buckingham palace announces queen camilla will not attend remembrance events this weekend while she recovers from a chest infection. playing the blame game — the former speaker of the us house says president biden is partly responsible for the democrats�* election defeat. an adviser to donald trump's campaign tells the bbc ukraine needs to admit it's lost crimea to russia. at least 25 people are killed in a bomb blast at a railway station in western pakistan. and mark cavendish — one of the most successful cylists in history — announces his retirerment. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. we start with breaking news from the middle east, where prospects of any deal

to end the israel—gaza war have been dealt another blow with the announcement by the mediators qatar that they are pulling out of the negitations. the gulf state has played a key diplomatic role in trying to bring an end to the conflict — to prevent further loss of life — and secure the release of the remaining israeli hostages held by hamas. as well as taking part in talks - qatar has hosted the political office of hamas — allowing the group to operate with relative freedom. let's speak to our correspondentjoe inwood who's injerusalem for us. talks the through what we know, joe. talks the through what we know, joe, ,, ., ., ., talks the through what we know, joe. ., ., ,., , joe. so, we have had reports come through _ joe. so, we have had reports come through in _ joe. so, we have had reports come through in the - joe. so, we have had reports come through in the last - joe. so, we have had reports| come through in the last hour orso come through in the last hour or so that have come from reuters and afp quoting a qatari diplomatic source saying they are no longer participating, as you were saying as a key made away for in the peace talks between hamas and israel. they also had strong words for both sides, implying that neither were negotiating, operating in good

faith and as follow on to that they said therefore the hamas political off fits which has been based in qatar since 2012 no longer serves any purpose, they didn't elaborate on that, but this follows reports we had earlier in the day coming from washington, that a senior official there, also quoted by news agencies saying they no longer thought it was acceptable for hamas to have its office based in qatar as long as they were refusing to take part in negotiations, which reportedly they turned down a deal that was put to them in october, so we have had a number of developments today, all of which paint a fairly bleak picture for any prospect of some sort of negotiated deal. ,, ., of some sort of negotiated deal, ., ~' , ., of some sort of negotiated deal. . ~ , ., ., deal. so talk us through what this now means _ deal. so talk us through what this now means for _ deal. so talk us through what this now means for any - this now means for any potential talks in the future, what are the mechanism, how could this work?— could this work? well, it is worth saying _ could this work? well, it is worth saying the _ could this work? well, it is worth saying the talkings l could this work? well, it is . worth saying the talkings have basically been going nowhere as far as we can tell for months, there were reports of something on the table earlier in the

year, a deal that was agreed by the americans and by hamas which was reportedly turned down by prime minister netanyahu, of israel, and then also reports they weren't getting any progress in october. we had had some 0ctober. we had had some suggestion they were going to be restarting but they haven't been making any substantial progress as far as anyone can tell, for months and months now and obviously this, this development makes it more difficult, we of course do still have the egyptian, they talked to both sides and the americans have been pushing for some sort of improvement in the humanitarian situation in gaza and a deal. and it was thought that the threat, the attempt to get hamas kicked out of doha was part of that negotiating strategy potentially, but it doesn't seem that anyone is really viewing this as a peace process which is going to be making any progress for at this point. however it is worth pointing out a as slight contrary point to that, that

there is some reports coming through, that incoming president trump has said that he wants binyamin netanyahu to have the war in gaza over by the time he comes to power in january 20th, so there could be a glimmer of hope there, all though as ever with donald trump we should say we don't know what he will do. joe, thank you very much for that. let's speak to expert in middle east security and senior associate fellow at the royal united services institute for defence and security studies, dr hisham hellyer. what dok you may of this moment, how significant is it? this moment has been coming for quite some time i think, i think that once you looked at how the americans had withdrawn their support for hamas, having an office in doha and keeping in mind, doha had that office

because of engagements from the united states, once that we drew that and they clearly withdrew it over the last year, testify inevitable that at some point, hamas was going to have to look for a new home, and in terms of the political leadership that lived in doha. . we may not be there immediately, in the next 2a, 48—hours but i do think that over the short—term, that is very likely to come to pass. and where does this leave prospects now of talks and ceasefire and peace and return of hostages, does, does the emphasis now lie with egypt? so, before i got to egypt, let us be clear, there haven't been ceasefire negotiations for many, many months, what we have had over the last few months, have been hostage negotiations, they weren't ceasefire negotiations, the israelis made it abundantly clear that after a pause in hostilities if the deal were to go through, they

would return to bombarding gaza, so there haven't been ceasefire negotiations for quite some time and i think this was also part of the reasoning of the the qataris, there isn't good faith coming from the israeli, and they also had critiques of hamas at different points but you have had numerous israeli press reports showing how netanyahu's office directly intervened in the negotiations to sabotage them and i think the qataris were frustrated about this, so, i don't think there have been talks serious talks for quite some time, i think frankly we are now in the day after scenario, and i think this is also something the qataris realise, there is no prospect of the israelis removing their armed forces from gaza, that gaza will be more or less partitions into different zones, and there will beer more

than one zone where palestinians won't be allowed to return and i don't think they want to be part of that exercise in in way there will be others that be able to talk to both sides in this situation, it is long been the case that the egyptians have been able to talk to all of the parties, with regards to the israeli—palestinian issue so i am sure they will continue in that regard and when it comes to the qataris they will maintain those contacts, but it is a question of whether or not there will be an office in doha and there isn't an office in cairo either but they will remain and there will be others of that will be looking to mediate as well.- of that will be looking to mediate as well. thank you for our mediate as well. thank you for your thoughts. _ mediate as well. thank you for your thoughts. we _ mediate as well. thank you for your thoughts. we will - mediate as well. thank you for your thoughts. we will have i your thoughts. we will have more context and opinions in the hours ahead. it's been announced that queen camilla is to miss remembrance events in the uk this weekend. a statement from buckingham

palace said the decision was made to allow the queen time to recover from a chest infection — and to protect others from any potential risk. the queen will mark the occasion privately at home and hopes to return to public duties early next week. 0ur correspondent charlotte gallagher gave us the latest. the queen is going to miss two key events this weekend for the rememberance service events, which is the royal british legion festival of remembrance at the royal albert hall on saturday evening, that's tonight, and she is not going to be at the remembrance day service at the cenotaph tomorrow. now a palace spokesperson said following doctors' guidance to ensure an full recovery from a seasonal chest infection, and to protect others from any potential risk, her majesty will not attend this weekend's events. while this is a source of a great disappointment to the queen, she will mark the occasion privately at home and hopes to return to public duties early next week. it is not thought her condition has got any worse, it is just that basically she doesn't want to pass on a lingering infection to other people that will be attending the events.

however, the princess of wales, who we have rarely seen in public this year because she has been undergoing cancer treatment, she will be at the events this weekend, as will the king, who is also still undergoing cancer treatment. donald trump and his republican party are inching closer to taking control of all the levers of government in the united states. votes are still being counted in some races. but having already secured the white house and the senate, republicans are also close to reaching the 218 seats needed to control the house of representatives. for the defeated democrats, the recriminations have already started. one of the most powerful politicians in washington, the former speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has put part of the blame for kamala harris's loss on president biden, suggesting that the party would have performed better if he'd left the race earlier. ms pelosi played a key role in convincing mr biden to end his re—election bid. this is some of what she had to say, in an interview with the new york times.

there will be many reviews of timing and the who, what, when and why and where as we go forward, and books will be written about it. the fact is, she did a greatjob, with the time constraint she had. had the president gotten out sooner there may have been other candidates in the race. kamala, ithink, still would have won, but she may have been stronger, having taken her case stronger, having taken her case to the public sooner. to the public sooner. 0ur correspondent in 0ur correspondent in washington, anna foster washington, anna foster gave me her thoughts gave me her thoughts on the democrats' blame game. on the democrats' blame game. the new york times have just the new york times have just put that interview out in full put that interview out in full in the last half hour or so. in the last half hour or so. reading through it, which is instructive. reading through it, she is really quite she is really quite pragmatic, that that — pragmatic, that that — i mean, i don't want to call it i mean, i don't want to call it an attack on president biden, an attack on president biden, because it really — because it really — she's, and it is worth saying she's, and it is worth saying it has been published it has been published more of an interview, more of an interview,

so you see all the questions so you see all the questions which were asked, which were asked, which is instructive. and she is repeatedly asked about the fact that there wasn't a primary, and she has said before, as you were saying there, that kamala harris, she thinks, would have benefitted from a primary, a process, from democrats and others, floating voters feeling like there had been a contest. she thinks it would have given kamala harris an opportunity to do what she can do, to set her credentials in stone, and that didn't happen. when pushed she concedes, had president biden decided to step aside and end his campaign earlier, then there would have been the opportunity to have that primary contest,

interviews, the conversations heard this week, people are desperate to hear senior democrats reflect on what went wrong but it feels they are not quite ready to do that in a therapeutic way yet, and that is why we get hints from nancy pelosi, but nothing bigger or grander. the european union's foreign policy chief has tried to reassure ukraine of europe's unwavering support, days after donald trump's election victory cast uncertainty over its war effort. josep borrell is in kyiv meeting the ukrainian foreign minister, the first top eu official to visit since the us election outcome. support from western allies has been key to ukraine's ability to defend itself against russia's much larger and better—equipped forces. this is what he said at the joint press conference. the clear purpose of this visit

is to stress european union support to ukraine. this support to ukraine. this support remaining unwavering, this support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against russian aggression. defending yourself against russian aggression. a campaign advisor to the us president—elect, donald trump, has told the bbc that the aim of ending the war in ukraine is about finding peace, not winning back territory. bryan lanza said ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, needed to acknowledge that crimea, which russia annexed in 2014, had been lost, and the priority of the united states was to stop the killing. here he is speaking earlier. i have a huge amount of respect for the ukrainian people. they've proven over the last, last couple of years that their hearts are made of lions. europe needs ukrainian people to protect them as well. i mean, these citizens know how to fight russia. they've done it successfully. now the challenge becomes when you have an honest conversation with your partners

is, you know, what are the goals? zelensky, for example, he says his goal is to get crimea back. well, that's not the goal of the united states and that's not the goal of the european nation states. we learned that in 2014 that when putin invaded crimea, europe did nothing. and so now when zelensky says, you know, we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace once crimea is returned. we've got news for president zelensky. crimea is gone. and if that is your priority of getting crimea back and having american, you know, soldiers fight to get crimea back, you're on your own. that is not the priority of america, but the priority of america is peace and to stop the killing. his comments come after russian drones struck ukraine's black sea port of 0desa, killing one person and injuring 13 others, according to the regional governor. several residential and commercial buildings were damaged in what was the second day in a row of russian drone attacks on the city. and across the border, russia's aleksinsky chemical plant was struck — in an overnight ukrainian drone attack. the plant in the tula region produces gunpowder, ammunition and weapons. a source in the security

service of ukraine told reuters that the attack was part of a broader strategy to target russia's munitions factories. jim townsend is deputy assistant secretary of defense for european and nato policy between 2009—2017. he explained what a trump administration strategy for ukraine might look like. right now you have particularly president trump, former prop, soon to be in his second round, you have him saying that he can do this peace within 2a hours so he hasn't said how he can do it but for sure that will be a priority for him because in the first 100 days of his administration he will be asked about this in terms of what have you done to bring peace to ukraine? so we have already

begun to hear posturing going on the between russia, ukraine and the trump advisers talking about what a peace elm could look like, but the issue is there is still a lot of fight to go, with ukraine, they want to go, with ukraine, they want to be in a better position on the battlefield before this negotiations, so it is is a bit premature right now, for someone to suggest that, that zelensky admit anything much less he has lost ukraine or other parts of like crimea. it is premature to a make that kind of announce testimony. what do you make of the fact a supporter of donald trump has said exactly that, crimea is lost and that won't be the priority for the us?- priority for the us? well, there is _ priority for the us? well, there is a _ priority for the us? well, there is a lot _ priority for the us? well, there is a lot of _ priority for the us? well, there is a lot of people i priority for the us? well, there is a lot of people in j there is a lot of people in washington now, who say they are advisers to trump and they are advisers to trump and they are making a lots of statement, this is something in a long line of statements by people who feel they are closer to trump than they really are. but that aside, launching this kind

of trial balloon if you will, putting this kind of thought into play is something that is trumpian as well. this is something to cause debate, to cause a bit of chaos, to send signals to putin and to zelensky, so that is what this is, this remark by that so—called adviser but it doesn't necessarily represent what trump thinks. there's been a powerful explosion in west pakistan at a railway station in quetta the capital of the western province of balochistan. police say 1a soldiers are among 25 killed — dozens have been injured. the station superintendent said the blast took place near a platform as the jaffar express bound for peshawar was about to leave. a militant group, the balochistan liberation army, said it carried army, said it carried out the bombing. out the bombing. sport centre. now it's time for a look now it's time for a look

at today's sport with chetan. at today's sport with chetan. hello from the bbc hello from the bbc sport centre. manchester city manager pep guardiola has never lost four games