deadly floods hit brazil with waters continuing to rise — thousands are forced to evacuate. hello, i'm kylie pentelow. let's begin with the fallout from the local elections in england. the former home secretary suella braverman has said prime minister rishi sunak needs to come up with policies that have more relevance to people, saying conservative voters "were on strike" in thursday's local elections. the tories lost over 400 council seats and all but one mayoral election in england. ms braverman said the results have left her in despair. but defending the government, mark harper, the transport secretary, said it's still all to play for in the forthcoming general election and that mr sunak�*s plan had not yet come to fruition. our political correspondent hannah miller has this report.

applause labour won mayors, councils, and police and crime commissioners. rishi sunak left clinging on to just one mayor in the tees valley. even his majority diminished. this morning, the former home secretary, and one of the prime minister's biggest critics, warned of a total wipe—out for the conservatives. i despair at these terrible results. there's no spinning these results, there's no disguising the fact that these have been terrible election results for the conservatives and they suggest that we are heading to a labour government. her prescription for the pm... he needs to actually lower taxes in a way that people will feel, not tweaking round the edges. if he is serious about migration, he needs to put a cap on illegal migration, he needs to take us out of the european convention on human rights. in defeat, the now former conservative mayor of the west midlands, andy street, said the opposite, urging his party to stick to the centre ground.

this morning, ministers were insisting they're already on the right track. we have a plan and the plan is working... but voters are telling you they don't like it. but we're not all the way through yet. you've got to actually see... i think people want to see delivery, right? so, they want to see inflation continuing to come down, they want to see the boats stopped, they want to see, for example, nhs waiting lists continue to fall. we have made a lot of progress on that, but we are not all of the way there yet. despite a terrible set of results for rishi sunak, his mps are not about to turf him out of number ten, but they know that unless he's able to turn the party's fortunes around, it will be keir starmer walking through that door when the general election does come around. labour, though, faces pressure in some areas where there is concern about its stance on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge that, in some parts of the country, that is the case, and there will be some people who maybe voted labour in the past that haven't in the local elections because of this issue. where that is the case, we will work

to get support back but overall, these were tremendous local election results, a tremendous by—election, and a set of mayoral elections that went beyond the expectations that we had. until he decides to call a general election, rishi sunak appears safe in here. but he is under real pressure to deliver. and there are others waiting to get in. hannah miller, bbc news. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and the hamas leader, ismail haniyeh, have blamed each other for the failure so far to achieve a breakthrough in talks in cairo on a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages. one of the crossings used to bring aid into gaza, kerem shalom, has been closed by the israeli military after rockets were fired by hamas. it comes as there's been another night of protests in israel, with tens of thousands calling for a deal to bring home hostages, held by hamas in gaza. talks to secure a ceasefire

and release some of the hostages are resuming in cairo today. this morning israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, repeated his position that any ceasefire would not be permanent. with all the latest from jerusalem, here's frank gardner. in israel, the protests are getting louder. last night, thousands turned out to demand a ceasefire deal to secure the release of scores of hostages still held in gaza. people are hostages to the right—wing government, and the people of gaza are hostages to hamas, and basically there has to be a way to overcome that. they are protesting because the last five months of military assaults on gaza have failed to release those israeli hostages. not everybody in israel wants this ceasefire deal. there are some, especially hardliners in the coalition government, who want to see instead an immediate military operation against hamas in rafah.

meanwhile, the israeli government has voted unanimously to close the operations in israel of the qatar—based tv channel aljazeera. a tweet from the israeli prime minister's office called it the incitement channel. in cairo, ceasefire talks are still in play. hamas has sent a delegation, but they have been locked in talks with mediators. the sticking point appears to be they want a permanent end to the fighting, notjust a pause, and israel isn't ready to give that commitment. in gaza, the war continues. the hamas—run health ministry puts the latest death toll at over 3a,000. the world food programme warns of famine, something israel denies. "god willing," says this woman in rafah, "my big hope is that this ceasefire happens and we can all return to our homes." gazans are desperate for this war to end. so are many israelis, but others in israel see this

as unfinished business. they want this war pursued until hamas is utterly destroyed. frank gardner, bbc news, jerusalem. and a short time ago frank sent in this update from jerusalem on those peace talks. both sides want a deal. the problem is that they want it in slightly different ways on different terms. israel has gone about as far as i think it's prepared to go. it reduced the minimum number of hostages that it wanted out in the first tranche. it reduced its figure from a0 down to 33. that's out of a figure of roughly 90 to 100 israeli and other nationality hostages thought to be still alive in gaza. they've also agreed to allow the return of displaced palestinians from rafah in the south, where they're currently concentrated, to their homes in the north. but the sticking point, as you mentioned there in the cue, is how does this end? and hamas are very reluctant,

very unwilling to sign up to a deal to give up their key bargaining chip, the hostages, only to find themselves coming under full—scale assault. and the israeli government has made no secret of the fact that it wants to continue this war once it gets its hostages back. so that's not a very attractive... not a very, you know, not much of an incentive for hamas there. so the mediators, that's primarily egypt and qatar, but also with us... we arejust we are just breaking into that to ta ke take you to paris now where china's leader has arrived in france. it is his first visit to europe in five years. as well as france, he is expected to visit serbia and hungary between now and friday. you can see that he is just arriving on that air china plain into paris. excluding trips to

russia, his last visit to europe was in 2019 and then there was the covid pandemic which of course stopped travel. this trip comes at an important time with tensions over trade with the eu considering imposing tariffs on chinese electrical vehicles and beijing doing likewise over brandy imports. he is expected to meet president macron and ursula von der leyen tomorrow. france would like china to pressure russia to end its war in ukraine, a scenario analyst so it is very unlikely. that we see president xijinping arriving into paris. his first visit to an eu country in five

years. the visit we know is marking... it is taking place as china marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with france and we are expecting those talks to take place over the coming days and into friday. 0n place over the coming days and into friday. on monday, we are expecting he will meet the french president and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen. macron and ursula von der leyen and president xijinping last macron and ursula von der leyen and president xi jinping last met macron and ursula von der leyen and president xijinping last met in april when they flew to beijing. macron arrived with a 50—strong business delegation and left with 18 cooperation agreements inked between french and chinese companies, caused a storm on that trip when he told reporters that europe should not become "america's followers" on the taiwan issue. the us president, joe biden,

has repeatedly said that the us would defend taiwan militarily in the event of an attempted chinese annexation. there we are, we are seeing president xijinping there we are, we are seeing president xi jinping arriving to light rain, it looks like, they're in paris on the first trip he has had to the eu in five years. 0k, had to the eu in five years. ok, let's get more 110w more now on the israeli government decision to close down the al jazeera tv channel in israel. this has been happening throughout the day. sebastian usher is our middle east analyst at the bbc world service. we have had some news in the last half an hour or so from our security correspondent injerusalem who says israeli police have already raided the offices of the qatar —based channel and that was within hours of that decision. to shut it down. it

seems very swift. it that decision. to shut it down. it seems very swift.— that decision. to shut it down. it seems very swift. it is, swift, but it has been _ seems very swift. it is, swift, but it has been building _ seems very swift. it is, swift, but it has been building for _ seems very swift. it is, swift, but it has been building for some - seems very swift. it is, swift, but l it has been building for some time. this is something the israeli government, now this far right government, now this far right government has very much pushed for and especially in the context of the gaza war, events since october the 7th attacks. aljazeera, which israel has accused for a very long time of being anti—israeli, against its journalists, journalists have been killed. most famously two years ago a star correspondent of al jazeera for the arab service that they run in the occupied territories was killed, aljazeera accused israel 100% of having carried it out and since then israel has said the chances are it was an accidental killing. this showdown between al

jazeera and israel goes back a long way, but really this has become much stronger during the gaza war and al jazeera has really been the only international media outlet which has been able to keep its reporters on the ground. they have been reporting essentially 2a hours a day on its arab and english language channels. again, that is something the israeli government is very much against and believes it is essentially acting as a mouthpiece for hamas and they said that specifically, they have even accused aljazeera staff of collaborating with hamas. so this announcement today which was made by the prime minister benjamin netanyahu was the prime minister benjamin neta nyahu was followed the prime minister benjamin netanyahu was followed swiftly by the communications saying he had assigned it and as we have seen actually, the communications minister posting a video of the raid within a couple of hours of this happening. so the powers that israel has over aljazeera to confiscate

its broadcasting equipment, close its broadcasting equipment, close its offices and to block access to its offices and to block access to it on satellite and its websites. what we are hearing from israel is that has happened, it is no longer attainable by a satellite or cable in israel, but there are other ways of doing it, and as frank was saying, you can get it on facebook now and it is very difficult to completely close down access to a network like aljazeera. i am network like al jazeera. i am wondering — network like al jazeera. i am wondering your _ network like al jazeera. i am wondering your analysis, - network like aljazeera. i am wondering your analysis, what do you think this means in terms of people's views of benjamin netanyahu? we have seen more protests in recent months but for the people in israel in particular, what do you think their perception will be of this? i'm thinking more in terms of free speech.— in terms of free speech. yes, i understand — in terms of free speech. yes, i understand that. _ in terms of free speech. yes, i understand that. i— in terms of free speech. yes, i understand that. i think - in terms of free speech. yes, i understand that. i think in - in terms of free speech. yes, i l understand that. i think in terms in terms of free speech. yes, i - understand that. i think in terms of the critics of benjamin netanyahu date back before october at the seventh he basically went on the streets in hundreds of thousands every saturday to protest against what they saw as a move from his government to close down the ability for thejudiciary to take

government to close down the ability for the judiciary to take positions against what the government wanted to do. they would say this is another attack on free speech. i think many israelis they would see this as this is a time of war, al jazeera i think many people, if they do watch it, would see it as some kind of propaganda. they would see it as taking two strongly a pro—palestinian and his ready position, so i don't think it will change particularly the way israelis see benjamin netanyahu. they already see benjamin netanyahu. they already see him as someone opposed to free speech and democracy in israel then they will see this is another side but. —— if they already see him as someone opposed to free speech. this is a time of war, and just as there are many israelis against the way in which the what has been fought by the israeli government and military and the casualties, they are not necessarily against the fact of the war in the first place because what happened on october the 7th. thank ou ve happened on october the 7th. thank you very much- _ conditions continue to deteriorate in southern brazilfollowing massive flooding and landslides,

with 70,000 residents forced from their homes. the government says at least 66 people have died and another 101 are missing. further rainfall is expected. brazil's president, lula da silva, is paying his second visit to the southern state of rio grande do sul in recent days, to witness first—hand the devastating week—long flooding and landslide. jon donnison reports. much of brazil's most southerly state is under water. roads turned into rivers and more than 25,000 people forced to flee their homes. translation: now, when i'm being rescued, i feel relieved, | but it's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way. it rose at a very high speed. after a week of storms and heavy rain, at least 500,000 people are without power and clean water. translation: i need a lot of help, a lot. i we have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. we have nothing. and the very young are

being impacted, too. this tiny baby had to be winched to safety by helicopter. many of those who died were killed by landslides. and at least two people lost their lives when the floods caused an explosion at a petrol station in porto alegre. brazil's military has been brought in to help with the rescue effort and to distribute aid. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter than average temperatures, high humidity, and strong winds, and forecasters say it's not over yet. jon donnison, bbc news. i spoke to my colleague from bbc brazil, paula adamo idoeta, who told us more about the rescue operations. the rescue operations are still under way, there are many people trapped, confined in their homes or villages that have been completely surrounded by water, they cannot get in or out. and also flying over these areas has

been very difficult, these are the largest ever floods in this area in southern brazil due to a combination of temporary weather conditions, with el nino and of course the effects of climate change. and the local river in porto alegre is now overfive metres high, the city's defence systems are struggling to cope with such a massive amount of water, which explains why it has been very hard to rescue people in these conditions. we know that more than 60 people have been killed, at least 100 are still missing. are there fears that those numbers of victims could increase? absolutely. there are fears that numbers could go higher. around 70 people have been displaced, many people are still, you know, their whereabouts unknown, and we have been connecting with people on the ground and they say they are, you know, desperately trying to connect with friends and family, know their whereabouts, know if they're safe. and less than a year ago, the same area faced floods as well,

but not with such intensity and volume, which for brazilians is a stark reminder of the effects of global warming. also, local environmentalists we have been interviewing, also blaming politicians and congressmen for loosening environmental controls and rules on deforestation in the past few decades. we know the president is visiting for a second time, clearly taking this very seriously. what kind of message is he hoping that sends? well, there has been a message of hope, trying to find people, but also of the alarming effects of how the weather has been very hard to cope with in the past few years and with the climate getting warmer, it is also a reminder that things could potentially continue like this. now it's time for a look at today's

sport with jane dougall. we start in the premier league. aston villa could qualify for the champions league this sunday. their match is one of three fixtures in the premier league. two have kicked off already. villa are playing brighton at the amex and if they win and other results go their way, they'll secure a top four finish. they're into the second half. it's currently 0—0. chelsea are hosting west ham where it's 4—0 to the home side — thanks to goals from cole palmer, connor gallacher, noni madueke and nicolas jackson. and in the late game, liverpool play tottenham at anfield. if spurs lose, that would help villa. however, it would be disappointing for tottenham, who started the season so well, and boss ange postecoglou admits his side have a lot of work to do going forward. we are a long way off, but that doesn't mean we can't challenge next year. i don't know which other way to put it.

i think in terms of the team i want us to be, we are a fair way off, but i'm not dismissing the fact that we have to be competitive and have to challenge for success every year i'm here. he's a world cup winner, has lifted the champions league trophy four times and is an eight—time ballon d'or winner, but last night, lionel messi broke a major league soccer record, as his inter miami team beat new york red bulls 6—2. the argentina captain got five assists and scored a goal, which means he contributed to all six. that is a record for an mls game. the former liverpool and barcelona forward luis suarez also claimed a 12—minute hat—trick. max verstappen will be the firm favourite to win the miami grand prix later and extend his lead in the formula 0ne drivers�* championship. the world champion has won four of the five races this season and started every race from pole. he took the top spot on the grid in miami a tenth of a second ahead

of the ferraris of charles leclerc and carlos sainz. lando norris was the best—placed british driver in qualifying, claiming fifth on the grid. it is going to be an interesting race because fourth place was fast this morning, so we have to see the stars, it will be very important, the first lap will be important to try and stay within range of max but the best scenario will be to try and be in front of max and that will be down to the start. iwith be in front of max and that will be down to the start.— be in front of max and that will be down to the start. with two because we can try and _ down to the start. with two because we can try and put _ down to the start. with two because we can try and put red _ down to the start. with two because we can try and put red bull- down to the start. with two because we can try and put red bull and - down to the start. with two because l we can try and put red bull and max, hopefully— we can try and put red bull and max, hopefully something better. the final of the world snooker championship is underway at the crucible in sheffield. kyren wilson is facing the welsh

qualifierjakjones. cleveland cavaliers and orlando magic will fight it out later for the final place in the nba's eastern conference semifinals. they are tied at 3—3 in their series. meanwhile, the first of the western conference semifinals took place in minnesota. and it was the home side, the timberwolves, who won, taking a 1—0 lead against the defending champions denver nuggets. anthony edwards top scored with 43 points in a 106—99 victory. they'll play the second game on monday in denver. the final of the world snooker championship is underway at the crucible in sheffield. kyren wilson is facing the welsh qualifierjakjones. these are live pictures. kyren wilson is flying — he's taken the first five frames. this is him at the table now, jones. he got to the final four years ago but lost out to ronnie 0'sullivan, so he wants to go all the way here. this is a first world championship finalforjakjones.

if he were to win, he would be the first qualifier since 2005. and that's all the sport for now. you can keep up—to—date on the bbc sport website. a huge free concert by madonna has taken place in rio dejaneiro, with a crowd of over 1.5 million believed to have attended. i should warn you there are some flashing images in the pictures we are about to show you. the brazilian show had been billed as a thank—you to her fans for decades of support, and marks the end of her "celebration" world tour, which began in london in october last year. 0rganisers say copacabana beach transformed into the "world's largest dance floor" as madonna performed a string of hits from her ito—year career. here's entertainment writer beatrice hazlehurst. i think that's such a love letter to her fans. i mean, and it really shows her dedication to herfans. i think, like, she is one of the prevailing artists who's always shown that she appreciates the love and support that's given to her.

and it's never been about commercialism. it's always the authenticity of the artistry and that is so special to see play out at this scale. i think she is someone who is totally propelled by maintaining her relevancy, and i think that's why this won't be her last tour, even though it's billed as this, you know, the celebration, this kind of last hurrah. i don't think we're going to see the last of madonna for a long time. and we may even see a totally different madonna in five, ten years. and she may go again. whether it's going to be at this level, who knows? i mean, to be 65 and performing for 2 million people is absolutely inconceivable. but you have to think, i mean, look, this is one of the most successful female solo acts in history at this point. i think that reallyjust goes to show, like, her staying power. i mean, the tour in general hasjust received such incredibly positive reviews. there has been some kind of mixed bag responses, in that she's admitted some of her biggest hits, like, the lucky stars of it all. but ultimately, i mean,

from vogue to like a virgin and her, like, michaeljackson tribute as well, there has just been so much to sink your teeth into with this tour. and i, honestly, i wish i went. yes, absolutely, me too! there is plenty more on all these stories on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we've got some pretty big contrasts in weather to take you through the rest of this afternoon. for parts of the country, it will stay cloudy with a threat of rain — for example, here in southwest england. other places, though, quite a contrast. we'll have bright skies, plenty of sunshine, and it will become warm, particularly in parts of the midlands. the satellite picture tells the story quite nicely, with a beautiful curl of cloud down towards the southwest. that's an area of low pressure. band of rain working into southwest england. showers running ahead of that. then we get a slice of sunshine. we've got cloudy skies with us

again, affecting scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england. there will be showers, too. the showers quite frequent this afternoon for east scotland. we've got more general rain for parts of cornwall, devon and probably dorset. showers running into southern wales and central southern england. now, where it stays cloudy, temperatures on the cool side — 12—15 degrees — nothing special about that. but where the sunshine comes out across parts of wales, the midlands, east anglia, even southeast england, temperatures reaching the high teens, perhaps even the low 20s. and that will feel warm. 0vernight tonight it stays cloudy for northern areas of the country with a few more patches of rain around. temperatures 8—10 degrees for the most part. but in the coolest parts of the countryside, wales, midlands, northern england, could see temperatures as low as four. tomorrow, well, broadly speaking, we're looking at a showery day. those showers really building into the afternoon, and this time, the shower is going to be quite a bit more widespread, but it'll also be a lot heavier. yeah, there is a chance of seeing some thunderstorms as we go through monday afternoon,

with hefty downpours. probably the best of the sunshine, again affecting parts of the midlands, east anglia and northern england. otherwise a fair bit of cloud knocking around. we start to see something of a change in the weather pattern though, through tuesday and wednesday, as an area of high pressure builds in. not the strongest high — there will be weather systems coming around the top side of that, but nevertheless it will do. and for tuesday, should be more in the way of dry weather. some spells of sunshine around, just a few showers across western areas. a bit of high cloud in the sky will make the sunshine hazy at times. but those temperatures starting to come up a little bit. 16 for belfast. england and wales — high teens to low 20s in more areas. and that trend of warming weather continues really through the rest of the week ahead. there will be a lot of dry weather. the exception, scotland, where there could be a bit of rain at times, but even here, it should start to feel warmer as the week goes by.

this is bbc news, the headlines. after heavy losses in the local elections in england, the former home secretary, suella braverman, has told the bbc rishi sunak needs to "change course" if the conservative party is to avoid a political wipeout. attempts to secure a ceasefire in gaza are continuing for another day in cairo, with the two sides still unable to agree the exact terms of a truce. lengthy negotiations on saturday failed to yield any breakthrough.

the israeli cabinet has decided to close down the operations of the aljazeera television network in the country. prime minister benjamin netanyahu had previously described it as a "terrorist channel". aljazeera has described the decision as "criminal". china's leader xi jinping has arrived in france. he's expected to meet french president emmanuel macron tomorrow, along with the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen. more now on the fall out from thursday's elections. the conservatives suffered significant losses in what was one of the party's worst ever performances in england's local elections — culminating with defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to labour. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has been crunching the numbers. let's start off with that result that came in late last night, the west midlands mayor race.

here it is. a fascinatingly close result.