reaching a time point before to reaching a ceasefire. us congress receives a report stating donald trump would have been convicted of trying to overthrow the 2020 election if he had not successfully been re—elected in 202a. as strong winds are forecast to return in los angeles — nine people are charged in connection with looting. and the princess of wales meets patients at the royal marsden hospital, as she thanks staff who cared for her during cancer treatment. hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now. it has taken months — but all the signs are that we are now closer than ever to seeing a ceasefire in the gaza war — which would see an exchange of israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners. the deal is highly complex — and is not yet fully agreed. it's being brokered by the government of qatar, which confirmed that the final details were being negotiated. our diplomatic correspondent

caroline hawley has more. with hopes rising for a breakthrough at last, all eyes were on what the qatari mediators had to say. we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed has been distributed between both parties. we especially appreciate both the biden administration and incoming trump administration in their talks in the class —— in the talks in the past couple of weeks. october the 7th 2023 was israel's where state, an unprecedented attack by gaza by land, air and sea led by hamas. 1,200 people were killed, many of them attending a music festival. and hostages were taken, 250 of them. around 100 are still in gaza, their families desperate to have them back. israel responded with fury, vowing to crush hamas.

in the war that has followed, swathes of gaza have been turned into rubble and more than 16,000 palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians. most of the population of gaza has been displaced. the suffering on a scale that aid workers say is hard to comprehend. that the international community says it must end. pressing hard to close this. the deal we have structured would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to israel and allow us to significantly serve humanitarian assistance to the palestinians. there has beenjust one pause in the fighting back in november 2023 when some hostages were freed, in return for palestinian prisoners going home. since then, mediators have tried so many times and failed to end the war. the renewed urgency comes from soon to be president trump who sent his middle east envoy to israel at the weekend

to twist arms. he now says the deal is close, he now says the deal is close, that it has to be done that it has to be done or in his words, or in his words, there is going to be a lot there is going to be a lot of trouble out there. of trouble out there. a deal would halt the a deal would halt the bombardment and bring israeli hostages back bombardment and bring israeli hostages back to their families. to their families. it would allow palestinians it would allow palestinians to return to what is to return to what is left of their homes. left of their homes. the humanitarian situation the humanitarian situation in gaza described by the un in gaza described by the un as catastrophic could as catastrophic could finally be addressed. finally be addressed. a deal now seems to be a deal now seems to be tantalisingly close, tantalisingly close, but it is not there yet. but it is not there yet. caroline hawley, bbc news. caroline hawley, bbc news. of course — until a deal of course — until a deal is agreed the full details is agreed the full details won't be confirmed. and trucks would be permitted won't be confirmed. but palestinian officials have but palestinian officials have given the bbc an idea given the bbc an idea of what a deal could look like. of what a deal could look like. the sides have the sides have agreed that hamas would release agreed that hamas would release three hostages on the first day three hostages on the first day of the deal, after which israel of the deal, after which israel would begin withdrawing troops would begin withdrawing troops from populated areas. from populated areas. seven days later, hamas seven days later, hamas would release four additional would release four additional hostages, and israel hostages, and israel would allow displaced people would allow displaced people in the south to return in the south to return to the north, but only on foot to the north, but only on foot via the coastal road. via the coastal road.

cars, animal—drawn carts, cars, animal—drawn carts, and trucks would be permitted to cross through a passage adjacent to salah al—din road, monitored by an x—ray machine operated by a qatari—egyptian

israel's deputy foreign minister struck a more positive tone. there is a progress today in the negotiation to release the hostages. israel is deeply committed to securing their release and is working relentlessly to reach an agreement. we will soon see whether the other side is genuinely interested in reaching an agreement. i hope we will witness progress in the very near future and especially today. jonah fisher is our correspondent injerusalem. he described how people there are feeling about the possible agreement. well, it rather depends who you speak to. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu certainly has some strong voices within his own cabinet who are not happy with the prospect of this deal as they have seen it. we have heard yesterday from one of the far right ministers in his cabinet,

saying the deal would be a catastrophe for israeli national security. today another of those ministers, a security minister, said a deal would effectively raise the war achievements that have been gained with much blood by our fighters. and he called on others tojoin him and fighters. and he called on others to join him and what he called israel's surrender to hamas. so clearly there are members of mr netanyahu's cabinet who are very opposed to this deal. i suppose the question at this point is are they opposed enough to try and bring down mr netanyahu pots government or indeed is this already priced in by mr netanyahu in his pursuit of this deal? he has perhaps taken the calculation that while these two ministers made very publicly express the fact they don't like the deal, they don't want anything to do with it, they may hold their nose, they may put up with it and not bring his government down.

as the talks continue — so does the fighting in gaza. the hamas—run health ministry says that in the last day, there have been 61 further deaths after four attacks. there are also ongoing concerns about the delivery of humanitarian aid. the charity medecins sans frontieres say three key hospitals are on the verge of closure because of a lack of supplies. amande bazarolle from the medical charity medecins sans frontieres told me how a ceasefire could impact aid organisations. it is definitely a thing we are discussing amongst the palestinians and different organisations. how we can benefit from the ceasefire. there were heavy strikes all across the gaza strip last night and unfortunately people are losing their lives every single day. and then we are hoping, although we don't see any effort on that side, to hoping, although we don't see any effort on that side, to bring more aid inside that is bring more aid inside that is definitely needed. so we are in definitely needed. so we are in the middle of winter, we are the middle of winter, we are

talking about the fact that talking about the fact that some children have died from some children have and yet probable hypothermia. and yet it has not been implemented probable hypothermia. and yet it has not been implemented here. blankets, absolutely here. blankets, absolutely everything, the basic needs of everything, the basic needs of the people. everything, the basic needs of the maple-— the people. that must be the immediate — here. blankets, absolutely - everything, the -eeds of here. blankets, absolutely - everything, the -s of here. blankets, absolutely everything, the the people. that must be the immediate — the people. that must be the immediate hope _ the people. that must be the immediate hope if _ the people. that must be the immediate hope if we - the people. that must be the immediate hope _ the people. that must be the immediate hope if _ the people. that must be the immediate hope if we - the people. that must be the immediate hope if we see - the people. that must be the immediate hope if we see a l immediate hope if we see a ceasefire that very quickly the people. that must be the immediate hope if we see - the people. that must be the immediate hope if we see a l immediate hope if we see a ceasefire that very quickly that will be, you must hope, a that will be, you must hope, a dramatic increase in the amount dramatic increase in the amount of medical supplies physically of medical supplies physically that you get in. is that the that you get in. is that the expectation?— expectation?— that you get in. is that the expectation? that you get in. is that the exectation? . , ., , ., expectation? that is what is on the paper— that you get in. is that the expectation? that you get in. is that the exectation? . , ., , ., expectation? that is what is on the paper— expectation? that is what is on the paper but _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not - expectation? that is what is on the paper but _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is _ expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not - expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not what - expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not what we | the paper but it is not what we see. every single day when we expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not what - expectation? that is what is on the paper but it is not what we | the paper but it is not what we see. every single day when we discuss with our counterparts discuss with our counterparts in israel, they are enforcing in israel, they are enforcing some new rules that are some new rules that are actually preventing the actually supplies from be picked up that we have on the other side. so some new rules that are act have on the other side. so they are making things more we have on the other side. so they are making things more difficult and they are still a difficult and they are still a new rule again that has been new rule again that has been implemented yesterday. so we implemented yesterday. so we are very worried that actually are very worried that actually

what is said is not what is what is said is not what is going to don't see going to happen. so there are several issues on the israeli side and also some issues with the looting that is happening and we have no control over that. the fact is there is some security that has tried to be implemented by the police or by the families and the community itself was white sorry to interrupt but that is a looting of medical supplies as well, not just food of medical supplies as well, notjust food aid? mostly of medical supplies as well, not just food aid? mostly food and non—food items. the medical supply so far have been more or less thereby the looting. you have seen in the last few days we are on the edge of breaking the health system because everything without fuel there is no power and just a minute ago i had a loss of power here. everything is relying on generators that we cannot get in as well, so it is difficult to bring all these kind of things inside gaza. taste

to bring all these kind of things inside gaza. we have been speaking _ things inside gaza. we have been speaking for _ things inside gaza. we have been speaking for months l things inside gaza. we have - been speaking for months about the broken health system in gaza. what is the status right now of the gaza strip's medical facilities and just a few hospitals are still able to operate? hospitals are still able to operate?— operate? yeah, the organisations - operate? yeah, the organisations have | operate? yeah, the - organisations have stepped operate? yeah, the _ organisations have stepped up to try to put more bed facilities but it is definitely not enough. we are also reporting the health system —— supporting the health system but the coordination of everyone inside one hospital to be able to cover everything, to bring some supplies but also to cover the salaries of the staff. so it is still a confusion. again, we don't see what is coming after that and how long even in the case of a ceasefire it will rely on the different organisations to support the health system here. more details on the very latest we are getting from qatar, log onto the bbc news website.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

welcome back. strong winds are forecast to return to los angeles, threatening to undermine the progress made against the city's wildfires. forecasters are expecting gusts of more than 70 miles per hour — about the same force as a category one hurricane. these are the same type of santa ana winds that caused the initial spread of the blazes last week. three major fires are still burning. the biggest one in the palisades has consumed more than 23,000 acres, and is still only 14% contained. 0ur correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles — where he gave us an update on the fires and the returning santa ana winds. ican i can tell you that those wins have indeed returned. strong gusts around me right now and we're just gusts around me right now and we'rejust hoping here gusts around me right now and we're just hoping here that they won't be as fierce as last week. we are told the weather

forecasters that there will be more traditional santa ana winds, the kind of wins that people here are used to at this time of year. and perhaps not as hurricane force as we experienced last week but time will tell. the next 2a hours will tell. the next 2a hours will be critical and of course the big danger is that if they are incredibly strong again they could fan the flames further. there are now four fires that are still burning, the two big ones that we have heard about. pacific palisades and the fire around pasadena further inland. still burning largely out of control. 0vernight there is a new fire in another coastal community about 60 miles, about 100 kilometres to the north—west of los angeles. the good news there is that that fire is still small and has been contained. it has been confined to, it

seems, a dry riverbed area away from people's homes, but it is a sign that things can change very quickly. new fires can start quickly and clearly there are many, many firefighters in this city now, from neighbouring states and from canada and from mexico. they are well prepared to fight these new fires if they start. that is one of the findings of the us department ofjustice report, drawn up by special counseljack smith. the key finding if he hadn't won last year's presidential election mr trump would have faced criminal charges. among the text a claim that mr trump used threats and encouragement of violence against his perceived opponents. it accuses him of criminal efforts and deceit and

knowingly false claims of election fraud. it says mr trump hampered the investigation by using his influence and following on social media to target witnesses, courts and department ofjustice employees. mr smith denies any claims of political motivation be behind investigation and confirms that the case was only close because the us constitution forbids the prosecution of a sitting president. donald trump swift to respond, accusing jack smith of being arranged and dismissing his report was not findings is fake. in dismissing his report was not findings is fake.— findings is fake. in this 137 .ae. findings is fake. in this 137 page report _ findings is fake. in this 137 page report that _ findings is fake. in this 137 page report that had - findings is fake. in this 137 page report that had been| findings is fake. in this 137 - page report that had been long awaited, it came outjust around 1am eastern time here in the united states. it largely recounts the previously released information but does detail allegations trump knew the claims that he lost the election were false back in 2020 but spread those anyway. the special counseljack smith in this report calling deceit,

the pru line ofjon�*s alleged criminal efforts. the case was delayed repeatedly because of the number of appeals on the part of the trump legal team. they asked to drop the case because of long—standing policy they have not to prosecute a sitting president. in fact smith wrote in the report, quote, but for mr trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction at trial. they are standing behind the work that they had, even though this case is now defunct. this all came after 1am eastern time. we haven't heard a lot of reaction yet but president—elect trump did post on social media about this, maintaining his innocence, calling smith's arranged and saying he was unable to successfully prosecute him so he ends up writing yet another report. again, the case at this point is not going to move

forward. the other question will be if the other half of this report sees the light of day, that is the one that focuses on the allegations that president—elect trump worked with a couple of other people in his efforts to mishandle classified documents that would then later found at his home classified documents that would then laterfound at his home in florida. the case against him again has been dropped because of the election back in november because he will be the president. two former co—defendants, those cases could still go forward. we will have to wait and see the future of that and again if we see the report on that part of this investigation.— investigation. here in london... _ uk chancellor, rachel reeves, has addressed the commons for the first time since returning from her trip to china at the weekend. she defended her plans for the economy, saying the uk needs to go "further and faster" in search of growth. it follows days of nerves in the financial market with growing concerns over the falling pound and rising government borrowing costs. let's speak to our political correspondent, iain watson.

the chancellor and a huge amount of pressure at the moment. what did she say in the house of commons? she moment. what did she say in the house of commons?— moment. what did she say in the house of commons? she is under ressure. house of commons? she is under pressure- not _ house of commons? she is under pressure. not least _ house of commons? she is under pressure. not least in _ house of commons? she is under pressure. not least in the - pressure. not least in the newspapers. the kind of speculation as to whether she can hold onto herjob as chancellor was doused down by damage to your site. the premise is that he had full confidence in her and of course a downing street official then said there would be working together right up until the next election. this statement was ostensibly about that trip to china. she defended going. the conservatives say they should —— she should not have gone there at all. when it came to the attack from the opposition in the house of commons, her opposite number mel stride definitely wanted to talk about the state of the wider economy.— talk about the state of the wider economy. the pound has hit a 14 month _ wider economy. the pound has hit a 14 month low, _ wider economy. the pound hasl hit a 14 month low, government borrowing — hit a 14 month low, government borrowing costs are at 827 year high _ borrowing costs are at 827 year high. growth been killed stone dead~ — high. growth been killed stone dead. inflation is rising, impacting millions. interest rates — impacting millions. interest rates are _ impacting millions. interest rates are staying higher for

longer— rates are staying higher for longer and business confidence has fallen through the floor. -- a 27_ has fallen through the floor. —— a 27 year high. they cripple businesses _ —— a 27 year high. they cripple businesses with colossal taxes, breaking — businesses with colossal taxes, breaking all the promises. this is a crisis — breaking all the promises. this is a crisis made in downing street _ is a crisis made in downing street. ~ ,, street. so mel stride there very clearly _ street. so mel stride there very clearly setting - street. so mel stride there very clearly setting out - street. so mel stride there very clearly setting out the j very clearly setting out the case for the prosecution, as it were. from rachel reeves's point of view she was actually quite keen to make this statement to mps today because i think she wanted to take on some of these wider criticisms that had been swilling around in parliament and in the papers andindeed in parliament and in the papers and indeed some of the grumbles on their own backbenches. the approach she took is more effectively the best form of defence is attack. i have been under no illusion about the scale that we face. after 14 years of stagnant economic growth, higher debt and economic uncertainty, and we have seen global economic uncertainty play out in the last week.

but leadership is not about ducking these challenges. it is about rising to them. the economic headwinds that we face are a reminder that we should indeed, we must go further and faster in our plan to kick start economic growth. too kind of bill current state of economy. we have heard many times before, the legacy she was left by the outgoing conservative government, something they dispute. and secondly the turmoil in international markets which the treasury hopes will calm down once that resident trump has been inaugurated next week. and there is less uncertainty over tariffs and inflation rates. but i think the bigger problem that rachel reeves has if you like on her own side of the house of commons is this. she said several times during the statement that she would stick to her fiscal rules, statement that she would stick to herfiscal rules, that statement that she would stick to her fiscal rules, that meant making sure that you are not borrowing for day—to—day spending by 2029. she also said

the economic stability was important and that together implies that she is more likely, should borrowing costs remain high, to look for squeezing public spending cuts in public spending, including the welfare budget, rather than any future tax increases. that is certainly making some of the colleagues on her own benches feel very queasy. there wasn't an awful lot of public dissent but one labour mp did stand up and suggest that a better way to do things would be to impose a wealth tax. that is not to say many of his colleagues necessarily agree but they are worried about the lack of growth and they are worried about the future of public spending. about the future of public spending-— the princess of wales is visiting cancer patients at the royal marsden hospital in london. it's the hospital where the princess herself was treated for cancer. she finished her chemotherapy in september and called the six months to that point "incredibly tough".

0ur royal correspondent daniela relph told me more. some of the team around her have called it incredibly poignant and it was something that was driven we are told very much by the princess herself that she had wanted this to be herfirst significant engagement of 2025, and that she had wanted to go back to the hospital that we now know was a hospital where she herself has been having cancer treatment over recent months. so it was a really deeply personal visit. she had a chance to meet staff and to meet patients currently undergoing treatment at the royal marsden, which is a specialist cancer centre. we're told that she wanted to return there to say thank you for the exceptional care, support and compassion that she had received herself, but also hundreds of others receive at the marsden every day, and that she wanted to show her gratitude to the incredible team that had cared for her. when she arrived at the royal marsden today, she was heard saying to staff it was nice to walk in through the front door because of course in recent months when she's been having her own treatment, she's been sort of snuck in the back, i suppose, to make sure nobody could see

her and that she could undergo her cancer treatment privately. so a very important, significant visit for the princess of wales today. i haven't seen the pictures yet. this is the first time i'm just watching them now. and she does look well. how much do we actually know about her health? yeah, we don't know an awful lot other than to say that her cancer treatment has now finished, so she's not undergoing any cancer treatment for now, and that she is feeling well and grateful. i have seen her a few times, isuppose, over the past 3 or 4 months. and she does... she does look well, you know, it's been a really rough year, as she put it, a tough, tough yearfor her. but in addition to the visit to the royal marsden today, she's also going to become a joint president. a patron of the royal marsden alongside her husband, prince william, now the previous princess of wales. diana was also a president and patron of the royal marsden. so it's a connection, a royal connection with all of that. but i think we can expect to see the royal marsden as somewhere that she will visit over the months ahead as she makes this very slow and careful return to public duty. where is she at in terms of the weight of her duties at the moment?

you know, and compared to when she was, well, for instance. yeah. she's not doing anywhere near as much as she would be doing. we've not seen very much of her at all over the past year. and in fact, the visit to the royal marsden today is, i think, the most significant solo visit she has made in 12 months. it's almost exactly a year to the day that she was admitted to hospital for that major abdominal surgery that ultimately led to her having cancer treatment. so it has been a difficult year. she stepped right back from public duty, and i think it would be fair to say that everything is happening now on her terms in a way that she wants to do it with her leading the way and making the priorities that she wants. so we will see more of her this year. there's no question of that, but it will be very much on her terms depending on how she's feeling. and before we let you go, herfather in law, the king. how is he? yes. i saw him last night at an event at buckingham palace. and he was looking pretty well, actually. um, he is going to auschwitz in a couple of weeks. time to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. and we can expect to see him doing more

international travel as well. we are told he is very much on a positive trajectory in terms of how he is feeling, but his cancer treatment is ongoing. it's been announced that the comedian and actor — tony slattery — has died at the age of 65. in a statement — his partner said he died after suffering a heart attack on sunday. tony slattery first made his name as part of the cambridge footlights — before appearing in shows such as �*whose line is it anyway?�* and �*have i got news for you'. he also appeared in severalfilms — including the crying game — and peter's friends. stay with us here on bbc news. the business is coming up live from new york. hello there. good afternoon. some very settled weather conditions as we head through the rest of the week. and of course, it's now much milder across the board. some spells of sunshine too.

earlier on today, such as here in shropshire. now high pressure is set to dominate our weather for the next few days. the winds remain very light towards the south. but it is breezy out towards the north and the west. and here, of course, the air is mildest, as you can see, marked in the dark yellows and the ambers. still some outbreaks of rain, possibly across parts of north west scotland. windier here, but the best of the sunshine in eastern scotland. down to the east of high ground it's always cloudy and murkier. a few spots of drizzle for some of these western coasts, but temperatures very mild. 12—13 celsius. southern scotland, northern ireland a little cooler further south and east 8 or 9 c here. and then overnight tonight, with that mild air still coming across the cold ground, then it's likely we'll see some mist and fog form where we get the clear spells. so quite a murky but a mild start to the day tomorrow with lows of around 5 to 8 c, but double figures still for north west scotland. so particularly mild here. now we'll probably see the worst of any fog towards the southern half of england. and here it could linger on for much of the day,

but more in the way of sunshine, with a drier feed of air for northern ireland, northern england and into eastern scotland. and it remains mild with double figures for many places. 9 to 11 or12 c. now the high pressure starts to pull its way further eastwards as we head through wednesday and into thursday. that's going to help to strengthen the southwesterly winds, and there could be a few outbreaks of rain, perhaps across the western isles on thursday. and it's always going to be windier here, particularly towards the coast, of course. but again, some more sunshine for northern ireland, for wales, this time into northern england and for much of scotland too. but it remains cloudy, rather murky for east anglia and the south of england, with those winds staying very light here again. temperatures once again 8 to 11, maybe 12 c. the high pulls away on friday and into the weekend. the air will turn cooler on saturday. then on sunday there is a weather front that's going to be pushing eastwards. some of us will see some rain, but the rain gradually peters out so it won't make too many inroads at all, so largely dry for the rest of the week.

a little cooler at the weekend. again, bye bye for now.

bell rings live from new york at the opening bell — this is business today.

us shares stage a bit of a recovery after two weeks of losses. fresh data eases fears that inflation is making a comeback ahead of tomorrow's consumer inflation number. plus — higher prices in the pipeline. brent crude trades at a four—month high above $80 a barrel — after a us sanctions crackdown — on russia�*s �*shadow fleet�* of tankers. charging ahead — global ev sales hit record highs — growing by a quarter last year. but can europe, where sales fell, keep up with the ev revolution? and the spoils of warhammer. how miniature orcs and goblins turned into a pile of treasure — and made games workshop a $5 billion company. welcome to business today, live from new york. us stocks are off to a strong start today at the opening bell, after new data eased inflation fears. the december producer price

index — which tracks prices at the �*factory gate�*— rose 3.3%, below expectations,