israel and hamas have blamed each other for the failure to agree a ceasefire in gaza, as talks continue in cairo. entire communities are ordered to evacuate after devastating deadly floods hit brazil with waters continuing to rise. hello, i'm nicky schiller. welcome. we start this hour with the fall—out from the local elections in england. the former home secretary, suella braverman, has said prime minister rishi sunak needs to come up with policies that have more relevance to people, saying conservative voters "were on strike" in thursday's local elections. the tories lost over 400 council seats and all but one mayoral election in england. ms braverman said the results have left her in dispair. but defending the government, mark harper, the transport secretary, said it's still all to play for in the forthcoming general election and that mr sunak�*s

plan had not yet come to fruition. our first report is from our political correspondent, hannah miller. applause. labour won mayors, councils, and police and crime commissioners. rishi sunak left clinging on to just one mayor in the tees valley. even his majority diminished. this morning, the former home secretary, and one of the prime minister's biggest critics, warned of a total wipe—out for the conservatives. i despair at these terrible results. there's no spinning these results, there's no disguising the fact that these have been terrible election results for the conservatives and they suggest that we are heading to a labour government. her prescription for the pm... he needs to actually lower taxes in a way that people will feel, not tweaking round the edges. if he is serious about

migration, he needs to put a cap on illegal migration, he needs to take us out of the european convention on human rights. in defeat, the now former conservative mayor of the west midlands, andy street, said the opposite, urging his party to stick to the centre ground. this morning, ministers were insisting they're already on the right track. we have a plan and the plan is working... but voters are telling you they don't like it. but we're not all the way through yet. you've got to actually see... i think people want to see delivery, right? so, they want to see inflation continuing to come, they want to see the boats stopped, they want to see, for example, nhs waiting lists continue to fall. we have made a lot of progress on that, but we are not all of the way there yet. despite a terrible set of results for rishi sunak, his mps are not about to turf him out of number ten, but they know that unless he's able to turn the party's fortunes around, it will be keir starmer walking through that door when the general election does come around. labour, though, faces pressure in some areas where there is

concern about its stance on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge that, in some parts of the country, that is the case, and there will be some people who may be voted labour in the past that haven't in the local elections because of this issue. where that is the case, we will work to get support back but overall, these were tremendous local election results, tremendous by—election, and a set of mayoral elections that went beyond the expectations that we had. until he decides to call a general election, rishi sunak appears safe in here. but he is under real pressure to deliver. and there are others waiting to get in. hannah miller, bbc news. let's turn now to the middle east. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the hamas leader, ismail haniyeh, have blamed each other for the failure so far to achieve a breakthrough in talks in cairo on a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages. mr netanyahu has, once again, said that accepting hamas demands, including an end to the war in gaza, would be surrender. for his part, mr haniyeh has said that hamas is keen on reaching a comprehensive ceasefire, which would, in his words, end israeli aggression.

one of the main sticking points appears to be whether the deal would be temporary or permanent, with hamas saying it would not accept any deal that did not explicitly include an end to the war in gaza. but in an interview with the bbc, an israeli minister said that even if all the hostages were released, they would not end the war in gaza and the operation on rafah would still go ahead. a reminder — rafah is a city in southern gaza, where more than a million palestinians are sheltering, after being moved there from other parts of gaza as it was designated a safe zone earlier in the conflict. it's currently being subjected to intense israeli air strikes, and israel says it intend to carry out a full—blown offensive there. israel's main ally, the us, opposes the plan because it fears the civilian toll will be too great. the un warns it could lead to a slaughter. let's hear some of that interview with the israeli minister. so, the terror organisation of hamas is...

thinking... thinks that it can force the state of israel to stop the war or to escape from an operation in rafah to eliminate the five or four battalions that remain for the terror army of hamas. that's not going to happen. we said clearly that we are going to eliminate hamas, and that's our obligations for the victims of october 7th and for the future generations of the citizens of israel, especially the residents of the region of western negev next to gaza. so, are you saying even if all of the hostages were released, your operation in rafah would still go ahead? these are two separate issues. we have full commitment to do everything we can to bring back the hostages. this is our moral obligations.

these people were abducted by hamas terrorists, and we will do everything to bring them back. but, on the same time, we cannot allow a situation that we have a military threat from a terror organisation from gaza strip whatsoever. israeli government minister, amichai chikli. let's speak to our security correspondent, frank gardner, who is in jerusalem. frank, israel and hamas have blamed each other for the failure to agree a ceasefire in gaza so far, as talks continue in cairo. what is your assessment of where we are at the moment? bath what is your assessment of where we are at the moment?— what is your assessment of where we are at the moment? both sides want a deal are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem _ are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem is _ are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem is they _ are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem is they want - are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem is they want it - are at the moment? both sides want a deal. the problem is they want it in i deal. the problem is they want it in slightly different ways on different terms. israel has gone about as far as it is prepared to go, reducing the minimum number of hostages it wanted out in the first tranche,

reducing its figure from a0 down to 33 out of a figure of roughly 90—100 israeli and other nationality hostages thought to still be alive in gaza. they also agreed to allow the return of displaced palestinians from rafa in the south where they are currently concentrated to their homes in the north. as you mentioned, is how does this end? hamas are very unwilling to sign up to a deal to give up their key bargaining chip, the hostages. 0nly bargaining chip, the hostages. only to find themselves coming under full scale assault. the israeli government has made no secret of the fact that it wants to continue this war. 0nce fact that it wants to continue this war. once it gets its hostages back. that is not a very attractive incentive for hamas. the mediators, thatis incentive for hamas. the mediators, that is primarily egypt and qatar but also with william burns, cia

chief, they are trying to close the gap between the two sides but there is an enormous amount of mistrust. israelis, even those on the left, more moderate israelis, still fear that if hamas is left intact in any form, it will make good on its promise to carry out another 0ctober seven massacre in the way it did seven massacre in the way it did seven months ago, once it has rebuilt its fortunes, armoury probably with help from iran. hamas fears being wiped out. meanwhile, the us has said it is very unhappy, it's disapproves of an israeli plan to attack rafah because it doesn't yet think that plan includes a way to protect all the la million palestinians who have been displaced and are gathered there. it's a bit of an impasse at the moment and it is hard to see a way through this. we had some news in the last hour... israel army says key the gaza border

crossing targeted by rockets, closed to aid trucks. what do we know about that incident? exactly that, in mortar attack by hamas on the cargo entry point. i cannot think of a better gift hamas could give to the israeli government, particularly right wingers. they didn't want to open the crossing point but that has been a lot of pressure to open it. when it did open, it was hailed as a triumph for western diplomacy. now more aid would flow into gaza through that crossing point only for hamas to attack it. an absolute own goal for gaza. hamas to attack it. an absolute own goalfor gaza. a real blow for gaza's people. i imagine a lot of

gazans would be pretty angry, many people are close to famine. there is still not enough aid getting in and if you attack the main crossing point for cargo trucks going into the gaza strip, what does that mean for the humanitarian situation in gaza? �* , ., for the humanitarian situation in gaza? �*, ., ., ~ gaza? it's not good. frank gardner, our security — gaza? it's not good. frank gardner, our security correspondent, - gaza? it's not good. frank gardner, our security correspondent, thank l our security correspondent, thank you for your insight, as always, live injerusalem. in the last few hours, the israeli cabinet has decided the israeli cabinet has decided to close down the operations of the aljazeera television network in the country. last month, the israeli parliament approved a law giving the government the power to ban foreign networks considered a threat to national security. 0ur middle east analyst at the bbc world service, sebastian usher, gave us this update. he, basically, gave the information in a very brief tweet, saying that it was a unanimous decision to close down what he called "a channel of incitement". it follows this decision by the cabinet, a vote

in the israeli parliament, the knesset, last month. it gave this law, that would give the government the power to close down for a period which would then be reviewed, around a0—50 days. essentially, it would close down the offices of aljazeera in israel. it would close down the broadcast of its english—language and its arabic—language channels in israel. it would confiscate some of its equipment, some of its material. and also access to its websites would be... i'm not sure entirely stopped, but there would be moves to try and prevent that happening. this has been something which the israeli government has really been thinking of, and working towards, for quite a long time. yes, because the israeli authorities have attacked the network, haven't they? yeah, they have said for years it is anti—israel, it's pro—palestinian, it's anti—semitic. to some degree you've heard some voices saying... i mean, aljazeera does

present more than perhaps most big tv networks in its english language incarnations. its arabic—language carnation perhaps more palestinian voices, more pro—palestinian voices than you hear. perhaps with some less pushback than you get on some other stations. aljazeera would say that is a perfectlyjustifiable thing to do, it is filling a gap and that those voices are absolutely part of its balanced approach of giving a sense that is what is at stake, that this is what people feel on the other side. they would absolutely deny it has an anti—semitic or even anti—israel message. but if you have watched since october the 7th, since the hamas—led attacks, i mean, definitely its analysis has become more clear and harder edged perhaps even in its english—language version in terms of its strong condemnation of what israel has been doing in gaza. i mean, stronger than, as i say, you'll see on most other channels. netanyahu, in the past, has described it as

a terrorist channel, very, very strong feelings against this. one reason there wasn't this move against it so much before is that it's backed by qatar. qatar is a major player in the middle east and a major player in the deal that might happen over the ceasefire. it has been a major mediator. there was a thought that the government hadn't wanted to act too fast and too hard against it because of those sensitivities. very briefly, aljazeera has not only been a target for israel, it has been a target in the arab world. saudi arabia, other gulf countries, in the past, have been very, very angry at its coverage. it's not as if aljazeera is only doing this one thing. again, aljazeera would see that as its remit. alon pinkas, is the former israeli consul general and an adviser on us affairs to four israeli foreign ministers. i asked him what he made of the decision. it has been in the making for the last 30 or a5 days,

this decision. but that does not diminish from the silliness and the senselessness of the decision. particularly pertaining to the timing. aljazeera, as you and our viewers know, is based in doha, qatar. qatar is playing a pivotal and central and important role in the hostage negotiations. even if israel has justified grievances and resentments and anger and disappointments, call it what you want, with aljazeera's reporting, the timing is horrible. the timing is bad. practically, it's not going to prevent aljazeera from reporting. it's just going to make their lives more difficult. you mentioned the talks over releasing the hostages, do you think this decision will have any impact on those? no, no, idon�*t, because i think qatar is doing this for its own interests.

i think the qataris are being... well, not... pressured is perhaps the wrong word but the qataris are being encouraged by the americans to do their best. and they are doing their best. even though it hasn't succeeded until now. in terms of the second deal. the first deal in november was 100% qatari encouraged, by american mediation. i think that this decision is going to sour the atmosphere. it's going to make things a little more acrimonious. i doubt that it would have a significant bearing on the talks themselves. alon pinkas. to brazil next. conditions continue to deteriorate in the south of the country following massive flooding and landslides with 70,000 residents forced from their homes. local authorities say that around 60 people have been killed

and another 7a are missing. further rainfall is expected. jon donnison reports. much of brazil's most southerly state is under water. roads turned into rivers and more than 25,000 people forced to flee their homes. translation: now, when i'm being rescued, i feel relieved, | but it's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way. it rose at a very high speed. after a week of storms and heavy rain, at least 500,000 people are without power and clean water. translation: i need a lot of help, a lot. i we have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. we have nothing. and the very young are being impacted, too. this tiny baby had to be winched to safety by helicopter. many of those who died were killed by landslides. and at least two people lost their lives when the floods caused an explosion at a petrol station in porto alegre. brazil's military has been brought

in to help with the rescue effort and to distribute aid. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter—than—average temperatures, high humidity, and strong winds, and forecasters say it's not over yet. jon donnison, bbc news. we have just had an update in from brazil from the government, saying the death toll in that flooding has now risen to 66 and at least 101 people are missing. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with jane dougall. hello from the bbc sport centre. we start with football — aston villa might have had a bad result in europe in midweek, but they could qualify for the european champions league shortly. they're away at brighton this afternoon, where a win, followed by spurs losing at anfield against liverpool, would secure a top—four finish for villa. that would be disappointing for spurs, who started the season

so well, and boss ange postecoglou admits his side have a lot of work to do going forward. we are a long way off but that doesn't mean we can't challenge next year. i don't know which other way to put it. in terms of the team i want us to be, we are a fair way off, but i'm not dismissing the fact that we have to be competitive and have to challenge for success every year i'm here. chelsea and west ham are also in action in a london derby shortly. and liverpool are tottenham's opponents at anfield later. jurgen klopp's side have already qualified for the champions league, something he says is a great achievement. going back to the start of the season, nobody knew and everybody knew how important it would be to qualify for the champions league again. it's what we did. it's super important for the future of the club and i'm really happy about that. carlo ancelotti says his side "deserved" to win the la liga title, which was confirmed after their rivals barcelona

were beaten a—2 by girona on saturday. real beat cadiz 3—0 prior to that game, despite ancelotti chosing to heavily rotate the team around their champions league semi—final with bayern munich. the real boss says he's looking forward to celebrating the league title with supporters. translation: we are very happy. to be honest, we would love to celebrate it with our fans but i think they understand we have a very important challenge on wednesday. and we want to prepare very well, to give another moment of happiness to our fans. we will celebrate the la liga title next weekend all together and happy. tennis and the world number one iga swiatek saved three championship points to beat aryna sabalenka and win her first madrid open title. this was the first meeting of the top two players in the world this season — with swiatek coming out on top — to win the tournament for the first time and take her 20th career title. swiatek won it 9—7 in the final set tie—break to avenge her defeat in last year's final.

if you have great players, you know, always working hard to, you know, be better, and you are competing with them, for sure it gives you motivation to work harder. i think you know now it's also about who's going to work smarter than harder. we can play great tennis under pressure. the final of the world snooker championship is about to get under way at the crucible in sheffield. kyren wilson is facing the welsh qualifierjakjones. these are live pictures — they've only been playing for a few minutes. kyren wilson is at the table. he has the advantage in the first frame. it is his second world snooker championship final. he lost to ronnie o'sullivan in the 2020 final. this is a first forjakjones.

if he were to win, he would be the first qualifier since shaun murphy in 2005 to lift the trophy. he is having to watch as kyren wilson is at the table in the first frame. remember, it's the best of 35 frames. can keep up—to—date with that on the bbc sport website. and that's all the sport for now. a huge free concert by the pop superstar madonna has taken place in rio dejaneiro, with a crowd of over 1.5 million believed to have attended. i should warn you there are some flashing images in the pictures we are about to show you. # love is all we need.# the brazilian show had been billed as a thank you to herfans for decades of support, and marks the end of her celebration world tour, which began in london in october last year. organisers say copacabana beach transformed into the "world's largest dance floor" as madonna performed a string of hits from her a0—year career.

here's entertainment writer beatrice hazlehurst. i think that's such a love letter to her fans and it really shows her dedication to her fans. i think she is one of the prevailing artists who has always shown that she appreciates the love and support that is given to her and it's never been about commercialism. it's always the authenticity of the artistry, and that is so special to see play out at this scale. i think she is someone that is totally propelled by maintaining her relevancy, and i think that's why this won't be her last tour, even though it's billed as the celebration, this kind of last hurrah. i don't think we are going to see the last of madonna for a long time and we may even see a totally different madonna in five, ten years, and she may go again. whether it's going to be at this level, who knows? to be 65 and performing for 2 million people is absolutely inconceivable. but you have to think... i mean, look, this is one

of the most successful female solo acts in history at this point, and i think that reallyjust goes to show her staying power. and, i mean, the tour in general hasjust received such incredibly positive reviews. there has been some kind of mixed bag responses in that she has omitted some of her biggest hits like the lucky stars of it all, but ultimately, i mean, from vogue to like a virgin and her michaeljackson tribute as well, there has been so much to sink your teeth into with this tour. and i honestly wish i went! when seen the pictures, i wish i had been there as well. —— having seen. residents in north yorkshire have expressed their anger at the local council after it announced it was phasing out apostrophes on street signs. the authority said all new signs would be produced without one, because the punctuation mark was causing problems when searching for street names in databases. residents spoken to by the bbc urged the authority to keep apostrophes or risk "everything going downhill".

i'v e i've never really got apostrophes, i never really got them, my mum used to complain at me. to france next and a group of bakers will try to make the world's longest baguette in paris today these pictures show the last time the current record was set in como in italy nearly five years ago. the french stick must exceed 132.6 metres if they are to break the record. if successful, the baguette would be long enough to reach beyond the second floor of the eiffel tower. the bakers will be following the traditional french recipe, using only flour, water, yeast and salt — with the dough expected to take around eight hours to cook as it passes in stages through the oven. finally this half hour, three hobbits and an elf walk into a bar. no, this isn't the start

of a joke — they really did. lord of the rings stars elijah wood, orlando bloom, billy boyd, and dominic monaghan dropped into a liverpool bistro for a drink and catch up, while in the city for a comic con event. it must have left a precious memory for the staff. i'm being told to get off, so i better! stay with us here on bbc news. hello, again. it has been a fine start to your sunday morning, especially across england and wales where we have had some sunny spells. for many, it will stay largely dry with sunshine into the afternoon but in parts of west sussex, while it's been sunny this morning, we will see the cloud increasing with this swirl of cloud that has been moving into the south—west of england through the morning. it will continue to push its way north and east, which will bring in some cloud and some showers. those showers could be quite heavy, perhaps a bit thundery,

later in the far south—west, as some sunny spells develop. sunny spells for much of north wales, the midlands, and eastern areas of england. just a small chance of a shower here. thundery showers in the north—east of scotland and maximum temperatures about 15—18 degrees. the warmest weather will be across north wales, the midlands, towards the east of england, where you'll have the best of the sunshine and this is where you'll have the highest pollen levels through today. elsewhere, they will be moderate. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. tonight, showers across eastern scotland, drifting their way a bit further southward. we will see quite a bit of cloud across england and wales tonight. it means it's not going to be quite as cold as last night. temperatures staying up at about nine or ten degrees celsius across many parts of the uk into bank holiday monday. we'll see this little area of low pressure going out into the low countries and that will clip the south—east of england. we will keep a close eye on that one because that could bring heavy and maybe thundery showers on monday. staying quite cloudy here.

elsewhere, there could be the odd shower developing but mostly dry for england and wales with some sunshine. a bit more cloud further north in england, into central, southern scotland. here there will be some showers as well. some brighter weather, some sunnier skies to the far north of scotland. temperatures perhaps down by a degree or so through tomorrow. but still pleasantly warm where you have got those sunny spells. so about 17—18 celsius. but then through the rest of the week, this area of high pressure builds in, bringing lots of settled weather. fine conditions for many of us. one or two weather fronts coming over the top of that into scotland and northern ireland. that will generally bring just a bit more cloud, perhaps some outbreaks of rain as we go through the week. temperatures here about 15—19 degrees. but for england and wales, plenty of dry and sunny weather, with those temperatures rising, 20, 21 degrees. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: after heavy losses in the local elections in england, the former home secretary, suella braverman, has told the bbc rishi sunak needs to �*change course' if the conservative party is to avoid a political wipeout. attempts to secure a ceasefire in gaza are continuing for another day in cairo, with the two sides still unable to agree the exact terms of a truce. lengthy negotiations on saturday failed to yield any breakthrough. the israeli cabinet has decided

to close down the operations of the aljazeera television network in the country. prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, had previously described it as a �*terrorist channel'. aljazeera journalists have been among the only reporters inside gaza to report on the war. officials in brazil say more than 10,000 people have been rescued in the southern state of rio grande do sul as floodwaters continue to rise. more now on the fall out from thursday's elections. the conservatives suffered significant losses in what was one of the party's worst ever performances in england's local elections — culminating with defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to labour. our political correspondent nick eardley has been crunching the numbers. let's start off with that result that came in late last night, the west midlands mayor race. here it is. a fascinatingly close result.