march ever recorded. new data from the eu's copernicus climate service shows the run of monthly temperature records has now extended to ten in a row. the average was 0.1 celsius above the previous high set in 2016. that has fuelled concerns that the world could be tipping into a new phase of even faster climate change. our climate editor justin rowlatt reports. last week, the president of zimbabwe declared a national disaster because of a deep drought in the country. low rainfall has slashed crop yields, driving up food prices and putting an estimated 2.7 million people at risk of hunger. it is just one example of a pattern of heat and drought affecting countries as far afield as southern europe and southeast asia. this graph shows how march continued the world's run of record—breaking

monthly temperatures. this extreme heat has got many climate scientists worried. the reality is that we can quantify a large proportion of the extra heat that's causing these records, but not all of it. so there needs to be a lot more science, and there will be much more science coming out over the next weeks and months to try and understand what's happening to our climate system, and are we in a new phase? scientists agree what is causing climate change — it is the vast quantities of planet—warming gases humanity has been pumping into the atmosphere. and in recent months, a recurring weather event known as el nino has been adding an extra blast of heat into the air. that is weakening now, so temperatures should begin to fall back later in the year. the problem is, sea temperatures remain extremely high, hitting many of the world's coral reefs hard. that suggests global

temperatures might not fall back as expected — a sign, fear some scientists, that the world could be entering a new phase of more rapid climate change. justin rowlatt, bbc news. we spoke to henna hundal, delegate to the un climate change conferences and henna gave us her assessment on whether we are entering a new phase in this climate crisis. unfortunately, we are coming off a string of ten months where we are seeing these records just being shattered. and i think even more important than that, we are seeing the real—life impacts. just a couple of weeks ago, kids in south sudan could not go to school because of extreme heat. just two years ago we saw roads buckle in the uk due to extreme heat. in the us we have seen emergency department visits rise tremendously due to heat events. we're also seeing populations such

as the elderly and infants, particularly vulnerable populations, really experience devastating consequences during these heat waves. so not only are we seeing these records are being shattered, i think we're unfortunately also seeing populationsjust having a real hard time adapting to these impacts. u nfortu nately unfortunately this is probably not going to be the last of these records being broken and that something we have not been putting a lot of energy and efforts towards. at the un climate change conference last year countries promised to transition away from fossil fuels and that remains to be seen if it actually happens. that's been used news from the met police. police are investigating the murder of a woman in westminster, they said officers were contacted on

sunday by friends of everyone concerned for her welfare at around 830 on monday, officers went to her address on first entry and they found the deceased and she had suffered multiple stabbing injuries. they are now looking into it would happen, they said no arrests have been made. we have a quote from detective chief inspector adam clifton from the monopolies and he says i understand that this will be concerning and local women especially may be worried. enquiries are in the early stages and we are keeping an open mind as to the motive however i can assure people my team are working 24/7 to establish what happened to identify and arrest together may be responsible. that is detectives investigating the murder of a woman investigating the murder of a woman in westminster. moving on. here in the uk, the inquiry into the post office it scandal continues today. more than 900 sub—postmasters were prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from a computer system called horizon. one former sub—postmaster and campaigner, alan bates,

will give evidence later. he'll be followed by senior figures from the post office and fujitsu in the coming weeks. peter ruddick reports. the man who took on the post office. his story might now be known around the world, but today alan bates will once again be explaining how he was affected by a scandal dubbed the most widespread miscarriage ofjustice in british legal history. his testimony kicks off the latest phase of an inquiry that's been hearing evidence for more than two years but that will now turn to the crucial question of who knew what and when. former royal mail group boss adam crozier is one of a handful of seniorfigures due to appear this week. they're followed later this month by angela van den bogerd, whose role in the post office prosecution of innocent subpostmasters has been heavily criticised. ex—chief executive paula vennells, who was stripped of her cbe earlier this year, will give three days of evidence in may. she will be asked about a draft

report uncovered by the bbc, which shows the post office carried on using public money to fund court action, despite knowing its defence was untrue. in fenny compton, where the fightback began, victims told breakfast and the post office minister their battle was still farfrom won. the life is slipping away. i've spent now 37 years in the post office, so it feels like the life has been wasted. it feels like being stabbed in the back for serving the very people, for the very nation on behalf of the government. everybody's going to get through it. and the fact that when i was in hospital, the post office sent their own personal doctors to see if i was actually ill, that's what really hurt the most. the journey for all of us has been

so painful that we feel— it every day, you know? and we still have to give each other support because it's not over. - it's still ongoing i and it's still tough. you know, it's hard - to get up every morning and keep battling along. from the minister, an apology. well, can i first say sorry — for everything — everybody in this room and for the thousands of people around the country? decent lives wrecked through this. and a clear statement of how he wants the scandal to end. people should be prosecuted. that's my view. and i think you and other people i've spoken to, i certainly feel. people within the post office and possibly further afield should go to jail. post office ltd is stealing my livelihood... january's tv drama means the long—running inquiry may now also become a ratings winner. it's expected to conclude this summer and make recommendations for further action next year. peter ruddick, bbc news. let's got live to our business

correspondent, theo leggett. this hearing continues today and this is really the first of a number of high—profile people giving evidence. of high-profile people giving evidence. ~ , , , , evidence. absolutely. remember this in . ui evidence. absolutely. remember this inuui has evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been _ evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been going _ evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been going on _ evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been going on for- evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been going on for a - evidence. absolutely. remember this inquiry has been going on for a long l inquiry has been going on for a long time since 2020 ban but this is a new face of it and we will be seeing some of the key players. chief amongst them is alan bates, his case was dramatised by a british tv channel in a drama called mr bates versus the post office, that's the celebrity of the case but he's a campaigner forjustice for celebrity of the case but he's a campaigner for justice for thousands of supposed masters, notjust the ones jailed but also those who lost money. he spearheaded a legal campaign which resulted in a ruling in the high court which said the horizon it system that these post office as we are using can take

bugs, errors and defects so he will take the stand and we know he has campaigned for those convicted of crimes to be exonerated, the legal process for that is happening in england and wales but not yet in scotland and he is campaigning for compensation to be paid more quickly because that process for those affected has been very slow so far but later in the week we will hear from a former chief executive of the post office adam crozier who was in charge from 10,000 3—2010 so in the early days of the scandal he has not come under the spotlights a much but in may, a mother key figure will take the stand, paula vino's, chief executive between 2012—19, in the run—up to the cake legal action and she will answer questions about what she will answer questions about what she knew and won because there is increasing evidence that people within the jitsu increasing evidence that people within thejitsu and within the post office knew about defects, make their case was unreliable but

pursued it anyway. you mentioned compensation _ pursued it anyway. you mentioned compensation but _ pursued it anyway. you mentioned compensation but there _ pursued it anyway. you mentioned compensation but there are - pursued it anyway. you mentioned compensation but there are many| compensation but there are many people out there who are waiting for compensation, they had to pay out extensive legal fees and will be looking to see even they might be getting the compensation for what they've been through? this getting the compensation for what they've been through?— getting the compensation for what they've been through? this is where it all nets they've been through? this is where it all gets complicated. _ they've been through? this is where it all gets complicated. there - they've been through? this is where it all gets complicated. there are i they've been through? this is where it all gets complicated. there are a l it all gets complicated. there are a number of compensation schemes and chief among them is the compensation scheme for people wrongly convicted. the british government put in place a scheme they can get a quick payment of £600,000 in full and final settlement if they choose to do so and if they choose not to accept they can pursue their cases through the court and try and get a higherfigure but that through the court and try and get a higher figure but that will take time. there's also compensation for people who want sent to jail and went convicted but ended up putting money in to cover their losses on those people have lost money and they won compensation as well so

this is a long and complicated process and there are different schemes and for some campaigners say it made speeding up and people need access to compensation and they need it quickly. he access to compensation and they need it cuickl . ., , it quickly. he was here in the uk can watch _ it quickly. he was here in the uk can watch that _ it quickly. he was here in the uk can watch that inquiry _ it quickly. he was here in the uk can watch that inquiry from - it quickly. he was here in the uk| can watch that inquiry from 10am it quickly. he was here in the uk - can watch that inquiry from 10am on the bbc news channel. a hunt is continuing across northern england for a man wanted in connection with the killing a young mother, who was fatally stabbed as she pushed her baby in a pram in bradford on saturday afternoon. it's emerged that the man had been given bail on charges of assault and threatening to kill her. habibur masum pleaded not guilty when he appeared before manchester magistrates�* court in november. let's go live to our correspondent in bradford — alison freeman. there's been a huge amount of new information over the past 24 are worst that happened on the street behind me in bradford on saturday

afternoon at around 3:20pm. the police told me yesterday that the victim kulsooma akter and the alleged attacker, habibur masum, from oldham, they know each other but they did not elaborate on what the relationship was but it's now understood the suspect was on bail for allegedly assaulting and threatening to kill the victim. those are charges that he denied when he appeared in court. as a result of that both west yorkshire and greater manchester police have referred themselves to the police watchdog because they did have previous contact with the victim. but the manhunt continues for habibur masum at the moment. he left the scene on a bus, about ten minutes after that and later he got off at a nearby park and they are working on the assumption he is

still in the uk, possibly platform that part of the scene in a taxi and they want anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact them. there have been a number of police raids and yesterday a 23—year—old man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender but police say if you see habibur masum not approach him and instead contact the police.— contact the police. alison, thank ou. hamas has thrown the latest round of gaza ceasefire negotiations into doubt, saying israel had failed to respond to any of its demands. with talks being held in cairo, the group says it's studying the latest proposals put forwards by mediators. meanwhile, palestinians who've returned to the city of khan younis in gaza have spoken of the devastation they found, after months of fighting. israel says its troops have pulled back from the area in southern gaza to prepare for the next stage of the conflict. let's speak to our middle east correspondent,

hugo bachega, in jerusalem. the ceasefire talks not looking too promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar— promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar acting _ promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar acting as _ promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar acting as a _ promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar acting as a mediator- promising at the moment? yesterday we had qatar acting as a mediator in| we had qatar acting as a mediator in the talks and the israeli foreign minister is saying there was cautious optimism that a breakthrough was possible but today hamas has said there is nothing new in these proposals, that the offer on the table does not meet the demands but they say they are studying those proposals. they have three main demands here, they are demanding a permanent ceasefire, in other words the end of the war. they want all israeli troops out of gaza and they also want displaced residents to be able to return to the northern parts of gaza. in the past, the israelis have rejected those demands is acceptable, they say these would only give hamas the opportunity to regroup but there have been indications in recent days

that the israelis are willing to make some concessions because there is a lot of international pressure for a deal to be reached, especially from the americans. the head of the cia is in cairo and there is a lot of pressure domestically as well, especially from the hostages to remain in captivity. they say time is running out to save those who but what is also very interesting is that there is a lot of pressure from some hardline allies of the prime minister benjamin netanyahu who are against the idea of making concessions. they say the israelis need to finish the job in carrying out the offensive in rafa and they need to destroy hamas and and that shows how difficult the negotiations are and we still don't not know whether major obstacles have been resolved. indie whether ma'or obstacles have been resolved. ~ ~ ., ,':iif~ whether ma'or obstacles have been resolved. ~ ~ ., ,':iif~ ., resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza _ resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza but _ resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza but do _ resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza but do we _ resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza but do we know- resolved. we know 308 trucks have entered gaza but do we know for. resolved. we know 308 trucks have l entered gaza but do we know for the aid is getting to those who don't

need it? , . , aid is getting to those who don't need it? , ., , ., ., . need it? the israelis announced esterda need it? the israelis announced yesterday they _ need it? the israelis announced yesterday they allowed - need it? the israelis announced | yesterday they allowed hundreds need it? the israelis announced - yesterday they allowed hundreds of trucks to enter gaza carrying much needed humanitarian supplies. they say this number was the highest number of eight trucks entering gaza since the beginning of the war. we still do not know further the trucks and the assistance, further it has reach those in northern gaza where there are concerns fighting is —— famine is imminent because of the conditions on the ground and we talk about the seesaw negotiations in cairo but the israelis are saying they still have plans to carry out an offensive into the area of rafa for 1.5 million palestinians have been sheltering the americans or warning any kind of major operation here could lead to a disaster because of the humanitarian conditions so the situation remains

desperate for palestinians in gaza and i think the hope is that a deal in cairo could lead to a pause in hostilities that could lead to more aid being allowed into the territory. aid being allowed into the territory-— let's get some of the day's other news now. a second day of hearings is getting under way at the international court ofjustice — in a case brought by nicaragua against germany. the central american country has accused berlin of breaching the genocide convention and international humanitarian law by continuing to supply israel with weapons — despite a previous finding that gazans are facing a plausable risk of genocide. the uk foreign secretary, david cameron, is in washington, where he'll try to pursuade republicans in congress to approve more funding for ukraine. a military aid package worth billions of dollars is currently stalled on capitol hill. he's also expected to discuss the israel—gaza war. before travelling to dc, lord cameron also met former president donald trump in florida. the european court of

human rights is to rule on two cases today which could set precedents for how governments tackle climate change. one case concerns a group of over a hundred elderly women who have sued the swiss authorities for not doing enough to implement climate policies. another case involves a group of young people from portugal who want to pursuade european governments to do more to deal with climate related incidents. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

former us president donald trump says abortion rights should be decided by individual us states. he's been under pressure from conservative republicans, who have been calling for a nationwide abortion ban — an issue that could swing votes in november's election. our north america correspondent, tom bateman, has more. what we saw today was donald trump rejecting some of the most hard—line positions that his republican colleagues have been arguing for —

that being a nationwide ban on abortion. that is significant because donald trump has sold himself as the architect of the supreme court decision a couple of years ago to overturn roe v wade. that was the landmark ruling from 1973 that enshrined protections, constitutional protections for women across america, to abortion. what donald trump is doing here is being strategic when it comes to the presidential election. he has seen that some of the harder positions on the issue of abortion haven't played well for many republicans, most notably in the mid—term elections a couple of years ago. he is very aware of that in an election that will be decided to a certain degree in the suburbs of several marginal swing states. so i think a lot of this is about the electoral politics. and he is saying it will basically be up to states themselves to decide how far to go on abortion bans.

but already he is being severely criticised by pro—life groups — one of the leading ones said it was deeply disappointed in his decision. as for the democrats, well, joe biden intends explicitly to make this an issue that he is going to attack donald trump over and already his campaign had come out and said that donald trump was responsible for ripping away the rights of women. it said that women in america were, in their view, in the extraordinary position of having fewer rights today than their mothers or grandmothers because of the policies enacted after donald trump was president. the republic of ireland is about to have its youngest prime minister. simon harris — who's 37 — is expected to be formally elected in parliament later. he replaces leo varadkar who is stepping down for personal and political reasons.

and i will have more on this is the morning progresses. millions of people across mexico, the us and canada have witnessed a total solar eclipse, which plunged parts of the continent into darkness for four minutes. as day turned to night, people gathered to watch the phenomenon — our north america reporter nada tawfik was among them. cheering. scenes of awe and wonder all along the eclipse's path of totality. crowds on the beaches of mexico's west coast were the first to experience the astrological phenomenon as the moon passed in front of the sun, completely blocking its light. over the next two—and—a—half hours, cities large and small were plunged into darkness as the great north american eclipse made its way across the united states and canada. in russellville, arkansas, two life—changing moments at once... cheering. ..as these 300 couples tied the knot in a mass wedding.

and living life in the fast lane — these spectators captured it from the indianapolis motor speedway. those who viewed the cosmic event from the natural wonder of niagara falls — including this bbc team — had the weather to contend with, but a full day of cloudy skies didn't dampen the mood. the crowd here isjust jubilant and excited, and you can see just how dark it is. then, a stroke of luck — a break in the clouds. there it is! wow, that is spectacular! oh, wow, that is fabulous. here we go, it is fully... you can see it fully now. onlookers said the moment was indescribable. it was so nice to be connected with so many different people, you know, just humanity watching this kind of amazing natural phenomenon happening. i found it really moving. it's really one of those things where you hear everyone, like, gasp and yell and it'sjust...

it's amazing. we really wanted to see the total darkness. - that was crazy to witness. the sun's corona and its flares will be studied by nasa. for this astronaut, though, the significance of the eclipse isn't rocket science. it does make you feel a little bit small. you have these huge heavenly bodies moving through the sky. it does humble a person to think about the majesty of our planets. if anything puts our place in the universe into perspective, this is it — and it's hard to find something 30 million people can agree on. nada tawfik, bbc news, niagara falls, new york. the authorities in hong kong have made the city's largest ever gold smuggling bust. the 146 kilogram haul is estimated to be worth more than $10 million and was intercepted last month on route to japan. customs officials say they made the discovery while examining two air compressors, which drew suspicions due to their unusual texture and weight. a 31—year—old man has been arrested

and released on bail pending further investigations. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. monday was quite a quiet day of weather, really. we had some sunny spells breaking through the cloud, for example here in cambridgeshire, and across large parts of england it was a warm day for april with temperatures topping out at 19 celsius at kew in london. these temperatures around 5 or 6 degrees above average. it's going to be a much cooler kind of day for tuesday, notjust cooler, it's going to be wet and windy for many as well. the change is down to an area of low pressure, this area of cloud you can see swirling to the southwest of the uk. that's essentially pushing northwards and eastwards over the next 12 hours. we already have quite a bit of rain with us at the moment. and the rain across northern ireland and scotland could be heavy enough to cause some localised flooding. 20—40 millimetres of rain,

not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, however, edinburgh, for example, has already had over 1.5 times their april average rainfall, even though we are onlyjust over a week into the new month. so this extra rainfall could be enough to cause some localised flooding. the weather will tend to brighten up from the west as we go through the day. sunshine and showers follow our main band of rain through. it's also going to be a windy, gusty kind of day, particularly for england and wales. gusts are widely running into the 40s miles an hour. could reach around 50 or 60 mph around some coastal areas with the rain reluctant to clear away from eastern scotland and parts of northeast england. our temperatures, about 10—12 for most. that will clear through and we are left with some colder air as we head into the first part of wednesday, potentially chilly enough to give an odd nip of frost for the early part of wednesday morning. should be a fine start to the day with sunshine, then it clouds over with the next

weather system moving in from the west bringing more rain. even as the rain pushes through across wales and southwest england, it probably will stay rather cloudy, the weather that follows. however, it will start to turn a bit milder again with southwesterly winds, temperatures around 13—15. and that warming trend continues as we head into thursday. again, we've got southwesterly winds with us, but this time after a cloudy start, the cloud should tend to thin and break up and we will see some spells of sunshine coming through quite widely. there will be a few showers for the north and west of scotland, but otherwise it's mostly dry and those temperatures, 17 for aberdeen, 17 for belfast. the highest could reach around 19 or 20 across parts of eastern england. it stays pretty mild, then, towards wales and england as we head into the weekend. temperatures in the 20s for some.

you arejoining the you are joining the nation's and radio 5 live. welcome to viewers on bbc two. alan bates, the man in the drama that changed everything, we saw the human face of what had happened, one of the great scandals of our time. we saw the human face, the human stories of what had happened to the subpostmasters and mistresses at the heart of these injustices. alan bates at ten o'clock, we will hear and see that at the inquiry. it's a new phase of the inquiry with a lot of big players appearing,

including former chief executive officer paula vennells in may, three daysin officer paula vennells in may, three days in may. the penultimate week of may, i believe. we want to hearfrom you, 85058 on the texts. you can call us as well. your chance to express solidarity, ask any questions and tell us your story, if your story hasn't yet been told. in that drama, to remind you, alan bates played by the amazing toby jones was that we have alan bates himself at ten o'clock. right now on the line to speak to and hear from, seema misra. hello.— the line to speak to and hear from, seema misra. hello.- nice i the line to speak to and hear from, seema misra. hello. hello. nice to talk again- — seema misra. hello. hello. nice to talk again- just _ seema misra. hello. hello. nice to talk again. just to _ seema misra. hello. hello. nice to talk again. just to remind - seema misra. hello. hello. nice to talk again. just to remind people, pregnant with your second child when you were convicted of false accounting and theft at your branch in west byfleet. peter collins as well, a subpostmaster for 34 years in blackpool, had to borrow £19,000 from a customer. still waiting for

news on the claim.