the conservatives suspend mp lee anderson, after he refused to apologise for saying london's mayor is controlled by islamists. the first muslim cabinet member said the prime minister shouldn't have to be pressurised to take action. this is not a story, this is a very, very serious issue. this is about the future of our country, the kind of country that we want to build together. on the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky insists his country will win, but urgently needs more weapons. hello. the body of russian opposition figure alexei navalny has been handed over to his mother,

while the g7 group of nations have again called on russia to fully clarify the circumstances of his death. navalny spokesperson kira yarmysh confirmed on x — formerly known as twitter — that the body had been released. she also wrote that 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. our correspondent olga ivshina from bbc russia provided some context to the returning of navalny�*s body.

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 navalnaya 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 it's a relief his family will be able to get his body. we don't know where the funeral will take place, we know that navalny�*s mother, she is still in the arctic circle, so we don't know 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 navalnaya and his supporters and friends

and colleagues would keep spreading the message, banging on, and we see that yulia navalnaya is continuing the struggle. as you say, 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 chairman 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 past 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, what chance do they have? our political correspondent iain watson told us more about the controversy and the mounting pressure on the prime minister. he has indeed. and that pressure coming from not just sadiq khan and the labour party but some inside the tory party as well, including the business minister, nus ghani, who 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 chairman of the conservative party, a prominent spokesperson

for the party, until quite recently. the chief whip tried to get him to withdraw the remarks and apologise and 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. earlier, i spoke to former conservative chairwoman baroness sayeeda warsi — the first muslim to serve as a cabinet minister. it may surprise you for me to say that i wasn't surprised when i saw these comments from lee anderson. he has a long and chequered history of making racist comments, indeed from even before he became a conservative member of parliament and consistently since then, there has been controversy around comments that he has made, and the party have been aware of that. lee anderson should have had his whip withdrawn many, many months ago. as should other colleagues.

the prime minister needs to decide whether the issue of anti—muslim racism is as serious as anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all other forms of discrimination and racism, or that it doesn't matter to him, he shouldn't 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. but the conservative party over the years, as you know, 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 has done over anti—semitism. where do you think this leaves the leadership of the prime minister, and what should he be doing around this issue in the conservative party? well, the conservative party, after many, many years of being pressurised by myself and others, decided to

have an inquiry, the singh review. 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 didn't have the support of muslim conservatives or british muslim communities. and so, really, the party has not taken this matter as seriously as it should have done. and because it didn't, there is now a culture and an acceptance within the party that muslims are fair game, that muslims don't matter, that you can get away with this kind of rhetoric, whether you dress it up in more respectable fashion, as some of my colleagues try and do on the floor of the house or in newspaper articles like robertjenrick or suella braverman or others, or whether you do it in a much more overt way like lee anderson did, and he got caught in the net. but whichever way my colleagues are talking about this issue, it is a deeply dangerous approach, it is very deliberate, it is divisive, it is aimed to fuel

hatred, it is aimed to fuel culture wars, and it may win a few votes in some extreme parts of british society, but the majority of british society rejects this kind of populist, post—truth, divisive politics and tragically, what it is doing, it is poisoning political debate and it's poisoning our political party, the conservative party. let's take you live to tel aviv in israel now, where large anti—government demonstrations have been taking place. earlier, mounted police were seen among crowds and water cannon was used. these are part of weekly protests that have been taking place of the government's handling of the war on gaza. it comes as 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. but a senior palestinian official with close knowledge of the talks told the bbc there had been no real progress. let's speak now to jonathan panikoff, the director of the scowcroft middle east security initiative at the atlantic council's middle east programme. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. what kind of an agreement do you think we could be looking at here? inaudible hello, jonathan, we can't tell you,

have you muted yourself? hello, jonathan, we can't tell you, have you muted yourself? apologies, and aood have you muted yourself? apologies, and good evening. _ have you muted yourself? apologies, and good evening. if— have you muted yourself? apologies, and good evening. if we _ have you muted yourself? apologies, and good evening. if we could - have you muted yourself? apologies, and good evening. if we could start . and good evening. if we could start that again. — and good evening. if we could start that again. just _ and good evening. if we could start that again, just tell _ and good evening. if we could start that again, just tell us _ and good evening. if we could start that again, just tell us what - and good evening. if we could start that again, just tell us what kind i that again, just tell us what kind of an agreement we are looking at? apologies, what we are expecting is 35 to 40 apologies, what we are expecting is 35 to a0 hostages currently being held in gaza in exchange for somewhere between 200 to 300 palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. there is a real question about who those prisoners are going to be, that will probably be the biggest sticking point before you get to the end of the deal, and whether or not as part of the agreement which would probably last six weeks or so palestinians in gaza are going to be allowed to return to the north of gaza or whether they will still be prevented from going back to their homes or what was their homes in that area. i5 back to their homes or what was their homes in that area. is it exnected _ their homes in that area. is it expected that _ their homes in that area. is it expected that the _ their homes in that area. is it expected that the cabinet in israel will vote on this potential agreement? there has been a lot of

pressure within the government of not having any agreement with hamas, how do you think this play will out? my how do you think this play will out? my sense is the cabinet will vote in favour of it. the war cabinet will vote in favour of it. the wall cabinets that will vote on it, not the full cabinet. —— the war cabinet will vote on it. they will meet in person tomorrow, so i think the outline will go through. i think the question will be how hamas comes back. qatar and egypt will bring this potential framework to hamas back. qatar and egypt will bring this potentialframework to hamas if they have not already done so and that response will carry weight, if they try to change it they can be back to square one. but the real goal of everybody is to try and get this done before ramadan begins in about two weeks. i this done before ramadan begins in about two weeks.— about two weeks. i want to ask you about two weeks. i want to ask you about your — about two weeks. i want to ask you about your thoughts _ about two weeks. i want to ask you about your thoughts on _ about two weeks. i want to ask you about your thoughts on how - about two weeks. i want to ask you about your thoughts on how these l about your thoughts on how these negotiations have gone over the last couple of months, i believe, or the last few months. did they give you hope there is a way of reaching some kind of negotiated end to this

conflict? i kind of negotiated end to this conflict? ~ , kind of negotiated end to this conflict? ~' , ., , ., conflict? i think there is hope that more pauses _ conflict? i think there is hope that more pauses could _ conflict? i think there is hope that more pauses could happen, - conflict? i think there is hope that more pauses could happen, so - conflict? i think there is hope that more pauses could happen, so if. conflict? i think there is hope that i more pauses could happen, so if this goes through, you are looking at a humanitarian pause of six weeks or so, much longer than the one that happened in november which wasjust about a week. but i don't think it willfully end the about a week. but i don't think it will fully end the conflict. what it will fully end the conflict. what it will do, however, is probably completely compel israel to change how it operates. in other words, israel has talked for a long time about the potential to move with much more precise, direct, counterterrorism strikes. as part of this, most israel brigades will probably leave gaza, by the river they will probably remain but the others will probably leave. i think it could get to a place that is better and much less destructive, but i doubt it will fully end. as

welljust have not reached their objectives, including destroying hamas and all the senior leaders in the tunnel is they feel they need to. . ~' , ., , the tunnel is they feel they need to. ., ~ , ., , . now it's time for a look at today's sport. thanks very much. we are starting with football. could the premier league title race take another twist tonight? arsenal need a win to keep pace at the top — they're around 15 minutes into their match against newcastle. it is goalless there at the moment. manchester city have already done their part, as they beat bournemouth 1—0 at the vitality. phil foden scored the only goal of the game in the first half. the win keeps city second — nowjust a point behind leaders liverpool. a good day for city, a poor one for their rivals manchester united. they conceded a 97th minute goal against fulham to lose 2—1 at old trafford. united's four match—winning run

in the league is over. the best team won the game, from the first minute until the last minute i think we were the best team on the pitch, that played better, created more chances, had more control of the game and this is a fantastic feeling for us. united are now eight points off the top four, after aston villa beat nottingham forest a—2. elsewhere, oliver glasner got off to a winning start as manager of crystal palace, as they beat burnley whilst brighton scored late to draw 1—1 with everton. arsenal have just taken the lead, they are now winning i—0 arsenal have just taken the lead, they are now winning 1—0 at home to newcastle united. next, to the biggest match in club rugby league — as wigan warriors and penrith panthers aim to become known as the best club side in the world. the two sides kicked off their world club challenge match around 15 minutes ago. wigan are winning a—0 at the moment

to penrith. wigan are hoping to take the title for a fifth time, while the nrl champions penrith, are hoping to avenge last year's defeat, when they were beaten by st helens by a dramatic golden point. i3 13 minutes on the clock there, wigan leading so far. cricket now. a stunning bowling performance from shoaib bashir has put england in control of the fourth test against india. resuming the second day in ranchi on 302 for 7, england added another half century before being bowled out, with joe root finishing unbeaten on 122. india's innings didn't start well when they lost rohit sharma tojimmy anderson early — then bashir took over the ball, taking the next four wickets with impressive figures to leave india trailing england by ba runs with three wickets remaining. day three starts in about six hours' time. at the six nations, scotland are celebrating once again, after they won the calcutta cup against england for the fourth time in a row —

the first time they've done that since 1896. 30—2i was the score at murrayfield, but they had to come from behind for victory, as england led 10—0 early on. a hat—trick of tries from duhan van der merwe — a calcutta cup record — swung the game in scotland's favour, as they made it two wins from three matches. ireland are the team everyone's trying to catch though — they made it three wins from three, beating wales 31—7. it moves ireland a step closer to becoming the first team to win back—to—back grand slams in the six nations era. thank you. 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 independence square in kyiv, where western leaders visiting the city have pledged their solidarity, but the country says more weapons are what's really needed. ukraine is facing a bleaker situation than a few months ago,

with shortages of men and weapons, and the slow advance of russian troops. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, addressed the g7 this evening, 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 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. let's speak to victoriia panchenko who is the interim country director at helpage international. shejoins us from she joins us from western ukraine. thank you forjoining us on the programme. your charity focuses on helping the elderly and at the beginning of this conflict we reported a lot on the elderly refusing to leave their homes sometimes very close to the front lines. is that still happening? thank you to give me the opportunity to participate with this interview,

because there are lots of other men and women affected by the war in ukraine, because access to services are at risk, especially as you mentioned very close to the front line. they need medicine, they need care, they need psychosocial support and cover basic needs, water. they face loneliness, isolation and a very big stress every day. 80% of single older ukrainians below the poverty line and 90% are unable to pay even further basic medical needs. they need more support, humanitarian and long—term solution.

helpage has been working since 201a and we were working on just two regions in the east and now we share our activities for nine regions. i’m our activities for nine regions. i'm so sorry to _ our activities for nine regions. i'm so sorry to interrupt, you ask about more help being needed for the elderly people, just how easy is it to get it to them where they need it? it to get it to them where they need it? , , to get it to them where they need it? , y , . . to get it to them where they need it? , ,f. . it? it is very difficult. we work with social _ it? it is very difficult. we work with social workers _ it? it is very difficult. we work with social workers who - it? it is very difficult. we work| with social workers who deliver services. it is very simple, we work together with older people, we support them and advocate for them. now we have about 700 social workers in ukraine and they provide regular resources to people in the home, hygiene kits, vouchers further

medicine, finance supports, and of course information and psychological support and care. course information and psychological support and care-— support and care. thank you very much victoriia _ support and care. thank you very much victoriia panchenko - support and care. thank you very much victoriia panchenko from i much victoriia panchenko from helpage international. people are voting in the south carolina republican primary election. it will determine whether voters there want donald trump or nikki haley as their republican presidential candidate. let's speak to our correspondent helena humphrey. she's at a polling station in charleston. just describe the mood there. i think already that is a feeling that this is unlikely to be a hero's return for nikki haley here in her home state. we have been speaking to voters throughout the course of the morning just outside of charleston, even those coming out to support nikki haley say it will be an uphill battle. they say they have been voting for herjust to make sure there are more names on the ballot going forward into a super tuesday,

that this isn't a foregone conclusion. but if you take a look at the polls, we have donald trump with about 30 point lead over nikki haley and there is a sense with donald trump speaking in maryland for example that he has already moved on. he has his eyes on the republican nomination despite the fact is we know he is facing four micro—criminal trials going forward, 91 felony indictments against him right now, so it will be a difficult night here i think fit nikki haley. thank you forjoining us from charleston and we will have more on that voting that is happening in south carolina here on bbc news. you are watching bbc news, stay with us, we have the headlines after this short break. 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 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 a question mark on the northern extent of the rain, but it looks like it's south wales, the ma 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, tt 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 1—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, both by day and by night.

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 party after refusing to apologise for saying islamists had gained control of the mayor of london, sadiq khan. he made the comments while talking about pro—palestinian protests on gb news on friday. on the second anniversary of the full—scale invasion of ukraine, president zelensky vows that his country will defeat russia. several western leaders in kyiv are pledging their solidarity. but ukraine is losing territory and there are warnings moscow is taking advantage of the delays in delivering western military help. now on bbc news, ukrainecast and the global news podcast.