the uk post office chairman, henry staunton, is asked to step down by the business secretary amid tensions over the horizon postmaster scandal. and donald trump addresses a rally in las vegas, a day after a court orders him to pay 83 million dollars in damages to a woman he defamed. hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start this hour in the middle east. it's already struggling to feed and shelter the two million gazans who currently depend on it. now the uk, us and seven other countries are suspending theirfunding for the un agency for palestinians, unrwa, a decision the head of the organisation has described as shocking. it comes after israel accused several members of its staff of being involved in the 7th october hamas attacks. unrwa has sacked them and says it is investigating the claims.

but israel continues to put pressure on the un agency, saying its boss should resign. our correspondent injerusalem, mark lowen, reports. crushed from the air. lives, homes, families, and now the very mission set up to help gaza's desperate is taking a hit too — the un agency for palestinian refugees, or unrwa, firing several employees for alleged involvement in hamas�* assault on israel. a body set up to protect accused of attack. britain and a handful of other countries have now paused theirfunding. the foreign office said it was appalled by claims of complicity in what it called a heinous act of terrorism. hamas stormed israel on october 7th, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting at least 240. israeli intelligence has reportedly passed on material said to show

the participation of unrwa staff and the use of its vehicles and facilities. its government has seized on the allegations, as the world remembers another massacre. translation: it was proven on international holocaust i remembrance day what we've been saying for years, that the unrwa employees are collaborators with the terrorist organisation hamas, and that the un has become not only a place where the existence of the state of israel is delegitimised, but also a place where employees are physically collaborating in the extermination of israel. the un, which has frequently batted away past israeli criticism, says it's horrified by the news, and will ensure any unrwa employee shown to have participated or abetted what transpired on the 7th of october, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. but as israel's offensive intensifies, driving 80% of gazans from their homes,

the un plays a vital role there, and, say some, a mission with 30,000 staff should not be tarred by the violations of a few. it certainly looks as if there is cause to be concerned about the actions of some of the members of unrwa, the un relief and works agency, but that does not, and nor should it, impugn the entire agency and all the body of work that they're doing. they have helped save literally thousands of lives in gaza. they do important work. the worst attack in israel's history has left scars here that will last generations. and with trauma comes rage towards those who aided the aggressors, not the victims. israel has long accused the un of bias, anti—semitism and worse. another foreign minister has called unrwa the civilian arm of hamas and said it should not operate in gaza once the conflict ends. there is real anger here at these very serious allegations.

but for a government increasingly under pressure, it's also an opportunity to bolster its argument. mark lowen, bbc news, jerusalem. chris gunness is a former chief spokesperson for unrwa, and now director of the myanmar accountability project. he gave me his reaction to the israeli allegations. they are very serious and unrwa has taken robust action in implementing its zero tolerance policy. if you look at the statement of the commissioner general, the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, he made it clear that he was sacking these people to protect unrwa's interests. in other words, in advance of the results of the investigation, in the absence of prima facie evidence, unrwa has dismissed these people. so, you know, these accusations are taken very, very seriously. unrwa always takes disciplinary action up to and including dismissal and that is what we have seen in this case. and to be clear, this is disproportionate and it is punitive. it is going to hurt

the million people who are, at the moment, in a war zone in unrwa installations. the women, the children, the newborn, the sick, the babies, the dying, they are the ones who are going to be punished by this. and at a time where western governments are worried about the middle east war spreading, an agency which we all agree brings stability through its development work to the middle east region, having its aid suspended makes no sense whatsoever. so, you have been, as i said, at the heart of the organisation, do you think these allegations are plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it for me to pass judgment. i would say two things. firstly, the timing is really odd. a day after the supreme court of the world, the international court ofjustice, essentially said that there are suspicions that israel is committing genocide. bang, the next day, what feels like a piece of news manipulation comes out. that is not to say unrwa is not taking it seriously, which it does.

it sacked these two people. i think the other important thing to say is that israel has put out lies and disinformation. israeli spokespeople, civilian, military, even the prime minister's office was putting out lies about us that i had to deal with. during the 2014 war, we were continually told that our schools were hit because there were militants in them. not true. this was never proven except perhaps in one incident where unrwa came very clear about it when rocket parts were found in the schools, but essentially, you know, there is a huge history of false allegations being made by israel and its supporters. and, you know, unrwa is doing everything it can and i would like to see this disproportionate, punitive measure changed immediately. it is the most disadvantaged, the frail, the vulnerable who are going to be hit by this. and how can it possibly be in israel's interest to have the agency which is calming things down on its borders in gaza... and to be clear, unrwa works in syria, injordan,

in lebanon and the west bank. over 500,000 children go to unrwa schools every day. how could it possibly be in the interest of regional stability to have funding cut? and my very last point i would like to make is that the icj yesterday made it very clear that the obstruction of humanitarian aid was against the wishes of the court. it was a violation of the genocide convention. what do we have from those governments the very next day? we have humanitarian aid being restricted through these punitive and disproportionate sanctions against unrwa which will backfire. it will make the middle east more unstable. the houthis and others are looking very closely at what is happening in gaza. this is going to lead to more marginalisation, more radicalisation and what we need at the moment is the complete opposite. the world does not need a desperate, disenfranchised community on the doorstep of israel. that is in nobody�*s interest and i call upon these governments, please, to reverse this decision.

what do they want unrwa to do? it has sacked these people suspected of these appalling crimes and it makes no sense to punish those in gaza who desperately need the assistance of unrwa tonight. but israel and their foreign minister calling unrwa the civilian arm of hamas, saying it should not operate in gaza once the war ends, they believe that, so you can understand why they want action taken? yes, israel has waged a political war against unrwa for many, many years under the false assumption, allegation that in some way, unrwa perpetuates the refugee problem because unrwa registers the children of refugees as refugees, just as unhcr, the other un agency dealing with refugees, also registers children of refugees under the principle of family unity. israel is mistaken in thinking that unrwa perpetuates the refugee problem. what perpetuates the refugee problem is the failure of the parties,

including israel, to see the rights of those refugees resolved, the problems around the refugees resolved, in the context of a two—state solution. the refugees have rights, including the right of return, and this must be resolved in the context of a two—state solution and unless and until that is all resolved, i am afraid we are destined to see this problem continue. israel and the political forces need to grasp the nettle and start promoting peace and the resolution of the refugee question within the context of an overall peace deal. that is what is going to end this problem, not abolishing a un agency charged with humanitarian and human development work for as many as 6 million refugees across the middle east. chris gunness, former chief spokesperson for unrwa. the us has asked china to use its influence to convince iran to rein

in its support for houthis attacking shipping in the red sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. a significant amount of chinese goods bound for the west pass through the area. firefighters from the indian navy have now put out a fire on board the latest vessel to be attacked. the marlin luanda oil tanker, which is operated by a uk registered company, was hit by a houthi missile on friday while it was travelling in the red sea off the coast of yemen. the uk government says it reserves the right to respond appropriately. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. this was the marlin luanda last night, fire visible from the bridge, threatening its cargo of russian oil bound for singapore. the houthis are quick to take credit, their spokesman saying once again that this was being done to support the palestinians in gaza and in response to what he described as american—british aggression. the fire was finally brought under control this morning as indian, french and american naval vessels

arrived on the scene. the crew was unharmed and the tanker now heading for a safe harbour. it's been two weeks since britain and the us first hit back, striking military targets inside yemen, aiming to deter the houthis. so far, the strategy doesn't appear to be working. so the attack on the marlin luanda in the gulf of aden signifies a great extension and escalation from the red sea to the gulf of aden, so a geographical extension, and also with the type of weapons. the missile used yesterday was a ballistic missile, and the houthis started their attacks in the red sea using drones, so we're seeing a technological expansion and a geographical extension. the houthis are using the attacks to bolster support at home, orchestrating huge rallies on the streets of the capital, sanaa, relishing this confrontation with the west — something they've thought about and planned for for years.

they're being helped by iran. when us navy seals seized a dhow off the coast of somalia earlier this month, they found parts of ballistic and anti—ship cruise missiles. diplomats say weapons are also being smuggled through oman. this afternoon, the defence secretary grant shapps condemned what he called this "intolerable and illegal attack "and said britain remained committed to protecting freedom of navigation. paul adams, bbc news. the uk post office chairman, henry staunton, has been asked to stand down after talks with the business secretary, kemi badenoch. she says there was a "need for new leadership". he was appointed in december 2022. our political correspondent iain watson has more. they have been very careful with their language, nicky, but i think it is interesting that the government said, and i quote, actually, they agreed to part their ways with mutual consent. that may well be mutual consent

by the end of that conversation. the post office are telling me actually he was asked to stand down and therefore the person who instigated that call was undoubtedly the secretary of state, the appropriate government minister, in the first place and clearly she wanted him to go. i mean, it is actually rare, i think, for someone who is chairman of an arm's length body, although government funded, to be called up on a saturday afternoon and persuaded to go, so clearly this was the secretary of state who wants a change of leadership at the top of the post office. as we know, the government's currently now trying to push through legislation to compensate and indeed exonerate sub—postmasters and mistresses who were caught up in the horizon scandal, and certainly this has become a major political issue since an itv drama seemed to focus the minds of the public and politicians alike at the start of this year. so, do we think it is to do with the horizon it scandal that he has had to go, or another issue? well, certainly one government source said it probably would not have happened without the horizon scandal but that does not mean to say it is directly linked to the horizon scandal. as you were saying, he was appointed

only in december 2022, he was somebody with a pretty illustrious career in various boards in the private sector, whsmith newsagent for example, itv, the broadcaster, as well, so it doesn't seem to be any suggestion he was involved in the horizon scandal, responsible for any of that whatsoever. i think the focus though is on how does the government sort out the mess after the horizon scandal? it is interesting that an independent director of the post office, who was in charge of the post office's own offers of financial compensation, it was announced he was departing just over a week ago. there is going to be a replacement and it is possible there was tensions over perhaps who that replacement was or exactly how the post office itself undertook its own compensation scheme, but neither the business department, nor indeed mr staunton himself, would comment any further. now, as you said, there now has to be another chairman, all during all the stuff around the horizon scandal. it is not going to be easy

for someone to come in amongst all of that and get up to speed. absolutely, it is going to be incredibly difficult. perhaps the secretary of state, kemi badenoch, has someone in mind, i don't know, but at the moment they're saying there will be someone appointed on an interim basis, so there won't certainly be that stability there at the top of the post office at a time when actually, a, there will be a big public focus on them and b, in parliament, mps will be voting on effectively offering compensation and exoneration to people caught up in the scandal. so, clearly the secretary of state must have thought it was better to have new blood rather than continue with the current chairman but it does actually mean that we will have in fact an interim chairman, then an actual chairman in due course. it is quite clear though, i think, the government's been politically attacked for being slow to deal with this scandal and there's therefore political pressure i think on government ministers to get a grip.

that is our political correspondent iain watson. here in the uk, a fire in a four—storey building near liverpool city centre is no longer being considered a major incident. there had been fears the structure would collapse. more than 50 firefighters from the merseyside fire and rescue service were called to the blaze shortly around 2.20pm. they said there are no reports of casualties but had evacuated nearby properties. the fire service urged people to avoid the area and nearby residents and businesses to close windows and doors. king charles is staying in hospital for a second night, after a procedure for an enlarged prostate. queen camilla visited her husband at the london clinic, where the princess of wales is also staying following abdominal surgery. our reporter charlie rose is outside the hospital. this is day two of the king's stay in hospital here at the london clinic after undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate. his wife, queen camilla,

has been to visit him a number of times over the past couple of days — three, we think. the latest visit took place this afternoon. yesterday, she told reporters that her husband was doing well after the procedure. now, she may also have been visiting catherine, princess of wales, who is also being looked after here. she has had abdominal surgery, it is her 12th day here and she is not expected to resume official public engagements until after easter when she feels much better and has fully recovered. now, we have had a statement from buckingham palace regarding the king. saying, "his majesty would like to thank all those "who sent their good wishes over the past week and is delighted "to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact "on public health awareness." now, it is unusual for buckingham palace to speak about the king's health in this way but apparently, his majesty wanted to raise awareness and that is exactly what has happened, because the nhs says that it has seen a surge in the number of men

going to its website, seeking advice and help and information on enlarged prostate. now, the latest information here is that king charles is expected to spend the rest of the night here at hospital and tomorrow, too, when he may have another visit from queen camilla. about 20 former prisoners who were held at the auschwitz death camp have taken part in a ceremony there to mark 79 years since its liberation. the event was one of many around the world to mark international holocaust remembrance day. here in the uk, major landmarks have been lit up in purple, including the london eye you can see here. people were also being encouraged to light a candle in a window to signal their opposition to hatred and prejudice.

donald trump is currently addressing a campaign rally in las vegas, ahead of the nevada primary and caucus to choose the republican presidential candidate. so far he's made no mention of the court order he was given on friday, to pay 83 million dollars in damages to a woman he defamed. ejean carroll said the former us president destroyed her reputation when he said she'd lied about him sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. a jury in a previous civil fraud trial found ms carroll was sexually abused by trump back then. she said the ruling was a "great victory for every woman". mr trump said he'll appeal. for months, polls have suggested that the labour party will win the next general election here in the uk, with sir keir starmer becoming the next prime minister. but what is going on behind the numbers? this week on sunday with laura kuenssberg, the bbc has been testing public opinion,

hearing from a group of nearly 50 voters with a range of political views who all live in constituencies that switched from labour to conservative in 2019. the groups were selected with the help of the political research firm more in common, and laura listened to what they had to say. have a seat. young, old, tory, labour, and those who haven't a clue yet who they'll choose — they've all been chosen from seats that went labour to conservative last time round. we've put together a sample to hear everyone's thoughts. a bit like britain in a room. how would you sum up britain in 202a? depressing. terrible state we're in. dishonest and messed up. falling apart. i think we're a country in crisis. i think it's the worst it's ever been. - what's the first thing that comes to mind when you see this person? nice guy, but weak. not strong enough. no personality. you need a personality to rule.

it's like he's reading from a script when he talks. yeah, he doesn't have charisma. i would say out of touch, _ because i don't think he understands what the ordinary people go through. people in this country don't like successful people. they're very bitter. they're not like them. and that's why i think everybody resents him. i don't think he's out of touch. ijust think the problems he has are so vast. i thought he did a marvellous job as a chancellor. _ what's the first thing that comes to mind when you see this person? a bit boring, to be honest with you. i don't think he's the strongest of leaders. i don't look at him and think he's the one that's going to come and save us. i don't know what he actually believes. i i think everything he says is to try and win the majority over. - i'd rather somebody that was either here or there, not somewhere in between. i think his kind of popularity has been largely by default because of kind of the backlash of the conservatives. i think you can only reallyjudge him kind of when he's in power. i do actually thinkj he's got integrity. i i do think he will try, but i dol

think he's got a big task ahead. again and again, our voters have shared stories of how the health service just isn't up to scratch. it's obviously at the top of many people's lists. obviously, with me being a senior carer, there's times that i have to ring 111 and the wait times for the ambulances are ridiculous. i mean, i have a heart condition and i would say i had to contact the hospital because i'd waited 26 weeks up to now and i've still not got an appointment. and then they told me the waiting list is up to 70 weeks. i really don't know- if i want to work as a nurse in this country right now. the cost of living crisis has is having a big impact on us. being able to go out and socialise isjust so much more expensive, going to the supermarket, your bills are so much more expensive. i'm a student and i can barely afford to eat some weeks. . it's rubbish. this is a first world country. however, there is so much of a difference between, you know, the highest pay, the wealthy, and the ordinary people. we've heard from nearly

50 voters today. there's a deep well of worry about the state of the country and a sense that a change of government is probably on the way. but there wasn't much confidence here today. not much faith that a different leader in number 10 could change lives for the better. there is, though, ten months to go. you can see much more of this, along with an interview with the business secretary kemi badenoch, on sunday with laura kuenssberg tomorrow morning at nine o'clock on bbc one and on the iplayer. the united states has warned it could restore sanctions against venezuela, after a top court there upheld a ban preventing opposition presidential candidate maria corina machado from holding office. ms machado's disqualification upends the opposition�*s plans for elections due this year. the us state department called

the ruling "deeply concerning". it was made hours after three of her allies were arrested on accusations of being linked to a conspiracy against the government. the opposition has condemned the ruling. translation: we demand the decision made yesterday — translation: we demand the decision made yesterday be _ translation: we demand the decision made yesterday be reversed. _ the world's biggest cruise ship, royal caribbean�*s icon of the seas, is setting sailfrom miami, on its maiden voyage. the 250,000—tonne ship took 900 days to build and cost £1.5 billion. it has the world's first suspended infinity pool at sea, the ocean's largest—ever water park, a 16—metre waterfall, and room for some 8,000 passengers on its 20 decks. environmental groups have criticised the ship because it's powered by liquefied natural gas, or lng, which emits harmful methane into the atmosphere.

we're going to take a look at what is supposed to be the driest place in the us. this is death valley in southern california, and as you can see it's not very dry at all. this is called lake manly and it was formed by rare heavy rains last year. but you need to be quick if you want to visit — scientists say it's drying up fast, and may not be there for much longer. some lovely pictures there. stay with us here on bbc news. saturday brought quite a bit of sunshine to england and wales, dry day for many and a lovely end to the day for many and a lovely end to the day here in north somerset. further north, the day turned out to be quite windy and a fair bit of cloud coming in of the atlantic associated with the jet stream pattern. well, thisjet stream pattern for sunday is going to be bringing a very mild air mass across the uk

and we could well see some exceptional temperatures across northern areas of scotland through sunday afternoon, as we will see in just a moment. before we get there though, the southerly wind at the moment is bringing occasional patches of drizzle to coast and hills for scotland and for northern ireland, although many areas will stay dry and have a dry start to the day on sunday. mild across the north—west, we've got the cooler air across england and wales, a few mist patches to start the day on sunday quickly clearing, and then a lovely morning for most of you. into the afternoon, though, a cold front will bring a spell of rain to northern ireland and western scotland, and some very strong winds working into the hebrides and the north—west of the highlands. 60, maybe 70 mph gusts here, but on the other side of the mountains, helped on by the fern effect, we could see temperatures get boosted all the way up to maybe as high as 16 celsius. well above the average for this part of the world. and the uk all—timejanuary temperature record stands at 18.3 celsius, so 16 would not be that far away from that. although we don't see those dizzy heights across england and wales, it is going to be a mild day nationwide.

looking at the weather picture into monday, we keep the mild air across england and wales, but further north the air is getting colder across scotland and northern ireland, between the two we have got a band of rain. it looks like being quite wet across this area, with 20 to a0 millimetres of rain. could see a few flakes of snow over the highest hills of the southern uplands. colder weather pushing back into scotland and northern ireland. i say colder, actually temperatures are coming back closer to average. but across england and wales, still very mild. temperatures could reach 15 degrees in the warmest spots. heading into tuesday, that area of low pressure is working away. a ridge of high pressure follows in for a time from the west, so the cloud will thin and break and many of us will have a day where the weather will improve and get brighter with a bit more in the way of sunshine coming through. temperatures near average across northern areas, still on the mild side for east anglia and south—east england. the rest of the week ahead, often quite wet and windy at times in the north, dry and bright largely in the south. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel ups the pressure on the un agency for palestinian refugees, saying its boss should resign — following accusations that several of unrwa's staff were involved in the 7th of october attacks. the un agency says it has sacked a number of staff and is investigating. it's slammed the decision of several countries to suspend funding — calling it collective punishment for palestinians in gaza.

the uk post office chairman, henry staunton, is asked to step down by the business secretary, kemi badenoch, amid ongoing tension over the postmaster it scandal. he was appointed in december 2022. and donald trump addresses a rally in las vegas, a day after a court orders him to pay 83 million dollars in damages to a woman he defamed. we will have a full bulletin at the top of the hour. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello, welcome to poltical thinking, a conversation with, rather than an newsy interrogation, of someone who shapes our political thinking, about what has shaped theirs.

my guest, no guests, this week used to face each other