plenty of questions, and here to offer some answers for the next half an hour or so are mike prendergast, leader of the conservative opposition on sefton council ballots have been cast over three days. there has been some vandalism and a number of arrests at polling stations, but the final result is not in doubt as mr putin has no credible opponent. it comes as supporters of the late opposition leader, alexei navalny,have urged people to turn out en masse at midday in each time zone and vote for any candidate other than mr putin or spoil their ballot papers. the rolling protest has been dubbed �*noon against putin'. icame to i came to vote for a man to make sure that our country prosperous and there is no fascism in any country, not in ukraine or any other part of the world. ,, not in ukraine or any other part of the world-— the world. steve rosenberg is in moscow and _ the world. steve rosenberg is in moscow and gave _ the world. steve rosenberg is in moscow and gave his _ assessment this was proposed by russian opposition supporters abroad, in exceland it russian opposition supporters abroad, in excel and it was supported by the most prominent opposition figure alexei navalny just before his death. they are calling people to come out in large numbers and vote for any other candidate other than vladimir putin, orto other candidate other than vladimir putin, or to spoil their ballot. they say that if large numbers of people come out, that will undermine the official results, which is expected to show a vladimir putin landslide. as i say, it's not clear how many people will come out, and in the russian capital, the russian prosecutors office has issued a warning saying that large numbers of people at polling stations at midday will be considered an unauthorised mass public event, and suggesting that will be illegal. it is not clear how that would work and if people have the right to vote today on this third and final day of the presidential election. paul moorcraft is director at centre for foreign policy analysis and author of �*putin�*s wars and nato's flaws: why russia invaded ukraine'. i asked him if putin will use another victory as a reason to push forward with the war against ukraine. this is going to be seen as a great victory by putin, of course, but you should not underestimate the fact that he does have a lot of popular support in russia. i have no personal support for putin. i have experienced first—hand russian military behaviour, and very bad behaviour, but you forget that there is a lot of people on the side of alexei navalny. and a lot of people are in support of the takeover of crimean by putin, which was always seen as essentially russian. he does have a lot of support. i might add that if alexei navalny was alive and kicking, and back in russia, i'm not sure that he wouldn't be defeated by putin. so don't underestimate the nationalist support for vladimir putin in the country, particularly at a time when nato in the russian perspective is seen as at the height of its power, with fenland, sweden joining and this is the mother of all unintended consequences, and many russians genuinely feel they are encircled and putin is defending them in their existential war with them in their existential war with the west. �* ., ., ., ~' the west. and on that, do you think that there will _ the west. and on that, do you think that there will be _ the west. and on that, do you think that there will be another _ the west. and on that, do you think that there will be another round - the west. and on that, do you think that there will be another round of i that there will be another round of mobilisation and an intensification of the war in ukraine? i mobilisation and an intensification of the war in ukraine?— mobilisation and an intensification of the war in ukraine? i think there will be. ithink— of the war in ukraine? i think there will be. i think they _ of the war in ukraine? i think there will be. i think they will _ of the war in ukraine? i think there will be. i think they will continue i will be. i think they will continue to push the mobilisation on the back of this election with people saying that people are supporting him in this military operation, of course it is a war, but he will push, keep pushing. he is gaining ground in their counteroffensive against the ukrainians because the west has got compassion fatigue, they are arguing with each other, so from the perspective of putin, the west at the height of native �*s power, is actually looking very disorganised. he will certainly set out and look for a victory, but meanwhile he will keep pushing. at the moment, britain in its last budget last week didn't even mention defence. i'm not sure that britain with its military weakness can defend the isle of wight even, so from the russian perspective, the west looks as though it is in disarray, although of course it looks much stronger from the western perspective. russia has accused ukraine of trying to disrupt the russian election with drone and missile attacks. russia's defence ministry says that overnight its air defence systems brought down 35 ukrainian drones across eight regions, including moscow. drones also started a fire at an oil refinery in the krasnodar region — and these images are from the belgorod region which the ministry said had come under attack from ukrainian rockets; the governor said a teenage girl died when a shell hit a residential building. traffic has also just resumed over the bridge in occupied crimea — russian authorities had closed it off because of a threat of attack. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford has this analysis on these attacks from the ukrainian capital kyiv. that is the accusation. and certainly there has been an intensification of attacks by russia and ukraine around this election over the three day period. and of course, in the run up to it, i'd say it's pretty much war as usual here, frankly. russia has been launching missiles and drones targeting cities like kharkiv in the north and odesa on the black sea. in the last day or so. and overnight, again, russia is saying that drones from ukraine are being launched at targets there, reaching as far as moscow, we understand, and also krasnodar in the south of the country. the accusation is it's an attempt to to disrupt the election. i think ukraine would argue that it's defending itself against an illegal invasion. and certainly president putin, as he has moved towards this re—election, he wants this vote, i think, to be to give him a mandate to continue with that war. he wants to portray it as a vote of support for the war that he launched and that he wants to continue to prosecute. but i think it's interesting to remember in all of this that the vote is also taking place on occupied territory here in ukraine, the east and south of the country. ukraine says that's utterly illegitimate. and we've been talking to activists and to ukrainian citizens on the ground in those areas who say that they're attempting to disrupt the vote. they say turnout is extremely low. they say russia wants to portray them as supporting vladimir putin and supporting the annexation of those areas. but they say they are quite firmly still pro—ukrainian and they're trying to resist going to the vote, although they're being pressured. there are armed men coming around with ballot boxes and with election officials trying to pressure people into voting in this election. they say that the turnout for moscow is extremely important. they want to show this as a huge vote of support for vladimir putin. activists on the ground are saying it's nothing of the sort. the uk defence secretary, grant shapps, had to abandon a trip to the southern ukrainian city of odesa last week, after he was warned moscow had gained knowledge of his travel plans. the sunday times newspaper said a last minute intelligence assessment deemed the security risk too great. it follows an incident last week when an raf plane mr shapps was travelling in between the uk and poland had its gps signal jammed while flying close to russian territory. here's our political correspondent helen catt with more. well, of course, because this is a security and intelligence incident. we don't have a lot more detail, really, that we're able to share with you. but we do know that, as you mentioned, there was that incident earlier in the week where mr shapps was travelling on a plane and the gps was jammed when he came near to russian territory. he went to ukraine. we know that he arrived in ukraine for a planned trip, but part of that trip was supposed to include a visit to odesa and that was pulled. the ministry of defence has confirmed that — it said that he did not make a planned visit to odesa for security reasons. now the sunday times says that that is because there was intelligence that moscow had learnt about the detail of that, and the paper said that it was already on high alert because just a few hours earlier there had been a near miss in odesa where a russian strike had almost hit president zelensky and the greek prime minister, who was then visiting. so that's what we know about this incident. grant shapps said to the sunday times that president putin had shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless, and he said he hoped that his visit would act as a wake up call to push, persuade and even embarrass the rest of the world into action. health officials in gaza say more than 60 palestinians have been killed in israeli bombardments overnight. the health ministry said 12 members of one family were killed when their house in deir al—balah in the centre of the territory was hit. these images are from the hospital in the aftermath of that attack. meanwhile, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in south korea for a two day democracy summit. america's top diplomatic has been calling for an �*enduring resolution�* to the israel—gaza conflict and on hisjourney to seoul — made a stopover in bahrain — where he discussed ceasefire negotiations with officials there. our state department correspondent has been travelling with antony blinken and sent us this update. we have just landed after a long trip, which stopped in bahrain for refuelling. the secretary of state while we were there for around 1.5 hours had talks with the crown prince, with the foreign minister. a short statement released after that meeting around the continued push for what they are now calling at least a six week ceasefire between israel and hamas in gaza in return for the release of hostages, we know that effort goes on but few signs of a breakthrough at this stage. i imagine that pretty intensive work is going to continue during this brief trip to asia. at the same time, we know that the response by hamas went to the israelis on friday. there war cabinet met, and then today talks resuming, indirect talks, with israel sending a delegation to qatar who have been mediating these discussions along with the egyptians, and these will be the first talks that both hamas and israel have attended indirectly like this, the first talks that both of them have participated in since the start of ramadan. 21 people have been killed when a bus collided with a tank and a motorbike in the southern helmand province in afghanistan. a spokesperson said the accident took place on the main highway between kandahar and another town. 11 injured victims have been taken to hospital. traffic accidents are common in afghanistan, often due to poor road conditions. police in haiti say they are trying to crack down on the gangs which have taken control of most of the capital, port—au—prince. police have killed a number of gang members in an operation to clear parts of the city. the united nations has described the security situation as tense and volatile, and warns that increasing numbers of children in haiti are going hungry as unrest continues. facilities have closed because of the ongoing violence, and haitians are now facing soaring prices for food and other essentials. our central america and carribean correspondent will grant gave us this update on reports that police in haiti have been trying to arrest the leader of the gangs controlling most of the capital. well, it appears there was quite an extensive swat team operation in an area of the capital, and that is where there is known to be one of the strongholds of this gang. they were clearly trying to capture the leader or kill him but they were successful in neither of those are tense. they were a number of casualties in the gangs by all accounts, but if anything it has beget more violence. today there has been more shooting in the capital, and a quite fierce response from the gangs to the operation by the police. this paints a picture of what is going on, really. it is a sort of cat and mouse game going on in the neighbourhoods, with the police who are outnumbered by the gangs at this stage, unless they get serious reinforcements in the coming weeks and months. by all accounts, it is becoming extremely serious in port—au—prince. here where we are, the way it is seen is the fact that there are just so many people arriving from the capital whichever way they can. we sawjust now while we were waiting to come on air and speak to you, a bus coming from port—au—prince. there are very few runny because it is so dangerous. it took extra hours because it had to go out of its way because of the police operation, and the response by the gangs, adding hours onto the journey. it is extremely frightening for those on the bus and travelling this way. but it is less frightening to get here and make thatjourney, thanit to get here and make thatjourney, than it is to remain at home. so we are seeing more than 360,000 internally displaced people, and of course the aid to deal with the humanitarian emergency is simply not coming in at the pace that it should. it is a trickle, if that. let s get some of the day s other news now. the military government in niger has revoked its military accord with the us. it comes a day after a us delegation left the country following a three—day visit. the us had hoped to resume a dialogue eight months after the military ousted niger's elected president in a coup. venezuela's ruling socialist party has confirmed that president nicolas maduro will seek a third consecutive term in elections scheduled forjuly. mr maduro accepted the party's candidacy at a rally in caracas. he has been in power since 2013. victory injuly�*s vote would give him another six year term. record breaking temperatures have hit parts of brazil with sao paulo seeing its hottest march day ever. temperatures in the city topped 3a degrees celsius, which is five degrees above the average for this time of year. it follows on from one of the warmest ever winters in brazil which experts attributed to the el nino phenomenon and climate change. we have pictures coming in usk from russia, that election which is spread over three days and it has been taking place in several time zones as well. we think a roundabout 71 million... i beg your pardon, i cannot find the figure. let's bring in our correspondent who is monitoring this for us. let's speak to our bbc russia correspondent 0lga ivshina. how many people are eligible to vote at the moment? it how many people are eligible to vote at the moment?— how many people are eligible to vote at the moment? it depends on how you count. the trouble _ at the moment? it depends on how you count. the trouble is _ at the moment? it depends on how you count. the trouble is that _ at the moment? it depends on how you count. the trouble is that for _ at the moment? it depends on how you count. the trouble is that for this - count. the trouble is that for this election, russia claims to hold elections through ukraine currently held by russian forces, and they claim the population able to vote there is the same according to the ukraine registry before the war, citing more than 4 million, which is incredibly hard to believe. as we see on the ground, you know in pictures and videos coming from those war—torn areas, a significant amount of people have left those regions, those territories and still russia claims 4 million can vote. they also claim that turnout there is incredibly high. also, specialist note inconsistencies within the regions. for example in one region, it is said that almost all people living there are eligible to vote, which means the majority of kids and elderly have disappeared. these are small inconsistencies which add to the bigger picture and explain why these elections are considered quite unusual by a number of experts around the world. find unusual by a number of experts around the world.— unusual by a number of experts around the world. and there is no real credible _ around the world. and there is no real credible opposition, - around the world. and there is no real credible opposition, is - around the world. and there is no real credible opposition, is there, for vladimir real credible opposition, is there, foeradimir putin? real credible opposition, is there, for vladimir putin?— for vladimir putin? well, the ma'ori for vladimir putin? well, the majority of — for vladimir putin? well, the majority of opposition - for vladimir putin? well, the i majority of opposition activists, the opposition leaders in russia are either injail or had to the opposition leaders in russia are either in jail or had to leave the country, as we know the most well known critic alexei navalny died in prison in february, and if you will people who were trying to run for elections were not allowed to participate. so, yes, all those people on the ballot seem closer to putting and his ideas and actions than those opposition activists who are popular among russian people within the country and abroad. find within the country and abroad. and when ou within the country and abroad. and when you speak to people in russia, what kind of concerns do they have going into this election? weill. what kind of concerns do they have going into this election?— going into this election? well, it is really hard — going into this election? well, it is really hard because _ going into this election? well, it is really hard because since - going into this election? well, it is really hard because since thel is really hard because since the start of the full—scale invasion of ukraine, russia has introduced a number of draconian laws, also with very vague formulations, which means that if you talk too much you can easily end up injail, and we have seen thousands of people in jail already. so people are trying to be very careful with what they say, but definitely one of the questions which worries many russians, it seems, is the war, the invasion which is called a special military operation in russia. as we have seen, those people who are trying to run for the election, as soon as they mention that they are against they mention that they are against the war, they will get hundreds of thousands of supporters all round russia, so it seems this question of war is for the russian authorities to show people are united, and ordinary russians who are cattle to express their views but they are really worried that this war is going on and on. find really worried that this war is going on and on.— really worried that this war is going on and on. really worried that this war is auoin on and on. �* ., ., ., going on and on. and one of the main o- osition going on and on. and one of the main opposition peeple _ going on and on. and one of the main opposition people to _ going on and on. and one of the main opposition people to put _ going on and on. and one of the main opposition people to put in, _ going on and on. and one of the main opposition people to put in, as - going on and on. and one of the main opposition people to put in, as you i opposition people to put in, as you mentioned, alexei navalny, has died in an arctic prison. but his team has tried to get people to demonstrate today by appearing around about midday in the different time zones for a form of protest. from what you can glean, how many people have been doing that? time people have been doing that? once arain, it's people have been doing that? once again. it's really — people have been doing that? once again, it's really hard _ people have been doing that? once again, it's really hard to _ people have been doing that? cite: again, it's really hard to count but we do see that people are appearing. it seems authorities are trying to make it hard to count, so first of all we have got evidence that dozens and dozens of activists in different towns and cities were receiving messages warning them that it would be a criminal offence. authorities have spread the word that if you come at noon to vote, it can be considered a criminal offence once again. and also in many places they were assigning different holidays, mass events at that time, different celebrations, trying to make it impossible to count who turned up for what. impossible to count who turned up forwhat. but impossible to count who turned up for what. but to be see that thousands of people all over russia, and in russian embassy missions abroad, are appearing to follow the opposition teams. and at least some people are following this. thank opposition teams. and at least some people are following this.— people are following this. thank you for our people are following this. thank you foryourtime- _ let's take you live to iceland now where a state of emergency has been declared after another volcanic eruption on the reykjanes peninsula — the fourth since december. among those being asked to leave the area are residents of the town of grindavik, which has been badly affected by the continuing flare—ups. iceland's airspace remains open, but the nearby blue lagoon, one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, has been evacuated. this is now the seventh eruption since 2021, and scientists believe the area is entering a new volcanic era that could last for decades — or even centuries. dr pedersen is the head of the nordic volcanological center at the university of iceland. she gave me this assesment on the latest eruption. of the four that we have seen in this particular volcanic system, this particular volcanic system, this is the most powerful so far. and the fourth eruption since december. how significant is it to have a run of eruptions like this? well, this is a typical pattern of these rifting volcanic systems, so it initiatives with an intrusion which is magma moving beneath the surface into a fracture. the one formed on november the 10th was 15 kilometres long, and white enough up to several metres. following that, we will have repeated injections of magma into the same fissure system, and eventually it starts spilling out on the surface, and that is what we are now seeing. so in the future we are now seeing. so in the future we will also expect to have further eruptions, and likely bigger eruptions. eruptions, and likely bigger eruptions-_ eruptions, and likely bigger erutions. ~ , eruptions. when you say likely bi aer eruptions. when you say likely bigger eruptions, _ eruptions. when you say likely bigger eruptions, is _ eruptions. when you say likely bigger eruptions, is it - eruptions. when you say likely bigger eruptions, is it possible eruptions. when you say likely i bigger eruptions, is it possible to predict the scale of them and how much damage, or how much they will affect people there? he. much damage, or how much they will affect people there?— affect people there? no. it is not ossible affect people there? no. it is not possible to _ affect people there? no. it is not possible to predict. _ affect people there? no. it is not possible to predict. of— affect people there? no. it is not possible to predict. of course, i affect people there? no. it is not| possible to predict. of course, we can look at what has happened in the past and compare it to what was seen, for instance in the past eruptive episode in that particular volcanic system, and we see some of the lava fields that were erupting in that episode were quite substantial, larger than what we are seeing now. substantial, larger than what we are seeing "ow-— substantial, larger than what we are seeing nova— seeing now. give us an idea, so 33 volcanic systems _ seeing now. give us an idea, so 33 volcanic systems active _ seeing now. give us an idea, so 33 volcanic systems active in - seeing now. give us an idea, so 33 volcanic systems active in the - seeing now. give us an idea, so 33| volcanic systems active in the area. in all of iceland.— in all of iceland. give us an idea of why that _ in all of iceland. give us an idea of why that is — in all of iceland. give us an idea of why that is and _ in all of iceland. give us an idea of why that is and how - in all of iceland. give us an idea of why that is and how often - in all of iceland. give us an ideal of why that is and how often they erupt. of why that is and how often they eru t. . ., of why that is and how often they eru t, . ., of why that is and how often they erut. . . ., , , erupt. so, iceland really is situated — erupt. so, iceland really is situated on _ erupt. so, iceland really is situated on a _ erupt. so, iceland really is situated on a boundary - erupt. so, iceland really is. situated on a boundary where erupt. so, iceland really is- situated on a boundary where plates are spreading apart, and also we have mantle plume in the area that lift the entire bottom of the sea below the seat surface, and that is why we have this dual production of magma, both from the mantle hotspot and from the plate spreading, so that's why iceland is such a volcanic region, and we have on average eruptions every fourth year. this is out of the ordinary that we have repeated eruptions every month. people say this is a new volcanic era, do you agree? it people say this is a new volcanic era, do you agree?— people say this is a new volcanic era, do you agree? it seems like this in peninsular, _ era, do you agree? it seems like this in peninsular, which - era, do you agree? it seems like this in peninsular, which has - era, do you agree? it seems like l this in peninsular, which has these long periods of dormancy and then erupted periods, have entered from more than 800 years of dormancy and into a new eruptive era from the 2021 eruption. find into a new eruptive era from the 2021 eruption.— into a new eruptive era from the 2021 eru tion. �* . ., 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airort 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is _ 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is not _ 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is not close, _ 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is not close, but - 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is not close, but do - 2021 eruption. and at the moment, the airport is not close, but do you| the airport is not close, but do you expect to there will be further measures to protect people? well, as lona as we measures to protect people? well, as long as we do — measures to protect people? well, as long as we do not _ measures to protect people? well, as long as we do not have _ measures to protect people? well, as long as we do not have significant - long as we do not have significant ash production, there is no need to close the airport. ash production is only relevant within the volcanic system if the magma comes into contact with large amounts of water, so if in the future we had an eruption initiating in the sea, then that would be a possibility that it would affect the nearby airport. but at this point, there is no risk to the airport. d0 at this point, there is no risk to the airport-— at this point, there is no risk to the airport. at this point, there is no risk to the airort. , , , ., the airport. do stay with us here on bbc news- — hello. a wet morning for many, so concerns of localised flooding, and that will be an issue through the week, as i will show you in the next minute, ortwo. but what a contrast between yesterday morning when we started with a widespread frost and some sunshine. today, temperatures have been much higher because of rain has moved in this massive cloud here as well shrouding the hills and the headlands in fog has given a very murky start to the day, but it is starting to clear in western areas. and so for the next few hours, central and eastern areas got some heavy rain and hail, fog, the combination making some really quite miserable conditions on the roads, lots of spray and standing water because there is nowhere for that rain to go. there are ground flood warnings out at the moment, but as we get towards lunchtime, we should see the back edge of that rain clearing into the north sea. brighter skies follow. there'll be a legacy of mist and fog around the hills and coasts, particularly in the west, but also east and scotland. but in between, just a few sharp showers and temperatures rising higher than they did yesterday, 16 or 17 in that stronger spring sunshine now. but that could trigger some heavy showers and the odd rumble of thunder. the showers will continue through this evening and overnight, always heaviest in the north and the west, tending to ease off a little bit further eastwards. but there's probablyjust enough cloud to keep things relatively mild again overnight. not as mild as the nightjust gone, but 5 to 7 degrees celsius and perhaps a little bit of mist and fog. but actually, monday looks like for many of us there'll be a drier window of weather, just a few showers. yes, rain returns with stronger winds for northern ireland later. but in between, there'll be a good deal of dry and bright weather, some strong spring sunshine coming through those uv levels starting to get into the moderate category, 1a to 16 in that sunshine. but then monday night brings us more rain. as you saw for northern ireland through the afternoon and evening, pushing across the rest of the uk and a weakening band as it reach the southern eastern areas. but there's another pulse developing on it as we go through tuesday and into wednesday. so that is a concern. we could see another dose of rain. this is today's rain. this is the rainfall totals as we go through the week and not that much for scotland and northern ireland today, but certainly so late tomorrow, overnight, monday into tuesday and another pulse on wednesday. so a good 30 to a0 millimetres in many western areas. but even in the east, 10 to 15 millimetres on to saturated ground because it is an unsettled looking picture. keep up to date as ever on the website with the warnings. this is bbc news. the headlines... large queues have suddenly formed at some polling stations in russia, in an apparent show of dissent during elections in which vladimir putin is the only serious candidate. supporters of the late opposition leader, alexei navalny, had called on people to turn out at noon in moscow and other cities and vote for any candidate other than mr putin or spoil their ballots. police in haiti say they are trying to crack down on the gangs which have taken control of most of the capital, port—au—prince. police have killed a number of gang members in an operation to clear parts of the city. moscow says ukrainian drones and missiles have been shot down across eight regions, but one hit an oil refinery and started a fire. moscow has meanwhile targeted 0desa and kharkiv. and southwestern iceland is under a state of emergency after the fourth volcanic eruption in as many months. the village of grindavik has been evacuated, only a month after residents were allowed to return. you are watching bbc news. you may not of heard of frank hester before this week. but it's been hard to avoid his name over the past few days after he was accused of saying that veteran mp diane abbott made him "want to hate all black women" and should "be shot". he later apologised for what he called rude comments.