at the governance around the 1m at the governance around the post office, and - at the governance around the post office, and that _ - at the governance around the post office, and that is _ - at the governance around the post office, and that is where - - at the governance around the post office, and that is where my - post office, and that is where my deciding we needed a new chair of the organisation which was important. itjust wasn't the organisation which was important. it just wasn't working. as far—right extreminsts gain ground in germany — the country's chancellor calls on people to fight racism and anti—semitism. and the world's biggest cruise ship, the icon of the seas, begins its maiden voyage. hello. the united nations chief has vowed to hold to account any un employee involved in acts of terror, after israel presented evidence that some staff at the un agency working in the palestinian territories were involved in the october 7th hamas attacks on israel. but antonio guterres also

appealed to governments to continue supporting unrwa. nine countries have paused their funding, including the us and the uk — although scotland has not changed its policy. mr guterres says: israel has called for the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, to resign. i asked our middle east correspondent mark lowen how the cut in funding would affect the humanitarian situation in gaza... unwra is the largest agency in aid distribution now operating in gaza. it is an agency that has been in existence since 1919 providing aid, providing help, providing shelter, providing education to palestinian refugees. it has long had a difficult

relationship with israel, which has, in a sense, seen the existence of its of that agency, helping palestinian refugees as putting in doubt the very permanence and existence of israel. the fact that they, that unwra works with palestinian refugees and israel says that that prevents the refugees from kind of taking roots and settling in the new — in what became the sort of geographical permanence of this region. but now with western governments cutting orfreezing theirfunding to unrwa, that is obviously a major concern to the agency. i mean, philip lazzarini, the head of unrwa, says that two million people rely on the lifeline and assistance

to unrwa and that that assistance is now about to end. he said that this is additional collective punishment for the palestinian people. just to give you an idea of the numbers, i mean, in 2022, the us contributed $340 million to unwra. germany was the second biggest funder with $162 million. so that funding has now been frozen temporarily while the un launches this investigation. this must be serious allegations if you have nine key donor nations now suspending funding for unwra. what do we know about some of the staff involved or accused of helping hamas and how might they have aided hamas? well, the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, says that of the 12, nine have been immediately dismissed. one has died and two are currently being identified. now, little concrete is known about the actual allegations. but as you heard in my report, israeli intelligence and the israeli military is said to have passed on information that they say shows the active participation of these people in the 7th of october attacks and the use of unwra facilities and vehicles. mark regev, a senior adviser

to israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, told the bbc last week that a released israeli hostage had said that they had been held in the home of an unrwa staff member. now the timing of these allegations will be debated. i mean, there will be those who will see israel as raising this at a time when israel, when its government is under pressure because of that ruling on friday by the international court ofjustice, the un's top court, that it needs to do all it can to prevent genocide in gaza, that there is growing international pressure on israel to move on mediation and a ceasefire. the israeli government says actually it is the un which released the news of this at a time to try to kind of bury it when the icj ruling was in the headlines. either way, it is obviously the serious, serious allegations that are being treated here. but, you know, voices in support of the un say, look, this is a mission that employs 30,000 people in total and a handful of very bad apples should not be seen to tarnish the entire

reputation and the important work that the mission does. the bbc�*s mark lowen there. diplomatic efforts to free more than 130 hostages still held by hamas are gathering pace. the head of the cia is expected to meet officials from israel, egypt and qatar at an undisclosed location in france in the coming days. they're expected to work towards securing the release of the hostages held in gaza. many western governments consider hamas to be a terrorist organisation. earlier, i spoke to gershon baskin, lead negotiator in the release of israeli soldier gilad shalit who was held hostage by hamas for five years. he's also middle east director at the international communities organization. i asked him how this round of talks to help reach an agreement... i think the fact the talks are

taking place at the highest level possible is a very good sign. i think we need to move away all the background noise. understand that is part of the negotiation process. it is all part of the process and psychological warfare. there are 136 israeli hostages in gaza and it is believed less than 100 of them are alive and every day and every day they are in gaza is a risk to their lives. they will eventually reach the rafah border crossing and hamas is under pressure, they want a ceasefire but also want a number of palestinian prisoners to be released by israel. it is a very difficult negotiation. it isa it is a very difficult negotiation

but as somebody who has taken part in similar negotiations with hamas before, just take us into the room, what will they be talking about, what will they be talking about, what with the strategies involved be as they try to bring about more hostage releases?— as they try to bring about more hostage releases? firstly, you have to recognise — hostage releases? firstly, you have to recognise israel _ hostage releases? firstly, you have to recognise israel and _ hostage releases? firstly, you have to recognise israel and hamas- hostage releases? firstly, you have to recognise israel and hamas are l to recognise israel and hamas are not talking directly with each other and this is a very strange negotiation because both sides, israel and hamas, are dedicated to destroying the other. so the negotiations are taking place through the third party intermediaries, the egyptian and qataris, and each side is bringing messages of what its red lines are, what it is not willing to accept, what it is not willing to accept, what it is not willing to accept, what it will be willing to accept. hamas wants an end to the war and the israeli withdrawal from gaza. israel is not prepared to do that. hamas wants all the hostages released an israel does not want to do that, israel wants to get back all the hostages and is not willing

to release the palestinians and israel. so the head of the cia, the egyptians and qataris will have to find some middle ground that can make it work for both sides for the time being. we have to understand from israel's point of view, even if hostages are released, there is virtually nothing that prevents it from restarting the war or releasing prisoners. hamas today threatening to execute hostages once again, which is taking up the threat level a step higher. find which is taking up the threat level a step higher-— which is taking up the threat level a ste hiaher. �* ~ ., , a step higher. and i know this might be an unfair— a step higher. and i know this might be an unfair question, _ a step higher. and i know this might be an unfair question, but _ a step higher. and i know this might be an unfair question, but you - a step higher. and i know this might be an unfair question, but you paint| be an unfair question, but you paint the differing strategies of israel and hamas. what could a compromise look like, what could a deal look like at the end of these talks? i think if we are looking at an interim deal and not a final deal which would release all the hostages, then we're probably talking about a release of those hostages that hamas defines as civilians, the elderly, the women, the children who might still be

still alive. they could also release all the dead bodies of the hostages. israel would have to release thousands of palestinian prisoners and have an extended ceasefire or a pause for a month, two months, three months or may more but that is the kind of deal that is possible to reach at this point. that kind of deal that is possible to reach at this point.— reach at this point. that was gershon baskin _ reach at this point. that was gershon baskin of _ reach at this point. that was gershon baskin of the - reach at this point. that was - gershon baskin of the international community is organisation. here in the uk, the business and trade secretary kemi badenoch has said she removed the post office chairman henry staunton because the governance of the post office just wasn t working . an interim chair is expected to be appointed shortly. it comes as the post office is reeling from the fallout from the horizon scandal, which has been called the biggest miscarriage ofjustice in uk history. our political correspondent harry farley explains. more than 700 sub—postmasters and submistresses prosecuted because of the faulty horizon software system that made

it look as though money was disappearing from post office accounts when of course it wasn't, and many more were having to pay out of their own pockets to make up the shortfalls that the horizon error made it look as though was happening. as you say, there is a keenness in government to be seen to be proactive, to be seen to be doing something on this and kemi badenoch the business secretary was out this morning explaining why she had sacked the post office chairman yesterday, henry staunton. he's been in post forjust over a year, so he wasn't in post over the key period when the horizon scandal was ongoing but yesterday afternoon, it emerged that kemi badenoch had removed him from his post. she explained this morning that it just wasn't working. there were various disagreements within the board, and when i looked at it, i thought that a change of personnel was what was required. i don't want to do hr on live tv, these are human beings that we are talking about. it is very difficult to be asked to stand down from a position. but i decided that given all of the difficulties

the post office is having, it's notjust about horizon, it's about the entire business model, how we make it work, that we needed someone who could chair a board that had, that was able to deal with these things effectively. well, as you can see, lots more questions about exactly why the post office chair was removed, what particular incident or disagreement led to that decision. labour's shadow business secretary jonathan reynolds was also asked about it this morning and he was asked whether he thought politics was behind it. the scale of the scandal in the post office is so vast, it's absolutely essential the right leadership is in place. the government are going to have to tell us why they made this decision seemingly yesterday, given that the person who is going wasn't actually there for the scandal so there must be specific reasons why they don't have confidence in that person going on. but i think the public will want to know, this is not just about one person, one chair being changed, the overall approach in the entire organisation is going to come

to terms with the scale of this, put it right. in the last few minutes, i have spoken to another labour mp, kevin jones. he's one of the key mps whose been campaigning on this for a number of years. he told me that he wants to see the sacking of the post office chair as part of wider change in the post office leadership, he wants this just to be the start of more of a wholesale change in leadership. i think we can expect to hear more about this decision and the reasons behind it in the house of commons this week. and wejust and we just want to bring you some breaking news now from the louvre museum in paris. protesters have held soap at the mona lisa painting at the museum. the 16th century work — by leonardo da vinci — is protected by bulletproof glass, so is unlikely to have been damaged. the two eco—protesters are reported to have been demanding the right to "healthy and sustainable food", saying "our agricultural system is at risk".

it is the latest attack on the masterpiece in the louvre museum, after an activist threw a cake at the painting in 2022. so some breaking news from paris. two ego protesters throwing soup at the mona lisa. —— now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. jannik sinner in fighting back in the final of the australian open as he attempts to win a first grand slam title and prevent daniil medvedev from claiming a second. the russian dominated the first set taking it 6—3 and while the second was a lot closer, there was one game that lasted 12 minutes. but the score was the same. sinner eventually broke medvedev�*s serve for the first time in the match that gave him the third set 6—4. they have just begun the fourth, they have just begun the fourth, they are one set all on serve. a much more even contest than certainly the way it started. west indies have pulled off

a shock win in australia, their first test victory in the country since 1997. the home side went into day four in brisbane well on their way to reaching their target of 216. but shamarjoseph, despite an injured toe, took seven of the remaining eight wickets in just his second test match to take the windies to an 8—run win. the tourists finish the series level having taken an understrength side to australia. that win for west indies will encourage england, who are also trying to prevent their opponents reaching a fairly modest total to win a test match. india are chasing 231 for victory in the opening game of their five match series in hyderabad. and the tourists are on top, needing three more wickets to win. they're in this position thanks to ollie pope's 196 in england's second innings total of 420. he then took two catches offjust three balls by tom hartley to breakthrough in india's chase. hartley now has four wickets. there's also been a stunning run out by england captain ben stokes.

india are 162—7, needing 69 more runs to win themselves. of the four matches on sunday in the fourth round of the english fa cup, there'll be a particularly notable moment before one of them. jurgen klopp takes charge of his first liverpool game since announcing this season would be his last at anfield, where norwich are the visitors. meanwhile, manchester united have a trip to league two side newport county. it's united's last realistic chance of winning silverware this season. it is the truth, the league and qualification for the champions league... so probably it is, it is fact, the last opportunity of a trophy. so, yeah, we go for it. in words familiar from friday's announcement byjurgen klopp, barcelona's head coach xavi says he's given everything he has and he too will leave his post at the end of the season. his decision follows a run of poor results this season culminating in a 5—3 home defeat to villarreal last night. they're 10 points adrift of league leaders real madrid.

xavi is one of the club's most famous players and won the league title last season in his first full campaign as coach. matthieu pavon has won the farmers insurance open to become the first french player to claim a victory on the pga tour since arnaud massy in 1907. it's the 31—year—old's first season on the tour, and this was just his 11th event. a 3—under par round of 69 was enough to win by one shot ahead of denmark's nicolai hojgaard at torrey pines in san diego. i still can't believe it. as i said, it feels like there is another round to play tomorrow because we are only saturday. that is special. i can thank the pga tour. it gave us the opportunity to come from europe and compete here in america against the best players in the world, it has always been the dream for me and i got finally a shot and i took it. it

is a dream come true and it's a little bit hard to believe. you can follow the _ little bit hard to believe. you can follow the tennis, _ little bit hard to believe. you can follow the tennis, cricket - little bit hard to believe. you can follow the tennis, cricket and - little bit hard to believe. you canj follow the tennis, cricket and the football the bbc sport website but thatis football the bbc sport website but that is the sport for now. thank you. germany's chancellor olaf scholz says he's concerned about the rise of right wing extremists and has called on people to fight racism and anti—semitism, as the country marks holocaust memorial day. thousands marched in dusseldorf on saturday — the latest in a series of protests against the far right alternative for germany party. there are reports that two senior members of the party took part in discussions about deporting citizens of foreign origin. jessica parker reports. in her 80s, but undaunted by a crowd, renate speaks at one of the many protests sweeping germany. she survived the holocaust. many of herjewish family did not.

translation: it's very | important that we jewish people raise our voice. the situation in germany has become threatening because of alternative for deutschland and other far right groups, notjust for us jewish people. these demos were sparked by revelations that senior figures from the alternative for deutschland party met with right—wing extremists where the mass deportation of asylum seekers and so—called non—germans was allegedly discussed. there's a debate about whether to ban the afd or deprive them of state funding — where do you stand on that? i'm against the ban of afd. i think we have to tackle them in a political way, because if we ban them, i fear that they attract more attention and that more people try to support them. for all these shows of staunch mass resistance against the afd, there is great uncertainty,

even a nervousness about how to tackle the rise of the far right, particularly here in germany's east. a sense of disaffection lingers in the once—communist part of this country where the afd�*s leading the polls ahead of key elections. translation: they never had a chance l to be in power because no-one wantsl to work with them. maybe if they got into power, it would be good for us. the afd, designated by domestic intelligence as extremist in saxony, says it's being smeared by its opponents. what do you think about the fact there are hundreds of thousands of people protesting against your party, and some people at those demonstrations saying they're scared by what they've heard? translation: we are aware of it, | but we believe that many of these | demonstrators don't know our programme. we are in the absurd situation where people demonstrate with the government against the opposition. that's unheard of.

this city of chemnitz was once named after karl marx. that was reversed but the monument remains. the father of communism now watching over the rise of the far right. jessica parker, bbc news, in chemnitz. the spanish coast guard have rescued more than three hundred migrants off the canary islands over the weekend. there were a number of incidents of boats intercepted by the spanish authorities. they included this group, who were brought onto the island of gran canaria, where they were helped by the red cross. others were brought to el hierro and tenerife. the number of migrants entering spain by sea has gone up by nearly 300% in january from the same period last year with the vast majority arriving in the canary islands. king charles has spent a second night in hospital in london, after undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate. he was visited on saturday

by queen camilla — charles is staying in the same hospital where the princess of wales is being cared for, following her abdominal surgery. with more on this — i'm joined by our correspondent charlie rose. he is outside the hospitalfor us this morning. charlie, what is the latest? yes, good morning. the very latest is that the feeling is that his majesty the king is expected to spend at least the rest of the weekend here at the london clinic hospital. we cannot give any certainty on that of course because buckingham palace tends not to give a running commentary on these matters. but what the palace has commented on is the king's health problem. why? because the king wants to raise awareness and publicise the fact he has had an enlarged prostate to encourage more men to come forward and seek more help,

information and advice. that is exactly what has happened according to the nhs, which says it has seen a surge in the number of men going on its website seeking help and advice on enlarged prostate. that has been welcomed by doctors and charities. one in three men over the age of 50 apparently has the condition of an enlarged prostate. as well as the king, his daughter—in—law, catherine the princess of wales, is also being cared for at this hospital, having undergone abdominal surgery. she is now on her 13th day here, although she was always expected to be here for around about a fortnight. both she and her father—in—law, for around about a fortnight. both she and herfather—in—law, his majesty the king, are said to be doing well. both are being cared for, being waited on by medical teams, doctors, nurses. they are being monitored and assessed and while that goes on today, perhaps we could see another visit from queen camilla. ., ~ ,, could see another visit from queen camilla. ., ~ i. ., could see another visit from queen camilla. ., ~ , ., ., ., camilla. thank you, charlie. charlie rose outside _ camilla. thank you, charlie. charlie rose outside the _ camilla. thank you, charlie. charlie rose outside the hospital—

camilla. thank you, charlie. charlie rose outside the hospital in - camilla. thank you, charlie. charlie | rose outside the hospital in london. we will be bringing you any updates on the king' and the princess of wales' condition as and when we get it. the world's largest cruise ship — the icon of the seas — has set sailfrom miami in florida on its maiden voyage. here it is. it is 365 metres long, has 20 decks, and there is enough room for almost 8,000 passengers on board. features include a 16—metre waterfall, six water slides and more than lio restaurants, bars and venues. the chief engineer of the icon of the seas says the ship is — well — iconic. so obviously the technology on a new cruise ship keeps evolving and we as a company are on a continuous journey with all kinds of technology. everything from what you see up in the accommodation, what the guests will see, from cabin automation in terms of ventilation and the light system that we have onboard, all the way

down to the technical area and the machinery area where we are the first big cruise ship in the royal international brand where we have lng as our main fuel source, which is quite exciting for us on board to take part of that journey with a new technology. the icon of the seas is apparently 24% more energy efficient than required by the international maritime organization. but environmentalists have criticised the ship because it's powered by lng — a fossil fuel which emits the greenhouse gas, methane. methane is coming under more scrutiny. we had the international maritime organization, which regulates shipping around the world, come together and over the summer announced their greenhouse gas reduction strategy. it does explicitly include reducing methane emissions, which is wonderful

that we're naming it. and it kind of puts the brakes on all of these lng buildouts. you know, hopefully the icon of the sea will be one of the last lng ships because methane, fracking, these are not climate solutions. the maiden cruise of the icon of the seas will last for seven days — and you can get more on the bbc website. this is the most read story on our website. you are watching bbc news. hello again. it started off largely fine and dry for many of us this morning. we've had some lovely sunrise pictures sent in from our weather watcher. look at this one here from suffolk this morning, where it was a little bit chilly, but temperatures will rise into the afternoon and it's going to be a very mild day for many of us. look at the temperatures this afternoon, 13 to 15 degrees in the moray firth. compare that to the average

for the end ofjanuary, we're about four to nine degrees celsius above where we should be for the time of year. but we'll keep some blue skies and some sunshine across many parts of england and wales. a bit more cloud across the far south west of england. and you'll notice this rain spreads into northern ireland and scotland and with it there'll be some strong winds, especially to the east of northern ireland and along the central belt of scotland, gusts of 50, 60mph. so that could cause some travel disruption, there'll be some strong cross winds here. stronger winds in the outer hebrides, gusts up to 70, maybe 75mph this afternoon with that rain spreading its way through. some sunshine, though, to the east of scotland and that's where we'll see the highest temperatures, as i said, 15 degrees here, but widely, temperatures about 10 to 13 degrees celsius. now, through tonight, the rain will continue to move south and eastwards out of scotland into northern england, parts of wales. behind this area of rain, though, we've got some colder air moving in, so temperatures close to freezing into tomorrow morning. but bit further south and east ahead of the area, rain, well, it's still going to be

very mild overnight, temperatures no lower than about six to nine celsius. and you can see that divide to the cold, to the milder air to the south in between this weather front, which is going to bring us some outbreaks of rain throughout monday. and with that colder air digging in, there could be just a little bit of snow over the hills of the southern uplands and the north pennines. but a pretty wet day for northern england through much of wales. sunshine, though, for scotland and northern ireland. a chillier day here, temperatures about seven or eight degrees celsius. but to the south east with some sunshine, it's going to feel really quite pleasant with that sunshine, highs up to 1a, maybe even 15 degrees celsius. on into tuesday, that weather front will slowly fizzle away, there'll be some cloud in central and eastern areas for a time, but plenty of sunshine developing with this ridge of high pressure building in, and for many of us, temperatures down a little bit on monday's values, about seven to 12 degrees celsius. that's it from me. bye—bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the head of the united nations has begged governments which have suspended funding to the un agency for palestinian refugees to guarantee the continuity of its operations. antonio guterres said he was horrified by israeli allegations that some unrwa staff were involved in last october's attacks by hamas. the uk's business secretary kemi

badenoch has said she removed the post office chairman because the governance of the post office "just wasn't working". the post office has been struggling with the fallout from the horizon it scandal and a failure to hit commercial targets. in france, two activists have thrown what's reported to be soup at the mona lisa in paris. it splattered the bullet—proof glass covering leonardo da vinci's masterpiece. the painting itself hasn't been damaged. 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