of the paramedics responding to 6323's emergency calls. in business, cosmetic retailer the body shop goes into administration in the uk putting thousands ofjobs at risk. 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. egyptian media are reporting that senior officials from the united states, qatar, egypt and israel are in cairo to hold talks, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire in gaza. the discussions are featuring 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 comes 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. our correspondent injerusalem, barbara plett usher, told us more 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 the war, to defeat the final hamas battalions that are in rafah. they don't want to leave a situation where hamas is able to reconstitute itself or retake control of gaza at any point. but they have been getting quite a lot 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've got the american president, who supports israel's war aims, talking about very pointedly the need for a credible plan to evacuate them. the israeli prime minister has said there will be a plan and joe biden has said, "make sure it does actually 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 of these people. a united nations spokesman has said he would not participate in what he called the "forced displacement of people". he said you can't send people back to areas where there isn't enough shelter or where there are unexploded ordinance. but what we are seeing is people making that move on their own.

remember two nights ago, there was a very intense bombardment of rafah because the israelis moved in to rescue two hostages and that really scared a lot of palestinians. they were wondering what would come next. so we have seen some footage which appears to show people on the move heading north out of rafah. the road packed with cars weighed down with belongings. so some people are taking that step on their own, just feeling that rafah is not going to be safe any more. we are taking you directly to the united states. chuck schumer is holding a press conference, let's listen. �* ., , ., ., listen. after not 'ust along it weekend but — listen. after notjust along it weekend but after _ listen. after notjust along it weekend but after months i listen. after notjust along it| weekend but after months of listen. after notjust along it - weekend but after months of work, listen. after notjust along it _ weekend but after months of work, we can say it is been worth it. today we witness one of the most historic and consequential bills passed in the senate, a bill that is so

greatly impact notjust a national bat national security, notjust the security of our allies but also the security of our allies but also the security of our allies but also the security of western democracy as we know it. tonight, finally, america led the way for freedom and democracy, and with this bill, the senate did declare as the american leadership will not waver, falter or fail. to date the senate keeps its word to ukrainians in need, desperate need of supplies and ammunition. two innocent palestinian civilians in need, so much need of relief. two israelis in need of support. anti—us service members on patrol in the indo—pacific, the red sea and around the world. today we sent a clear bipartisan message to a resolve to our allies in nato. with

the strong bipartisan vote in the senate, it is clear that as speaker johnson brings this bill to the house floor, it will pass with that same bipartisan support. the responsibility now falls on speaker johnson and house republicans to approve this bill safely. and i call on speakerjohnson to rise to the occasion, to do the right thing, bring this bill to the floor. as i said, given the large robust majority here in the senate, it is clear that if that bill is brought to the floor, our bill is brought to the floor, it will pass. but if the hard right kills this bill, it would be an enormous gift to vladimir putin, it would be a betrayal of our

partners and an abandonment of our service members. as i said, i believe this bill is brought to the house floor, it will pass with strong bipartisan support. there are large numbers of democrats and republicans in the house who know we have to stand up to our responsibilities and aid ukraine. i thank all of my colleagues in the senate who supported this bill. thank you to senators murray and murphy, langford, collins. and thank you to all the senators and staff who worked through thanksgiving, christmas, new year and even the super bowl to get this done. finally, these past few months have been a great test to the us senate, to see if we could escape the scent of a cup full of partisanship and summon the will to defend what western democracy and our own

country's values when it matters most. today, the senate resounded late pass that test. it makes me proud of the senate. today the senate to sure the united states is closer to meeting the monumental inconsequential moment we are in. —— and consequential moment. now it is “p and consequential moment. now it is up to the house to meet this moment, do the right thing and save democracy as we know it. questions? we will take it on this subject first. ryan. studio: that was chuck schumer speaking, holding a press conference after the senate approved that $95 billion aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. he was somewhat jubilant at the start of that saying it was one of the most historic bills passed in the senate. he said america led the way for freedom and democracy. that approval comes after months of political wrangling,

senate republicans remain divided on the bill. it had previously been voted down. to reiterate, it includes $60 billion of funding for kyiv, and humanitarian aid for conflict zones including gaza. that now heads to the republican—controlled house of representatives where its fate there will be decided. we are hearing from senior officials that they are in cairo to hold talks. international pressure is growing for a ceasefire in gaza. let's speak to julien barnes—dacey. he's director of the middle east and north africa programme at the european council on foreign relations, a think tank that focuses on european foreign and security policy. thank you forjoining us. can you

start by explaining for us why these talks are significant in the wider region, as well as in gaza. absolutely. first and foremost, there is a push to get an urgently needed ceasefire in gaza. obviously there is an escalation in russia which could have a huge humanitarian... or provoke a intensified humanitarian crisis and this is an attempt to get the hostages out, to prevent the conflict from deepening, to prevent a humanitarian crisis. but obviously there is a regional dimension to this. the region is on its edge, whether it is looking across london on or iraq or syria or yemen and missiles being fired into the red sea, all this is escalation tied to the conflict in gaza. and without

some cessation of hostilities they a reasonable and sustained ceasefire, there is a big risk this conflict could still escalate more widely across the region and draw out the country —— draw other countries in. do you think it is likely with the countries who are currently involved in these talks, there will be some kind of resolution? it is in these talks, there will be some kind of resolution?— kind of resolution? it is incredibly hard to know. _ kind of resolution? it is incredibly hard to know. the _ kind of resolution? it is incredibly hard to know. the fundamental. hard to know. the fundamental question here is whether the israelis, more than others, are going to get behind this push for a ceasefire. we have seen a benjamin netanyahu government come out and say they will not be a ceasefire, that hamas has to be completely defeated, but at the same time hostages are dying. we see hamas regrouping in northern gaza. israel is not meeting with strategic success and the risks are mounting. the question is whether the americans are willing to put the israelis under enough pressure to deliver on the ceasefire, whether

the qataris can force hamas to give up the qataris can force hamas to give up the hostages that are required to get a ceasefire in place. all of these different parties and regions, not to buy into the ceasefire. it is a hard sell still and the fight is still very much going on on the ground, and every day you get more fighting it becomes harder to rule that back in to get the different sides around a ceasefire. it is a hard sale. sides around a ceasefire. it is a hard sale-— sides around a ceasefire. it is a hard sale. ~ . ,, . ., hard sale. we appreciate your time, thank yom — 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. he sobs. sirens wail.

he sobs. 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. 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. a proposal to formally move the statue of transatlantic slave trader edward colston into a museum display is set for approval. the statue was pulled down during a protest in bristol in 2020 before being put on a temporary display at the city's m shed museum. it has been out of public view since january 2022. 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.

the uk high street chain the body shop is set to go into administration this week, putting the cosmetics retailer's 200 stores and thousands ofjobs at risk. it is understood that trading over the key christmas period and into january was not as strong as hoped and the chain was bought by private equity firm aurelius just weeks ago. let's speak to our money and work reporter peter ruddick. i think it is fair to say that anyone of a certain age, will have seen this on the high street all of their lives. 50 seen this on the high street all of their lives. . seen this on the high street all of their “vea— their lives. so much nostalgia around the — their lives. so much nostalgia around the body _ their lives. so much nostalgia around the body shop. - their lives. so much nostalgia| around the body shop. people their lives. so much nostalgia - around the body shop. people saying it was a high street name of a generation, it was the scent of a generation, it was the scent of a generation as well, people talking about that white mask perfume, peppermint foot lotion. for now, nothing changes. essentially the business has gone into a ministration today but initial statement, the administrators say in the short—term the business will continue to trade as normal. so the

200 uk stores you mentioned and the 2000 employees connected to them will carry on working and staying open. customers will also be able to shop and buy that white mask and peppermint foot lotion online, however administrators say they are now going to consider all options to create a more nimble and financially stable uk business. what does that mean? essentially it probably means a slimmed down operation. one of the things we are expecting the administrator to consider is the potentially closing some of those uk stores, reducing the high street presence to bring it more in line with some of its competitors, for example lush. very worrying time for the staff members as they consider what the future holds for such a well loved brand.— what the future holds for such a well loved brand. thank you very much, well loved brand. thank you very much. peter- _ the labour leader is facing criticism for being too slow to withdraw support for the rochdale by—election candidate azhar ali after it emerged he made anti—semitic comments —

apparently in a local meeting. the conservatives say it shows labour �*is unfit for government'. labour say that sir keir starmer took a �*swift decision�* in withdrawing backing for mr ali. our political correspondent peter saull has the story. this is azhar ali. he was until recently widely expected to become the next labour mp for rochdale. the by—election was thought to be a slam dunk for labour. but his comments about what happened here in october prompted fury. he told a meeting that israel had allowed the hamas attacks that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked the current conflict. a fulsome apology followed and labour was standing by its man. that was until a recording apparently from the same meeting emerged. in it he discusses the treatment of the mp andy mcdonald who was suspended by labour for an alleged anti—semitic remark.

that was the final straw and labour have now withdrawn their support. those comments were appalling and that is why we took decisive action. it is virtually unprecedented to withdraw support for a candidate in the way that i withdrew support for this candidate yesterday. that's what a changed labour party is all about. he has been out campaigning ahead of another by—election in wellingborough on thursday, but many in the party are questioning sir keir starmer�*sjudgment. was the candidate properly vetted? why didn't the leader act after the first comments came to light? this is a problem that labour has to take seriously about tackling different forms of racism within the party and take it seriously, notjust use it as a weapon. when voters here in rochdale get their ballot papers, azhar ali's name will still appear next to the red rose of labour. it's too late to make a change.

he could still win and become an independent mp. but this by—election is now very difficult to predict. the veteran left—wing campaigner george galloway is standing here, as is simonjansher, himself a former labour mp now under the banner of reform uk. and the conservatives too are hoping to capitalise on labour's woes. the labour party have got a real problem here and it's demonstrating they are not fit for government, they haven't changed and they should not be voted in when the election comes later in the year. there are just over two weeks to go until the by—election and all of a sudden there is everything to play for, and for the man hopes to be prime minister by the end of the year, it's a mess he could do without. the rochdale by—election will take place on the 29th february. here's the full list of candidates standing. and of course if you'd like more info on all of that, head to the bbc news website or app.

a global survey on the impact of social media has found that the majority of parents around the world believe social media companies bear the most responsibility for the online safety of children. the study by the project liberty foundation also found that 59% of britons feel social media has a negative impact on their children. while 66% across the seven countries surveyed said that young people should be at least 14, if not older, before accessing social media sites. let's speak to rani govender. she's senior child safety online policy officer at the nspcc. thank you forjoining us. this survey seems to show that many parents are concerned about online safety in regards to their children. are they right to have those concerns?— are they right to have those concerns? ~ , , _, , , concerns? absolutely, we completely understand why _ concerns? absolutely, we completely understand why parents _ concerns? absolutely, we completely understand why parents have - concerns? absolutely, we completely understand why parents have these i understand why parents have these worries about what their children

are doing and what they might be seen online. unfortunately evidence has consistently shown that are far too many risks online that children are facing, whether it is from legal activity or the harmful activity thatis activity or the harmful activity that is coming up a lot. we know that is coming up a lot. we know that the survey shows parents want to see tech companies take more responsibility for tackling that, which is where the focus should be. what you think social media companies should be doing? social media companies _ companies should be doing? social media companies can _ companies should be doing? social media companies can build - companies should be doing? 5m —.i media companies can build safety into the design of the platforms, when they are rolling out a new app, a new feature on the service, they can think about what risks that might bring to children, whether thatis might bring to children, whether that is the type of content they are promoting, who might be able to add a message them on their app and they can think about what those risks might lead to any harms they can cause. we would like to see companies be much more thorough and understanding those risks, sharing information about them and importantly putting those mitigations in place so we are not seeing these harms consistently

coming up and escalating. i seeing these harms consistently coming up and escalating. i think it is ruite coming up and escalating. i think it is quite tricky _ coming up and escalating. i think it is quite tricky for _ coming up and escalating. i think it is quite tricky for parents. - coming up and escalating. i think it is quite tricky for parents. most - is quite tricky for parents. most have said that 13 is too young to have said that 13 is too young to have their own online account, but when other friends and people have those online accounts, what can parents do to stop that? it is going to be a parental— parents do to stop that? it is going to be a parental decision _ parents do to stop that? it is going | to be a parental decision ultimately about what they think is best for their children and their family at their children and their family at the right time. there should be conversations they are having with the children about what apps they are using and when they are going to start doing it, and what we think is really important is when children are online and on these different services the parents are also having some open and regular conversations with children about their daily digital experiences and their online lives to make sure there are some good communication they are about what children are seeing and doing, and helping them have those discussions about safety and boundaries as well.- discussions about safety and boundaries as well. very briefly, what are you _ boundaries as well. very briefly, what are you doing _ boundaries as well. very briefly, what are you doing to _ boundaries as well. very briefly, what are you doing to try - boundaries as well. very briefly, what are you doing to try and - boundaries as well. very briefly, i what are you doing to try and target these problems? we what are you doing to try and target these problems?— what are you doing to try and target these problems? we are doing a lot of work looking _ these problems? we are doing a lot of work looking at _ these problems? we are doing a lot of work looking at the _ of work looking at the implementation of the online safety

act. it is a really important piece of legislation that we are looking forward to seeing ofcom implementing and we will work with government, ofcom and tech companies to make sure that act and regulation is making a big difference to children and building an online world that safety for them to be on. we appreciate — safety for them to be on. we appreciate your time here on bbc news, thank you very much. there is plenty more on our stories on the bbc website but stay with us here, on bbc news. hello there. good afternoon. a very different—looking day of weather today for much of england and wales than we saw yesterday. gone are those blue skies. instead, the daffodils languishing underneath rather grey leaden skies. but still the sunshine continues across much of scotland today and indeed the far north of northern ireland too. and here is the weather front responsible for the change in our weather. it's a warm front, it's moving

further northwards and eastwards as we head through the rest of the afternoon across england and wales. and it's bringing with it some milderfeeling air, but lots of thickening cloud, coastal fog and some showery outbreaks of rain on and off for the rest of the day with brisk south—westerly winds. but still some sunshine for much of northern ireland and from the borders north with some wintry showers still perhaps across the higher ground of western scotland. and overnight tonight, well, our weather front continues to push further northward, sending more cloud into northern ireland and perhaps into southern scotland, too. a sharp temperature contrast overnight tonight with temperatures for some in the sheltered glens of scotland down as low as minus six celsius, but double figures further south across much of england and wales. again, the showery outbreaks of rain likely to continue and a few more weather fronts around on wednesday again, all pushing northwards and eastwards. there'll be some heavy rain for a time across northern ireland and into southern scotland. as that rain moves further north and bumps into the colder feeling air over the higher ground of scotland it's likely that it could turn to snow.

there'll also be more rain across the south of england and wales, but in between maybe a few brighter spells and any brightness will help to lift the temperature to 1a or 15 celsius. again, brisk south—westerly winds for some. more weather fronts around on thursday. this warm front introducing some very mild feeling air and if we do get any brightness across the south east of england through the day on thursday, temperatures here could rise as high as 16 or 17 celsius. most of the rain on thursday will tend to be towards the north and the west. again, there will be some heavy downpours at times, temperatures well above the seasonal average and starting to rise, too, across the far north of scotland as that rain continues to push further northwards. on friday, that rain is mostly pushed out towards the east. there'll be plenty of cloud around some outbreaks of drizzle here and there. the best of any brightness really on friday will tend to be to the south and the west. again, temperatures mild for the time of year. bye— bye.

heading down: inflation in the us falls to 3.1%. we'll be in new york for the latest. heading up: wages on the rise in the uk. what now for the jobs market?

welcome to world business report, i'm egon cossou. we start with news from the world's biggest economy. us inflation has fallen to 3.1%, according to figures out in the last hour. that might sound like good news. but analysts had been expecting the rate to be even lower, so that means prices are stillrising faster than had been hoped. let's get more. michelle fleuryjoins us from new york. this feels like a good news, bad news story, is that right?- news story, is that right? that's absolutely _ news story, is that right? that's absolutely right, _ news story, is that right? that's absolutely right, this _ news story, is that right? that's absolutely right, this is - news story, is that right? that's absolutely right, this is a - news story, is that right? that's absolutely right, this is a case l absolutely right, this is a case where inflation is still moving down, in other words prices are slowly beginning to cool. but the problem is the right of these price increases is just not coming down fast enough. if you compare it to

what economist poole