looking at the governance around the post office, and that is where my deciding that we needed a new chair of the organisation was important. it just wasn't working. and in melbourne — italy's jannik sinner wins the australian open — his first ever major. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. welcome to this hour. the united nations has made a plea for governments not to withdraw funding from its main agency which delivers aid to palestinians in gaza — known as unwra. it comes as france becomes the latest country to pull money for the organisation — after israel alleged that 12 of its staff were involved in the deadly october 7th attacks by hamas. the agency, which employs 30,000 members of staff,

1,300 of whom work in gaza, says it is investigating and has already sacked the 12 employees. let's have a listen to what the un spokesman had to say. the secretary general is horrified by this news and asks mr lazzarini to investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any unrwa employees shown to have participated or abetted in what transpired on october 7th, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. a total of ten countries have paused their funding for unrwa, including the us and the uk — although scotland has not changed its policy and is urging others to continue with the funding. mr guterres says "the tens of thousands of men mr guterres says, "the tens of thousands of men and women who work for unrwa, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised.

the dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met." israel has called for the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, to resign. nabil abu rudeineh, the spokesman for the palestinian president — and the local deputy prime minister — criticised the countries�* decision to halt aid. the step simultaneously taken during the war in gaza sends the wrong message. there is a war against the palestinian people. this decision is incorrect and should be stopped immediately. we urge all these all these countries to repay it because it's a humanitarian issue. it has been taken in a wrong time. and we hope that they will come back soon to understand that the need of the people in gaza and everywhere is a necessity for continuing living on this earth. the israel military is pressing ahead with its operation against hamas in the south of the gaza strip. palestinians continue to stream out of khan younis,

where the israeli army says it's involved in intense fighting. multiple israeli air strikes have been reported there. the hamas—run health ministry says a hundred and 65 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours, taking the total number killed since the start of the war to more than 26,400. 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, where they'll work to secure the release of the hostages held in gaza. many western governments consider hamas to be a terrorist organisation. nawaf al thani who is qatar's former director of defence intelligence operations and defence attache to the united states. he told us qatar continues to push for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

qatar as the lead negotiator in this has made it extremely clear multiple times that they will keep this very secretive because of the nature of negotiations. but what we can expect is that a lasting ceasefire should come about, a longer ceasefire than the last ones we had, obviously, and release of hostages and aid for the palestinian civilians. unfortunately, on the other side, the political wrangling and games that are being played, whether globally or internally in israel, especially from the new conservative government of netanyahu is a bit confusing. for instance, criticising qatar on one side and then asking for itself on the other and sends mixed messages and isn't helpful. i think focusing on the mission at hand should be israel's main concern, releasing the hostages, ceasefire and a lasting peace.

that was nawaf al thani. and markjoins me live from jerusalem. let's begin with the fallout from those allegations against those working for the main agency of the un which serves gaza.— un which serves gaza. indeed. lookin: un which serves gaza. indeed. looking at _ un which serves gaza. indeed. looking at those _ un which serves gaza. indeed. looking at those allegations, l un which serves gaza. indeed. l looking at those allegations, the un which serves gaza. indeed. - looking at those allegations, the un says that it concerns 12 members of staff. nine of them have been immediately dismissed. two are currently being identified and one says the un secretary—general has died. the seriousness with which the un is taking these accusations shows that they were incredibly serious, that they were incredibly serious, that these members of unrwa were alleged to have taken part in those

attacks on the 7th of october. i also think that there is an international politics going on here because western governments are seeing an opportunity here to show sympathetic understanding here to israel publicly by pausing their funding of unrwa, while at the same time keeping up that quite sustained pressure on the israeli government at the moment to try to rein in its offensive. as for the israeli authorities, they also see an opportunity here to prove what they have long alleged and long believed, which is that the agencies of the un are biased or anti—semitic, they have long argued that unrwa encourages palestinians to, the status of palestinians as refugees to be entrenched, longing to return to be entrenched, longing to return to historic palestine, and therefore harbouring a hatred of israel. this is an opportunity for israelis to bolster their argument. we

is an opportunity for israelis to bolster their argument. we know that talks are going _ bolster their argument. we know that talks are going on _ bolster their argument. we know that talks are going on today _ bolster their argument. we know that talks are going on today between - bolster their argument. we know that talks are going on today between the | talks are going on today between the us, egypt, israeland qatarabout talks are going on today between the us, egypt, israel and qatar about a future ceasefire of some kind. we are hearing that they are continuing. is there anything more we know about the terms around those talks? �* . ., we know about the terms around those talks? �* . . ., ., we know about the terms around those talks? ~ u, ., ., h, talks? american media are reporting that the us delegation, _ talks? american media are reporting that the us delegation, the - talks? american media are reporting that the us delegation, the us - that the us delegation, the us mediators are cautiously hopeful that a deal is within reach, which is largely around what we have been hearing in recent days, which is that israel would be saying that it would pause fighting for two months, there would be a phased release of palestinian prisoners in return for israeli hostages, they would want all the remaining israeli hostages and dead hostages, they believe i30 and dead hostages, they believe 130 are still not returned home. we don't know whether that would be

accepted by hamas because hamas has demanded a permanent ceasefire if for any hostage release scheme. there is still a gulf between the sides and even though there are hopeful tones coming out in some media reports we do not expect an imminent breakthrough. the fact that all sides are engaged in talks is progress in and of itself. mark lowen, thank _ progress in and of itself. mark lowen, thank you _ progress in and of itself. mark lowen, thank you very - progress in and of itself. mark lowen, thank you very much. | progress in and of itself. mark . lowen, thank you very much. the progress in and of itself. mark lowen, thank you very much. the uk government says it remains undaunted after houthis targeted a british warship in the red sea in the latest round of strikes. these pictures have come in showing the moment that hms diamond repelled the attack by firing sea viper missiles incoming heading directly towards the ship. the warship is currently in the red sea to protect merchant ships from houthi attacks. the ministry of defence says there were no injuries or damage. this latest strike from the iran backed group comes days after an oil tanker with british links was also hit and went up in flames, as you can see in these

pictures. the fire was extinguished with no crew injured after french, indian and us naval ships provided assistance to the vessel. responding to the recent attacks, the uk's defence secretary grant shapps wrote: live now to our political correspondent harry farley. a statement from the defence secretary grant shapps and another attack on a british linked vessel, this time it is a warship, in the red sea. ., �* , this time it is a warship, in the red sea. . �* , ., , �* red sea. that's right, and it isn't even the first _ red sea. that's right, and it isn't even the first time _ red sea. that's right, and it isn't even the first time that - red sea. that's right, and it isn't even the first time that hms - even the first time that hms diamond, which is a british navy destroyer in the red sea, not the first time hms diamond has been targeted by houthi drones. the statement from the ministry of

defence here in london says this is an intolerable and illegal attack which is completely unacceptable and the ministry of defence says it is our duty to protect freedom of navigation in international waters. as you say, the defence secretary grant shapps also condemning this attack. he says the uk remains undaunted. what happened, we understand, yesterday afternoon, the houthi group in yemen launched a drone targeting hms diamond. the crew on hms diamond activated the ship's sivado missile system, a missile system that costs more than £1 million per missile command destroyed the drone. they say that there was no damage or injuries to anyone on board. this isn't the first time hms diamond has been attacked and it does raise questions about whether the uk will be drawn into future air strikes. the uk has already struck houthi targets in yemen once, joining the us in doing

that and this raises the question of whether it will do that again. iliiuiith whether it will do that again. with the latest, harry— whether it will do that again. with the latest, harry farley in our newsroom, many thanks. now to istanbul where one person has been killed and several injured in an attack by masked gunmen on a catholic church. the shooting happened at the church of santa maria during sunday morning mass at around 11:a0 in the morning local time. turkey's interior minister has condemned the "vile attack" and said an investigation has been launched. police are still searching for the suspects. live now to the scene — our correspondent orla guerin is outside the church. bring us up—to—date with what more you know. there is a real sense of shockin you know. there is a real sense of shock in the community about what has happened. turkey's interior ministerjust left, he made a visit to the church behind me, offered condolences to the congregation and to the priest. as he was leaving he

said those who are trying to destroy the unity that exists between different religions in turkey wouldn't succeed. local officials here have been stressing to us that this is an area where christians and muslims have lived together in harmony. one local official who we met this morning was so distressed he was close to tears and could hardly speak. cctv footage has emerged which appears to show the moment of the attack. it is very chilling, two gunmen who are masked walk into the back of the church, they appear to be following a man in black. the congregation are on their feet, they are facing the altar, they become aware of the shooting behind them and they're trying to duck and try to hide. this appeared very much to be a targeted killing. the gunman went directly for this one man, they shot him, and once that happened they moved quite calmly towards the back of the church and left. there is a large police presence here still in the

area. we have been hearing police helicopters. the search for the attackers is ongoing. and no one has claimed responsibility for this attack. we don't know what the motive may be. attacks like this on turkey�*s christian minority are rare. they have happened in the past but they are a rare occurrence. all but they are a rare occurrence. all are, as you say, please continue the search for the suspects. do we know any more about the scale of the police operation? indie any more about the scale of the police operation?— any more about the scale of the police operation? we know there is a heavy security _ police operation? we know there is a heavy security presence _ police operation? we know there is a heavy security presence here, - police operation? we know there is a heavy security presence here, the . heavy security presence here, the streets around by the church are closed off, although i have to say on their main road nearby traffic is moving freely. we have had some information provided by a relative of the dead man. he told turkish media that the victim was 52 years old and he was single. he also said he was planning to become a member

of the christian faith. he was planning to be baptised but that hadn't actually happened yet. beyond that we don't have much more information about the victim himself or the attackers. i should say at the end of last year the authorities here in turkey arrested 29 people who they said were connected with the so—called islamic state and they said these people had been planning to carry out attacks on places of worship here in istanbulfor both christians and jews. but at this stage we have no information about whether or not this attack is connected with any particular group. orla guerin, at the scene in turkey, always good to talk to you. here in the uk, the business and trade secretary kemi badenoch has said she sacked the post office chairman henry staunton because the governance of the post office " just wasn't working'. 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. mark ashdown reports. it's been thrown out and i've... that's me, i'm free! rab thomson sharing the emotional news this week with his sister that his 2006 conviction for embezzlement had been overturned. it's the moment all convicted subpostmasters are hoping for. there's been much debate over the quickest and fairest way to achieve that, and now the chair of the post office, this man, henry staunton, has stepped down, posing the question — did he reallyjump or was he nudged? 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 and how to make it work. that we needed someone who could chair a board that had... that was able to deal with these things effectively. the government does ultimately own the post office and campaigners have long called for it to take tougher action to bring justice for more than 700 people, likejo hamilton, who were wrongly prosecuted because of defects in the horizon it computer system. so do they think this departure will make a difference? the whole thing is a bit of a distraction from the real thing. it's the dead cat strategy, and i think it's designed to make it look like the department, the business department, is being proactive and listening to the postmasters. but, actually, they're not. but the business secretary did hint that further personnel moves could follow. one labour mp who has long campaigned on the issue says root

and branch reform is needed. i hope this is the start of wider change. - clearly nick read, the chief executive, needs to go, - and we need now an open and honest culture which is not there _ at the post office at the moment. the post office has maintained it supports the public inquiry as it tries to establish the facts about the horizon scandal. questions about this sacking will rumble on. why now? who might be next? and who might now be tasked with ensuring the post office runs effectively, and justice is finally served for those who have suffered for 20 years? marc ashdown, bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with sarah. and the big news for melbourne. we start with the absorbing final at the australian men's open. italianjannik sinner fought back from two sets down against daniil medvedev to win a first grand slam title.

medvedev was looking for his second grand slam title, dominated the first set taking it 6—3. and while the second set felt closer, medvedev also took that by the same score line. but then sinner found his way, who was playing in his first final recovered and started to impose his game on medvedev, with the 22—year—old winning the next three sets 6—4, 6—4, 6—3 to win the title. it was another bitter experience for medvedev, who also blew a two—set lead against rafa nadal in the 2022 final. sinner becomes the first australian open champion for a decade not to be named novak djokovic, rafa nadal or roger federer. now to cricket where tourists england managed one of their best ever away wins, stunning india with a 28—run victory in a dramatic finish to the first test in hyderabad. india had lost only three of their previous 46 home tests and this england victory came despite a vastly inexperienced attack and with senior spinner jack leach hampered by injury.

7—62 from debutant spinner tom hartley helped england set india 231 to win. they then managed to get the hosts out for 202 in the final over of the extra half—hour at the end of the fourth day. one of the all—time great innings too by ollie pope as he made 196 for england with the bat. another great victory, as west indies have pulled off a shock victory 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 eight—run win. the tourists finish the series level having taken an understrength side to australia. to the fa cup in england now, where play was suspended after trouble broke out in the stands during west brom's derby against wolves

at the hawthorns. the stoppage came shortly after matheus cunha had struck to give wolves a 2—0 lead over their rivals in the 78th minute. police and security needed to rush to a corner of the ground supposedly holding home fans as the disturbance developed, while the players were ushered off the pitch. there appeared to be a lot of pushing and shoving in the stands and there had been pockets of incidents earlier in the game. some west brom players were concerned for family members seated nearby and went into the stand to remove their children. play eventually resumed about a half hour later. the game has just finished 2—0, wolves against west brom. now to 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 are ten 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 three—under—par round of 69 was enough to win by one shot ahead of denmark's nicolai hojgaard at torrey pines in san diego. and he absolutely enjoyed it. that's all the support for now. some sad breaking news coming into us from our team in breaking news coming into us from ourteam in thailand, and breaking news coming into us from our team in thailand, and that is that police at the thai beach resort

of buti'll say a 33—year—old british man has died after his parachute failed to open during an attempt to jump failed to open during an attempt to jump from a building. according to the police they were called to a 29 story apartment block on saturday evening after eyewitnesses reported seeing a man fall to the ground after crashing through a tree and police say they found a blue parachute on the van which hadn't opened. the victim does make social media pages suggest he was an experienced parachutist. we will have more on that story when we get it. protesters have hurled soup at the mona lisa painting in paris. the 16th century work — by leonardo da vinci — is protected by bulletproof glass, so is unlikely to have been damaged. as you can see it doesn't look nice with the soup on it. 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 cream pie at the painting in 2022. let's get some of the day's other news now. for the second time in a matter of days, north korea has fired cruise missiles into the waters off its eastern coast. south korea's military said the latest launch took place near the port of sinpo. it follows a similar test on wednesday, which pyongyang said used a new type of cruise missile that could be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. finland is holding its first presidential election since it joined nato. the decision to apply for membership was prompted by the russian invasion of ukraine, and all nine candidates in today's vote are promising a tough stance on the kremlin. 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. king charles is staying in the same hospital where the princess of wales catherine is being cared for, following her abdominal surgery. our correspondent, charlie rose, is outside the hospital. 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 can't 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 publicize the fact that he's been having an enlarged prostate to encourage more men to come forward and seek help, information and advice. and that's exactly what's happened according to the nhs, who say it's seen a surge in the number of men going on to its website seeking help and advice on enlarged prostate. and that's been welcomed by doctors and charities. one in three men over the age of 50 apparently has the condition of an enlarged prostate now, as well as the king.

his daughter in law, catherine, princess of wales, is also being cared for at this hospital having undergone abdominal surgery. she's 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, his majesty the king, are said to be doing well. both are being cared for, being waited on by medical teams, doctors, nurses. they're being monitored and assessed. and while that goes on today, perhaps we could see another visit from queen camilla. charlie rose with the latest from the hospital. that's it for this half an hour. i'm rajini vaidyanathan. i'll be back after a short break. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. sunshine may have been rather limited today but it has been a warmer day than it was yesterday. the average maximum temperatures this time of year range from six

to nine but today has been significantly milder, 15 degrees likely in the moray firth and around north wales. all due to a strengthening southerly wind which has been picking up ahead of this band of rain, still very gusty through the irish sea into the central belt of scotland. it's been windier in the north—west of scotland but this evening, those winds are beginning to ease and the winds will fall lighter elsewhere as that band of rain moves through scotland and northern ireland and comes to rest across northern england and wales. to the north it is going to be colder, north of the central belt there could be frost early on monday morning. south of our band of rain, it is much, much milder. that rain could be heavy over the hills particularly in the north—west of england, much of scotland and northern ireland could be dry with some sunshine, significantly colder, mind you, than it is today, temperatures taking quite a tumble. but across the midlands, east anglia and the south—east where it is still dry we still have some mild air, temperatures 1a or 15 degrees. wet weather in some places, and after dark we could see some

snow falling over the southern uplands leaving some icy conditions by tuesday. by tuesday morning, that area of low pressure will have taken the wet weather out of the way, leaving a cloudy start for england and wales but we will have sunshine for scotland and northern ireland and that will push its way south during the day and introduce colder air again. it might be 12 degrees for a while in the south—east but i think eight or nine nearer the mark on tuesday afternoon. lighter winds in southern parts of the uk into wednesday but further north a different story, wet and windy weather driving in on that weather front there. and particularly windy across the far north of scotland, but gales widely into scotland, northern ireland and the north of england, over the hills in the highlands there could be a couple of inches of rain on wednesday. the wet and windy weather sweeps into northern ireland, england and wales look dry, some sunshine and temperatures are still 10 or 11 degrees. as that weather front takes the rain southwards,

the rain just dies out, and then we will see a weather front returning to the north—west bringing back milder air.

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 12 unrwa staff

were involved in last october's attacks by hamas. the british warship hms diamond has shot down a drone launched by the iranian—backed houthi. houthi rebels continue to attack ships in the red sea despite air strikes being launched by the uk and us against the group's targets in yemen. turkish police are hunting for two gunmen who attacked a roman catholic church in istanbul, killing one person and wounding several others. cctv footage shows the gunmen entering the church of santa maria as worshippers were attending sunday morning mass. visitors are once more able to see the mona lisa, after pumpkin soup was thrown on it by activists. the painting itself hasn't been damaged. now on bbc news — american mercenaries: killing in yemen.

i love hunting down bad guys and ending them.