towards lower taxes, but only in a responsible way. and, as the counting continues in iran's election, unofficial reports suggest the lowest turnout since the islamic revolution. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in gaza, where a new ceasefire appears to be in question, after israel demanded more reassurances on which hostages are still alive. pressure for a deal intensified after an incident on thursday where at least 112 people were killed as crowds rushed towards an aid convoy. our senior international correspondent orla guerin

reports from tel aviv , and a warning her report contains images some people might find upsetting. a truce can't come soon enough. in rafah, another day of harrowing loss. palestinians mourn for 20 members of the abu ansa family. killed in their beds by an isreali air strike, according to hospital officials and gaza's civil defence. among the dead, five—month—old twins. as old as the war. they were laid down gently with their relatives. their mother, spent ten years trying to have them, and endured three rounds of ivf. now all she can cradle

is their baby clothes. "i gave birth during the war," she says. "it started on saturday, i gave birth next friday. "i didn't get enough of them, i swear i didn't get enough. "i have no one else," she says. "they have gone with their father. "we were sleeping, i swear". israel continues to say it takes feasible precautions to lessen civilian harm. "there were about 35 people in the house", says farouk abu ansa. "most were children. there were no fighters. the house collapsed on them, three or four storeys."

in israel, too, families and anguish. their loved ones trapped in tunnels in gaza. they need to be released now. this weekend, they have been pleading with their government to do a deal to bring the hostages back home. ofer is a very warm person. you can see, his smile, he is a family person. he has four children, lovely children. how hard is this time for the family? this wait must seem endless. it is like hell, you know. we are in some kind of loop since the 7th of october. we are living this day every day again and again. we have only one goal all these days, to bring him back alive to his family, to his children. this is the only thing that matters.

but there will be no homecoming for ofer or any of the israeli hostages without a ceasefire. and no respite for mothers burying their children in gaza. orla guerin, bbc news, tel aviv. the us vice—president has called for an �*immediate ceasefire�* in gaza. kamala harris said that people there were starving, and has called on israel to do more to increase the flow of aid into the territory. they must open new border crossings, they must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid, they must ensure humanitarian personnel, sites and convoys are not targeted. and they must work to restore basic services and promote order in gaza so more food, water and fuel can reach those in need.

jon alterman is director of the middle east programme at the centre for strategic and international studies. i spoke with him earlier and started by asking what the hurdles have been when it comes to reaching a deal on a ceasefire. there is not in agreement. israel says they cease—fire comes when hostages are released. hamas has not yet agreed to the terms that reportedly the israelis have agreed to and brokered by the americans, the egyptians and qataris. i think there is hope that within the next week, before ramadan starts next weekend, there will be in agreement, but there is no certainty. we understand that harris is set to hold a meeting with benny gantz, a member of israel's war cabinet, but a long time rival of prime minister benjamin netanyahu, what should we read into it? i think it's an effort by benny gantz to try to begin to move politically against benjamin netanyahu.

netanyahu has his own difficult political history with american presidents. in 2015, benjamin netanyahu arranged with congressional republicans to a joint address to congress without telling the white house first in order to undermine support for the iran nuclear deal. in some ways you might see this as payback that the biden team is welcoming the person who is likely to be netanyahu's primary political rival to the white house, and it could be the beginning of a break in israeli politics. the biden team is saying, "look, we have tools to play your politics too". does it mean they're trying to put pressure on benjamin netanyahu? the us, i mean. the us has been trying to put pressure on netanyahu, and netanyahu has said he is not going to do what the us want him to do. there's been lots of pressure already about letting humanitarian supplies

into gaza, the us really wanted the level of violence to pan down at the beginning ofjanuary, it didn't nearly as much. there has been a lot of tension and we have heard reports that there have been some pretty heated phone conversations. the thing from a biden administration perspective, it's very hard to convince foreign leaders to do things they really think are against their national interest and biden, people say ,has been looking politically weak, not being able to get a state like israel, which gets billions of dollars of support from the united states, yet when the us says you need to conduct a war in a different way, benjamin netanyahu says he will not. coming back to events on the ground. the muslim holy month of ramadan is a week away, that is the deadline that israel has set for hamas to free all hostages or face a ground offensive in rafah.

what do you see happening? i would guess that negotiations would ultimately be concluded successfully. i'm not sure how much before ramadan, it might even be a day or two into ramadan. each side wants to extract as much as it can from the negotiations. neither side wants to look like it is weak or rushing. it feels to me like the signals are pointing to both sides feeling the need to take a breather. a deal, it seems to at least have the shape that people are willing to accept. so my guess is maybe not by march tenth or 11th, but certainly by the 12th or 13th, we are likely to have a six—week pause. striking junior doctors in south korea are facing a tough decision, the government has repeated its back to work orders, warning they must return to theirjobs now or risk losing their licences

or facing criminal prosecution. an estimated 20,000 people turned up for a doctor's rally in seoul on sunday. they are protesting seoul's plans to sharply increase the number of medical school places. the president of seoul medical association park myung—ha says the government needs to negotiate with doctors. translation: what we are demanding is to start the i discussion from the beginning. the government says it has discussed the issues many times with doctors, but it is a lie. the president has been emphasising the plan to increase medical school quotas by 2,000, and officials have been saying they won't reconsider the plan. we want the government to go back to the beginning, and start earnest negotiations with doctors. professor kwon soon—man from the school of public health at seoul national university. i spoke with him earlier and asked him if the strike has been effective and if the doctors will be returning to work. i don't think so because in the past, the history of health reform in korea,

doctors or health associations have never been defeated, because at the last moment the government took a step back and yielded to and listen to what they want. so because of that history, i do not think the medical association or trained doctors, would be back to workplace quite soon. the doctors must know that the public support has largely been with the government and not with them, so what do you make of their argument it is not about a fear of competition, but wider health care issues? i think they are lying, i'm sorry to tell this. the korean healthcare system is predominantly private, so it means that increased numbers of doctors means more competition, and decrease the possibility, i mean, lower income for them.

so that's the only reason there are the strikes, and high public support for the government means that now the public is fully understanding the implications of the increase in the number of doctors. so it is quite true that the only reason the doctors, especially the medical association, what they want, what they are worried about, the increased supply of doctors will definitely result in the decreased income for them. so how do the doctors have a leg to stand on? do they have legal rights to carry out this protests, are theyjust not scared of what the korean government was due to them? government will do to them? as i mentioned, in the history of the reform, doctors always won the conflict with the government,

but there is another change, recently, such as in the last year, there is revision of a health law which makes it possible for the government to punish doctors when they leave the workplace. i think that is one change. another one is, in the past, even if doctors, even when their licenses have been revoked, it is has been quite easy to get the licenses back with a minimum retraining and some committed decisions. but now the government is clearly maintaining that it becomes more difficult to get the licenses back once they are revoked. so this is a new change in the licensing system, so that is one of the reasons the government is stronger than previous governments

in saying that it is a quite strong political will to go ahead and be tough with the doctors. the uk�*s chancellor has said he wants to �*show a path�* towards tax cuts in wednesday�*s budget, but that any reductions would be �*prudent�*. jeremy hunt is under pressure from some conservative mps to reduce taxes before a general election, widely expected later in the year. but the government�*s also facing a bleaker than expected economic forecast. 0ur political correspondent hannah miller reports. a chancellor who some have said was dealt a terrible economic hand. as he prepares to do this again, he�*s trying to improve his party�*s fortunes. this morning, jeremy hunt was keeping his cards close to his chest as he toured the tv studios. but he did give this hint. i do want, where it�*s possible to do so responsibly, to move towards a lower tax economy, and i hope to show a path in that direction.

but this will be a prudent and responsible budget for long term growth. with roughly £13 billion to play with, that�*s less than he�*d hoped for. the chancellor is scrabbling around for ways to find more cash that would allow him to reduce taxes. and labour aren�*t saying whether they�*d prioritise tax cuts or not. so would you bring down taxes now? well, we want to bring the tax burden down in the long run, but we're not going to promise anything which is not completely responsible and fully funded and fully costed. and you'll see all of our plans in the manifesto for getting the economy growing because that economic growth is so crucial to making people better off, and for getting that sustainable revenue for public services. behind the doors of number 11, the calculations are both financial and political. the chancellor is under enormous pressure from conservative backbenchers to deliver tax cuts on a scale that they think they can sell on the doorstep. but the economy is in recession, interest rates are still relatively high

compared to recent years, and evenjeremy hunt�*s power to do anything that makes people feel significantly better off is limited. and he�*s reined in by a target of getting national debt falling in five years�* time, a rule one former bank of england economist says should be tweaked. he isn�*t convinced that the chancellor�*s plans for growth will come off. people are still feeling poorer, and they�*re feeling poorer, laura, because they are poorer. the tax take is going up, not down. monetary policy is getting tighter, not looser. and all of those are big headwinds for growth that make me think this is another year of fogginess. and as the work to dot the 1�*s and cross the t�*s of wednesday�*s budget gets under way, the chancellor and the prime minister know it will take a significant announcement before many voters can smile about the budgeting they�*re doing at home. hannah miller, bbc news.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bringing you different - stories from across the uk. there have been times when tom hughes thought about quitting athletics, but he kept going — hoping that one day he�*lljump higher than ever before. hughes, then, 2.18. it's sort of reinvigorating my motivation, myjob, career. it's made me start to look up what i could achieve again. there's been a lot of times that i think it's not going to happen. it�*s taken hughes seven years tojump three centimetres higher. but now he�*s raised the bar, the old bounce is back. initially not even invited to the uk indoor championships, hughes certainly wasn�*t expecting to figure in the medals, but on the day he found what high jumpers call the pop.

2.18 metres was cleared. a golden day. the pb, the silver lining. you�*re live with bbc news. iranian media says that results so far in friday�*s elections show that hardliners and conservatives have won most of the seats. with ballots still being counted, it also still looks as if the turnout will be the lowest in the history of the islamic republic. the bbc�*s caroline davies was given rare permission to report from inside iran, and has been speaking to people there. iran is yet to announce its official results for the election but there are still some early indications from state media about turnout. this from one of the state newspapers. here it says, the turnout is a1% across the country. and here, in the capital tehran, it is at 24%. now, these figures have not been finalised yet but if these are correct, a1% is thought to be a historically low turnout

for iran during these parliamentary elections. it is difficult to get a sense here in iran about exactly how people are feeling. many people don�*t want to speak to foreign media, particularly on camera. we were able to speak to a few about what life is like in the country at the moment. translation: conditions are really hard here. - we don�*t have income. we don�*t have work. the cost of living is high. elections happened on friday. do you think that might change anything? translation: no, i i don't have any hope. there has been a lot of elections but the situation hasn�*t really changed. translation: the value of our currency keeps - going down on a daily basis, which is causing inflation and puts a lot of pressure on the iranian people. but the security situation is good. it is stable. iran�*s authorities have given no indication that they are concerned by this low turnout figure. in fact, some have already started calling these elections a success. but throughout the course

of our reporting here, it has been clear that many people in iran don�*t feel engaged with politics, and didn�*t feel like they wanted to vote because they didn�*t think anything was going to change. pakistan�*s newly formed parliament has elected shehbaz sharif as prime minister for a second term. it comes weeks after a controversial election, marred by allegations of widespread vote—rigging. he was elected by 201 votes to 92 , and will now preside over a coalition that has shut out followers of the jailed opposition leader, imran khan. last month�*s election produced no outright winner. independent candidates backed by imran khan�*s party won the most seats, but failed to get a majority. 0ur bbc urdu news reporter in islamabad — sahar baloch — has more. shehbaz sharif has been elected as the prime minister of pakistan for the second time. i heard a lot of shouting and sloganeering inside the parliament today. as soon as shehbaz sharif got elected, as announced by the speaker, a lot of people

from especially the candidates from the opposition parties, they surrounded the dais and did not let him speak for a while now. shehbaz sharif got 201 votes in the parliament today. and this also speaks of the recent elections, the recent general elections in pakistan. they were already being called the most rigged elections by the opposition parties. there was a lot of allegations of frauds and irregularities, especially from the pti—backed candidates. so imran khan is currently in prison, but his independent candidates who are backed by his party, his pti party, actually won majority of the seats in the in the national assembly as well. so a lot of people were basically waiting to see who will get elected as the prime minister. so the pti had nominated 0mar ayub as their candidate, but he only scored 92 votes. now, as prime minister, shehbaz sharif has been elected. now, the bigger question is how will this polarised and unstable parliament will face all the challenges? let�*s take a look

at some other stories in the headlines.... hundreds of supporters of the late russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, are queueing for a third consecutive day to visit his grave in moscow. mourners have added more red, white and yellow flowers to the pile on the grave which is now almost two metres high. it comes just two weeks before elections expected to give president vladimir putin another six— year term. malaysia�*s transport minister has pledged to restart search efforts for mh 370 — the missing jetliner which mysteriously disappeared en route to beijing almost a decade ago with 239 people on board. anthony loke was speaking at an annual rememberance event in kuala lumpur. he promised that he would try to sign a new contract to restart a search of the ocean floor. swiss voters have approved plans for a significant increase in old age pensions — and rejected a proposal to raise the retirement age by a year to 66. retirees will now get an extra month�*s pension each year, in line with the working population who are paid a salary for 13 months.

today emmanuel macron is set to formally make changes to the french constitution — he is gathering mps and senators to enshrine women�*s guaranteed freedom to abort — a move that is full of symbolism and also political. pierre—antoine denis has more from the newsroom for emmanuel macron, this is definitely a win. france is about to be the first country in the world to put abortion in its constitution. for women�*s rights groups, who have been defending the move, this is widely seen as a guarantee against future changes. translation: it's sending | a message that france is not only the country of men�*s rights, it�*s also the country of women�*s rights. we hope at least that it will have a symbolic effect with regard to other countries that are trailing behind on this topic. the whole project gained traction shortly after the roe v wade amendment was overturned

in the us injune 2022, meaning the end of federal protection on abortion rights. it�*s worth saying that france was already much more advanced than the us on the topic because the abortion right was already enshrined in law. on top of that, 81% of the population in france are in favour of the move. in its 50 year history, abortion has never been challenged, and if anything, when it came to parliament, the bill has already been strengthened nine times. this is probably why it led to a rare moment of almost complete unity in french politics, as both mps and senators overwhelmingly voted in favour of the motion. so this actually begs a question. was this move any necessary? was itjust pure symbolism, or was there maybe a political gain in there, too, for emmanuel macron? 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield is writing on that topic on our website saying, "emmanuel macron is hoping that abortion rights

are a political winner. he says the president hoped the constitutional revision on abortion might open a clear fault line between his party and its main opponents, marine le pen�*s far right, casting them as reactionaries. in fact, there were some protests from some religious groups against the move, but it did not gain any political traction whatsoever. either way, emmanuel macron is all but certain to enjoy his victory lap in the w the raging versailles congress while giving millions of women in france a reason to celebrate. israel�*s public broadcaster has requested changes to the lyrics of a song submitted for this year�*s eurovision contest. organisers disqualified "october rain" — which makes reference to the attacks by hamas five months ago — for breaking the competition�*s rules on political neutrality. israel�*s president has pushed for a change to the lyrics to avoid the country being left out. the public broadcaster has now asked for a redrafted version — while preserving what it

calls its artistic freedom. and finally there was a fond farewell for a panda named fu bao , as people in south korea gathered to say goodbye before she leaves for china next month. hello. we did have a bit of spring sunshine around on sunday, but the clear skies are lasting through the night. the winds are fairly light, too, so temperatures are really dropping. it�*s going to be quite a chilly start to your monday morning — could be a touch of frost and some mist and fog patches. they should clear away. there�*ll be a bit more rain moving into the southwest later on in the day, but for most of us, it�*s going to be a fine, bright, chilly start. some fog, perhaps the vale of york, the welsh marches, central, southern england as well — that clearing away by around the middle of the morning. there�*s the rain that�*s going to push into the southwest

of england into wales by around about lunchtime. a few splashes of rain arriving across northern ireland later in the afternoon. but generally further north and east, you should stay dry for a good part of the day and temperatures will range between around 7—12 degrees. now, moving into monday evening, that�*s when the patchy rain pushes its way further eastwards across parts of england, eastern scotland as well, tending to fizzle out a bit as it does so. it�*ll be another fairly chilly night as we head into tuesday morning for some parts of wales, central and southern england as well, but not as cold as the current night. now, as we move through monday night into tuesday, then this area of low pressure, this weather front continues to drift its way eastwards, but it�*s tending to fizzle out. so, i think early tuesday, we are likely to see a bit of cloud and patchy light rain for eastern england and eastern scotland. once that clears away, sunny spells for most. a little bit more cloud and a few showers in the west around some of these irish sea coasts. but reasonably light winds, temperatures not doing too badly — up to around about 8—12 degrees, so pretty typical for this stage in early march.

and, then as we look towards the middle of the week, then, we�*re going to see high pressure sitting across scandinavia. weather fronts try and move in from the atlantic, but as they bump into that area of high pressure, they�*re not going to make too many inroads. so, for wednesday, perhaps some showery rain moving into the far southwest of england, perhaps northern ireland, a little bit breezy here. but for much of the british isles, i think things are looking dry and settled. again, some early—morning mist, frost and fog possible, clearing away to leave sunny spells and thankfully a dry spell of weather with highs around about 8—12 for most of us. so, as we look towards the middle part of the week, into thursday and friday, plenty of dry weather. could be odd spots of rain, particularly towards the west. temperatures fairly typical of the time of year, and i think many of us will be pleased to see this quieter spell of weather through the week ahead. bye— bye.

more pressure on oil prices as producers agreed to keep cutting production. policymakers in china prepared to meet. we look at how economic challenges might impact the national people�*s congress. welcome to asia business report. let�*s start with oil, because in the last few hours, the world�*s because producers

of oil have agreed to extend additional cuts for three months —— the world�*s biggest. agreed to continue to cut oil by 2.2 million each day. this puts pressure on prices already feeling the heat from the attacks in the red sea. will analysts says the meaning sent analysts says the meaning sent a strong signal. i analysts says the meaning sent a strong signal.— a strong signal. i think a decree a strong signal. i think a degree was _ a strong signal. i think a degree was expected, . a strong signal. i think a i degree was expected, but a strong signal. i think a - degree was expected, but we see an even stronger cut for russia, actually something stronger than perhaps consensus views in the market was. what you�*re saying is it�*s really a very strong signal of unity wears only a matter of several weeks ago, the markets doubted after angola left the cartel.

it's after angola left the cartel. it�*s also a