final results from pakistan's election show independent candidates allied to imran khan have won the most seats in parliament — despite suffering a major crackdown. israel's prime minister has insisted he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, where more than half of gaza's population has taken shelter. in an interview with abc news, benjamin netanyahu said... israel will give civilians safe passage to areas they've cleared north of rafah. the army has continued to target rafah with air strikes, which medical workers say killed more than a0 people in the last day. mr netanyahu claims israel's army has killed one hamas fighter for every civilian. he also says he believes "enough"

of the 132 remaining israeli hostages held in gaza are alive to justify israel continuing its offensive. the armed wing of hamas says israeli strikes have killed two of those hostages in the last four days, and seriously injured eight others. a senior hamas official has threatened to halt hostage exchange negotiations if israel goes ahead with the assault on rafah. barbara plett usher reports from jerusalem. well, at the moment what we have is an order the aftermath of an israeli air strike in rafah — on a home sheltering people who'd fled the war. they were told they would be safe here in the south. eight people were killed, including children. this is ines—amah. "i'm looking for my niece," she says. "she was two months old." so even here, there's dangerfrom the air, but it could get worse.

israel's planning to send in troops to carry on its fight against hamas. victory is within reach. we're going to do it, we're going to get the remaining hamas terrorist battalions in rafah, which is the last bastion, but we're going to do it — and on this, i agree with the americans — we're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population, so they can leave. and there's nowhere left to run. they're crammed up against the egyptian border, living under plastic, food and water in short supply. more than a million people have crowded into rafah in the last four months, but israel says it can't win the war without defeating hamas here. the united nations is unconvinced that an evacuation plan could work. that was the assessment of the un's humanitarian coordinator after a visit to gaza this week. it's very difficult to respond right now, where people are static. and people have come there because they're looking for safety. it's the last... it's the last resort for many people that have come.

and do you have... do you have a contingency plan if there is, if the combat operations are extended? well, we had a contingency plan for them to arrive in rafah. that was the contingency plan we had. but now we're looking for another contingency plan, but we're struggling right now to address this contingency plan. and if there was to be an incursion into rafah, which is a massively over—populated city, it's got five times the population there was before the conflict. so everything is under pressure, we're under pressure, and the population themselves have nowhere to go. israel says people can move back north, where soldiers are winding up their offensive, but this is what they will find. this crisis keeps building and building. barbara plett usher, bbc news, jerusalem. jon b alterman is the senior vice president & middle east programme director at the centre for strategic and international studies. i asked him why benjamin netanyahu was not listening to international concerns over a possible offensive in rafah.

he is responding to israeli politics, which are committed to destroying hamas. partly, i think he feels, as many israelis do, that the world isn't going to take care of israel, the world isn't going to take care of threats to israel. this is something israel has to do for itself. and once hamas has been destroyed, as israelis believe they can do, then they will work with others or leave it to others to rebuild gaza. but right now they are fighting a war and their intent to do it with one hand tied behind their backs. and we're hearing more and more in the recent days, i mean, a lot from the us over the last week, but in recent days, more and more israeli allies speaking up and speaking so publicly warning mr netanyahu not to go into rafah. why do you think we're hearing from these countries? has quiet diplomacy failed? i'm not sure it's failed, but the israelis, as i say, are remained fixated on militarily destroying hamas. israelis believe it is both possible

and necessary to do so. and while netanyahu is overwhelmingly unpopular and israeli has about 15% support, there is popularity for being militarily tough, for ensuring that israeli hostages are released from hamas custody. and i think his political calculation is that in israel, he has to either stand tough or he will no longer be in office. and it's very important for him, for a whole host of reasons to remain in office. and certainly what we've seen not only from netanyahu but from the larger government around him is a determination to continue to push, despite, as you say, a lot

of concern from some of israel's closest allies around the world. nato insists it remains ready and able to defend all allies, after donald trump said he would encourage russia to attack any member of the alliance that didn't invest enough in its military. nato's secretary general, jens stoltenberg, said any attack on nato would be met with a united and forceful response, while the white house condemned the former president's comments as "appalling and unhinged". nato countries are supposed to spend 2% of their gdp on defence, but not all do. at a campaign rally in south carolina, mr trump said he wouldn't defend nato members who don't meet their financial obligations to the alliance. nato was busted until i came along. i said, everybody�*s got to pay. they said, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us? i said absolutely not. they couldn't believe the answer.

they asked me that question, one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, "well, sir, if we don't pay and we are attacked by russia, will you protect us?" i said, "you didn't pay, you're delinquent?" he said, "yes, let's say that happened." "no, i would not protect you." in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. you've got to pay. you've got to pay your bills. let's speak to robert, a senior fellow at the center for eastern studies. he's a former nato official, who headed the nato information office in moscow until 2015. good to have you on the programme. i'd like to get your reaction to those comments and how worried you think eastern european countries who may not reach that 2% of their gdp spending, how worried do you think they should be about those comments?

i think it was quite a rude awakening for a lot of people on the other side of the atlantic but not only on that side. but certainly when it comes to poland and baltic countries, bulgaria and romania and also finland and sweden, who have justjoined nato, all those countries are spending 4%. it's a very serious issue because we are not just talking about very serious issue because we are notjust talking about president trump... he knows how nato works but it relies on credibility of his collective defence. for others, there is unit in nato right now. we are facing a prejudiced state of russia which needs to be confronted with a united action and there have been various decisions taken and

thatis been various decisions taken and that is the reason we have new plans, essentially in the presence of the military on the eastern side of the military on the eastern side of the military on the eastern side of the flank, but we need to work on other issues and it's true that defence spending is still not high enough, particularly in a number of g7 countries such as germany, canada and italy. so yes, perhaps pressure should be spent on them, but this is a different matter that trump puts in doubt the allegations. that's why the general has reacted how he has. some really provoking comments, some saying this could just be another throwaway comment by trump. but how do you think russia will view these comments? we haven't heard from putin on this but obviously him and trump do have a close relationship, a decent relationship. the trump do have a close relationship, a decent relationship.— a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your _

a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your question _ a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your question i - a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your question i think, i a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your question i think, is | answer to your question i think, is not science to guess they are forming an alliance. they are attacking and killing people in ukraine right now and that famous interview putin gave to mr carson, he gave no sign that he wants to stop. russia wants to essentially do everything possible to divide nato and the eu and hold democratic community because his goals are for a disruptive state. they enjoy this kind of comments booth perhaps one of the reasons why he started his barbaric war against ukraine because somehow he felt that the worst would not be united in its response. i think he was surprised, that's the good part. but he is already quite

far from good part. but he is already quite farfrom reality good part. but he is already quite far from reality in good part. but he is already quite farfrom reality in his good part. but he is already quite far from reality in his strange world as you can see in the interview and this sort of talk that somehow puts doubt on article five from the leading ally of course may encourage moscow to start thinking on even more aggressive and reckless behaviour and then of course that concerns the whole international community including the us. find concerns the whole international community including the us. and if russia did decide _ community including the us. and if russia did decide to _ community including the us. and if russia did decide to be _ community including the us. and if russia did decide to be more - russia did decide to be more aggressive, countries in nato, do they have time and resources to build up their security and protect themselves without the usual us? is that possible?— that possible? everything is ossible that possible? everything is possible and _ that possible? everything is possible and nothing - that possible? everything is possible and nothing is - that possible? everything is i possible and nothing is eternal that possible? everything is - possible and nothing is eternal but we are all working together, major effort has been made to improve the capacity is but anybody who suggests

that in of a few months or years europeans would be able to essentially ensure the same level of security, without the us... the truth is this a win—win situation, they need to step up in a number of ways all true, but at the same time the bulb do make the bed rock and foundation of all this is the fallibility of this ——... foundation of all this is the fallibility of this --. .. good to net fallibility of this --. .. good to get your— fallibility of this --. .. good to get your thoughts. _ fallibility of this --. .. good to get your thoughts. thank - fallibility of this --. .. good to get your thoughts. thank you | fallibility of this --. .. good to i get your thoughts. thank you for your time. for your time. now — their leader was jailed, and their party and cricket bat symbol barred from the election. but despite all that, final results from pakistan show candidates allied to imran khan s pti party have emerged as the largest grouping in parliament. independent candidates won 101 of the 266 seats in parliament.

bbc analysis suggests 93 of them are backed by imran khan. the pmln party of fellow former prime minister, nawaz sharif, won 75 seats. despite police warning they would respond forcefully to illegal gatherings, pti supporters have been out protesting over the delay in releasing the results and alleged vote rigging. courts have reportedly been flooded with legal challenges to the results, after both mr khan and mr sharif claimed victory. with no clear winner it could take weeks of political wrangling to form a governing coalition, as our correspondent, caroline davies, reports from islamabad. two sides are claiming victory in pakistan, but there is still no new government. both would need more seats to get a majority. nawaz sharif�*s pmln is looking for alliances.

today, he met with karachi—based party mqm. imran khan's candidates may have the largest number of seats, but as they are all independents, there are complications. in the meantime, they're trying to increase their vote count. accusing the authorities of rigging votes, which they deny, they are challenging the results in court and calling supporters out to peacefully protest. this is the road ouside the election commission here in rawalpindi and a few hundred protesters have gathered. this is not a mass level at the moment, but the idea is it keeps pressure up while the pti work out what to do next. in the crowd was aftab alam from oxford. this country has been in this situation for the past decade, and it has been going on like this. imran khan is the only hope now for this country to get out of this mess. some covered their faces. i believe that our institutions are not going to forgive us for this because we are standing for our rights. afterjust over an hour and a half, suddenly the mood turned and a decision was made.

so we havejust been pushed back by a cloud of tear gas that was used on the crowd of protesters that were outside, they have now been completely dispersed. you can see the reaction of everybody behind me as well. pakistan has already faced months of political instability with no answer yet to who will lead the country. caroline davies, bbc news, rawalpindi. let's start in the english premier league, where arsenal have thumped west ham at the london stadium. it finished 6—0. among the scorers, bukayo saka got two, taking him past his 50th for the club. former west ham player declan rice got the sixth, although he didn't celebrate. west ham are winless in six matches

in all competitions. it's fifth versus sixth as aston villa take on manchester united. a win for villa would put them back into the top four, but united manager eric ten hag says he's told his players they need to adjust their mentality. i've said to the team from the start of january, every game is now final. there's also the approach to west ham united, one point behind them. we have to take this challenge, see it as a final, and that will be every game from now on for us. we are already in that mood. we'll find out the winner of the africa cup of nations later, as hosts ivory coast take on nigeria in the final. it comes 2a days after both former winners met in the group stages of the competition, when nigeria were victorious. so, ivory coast will be hoping to do one better this time. they last won the title back in 2015. and they're the first host nation to reach the final

since egypt 17 years ago. the match will be all the more special for ivorian striker sebastian haller, who returned last year after successful treatment for testicular cancer. the last one and a half years, like you said, have been quite challenging for myself, for my family and everyone. so, yeah, i have the feeling that no matter what you want to do, something will happen, so ijust take everything step—by—step and ijust try to enjoy every moment. i think i will take a few months or years to really realise what happens in the last years. the last match of this weekend's six nations is into the second half. ireland taking on italy in dublin. they're in control. four tries in the first half for ireland, giving them a lead of 24—0. jack crowley, dan sheehan and jack conan all going over. ireland hoping to move top

of the table again and make it two wins from two. super bowl 58 is almost here. on sunday night the kansas city chiefs face the san francisco 49ers, and for the first time it's taking place under the lights of las vegas. all eyes will be on the two quarter—backs, patrick mahomes and brock purdy. the two—time super bowl champion payton manning says he's been impressed with them. they are both great stories, right? they both have earned the right to be here. patrick, this is getting to be kind of old hat for him. i think he books a reservation for the super bowl every year for his family. and brock has had an incredible year, he has done a greatjob, doing what kyle shanahan has asked him to do and playing great quarterback, especially down the stretch in the play—offs. that's why it's going to be two good teams in the super bowl. and that's all the sport for now. king charles has attended church in sandringham in his first public outing since buckingham palace announced his cancer diagnosis.

the king waved to members of the public as he walked outside st mary magdalene church with his wife, queen camilla. charles, who's 75, said all those affected by cancer knew "such kind thoughts" were "the greatest comfort and encouragement". around 100 well—wishers gathered on sunday as the king walked into church. crowds formed around the gates of the private estate, but were not allowed to enter the grounds — which are closed to the public until easter. esther ghey and her family have been attending a vigil in golden square, warrington, to mark the first anniversary of the murder of 16—year—old brianna ghey. brianna was stabbed to death by teenagers scarlettjenkinson and eddie ratcliffe in a cheshire park last february. here is esther ghey speaking

at the vigil this afternoon. i really didn't think that i was going to be able to come on stage today. but after seeing all of brianna's really brave, lovely friends come out and do that for her, i thought i'd better push myself as well. so as you've all heard, brianna was an amazing, unique and joyful teenager. i will be forever thankful that i was lucky enough to spend 16 years with her. she taught me so much and gave me so much happiness and love. if there's one piece of advice that i can give to any parent, it would be to hug your children tight and never stop telling them that you love them. i want to thank you all for coming here today to pay respect to brianna. i hope that wherever she is now, that she can feel the love that we've created by joining together today. thank you to the golden square

and to all involved making this vigil happen, thank you. applause. let's speak to news reporter jessica lane who was also watching the vigil take place. a very emotional day for those attending. it a very emotional day for those attending-— a very emotional day for those attendinu. ., , ., , a very emotional day for those attendinu. . , ., , ., attending. it was and hundreds of --eole attending. it was and hundreds of peeple turned _ attending. it was and hundreds of peeple turned up _ attending. it was and hundreds of people turned up and _ attending. it was and hundreds of people turned up and they - attending. it was and hundreds of people turned up and they came i attending. it was and hundreds of - people turned up and they came today because they all wanted to remember breanna and paid tribute to her. a vigil was held here at the same shopping centre a week after she was killed. the one today was organised by the piece in mind campaign and

the local paper. this is trying to fund raise for coaches to help children's mental health and give children's mental health and give children an outlet for any negative and difficult emotions and feelings they are having in the hopes that another case like this does not happen. you can see behind me people have walked down today with pink balloons, teddy bears and flowers and many people were wearing pink. brianna's school friends also spoke on stage. some letters for her wishing they could have done more of the last year and at the end there was a two minutes' silence. i'm sure many people remember the details of the case and what happened to her. she was stabbed 28 times by scarlet jenkinson and eddie ratcliffe who were both 15 years old at the time. it happened in the parkjust north of warrington. jenkinson was

sentenced to 22 years in prison and ratcliffe 20. brianna ghey was transgender and the judge who sentenced them said whilejenkinson was motivated by a deep desire to kill, ratcliffe's motivation was in part hostility to her transgender identity. the organisers of thejeep vigil and everyone who came here today said they hope what happened today said they hope what happened to brianna and the way she was killed can now start to fade away and people will instead be able to remember the fun, and people will instead be able to rememberthe fun, lively, bubbly reenergised they spoke of here today. it's super bowl night in the us, where the kansas city chiefs take on the san francisco 49ers. las vegas is hosting the sporting event, and fans have been pouring into the city. millions of people tune in to watch every year — all over the world. but what makes the super bowl so popular? sofia bettiza takes a look.

the super bowl is the most watched sporting event in the world. it's broadcast in over 130 countries and in more than 30 languages. so what is it that makes it so popular? well, the global appeal of american football is growing. they have become a cultural phenomenon. and a lot of people watch the game just because they want to see commercials like these. then there's the half—time show, when a famous musician gets on stage to perform. and just to give you an idea, when rihanna performed last year, more than 121 million people tuned in to watch. and over the last few years, some of the biggest pop stars in the world have performed, including shakira, jennifer lopez, prince and madonna. now, on top of all that, what's new this year

is the taylor swift effect. she is in a relationship with travis kelce, who plays for one of the teams competing at the super bowl. and, of course, taylor swift is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. she has a huge fan base. and so she brings in a new, youngeraudience, especially women. and so because of all this, this year, the super bowl could break all sorts of social media and viewing records. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. very pleased to say it's been a quieter weekend of weather for most of us, but there's still a lot of waterlogged fields and pavements out there, as you can see by this weather watcher picture sent in from hull a little earlier on. now, as we go through the week ahead, we might start off quite optimistic with some sunny spells around, but it will turn

increasingly unsettled with the showers turning to longer spells of rain, breezy at times, but it will be mild, particularly through the middle part of the week. this has been the story today. we've had some nuisance rainjust clinging onto the far east coast of scotland and northeast england. some brighter spells and a few scattered showers out to the west. now, those showers will continue to feed in across west—facing coasts overnight. but with some clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away. it's going to be a chilly start to our monday morning. low single figures for many, perhaps in rural parts of scotland, below freezing, a touch of ice not out of the question where we've got those lingering showers. low pressure dominates the scene as we move into monday, the wind direction coming from a northwesterly, slightly fresher source and that's going to continue to drive in plenty of showers closest to that area of low. so northern ireland, scotland, perhaps northwest england as well. and some of the showers to the tops of the mountains once again could be wintry in nature. but there will be some sunshine

elsewhere and those temperatures are likely to peak between six and ten degrees. as we go through monday evening and into tuesday, we've got this little ridge of high pressure keeping things quiet. but all the time this weather front is approaching from the southwest, that is going to gradually spill in more cloud ahead of it. so after a bright start, clouding over. a few scattered showers in the far northwest, more persistent showery rain develops across the channel islands, south west england, wales and eventually into the midlands, north west england and northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. 7 to 11, our overall highs. so as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, it's here where the showers potentially could merge to longer spells of rain as it stays pretty unsettled. the wind direction there coming from a south—westerly, so a very mild direction and that is going to just push that milder air further north across the country. so it does mean that we could see temperatures perhaps into the mid—teens as we go through the middle part of the week. but it stays pretty unsettled for many of us.

take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's prime minister insists he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, where around 1.5 million palestinians have taken refuge. the un says there is nowhere safe in gaza for them to go, but benjamin netanyahu says enough of the hostages are alive

to justify the operation. nato has hit back at remarks by donald trump — that he would encourage russia to whatever the hell it wants to any nato ally that fails to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. the white house has condemned the comments as "appalling and deranged". police in pakistan have used tear gas to break up protests by supporters ofjailed former prime minister imran khan, alleging vote—rigging in the election. final results confirm that candidates he backs won the most seats in parliament. you are watching bbc news. now it s time for today s sunday episode of newscast — with laura kuessnberg, paddy 0 connell and henry zeffman. newscast.