the un says that would be disastrous. the israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for the people there but it will put the final nail in the coffin for our aid programs. prime minister rishi sunak says comments by his former deputy chairman — claiming the london mayor, sadiq khan, was controlled by islamists — were "wrong" and "unacceptable". and for the first time — women injapanjoin the naked festival — but unlike the men — who wear next to nothing — they wear purple. and we can go live to brussels now, farmers setting some tyres alight, earlier police used water cannon to try and control the situation,

hundreds of tractors have been placed on the streets. as eu agriculture ministers meet to discuss the ongoing concerns by farmers who are angry right across europe by what they say as unfair competition from outside the eu. we will keep an eye on those pictures and any developments coming from those. more now on gaza — where the israeli military has reportedly put forward a plan to evacuate civilians from parts of the territory which have been affected by the conflict. no details have been made public — and it's not clear if any palestinian groups have been consulted. it comes as charity groups are reporting difficulties in delivering aid to many parts of gaza — and as talks continue to try to arrange a temporary ceasefire. in the last hour, the un secretary general antonio guterres has said that and israeli military assault on rafah, where many people have sought refuge, would be �*the final nail in the coffin�* for the un's aid programmes. let's speak to fawaz gerges, professor

of international relations at london school of economics. welcome and thank you for talking to us. let me start by asking you about another development. palestinian president said he was resigning to allow what he called a broad consensus of palestinians on political arrangements but what is your understanding of his resignation and that of the we think? i resignation and that of the we think? ~' resignation and that of the we think? ~ , , , , think? i think the pressure is overwhelming _ think? i think the pressure is overwhelming on _ think? i think the pressure is overwhelming on the - think? i think the pressure is - overwhelming on the palestinian authorities, egypt, the united arab emirates for example they want to reconstruct the palestinian authority and revitalise it, they want a new leadership and i want to basically help bring about a much more transparent and effective palestinian authority and yet there

are powers within the authorities who do not want to be told what to do because you have vast interests involved so the reality is this is a very difficult situation and given the war in gaza, they are using it as an excuse not to really push back against any efforts to bring about the reconstruction of the palestinian authority. the palestinian _ palestinian authority. the palestinian prime - palestinian authority. the palestinian prime minister mack met a bus would apparently stay in place but is it fair to say new political leadership is needed on perhaps both sides, from the palestinians and israel to try and move forward and secure a safe future for all? the auestion secure a safe future for all? the question you're _ secure a safe future for all? tue: question you're asking secure a safe future for all? tte: question you're asking is very important, how do you bring about a new leadership in light of the israeli occupation? you need elections on the west bank, the

occupied west bank and in east jerusalem and gaza. can you have elections in gaza? how do we know the voice of the palestinian people? you are talking about a war situation almost 30,000 people killed, almost 70,000 people injured. you have 1.7 million people displaced. that's why it's essential to have a permanent ceasefire and immediately in gaza to continue the process and we want to know what the palestinian people want. it's not just about me and all the talking heads telling the palestinians what to do. we need to listen to the agency of the palestinian people and their aspirations because they are their aspirations because they are the ones bearing the brunt of the israeli military occupation and they are incompetent and corrupt leadership. are incompetent and corrupt leadership-— are incompetent and corrupt leadershi. , ., ., ., leadership. the people of gaza have not had an election _ leadership. the people of gaza have not had an election since _ leadership. the people of gaza have not had an election since 2007? - leadership. the people of gaza have not had an election since 2007? i i leadership. the people of gaza have| not had an election since 2007? i am sure many people there who want to

be some helpful comments coming from the us who say they are optimistic about a ceasefire and a hostage deal but what is your reading of the words coming out from the us, from israel, about possibly what could happen in the coming days? t israel, about possibly what could happen in the coming days? i mean, here are the — happen in the coming days? i mean, here are the facts, _ happen in the coming days? i mean, here are the facts, let's _ happen in the coming days? i mean, here are the facts, let's tell - happen in the coming days? i mean, here are the facts, let's tell the - here are the facts, let's tell the viewers what the facts are. the americans believe a broad contours of a hostage deal had been reached, the egyptians are among those who are optimistic that a breakthrough has taken place. clicks from the israeli government also believe progress has been made yet if you listen to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, he is trying to dampen expectations and he says look, regardless of whether a deal is reached or not, the attack on the last piece of gaza will take place and it will be delayed and opposed

to being cancelled and forgive me for being cynical but the israeli prime minister is telling hamas did not sign a deal because i am coming to get you at the end of the day whether there is a deal or not. he is signalling to hamas to release its position and you might say why? does he wants the hostages? 0f does he wants the hostages? of course he does but what you are talking about is political, his political future is at stake and his government would collapse if he signs a deal with hamas, this extremist religious zionist coalition within the government so at the end of the day it depends upon prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the pressure within israel in particular the families of the hostages and whether the americans can exert more pressure so far because they have failed to basically convince or nudge or force benjamin netanyahu to accept a deal

in the next few days.— in the next few days. thank you for “oininu in the next few days. thank you for joining us- — more now on one of our breaking stories this hour — rishi sunak describing comments made by the mp lee anderson, about the mayor of london — as wrong and unacceptable. mr anderson, 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. mr khan, who represents the labour party, said the comments were islamophobic, anti—muslim and racist. raheel mohammed is the founder and director of maslaha — a charity that tackles inequalities and discriminations faced by muslim communities. welcome and thank you forjoining us. tell us what you thought about lee anderson and his comments last week? he lee anderson and his comments last week? , ., ., ., ., , week? he is an ignorant and racist man. it week? he is an ignorant and racist man- it is — week? he is an ignorant and racist man. it is what _ week? he is an ignorant and racist man. it is what he _ week? he is an ignorant and racist man. it is what he represents - week? he is an ignorant and racist man. it is what he represents and| man. it is what he represents and the reason why the prime minister is not using the word islamophobia and is not talking about racism is

because he wants to keep the conversation at the level of there is one bad apple in the party and it is one bad apple in the party and it is not about one bad apple, it is about islamophobia as a systemic form of racism that influences legislation, public institutions, and that is the conversation that we need to be having, not about what one individual says to another. because that is harmful to that individual but really, what we are looking at right now is how islamophobia trickles down from the government, it comes from rhetoric, the laws that they pass and it has a real impact on communities, spaces that are supposed to be safe. we are seeing it impact on children as young as six so it is about what lee anderson represents that as the conversation we should be having. we will talk about that but i want to know what you make of the prime minister �*s words this morning and he said that what lee anderson said

was wrong and unacceptable but there is criticism the government was not quick enough to deal with this situation from some quarters. what do you make of his comments? he wants to take the heat out of the situation in his words but will it do that? tt situation in his words but will it do that? . , situation in his words but will it do that? ., , ., ., ~ ., do that? it has not taken out the heat and if _ do that? it has not taken out the heat and if you _ do that? it has not taken out the heat and if you are _ do that? it has not taken out the heat and if you are somebody . do that? it has not taken out the. heat and if you are somebody who do that? it has not taken out the - heat and if you are somebody who is muslim from a racialised community, black and brown, you understand the impact of racism and islamophobia on a daily basis. 0liver dowden said if he had apologised, lee anderson, he probably would still be in a job and so you would still have somebody who has racist views and racist practice sitting in a very powerful position, he was on the home affairs committee, voting on legislation and he did suddenly appear out of nowhere like a racist peacock in all of his racist glory. that is the person that has been close to

government since at least 2019 and as a counsellor before. so it has not taken the heat out of the situation. and i think we need to really understand islamophobia as a systemic problem not as an individual problem and also, what are the conditions that allow someone likely anderson to continue? why is it that no one senior in government can say the word islamophobia? why can't they talk about racism, what is it that is preventing the and the answer is they do not want to tackle this wider issue that affects, and runs through all of government and public institutions. you through all of government and public institutions. ., _ , through all of government and public institutions. ., , ., institutions. you say it is a systemic— institutions. you say it is a systemic problem - institutions. you say it is a systemic problem in - institutions. you say it is a systemic problem in the i institutions. you say it is a _ systemic problem in the conservative party but in what way, what evidence do you have of that? tt is party but in what way, what evidence do you have of that?— do you have of that? it is a systemic— do you have of that? it is a systemic problem - do you have of that? it is a i systemic problem throughout do you have of that? it is a _ systemic problem throughout society. to give you an example. there is a policy code prevent which is a counterterrorism policy and it means

that our teachers, our doctors, counterterrorism policy and it means that ourteachers, our doctors, our nurses, people that are in spaces of safety are forced to become terrorist cops, they are forced to report on signs of possible extremism so we have children as young as six in this country being referred onto this counterterrorism policy. that referrals tend to lead nowhere, 90% of them lead nowhere but we have a government that has accepted the recommendations of a so—called independent review but it was not really into prevent and that policy is discriminatory. the fact that the government is comfortable with that policy and successive governments have been comfortable with it means that there is a real lack of understanding of the harm and the violence that is done to muslim and other racialised

communities.— muslim and other racialised communities. ., ~ , ., , . communities. 0k. thank you very much for “oininu communities. ok. thank you very much forjoining us— communities. 0k. thank you very much forjoining us with _ communities. ok. thank you very much forjoining us with your— communities. 0k. thank you very much forjoining us with your thoughts - forjoining us with your thoughts this morning. thank you. let's take you back to brussels. the developing story there with farmers protesting and dramatic scenes and we have just seen riot police, we can see the riot police trying to put out fires, firefighters trying to put them out as well. there are dozens if not hundreds of farmers blocking the streets in brussels. we saw tires on fire with dozens of tractors in the streets. earlier on, riot police used water cannon to try and stop those protesters. this is all about anger from those protesters. this is all about angerfrom protesters those protesters. this is all about anger from protesters against competition from cheap food imports and what they say are excessive environmental rules and subsidies which they say favour large firms. we have agriculture ministers meeting in brussels today which is why the streets there are very much the focus of attention but there

have been demonstrations taking place across europe, we spoke with our colleague madrid a short time ago and in the past few days we have seen protests in france, germany, the netherlands, poland, spain, italy, and our correspondence has the latest. , , ., , the latest. this is the main road up to the european _ the latest. this is the main road up to the european commission - the latest. this is the main road up i to the european commission building, the main building in the heart of brussels and gc the police of water cannon out and that is being trained on this far that the farmers have set up this morning. you can see further down the street, tractors. here in brussels today there is quite a lot of routes are sealed and traffic disruption and you can see this black plume of smoke billowing all the way down the street which normally would be filled with people so for now, there is considerable disruption here and there is a meeting later today of eu ministers

with responsibility for agriculture. and a lot of the farmers hope that there will be some sort of change in emphasis which will leave them better off but there have been protests in the netherlands, france, italy as well. this common theme among farmers that they feel they are getting a bad deal and a lot of governments would say they believe that farmers have been supported for a long time through various means but they are listening to them. that was our correspondence, and this is the scene right now, we think that a stroke that has been put over the road which has very much blocked cars and vehicles from being able to access that road but we can see police in the distance, and this neara police in the distance, and this near a picture, you can see tyres and vehicles in the background, fire trucks and riot police, i think possibly behind them tractors which are blocking the road but lots of fires we have seen in the last few

hours, those tyres set fire to buy those farmers protesting about conditions that they face. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. - transforming textiles into unique pieces of clothing. the aim of this charity in haverfordwest is to prevent waste and cut fast fashion by promoting sustainable fashion, which they say is on the rise. frame have donations from the community. so we take their memories, sort them, and then we upcycle them. people want to be bespoke. they want to look unique. and we've had, like, i would say, like a 300% increase in profits on actually why it is good to shop here and the amazing quality that you can get from charity shops. pre—covid, the charity's waste was around 20%. recent records show it's now 5%.

a 15 point reduction in items that end up in landfill. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. - 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, on sunday he denied police allegations that he plotted a coup to stay in power after losing the 2021 election. 0ur south america correspondent ione wells is in sao paolo. the former president of the so called this rally of his supporters in sao paulo largely in response to an investigation he is facing into whether he incited an alleged coup

last year. last january thousands of his supporters turned up to storm congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court in brasilia after he lost the presidential election. this rally was really meant to be a response to the investigation he is facing and he used his speech on the stage to defend himself. he argued any allegations of an attempted coup were a conspiracy, even asking the question what is it cool? he also called for an amnesty for those supporters of his who ended up arrested and imprisoned last year as arrested and imprisoned last year as a result of rioting, vandalising and letting those government buildings last year. politically this rally will not really change the dial for the former president and he is still banned for the next eight years running for office will but this was to show he has a big support base in brazil which is still currently very divided since that election.

for more than 1200 years, thousands of men wearing very little in freezing conditions would gather in shrines in different parts of ruraljapan to take part in one of the country's oldest — and strangest — traditions. the ha—daka matsuri, or �*naked festival�* is a ritual that is meant to bring in good luck and drive away evil spirits. the bbc�*s shaimaa khalil has gone to the festival, spoke to the women making history — and got to see the all famous big huddle. what you're looking at is one of japan's most ancient traditions. this is the matsuri or the naked festival, essentially hundreds and hundreds of men, if not thousands, wearing next to nothing. they huddle together, they push and shove, all to try and touch the chosen man, a man chosen by the shrine. this is to bring in good luck and drive away evil spirits. it is freezing out here, i'm wearing so many layers and i am shivering. i don't know these guys are doing it. they're barely dressed. and to make things interesting, they're being sprayed very cold water. in the more than 1200 year history

of this festival, women were never allowed to participate until now. for many years, women have been pushing to take part and it's finally happened. and no, they're not naked, and no, they're not in the men's big huddle, but they get to make their own offerings to the shrine, and that's no small feat. 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 a thousand years, women are now taking part and one ofjapan�*s most famous naked festivals. 0bviously, they�* re clothed. and after they give thanks and wish for good luck, the immensity of the moment sets in.

japan's ageing population is a big issue for these festivals and one of the reasons organisers decided to include women. remember, the year started with an earthquake, a huge fire at haneda airport, and it's been announced that japan is now in recession. so frankly, the country needs a whole load of good luck and all the help it can get from both men and women. taking him back to brussels now, farmers setting fire to tyres as they campaign against cheap imports and environmental subsidies, agriculture ministers meeting in brussels today. you are watching abc news. police in the north—east of england have adopted a new tactic

in their fight against antisocial behaviour on public transport — it's called a trojan bus. officers in south shields are using decoy public transport — rather than liveried vehicles — to give them an element of surprise. rowan bridge has the story. behaviour like this causes fear and intimidation for communities across the country. children causing misery for those who are targeted. tonight, we've joined the fight against it in south shields. this is northumbria police's trojan bus. it gives the element of surprise. they've gone on the platform of the train station. it allows them to get close to trouble without being recognised. we'rejustjumping back on the metro — to go down towards the, erm, city centre. this is the new front line in tackling anti—social behaviour. we'll quickly go through the briefing for our operation tonight on the trojan bus. tonight's operation began a few

hours earlier with a briefing at south shields police station. whispering: as you can see, they'rejust running through the operation at the moment. now, it's an ordinary stagecoach bus that's going to be driving around, but it won't be on a normal bus route. instead, it's going to target areas that are hotspots for anti—social behaviour. everybody deserves the right to be safe on public transport. this really works. it's about catching, particularly young people, but anybody who's out there in the act of committing anti—social behaviour and crime. we've been out less than an hour and already police are dealing with trouble at the bus station. i've spoke to his mam — she's aware of the search. i've told her she can come down the station if she wants to. children letting off fireworks. you have to leave right now. right. they're handed a dispersal order and banned from the area. how effective is a dispersal order in trying to tackle these sorts of problems? yeah, it's very effective. itjust shows by... we've dealt with it there and then. they're getting given a chance to look. they might have found themselves in a little bit of bother with the wrong group. this is your chance to go leave

the area and you won't find yourself in bother. it's this kind of low—level crime that blights lives. it seems to be getting a lot worse at the moment around the area, especially down the seafront. at the moment, the last couple of weeks there's been a couple of teenagers smashing all the windows and that. people don't want to go out at night, basically because of it. terrible. when you get on, it's full of them on their bikes and the abuse and the language isjust terrible. all on the vapes. awful. they've got no respect for anybody — and they're just abusive. it's horrible. they're going on one wheel, running in front of you. - we've been in greggs and they've just went| in and pinched all the sandwiches, all the pop, and nobody's... - we've come and told the security and nobody's doing anything. - it's a waste of time. the next calls come in and we're back at the bus station. you go that way. they're in hot pursuit. police! stop where you are. give us that laser. he's14 and accused of shining a laser pen at drivers

and a police officer. it was green — shining in my eye. i could have caused an accident. i could have killed myself, or killed somebody else. you think that's funny? no. no, it's not. it's a criminal offence. maybe i'll lock you up but we're not going to lock up. right. we've obviously pulled up in the bus behind here, and i think that's prevented them from realising. so we've been able to get off there, separate and we've been able to come from the bottom and the top. and, obviously, one of these has been detained. you had the element of surprise? yeah, that's essentially what it is. police say they're determined to drive out the problem, but it's not yet been left in the rear view mirror. so there's still a need for tactics like this to confront the scourge of anti—social behaviour. rowan bridge, bbc news, south shields. britain's royal mint has announced its 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. just before we go let's take you back to brussels, farmers blocking roads with tractors and tyres which they have set fire to. they also met with riot police earlier on the third water cannon at them, over at their anger at how they've been treated by competition which they say allows cheap food imports, excessive environmental rules and subsidies which were large firms which they say is allowed by the eu but eu agriculture ministers are meeting today to discuss all of their concerns. we will keep an eye on those developments. let's bring

the latest weather picture with carol kirkwood. hello again. we've had some heavy rain and strong winds affecting some southern areas during the course of the early part of today. the rain continuing to pull away, but what you will find is it will remain windy, a cold north—easterly wind, but for most it will be dry, with some sunshine and scattered showers. some of the showers being driven in and that wind will get across into the midlands and east wales, and the black circles represent the strength of the wind gusts. so temperatures today ranging from four in the north to ten in the south, but if you are exposed to the wind in the east, it will feel more like four or five against your skin. now heading on through the evening and overnight, there is the low pressure pushing away into the mediterranean. we have a ridge of high pressure across us, and then two weather fronts come in. as they come in, introducing cloud and some rain, the temperature will go up, but under clear skies we are looking at a widespread frost, these being the lowest temperatures of the night. so tomorrow we start with some fog through the vale of york, lincolnshire,

the midlands, south—east. that will lift through the morning. our two weather fronts continue to drift steadily southwards, bringing the cloud and increasingly patchy rain with them, and behind them we are looking at mixture of bright spells, sunshine and some showers as well. temperatures, 6 to about 10 or 11. moving then from tuesday into wednesday, our weather fronts eventually clear away from the south—east, it will be breezy in the north and we have got this next weather front coming our way. we start off with some fog in southern areas. a bright start, but as the weather front approaches the cloud ahead of it will build, then we start to see the rain coming in. that will be in the west initially, but it will push eastwards. temperatures 7—12 degrees. so from wednesday into thursday, you can see as our weather front pushes across, we are in this milder air, but then we have a cold front, so behind that the air starts to cool and it will cool further behind this weather front.

so, as we head on into thursday, our weather front will bring rain from the west towards the east, still relatively mild ahead of it. but then the air turns colder behind and we will see some of the showers wintry in the tops of the mountains and our temperatures six to eight in the west, but we are still looking at up to 11 in the south—east.

live from london. this is bbc news. chaotic scenes in brussels ahead of a meeting of eu ministers as farmers

burn tyres and block roads. binyamin netanyahu says an assault on rafah will go ahead. the un says that would be disastrous. israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for more than a million palestinian civilians sheltering there, it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programmes. prime minister rishi sunak says commenteds by his former deputy chairman were wrong and unacceptable —— comments. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. agricultural ministers from across the european union are meeting in brussels today, to discuss their response to protests by farmers across the eu. let us take you live to the street of brussels, where riot police are forming a line. let us go to our

correspondent there. there