richard parker, narrowly beat the conservative�*s andy street — who had served two terms in the role. the labour mayor of london, sadiq khan, was re—elected for a historic third term. overall, the conservatives lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections in england. this morning, the transport secretary, mark harper, said while the results were disappointing, the general election was still "all to play for". but speaking to the bbc, suella braverman insisted her party here is this report from our correspondence, damian grammaticas. it's a result that will send a shudder through conservatives. the shudder through conservatives. tie: conservative shudder through conservatives. tue: conservative party candidate, 224082. ., conservative party candidate, 224082. . ., ., , 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' _ 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' mayoral - 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' mayoral race. i 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' mayoral race. al 224082. labour victorious in the - west midlands' mayoral race. a tiny margin in a region of 2 million people. one of the conservatives' high—profile metro mayors, andy street, toppled. the labour leader was there to celebrate. the message out of these elections — the last elections now, the last stop before we go into that general election — is the country wants change. i hope the prime minister is listening and gives the opportunity to the country to vote as a whole in a general election as soon as possible. mr street said conservatives should not respond to defeat by shifting further right, but follow his moderate policies. 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 tell you what, it was bloody close — pardon 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, it would be complete madness to have another moment of introspection. in total, labour won ten of the 11 mayoral races, including london — a third term for sadiq khan. labour also topped the results in the english local council elections, gaining more than 180 seats. liberal democrats captured over 100, putting them into second place in the tally of total seats won. that pushed the conservatives, who lost more than 470 councillors, into third place — a dire set of results for them and, with andy street's loss, deprived of a final consolation. damian grammaticas, bbc news, westminster. asi as i mentioned, the former home secretary, suella braverman, has been talking to the bbc this morning. she was on laura kuenssberg on sunday and she insisted her party faced electoral oblivion without a change in direction. we are, at this rate, you know, we'll be lucky to have any conservative mps at the next election, and we need to fight, and i'm not willing to give up. you know, it does me no favours to come here and say it how it is, to set out the difficult situation that we are in, but i owe that honesty to my colleagues, i owe that to you, and the british people who are crying out for a conservative party to vote for. let's speak to now to the acting editor of the political news website conservative home, henry hill. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. miss brother men saying the plan is not working and needs to change, is that a view shared in the wider party. —— suella braverman saying. wider party. -- suella braverman sa inc. , ' . ., , wider party. -- suella braverman sa in. m . ., wider party. -- suella braverman saina. ., ., saying. difficult to see what you do at this point. _ saying. difficult to see what you do at this point, six _ saying. difficult to see what you do at this point, six months _ saying. difficult to see what you do at this point, six months out - saying. difficult to see what you do at this point, six months out from | saying. difficult to see what you do| at this point, six months out from a general election with 14 years of government behind you. it's not clear what rishi sunak could do to change the course of events at this point, which is one of the reasons that the attempt to get rid of him, which so many people have been talking about if weeks of these results have been terrible hasn't happened, there isn't candidate and there isn't time. it is certainly there isn't time. it is certainly the case that the effort the prime minister has been making over the last year and a bit is clearly not working, the conservatives' pole position has not only started closing with labour, it hasn't even stabilised. it is still trending downwards. there is deep cause for concern but tory mps i have spoken to are a little bit fatalistic about the upcoming election. they don't see there is all that much they can do at this point it turned things around. d0 do at this point it turned things around. ,, ~ , ., do at this point it turned things around. i. ~ , ., ., around. do you think they have a [an to around. do you think they have a plan to try _ around. do you think they have a plan to try and — around. do you think they have a plan to try and turn _ around. do you think they have a plan to try and turn things - around. do you think they have a l plan to try and turn things around? —— at this point to turn things. look, they will try something. they hope from people in downing street is that if you give it another six months, the economic situation will start improving and people will feel that in their wallets. if they have an election in november, there is an opportunity to have another so—called fiscal events like the budget, wherejeremy hunt can deliver ideally some very well targeted tax cuts, spending interventions, and other policies, which might make voters think again about switching to labour. you have got to think about where the conservatives are, they have been in power in one form of an hour since 20 ten —— in one form or another. any time you attack the status quo, any time you declare this or that is unacceptable and needs to change, understandably voters say you have beenin understandably voters say you have been in powerfor almost 15 years, why haven't you done anything about it? not all of that is a rishi sunak�*s fault by any means but he is in an extreme difficult position where every time he really goes for something as a policy issue, he really says that is it, this is unacceptable, voters are going to ask why the conservatives haven't done anything about this before. t5 done anything about this before. is there anything positive they can take away from these results? there are a handful — take away from these results? there are a handful of _ take away from these results? there are a handful of areas _ take away from these results? there are a handful of areas where - take away from these results? there are a handful of areas where they - are a handful of areas where they held on in individual councils and that maybe suggests that there are still places where a strong individual campaign can buck the national trend. individual campaign can buck the nationaltrend. i individual campaign can buck the national trend. i know there are conservative mps who are really assiduous local campaigners who work really hard who are hoping that, actually, however bad the national picture is, it may be that their work on the of their constituents will be enough to make the difference. 0bviously, will be enough to make the difference. obviously, the big counterargument to that is andy street, who everyone agrees has been a very good mayor of the west midlands and has worked very, very hard but was not able to overcome the drag factor of the state of the national conservative brand. there's a silver linings are few and far between. andy street winning would have been the thing that allowed the conservatives to walk away from this may be having salvaged a bit of optimism. his failure to carry through as a way left them with no silver lining is at all particularly.- silver lining is at all particularly. silver lining is at all articularl . ., ~ ., silver lining is at all articularl. ., ., ., particularly. thank you for “oining us on bbc news. �* efforts to secure a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages are due to resume in cairo, after lengthy negotiations have so far failed to yield any breakthrough. one of the main sticking points appears to be whether the deal would be temporary or permanent, with hamas saying it would not accept any deal that did not explicitly include an end to the war in gaza. but in an interview with the bbc, an israeli minister said that even if all the hostages were released, they would not end the war in gaza, and the operation on rafah would still go ahead. we'll play you that in a minute, but first, these images are of rafah, where israeli air strikes continue. gaza's health authority says more than 30 people have been killed there in the last 24 hours alone. in israel, tens of thousand of protesters in tel aviv and jerusalem renewed calls for a hostage deal. hundreds of people gathered in democracy square. relatives of the hostages also gathered at a military base in the city to urge the israeli government to make a deal. let's bring you that interview with israel's minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism. i began by asking him for insight from the israel's government's point of view, on how the talks in cairo are going. so, the terror organisation of hamas is... thinks that it can force the state of israel to stop the war or to escape from an operation in rafah to eliminate the five or four battalions that remain for the terror army of hamas. that's not going to happen. we said clearly that we are going to eliminate hamas, and that's our obligations for the victims of october 7th and for the future generations of the citizens of israel, especially the residents of the region of western negev next to gaza. so are you saying even if all of the hostages were released, your operation in rafah would still go ahead? these are two separate issues. we have full commitment to do everything we can to bring back the hostages. this is our moral obligations. these people were abducted by hamas terrorists, and we will do everything to bring them back. but, on the same time, we cannot allow a situation that we have a military threat from a terror organisation from gaza strip whatsoever. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardner, is injerusalem, and gave us his assesment on the ongoing ceasfire negotiations. where do we stand on the ceasefire deal right now? hamas want an end to the fighting and a total israeli withdrawal. now, of course, there's no guarantee that that isn't going to be a one—sided ceasefire. in other words, they get israel to stop fighting and somewhere down the line they start lobbing rockets into israel again. that is a fear here in israel, that, you know, they commit to this deal only for the cycle of violence to start all over again. israel wants its hostages out and it also wants to see the destruction of hamas. now, those two are not necessarily completely compatible because hamas holds a key bargaining chip in the form of the roughly 90—plus hostages, who are thought to still be alive, held probably in tunnels somewhere in gaza, probably in rafah below ground. the protesters, the tens of thousands of protesters, that we saw here last night in israel demanding a deal now, regardless of what your minister says, the vast majority of them, the overwhelming message from those protesters is — stop delaying, make a deal now, get the hostages out. and the deal that is on the table is a 40—day pause in the fighting, release of roughly 33 israeli hostages, that's around a third of those thought to still be alive. and, in exchange, palestinians would be allowed to move north from where they're currently concentrated in rafah. they'd be allowed to move north back to their homes in gaza. and there would be a release of large numbers of palestinians from israeli jails. what israel won't currently commit to is an end to the fighting and the hardline right in the government here want to see an immediate or imminent assault on rafah. that is the district in southern gaza where hamas's final battalions are thought to be holding out, and more particularly, yahya sinwar, who is the military leader of hamas, the architect of the october 7th massacre in southern israel, and the man who the israelis really want to get their hands on and to eliminate. so, the hardline right don't want this war to stop until that is done. they think anything else is unfinished business. but those protesting on the streets, notjust relatives, but people who think that the government's policy is wrong, that the last five months of assault on gaza has killed a large number of palestinians, destroyed a huge number of buildings, ruined lives, and failed to produce any hostages released — they want a deal now. that is our security correspondent frank gardner. now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello, thank you. we will start with football. aston villa might have had a bad result in europe in midweek, but they could qualify for the european champions league later. they are away at brighton in the premier league. if villa win and tottenham lose away at liverpool, they will guarantee themselves a top—four finish. spurs have lost their last three league games and fallen off the pace. their manager ange postecoglou admits his side have a lot of work to do. we are a long way off but that doesn't — we are a long way off but that doesn't mean we can't challenge next year. doesn't mean we can't challenge next yeah i_ doesn't mean we can't challenge next yeah i don't_ doesn't mean we can't challenge next year. i don't know which other way to year. idon't know which other way to put— year. i don't know which other way to put it _ year. i don't know which other way to put it in — year. i don't know which other way to put it. in terms of the team i want _ to put it. in terms of the team i want us — to put it. in terms of the team i want us to— to put it. in terms of the team i want us to be, we are a fair way off, _ want us to be, we are a fair way off, but— want us to be, we are a fair way off, but i'm_ want us to be, we are a fair way off, but i'm not dismissing the fact that we _ off, but i'm not dismissing the fact that we have to be competitive and have to _ that we have to be competitive and have to challenge for success every year i'm _ have to challenge for success every year i'm here. while villa hope to claim that final champions league spot, liverpool have already qualified, and despite their late collapse in the title race, outgoing managerjurgen klopp says being back in europe's elite club competition is still a big achievement. going back to the start of the season, — going back to the start of the season, nobody knew and everybody knew how _ season, nobody knew and everybody knew how important it would be to qualify— knew how important it would be to qualify for— knew how important it would be to qualify for the champions league again _ qualify for the champions league again it's — qualify for the champions league again. it's what we did. it's super important — again. it's what we did. it's super important for the future of the club and i'm _ important for the future of the club and i'm really happy about that. carlo ancelotti says his side "deserved" to win the la liga title, which was confirmed after their rivals barcelona were beaten 4—2 by girona on saturday. real beat cadiz 3—0 prior to that game, despite ancelotti chosing to heavily rotate the team around their champions league semi—final with bayern munich, semi—final with bayern munich. you can see what it means to the supporters. the second leg of the semifinal is to come on wednesday. the real boss says he's looking forward to celebrating the league title with supporters. translation: we are very happy. to be honest, translation: we are very happy. to be honest. we — translation: we are very happy. to be honest, we would _ translation: we are very happy. to be honest, we would love _ translation: we are very happy. to be honest, we would love to - be honest, we would love to celebrate it with our fans but i think— celebrate it with our fans but i think they understand we have a very important _ think they understand we have a very important challenge on wednesday. and we _ important challenge on wednesday. and we want to prepare very well, did give _ and we want to prepare very well, did give another moment of happiness to our— did give another moment of happiness to our fans _ did give another moment of happiness to our fans. we will celebrate the la liga _ to our fans. we will celebrate the la liga title next weekend altogether and happy —— to give another— altogether and happy —— to give another moment. next to tennis and the world number one iga swiatek saved three championship points to beat aryna sabalenka and win herfirst madrid open title. this was the first meeting of the top two players in the world this season — with swiatek coming out on top — to win the tournament for the first time and her 20th career title. she won it 9—7 in the final set tie—break to avenge her defeat in last year's final. if you have great players, you know, always— if you have great players, you know, always working hard to, you know, be better, _ always working hard to, you know, be better, and _ always working hard to, you know, be better, and you are competing with them, _ better, and you are competing with them, for— better, and you are competing with them, for sure it gives you motivation to work harder. i think you know— motivation to work harder. i think you know now it's also about who's going _ you know now it's also about who's going to _ you know now it's also about who's going to work and smarter than harden — going to work and smarter than harder. we can play great tennis under_ harder. we can play great tennis under pressure —— work smarter. the final of the world snooker championship starts later, as kyren wilson and jakjones meet in the best of 35 frames. jones beat 2015 champion stuart bingham 17—12 in the semis in what was a gruelling encounter. ifjones triumphs against wilson, he would be the first qualifier since shaun murphy in 2005 to lift the trophy. the minnesota timberwolves beat the defending nba champion denver nuggets 106—99 in the first game of the conference semi—finals. anthony edwards scoring a play—off career—high of 43 points for the timberwolves, and despite nikola jokic�*s 32 points it wasn't enough to bring the victory for the nuggets. they will play the second game on monday in denver. in major league baseball, shohei ohtani has surpassed his manager dave roberts' record, now becoming the franchise leader for most home runs by a japanese—born player. he hit three home—runs to help the los angeles dodgers get a 11—2 victory against the atlanta braves on saturday — taking him to 179 career home runs in the majors. a great achievement. and that's all the sport for now. breaking news from israel. the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says the government has decided to close the government has decided to close the aljazeera channel in israel. early in the week, there had been reports that this may happen. the two recent post earlier last week had learned that the cabinet was set to approve that decision to close al jazeera in israel. and now we are hearing, you can see, this is a post on social media from mr netanyahu saying himself government headed by me has unanimously decided, and he calls it "the incitement channel", aljazeera will be closed in israel. confirmation of the reports that we had had earlier in the week that this was something that the cabinet was thinking of doing. benjamin netanyahu confirming that they had unanimously decided that aljazeera would be closed in israel. we don't have any details about how that is going to work. there is a national security law preventing foreign broadcasters from harming national security. that may be how they will look to do it. we have the confirmation from benjamin netanyahu that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that as that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that as we that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that as we get that they are going to close the al jazeera station in israel. we will bring in more on that as we get more details from the israeli government about how that is going to happen. officials in brazil say they've doubled their rescue efforts in the southern state of rio grande do sul, which has been devastated by days of intense rain and flooding. more than half a million people are without power and clean water. more than 50 people have died — with 70 others missing. in the regional capital, porto alegre, the main river broke its banks, submerging entire neighbourhoods. two people were killed in an explosion at a petrol station where emergency vehicles were being refuelled. one dam has collapsed and others are at risk of failing with more rain forecast. officials say more than 10,000 people have been rescued as floodwaters continue to rise. these pictures show the moment emergency teams broke through the roof of a house to rescue a mother and her baby, who were stranded in the floodwaters. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter—than—average temperatures, high humidity, and strong winds. professor chris turney is an earth scientist, and pro vice—chancellor of research at the university of technology in sydney. he gave us his assessment of the impact of the flooding. it's a tragic situation. this is actually the fourth major flooding these poor people in southern brazil have suffered from over the last year. and this one is the worst for 80 years. but it's very much falling into a pattern now, as you say. a combination of absolutely horrific conditions combining to create this extreme event. the first one is the el nino. people might be familiar with that. it's a warmer tropical pacific ocean. it's one of the biggest causes of climate variability on the planet. and it's basically shifting the wind planet, the wind belts at the moment. it's something that's just started to ease off. but this is a last hurrah, by the looks of it. and it's basically shifting the rains to the south. people might have remembered the awful drought the amazon suffered from. but in the south, it causes flooding. but on top of this, you're absolutely right, its global heating. it's basic physics. we're putting so much carbon pollution into the air, it's adding around four hiroshima bombs of energy to the atmosphere every second. now that's every second — and hotter air can hold more water and so that's got to go somewhere. and, unfortunately, we're going to get more of these extreme events and they're going to be dropped on people around the world, causing these devastating impacts. we're having to build more resilience into our communities, into the way we live. we can't keep concreting over everything. you'll hear a lot of people talking about sponginess of cities and landscapes where we can absorb that moisture when it's wet and then give it out, release it, when it's drier. but it's something we're going to see a lot more of. people might be aware, the tropical atlantic ocean is a lot hotter than normal at the moment. that doesn't bode well for the hurricane season in the us and the caribbean. we're going to have to do a lot more planning. it's not the new norm, because this is going to get worse. so we're going to have to build that resilience into our communities, but, at the same time, get that carbon down. but the good news is we can do it, but they cost an awful lot — not just financially, but humans — damage, as well, to the environment and our society and the tragic loss of life by not doing anything. and time and time again, it's far cheaper and better value to build that infrastructure now, than wait for the effects and then try and build back. and we've got to build back better, as well. so, unfortunately, we don't have any choice. we've just got to get on with it. governments, communities, industry, we're all learning together. we've got to help each other and get on with it. the family of the 14—year—old boy who was killed in a sword attack in north east london on tuesday say they are "devastated" by his death. daniel anjorin died in hainault on his way to school. a local church service to remember his life will take place today. simonjones reports. a community in shock. a community that will come together today with a church service to mark daniel's life — a boy described by his family as loving, amazing, precious. in a statement, they said: daniel had left the house for school and then, he was gone. his favourite football team, arsenal, paid tribute to him in the 14th minute in their match against bournemouth. commentator: 14-year-old - daniel anjorin, big arsenal fan who, sadly, lost his life in hainault. two police officers and two members of the public were also injured in the sword attack last tuesday. daniel's family said they would like to send their best wishes to them following what they called this unthinkable incident. they also thanked the local community for their support. marcus monzo has been charged with murdering daniel. he's also been charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm. he will next appear in court on tuesday. simon jones, bbc news. a huge free concert by the pop superstar madonna has taken place in rio dejaneiro, with a crowd of over 1.5 million people believed to have attended. i should warn you, there are some flashing images in the pictures we are about to show you. # nothing really matters # nothing really matters # lovers all we need # the brazilian show had been billed as a thank you to herfans for decades of support, and marks the end of her celebration world tour, which began in london in october last year. organisers say copacabana beach transformed into the "world's largest dance floor" as madonna performed a string of hits from her 40—year career. they certainly look like they were enjoying it in rio. in paris, a group of bakers will try to make the world's longest baguette today. these pictures show the last time the current record was set in como in italy nearly five years ago. the french stick must exceed 132.6 metres if they are to break the record. if successful the baguette would be long enough to reach beyond the second floor of the eiffel tower. our baking it in the traditional way. fingers crossed they do it, it would be nice for france to get back the record for the longest baguette. it has been a fine start to your sunday morning, especially across england and wales, we have had some sunny spells. it will stay largely dry with sunshine into the afternoon but in parts of west sussex, while it's been sunny this morning, we will see the cloud increasing with this swirl of cloud that has been moving into the south—west of england through the morning and it will continue to push its way north and east, which will bring in some cloud and some showers. those showers could be quite heavy, perhaps a bit thundery, later in the far south—west, as some sunny spells develop. sunny spells for much of north wales, the midlands, and eastern areas of england. just a small chance of a shower here. thundery showers in the north—east of scotland and maximum temperatures about 15—18 degrees. the warmest weather will be across north wales, the midlands, towards the east of england, where you'll have the best of the sunshine and this is where you'll have the highest pollen levels through today. elsewhere they will be moderate. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. tonight, showers across eastern scotland, drifting their way a bit further soutward. we will see quite a bit of cloud across england and wales tonight. it means it's not going to be quite as cold as last night. temperatures staying up at about nine or ten degrees celsius across many parts of the uk into bank holiday monday. we'll see this little area of low pressure going out into the low countries and that will clip the south—east of england. we will keep a close eye on that one because that could bring heavy and maybe thundery showers on monday. staying quite cloudy here. elsewhere, there could be the odd shower developing but mostly dry for england and wales with some sunshine. a bit more cloud further further north in england, into the central southern scotland. here there will be some showers as well. some brighter weather, some sunnier skies to the far north of scotland. temperatures perhaps down by a degree or so through tomorrow. but still pleasantly warm where you have got those sunny spells. so about 17—18 celsius. but then through the rest of the week, this area of high pressure builds in, bringing lots of settled weather. fine conditions for many of us. one or two weather fronts coming over the top of that into scotland and northern ireland. that would generally bring just a bit more cloud, perhaps some outbreaks of rain as we go through the week. temperatures here about 15—19 degrees. but for england and wales, plenty of dry and sunny weather, with those temperatures rising, 20, 21 degrees. bye— bye. this is bbc news, the headlines efforts to secure a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages are due to resume in cairo — after lengthy negotiations on saturday failed to yield any breakthrough. the two sides still unable to agree the exact terms of a truce. 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 wipe—out. labour's called for a general election. officials in brazil say more than 10,000 people have been rescued in the southern state of rio grande do sul as floodwaters continue to rise. at least 500,000 are without power and clean water, with further rainfall expected and madonna has staged her biggest ever concert to an audience of more than a million fans on copacabana beach in rio. among those who joined her on stage was her 13—year—old daughter. let's continue our coverage 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. our 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.