hello. it's been an exceptionally mild saturday for many of us, but for some an exceptionally wet saturday as well. parts of wales, western and north western england, and scotland, there are flood warnings in force. the rain falling is now beginning to ease off and will continue to do so through tonight. still some showers into the far north west of the uk, and a band of cloud and rain in the far south east. brisk winds becoming confined to the north west of scotland, and temperatures between 6—11 degrees. a very mild night in the south east. tomorrow, this band of cloud and patchy rain will be across parts of england, drifting west into eastern and southern wales. northern england should stay bright and mostly dry. northern ireland and scotland seeing a mixture of sunshine and showers, with top temperatures of between 11—15 celsius. a little cooler for some on monday, but only a little. on tuesday, some heavy

rain will push back into the north west with the risk of some further flooding.

hello, this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines... care home residents in england will be allowed to have one person visit them regularly from the 8th of march, as easing of lockdown measures start to be revealed. number ten says reuniting families and allowing people to have more social contact will be an "absolute priority" in easing lockdown after schools reopen. prince charles has visited the king edward vii hospital in central london where his father the duke of edinburgh is being treated. a court in russia upholds a decision to jail opposition leader alexei navalny forjust over two—and—a—half years and finds him guilty of a further charge.

president biden declares a major disaster in texas — as he unlocks federal funds for a state paralysed by a severe freeze and a huge powerfailure. now on bbc news... the business response to the peace accords between israel and the united arab emirates and bahrain has been swift. what does the normalisation mean for economies in the region? a historic peace deal has shaken up alliances in the gulf, the middle east and the rest of the world. but what does this new warmth between the united arab emirates, bahrain, and israel mean for business? i'm sameer hashmi in dubai, and this is talking business. a historic deal that could be worth billions of dollars in terms

of new trade and business, the so—called abraham accords signed between the united arab emirates, bahrain and israel has certainly injected new impetus in these economies as to start 2021. in a moment we will look at what does this deal mean for them, the region and i will be discussing that with my guests who havejoined me here today. we have mr thani al shirawi who is the founding member of the uae israel business council. and he is also one of the leaders of the al shirawi group which governs 30 companies across various sectors. thanks a lot forjoining us. i have adedayo bolaji—adio, she's from the economist intelligence unit and she will be talking in detail about the region and what this deal means. thanks a lot forjoining us. and william brown, the director for crisis and resilience consulting in the middle east at control risks. thanks a lot, will, forjoining us on this programme. so we will start the discussion in a moment, but first let's take a look at what does this deal mean

for the region and business? september 15, 2020, and as the pandemic rages around the world a peace deal is signed in washington, dc. for the first time in their history, relationships between israel and the united arab emirates and bahrain are normalized. these so—called abraham accords were one of president trump's final pieces of foreign policy. today the world sees i that they are choosing cooperation over conflict. friendship over enmity, prosperity over povertyl and hope over despair. similar agreements were quickly reached with morocco and sudan. but the response from the palestinians was swiftly seen on the streets of the west bank as well as on social media. in a tweet, the palestinian authority called it a black day in the history of palestine. and wrote that the only way to peace is the end of israel's occupation. equally swift has been

the flow of money and deals between the countries. this is the israeli arm of the water technology company fluence. it specializes in desalination, transportation and reuse of water. a dealfor business in dubai, a city in the desert, is one of the first to be signed. this is the fastest deal i've ever encountered in my professional life. it definitely makes it much easier now when we have a direct approach and welcome in a muslim country, a strong country that can be a hub to us. and this is the hub he is talking about. the port in dubai which has opened up markets in asia and africa for israeli goods. but the operator of this port, dp world, is notjust transporting goods here. it's one of the many companies that has invested in israel. and this is a load of goods in dubai arriving in the israeli port of haifa. trade is notjust in goods.

deals with football clubs, finance, food technology and cybersecurity have all been quickly announced. and despite the pandemic, tourism is also increasing. in december alone, 60,000 israelis have visited dubai. fleur hassan—nahoum is one of the deputy mayors ofjerusalem, and one of the creators of the uae israel business council. israel and the uae are possibly the most advanced economies in the middle east. we have a lot in common. 0ur diversity, our entrepreneurial spirit. and so the minute the piece with an ounce, i think that people werejustjumping to get to know each other. they were so curious about each other. we started creating whatsapp forums and zoom meetings. and it kind ofjust took its own, it really had its own pace and its own momentum. as the water tech company boss at fluence says, it's notjust about money. business can be the path to peace and vice versa. peace is the path to business.

so both as an israeli, and as a businessman i feel both excited and enthusiastic and proud for having our products, and being the path to the peace there. thani, let me begin with you. you were part of this historic deal, one of the first ones signed between the uae and an israeli company. so tell us, what was the motivation behind that? well, like any other businessman, we always aspire to grow and to find opportunities. israel was a market that we could not tap earlier. and now when we could, and being a member of the uae israeli business council, i reached out to the council to find me a counterpart in the water industry that, as a group, we are already in. and to filter the companies and to find companies that share with us the values and the vision. and when we found fluence,

and of course in the beginning we had the stereotype of each other, and we found out that to be honest i don't want to sound very romantic, but it was a match made in heaven. we spoke the same language, we had the same aspiration. and we both wanted to grow. israel had the technology, the were a few laps ahead when it comes to the water industry. and in the uae water is an issue. it's scarce, and israel has solved that issue. so we in the group tried to benefit from it. so we reached out to fluence and agreed on a memorandum of understanding to bridge this industry, and to bring the fluence products to the united arab emirates. adedayo, yes the deal has formalized relationships between the two countries, but the fact is that both of them were anyways doing business, some sort of business unofficially, so what has changed with this deal?

will one thing it reduces the cost of doing business with israelis. they can formally enter the uae without having to set up an umbrella company in the uk, or in singapore. so thatjust makes it a lot easier for them to enter the uae market. it reduces the logistics and costs of setting up a business. it also opens multiple sectors for israelis to enter in from tourism to attack, to health care. so itjust opens the market, and finally there's the people to people ties as well. this is soft power for both countries. and also for israelis trying to meet others in the arab world this is a very cosmopolitan country. the uae. and so the soft power is a key component of this deal. will, adedayo spoke a list could be a lot of opportunities for israelis in the uae, but what about the other way around? i think with any of these deals will seek this - is going both directions.

it requires a win win situation - and unless you have business working in both directions that's not good to be the case _ we have seen in dubai alreadyj since the deal was to establish that we have seen that kosher- considerations around restaurants, we see in the food is being imported into our supermarkets from israel. which is a huge benefit from food miles and air miles coming - from a personal point of view| of sine krav maga jim opened in town within the weeks of the deal settling. - so it's already going both directions. - adedayo, this is not the first deal between israel and an arab country because they signed deals withjordan and egypt, but they were not that successful in terms of business and even in terms of achieving what they were set out to. do you think that this could be challenges even for this a deal

to work or is this different from the other two? i think the larger deals are quite different. the logic of the deal of the normalization with egypt was born of trying to end the war, it's similar with jordan. and there have been political skirmishes that made those deals not successful. this is different because the emphasis is making sure the people on the ground feel the economic benefits. so from the beginning of the deal is all about trying to get those people flows, the financial flows going which is unlike the deals in the past. the challenges will really relate to the different systems of doing business. i don't see the political challenges as being the same. thani, you are quite optimistic about this deal, but there's still a section even within the uae which sympathizes

with the palestine cause and is a mistrust between the two communities that have existed for decades historically, do you think that will be a challenge? definitely, we were adversaries for a very long time. even if united arab emirates has not been into war with israel directly, but definitely there will be reservation, but the uae has taken a stand that they are supporting the two state solution. they have not given up on the palestine cause, there are still palestinian sympathizers that will not be forgotten. having said that, we will have to weigh the benefits to the reservations. i think with time that benefits will outweigh these reservations. it's a big deal definitely for the uae and israel, we see more deals being signed, morocco, bahrain. how does that change trade and business? it could have a significant impact on the dynamics. i

one of the things that you see - is that from the arab nations' point of view they have adversarial views of the deal — we are seeing that in a reaction| in some of the elements around the technology threats that we face in the region, and we are seeing i that there is a spike in somej of the cyber attack elements in the uae since the deal was signed in. i we are going to discuss the challenges in more detail later in the programme, but adedayo, as thani was saying, he's quite optimistic despite the history of the business will be able to drive this deal ahead. but do you think it's going to be challenging or do you think that they can bridge the gap much more easily? i think that these are economies, the economies of the gulf are more economically compatible with israel. there will be some ease in bridging the gap but there's small

markets so only so much that can be achieved. as of the markets that have bigger markets that have been there for a long time. the big challenge will be showing the value added. the deal has been signed, and you were already seeing, as you mentioned, companies signing deals. where do you see as a challenge in terms of businesses entering israel? there was a stereotype that is really economies are more —— that israeli economies are more of a transactional economy. but after dealing with a few israeli companies and signing onto them myself, i felt that this is a myth. we are a lot alike, more than we thought. and in the uae, as adedayojust imagine, it's very cosmopolitan. —— just mentioned, it's very cosmopolitan. we have 200 nationals in this country and have adapted to them.

do you expect more countries in the region to sign up? for sure. especially the business communities? we have ourselves been approached by some companies in our neighboring countries. wanting to reach out to israeli companies. so i definitely think that more countries in the region will follow. they come to you first, will, it has the deal given the confidence to say the salaries for exhibit to take the leap? —— let me continue first, will. i would obviously expect them . to continue as they are and have been for a period of time. we don't anticipate that there will be any significant change | in the way that the saudi - is and israelis are conducting business at the moment. we expect on a global basis people lare going to be very happy to see i i you softening of the relationshipl and the environment and will help stabilize the region, - and that's going to be good for business across the board.

is it more complicated for countries like saudi arabia, even if there is reason for them to go ahead, because of political reasons? definitely, under the current king it's impossible. because he aligns to the old school of thought which is that you have to solve the palestinian issue before you can engage with israel. for the moment i think the deal is off the table, but they have a bit of an experiment with bahrain to see how it goes and see how people will react to it. the challenges, you specialize in cyber security, how big a challenge is that and how do you see that panning out going ahead? there has been a spike since the accord was i signed with about 30%. i think it's important - to put that into context. we are also living in a time _ where remote working has now become the norm when that has done two things, that's meant that - organizations have very rapidly deployed new technologies - in their environments to enable continuity to take place, -

and increases the risk _ and the threat of the environment they are working in. it would be an oversimplification to say that there's been a huge spike i as a result of signing the deal, there's clearly been an impact| but we are also working in quite an unusual context in terms - of the aftereffects of 2020. but i think, as you said, there's been an increase in activity. - what organizations need to do about that is really around three legs. - the need to make sure they got the technology in place, - technology is absolutely useless . without having effective processes to make sure that that technology stays current and maintained. - and the most important element. is around making sure that people are aware and that people don't expose the organization - that they are operating in to these attacks and the threats that - are coming through. thani, is that a worry,

because as he was saying that cyber attacks have gone up, security people especially businesses involved with israel, is that a concern? a concern? no. because who is a better friend to have than israel when it comes to cyber technology? this is a variable that needs to be considered. like we do in our organization and i'm sure all of the other organizations take care of that. where israel can help us a lot in protecting our firewalls by having stronger ones. adedayo, iran was unhappy with this deal. how does that play out in terms of the region given that the deal has already been signed and could we see more threats from that side? i think definitely we will see more threats from iran. what we are seeing is a new economic and security block with morocco now in the deal.

and sudan as well. if the gulf, i'm not quite sure, one of the challenges of dealing with iran in the gulf is every company has their own view. —— every — — every country —— every country has its own view. 0man still has engage with iran to have their own view on israel. the same can be said for patton. there is now more at stake for iran as well, and therefore a heightened competition. the other change is that we have a new administration in the united states. how does that change things over here? the deals have been signed but what about the potential deals that could have been signed, because the view here is that the trump administration was able to push these deals through and there was supporting the business community. how do you see that panning out, will, do you want to take that first? i think what we anticipated . that there will be a softening on the position with iran. overtime. however, that is not going to be -

something that happens immediately. we are not going to click our fingers and go back to 2015. | and the reasons for that is that - some of that sanctions put in place and regulatory framework will take quite a long time to unwind. - very similar to what we expect to see with the us and other. nations in the world. there will be a period j of time when we start to see a normalization, stabilization, but it's i not going back to where i we were a few years ago. but we definitely see that starting to work in that direction. - and do you see more countries signing up or signing deals apart from saudis? i can see 0man signing a deal. but there's really been a change in power. —— that has recently been. i think they would like to see both the benefits of the deals that have already been signed and the trend in popular reaction around the arab world to these deals. one of the things we have seen, thani, since it was announced is that the israelis have

softened their position as far as defense goes. the uae is procuring jets from the united states. do you see opportunities in defence? the defence industry is one of the marvels of israel. if any group in the uae wants to take advantage of the marvels of israel defence it's definitely one of them. it's just been a few months since this was announced. what you see from this deal and could we see more countries signing up? say, in two or three years from now? i think in three years�* time it will be a good time for the uae to mediate peace. i always say negotiating with adversaries is like playing poker, and negotiating with friends, you build a partnership. so with the business community building partnerships and building and becoming closer to each other

than the uae will be in a strong position to play the mediator role between palestine and israel. the uae has always taken the stand that they will support the two state solution, and i think with being friends israel will not play poker with the united arab emirates. i think will be more of a building of a partnership with the three parties. and what in terms of trade and business, where do you see that headed? how big a world could be the trade or business world? israel is known to be the start up nation and i would like to call the uae the scale up nation. for israel to actually reach every nook and cranny in the world they need, there's no better partner than the united arab emirates. i see the business growing, the products that israel or tangible products that israel could produce if they want to reach christchurch or buenos aires,

the uae is the best route. or they want to develop an app for the world, dubai is the best place to test it. i see a lot of businesses where israel used to import from europe and turkey and some of these products are available here, made here. so i see that benefit as well. three years from now you have a stronger economy in the united arab emirates and a stronger economy in israel. you share that view that given all the excitement can you partnership really scale to that level in three to four years? i think the partnership will scale in certain sectors. perhaps not in all sectors. high—tech definitely is a sector where the uae's lead meets israel's expertise. health care and logistics as well as mentioned. and tourism as well. and so i can see the scale there.

there's other sectors that are more mature in both countries that there would be less room for partnership. and overall these are small countries. the impact of this deal, three years from now, will be felt even more if we can get even more countries in the middle east and even perhaps in other parts of africa on board with this deal. final word to will, as you said you need to get more countries, can these two countries bring more countries together? absolutely. i think if you look _ at the opportunity presented by the relationship between israel and the uae they are both very i small, but relatively young, hugely dynamic nations. - we are stronger together and i think with that kind of context _ organizations within those countries are going to work to more closely . with israel and the uae so i absolutely think. that's the case. those are your predictions, but we will only know in three or four

years if the deal has worked on not, maybe we can discuss it again then. thank you a lot for your time, thani, adedayo and william. thank you for watching, this is sameer hashmi signing off. hello, there. last saturday, temperatures struggled to get above freezing. today, we've been up above 15 degrees, but, with the mild weather, for some of us, there has come some very wet weather. enough rain across some parts of the uk to give some issues with flooding. so there are flood warnings in force across parts of england, wales and scotland. check those on the bbc weather website. you can see where the wettest of the weather has been. this is 2a hours�* worth of rainfall. rain has been piling in across the south—west of england, parts of wales, at times through the north—west of england, northern ireland and scotland. it's been dry and very mild down towards the south—east. pretty blustery as well. strongest winds through the night

become confined to the far north—west of scotland and much of the rain will ease off as well. we will keep some patchy rain and certainly some extra cloud down towards the south—east, some showers up towards the north—west. temperatures generally five, six, seven degrees, although, for some eastern areas, it is going to be an exceptionally mild night, in places to the south—east of this weather front. that's where the really mild air is and this frontal system will still be with us as we head through tomorrow. now, the rain on the weather front will be mostly quite light and patchy first thing. it may well pep up a litte bit through the day, this front likely to drift its way back westwards into the south—west of england, parts of south—east wales, although it won't be as wet as it has been today. for northern ireland, scotland, parts of northern england, we'll see some sunshine, some showers in the far north—west, brighter skies to the far south—east. another pretty mild day, i have to say, 11—15 degrees, that's quite unusual for this point in february. now, into monday, ourweatherfront will still be sitting in place, probably somewhere across england. the exact location still to be determined, but, to the west

of our weatherfront, we see drier, brighter and slightly cooler weather. these temperatures still more than respectable for the end of february and, then, as we move into tuesday, we see another frontal system approaching. that's going to bring more heavy rain to parts of northern ireland, parts of scotland, maybe into north—west england and wales as well. to the south—east of that front, a renewed surge of very, very mild, even warm air, pushing up from the south. so temperatures in southern areas could get up to 17 degrees around the middle of the coming week. further north—west, some rain for a time. should be drierfor all of us later in the week.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm samantha simmonds. gunfire. an escalation of violence in myanmar as security forces open fire at protesters. at least two people have been killed. sirens. unrest on the streets of barcelona as thousands of people protest for a fifth night against the jailing of a rapper for controversial tweets. russian opposition leader alexei navalny loses his appeal against a 2.5—year prison sentence. prince charles has visited the hospital in central london where his father, the duke of edinburgh, is being treated. and a 21—year—old briton has become the youngest woman to row solo across the atlantic. jasmin harrison rowed from the canary islands to antigua

injust over 70 days.