in gaza and a ceasefire, as talks take place in egypt. a hamas delegation is attending the talks in cairo. hello. i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. we start in england with the news that labour's richard parker has narrowly won the mayoral contest in the west midlands. the results came late in the day, and it was down to the wire. the final result was officially confirmed a little over an hour ago. overall richard parker won by just 1,508 votes. shortly after his victory in the west midlands was announced, richard parker spoke about what he viewed as his wind. this is the most important thing i will ever do. this week people here voted for the person and the party. they recognise that a labour mayor can make a positive difference in this region. thank you. you have put

your trust in me, and this region. thank you. you have put yourtrust in me, and i this region. thank you. you have put your trust in me, and i will repay that trust. i will deliver for you and your family. that trust. i will deliver for you and yourfamily. i promise you that trust. i will deliver for you and your family. i promise you that i will deliverjobs. we will fix our public transport system. we will build the homes you need. and we will give this region the fresh start it richly deserves. andy street, who'd been hoping to hold on as conservative mayor, says his loss is no surprise. it caps off a bleak set of results for the tories. ultimately we didn't persuade enough people _ ultimately we didn't persuade enough people to _ ultimately we didn't persuade enough people to go out and put their cross in the _ people to go out and put their cross in the right— people to go out and put their cross in the right box on thursday, and i'm not_ in the right box on thursday, and i'm not going to be sloping shouldered about it in any way, it was my— shouldered about it in any way, it was my campaign and it didn't quite come _ was my campaign and it didn't quite come through. was was my campaign and it didn't quite come through-— was my campaign and it didn't quite come through. was it your campaign, or was it your— come through. was it your campaign, or was it your record, _ come through. was it your campaign, or was it your record, because - come through. was it your campaign, or was it your record, because you . or was it your record, because you have had two terms, and usually the incumbent has the advantage. weill. incumbent has the advantage. well, ou know, incumbent has the advantage. well, you know. and _ incumbent has the advantage. well, you know. and you _ incumbent has the advantage. well, you know, and you went _ incumbent has the advantage. well, you know, and you went about it with your first _ you know, and you went about it with your first question, for someone

with my— your first question, for someone with my party colour it was always going _ with my party colour it was always going to _ with my party colour it was always going to be difficult, but so many people _ going to be difficult, but so many people said to me, andy, you've done a good _ people said to me, andy, you've done a good job, _ people said to me, andy, you've done a good job, so actually that's why i say i'm _ a good job, so actually that's why i say i'm proud of my record and i'm also proud — say i'm proud of my record and i'm also proud of— say i'm proud of my record and i'm also proud of what i have bequeathed to the _ also proud of what i have bequeathed to the future labour mayor for what he will _ to the future labour mayor for what he will do _ to the future labour mayor for what he will do with the west midlands. that was my colleague rajini vaidyanathan they're interviewing vaidya nathan they�* re interviewing him. vaidyanathan they're interviewing him. we do have more reaction and our bbc news website and app as well as analysis from our correspondence. uk viewers will have more on this story a little later this hour. 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 stand. foreign mediators have been waiting for a response from the group to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for a0 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. there has been widespread international concern over the fate of 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 permanent 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. our correspondent anna foster has this update from jerusalem. we're at that point in proceedings

where through the afternoon i've been watching in the regional media various briefings, everything from saying that we are on the verge of an agreement of a framework of an agreement, everything through to no, israel say they will not agree to a ceasefire that will permanently end the war. i think the key thing to remember at this point in time is this is the moment where we hear these various briefings, we hear different things from different sides, 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 of that is just background noise. what we do know is that one of the key sticking points 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 there 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, the israeli prime minister, has been talking about for months, they say they can't conclude their military operation,

they can't deliver on that promise of fully removing hamas from gaza. in fact they are saying in the last few days that even if there is a deal, that military operation will still go ahead. so 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 no further forward. that was my colleague anna foster in jerusalem. 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 2a 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 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 a0 days of ceasefire, 42, 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 palestinians to come from the north to the south without israeli intervention.

and now, we are waiting to hear from cairo whether this will be approved by the israelis or not because the time 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 office 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. to that point, israel's allies 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 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 ia hours have repeated more than six times thatjoe biden personally is following up on this negotiation. what does 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 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 rafah operation and let the a0 days goes on and then talk about it. i want to point you to the bbc

website, there is a long read thereby anna foster who is in jerusalem, and it is about how those ceasefire talks are progressing, as well as the challenges and stumbling blocks that we talked about. you will see their she has got some of the reaction from the us secretary of state antony blinken, saying that taking the ceasefire should be a no—brainer for hamas. i hereby declare richard parker has

been elected. richard parker beat the conservatives' andy street by the narrowest of margins, capping a bleak set of election results for the tories. what an extraordinary moment of jeopardy. this is a region of 3 million people and it came down to just 1500 votes. in london, labour's sadiq khan is re—elected mayor for the third time — he's the first ever to win three terms. we will break down that knife edge result in the west midlands and looked the bigger picture across england with almost all council results now in. good evening. the conservatives have suffered a defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to labour. the contest between the conservative's andy street, who was seeking a third term

as mayor, and labour's richard parker went right down to the wire — with a recount ordered for coventry earlier this evening. the outcome of this particular race had been cast as pivotal for the prime minister — whose party has had one of its worst ever performances in this year's local elections. in a moment, we'll look at the overall election results, but first to our political editor chris mason who is in birmingham for us now. such a close fought contest — and a major blow for the conservatives? yes, good evening. an extraordinary evening here. if you ever wondered on polling day whether it is worth trundling down to the polling station and picking up that pencil and marking your cross in a box what happened here in the west midlands may tempt you to turn out because my goodness it has been close. my goodness it has been close. my goodness there has been a sense of jeopardy. people here at lunchtime

thought we might get the results at 2:30pm but no, that came and went and so did 3:30pm and a:30pm and we ended up having a recount in coventry. it was so, so close. we should perhaps not be that surprised ijy should perhaps not be that surprised by the result of a labour victory given the trend elsewhere in the country. it says something about the campaign of the defeated conservative andy street that it was so close but the conservatives had hoped to win here and that is why this is politically significant beyond the region. on a date when we've seen plenty of other results all over england. out of his hands. the conservative andy street arrived here at lunchtime awaiting the verdict of voters. it was to be a long wait for mr street and his labour

rival, richard parker. votes rechecked, a recount in coventry and this result in the last hour or so. the number of votes recorded for each... we've waited all day for this moment. it's happening now. the result. and i do hereby declare that richard parker... this is the most important thing i will ever do. this week, people here voted for the person and the party. they recognised that a labour mayor can make a positive difference in this region. a winner and a loser and the finest of margins. mr street, commiserations. what do you put your loss down to? very straightforward, chris, isn't it? we didn't persuade enough people across the west midlands. in our record and our plans for the future to give them confidence to go and vote on thursday.

i've always said it was my campaign and we didn't get over the line. very straightforward. is rishi sunak to blame? no, this was my campaign. idid it, the famous words. i did it my way, and it was always going to be like that. and in the end it wasn't quite enough. but i'll tell you what, it was bloody close by in my language and no one would have expected that. to be clear, do you want rishi sunak to lead the conservatives into the general election? yes, there is. it would be complete madness to have another moment of introspection. khan, sadiq labour party.... labour's sadiq khan has won again in london. thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you, london. it's the honour of my life to serve the city that i love. therefore, i declare that andy burnham is duly elected as the mayor of the greater manchester combined authority. there was another labour victory in greater manchester. it has been hard to keep greater manchester moving forward when the country has been going backwards, but we have managed it and our economy is growing faster than the uk's.

steve rotherham. .. labour also won in liverpool, salford, south yorkshire and west yorkshire. but the eye catching result today is in the west midlands. well, let's now take a closer look at all the results — almost all of them are now in — and find out what they tell us about the state of the parties�* fortunes as we approach a general election. here's nick eardley. let's start with that result in the west midlands. as you can see a knife edge. just 1500 votes in the end between the labour party and andy street for the conservatives despite more than half a million votes being cast. in terms of percentages again very close, 37.8, 37.5. note that 12% which was an independent candidate critical of labour policy on the war in gaza and despite that labour managed just to

make it through. let me show you in the next light how things have changed, the labour vote is actually a little bit down. but the conservative vote down so much allowing labour to take the west midlands. and finally this swing, a.6 from the conservatives to the labour party, enough to get them over the line. it was notjust the west midlands, london today as well, sadiq khan in return for a third term. the margin there are a lot bigger, 275,000 votes in the end in it and this is why. let me show you the swing, and it is a big one. 3.2% conservative to labour and that matters because the conservatives hope to close the gap with labour in london but the opposite has happened. as you can see. across the country and across england we now have a pretty good picture, 106107 councils declared and here's how it

looks. labour up 185, a good result for them. the conservatives down a73, lost almost half of all the seats that they were defending so thatis seats that they were defending so that is a really bad result. the lib dems just overtaking them. and pointing out that the green party are up 7a. and finally this is what they will study in the party headquarters, but it could mean for a general election. the conservative vote right down 12%, the lib dems are also up as other green party. the labour party up 3% and some would have hoped it would be higher but when you see where that 3% is they're confident it is in the places that they need to win in order to win a general election. well as you heard the latest council results all bar one of which have

been declared show that the tory party have in this set of elections been pushed into third place. let's join chris mason again in birmingham. where does this leave the conservatives and rishi sunak with the general election coming down the tracks? it with the general election coming down the tracks?— with the general election coming down the tracks? it leaves them in a bleak spot- — down the tracks? it leaves them in a bleak spot- they _ down the tracks? it leaves them in a bleak spot. they knew _ down the tracks? it leaves them in a bleak spot. they knew that - down the tracks? it leaves them in a bleak spot. they knew that these . bleak spot. they knew that these results in the round were going to be difficult but they pointed in advance to what they hoped would be some rare beams of light in the gloomiest of political seas and one of them they hoped was here. so psychologically this matters even if it was always going to be a tall order given the national trend that andy street should hang on here. and his team take pride that it was as close as it was given those national trends. but given that the tory party had talked up their prospects here, one of those beacons has been turned off. they can point to the

tees valley and a couple of council results here and there but there's not a lot to go on for them. contrast that with labour and you will not be surprised that keir starmer is wearing a broad smile and you will not be surprised either that he has been here in birmingham in the last hour. 50 that he has been here in birmingham in the last hour.— in the last hour. so the message from these _ in the last hour. so the message from these elections, _ in the last hour. so the message from these elections, the - in the last hour. so the message from these elections, the last i from these elections, the last elections _ from these elections, the last elections now, the last stop before we go _ elections now, the last stop before we go to— elections now, the last stop before we go to the general election is the couhtry_ we go to the general election is the country wants change. i hope the prime _ country wants change. i hope the prime minister is listening and gives— prime minister is listening and gives the — prime minister is listening and gives the opportunity to the country to vote _ gives the opportunity to the country to vote as— gives the opportunity to the country to vote as a — gives the opportunity to the country to vote as a whole in a general election— to vote as a whole in a general election as _ to vote as a whole in a general election as soon as possible. now the least surprising _ election as soon as possible. iimr the least surprising thing you were here tonight is a leader of the opposition calling for a general election and little wonder he would do that in light of the last couple of days but i wonder given what we've seen coupled with the fact

that conservative mps do not seem to have the appetite to bring the prime minister down, if the prospect of a general election in the coming weeks has perhaps receded and perhaps it is more likely now to come in the autumn. 0ne reaction, suella braverman the former home secretary writes in the sunday telegraph tomorrow saying changing media will not work, she also says that the local election results will look like a tremor next to the earthquake at the general election. maw; at the general election. many thanks, chris _ at the general election. many thanks, chris mason. - around 31,000 properties in east sussex are still without water after a burst main disrupted supplies. southern water says it's delivering bottled water to thousands of residents in st leonards and parts of hastings. the company says repairs are now complete but the system has to be replenished — and disruption is likely to continue through the weekend. in southern brazil, days of heavy rain have triggered widespread flooding and landslides killing

at least 57 people. officials say about 70 others are missing. but this man in the greyjacket on the right of the picture had a lucky escape. as he tried to cross this bridge, the power of the flooded river was too much, breaking it in two and washing it away. it's a dream come true for a 19 year old music student from ely in cambridgeshire. patrick bennett has become the youngest tv composer in british history, after creating the score for the bbc one drama granite harbour. duncan kennedy takes up the story. strings play theme. it's the prime—time drama with music by a part—time composer. what you're hearing has been written by a 19—year—old. a crime show, scored by a student. it's always what i wanted to do, and i wasjust, like, wow, this isjust... just speechless, you know?

just blew my mind. patrick was first given a guitar by his dad. guitar plays riff. now at college in liverpool, he played his music to an agent. the agent made some calls, and patrick eventually got the job. dramatic music plays. he was first inspired to write music by this series of doctor who. dramatic music plays. but it was this epic film that changed his life. wow, that is amazing! like, to see something, that kind of piece of music in, like, a warfilm, ijust thought was just so cool. itjust blew my mind there and then. then i thought, "i'm going to look more into this. i think i could give this a go, this film music thing." patrick is already working on his first feature film. clearly a teenager composed of talent!

electronic music plays. duncan kennedy, bbc news. with all the sport now, here's 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre. thank you and good evening. ipswich town will be back in the premier league next season. they beat huddersfield 2—0 on the final day of the championship season, sealing their return to the top division for the first time in 22 years. ben croucher reports. it's all come out of the blue. ipswich town are promoted! a team that this time last season were in the division below, now about to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the giants of the english game. we've had our ups and downs, but i think this has got to be the best ever. quality players, quality spirit, quality fans. happy days. i've supported them all my life, so this is a wonderful _ moment for the town. blue army! all they had to do was beat relegated huddersfield to join champions leicester in going up. over to you, wes burns.

that is the moment that portland road craved! guided by one of the games brightest young managers in kieran mckenna, on a budget dwarfed by most of their rivals, ipswich spent all season punching above their weight. back—to—back promotions, finished with a flourish. hutchinson able to skip away! and score! time for the party to spring into life. after two decades away through administration, relegation, years and years of frustration, the emotion overflowed at portland road. everyone wants to play in the premier league, it's the best league in the world, and to be given the opportunity to do it now is massive. thanks to everyone associated with the club, all the boys, we couldn't have done it without one another. and in this sliver of suffolk, the view from the top tier next year will be one to savour. ben croucher, bbc news. all the premier league goals are coming up after the news, but stay right there if you'd like to know the results. four of those goals were scored by erling haaland

as manchester city beat wolves 5—1. that keeps them one point behind arsenal, who also won today, but city do have a game in hand. there were no goals between brentford and fulham. burnley�*s hopes of staying up are fading fast after a a—1 defeat to newcastle but nottingham forest beat sheffield united and are now three points above the relegation zone. celtic beat hearts to stretch their lead at the top of the scottish premiership. the 3—0 win takes them six points clear of rangers who play tomorrow. it's the old firm match next weekend. livingston were relegated after their defeat at motherwell. northampton saints are out of rugby union's champions cup after losing their semifinal 20—17 to leinster in dublin. over 82,000, a record for the competition, packed out croke park. james lowe scored a hat—trick of tries to send the irish side through to their third straight european cup final. they'll face either harlequins or toulouse. that is all the support.

that's all from me, but there's plenty more election analysis with laura kuenssberg tomorrow on bbc one at 9am. good night. 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 big 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 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 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.

this is bbc news, the headlines... next up, the new drug threat. a new type of drug is causing deaths across the uk. synthetic opioids made in labs, smuggled from china. this is so unbelievably dangerous. they're drugs causing devastation.

but the new day was never going to see him in it. and he was never going to be here any other day. it was, erm, the hardest thing i've ever had to deal with. _ we expose how these drugs, nitazenes, are being openly advertised on major social media sites. x — formerly twitter — and soundcloud. do you have many customers from soundcloud? she laughs. he discovered the way in which criminals are hiding advertisements for illegal drug content. i mean, it...it�*s horrifying. we just need to do more. these deaths are preventable. dylan used to rehearse here.