the headlines: florida governor ron desantis drops out of the race for the white house, and throws his support behind donald trump. can't ask our supporters to donate their time and resources if we don't have a clear path to victory. accordingly, i am today suspending my campaign. the former president heard the news at a campaign stop of his own, and thanked the governor for pulling out. more than 25,000 people have now been killed in gaza since the war with israel began, according to the hamas—run health ministry.

we begin in the united states, where florida governor ron desantis has dropped out from the republican presidential race and endorsed donald trump. the surprise video announcement comes ahead of this week's republican primary in new hampshire where mr desantis was polling in the single digits. his departure leaves nikki haley as mr trump's only significant rival. here's what he had to say. if there was anything i could do to produce a favourable outcome — more campaign stops, more interviews — i would do it. but i can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear path to victory. accordingly, i am today suspending my campaign. i'm proud to have delivered on 100% of my promises, and i will not stop now. it's clear to me that a majority of republican primary voters want to give donald trump another chance.

they watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see democrats using warfare to this day to attack him. while i've had disagreements with donald trump, such as on the coronavirus pandemic, and his elevation of anthony fauci, trump is superior to the current incumbent, joe biden. that is clear. i signed a pledge to support the republican nominee, and i will honour that pledge. he has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old republican guard of yesteryear — a repackaged form of warmed—over corporatism that nikki haley represents. this is how donald trump reacted a short time ago. we had the big day in iowa, and we will have a big day and new hampshire, i think equal to, and we just got some word that one of our opponents, very capable person, is dropping out, ron desantis. and ron is dropping out and he, in doing so, he endorsed us. cheering

the bbc�*s carl nasman is in manchester, new hampshire. this immediately makes it a two—person race in new hampshire. i've been speaking with some of ron desantis�*s supporters, who showed up right here, expecting a meet and greet campaign event with the florida governor, only to find out that the event is cancelled and ron desantis has dropped out. what they have been telling me is they were a bit surprised by the timing — they expected to get the chance to vote for him on election day on tuesday, wanted to hear from him at one of these intimate gatherings that you see across the early states like new hampshire and iowa. but they also say they were are not shocked, they are aware of the polling numbers and that ron desantis was only polling in the single digits in new hampshire, so it really was a campaign that went all—in on iowa, the previous state —

desantis finishing in second with a big gap from the former president donald trump, and a big gap here as well. now, as you mentioned, it is a nikki haley and donald trump vying for first place amongst republicans. nikki haley made some comments about racism over the weekend, how is that being received where you are? when you talk to nikki haley supporters, she is facing some barriers within the republican party, she has been seemingly attacked by donald trump for her heritage and ancestry, she is born to indian parents here in the united states, also, of course, a woman, which can be some factors that can play against a candidate in the republican party amongst conservatives. when you speak to nikki haley, she wants to be sure it's a campaign running on the issues, she is at attacking donald trump right back and stepping up her criticisms

of the former president, not only saying he is not fit for office, talking about his mental acuity, donald trump had a moment where he seemed to confused donald trump had a moment where he seemed to confuse nikki haley with former speaker of the house nancy pelosi, so these are barbs going back and forth and rhetoric we have seen from donald trump, attacking people and calling them by names, bringing up things like ancestry, we remember the controversy that donald trump started over false claims that barack 0bama was not fit for office because he might have a fake birth certificate which was not true. these are things we've seen from the past from the donald trump camp and we are seeing as he tries to wrap up the nomination as quickly as he can. carrie sheffield is a conservative commentator who has worked closely behind the scenes with people from the desantis campaign. i asked her what went wrong with his campaign. unfortunately for ron, a lot went wrong.

i would say, big picture, he was trying to replicate and go after the trump base, and what he should have done instead was try to get the "anybody but trump alternative", and there was a bit of momentum for him early, even this time last year and early spring last year, he was almost polling neck and neck with donald trump at that point, but instead of taking the strategy of where he would go after, again, the people who wanted an alternative to trump, he sought to erode the trump base, and the trump base were not having it, they were deeply loyal to the trump, and many trump supporters viewed ron desantis as someone who benefited from donald trump, because in his first race for governor in florida, he was not doing well in the primary and donald trump gave him a boost through an endorsement that got him over the finish line. so a lot of trump voters said you are being disloyal by trying to supersede, basically, when you were the apprentice,

and now you're trying to throw your former patron under the bus a month, so they perceive that to be disloyal. lots of messaging problems that i think the desantis campaign did, and also the fact that he over spent, in my view, on iowa, putting almost all his chips on iowa. had a very disappointing finish there, and it was reported he knocked on almost a million doors, almost 950,000 doors, to no avail, only to have a very disappointing 30 points below donald trump, first place, ron desantis was second—place, so there were a lot of issues. also his communication style was not perceived as warm, but in doing so he was not perceived as authentic to who he was as a policy expert. in my view, he did exceptionally well in florida, i applauded a lot of what he did in florida by focusing on policy and substance, and instead he tried to wade over into the hot button cultural issues and tried to be the role of a culture warrior

but that is not who he is at his core. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has again rejected the idea of creating a palestinian state, despite a phone call with us president biden who said he believed that might still be possible. mr netanyahu also rejected hamas�*s demands for israeli forces to withdraw from gaza in return for the release of the israeli hostages. the death toll in gaza has now surpassed 25,000, according to the hamas—run health ministry. with the latest from jerusalem, here's mark lowen. lives on a list that grows by the day. an overnight air strike adding them to a new milestone — more than 25,000 killed in gaza since israel's offensive began, says hamas. numbers out of date by the hour.

israel's focus is now southern gaza, pounded from the air, backed by naval, but there have been clashes in the north, too. israel's army — vastly superior to hamas — is still facing significant resistance across the territory. the israeli defence forces released pictures of a new tunnel they say they found, booby—trapped and more than 800m long — and, they say, it's likely to have held israeli hostages. translation: in the tunnel, we found five cells, _ each had a toilet and a mattress, enclosed by metal bars. according to testimonies we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times, in difficult conditions — without daylight, with stuffy air, very little oxygen, and terrible humidity that makes it difficult to breathe. but more than three months in,

israel still hasn't destroyed hamas or got the remaining hostages home, and splits are growing here. anti—war protesters — still few — scuffled with police. most israelis have rallied around their flag, but not their prime minister, and his continued opposition to a palestinian state is angering allies. i think it's very disappointing that benjamin netanyahu has said that. it's not, in some sense, a surprise — he's spent his entire political career against a two—state solution. but the point is, which other routes is there to seriously resolve this? here in israel, public patience with the war isn't limitless. and us intelligence is reported to have concluded that israel has only killed between 20% to 30% of hamas fighters, and that the group has enough weapons to continue

striking back for months — raising the spectre of a prolonged conflict. and prolonged suffering on both sides. for children, wracked with fever but unable to get medicine as gaza's hospitals run desperately short, and a lack of clean water makes disease rife. doctors resort to a weak syrup to treat the young, often orphaned. but it does little to dull the pain of gaza's war. mark lowen, bbc news, jerusalem. well, the us military gave an update on the status of two navy seals who went missing in the region. they are missing, presumed dead. they were reported missing after boarding an iranian vessel earlier this month in the gulf of aden. rescue crews failed to locate the two men, whose status has now officially been changed to deceased.

gerald firestein is a former us ambassador to yemen under president 0bama who's now a distinguished senior fellow at the middle east institute and told me about what's driving the spread of the conflict to the wider region. it seems that the us is increasingly getting swept up increasingly getting swept up in this conflict. how is that likely —— what's the response likely —— what's the response likely to be to that? it’s likely -- what's the response likely to be to that?— likely to be to that? it's a very complicated - likely to be to that? it's a | very complicated situation likely to be to that? it's a i very complicated situation in the red sea. the administration had three priorities in dealing with what's happening with the red sea. 0ne with what's happening with the red sea. one was to protect the right of innocent passage for commercial vessels that were sailing through the red sea. secondly was to avoid expanding the conflict beyond gaza. and the conflict beyond gaza. and the third was not to undermine prospects for political resolution — the yemen conflict. as we've gone farther, the need to address the threat to shipping has become the highest priority for the administration. but they

haven't abandoned the other two. and so their way forward is complicated. they're on a bit of a dilemma. what we saw, of course — the two sailors, the navy seals, were on a mission to try to interdict iranian resupply of the houthis, which could be the critical piece if they're going to be able to reduce houthi ability to strike shipping. but it's very complicated. there are hundreds of dows across between the horn of africa and yemen everybody, and the ability to really catch them is very complicated. and of course, very dangerous, as we've seen with the loss of the navy seals. we've seen with the loss of the navy seals-— navy seals. yeah - the rise of the houthis — navy seals. yeah - the rise of the houthis has _ navy seals. yeah - the rise of the houthis hasjust _ navy seals. yeah - the rise of the houthis hasjust been - the houthis hasjust been remarkable, hasn't it, in such a short space of time? i mean, could their rise have been prevented? and does america bear some responsibility? the

houthis have _ bear some responsibility? tue: houthis have really bear some responsibility? tte: houthis have really developed their capability, their posture, over a fairly long period of time. it's really almost 25 years since the houthis really first began to develop, initially on a revival of zaidi shi'ah religious identity in yemen — also, of course, addressing corruption, the failure of the yemeni state to provide for the people. and the third was anti—americanism, anti—westernism, that has really motivated many, many millions of yemenis. so these are the tools that the houthis have used over the years, and to great success. we've been,

of course, in the civil war situation in yemen for almost ten years now that the houthis have been fighting against the internationally recognised government.— internationally recognised covernment. . �*, ., government. yeah - it's easy to for: et government. yeah - it's easy to forget with _ government. yeah - it's easy to forget with this _ government. yeah - it's easy to forget with this most _ government. yeah - it's easy to forget with this most recent - forget with this most recent conflict that yemen was the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world as a result of that civil war before the gaza war started. do you think that's still on the agenda? you are absolutely correct, still, we see two things that are going on, one is the dialogue that exists between the houthis and saudi arabia to try to get an agreement that would allow the saudis to take measures that hopefully would secure a long—term ceasefire and end to the conflict and then the united nations continues its effort with the special envoy to try to get a

political dialogue going between the houthis and the government and allies of the government. and we have seen the special envoy in recent days expressed some optimism that things are moving forward. the saudis are very focused on trying to get an agreement, they want to get out from under pressure of the civil war so that they can focus on the domestic issues. andy houthis see this as a possible winning strategy for themselves. so that are still going on and we can hope that is going to make progress. can hope that is going to make rouress. , . , ., progress. gerald firestone former us _ progress. gerald firestone former us ambassador - progress. gerald firestone former us ambassador to | progress. gerald firestone - former us ambassador to yemen, thank you for your insights. a market and shopping district in the city of donetsk in eastern ukraine has been hit by shelling. russian officials say

27 people were killed and blamed ukraine for the blasts. another 25 people were injured in what appears to be one of the worst attacks on a civilian area in a russian—occupied part of the country since the conflict began. kyiv has not commented. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. the man and woman found dead alongside two children in a house near norwich both died from stab wounds to the neck, according to the postmortem. norfolk police have confirmed they're not looking for anybody else in connection with the deaths. the force has referred itself to the independent police watchdog after it emerged that officers didn't attend a 999 call from the house on friday morning, about an hour before the bodies were found. a 17—year—old boy who died after a stabbing in birmingham city centre has been named by police as muhammad hassam ali. he was found with serious injuries in victoria square yesterday and died later in hospital. west midlands police say they believe he was killed in a case of mistaken identity,

and have renewed their appeal for information. the duchess of york, sarah ferguson, says she's been diagnosed with skin cancer. her doctors discovered malignant melanoma while she was being treated for breast cancer. according to sources close to the duchess, she is back in the uk after initially recuperating in austria. you're live with bbc news. intense fighting has been reported in the east of the ethiopian between local militias and government forces, despite the threat of violence many christians are celebrating a local religious festival. these holidays include three days of festivities 0rthodox

christianity and we are in the final stage. these are replicas of the ark of the covenant they take them to their respective parishes. the tablets which i found in every different parish are scriptures of the ten commandments. the main event takes place on the second day where many of the faithful of yemen, young people leap into the pool and symbolic baptism. in this historic city, there are magnificent castles, normally tens of thousands attend these holidays filling the streets with dancing and choirs singing hymns. this year

because of the violence in north—eastern ethiopian are far fewer people are attending. the festivals have economic value for the city and the residents and many attending given armed clashes in recent weeks are happy holidays are happening at all. india's prime minister narendra modi is set to open a hindu temple for one of the faith�*s most revered deities. it's being seen as the start of his election campaign. millions of hindus are celebrating the temple opening, saying it's a long—standing dream come true. but it evokes painful memories for muslims — a mosque that stood at the site was illegally torn down, triggering religious violence across the country. many accuse mr modi of violating india's secular constitution by opening the temple. from ayodhya, the bbc�*s south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports.

a display of hindu faith in a manner that's perhaps never been seen before in modern india. "hail lord ram," they shout, in praise of one of their most revered deities. ayodhya is described as his birthplace in hindu epics. and at the spot that millions believe he was born, a grand temple will now be opened by the prime minister. translation: a dream has finally become a reality. - it's like god himself has appeared before us. lam iamso i am so happy to see this day before — i am so happy to see this day before i— i am so happy to see this day before i die. god should bless the prime minister for building this temple.

this city has shaped india. it sits on one of the country's biggest hindu muslim fault lines. the temple, built at a spot where a mosque once stood. many see it as a declaration of hindu dominance. translation: we don't| want to destroy anyone's mosque, but what has been built on the birthplace of our gods, we will not tolerate that from now on. the site was given to hindus by a supreme court order. hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on the temple, funded from private donations. but the prime minister's presence would turn a religious ceremony into a state event, many say. especially controversial because of the history of the site. until 1992, a 16th century mosque stood there.

newsreel: they raise the saffron flag... illegally destroyed after a mass campaign by hindu mobs. religious violence broke out across india. thousands were killed. newsreel: a campaign which has now led to hundreds of deaths. i for ayodhya's muslims, it was a painful time. this lady's husband, mohammad amin, was among 17 killed in ayodhya. "they cut his arms and legs off and stuffed his body in a sack," she tells us. "on that day i lost my biggest support, the person i shared my life with". herson, sohrab, had hoped the country's leaders would reach out to them. translation: they should have come to us and said .

they are building the temple and that is right for them. they should have showed compassion. but they haven't. many in the community told us they're worried there might be trouble again after the inauguration. and so they were leaving the city for a few weeks. all major political parties have sought to appease voters through this politics of religion. but for prime minister narendra modi's bjp, its support of the temple as part of its aggressive assertion of hinduism is the reason why it's transformed from being a small partyjust a few decades ago, to being seen as one that is virtually undefeatable now. at a local bjp office, preparations are on for the inauguration. i met a member of parliament from the party, lallu singh. do you think it's appropriate for the prime minister of a secular country to be the main figure at a major hindu religious event? translation: it's 100% right.

this must happen. the culture of the majority community in a country dominates the nation. this does not mean we do not respect minorities. if the prime minister is cindy y should he not that the biggest centre of the hindu faith. the opening of the temple is being seen as the start of prime minister modi's re—election bid, and it's expected to give him another resounding victory. one that could further polarize the nation. yogita limaye, bbc news, ayodhya. plenty more on that story and much more on the website. hello there.

storm isha's likely to cause significant damage and disruption in parts of the uk as we push into monday morning. met office amber warnings are in force for severe gales with damaging gusts and heavy rain. this heavy rain combined with snow melt, because of milder temperatures across northern areas, is likely to lead to localised flooding. the centre of storm isha passing to the north of scotland, widespread severe gales on the southern flank pretty much covering most of the uk. these are the sorts of wind gusts we can expect, even inland up to 60 mph or more, in excess of 70—80 mph around irish sea coasts and 90 mph over parts of northern ireland and western scotland. the amber warning is valid until 6am. these are the temperatures we can expect to start monday morning, 6—ii celsius. so, storm isha's likely to bring significant disruption to travel on monday morning. stay tuned to your local radio bulletins and also bbc breakfast for the latest updates.

monday itself looks very windy — though storm isha pulling away into the norwegian sea, staying blustery with showers, and some showers will be heavy at times. best of sunshine will tend to be over eastern parts of the country — these temperatures 7—11. but as we move through monday evening and overnight, the winds will begin to down as a ridge of high pressure starts to build and the showers die off over northern and western areas. it'll turn dry and clear and cool over the north and east of the uk, but the next spell of wet and windy weather early on tuesday morning. here it is on the pressure chart — the next low pressure system to bring a spell of rain and gales. not as severe as storm isha, but still a blustery day, wet and windy weather over western areas spreading to all areas. could see some transient snow on the mountains of scotland before the mild air starts to move north across the whole

country and it will be very mild indeed for the time of year — temperatures reaching 14, maybe 15 celsius. the weather remains quite changeable through the week, wet and windy spells interspersed with drier and sunnier moments. generally for the time of year, it's going to be staying mild throughout.

us markets defy geopolitical concerns, surging to a record high. we'll take a look at what's behind the optimism. plus: why americans pay twice as much for sugar than the rest of the world. hello, and welcome to asia business report. the us stock market surged to a new high on friday — signs investors are shrugging off global headwinds. the rally�*s being driven mainly by big tech and is seen spilling over to the s&p 500 - a and is seen spilling over to the s&p 500 — a benchmark index that investors closely watch. it ended friday's trading session at a record high, outstripping its previous record more than a year ago. the dow and nasdaq also closing

higher.