us universities increase pressure on anti—war demonstrators to suspend protests but students say they aren't going anywhere. obviously no—one here has left and everyone here is willing to put everything on the line for it. and as russian missile attacks continue, president zelensky warns that western weapons aren't arriving fast enough. i'm helena humphrey, glad you could join me. western leaders are urging hamas to accept a ceasefire offerfrom israel, which could pause fighting in a war that has lasted over 200 days and according to gaza's hamas—run health ministry has killed 3a,000 gazans. america's top diplomat — us secretary of state antony blinken — is making a high stakes trip to the middle east — asking regional leaders to press hamas to accept the terms of a new deal. mr blinken says the offer

is "extraordinarily generous". hamas negotiators have reportedly left peace talks in cairo, saying they will return with a response, though there is no indication of a timeline. frank gardner has more, from jerusalem. not for the first time there is a cautious sense of optimism, both here and in capitals around the middle east. that this isn't the end of the gaza war but there could be some kind of breakthrough in ceasefire talks. why? because for the first time we're seeing some really quite considerable concessions being talked about. nothing's firm yet, nothing's actually been publicised, signed, agreed, announced, but what's been debated is the permission by the israeli military for large numbers of palestinian displaced people, currently who are sheltering in the south of the gaza strip, in the south of the gaza strip, in the city of rafah, to move back

to their homes in the north. that's something that israel has resisted in the past. israel, reportedly, would also remove some of its forces from gaza. this would be during the a0 day truce. and there would of course be the exchange of hostages and prisoners. probably hundreds, if not thousands, of palestinian prisoners coming out of israeli jails in return for a rather lowerfigure than was originally demanded by israel — an initialfigure of around 33 israeli hostages. now, from the israeli side, there is dual pressure going on here. pressure from the united states to do this deal, and pressure domestically from all the families and friends of the hostages who've been demonstrating and shouting louder and louder against the government here — "your policy isn't working". the netanyahu government has always insisted that the only way — or the best way to get the hostages out is by military pressure, but it's not working —

it's not producing any results — and they can see that, and every day that goes by increases the risk that more of those hostages will die in one way or in another. so, there is, as i say, there is cautious optimism at this time it's possible that the differences between the two sides, while not narrowed completely, are narrowing and we might well know the answers in the next 72 hours of whether this deal is going to fly or fail. frank gardner, bbc news, jerusalem. earlier, i spoke to laura blumenfeld, a former senior advisor on the middle east at the us state department, now a senior fellow at thejohns hopkins school of advanced international studies. welcome to you, laura. very good to have you with us once again. we're starting to get some idea of the potential contours of what this deal might look like. some potential concessions on the israeli side in terms of the number

of hostages, then on the hamas side in terms of the length of that ceasefire. it is potential at the moment but what do you make of the shape of that deal? secretary antony blinken has his foot on diplomatic gas — the question is is he in neutral or drive? we've been here before. i'm optimistic today for several reasons. first of all, as your reporter indicated, hamas is being offered a better deal, an improved deal, and they acknowledge that. for the first time in seven—months, israel is softening their position. i'd say the second reason is — hamas, by releasing those two hostage tapes last week of the american hostages that they're holding, they're clearly playing their big cards. that says to me that they're under increased pressure, whether from within or from without, they're ready to cut a deal. also on the israeli side, i think that there's been some horse trading with president biden. there was a nearly hour—long phone call yesterday between netanyahu and biden,

and 75% of that time, i'm told, what took place was about the hostage deal. there's also the icc which is threatening to issue arrest warrants for netanyahu and others, so i have a feeling there's a little bit of trading there. you know, if you soften on the hostage deal, we'll protect you at the icc. and finally and very important, it can't be underestimated, the impact of the israeli jewish calendar. coming up in the next week is holocaust memorial day which is very emotionally evocative for israelis, and two weeks from now we'll have independence day. i don't see how they're going to be able to celebrate without a deal. laura, you were mentioning there the softening stance when it comes to hostages, around 33 potentially being released — down from the 40, and of course we know many other people are still being held. how do you think the israeli public would react to that? well, i think it's sort of a sad reality but they've been forced

to put their arms around it which is that they now understand that a0 may not be alive. the numbers keep reducing of how many people are alive and i think their sense is quit while you're behind and let's bring home who we can. protests against the war in gaza are ongoing on university campuses across the us. you can see pictures here of protests on campuses in washington dc, texas, wisconsin and new york all continuing on monday. more than 350 people were arrested at campuses across the country over the weekend. and in new york, columbia university officials have begun reportedly suspending students involved in protests after they defied a 2pm deadline to disperse. earlier today our north america correspondent nomia iqbal spoke to mahmoud khalil, a student negotiator, for more. mahmoud, you are one of the negotiators. it has been said that the negotiations have failed. can you tell us why that is? ., ., , ., , failed. can you tell us why

that is? ., ., ,., , ., , that is? colombia is actually refusina that is? colombia is actually refusing to _ that is? colombia is actually refusing to acknowledge - that is? colombia is actually| refusing to acknowledge this movement. they are dealing with this as a matter of internal student discipline rather than a movement, an anti—war movement, at what is happening in palestine.— in palestine. essentially you are calling _ in palestine. essentially you are calling on _ in palestine. essentially you are calling on the _ in palestine. essentially you are calling on the university| are calling on the university to cut economic and diplomatic ties with israeli institutions. is that correct? exactly. our first and basic demand is for the institution to divest its funds from companies who are contributing and profiting from the genocide that is happening in gaza and the whole apartheid system in gaza. it in gaza and the whole apartheid system in gaza.— system in gaza. it sounds like ou are system in gaza. it sounds like you are not — system in gaza. it sounds like you are not going _ system in gaza. it sounds like you are not going to - system in gaza. it sounds like you are not going to get - system in gaza. it sounds like you are not going to get what| you are not going to get what you are not going to get what you want if she is saying that negotiations have failed. what is next for the movement? do you think people will stay or stop moving? you think people will stay or step moving?— you think people will stay or stop moving? this is not the first time — stop moving? this is not the first time that _ stop moving? this is not the first time that the _ stop moving? this is not the first time that the university | first time that the university have threatened their students with discipline, with police. they have done that every day in these last 12 days with a different threat. yes, we can

see that. the students are here, they are holding their ground until they get what they want which is divestment from the israeli occupation. we've worked with the university and we've compromised a lot and we've compromised a lot and we've reached a point where we asked them to divest from weapons manufacturing companies and those companies who are complicit in human rights violations and yet the university refused to do that. what they offered is mechanisms, for divest didn't without any sort of assurances from the board of trustees, they will actually follow the recommendation of these process. definite protests. i suppose you can't stay out in the tents for weeks on end, i suppose you can?— the tents for weeks on end, i suppose you can? they can. my famil is suppose you can? they can. my family is left — suppose you can? they can. my family is left intense _ suppose you can? they can. my family is left intense for- suppose you can? they can. my family is left intense for many l family is left intense for many years after they were expelled from palestine, from 1930 —— from palestine, from 1930 —— from 19118 until the early 70s they lived their days in the camps so this is not anything like the people of gaza are now

facing. they live under the threat of bombs and they live in open shelters or closed shelters so this is nothing compared to that. pare shelters so this is nothing compared to that. are you worried at _ compared to that. are you worried at all— compared to that. are you worried at all that - compared to that. are you worried at all that we - compared to that. are you | worried at all that we might see the same scenes of what we saw nine or ten days ago police coming in, arresting people, using zip ties. are any of you scared or worried or apprehensive about that? and also what the consequences might be for you after? {iii might be for you after? of course. — might be for you after? of course, the protesters here know this. the university has done it before. it is highly probable that the university would bring police again stop they have threatened that even after the first time they throw police hair, they threatened us with the public, with the national guard. but everyone here, they know the risks and they know this risk is could be imminent, yet they are holding their ground.— their ground. and very quickly, must mood. — their ground. and very quickly, must mood, what _ their ground. and very quickly, must mood, what would - their ground. and very quickly, must mood, what would you i their ground. and very quickly, l must mood, what would you say to those students who are not onside who just say we want to graduate, this is a distraction

—— mahmoud. graduate, this is a distraction -- mahmoud-— graduate, this is a distraction -- mahmoud. actually this is a distraction _ -- mahmoud. actually this is a distraction of _ -- mahmoud. actually this is a distraction of what _ -- mahmoud. actually this is a distraction of what is _ distraction of what is happening in gaza right now. this is indeed a distraction of what is happening in gaza. again, there is nothing to cancel the graduation for any of that. we recognise that graduation is a huge moment, a huge milestone for us families and students to celebrate but, it is in the university's hands. of the university comes in now and says we are willing to negotiate with you in good faith then we can end the encampment in a matter of days. now for about three months, bbc arabic�*s adnan el—bursh reported on the war in gaza while living in a tent, eating one meal a day, and struggling to keep his wife and five children safe. since october 7th, more than 100 journalists have been killed in gaza, according to the organisation, reporters without borders. israel says it takes all feasible measures to mitigate harm and says it never deliberately targets journalists. adnan has been keeping a video diary, documenting the harrowing moments he faced covering a war that pushed him to his limits.

right now tens of thousands of people are moving south. i am with my family. _ people are moving south. i am with my family. we _ people are moving south. i am with my family. we are - people are moving south. i am with my family. we are more l with my family. we are more than 15 people in the car, heading south. ever since i started journalism i have been covering conflict. i covered all the wars that have happened in gaza. this was something different. it was a strange. as soon as we understood there was a breach by israel, we knew that they would be a response and that response would be

unprecedented. i am and that response would be unprecedented. iam part and that response would be unprecedented. i am part of the story where is my family, where are they up to, how should i cover this war, journalistic live stop the qatari news network aljazeera said the family of its correspondence was killed in a strike on a refugee camp in the strip. what ha--ened refugee camp in the strip. what happened affected _ refugee camp in the strip. what happened affected me. - refugee camp in the strip. transit happened affected me. seeing journalists targeted i started asking, am i a target? his family were bombed in the same neighbourhood my family were in.

translation: i am translation: iam now translation: i am now in a cemetery in an area in rafah. it is the first time in my life that i have seen a scene like this. a large collect of grave being excavated. the army wanted to hand over a number of remains. there were about 80 to 100 bodies. they were delivered in a big box in the van and the stench was overwhelming. i apologise. there is a very unpleasant smell. so, we have got to the gate. are you filming? if it wasn't for this situation, i would not be leaving. it is with a heavy

heart we leave gaza. first and last choice is gaza. i should go back. when will it all end? no—one knows. the bbc�*s adnan el—bursh reflecting there on his time in gaza. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at another story making the headlines. the national crime agency has issued an unprecedented alert to all schools in the uk, warning about the danger of so called �*sextortion'. that's when criminals trick young people into sharing intimate images of themselves online and then blackmail their victims for cash. angus crawford explains. gangs pose as young men or women, send explicit videos or pictures to targets they identify via social media. they demand the same in return. then... voiceover: the film will be

shared with your friends, - your family, your workmates... everyone you know. unless, you pay. the nca is warning that the criminals are increasingly targeting young people, especially teenaged boys. it's mainly done by gangs based in west africa or southeast asia. their aim — terrify children into handing over as much money as they can. the nca say they want parents and schools to take the alert very seriously but not to panic. you're live with bbc news. russia is continuing its aerial bombardment of ukrainian cities. a russian missile attack on an educational institution in the southern port city of odesa has killed four people and injured around 30. seven are in serious condition. the regional governor said the dead included three women and one man. president zelensky said

on monday that russia is taking advantage of the slow delivery of western aid. while much needed military assistance is beginning to arrive, mr zelensky said it needs to be delivered faster. ukrainian forces in recent months have suffered from a shortage of ammunition and air defence systems that has given russian forces an advantage on the battlefield. here's what mr zelensky had to say earlier, at press conference with nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg. translation: promptness in weapons supply literally | means the stabilisation of the frontline in ukraine. artillery 155 calibre, long—range weapons and air defence, primarily patriot systems, these are the weapons our partners have these must be the weapons that should be at work here in ukraine to destroy russia's terrorist ambitions. the russian army is preparing for further offensive and together we must disrupt that. our partners have all the means necessary for this. officials in central kenya say at least 45 people have been killed after a dam burst

its banks following days of heavy rains and flooding. on monday, people in villages near mai mahiu, about 60 kilometres — or 37 miles — from the capital, nairobi, were swept away as they slept. nationwide, more than 100 people have died and another 130,000 have had to leave their homes. however, there are fears many more could be buried under mud and debris. our africa correspondent barbara plett usher has the latest from the scene. the tide of water woke people up the tide of water woke people up with its war of destruction. no time to scramble out of the way. this rushing river used to be a stream. rescue teams worked long after disaster struck, saving those they could. finding and counting the dead. a village that was turned upside down in an instant. the water came from that direction, crashing through the village,

gouging out the valley and the river burst its banks. you can see all of the damage. the cars destroyed, trees were uprooted, houses are swept away, houses destroyed. people were carried away by the floodwaters. dozens of people dead but they are still searching for bodies of the missing. peter's has survived but not his neighbourhood. he spent the night pulling people out of the water and out of the mud. timer;r water and out of the mud. they were little _ water and out of the mud. they were little babies _ water and out of the mud. they were little babies in _ water and out of the mud. they were little babies in the - were little babies in the water, all the people, and a lot of things, things have been swept away. actually, it was a very bad, people are crying, who are losing their lives, people are losing their loved ones and people actually are still looking for their loved ones, still now.— ones, still now. the rainy season — ones, still now. the rainy season has _ ones, still now. the rainy season has been - ones, still now. the rainy. season has been punishing ones, still now. the rainy- season has been punishing this year. bringing ruin here, elsewhere in kenya and the region. deden muiri was up to his neck in water before he had time to think. he saw the flood

to take his wife. it took him in the opposite direction. he grabbed a tree branch and held onto life, so did she, but not much else. no home, just bits of furniture. there is heavy rain expected in the next few days. more dams are filled to the brim may be more disasters to come. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, mai mahiu, can you. —— —— kenya. scotland is looking for a new leader after its first minister, humza yousaf, announced he'll step down afterjust 13 months in office. mr yousaf�*s political future was thrown into doubt on thursday, when he ended a power—sharing deal between his scottish national party and the scottish greens. it left him facing a confidence vote he was at risk of losing our scotland editor, james cook, has more from edinburgh. mr yousaf, are you resigning today? a simple answer — yes.

not at home in dundee, though, but here at the official residence of the first minister in edinburgh, the place which gave its name to the power—sharing deal with the greens which humza yousaf dumped so disastrously last week. unfortunately, in ending the bute house agreement in the manner that i did, i clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset that caused green colleagues. i've concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done by someone else at the helm. mr yousaf will have a place in the history books as the first muslim, the first descendant of immigrants, and the first scots asian to lead scotland's devolved government. but his time in office was tough — most of all when his in—laws were trapped in gaza for a month. but he also lost a westminster by—election to labour and endured policy problems from hate crime to gender health care, all with his party under the shadow of

a police investigation. the drama here today isn'tjust about who occupies this house, it's about what they want to do while they're in there. and this whole affair has highlighted divisions in the snp — divisions on how to achieve independence, divisions on economic policy, and divisions too on social issues, not least — the most contentious topic of gender. as he found out, governing is hard, but governing without a majority is much harder. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. a closely watched trial is under way in the german city of stuttgart — over an alleged far—right coup plot to overthrow the german government. nine men appeared in court, accused of planning the rebellion, with the aim of installing an aristocrat as head of state. it is the first of three trials taking place over the coming months — which together forms one of the largest legal proceedings in recent german history. our correspondent damien mcguinness has more from berlin.

the nine suspects going on trial today formed allegedly the paramilitary wing of this failed coup attempt. some of them are former soldiers and they're accused of high treason and even, in one case, attempted murder. there are 27 suspects going on trial in total. the ringleaders are going on trial later in may in frankfurt. they include an elderly aristocrat and a woman who was once an mp in the national parliament for the far—right afd party, and also used to work as a judge. the coup plotters are accused of wanting to overthrow the german state. they allegedly planned on storming the german parliament building, and they wanted to hold mps hostage and were even prepared to commit murder and violence, according to these allegations. they're part of a broader movement across germany called the reichsburger movement, made up of all sorts of disparate groups and individualfigures, many of whom hold eccentric conspiracy theory ideas.

some of them set up their own mini kingdoms in the countryside buying land and castles, and even setting up their own currencies and refusing to pay german tax. traditionally, many of these people are simply dismissed as eccentrics with strange ideas. but increasingly, over the last few years, we have seen some of the groups prepared to, it seems, commit violence — increasingly hoarding illegally held weapons and, in some cases, this has led to shoot—outs with police, even police officers being injured and murdered. and if these allegations are true from prosecutors about the purposes of the alleged coup plotters, then the plans of some of the groups were, indeed, incredibly violent and dangerous to german democracy. damian maginness in berlin. let's turn to some important news around the world. the french actor, gerard depardieu will be tried in october over two allegations of sexual assault, according

to the paris prosecutors office. he's accused of molesting two women on film sets. mr depardieu, who's 75, already faces a rape charge, as well as other claims of assault by more than a dozen women. depardieu strongly denies all the allegations. spain's prime minister pedro sanchez has announced that he will stay in office despite threatening to resign following accusations of corruption against his wife begona gomez. mr sanchez insists the allegations are part of a harassment campaign by the right—wing media. his announcement came after weekend protests in madrid, calling for him to continue in his post. english premier league football clubs have agreed in principle to introduce a new spending cap. at a shareholders meeting in london on monday, a majority of clubs voted in favour of the plan, which will be determined by the amount of money earned in television rights by the lowest—earning club in the league. if approved atjune's premier league annual general meeting, the new model will come into place from the 2025—26 season.

now, one cat from utah got into a very hairy situation, when she ended up getting accidentally mailed hundreds of miles to california as a package return. this is galea na. she disappeared earlier this month, prompting frantic searches. luckily, she had a microchip. she was rescued by an amazon worker a week afterjumping into one of the family's packages undetected. despite having had no food or water for days, she was found in good health. the cat's owner carrie said "galeana loves boxes — it's just part of her personality." try getting a cat to change. you are watching bbc news. i will have more at the top of the hour. join me then if you can. bye—bye for now. hello there. monday brought some bright and breezy conditions for some of us, and in the sunshine it felt pleasantly warm, particularly if you had a little

bit of shelter. in fact, we saw temperatures around 17 degrees through east anglia and down into the london area. it was a very different story furtherwest, however. cloud and rain lingered for much of the day and in some spots we had just shy of half an inch of rain. now, if we take a look at what's going to come through tuesday, it will be a similar kind of story. unfortunately, out to the west we'll see quite a lot of cloud and some outbreaks of rain. clearer skies further east and with lighter winds we'll see a little more in the way of sunshine. so showery rain across south—west england, wales and into northern ireland through the morning. that low pressure not moving very far, so it'll stay rather grey and damp. we could see a few scattered showers across east anglia and south—east england into the afternoon. but sandwiched in between the two, a lovely slice of sunshine. temperatures will respond, the high teens quite widely here. even in the cloud

and rain, well, we'll see temperatures mid—teens for some. some improvement into northern ireland. western scotland keeps a few scattered showers, but eastern scotland a little bit cooler with a breeze coming in off the sea, but it will be largely dry and sunny. so that low pressure just pulls a little bit further out to the west and the wind direction changes to more of a south—easterly. now, to start off with on wednesday it'll be a relatively mild start but that south—easterly breeze, well, that could just drive in a little more cloud in off the north sea and the potential for some showery rain to drift its way along those east coast once again. so west will be best on wednesday in terms of sunshine and potentially in terms of warmth. so we could still once again see temperatures into the mid to high teens quite widely. now, as we move out of wednesday, towards the end of the week, the weather story gets a little bit messy. it's likely that that weather front could still enhance some showers across central and southern england. the low pressure never too far away with the best of the drier, brighter weather the further north. we are always going to keep

those temperatures, though, slightly above the average for the time of year. but still, that wind coming in from the east. so at times we will be chasing cloud amounts around. there will be some outbreaks of rain, but it'll stay relatively mild into the bank holiday weekend.

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.

my daughters are... ..very different. marieme is very quiet, very reserved. introverted personality. ndeye, don't. it's completely different with ndeye. she's very independent. you share with your sister. she wants to be in charge of everything. to have conjoined twins, as a parent, you have something that you didn't expect... ..something that you never imagined. i would not pretend that it is easy. it is not. but it's a huge privilege, a huge blessing. you feel lucky to witness this constant battle for life.

at mount stuart primary school in cardiff bay, marieme