republicans in south carolina are voting to decide whether donald trump or nikki haley will be their presidential candidate. the former us president is expected to easily overpower his rival 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 — 9 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. navalny�*s sudden death, which came as a shock to many of his supporters, analysts and many, just most of the people who follow russia. yeah, everyone was watching for this and waiting after yulia navalnaya recorded that speech where she raised the stakes. so i guess at least this comes as a relief to his family

that they would be able to get him buried, because one of the scenarios described by the officials according to navalny�*s mother was that they would not give his body and would bury him in the penal colony, so definitely it's a relief that his family was able to get his body. we don't know where the funeral will take place. we know that navalny�*s mother, well at least at the time of the announcement, she was still in the arctic circle, so we don't know where exactly and when exactly the funeral will take place. south carolina voters headed to the polls on saturday in the southern us state's republican presidential primary election. it will determine whether people there want donald trump or nikki haley as their republican presidential candidate. during his keynote speech on the final day of the conservative political action conference, donald trump painted a dark picture of america under presidentjoe biden in what could be a preview of his general election

message to voters. whereas, the republican presidential contender, nikki haley, has sharply criticised her rival donald trump for making what she's called "disgusting" comments about black americans. let's speak to our correspondent helena humphrey. she's at the nikki haley campaign election night watching party, where she will give a speech later tonight. good a speech later tonight. to have you on the program just good to have you on the programme. just describe the mood. this is such a tough task for nikki haley. it certainly does appear to be a tough task, as you can see, they are just setting up here at the swatch party, but in a few hours, nikki haley will be taking to the stage. in the message to nikki haley throughout this campaign in recent weeks is no matter what happens, tonight in this race, on sunday, she will still be in the race for the republican nomination, even if she doesn't manage to prevail over donald trump, and that certainly looks like it

will be the case, if you take a look at the polling right now, she's training him on average around 30 percentage points coming off the back of three consecutive losses in primary and caucus races as well. speaking to voters casting their votes and even those who support nikki haley say that this is more about closing the gap on donald trump and having more viable names on the republican nomination tickets going forward. they know that donald trump appears to be in a very strong position, but nikki haley continues to fund raise, fund more than donald trump, she's been investing that money and add campaigns in michigan and super tuesday, the next campaign to come, the next race showing that she really does, it appear, to have plans of carrying on further in this race. money is one thing, at the end of the day, we know this is about those votes and getting those delegates needed to secure the

nomination with the task ahead for nikki haley. nomination with the task ahead for nikki haley-— nomination with the task ahead for nikki hale . ~ ., ., , nikki haley. what does the mood in the donald trump _ nikki haley. what does the mood in the donald trump camp? _ nikki haley. what does the mood in | the donald trump camp? confidence can see it's competent _ the donald trump camp? confidence can see it's competent by _ the donald trump camp? confidence can see it's competent by the - the donald trump camp? confidence can see it's competent by the fact i can see it's competent by the fact that donald trump has been in maryland today speaking at the cpap conference he is been taking on who sees as is number one political opponent there, joe biden, almost as if haley now is an afterthought. he's been speaking as himself as a political dissident commencement talking about his hits, same drill baby drill to revive the economy and promising the biggest crackdown on migrants yet. promising the biggest crackdown on migrants yet-— promising the biggest crackdown on migrants yet. thank you very much. helena will— migrants yet. thank you very much. helena will have _ migrants yet. thank you very much. helena will have more _ migrants yet. thank you very much. helena will have more updates - helena will have more updates throughout the day on that vote, a reminder you can go to the bbc website, and there we have updates from our correspondence, like helena, but also analysis on the unfolding votes. you are watching bbc news.

apologies there, we seem to have some issues here. leaders of the g—7 group of countries have called on iran and china to halt supplying military equipment to russia, to support its war on ukraine. it's exactly two years since russia's full—scale invasion of the country. several western leaders attended a ceremony marking the second anniversary in kyiv. ukraine is facing a bleaker situation than a few months ago, with shortages of men and weapons, and the slow advance of russian troops. we have some breaking news in the past few minutes. the pentagon has announced that us

and british forces have carried out strikes against eighteen houthi targets in yemen, the latest round of military action against the iran—linked group that continues to attack shipping in the region. these pictures are from sanaa, the yemen capital — we can see explosions seen over the city as us. and british forces carry out strikes against more than a dozen houthi targets in yemen. as a reminder of that breaking news in the last few minutes, the pentagon has announced that us and british forces have carried out strikes against eighteen houthi targets in yemen, the latest round of military action against the iran—linked group that continues to attack shipping in the region. we will bring you more on that as soon as we can hear on bbc news.

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. the mp was deputy chairman of the tory party until his resignation last month. pressure had been mounting on prime minister rishi sunak to take action over mr anderson's comments. mr khan criticised what he called 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 really 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? the mayor of london sadiq khan there. 0ur 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 not just from sadiq khan,

notjust from the labour party, but some people inside rishi sunak�*s own party as well, including the business minister, nus ghani, who'd said that these comments made by lee anderson, that the mayor of london was under the control of islamists, that those comments were "dangerous". also, lord barwell, the conservative peer who used to be the chief of staff to theresa may when she was prime minister, he called the remarks despicable. so there's a growing number of people willing to go out publicly and denounce what lee anderson was saying. and don't forget, he was deputy chairman of the conservative party, a prominent spokesman for that party, until really quite recently. the chief whip obviously tried to get him to apologise, to withdraw those remarks, and he's refused to do so. and for that reason, he is suspended. we don't know how long that suspension is going to last, but if he doesn't apologise, the suspension 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 it mean 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 memberfrom parliament and consistently since then, there's been controversy around comments that he is made in the party have been at made aware of that. lee anderson should've had his whip withdrawn. 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 anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all otherforms of anti—semitism, homophobia, misogyny, all other forms of discrimination and racism he shouldn't have to be put under pressure to take action on

this form of racism and there should not be hierarchy of racism within 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 islamic phobia, 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 within 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, 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. it didn't follow the evidence from complainants, and when it published its findings didn't have the support of muslim conservatives are british muslim communities. and so really the party has not taken this as it should've

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 and more respectable fashion, as my colleagues try to do on the floor of the house or in newspaper articles are so well a braver men or others or whether you do it in a much more overt way like a lee anderson dead and he got caught in the next. but whichever we may 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 and it may win a few votes in some extreme parts of british society, but the majority of british society, but the majority of british society rejects this kind of populist pulsed truth divisive politics, and tragically what it's doing, it's poisoning political

debate, and it's placing political party, the conservative party. 50 party, the conservative party. so 'ust party, the conservative party. so just give me some concrete action, some steps you'd like, the conservative party to take when to deal with this issue comprehensively. deal with this issue comrehensivel. , , , deal with this issue comrehensivel. ,, i, , comprehensively. this is very simple ste - comprehensively. this is very simple ste the comprehensively. this is very simple step the party _ comprehensively. this is very simple step the party could _ comprehensively. this is very simple step the party could take _ comprehensively. this is very simple step the party could take there - comprehensively. this is very simple step the party could take there is - step the party could take there is now an agreed parliamentary definition of islamic phobia put forward by an all party parliamentary group made up of conservatives, labour members, liberal democrats, snp commits 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 that is a very simple thing that the party could do to show their commitment to reading out anti—muslim racism and islamic phobia by adopting the i'll probably mean terry group definition of islamic phobia as they have quite rightly adopted the rh raf anti—semitism. it would show that

this form of racism is taken seriously and it would also show there is not a hierarchy of racism within our party. d0 there is not a hierarchy of racism within our party-— within our party. do think it is possible that _ within our party. do think it is possible that the _ within our party. do think it is possible that the story - within our party. do think it is possible that the story might | within our party. do think it is - possible that the story might turn out to be a political story rather than one that deals with islamic phobia as you are calling for, perhaps this will be a question of the personalities of lee anderson the personalities of lee anderson the direction the story is likely to take. , , ., the direction the story is likely to take. ,, ., ., , , the direction the story is likely to take. ,, the direction the story is likely to take. this is not a story, this is a ve , take. this is not a story, this is a very, very serious _ take. this is not a story, this is a very, very serious issue. - take. this is not a story, this is a very, very serious issue. this - take. this is not a story, this is a very, very serious issue. this is i very, very serious issue. this is about the future of our country, the kind of country we want to build together. in the conservative party have a great tradition of being a one nation party of trying to find policies which bring our country together, which unify us a great belief in democracy for debate and for discussion despite our differences, whatever differences we may have in this country, but where the conservative party is going right now is not in the tradition of the conservative party. it's more

following what's happened with the republican party in the us and the placing of that by donald trump and his ilk. we saw only this last week liz truss spending her 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 destroy democracy in the united states. sadly there are some of my colleagues who are bringing that plays into the conservative party. it is a dangerous thing for my party. it's a dangerous thing for democracy. it's a dangerous thing for our country, where most decent people in this country want to live alongside each other, sharing our lives, sharing experiences that we have in this country and creating a unified communicative country. but if we start finding people at the top of politics to try and ratchet up top of politics to try and ratchet up hate, if they divide rather than heal, who use every opportunity to

promote a culture work, then that is a threat, that is a serious threat for all of us, notjust for muslim communities who are currently the kind of targets of the attack, but to next? who will come next? and we have seen that with so ella braverman when she mounted an attack on homeless people when there have been attacks on other communities and other groups. it is dangerous politics. it is divisive politics and we've got to call it out and say enough. we cannot have this kind of poisonous ideology in our politics. that was the former conservative chairwoman. not turning to the war between israel and hamas. the israeli war cabinet is to be briefed later today by negotiators who have held talks in paris on trying to secure a ceasefire in gaza. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's national security advisor says the fact that the briefing is taking place shows that the team did not come back empty—handed. reports in israeli media say the �*outline of an agreement�* on a ceasefire with hamas and the release of the remaining

hostages was reached in talks with mediators from the us, egypt and qatar. it comes as israel continues its bombardment of gaza. health officials in the territory said more than 100 palestinians were killed overnight. 0ur correspondentjenny hill is injerusalem — she has more on the possible ceasefire. significant progress has reportedly been made during those talks in paris, where israel was represented, along with delegates from egypt, qatar, both of whom have been really driving these negotiations, and also, of course, the us, which has said it wants a deal in place before the beginning of the muslim holy month of ramadan, which starts on march tenth, so around a fortnight to go to get that deal done. reports suggest that the negotiators have thrashed out a framework, an outline of a deal

upon which further negotiations can now be built. we don't have details of that outline at this stage, but we understand that the israeli delegation will be presenting the framework to the israeli war cabinet later on this evening, so we would hope to have some more details fairly soon. and we know what the sticking points had been between hamas and israel. the whole deal is looking at brokering a temporary ceasefire. well, hamas had said they wanted a permanent ceasefire, followed by the withdrawal of israeli troops — that was something that the israelis weren't prepared to move on. there were also a lot of discussions around the release of israeli hostages, but in return, hamas were demanding the release of palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. and then there was a lot of discussion about how, put bluntly, how many prisoners

should be returned in exchange for a certain number of hostages. so we know those were the sticking points. we don't really know what shifted, but it's fair to say that in the last few days, the tone has certainly softened. as recently as last weekend, you had benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, describing hamas's negotiating position as "delusional". but then a few days later, a ministerfrom his war cabinet was saying that the initial signs indicated that there was a possibility of progress towards a deal. so a cautious optimism coming out of the israeli reports. let's wait and see what more details follow. a reminder of our breaking news this hour. the pentagon has announced that us and british forces have carried out strikes against 18 houthi targets in yemen, the latest round of military action against the iran—linked group that continues to attack shipping in the region.these pictures are from sanaa, the yemen capital — we can see explosions over the city. a reminder of that breaking news

in the last few minutes . the pentagon has announced thst us and british forces have carried out strikes against 18 houthi targets in yemen, the latest round of military action against the iran—linked group that continues to attack shipping in the region. junior doctors in england are striking for the tenth time in their long—running pay dispute with the government. the five day walk aout comes at a time of significant pressure on the health service — and routine operations and check—ups are expected to be disrupted badly. 0ur health correspondent, dominic hughes, reports. nigel is living with a heart condition, but also terminal bowel cancer. the tablets are helping his heart, but fortnightly doses of chemotherapy for the cancer are what's keeping him alive. when i met him this week, nigel wasn't sure if the strike would mean his next

session would go ahead. why hasn't the government helped resolve this? i thoroughly support what the junior doctors are doing, but i don't want them to be on strike. you know, i think that they've got a very good case for getting more money for the work that they do, but at the same time, i'm not convinced by health service workers being on strike, that's going to have such a negative impact on all of the patients. this is the 10th strike byjunior doctors in england, but they've also been on strike in wales this past week, and in northern ireland they voted in support of strike action next month. only in scotland have junior doctors accepted a 12.4% pay rise for this year. chanting: what do we want? pay restoration! _ when do we want it? now! the industrial action in england has been going on for nearly a year now, but striking doctors like ray say they're determined to carry on. i'm not going to stop striking until i feel that doctors are getting an offer that they deserve, to feel fairly valued, and the government needs to understand that. so even though it's an endless, you know, dispute, with the government having a little bit of decorum and dignity,

or his majesty's government will get to the understanding that they need to, kicking and screaming. i want for this to be resolved. i've come to these negotiations with nothing but good intentions and a genuine desire to find a reasonable solution forjunior doctors, but also, importantly, for patients and the public and the taxpayer. so i still want to try and achieve that, but i can only do that if the junior doctors committee play their part. nhs bosses have warned of more serious disruption to services over the next five days, particularly planned operations in clinics. but for patients like nigel, the uncertainty caused by this latest row and strike action continues. there will be many who will be asking why, nearly one year on, this dispute has not yet been resolved. dominic hughes, bbc news.

the woman credited as the "first black matron" in the uk's national health service has had her achievements recognised permanently. daphne steele arrived in the uk in 1951 and helped thousands of patients during her career as a nurse and a midwife. she became a symbol of the contribution that the windrush generation made to the country. tim muffett reports. recognition for a quiet revolutionary, which is how historic england has described daphne steele. almost 60 years ago, she became the first black matron in the nhs, at a hospital on this site in ilkley in west yorkshire. came to ilkley in 1964 to take charge of a maternity hospital. caused quite a stir. caused quite a stir — first black woman and all that to take charge of any nhs hospital. and i loved the community so much i've not left it. daphne steele died in 2004, having delivered thousands of babies

and having become a much—loved member of the local community. in 2002, she was nominated to take part in the queen'sjubilee baton relay ahead of the commonwealth games. i think i've got the legs for it! not only is it an honour because i am from this local community, but i was born in a commonwealth country, and if this is the queen's jubilee commonwealth games, i think it has come full circle. archive: the empire windrush brings to britain... _ daphne was born in what was then known as british guiana in 1927 and moved to england in 1951 as part of the windrush generation. she trained to become a nurse and then a midwife before landing herjob in ilkley. daphne steele is now the first person to be commemorated with an official blue plaque outside of london. the scheme was launched in the capital in 1866, but following a law change last year, it's being extended across england.

former beatle george harrison is expected to be commemorated next. tim muffett, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for the weather. hello there. peer showers on saturday, turning chilly out there. more rain too, i think on sunday. coming from this area of low pressure that will tend to slide across towards france and that is where we get any mild air heading. still in the chilly air conditions. a more widespread slight frost by early morning. the lowest temperatures like the previous night will be in northeast scotland. they stand five patches which will be a little slow to clear in the morning. we will see rain developing a of vesting than in south wales during sunday morning. that rain develops more widely across the south of england step away from here, the add shower cropping up at many places

will be dry with sunshine after the early mist and fog and temperatures around eight or 9 celsius. windy went that rain in the south, more rain is not good news at all. 15—25 cm quite widely that could lead to some further flooding. the cm quite widely that could lead to some furtherflooding. the range should carry from south wales and southwest in him night, but to continue in the southeast where it's going to be pretty windy. a few showers will get blown in further north from across the north sea but with more of a stronger northeasterly when for england and wales, it won't be as cold. scotland where we've got the clear skies, a few showers in scotland and northern ireland shouldn't last too long. the rain slowly creeps away with that northeasterly when there will be sending spells for england and wales and maybe the odd shower around as well. quite windy actually towards the southeast, particularly in the morning. strong to go first winds here. that means he's in the afternoon and we will see typical temperatures on monday around nine celsius. as one area of low pressure

rings in the south of england and moves away we will see this brief ridge of high pressure over night into tuesday morning and turning chilly in the south, ahead, over the front will bring the rain down from the northwest this time. so we will see some rain on tuesday across scotland and northern ireland followed by sunshine and showers. that rain heading into england and wales east anglia in the southeast must still look like finance dry here by turning more cloudy to stop the rain will tend to be derived as it runs southwards. for many parts of the country, wednesday will be a dry day with some sunshine for a while.

this is bbc news, the headlines... 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. the spokeswoman for the russian opposition figure, alexey navalny, says his body has been given to his mother, more than a week after he died in prison. republicans in south carolina are voting to decide whether donald trump or nikki haley will be their presidential candidate. the former us president is expected to easily overpower his rival. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky has