aid to haiti to help its new government re—assert control over gangs. hello, i'm carl nasman. we begin in the uk where the governing conservative party has suffered a shock defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to the labour party. the contest between the conservatives�* andy street, who was seeking a third term as mayor, and labour's richard parker went right down to the wire — with a recount ordered for one area. the outcome of this particular race had been cast as pivotal for the prime minister, rishi sunak. the bbc�*s political editor chris mason reports. how are you feeling, andy? we will see. out of his hands. the conservative andy street arrived here at lunchtime awaiting the verdict of voters. it was to be a long wait for mr street and his labour

rival, richard parker. votes rechecked, a recount in coventry and this result in the last hour or so. the number of votes recorded for each... we've waited all day for this moment. it's happening now. the result. and i do hereby declare that richard parker... cheering. this is the most important thing i will ever do. - this week, people here voted for the person and the party. | they recognise that a labour mayor can make a positive . difference in this region. where do i go? a winner and a loser and the finest of margins. mr street, commiserations. what do you put your loss down to? very straightforward, chris, isn't it? we didn't persuade enough people across the west midlands of our record and our plans for the future to give them confidence to go and vote on thursday.

i've always said it was my campaign and we didn't get over the line. very straightforward. bluntly, is rishi sunakto blame? no, this was my campaign. idid it. the famous words. i did it my way, and it was always going to be like that. and in the end it wasn't quite enough. but i'll tell you what, it was bloody close, excuse my language, and no one would have expected that. to be clear, do you want rishi sunak to lead the conservatives into the general election? yes, there is. it would be complete madness to have another moment of introspection. khan, sadiq, labour party... elsewhere, labour's sadiq khan has won again in london. thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you, london. it's the honour of my life to serve the city that i love. therefore, i declare that andy burnham is duly. elected as the mayor- of the greater manchester combined authority. there was another labour victory in greater manchester. it has been hard to keep greater manchester moving forward when the country has been going backwards, but we have managed it, and our economy is growing faster than the uk's.

labour also won in liverpool, salford, south yorkshire and west yorkshire. but the eye—catching result today is in the west midlands. chris mason, bbc news in birmingham. well, let's now take a closer look at all the results — almost all of them are now in — and find out what they tell us about the state of the parties�* fortunes as we approach a general election. here's nick eardley. as you can see, it's a real knife edge. just 1,500 votes between the labour victor and andy street for the conservatives, despite the fact that more than half a million votes were cast. in terms of percentages, this is how it shakes out, 37.8 and 37.5. note the i2%, that was an independent candidate, critical of labour's policy on the war in gaza, and despite that labour did manage to just make it through. let me show you on the next

slide how things have changed. the labour vote is actually down a wee bit. the conservative vote is down so much, ii%, that has allowed labour to take the west midlands, and finally let me just quickly show you the swing that we got there, 4.6 from the conservatives to labour, enough to get them over the line. it wasn't just the west midlands, though. as we were just hearing from chris, london today as well. sadiq khan being returned for a third term, the margin there was a lot bigger, 275,000 votes in it in the end, and this is why. let me show you the swing quickly. it's a big one, 3.2% conservative to labour, and that matters because the conservatives were hoping to close the gap with labour in london, but the opposite has happened. as you can see there. across the country, across england, we have now got a pretty good picture. 106 of 107 councils have declared, and here is how it looks. labour up 185, a good result for them.

the conservatives down 473, they've lost almost half of all the seats they were defending on thursday. that's a really bad result. as you can see, the lib dems on thursday's results have just overtaken them. it is worth pointing out down here as well the greens are up 7a. and finally this, this is what they will study in the party headquarters and what it might mean for a general election. look at that. conservative vote right down, 12%. the lib dems up 2%, the greens up two too, but they will be quenching where the 3% is. they sound confident that it is in the right places, the places they need to win if they are going to win a general election. the results have seen the conservatives suffer their worst local election results in a0 years. the latest council results — all but one of which have now been declared — show that the tories have been

pushed into third place. so where does this all leave the conservatives and rishi sunak? chris mason explains more from birmingham. they knew these results in the round were going to be difficult, but they pointed in advance to what they hoped would be some rare beams of light in the gloomiest of political seas, and one of them they hoped was here. so psychologically this matters, even if it was always going to be a tall order given the national trends for andy street to hang on here. contrast that with labour. you will not be surprised that keir starmer is wearing a broad smile, and you won't be surprised either that he has been here in birmingham. so the message out of these elections, the last elections now, the last stop before we go into that general election, is the country wants change. i hope the prime minister is listening and gives the opportunity to the country to vote as a whole in a general

election as soon as possible. the least surprising thing you will hear tonight is a leader of the opposition calling for a general election. they always do. little wonder keir starmer would do that in the light of the last couple of days. i just wonder given what we have seen in the last couple of days, coupled with the fact that conservative mps as things stand don't seem to have the appetite to bring the prime minister down that the prospect of a general election in the coming weeks has perhaps receded. it is perhaps more likely to come now i suspect in the autumn. efforts are intensifying to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in gaza as the israel—hamas war approaches the seven—month mark. a delegation of hamas negotiators arrived in cairo on saturday. cia director william burns is also in the egyptian capital to mediate. the talks are reported to have ended for the day, with a senior hamas official telling the afp news agency there have been "no developments". let's take a look at where things stand. the main sticking point

is whether a ceasefire deal will be permanent or temporary. a hamas official says the group will not agree to a truce that does not fully end the gaza war. israel is reluctant to agree to this. israeli forces remain active in gaza. mediators have been waiting for hamas to respond to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for a0 days, and to exchange hostages, for palestinian prisoners. but even if a deal is reached, israeli prme minister benjamin netanyahu insists there will be a fresh military offensive in rafah. there has been widespread international concern that an israeli ground operation could endanger more than 1 million palestinians sheltering there. 0ur correspondent anna foster injerusalem has the latest on where negotiations stand. we're at that point in proceedings where through the afternoon i've been watching in the regional media various briefings, everything from saying that we are on the verge of an agreement of a framework of an agreement, everything through to no, israel say they will not agree

to a ceasefire that will permanently end the war. i think the key thing to remember at this point in time is this is the moment where we hear these various briefings, we hear different things from different sides, but until we get some sort of official word potentially from the egyptian mediators who are actually in charge of these talks in cairo, really all of that is just background noise. what we do know is that one of the key sticking points is that idea of a permanent ceasefire. we know that is a key part of what hamas is asking for out of this deal. the idea that there would be an eventual end to this war rather than just a temporary ceasefire while that exchange goes on. we know that israel equally say that without a ground offensive in rafah, which benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, has been talking about for months, they say they can't conclude their military operation, they can't deliver on that promise of fully removing hamas from gaza. in fact they are saying in the last few days that even if there is a deal, that military operation will still go ahead. so at the moment there is a lot

going on behind closed doors, a lot of rumour and speculation and conjecture. but in concrete terms, right now we are no further forward. even if a deal were to be reached between israel and hamas, the united nations warns the impact of the war will be felt in the territory for years. pehr lodhammar, a senior officerfrom the united nations mine action service, says that the vast amount of rubble including unexploded ordnance could take about 1k yea rs to remove. for more on these estimates, i spoke to mr lodhammar, who compared the situation in gaza to the battle of mosul in 2017. welcome to bbc news. i know you have very many years of experience in conflict zones. how would you describe the situation in gaza when it comes to these kinds of unexploded weapons? i to these kinds of unexploded weapons?— to these kinds of unexploded weapons? i have been in iraq for the last — weapons? i have been in iraq

for the last seven _ weapons? i have been in iraq for the last seven years, - weapons? i have been in iraq for the last seven years, and| weapons? i have been in iraq| for the last seven years, and i compared it to when we were there, and with the millions of tonnes of unexploded ordnance. what kind of unexploded ordnance are we talking about, what might pose a danger to civilians? ~ , . what might pose a danger to civilians?— what might pose a danger to civilians? ~ , . , , ., civilians? we expect bombs and different types _ civilians? we expect bombs and different types of _ civilians? we expect bombs and different types of artillery - different types of artillery fire that has been used perhaps also other types of lighter weapons that have been used during the conflict, and we expect that to be embedded within the debris, under the debris. we also expect deeper bombs, we worked with in gaza recently, bombs that will fail to function that hit the ground, they then enter five, six, seven, eight, nine metres in the ground and then they

have to be removed, and so... how big a problem is that? how often is it whether it is it shell or mortar that won't explode when it hits the ground, and it is there waiting for someone to discover it? we estimate at _ for someone to discover it? - estimate at least a failure rate of 10% of things that are fired that will fail to function, but it depends on more than that, it depends on ground conditions, soil conditions, the angle of approach and the type of ammunition, of course. 50 approach and the type of ammunition, of course. so a 1096 failure rate- _ ammunition, of course. so a 1096 failure rate. we _ ammunition, of course. so a 1096 failure rate. we have _ ammunition, of course. so a 1096 failure rate. we have seen - ammunition, of course. so a 1096 failure rate. we have seen of- failure rate. we have seen of course the destruction and devastation of much of the gaza territory. how long do you think given those conditions it might take to clean up the unexploded audiences, and to make it a safe place for people to live? it make it a safe place for people to live? , , ., to live? it is impossible to sa . to live? it is impossible to say- there _ to live? it is impossible to say. there has _ to live? it is impossible to say. there has been - to live? it is impossible to say. there has been an i say. there has been an estimation that the 37 million tonnes of debris, it would take

14 tonnes of debris, it would take 1a years to remove the debris only. but the debris also has to be cleared of ammunition, and it will depend on how much funding we will have going forward, how forthcoming our donors will be in terms of funding the action. i would also like to add that mine action activities in the clearance that we do, it is enabling other humanitarian services to go forward, and also reconstruction to happen later. ., also reconstruction to happen later. . ., also reconstruction to happen later. ., . , ., later. that timeline that you are discussing _ later. that timeline that you are discussing come - later. that timeline that you are discussing come up - later. that timeline that you are discussing come up to i later. that timeline that you | are discussing come up to 14 are discussing come up to 1a years. life will have to get back to normal as quickly as possible. as you mention, humanitarian workers will need to access the territory. what does that length of a timeline mean for civilians and the pace of life as it will continue to pick up once this conflict ends? it pick up once this conflict

ends? ..~ pick up once this conflict ends? , . ,, , ., ends? it will pick up of course. _ ends? it will pick up of course, an _ ends? it will pick up of course, an absolute i ends? it will pick up of - course, an absolute priority will be once we have access to ensure that people can return to the region and have access to the region and have access to critical infrastructure also, and that they can return in a way that is safe and is dignified, and we are doing a lot of things already, as an example we provided 1.4 million people with life—saving messages and what we call explosive risk, and based on my experiences, this is critical for people to be safe when they return, basically teaching them how to identify explosive ordnance, and what to do when they encounter them so that they encounter them so that they are safe. i they encounter them so that they are safe.— they are safe. i guess the bi est they are safe. i guess the biggest risk _ they are safe. i guess the biggest risk might - they are safe. i guess the biggest risk might be - they are safe. i guess the - biggest risk might be someone like a child who wouldn't recognise an unexploded ordnance when they saw one. absolutely. children are very much at risk but anybody coming back to this environment will be very much at risk. whose

responsibility is it to make sure that a territory like gaza is safe once the fighting ends? normally we are very dependent on non—governmental organisations who will do the work. we typically coordinate this work, and also commercial contractors working in the sector with explosive ordnance removal, and clearance.- removal, and clearance. thank ou ve removal, and clearance. thank you very much _ removal, and clearance. thank you very much for _ removal, and clearance. thank you very much for your- removal, and clearance. thank you very much for your time. l you very much for your time. thank you for having me. in the democratic republic of congo, a deadly bombing of a displacement camp in the eastern city of goma on friday killed at least nine people, including children. the congolese army and the m23 rebel group blame each other for the attack. the attack has been internationally condemned. the us says it is gravely concerned about the expansion of m23 fighters and army forces from neigbouring rwanda in eastern dr congo.

french president emmanuel macron has also urged rwanda to end its alleged backing of m23. rwanda rejects claims that it is involved. congolese president felix tshisekedi cut short his visit to europe following the attacks. government officials are urging people in goma to remain calm until it carries out a proportionate response. the humanitarian situation is deepening amid violence between the congolese army and various militia groups that are trying to take control of mineral—rich land. more than 6.5 million people are internally displaced overall. for more on the situation, i spoke to founder of ngo focus congo pappy 0rion. he's currently in goma visiting displacement camps. thank you for being here. i know that you are currently visiting camps of displaced refugees. what have you been cian?

thank you for having me. when you go to the camps, you see desperation. we see thousands of people with no shelter, no food, no clean water, and it is just desperate. for me, someone who was born here and has been in this situation, it is just inhumane to see how the people are living here. is humanitarian aid making it to those people there? what they need? what is the situation like? , ~ , like? yes, i think there is some humanitarian - like? yes, i think there is some humanitarian aid, l like? yes, i think there is l some humanitarian aid, but there is not enough for all the people in the displacement camp. there are around 7 million internally displaced

people in drc, and we have around 800,000 people, and the humanitarian aid is not reaching all those people, but there are some organisations on a grassroots level that are doing work here, but it is just not enough to reach all the people. not enough to reach all the --eole. ~ not enough to reach all the neale, . ., not enough to reach all the --eole. ~ ., ~ ., not enough to reach all the n-eole. . ., ~ ., , ., people. we also know several --eole people. we also know several peeple were _ people. we also know several people were killed _ people. we also know several people were killed in - people. we also know several people were killed in an - people. we also know several| people were killed in an attack on a camp in goma on friday. how dangerous is the situation now, and have surprised where you buy the attacker? irate now, and have surprised where you buy the attacker? we know that the situation, _ you buy the attacker? we know that the situation, in _ you buy the attacker? we know that the situation, in fact - that the situation, in fact three days ago a bomb fell, it

didn't reach any people, but yesterday unfortunately a bomb fell into the displacement camp. fell into the displacement cam. ., ~' fell into the displacement cam. . ~ , ., fell into the displacement cam, ., ~' , ., , . fell into the displacement cam. ., , . ., camp. thank you very much for bein: camp. thank you very much for being here- _ camp. thank you very much for being here. thank— camp. thank you very much for being here. thank you - camp. thank you very much for being here. thank you for - being here. thank you for havin: being here. thank you for having me- _ the white house will reportedly send $60 million worth of military aid to haiti, to help its new government re—assert control over gangs. the report — from the news outlet politico — has not been independently verified by the bbc. it says the us will send most of the aid to haiti's national police, and is likely to include vehicles, firearms, ammunition and surveillance drones. haiti's transitional council appointed the former senate leader, edgard leblanc fils, as its president on tuesday. the transitional council replaces ariel henry, who resigned as prime minister amid spiralling violence. hundreds of thousands of haitians have been displaced as gangs control an estimated 80 percent of the capital port—au—prince.

the transitional council has a mandate from the caribbean community to run haiti until elections are held in 2026. for more, i'm joined byjacqueline charles, who covers haiti for the miami herald newspaper.1b. it is great to have you is always on bbc news. i want to talk first of all about this transitional council. it has only been effective for a matter of days, how effective has it been? it matter of days, how effective has it been?— matter of days, how effective has it been? it has already had a crisis with _ has it been? it has already had a crisis with its _ has it been? it has already had a crisis with its first _ a crisis with its first decision. they called a public vote and invited the media to come and see them vote on who would be the president of this council. that president is basically a coordinator, they don't have any more power than the other six voting members, but after two hours they came out and announced they would not be evoked and a decision had been made on who the president would be, edgard leblanc fils, and then they also announced that there was a

new majority bloc that had decided on the prime minister. they did not either their engagement, the public vote or their engagement about how they would select a prime minister to replace ariel henry. we are waiting to see whether or not they can work this out, or whether this council is going to implode before it even gets to implode before it even gets to work. so to implode before it even gets to work. ., ., , ., to work. so what does that say about the _ to work. so what does that say about the state _ to work. so what does that say about the state of _ to work. so what does that say about the state of governance | about the state of governance in haiti? how much confidence do haitians themselves have in this new transitional council? haitians themselves have never had much confidence in any form of governance, that is the part of governance, that is the part of the problem that we see. this political instability, this paralysis didn't occur because of ariel henry, it has been there for at least the last 14 years, and what we are

seeing today is haitians are being challenged to rise to the occasion, and they continue to target key government infrastructures, the airport is still shut down two months into this crisis, so as you can imagine nothing is getting in or out of the capital. brute or out of the capital. we mentioned _ or out of the capital. we mentioned these - or out of the capital. we mentioned these reports from politico that the biden administration has approved $60 million in aid and military equipment for police and security forces in haiti. how big of a role is the us playing right now in the country? we re orted right now in the country? we reported this _ right now in the country? - reported this story two weeks ago through the announcement of the council, that the biden administration plan to use the drawdown authority to get 60 million, but had already drawn down 10 million, so it is actually 70 million. this is going to allow them to get a deployment later this month and also to help, but right now the

us has not played a role in the political, they are letting the haitians figure this out for themselves, but they are trying to do everything they can to get that deployment of multinational security support. ariel henry was trying to bring over a thousand police officers from kenya, and where does that stand now, is that going forward?— stand now, is that going forward? , ., , ., forward? yes, he finalised that deal forward? yes, he finalised that deal. and _ forward? yes, he finalised that deal. and we — forward? yes, he finalised that deal, and we were _ forward? yes, he finalised that deal, and we were told - forward? yes, he finalised that deal, and we were told that. deal, and we were told that that deal standard is legal and is binding. the president visited washington in the miami herald broke the story where we spoke to the head who confirmed that they are working to have a force, not saying how many, but there will be police officers in haiti that will coincide with the state visit by the

president and his wife. what about the — president and his wife. what about the outlook _ president and his wife. what about the outlook for - president and his wife. what about the outlook for the - about the outlook for the future? we heard that the overall goal here is to have elections in the year 2026, this is a country that hasn't had elections in several years. are we getting closer to that? is there any hope that we could see elections on the horizon? yes, by the look of what we are seeing with this council right now, there is a lot of doubt as to whether or not they will be able to work these out. we are basically hoping that these seven members of the council can start to build some confidence and trust and transparency among them, and they can select a prime minister and put together a government to replace prime minister ariel henry, and start to ready the country to receive the kenyans and build confidence that they can go to the polls without being killed. very briefly, we have about 20 seconds left. in terms of the games themselves, what is the latest? they still control large parts of the capital

city? large parts of the capital ci ? . large parts of the capital ci ? , ., ., j~::f large parts of the capital ci ? , ., ., 3:7 ., city? yes, more than 8096 of the caital city? yes, more than 8096 of the capital and _ city? yes, more than 8096 of the capital and they _ city? yes, more than 8096 of the capital and they continue - city? yes, more than 8096 of the capital and they continue to - capital and they continue to target, there was a fresh round of attacks this week. they are not at the table, but there are 300 gangs in the country and putting them at the table is not something that is being entertained within haiti, but we will have to see. jacqueline charles, thank _ we will have to see. jacqueline charles, thank you _ we will have to see. jacqueline charles, thank you very - we will have to see. jacqueline charles, thank you very much l we will have to see. jacqueline i charles, thank you very much as always for your fantastic reporting with the miami herald. ., ~' ,. herald. thank you. that's _ herald. thank you. that's all— herald. thank you. that's all for- herald. thank you. that's all for now. | stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. although temperatures in north—west scotland reached 19 degrees on saturday, other parts of scotland were not as lucky. in argyll and bute it was a lot chillier. here we had temperatures of 23 degrees on friday but it was back down to 15 at best on saturday. further south though it felt a lot warmer because the sun was out — bedford one of the warmest parts of the country. we've got a bit of fair cloud and a little rain heading

into the south—west of england by the morning, pushing into wales, eventually towards the south—east of england, but ahead of that, plenty of sunshine, mist and fog patches clearing, cloud will bubble up, the odd shower perhaps. we have more cloud though and more showers come into scotland and the far north of england. should be a bit drier and maybe brighter across northern ireland. but the highest temperatures are going to be across northern england and into the midlands, 18 or 19 degrees here, with some sunny spells. we are moving into the grass pollen season and pollen levels are going to be high across the midlands and southern england, even though in the south, we're going to find a bit more cloud just dampening down the temperatures. most of that rain we see here will fade away during the evening but we will import some rain from the continent later on in the night and we've still got those heavy showers pushing down across scotland and into the far north of england. then, for the bank holiday monday morning, temperatures are going to start at around eight or 9 degrees. fly in the ointment on bank holiday monday is that weather front there, it's not really moving very far at all and around it,

we are pushing in more cloud and probably more rain actually for south—eastern parts of england into central southern england and in towards the midlands. still got cloud and heavy showers in scotland, the far north of england. maybe staying dry but maybe cloudy in northern ireland and across other parts of northern england, wales, the midlands, towards the south—west, there will be some heavy and thundery, slow—moving showers in the afternoon. 0n the whole, more showers around for bank holiday monday, temperatures not quite so high, almost anywhere could catch a shower. tuesday though looks a little bit drier. we have still got the odd shower around across scotland, into northern england, the midlands, perhaps into wales, but not as many showers, not as heavy showers. the south and south—east are looking dry and warm, it may well be dry in northern ireland once again. and the theme as we head further into next week is for high pressure to build and that means things for many of us will turn dry, there will be some sunshine and those temperatures will be climbing as well.

hello, a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. there's a magic to cities which is that by concentrating people and jobs and infrastructure and buildings and amenities together, they start to magnify

and multiply each other. yep, the future of our cities! they're the engines of the world economy, driving 80% of global economic activity. and despite taking up just 2% of the planet's landmass, cities are the home to well over half of the world's population. and that share is growing rapidly, set to be nearly 70% by 2050. i'm going to be discussing all of that with these two. there they are. 0ne's a top urban expert who's worked with 400 cities on everything from transport to demographic change and climate planning. and the leader of one of the world's most liveable cities, known as australia's garden city. we're going to find out from the mayor of melbourne why it's so appealing. and how do you balance the needs of five million people living side by side? also on the show, we're going to take a look at what it takes to create our spaces. i'm going to bejoined by the big boss of autodesk. it's the world's top software designers for architects.