more than a week after his death, a spokesperson confirms alexei navalny�*s body has been handed to his mother. the conservatives suspend mp lee anderson. he refused to apologise for saying london's mayor is controlled by islamists. these comments from a senior conservative, are islamophobic, anti—muslim and racist. on the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine — president zelensky insists his country will win — welcome to the programme. i'm catherine byaruhanga. the body of russian opposition figure, alexei navalny, has been handed over to his mother.

the g7 group of nations have called on russia to clarify the circumstances of his death. navalny spokesperson kira yarmysh confirmed the news on x, formerly known as twitter. she also wrote that information on a funeral is still pending and they weren't sure if they could give him the funeral they said he deserves. the country's most vocal kremlin critic was found dead in a siberian prison nine days ago. according to russian accounts, the 47—year—old took a short walk, said he felt unwell, then collapsed and never regained consciousness. on friday, his mother, lyudmila navalnaya, was given an ultimatum to hold a secret funeral for her son or he would be buried at the penal colony where he died. she was given three hours to make her decision. his sudden death came as a shock to many of his supporters and most of the people who follow russia,

everyone was watching for this and waiting, after yulia navalny speech where she raised the stakes. so this comes as a relief to his family because one of the scenarios described by officials according to navalny�*s mother was that they would not give his body and bury him in the penal colony. so his family will be relieved to be able to get his body. we don't know where the funeral will take place, we know that navalny�*s mother, they are still in the arctic circle, so we didn't exactly where and when the funeral will take place. do you think russian authorities hope that by handing over navalny�*s body that will bring to an end the controversy surrounding his death? definitely, they don't like the level of discussion and level of coverage

this has caused. obviously, they were irritated by the very fact that despite being in a penal colony, navalny was able to send his messages through, to be able to speak out on political topics, so the fact that even after his "sudden death", which many suspect could not have been connected to natural causes only, the level of discussion is not something which russian authorities like. so, on the one hand, they hope that this will calm down but on the other hand, we know that yulia navalny and his supporters and friends and colleagues would keep spreading the message, banging on, and we see that yulia navalny is continuing the struggle.

you say that his wife is determined to continue his political struggle. how is his family being viewed in russia, obviously, they have been at the centre of this storm following his death. that is a good question, i don't have a definite answer, because there are no independent ways to figure out what is the view of the majority or what is the distribution of the views, but the fact is, before navalny�*s death or killing as some suspect, his wife was always behind him, next to him, but never really in the public eye, his mother was never mentioned before, so it is really hard tojudge. what is for sure, thousands and thousands of navalny supporters showed up all over russia, despite harsh laws and being detained to show some support, and it is really hard

to find out the view of the majority because now even to mention such topics, you can end up in big trouble, currently, in russia. here in the uk, the mp lee anderson has been suspended from the conservative party. he had refused to apologise for saying that islamists had gained control of the mayor of london, sadiq khan. during a discussion on gb news about pro—palestinian marches in westminster on friday, mr anderson said the mayor had "given away the capital city to his mates". the mp was deputy chair of the tory party until his resignation last month. pressure had been mounting on rishi sunak to take action over mr anderson's comments. mr khan criticised a "deafening silence" from the prime minister and his cabinet. these comments from a senior conservative are islamophobic, are anti—muslim and are racist.

we have seen over the last two days confirmation that over the last few months there has been an increase in anti—muslim cases by more than 330%. these comments pour fuel on the fire of anti—muslim hatred. and i'm afraid the deafening silence from rishi sunak and from the cabinet, is them condoning this racism. and i'm afraid it confirms to many across the country that there is a hierarchy when it comes to racism. i think it's really important to call out anti—semitism and it's really important to call out misogyny. it is important to call out homophobia. but surely it must also be important to call out anti—muslim hatred. and i tell you this — my concern is there will be people across the country, people who are muslim or look like muslims, who will be really concerned about entering politics because they know that if these are the sorts of comments said against me by a senior conservative,

that was london mayor sadiq khan. our political correspondent iain watson told us more about the controversy and the mounting pressure on the prime minister. he has indeed. that pressure coming from notjust sadiq khan and the labour party but some inside the tory party as well, including the business minister, nus ghani, it was said that those comments were "dangerous". lord barwell, former chief of staff to theresa may when she was prime minister, called the remarks despicable. a growing number of people publicly denouncing what lee anderson was saying. he was deputy chair of the conservative party, a prominent spokesperson for the party until quite recently. the chief whip try to get him to

withdraw the remarks and apologise. he refused to do so. so for that he is suspended. we don't know how long that suspension will last. if he does not apologise it could last until the next election and he would not be eligible to stand as a conservative candidate so this is potentially very serious for him. for more on this we can speak to baroness warsi, the former conservative chair. first of all, your reaction to this controversy and the reaction from the conservative party to suspend lee anderson. it the conservative party to suspend lee anderson-— the conservative party to suspend lee anderson. it may surprise you that i was not _ lee anderson. it may surprise you that i was not surprised _ lee anderson. it may surprise you that i was not surprised when - lee anderson. it may surprise you that i was not surprised when i - lee anderson. it may surprise you | that i was not surprised when i saw these comments from lee anderson. he has a long and chequered history of making racist comments from even before he became a conservative member of parliament and consistently since then, there has been controversy around comments he has made, at the party have been aware of that. lee anderson should

have had his whip withdrawn many months ago. and the prime minister needs to decide, as with other colleagues, whether the issue of anti—muslim racism is as serious as anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all other forms anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all otherforms of anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all other forms of discrimination and racism, or if it doesn't matter to him, he should not have to be put under pressure to take action on this form of racism and there should not be a hierarchy of racism within political parties. the not be a hierarchy of racism within political parties.— political parties. the conservative pa over political parties. the conservative party over the _ political parties. the conservative party over the years _ political parties. the conservative party over the years has - political parties. the conservative party over the years has carried i political parties. the conservative i party over the years has carried out some inquiries into issues surrounding islamophobia, other kinds of discrimination and i guess it hasn't found the need to carry out any massive action in the way perhaps the labour party had done over anti—semitism. where do you think this leaves the leadership of the prime minister, and what should they be doing around this issue in

they be doing around this issue in the conservative party? the conservative _ the conservative party? the conservative party, - the conservative party? tue: conservative party, after the conservative party? tte: conservative party, after many the conservative party? tt2 conservative party, after many years of being pressurised by myself and others, decided to have an inquiry, the inquiry was a whitewash. it didn't take full evidence. it didn't follow the evidence from complainants. and when it published its findings it did not have the support of muslim conservatives or the british muslim communities. so, the british muslim communities. so, the party has not taken this matter as seriously as it should have done. and because they didn't, there is now a culture and acceptance within the party that muslims are fair game, that muslims don't matter, that you can get away with this rhetoric, whether you dress it up in respectable fashion as colleagues lunar flow of the house and in newspaper articles like robert jenrick or suella braverman or whether you do it in a more overt way likely anderson did, and he got caught in the net. but whichever way

my colleagues talk about this issue, it is a deeply dangerous approach, it is a deeply dangerous approach, it is a deeply dangerous approach, it is very deliberate, divisive, it is aimed to fuel hatred, and culture wars, and it may win a few votes in some extreme parts of british society, but to the majority of british society, they reject this populist, post—truth, divisive politics and tragically, what it is doing, it is poisoning political debate and poisoning a political party, the conservative party. {siege party, the conservative party. give me some concrete _ party, the conservative party. give me some concrete action, steps you would like to conserve the party to take that would deal with this issue comprehensively.— take that would deal with this issue comprehensively. there was a simple ste the comprehensively. there was a simple step the party — comprehensively. there was a simple step the party could _ comprehensively. there was a simple step the party could take. _ comprehensively. there was a simple step the party could take. there - comprehensively. there was a simple step the party could take. there is i step the party could take. there is now an agreed parliamentary definition of islamophobia, put forward by an all party parliamentary group, made up of conservatives, labour members, lib dems and snp. it has been adopted by

every single political party in this country, including the conservative party in scotland, and the only party that fails to adopt it is the conservative party in westminster. so there is a simple thing the party could do to show their commitment against anti—muslim racism and islamophobia by adopting the all party parliamentary group definition of islamophobia, as they have quite rightly adopted the irha definition of anti—semitism, it would show that this form of racism is taken seriously and it would show that is not a hierarchy of racism within our party. d0 not a hierarchy of racism within our party. do you think this will turn out to be a _ party. do you think this will turn out to be a political— party. do you think this will turn out to be a political story - party. do you think this will turn out to be a political story rather| out to be a political story rather than one that deals with islamophobia, as you are calling for? perhaps there would be a question of the personality of the anderson, the leadership of the prime minister, is that the direction the story is likely to take? , , ., ., direction the story is likely to take? ,, ., ., , ,

direction the story is likely to take? ,, direction the story is likely to take? this is not a story, this is a very serious _ take? this is not a story, this is a very serious issue. _ take? this is not a story, this is a very serious issue. this _ take? this is not a story, this is a very serious issue. this is - take? this is not a story, this is a very serious issue. this is about | very serious issue. this is about the future of our country, they kind of country that we want to build together. the conservative party have got a great addition of being a one nation party, of trying to find policies which bring the country together, which unify us, a great believer in democracy, debate and discussion, that despite whatever differences we may have in this country. back to my brother conservative party is going right now is not in the tradition of the conservative party, it is following what has happened with the republican party in the us and the poisoning of that by donald trump and his ilk. we saw, only this last week, liz truss spending time over there, supporting that kind of populist, post—truth politics and being a cheerleader for donald trump. donald trump and his ilk have destroyed the republican party and destroyed the republican party and destroyed democracy in the united states, and sadly, there are some of my colleagues are bringing back to

the conservative party. it is a dangerous thing for the party and for democracy, and for our country, where most decent people in this country want to live alongside each other, sharing our lives, sharing the experiences that we have in this country, and creating a unified, united country. but, if we start finding people at the top of politics who try to ratchet up hatred, who divide rather than heal, use every opportunity to promote a culture war, then that is a serious threat to all of us, notjust muslim communities, who are the target of the attack, but who will come next? we have seen that with for example suella braverman when she mounted an attack on homeless people, and there have been attacks on other groups, it is dangerous, divisive politics and we have got to call it out and we have got to say enough, we cannot have this kind of poisonous ideology

in our politics. baroness warsi, thank you. news from the middle east now. israeli media says an israeli delegation has returned from talks in paris with the �*outline of an agreement�* on a ceasefire with hamas and the release of the remaining hostages in gaza. an official says �*significant progress�* has been made in talks with negotiators from the us, egypt and qatar. a senior palestinian official with close knowledge of the talks told the bbc that there had been "no real progress". we can speak now to aaron david miller, a seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he�*s also a former us state department official and adviser on arab israeli negotiations to to both republican and democratic administrations. thank you so much forjoining us, here in bbc news. so, this news

about a possible framework, some kind of agreement, being reached in talks in paris. what kind of framework could we be talking about considering the pushback we have seen both from the israeli government site and from hamas? there has been a change since mid november, this gives us the best chance to do a partial deal. whether or not it will be comprehensive, a significant return of palestinian prisoners, thousands, in return for all of the hostages, i doubt, it has been reported that it is a partial deal, 45 hostages, the remaining women, perhaps, in exchange for an asymmetrical number of palestinian prisoners, and a temporary cessation of hostilities rather than ceasefire, which would probably also

involve a surge in humanitarian assistance into gaza. i think the parties are both under pressure and we may actually see a deal before ramadan which is due to begin on the 10th of march. ramadan which is due to begin on the 10th of march-— 10th of march. considering the ressure 10th of march. considering the pressure coming _ 10th of march. considering the pressure coming from - 10th of march. considering the pressure coming from within i 10th of march. considering the - pressure coming from within israel towards the israeli government but also internationally, do you think, as you say, some kind of intermediate deal that just works for now is enough, and that the israeli cabinet would agree to it? the israeli government is coming under great pressure notjust from hostage families, but clearly from the war cabinet, and the former chief of staff, but benjamin netanyahu is not a loan and sole actor stop he is under pressure from

his right—wing extremist ministers, not to do an asymmetrical trade, but i think combined with effort by the united states, egypt and qatar, the odds are good, nothing is certain, nobody ever lost money betting against israeli—palestinian agreement on anything but we have the best chance probably for a partial release of hostages in exchange, i expect for hundreds of palestinian prisoners. either under administrative detention are formally charged in israeli prisons. we could have some kind of mediation happening, for weeks, does that make you hopeful that this could be a way to resolve this conflict? t you hopeful that this could be a way to resolve this conflict?— to resolve this conflict? i think that is a unrealistic— to resolve this conflict? i think that is a unrealistic brightly .

that is a unrealistic brightly because what the israelis require and need does not reconcile or align with what hamas wants, which is a full israeli withdrawal from gaza, and the release of all palestinian prisoners, the israelis are interested in killing the senior leadership of hamas and are likely to remain in gaza for months, operating on some military level until or unless the is some sort of security regime that replaces hamas, and i think, and into the conflict is not something that we are not going to any time soon, and that constitutes a tragedy primarily for the 2.3 million inhabitants of the gaza strip. the 2.3 million inhabitants of the gaza stri -. ., ~ the 2.3 million inhabitants of the gaza stri -. . ~ , ., the 2.3 million inhabitants of the gaza stri -. ., ~' , ., , the 2.3 million inhabitants of the gaza stri -. ., ~' ,, , . that was aaron david miller, from the carnegie endowment for international peace, thank you forjoining us. a defiant president zelensky has insisted ukraine will win the war

as the country marks the second anniversary of russia�*s full—scale invasion. this is the scene live over kyiv, where western leaders visiting the city earlier, and have pledged their solidarity, but the country says more weapons are what�*s really needed. a short time ago, ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, addressed the g7 — thanking them for their support. first of all, i want to thank you on behalf of all ukrainians for the wider support for our nation, and our people.

thanks to your co—oporation, millions of ukrainians and in neighbouring countries around russia, can feel that their homeland will not become putin's back yard. we started this week, two years ago, not sure what challenges would lie ahead, but now, we can clearly say that our leadership is sufficient to suit restore security. round the world, leading democracies are truly determined, and this determination will overcome all challenges. and we have already achieved much, and the world feels that putin can lose this war, and when he loses, it will mean that notjust someone wins, but the entire global community of nations and international law, as such, will prevail. we must ensure this. volodymyr zelensky, there. people have started voting in the south carolina republican primary election.

it will determine whether people in that state want donald trump or nikki haley as their republican presidential candidate. the former us president is expected to easily overpower his rival, even though ms haley served twice as south carolina�*s governor. while admitting she is well behind, ms hayley says the polls show she�*s better placed to beatjoe biden in november and that republican voters should focus on that. nikki haley has been speaking to the media in the past few minutes. in south carolina and for birders, you can look at the thousands of voters who are going to come out for me today, the people who are going to show in our rallies in michigan. people want to see us continue this, we owe it to them to continue this fight and it is a good thing when democracy rains and it is good for the republican party.

let�*s speak to our correspondent helena humphrey. she�*s at a polling station in charleston. just tell us about the mood there and how things are shaping up for nikki haley. and how things are shaping up for nikki haley-— and how things are shaping up for nikki hale . ~ �* , , , ., ~ ., nikki haley. we've been speaking to voters in south _ nikki haley. we've been speaking to voters in south carolina, _ nikki haley. we've been speaking to voters in south carolina, we - nikki haley. we've been speaking to voters in south carolina, we are - voters in south carolina, we are just outside charleston, through the course of the morning. you can see that they are queueing around this elementary school where we are right now. we have been speaking to people who have been coming out for nikki haley, who has twice served as governor here. they have acknowledged that this is going to be a significant uphill battle for her, one that appears to be a foregone conclusion, but they have been giving her the vote, they say, because they want people to have a choice, so this isn�*t a foregone conclusion. that is an argument nikki haley has been making herself. other people are saying they are sick of donald trump, he creates

chaos wherever he goes, again something nikki haley has been saying. on the other side, those who tell us they are will be casting their vote for donald trump, they say that they want him as commander—in—chief, they believe in his economic policies, and they have also raised concerns about the situation at the southern border, i�*ll far from you, situation at the southern border, i�*ll farfrom you, but situation at the southern border, i�*ll far from you, but at a time when we have seen a record number of migrants. looking at the polls, we know that donald trump has an average of 30 points clear of nikki haley. that is coming off the back of queen elizabeth university hospital consecutive losses for nikki haley going into this race. —— coming off the back of queen elizabeth university hospital consecutive losses. nikki haley says she will stay in this race through to super tuesday when you have 16 states voting, and she has been putting a lot of money into ad campaigns, she said that she will not kiss the ring, and she says, and

the rest are neatly at your peril, but it appears to be a significant challenge, and is unlikely to be a hero�*s return for nikki haley, here in south carolina. hero's return for nikki haley, here in south carolina.— in south carolina. thank you, the bbc's helena _ in south carolina. thank you, the bbc's helena humphrey - in south carolina. thank you, the bbc's helena humphrey in - in south carolina. thank you, the bbc's helena humphrey in south | bbc�*s helena humphrey in south carolina. nhs bosses warm the five—day walk—out will cause major disruption. they say hospital operations and check ups will be worst hit as half of doctors in hospitals are junior doctors. we arejust going we are just going to leave you with these live pictures from kyiv. these are recorded pictures. this is the second anniversary of russia�*s full—scale invasion of ukraine, and we will be following up on this, here on bbc news. stay with us, here on bbc news.

hello there. many places saw a fine day today with some sunny spells around. it was on the chilly side, and that will take us into quite a cold night tonight once again, with frost developing across many areas. and we�*ll also see some areas of mist and fog forming, which could be quite dense, particularly so across parts of northern england, the midlands and eastern england. i think these are favoured spots for some very dense fog at times. a cold night to come for most. the winds picking up, though, across south wales, south—west england ahead of this area of low pressure, so less cold here, four or five degrees. subzero values, though, for pretty much the rest of the country. so we have this area of low pressure to contend with for sunday. that�*s going to affect more southern parts of the uk, whereas further north we�*ll be in a ridge of high pressure, so here it�*ll stay fine, dry, with plenty of sunshine around. and we will remain on the colder side of this area of low pressure, as you can see here on the air mass chart, so another chilly day to come. so many places starting bright, with some sunshine, but cold and frosty. there will be those stubborn fog patches to clear

across the midlands, eastern england. it turns wet and windy, though, for south wales, south—west england. that rain spreads across southern and south—east england as we move through the afternoon. bit of a question mark on the northern extent of the rain, but it looks like it�*s south wales, the m4 corridor southwards which will have a bit of a wash—out day. more rain falling on saturated ground could exacerbate already existing flooding issues, and it�*s going to be another chilly day. as that wet and windy weather pulls out towards france, it will drag a few wintry showers — northern scotland, north—east england, but dry for most away from the extreme south, which will stay wet and windy. so, as a consequence, because of the wind and rain, temperatures no lower than 5—6 degrees here, but another cold night to come with a frost further north. now, this ridge of high pressure will topple in across the country as we head into monday. that will push that area of low pressure out towards france, but it�*ll take its time. eventually, the wind and the rain will clear away from sussex and kent, but it will remain blustery, a strong north—easterly wind here. elsewhere, dry, plenty of sunshine, the winds less of a feature further north and west. but when we factor in the strong

wind across the south—east coming in from the north—east, although we�*ll see 8—9 degrees on the thermometer, it�*s going to feel more like i—2 degrees. and then as we push deeper into the week, towards the end of february, we start to pick up atlantic weather systems once again, bringing spells of wet and windy weather, and that�*ll lift the temperatures for all areas,

this is bbc news, the headlines. the spokeswoman for the russian opposition figure alexei navalny says his body has been given to his mother, more than a week after he died in prison, but they are still unsure whether the russian authorities will allow them to hold the funeral that they say he deserves. the mp lee anderson has been suspended from the conservative parliamentary party after refusing to apologise for saying he refused to apologise for saying islamists had gained control of the mayor of london. he also said sadiq khan had given london over "to his mates". mr khan hit back, describing the comments as "islamophobic, anti—muslim and racist". on the second anniversary of the full—scale invasion of ukraine, president zelensky vows that his country will defeat russia. but ukraine is losing territory.

now