hello. i'm carl nasman. ceasefire negotiations between israel and hamas are at an impasse. israel refused to send a delegation to the latest round of talks in egypt, while israeli officials says hamas failed to provide a list of hostages still alive in gaza. hamas says there can be no deal on hostages until a permanent truce is agreed. pressure for a truce has intensified since thursday when at least 112 people in gaza were killed as crowds massed around an aid convoy and israeli troops opened fire. another israeli strike on rafah in the south killed 11 people on saturday, according to hamas. israel says it carried out a precision strike against militants in the area. our senior international correspondent orla guerin sent this report from tel aviv. a warning that you may

find some of the images in her report 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 israeli 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 in 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 like rania burying their children in gaza. orla guerin, bbc news, tel aviv. on sunday, us vice president kamala harris was in selma, alabama to mark the 59th anniversary of bloody sunday, when civil rights demonstrators were attacked by police officers on the edmund pettus bridge. in her opening remarks, she echoed president biden�*s friday statement calling for an immediate ceasefire, and said that the killing of palestinians trying to get food from an aid convoy on thursday was a tragedy. they were met with gunfire and chaos. break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for

all of the innocent people in garzo who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe. earlier i spoke with former white house middle east adviser marc ginsberg about the latest us calls for a ceasefire and the state of negotiations. us vice president kamala harris speaking today in alabama — she called for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. that is echoing the statements ofjoe biden this week. what did you make of her speech, and the timing of it, just one day before she will meet with benny gantz at the white house? we have a lot of moving parts here and part of the problem is that the biden administration has to deal with the domestic equation involving the president standing with his own party which is condemned to a large extent on the left. his handling of this crisis. at the same time, you have

a prime minister in israel who acts harmless about the plight of gazans in a humanitarian catastrophe so the administration on one hand wants to support israel as best it can, but at the same time mr netanyahu has made it almost politically as well as from a military point of view almost impossible for the biden administration to accomplish the objective of supporting israel militarily but also pushing israel in a place where it seems to refuse to go. if you add the pieces up and you take president biden�*s comments and his stated optimism for a ceasefire, you add that together with today hearing from kamala harris — is this seeming to you to be a new pressure campaign on part of the us to really push for a humanitarian ceasefire? there is no doubt that the administration, the biden administration, has recognised that it can no longer sit

on the sidelines and let prime minister netanyahu dictate the terms of humanitarian relief for gazans, just like the israeli public is disgusted with the prime minister's management of the conflict as well as the hostage situation. evidence of the enormity of the situation is taking place in israel. so, you have the public on both sides yearning for some sort of respite in the war because it does not seem likely that before ramadan the israelis either will accomplish the objective of destroying or decapitating the leadership of hamas, and at the same time the return of hostages is merely a symptom of the broader issue inside israel where the israelis, after months of conflict, are asking themselves where is the beginning and middle and end to where they are engaged in a conflict that their leadership promised would come to an end long

before the current day. we have been hearing that there is optimism around a potential ceasefire negotiation. potential for a potentialfor a deal is in place and they need to get two sides to sign on. how much optimism is there around these discussions of a truce? i think we should be, based on the tea leaves we are hearing out of the discussions in cairo and in europe and qatar, egypt, united states, israel and hamas indirectly, i think both sides have come to the realisation that with ramadan quickly approaching that a respite from the conflict would give at least some of the parties an opportunity — and i am referring to the united states, egypt, qatar and jordan — to figure out along with the palestinians — can they begin putting in place

a framework that would at least give the israelis, let alone the gazans, some respite from their own fear and apprehension about what lies ahead. we have to understand irrespective of what we see going on with the israeli government, the israeli public is extraordinarily apprehensive and worried about their own security, and of course, that does not in any way, shape or form mitigate the fear factor the gazans themselves have about the endless conflict they are having to endure. we have about a0 seconds left. i just want to look ahead here now. if a ceasefire is in fact agreed in the coming days, how difficult do you think it will be for aid organisations, many of which have pulled out of gaza, to operate and bring the necessary supplies in, given what we sawthis week the necessary supplies in, given what we saw this week and the mass horde around the aid convoy?

well, this is a terrible situation. hamas no longer is in control of these convoys. the israeli defence forces have not been trained in humanitarian relief. these aid organisations are desperately needed, but at the same time, the gazans themselves are desperate for the relief, and so these convoys have got to be protected. you just cannot have a repeat of the horrific incident that occurred. there is going to have to be some international security force that is going to protect the drivers and the convoys from desperate gazans and that is the real dilemma at this point. mark ginsburg, former ambassador to morocco and also the president of the coalition for a safer web, we appreciate you joining us. thank you for having me. authorities in ukraine's southern port city of odesa say risen to 12. five children were killed in the strike on a residential building. the youngest was four months old. sunday was declared

a day of mourning in odesa, with residents creating a makeshift memorial. russian officials reported 38 ukrainian drones were shot down on sunday over russian—controlled crimea. nikki haley has just cliched her first victory in the us republican presidential race, with her campaign saying it's a rejection of her republican rival donald trump. she won the washington dc primary with more than 62% of the vote. her focus now turns to super tuesday this week where 15 states and one territory will vote. former president trump's campaign blasted ms haley's win, saying "the swamp has claimed their queen." mr trump has swept the other contests so far, leaving only a narrow path forward for ms haley. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a major story we are following in the uk. the chancellor says he wants to find a way to bring down the tax burden, but insists

he'll do it in a way that's responsible. jeremy hunt will set out the government's tax and spending plans on wednesday. he was speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg. we've always said, and we've been very consistent, that we would only cut taxes in a way that was responsible and prudent. and if i may say, i think the most un—conservative thing i could do would be to cut taxes by increasing borrowing, because that's just cutting taxes and saying that future generations have to pick up the tax bill. i won't do that. but 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, tackling inflation, more investment, morejobs, and that path to lower taxation as and when we can afford it. the labour party says that even if the government cuts some taxes, people will be worse off because of the compounding impact of 14 years of conservative governments. you're live with bbc news.

parts of western haiti including the capital port—au—prince are under a state of emergency after gangs stormed the city's main prison and released inmates. there are reports that about a dozen people were killed. a local journalist tells the bbc that a vast majority of the 4000 men held there have now escaped. among those detained were gang members charged in connection with the 2021 killing of of haiti's then president. it comes after prime minister ariel henry travelled to nairobi thursday to discuss deploying a kenyan—led multinational security force to haiti. the prison break is part of a surge in violence on the island over the last few years. the united nations estimates more than 8400 people were victims of haiti's gang violence last year. that's more than double the number from 2022. for more on this, i'm joined byjacqueline charles, who's the caribbean correspondent at the miami herald.

we appreciate you coming back on the programme with us. i want to ask about this jailbreak. 4000 inmates believed to have escaped there. a setback could this be be for the security situation in the country? the security situation in the count ? ~ the security situation in the country?— country? well, it is a huge setback because _ country? well, it is a huge setback because it - country? well, it is a huge setback because it is - country? well, it is a huge setback because it is not l country? well, it is a huge i setback because it is notjust one prison, but to prisons prisons — the two biggest largest in the country. the national detention area which had 4000 and another east of the capital which had a little bit over 1000. we are still trying to ascertain how many of those prisoners had escaped but we do know that a number of gang chiefs have left a swell as we are hearing unconfirmed reports that some individuals who were indicted in the assassination of the president of haiti may also have escaped from prison. what does a jail break of this magnitude say about the security

situation in haiti? is there any kind of law and order left? you have to put the jailbreak into context. haiti is no stranger to jail�*s but this happened after releasing gunfire near the airport in the last couple of days that lead to american airlines and spirit cancelling international flights from south florida. they also tell us they are going to have to cancel flights again tomorrow. we have seen police stations that have come under attack. at least five police officers were killed in the last couple of days. there has been attacks on the police academy. there were attacks today as well. we can see the gangs are trying to move and take control of critical infrastructure. usually in haiti, these things happen individually but what we see now is the gangs are rising up and they are targeting the port and they are targeting the port and that is what makes it

interesting.— and that is what makes it interesting. we are hearing that armed _ interesting. we are hearing that armed gangs - interesting. we are hearing that armed gangs launch i interesting. we are hearing - that armed gangs launch these co—ordinated attacks attempting to overthrow the government. it is the president of ariel henry in trouble here? how much of a situation is the government in? you have a police force that is decimated. they were already weak to begin with. less than 9000 in charge of public security and weigh less than that that have been involved in going after these gangs and this is a country of 12 million people. today, the police are making decisions about "i have got this crisis here, this crisis there. which crisis do i run after?" this is what we see — they are being spread very thin. we don't know if they are running out of ammunition. we know they were outgunned by gang members. it is a critical situation where you have people in the capital and 4 million people very worried about their security because they really do

not know what is coming next. we should talk about this deal with cannonier to send 1000 police officers to help reinforce those embattled police officers on the ground. how effective could this plan possibly be that this international force that might be sent to haiti to regain control?— be sent to haiti to regain control? , ., , ., control? oh, the canyons are auoin to control? oh, the canyons are going to be _ control? oh, the canyons are going to be the _ control? oh, the canyons are going to be the backbone - control? oh, the canyons are going to be the backbone of. control? oh, the canyons are| going to be the backbone of a multinational security support mission that has the support of the united nations but it is not a us peacekeeping force —— kenyans. the resolution was written by the united states. we have countries like benin and jamaica which we know have experienced these gang operations alongside the police, but this is a force that you have to build and it's so right now the question is how soon can that force be deployed to haiti. we note that they have been told they are not going to leave unless money is available. we have seen

republicans in the united states blocked the request the states blocked the request the state department has put out and that is an issue right now in terms of what is going to happen in washington in the next couple of days to ensure there is reinforcement sent to haiti. ~ , ., ., haiti. we 'ust have a few seeensd — haiti. we just have a few seconds left _ haiti. we just have a few seconds left but - haiti. we just have a few seconds left but i - haiti. we just have a few| seconds left but i wanted haiti. we just have a few i seconds left but i wanted to ask you — how important is a stable haiti for the region itself? fie, stable haiti for the region itself? �* , ., stable haiti for the region itself? ~ , ., , , itself? a stable haiti is very important _ itself? a stable haiti is very important- i _ itself? a stable haiti is very important. i mean, - itself? a stable haiti is very important. i mean, just - itself? a stable haiti is very| important. i mean, just look itself? a stable haiti is very . important. i mean, just look at the fact that you have haiti's neighbour dominican republic across the corner, you have the turks, the bahamas and florida less than two hours away. today, you have got a situation where armed gangs are running around the country. what is to say they are not going to jump into a plane and come into a neighbouring country and we already have violence in the caribbean so this is a concern to various nations across the region. it to various nations across the re . ion. , to various nations across the reuion. ,. , ., ., region. it is always great to talk to yom _ region. it is always great to talk to you. thank - region. it is always great to talk to you. thank you - region. it is always great to talk to you. thank you for l region. it is always great to i talk to you. thank you for your insights. talk to you. thank you for your

insiuhts. . ., talk to you. thank you for your insiuhts. ., ~ , ., this week, south korea broke its own world record for the lowest birth rate in the world. the country is at the extreme end of a trend which is affecting many countries across the world, including the uk. our analysis editor ros atkins examines the issue. for years, two things have been true — the world's population is increasing and its birth rate is falling. south korea already had the world's lowest birth rate, but this week, new data showed it had fallen further. japan also recorded a new low. translation: the decline of births is in a state of crisis. i i believe we're at a time when we have to take urgent measures. the birth rate is the average number of children that each woman has. and when birth rates are discussed, you'll see this number a lot — 2.1 this is the birth rate needed to maintain population levels. south korea is not close. last year its rate was 0.72. japan is at1.26.

to put this in context, the eu average is 1.53 and the uk is at 1.49 and that is a record low. in fact, many countries are now below 2.1. even countries with relatively high birth rates are often at half the birth rate of what they were. and the average person now lives in a country in the world that has a lower than replacement fertility rate. and birth rates matter because they contribute to long term changes in our populations and the consequences that follow. low birth rates can cause populations to fall. japan's is expected to decrease by 30% by 2070. south korea is to halve by the end of the century. in some countries, including the uk, the situation is different. populations are projected to increase mainly because of immigration. but immigration can't counter all the impacts of a low birth rate. there is no quick fix. there's no one fix

to population decline or population ageing. so, birth rates affect population growth in the long run, whereas immigration can affect in the short run. but immigrants also age. and as people live longer, combined with low birth rates, elderly people will make up a greater proportion of the population, as we've seen injapan. it's no surprise that japan, which has had this very, very long, very low fertility rate and the oldest population in the world has got the worst government finances in the developed world, because the government is indeed spending more and more on health care and pensions and has fewer and fewer taxpayers. if that'sjapan — in the uk, a shift in the make—up of the population is coming. by 2070, the number of workers is projected to rise by a million. the number of pensioners will rise by five million. this will inevitably create pressures.

the economist argues that for countries with low birth rates, the implications are higher taxes, later retirements, lower real returns for savers and possibly government budget crises. we'll see. but there's no doubt some governments are increasingly preoccupied with low birth rates and what's causing them. in south korea, there are many reasons, including the cost of education and expectations of women in the workplace. childcare is a consideration too, just as it is in the uk. according to a recent international study, the uk has some of the highest childcare costs in the world. there's also a shortage of places and around the world. the availability of childcare impacts women's decisions. research really shows that if you have affordable, high—quality early childhood education, good daycare for everybody, that that is associated with higher birth rates. this helps explain what's happening, but by the admission of those who study birth rates, fully explaining what's happening is hard and it makes responding to low birth rates hard too.

it's difficult for policymakers to address the complexity of the cultural reasons why we're not having as many children. what really they have in their arsenal is only economic tools, and it goes well beyond that. it's difficult for policymakers, but some are acting. in south korea they tried cash incentives and subsidised health care. as we've seen, that didn't work. in france injanuary, president macron talked of demographic rearmament and announced a plan that includes changes to parental leave. or in italy, which has one of the lowest birth rates in europe. prime minister maloney has announced a range of initiatives. but evidence suggests it's very difficult to reverse a falling birthrate. and while some countries try, the global population continues to go up. and the un highlights two factors to explain this — the gradual increase in human life span and high

and persistent levels of fertility in some countries. there are those to whom this global population growth is the real issue in particular for our climate and who believe low birth rates are welcome. but as we've seen, already many countries have low birth rates and some want to increase. there's population growth and low birth rates are both demanding attention. a lot of people are surprised to see that the global population numbers are still growing, the total number of people on the planet. at the same time that we keep talking about birth rates declining, and i like to think of it as what's on the surface versus what's beneath the surface. and beneath the surface those declining birth rates will cause major shifts in the nature of our populations, shifts that may lead the global population to start falling in the next century. shifts that, for better or worse, will have consequences for how our societies function. and let's leave

you with a live look at nasa's crew on board a spacex dragon on the launch pad at kennedy space center in cape canaveral, florida. three nasa astronauts and a russian cosmonaut are onboard, preparing to liftover for the international space station. t- t— about 30 minutes. the cru's mission will last six months in space. stay with us here on bbc news. 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. and policy makers in china prepare to meet — we look at how economic challenges might impact the national people's congress. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's start with oil.

in the last few hours, the world's biggest producers have agreed to extend production cuts for an additional three months. opec+ members led by saudi arabia and russia agreed to continue to cut oil by 2.2 million barrels each day. now, this puts pressure on prices already feeling the heat from the attacks in the red sea. oil analyst saul kavonic from mst marquee says the meeting has sent a strong signal. i think a degree of expanding the cuts was expected but a full cut expansion and stronger cuts for russia is actually something stronger than perhaps consensus views in the market was. and what you are seeing is it really is a very strong signal of unity from opec+ and it was only a matter of several weeks ago,