steve rosenberg, has been to the scene of the attack. and a warning — you may find some of the details in his report upsetting. it was hard to believe that only yesterday this was a concert hall. in what was left of crocus city, the full horror of what had happened became clear. the attackers had torched the building. a rock concert became an inferno. shooting. but first, the gunmen had opened fire. to kill as many of the audience as possible. in one constant stream of bullets. russia says the four gunmen who did this have been arrested, and claims they planned to cross into ukraine. kyiv denies any connection to the attack. it's islamic state that's claimed responsibility. president putin promised vengeance. translation: all the perpetrators and organisers of this crime and those who ordered it will be justly and inevitably punished. whoever they are, whoever is guiding them, those terrorists, murderers, monsters face the same unenviable fate — retribution and oblivion. in moscow, there were long queues to donate blood for the many who'd been wounded in the attack and rushed to hospital. outside crocus city hall, a hint of the devastation inside. the first thing you notice here isn't the sight of the building — it's the smell. the air is thick with smoke because the concert hall was burning all night. and the next thing you notice is what's happening over there — people are bringing flowers, creating a makeshift shrine to the dead. margarita knows she's lucky. she was in the building when the shooting began and got out alive. translation: when i got home, i hugged my children, fell to my knees and said, "i can't begin to describe what happened there. they were shooting at us." i was hysterical. my husband could barely watch. the children were terrified. theyjust hugged me. but so many died here. there were so many victims of the deadliest attack in russia in 20 years. president putin has declared a national day of mourning. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. so what do we know about those who may have launched the attack? here's our security correspondent gordon corera. chaos and confusion as gunmen begin shooting inside the concert hall at crocus city. this footage verified by the bbc shows the gunmen in the foyer. but who are they? isis, the group calling itself islamic state, today issued a statement said its men, seen here, were responsible. that is not something we can independently confirm and the issue of who was responsible is deeply contentious. more than two weeks ago, the us issued this warning to its citizens in moscow saying, what it called extremists, thought to mean isis, might target large gatherings, including concerts. it included the intelligence directly to moscow. three days before the statement a kremlin statement was issued in which vladimir putin dismissed that warning describing it as provocative and an attempt to destabilise russia. the russian security services say they stopped this car and that the four men involved in the attack have been arrested. but rather than say anything about isis, the kremlin suggested they were heading away from the scene and towards ukraine. that might be an attempt to deflect the blame there and away from moscow. one of russia's tv channels broadcast this last night. a fake video of a top ukrainian security official suggesting ukraine was involved. bbc verify established two different videos we used to put together this, with the words probably generated by artificial intelligence. after any attack there are always questions say about whether it could have been stopped, but in this case those questions look especially difficult for moscow. gordon corera, bbc news. a short while ago i spoke to colin clarke, director of research at the soufan group and author of the book �*after the caliphate: the islamic state and the future of the terrorist diaspora.�* i want to ask about the claims of responsibility here and how credible does that seem to you that the group could have been behind the attack? i think there's no doubt the islamic state rarely, if ever, issues false claims of responsibility. all the pieces fit here. in fact, i wrote an article for foreign policy last may, may 2023, which was called the islamic state's new target — russia. isis makes no bones about wanting to target the russians for what they see as vladimir putin's role in spilling muslim blood in various conflicts from chechnya to syria. i know you have also been studying islamic state terror groups extensively, you probably have been looking at a lot of this footage that's been coming out on social media. what stood out for you so far from what we have seen of the footage of the actual attack? these were trained militants. if i had to guess likely trained, you know, in afghanistan. but if you look at the way that they shoot, the way they move, the spacing between them, you know, tactics, techniques and procedures, have all the hallmarks of a classic islamic state attack. and so that combined with the claim of responsibility. and let's not take for granted the us warning here. the us doesn't make these, you know, claims lightly, right. these were the warnings for the russians to be on guard. the russians either dismissed it or weren't able to disrupt the plot before it was able to take place. is has several of these different global branches, doesn't it? what do we know about which branch might have done this? some us sources pointing to isis—k? yeah, the islamic state khorasan province in afghanistan, but also with probably some logistical support from local militants. there�*s a number ofjihadis from the caucasus�* who used to be an isis caucasus branch which was quite robust. there are a large number of radicalised central asian extremists in russia living there. there�*s some information that some of these individuals may have been in turkey and so, look, this is a global network. the group has suffered significant losses over the past several years. very much still a threat. yeah, i wanted to ask you about that because a lot of the world�*s attention obviously has been on the situation in gaza, the conflict in ukraine, is it possible potentially that the world has — has its eye elsewhere and that a group like islamic state might try to take advantage of that? without question. this is a group that�*s incredibly patient. they�*re opportunistic and i think, you know, if you look at the russian security services their band width is stretched, overstretched with the war in ukraine. you know, my concern is that western intelligence services that are focused — not only on ukraine but also on gaza have taken their eye off the islamic state. it�*s something i have been writing about and speaking about for the past couple of months saying, you know, we�*re kind of reaching a crisis point here where in the united states in particular we have pivoted away from counter terrorism towards this concept of great power competition with china and russia and when you talk to folks in the intelligence community, the cupboard is bare. all the analysts that covered is have been shifted elsewhere and that�*s a major concern. i don�*t want to be alarmist and obviously we�*re still waiting for more information, we want to verify these claims by the islamic state group, but if this was, indeed, isis—k, what�*s the potential for future attacks not only within russia, but potentially elsewhere? yeah, it�*s good to be sober about this, right, and not to be alarmist. but, you know, there�*s been a steady drum beat and uptick in disruptive plots. that gives you a sense of intent. we have now seen capabilities. in fact, on tuesday, earlier this week, i actually tweeted out isis—k is knocking on the doorstep or knocking on the door in europe, i�*m very concerned about a potential attack. three days later this attack happens. why did i say that? us warning, a failed plot against the synagogue in moscow, another disrupted plot in germany that was targeting sweden, so we have seen a kind of steady, again, you know, kind of operational template from this group and it was only a matter of time until they launched a successful attack. this one was highly lethal. you believe russia could have ignored this attack. what does a domestic attack potentially a terror attack on russian soil mean for president vladimir putin? well, makes him look weak, and vulnerable although putin has already tried to to ukraine. he�*ll use this to his advantage to try to recruit and potentially con script, you know, new manpower for the war in ukraine most likely. interesting stuff. thank you very much for your thoughts. thank you. united nations head antonio guterres visited the rafah crossing on saturday renewing a call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. it came as the hamas run health ministry in gaza said 19 people waiting for aid were killed by israeli forces. israel has denied firing on the crowd. mr guterres described the ongoing loss of life in gaza as a �*moral outrage�*. the un estimates 1.1 million people in gaza are struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. mr guterres called on israel to give "total, unfettered" access to humanitarian goods throughout the territory. it�*s time to truly flood gaza with life—saving aid. the choice is clear — either surge or starvation. let�*s choose the side of help, the side of hope, and the right side of history. us secretary of state antony blinken urged prime minister benjamin netanyahu not to launch an assault on rafah during a visit on friday. to get more on what negotiations may look like, i spoke to former us ambassador to pakistan, lebanon, and jordan the wilson center�*s david hale. i want to start with what we saw there with the un secretary general on the egypt side of this rafah crossing. again calling for an immediate ceasefire. are there any signs, you think, that that could be on the cards any time soon? well, obviously, carl, there have been intense negotiations going on. the qataris have been a key player... reached a deal obviously the intention here is to have a ceasefire in exchange of hostage releases and see if that can be built into a longer—term cessation you also saw friday, the un security councilfailed to pass the resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza linked to a release of hostages. russia and china used their vetoes. this almost seemed like a reversal of roles, didn�*t it? because we have seen the us vetoing similar proposals. what did you make of that scene there at the un on friday? to be perfectly honest, i worked in the security council myself and i don�*t want to diminish the importance of actions in the security council, but often they really don�*t have much bearing on the situation on the ground. more about manoeuvring and public relations than they are about actually contributing to real—life improvements for the people who are suffering from this war. so i think the important thing really is to focus on our own efforts, bilaterally and with our like—minded countries to try to bring hamas and israel to a point where they both find an interest in having a ceasefire and then the un can come in and ratify that. let�*s talk about those efforts. the us secretary of state antony blinken making his sixth visit to the region since this war broke out. he�*s been meeting with arab leaders, israeli leaders, is there anything more he can do? it does seem to feel as if the us�*s influence over any kind of ceasefire is waning here? if you look at the history of israel�*s responses to the kinds of attacks that the occurred on october 7, 2006 with hezbollah and south lebanon, 19805 with beirut, typically american presidents don�*t israelis how to conduct the war. our role is really telling them how to conduct the peace. once they reached a point where there�*s no longer a military goal that can be attained we need to help guide them into a diplomatic and political process that makes sense and that can stabilise and improve the situation. so i hope that soon we�*re able to do that. i don�*t detect any way at this point a realistic game plain plan for the day after on the part of either israel or the united states at this stage. was interesting to see as well because we know there was some sort of discussion at least from mr blinken in terms of a postwar plan or going forwards, some sort of peace plan. he�*s pushing for two—state solution. he�*s pushing for the palestinian authority to govern gaza. do you think those plans are something that israel might agree to? i don�*t believe so. these go back to g7 meeting where the secretary of state outlined seven or eight principles among those were included. you know, it�*s a new reality today of unfortunately that struck the middle east and old solutions may not be the ones that are able to tackle the new realities. so while we may all dream and want a two—state solution, we all may dream and want moderates to be in charge of gaza, we�*re a long way from getting to that point and particularly the psychological climate among those palestinians and israelis after all the violence is going to be a very, very tall — tall to climb over. we know that mr blinken was in cairo, he was meeting with several other leaders in the region. he did not meet, of course, with iran, but iran does have a role to play here, doesn�*t it, not only in the conflict or any sort of peace process or ceasefire going forward. a very important point to bear in mind is that iran is a major player here. major protagonist. while we have to have to address the real needs of israelis an but we have to israelis are trying to block us from achieving those goals. if you look at who is the biggest opponent of a two—state solution, who is the biggest advocate for violence, it is iran. so we have to have a strategy that also takes into account the iranian problem and puts pressure on them so they�*re not able to be spoilers. briefly we have about a minute left, but we have seen increasing pressure now on the biden administration, a group of democratic senators, we saw more than 70 former officials essentially calling to restrict military assistance to israel. if humanitarian aid does not begin to really flow into gaza, do you think the restrictions on aid to israel could be something that the us or the biden administration might begin to consider? well, that�*s really a domestic political calculation, but i would hesitate to advocate for it because i don�*t believe that it one helpful in getting the israelis to act in a responsible way. the more they feel isolated and in threat, the more likely they are to continue to take strong extreme actions exactly what we don�*t want them to do. they need to know that the united states has them behind their back but also have good advice for them to move from a military phase to a political phase. interesting stuff. david hale, globalfellow with the wilson centre, former us ambassador to pakistan, lebanon and jordan. kensington palace says it�*s confident the catherine, princess of wales will make a full recovery after she announced she�*s being treated for cancer. on saturday it issued a statement, saying quote: �*the prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the uk, across the commonwealth and around the world in response to her royal highness�* message. �*they are extremely moved by the public�*s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.�* in a video released friday, catherine said the diagnosis came as a "huge shock," and that she�*s in the early stages of chemotherapy. health leaders praised herfor being brave and speaking out about her diagnosis. in revealing her diagnosis, her royal highness made sure to speak more widely — to all people suffering with cancer. her message: don�*t give up hope. but how to do that when facing such a daunting diagnosis? for more, i spoke to dr william dahut, chief scientific officer of the american cancer society. thank you forjoining us. catherine is certainly not alone when it comes to a cancer diagnosis. so many people have been affected, so many people know a friend or loved one who may have cancer. what are some ways that we can support them? it is very difficult for the individual who has a cancer diagnosis even beyond the cancer treatment. i think the discussion with loved ones and family members or friends is also really difficult so i think one needs to be thoughtful about that because you have a cancer diagnosis and are petrified about what could be a life—threatening event and then you need to share this with people who you love and who you will immediately upset. in some ways you have changed your role and in some ways you have become the physician who is telling somebody about cancer only it is your cancer. so you can see how hard it can be for people. so that is why it is really important to be particularly supportive of the cancer patient is a explain information about their cancer and not ask too many questions. allow for privacy. people always say what can i do? and patients almost always say i�*m fine. and so one piece of advice that we have and this is on our website is to not simply say what can i do but to say what you are going to do. what kind of pizza do you like? and then bring home a pepperoni pizza on tuesday night. and work with the caregiver who was helping the cancer patient who is incredibly affected, working through that person, oftentimes you can find where you are needed. picking up a child from soccer or something. i think giving concrete things for the caregiver, being thoughtful about communication of the diagnosis, ensuring you allow for privacy are thoughtful ways to be helpful and probably the most effective. one of the things from the video message from catherine that resonated with a lot of people is she said she needed to take the time to explain the situation to her young children and to reassure them that she was going to be ok. how can families talk about cancer with young children? that seems to be a difficult conversation to have. when you think about simply as a spoke about earlier, trying to tell somebody, your sister or your mother, telling your young child is particularly difficult. upsetting for parents to upset their child who they are trying to protect. so a couple of things. number one, children are actually much more perceptive than when they imagine and they often know that something is going on. so i think it is important to be as honest as possible. you need to let folks know and your kids know it is a serious illness and let them know that there is a plan for what is going on so you understand things. kids often blame themselves so you need to reassure them that it is not their fault because they didn�*t do homework or because they yelled at the younger brother or sister. that is not the reason why. and then you need to titrate the explanation based on the individual child. some kids can actually understand and want to know more about the details and others really do not want to know anything at all. that is age or gender—based but often timesjust to individualise intervention it you give. to individualise information you give. let kids have time to process it. be honest and let them know it is serious. do not overwhelm them and make sure they know it is not their fault. and ijust want to come back to one other thing that catherine said in this video message. she said to others with cancer do not lose faith or hope, you are not alone. what effect do you think the princess speaking out so publicly about cancer might do overall for awareness about cancer around the world? i think it is incredibly powerful and incredibly meaningful. i think it was great that someone could see a young vibrant woman with a cancer diagnosis who looks healthy, which is great. some cancer patients are going to look in a situation where you can see the impact of the cancer and others look like someone walking down the street. so the fact that people could see that there is someone out there who may look like them who could have a cancer diagnosis and who is doing what she is doing that is best for her family and that�*s what doctors are saying in order to have a great outcome to fight this, i think that is really powerful and hopefully that will take away some of the fear about screening and early detection and something that we know and actually lead to a better outcome. there is also a tremendous fear of having the diagnosis. seeing someone like her get up and so we can do this together i think they can have a powerful impact. thank you very much for your time. and for shedding light on a subject that is not always easy to discuss. and before we go, let�*s turn to some important news around the world. results in slovakia�*s presidential election show pro—eu former foreign minister ivan korcok will face former prime minister peter pellegrini in a run—off. pellegrini is a close ally of the country�*s current populist prime minister. though thejob is mostly ceremonial, it offers a platform to speak out on divisive issues in the country, including the level of slovakia�*s support for ukraine and reforms to itsjudicial system. in just a few hours polls will open in senegal�*s presidential election. the vote is finally going ahead after weeks of unrest over a controversial decision by outgoing president macky sall to delay the vote. the election was originally scheduled to take place in february. senegal�*s long democratic tradition is being put to the test as one of the few countries in the sahel region that has never seen a coup. it follows calls from the african region to get today�*s date agreed. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. well, it�*s certainly been a lively start to the weekend weatherwise. loads of showers around on saturday, some of them with hail and thunder, some of them with mammatus clouds — always a sign of a good storm. now, the showers that went through south parts of greater london, around kent, they really dumped the temperatures. look at that — ten degrees at midday, just two degrees celsius a couple of hours later in the afternoon. that would have felt really cold, especially with those gusty winds. now, over the next few hours, many of the showers will tend to become confined to more northeastern areas of the uk should become drier over the next few hours in the west. temperatures as we head into the first part of sunday morning, quite chilly around 3 to six degrees celsius. now, sunday will continue to be dominated weatherwise by this area of low pressure — it�*s the same one that we had on saturday, but it�*s starting to pull away into the near continent, but still influencing our weather. certainly there�*ll be lots of showers across northern areas of scotland and a few affecting the east coast of scotland running down east and coastal counties of england as well. some of the showers for these areas will continue to be quite heavy with some hail, whereas across western areas of the uk many areas should have a dry day with some bright or sunny spells. temperatures for most about 10 to 12 degrees — that�*s average for the time of year. northern scotland, about six to eight. that�*s a little on the cool side. then into monday, we get another area of low pressure forming and moving in off the atlantic. this is going to be bringing further outbreaks of rain on monday to northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. probably a dry and bright day for eastern areas of england. the rain starts pushing northwards across scotland and starts to move into the chilly air that we have here. temperaturesjust six in aberdeen. so through monday night we might actually start to see some of that rain turn to snow. it is going to be quite high up in the high hills of scotland, probably above 300 metres elevation or so, but that could continue to be a risk into tuesday. so you might see a little bit of snow on some of the very high—ish scottish routes in the north. otherwise at lower elevations it�*s just outbreaks of rain, sleet and a bit of hail that you�*ll see mixed in. a cold day on tuesday — temperatures around nine or ten for england and wales, just five there in aberdeen. so overall, we�*re looking at a very unsettled week ahead, a cold start to the week, yes, but it does tend to turn milder as the week goes by. bye for now. voice—over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. a population of 1.4 billion. one of the largest economies in the world. poverty, though still rife, is in steady decline. it�*s a place so full of life, of soul, of hope... ..of progress. but all that is under threat. as our planet warms, india is predicted to become one of the first countries in the world where temperatures will top the safe limit for people simply resting in the shade. and it could start happening in the next decade. it will impact the lives and livelihoods of the poorest first, who will have no choice but to continue working in the dangerous heat. translation: in the hot - weather, the sun burns my body. quite... it is high right now. we will have more kidney disease. we will have more heat strokes. only if we work can we have food on our plates. the world health organization says it�*s pregnant women and young children who will face some of the gravest consequences of all from climate change. but simple solutions to better protect women are there. this is a big challenge, which we anticipate, and everyone has got a role to do. teach them about the recipes that can cool their body. and before, this was all open? open, open. so the sun would just be on the workers? yeah. translation: i consider being pregnant a great blessing. - every morning, lavanya wakes at 5am and heads to the fields of flowers close to her home. there she spends three hours picking some of the thousands