with russia's invasion of ukraine entering year three, we look at what life is like for ukrainians under russian occupation. the uk government announces almost £5 billion worth of investment in transport projects — that's money saved from the scrapped northern leg of the h52 railway. and for the first time, women injapanjoin the �*naked festival'. but unlike the men, they wear purple robes. hello, i'm sally bundock. we start with the war in gaza. israel's army has presented its government with an evacuation plan for palestinian civilians from gaza's southernmost city of rafah. the proposal comes after the israeli prime minister,

benjamin netanyahu vowed to go ahead with an offensive. his comments also follow widespread reports that a framework for a pause in the fighting 7 along with the release of hostages — has been formulated by international mediators in paris. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is injerusalem — he sent this update on those negotiations. the press is certainly full of talk of optimism. and the americans who really want to get this in place before the start of ramamdan in two weeks�* time seem to think it is doable. but there is a host of issues to resolve. how long will the ceasefire last? how many israeli hostages will be released in the first phase? how many palestinian prisoners be released in return, and will the people of gaza be able to go back to their homes and what will be done to address the dreadful humanitarian situation throughout the gaza strip? any one of those issues could wreck the whole process and hamas is saying all of this talk of optimism is rubbish.

there's also the issue of israel's threatened assault on rafah and benjamin netanyahu said one way or another it will happen. although today he did hint that if there is a ceasefire, it might have to wait. there is no sign at all at the moment that the israeli military is ready to do it. the troops are not in place. warnings have not been given and nobody knows where the population of rafah are supposed to go before an attack starts. my guess is that an attack on rafah is still weeks away, if it happens at all, because let's think about it. when a ceasefire is put into place and lasts for several weeks and everyone does what they should, how easy will it be to go back to war? and that is the problem, a dilemma for benjamin netanyahu.

these discussions come amid further warnings about the humanitarian conditions in gaza. the un says there's a growing risk of famine on top of the unstable security situation there. this report from our special correspondent fergal keane begins in rafah where an estimated 1.5 million people have sought shelter. you may find some of his report distressing. it is mostly a story of exhausted waiting. each long minute, they seek anything to fight the pain of hunger. the young, who each day go out to feed their families. a charity is able to offer beans, a bowl per household. ii—year—old mohamed spends every day seeking food for his family. "when i go back to my family with this food, they are happy and we all eat together.

but sometimes i go empty—handed and i feel sad." this is northern gaza, where hunger is worst. and so much other suffering too. two—month—old mahmoud fatoo is one of the vulnerable victims. the doctor examining him told us how he had died. israel says the un is failing to organise distribution in the north. but the un says it can't because there is lawlessness now. and that israel has a responsibility to create security.

in israel, opinion polls suggest many support the views of zvika mor, whose son eitan is a hostage in gaza and who opposes any aid being sent without the return of the hostages. that sounds very, very harsh, when you're talking about civilians, babies, children dying? yes, but we have babies and women and elders. 0k? it's very, very simple. give us our people, and we will give you food and medicines. of course, hunger is only one enemy of the young. back close to rafah, the casualties of bomb blasts and bullets from fighting further north. as the war between israel and hamas grinds on. we are seeing children, especially, with limbs blown off, can't be salvaged, can't be saved, including upper limb, and also lower limb.

and what it is going to do is, it leaves an entire generation of gazan civilians, very, very disabled. giving up is not a choice, not with a family to be fed. a father out trying to find work, a mother with bone cancer. mohammed's family are stranded where history and hunger have trapped them. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. with more on this, i'm joined by bbc arabic�*s said shehata. a new week begins on this focus on the ongoing peace talks. what more can you tell us? there is no detail about what happened in paris but the israeli wall cabinet approved the terms for a potential ceasefire deal with hamas, based on what happened in paris. so there is a

negotiation and negotiation teams will go to qatar and then cairo for two rounds of negotiations and there is hope they will reach something. some israeli media mentioned there is a framework for a return of a third of the hostages over a six—week period which will cover the holy month of ramadan for the muslims and this will potentially be a middle way between what hamas needs and the israelis need because hamas want all israeli troops out of gaza in return for the release of their hostages, and israel want to stay in gaza controlling it and even launch an attack on rafah so the middle way is to have a truce and release some of the hostages, not the whole of the hostages. in hostages, not the whole of the hosta . es. ., hostages. in the meantime there are hue hostages. in the meantime there are huge questions _ hostages. in the meantime there are huge questions about - hostages. in the meantime there are huge questions about the - are huge questions about the people in rafah, the 1.5

million who are bracing for an israeli onslaught. benjamin netanyahu is determined, he says, to finish the job of eliminating hamas and he feels rafah is key to that. so tell us what is being said in the arabic press about this? i mention the determination of benjamin netanyahu, and he said it had to be done because according to him the full victory can happen within weeks of the operation starting but there was anger about that. the jordanian foreign minister said if the rafah attacks happen, it will put the whole region at risk of an explosion because it will make the muslim people angry, people fasting and all that stuff, and they are killed, and there is no way are

safe in gaza according to many un organisations, no safe place as the north is destroyed, the central and south is attacked, where can you go? they might put pressure on egypt. even benjamin netanyahu said that the peace with egypt was not at risk, so he's confirming that the relationship is strong, so no pressure on egypt, but the speculation is where can these people go, no food or electricity, and since the 23rd of january, electricity, and since the 23rd ofjanuary, no aid trunks went north of gaza, so many people are not ready to receive the people and this is the main question, if the rafah attack happens, you will be a disaster according to many organisations, international organisations.— organisations, international organisations. thank you very much. organisations. thank you very much- and — organisations. thank you very much. and we _ organisations. thank you very much. and we will _ organisations. thank you very much. and we will have - organisations. thank you very much. and we will have more| organisations. thank you very i much. and we will have more of this later when we look at the

issue of trade with the world trade organization hosting an eventin trade organization hosting an event in abu dhabi, so what's been happening in the red sea over the weekend with further attacks on houthi targets, all of that will be taken into account later in the programme. let's turn to the war in ukraine. on sunday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said 31 thousand ukrainian troops had been killed so far during the two years of war with russia. it's the first time in many months that figure has been revealed. he said tens of thousands of civilians in the russian occupied territories had also died. speaking at a news conference to mark saturday's second anniversary of russia's invasion, mrzelensky said he couldn't reveal the number of people injured because that information would help russia, but the loss was very painful. he also stressed the importance of western support if ukraine is to defeat the threat from russia. translation: we cannot lose. what it will mean if ukraine loses, it means there will be no us, no us in existence. definitely, this is not the end

of our existence that we like. if ukraine loses, if it becomes complicated, the number of victims, it will depend on you, on our partners and the western world. if we are strong with the weapons that we get, this and that, we won't lose the war. we will prevail. according to the un, in the two years since russia's invasion, six million people — mainly women and children — have fled the country. millions more have been forced to live under russian occupation in a number of areas. little is known about their lives but the bbc�*s olga malchevska has spoken to two teenagers — from mariupol and kherson — who were rescued from russian occupation. they've just been in london, sharing what they witnessed with mps. they look like ordinary teenagers visiting london, but they're survivors of war.

translation: 0ur| village was shelled. a friend of my aunt came and took us to mariupol. we thought we'd be safer there because they wouldn't shell the city itself. two, three days later, our village was occupied. then, mariupol city was besieged. it was a hell. we wanted to go back but it wasn't possible. veronica is from kherson in the south of ukraine. our city was occupied for seven months. after it, it became a front line. during the occupation there were loads of shelling in smaller towns or villages. we were sitting in the basement for a month. when we left the basement, two shells landed near me.

it was very scary. the sound of missiles gives me goose bumps. it's like a loud whistle and then a blast. it gets closer and louder and louder. it's extremely frightening. russia denies that it targets civilians. russian soldiers took my phone. i had deleted all my social media as i knew that they wouldn't like my chats. they asked if i knew anything about ukrainian service men and i said that i didn't. but i felt scared and they said, don't worry, if we wanted to kill you, we would have already done so. what was the most dramatic memory? while we moved from the occupied city we saw lots of cars that were burnt. i saw people coming inside their tent and later coming out of it naked. some people were also beaten. people were tortured in various ways there.

i heard screaming, "don't hit me, please." veronica's family heads across the dnipro river on a makeshift ferry as the bridge had been bombed. too emotional to speak in english, veronica tells me how her parents stressed out when they got stuck in the middle of the riverfor two hours. the makeshift ferry was shelled just half—an—hour after they got to the other side. i had so many problems but i keep smiling, because i want to. it's not like i'm faking a smile while feeling sad in reality. but no, i want to smile, because i'm alive. olga malchevska, bbc news. the hungarian parliament is expected to ratify sweden s nato membership by a comfortable majority today — the last of the 31 nato members to do so. sweden's request to join the organisation was approved injuly 2022 — and most nato members ratified the decision immediately after.

hungary and turkey raised objections — hungary, because swedish politicians have publicly criticised what they see as the autocratic policies of the current hungarian government. the hungarian government came under heavy diplomatic pressure from the us and uk, among others, to stop delaying swedish membership. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. the news in the uk. a body has been found in the search for a boy who went missing at a lake in staffordshire. emergency services were called on saturday, after three boys were spotted in the water. two of the boys managed to get out and were taken to hospital — but the body of a 17—year—old boy was found on sunday. the post office has hired criminal investigators to look at how its own staff previously

pursued subpostmasters caught up in the faulty horizon it scandal. some of those falsely accused of fraud have told the public inquiry they were bullied or intimidated by post office investigators. more than 900 sub—postmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to faulty software. liverpool have won the football league cup for a 10th time, extending their own record of wins in the competition. they beat chelsea 1—0 in the final, with their winner coming in the final two minutes of extra time. with that defeat, chelsea have secured an unwanted record, they have lost their last six cup finals. you're live with bbc news. the government has announced that the north of england and the midlands

are to receive £4] billion for local transport projects. the money has come from savings after the northern leg of the hs2 railway was cancelled. local councils will decide on how it is spent. our business correspondent marc ashdown reports. better transport connections for millions of people living in smaller cities, towns and rural areas. that's the promise from rishi sunak as he makes the case for cancelling the massive hs2 rail upgrade. the north of england will receive £2.5 billion over a seven—year period from next april and the midlands £2.2 billion. the money will be distributed by local councils from a central local transport fund, with residents able to have a say and mps given oversight to ensure value for money. all we seem to ever get over the last ten years, let alone, actually over the last 1a years, is a series of promises which never actually seem to change how people can live their lives in the north, the opportunities that are afforded to us here in the north and all we are going to hear, i think today is another funding commitment that is

never going to solve the problems that we face today. all this is aimed at putting flesh on the bones to explain how part of the £36 billion budget for hs2 would be reallocated in england and wales. money is also being pledged to resurface roads, extend the £2 bus fare cap across england and install more electric vehicle charging points. but labour said these were back of a fag packet calculations and amounted to a reannouncement of projects which had been promised a decade ago. there will be at least one spending review and a general election before this money can even be turned into tarmac. but rishi sunak is taking his cabinet on a road trip to east yorkshire later today to lay out how he plans to improve transport options for millions of people. marc ashdown, bbc news. we shall unpack that further in the business coverage in ten minutes' time. prime minister rishi sunak

is facing continuing pressure to speak out about comments made by mp lee anderson, which have been criticised as islamophobic. the former conservative deputy chairman said the mayor of london, sadiq khan, was controlled by islamists — and he lost the tory whip when he refused to apologise. our political correspondent iain watson reports. he's known for speaking his mind, but lee anderson kept his lips firmly sealed following his suspension from the parliamentary conservative party. he took himself to this appropriately—named pub in his constituency. so here are the comments about london's mayor that puts him in the political doghouse. i don't actually believe that these islamists have got control of our country. but what i do believe is they've got control of khan, and they've got control of london. labour said this was islamophobic, but the deputy prime minister was careful not to make that specific accusation. i don't believe that lee anderson was was intending to be islamophobic.

but nonetheless, i understand the concern about particularly when it's in relation to the mayor of london, how those words have caused offence. but the conservative muslim forum, which is officially linked to the party, were more critical of lee anderson's comments. they welcomed his suspension, but said it caused hurt to their members. well, you can call them islamophobic. you can call them anti—muslim hatred, whichever way you term them, they were there to cause upset to the muslims. they have caused upset. and we've been innundated with messages from our members and with our membership stating that we have to take action on this. they say they'll be talking to the prime minister's office this week. he hosts a meeting of his cabinet in east yorkshire today. so far rishi sunak hasn't commented directly on lee anderson, but he will face questions from the media. the conflict in the middle east is having a profound effect on uk politics and wider society. just one aspect of this is the challenge facing the main party leaders.

keir starmer had to cut loose his candidate in the forthcoming rochdale by election over anti—semitism. now labour is keen to keep the focus on the prime minister and the problems he's facing in his own party. what's unfolded in the conservative party, the absolute poison that's been allowed to seep into their political debate, and a prime minister that's seemingly unwilling to even acknowledge the term islamophobia, let alone stand up to senior politicians in his party dragging our politics into the sewer. rishi sunak, shame on you! and the focus will be back on gaza later this week at westminster with the snp�*s saying they will take up the offer of an emergency debate. party leaders want to avoid some of the divisions that were on display last week, but that's not guaranteed. iain watson, bbc news. police in australia say they are searching several dams as they try to find the bodies of a sydney couple allegedly murdered by a serving police officer. last week authorities in the state of new south wales said luke davies and jesse baird

were shot with a police handgun. they say the officer, beau lamar—condon, later allegedly took the men away in a van. police have confirmed that divers have been sent to a remote rural property, two hours south—west of sydney. mr lamarre—condon handed himself in on friday. police says he has made a partial confession, but is not co—operating in the search for his alleged victims. the former brazilian president, jair bolsonaro says he's been the victim of tireless political persecution since leaving office just over a year ago. addressing tens of thousands of his supporters at a rally in sao paulo, he denied police allegations that he plotted a coup to stay in power after losing the 2021 election. our south america correspondent ione wells is in sao paolo.

this rally was called into an ongoing investigation into mr bolsanaro into whether or not he incited thousands of his supporters last year to storm the presidential palace, congress and also the supreme court, calling for a military takeover and the election result to be overturned. in his speech today at the rally, he called allegations of the alleged coup a conspiracy and also asked for an amnesty for supporters of his who ended up arrested and put in prison as a result of rioting and looting those government buildings last year. politically, this won't change the dial for the former the dialfor the former president. he is still banned from running for office for eight years but this was really about showing that he has a big

support base in brazil, which is still currently very divided since the election. for the first time, women injapan have joined 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. our tokyo correspondent shaimaa khalil sent us this update from the event — a moment injapanese history. this is the moment. they're making their way to the shinto shrine to make their offerings. this is something no woman injapan has ever done before. this has always been off limits for women. but for the first time,

in more than 1,000 years, women are now taking part in one ofjapan�*s most famous naked festivals. obviously, they�* re clothed. and you can get more of shaimaa's reporting from the festival on the bbc news website and app. britain's royal mint has announced it's honouring late singer—songwriter george michael with a personalised collectible coin. officially approved by his estate, the coin features the star wearing his trademark sunglasses— and pays tribute to his 1987 hit single "faith". the new coin is the latest addition to the royal mint�*s "music legends" series, which has previously honoured david bowie, eltonjohn and queen. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. for many parts of the uk, monday looks like being a dry day with some sunny spells. the rain that we've had in the south — and there was an inch of rain

in cornwall — has been close to that low pressure. that is tending to move away, restricting the rain towards the far southeast of england. but there's quite a breeze blowing for england and wales, so it won't be as cold as it was the previous night. we're looking at a frost, though, in scotland, maybe some icy patches following a few wintry showers, which will fade away quickly in the morning. plenty of sunshine for scotland and northern ireland on monday. sunny spells for england and wales. the rain pushing away from kent, sussex and the channel islands. but it's a northeasterly wind that follows that will bring the odd shower into eastern england, perhaps into the midlands, as well. and it'll feel chilly in that wind across the southeast of england. temperatures could make ten celsius, but we're looking at 8—9 being more typical — similar to what we've had over the past few days. the winds do drop across south eastern areas after dark, and it gets cold and frosty for england and wales ahead of that weather front moving down from the northwest, together with some stronger winds. so a band of wet and windy weather sweeps through scotland and northern ireland, pushes into england and wales. most of the rain will be over the hills, followed by sunshine and blustery showers. wintry over higher

parts of scotland. may well be largely dry across the midlands, east anglia, and the southeast — but it'll be quite cold, and there could be some mist and fog around in the morning. that weather front bringing the rain continues to weaken as it moves south eastwards after dark, and then we await the next weather system coming in from the atlantic. it's just a brief window of dry weather. there'll be some sunshine after a chilly start, but we'll see the cloud moving in more quickly, and the rains moving across more quickly as well — notjust across northern ireland now, but other western parts of the uk before the end of the afternoon. the best of the sunshine in the far east of england. but temperatures are likely to reach double figures — and, together with these bands of rain coming in from the west, we've got some milder air on thursday night, so no frost this time. we still have a weather front to move through on thursday — that's that band of rain clearing scotland, pushing into england and wales. and that will be followed by more showers — and these will be turning wintry over the hills. as things just get a little bit colder, we could well see temperatures across eastern england, though, in double figures — but only for a while, because the colder air will push down across

the whole of the country by the end of the week. and, with low pressure in charge, we've got showers or longer spells of rain, and there may even be some wintriness over the hills.

live from london. this is bbc news. trade tensions bubble between the us and china as ministers gather for the world trade organisation conference.

how to fund the green transition? a uk energy trade body calls for a wind—up of windfall taxes on energy profits to fuel future investment. also in the programme, controlling a car with your eyes — artifical intelligence takes centre stage at this year's mobile world congress. and dining in — in style. we take a look at the growing appetite for private chefs. hello, i'm sally bundock with the latest business news. we start in abu dhabi, where ministers from around the globe are gathering for the latest world trade organisation meeting. the director—general, ngozi okonjo—iweala, has kicked things off launching a $50 million fund designed

to help female entrepreneurs in developing countries.