at the london marathon. hello. 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 buy 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. officials here say military aid is ready to go, with weapons now expected to reach the battlefield in 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". our 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. that is james waterhouse in kyiv.

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 — israel says around 1200 people were killed in that attack and around 130 israelis and foreigners are still being held hostage. gaza's health ministry says more than 311,000 palestinians have been killed inside gaza so far, most of them women and children. israel's military action continues — overnight israel carried out more airstrikes in rafah, in the south of the territory. this is the aftermath. 18 palestinians have reportedly been killed — mostly children. 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. but equally, a large chunk will also go on buying more arms and resupplying, and resupplies 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. and that was our diplomatic correspondent james landale, in jerusalem. the red crescent society says one of its volunteer paramedics has been killed from settlers violence in the occupied west bank. the aid organisation said mohammed awad allan was providing medical assistance to those wounded by settlers' gunfire in nablus. he served as a volunteer as part of an initiative to offer ambulance services to the area's residents. 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 gideon falter 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 see 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.

our correspondent aruna iyengar spoke to us earlier about the response. there has been a fair bit of political reaction to the posting of this video. sir mark rowley, there 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 that the metropolitan police's 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 policeman said was that the appearance of gideon falter, who is the chief executive of the campaign against anti—semitism and that his 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. 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 that far because i have not had the conversations with him, i do not understand yet what he will say to the home secretary. those conversations need to take place but i think it is important we stand by the jewish community and other communities as well saying this is not something we will stand by.

this is not what equality means in society— this is not what equality means in society today. the bbc has been speaking to thejewish man at the heart of that incident. he explained how shocked he was at what happened. i felt it was outrageous to be treated the way that we were treated just for being jewish. i thought, i wonder is this happening? i can quite believe it when i was 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 were surrounded by police, none of them were told they faced arrest and people were crossing the road, left, right and centre, it was a free for all, pretty much unless you werejewish. we were stopped because we werejewish. give us the context of these

protests. give us the context of these protests-— protests. most have been pro-palestinian _ protests. most have been pro-palestinian protests l protests. most have been i pro-palestinian protests and protests. most have been - pro-palestinian protests and some pro—palestinian protests and some have been individuals. i have been attending a number of them to see what is happening there. the police have come under a lot of pressure from all sides about their policing. some have said they have been too severe on people voicing their opinions, some are saying they are not getting in there enough to stop the shouting slogans and waving of offensive images. sadiq khan said today, the mayor of london said today, the mayor of london said today they police have a difficult job to do. there metropolitan police commissioner will be meeting with the policing minister later this week, so we will have to see where this goes from there. now it's time for a look at today's sport with jane.

the elite races for the london marathon are over. kenya's peresjepchirchir set a new women's only world record as she stormed to victory at the 2024 london marathon. jepchirchir crossed the line in two hours, 16 minutes and sixteen seconds to brek the record by 45 seconds. second—place tigst assefa and joyciline jepkosgei in third were also within that time. in the men's, alexander mutiso munyao made it a kenyan double, beating the legendary kenenisa bekele. britain's emile cairess was third. meanwhile, the wheelchair races were dominated by swiss duo marcel hug and catherine debrunner. yet another victory for max verstappen in what appears to be an unstoppable run to a fourth formula one world title. he started from pole position and went on to win the chinese grand prix in shanghai ahead of mclaren�*s lando norris and verstappen�*s teammate sergio perez. the red bull driver is already 25 points clear at the top of the drivers�* standings after four wins from the season's first five races.

sunday's fa cup semifinal at wembley brings together manchester united and a man who's credited with playing a famous part in their success. mark robins is now the manager of championship team coventry, but legend has it that his goal for united in the fa cup — when they were struggling in the early years of alex ferguson's reign — helped save his boss' job. what followed at old trafford was two decades and more of historic achievement, ensuring that robins' link to his former club endures to this day. it puts into perspective. united have always been a top, top club and to be involved in that was a brilliant experience. to win the competition, i had just been brought into the team in the squad and played a part in the run—up to the finals. so it was a brilliant time. what can i say? it's part of my experience, part of my footballing

background and history but it was a long time ago. lionel messi scored twice as inter miami came from a goal down to beat nashville 3—1 in florida. trailing to a franco negri own goal inside two minutes, messi dragged his side level nine minutes later, before team—mate sergio busequets scored his first goal sincejoining miami to make it 2—1. a messi penalty secured the 3—1 win in the second half. inter miami are top of the eastern conference. nikola jokic was once again the key as defending champions denver nuggets made a winning start to the nba playoffs with victory over the la la kers. lebronjames and anthony davis did what they could to keep the lakers in contention, scoring a combined 59 points. butjokic — who is the reigning finals mvp — was dominant at both ends of the court, finishing with 32 points; 12 rebounds and seven assists as the nuggets took the win 114 to 103, and with it a 1—0 series lead.

mark selby has begun his campaign to win a fifth world snooker title and he's up against a player he knows very well. joe o'connor might have never competed at the crucible before but he's been to the venue before to support selby, as they're from the same english city. selby is in a spot bother. they've just finished the final frame of the session and he's 6—2 down. o'connor won the seventh with a break of 101 and just took the eighth. in the other match, jakjones is just one frame away from the second round, leading zhang anda 9—4. round three of the chevron championship has resumed after play was halted on saturday due to storms in texas. thailand's atthaya thitikul held a one—shot lead over world number one nelly korda and canada's brooke henderson when play was suspended. meanwhile, scottie scheffler�*s dominance of the pga tour shows no signs of letting up. after winning the masters last weekend. he's heading into the final round of the rbc heritage in south carolina with a one shot lead. the world number one's bogey free 63

on saturday included this long birdie putt at the ninth and put him at 16 under. scheffler is one shot ahead of austrian sepp straka as he attempts to win for the fourth time in the last five tournaments he's played. more on the stories and the bbc sports website and on the app. 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. among those paying their respects — the prime minister of australia, anthony albanese. we mourn for all the years ofjoy

they should have known, all the memories they should have had the chance to make, the new life they would have lived here in their new country, the success they would have achieved in whatever career they embraced. the happiness they would have created, they care would have shown, the beautiful children they would have raised with such love. let's get some of the day's other news now. a search is underway for seven missing japanese military personnel after two helicopters crashed in the pacific. at least one naval crewman has been confirmed dead. the sikorsky seahawk aircraft were on night—time anti—submarine training near the izu island chain, six—hundred kilometres south of tokyo. two people have been killed and six others wounded in a shooting in the us city of memphis. police say the shooting happened

at an unpermitted party near a park, attended by around 200 to 300 people. one of the six people wounded is in a critical condition in hospital. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, has accused the united states of failing to respect its promise to lift all of what he called the "criminal sanctions" imposed against his country if caracas opened up the electoral process. his remarks followed washington's announcement that it had resumed the sanctions earlier this week. the london marathon is going on. let's go live to our sports reporter matt graveling who is keeping track of the marathon from the finish line. we have heard about the elite racers but it is more about the novelty racers. it but it is more about the novelty racers. , ., but it is more about the novelty racers. , . ~ , , racers. it is the human kindness element that _ racers. it is the human kindness element that makes _ racers. it is the human kindness element that makes this - racers. it is the human kindness. element that makes this marathon racers. it is the human kindness- element that makes this marathon so special. more than 150,000 this year. most of them raising money for

charity. this is james whistler from twickenham. james, you do not come out on a sunday looking like this? no. , , ., ., ., no. this is quite bad. you are one of those to _ no. this is quite bad. you are one of those to do _ no. this is quite bad. you are one of those to do here _ no. this is quite bad. you are one of those to do here is _ no. this is quite bad. you are one of those to do here is attempting | no. this is quite bad. you are one| of those to do here is attempting a record which is a fancy dress record for yourself. record which is a fancy dress record foryourself. fancy record which is a fancy dress record for yourself. fancy dress, dressed as harrison —— harlequin, running the london marathon. let's have a look at these. what are you doing? their blisters, my friend. the guinness _ their blisters, my friend. the guinness book of records do not make it easy— guinness book of records do not make it easy for— guinness book of records do not make it easy for us — guinness book of records do not make it easy for us. i would not get the sponsorship otherwise. tell it easy for us. i would not get the sponsorship otherwise.— it easy for us. i would not get the sponsorship otherwise. tell me what time ou sponsorship otherwise. tell me what time you think _ sponsorship otherwise. tell me what time you think you _ sponsorship otherwise. tell me what time you think you have _ sponsorship otherwise. tell me what time you think you have done? - sponsorship otherwise. tell me what | time you think you have done? three hours 11, time you think you have done? three hours 11. three _ time you think you have done? three hours 11, three erstwhile. _ time you think you have done? three hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing i hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing it. still not hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing it- still got to _ hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing it. still got to be _ hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing it. still got to be ratified _ hours 11, three erstwhile. smashing it. still got to be ratified by - it. still got to be ratified by guinness but i think you have done

it. briefly, james, who are you running for and why?— running for and why? three charities. — running for and why? three charities, antonelli - running for and why? three charities, antonelli no - running for and why? three i charities, antonelli no known running for and why? three - charities, antonelli no known -- charities, antonelli no known —— anthony— charities, antonelli no known —— anthony nolan, taking out stem cell research _ anthony nolan, taking out stem cell research a — anthony nolan, taking out stem cell research. a shout out to my family, wife and _ research. a shout out to my family, wife and daughter. they will be supportive of stem cell charity. the harlequins — supportive of stem cell charity. the harlequins foundation. and supportive of stem cell charity. the harlequins foundation.— harlequins foundation. and off the record and twickenham. _ harlequins foundation. and off the record and twickenham. send - harlequins foundation. and off the record and twickenham. send our| harlequins foundation. and off the - record and twickenham. send our love and best wishes to your dad who is undergoing that stem cell research. you go, drink your water. stretch out and throw those shoes in the event. you will need a very never need them again. more than 50,000 people passing through the finish line and this was a record for applications for the london marathon, more than half of people —— might have a million people. we

will be here until the roads reopened at about 8:30pm tonight. it is notjust about reopened at about 8:30pm tonight. it is not just about the fastest, it is about everyone here, all raising money for incredible causes. studio: i think i saw our boss. , i think i saw our boss. tim davies came past— i think i saw our boss. tim davies came past in _ i think i saw our boss. tim davies came past in an _ i think i saw our boss. tim davies came past in an impressive - i think i saw our boss. tim davies came past in an impressive time. | came past in an impressive time. looked really busy, like i'm working and yeah he was really, really pleased with his time. he said, for an old man, it was a brilliant time. he must have been around the three hour mark which is impressive. then he challenged me to be temp. thank ou ve he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much- _ he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much- i— he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much. i want _ he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much. i want to _ he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much. i want to bring - he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much. i want to bring you . he challenged me to be temp. thank you very much. i want to bring you a line of breaking news. downing street has said that —— prime minister was appalled by the way police treated a jewish man during a

pro—palestinian protest last week. downing street said that it was right there metropolitan police had apologised but also criticises the force's apology which was made on friday. rishi sunak�*s spokesman saying he was appalled with the way they police had dealt with atjewish man. you can get more on that on the bbc news website. good afternoon. april sunshine has more kick to it, it will be pleasant in their best of that. lovely start to the day in pembrokeshire, albeit a chilly one. the air is cold for the time of year and exceptionally cold for north sea facing calls with a north—easterly wind blowing. that colder air marked in blue is set to stick around as we head through much of the week though it could turn milder and much more unsettled from the south—west by the time he gets

to you next weekend. lots of dry weather around, high—pressure today, on one front bringing occasional rain, mostly leighton patchy. cloud ahead of the french were some sunny spells across east anglia and out through south east england. best of the sunshine for western scotland and particularly northern ireland where temperatures rise for the best of the sunshine to 18 degrees. as we head through this evening and overnight, milderforemost across overnight, milder foremost across the overnight, milderforemost across the north and west. the warm front sinks introducing rain into north wales in north—east england as well and coastal and health hog behind the front forming for clearer skies for south east england and east anglia, maybe a touch of frost for the first thing tomorrow morning. as i warm front introduces mcleod, that cloud will over top the cold start to the day. feeling quite down and very chilly for many i am afraid

through the day on monday, further outbreaks of rain moving into eastern wales and the midlands. some spots may not get past 6 degrees. further north and west, across northern ireland, cloudier and cooler. the best of the sunshine probably across scotland where some spots in the central belt could get a south 16. into tuesday, a cold front sinking south which introduces more of a northerly wind. a cold feeling day for the time of year and best of the sunshine out towards parts of the west. cloudier to southwick facing. feeling chilly by the time of year.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine has welcomed the approval by us lawmakers of billions of dollars of new military aid to help it combat russia's invasion. moscow says it shows that washington is wading deeper into a war that will end in humiliation. at least 18 people — 14 of them, children — are reportedly killed in the latest israeli air strikes on rafah, in southern gaza. gaza's health ministry says more than 34,000 palestinians have been killed inside gaza so far. the prime minister says he is "appalled" by the way police treated a jewish man during a pro—palestinian demonstration in london. a man was steered away

from crossing a protest march because he appeared "openlyjewish". a kenyan runner, peresjepchirchir, breaks the women—only world record at the london marathon in two hours 16 minutes and 16 seconds. the men's race was won by a fellow kenyan, alexander mutiso munyao. we will have a full bulletin of music two, later. now on bbc news, it's the travel show. europe by train. for generations of backpackers, interrailers — and, well, for me — it's what travel�*s all about. and in germany, the railways are booming, partly because of this — it's called the deutschlandticket. it costs me 49 euros a month and it allows me almost unlimited use of the country's regional public transport

network. it was a cost—of—living measure introduced in 2023,