a bleak set of local election results for the conservative party. hello. efforts are intensifying to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in gaza as the israel—hamas war approaches the seven—month mark. a delegation of hamas negotiators arrived in cairo on saturday. cia director william burns is also in the egyptian capital to mediate. the talks are reported to have ended for the day — with a senior hamas official telling the afp news agency there have been "no developments" but talks are expected to continue sunday. let's take a look at where things stand. the main sticking point is whether a ceasefire deal will be permanent or temporary. a hamas official says the group will not agree to a truce that does not fully end the gaza war. israel is reluctant to agree to this. israeli forces remain

active in gaza. mediators have been waiting for hamas to respond to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for forty days — and to exchange hostages, for palestinian prisoners. but even if a deal is reached, israeli prme minister benjamin netanyahu insists there will be a fresh military offensive in rafah. there has been widespread international concern that an israeli ground operation could endanger more than one million palestinians sheltering there. our correspondent anna foster injerusalem has more on where negotiations stand as of saturday. we're at that point in proceedings where, through the afternoon, i've been watching in the regional media, various briefings, everything from saying we're on the verge of an agreement — the framework

of an agreement — everything through to israel saying no, they won't agree to a ceasefire to end the war permanently. the key thing at this point in time is this is the moment where we hear these briefings and hear different things from different sides but until we get some sort of official word, potentially from the egyptian mediators, in charge of the talks in cairo, really all of that is background noise. what we do know is that one key sticking point is the idea of a permanent ceasefire. now, we know that is a key part of what hamas is asking for out of this deal, the idea that there would be eventual end to this war, rather than just a temporary ceasefire, while the exchange goes on. we know 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 deliver on the aim of fully removing hamas from gaza. they have been saying at the last few days even if there is a deal that military operation will go ahead.

bbc arabic�*s abdel—bassir hassan has also been following negotiations and has the latest from cairo they are taking it soriously. a statement made by a hamas leader have made some complications of the scene here. they said they are coming with their basic demands of full cessation of the war, full and complete withdrawal of the israeli troops from gaza and full access to the strip as well as free movement which seemingly had a reaction from the israeli side twice. this

day, some media quoted a diplomatic official 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. anti—war protests at us colleges continued on saturday, some conflicting with graduation ceremonies. pro—palestinian demonstrators interrupted a graduation ceremony at the university of michigan. some graduates held palestinian flags while chanting slogans in the packed stadium. amid growing demonstrations over the war in gaza — more universities are bracing for disruptions at graduation ceremonies. meanwhile: police at the university of virginia tore down tents and cleared out protesters after declaring the encampment an unlawful assembly and columbia university in new york is rethinking its commencement plans. more than a0 us college campuses have seen student protests or encampments over the past two weeks. earlier i spoke to the director

of the cato institute�*s center for educational freedom neal mccluskey. neal mccluskey thank you for coming in the studio. we saw disruptions in the graduation ceremony in the university of michigan. what do you mac of it overall? we've seen dozens of universities with these protests. how do you think they are balancing the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of expression on campus with concerns potentially of safety? i think every campus is different. every state where a lot of these things are happening is different. it's a difficult line to draw. i think different institutions draw on the different places. generally i don't think we've seen a lot of colleges that have had over—the—top police responses. i think they too ied

over—the—top police responses. i think they too led to let the protesters speak. they often will allow them to have their encampments but they do say, "look, you can't interrupt something really important, you can't interrupt the education, you certainly can't interrupt graduation" especially considering ago a lot graduating now missed a lot of couege graduating now missed a lot of college because of covid and they would at least like to end with normalcy. so they're trying to make this balance, we can continue to operate as an institution while allowing you to speak. then there's the bigger question of in some states, we have universities, governors, sometimes legislatures, will say, "we need to be stricter with police coming in and breaking these things up" and then it gets a little more dicey. we things up" and then it gets a little more dicey.— things up" and then it gets a little more dicey. we saw the governor _ little more dicey. we saw the governor of _ little more dicey. we saw the governor of texas _ little more dicey. we saw the governor of texas bringing i little more dicey. we saw the governor of texas bringing in j governor of texas bringing in troopers quickly to demonstrations there. universities have always been thought to be a place of open discussion, of scholarly classes, of digging in on some difficult topics, like the war currently in the middle east.

do you think that universities are struggling to do that right now? are they not able to engage with in topic in a way that relates more towards classes or studies? clearly with the — classes or studies? clearly with the protests - classes or studies? clearly with the protests and - classes or studies? clearly with the protests and the l with the protests and the encampments, there are difficulties. ucla had a clash of protesters that got really ugly. i think protesters are saying what they want to say, making statements, and a big production out of what they want. i haven't seen a lot of it lead to constructive dialogue. i think if you go into universities and the dormitories, into the classes, you are probably seeing kids more engaged with in, on the one—on—one, free exchange of ideas. are not always, let's get together with people we

with, it's — let's get our message out. with, it's - let's get our message out.— with, it's - let's get our message out. with, it's - let's get our messaue out. ., ., ., , . message out. you wrote a piece, "feds should — message out. you wrote a piece, "feds should leave _ message out. you wrote a piece, "feds should leave campus - "feds should leave campus unrest to others". what role do you think the government should play when it comes to the protests?— play when it comes to the rotests? , ., ,, , protests? so, this makes me very nervous- _ protests? so, this makes me very nervous. as _ protests? so, this makes me very nervous. as we - protests? so, this makes me very nervous. as we said, - protests? so, this makes me| very nervous. as we said, it's very nervous. as we said, it's very hard to draw this line. where do you draw the line between safety, academics and free speech. when the federal government comes in and says, "we will draw the line", if they get it wrong, everybody in they get it wrong, everybody in the country suffers.— the country suffers. have they rotten it the country suffers. have they gotten it wrong _ the country suffers. have they gotten it wrong in _ the country suffers. have they gotten it wrong in we - the country suffers. have they gotten it wrong in we saw - the country suffers. have they gotten it wrong in we saw the | gotten it wrong in we saw the can house speaker at colombia university himself giving a press conference, president biden speaking out a couple days ago. biden speaking out a couple days ago-— biden speaking out a couple da saao. _., ., ,, days ago. they started to speak on it but they — days ago. they started to speak on it but they generally - days ago. they started to speak on it but they generally have . on it but they generally have not passed legislation. they have also had hearings that i think are kind of counter productive. they bring college presidents in front of a congressional committee and grill them for hour us. it more seems like venting. that is not

helpful. they recently in the house passed a bill that has a definition of anti—semitism they would like to apply to investigations of colleges, that i think is very dangerous and jeopardising free speech because it's notjust saying, if it is a clear threat it should be illegal, but if you say things that could be combined with a threat, that we say is anti—semitism — we need to have a very clear line that speech is protected, especially from the federal government. we saw a lot of _ from the federal government. we saw a lot of comparisons now between these protests and the anti—war protests in the late 60s. how much of a political liability do you think that the current protests are for the democrats and for biden's chances of re—election? i’m democrats and for biden's chances of re-election? i'm not a political _ chances of re-election? i'm not a political prognosticator. - chances of re-election? i'm not a political prognosticator. we . a political prognosticator. we have seen that the biden administration is concerned about losing support in heavily muslim areas. i think he is certainly worried about it seeming like he doesn't have a

handle on this situation, but i think that the best thing he can do regardless of politics is not do something excessive from the federal government, not do an executive order, or something to try to quash these protests. it's ok to, if he feels he needs to use the pulpit to say, "can't we discuss this and do it peacefully?" i think that is mainly what we're seeing in the protests. the best thing otherwise is for him to not get involved. , , ., involved. universities and politicians _ involved. universities and politicians walking - involved. universities and politicians walking that i involved. universities and i politicians walking that line, trying to find a way forward when it comes to these protests. n director of cato centre for educational freedom, thank you. local election results in england came in thick and fast satuday — and the news was grim for uk prime minister rishi sunak and his conservative party. the most shocking result was in the west midlands, centred on the uk's second—largest city, birmingham, where two—term conservative mayor andy street lost to richard parker from the opposition labour party. the bbc�*s political editor

chris mason reports. how are you feeling, andy? we will see. 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... l cheering 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. so where do i go? 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 of 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. bluntly, is rishi sunakto 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 excuse 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... elsewhere, 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. labour also won in liverpool, salford, south yorkshire and west yorkshire. but the eye—catching result today is in the west midlands. chris mason, bbc news in birmingham. we can tell you the results now as we approach a general election. as we approach a general election-— as we approach a general election. �* , . ~ election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes _ election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes between - election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes between the i election. it's a knife edge. - 1500 votes between the labour victor and andy street despite half a million votes were cast.

this these are the percentages. very close. 37.8 to 37.5. not the 12%, that very close. 37.8 to 37.5. not the i2%, that was an independent candidate critical of labour's policy on the war in gaza. despite that labour made it through. there's the swing. it wasn't just the west midlandses. london today as well.

a swing to labour. the conservatives hoped to close the gap, the opposite hand. we now have a good picture across the country. 106 of 107 councils declared. labour up 185. a good result. the conservatives down 473. they lost almost half of all the seats they defended on thursday. a bad result. you can see the liberal democrats have on thursday's results just overtaken them. it's worth pointing out the greens are up 74. pointing out the greens are up 7a. finally this. this is what they will study in headquarters. what it might mean for a general election. when you speak to people in labour h0. they sound confident it is in the right places.

in the democratic republic of congo, a deadly bombing of a displacement camp the eastern city of goma on friday killed at least nine people, including children. the congolese army and the m23 rebel group blame each other for the attack. the attack has been internationally condemned. the us says it is �*gravely concerned' about the expansion of m23 fighters and army forces from neigbouring rwanda in eastern dr congo. french president emmanuel macron has also urged rwanda to end its alleged backing of m23. rwanda rejects claims that it is involved. congolese president felix chissa—keddy cut short his visit to europe following the attacks. government officials are urging people in goma to remain calm until it carries out a proportionate response. the humanitarian situation is deepening amid violence between the congolese army and various militia groups that are trying to take control of mineral—rich land. more than 6.5 million people are internally displaced overall. for more on the situation, i spoke to founder of ngo focus congo pappy 0rion. he's currently in goma visiting displacement camps.

thank you for being here. i know you are currently in goma, visiting camps of internally displaced refugees. what have you been seeing? thank you for having me. i am currently in goma and the situation in goma with the displacements and when you go through the camps you see desperation. you see thousands of people with no shelter, no food, no clean water. it is desperate. for me, as someone who was born here, and had been in this situation, it's inhumane to see how the people are living here. is humanitarian aid making it to those people there? what do they need? what's the situation like?

yes. i think some humanitarian aid is there, but there's not enough for all the people in the displacement camp. there's around almost 7 million internally displaced people in the drc and one of the camps, i visit a camp. i new we have around 800,000 people and the humanitarian aid is really not reaching all the people. there are some organisations, some international and some organisations on the grass—root level, that are doing work here but it is not enough and not reaching all the people. we know several people were killed, weren't they, in an attack on a camp in goma friday. how dangerous is the situation right now? how surprised were you by that attack? yes, i was not too surprised because we know that

situation has been occurring and three days ago, a bomb fell and fell into the lake there and it didn't reach any people but yesterday unfortunately these bombs fell inthe displacement camp. these bombs fell in the displacement camp. pappy 0rion working in the drc, thank you. appreciate it.

it is scary at any given time a bomb could be dropped on the city, not only a displacement camp. where i am sitting right now to the displacement camp is only 2km. it's a scary situation.— only 2km. it's a scary situation. ~ ., ., , situation. do we know anything more about _ situation. do we know anything more about who _ situation. do we know anything more about who might - situation. do we know anything more about who might be - situation. do we know anything i more about who might be behind that attack? we know that there are several dozens of armed groups operating on that territory, right?- groups operating on that territory, right? yes. and we know that — territory, right? yes. and we know that indeed _ territory, right? yes. and we know that indeed there - territory, right? yes. and we know that indeed there are l territory, right? yes. and we know that indeed there are a j know that indeed there are a lot of different armed groups. i cannot confirm myself, but i know exactly, but whether it is true, but i heard from witnesses that the bombs can come from the m23 rebels and the people say is that the

government put a big weaponry close to the camp. so they were targeting these weapons and unfortunately these bombs fell into the displacement camp and took the lives of all these people. took the lives of all these eo - le. ~ g; took the lives of all these --eole. ~ g; , took the lives of all these --eole. , , people. m23 rebel group has taken over— people. m23 rebel group has taken over the _ people. m23 rebel group has taken over the town - people. m23 rebel group has taken over the town of - people. m23 rebel group has l taken over the town of rubaya, it's a key area for mining. i wanted to ask — what role do these minerals play that are mined in the eastern part of the drc that many of them crucial for things like smart phones? crucial for things like smart -hones? , crucial for things like smart hones? , ., , phones? indeed. these minerals, one of the — phones? indeed. these minerals, one of the most _ phones? indeed. these minerals, one of the most important - one of the most important factors of what is happening right now in this region. these rebels are, many multinational companies are scrambling for these minerals. so, as i believe, many multinational companies are sponsoring the rebels for them to keep on extracting the minerals. i know

that we all know that these minerals play an important role to our daily life. i'm talking here now because of those minerals. so, all the smart phones, all the social media, we use electronics, automobiles, electric automobiles, electric automobiles, this is part of, an important part of that. this is one of the major parts. potentially part of the instability in the region. pgppy instability in the region. pappy 0rion, founder of focus congo, an ngo in the drc, thank you. congo, an ngo in the drc, thank ou. �* , , . ., scientists are collecting dna from pine martens that have mysteriously reappeared in the new forest here in the uk after decades. the native mammals were once common across the country but are now critically endangered in england and wales. 0ur environment correspondent helen briggs, has the story.

if you go down to the woods today you might be in for a surprise. conservationists certainly were when their hidden cameras spotted a mystery animal in the ancient woodlands of the new forest. initially it was an ear, but how on earth would you tell a pine marten's ear? irate how on earth would you tell a pine marten's ear?— how on earth would you tell a pine marten's ear? we can rule out pretty _ pine marten's ear? we can rule out pretty much _ pine marten's ear? we can rule out pretty much everything - out pretty much everything other than pine marten. than out pretty much everything other than pine marten. an ear wasn't enough, _ other than pine marten. an ear wasn't enough, so _ other than pine marten. an ear wasn't enough, so they - other than pine marten. an ear wasn't enough, so they set - other than pine marten. an ear wasn't enough, so they set up| wasn't enough, so they set up cameras. fix. wasn't enough, so they set up cameras. �* , wasn't enough, so they set up cameras-_ wasn't enough, so they set up cameras. ~ , ., .., , cameras. a pine marten comes here and stopped _ cameras. a pine marten comes here and stopped for— cameras. a pine marten comes here and stopped for a - cameras. a pine marten comes here and stopped for a selfie . here and stopped for a selfie at this camera?— here and stopped for a selfie at this camera? pretty much, es! at this camera? pretty much, yes! caught _ at this camera? pretty much, yes! caught in _ at this camera? pretty much, yes! caught in broad - at this camera? pretty much, | yes! caught in broad daylight. proof this _ yes! caught in broad daylight. proof this native _ yes! caught in broad daylight. proof this native species, - yes! caught in broad daylight. proof this native species, lostj proof this native species, lost from most of the woodlands in southern britains thriving in the new forest after decades of extinction. hours of video footage confirms these shy secretive mammals which normally come out at night, have established a foothold and are breeding successfully. the big question — how did they

get here? the big question - how did they let here? . ., , get here? haha! yes, the million-dollar— get here? haha! yes, the million-dollar question. | million—dollar question. simply, we don't really know. dna tests could hold the answer, if you can get a sample from a pine marten. 50. answer, if you can get a sample from a pine marten.— from a pine marten. so, the velcro--- — from a pine marten. so, the velcro... inside _ from a pine marten. so, the velcro... inside this - from a pine marten. so, the velcro... inside this tube i from a pine marten. so, the velcro... inside this tube is| velcro... inside this tube is velcro. _ velcro... inside this tube is velcro, designed _ velcro... inside this tube is velcro, designed to - velcro... inside this tube is velcro, designed to stick i velcro... inside this tube isj velcro, designed to stick to the fur, capturing samples that can be analysed in the lab. dna tests can tell us more about the size of the new population and perhaps where the pine martens originally came from. it the pine martens originally came from-— the pine martens originally came from. , , ,, . ., came from. it is suspected that they perhaps — came from. it is suspected that they perhaps escaped - came from. it is suspected that they perhaps escaped from - they perhaps escaped from somewhere where they were held captive. it doesn't matter. it's the fact they are doing so well here is so important. pine martens are — well here is so important. pine martens are critically - martens are critically endangered in wales and england, knowing why the environment here is to good for pine martens will help conservation efforts elsewhere.

and before we go, check this out — in a photo—finish, mystik dan won the 150th kentucky derby in louisville on saturday. you can see mystik dan here edging out two other horses — forever young and sierra leone — in his upset victory. the derby is the first leg of horse racing's triple crown, which continues with the preakness stakes in baltimore later this month. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. although temperatures in northwest scotland reached 19 degrees on saturday, other parts of scotland were not as lucky. in argyll and bute it was a lot chillier. here we had temperatures of 23 degrees on friday but it was back down to 15 at best on saturday. further south though it felt a lot warmer because the sun was out — bedford one of the warmest parts of the country. we've got a bit of fair cloud and a little rain heading into the southwest of england by the morning, pushing

into wales, eventually towards the south—east of england, but ahead of that, plenty of sunshine, mist and fog patches clearing, cloud will bubble up, the odd shower perhaps. we have more cloud though and more showers come into scotland and the far north of england. should be a bit drier and maybe brighter across northern ireland. but the highest temperatures are going to be across northern england and into the midlands, 18 or 19 degrees here, with some sunny spells. could be a bit of a sneezy day, mind you. we are moving into the grass pollen season and pollen levels are going to be high across the midlands and southern england, even though in the south, we're going to find a bit more cloud just dampening down the temperatures. most of that rain we see here will fade away during the evening but we will import some rain from the continent later on in the night and we've still got those heavy showers pushing down across scotland and into the far north of england. then, for the bank holiday monday morning, temperatures are going to start at around eight or nine degrees. fly in the ointment on bank holiday monday is that weather front there, it's not really moving very far at all and around it, we are pushing in more cloud and probably more rain actually for southeastern parts of england into central southern england and in towards the midlands.

still got cloud and heavy showers in scotland, the far north of england. maybe staying dry but maybe cloudy in northern ireland and across other parts of northern england, wales, the midlands, towards the south—west, there will be some heavy and thundery, slow—moving showers in the afternoon. 0n the whole, more showers around for bank holiday monday, temperatures not quite so high, almost anywhere could catch a shower. tuesday though looks a little bit drier. we have still got the odd shower around across scotland, into northern england, the midlands, perhaps into wales, but not as many showers, not as heavy showers. the south and southeast are looking dry and warm, it may well be dry in northern ireland once again. and the theme as we head further into next week is for high pressure to build and that means things for many of us will turn dry, there will be some sunshine and those temperatures will be climbing as well.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello and welcome. this week, we're coming from the bbc�*s radio theatre for a special event focusing on press freedom. an information iron curtain has fallen across large parts of the globe. for billions of people, access to impartial news reporting is now restricted. state disinformation has reached industrial levels

and we're going to focus on three countries — iran, china and russia. and we'll also hear how people are taking on the censors, how they're bypassing the firewalls and doing everything they can to access the truth. hello and welcome. well, this week, katie and i have left our normal studio in new broadcasting house and we've come a few floors down to the bbc�*s radio theatre. we are broadcasting from an event called bbc world service presents, which is focusing on press freedom, the reasons why it's under increasing pressure around the world. press freedom means journalists being able to report without threats to their safety, without government interference, without laws designed to punish them for their work. for many, though, press freedom is elusive. the reuters institute for the study ofjournalism talks of democratic backsliding

in some parts of the world and the economist calculates that more than 39% of