and her the odd shower approaching north west scotland tomorrow, most here will again have a fine day. the weather system in england and wales nudges a bit further east. away from wales, northern and western parts of england as it brightens up a bit, but increasingly light and patchy rain edging back towards east anglia and the south east of england on another mild day. some very wet weather, though, to come in as we go through into tuesday. this is the weather system approaching from the west, especially to northern ireland, into scotland, where there's a risk of flooding, too, affecting wales and western parts of england, whereas the eastern side of england stays dry and becomes very mild.

hello, this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox. the headlines — a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly, a month ahead of schedule.

borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring england out of lockdown. the dj jo whiley says it "couldn't be crueller" that her sister, who has learning difficulties and diabetes, was offered the vaccine after she was already "fighting for her life" with covid. a nigerian air force passenger plane has crashed just outside abuja airport after reporting engine failure, killing all seven people on board. air emergency above the us state of colorado, but the passenger plane lands safely to the relief of crew and passengers. a pioneering breakthough for children needing 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 it 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 they start 2021. in a moment, we will look at what does this deal mean for them, the region and i'll 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's 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'll 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'll 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 normalised. these so—called abraham accords were one of president trump's final pieces of foreign policy. today the world sees that they're choosingj 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 specialises in desalination, transportation and reuse of water. a dealfor business in dubai, a city built in the desert, was one of the first to be signed. i must say this is the fastest deal i've ever encountered in my professional life. definitely it makes it much easier now when we have a direct approach and welcome in a muslim country,

and a strong country that can be a hub to us. and this is the hub he's 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 from dubai arriving in the israeli port of haifa. trade isn'tjust 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 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 peace was announced, i think that people were justjumping 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 excited and enthusiastic and proud for having our products 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 couldn't 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, but then 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, they're 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 we agreed on a memorandum of understanding to bridge this industry and to bring the fluence products to the united arab emirates. adedayo, i mean, yes, the deal has formalised relationships between the two countries, but the fact is that both of them were anyways doing business, some sort of business unofficially, so what's changed with this deal? well, for 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 task costs of setting up a business. it also opens multiple sectors for israelis to enter in, from tourism to tech 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 dynamic is, i think, a key component of this deal. now, will, adedayo spoke a list could be a lot of opportunities for israelis in the uae, but what about the emiratis, what are the opportunities for them in israel? i think with any of these l deals, we'll see business going in both directions. it requires a win—win situation, - and unless you have business working in both directions, that's not going to be the case. - we have seen in dubai already since the deal was established that we have seen that kosher- considerations around restaurants, |we see in the food being importedj into our supermarkets from israel,

which is a huge benefit, _ from food miles and air miles coming iand from a personal point of view, i i have seen a krav maga gym 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 there 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 normalisation with egypt was born of trying to end the war, and the logic was similar withjordan. and there have been political skirmishes that made those deals not successful. this deal is different because the emphasis is making sure that people on the ground feel the economic benefits. so, from the beginning, the deal is all about trying to get those people—to—people flows, the financial flows going, unlike the deals in the past.

the challanges will really relate to the different systems of doing business. i don't see the political challenges as being the same. thani, you're quite optimistic about this deal, but the fact remains that there is still a section even within the uae, who sympathises with the palestine cause and there's a mistrust between the two communities that have existed for decades historically. do you think that will be a challenge? definitely. we were serious enemies 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 sympathisers, 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. will, it's a big deal definitely for the uae and israel. we have seen more deals being signed, morocco, bahrain. how does that change trade and business dynamics in this region? it's clearly going to have a - significant impact on the dynamics. 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 the reaction in some of the elements around l the technology threats that we face in the region, and we are seeing i that there is a spike in some of the cyberattack elements | in the uae since - the deal was signed. 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 that 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 these are economies, the economies of the gulf are more economically compatible with israel. so therefore there will be some ease in bridging the gap, but these are small markets so only so much that can be achieved. and markets that have other multinationals that have been there for a long time. the big deal will be showing the value added to the emiratis and to israel. the deal has been signed, and you are already seeing, as you mentioned, companies signing deals. where do you see as a challenge in terms of emerati businesses entering israel?

there was a stereotype that the israeli economy is more of a transactional economy, and that the uae is more of a relationship, but after dealing with a few israeli companies and signing them myself, i felt that this is a myth. we are a lot alike, more than we thought. and in the uae, as adedayojust mentioned, it's very cosmopolitan. we have adapted to the 200 nationals. now it's only 201. do you expect more countries in the region feel confident to sign up? for sure. we, ourselves, have 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. if i can come to you first, will, has this deal given the confidence to, say, the saudis, for example, to take the leap?

i would obviously expect the saudis to continue as they are and have i been for a period of time. we don't anticipate from - control risks that there will be significant change in the way that the saudis _ and israelis are conducting business at the moment. i we expect on a global basis people lare going to be very happy to see i i a softening of the relationship i and the environment and it will help stabilise the region, - and that's going to be good for business across the board. adedayo, is there obligation for countries like saudi arabia, even if there's a risk 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. forthe moment, ithink 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, will, you specialise in cybersecurity,

how big a challenge is that and how do you see that panning out going ahead? so, there has been a spike since the accord was - signed of about 30%. but i think it's important to put that into context. | we're also living in a time _ where remote working has now become the norm. that has done two things. that has meant that _ organisations have very rapidly deployed new technologies . in their environment to enable continuity to take place, and it increases the risk| and the threat environment - these employees are working in. it's an oversimplification to say that there's been a huge spikel j as a result of signing the deal, j there's clearly been an impact, but we're also working in quite an unusual context in terms i of the aftereffects of 2020. but i think, as you said, there has been an increase in activity. - what organisations need to do about that is really around three legs. -

they need to make sure they've got the technology in place. _ technology is absolutely useless i 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 their people don't expose the organisation l that they're operating in to these attacks and the threats that - are coming through. thani, is that a worry, because as will was saying that cyberattacks have gone up, security of people especially businesses involved with israel and vice versa, is that a concern? a concern? no. because who's a better friend to have than israel when it comes to cybertechnology? this is a variable that will need to be considered, like we do in our organisation and i'm sure all of the other organisations take care of that. where israel can help us a lot in protecting our firewalls by having stronger ones.

adedayo, now, iran of course 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're seeing is a new economic and security bloc with morocco now in the deal. and sudan as well. but in the gulf, i'm not quite sure. i mean, one of the challenges of dealing with iran in the gulf is every company has its own view on iran. 0man is open with israel but still has engagements with iran and the same can be said for qatar.

there is now more at stake for iran as well, and therefore a heightened competition. the other thing that has changed 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 support in the business community. how do you see that panning out, will, do you want to take that first? i think what we anticipate it. that there will be a softening on the position with iran over time. 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 normalisation, stabilisation, but it's. 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 the saudis? i can see 0man signing a deal. but there's really been a change in power. 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 he israelis have softened their position as far as defence deals go. the uae is procuring the f—35 from the united states. do you see opportunities in that space, 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 as the results

from this deal and could we see more countries signing up? i think in three years' time it will be a good time for 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 communities building partnerships and building and becoming closer to each other, then 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. so it will be more of a building of a partnership with the three parties. and with 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 is no better partner than the united arab emirates. so i see the business growing, the products that or the tangible products that israel can or could produce, if they want to reach christchurch or buenos aires, the uae is the best route. plus, they want to develop an app for the arab world, dubai is the best place to test it. and vice versa. i see a lot of businesses where israel use to import from europe and turkey and some of these products are available here, made in the uae. so i see that benefiting also. i think three years from now you will have a stronger economy in the united arab emirates and a stronger economy in israel.

do you share that view that given all the blitz and excitement, can the 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 need meets israel's expertise. health care and logistics as well as mentioned. and tourism as well. and so i can see skill 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. so the impact of this deal three years from now will be felt more if we can get even more countries in the middle east and even perhaps other parts of africa on board with this deal. final word to you, will, she said you need to get more countries, can these two countries bring more countries together? i think absolutely. i think if you look _ at the opportunity presented

by the relationship between israel and the uae, they are both very. small, both relatively young, hugely dynamic nations. - we are stronger together, and i | think with that kind of context, | organisations within those countries i 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 years or four years whether the deal has worked or not and maybe we can come back and discuss this again. thank you a lot for your time, thani, adedayo and william. thank you for watching talking business here in dubai. this is sameer hashmi signing off. hello. very mixed weather fortunes coming up in the week ahead. very wet in some areas, dry, very mild in others. well, of course, we got used to the rain coming back.

the weather has turned milder, so it has been that mild, wet weather week. and look at this temperature anomaly map here. look at the very mild colours, so temperatures well above average for a time, particularly around midweek, before easing off later. but yet again, with the mild air, there's rain on the way. not evenly distributed across the uk. parts of eastern england staying dry. but the green colours across some portions of scotland bringing a renewed risk of flooding, with rain totals going above 100 millimetres in some spots. from an area of low pressure which brings in a waving weather front here for tuesday and wednesday, just sitting across many of the same areas. not just scotland, but northern ireland, wales, western parts of england seeing a bit of rain. but particularly for northern ireland and scotland. but if you avoid that weather front and stay dry, that's where we'll get that very mild air coming in, although all parts are going to be mild. now, we're already dealing with a bit of rain in parts of england and wales, and will be through the evening and night. particularly northern england, wales, the west midlands and south west england. east anglia and the south east, dry. it will be a mild night in england and wales,

but the coldest parts of scotland and northern ireland under clear skies seeing a touch of frost. bar the odd shower here tomorrow, it'll be another fine day. brightening up for parts of northern england, wales and the south west as the weather front edges back towards east anglia and south east england tomorrow. increasingly light and patchy rain. for all, it's another mild day. a little bit cooler in england and wales overnight and into tuesday. on tuesday, then, we start to bring in this waving weather front with the rain. a bit of snow preceding that into the hills of scotland. wet for northern ireland, scotland. some outbreaks of rain into wales, western parts of england. the winds picking up as well. strong to gale—force winds with gusts 50—60 mph with that rain towards the north and west, whereas much of central and eastern england will stay dry. the further east you are, you see the sunny spells. this is where you see the higher temperatures, but we're all mild. and a very mild night to come on tuesday night. milder still in those brighter parts of england on wednesday. further rain at times in parts of scotland, with a renewed risk of seeing some flooding as those rain totals mount.

but after the wet weather, where it has been so wet, it will turn drier again later in the week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news the headlines at 6pm: a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly — a month ahead of schedule. it's because of the success of the vaccine roll—out that we're able to do that and that will have an impact on how quickly we'll all be able to return to normal, which is obviously what everyone wants to see. borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring england out of lockdown. a pioneering breakthough for children needing a heart transplant — a machine that keeps hearts beating outside the body for up to 12 hours. it's transplanting patients that otherwise would not get an organ and that's the real beauty of this machine.