hello. i'm carl nasman. 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, though, 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 prime 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 one million palestinians sheltering there. our correspondent anna foster injerusalem has the latest on where negotiations stand. we are at that point in proceedings where, through the afternoon, i have been watching in the regional media, various briefings saying we're on the verge of an agreement, the framework of an everything through to israel saying no they won't agree to a ceasefire to end the war permanently. the key thing at this point in time is this is the moment would be here these briefings and hear different things from different sides but until we get some sort of official word, potentially from the egyptian

mediators, in charge of the talks in cairo, really all of thatis talks in cairo, really all of that is background noise. what we do know is one key sticking point is the idea of a permanent ceasefire. we know thatis permanent ceasefire. we know that is a key part of what hamas is asking for out of the deal, the idea that there would be individual into this war, rather than just be individual into this war, rather thanjust a be individual into this war, rather than just a temporary ceasefire, while the exchange goes on. we know israel, equally, say that without a ground offensive in rafah, which benjamin netanyahu, is really stuck, has been talking about for months, they say they can't conclude the deliberation, fully removing hamas from gaza. they have been saying at the last few days evenif saying at the last few days even if there is a deal that military operation will go ahead. there is a lot going on behind closed doors, a lot of rumour and speculation and conjecture, but in concrete terms we are no further forward. bbc arabic�*s abdelbassir hassan has also been following negotiations and has the latest from cairo. we couldn't hear anything from

the talks in cairo, which have started already, earlier today. with a confirmation from hamas. they came and are taking it serious this time as well. and a statement or remarks made to reuters today have made some convocations over the scene here in cairo, because he said that they are coming with their basic demands of a full cessation of the war. a full and complete withdrawal of the israeli troops from gaza, and full access to the north of the strip, as well as free movement, which seemingly had a reaction from the israeli side. twice this day, some media quoted

a diplomatic official from israel saying that they will not stop the offensive against rafah as long as hamas is demanding an end to the war. this led benny gantz, the cabinet minister, to ask this unnamed diplomatic official to exercise restraint, because they didn't get any clear answer from hamas so far. for more on this, i spoke to frank lowenstein, former us special envoy for israeli—palestinian negotiations and former senior advisor to the secretary of state. we are hearing these efforts towards a ceasefire are intensifying. these have been going on for several weeks. some mixed messages. the hamas delegation saying it was in positive spirits but then today hearing that there haven't been any significant steps forward. how optimistic are you that we could see a ceasefire deal agreed in the coming days or weeks? i agreed in the coming days or weeks? ~ . agreed in the coming days or weeks? ~' ., , weeks? i think we have seen some encouraging _ weeks? i think we have seen some encouraging signs - weeks? i think we have seen some encouraging signs in l weeks? i think we have seen i some encouraging signs in the last hour to from hamas.

previously they rejected the proposal outright and now they are saying that they are looking at with positivity. but there are core issues to be resolved, particularly whether this will be permanent or not. then there are comments that they will do rafah, and hamas saying that they needed be permanent. hamas could be posturing, and the israelis as well. ., . ., , ., ~' well. how much do you think the round well. how much do you think the ground invasion _ well. how much do you think the ground invasion of _ well. how much do you think the ground invasion of rafah, - well. how much do you think the ground invasion of rafah, the . ground invasion of rafah, the one that is likely to go ahead, at least according to prime minister netanyahu, how much is that hanging over negotiations? how much of a sticking point is it? it how much of a sticking point is it? , , ., it? it is the elephant in the room. from _ it? it is the elephant in the room. from the _ it? it is the elephant in the room. from the united - it? it is the elephant in the i room. from the united states perspective, this would result in far more civilian casualties, which we have been trying to avoid. it also domestic problems for biden as well. bernie sanders said this could become another vietnam.

the biden administration has a lot of incentive. that is why we have been pressing as well as much as we have. and pressuring the qatari is. whether we will succeed or not is certainly an open question. how much urgency is there on the part of both hamas and israel, and there is domestic pressure time for my minister netanyahu to get the hostages home, but this has dragged on for many months. is there enough for either side to really push for a deal, to really push for a deal, to really make some sort of concession?— really make some sort of concession? that is a good question- _ concession? that is a good question. what _ concession? that is a good question. what i'm - concession? that is a good i question. what i'm concerned about is that we care about this more than either of the parties do. in 2014 when secretary kerry was negotiating a ceasefire between hamas and israel, we've pushed the parties hard to get the parties to agree to something they didn't want to agree to and ceasefire fell very quickly. both sides feel really forced into something that they didn't

otherwise want to do, it might not last. and that is the concern for the biden administration. if the sides aren't in a place where they want to get the result. for their own domestic political reasons. i must think they are winning the war. they don't mind having thousands of palestinian civilians sorted to advance their aims. and i think netanyahu has concerns of his own. it isn't clear that either side really wants this.- side really wants this. this took about _ side really wants this. this took about what _ side really wants this. this took about what is - side really wants this. this took about what is going i side really wants this. this took about what is going on in the us. we have seen massive protests arriving at us universities, coast—to—coast, really. there is a lot of pressure right now on president biden. is there more the white house could be doing to try to get these two sides to agree on a ceasefire deal? i get these two sides to agree on a ceasefire deal?— a ceasefire deal? i think biden will do everything _ a ceasefire deal? i think biden will do everything he - a ceasefire deal? i think biden will do everything he to - a ceasefire deal? i think biden will do everything he to tampl will do everything he to tamp the underlying cause of the protest movement, which is what is going on in the ground in gaza. the only way we'll get

momentum out of this to make a ceasefire, which would allow humanitarian assistance to prevent a war with hezbollah, allow civilians to make hostages to be released. it is important to remember that biden would like to do this. and he would like to make a speech, jake sullivan said today, either a two state solution, or continue to get in the dark about their own right now. he can't do that is the war is raging. i think you will see by do everything again to get this over the line. we have done wonders _ get this over the line. we have done wonders question. - get this over the line. we have done wonders question. we're | done wonders question. we're getting some details about what might be in the ceasefire deal. we haven't seen the actual document but but there are discussions about an exchange of hostages for palestinian prison is, conversations about allowing people to return to areas of the north of gaza. do you think that the rumour

details here would be enough to lay a foundation for a more lasting peace in the region? i think if they reached agreement on the core issue of whether this will be permanent and to the war not, and united states hopes it would be, that i think the other issues can be resolved. it is important to understand there is a debell in all of those details. —— devil. everyone of us as a sticking point as far as israel and hamas is concerned. if what they're looking for is a reason to buy the other side for failure, the points can provide ample opportunity for either side to bail out and blame the other. we'll see if either side is really interested in the ceasefire in the days ahead. greg lowenstein, former us special envoy for israeli—palestinian negotiations. anti—war protests at us

colleges continued on saturday, some conflicting with graduation ceremonies. pro—palestinian demonstrators interrupted a graduation ceremony at the university of michigan. some graduates held palestinian flags while chanting slogans in the packed stadium. amid growing demonstrations over the war in gaza — more universities are bracing for disruptions at graduation ceremonies. meanwhile, police at the university of virginia tore down tents and cleared out protesters after declaring the encampment an unlawful assembly and columbia university in new york is rethinking its commencement plans. more than 40 us college campuses have seen student protests or encampments over the past two weeks. student protests across the us has sparked a heated debate on first amendment rights. for more on this, i'm joined by the director of the cato institute's center for educational freedom, neal mccluskey. thank you for coming into the studio. we saw disruptions at the university of michigan during the graduation ceremony. but you the overall? we have seen dozens of universities with these protests. how do you think they are balancing the

rights of freedom of speech on campus, freedoms of expression, with concerns about safety? i think every campus is different, every state where a lot of these things is happening is different. different institutions draw on different places. generally i don't think we have seen a lot of colleges that have had really over—the—top police responses. i think they have tried to let the protesters speak. they often will allow them to have their encampments. but they do say you can't interrupt something really important, you can't interrupt education, you can interrupt graduation, especially considering a lot of people graduate now missed a lot of couege graduate now missed a lot of college because of covid—19, and would like to end with normalcy. so they're trying to make this balance of operating as an institution while allowing you to speak. and then there is the bigger question of some states, public college

universities, governors, sometimes legislatures, will say, well, we need to be stricter with police coming in and breaking these things up, and breaking these things up, and then gets a bit more dicey. we saw the governor of texas bringing in troopers quickly to there. universities have always, of course, been thought to be places of open discussion, of scholarly classes, of really digging in on some difficult topics like the war, currently, in the middle east. do you think the universities are struggling to do that by now? are they not able to engage with this topic in a way that relates more towards — towards classes or studies? towards - towards classes or studies? ., , studies? clearly with the protests _ studies? clearly with the protests and _ studies? clearly with the protests and the - studies? clearly with the - protests and the encampments, there are difficulties. ucla had a clash of protesters that got really ugly. but is the worst case scenario. i think what we have seen is protesters saying what they want to say, making statements, making, you know, a big production out of what they want. i haven't seen a whole lot of that lead to

constructive dialogue. but i think probably if you go into universities and you go into the military is, you go into the military is, you go into the classes, you are probably seeing kids more engaged with this on a one—on—one free exchange of ideas. protests aren't always about let's get together with people we disagree with. it is more to project our message and get attention to ourselves. this is also spilt _ attention to ourselves. this is also spilt into _ attention to ourselves. this is also spilt into the _ attention to ourselves. this is also spilt into the world - attention to ourselves. this is also spilt into the world of. also spilt into the world of politics in the presidential election. you recently wrote a piece called feds should leave campus unrest to others. what role do you think the government should play when it comes to the protest that we have been seeing?— comes to the protest that we have been seeing? this makes me very nervous- _ have been seeing? this makes me very nervous- as _ have been seeing? this makes me very nervous. as we _ have been seeing? this makes me very nervous. as we said, - have been seeing? this makes me very nervous. as we said, it - have been seeing? this makes me very nervous. as we said, it is - very nervous. as we said, it is hard to draw this line. when you draw the line between safety, between academics, and between free—speech? when the federal government comes in and says we will draw the line, if they get it wrong, everybody in they get it wrong, everybody in the country suffers.— the country suffers. have they not it the country suffers. have they got it wrong? _ the country suffers. have they got it wrong? we _ the country suffers. have they got it wrong? we saw - the country suffers. have they got it wrong? we saw the - the country suffers. have they l got it wrong? we saw the house speaker, didn't we, at columbia

university himself, giving a press conference, president biden speaking a few days ago... biden speaking a few days auo. .. , , ., ., biden speaking a few days ago... they started to speak on at the generally _ ago... they started to speak on at the generally haven't - ago... they started to speak on at the generally haven't passed| at the generally haven't passed legislation. they have also had hearings which i think i kind of counter—productive when they bring college presidents in front of a congressional committee and the kind of girl them for two or three hours and often it doesn't seem like they are trying to get at a productive solution, it seems more like venting. that is probably not helpful. they recently in the house passed a bill that has a definition of anti—semitism that they would like to apply to investigations of colleges that i think is very dangerous in jeopardising free—speech, because it isn't just saying if it is a clear threat, it is illegal, it is if you are saying things combined with a thread that we says anti—semitism, we need to have anti—semitism, we need to have a clear line that speech is protected, especially from the federal government. mas protected, especially from the federal government.— federal government. was in a lot of comparisons _ federal government. was in a lot of comparisons between l lot of comparisons between these protests and the anti—war protests in the late 1960s. how

much of a political liability do you think that the current protests are for the democrats and for biden public chances of re—election? and for biden public chances of re-election?_ re-election? i'm not a political— re-election? i'm not a i political prognostication. re-election? i'm not a - political prognostication. we have seen that the biden administration is concerned about losing support and heavily muslim areas. i think heavily muslim areas. i think he is certainly worried about it seeming like he doesn't have a handle on the situation. but i think the best thing you can do regardless of politics is not do something excessive from the federal government. not to an executive order or something to try and quash these protests. it is ok if he feels he needs to do use the pulpit to say can we discuss this and it is peacefully — i think that is what we are mainly seeing in these protests. the best thing you can do otherwise is not get involved. , , ., involved. universities and politicians _ involved. universities and politicians walk _ involved. universities and politicians walk in - involved. universities and | politicians walk in outline, trying to find a way forward.

neal mccluskey, centre of the cato institute's centre for educational freedom, cato institute's centre for educationalfreedom, thank cato institute's centre for educational freedom, thank you very much. educational freedom, thank you very much-— local election results in england came in thick and fast satuday — and the news was grim for uk prime minister rishi sunak and his conservative party. the most shocking result was in the west midlands, centred on the uk's second—largest city, birmingham, where two—term conservative mayor andy street lost to richard parker from the opposition labour party. 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. so 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. 0ur correspondent rajini vaidyanathan was also birmingham, and spoke to the newly—elected mayor, richard parker. these recent local elections and mayoral races in england have been seen as the last significant as the public opinion and head of the likely general election, probably to the end of this year. you could argue that there result coming out of here in birmingham for the west midlands mayor was one of the most significant events of the most significant events of the most significant events of the last few days, because the conservative incumbent andy street, who had been there for two consecutive terms, it lost here by the closest of margins. it was about 1500 votes in it. and labour's richard parker is now the mayor elect here in the west midlands. a diverse part of the uk, which takes in the huge city of birmingham. i spoke to richard parker after his victory. this talk about your priorities. your spoken about transport, putting buses

into the public sector, for example. butjust talk into the public sector, for example. but just talk about, you know, it is difficult to some everything of that you want to do. but if you had to talk about some of the first things you are going to do when you get behind the desk.- you get behind the desk. three big priorities — you get behind the desk. three big priorities stop _ you get behind the desk. three big priorities stop start - you get behind the desk. three big priorities stop start the - big priorities stop start the progress of the first steps on bring the buses back under public control. a franchising system. we will kick that off with immediate effect. i want to overhaul the school system. there are too many young people in this region who don't have the skills they need to get better paid jobs. and that is a big disadvantage to young people in some of our poorest communities. we can start that work on these school system. and i want to use the resources that the mayor hasn't used for housing to pump those resources into new social housing programmes because i want to deliver the biggest programme of social housing we have seen in this region for more than 40 years. in this region for more than 40 ears. �* ., , ., years. and in the conservative .a l years. and in the conservative party. including _ years. and in the conservative party, including prime - years. and in the conservative| party, including prime minister rishi sunak, were really hoping that afterfairly rishi sunak, were really hoping that after fairly bleak election results of the past few days they could pull it off here in the west midlands. and

they haven't. there will be a lot of soul—searching in the conservative party looking at their strategy and how they go forward ahead of the general election when the opinion polls nationally aren't looking great at all for the conservative party. forthe at all for the conservative party. for the labour party, this will be one of the most stunning victory for them in the last few days because it wasn't seen as a likely one, but they were really fighting hard to get it, as is evidenced by the margin being so close. sir keir starmer will be boosted by this, as will his party, and, with the other results they have had over the last few days, they will be hoping they can use the momentum as they look ahead to the general election. rajini vaidya nathan reporting from rajini vaidyanathan reporting from birmingham. the results there echo a wider defeat for the conservative party in elections for local councils in england. 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 12%, 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, 11%, 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 74. 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 dem up 2%, the greens up 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.

let's turn to some important news around the world. flooding and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain in brazil's southernmost state, rio grande do sul, have killed at least 57 people. officials say another 67 people are missing. nearly 70,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes since the storms began last saturday. at least half a million people are without power and clean water. a huge diplomatic row has erupted after spain's transport minister suggested argentina's president had used drugs. 0scar puente said javier milei had ingested "substances" during his election campaign last year. mr milei hit back condemning the "slander and insults" and attacked the policies of spain's socialist prime minister pedro sanchez. and before we go, check this

out — it was a photo finish, at the 150th kentucky derby in louisville you can see mystik dan here edging out two other horses, foreveryoung and sierra leone, in his upset victory. the derby is the first leg of horse racing's triple crown, which continues with the preakness stakes in baltimore later this month. but with today's win, mystik dan will trot away $3.1 million richer. talk about being financially stable. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. although temperatures in northwest 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 southwest 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. could be a bit of a sleazy day, mind you. 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 nine 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 southeastern 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 southeast 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 from new york. i'm tom brook, and welcome to talking movies, as we look at hollywood's forthcoming summer movie season. mad max is one of my top on the list. deadpool 3. i am excited to see that. the deadpool movies are really funny, and i like to see - a movie that's funny - with other people, so we can all laugh together. mr president, do you regret the use of air strikes against american citizens? and talking movies will also be reporting on the dystopian action film, civil war, a movie following us journalists in the midst of civil disorder, an early—in—the—season big hit, critically praised, but not everyone liked it. i don't think it's a very revealing, revelatory or deep examination of the practice ofjournalism. also, diversity in the film industry — how much progress is being made? in some areas, concerns that representation is getting worse. only 30 films out of 100 featured a female lead or co—lead.

last year it was at 44%, so there's been a shift down.