we have this line of rain here. it is really reinvigorating through the afternoon, bringing heavy downpours in across parts of south—east england, the midlands, wales and eventually some of that getting into northern ireland. a lot of cloud ahead of it. the scattered showers easing across the highlands through the course of the afternoon. some of those wintry on the hills. through the evening and overnight this band of rain continues pushing northwards, getting into northern england, northern ireland, scotland, again depositing more snow on the hills. then we have this line of showers in northern ireland, wales and south—west england extending into the channel islands. clear skies, cold, —3 or “4 where we have some snow. tomorrow, then, this line of showers pushes from the west towards the east and heads northwards. still some wintry showers on the hills across the far north of scotland where it will be windy. windy too across the south of england especially through the english channel, temperatures 6—12 degrees. overnight wednesday into thursday, low pressure still very much driving our weather and we have various weather fronts wrapped around it.

so, on thursday what we are looking at, basically bands of rain pushing northwards and eastwards. some of those wintry on the hills. some of them heavy and thundery with some drier interludes. windy across the north—east, gales possible through the english channel. temperatures, 8 in the north, to ii or 12 celsius at best. then as we move into good friday, not as many showers around. there will be more dry weather, a bit more sunshine. there will still be some showers and again on the hills they are likely to be wintry in nature. a breezy day but light winds. temperatures 8—13 degrees north to south. that leads us into the easter weekend. fewer showers around on saturday. on sunday, at the moment it looks like we could see some rain later in the day coming into southern england, pushing northwards overnight, getting into scotland on easter monday.

this is bbc news, the headlines... in the us, a state of emergency declared in maryland after a cargo ship hit a bridge in baltimore, leading to its complete collapse. this is an unthinkable tragedy. we have two, first and foremost, pray for all of those who are impacted. authorities are describing this as a "mass casualty event" — as they say at least seven people and several vehicles have fallen into the river. this continues to be a search and rescue _ this continues to be a search and rescue operation, it continues to be a very— rescue operation, it continues to be a very dynamic operation, with multiple — a very dynamic operation, with multiple local, state and federal resources — multiple local, state and federal resources involved. some breaking news to bring you from buckingham palace. they have

confirmed that the king will make his most significant public appearance since he was diagnosed with cancer when he attends church on easter sunday. charles, 75, willjoin the queen and other members of the royal family at the annual easter mattins service at st george's chapel at windsor castle this weekend. the prince and princess of wales and their children — prince george, princess charlotte and prince louis — will not be present. the family are spending the easter holidays together as they adjust to kate's cancer diagnosis. our top story this hour is the breaking news from the united states. the governor of maryland has declared a state of emergency after the collapse of a bridge in baltimore that was hit by a container ship. emergency officials describe the incident as a "mass casualty event". rescuers have already taken two people from the water, one of whom is described as in a "very serious condition." this is the moment the collision happened. you can see the ship

hitting a column of the francis scott key bridge on the left of screen. the bridge quickly collapsed. the collision happened about 1.30am local time. there is now a large multi—agency rescue and recovery operation in place. baltimore mayor brandon scott says he is in contact with local authorities. he described the incident as "an unthinkable tragedy". there are no reports of injuries to the ship's crew. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the live pictures. now the sun has come in much easier to see what has happened there. as the rescue services were saying, people were on the bridge at that time, and that there are sonar devices have found vehicles in the water. that is an aerial shot we can see now.

extraordinary to see that the whole bridge hasjust extraordinary to see that the whole bridge has just collapsed. extraordinary to see that the whole bridge hasjust collapsed. you can see parts of the bridge on top of the ship there on the right of your screen. let's look at the very short journey of the ship from the moment it left baltimore with pierre—antoine denis from the newsroom. so, this is the moment that the cargo ship hit the francis scott key bridge at about 0128 local time, caught here by a live stream. this was, as you can expect, a much shorterjourney for the cargo boat. so, when we look at it on google maps here we can see that it was in fact just an l—shaped journey, leaving the dock and making its way out to the sea. let's look at it from a google earth satellite image prospective to give you an idea. we can see the dock here, and then this channel is essentially a very busy water highway that connects baltimore to the rest of the world. the francis scott key bridge here is essentially the last infrastructure before cargo

ships are off to the atlantic ocean. but shortly after its departure, the dali ship derails and changed from its usual trajectory, going slightly to the right, hitting the pillar that you see here. as the sun is rising over baltimore we now have a better picture of the magnitude of destruction left by the dali cargo ship. we've heard many testimonies from locals who were shocked to wake up to this news. so, it is without a doubt that this abruptly cut journey will have an impact on many for months, if not years to come. you are watching bbc news. these are the live pictures from baltimore, where that bridge collapsed in the early hours of this morning, around 1:40am local time. a cargo ship crashed into one of the columns of that bridge. some of the music we

are getting from our partners in the us, cbs news, they are saying that the key bridge collapse due to the dali losing propulsion and colliding with a supporting tab of the bridge. let's bring in our correspondent. sean dilley is following developments from oui’ newsroom. this is from cbs news putting a law enforcement official saying that the ship had lost propulsion, which keeps with what some people were saying about how the lights went out on the ship before the collision, implying there were some sort of fault on the board?— fault on the board? cbs, our us artners fault on the board? cbs, our us partners are _ fault on the board? cbs, our us partners are a — fault on the board? cbs, our us partners are a highly _ fault on the board? cbs, our us partners are a highly credible i partners are a highly credible source, and when they are quoting a law enforcement you would imagine they have some pretty solid

information there. however, that's not the important point at the moment. what is clearly an important breaking news development. we know that authorities, rescue workers are working to rescue at least seven people. they are using a range of technology. there have been three ships deployed into the river, they are using the rounds. they are checking the physical deck of the dali, which is the ship that we now understand lost its propulsion. it is an enormous ship, 300 metres long. obviously at this moment in time law enforcement, even prior to this statement reference from cbs, it said they had no reason to believe that it was in any way, shape or form that it was deliberate. at the moment city officials describe themselves as being in research mode. two people

had been rescuejust before being in research mode. two people had been rescue just before that response, one said they didn't need any service and didn't want to go to hospital. another was taken to hospital, and their condition was described as critical. find hospital, and their condition was described as critical.— hospital, and their condition was described as critical. and the hopes of findinu described as critical. and the hopes of finding anybody _ described as critical. and the hopes of finding anybody alive _ described as critical. and the hopes of finding anybody alive must - described as critical. and the hopes of finding anybody alive must be i of finding anybody alive must be diminishing by the minute, because the water is very cold and it has been a very long time now, hasn't it? �* , y a, been a very long time now, hasn't it? a _, a, been a very long time now, hasn't it? a .,, , been a very long time now, hasn't it? a .,, _, been a very long time now, hasn't it? a _, a, it? let's give you a sense of that. it is roughly _ it? let's give you a sense of that. it is roughly 8 _ it? let's give you a sense of that. it is roughly 8 degrees _ it? let's give you a sense of that. it is roughly 8 degrees in - it is roughly 8 degrees in temperature, celsius. survivability in that, at most, it is ours. the danger is hypothermia. obviously there is an inherent risk of drowning, potentially getting caught. people have fallen down towards where the deck of the bout is, so clearly there is an awful lot of area to be searched. official site they not researching the

surface of the water, they are using sonar devices to search under the water. those drones seem to be playing a really important role. the other thing we should mention, as we have been reporting, is that federal law forson agencies, including the federal bureau of investigation, are assisting many, many local law enforcement agencies. around the united states, you get municipal police, the baltimore police department is very involved in this, county sheriffs are all assisting, you get state police and federal law enforcement. but critically for rescue workers on the ground and a city officials, including the mayor, there is assistance from the white house and joe biden�*s administration, the an emergency has been officially declared. that opens up been officially declared. that opens up funding to government emergency

funding. that is very different from funding. that is very different from funding for infrastructure. you're talking about a country with rampant inflation, $35 trillion worth of international debt. so the challenges for rescue workers at the moment is literally the preservation of life and limb. they know that time is key, they have very limited amount of time to rescue these people and bring them out alive. that's what they hope to do. let's cross over to baltimore to speak to cody boteler — he's the breaking news reporter at the baltimore banner newspaper, and he's been across the story this morning. i don't know if you heard there, we were talking about our partners and at the us, cbs quoting a law enforcement official saying that this ship perhaps lost propulsion. have you heard anything about the cause of this? irate

have you heard anything about the cause of this?— cause of this? we are still looking into it on our— cause of this? we are still looking into it on our end. _ cause of this? we are still looking into it on our end. from _ cause of this? we are still looking into it on our end. from the - cause of this? we are still looking | into it on our end. from the videos we have seen posted, there have been multiple angles, it looks like the ship approaches at the bridge you can kind of see that there is some smoke coming out of it, the electricity appears to be flickering on and off. our best assumption is that, yes, it is some sort of power failure, but we do not have that confirmed. we have been told by a company associate with the ship, people on the ship are ok and they are going to co—operate with any and all investigations. bud are going to co-operate with any and all investigations.— all investigations. and they have lunch at their _ all investigations. and they have lunch at their own _ all investigations. and they have | lunch at their own investigations, sending people over from lunch at their own investigations, sending people overfrom singapore to baltimore to investigate what happens. to baltimore to investigate what ha ens. ., ,, to baltimore to investigate what hauens. ., , .,~ to baltimore to investigate what ha ens, ., , ., " , happens. can you 'ust talk us throu~h happens. can you 'ust talk us through how _ happens. can you just talk us through how things _ happens. can you just talk us | through how things developed happens. can you just talk us i through how things developed in terms of your experience of this from the early hours of this morning? so, it was very early on the east coast, it was 1:30am

thereabouts when the ship collided with the bridge. it was just about 4am when i got a phone call from our editor in chief, she told me that the key bridge had just collapsed, and that is all i really remember from that phone call. that is a jumper of bed phone call, start sending messages and rallying the newsroom kind of situation. thankfully we all live and work at the pub to come up we were able to rally pretty quickly and get folks on the ground. —— at the banner. probably close to a dozen people or more in the nursery and actively working just to try to track it down. we had a reporter go and speak with a marine construction association to kind of start to feel out what it might look like. a state senator here told her it could be a very, very long time before things are back to normal.— very, very long time before things are back to normal. thank you very much for talking _

are back to normal. thank you very much for talking to _ are back to normal. thank you very much for talking to us, _ are back to normal. thank you very much for talking to us, appreciate l much for talking to us, appreciate your time. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

some breaking news to bring you it now. the russian security service chief, alexander bortnikov, has claimed in the past hour that the uk, us and ukrainian secret services "aided" the "radical islamists" who carried out the deadly attack at the crocus concert hall, in moscow, on friday. 139 people were killed in the attack, which the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for the attack. authorities in kenya have released the first bodies of cult massacre victims to families for burial. self—proclaimed pastor paul mackenzie is alleged to have incited more than 400 of his followers to starve to death

in a case that provoked horror across the world. let's speak to our africa correspondent, barbara plett usher, in nairobi. such a disturbing case, isn't it? but families are finally receiving bodies? , , , , , bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shockin: bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shocking for _ bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shocking for the _ bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shocking for the country _ bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shocking for the country and i bodies? yes, very disturbing, very shocking for the country and the l shocking for the country and the world. a few families and i was even the possibility of a certain amount of closure at least, been able to give their loved ones a dignified burial. but not very many. a29 bodies have been exhumed and had autopsies done. only 3a have been identified with matching samples of dna from relatives. seven bodies were handed over to families today, four of them to one family, this was a high school teacher who has eight

family members missing. the four bodies include his daughter, his son—in—law and his grun grandson. it was the family members going missing from this particular family that began to alert the authorities that something was going on and it led to the investigation that found these shallow graves, these mass graves in that vast expanse of wilderness near the coastal town of malindi, and evidence that something terrible had happened. there are a couple of other families happened. there are a couple of otherfamilies coming to happened. there are a couple of other families coming to see their loved ones. one came from weston mckennie on a bus and is not able to transport the body back on, and so was appealing for help. —— one came from western kenya. psychological counselling was offered to the families. it is a step and still are lot more to do to try to address

this issue. lot more to do to try to address this issue-— lot more to do to try to address this issue. ., ,, , ., , . this issue. thank you very much, barbara plett _ this issue. thank you very much, barbara plett usher, _ this issue. thank you very much, barbara plett usher, in - this issue. thank you very much, barbara plett usher, in nairobi i this issue. thank you very much, i barbara plett usher, in nairobi with that update. fighting continues in gaza, just hours after the un security council passed its first resolution calling for a ceasefire. the resolution also called for the release of all hostages, and comes after several failed attempts to reach an agreement since the october 7 attacks. the us abstained from the vote, having previously used its veto, leading israel to cancel a meeting in washington. in gaza, witnesses say israeli warplanes bombed the southern city of rafah and fierce gun battles raged around hospitals in nearby khan younis and gaza city. rocket warning sirens also sounded in israeli towns near gaza. meanwhile, ceasefire talks continue between israeli and hamas representatives in qatar. authorities say the un resolution has not had an "immediate impact" on the talks. few had heard of him a year ago, and now he is set to become africa's youngest president.

the official results of senegal�*s election are expected by march 29, but provisional results show that opposition leader bassirou diomaye faye — who's aa — is set to win. his extraordinary rise caps a roller—coaster period in senegalese politics that caught many off—guard. months in jail alongside ally and kingmaker ousmane sonko ended suddenly, with the pair released the week before the presidential election. now "mr clean", as he's nicknamed, has promised to get to work on some sweeping reforms. let's speak to our west africa correspondent, thomas naadi. tell us more about mr faye. pata psco patapsco river pata psco river is patapsco river is a aa—year—old tax inspector and a member of a just pounded party co—founded by

opposition leader ousmane sonko. they were both imprisoned and subsequently released just a day before the election. ousmane sonko was qualified from contesting the election because of his suspended defamation conviction, so patapsco river was selected to replace him. he stands for the prince was fairness, integrity and transparency. he has already said he will rule this country with humility and he will also fight corruption, he has promised to reform the country's institutions and dealer challenges facing the youth, such as unemployment and the high cost of living. he made these remarks in his first public appearance after his main political challenger conceded defeat. thank you very much. the director general of the bbc, tim davie, has said the licence fee needs to be

reformed to become more affordable to those on lower incomes. but in a speech setting out his plans for the future, he warned against creating what he called a "niche" service, and urged the government to take over responsibility for funding the world service. mr davie said the bbc would continue to move staff out of the capital, provide new digital services, and make sensible use of artificial intelligence. here he is speaking to culture editor, katie razzall. in your speech you said that to strip money from the bbc during this period has been particularly short—sighted. what did you mean by that? i short-sighted. what did you mean by that? 4' short-sighted. what did you mean by that? ~ ., ., that? i think all media organisations, - that? i think all media i organisations, broadcast organisations, broadcast organisations like the bbc, faces enormous challenges to migrate themselves through digital transition, to a world in which we see online services tree dominate. it is an interactive environment. so you have a lot to build the bbc for the future while making sure you

invest in programmes, so you are essentially making a macro doing two huge jobs there, essentially making a macro doing two hugejobs there, making essentially making a macro doing two huge jobs there, making sure the programmes are still funded and making sure you are building digital services. that is an extremely demanding task and it requires funding for the long—term. i think that has been very tough for the bbc as we go through this period. talking about it being short—sighted sighted if you like the most political part of the speech for me. you have been criticised from some for not being more robust in the face of cuts from the government. are you now positioning that you are talking tough? i do are you now positioning that you are talking tough?— talking tough? i do not think i have chance m talking tough? i do not think i have change my tone. — talking tough? i do not think i have change my tone. l— talking tough? i do not think i have change my tone, i have _ talking tough? i do not think i have change my tone, i have always i talking tough? i do not think i have | change my tone, i have always been clear that i think the bbc should be given a real terms increase. what we got over six years was two years flat and four years at inflation. i would have liked more, i have always said that. i think that's what we should be doing for the bbc. you are critically being _ should be doing for the bbc. you are critically being robust _ should be doing for the bbc. you are critically being robust about - should be doing for the bbc. you are critically being robust about the i

critically being robust about the bbc being so central to our nation and this does feel like a positioning of notjust the bbc at the heart of public life and being so important, but also taking on the government, if you like. i so important, but also taking on the government, if you like.— government, if you like. i think the threats have _ government, if you like. i think the threats have grown. _ government, if you like. i think the threats have grown. only _ government, if you like. i think the threats have grown. only this i government, if you like. i think the threats have grown. only this you i threats have grown. only this you see disinformation issues in terms of other hostile states. i do think it is the time when any kind of disinvestment in the bbc is just not smart. disinvestment in the bbc is 'ust not smart. ., , disinvestment in the bbc is 'ust not smart. . , . ., ., smart. that is the director general ofthe smart. that is the director general of the sac, _ smart. that is the director general of the bbc. tim — smart. that is the director general of the bbc, tim davie, _ smart. that is the director general of the bbc, tim davie, speaking i smart. that is the director general| of the bbc, tim davie, speaking to our culture editor. let's return to our culture editor. let's return to our main story, this bridge collapse in baltimore. we have got live pictures to show you. you can see that this is the container ship, which is covered in remnants of the bridge which collapsed on top of it at around bridge which collapsed on top of it ataround i:a0am bridge which collapsed on top of it at around i:a0am local time. we are hearing this is a hugely busy port,

where containerships are going in and out all of the time. gary o'donoghue is reporting from baltimore, sent this singapore flagged ship, the dali, someone who had been working on it before it left port said there had been around a free housing containers on it. so, a free housing containers on it. so, a hugely heavy ship which ran into one of the columns of the bridge, which caused the whole of the bridge to collapse. —— tree thousand containers. authorities have been giving us press conferences today, talking about how they have a sonar which has detected several vehicles under the water. there is some confusion about how many people may be missing, but they say they are looking for at least seven people. at one point they were saying there may be 20 people that they are searching for. they did tell us also they manage to rescue two people

from the water. one person wasn't injured at all, but one other was taken to a trauma centre for treatment, saying that they were in a serious condition. we have heard from the owners of the singapore flagged ship that all of the crew on board were fine and had no injuries, and they stayed on board for quite a long time. about an hour ago, the authorities said they were still on board. the company has sent over people to investigate what happened from singapore. we have been hearing from singapore. we have been hearing from cbs, our partner in the us, who quoted a law enforcement official who said the ship lost propulsion and then hit one of the supporting towers of the bridge. that is the latest that we have from baltimore today, that perhaps at the ship lost today, that perhaps at the ship lost to propulsion, that is quoting a law enforcement official. plenty more of this on the bbc news website. stay

with us here on bbc news. thanks for watching. over the next few days of mother nature is going to through a bit of everything and is, a real mixed bag on the way, from gusty winds, heavy showers, hail, thunder, some sunshine in between. the satellite picture is already looking very dynamic. if we look at this conveyor belt of cloud, that is the jet stream a loft which has allowed the colder air predicting from the northern climes, which will help to build those big shower clouds over the coming days. this evening rain will be sweeping into southern parts of the uk. still some late sunshine in the north across scotland. throughout the course of this evening, that men will be travelling northwards, so most of us will get some rain, some of will be heavy.

northern ireland could see 30—a0 millimetres of rain. by the end of the night that with the front is across scotland, cold and miserable here in the morning. free degrees in glasgow, snow across the mountain tops. to the south of that, something drier temporarily before the next one the front comes in. showers are carried by increasingly strong wind out of the south—west, gale force are in some of the coasts. but the sun is strong at this time of the year, so it will be coming between the clouds as well. on thursday the winds will get even stronger as a low pressure front sweeps in. it could be 50 mph gusts in england, pretty strong for this time of year. big shower clouds producing sudden downpours with hail

and thunder, but sunshine in between. it will feel chilly in heavy showers and gusty winds. on friday, i think the winds will feel a little lighter, fewer showers around on good friday. the outlook into easter— that mixed bag continues, but i think that time we get to sunday across most parts of the uk there should be some dry weather and a bit of sunshine too. bye—bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. in the us, a state of emergency declared in maryland after a cargo ship hit a bridge in baltimore, leading to its complete collapse. this is an unthinkable tragedy. we have to first and foremost pray for all of those who are impacted. authorities describing this as a "mass casualty event" as they say up to 20 people and several vehicles have fallen into the river. the high court in london rules that wikileaks founder julian assange can appeal against his extradition to the us, if washington fails to give an assurance that the death penalty will not be imposed. we'll take you to westminster where in a moment the prime minister is due to be questioned by senior mps.