a minute's silence is observed for the victims of the mass stabbing last weekend. history made here on the streets of london as the reigning champion has set a brand—new women's only record. taking a minute off the record set in 2017. join me laterfor more. hello i'm nicky schiller. welcome to the programme. we start this hour with ukraine and reaction to the news that us lawmakers have finally — after months of delays — approved billions of dollars in new us military aid for the country to help fight russia's invasion. the bill will see a $61 billion package for ukraine, including ammunition and air defences. president biden welcomed the deal which he said would "answer history's call". ukraine's president zelensky

described the american support as "vital" and said it would save thousands of lives. russian officials said it would further ruin ukraine and result in the deaths of even more ukrainians. the focus is now on when the aid will arrive, with reports suggesting it could begin within days. our first report is from our north america correspondent nomia iqbal. on this vote, the yays are 311 and the nays are 112. the bill is passed. the moment has been a long time coming. after more than six months, a bill pledging further military aid for ukraine finally passed. translation: today we have got the decision we were waiting - for on the american support package for which we fought so hard. president zelensky, how is...? president zelensky had personally met with us lawmakers to lobby for support. many in congress waved ukrainian plans during voting, but there was still divisions, with members of the democratic party

backing kyiv, others in the republican party not so much. but this is the sell—out of america today. when we have members of congress in there waving the ukrainian flag on the united states house of representatives floor, while we're doing nothing to secure our border? i think every american in this country should be furious. but the house speaker, republican mikejohnson felt differently, essentially putting his job on the line to get the bill approved. it's an old military adage but we would rather send bullets to the conflict overseas than our own boys, our troops, and i think this is an important moment, an important opportunity to make that decision. ukraine says it desperately needs help to push back russian troops. the us is already the largest provider of military and humanitarian aid to ukraine, sending over $74 billion in the first two years of the war. this new bill provides more than 60 billion, including money to replenish stocks.

almost 1a billion will be used by advanced weapons and defence articles. the passing of this bill is a major bipartisan moment, something you just don't often see in washington. the next step is for it to get through the senate next week, which won't be too difficult because it's democrat—controlled. president biden will then sign it into law. the house will be in order. russia has described this as direct support for terrorist activities. but president biden said it was important in answering history's call. 0fficials officials say here that the military aid is ready to go. expected to reach the battlefield and less than a week. russia has reacted angrily to american politicians approving a package of military assistance for ukraine worth around £50 billion. moscow says washington is wading deeper into a war that will end in humiliation — and the bill shows the us wants ukraine "to fight

to the last ukrainian". 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse told me about the reaction to the deal from president zelensky. yes. he's described the decision as putting history back on track. i think all of his ministers have been quick to thank the us house of representatives and it's a much—needed boost, really, against the backdrop of there not being many for ukraine of late. now, what does this aid package mean? well, those long—range to medium—range missiles, those air defence systems, just might allow ukrainian forces who are exhausted and outnumbered, it might allow them to hold the line and it might prevent more towns and cities from being occupied potentially. this isn't a silver bullet that will allow ukraine to repel russian forces completely, but it widens that window. but here in kyiv on on this miserable sunday morning where people are going to church, everyone is aware of the significance of this decision

that has come out of washington. everyone knows that ukraine is reliant on this level of western help to keep mounting the fight that it is. but people aren't suddenly optimistic, they don't suddenly believe they're going to win this war. and i think that's a crucial difference from last year ahead of a much—anticipated counter—offensive which did not go according to plan. now the goalposts have shifted. you now hear soldiers talking about simply holding on rather than pushing forward. and i think for this year, i think ukraine is simply focusing on trying to replenish, hold on in some faint hope of pushing forward perhaps next year. you can be sure russia will be trying to capitalise on this continued state of ukraine being outmuscled, if you like. and there are some generals here that are predicting a major russian advance in the coming weeks and months. so there are difficult

challenges ahead for ukraine, but the view from kyiv is that it's got a fighting chance. earlier i spoke to marina miron — an expert on the russian military at the war studies department in king's college london. i asked her what impact this bill will have. the first short—term effect that it could produce as a boost in morale and of the trips which is very important given that on the ukrainian side, soldiers have not been rotated since the beginning of the war in february 2022. that is one potential outcome. however, we have to keep in mind when is this aid going to come through? so we have heard that the ukraine armed forces may be getting more artillery ammunition, moved from their cheque public —— public —— czech republic.

but the problem is what is the timeline for the rest of the shipment and we have to keep in mind that the air defences are quite expensive, one battery calling —— were costing up to $1.2 million. it requires training for trips and maintenance crews, so it is notjust like you fit that system somewhere and leave it be and it does the job. so can ukraine meet those new parliaments and how many intercept missiles will it be meeting? so a lot of questions they are, how much of the critical infrastructure can ukraine cover with these air defence defence. the missiles and drones are being acted with impunity from the russian side. you have kharkiv, you have kyiv, so the air campaign has been quite effective. it is

suffering from russian attacks, so the long—term effect of this aid is questionable. is it a bit too late or is it still going to help ukrainian forces at least hold the line before the russians start their actual offensive? because what we have right now is not the actual offensive. the house of representatives also overwhelmingly approved a military assistance package for israel, which has been carrying out a military offensive in gaza since hamas attacked israel on october 7th. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by western governments — around 1,200 people were killed in that attack and around 130 israelis and foreigners are still being held hostage. gaza's health ministry says more than 3a,000 palestinians have been killed inside gaza so far by israel's military offensive, most of them women and children. 0vernight israel has carried out more airstrikes in rafah, in the south of the territory.

this is the aftermath. 18 palestinians have reportedly been killed — mostly children. the israeli war cabinet has been planning an offensive against hamas in rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the us and other allies have warned israel against a full—scale assault on the city. i asked our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, injerusalem about the significance of the aid for israel. well, it isjust a reminder that at its core, the relationship between the united states and israel is a military one and it is one that does provide a huge amount of military support to israel. if you think about it, by law, by us law, $3 billion worth of military aid is given to israel every year, and so this new package that has been announced and been agreed is additional to that.

about $14 billion of it is for military aid, a large chunk of that will go on replenishing israel's iron dome missile defences. equally, a large chunk will also go on buying more arms and resupplying, and resupply and things like that. the extra 9 billion or so, you know, is for humanitarian relief that one assumes will be spent on the israeli side of the relief effort, in and around gaza. but it is a substantial amount of money. yeah, the palestinian president spokesman calling it an act of aggression against palestinian people that would cause thousands more casualties in gaza. the attention is back on gaza, isn't it, after those tensions between iran and israel eased, and in particular, rafah? yeah. because the israeli government has made it very clear that they wish to mount a military operation

in the south, near rafah, where so many people are packed in. israel says that there are hamas fighters, brigades, that are still there and they need to go in and take the fight to hamas there. almost all of israel's allies are saying don't, particularly the united states, very, very explicitly saying, look, do not do this, because the risk to civilian life is so large. because so many people are packed into that piece of territory. so there is a huge amount of concern in diplomatic circles about how hard and when israel decides to operate in rafah. yes, because benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister also under pressure from people within his own war cabinet to take that action. yeah. look, he is under pressure, notjust from them from others. notjust from them but from others.

because there are many israelis who believe that this will only end when they have severely degraded hamas as a military force and at the moment that has not happened. and people argue that to complete that task, israeli forces have to go in and, you know, take the fight the fight to hamas in rafah. but as i said, then equally, i think what we have seen in recent days during the exchange of fire between israel and iran, is one signal we have got from that is the israeli government does value its international support. it is trying to leverage the international support it got as a result of the iranian attack a week ago. i think they will be quite loathe to lose that by launching an attack on rafah that is very bloody, very deadly and unsupported by its allies.

iran's supreme leader has thanked the country's armed forces for their operations against israel and he called upon them to pursue military innovation and learn the enemy's type. a line being reported from iran's official news agency. and don't forget you can get much more analysis from the middle east on the bbc news website. it includes today bbc verify analysing satellite images that appear to show that an iranian air defence site was damaged in friday's air attack by israel. you can read that online or on the bbc news app. here, the policing minister has said he is "deeply concerned" after a met police officer described an antisemitism campaigner as "openlyjewish" and suggested his presence at a pro—palestinian demonstration in london last week might antagonise protesters. the incident has prompted campaigners to call for the metropolitan police commissioner, sir mark rowley to step down. the force has apologised

twice for the remarks. let's ta ke let's take a look at a video clip of the exchange which has been posted on social media. if i could ask you to stand there, please. thank you very much. i know, i heard you. in that case, sir, when the crowd has gone, i'll happily escort you out. no, sir, i don't want anybody antagonising anybody. yeah, and at the moment, sir, you are quite openlyjewish, this is a pro—palestinian march. i'm not accusing you of anything but i'm worried about the reaction to your presence. with more on this, here is our correspondent aruna iyengar. what's the latest? there has been a fair bit of political reaction to the posting of this video. so mark reilly who has been called for his resignation

today, and the former home secretary, asking for his resignation over this event and other policing events since his pro—palestinian protests have been taking place over the last six months since those hamas attacks against israel on the 7th of october last year. we also heard from sadiq khan the mayor of london who basically said the metropolitan police's apology to this event that happened last weekend was slightly insensitive and could have been done better. the police apologised for the action of its policeman, what the action of its policeman, what the policeman said was that the appearance of gideon falter as the chief executive of the campaign against anti—semitism and that his appearance was obviouslyjewish, appearance was obviously jewish, that appearance was obviouslyjewish, that was meant to say that his presence there could be provocative, he said, to other people who were

attending the protest. mrfalter he said, to other people who were attending the protest. mr falter has been speaking about that today and said the police were discriminating againstjewish people, that he had every right to be there. other people have been coming out today to voice their opinions. the environment secretary has been speaking today as well. i personally would not go _ speaking today as well. i personally would not go that _ speaking today as well. i personally would not go that far _ speaking today as well. i personally would not go that far because - speaking today as well. i personally would not go that far because i - speaking today as well. i personally| would not go that far because i have not had _ would not go that far because i have not had the — would not go that far because i have not had the conversations with them, i do not _ not had the conversations with them, i do not understand yet what he will say to _ i do not understand yet what he will say to the _ i do not understand yet what he will say to the home secretary. those conversations need to take place but i think_ conversations need to take place but i think it _ conversations need to take place but i think it is _ conversations need to take place but i think it is important we stand by their_ i think it is important we stand by theirjewish community and other communities as well saying this is not something we will stand by. the bbc has not something we will stand by. tie bbc has been speaking not something we will stand by. tij: bbc has been speaking to the jewish bbc has been speaking to thejewish man at the heart of that incident. he explained how shocked he was at what happened. i thought how on earth is this happening. 1soilien what happened. i thought how on earth is this happening.— what happened. i thought how on earth is this happening. when i was surrounded — earth is this happening. when i was surrounded by _ earth is this happening. when i was surrounded by police _

earth is this happening. when i was surrounded by police and _ earth is this happening. when i was surrounded by police and told - earth is this happening. when i was surrounded by police and told that i j surrounded by police and told that i had to leave or face arrest. the peoples who had stopped what they were doing and they were passing by and they stopped, just to shout abuse at us for being jewish. none of them are surrounded by police, none of them are told they faced arrest and people were crossing the road, left, rightand arrest and people were crossing the road, left, right and centre, arrest and people were crossing the road, left, rightand centre, it arrest and people were crossing the road, left, right and centre, it was a free for all pretty much unless you arejewish. we will stop because we werejewish. {31136 you are jewish. we will stop because we were jewish-— you are jewish. we will stop because we were jewish. give us some context around this- — we were jewish. give us some context around this. most _ we were jewish. give us some context around this. most of— we were jewish. give us some context around this. most of these _ we were jewish. give us some context around this. most of these have - we were jewish. give us some context around this. most of these have been | around this. most of these have been pro-palestinian _ around this. most of these have been pro-palestinian protests _ around this. most of these have been pro-palestinian protests although - pro—palestinian protests although there have individuals for the jewish community as well i have been attending a number of them to see what has been happening there. in essence they are generally peaceful protests by the police have been coming under a lot of pressure from all sides. coming under a lot of pressure from allsides. some coming under a lot of pressure from all sides. some have been saying they have been too severe on people and voicing their opinions, some are

saying they are not getting in there enough to stop settings —— shouting slogans. sadiq khan said today that the police have a difficultjob to do. the metropolitan police commissioner, sir mark rowley will be meeting with the policing minister this week to see him. we will see where that goes from there. voting is getting underway in ecuador in a referendum on proposed tougher measures to tackle a surge in gang—related violence, which has seen two mayors killed in the last week. measures include an expansion of military and police powers that will allow the military to patrol the streets alongside the police. they'll also signicantly boost gun controls and impose harsher prison sentences for "terrorism" and drug trafficking. president daniel noboa also wants to change the constitution so ecuadorans wanted abroad for organised crime—related offences can be extradited.

a state of emergency was announced in january after a state of emergency was announced injanuary after a a state of emergency was announced in january after a top a state of emergency was announced injanuary after a top gang leader escaped from jail. in january after a top gang leader escaped from jail.— escaped from “ail. several politicians _ escaped from jail. several politicians were _ escaped from jail. several politicians were murdered j escaped from jail. several i politicians were murdered in escaped from jail. several - politicians were murdered in the last year alone. 8000 violent deaths have been reported that human rights groups are concerned. there could be arbitrary arrests which they say have increased this year. to australia where thousands of people, including local and national leaders, have attended a candle—lit vigil in sydney to remember those who died in last week's stabbing rampage. as the sun set on bondi beach, people were asked to light a candle in memory of the victims. six people, mainly women, were killed and twelve injured in the attack on a shopping centre. just before the vigil, one of the wounded, a nine—month—old girl, was released from hospital; her mother died in the attack. prime minister of australia, anthony albanese, offered his condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the rampage.

we mourn for all the years ofjoy they should have known. all the memories— they should have known. all the memories they should have had the chance _ memories they should have had the chance to _ memories they should have had the chance to make. then year life they would _ chance to make. then year life they would have — chance to make. then year life they would have lived here in their new country. _ would have lived here in their new country, the success they would have achieved _ country, the success they would have achieved in _ country, the success they would have achieved in whatever year they embraced. the happiness they would have created, they care with —— like they would — have created, they care with —— like they would have shown, beautiful children— they would have shown, beautiful children they would have raised with such love _ 0ur sydney correspondent katy watson was at the vigil who described the mood. it was just before sunset that that the vigil started and thousands of people from the community came here to pay their respects, they were all asked to light a candle in memory of those who died and we heard from leaders from here in bondi, from new south wales and of course from the prime minister, addressing the crowd. there were babies in buggies, there were parents, grandparents, there were people

from the fire service and police officers, all coming together. the talk was very much about grief, but one of solidarity and strength within the community, that grief didn't have to be lonely, that people here had come together to be able to in light of what happened, in the last week. and the message from people here who attended was very much that this was a community that was very tight—knit, that the feeling was this could have been anyone and it hit very close to home and that is why people wanted to attend, to attend the vigil. so it was a very moving ceremony and people, you know, families from notjust here in bondi, but across sydney, came to pay their respects to those who died, and of course those who remain injured. and as we heard, the good news in what has been a very difficult week, of the youngest victim, a nine—month—old baby, whose mother

died protecting her in the attack. she has no then released from hospital and is now with herfamily. i was interested, the premier of new south wales, while he was addressing that, saying that no one should have to live in fear because there has been a lot of talk at the fact that a lot of the victims were female. absolutely. five out of the six people who died in the majority of those injured were female. the police have said several times that it is a line of inquiry, in fact the police commissioner said it is obvious from footage that he was targeting women. it is one line of inquiry. the investigation is still in its early stages, but certainly the news and the fact that the police are investigating this line a shocked many people here. many of those who are leaving flowers this last week,

our young women, unable to kind of understand exactly what happened and why. i spoke to one woman just now who was in tears saying he attacked those who are most vulnerable, the helpless women, babies, and that is something that people here have found very difficult to come to terms. and of course we heard it as well, once again echoing the fact that there is a big line of inquiry that perhaszoe cauchi, who went on this stabbing spree, was in fact targeting women. the london marathon is taking place and 50,000 runners are taking part. among them are two ukrainian soldiers who lost their limbs on the battlefield. 28—year—old 0leksiy has a prosthetic leg and 32 year old heorgiy has lost his arm. after lengthy rehabilitation they are running 42 kilometres to raise money for charity helping amputees. both say they want to show unbreakable ukrainian spirit and encourage injured servicemen to continue living full lives.

here's heorgiy roshka. i , i ,iwas , i was fighting in mariupol. i have got a prosthetic arm. i , i was fighting in mariupol. i have got a prosthetic arm.— got a prosthetic arm. i kept exercising _ got a prosthetic arm. i kept exercising and _ got a prosthetic arm. i kept exercising and after- got a prosthetic arm. i kept exercising and after a - got a prosthetic arm. i kept exercising and after a time | got a prosthetic arm. i kept| exercising and after a time i decided to run the london marathon or a charity. the foundation i am helping helps with prosthetics very injured ukrainian soldiers. i also take this matter and as an opportunity to take the time that our guys are still in captivity waiting for exchange. i am hoping that the world can help to release them and bring them back on. ifeel very optimistic king able to run this marathon, i want to show the world that ukrainians are unbroken despite a amputations and health issues. we stand strong, we will stand until the end. running any marathon is a massive achievement, but imagine doing it not on pavements or roads, but sand. the annual marathon of the sands has taken

place in morocco. it's described as the toughest footrace on earth as it covers 252 kilometres spread over six stages. nearly 900 athletes from 58 countries have been taking part. moroccan runner rachid el—morabity won his tenth title covering the final 21 kilometre stage in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 5 seconds, just two seconds ahead. congratulations to him. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. as many of you have discovered this week, in the sunshine, feeling quite pleasant, but out of it and in the breeze, a rather cold feel. and it's the chillier side of things which will dominate through this coming week. high pressure that's with us will push its way out westwards, opening the door to more northerly winds, which will keep that colder air in place. and with low pressure dominant later in the week, rainfall also becomes a bit more of an issue. now, it's not going to be as wet as it has been through recent weeks, most areas will see some showers

or rain at times. driest in the west, although later in the week, we'll see more prolonged rain arrive from the south—west, as temperatures eventually rise a touch for next weekend. today's rain comes courtesy of this weather front which has been developing within the high pressure system. further rain at times across central and eastern scotland through the rest of this afternoon. there'll be some splashes of rain in north—west england, isle of man and very close to the east of northern ireland. but away from that, more cloudy than yesterday through wales and the south—west. reasonably sunny towards the south and east, isolated shower, a cool breeze, but with lighter winds in the west and the best of the sunshine in northern ireland, maybe up to around 18 degrees here. tonight, that rain that's first of all in southern—eastern scotland will push its way into northern england and north wales more widely. a cold night towards the south and east of that, with clear skies to begin with. clouding over a touch later, but not enough before we see a touch of frost for some. temperatures not as low the further north and west you are, and that's because you're sandwiched between this warm front and cold front. slightly less chilly air tonight pushing in from the north, but either side of it, we've got some rain across northern england, north wales to start tomorrow. damp start here, spreading into the midlands. a cold and wet day across parts

of the midlands and north—east england through tomorrow. brightening up in scotland, northern ireland. after one or two morning showers, a bit of sunshine. it will feel quite pleasant. 16 degrees possible in the glasgow area. but with cloud dominant, further rain at times across england and wales. a chilly day, although some in the far west of wales and south—west england, east anglia, south—east may stay dry. not as much, though, as we go through monday night and into tuesday. these weather fronts continue to push south as the high pressure creeps further and further away. the clouds in the south bring in some initial showers on tuesday. northerly wind then develops, making it feel cold in the cloudier moments. but we should all see some dry and sunnier weather develop through the day, especially in the north and the west. but even with that sunshine, it will feel a bit chillier than this weekend, given more in the way of that northerly breeze. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine has woken billions of dollars in military aid to help it combat russia's aggression. moscow says it is wading deep into a war that will end in humiliation. at the same time as the ukraine vote, the us house of representatives overwhelmingly approved a military assistance package for israel. it comes as there have been more israeli airstrikes in rafah in the south of the territory overnight. a candlelight vigil has taken place in australia in memory

of those who were stabbed to death at a shopping centre in sydney just over a week ago. the victims — most of them women — were killed after the attack at the shopping centre in bondi junction. you can get more on those stories on the bbc newest —— bbc news website or app. a police officer has been taken to hospital with non—life—threatening injuries, following a large—scale incident in the derbyshire town of ilkeston last night. 0ur reporter louisa pilbeam has the details. this was the scene in ilkeston in derbyshire overnight during a large—scale police incident in which one officer was taken to hospital. after concerns were raised for the safety of a man, police were called to a house in hartington place. what happened next is currently unclear, but derbyshire police have responded to reports on social media that one or more officers

had been taken hostage during the incident.