an offensive in southern gaza — we report on the aid situation on the ground. conservatives are criticised after suspending an mp in the uk — over claims of racism — but the deputy pm won't say whether the comments were islamophobic. president zelensky reveals 31,000 ukrainian troops have been killed in the two—years of war with russia. and thousands rally in support of former brazilian president, jair bolsonaro — he's hit back at claims he plotted a coup to stay in power. live from our studio in singapore — this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news.

we begin in the middle east, where the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with an offensive in gaza's southernmost most city rafah — whatever happens in hostage negotiations. nearly 1.5 million palestinians are sheltering there. mr netanyahu's comments follow widespread reports that a framework for a pause in the fighting — along with the release of hostages — has been formulated by international mediators in paris. well, victory is within reach and you can't have victory until you eliminate hamas. how close is in reach? hamas is a terrorist organisation that once we begin the rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion, not months, weeks away from completion. and that is...we�*ve already destroyed 18 out of the 2a hamas terrorist battalions. so we have..and four of them are concentrated in rafah. we can't leave the last hamas stronghold without taking care of it. obviously, we have to do it. but understand too that i've asked

the army to submit to me a double plan, first to evacuate, to enable the evacuation of the palestinian civilians in gaza and obviously, second, to destroy the remaining hamas battalions. that gets us a real, real distance towards the completion of our victory, and that, we're not going to give it up. if we have a deal, it'll be delayed somewhat, but it'll happen. if we don't have a deal, we'll do it anyway. it has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach, not months away, weeks away, once we begin the operation. our special correspondent, fergal keane, has been finding out what any ceasfire could mean for the palestinians sheltering in rafah. you may find some of his report distressing. it is mostly a story of exhausted waiting. each long minute, they seek anything to fight the pain of hunger. the young, who each day out

to feed their families. a charity is able to offer beings, one bowl per household. this 11—year—old spends every day seeking food for his family. when it is served, the thin soup is eagerly gathered up. hunger, along with so much else. two—month—old mahmoud fatoo is one of the vulnerable victims. the doctor examining him told us how he had died.

israel says it allows aid into northern gaza and that the un the says they can't because there is lawlessness now and that israel has a responsibility create security. in israel, opinion polls suggest many support the drivers are terrified of being attacked, and aid looted. that sounds very, very harsh, when you're talking about civilians, babies, children dying? yes, but we have babies and women and elders. 0k? it's very, very simple. give us our people, and we will give you food and medicines.

of course, hunger is only one enemy of the young. back close to rafah, the casualties of bomb blasts and bullets from fighting further north. as the war between israel and hamas grinds on. we are seeing children especially with limbs blown off, can't be salvaged, amputee, including upper limb, and also lower limb. and what it is going to do is, it leaves an entire generation of gazan civilians, very, very disabled. giving up is not a choice, not with a family to be fed. a father out trying to find work, a mother with bone cancer. mohammed's family are stranded where history and hunger have trapped them. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. in the uk, the conservative party is finding itself under increasing pressure — after a westminster mp made comments described as "islamophobic,

anti—muslim and racist". lee anderson was suspended from the party after saying london's mayor was controlled by "islamists". the suspension was not for the comments but for refusing to apologise. well, the party's leadership was drawn further into the argument on sunday — the deputy prime minister refusing to say whether he thought the comments were islamophobic. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson reports. he's known for speaking his mind, but lee anderson kept his lips firmly sealed following his suspension from the parliamentary conservative party. he took himself to this appropriately named pub in his constituency. so, here are the comments about london's mayor that put him in the political doghouse. i don't actually believe that these islamists have got control of our country, but what i do believe is, they've got control of khan, and they've got control of london. labour said this was islamophobic, but the deputy prime minister was careful not to make that specific accusation. i don't believe that lee anderson

was intending to be islamophobic, but nonetheless, i understand the concern about...particularly when it's in relation to the mayor of london, how those words have caused offence. but would he still be a conservative mp if he had apologised? he was given the chance to apologise, and when he failed to do so, action was taken. they chant: ceasefire now! the conflict in the middle east is having a profound effect on uk politics. labour had to kick out their candidate in the forthcoming rochdale by—election over anti—semitism and they're now keen to move the focus onto the prime minister and the problems in his party. what has unfolded in the conservative party, the absolute poison that has been allowed to seep into their political debate, and a prime minister that is seemingly even unwilling to acknowledge the term islamophobia, let alone stand up to senior politicians in his party dragging our politics into the sewer. they chant: rishi - sunak, shame on you! and this week at westminster the focus will be once again on gaza, with the snp saying

they will take up the offer of an emergency debate. party leaders want to avoid some of the divisions that were on display last week, but that is not guaranteed. the difficulties caused by the conflict in the middle east for uk politics are of course as nothing compared to the suffering of the people in the region. but the challenge for the main party leaders here is how to manage tensions in their own ranks stoked by events beyond their control. and in an election year, just one loose or offensive phrase from any of the representatives could be enough to undermine or overshadow their best laid plans. iain watson, bbc news. president zelensky has said 31 thousand ukrainian troops have been killed so far during the two years of war with russia. it's the first time in many months that figure has been revealed. he said tens of thousands of civilians in the russian occupied territories had also died. speaking at a news conference to mark saturday's second anniversary of russia's invasion, mr zelensky said he couldn't reveal the number of people injured

because that information would help russia, but the loss was very painful. he was hopeful of a peace summit in the spring. and was sure the us congress would pass its aid package for ukraine. he also stressed the importance of western support if ukraine is to defeat the threat from russia. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse was at the press conference in kyiv today, and asked president zelensky this question about delays in military aid. you've received a substantial amount of military aid despite the difficulties discussed. but the issue for ukraine has always been speed. the speed at which it's arrived since before the full scale invasion. in your words, how frustrated are you by that? is it hesitancy, which is the main reason behind the failure to curb russian aggression at the enormous cost of your that your country is paying?

translation: frustrated. well, losing time means losing money. that's my biggest frustration. longer with the longer the war, the more the casualties. and casualties there can be different. they could be civilian casualties, military casualties, children. and the more people are staying on the occupied territories, the more ukrainians are being deported or taking somewhere to russia. the longer the war, the more countries are starting to kind of balance and time is not in favour for everyone. so what else can be disappointed with or frustrated with? and i'm gratefulfor this help to maintain. it's important that this assistance come on time.

the war is a technological one and you're really waiting for some weapons, for some armoured vehicles. but by the time it arrives, we fight with drones. you're waiting a lot for the long range weapons when it arrives, the people are already, you know, fighting with different means. maybe, let's say, we cannot lose the time. later in the programme, we'll have more on ukraine — and the plight of two teenagers rescued from russian occupation. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. an armed attack on a catholic church in burkina faso has left at least 15 people dead. church leaders say gunmen opened fire during mass in the northern village of essa kane. it's the latest in a series of atrocities in burkina faso blamed on islamist insurgents.

cambodia's former hardline prime minister, hun sen, looks certain to return to front line politics. his ruling cambodian people's party has dominated sunday's voting for the senate, which hun sen says he wants to preside over. hun sen stepped down last august after four decades as prime minister, handing power to his son. police in austria say the suspect in the killing of three women at a brothel in vienna on friday has "basically confessed". the 27——year—old was arrested near the brothel, while still carrying a knife. his motive is not clear. police believe the victims were chinese. austrian campaigners have called on the government to take urgent action to stop violence against women. the us republican presidential hopeful, nikki haley, says she won't quit her campaign, despite being beaten by donald trump in the south carolina primary. the former us president won by a 20 point margin. speaking after the result, mr trump made no mention of ms haley, preferring to attack president biden , by telling supporters that "joe" would be fired.

the former brazilian president, jair bolsonaro says he's been the victim of tireless political persecution since leaving office just over a year ago. addressing tens of thousands of his supporters at a rally in sao paulo, he denied police allegations that he plotted a coup to stay in power after losing the 2021 election. he said it was time to forget the past and let brazil move on. mr bolsonaro also called for an amnesty for hundreds of his supporters convicted for attacks on public buildings in the capital, brasilia, a year ago. ione wales was at the rally in sao paolo. the former president of brazil, jair bolsonaro, called this rally of his supporters in sao paulo largely in response to an investigation that he is facing into whether he incited an alleged coup last year. lastjanuary, thousands of his supporters turned up to storm congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court in brasilia after he lost

the presidential election. now this rally was really meant to be a response to that investigation that he is facing. he used his speech on the stage to defend himself. he argued that any allegations of an attempted coup were a conspiracy. even asking the question, what is a coup? he also called for an amnesty for those supporters of his who ended up arrested and even imprisoned last year as a result of rioting, vandalizing and looting those government buildings last year. now, politically, this rally won't really change the dial for the former president. he is still banned from running for office for the next eight years. but this was really about showing that he still has a big support base in brazil, which is still currently very divided since that election. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the news in the uk. a body has been found in the search

for a boy who went missing at a lake in staffordshire. emergency services were called on saturday, after three boys were spotted in the water. two of the boys managed to get out and were taken to hospital — but the body of a 17—year—old boy was found on sunday. the post office has hired criminal investigators to look at how its own staff previously pursued subpostmasters caught up in the faulty horizon it scandal. some of those falsely accused of fraud have told the public inquiry they were bullied or intimidated by post 0ffice investigators. more than 900 sub—postmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to faulty software. liverpool have won the football league cup for a tenth time, extending their own record of wins in the competition. they beat chelsea 1—0 in the final, with their winner coming in the final two minutes of extra time. with that defeat, chelsea have secured an unwanted record, they have lost their last six cup finals. you're live with bbc news.

hundreds of senior doctors held a rally near the presidential office in seoul on sunday, to support young doctors and to protest against a government plan to increase the number of medical school admissions. the government announced a plan to increase the number of students admitted to medical schools by 2000 starting in the 2025 academic year, to bring the total to 5,000. south korea has one of the lowest doctor—to—patient ratios among major economies, but protesting doctors say the real issue is pay and working conditions. let's talk to yoon kim, professor of health care management, at seoul national university school of medicine. first, how does the health care system works in south korea. i understand more than 90% of hospitals are private? yes, korea has a highly privatised health care system, although we have

universal social health insurance system. more than 90% of hospitals and clinics are private, and there is no gatekeeping system, which means there is a huge... amongst hospitals and clinics. to korean doctors, more doctors means more competition and less income. that's the reason why they are strongly against the government plan. what does it mean that now senior doctors were supporting the strike action? junior doctors left last monday, and senior doctors mean working at the local clinics, they are also supporting thejunior local clinics, they are also supporting the junior doctors position. president yoon�*s approval rating has climbed to a three—month high due to his tough stance

on the striking doctors. the public clearly don't like it. how are these doctors able to take this action? at the moment, about 80—90% of korean people are supporting the government plan to increase medical students. but you know doctors quite opposite 80—90% of korean doctors are against the government plan. they don't think we have a position shortage in korea. they think the real problem is a payment issue, a reimbursement fee for emergency kerr and severe patient kerr is low, they think. ~ ., and severe patient kerr is low, they think. . ., and severe patient kerr is low, they think. ~ . ., , , and severe patient kerr is low, they think. . , ., think. what impact does this having on the health _ think. what impact does this having on the health care _ think. what impact does this having on the health care system? - think. what impact does this having on the health care system? the - on the health care system? the number of _ on the health care system? the number ofjunior_ on the health care system? tie:

number ofjunior doctors accounted number of junior doctors accounted to 30-40% number ofjunior doctors accounted to 30-40% of number ofjunior doctors accounted to 30—a0% of overall doctors working in the medical centre, so they are turning away their emergency patience to local community hospitals, and operations of cancer patience have been delayed or cancelled. so there is a huge impact on patient kerr. find cancelled. 50 there is a huge impact on patient kerr.— on patient kerr. and how do you see this strike and _ on patient kerr. and how do you see this strike and being? _ on patient kerr. and how do you see this strike and being? it's _ on patient kerr. and how do you see this strike and being? it's very - this strike and being? it's very difficult to _ this strike and being? it's very difficult to forecast _ this strike and being? it's very difficult to forecast because i this strike and being? it's veryl difficult to forecast because the government has a strong tradition to keep the plan and doctors are also very strongly against the government plan, so it will not be ending soon and there will be a lot of disruptions in health care. it's difficult to forecast the and stop at the longer this goes on for, you

have to imagine that lives will be put at risk by the lack of medical care if put at risk by the lack of medical car �*- put at risk by the lack of medical car ., , put at risk by the lack of medical car- ., , ., ., put at risk by the lack of medical care if the doctors are on strike. i will only harden _ care if the doctors are on strike. i will only harden the _ care if the doctors are on strike. i will only harden the position - care if the doctors are on strike. i will only harden the position of i care if the doctors are on strike. i l will only harden the position of the government and also the people as well, one dipped?— well, one dipped? yeah, yeah. current doctors _ well, one dipped? yeah, yeah. current doctors attitude - well, one dipped? yeah, yeah. current doctors attitude is - well, one dipped? yeah, yeah. current doctors attitude is a i well, one dipped? yeah, yeah. i current doctors attitude is a little bit different from the doctors of western countries. korean doctors are more interested in the economy position. there is less attention on patient care, i think. we position. there is less attention on patient care, ithink.— patient care, i think. we will see how this one _ patient care, i think. we will see how this one plays _ patient care, i think. we will see how this one plays out. - patient care, i think. we will see how this one plays out. thank. patient care, i think. we will see | how this one plays out. thank you very much for your time and helping us understand the context better. let's return to events in ukraine and the impact of the war on civilians. six million — mainly women and children — have fled the country, according to the un. millions more have been forced to live under russian occupation in a number of areas. little is known about their lives but the bbc�*s 0lga malchevska has spoken to two teenagers — from mariupol and kherson —

who were rescued from russian occupation. they'vejust been in london, sharing what they witnessed with mp5. there are flahing images coming—up. they look like ordinary teenagers visiting london, but they're survivors of war. translation: 0ur| village was shelled. a friend of my aunt came and took us to mariupol. we thought we'd be safer there because they wouldn't shell the city itself. two, three days later, our village was occupied. then, mariupol city was besieged. it was a hell. we wanted to go back but it wasn't possible. veronica is from kherson in the south of ukraine. 0ur city was occupied for seven months. after it, it became a front line. during the occupation there were loads of shelling

in smaller towns or villages. we were sitting in the basement for a month. when we left the basement, two shells landed near me. it was very scary. the sound of missiles gives me goose bumps. it's like a loud whistle and then a blast. it gets closer and louder and louder. it's extremely frightening. russia denies that it targets civilians. russian soldiers took my phone. i had deleted all my social media as i knew that they wouldn't like my chats. they asked if i knew anything about ukrainian service men and i said that i didn't. but i felt scared and they said, don't worry, if we wanted to kill you, we would have already done so.

what was the most dramatic memory? while we moved from the occupied city we saw lots of cars that were burnt. i saw people coming inside their tent and later coming out of it naked. some people were also beaten. people were tortured in various ways there. i heard screaming, "don't hit me, please." veronica's family heads across the dnipro river on a makeshift ferry as the bridge had been bombed. too emotional to speak in english, veronica tells me how her parents stressed out when they got stuck in the middle of the river for two hours. the makeshift ferry was shelled just half—an—hour after they got to the other side. i had so many problems but i keep smiling, because i want to. it's not like i'm faking a smile

while feeling sad and reality. but no, i want to smile, because i'm alive. 0lga malchevska, bbc news. the eiffel tower in paris has re—opened after six days of closures caused by strike action. workers had walked out last monday in a dispute over the way the attraction is managed. the landmark�*s operator said a deal was reached with unions on saturday — it apologised to ticket holders and said they would be reimbursed for bookings impacted by the action. it's the second strike at the eiffel tower in the past three months — resulting in the loss of about 100,000 admissions. for the first time, women injapan havejoined hadaka matsuri, or the "naked festival". it's an ancient japanese ritual that's meant to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits. despite its name, the women wore purple robes, and chanted excitedly, while they carried a large bamboo trunk as an offering. but they didn'tjoin the festival's main event, where a large group of nearly—naked men clash to drive away evil spirits.

dazzling displays of lanterns have been lighting up the skies to mark the end of lunar new year celebrations and hail the coming of spring. the lantern festival is held two weeks after lunar new year, which this year ushered in the year of the dragon. the new year, and subsequent lantern festival, is typically celebrated in parts of asia, including china, south korea and vietnam, as well as in communities around the world. as well as the traditional lighting of lanterns, this weekend's festival also saw firework displays, night markets and entertainment from dancers and performers. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. for many parts of the uk, monday looks like being a dry day with some sunny spells. the rain that we've had in the south

— and there was an inch of rain in cornwall — has been close to that low pressure. that is tending to move away, restricting the rain towards the far southeast of england. but there's quite a breeze blowing for england and wales, so it won't be as cold as it was the previous night. we're looking at a frost, though, in scotland, maybe some icy patches following a few wintry showers, which will fade away quickly in the morning. plenty of sunshine for scotland and northern ireland on monday. sunny spells for england and wales. the rain pushing away from kent, sussex and the channel islands. but it's a northeasterly wind that follows that will bring the odd shower into eastern england, perhaps into the midlands, as well. and it'll feel chilly in that wind across the southeast of england. temperatures could make ten celsius, but we're looking at 8—9 being more typical — similar to what we've had over the past few days. the winds do drop across south eastern areas after dark, and it gets cold and frosty for england and wales ahead of that weather front moving down from the northwest, together with some stronger winds. so a band of wet and windy weather sweeps through scotland and northern ireland, pushes into england and wales. most of the rain will be over the hills, followed by sunshine and blustery showers.

wintry over higher parts of scotland. may well be largely dry across the midlands, east anglia, and the southeast — but it'll be quite cold, and there could be some mist and fog around in the morning. that weather front bringing the rain continues to weaken as it moves south eastwards after dark, and then we await the next weather system coming in from the atlantic. it's just a brief window of dry weather. there'll be some sunshine after a chilly start, but we'll see the cloud moving in more quickly, and the rains moving across more quickly as well — notjust across northern ireland now, but other western parts of the uk before the end of the afternoon. the best of the sunshine in the far east of england. but temperatures are likely to reach double figures — and, together with these bands of rain coming in from the west, we've got some milder air on thursday night, so no frost this time. we still have a weather front to move through on thursday — that's that band of rain clearing scotland, pushing into england and wales. and that will be followed by more showers — and these will be turning wintry over the hills. as things just get a little bit

colder, we could well see temperatures across eastern england, though, in double figures — but only for a while, because the colder air will push down across the whole of the country by the end of the week. and, with low pressure in charge, we've got showers or longer spells of rain, and there may even be some winteriness over the hills.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. new york is the ultimate american melting pot, the focus of so many immigrant dreams — but right now, immigration is a hugely contentious political issue in the united states, which makes it a great theme for my guest today — bassem youssef, a comedian who made his name in egypt, who now makes his home in the united states. he's an arab—american who wants his fellow citizens to think hard about the most sensitive of topics. what could possibly go wrong?

bassem youssef. yes?! they laugh