party. 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" but talks are expected to continue sunday. 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 forty 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 one million palestinians sheltering there. our correspondent anna foster injerusalem has more on where negotiations stand as of saturday. we're at that point in proceedings where, through the afternoon, i've been watching in the regional media, various briefings, everything from saying we're on the verge of an agreement — the framework of an agreement — 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

where we hear 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 that is background noise. what we do know is that one key sticking point is the idea of a permanent ceasefire. now, we know that is a key part of what hamas is asking for out of this deal, the idea that there would be eventual end to this war, rather thanjust a temporary ceasefire, while the exchange goes on. we know 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 deliver on the aim of fully removing hamas from gaza. they have been 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, 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 14 yea rs to remove. i spoke to him a little earlier. i know you have 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 search — weapons? i have been in iraq for search years. _ weapons? i have been in iraq for search years. i _ weapons? i have been in iraq for search years. i would - for search years. i would compare it with mosul when we firsted entered in 2017. there were a million tonnes of debris from fighting. that contaminated with unexploded ordinants. ~ . ~ contaminated with unexploded ordinants. . ~ ., ordinants. what kind of unexploded _ ordinants. what kind of unexploded ordinants l ordinants. what kind of l unexploded ordinants are ordinants. what kind of - unexploded ordinants are in gaza, what weapons are on the ground — what might pose a danger? ground - what might pose a dancer? ~ , . ground - what might pose a dancer? , . ,, ., danger? we expect bombs and current missiles, _ danger? we expect bombs and current missiles, possibly -

current missiles, possibly artillery fire that's been used, perhaps also other lighter weapons used in the conflict. we expect that to be embedded within the debris, on top, under. we expect deeper bombs. we worked in gaza previously, with bombs that will fail to function as they hit the ground and enter 5—9m into the ground and they at some point have to be removed. so, a variety of contamination. how big of a problem is it, how often is it, whether it is a she“ often is it, whether it is a shell or mortar, won't actually explode when it hits the ground and it's there waiting for someone to discover it? we estimate — someone to discover it? we estimate at _ someone to discover it? we estimate at least _ someone to discover it? - estimate at least a failure rate of 10% of all ammunition being fired that will fail to function, but sometimes more than that. it depends on the condition, on the ground conditions, soil conditions. the angle of approach and the

type of ammunition, of course. so a 10% tail —— failure rate. we saw the destruction of much of the gaza territory. how long, do you think, given the conditions, it might take to clean up the unexploded ordinances and make it a safe place for people to live? it’s place for people to live? it's absolutely _ place for people to live? it�*s absolutely impossible to say. there's been an estimation that 37 million tonnes of debris estimated mid—april with 100 trucks, it would take 1a years to remove the debris only, but the debris also has to be cleared from ammunition. it will depend on how much funding we will have going forward. how forthcoming our donors will be in terms of funding mine activities. i have to add mine action activitieses including surveys and the clearance, is an enabler for other humanitarian activities and access to go forward and

rehabilitation and reconstruction to happen and occur later on.— occur later on. that timeline ou occur later on. that timeline you discuss. _ occur later on. that timeline you discuss, up _ occur later on. that timeline you discuss, up to _ occur later on. that timeline you discuss, up to 14 - occur later on. that timeline you discuss, up to 14 years, | you discuss, up to 1a years, life will have to get back to normal as quickly as possible. as you mentioned, humanitarian workers will need to access the territory. what does that length of a timeline mean, then, for civilians and the pace of life, as it will continue to pick up once and if this conflict ends?— this conflict ends? yes, it will affect. _ this conflict ends? yes, it will affect, of _ this conflict ends? yes, it will affect, of course, - this conflict ends? yes, it will affect, of course, and this conflict ends? yes, it. will affect, of course, and an absolute priority will be once we have access to ensure that people can return to the places of the region and have access to critical infrastructure also. that they can return in a way that is safe and dignified. we are doing a lot of things already. as an example, we provided 1. 5 million people with life saving messages, what we call explosive ordinance risk education. based on my experience in iraq, this is absolutely critical for people to be safe when they return,

basically teaching them how to identify an explosive 0rder! nances —— 0rder! nances and what to do. nances -- order! nances and what to de— what to do. the biggest risk miaht what to do. the biggest risk might be — what to do. the biggest risk might be a _ what to do. the biggest risk might be a child _ what to do. the biggest risk might be a child who - what to do. the biggest risk i might be a child who wouldn't recognise an ployeded ordinance when they saw one.— when they saw one. absolutely. children are _ when they saw one. absolutely. children are very _ when they saw one. absolutely. children are very often - when they saw one. absolutely. children are very often at - children are very often at risk. anyone who is coming back to this environment where there are explosives will be at risk. who will do the work, of clearing the dangerous, unem ployeded weapons? whose response —— unexploited weapons and whose responsibility is to make sure the territory is safe once the fighting ends? that once the fighting ends? git interest moment we are very dependent on non—government organisations, international and national, who will do the work. we typically coordinate this work. there are commercial contractors working in the sector, with explosive ordinance removal and clearance.—

ordinance removal and clearance. ,, ., m g, clearance. senior officer at the united _ clearance. senior officer at the united nations- clearance. senior officer at the united nations mine i clearance. senior officer at - the united nations mine action service, thank you. 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 forty us college campuses have seen student protests or encampments over the past two weeks. 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... l 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, 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 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 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 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. the white house will reportedly send 60 million dollars' worth of military aid to haiti, to help 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 spoke to jacqueline charles, who covers haiti for the miami herald newspaper. i want to talk firstly about the transitional council, which has only been effect fortes. how effective is it in go verning so far?- how effective is it in go verning so far? well, it's already — verning so far? well, it's already had _ verning so far? well, it's already had a _ verning so far? well, it's already had a crisis -- i verning so far? well, it's - already had a crisis -- governs already had a crisis —— governs so far? it's had a crisis. they called a public vote. they invited the media to see them vote on who would be the president of this council. that president, i mean, basicallya co—ordinator. they don't have any more power than the other six voting members. after two hours, they came out and announced there wouldn't be a vote and a decision had been made on who the president would be, fils and they also announced there was a new majority bloc decided on the prime minister. they didn't expect their engagement about the public vote or how they

would select a prime minister to replace henri. now the three minority individuals on that council who were not part of the majority bloc, they are saying, crying foul, basically. we are waiting to see whether or not they can work this out or not they can work this out or whether this council is going to implode before it gets to work. ~ ., ., , ., going to implode before it gets towork. ., ., to work. what does that say about the — to work. what does that say about the state _ to work. what does that say about the state of _ to work. what does that say l about the state of governance in haiti? how much confidence do haitians themselves have in this transitional council? haitians themselves have not had much confidence in any governance that's part of the problem that we see. this political instability, this paralysis in haiti didn't occur because of henr i's reign. haitians have been called to rise to the occasion given the

gang violence, the spread of gangs targeting key infrastructure and the airport is still shut down two month us into this crisis. so can you imagine, nothing is getting in or out of the capital. we mentioned _ or out of the capital. we mentioned the - or out of the capital. we mentioned the reports from politico that the biden administration approved a $60 million aid package, military equipment for police and security forces in haiti. how big of a role is the us playing right now in the country? we at the miami _ right now in the country? we at the miami herald _ right now in the country? we at the miami herald reported - right now in the country? we at the miami herald reported this| the miami herald reported this story two weeks ago, through the announcement of the council, that the biden administration decided to use his draw down, author try, to get 60 million, and it had already drawn down $10 million. so it's $70 million, which will assist them to get a deployment and to help. right now the us is not playing a role, but knaw are letting the haitians to figure this out but they are doing everything they can to get that mull the national

security support force on the ground as quickly as possible. ariel henri was in kenya when most of the violence erupted. he was trying to finalise a deal that would bring over 1,000 police officers from kenya, for an international peacekeeping force. where does that plan stand now? is that continuing to go forward? yes. he 'ust continuing to go forward? yes. he just finalised _ continuing to go forward? yes. he just finalised that _ continuing to go forward? yes. he just finalised that deal. - he just finalised that deal. the state department this week was in miami and basically told us that that deal stands, it's legal, it's binding. president ruto is supposed to be in washington on 23rd. yesterday the miami herald wrote the story where we spoke to the head of inl who confirmed that they are working to have a force, there will be kenyan police officers in haiti that will coincide with the presidential visit from kenya and liz wife.— and liz wife. what about the future outlook? _ and liz wife. what about the future outlook? we - and liz wife. what about the future outlook? we heard i and liz wife. what about the l future outlook? we heard the overall goal is for elections in 2026. this is a country that

has not had elections in several years. are we closer? is there hope we could see elections on the horizon? haiti has not had — elections on the horizon? haiti has not had a _ elections on the horizon? haiti has not had a general - elections on the horizon? tie; t has not had a general election since 2016. by the look of this council now there's a lot of doubt in whether or not they will be able to work things out. we're basically hoping that these seven voting members of the council can start to build confidence and trust and transparency among them and then they can select a prime minister, put together a government to replace prime minister ariel henri's outgoing cabinet and they can start to ready the country to receive the kenyans and work on putting security back, so haitians feel confident they can go to the polls without being killed. briefly, we have 20 seconds left, but in terms of the gangs. what's the latest we heard from them? they control large parts of the capital city? large parts of the capital ci ? ~ ., ., large parts of the capital ci ? a ., ., 3:1 , large parts of the capital ci ?~ ., . 3:7 ., city? we, more than 8096 of the caital, city? we, more than 8096 of the capital. they _ city? we, more than 8096 of the capital, they are _ city? we, more than 8096 of the capital, they are continuing - city? we, more than 8096 of the capital, they are continuing to l capital, they are continuing to target. there was a fresh round of attacks this week. they are current currently not at the table. some are demanding but

there are 300 gangs in the country. putting them now at the table is not something being entertained in haiti. we will have to see what goes on. thank you. thank you as always for your fantastic reporting with the miami herald. thank ou. 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 you are currently in goma, visiting camps of internally displaced refugees. what have you been seeing?— displaced refugees. what have you been seeing? thank you for havin: you been seeing? thank you for having me- _ you been seeing? thank you for having me- i— you been seeing? thank you for having me. i am _ you been seeing? thank you for having me. i am currently - you been seeing? thank you for having me. i am currently in - having me. i am currently in goma and the situation in goma with the displacements and when you go through the camps you see desperation. you see thousands of people with no shelter, no food, no clean water. 0ut

shelter, no food, no clean water. out is desperate. for me, as someone who was born here, and had been in this suchation, it's inhumane to see how the people are living here. is humanitarian aid making it to those people there? what do they need? what's the situation like? , ~ ,., like? yes. i think some humanitarian _ like? yes. i think some humanitarian aid - like? yes. i think some humanitarian aid is - like? yes. i think some i humanitarian aid is there, like? yes. i think some - humanitarian aid is there, but there's not enough for all the people in the displacement camp. there's around almost 7 million internally displaced people in the drc and one of the camps, i visit a camp. i new we have around 800,000 people and the humanitarian aid is really not reaching all the people. there are some

organisations, some international and some organisations on the grass—root level, that are doing work here but it is not enough and not reaching all interest people. we know several people were killed, weren't they, in an attack on a camp in goma friday. how dangerous is the situation right now? how surprised were you by that attack? , ., , ., attack? yes, i was not too surprised _ attack? yes, i was not too surprised because - attack? yes, i was not too surprised because we - attack? yes, i was not too | surprised because we know attack? yes, i was not too - surprised because we know that situation has been occurring and three days ago, a bomb fell and three days ago, a bomb fell and fell into the lake there and fell into the lake there and it didn't reach any people but yesterday unfortunately these bombs fell inthe displacement camp. these bombs fell inthe dislacement cam. ., , , ., displacement camp. pappy orion workin: in displacement camp. pappy orion working in the — displacement camp. pappy orion working in the drc, _ displacement camp. pappy orion working in the drc, thank- displacement camp. pappy orion working in the drc, thank you. l working in the drc, thank you. appreciate it.

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. in mexico, three bodies have been found during a search for two australians and an american who went missing last week during a surfing trip. the three were on vacation near the coastal city of ensenada in the northwestern state of baja california when they failed to turn up at their planned accomodation. the bodies have not yet been identified. 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, pop superstar madonna

is performing before an audience of more than 1 million fans on copacabana beach in rio dejaneiro. some gig—goers have camped out overnight to ensure a prime spot, as well as watch the star rehearse on stage. the free show is a thank you to her fans for decades of support — she is winding up her global celebrations tour, which has visited14 countries since its launch in 0ctober. 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 sneezy 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.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour which is straight after this programme.

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