candidate's remarks on israel. a massive rescue operation is launched. nine miners are missing after a landslide at an mining operation in turkey. king charles returns to london from what is expected to be medical treatment following his cancer diagnosis. and experts warn polar bears are at risk of starvation during ice—free periods in the arctic. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, hamas has warned there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties in rafah if israel does launch a ground—offensive.

the hamas—run health ministry says, more than 28,000 palestinians have been killed since the october the 7th attacks on israel. more on rafah and the diplomatic efforts in a moment — but i want to start the programme with an incredible piece from our colleagues at bbc arabic. the palestinian journalist feras al adjrami spent the first month of the war following paramedics across northern gaza. the palestinian red crescent society says the demands can be relentless. a warning, their stories are distressing.

he sobs. sirens wail.

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if you are in the uk you can watch the full film on the bbc iplayer. 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". the united nations says it's not been given any notification by israel about plans to evacuate palestinians from rafah and will not participate in a forced evacuation. the un chief said he is worried about conditions under which humanitarian workers are operating in gaza. well, i am particularly worried with the deteriorating conditions and security for humanitarian

aid delivery in gaza. there is a breakdown in public order. at the same time, we have restrictions imposed by israel that are not improved and limits the humanitarian distribution. meanwhile, here in the uk, the foreign secretary, david cameron, has been answering question in the house of lords. he stressed the need for applause infighting and spoke about what should happen next. there are lots of thin . s should happen next. there are lots of things we _ should happen next. there are lots of things we do _ should happen next. there are lots of things we do start _ should happen next. there are lots of things we do start talking - should happen next. there are lots of things we do start talking about | of things we do start talking about now, whether that is what happens the day after a pause, whether it is about a reconstituted palestinian authority, whether it is a question of how you offer a political horizon to people in the palestinian territories or indeed how we deal with israel's very real security concerns. if there is a pause and a

ceasefire, how do you make sure the people responsible cannot remain in gaza and the infrastructure of terror is taken down? the foreign ministers of germany and norway have also added their voices to the chorus of concern over the potential risk to more than a million palestinians currently taking refuge in rafah. barbara plett usher reports. palestinians are on the move again. they went south to rafah to escape israel's war against hamas. more than a million took shelter there. now some are heading back north, the fate of their safe zone is no longer safe. this woman doesn't know what she will find 20 pictures her tent. —— what she will find when she pictures her tent. there has been a lot of bombing in rafah, she says. air strikes launched two nights ago killed dozens of palestinians. the

intense bombardment was part of an operation to rescue israeli hostages, a boost for israel and they want more. translation: , ., translation: there will be more 0 erations translation: there will be more operations and _ translation: there will be more operations and in _ translation: there will be more operations and in my _ translation: there will be more operations and in my opinion, - translation: there will be more operations and in my opinion, the| operations and in my opinion, the day is not far. there will be more operations. day is not far. there will be more operations-— day is not far. there will be more operations. the prime minister is also talking _ operations. the prime minister is also talking about _ operations. the prime minister is also talking about sending - operations. the prime minister is also talking about sending troopsi also talking about sending troops into rafah, expanding the ground work to finish off hamas. he has promised a plan to evacuate the similes were crowded into the city, but the united nations says it is not feasible. forced displacement is what they call it. you not feasible. forced displacement is what they call it.— what they call it. you cannot send --eole what they call it. you cannot send people back _ what they call it. you cannot send people back to — what they call it. you cannot send people back to areas _ what they call it. you cannot send people back to areas that - what they call it. you cannot send people back to areas that is - people back to areas that is littered with unexploded ordnance, not to mention a lack of shelters. jordan plus backing was the latest arab leader to appeal for us help to end the conflict. president biden has not backed down from his support for israel's war aims, but he is pressing hard for a pause in the fighting. figs pressing hard for a pause in the fiuuhtin. n. ~'

pressing hard for a pause in the fiuuhtin. n. ~ . pressing hard for a pause in the fihtin.. a. ~ ., ,. ,, fighting. as a king and i discuss toda , fighting. as a king and i discuss today. the _ fighting. as a king and i discuss today, the united _ fighting. as a king and i discuss today, the united states - fighting. as a king and i discuss today, the united states is - fighting. as a king and i discuss - today, the united states is working on a hostage deal between israel and hamas, which would bring an immediate and sustained period of camp to gaza, for at least six weeks. we could then take the time to build something more enduring. israel's ally is one of a catastrophe if it takes its ground offensive into rafah and keep pushing for a ceasefire. —— israel's allies warn of a catastrophe. let's return to a story that has exploded politically here in the uk. labour's handling of the row over its rochdale by—election candidate's comments about israel has been criticised as "shambolic", with the conservatives accusing leader kier starmer of acting too slowly in supending azhar ali. he has hit back saying he has taken tough and decisive action.

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. 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, not just 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 simon danczuk, 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 on 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 who hopes to be prime minister by the end of the year, it's a mess he could do without. earlier i spoke to marc levy, chief executive of the jewish representative council for greater manchester. i asked him for his reaction to events especially as he had been with mr ali only in the past week. we were shocked by the comments by him because as you rightly say, during a routine political engagement, my chair and during a routine political engagement, my chairand i during a routine political engagement, my chair and i were sat across the table from the individual

around 48 hours prior to him making the shocking and appalling anti—semitic conspiracy theories. and the individual has a long track record of being moderate, sensible, combating extremism and anti—semitism, and we had a fantastic discussion will be focused on bringing communities together, something he has been passionate about for a long time. when you talk about for a long time. when you talk about the comments that have been made, we have been left completely shocked that someone who seems so sensible and had views in keeping with our own could engage in such disgusting anti—semitic tropes. the rochdale by—election will take place on the 29th february. here's the full list of candidates standing,

nine miners are missing after a landslide at an mining operation in turkey. the country's energy ministry says rescue efforts are under way at the mine in the eastern erzincan province, with turkey's interior minister adding that 400 search and rescue workers had been deployed to the incident. the government says an investigation has been launched into what happened. we are still getting the early details. ., we are still getting the early details. . , . , ., details. there are pictures of the landslide, astonishing _ details. there are pictures of the landslide, astonishing pictures . landslide, astonishing pictures coming into us but we are keeping an eye on that story and when we get more detail, my pictures, more developments we will return to it. 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.

a short time ago, our royal correspondent sean coughlan gave us this update. he was seen today back in london, he has flown back from sandringham and the assumption is he is here for what will probably be regular treatments for his cancer. we do not know exactly what type of cancer but we heard last monday that he had been diagnosed with cancer when he was in for a different process, for his 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 will not be staying in. this might become part of a regular pattern. he has come back from sandringham where he was seen at the weekend looking quite chirpy, he went to church on his norfolk estate. he was back and seen with his wife queen camilla indycar driving to clarence house. —— in his car. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. the trial has started of a man accused of murdering pc sharon beshenivsky in 2005. the 38—year—old officer died after she was shot while she and a colleague responded to reports of a robbery in bradford. 75—year—old piran ditta khan — who was extradited from pakistan last year — denies all the offences. 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 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 are alive with bbc news. last—minute talks to prevent a major protest by indian farmers in delhi have ended without a breakthrough. farmers' union officials complained that government ministers failed to take their demand of more state support seriously. the authorities in delhi have banned large public gatherings for a month, fired tear gas and erected huge concrete barricades to prevent the farmers from reaching the capital. they want to prevent a repeat of demonstrations which ended just over two years ago, after months of severe disruption. to get some analysis on the protests, we spoke to dr mukulika banerjee, professor of anthropology at the london school of economics and author of " why india votes'. she told me about the strength and power of the farmers' vote in india. so this dispute has a very clear message. they want what was agreed at the end of the climb—down by the

government at the last protest from 2020 to 21 which lasted over a year, 383 days. when the government conceded that they were going to withdraw these three new laws which actually had been brought in without any consultation with farmers unions, but they had agreed to introduce what the farmers have been asking for for decades, which is called the minimum support price for 23 crops in india covering most of the cereal, pulses and oilseed. and this was a demand, this was always a demand, the government climbed down and they said they would do this, but it has been nearly two years since july 2022, that the committee has been formed and they have been saying they are trying to make msp more transparent and how to make it more effective. but they haven't got anywhere. so the farmers are really asking for that, for a legal guarantee this time.

not lip service, not platitudes, but actually some sort of new legislation that introduces msp. the latest on those indian farmers protests. a new study suggests that polar bears may be at risk of starvation as more sea ice is lost in the arctic sea. the findings, published by science journal nature communicationsare based on data from 20 polar bears. the study suggests the bears may struggle to cope with longer ice—free seasons owing to climate change. scientists hope that the data will help predict how the bears may be affected by continued sea ice loss. our science correspondent victoria gill has been looking at the results. a polar bear�*s view of the world. this remarkable footage was captured with collar cameras that scientists fitted to 20 polar bears during three summer weeks in arctic canada. the bears foraged,

swam and socialised. but what this glimpse revealed into their lives during the summer months when there is no sea ice to hunt from and the polar bears spend their time inland is that they are unable to find enough to eat. the camera collars show that bears exhibited a diversity of behaviours when they were summering on shore. including some bears spending the entire time resting and other bears primarily being active and looking for food like berries and birds. but 19 of the 20 bears still lost weight. the research focused on one of the most southerly points in polar bears' range, a part of the arctic where temperatures are rising much more quickly than elsewhere. so the scientists say it is a snapshot of a warming future. this large male bear was lucky enough to stumble across a dead whale who gained weight during the study. the other 19 bears, though, lost about one kilogram every day. these are predators that are specialised to hunt on the ice.

as they face longer summers without that ice, scientists say they will struggle to feed themselves. let's speak to jon aars, a senior scientist at the norwegian polar institute. this is potentially quite a problem. it is not universal but in the places where you are seeing it, where you get hungry polar bears, tell me what you actually see in practice. it tell me what you actually see in ractice. , ~' ., tell me what you actually see in ractice. , ~ ., ., , ., , tell me what you actually see in ractice. , ~ ., ., , ., practice. it is known that bears are ve aood practice. it is known that bears are very good at _ practice. it is known that bears are very good at chelating _ practice. it is known that bears are very good at chelating body - practice. it is known that bears are very good at chelating body weight in the period in early spring, summer and they can live on that fat resource for half a year or something like that. what is new in this study is they have shown the

behaviour, and found out bears lose weight anyway in the summer and those periods get longer and longer. if they lose more weight in the rest of the year than again in spring and summer, they are in trouble. irate of the year than again in spring and summer, they are in trouble. we saw some of the — summer, they are in trouble. we saw some of the human _ summer, they are in trouble. we saw some of the human interactions - summer, they are in trouble. we saw some of the human interactions with | some of the human interactions with the polar bears who are most hungry, actually heading into villages. so you have that aspect which is troubling, but in terms of a poly beer, if they are in a region where there is little food, can theyjoin a pack where perhaps there is more resource? does that happen? the? a pack where perhaps there is more resource? does that happen? they are ve lastic resource? does that happen? they are very plastic in — resource? does that happen? they are very plastic in the _ resource? does that happen? they are very plastic in the way _ resource? does that happen? they are very plastic in the way they _ resource? does that happen? they are very plastic in the way they look - very plastic in the way they look for the best choices they can get. they can have waste cluster community is that they can try to explore, and try to get into human

committees and you get more cases where you get dangerous situations. but there are limits, and they are not able to really gain weight if they do not get fat rich food over time. , , ., ., ., ., time. just give me a rough idea of what proportion — time. just give me a rough idea of what proportion of— time. just give me a rough idea of what proportion of the _ time. just give me a rough idea of what proportion of the year- time. just give me a rough idea of what proportion of the year two i what proportion of the year two polar bears are spent on sea ice and what proportion did they spend on land scavenging for food wherever they can find it? this land scavenging for food wherever they can find it?— they can find it? this varies a lot between areas. _ they can find it? this varies a lot between areas. you _ they can find it? this varies a lot between areas. you can - they can find it? this varies a lot between areas. you can have - they can find it? this varies a lot - between areas. you can have various places where they spent 12 months on sea ice, or no sea ice at all, and in other places bears are online most of the year. you do not find palaversa anywhere where they don't have at least a significant period in spring or summer web access to seals that they can hunt on the sea ice. —— where they can access. what is difficult for a scientist is how long this period needs to be and that varies between different areas

regarding productivity, but sometimes you can see them having seaice sometimes you can see them having sea ice on a couple of months and doing ok. sea ice on a couple of months and doinu 0k. , , sea ice on a couple of months and doinu 0k, , ., , sea ice on a couple of months and doin 0k.�* , . , . ., doing 0k. just a brief final thought because we _ doing 0k. just a brief final thought because we are _ doing 0k. just a brief final thought because we are nearly _ doing 0k. just a brief final thought because we are nearly out - doing 0k. just a brief final thought because we are nearly out of- doing 0k. just a brief final thoughtj because we are nearly out of time. the worry hear it clearly is that with climate change, we are going to get a shrinkage of sea ice. that potentially is going to be a problem increasingly?— increasingly? absolutely. and how lona that increasingly? absolutely. and how long that takes _ increasingly? absolutely. and how long that takes before _ increasingly? absolutely. and how long that takes before bears - increasingly? absolutely. and how long that takes before bears get . long that takes before bears get into trouble varies between different areas.— into trouble varies between different areas. . . ., different areas. thanks so much for talkin: to different areas. thanks so much for talking to us- _ different areas. thanks so much for talking to us. that _ different areas. thanks so much for talking to us. that study _ different areas. thanks so much for talking to us. that study has - different areas. thanks so much for talking to us. that study hasjust i talking to us. that study has just been published, so interesting to get your thoughts so quickly afterwards. we are going to take a short break, when we are back i will have the latest headlines. we will also have the latest business news and we are still keeping an eye of what is going on in the house of lords with the david cameron, the foreign secretary, taking questions. all of that coming up ahead here on bbc news. do not go away.

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 14 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.