on patrol when air strikes hit... we'll bring you a special report on the work and lives of the paramedics responding to gaza's emergency calls. labour suspends its rochdale by—election candidate, azhar ali, as new audio emerges about the comments he made about israel. and king charles returns to london for what is expected to be medical treatment following his cancer diagnosis. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. senior officials from the united states, qatar, egypt and israel are expected to hold talks in cairo, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire in gaza.

the discussions are due to feature the head of the cia — william burns, his egyptian counterpart — abbas kamel, israel's mossad chief david barnea, and qatar's prime minister — sheikh mohammed bin abdul rahman al thani. the meeting is happening as israeli forces prepare to launch a ground offensive against hamas in rafah. earlier, us presidentjoe biden said the displaced palestinians were exposed and vulnerable, and called for their protection. there are some live pictures of a tent camp in rafah where many gazans are displaced. more than a million people are sheltering in the overcrowded city. in a moment we'll hear from our correspondent in cairo where those talks are expected to take place. but first, let's hear what our correspondent injerusalem, barbara plett usher, told us about israeli preparations for a ground offensive in rafah. there aren't any visible preparations. the israeli discussion is that it will go ahead, because

they say they have to do that to win they say they have to do that to win the war, to defeat the final hamas talents that are in rafah, as they say. they don't want to leave the situation where hamas is able to reconstitute itself or we take control of gaza at any point. but they have been getting quite a lot of opposition to that idea because of opposition to that idea because of all the palestinians sheltering there, some 1.4 million people crowded into rafah, having evacuated as the israelis advanced south. you have got the american president, who supports israel's war aims, talking about, very pointedly, the need for about, very pointedly, the need for a credible plan to evacuate them. the israeli prime minister has said there will be a plan. mr biden said make sure it does protect the civilians. you also have some opposition from the united nations, which the israelis would need if they were going to be able to set up an alternate location, alternate tent camps in a different place for all these people. united nations

spokesman has said we will not participate in what he cold, he said you can't send to where there is an excluded audiences. but what we are seeing are some people making that move on their own. two nights ago there was intense bombardment of rafah because the israelis moved in to rescue two hostages. that scared a lot of palestinians there wondering what would come next. we have seen some footage which appears to show people on that move heading north out of rafah. the road packed with cars, weighed down with belongings. some people are taking that step on their own, feeling that rafah is not going to be safe any more. let's speak to abdelbassir hassan from bbc arabic, who joins us from cairo. how significant is it, the meeting expected to take place?

we have learned from israeli media that the israeli delegation has all ready left and most probably it should be in cairo now. according to the israeli media. what has been reported in media, especially after the meeting between presidentjoe biden and the king ofjordan, yesterday, on the table would be a pause in fighting, hoping that it would result in something enduring. now the united states is offering for the table in cairo for those meeting at multi—phased plan, three

orfour meeting at multi—phased plan, three or four weeks meeting at multi—phased plan, three orfour weeks ago, now meeting at multi—phased plan, three or four weeks ago, now the case is a six—week phase where there should be a humanitarian pause, during which hostages should be released. and israel is hoping the deal should be agreed as soon as possible. and is really official spoke to bbc news hours ago hoping that this could be donein hours ago hoping that this could be done in cairo, in order to avoid any more escalation, and a promise that israel will do everything to secure the release of its hostages in hamas, including a negotiated solution. in your analysis, how realistic is it that they will be able to negotiate some kind of truce, considering prime minister benjamin netanyahu's comments? yes. i think israeli media said with

us pressure israel has to accept a deal,. the main concern of the americans and israelis at the moment is freeing the hostages say, instead of losing them day after day. as well, to avoid any more escalation, especially in rafah, in light of the threat, there is a plan to carry out a ground offensive in gaza, rafah particularly, which is very populated. they are warned it would be a catastrophic move. therefore efforts are being done by key players, the united states, egypt, in order to reach such a deal as

soon as they can to avoid what is called catastrophic. the egyptians try to contain egyptian fears that any such ground offensive would lead people to cross from rafah to egyptian side. the head of unrwa has been responding to claims made that some of its staff were involved in hamas.

we have talked about the allegation. i remind of the action taken by the agency, to terminate the contract, we have initiated an investigation, calling for cooperation for this investigation, demanding it is of importance that government of israel also cooperate so that we do have more than the allegations that have been shared with me. as we've been hearing, international pressure to find a solution to the war in gaza is mounting. with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu announcing last week he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation to rafah, fears grow for the people who find themselves unable to flee any further. across gaza, scenes of devastation and heartbreak aren't hard to come by, and for humanitarian workers from the palestinian red crescent society — who are often first on scene when tragedy strikes — it can be relentless.

palestinian journalist feras al ajrami spent the first month of the war following paramedics across northern gaza. this is their story.

in response to that report, the israel defense forces said: "any claim that we intentionally target "red crescent or medical workers "is baseless and untrue. "we act in accordance with international law and take "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm in our operations". and if you're in the uk you can watch bbc arabic�*s full film gaza 101: emergency rescue on bbc iplayer now.

live pictures from rafah where more than 1 live pictures from rafah where more than1 million people are sheltering. later in the programme will be talking to a medical student talking about her experience there, and also to a hostage negotiator about the talks that we are expecting in cairo. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. official figures show that the rate at which wages are rising dropped in the three months to december — but it still outpaced the level of inflation. the office for national statistics said wage growth dropped by 0.4 percentage points to 6.2% in the last quarter of last year. the owners of the body shop chain are expected to announce that the british part of the business is to go into administration.

the move is likely to result in the closure of at least some of the firm's more than 200 shops around the uk — and job losses. poor christmas sales are being blamed. a man has astonished police by calling 999 to report himself for drink—driving. north yorkshire police said the call came injust before noon on monday from a man who said he was, "drink—driving and doesn't know what he is doing". the driver told the call—handler he was in knaresborough and had had "a heavy weekend". you're live with bbc news. labour has withdrawn support for its candidate in the rochdale by—election, azhar ali, because of remarks he made about israel. the party says further information has now come to light. it had previously defended mr ali, after he'd apologised. it's too late for labour to change its candidate. opponents have accused the party of being in disarray.

here's the audio, published by the daily mail newspaper, with those comments from mr ali. it shouldn't have been suspended, right? it was suspended on what was said. and, you know, i know him really well. and he's a solid palestinian pro—palestine supporter. the media and some of the people in the media from certainjewish quarters were giving **** about what he said. let's speak to our reporter rowan bridge in rochdale. what is the feeling they are of what has happened there in rochdale? it is interesting. if you walk around the town centre you would be hard pressed to know that a by—election is due to take place here in a few weeks�* time. but if you canvassed opinion in the way that i have what you will find is that i have what you will find is that opinions are split. there is a section of opinion that feels that

while the comments of azhar ali may have been inflammatory he was reflecting a view that is hailed by some that labour should have taken a stronger stance against israel over the conflict in the middle east. and thatis the conflict in the middle east. and that is a constituency that george galloway, former labour mp who is standing here, has been tapping into. there are other labour voters who are dismayed about what azhar ali has said and where that has left them because they do not know who to turn to and where they should vote. but they feel that they ought to turn out and vote regardless. what a number of people have said to me is that they think this row could cause that they think this row could cause that could cost azhar ali the labour held this at the last election with the 9500 majority. their concern is now that some of those labour voters may stay at home, some may go to other parties, that could split the vote and cost azhar ali deceit. it shows that the old others that are weak as a long time in politics,

this is belong 24 hours. —— cost azhar ali deceit. interested to see how this could be damaging in wider picture for labour, notjust rochdale. labour, not just rochdale. yes. labour, notjust rochdale. yes. it taps into that concern that keir starmer has been trying to address around anti—semitism in the party. i asked people whether they thought this was going to cost labour long term. there is due to be a general election in the next 12 months or so. most people felt that at that labour could win that seat backin at that labour could win that seat back in 12 months�* time with a new labour candidate. i think the feeling was that this was certainly damaging in the short—term cop what would be in the longer term, we would be in the longer term, we would do after the by—election, and see how this plays out the longer term. and we mentioned that by—election, here�*s a full list of candidates standing in the rochdale by—election.

if you�*d like more information you can head to our website. and if you�*re watching in the uk my colleague tanya becket will have more on this story from 12.30 here on bbc news. king charles has flown to buckingham palace after spending a week at his home in sandringham in norfolk, following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis and his first treatment. the king and queen camilla are now back at clarence house, in london. with more on this we can cross to our royal correspondent sean coughlan in our london newsroom. what do we know about king charles�*s return. he was seen today back in london, heath flew back from sandringham, the assumption is that he is here for probably regular treatments for his cancer. we do not know what type of cancer but we had last monday that he had been diagnosed with

cancer when he was in for a different process, procedure on his enlarged prostate. as many people will know, cancer treatments are regular, people have to go back to hospital. king charles will be treated as an outpatient, he won�*t be staying in. this may become part of a regular pattern. he is coming back from sandringham, where he was seen at the weekend, waving to well—wishers when he went to church. today he was seen with his wife, queen camilla, in the car driving to clarence house. we know, many others who have experience of family members who have had treatment for cancer, we know it can be very up and down. i imagine the royal family is taking a view on how often these trips be taken. these matters are of course private, private for anybody, no matter who you are. you can�*t expect to know everything about it. but all of us

have been touched in some way by cancer. it is a journey into the unknown. we don�*t know how it will work out. people�*s reactions to different treatments can vary. i imagine all those questions have been part of the family discussions. and lest we get regular updates we will properly assume that things are progressing in the weights as doctors want them to work. do you think they will be some comfort in the fact that he has received numerous messages within this country, around the world, of support, a well wishes, do you think that will be continuing to help him on in this treatment he is having? i think very much so. we have heard from king charles himself saying how much this meant to him to have all these well—wishers. and they can from the great and the good, the

presidents and world leaders, but also from ordinary people who have got in touch to wish them well, many of whom might themselves have had experiences of illness. we heard also from his son, prince william, seeing how much it is meant to all the family to have such support. thank you. the first survey of the effect of avian flu on seabirds around the uk shows the virus has caused a dramatic decline in three species. the rspb says the numbers of great skuas has fallen by three—quarters, compared with three years ago. gannets and roseate terns have also suffered badly. let�*s talk to our climate and science reporter — georgina rannard. tell us more about what this survey shows. this is the first count at the rspb have dances bird flu first affected wild seabirds in the uk in 2021. we

know from these beautiful birds all around the uk coast, and the uk is a real haven for many of them, so we have almost half their global breeding grounds for these seabirds. but you might remember pictures of those birds washing up dead on beaches stop in some cases there were signs saying people should not go onto beaches because of the impact of that virus. now rspb have done the first survey, they did it last summer, they are able to compare the numbers on those populations to their senses that they had than three years previous, and it has shown a dramatic decline in those three species, gannets, terns, and create skewers, which are also called pilot of the seas, powerful bird that steals food from the beaks of other birds. the population in the uk mostly live in scotland, in one place alone, in shetland 1500 bars were missing from that population. rspb is seeing this

as a wake—up call of impact of avian flu for the conservation of these important and beautiful birds that we are used to seeing flying around our coasts. people might be wondering what they can actually do about this. is there anything that we can make a change here? yes. we always want to know when we hear this type of news, what is the solution? unfortunately there is not our short—term solution, there is no vaccine that we can give to these seabirds. what the rspb says is that because the uk is such a haven for these birds, we have so many of their breeding grounds, that any action taken in the uk could protect these birds worldwide stop they are facing other threats, this is something else that the charity wanted to drive home, that this is just another threat on top of everything else. that includes the impact of climate change, which is reducing the availability of food. it can also include the impact of fishing on these barons. but if the uk and other countries were to try and tackle those problems together,

they are saying it would really start to protect the homes, nesting grounds of these birds, and hopefully it would be more resilient to this type of epidemic. thank you very much. breaking news from pakistan. the results of the election, that we have been covering. this coming into as, imran khan�*s party has announced an alliance with religious parties. despite his party winning more seats than their rivals in the general election, they cannot initiate government formation process alone, so today, it seems they have decided

to join small religious parties to utilise their platform to form a government. that is the news that we are getting from pakistan. and we will find out more about that as we continue this programme. and of course there will be the latest on our website. and just a reminder, that we can bring you more on our top story, we can take you to pictures of rafah at the moment. these pictures of rafah that we are bringing you live, from the scene there, we are still actually on the pakistan election. apologies. we will bring you the very latest when we get it. and it is of course more on our website. let us listen into what we are hearing now.

that was the pakistan people�*s party speaking they are, bilawal bhutto zardari, was holding a press conference they are, he was speaking in english a little earlier, so that is in response to those pakistan elections that we were hearing. we will bring you of course the latest on that when we get it. you are

watching bbc news. there is more on our website and on the bbc app. stay with as on bbc news. hello again. over the next few days, the temperature is going to creep up, it�*s going to turn much milder. what we have today is this weather front across the northwest of scotland producing some showers. it�*s behind this weather front coming into the southwest that we start to drag

in the milder conditions. but with it, too, it�*s bringing in a lot of cloud and some rain and some drizzle across england and also wales. that rain pepping up across northern england through the day. eventually we�*ll see a bit more cloud into the far south of southern scotland and also parts of northern ireland, sharp temperature contrast tonight. further south across england and wales. view weather fronts around on wednesday. as that rain moves further north and bumps into colder air over a in scotland it could turn to snow. there will be more rain across the south of england and. but there may be a few brighter spells in between. that�*ll help to the temperature to 14 or 15 celsius. risk south—westerly winds for some. more weather fights around on thursday. this warm front and reducing feeling air. temperatures on thursday could rise as high as 16 or 17 celsius. most of the rain on

thursday will tend to be too was there north and the west. again, heavy downpours at times. temperatures are above seasonal average. rain continues to push further northwards. on friday that rain is mostly pushed out towards the east. plenty of clout. outbreaks of drizzle here and there. it�*s of any brightness on friday will tend to be from the south and west. let�*s get more now on the rochdale by—election and the labour party decision to withdrawn support for its own candidate azhar ali. labour had stood by mr ali when he claimed israel had allowed the 7th of october attacks by hamas as a pretext to invade gaza. but it changed position after mr ali apparently also blamed jewish media figures for fuelling criticism against a pro—palestinian labour mp.

here�*s the audio, published by the daily mail newspaper, with those comments from mr ali. he shouldn�*t have been suspended, right? he was suspended on what was said. and, you know, i know him really well. and he�*s a solid palestinian, pro—palestine supporter. the media and some of the people in the media from certainjewish quarters were given bleep about what he said. earlier today, housing minister lee rowley also commented on the rochdale controversy. i mean, it�*s a complete mess and the labour party have to answer for that. but i think there�*s some really fundamental questions here. azhar ali did notjust make some of these statements quietly to a few people in the corner. some of the statements that have come out that i had to be dragged out by the press were made to labour party meetings. the labour party have got a real

problem here and it�*s demonstrating they are not fit for government, they haven�*t changed