men, saying they are nationals of tajikistan, three have reportedly pleaded guilty. the islamic state group says it carried out the attack and it's uploaded graphic videos of it. anna aslam reports. handcuffed and blindfolded, for suspected gunmen brought into court. they all appeared injured. one man arrived in a wheelchair and sat in the dock with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings. all were charged with committing an act of terrorism. the four men are

reportedly tajikistan nationals, russia said there were caught fleeing to ukraine and had contacts there. ukraine denies list of the attacks but there is a extent rips as it was behind the shooting. —— gunmen were in the foyer and desperate attempts to take cover. the attackers moved on to the auditorium and more than 130 people were dead. ——is —— isis claim responsibly. at the scene of the attacks, crowds grew longer on a national day of mourning. an outpouring of sympathy and a mountain of tributes to the dead. as vladimir putin lit a candle for the victims, russia will be praying there will be no more attacks. our security correspondent frank gardner explained why the islamic state group might have targeted russia. well, there are

a number of reasons. one is syria. so is have, in the past, put out statements — and quite recently — saying, we will never forgive and forget. because in syria, russian air force and russian forces are fighting isis, is, islamic state, as are the americans. secondly, there's afghanistan, where the taliban are fighting is—k which is the khorasan wilayat — that's the province of, or the branch of isis that operates in afghanistan, in that area. and back in september 2022, isis attacked the russian embassy in kabul. so they consider that the russian government is an ally of the taliban and the taliban is their enemy. and also, there are a number of disputes that they've got with regimes in that part of the world. the third reason, i think, which is perhaps the most pressing, is that there is there's recently been quite a crackdown, a clampdown by the fsb —

that's russia's domestic security agency — against suspected jihadists inside russia. of course, russia is at war with ukraine. sorry, it's a special military operation — that's what it's officially called in russia, but it's a war by any other name — and that's really where the kremlin�*s attention has been. so i think there's a legitimate question to be asked as to whether russia took its eye off the ball here with this. frank gardner giving us his analysis. let's speak to robert english, associate professor of international relations at the university of southern california, who specialises in the politics of russia. good to talk to you. you were listening into what our security correspondent had to say. share your thoughts on who perpetrated the attack and isis taking full responsibility. russia coming back with its

thoughts. your thoughts? i don't thoughts. yourthoughts? i don't see any reason to doubt the prevailing interpretation of events that it was a is attack. this is what american intelligence in recent analysis warned of. it's consistent with recent attacks, previous behaviour and as the lead up story said, but is group, the afghan ranch has particular grievances against russia so all evidence points in that direction and on the other side the russian version trying to blame ukraine has no evidence behind. simply an attempt to distract from the regimes or responsibility. vladimir putin's village of texas people. putin's village of texas maple-— putin's village of texas --eole. ., ., , . people. how do you expect the kremlin to _ people. how do you expect the kremlin to react _ people. how do you expect the kremlin to react to _ people. how do you expect the kremlin to react to the - people. how do you expect the kremlin to react to the attack? j kremlin to react to the attack? —— failure to protect his people. -- failure to protect his maple-— -- failure to protect his --eole. f , ., people. they're trying to contrive _ people. they're trying to contrive a _ people. they're trying to contrive a destination . people. they're trying to l contrive a destination that says somehow the ukrainians were behind. that is not

plausible i don't think, the evidence for the is attack, you have the attackers themselves announcing this, they are done it before, the american say of the western intelligence. it's overwhelming and on the other side what evidence is it that the ukrainians were behind it? there's such a contrived and complicated story that ukraine could mount this much less want to. one would realistically believe it, ——no one would believe it, ——no one would believe it. it's trying to deflect blame on the regime to provide —— failing to provide security. provide -- failing to provide security-— security. we've seen them a - ear security. we've seen them appear in _ security. we've seen them appear in court _ security. we've seen them appear in court accused i security. we've seen them appear in court accused of| appear in court accused of committing terrorism in the attack. some have pleaded guilty to it. they look like they have been given a pretty tough time physically that you can see signs of torture. do you think they will receive a

fair trial?— fair trial? fair trial and russia are _ fair trial? fair trial and russia are not - fair trial? fair trial and russia are not words l fair trial? fair trial and i russia are not words that fair trial? fair trial and - russia are not words that go together but we are not focused on the trial process. what may come out of preliminary interrogation. that's another word in russia for torture. they will extract whatever they can but if the authorities want to plant a full story it doesn't matter what the suspects say, what they are induced to say, they will report the law enforcement officials that the kremlin want to come out. if they want to set a ukrainian connection they will. they will. they will manufacture the evidence to show that. this is what we have to beware of, not will they be treated gently, we've all descended been beaten up but what the russian authorities will tell us.— will tell us. thank you for our will tell us. thank you for your take _ will tell us. thank you for your take on _ will tell us. thank you for your take on what - will tell us. thank you for your take on what is - will tell us. thank you for - your take on what is happening. the associate professor of international relations at the university of southern california. france has raised its terror threat warning to the highest level,

following the islamic state claiming responsibility for the deadly attack in russia. it allows for exceptional security measures such as extra patrols by armed forces in public places like train stations, airports and religious sites. the country had lowered the level injanuary, with this escalation back to the highest level coming months before the paris olympics later this year. now to the middle east and the head of the united nations agency for palestinian refugees says israel has told him it will no longer approve its food convoys to enter northern gaza. excuse me. in a post on social media, unrwa's head philippe lazzarini described the move as outrageous. coughs excuse me. he said israel's decision meant

many more people would die of hunger, dehydration and lack of shelter. here is more detail. it is simply outrageous. the clock is ticking, and with this recent decision, the clock will be ticking even faster towards famine. there is more than a quarter of a million people who depend on unwra's food assistance in the north, and we haven't been able to reach them for the past two months. we are talking about the vast majority of the population that has been forced to flee their homes or their places of refuge, and unwra alone are hosting over a million people who live in the united nations unwra shelters. they lost everything, and they need everything, and they need the basics. and right now the most important commodity that people need is food. i would also say that they need safety and they need

protection above all, and a ceasefire, which is very, very much overdue. they were from unrwa explaining they were from unrwa explaining the situation. my apologies for my the situation. my apologies for my boys are becoming a cold. let's get more from our correspondent. mark lowen in jerusalem. without unwra getting the food out on the ground, there are few alternatives. another body food programme which is a un agency that a few trucks into northern gaza in the past couple of weeks but this appears to be a very direct attack on unrwa itself, the head was blocked by the israelis for entering gaza last week and i went to a briefing with him, i met him and he said what he described as a direct attack by israel on the function of that un agency. he said since january he has not had any contact with the

israeli government direct. why is that? injanuary israeli government direct. why is that? in january the israeli government direct. why is that? injanuary the israeli government accused some members of staff of unrwa of participating in the october seven hamas attack on israel. that prompted some western governments to suspend the ending of that un body, unrwa, and it prompted the biggest crisis in relations between the two sides, the israeli government and unrwa in decades. this decision today if confirmed by the israelis and it seems to be as unrwa has announced it would be another step in the breakdown of relationship between the two sides and i have to say it comes at exactly the same time as the secretary general of the un who is in egypt's criticising the israeli government for its conduct in the war and depriving gaza of aid to it seems to be a direct attack on the un itself. live now to sydney, where i'm joined by dr ali mamouri who's a research fellow

at deakin university. of course, in sydney australia your digestive all of the news in the same where we are. here in the same where we are. here in london. it's hard to comprehend what is going on in northern gaza and what unrwa are saying about not being able to get much needed food to people. to get much needed food to --eole. �* , to get much needed food to neale, �*,. ., to get much needed food to --eole. m ., ., people. it's clear from the beginning _ people. it's clear from the beginning of— people. it's clear from the beginning of the _ people. it's clear from the beginning of the crisis - people. it's clear from the | beginning of the crisis that israel is not willing to allow food, electricity, water and of a to enter gaza. they are accusing kawana of being, some of their staff being affiliated with hamas. although there is no evidence to support the claim and israel in general is suggesting very clearly that israel is not with, or the issueis israel is not with, or the issue is they do not want to allow food, electricity and water to enter gaza. they are doing collective punishment, they said that clearly in their

official statement delivered from the president and to the minister. they said we should cut water, electricity, food and they are doing it exactly, the situation is catastrophic, tragic, over31,000 the situation is catastrophic, tragic, over 31,000 people have been killed and 30 people have died from famine, the situation is very serious and critical and requires serious reaction from the national community. in terms of other means of getting aid into gaza a very example the temporary pause washington is trying to set up. to be know about any progress from the point of view of other means of getting aid in? the point of view of other means of getting aid in?— getting aid in? the air aid is auoin getting aid in? the air aid is going on — getting aid in? the air aid is going on but _ getting aid in? the air aid is going on but is _ getting aid in? the air aid is going on but is very - getting aid in? the air aid is going on but is very limited | going on but is very limited and is not easy it is not enough for people there, the us is trying to establish a temporary pause to allow some

external food and aid to come to gaza but also that first of all will take time and second of all it will not allow a large amount of food, the amount that is needed in gaza to enter the area stop the only solution for the situation is to put pressure on israel to open the land, the land border and allow a large amount of aid which it already is waiting on the border and is ready to enter a place and reach the age to their people.— to their people. doctor, thank ou for to their people. doctor, thank you for talking _ to their people. doctor, thank you for talking to _ to their people. doctor, thank you for talking to us. - to their people. doctor, thank you for talking to us. thank i you for talking to us. thank ou. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

here, the home office has launched an international social media campaign aimed at deterring people from attempting to enter the country illegally by boat.

adverts on facebook and youtube will warn of the dangers of becoming indebted to criminal gangs and the perils of a journey often made in unsafe, overloaded vessels. simonjones reports. a campaign that aims to convince people not to put their lives in the hands of ruthless people smugglers. featuring testimony from those who attempted the perilous journey across the channel. it will initially be rolled out in vietnam following a sharp rise in vietnamese people making the crossing by boat. the dangers of very real, we've been given rare access to the area in dover where migrants are brought to shore. so far nine people have lost their lives trying to reach the uk. figs people have lost their lives trying to reach the uk. as you can see from _ trying to reach the uk. as you can see from this _ trying to reach the uk. as you can see from this you - trying to reach the uk. as you can see from this you may - trying to reach the uk. as you | can see from this you may look at this first hand and think thatis at this first hand and think that is a sturdy piece of equipment. it is really not, it's a death trap. the poor quality of the rubber is like a bouncy castle, if there's a

punch in one bit is all going to go down. the lifejackets were very poor quality. last ear were very poor quality. last year more _ were very poor quality. last year more than _ were very poor quality. last year more than 29,000 - were very poor quality. last year more than 29,000 people crossed the channel in small boats, representing a fall of more than a third on 2022. but survivor series around 4300 people have made thejourney, an increase of 17% on the same period last year despite government pledges to stop the boats. the boats have been getting bigger with more and more people packed onto them. whether crossings became a regular thing five years ago there was an average of seven people per boat. now it's more like 50. the home office has its message help to a fall of 90% in arrivals. the secretary told me the new campaign is one part of a wider plan.— part of a wider plan. even numbers _ part of a wider plan. even numbers are _ part of a wider plan. even numbers are similar- part of a wider plan. even numbers are similar even | part of a wider plan. even - numbers are similar even more than last year it is, is the plan plateauing? figs than last year it is, is the plan plateauing?-

than last year it is, is the plan plateauing? as we have evolved. _ plan plateauing? as we have evolved, are _ plan plateauing? as we have evolved, are response - plan plateauing? as we have evolved, are response to - plan plateauing? as we havej evolved, are response to the smuggling, the smugglers have also adapted their tactics will still be — also adapted their tactics will still be seen a smaller number of larger— still be seen a smaller number of larger boats because we have been _ of larger boats because we have been successful at preventing boat — been successful at preventing boat watches on the french channeb _ boat watches on the french channel. we are going after the boats_ channel. we are going after the boats upstream in the supply chain — boats upstream in the supply chain. ~ , ., ., chain. we showed the home office campaign, _ chain. we showed the home office campaign, originally l office campaign, originally riding in the uk in the back of the uk, this man works with a refugee action at work. what do you think of this? this refugee action at work. what do you think of this?— you think of this? this is 'ust a waste «i you think of this? this is 'ust a waste of money. �* you think of this? this isjust a waste of money. honestly, you think of this? this is just. a waste of money. honestly, i don't know. that is nothing for us refugees and a silence. you don't think— us refugees and a silence. you don't think it _ us refugees and a silence. you don't think it will _ us refugees and a silence. you don't think it will stop you pull? don't think it will stop you ull? ., , pull? not even interested, we will not look _ pull? not even interested, we will not look at _ pull? not even interested, we will not look at it. _ pull? not even interested, we will not look at it. the - pull? not even interested, we will not look at it. the big - will not look at it. the big ho -e will not look at it. the big hope of — will not look at it. the big hope of ministers - will not look at it. the big hope of ministers is - will not look at it. the big hope of ministers is the l will not look at it. the big - hope of ministers is the rwanda plan but labous has the government's approach is just

about gimmicks. the captain of a royal navy warship in the red sea has told the bbc that the attacks are becoming more deadly — with the houthis in yemen launching more ballistic and cruise missiles — which are harder to defend against. the houthis say they're targeting merchant vessels and warships in solidarity with palestinians in gaza. our defence correspondent jonathan beale is the first journalist tojoin the destroyer, hms diamond, while facing the threats in the red sea. security, security, security. this is coalition warship listening channel one—six. the royal navy's hms diamond, sailing in the red sea towards danger. they're here to protect merchant shipping and, for this mission, to escort a naval task group. and they're armed and ready. this task group has now entered the high threat area. and, as you can see, they're preparing to run the gauntlet with the houthis.

in the operations room, the ship's nerve centre, they've already donned fire protective clothing. with their powerful radar, they can track multiple objects from hundreds of miles away. and this is what happens when they identify a threat. firebomb, 293 at 165! siren sounds the drills they've rehearsed many times before. air threat warning red, air threat warning red. missile inbound to the ship, starboard quarter. time to go — two minutes. but now it's deadly serious. this, one of two occasions we witnessed when the houthis fire ballistic missiles, travelling at more than three times the speed of sound. the missile has splashed the water north of the task group, therefore air threat warning now yellow, air threat warning now yellow. between the time it's fired and by the time it impacts, you've got about two minutes to react. that's why we're

in state 2, that's why we're wearing our clothing all the time, so that within that timeframe, we'll be in absolutely the right posture to be able to deal with those. but yeah, it can feel a bit intense. obviously, someone's trying to potentially shoot something at you. houthi drones are the other danger. that's a uav, faring 350 range. it's now got two airborne in the north. obviously, our position now, we anticipate they may come south. air threat warning is... it's a potentially deadly version of hide and seek, but the drone doesn't spot them. this time, diamond hasn't fired its main sea viper missiles, but it's already shot down nine drones — seven of them in just one night in january. diamond's captain believes they have saved lives, but they haven't stopped increasingly sophisticated houthi attacks. it seems to me that they're using more advanced and more lethal weapons than they were in the earlier parts of the operation.

and where are they getting those from? i couldn't tell you that, i'm afraid. i guess they're smuggled in from somewhere, but i'd be speculating. but diamond is looking out for suspicious activity. they board a dhow. it's declared stateless, but it's flying an iranian flag. the search finds nothing illegal. it's proving just as hard to stem the flow of weapons as to stop the houthi attacks. jonathan beale, bbc news, on hms diamond. scientists at europe's centre for sub—atomic particle research — known as sern — have approved $120 million to search for "ghost" particles which might exist, but haven't yet been found. they want to find answers to why 95% of the particles they believe make up the universe remain hidden. the scientists intend to smash together a large number of particles in a 27 kilometre long accelerator that lies underneath switzerland.

we will keep an eye on how that goes. now to the story ofjasmin paris from scotland — the first woman to complete one of the world's most gruelling races — the barkley marathons in tennessee. it's 160 kilometres up and down hills, through rugged terrain. she finished with just 99 seconds to spare. jasmin finally recovered her breath — and her voice — and spoke to the bbc. it wasn't until the last kilometre that i really sort of doubted that it was going to be possible. and at that point i was just so desperate to stop, to stop running and to walk. and i knew that i couldn't because i wouldn't make it. cheering i think it was just the thought that if i didn't make it this time, it was going to be by seconds and then i would have to come back and do the whole thing again. because i would never have let it rest. i was so oxygen deficient when i reached the end and the last few hundred metres, i couldn't even

really see anybody. cheering and applause i knew there were people kind of cheering me on and there was lots of noise and... but i wasjust aiming for the gate and everything else sort of went blurry at the edges of my vision and ijust needed to make it to the gate, at which point i just sort of collapsed down in a gasping, kind of heap on the ground. cheering and applause so, i did it for me and i am super happy that i achieved what i set out to do. hey, everyone. i am really glad that i kind of did it for women worldwide as well. notjust runners, but maybe any woman that wants to take on a challenge, and especially all the young girls, how hard it is to keep young girls in sports. this year there was a new section of the course which involved a lot of kind of brambles, really thick ones that kind

of slashed your legs. so my legs were actually far worse but i got quite a few scratches on my arms and hands. but this is nothing compared with my legs. i guess the next thing i'm going to do is the scottish highlands peaks race. but really i think maybe just have a bit of a rest first. just amazing, just paris — who lost her voice as well but she is much better reason for it. people across europe have been marking ice cream day. it is the the only food in europe with a dedicated day recognised by the european parliament. but even though ice cream was created in italy, they don't eat that much of it. the country that eats the most is new zealand, where people tuck into 28 kilos each a year. and scientist say ice cream has many health benefits including stimulating brain activity.

now we know. that is the perfect excuse to tuck into a bowl of ice cream. i'll be back with the business stories next. hello there. many of us saw some spells of sunshine on sunday and i think it was the sunshine that kind of offset the coolness of the air. now, there won't be as much sunshine around on monday — low pressure is moving in — and not got much snow in the scottish mountains at the moment but that is set to change over the next 2a hours. low pressure is developing to the west of the uk and this low pressure is going to be bringing outbreaks of rain widely over the next 2a hours. the rain already with us in northern ireland will continue to spread northwards and eastwards over the next few hours, reaching across wales, into western and central england, south—west scotland, too. northern scotland, one place where you are likely to see some frost but at least it should be a bright start to the day here. otherwise, a lot of cloud and rain around on monday morning. probably little, if anything, reaching east anglia and south east england, where it might actually

brighten up for a time. temperatures about 10—12 degrees for most — that's near average for the time of year — but cold in scotland atjust sixes and sevens. and then, on the big picture, we've got a feed of cold air coming down from greenland around an area of high pressure. that's running into northern scotland, bumping into our advancing weather front. now, through monday night, it looks like we'll see a spell of snow. it's going to be quite high up in the mountains of scotland. 10—20cm on the way here above 300m elevation. the snow could come down a little bit lower than that, perhaps to 200m elevation. what all that means is monday night and into tuesday, there's a risk of disruption over some of the higher—level roads in scotland, maybe for some of the railway lines into tuesday morning as well. if you live down at sea level, well, you're more likely to see rain or maybe a bit of sleet mixed in. it will be quite windy across the far north of scotland as well. elsewhere, a bit of rain trickling its way eastwards across east anglia and south east england, the weather turning a bit brighter across the south—west of the uk.

a cold day in scotland — temperatures really struggling here, particularly underneath that rain and hill snow. on into wednesday, got another area of low pressure forming. that's going to be bringing loads of showers across northern ireland, wales, southern and western parts of england. the showers notjust frequent, they'll be heavy with some hail and thunder mixed in as well, and temperatures just running a bit below average. these showery conditions last through the rest of this week and into the easter break beyond as well. that's your latest weather. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. at a fork in the road: china told to reinvent itself for a new era of high—quality economic growth. has the ai boom peaked? we take the temperature of tech markets as some of the biggest industry names sell their stocks. and the head of exxon mobil�*s guyana operation is put under the spotlight over a controversial drilling project in south america. hello. i'm sally bundock with the top business news. and we start in china with a warning from the head

of the international monetary fund that the world's second