claims the death toll in gaza has reached 30,000, new details emerge about a potential ceasefire. a stark warning for south korea. the country's birth rate plummets again amid concerns its working population could halve. and councils across england are facing financial meltdown with many approaching bankruptcy in the next few years. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. welcome. friends of the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, say his funeral will take place at a church in moscow on friday. he died in prison in siberia earlier this month. he had been serving a 19 year sentence on charges which his supporters said were baseless and politically motivated. 0fficials supporters said were baseless and politically motivated. officials say he had fallen ill and passed away suddenly. his body wasn't handed over by the authorities for several

days. his mother said they had threatened her because they wanted the burial to take place in secret. the news of the funeral comes just before mr navalny�*s widow yulia is due to address the european parliament in a speech about political prisoners which we will bring to you live later this hour. let's speak to our europe correspondent nick beake. he is in strasbourg. these details just emerging about alexei navalny�*s funeral in the past half hour or so. what more do we know? samantha, these details came from the team would use to work for alexei navalny and may have confirmed that the funeral will take place on friday, friday afternoon. there will be a service initially starting to be a moscow time and then a burial at a crematorium, a cemetery nearby. as you may recall the mother of alexei navalny had been told, it was reported, to agree to a secret burial and that if she

didn't agree to that they would be a burial at the penal colony where he had been held for quite some time and where he died. i think all eyes will be on what is happening in moscow on friday afternoon, not least because we have seen how people who have tried to pay their respects to alexei navalny by leaving flowers and other tributes have certainly had their details taken by the security forces in moscow and in other parts of russia, and also report some 400 people have been detained as they tried to pay tribute to him. we will see how many people first of all come to pay tribute to him at the funeral service and also at the cemetery afterwards models of the response of the authorities in russia, too. i’m the authorities in russia, too. i'm sure there — the authorities in russia, too. i'm sure there will _ the authorities in russia, too. i'm sure there will be many people are watching that funeral. as i mentioned in around half an hour's time alexei navalny�*s widow yulia will address mps, meps. time alexei navalny�*s widow yulia willaddress mps, meps. she time alexei navalny�*s widow yulia will address mps, meps. she already

vowed not long after his death that she would continue his fight, didn't she? ,, she would continue his fight, didn't she? , ., , she would continue his fight, didn't she? ,, ., , ., she? she did, within hours of the death of her— she? she did, within hours of the death of her husband _ she? she did, within hours of the death of her husband she - she? she did, within hours of the death of her husband she was - she? she did, within hours of the i death of her husband she was saying that not only vladimir putin was directly responsible for alexei navalny�*s death but also that she would continue the work that he did during his life as the leading figure in opposition to vladimir putin and within hours she was addressing politicians in munich but then also she has been travelling to brussels and today she is in strasbourg at the european parliament. this is all within two weeks of her husband dying. she says his work will continue and i think she wants to send this message out today. certainly she will be welcomed by the parliamentarians who are here today because for a lot of people here alexei navalny embodied what they would describe as european values, that really if he had been allowed, if he had been given the chance, he would have forged a very different path for russia and that

was the proposition a lot of people here supported. was the proposition a lot of people here summed-— was the proposition a lot of people here supported. nick, for now, thank ou. we here supported. nick, for now, thank yom we will — here supported. nick, for now, thank you. we will bring _ here supported. nick, for now, thank you. we will bring you _ here supported. nick, for now, thank you. we will bring you that _ here supported. nick, for now, thank you. we will bring you that live - you. we will bring you that live when yulia navalnaya speaks to politicians in strasbourg later this hour. in gaza to hamas run health ministry has said at least 29,954 people have been killed in the palestinian territory in fighting since the 7th of october. it comes as negotiators are hoping to reach a agreement that can be implemented before ramadan which begins on march the 10th. the draft framework includes a 40 day pause in all military operations, coming a day after mr biden said a pause in fighting in gaza could begin early next week but hamas has yet to respond to the deal drawn up in paris over the weekend. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the two sides are far apart on an agreement. mr biden also warned israel risks losing global support in the war if its gaza offensive drags on but mr netanyahu dismissed his comments.

translation: from the beginning i of the war, i have been leading l a diplomatic campaign whose goal is to deflect the pressure to end the war prematurely and, at the same time, to also gain support for israel. we have significant support in this area. today, a new harvard harris poll has published that 82% of the american public support israel. it means four or five citizens in the us support israel and not hamas. this gives us a source of strength to continue the battle until total victory. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has the latest from jerusalem. we had a lot of caution being surrounded by israel, hamas, by the qatari mediators as well. but we know there are delegations

from israel and from hamas in the qatari capital doha who are continuing to work on details during indirect talks to try to come up with a new deal that could continue through the month of ramadan, lasting, as you said, for some 40 days, that's according to media reports. when it comes to the main sticking point, what we understand, there are reservations from hamas which is yet to give its official response to the framework deal that was drawn up in paris, and agreed with israel with qatari mediators and us involvement just last week. hamas wants to see some kind of plan to return displaced people to the north of the gaza strip. it's concerned apparently that the framework deal doesn't involve the full withdrawal of israeli troops from gaza and doesn't show some kind of pathway to there being a full ceasefire down the line. at the moment we are talking about an extended truce.

0n the israeli side, hostage families are very concerned as they begin another march from the communities around the gaza strip towardsjerusalem. they have just begun that in the past couple of hours and will be arriving injerusalem within a few days. this deal is only talking about a small number, a few dozen of the more than 130 hostages that are believed to remain in gaza. that number, 130, includes a number of other bodies, people have been killed. men of fighting age and male soldiers are not included in this deal, as far as we understand it. yolande knell in jerusalem. south korea's record low with both rate has fallen again. —— record low birth rate. it's the lowest in the world ? and politicians are warning of a national emergency. data for 2023 shows there were 0.72

births per woman in south korea, down from what was already a record low of 0.78 the year before. it's a similar trend in many developed nations. injapan the figure was 1.26 in 2022. but new figures show the number of births fell 5.1% last year, the eighth drop in a row. and here in the uk, the birth rate in 2022 was 1.49 ? the lowest since records began. for a country's population to hold steady, there must be 2.1 births per woman. and falling birth rates are causing alarm for politicians, facing a future of ageing populations and shrinking workforces. here are the thoughts of two women in seoul about the prospect of parenthood in south korea. translation: there will probably be a situation when my child is sick - and i need to leave the office to take care of it. but under the current work environment, women can'tjust leave the office whenever they want to to take care of their sick kids. this could be disruptive to their careers. so i think this is the biggest reason why young people aren't having kids.

translation: it would be good if the government. provided financial support as women could face financial difficulties due to a career break after giving birth. 0ur correspondent yuna ku has more. south korea has once again broken its lowest birth rate record. according to new numbers released on wednesday by statistics korea, the country's last year birth rate recorded 0.72, which is an 8% decrease from the previous year. the capital city seoul recorded 0.55 which is the lowest among all the districts across the country. although the low birth trend is spreading all across

the world, especially among developed countries, south korea is apparently showing significant downfall. after reaching its peak in 2015 with a birth rate of 1.24, the number has been falling for eight consecutive years. if this trend continues, the number of working age people in south korea is estimated to have by 2072 with half the population being over the age of 65. this is the reason why many politicians and experts are calling this situation a national emergency. but still, many young people are refusing to take part to reverse this trend. why? it is hard to give a one—size—fits—all type of answer to this question. soaring housing prices, expensive education, competitive workplace culture, career disruption, stagnating economy growth and more account for this. notably, more women in this country are trying to continue on with their career and when they are doing this, giving birth means facing a major hurdle in front of them. presidentjoe biden and donald trump have both been projected as the winners for their respective parties in the latest us primary election. voters in the state of michigan have

selected the current and former president as their nominees for the democrats and republicans. it strengthens the likelihood of another clash between the two men in this year's presidential race. but mr biden faced a rebellion within his own party over his support for israel and its war in gaza. activists urged democrats to vote uncommitted rather than cast a ballot for the present. so far more than 40,000 had chosen uncommitted, however, mr biden has received 80% of the vote according to cbs news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. ministers are consulting backbench tory mps on watering down planned protections for renters in england. the bbc has seen a series of draft government amendments to a bill which aims to ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason. the proposed changes come from mps who had concerns about no—fault evictions and wanted to increase rights for landlords.

new research suggests that mindfulness, group and cognitive behavioural therapy could effectively treat menopause symptoms such as low mood and anxiety. draft nhs guidelines recommend offering cbt alongside or instead of hrt. hrt replaces the hormones oestrogen or progestogen or both. the researchers — from university college london — say offering therapy could "give gps and patients more options". and kate bush has been announced as an ambassadorfor this year's record store day — which takes place next month. kate bush, who's had something of a chart resurgance in recent years with the inclusion of her song running up that hill in the hit series stranger things. you're live with bbc news. the bbc has found that a power company that has received £6 billion in uk green subsidies has kept burning wood from some of the world's most precious forests. papers obtained by bbc panorama show drax took timber from rare forests

in canada that it had claimed were "no—go areas". it comes as the government decides whether to give the firm's yorkshire site billions more in environmental subsidies funded by energy bill payers. drax says its wood pellets are "sustainable and legally harvested". well, let's get more on this from bbc panorama reporterjoe crowley, who conducted the investigation. good to see you. tell us more about what you found. this good to see you. tell us more about what you found-— what you found. this is about drax ower what you found. this is about drax power station _ what you found. this is about drax power station in _ what you found. this is about drax power station in yorkshire - power station in yorkshire generating about 5% of the uk's electricity. it gets huge sums in subsidies from energy bill payers in the uk because the wood pellets it burns are classed as renewable. the power station burns about 6.5 million tonnes of wood pellets a year, all of which are imported from overseas. many of them come from america and canada where drax owns and operates 17 pellet mills. we have looked at drax�*s operations in british columbia and we found that

although the company previously applied for logging licences, it no longer does so, but it does still take logs from logging sites that have been felled by timber companies. we have obtained documents that show that last year drax took logs from some of british columbia's rarest and oldest forests known as old growth. these are forests that have never been industrially logged and have grown to an advanced age. we found that drax took 50,000 tonnes of logs from 30 sites last year that were classified as at least 25% old—growth. and in fact, most of these sites even had a higher classification of being something called priority deferral areas which are areas that an independent panel of experts in british columbia has described as a rare come at risk and irreplaceable and this panel of experts recommended that logging should be paused in those areas, although it is still legal to log them. �* ., although it is still legal to log them. �* . ., , ., although it is still legal to log them. . ., them. and what have drax said about these claims? — them. and what have drax said about

these claims? drax _ them. and what have drax said about these claims? drax has admitted - them. and what have drax said aboutj these claims? drax has admitted that it has taken wood _ these claims? drax has admitted that it has taken wood from _ these claims? drax has admitted that it has taken wood from old-growth i it has taken wood from old—growth forests but it told panorama that 77% material from forests but it told panorama that 77% materialfrom its canadian forests but it told panorama that 77% material from its canadian wood pellets comes from sawdust and sawmill residues with the rest coming from forestry residues and what it calls low—grade logs. drax also says it regularly reviews its sourcing policies. it says that last yearin sourcing policies. it says that last year in october it took the decision to no longer take wood from priority deferral areas and they say work to implement that through its supply chain is ongoing. however, they don't dispute that they are continuing to take wood, to take logs from old—growth forests that are not priority deferral areas. these revelations come at a pretty important time for drax, don't they? very important. drax has received over £6 billion in environmental subsidies. the current subsidy scheme runs until 2027 and the uk government is currently consulting on whether to extend those subsidies from 2027 up to 2030, the end of the

decade, which could mean bill payers in the uk handing over another £4 billion. that's a lot of money. any further subsidies would be to support drax while it tries to install carbon capture technology to reduce emissions at its power station. but previously, the government's scientific advisers in the climate change committee warned against any extension of subsidies for burning wood pellets beyond 2027. g ., ., ., for burning wood pellets beyond 2027. ., ., ., ~ a new report is warning councils in england are in financial crisis, with many facing bankruptcy in the next few years. the local government information unit spoke to local authorities across the country, with services like parks, libraries, the arts, and social care all at risk of cuts. and to fill the gap in funding, many authorities plan to raise council tax. 0ur reporter vinny mcaviney has more. yay! well done. alex is about to turn 18, and on top of the regular worries parents have about their children, mum sylvia also has to think about alex's autism and the extra support he needs to gain independence.

support that's under fire for her and other families as birmingham city council struggles with financial difficulties. what you get is families that are on their knees with a trauma presentation, traumatised kids, and they never get decent outcomes. theyjust end up constantly trying to get the basics, which everybody else's child gets naturally. and it's notjust birmingham that's struggling. across the country, councils are warning that front—line neighbourhood services like parks, leisure facilities and libraries are in jeopardy. despite government having recently provided emergency funding, a new survey of council management by the local government information unit has found 51% of senior figures warned their councils are likely to go bust in the next five years.

9% of respondents say they were likely to declare effective bankruptcy in the next financial year, representing 14 councils. and only 6% are happy with central government's performance of understanding the scale of the problem facing finances. councils say they're pulling out all the stops to stay afloat, but that means nine in ten survey respondents plan to cut back services whilst also raising people's council tax. almost every council in the country is putting up council tax by the maximum permitted, just under 5%. they're cutting services. so councils are making deep cuts to front—line services, particularly in discretionary spending areas — parks, business support, leisure services. and they're dipping into their reserves. so more than half of councils are dipping into their reserves year after year to fund services. so it's completely unsustainable. in response, the department for levelling up, housing and communities spokesperson says... "we recognise councils are facing challenges,

and that is why we announced an additional £600 million support package for councils across england, increasing their overall funding for the upcoming financial year to £64.7 billion, a 7.5% increase in cash terms. "councils are responsible for their own finances and setting council tax levels, but we have been clear they should be mindful of cost of living pressures while controlling any unnecessary or wasteful expenditures. " nonetheless, council leaders will be hoping when the chancellor, jeremy hunt, takes to parliament next week to deliver his budget, more assistance will be on the way. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. the uk government has announced a £31 million fund to help protect democratic processes from disruption. among the ways the money could be spent providing mps who are

at risk with bodyguards and paying for additional police patrols if tensions in communities increase. there will also be more advice on cybersecurity. it comes after prime minister rishi sunak raised concerns about mps being verbally threatened and physically targeted recent weeks. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffman told us more about the funding and how this money will be used. what more about the funding and how this money will be used.— more about the funding and how this money will be used. what we know is that its £31 million _ money will be used. what we know is that its £31 million of _ money will be used. what we know is that its £31 million of new— money will be used. what we know is that its £31 million of new money, - that its £31 million of new money, not reallocated money, but new money committed by the treasury. we think the bulk of it is going to be spent basically on new policing and new security for mps. so that money might pay for private security guards for mps, during the constituency serve surgeries, for example, speaking to constituents in their local area. also when they are having events out and about. but also this money will go and what is being called surge policing. so if there is a particular mp or a

particular community where it is clear that the threat is elevated, then this money would be able to intensify the resources in that area orfor intensify the resources in that area or for that mp.— intensify the resources in that area or for that mp. when they talk about rotectin: or for that mp. when they talk about protecting democratic _ or for that mp. when they talk about protecting democratic processes, - protecting democratic processes, what else do they mean apart from the safety of mps? i what else do they mean apart from the safety of mps?— the safety of mps? i think that's predominantly _ the safety of mps? i think that's predominantly what _ the safety of mps? i think that's predominantly what they - the safety of mps? i think that's predominantly what they mean. | the safety of mps? i think that's - predominantly what they mean. but what they are doing is drawing a link to what happened last week in the house of commons. briefly to recap, there was an utterly chaotic day in the house of commons that was meant to be a day about debating a motion calling for a ceasefire in gaza. what happened was that the speaker of the house of commons sir lindsay hoyle made unusual, unprecedented even, procedural decision. but crucially the reason he said he did so was because of threats to mps that he was aware of. so what the government is basically saying here is, ok, sir lindsay hoyle, they think, shouldn't have done that, but clearly the threat to mps is a serious issue, and as a result they want to try and mitigate

the threat so that parliament does not again change its procedures, at least according to the speaker of the house of commons, because of those threats.— the house of commons, because of those threats. new figures from the euro ean those threats. new figures from the european union's _ those threats. new figures from the european union's asylum _ those threats. new figures from the european union's asylum agency - those threats. new figures from the i european union's asylum agency show there has been a sharp rise in the number of people seeking refuge inside the bloc. the agency said that in 2023 there was an 18% increase on the previous year, with 1.1 million people seeking protection. the non—european union countries of norway and switzerland saw similar increases. germany continues to get the highest number of applications, with more than 330,000. people from syria and afghanistan make up the bulk of claims. earlier i spoke to are berlin correspondent parker who's been looking at the figures and gave me this analysis. what been looking at the figures and gave me this analysis.— been looking at the figures and gave me this analysis. what we have heard from the eu — me this analysis. what we have heard from the eu asylum _ me this analysis. what we have heard from the eu asylum agency _ me this analysis. what we have heard from the eu asylum agency is - me this analysis. what we have heard from the eu asylum agency is that. from the eu asylum agency is that over the course of 2023, more than 1.1 million people applied for asylum, so protection, having left their home country over the course

of the year. now, that is the highest figure in seven years. so that takes us really right back to the end of the migration crisis that many people will remember. the figures if you break them down are quite interesting. some of it isn't potentially done a particularly surprising when people are coming from. number one are syrians, they have lodged the most applications, and that's up compared to 2022 by quite a substantial amount, 38%. afghans, people leaving afghanistan and coming to europe, they are the second highest number of people lodging asylum applications. and then actually, if you look higher up then actually, if you look higher up the list, turkish nationals lodging of a 100,000 applications, many of them here in germany. there is a big turkish community here in germany. so it is a mix of nationalities. people fleeing war or persecution, lodging those claims. but what it has done is put quite a strain on the system here in germany and in

other parts of europe and something the eu asylum agency says also because europe has taken over 4 million ukrainians, it is part of a separate scheme. that is different to these asylum application figures. but altogether it is creating a massive strain on the system as they try and process these asylum applications. there is now a very big backlog. applications. there is now a very big backlog-— applications. there is now a very big backlog. jessica parker. i 'ust want to showfi big backlog. jessica parker. i 'ust want to show you i big backlog. jessica parker. i 'ust want to show you these i big backlog. jessica parker. ijust want to show you these amazing | want to show you these amazing pictures from new york where a dense fog enveloped the city's famous skyline on tuesday morning. the results are pretty out of this world, making the peaks of the big apple look like they were floating on clouds. the phenomenon is known as advection fog blanketed much of new york and southern connecticut. it is one of the most watched videos on our website, so do headtheir if you want to carry on looking at those pictures. a reminder of our breaking news. alexei navalny, the

russian opposition leader who died in a siberian prison earlier this month, his spokesperson confirmed that he will be buried at a cemetery in moscow and that a church farewell ceremony will take place on the 1st of march. in the next few minutes, we expect to hear from yulia navalnaya who will address the european parliament in strasbourg where she will be speaking about political prisoners. we will have that live for you here on bbc news and this is the sea and live inside the parliament. we will be back there. it will also be streamed live on abc news website. stay with us on bbc news. hello. temperatures have been falling quite quickly over the past few hours. we've got some colder air in place and there's some mist and some fog patches around for some of us to start your wednesday morning. so some fog patches, particularly through parts of southern and central england

and east anglia, and then rain is going to be spreading its way gradually eastwards. that rain pushing in across northern ireland by the early hours of wednesday — during wednesday morning, pushing into scotland, wales as well. fog for parts of central, eastern and southern england. that should clear away by the middle of the morning. and then these bursts of rain could be quite heavy as they push across wales, into central england as well. far south—east and east anglia, staying dry for a good part of the day. but a return to a few more showers from the north west. temperatures, though, between about 9—13. so certainly milder than they have been. now, through wednesday evening and overnight, then, this next pulse of fairly heavy rain at times pushes its way eastwards. could be quite squally. thunderstorms possible on that line of rain as it crosses its way south eastwards across many parts of the uk. clearer skies following on by thursday morning into northern ireland and scotland, and the far north of england, where we could see some wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland. so wednesday's mild air will clear away towards the east and into thursday. we've got these colder conditions, this colder air mass following on behind. some heavy rain where those air masses meet that'll linger through parts of central and south

eastern england, i think, through thursday morning, only gradually easing away. but towards northern england, scotland, northern ireland, some clearer spells. a rash of heavy, blustery showers, though, moving in from the northwest. and i think north of the central belt, they could be a little bit wintry above around about 200 metres or so. so we're back into single figures towards the northwest of the uk on thursday. and then into friday, we've got low pressure, very much in charge, moving in across that colder air mass. so it could see a little bit of snow on friday, mainly over the high ground north wales, perhaps the pennines, into the southern uplands as well. down at low levels, i think it's going to be falling as rain. and we'll see brisk winds rotating around this area of low pressure. so blustery, particularly around the peripheries of the uk, less windy for central parts. but a little bit colder, certainly compared to wednesday. so we're looking at single figures for many of us. further ahead, as we end the week and into the weekend, then, we're going to stick with those slightly lower temperatures and it's looking fairly unsettled, showery for many of us, as we head into the start of meteorological spring. bye for now.

this is bbc news — the headlines. allies of the russian dissident alexei navalny say that his funeral will take place in moscow on friday. his widow — yulia navalnaya — is to speak before the european parliament.

we will bring that to you live from strasbourg. extra security is announced for mps — following fears about politicians being intimidated by demonstrators. and picture perfect — the incredible effort that goes into maintaining the splendour of the sistine chapel. let's ta ke let's take you live to strasbourg where russian opposition leader alexei navalny�*s widow is due to address mps in a speech about political prisoners. today we have had confirmation from the family's allies that his funeral will take place at a church in moscow on friday and that he will be buried at borisovskoye cemetery, also in moscow. he died suddenly in a prison in siberia earlier this month. he had been serving a 19 year sentence on charges which his supporters said

were politically motivated. his body was not