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tv   BBC News  BBC News  May 4, 2024 7:00pm-7:31pm BST

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and tens of thousands of madonna fans are set to crowd rio�*s copacabana beach in brazil, ahead of a free concert by the us pop star. labour's sadiq khan has secured a record third term as mayor of london beating conservative susan hall. mr khan is london's first leader to secure three terms since the post was created in 2000. following that result we heard from sadiq khan, here's his reaction to the result. it has been a difficult few months. we faced a campaign of nonstop negativity. but i couldn't be more proud that we answered fear mongering with facts, hate with hope, and attempts to divide with efforts to unite.
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we ran a campaign that was in keeping with the spirit and values of this great city. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo gave us this update from city hall following the announcement. if you look all the way through the campaign, the opinion polls were always in sadiq khan's favour and evenif always in sadiq khan's favour and even if you remember that the results didn't actually get started counting until this morning, so any speculation was really wildly off the mark so counting started this morning but as soon as the first results came in, it was very clear that sadiq khan was looking in a pretty good place because he had already proved in the first two boroughs that he was capable of attracting more votes to the labour party than he did last time. as the
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day went on, and more constituencies declared, it was pretty obvious sadiq khan had actually increased his support and won a very comfortable victory. it would have been a hailjab set i think if susan hall had got anywhere near close but really —— susan hall. this was a clear victory for seri khan in winning that third term. susan hall did manage to hold on, the conservative candidate, she did manage to hold onto five of the 14 constituencies, representing outer london boroughs, she of course has made scrapping of the expansion of the ulez zone a key part of her campaign, hoping that anger towards that would send her to city hall. in the event, she didn't really attract further support in those outer london boroughs that had been affected by the suspension so it doesn't seem that there is any
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suggestion that the ulez issue played very much into this contest. sadiq khan when he accepted his victory in his speech and he came to the stage talked about the negativity of the campaign and said it had been a very difficult few months. it was quite fractious i think between sadiq khan and his main challenger, susan hall, during the course of the campaign, there had been many occasions where they were in the same room together but when they were, there was clearly some animosity between them and it became quite personal in part. i think this was one where sadiq khan was really trying to defend his track record, although that track record was in the spotlight, and susan hall hoped she could make more of the issue of ulez, although she did focus on my crime in her speech. but a lot of different aspects playing into this result, we talk about personalities when it comes to these mayoral contest, sadiq khan has already had two terms in london,
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going for the record third term, to actually be the first to secure that, a lot of recognition of him and he has a profile. people will be familiar with him. and they have decided once again they want him to stay in charge by quite a considerable margin. it comes as the conservatives suffer one of their biggest election losses of recent times. the latest council results, most of which have now declared, show the tories have been pushed into third place, losing over a70 seats, with labour gaining more than 180. the liberal democrats have so far secured just over 100 seats. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffman has this report. as local elections results day blurs into local elections results weekend, one clear story... labour's strength in cities all over england. sir keir starmer celebrating in the east midlands... in some places, we did not get
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all the votes we wanted and of course we will fight to get those votes back but if you look at the overarching picture and the purpose, the purpose is to serve our country, this is the last stop before the general election and we have made significant and very real progress. i do hereby declare that steve rotherham is duly elected... celebrations in liverpool... south yorkshire... manchester... and west yorkshire. and london. susan mary hall, the conservative party candidate, 812,397. where intense rumours
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of a conservative upset turned out to be, well, wrong. sadiq khan, labour party, 1,088,225. frankly, we have run an incredibly underwhelming campaign over the last year. we have not articulated any sense of mission, itjust has all been what we are seeing at the moment very much an anti—khan campaign. as the final count trickled in, the liberal democrats made strides into traditional tory territory. in terms of strategy... this morning, conservatives were calm, preaching patience. no one should call this one too early. we are about a third... you would not call a premier league football match after about 30 minutes and there is a lot more people who... except you are at the end of a government term. that is fair but people make a choice at the election, a very clear choice, about who is going to walk through the door of number ten the following morning. all eyes now in the west midlands, where andy street's hopes
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of a third conservative term are in the balance. defeat would shock conservative mps and mayjust make the prime minister feel a little uneasy again. as we've been reporting, we are in for a very close result in the west midlands mayoral contest, where the conservative andy street is hoping for re—election. sources are suggesting there are just a few thousand votes in it. my colleague rajini vaidyanathan is in birmingham. you have been there all night and it sounds like this is razor—sharp in terms of margins. it sounds like this is razor-sharp in terms of margins.— terms of margins. it really is. throughout — terms of margins. it really is. throughout the _ terms of margins. it really is. throughout the day, - terms of margins. it really is. throughout the day, that - terms of margins. it really is. throughout the day, that is l terms of margins. it really is. i throughout the day, that is the message we have been hearing from both the conservatives and the labour party. the conservatives say
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that they accept it was going to be a really close race and labour saying that they thought it would be and neck. as you were saying, it is the conservative andy street who is the conservative andy street who is the incumbent. he has already been mayor for two terms and is hoping for a third one. interestingly throughout the campaign he has tried to distance himself from the national conservative party. no logos or branding for the party and much of his campaign literature. he has been all about his own personal brand. when he first was elected backin brand. when he first was elected back in 2017, he had come from a corporate background and was the former head ofjohn lewis. in many ways, a political outsider. and he win another term? it'll be extreme close. �* ., ., , , win another term? it'll be extreme close. ., ., , , ., close. and how important is this to rishi sunak? _ close. and how important is this to rishi sunak? as _ close. and how important is this to rishi sunak? as you _ close. and how important is this to rishi sunak? as you say, _ close. and how important is this to rishi sunak? as you say, andy - close. and how important is this to i rishi sunak? as you say, andy street has been trying to distance himself from his party affiliation in this race but this was a sliver of hope
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for rishi sunak? it race but this was a sliver of hope for rishi sunak?— for rishi sunak? it still could be. if we look— for rishi sunak? it still could be. if we look at _ for rishi sunak? it still could be. if we look at the _ for rishi sunak? it still could be. if we look at the result _ for rishi sunak? it still could be. if we look at the result in - for rishi sunak? it still could be. | if we look at the result in another mayoral contest yesterday, that ended up going to the conservatives because of the winner ben houchen ending up winning partly because again he had huge personal appeal, already served in thatjob as well. at the moment, what we are waiting on now is a recount any local authority area of coventry, so basically to explain, there are seven local authorities, the counting makes up the west midlands area. we have had five so far, including in birmingham. that is worth mentioning because the independent candidate who basically campaigned on a platform of gaza, ended up getting a sizeable 42,000 also votes, which is quite a real coup for him, for someone who is relatively unknown, and not from any
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of the major parties. and i spoke to jess phillips, the labour mp representing yardley in birmingham and she quit the shadow front bench last year because she said that sir keir starmer the labour party leader of course should have called for an immediate ceasefire right away. the party has changes position on that. she believes that the delay in doing that has cost the party votes not just in this election but in others across the country. if it is really close, people might be looking at that result and saying those 40 do thousand votes could have made a difference but at this point, we really don't know. looking at the tally sunny piece of paper in front of me, so it looks that andy street is ahead by about 20,000 votes. richard parker, the labour candidate, on about161,000. we richard parker, the labour candidate, on about 161,000. we are
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waiting for results to come in. we are waiting for sandwell authority and of course the recount in coventry as well. the fact we are using the word recount gives you an idea of how this might go down to the wire. ., , , ., ~ ., ~ the wire. you did speak to andrew mitchell, the local— the wire. you did speak to andrew mitchell, the local mp _ the wire. you did speak to andrew mitchell, the local mp and - the wire. you did speak to andrew mitchell, the local mp and you - the wire. you did speak to andrew mitchell, the local mp and you put do it but the conservative party did not feature heavily in the campaign literature. what were your biggest takeaway from that conversation? he is takeaway from that conversation? he: is the mp for sutton coldfield and represents another part of the west midlands region. he is going to say that the conservative party is still going to hopefully in his view come out strongly in this. i thought what was interesting is he was saying the conservatives naturally would not normally win a mayoral contest like the us radios because of you look at the us radios because of you look at the parliamentary make—up, it is quite a labourarea. the parliamentary make—up, it is quite a labour area. he says it is a surprise that they won it for the
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first —— in the first point. he said would be a positive for the conservatives are not their natural area. that is an interesting take on it and that is what they will be looking at now and if andy street does manage to win now we will perhaps predict that rishi sunak might come here quite soon after, not tonight, if it comes to night, like in tees valley, they are looking for glimmers of hope in what has not been a very good couple of days when we have a look at those results in the local elections and mail races for the conservative party and of course as you know, everyone looking at what is happening across the country to see if they can get any clues as to what might happen in a general election. 0ne might happen in a general election. one point about the west midlands and other races is a lot of address on personality and notjust party and so it is often difficult to draw and so it is often difficult to draw a broad trend because personal appeal goes a long way.-
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a broad trend because personal appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. _ appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. it _ appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. it has _ appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. it has been - appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. it has been a - appeal goes a long way. thank you for that update. it has been a long| for that update. it has been a long day and it will be a long night. we will have updates on the website. go there more analysis. it has been a busy few days of results. let's start with the west midlands. the race seems to be a knife edge and i can perhaps give you a bit of and i can perhaps give you a bit of a sense why. this is the police and crime commissioner election in the west midlands. it is not the same race, a different one, but it is really interesting post labour winning by a considerable margin. but i want to show you the swing, the change in the vote. it was a 4.5% swing conservative to labour. that is exactly the swing that labour need for the mayor race to
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beat the conservatives. 4.5%. that gives is a sense of why the race in the west midlands to the mayor is on such a knife edge. i have been chatting to people in the last few minutes and it sounds like it is extraordinarily close. a couple of thousand votes in it. that is the sense we are getting. you get a sense we are getting. you get a sense of why that's when matters so much. let's step back for a second. this is the picture across england. we now have 106 of 107 councils declared. that is the picture. you can see labour with 185, a good result for them. they say they are putting on the seats in the part of the country they think they need to win a general election. then it is the liberal democrats. they had a good night. taking on 104 councillors. the conservatives
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losing 473. almost half of all the seats they were defending. not quite half, that would have been catastrophic. the green party had a really good set of results. and there is a pattern now of the green party doing well in local elections. this is the vote share change since 2021. have a look. the conservatives are down 12%. again a bad result would make a lot of tory mps really jittery. labour, fairly modest, but if you put that figure to labour h0, they are saying the places where they are saying the places where they are saying the places where they are putting on those councillors, where it comes from, and the places they are targeting in and the places they are targeting in a general election. the liberal democrats and the green party are up as well. a bad night for the conservatives but a good night for labour. all eyes now and that west midlands race because although the
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sense that i was getting this morning is the conservative mps are not going to move against the prime minister because of this, if andy street were to lose the west midlands, the conservative incumbent, i think that would cause more conservative mps to be really nervous and it may cause more speculation about what happens next. let's move on to the israel gaza war, as efforts to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in gaza, are intensifying. the head of the us�*s cia, william burns, is in cairo to help try to mediate a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. hamas negotiators have also arrived in egypt for talks. and this is where things stan. foreign mediators have been waiting for a response from the group to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for forty days, and to exchange hostages for palestinian prisoners. unconfirmed reports in us media say israel has given hamas one week to agree to the current proposal, or it will begin its offensive in rafah, an offensive that benjamin netanyahu has been threatening despite criticism from allies.
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there has been widespread international concern over the fate of the more than one—million palestinians sheltering there. a hamas official has said the group is meeting egyptian and qatari mediators and listening to their proposals in "full seriousness". but taher al—nono said the group was still holding to its key demands, including a permannet ceasefire and the right of all displaced gazans to return to their homes. those demands have been a major obstacle to israel agreeing a deal, while hamas has said the israeli government's insistence on mounting an operation in rafah, even if there is a ceasefire, stands in the way of its acceptance of a deal. 0ur correspondent anna foster has this update from jerusalem. we are at that point in proceedings where through the afternoon i have been watching in the regional media various briefings, everything from saying that we are on the verge of
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an agreement of a framework of an agreement, everything through to know, israel say no, they will not agree to a ceasefire that will firmly —— permanently end the war. the key thing to remember is if this is the moment where we hear these various briefings but until we get some sort of official word potentially from the egyptian mediators who are actually in charge of these talks in cairo, really all thatis of these talks in cairo, really all that is just background noise. what we do know is that one the key sticking point is that idea of a permanent ceasefire. we know that is a key part of what hamas is asking for out of this deal. the idea that they would be an eventual end to this war rather than just a temporary ceasefire while that exchange goes on. we know that israel equally say that without a ground offensive in rafah which benjamin netanyahu has been talking about for months, they say they cannot conclude their military operation and they cannot deliver on that promise of fully removing hamas from gaza. in fact they are saying that even if there is a deal, that
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military operation will still go ahead. at the moment there is a lot going on behind closed doors, a lot of rumour and speculation and conjecture but in concrete terms right now we are now further forward. earlier, i spoke to mahjoob zweiri in doha about the latest talks. he is a professor of contemporary middle east politics at qatar university. it is obvious in the last 24—hours there is a huge confusion about the status quo. what we are gathering at the moment is the following, that hamas is showing according to its leadership, flexibility on some matters and the discussion now about the first stage or the first phase of the ceasefire which should last 42 days and this phase basically was part of the three phases discussed a few months ago according to the
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paris meetings between different mediators and israel. basically now, the confusion is about whether they will go to discuss the three phases now or actually there will be a discussion on the first phase, which is basically 40 days of ceasefire, 40 do, and then release 33 israelis and a number of the palestinian prisoners, the number has not been released about how many prisoners, and allowing humanitarian aid and for some palace in years to come from the north to the south without israeli —— palestinian. and now, we are waiting to hear from israeli —— palestinian. and now, we are waiting to hearfrom cairo whether this will be approved by the israelis are not because the time
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this has been released in the middle of the day, the israeli media has claimed from two statements from the military, and the prime minister offers that they will go ahead with the rafah operation regardless of any kind of agreement. if this is the case, i mature there will be any. the case, i mature there will be an . ., . the case, i mature there will be an , ., ., , ., the case, i mature there will be an. ., ., �*, the case, i mature there will be an. ., ., , any. to that point, israel's allies have been _ any. to that point, israel's allies have been concerned _ any. to that point, israel's allies have been concerned about - any. to that point, israel's allies have been concerned about that| have been concerned about that offensive. what would happen if benjamin netanyahu has said that the rafah offensive will proceed? considering what is happening in different countries today, different universities, what is happening when it has come to public opinion about the war in gaza, the reflection on the war in gaza, the reflection on the failure of governments of having a solution putting pressure on benjamin netanyahu to accept a ceasefire at the moment, i think this will put more pressure on the americans. the biden administration in the last 14 hours have repeated
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more than six times thatjoe biden personally is following up on this negotiation. what is that reflect? it does reflect that there is a desperate need for a ceasefire, whether for the election reasons or to ease the pressure on the administration from the demonstration orfrom administration from the demonstration or from the pressure from different capitals in the region and in the european countries. there is a need now for ceasefire and i think all of the parties realise that one of the issues now is how to convince benjamin netanyahu to delay the operation and let the 40 days goes on and then talk about it. we operation and let the 40 days goes on and then talk about it.— on and then talk about it. we are auoin to on and then talk about it. we are going to show — on and then talk about it. we are going to show you _ on and then talk about it. we are going to show you some - on and then talk about it. we are going to show you some live - on and then talk about it. we are i going to show you some live protest from tel aviv. those are the protests against the benjamin netanyahu government in tel aviv. they have been going on this evening. i want to discuss some of
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that with our correspondent in cairo. those protests do highlight amidst all these negotiations, benjamin netanyahu is facing different pressures. netanyahu is facing different pressures-— netanyahu is facing different ressures. ., ., ., ., pressures. yes and so far from cairo it is about 9:30pm _ pressures. yes and so far from cairo it is about 9:30pm local— pressures. yes and so far from cairo it is about 9:30pm local time. - pressures. yes and so far from cairo it is about 9:30pm local time. we i it is about 9:30pm local time. we could not hear anything from the talks in cairo which started earlier today, with confirmation that hamas are taking it seriously this time as well. and a statement, remarks made, by a hamas leader today have made some complications on the scene in cairo because he said they are coming with their basic demands, the cessation of the war, a full and complete withdrawal of the israeli
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troops from gaza, and for access to the north strip. and free movement, which seemingly had a reaction from the israeli side twice this day. some media quoted an unofficial saying they will not stop the offensive against rafah as long as hamas is demanding an end to the war. this led the cabinet minister to ask this unnamed diplomatic official to exercise restraint because they didn't get any clear answer from because they didn't get any clear answerfrom hamas because they didn't get any clear answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before _ answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before you _ answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before you go, _ answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before you go, i _ answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before you go, ijust - answer from hamas so far. thank you for that. before you go, i just want i for that. before you go, ijust want to remind you that we are continuing our coverage of the local elections as those results come in. do stay
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with us on bbc news because we are going to keep giving you those updates, including what is going on in the west midlands. i also do want to point you to the live page. the qr codes right there. that'll take you straight to the wedge —— website. plenty more live updates and analysis. hello there. saturday saw much cooler weather across scotland and northern ireland. friday was a really warm and sunny day. one of the warmest we have seen actually this year with temperatures widely 23 degrees in western scotland, while temperatures are around 9 degrees lower today. the reason for that change is we had much more extensive cloud and the cloud was thick enough to bring some quite persistent rain to northern ireland, extending southwards from scotland to the north of both
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england and wales. the best of the sunshine to the south of that. 0vernight tonight, we will keep those cloudy skies in place across scotland and northern ireland. still with a few patches of rain around, a few mist areas as well. across wales, the midlands, east anglia, southern england, dry to start off with tonight. we will probably start to see some rain arrive towards south—west england and by the end of the night and that rain is all tied in with the weather front moving up from france. through sunday, that weather front will extend northwards, bringing rain across from south—west england into southern wales, central southern england. scotland and northern ireland stay cloudy with a few patches of rain. the best of the sunshine will be across north wales, parts of northern england, the midlands, east anglia and south—east england. where the sunshine comes out, it should feel quite pleasant. heading into bank holiday monday, low—pressure to the south of the uk with this weather front still bringing the threat of some rain across southern counties of england. the rain may turn more showery in nature through the afternoon but those showers could be
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heavy and thundery. further north, we are likely to see some thunderstorms break out across parts of scotland and northern england as well but that still leaves part of wales into the midlands and parts of northern england where we will have the best of the day's sunshine breaking through. temperatures not doing too badly. highs between 15 and 17 degrees but then as we look at the forecast deeper into next week, high pressure is going to start to dominate the weather picture. not the strongest high you have ever seen so there will still be some showers around. and for tuesday, those showers are most likely to form across western areas of the country. the best of the sunshine, a east anglia, southern counties of england. northern ireland not doing too badly as well. top temperatures ranging from around 16 to 19 degrees celsius, feeling pleasant in any sunshine. and the trend is for there to be quite a lot of dry weather through the rest of the week ahead with temperatures rising and the warmest spots more likely into the low 20s.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: efforts are intensifying to secure a deal for the release of hostages in gaza and a ceasefire, as talks take place in egypt. a hamas delegation is attending talks in cairo. labour's sadiq khan has been elected for a record third term as london mayor, defeating
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conservative susan hall. andy burnham is also re—elected to a third term as mayor of greater manchester. while in the west midlands, it's too close to call, with conservative incumbent andy street hoping to hold on. a baby and its mother rescued in brazil — as deadly flooding continues to cause widespread damage. and tens of thousands of madonna fans are set to crowd rio's copacabana beach in brazil, ahead of a free concert by the us pop star. now on bbc news, sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm jane dougall. back in the premier league for the first time since 2002 — an ecstatic portman road, as ipswich are promoted to the top flight.

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