another blow to prospects of a middle east peace deal, qatar is suspending its role as a key mediator between israel and hamas. president biden invites donald trump to the white house, as the handover to the new administration begins. the princess of wales attends the festival of remembrance in london, her first such appearance since being treated for cancer. hello. i'm luxmy gopal. we start in the middle east, where qatar has suspended its work as a key mediator in talks between israel and hamas. it comes after reports suggested that the us had called for hamas to be expelled from qatar, an apparent attempt to force some sort of peace deal before the end of president biden�*s term injanuary. 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. our correspondentjoe inwood sent this update before that official announcement by hamas. now, this news, if confirmed, is another severe blow to a peace process that was already dire trouble. reuters is reporting that the qataris are no longer going to maintain their mediating role in any sort of deal between hamas and the israelis. it was also suggested that neither of those sides are acting in good faith and, adding on to that, they are also quoted as saying that, therefore, hamas political office which has been in qatar since 2012, no longer serves a purpose. this follows a report this morning from washington in which an unnamed official said that the us government was no longer happy with hamas having a political office in gaza and it had been told it needed to leave.

that news delivered ten days ago. we should say that hamas told the bbc this was not true. they have not responded to these later suggestions, so what does this all mean? it means that firstly, hamas, they are going to relocate, they will have to find a different country. the most likely option seems to be turkey. there has been reports of officials spending more time there. at the start of the year the then leader went for a visit with the president there and so there is some thought that they could find a new base there are other that has not been confirmed either. i think, more broadly, this means that these peace talks which, as i said, are already in severe trouble, going to face even more obstacles and that, of course, is bad news for people in gaza in particular, by the humanitarian situation is dire. the hostages as well, the israeli hostages, around 100 of whom are still being held in gaza. protesters gathered in tel aviv on saturday

to mark 400 days since hamas gunmen attacked israeli communities on october seven, 2023, killing around 1200 people and seizing hundreds more as hostages. many of the crowd held placards and posters bearing the faces of relatives and friends who remain captive in gaza. some expressed their frustration at the news of qatar's suspension of its role as mediator: cat are withdrawing for us as a chaos because they were the lead connection to the mass leadership qatar and the leadership qatar and the leadership in gaza. now we don't know who is going to be in charge, if it is going to be the turkish, the egyptians, if it is going to be anyone else. but another delay in hostage release would be very bad for us. we don't know who's going to talk to them.—

to talk to them. one of the protesters _ to talk to them. one of the protesters who _ to talk to them. one of the protesters who gathered i to talk to them. one of the protesters who gathered in i to talk to them. one of the . protesters who gathered in tel aviv. to spain, where demonstrators have clashed with police after a huge rally in valencia. in protest against the regional government's emergency response to devastating flash floods, which killed at least 217 people. more than a hundred thousand protesters took to the streets, including members of various civil groups and unions. they were demanding accountability, with some chanting "murderer". among their demands was the resignation of valencia's regional head, carlos mazon, who they hold responsible for the perceived mishandling of the disaster. riot police sealed off the entrance to the city hall where there were confrontations with protesters. visiting a military base in valencia earlier in the day. spain's defence minister, margarita robles, said the army was now present in every town affected by the flooding. she said the armed forces would stay there as long as it was needed: translation: we are aware of what people are suffering,

there are no words on these occasions, there is no consolation. but i do want them to know they can count on our armed forces, the royal guard, and we will be in valencia for as long as is necessary. on that, our correspondent in valencia, guy hedgecoe. well, there are certainly a great deal of anger here. the protest is continuing right behind me in central valencia. although this was initially called as a silent protest, paying tribute to the many people who died in october 29, there has been a huge sense of anger in the air throughout the protest. people do, certainly in this protest, distinctive blame carlos mazon, the regional president, for mismanaging this crisis. they say that he did not respond in time when the floodwaters were already rising. he did not react quickly enough or

decisively enough on the day itself. some people are also angry with central government as well, the lack of resources being rolled out, but today, at this protest, in particular, it is carlos mazon bearing the brunt of peoples anger. and do we know how valid the protesters claims are? were the authorities really lacking in not only their response to it in terms of helping with the recovery, but also on how much notice they gave people ahead of those devastating floods? well, in terms of the notice, on the day of the floods, october 29, the national weather agency did issue an alert around 7am in the morning. the criticism of carlos mazon and his administration here in valencia is that they did not issue their own alerts, an alarm to the people of valencia's phones, warning them to stay off the streets, for example, to stay at home. they did not do that for another 12 hours or

so. also it has emerged that carlos mazon was not present, for example, at a crisis meeting in the afternoon. he was having a long lunch with a female journalist. this emerged yesterday. so there is a lot of anger over that and in terms of the response itself, other people say that the coordination between the central governments and the regional government here is not what it should have been either so they say that the central government could have been more decisive as well so there has been a lot of criticism all round. and we heard there, spain's defence minister talking about the armed forces staying as long as was necessary to help with the towns that were affected by the flooding. how much do we know about the scale of the recovery and the clear up operation that is left? well, it is enormous, still. the road surrounding valencia have meant most of them have been cleared. those cars that were

turned over by the flood water, many of them have been cleared up. but the prime minister presented a 10 billion rescue package last week, an initial package to help valencia and the feeling is that the recovery here, in terms of businesses and homes and infrastructure, is going to take months and months. president—elect donald trump is set to meetjoe biden in since the election. a white house spokesperson says that, at president biden�*s invitation, the pair will meet at 11am local time, following the republican�*s decisive victory over vice president kamala harris. the news comes two days after mr biden delivered a speech, in which he urged americans to "bring down the temperature" following the bitterly partisan election. he said he accepted the results and appealed for unity.

the full extent of that victory has seen donald trump and his republican party inch closer to taking control of all the levers of us government. votes are still being counted in some races. but having secured the white house and the senate, republicans are also close to reaching the 200 and 18 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, 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 that she had. had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race. kamala, i think, would still have won, but she may have been stronger having taken her case to the public sooner. 0ur correspondent in washington, anna foster gave me her thoughts on the interview by nancy pelosi, in the new york times. what was interesting about that wider interview, she was repeatedly questioned by the journalist about what went wrong. as many senior democrats have been doing over the last few days, she wouldn't be drawn on much of it. you do sense that they want to go away and work out what did go wrong, because a lot of things that go wrong. that was the closest she got to conceding on the point of the timing. what she was being pressed on with whether or not ifjoe biden had withdrawn from the race earlier, that would have been a different process for actually appointing kamala

harris as the candidate. nancy pelosi had said before that if kamala harris had been selected through an open primary candidate with other candidates, an opportunity for everyone to put the points forward to the wider party, nancy pelosi considered that might have helped kamala harris, she said that might have made her stronger in that the race, and given her the opportunity to lay out more about herself. but with the timing, and with the way that joe biden very quickly endorsed kamala harris after he said he was stepping aside, there wasn't time for that primary contest. she spoke very warmly about kamala harris, saying that she was a great candidate. i think the democrats believe, a lot of what they said in the campaign, they said. just some of the key issues, not going hard enough on the economy, for example. they will look back and now that those are things to be considered. those are a range

of things which have contributed to a conference of defeat. it is looking like it might well be a clean sweep for the republicans. speaking of which, how does donald trump's approach to recruiting his top team, so far, looks like it compares to that of his previous presidency? it's really interesting because everybody is desperate to know who he is appointing, who he is having the conversations with, and so much is happening behind closed doors at his estate in mar—a—lago in florida. there are so much speculation in the us media. when thing people seem to agree on is that many people that he worked with last time around will not be making a reappearance. you will remember he fell out with a lot of his top team, there were certain jobs that were replaced a lot of times over. i think people are expecting to see

some fresh faces, they're talking about wild card entries, elon musk has been talked about a lot, particularly as he took the phone from donald trump in a meeting with president zelensky the other day. but donald trump is cloistered away in mar—a—lago. remarkably quiet, as well. remember, the last time we saw and heard from him in public was the victory in the early hours of wednesday morning. i'm sure he has got a lot to say and we will hear it in good course, but right now everybody is desperate to hear those names, but with the exception of susie wiles, his chief of staff, nobody knows who he is going to pick. there have been suggestions that once in office, president trump will take a more aggressive approach to changing the way government works. i asked matt cohen, a senior writer at democracy docket how far he thought mr trump would go this time. thanks for having me.

you know, ithink, one thing to note with, you know, trump's plan and he is talking about this a lot, to replaceable servants and other appointees with people who are loyal to him. when he tried to do this last time it was in october of 2020 so he did not have a lot of time. so, basically, with doing this at the outset, it is going to give him, you know, plenty of opportunity to carry out exactly what he's talked about, punishing his opponents and replacing a federal workforce with people who are loyal to him. he said a lot of things, hasn't he? we have had a lot of rhetoric around mass deportations. how feasible do you think those are in, the cold, hard light of day when actually running the country? you know, it is hard to say for sure how feasible it is. like you said, he says a lot of things.

but, at the very least, we have to take him at his word. you know, we can'tjust say that he is going to do these things and, you know, maybe you will, maybe he won't. the only way to kind of keep the presidency in check, is using the guardrails of democracy, the courts and what not to challenge him when he is really testing the bounds of what he can and can't do. it is really hard to say but i think, you know, the least that we can do is take him at face value when he says these things. and with these guardrails of democracy that you mentioned, how much legislative scope is there for him to make any radical changes? well, as you mentioned before, the republicans to end up taking the house of representatives, he will have a lot. with the republicans in control of all three chambers of power, that

really kind of leaves him with a lot of room to kind of do what he wants and i think, you know, one point to make, it wasn'tjust two years ago that the narrative was that the republicans are in disarray. the former house speaker kevin mccarthy, you know, couldn't get elected by his own party to lead. there are countless elections before he was replaced and now we are seeing the republican party that is extremely unified, and they are about to take all three chambers of government so, you know, ithink, given that, it should be pretty easy for him to use... to sort of persuade congress to pass the legislative bills that he wants to sign. we've got about 30 seconds or so left. donald trump will, of course, be the

first president to take office while several criminal cases against them are pending. what you think will happen to that? can you see a sitting president being sentenced convicted? definitely not. the federal cases, you know, all legal experts kind of say, even the do] have said they are going to wind down and, once he takes over and appoints people in the doj, they will make that go away. and the same with the state cases. it is not as easy but it is very hard and especially with the recent supreme court ruling about sitting presidents, it is going to be very hard for him to be convicted of anything, even stuff that happened before he took office for the second time. matt cohen, a senior writer at democracy docket. 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 has been in kyiv meeting ukraine's foreign minister, the first top eu official to visit since the outcome of the us election became clear. 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 remaining unwavering, this support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against russian aggression. meanwhile, 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. earlier, i spoke to former uk defence secretary sir michael fallon. i asked him to explain what we understand about trump's approach to ukraine. he is now the elected president. he is going to be there forfour years. we had to work with him before. i was the defence secretary in his first year last time, eight years ago. it is a much more dangerous world now but we do have to work and cooperate with him and i am sure that will now happen. look, he wants to see the conflict in ukraine ended and i think, you know, there is nobody who does not want to see it ended. there are people dying on both sides all the time. ukraine has been invaded, it is a desperately difficult decision for ukraine. everybody is looking to see how this might possibly be ended. and i'm quite sure now britain and other european countries that have been heavily involved in

supporting ukraine will want to work with washington to see what donald trump's plans are and how he thinks a solution can be found. but and how he thinks a solution can be found.— and how he thinks a solution can be found. but do you agree with their _ can be found. but do you agree with their approach _ can be found. but do you agree with their approach that - can be found. but do you agree with their approach that has - with their approach that has been presented by his ally, of focusing on, in their words, achieving peace, rather than looking at gaining back terror to be last? for example, they have said that crimea is gone. do you agree with their approach?— do you agree with their approach? do you agree with their auroach? ~ ~' approach? well i think, you know, there _ approach? well i think, you know, there are _ approach? well i think, you know, there are two - approach? well i think, you know, there are two very i know, there are two very important things here. this is notjust important things here. this is not just about territory. and bits and pieces and who should lay claim to what. it is really about sovereignty. there is a principle at stake here that you should not invade other countries and simply claim other territories. that is against international law and we need to be clear that that is recognised. secondly, i think, you know, we ought to be clear that how a peace settlement is devised, it is in

the end for ukraine, it is ukrainians who are losing their lives day in, day out, in defending their frontiers. lives day in, day out, in defending theirfrontiers. it is for ukraine to decide exactly what kind of times on which the war should end. and perhaps i could add just one other thing. with the war is to end we have to make sure it really does end. this is the second time that putin has been there and we've got to make sure, whatever settlement there is, that he doesn't come back all over again and simply lay claim to another.— all over again and simply lay claim to another. and how would that be insured? _ claim to another. and how would that be insured? what _ claim to another. and how would that be insured? what sort - claim to another. and how would that be insured? what sort of. that be insured? what sort of settlement would ensure that? it might well involve the deployment of foreign troops in behalf of the united nations or whatever. as has happened in the disputed territories. trying to secure the ground, make sure that the terms of any settlement are actually captive. but it is important, you know. it is notjust a matter for washington or london

or berlin or paris. it is really important that ukraine itself is involved in any pathway to some kind of settlement.— pathway to some kind of settlement. , ., ,, pathway to some kind of settlement. , . ,, , settlement. some breaking news now. in settlement. some breaking news nova in the _ settlement. some breaking news now. in the past _ settlement. some breaking news now. in the past few _ settlement. some breaking news now. in the past few minutes - now. in the past few minutes we've had reports of blasts been heard in the ukrainian capital. that's according to eyewitnesses quoted by the reuters news agency. that news just breaking — there's no more information at the moment. kyiv has of course come under aerial attack many times by russia during the course of the war. the princess of wales has joined other members of the royal family at the annual festival of remembrance at the royal albert hall. catherine is gradually returning to public duties following her chemotherapy treatment for cancer. but the queen will miss remembrance events this weekend as she recovers from a chest infection. charlotte gallagher reports.

the queen at last year's remembrance day service. it's an important event for the royal family, honouring the contribution of the uk and commonwealth armed forces. but the queen will miss the commemorations and the royal british legion event. buckingham palace say: it is understood her condition has not worsened, but she was concerned it is understood her condition has not worsened, but she was concerned about passing on any lingering infection to others. the queen more than anyone

is aware of the importance of remembrance sunday, she is the the daughter of a much—decorated war veteran. she has grown up with the army. she has had the army around her all her life. she is very much part of a sort of forces family. for her, it is a central day. she will be thinking of people who have fell in the second world war with her father. she will want to be there. because she is unwell, this will have been taken. because she is unwell she will not have taken this decision lightly. the queen who is 77, fell ill after a long haul trip to australia and samoa with the king. it has been confirmed that the princess of wales will be at events this weekend, as she slowly returns to public duties, following cancer treatment. earlier the prince of wales said it had been the hardest year of his wife, adding

that he was so proud of his wife and fought for the way they have handled things. it has been a difficult and upsetting year for the royals, who like millions have faced serious illness and uncertainty. one of cycling's greatest sprinters, sir mark cavendish, has announced his retirement from the sport, confirming on social media that his final race as a professional will be in singapore this weekend. it will bring to an end a career that saw him claim more stages of the tour de france than anyone else, as well as four world titles on the track and road. stay with us here on bbc news. something a bit brighter with

some sunshine. finally the back of this loom and a grey weather. it is remembrance sunday, the change of scotland and northern ireland but for most it is going to be pretty cloudy with outbreaks of rain. and that is because we've got these weather fronts moving and that is because we've got these weatherfronts moving in from the west. the west. the cis area of low pressure and high pressure behind it but as the game changer. we start the day grey for many. by the front pushing from the west will bring some spots of showery rain. we could see a little bit of sunshine here and there but the best of the sunshine will appear across scotland and northern ireland in the afternoon as winds turn westerly. temperatures on the cool side. 10—12 or 13. two sunday night, that weather front sink southwards. it introduces a clearer air mass but with clearer skies so it is going to turn quite chilly across northern parts of the uk to start monday. a little less cold across the south because we've still got a bit of clout here. here it is. there clear

air mass moving in. again, it is high pressure but because of the slight change in air mass we should see the sunshine so it could look vastly different. sunshine continuing into the afternoon, something we have not seen for a long time. clouds and most places right into the afternoon. a cool day to come. ten to around 13 or 14. an to come. ten to around 13 or 1a. an area of high pressure still with us into tuesday. just drifting further westward so it could allow some cloud with some patchy rain to the day on tuesday to running across east and south—east england said that could spoil the sunshine a bit to the day but elsewhere another dry one. some good sunny spells around in temperatures again 10—12 or 13. pretty much where we should be for the time of year. similar stories of the week. we could see these weak weather front spiralling around. that could give spells of patchy

rain. a little bit of cloud at times but we should hold on to the sunshine as we go through the sunshine as we go through the weekend most places should stay dry. just a hint of it starting to turn colder from the north by the time that we beach next weekend.

this is bbc news — the headlines. qatar says its efforts to mediate to bring about a ceasefire in the israel—gaza war are �*stalled'. the gulf state has played a key diplomatic role in trying to bring an end to the conflict — and secure the release of the remaining israeli hostages held by hamas. more than a hundred—thousand peope have been protesting in the spanish city of valencia over the emergency response to flash floods — which killed more than two—hundred people. they're calling for the regional head — carlos mazon — to resign — saying his administration was unprepared for the disaster. the white house says joe biden will receive president—elect donald trump at the white house on wednesday. it follows mr trump's decisive victory over vice president kamala harris in tuesday's election. president biden has urged americans to �*bring down the temperature' — following the bitterly partisan election campaign. now on bbc news. political thinking with nick robinson