welcome to bbc news. i'm vishala sri—pathma. our top stories: almost 60 people — including 12 children — have drowned trying to reach europe, after their boat was shipwrecked off southern italy. translation: we can't be abandoned by the rest of europe. this type of tragedy should have been avoided, not lived how we're having to live it today. the british prime minister prepares to meet the president of the european commission, in a bid to finalise a new brexit deal for northern ireland. israeli settlers in the occupied west bank set fire to palestinian homes and businesses, killing one man, after two israelis are shot dead in their car. and one of the most hyped bouts in the history of boxing — tommy fury wins his grudge match by a split decision.

at least 59 migrants have drowned, after their boat broke up in rough seas and sank off the southern coast of italy, including a number of children. the boat was said to be overloaded with close to 150 people. it's thought the vessel left izmir, in eastern turkey, three days ago. those who survived came ashore near the town of crotone, on the calabrian coast, and are being helped by the red cross. jon donnison has the latest. overnight, another tragedy in the mediterranean. by daylight, this was all that was left of the migrant boat that broke up in rough seas just off the calabrian coast. rescue workers struggled in the conditions to recover bodies from the water.

it's thought around 150 people were onboard. dozens, including a baby, are known to have drowned. the regional governor visited the scene. translation: calabria is - a region that welcomes people. last year, we welcomed 18,000 migrants, but we can't be abandoned by the rest of europe. this type of tragedy should have been avoided, not lived how we're having to live it today and how we will live it again in the future. and reacting to today's loss of life, the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, said: "all together, eu countries must redouble their efforts to tackle the migration crisis in the central mediterranean." around 80 people were brought ashore alive. among them, migrants from iran, pakistan and afghanistan. despite the dangers, italy is one of the main landing points for people trying to reach europe in small boats. almost 12,000 migrants have already arrived by sea in italy this year.

in 2022, more than 105,000 successfully made the crossing, with over 1,300 dead or missing. although high, those numbers are way down on the 2016 peak, when there were over 180,000 arrivals by sea. the government blames people traffickers and has pledged to stop the boats. at the vatican, pope francis expressed his sorrow for the latest loss of lives, which he said included many children. he said he was praying for the dead, the missing and those who survived. and those survivors, like hundreds of thousands before them, face an uncertain future. under the white sheets behind them, those who didn't make it. jon donnison, bbc news. jeremy konyndyk is president at refugees international and has been giving us

his take on the situation. this is a tragedy, but i don't think you can really call it an accident. it is an outcome of policies that italy and the wider eu have been putting in place for years that have made the passage through the mediterranean more dangerous and have removed the sort of rescue tools that ngos and others have been trying to use to at least save lives when people are at risk. as bad as the crossing is, and as unsafe as it is, people are still willing to do it because what they're fleeing is worse. and the conditions that they're fleeing in places like iran and afghanistan — which is where a number of these migrants apparently came from — are worse. and so, if it is so dangerous that they're willing to take that crossing, then clearly, making it less safe is not going to deter people yet more. and yet, the policy for the last ten years has been

to progressively close off the less dangerous routes and force people into more and more dangerous routes. and just days ago, the italian government detained an msf rescue ship and passed new legislation that makes it even harderfor the rescue operations to save people. so, this is not an accidental outcome. this is an intent... perhaps not an intentional outcome, but certainly one that is baked into the calculus that italy and the wider eu are making here. that was jeremy konyndyk. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, will meet the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, on monday. the meeting is expected to revolve around the post—brexit trading arrangements for northern ireland. in a joint statement, they said they would work towards finding a solution to the dispute. the talks are due to be held late lunchtime on monday and, if a deal is reached, mr sunak will make a statement to parliament. 0ur political editor chris mason has more. here stands the ultimate prize

in all of these negotiations. this is stormont, in belfast, the home of the northern ireland assembly. getting it and an executive here up and running again would be quite a moment. doing a deal with brussels does not guarantee that, but there are other potential prizes, improving internal uk trade and resetting relations with the european union. if we can get it over the line, we're on the cusp, we've made great progress, we're not there yet, but it would be a really important deal. and just critically, a deal that — with all the best will in the world, and for all the progress that others have made — that no prime minister before had been able to secure. and senior voices in the eu are sounding upbeat too. i believe there's been very significant progress made, and what was the purpose of it all? _ to respond to the issues that have been raised. so, what can we expect in this proposed new deal?

a plan to make trade easier between england, scotland and wales, and northern ireland. it looks like goods that are staying in northern ireland will be able to pass through a green or express lane, and those things going on into the republic of ireland, in the eu, will have to be checked via a red lane. it's also expected that there'll be a new arrangement about tax. northern ireland follows some eu rules on this and, in particular, around vat, and that is a real frustration to some. then there is how the rules are enforced. this involves the european court ofjustice, and critics of the protocol want to get rid of the role of the eu's court. that seems unlikely, but we can perhaps expect some sort of promise to talk up other ways of sorting out disagreements first. and then there is also the issue of northern ireland having a say on ongoing rule changes that the eu makes, something i expect the leaders will talk about tomorrow and the deputy prime minister talked about today.

if there are any new rules that would apply in relation to northern ireland, it must be right that there's a northern irish democratic check on that. and again, that would mark a significant shift. are you going - to resign over it? and hand your- passport in as well? this prominent brexiteer, steve baker, now a minister, is giving it the thumbs—up. others are rather less positive. we're not stupid. what we want is a situation where eu law is expunged from northern ireland, so it is treated on the same basis as england, scotland and wales. politically, it's vital for downing street there aren't too many conservative mps who share that view once a deal is done, even though labour say they'll back the prime minister. if he's able to pull off a deal, we will support it, because we think it will be an improvement on what we've let's look at the detail in the coming days, but all credit to rishi sunak

if he does that. tomorrow is shaping up to be quite the day. some are excited, others are nervous. the democratic unionists are quiet. this isn't the end of the story. let's get some of the day's other news. the first results from nigeria's hotly—contested election have been announced, confirming a win in the south—western ekiti state for the governing party candidate, bola tinubu. the election went more smoothly than previous polls, but delays and attacks on some polling stations meant voting was postponed until sunday in parts of the country. the authorities in brazil say last week's floods and landslides in the state of sao paulo have killed 64 people, including 18 children. a search effort is continuing for one missing person. police in the sri lankan capital, colombo, have used teargas and water cannon to disperse a protest against the postponement of local elections. the government said it couldn't fund them because of the financial crisis. india's federal police

have arrested the deputy chief minister of delhi, manish sisodia, for alleged corruption. the arrest came after hours of questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in relation to an alcohol policy in the city. the policy was dropped after police began an investigation. mr sisodia and his aam aadmi party deny the allegations. israeli settlers have set fire to palestinian houses, shops and vehicles in the occupied west bank, killing one palestinian man. the violence broke out in the village of huwara, just south of nablus. the palestinian red cross said that about 100 people were being treated — many of them from inhaling tear gas fired by israeli security forces. it comes after two israelis were shot dead earlier, in the occupied west bank. and the israeli army said a palestinian gunman opened fire at an israeli—owned car and then fled the scene. aaron miller, a seniorfellow

at the carnegie endowment for international peace, gave me his views on the meeting in jordan. a good positive first step. it's given additional traction by the fact it's now anchored by both thejordanians and the egyptians. the americans, who clearly were in favour of the idea, may well have pushed it. the question really is, will it hold? and the politics on both sides i think suggests that if it holds, it will only be a temporary respite, perhaps to get the parties through their very sensitive ramadan/passover season that is coming next month. i just don't think that the palestinian authority has the credibility, or the will, or the capacity to deal with israeli security. and the government of israel are the most extreme and fundamentalist in the nation's history —

is committed to annexation in all but name of the west bank, and binding jerusalem permanently to israel proper. so without a political horizon and a set of mutually reinforcing commitments, monitored by an external party, i think the chances that this will hold are very slim. and when you talk about an external party, you mean a mediator, presumably. i mean, who could fill that role, do you think? well, the united states has traditionally played that role — sometimes poorly, sometimes well. a mediator, ithink, needs at least two basic qualities. 0ne, it has to retain, maintain the trust and confidence of both sides. and it needs to be able, politics notwithstanding, to see it through and to offer assurances as well as disincentives sometimes, be reassuring and tough with both sides. i just don't think that the biden administration, with the best of intentions, frankly, politically is prepared to do what's

necessary to be tough and see this through. but in the end, it really is the will and the desire of both parties to fundamentally change the situation, and i just don't see it on either sie. and just briefly, what does this sort of baby step almost from what you're saying mean for the sort of short—term relationship between the two sides? i mean, again, neither the palestinian authority nor the government of israel has desires for major explosion or major confrontation. what we don't know, and what i doubt, is whether each side is prepared to fulfil the kind of commitments required to avoid one. i think again, it's only a matter of time, i'm afraid, until we see another round. tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across mexico to protest against government plans to slash funding for the national electoral institute. the protesters oppose reforms

passed by the senate this week that will remove millions of dollars from the electoral agency and close many of its local offices. president andres manuel lopez 0brador has accused the ine of being corrupt and partisan, but critics say restrictions on the agency are an attack on democracy itself. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a british reality tv star takes on an american youtuber and wins one of the most hyped matches in the history of boxing. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a matter of seconds, as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb

dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so, my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional - rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, - and they should be protected| even in the right to test them out, so that they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controvery, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end of the day. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: almost 60 people, including 12 children, have drowned trying to reach europe, after their boat was shipwrecked off southern italy. the british prime minister prepares to meet the president of the european commission, in a bid to finalise

a new brexit deal for northern ireland. sheffield will become the latest city in the uk to introduce a clean air zone on monday, charging drivers of the most polluting vehicles. dan johnson reports. no to clean air zones. no to extortionate charges for driving in our own city. | there's a new battle zone in the fight for clean air. sheffield's seen opposition. and today, there was another protest in cambridge against plans to charge drivers, as clean air zones hit more streets across the country. my wife works, my wife commutes. two different cars, two different locations, so it's £5 a day for every working day, and that's a lot. it's a very poor way to be thinking of how to improve any problems with transportation in cambridge. charging the most polluting vehicles is supposed to get them off the road, but cities have got different prices covering different

classes of vehicle, and if you get it wrong, you get fined. bristol's scheme started just before christmas. i think everyone in bristol agrees that we all have a bad cough that lingers, and i think the air quality is terrible. anything we can do to improve it, ifully support. i'm not really seeing a difference. are my lungs better? no, they're the same as they were last year as well, so... as a cyclist, it hasn't made the roads any quieter. - well, it's to stop people coming into the city, but it's also to make money, i think. it's good because we're trying to keep the planet a bit healthier. you know, we want healthy air, just clean air. it's good for everyone. bath started charging commercial vehicles two years ago, but some feel that's moved traffic and emissions onto wiltshire's roads. we've seen significant increases in terms of heavy goods vehicles coming through the middle of westbury. we're here on a street where the trucks are going, what, a metre and a half from people's front doors. so, we've taken an air quality problem in bath and simply transposed it to the middle of an area where it's going to create a worse

air quality problem. birmingham's zone generated £37 million in fines over the last 18 months. nationally, poor air quality causes something like 36,000 excess deaths each year. but evidence shows it is cutting emissions. during the first few months after the zones�* introduction, we found that there was a significant reduction in the n02 levels in birmingham city centre, so that's a good thing. and we didn't see any change in the air quality on the perimeter of the birmingham clean air zone. there's controversy about plans to expand london's low emissions zone to cover every borough. but the government is insisting on cleaner air. so more zones are coming, but reducing pollution means tackling more than just vehicle emissions. dan johnson, bbc news. let's look at the politics of scotland now, where the unexpected resignation of the first minister, nicola sturgeon, has created a gap to fill, notjust in leading the country, but also in leading the independence movement.

ms sturgeon�*s personal popularity kept the campaign for scottish independence at the forefront of the political debate there. but with her going, it's not clear which direction her scottish national party will take. our special correspondent allan little looks at what might happen next. glasgow, once solidly labour, voted for independence in 2014. but was that the high water mark? does the independence ambition end with the formidable sturgeon era? i grew up in the rural south—west of scotland. it's a good place to consider what has happened to the independence cause, and to the way scots have thought about the union over the generations. my grandparents lived in this street when i was a child, and my great—great—grandparents lived here in the 19th century. for them, the british empire was what tied scotland tightly into the union. my parents were born here in the 1930s, and they grew into adulthood at a time

when britain enjoyed immense moral standing in that post—war world. my great—grandfather was in the building trade, and he built this war memorial. but it was after the second world war that my parents�* generation inherited a new kind of britain. a britain of full employment, of cradle—to—grave welfare, of the new national health service. and something else that was new for families like ours — the chance that one day, their children might go to university. that was why the union was not just resilient in scotland, but positively valued. it was also an industrial britain. coal, steel and shipbuilding still dominated the traffic on this river. the great comedian billy connolly once worked as a welder in the shipyards here in glasgow. and when he was asked in the 1970s about scottish nationalism, he would say that he felt more in common with shipyard workers on merseyside and in southampton than he did with many of his fellow scots. back then, class solidarity nearly always trumped

appeals to a distinct scottish national identity. those big industries, like the empire, were pan—british enterprises. they were bedrocks of british identity in scotland. and in the 1980s and �*90s, they were swept away. that's when england and scotland started to diverge politically, those shared values coming under strain. england embracing the radical new vision for the future offered by margaret thatcher. scotland repeatedly rejecting it. in that context, the independence movement reinvented itself, the snp talking the language of social democracy and greater equality. this appealed to old labour voters and enthused the young. that realignment of loyalties happened under alex salmond's leadership. no—one embodied it more fully than nicola sturgeon. but under her, there's been no further surge in support for independence. even the unpopularity of brexit here and the toppling of four

conservative prime ministers have moved the dial a few points, at most. but drill down into the opinion polls that consistently show the country roughly divided 50—50 on independence. the young remain overwhelmingly in favour, and there's even strong support among the middle—aged. many nationalists believe time is on their side, that the fruit of independence is ripening on the tree of age demographics, and it will eventually fall into their laps. the union has been strongest over the ages when it's been built on shared values and a common sense of purpose. nicola sturgeon�*s departure is a defeat for independence, but reversing the slow generational decline of british identity in scotland is the enduring challenge for the union. allan little, bbc news, galloway. in one of the most hyped

matches in the history of boxing novices tommy fury — the reality tv star — has beaten youtuberjake paul in a multi—million dollarfight in saudi arabia. fury is the brother of world heavyweight champion tyson fury. supporters say the two stars bring new fans to the sport. but long—time followers describe the matches as "stunts". bbc sport's boxing reporter kal sajad says it was a very popular event. it was probably the most high—profile eight—round contest in boxing history. these two have had twitter back and forth, social media spats for the last two years. you've gotjake paul, who's a youtuber with a huge social media following, 22 million followers on instagram. you've got tommy fury, brother of tyson fury, of love island fame. so these are two big social media celebrities. but they can also box a little. fury coming from a fighting family and jake paul, he started boxing two years ago, but he can, he knows the fundamentals of the sport

and he's showcased that so far. so it was a big fight in the world of two people from the worlds of entertainment, but they could also box a little. 0n the one hand, boxing aficionados believe that it is not good for the sport. yes, it's bringing in fresh fans, but are these fans going to go to a fight at the york hall in london on a friday night to watch some novice boxers? no, probably not. it's bringing a certain type of fan to a certain type of fight. now, those who are in favour of this type of boxing, they believe that it will bring those new fans. and also, that boxers could probably learn a few things from these social media stars. they know how to build their profile, they know how to sell a fight, and that is almost half the game in trying to make your name as a boxer in this sport. the last major awards ceremony before next month's 0scars is under way in los angeles. so far, four major screen actors guild

awards have gone to the fantasy film everything everywhere all at 0nce, including outstanding performance by a female actor for michelle yeoh. the awards — which also saw nominees jamie lee curtis and zendaya on the red carpet — are seen as a key indicator of which films and stars may come out on top at the oscars next month. now some pictures which prove that the recent snowy weather in parts of america hasn't been bad news for everyone. these playful seals have been enjoying rolling around in the snow at oregon zoo, which remains closed to visitors due to the conditions. the city of portland recorded nearly 11 inches, or 28 centimetres, of snow in one day earlier this week — its second snowiest day on record. very cute. 0ur very cute. our top story, we are looking at the migrant crisis unfolding. you can reach me on twitter. after the news, or on

instagram. i'm @bbcvishalasp. thanks for watching. hello. we've had reports of spectacular views of the aurora borealis across many parts of the uk, from northern scotland all the way to southern wales and even southern england. and here's another beautiful picture from the weekend. this time, of cornwall, a beautiful horizon of those aqua colours. 0k, how about the weather for the week ahead? mainly dry, some sunshine and night frosts. pretty much what we've had for quite a few days now. with that high pressure firmly in charge of our weather. it's here on monday and it's here to stay. so, let's look at the forecast, then, for the early hours of monday — clearing skies across scotland and also southwestern parts of england. so, early on monday morning, there will be a frost here.

but elsewhere, where we have that thicker cloud — certainly northern and central england — in most towns and cities, it should be frost—free. for example, four degrees in liverpool and about that in norwich as well. now, the cloud cover will vary during the course of monday. the best of the sunshine will be across some western parts of scotland, maybe the south coast of england too. but also, one or two showers are possible anywhere from lincolnshire through the midlands. possibly wales. now, the temperatures will be between around eight and 10 celsius. but it is a noticeable wind, it's a dry wind too. so it will feel a little colder than that — closer to around 5 degrees, i think, across many parts of the uk. so, that's monday. how about tuesday? little change, the high pressure still very close to central scotland. just subtle changes in the wind direction, and actually the possibility of a few showers, perhaps more persistent ones, at least for a time, across southeastern parts of england. they won't last for very long, though. and you can see them

here carried by that breeze out in the northeast. again, very similar temperatures, eight in glasgow and around nine expected in plymouth. and it will feel a little colder than that. so, here's the weather map for wednesday and for thursday. that high pressure is not expected to budge. so, lots of dry weather and more of the same to come. let's have a look at the outlook, then, as we head into the weekend and even into next week. yes, there's a possibility of some rain maybe heading our way. it's a long way off still and the chances are the forecast next monday will change. that's it from me. bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: nearly 60 people trying to reach europe have drowned after their boat sank in rough seas off the coast of southern italy. 80 people survived, but it's feared the casualty figures could rise, as it's not clear how many were on board. the rescue operation is continuing. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, is due to hold a meeting with the european commission president, ursula von der leyen. they are expected to finalise a new post—brexit trading deal for northern ireland. mr sunak wants to ensure trade flows freely within the whole of the uk. israeli settlers in the occupied west bank have set alight buildings — killing one palestinian man — after two residents were shot dead. the palestinian red cross believe about 100 people were injured. authorities on both sides say they are taking immediate steps

to end the violence.