For Vladimir Putin, six more years in the kremlin. Russias president is sounding more confident than ever. Translation whoever might want to intimidate us, whoever might want to suppress us, ourwilland our conscience, they have never been able to do it, and never will. Then, mr putins first Public Comments on the death ofjailed Opposition LeaderAlexei Navalny. Translation you may be surprised, but a few days i before mr navalny died, some colleagues of mine told me there was an idea to exchange him for certain people in prison in the west. You can believe it or not. I said, i agree, even before he had finished talking. But what happened, happened. Election results on russian tv, not a hold your breath moment. The winner, by a mile and a half, Vladimir Putin. What an incredible level of support and unity around the figure of putin, he says. And a powerful signal to the west. But in this race, Vladimir Putin was, from the start, unbeatable. There were other candidates. But no serious challenger. Potential rivals here are swiftly removed from the political stage, forced into exile or put injail. And elections, tightly controlled by the kremlin. But if they couldnt win, mr putins opponents could at least protest. And they did, in many parts of russia. Opposition figures had called on russians to flood Polling Stations at midday, to vote against putin, or spoil their ballots, a symbolic protest against the system. We were here. Ive never seen queues like this before at a russian polling station. Before his death in prison, Alexei Navalny had backed the protests. It took courage to come. The authorities had warned that large crowds at noon would be viewed as illegal gatherings. Ivan, not his real name, told me why he had come. It was important for me to see the faces of other people who would come here today, and to see that im not alone in my political views. And that there are a lot of muscovites and other people who believe that russia can be another country, with another future. For now, therell be no change in the kremlin. This election was never about would Vladimir Putin win or wouldnt he . Elections here are designed to ensure he wins, and wins big. From the outset, for the kremlin, this vote was about creating the impression that mr putin has a mandate from his people, not only for war in ukraine, but also for what hes doing at home, transforming russia into an increasingly militaristic society, in confrontation with the west. But across town, muscovites continue to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny, the man who had wanted to be russias president. Here, a ballot paper. In place of putins name, navalny� s. And this message hes the candidate we wanted. Steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. Alexei navalny� s widow, yulia, led the calls for the Election Day Protests against Vladimir Putin. And she took part in demonstrations in berlin on sunday, saying she cast a ballot with her late husbands name written in. And here in washington, An Anti Putin Protest formed on sunday among voters and demonstrators to condemn putins war in ukraine, and the death of Alexei Navalny. The bbc� s will vernon was there. It was a large crowd outside the Russian Embassy today, several hundred people queueing up to cast their votes in the election that as we know is not a genuine election, and most of the people there were also taking part in a protest event. Alexei navalny, the late Opposition Leader, and his supporters had called on russians all across russia and Around The World to attend Polling Stations at midday sharp to register any kind of protest vote they liked against Vladimir Putin, and there were, you know, bearing in mind that this part of the United States there arent huge numbers of russians living here, there were quite a lot of people, and they were holding flags and banners, placards, many of them dressed in the colours of the ukrainian flag or the blue and white of the russian anti war movement, and one of Alexei Navalny� s closest aides was also there. I had a word with her, she said that Alexei Navalny would have been delighted to see the turnout today and she said that although this election, so called election, the outcome is predetermined, she says it is nonetheless important for people to come out and show their solidarity. For more on putins election victory, i spoke a little earlier with maria snegovaya, senior fellow for russia and eurasia at the center for strategic and international studies. I want to ask you about these results first, not being called a Fair Election but a big victory nonetheless Vladimir Putin how he will leverage this victory . Do you think he will claim that he won nearly 90 of the vote in this election . It is pretty horrifying, not because of the numbers. It will probably another record of new Electoral Fraud and manipulation, but this number is more reflective of how much the president , the leader, is willing and dares to draw, what number is he willing to give himself . And the fact that he has given himself 87 , almost 90 , shows he feels complete completely unrestrained. He has given himself a mandate to do whatever he wishes, whatever he pleases, and in light of this and the war on the russian Opposition LeaderAlexei Navalny, all of that of course really paints a really dark picture of what is to come next. There were no real Opposition Figures in this election but there were protests, we did see those images of people lining up around noon, this was an organised protest, what did you make of it, how surprised where you to see this, given the risks the people face . Well, the risks are horrible and of course all of those people deserve admiration and commendation but lets remember what they are reacting against, the horrible murder of Alexei Navalny, who was kept as a prisoner for the last three years and eventually was murdered by the kremlin. Whether directly or indirectly, it is clear it is a political murder. While it is great that these people are showing up in numbers, those numbers are Tens Of Thousands of russians, they still represent a minority. And second, despite the fact that they are showing up, it has not been constraining putin. In fact, over the last year, putin has been increasingly more and more unhinged and i think what is coming next after this election is even more political terror against his political opponents, domestically, and perhaps also externally, as well as another round offensive against ukraine, possibly another mobilisation of people to fight this war. So we should not be unfortunately, you know, distracted by the numbers in the russian streets because we know that they are not constraining putin, as a matter of fact, he is more unhinged and dangerous. There was an interesting moment after the Election Results were announced, when for the first time in many years, Vladimir Putin mentioned Alexei Navalny by name, he almost made it a point not to say his name, what did you make of that moment today . Thats a great point, it is actually a kgb style not to mention people of political influence by name, not to assist them, so in that sense putin has certainly followed his training, just to remind you he has a kgb background. At this point, he doesnt feel navalny represents a political threat any more and so he feels free to mention him by name because that is not the case as before. Putin has now been in power 2a years longer than anyone in russia since stalin. Maria snegovaya, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. After weeks of deadly violence in haiti, police say several gang members have been killed in an operation to clear roadblocks and seize weapons in the capital port au prince. The United Nations estimates 350 thousand people have been displaced by the unrest. Our Central America correspondent will grant is one of the First International journalists to gain access to the country, and reports from cap haitien where many people have been heading for relative safety. Cap haitien suffers from almost all of haitis deepest problems grinding poverty, chaos, disorder and corruption. But, crucially, not gang violence. So its becoming the main safe haven for people forced to leave the gang controlled capital, port au prince. Another bus load arrives, having run the gauntlet of a dangerous journey. It took us hours longer than it should, as we had to reroute around the gang checkpoints and there was gunfire, says this passenger, who was clearly shaken. Phanel pierre made the same journey six months ago. Its almost impossible to pull yourself from poverty in haiti. Phanel managed it. But becoming a middle class businessman made him a target. The gangs destroyed his business, ransacked his house and tried to kidnap him, and in the process plunged him and his family back into poverty. Translation this is just| 296 of the life i used to live. Infact, im not living. Im just existing. The longer the power vacuum in haiti continues, the worse the humanitarian emergency here becomes. In turn, more and more displaced people will flock to the city of cap haitien In Search Of Refuge from the violent gangs that have such a tight grip on the capital. One of haitis main gangs has released a slickly produced video, currently circulating online. It shows a well armed militia, a group prepared to take on the haitian state and any International Force which might be deployed here. While the Security Situation is that of a failed state, so are the politics. We have violence in haiti. Uri latortue was the head of the senate and is currently under us sanctions for alleged links to Drug Trafficking and gangs. Thats something he denies, and points the finger of blame at his opponents instead. The Government Works with the gangs, and this is the problem. The gangs become another institution of the state. And in this situation, police cant do anything. Amid the worsening crisis, the Us State Department has laid on a charterflight for americans to leave for florida. Several dozen took up the opportunity to flee. However, thats a luxury most haitians arent afforded and must seek a safer place inside haiti instead. Will grant, bbc news, cap haitien, haiti. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. A senior Cabinet Minister has denied the Conservative Party has a problem with race after it accepted at least £10 million from a donor who is accused of racism. Transport secretary mark harper told the bbc he was in the most ethnically diverse cabinet there has ever been. Tory donor frank hester apologised after reportedly saying ex labour mp diane abbott made him want to, quote, hate all black women. Princess dianas brother earl spencer said he needed residential treatment to deal with trauma after writing his recently released memoir. In the book, he talks about the violent abuse he suffered when he was sent to Boarding School at the age of eight. Speaking to the bbc� s laura kuenssberg, he said his research for the book led to a breakdown. Work on the m25 in surrey is on schedule for completion before rush hour begins injust a few hours time. The unprecedented Daytime Closure of one of the countrys busiest stretches came into force on friday night, with the motorway due to reopen fully at 6am monday morning. Youre live with bbc news. The Israeli Military says its launched what it calls a precise operation in parts of Al Shifa Hospital in gaza city. Israeli tanks are reportedly surrounding the hospital, and heavy gunfire has been heard. Israeli Defence Forces rear admiral Daniel Hagari announced the operation in a video posted on social media, and said our war is against hamas, not against the people of gaza. Hamas said israel was again violating international law. Meanwhile, israels Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said that Palestinian Civilians will be given the chance to leave rafah before Israeli Ground forces launch an expected assault on the city in southern gaza. Rafah is crammed with some 1. 4 million palestinians, many from other parts of gaza, seeking refuge. Israel has proposed setting up � humanitarian islands for gazans to move to. But aid groups say the plan is practically impossible. Despite growing International Pressure, mr netanyahu doubled down on his position to forge ahead saying, no International Pressure will stop israel from achieving all of its war aims. He spoke alongside german chancellor, olaf scholz who is in the middle east and has re stated his opposition an Israeli Offensive on rafah, along with other world leaders. Our correspondent mark lowen has more, from jerusalem. Well, germanys chancellor, olaf scholz, is keeping the pressure up on Benjamin Netanyahu over more humanitarian aid getting into gaza, but also over israels plans to send its military into rafah in southern gaza, where about 1. 4 million gazans are sheltering, more than the more than half of the entire population of the gaza strip. Israel seems determined to push into rafah, the Prime Minister saying earlier in the day that israel is determined to push on to total victory, as he says it, which means an operation in rafah to crush hamas and get the israeli hostages back. But that has met with international criticism, not least from the us. President biden said a week ago that that would cross a red line as far as his administration is concerned. And a couple of days ago, the Senate Majority leader in the us, in effect, called for Benjamin Netanyahus replacement, calling him an obstacle to peace. But in vintage netanyahu style, he is pushing back. Hes digging in. Hes facing more criticism both at home and abroad. But he is sounding defiant, saying israel will push on, it will achieve these twin aims of Destroying Hamas and getting the hostages back. And he lambasted his International Critics for, in his words, losing their moral conscience and forgetting about the hamas attack of 7th october. The question is, if the Israeli Military does go into rafah, what would they do with those sheltering there . They would have to find a safe place for them to be. They would have to provide them with food and water. It would take time. It would take manpower. At the moment, the us says they have not received a detailed plan from israel over the operation in rafah. So there are still big, Big Questions over the logistics and timing of that operation if indeed it does happen at all. Here in the us, President Joe Biden held a Shamrock Ceremony on sunday to mark st patricks day at the white house. The president spoke about the wars in ukraine and gaza, calling for an end to russian aggression and for peace in gaza. Irelands Prime Minister or taoiseach, leo varadkar, was also in attendance and echoed similar sentiments when speaking of the worsening humanitarian situation in gaza. And the taoiseach and i agree about the urgent increased humanitarian aid in gaza and the need to get a Ceasefire Deal and bring the hostages home and move towards a two State Solution which is the only path for lasting peace and security. The people of gaza desperately need food, medicine, and shelter, and most especially they need the bombs to stop. This has to stop on both sides, the hostages brought home and humanitarian relief brought in. For more on the humanitarian situation in gaza, i spoke to adam ramadan. Hes the Deputy Director of Rebuilding Alliance, an organisation working to give aid to palestinians in war torn neighbourhoods. Thank you forjoining us, i know many of your colleagues have been working in gaza, how would you describe the situation in the territory right now . Situation in the terr