i don't believe that lee anderson said those remarks intending to be islamophobic. donald trump secures a fourth major victory in a republican presidential primary, but his rival, nikki haley, israel's main opposition leader criticises police for suppressing anti—government protesters. they had been demanding the release of hostages held by hamas. and oppenheimer was the big winner at the screen actors guild awards— it netted the top prize of best cast, as well as best actor for cillian murphy. hello, i'm lauren taylor. deputy prime minister oliver dowden has refused to be drawn on whether the former conservative mp, lee anderson's comments were islamophobic. mr anderson was suspended

from the party on saturday after he refused to apologise for saying that "islamists" had "got control" of mayor of london sadiq khan. our political correspondent georgia roberts explained the situation the conservatives are currently facing following mr anderson's comments. the conservative party continuing to face pressure over those comments lee anderson made, that both opponents and senior figures within the party described as islamophobic. speaking to laura kuenssberg this morning, the deputy prime minister oliver dowden refused to say he thought the comments were islamophobic made by lee anderson or that they intended to be. let's listen. well, that's why the prime minister took action. he gave lee anderson the opportunity to apologise, he didn't take that opportunity. words matter. he didn't choose his words correctly and, having failed to apologise, the prime minister took action and removed the whip. i think that was the appropriate course of action to take. do you agree, though, that the remarks were | islamophobic, anti—muslim?

i don't believe that lee anderson said those remarks intending to be islamophobic. oliver dowden also said lee anderson would have kept hisjob if he had followed party orders to apologise. the prime minister rishi sunak has so far not commented specifically on lee anderson's comments. he has put out some words this morning talking about the dangers of a divisive politics and the polarisation and extremism seen he says recently amid concern about the nature of some pro—palestinian protests across the country as the conflict in gaza goes on and after a week of fractious scenes in westminster in the commons. those scenes were something the shadow international development secretary lisa nandy was asked about, and about the fact that the speaker, linsey hoyle, unusually gave labour a vote on their amendment to an snp debate

on the gaza conflict and there were accusations labour pressured the speaker to allow this unusual break with convention in orderfor him to head off a labour party rebellion. let's listen now to what lisa nandy said about those concerns. can you guarantee to our viewers this morning that no one - from the labour party was involved in a conversation or passing a - message to the speaker suggesting l that hisjob might be on the line l unless he did what labour wanted? yes, i believe that i can. i have had numerous conversations as you can imagine with my colleagues, with keir starmer, with the chief whip, with david lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, over the last few weeks and months, since the 7th of october unfolded. frankly, the idea that you would threaten the speaker of the house of commons is for the birds. now, it was the snp who proposed the gaza conflict as a topic

of debate that saw the chaotic scenes we saw, that saw them walking out in protest at the speaker's decision, as well as some conservative mps. next week, they hope to bring the issue to the fore again in parliament given what happened this week. the speaker had said they could have another debate on this. we will see negotiations on how that pans out this week but certainly there will be a lot of hope that we don't see a repeat of the scenes we saw, that saw plenty of mps saying parliament had not been shown in its best light. the snp says it will push for another commons debate on gaza following the chaotic vote on the conflict earlier this week. there was uproar in the commons when speaker sir lindsay hoyle allowed mps to vote on a labour amendment to the snp's ceasefire motion. it meant the snp motion was not voted on, prompting the party to call for sir lindsay to quit. donald trump has easily defeated nikki haley in the south carolina republican presidential primary — her home state.

it's his fourth consecutive win in states where voters will vernon reports. # i'm proud to be an american #. another victory, another landslide. donald trump didn't even mention his republican rival tonight. he's already got his sights set on the presidential election in november. we're going to be up here on november 5th and we're going to look atjoe biden and we're going to look him right in the eye. he's destroying our country and we're going to say, "joe, you're fired. "get out. "get out, joe. "you're fired." this is yet another resounding win for donald trump, who is steam—rolling towards victory in this primary contest. here in south carolina, mr trump was looking to bolster his position as the undisputed, unassailable front runner in this race, and that's exactly what he's done. y'all are a rowdy bunch. despite trailing trump by a wide

margin, nikki haley was defiant, vowing to continue her campaign. there are huge numbers of voters in our republican primaries who were saying they want an alternative. i said earlier this week that no matter what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president. i'm a woman of my word. i think that she's a great proponent for women and women's rights, - and i think that it's really important for our- generation to support her. she'll bring normalcy to america and to the world. defeat here will be a personal setback for mrs haley. she was born in south carolina and served two terms as state governor. the two most disliked i politicians in america? trump and biden. i have a different style and approach. on the campaign trail, she has portrayed herself as the younger, more stable alternative to both

donald trump and joe biden. in nine days' time, over a dozen states will hold their primaries, but with his huge lead in the polls, donald trump's supporters say this race is effectively over. will vernon, bbc news, columbia, south carolina. director of the centre on us politics at university college london, dr thomas gift, says he doesn't see a clear route for nikki haley to make the presidency. donald trump has been framing himself from the very outset as the inevitable nominee for the republicans and he has been true to his word, essentially. these are thrashings, these are resounding victories for donald trump. really, at this point, nikki haley's only hope would be some type of spring surprise where donald trump's legal challenges catch up to him, either accusations surrounding the 14th amendment, which has gone to the supreme court, or his, you know, insurrection charge, or one of these 91 criminal indictments that he is facing.

you know, she is hoping that this catches up to him but i don't see it happening. she has pointed to the fact she thinks the polls suggest she would do better against biden than trump would but she does not seem to be polling particularly well with republicans. how could she get more support from them rather than the independents who seem to support her? that has really been nikki haley's entire campaign, that she is the most electable candidate. if you look at the polls, to be fair, she does beatjoe biden by about ten percentage points in a one—on—one matchup which is better than donald trump is polling but you can't win a republican primary by appealing to moderates. you have to appeal to the right wing. she is just simply not doing that. from the very beginning, she has been in a catch—22 which is that you can't go after donald trump too hard, otherwise you alienate the republican electorate but at the same time, you can't go... you know, keep the gloves on and not differentiate yourself.

so she is basically in an impossible situation and right now, i think her campaign is basically running on empty. i mean, ijust don't see her going forward. in israel, 21 people have been arrested in anti—government protests in the city of tel aviv. demonstrators were demanding the release of the hostages and the resignation of the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. officers used water cannon to break up the demonstration. israel's main opposition leader has criticised the police for their violent suppression of the protests, calling it dangerous and anti—democratic. the israeli war cabinet has been briefed on ceasefire negotiations in paris, which are reported to have made progress. israeli media is reporting the "outline of an agreement" has been reached for a pause in the fighting and the release by hamas of the remaining hostages. more talks could now be scheduled in qatar. the un says increased israeli air strikes in rafah are making aid operations there more difficult. it's paused aid deliveries

to northern gaza. but the israeli army chief of staff said on a visit to gaza that there should be no let—up in the fighting, to maintain pressure on hamas. let's speak tojohn lyndon, executive director at the alliance thank you for being with us. tell us about the latest progress on the ceasefire negotiations. it about the latest progress on the ceasefire negotiations.— about the latest progress on the ceasefire negotiations. it seems to be consciously _ ceasefire negotiations. it seems to be consciously encouraging, - ceasefire negotiations. it seems to be consciously encouraging, the i be consciously encouraging, the father is a framework has gotten in over a month since the initial talks in paris. it looks like we have an agreement on the terms of a six—week pause in fighting, the return of 35 to 40 pause in fighting, the return of 35 to a0 hostages, prioritisation for women, children, the sick and the elderly, and the release of 300 palestinian prisoners held in israeli captivity, many of them called security prisoners, have blood on their hands essentially. those broad terms had not been fully

agreed on the previous round, and the hope is now israel has dispatched a delegation to qatar to talk about those details, we may be moving towards an agreement if we can get hamas and the israeli government to sign off on the details. in government to sign off on the details. . , ., , details. in the meantime, israel is -aressin details. in the meantime, israel is pressing forward _ details. in the meantime, israel is pressing forward with _ details. in the meantime, israel is pressing forward with plans - details. in the meantime, israel is pressing forward with plans on - details. in the meantime, israel is pressing forward with plans on an | pressing forward with plans on an assault on rafah even though it is facing pressure from the us and allies not to do so. it is part of pressure on hamas? how do you view it? i pressure on hamas? how do you view it? ., , �* , pressure on hamas? how do you view it? �*, ., ., it? i hope it's part of a negotiating _ it? i hope it's part of a negotiating tactic, - it? i hope it's part of a - negotiating tactic, pressure on hamas to agree to the deal and we see with his six—week pause if it is secured, an off ramp diplomatically to get the hostages back and the prisoners released and to find another dynamic that can expand that sensation of hostility and to diplomatically work on some of the underlying issues. as most international observers, most governance courses to israel have said, an operation on rafah right now, 1.5 million people displaced, terrible humanitarian conditions, it

is very hard to understand something like that could not be a catastrophe.— like that could not be a catastrophe. like that could not be a catastrohe. ., . , ., ., catastrophe. how much is a factor with benjamin _ catastrophe. how much is a factor with benjamin netanyahu's- catastrophe. how much is a factor with benjamin netanyahu's plansl catastrophe. how much is a factor i with benjamin netanyahu's plans for a post—conflict scenario and does a man be? is it something they will take into account? is it being kept separate? summer social i think it's separate? summer social i think its beginning to believe a little bit more, we saw the release of very broad principles, i guess, from prime minister netanyahu of the day after the post—war settlement, which i very much inconsistent with what the international community has been saying and what the persons have been demanding. i saying and what the persons have been demanding.— saying and what the persons have been demanding. i think some of this has now been — been demanding. i think some of this has now been integrated _ been demanding. i think some of this has now been integrated into - been demanding. i think some of this has now been integrated into a - has now been integrated into a waiter negotiation, i think the international community led by the us has been very clear and some principles that run directly in contrast to what prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said about the security presence, no real role for the palestinian authority, although there are not mentioned by name and his broad culture that were released this week. i hope again if we have that pause, if we have humanitarian aid enter, if we have

diplomatic space opening up, the substantive conversation over what has to happen after this, that becomes a priority and you can show palestinians that there is a non—violent diplomatic path towards self—determination, for israel is, a part of our security, and that will be engineered by diplomatic engagement by both parties, underwritten by the international community who need to engage, the arab countries have stepped up, the europeans, the united kingdom united states, and a role for a single society, two very traumatised population after the explosion of violence, i would encourage international governments, diplomats who are looking at these broad issues, issues of governance, to also think about an ambitious strategy for engaging the hearts and minds of israelis and palestinians and to build from the bottom up some of the routes that any successful diplomatic process is going to require. diplomatic process is going to reauire. . ~ diplomatic process is going to reauire. ., ~ i. , diplomatic process is going to reauire. ., ~ , .

require. thank you very much indeed. we are getting _ require. thank you very much indeed. we are getting unconfirmed _ require. thank you very much indeed. we are getting unconfirmed reports i we are getting unconfirmed reports that qatar will host israeli gaza talks this week, that is coming in from reuters. we will get more confirmation on that as well. the uk and us have launched another round ofjoint missile strikes against houthi targets in yemen — in response to further attacks on cargo ships in the red sea. the defence secretary, grant shapps, says the uk has a duty to protect lives — but the houthis have vowed continued defiance — warning its attacks on shipping in the red sea will continue until israel ends its assault on gaza. simonjones reports. take off for what the uk and us are calling the latest necessary and proportionate strikes against houthi targets in yemen. four raf typhoon fighter jets were involved using precision—guided bombs at two sites to take out drones said to be used by the houthis for reconnaissance and attack missions against shipping.

the us hit a further six locations. in the capital of yemen, sanaa, smoke could be seen billowing into the night sky. in a joint statement, london and washington said... a week ago, this british—owned ship, the rubymar, was struck by houthi missiles, forcing the crew to abandon ship. and this us—owned cargo vessel, the sea champion, delivering humanitarian aid to yemen, came under attack. the houthis, who control large swathes of yemen, have been targeting vessels they say are linked to israel and the west in response to the war between israel and hamas. yemen has a key strategic position in the middle east, especially when it comes to global shipping. the red sea route

typically looks like this. it's one of the busiest in the world, transporting 15% of traded goods, largely from east to west. but because of the houthi attacks, many major shipping firms have diverted around southern africa. it takes ten days longer and hugely increases costs. a houthi military spokesperson said what he called the escalation by the uk and us would be confronted with more military operations against hostile targets in the red sea. but the uk is warning it won't hesitate to take further action if it's needed. the defence secretary, grant shapps, said, "it is our duty to protect lives at sea and preserve freedom of navigation." but, so far, the threat from the houthis has not been neutralised, with a5 ships targeted since november. simon jones, bbc news. now it's time for a look

at today's sport. we start with india, who have fought back and are in a strong position to win not only the fourth test but now the series against england after an impressive third day in ranchi. they started it trailing by 13a runs with three wickets remaining in theirfirst innings — but now are chasing 192 to win, after an england batting collapse. dhrquurel began by hitting his way to 90 as india passed the 300 mark, a good total given where they were earlier in the innings, all out for 307, giving england a a6—run lead. but then india's bowlers took over and ravichandran ashwin took two in two. ben duckett and ollie pope removed. joe root soon followed and although zak crawley managed a half century once his wicket fell, england slumped to 1a5 all out. five wickets for ashwin, four for kuldeep. india have just closed play in the last ten minutes on a0—0, rohit sharma and yashaswi jaiswal starting well. they will resume on day four needing another 152 runs to win the match

and the series in ranchi. to rugby union and the six nations, where france will host italy later, but it is ireland who remain the team most are talking about after making it three wins from three. they beat wales 31—7 in dublin in what was a bonus point win for the irish, as they move a step closer to becoming the first team to win back—to—back grand slams in the six nations era. that's now three defeats in a row for this young welsh side at this year's tournament. ireland play england next. they were beaten by scotland as duhan van der merwe scored a hat—trick in a deserved 30—21 victory at murrayfield. it's the first time in almost 130 years scotland have won four successive six nations matches against england, and it means the calcutta cup stays with them. and finally, at wembley, the first major trophy of the english football season will be won later. chelsea face liverpool in the carabao cup final as nesta mcgregor reports.

for more than eight years, jurgen klopp has been liverpool's chief conductor. although his style, attacking, aggressive, high pressing, has been branded more heavy metal football. yet, for the german, who is no stranger to the wembley stage, this is somewhat of a farewell tour. i will leave the club at the end of the season. and it could be some sendoff. this weekend is one of four trophies the reds are still in contention to win, albeit with an injury hit squad. as long as we have 11, we will go for it. that's all i can promise. ifjurgen klopp has provided liverpool with almost a decade of stability and leadership, the opposite can be said for chelsea. mauricio pochettino is their tenth manager in ten years, and under a new owner they've spent £1 billion on players — yet so far this season the results have been below par. we have 90 minutes to achieve that, and, yes, we are going to fight. i think the team is ready.

we are going to be very competitive, and i think this is an amazing chance for us. well, no club has won this trophy more times than liverpool, nine, but they are facing an injury crisis with a host of players unavailable, including trent alexander—arnold and their influential goalkeeper alisson becker. as for chelsea, well, victory at wembley will guarantee european football next season, and it could provide a much—needed spark that fans will be desperate for. something that was perhaps missing three weeks ago when these two teams met in the premier league, and it was liverpool who came out on top. a—1 was such a flattering scoreline on chelsea! because it could be five, six, seven. it was an absolute destruction. so, that will play in their mind. but remember, that was at anfield. anfield is a tough place to go, especially for a lot of young players. so, a tale of two managers at different points in their respective journeys with their clubs. a clash of styles, but will it be the reds or blues in full voice after the final whistle?

there is a build—up to that match on the bbc sport website. liberal democrat leader sir ed davey has admitted he "probably should have said sorry earlier on" in relation to his role in the post office scandal. sir ed served as post office minister under the coalition government from 2010 to 2012. here's what he told laura kuenssberg, this morning when asked about the scandal yeah, i probably should have said sorry earlier on but it is a huge scandal. our hearts go out to those hundreds of sub—postmasters and their families who were treated appallingly. the key thing now is to make sure that those exonerations happen quickly, that they get the compensation quickly, and they get to the truth with the inquiry. i have two sub—postmasters in my constituency, one who was in prison for 16 months, one who, frankly, it has really affected his health. i am going to fight for those

and join others in making sure the government gives the sub—postmasters the fair deal they deserve. the family of russian opposition leader alexei navalny say they do not yet know whether the russian authorities will attempt to interfere in their funeral arrangements. his body has been handed over to his mother, according to a spokesperson for the family. mr navalny died suddenly in prison last week. his mother had previously said the official death certificate presented to her claimed her son had died of natural causes. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. alexei navalny�*s mother had spent a week trying to persuade the authorities to release her son's body so that she can lay him to rest. she's finally succeeded. in a post on social media, a spokesperson for the late opposition leader announced that mr navalny�*s body had been handed over to his mother, and this regarding the funeral, "we do not know if the authorities will interfere to carry it out as the family wants

and as alexei deserves." alexei navalny was vladimir putin's most vocal critic and he became russia's most famous prisoner. in this penal colony beyond the arctic circle, he was serving a 19—year prison sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated. this is where he died. in a video message, his widow, yulia, had accused president putin of killing her husband and of holding his body hostage. the kremlin has previously described claims that it was behind mr navalny�*s death "obnoxious and unacceptable". at moscow's main cathedral, people queued to pay their respects to alexei navalny. for in the orthodox faith, the ninth day after death is a significant moment. outside, there were police checks, officers demanding id from some

of those who'd come here. and across town, more flowers. there are no details yet of when or where mr navalny will be laid to rest. the last thing the authorities will want is for his funeral to become a very public display of support for the man who had challenged the kremlin. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. for the first time, women injapan havejoined hadaka matsuri, or the "naked festival". it's an ancient japanese ritual that's meant to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits. despite its name, the women wore purple robes, and chanted excitedly, while they carried a large bamboo trunk as an offering. but they didn'tjoin the festival's main event, where a large group of nearly—naked men clash to drive away evil spirits.

and before we go, let me show you these pictures from china. cities across the country have been lit up to celebrate the traditional lantern festival. each year it falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, marking the end of chinese new year celebrations and symbolising the coming of spring. lantern festival celebrations have grown increasingly elaborate in recent years with epic fireworks displays, light installations and various cultural activities. some breaking news, egyptian security forces have said that qatar is to host mediated hamas israel chris talks this week. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.

it was a cold and locally foggy start for many this morning. temperatures fell in parts of aberdeenshire as low as minus eight degrees, but there was a widespread frost for many, the exception down towards the south—west. i'll come on to that injust a moment. but we had some glorious sunshine. despite that chilly start, a lovely morning across frinton—on—sea in essex. by contrast, into the south—west, more cloud, stronger winds and some rain arriving with this area of low pressure. just fringing with parts of south wales, as well. as we go through the morning and into the afternoon, that rain is going to continue to slowly drift its way eastwards, maybe bringing more cloud into the london area during the afternoon, but it should stay dry. further north of that, sunny spells will continue and any showers will be very isolated indeed, perhaps most frequent to the far north—west of scotland, with highs of six to ten degrees. that rain will continue to move its way across channel coasts overnight. the heaviest of the rain south of the ma corridor.

it will take its time to ease away from the kent coast by dawn on monday morning. that cloud and rain will prevent temperatures from falling too far, so a frost—free start for much of england and wales. we'll have clearer skies further north and west, so here a light frost is likely. but the difference with monday, once that rain has cleared away from the extreme south—east, is the wind direction — a brisk north—easterly, particularly across central and southern england. we could see gusts of winds up to 30mph to a0mph in places and that will make it feel noticeably fresher. a lot of dry weather and, again, some sunshine coming through, with highs of seven to ten degrees. as we move out of monday into tuesday we're going to see some wet and windy weather pushing in to scotland. that will drift its way across scotland, northern ireland into northern england and wales by the end of the afternoon. ahead of it we are likely to see quite a lot of cloud developing, as well. by tuesday, brighter with a few scattered showers out to the far north—west. that front will clear slowly but

surely as we move out of tuesday. it will not bring that much in the way of rain to the south—east and this brief ridge of high pressure will build before more fronts wait in the wings. it is going to be a changeable week ahead, really. at times we will have some brighter weather, followed by rain and then the brighter weather returns.

this is bbc news — the headlines. senior conservatives have been drawn into an argument over islamophobia, after the conservative mp lee anderson said "islamists" had "got control" of the mayor of london. the deputy prime minister refused to say whether the comments were islamophobic. donald trump is one step closer to the republican presidential nomination, after easily beating rival nikki haley in the south carolina primary. the former president won his opponent's home state with a 20—point margin — making it his fourth consecutive victory. israel's main opposition leader criticises police for suppressing anti—government protests. demonstrators had been demanding the release of hostages held by hamas, the resignation of prime minister benjamin netanyahu and early elections. oppenheimer is the big winner at the screen actors guild awards. it takes the top prize of best cast, as well as best actor for cillian murphy.

barbra streisand was also presented with a lifetime achievement award.