announcer: live from - washington, this is bbc news. at least 50 people, including children, are reportedly killed in israeli air strikes on rafah. the idf says it targeted a hamas—controlled compound. on the frontline in ukraine with the drone squads: we look at their influence on the course of the war. at least seven people are dead after a tornado ploughs through a rural area in texas. hello, i'm helena humphrey. glad you could join me. palestinian officials have accused the israeli military of carrying out a deadly air strike on an area for displaced people near rafah in southern gaza. video show a large explosion and intense fires burning.

the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says at least 50 people were killed, including women and children. the israel defence forces confirmed it targeted a hamas compound in the area. in a statement, it said: the incident is under review. earlier on sunday, hamas launched a missile attack on israel, for the first time in months. the israeli military said at least eight rockets were launched from the rafah area towards tel aviv. all the projectiles were either intercepted by air defence systems or fell in fields. meanwhile, our partner cbs news is reporting that us diplomatic efforts to broker a deal to release hostages held in gaza by hamas and other allied groups are expected to continue soon. negotiators from qatar, egypt and the united states will be part of the talks. cia director william burns last week travelled to paris to revive talks, after negotiations in cairo stalled earlier this month.

joining me now to discuss these developments is drjon alterman, director of the middle east program at the center for strategic and international studies and former us state department official. a warm welcome to you, john. great to have you back with us on the programme. i want to begin by discussing what we saw today and rougher, incurring a high civilian death toll. this is not an operation that washington had cautioned israel, saying it should be limited. in light of what we have been seeing now, do you think that might raise some questions? i think that might raise some questions?— think that might raise some questions? i do not think the operation — questions? i do not think the operation today _ questions? i do not think the operation today is _ questions? i do not think the operation today is what - questions? i do not think the operation today is what the l operation today is what the united states was warning about. what seems to happen today, both sides are right, i think hamas probably launched, hamas did launch missiles, and i think israel was trying to attack the base launches came

from and hamas operates out of civilian areas, that is what they have been doing for a very long time. the civilian death time is not a bug of what hamas was doing but a feature. there is a broader issue though, that the united states has been concerned for months and months at the israelis have absolutely no endgame, that they keep try to hit hamas but hamas keeps heading back. the images are getting worse and i think the real tragedy is each side thinks it is winning. and more people are dying and each side thinks that people dying is helping because it's cause and i am afraid it is going to go on. �* , . ~' i am afraid it is going to go on. h ., «m, i am afraid it is going to go on. h ., ~ ., ., i am afraid it is going to go on. h ., «m, ., ., on. let's talk about that and yorston assessment - on. let's talk about that and yorston assessment of - on. let's talk about that and yorston assessment of the l on. let's talk about that and - yorston assessment of the state of the war. you mentioned missiles going over to tel aviv, we have also said the idea of having to go back into the north of gaza. what does this tell us about what is being achieved here? certainly,

there are hamas _ being achieved here? certainly, there are hamas fighters - being achieved here? certainly, there are hamas fighters who i there are hamas fighters who have been killed. the numbers i've seen are somewhere around the neighbourhood of 10,000— 15,000, the neighbourhood of 10,000— is,000, maybe a third to v2 of 15,000, maybe a third to v2 of hamas fighters. maybe half of the tunnels have been penetrated by the israeli. that means half the hamas fighters are around, half the tunnel still unexplored and the ability of hamas fighters to continue to harass israelis, both israeli troops inside gaza and israel is to live in the area surrounding gaza, and as you saw today even israel is in many parts of israel, who would be vulnerable to hamas attack. we are not close to the end of hamas being a fighting force and a question for the israelis is how long can you sustain this, both in terms of weapons, in terms of israeli forces, but

also increasingly in terms of rolling public opinion which is turning increasingly harshly against israel. i turning increasingly harshly against israel.— against israel. i want to touch against israel. i want to touch a little bit _ against israel. i want to touch a little bit on _ against israel. i want to touch a little bit on whether- against israel. i want to touch a little bit on whether there i a little bit on whether there is any potential for diplomatic breaks at least. we have got negotiations which cbs news is reporting expected to resume later this week. do you think anything can come out of that? i think they can. you certainly have seen american negotiators feeling the sides were close, the atari negotiators were thinking the issues were close. the issue seems to be where this go? does the israelis want to ensure there is absolutely no role for hamas and hamas wants to ensure there is a role for hamas. i can imagine that in some ways you can fudge the difference but neither side at this point shows much willingness to fudge that different. i willingness to fudge that different.— willingness to fudge that different. ., ., ., ., . different. i want to also touch on these _ different. i want to also touch on these mornings _ different. i want to also touch on these mornings we - different. i want to also touch on these mornings we have i different. i want to also touch i on these mornings we have been getting from aid organisations,

including the united nations itself, about the prospect of a famine looming, and looming very close. if that is declared by the united nations, and i believe that is something that the state as well can determine, if we get to that stage what do you think that will mean for international pressure, for some kind of end to this warand, pressure, for some kind of end to this war and, as you say, that pressure we have seen growing on benjamin netanyahu and how this war is being prosecuted? i and how this war is being prosecuted?— and how this war is being prosecuted? and how this war is being rosecuted? ., , prosecuted? i agree, there is . rowinu prosecuted? i agree, there is growing international - prosecuted? i agree, there is. growing international pressure. what i do not see is that pressure really affecting the way israelis are talking about the war, feeling about the war. when you look at the hebrew language press, it remains really wholly uninterested in the civilian population in gaza and their increasing reports there are vigilantes attacks again any food shipment towards

gaza because there is a sense if you are supporting gaza you are supporting however, hamas and hamas is a group that killed israelis. so it seems to me that there is an international view that is turning increasingly harsh and, indeed, the declaration of a famine would make the international community i think even more harshly aligned against israel. what i have not seen yet is that starting to have an effect on the way israelis are talking about war aims, is well is talking about what they are doing, is rarely saying we are fighting for our survival and it is going to take more until hamas gives it up. and the famine is not part of the israeli discourse that i have seen at all. drjon alterman, director of the middle east program at the center for strategic and international studies and former us state department official. very good to get your thoughts. thank you. the death toll from a russian

bomb attack on a superstore in the eastern ukrainian city of kharkiv has risen to 16. russian forces hit the epicentre hardware superstore on saturday. police say six bodies have been identified, including two store employees and a 12—year—old girl, who was visiting the city. ukraine says it's managing to hold back russian forces near kharkiv using artillery, but also drones. jonathan beale tells the story of one drone unit in the kharkiv region. they are now one of the most potent weapons of this war — cheap, mass—produced drones being used to deadly effect. and here on the front, they are helping ukraine slow russia's advance. but still not enough. translation: we can hold them back with drones - and hurt them badly... but win with them? unfortunately no.

what do you call them? it is what they called themselves — peaky blinders, after the cult tv series. but flat caps are where the similarities end. they have been trained by western special forces. in just a few weeks they have hunted down more than 100 russian soldiers. terror from the sky. today, they appear to be hiding, so they look for something else. so you are stealing russian rifles from the russians, yes? yes, yes. it is russian, 0k. it is a second time this man has fought for this territory, his home. he once farmed the fields nearby and then he grew strawberries, now he is planting bombs. but he knows what they are doing will not end this war. translation: right now,

it is like two more or less| gladiators fighting each other and neither can defeat the other. fields may be frozen for several years or decades, but this war will last a very long time. the russians are learning too. when the peaky blinders tried to fly a kamikaze drone into a target, their signal gets jammed. russian drones are as much a threat to ukrainian forces. gunfire most take shelter under trees, easy now but harder in the winter. for both sides it is a constant game of hide and seek. explosion ukraine says it has now slowed down the russian frontline. it has stabilised the situation but there is still a fierce

battle going on. the much harder task will be to push the russians back. they might just weather this storm with the arrival of more western weapons. but what ukraine really wants is permission to use those weapons to strike inside russia. just a mile from the border, they are doing their best to intercept russian resupply but are hamstrung. we cannot stop the preparing of attack. so you need to target inside russia to stop them advancing here? of course. but you are not allowed to? no. and does that make sense to you? no. not at all. ukraine remains determined to fight but they are still looking to the west to give

them the tools to win. jonathan beale, bbc news, kharkiv. tornadoes in the united states killed at least 11 people and injured dozens more, leaving a trail of damage across parts of texas, arkansas and oklahoma saturday night. dave malkoff from our us partner cbs news is on the ground in valley view, texas. we spoke a little earlier. we can see the damage there behind you. talk to us about the level of destruction that you and your team have been seeing on the ground.- seeing on the ground. these storms are _ seeing on the ground. these storms are already _ seeing on the ground. these storms are already on - seeing on the ground. these storms are already on the i seeing on the ground. these - storms are already on the move, even right now, throughout the southin even right now, throughout the south in the midwest. there are multiple tornadoes that came through here in texas and we are right on the oklahoma border, we also have tornadoes that happened in arkansas as well. specifically at this gas station, and this used to be a gas station along the highway, there were about 60 people inside the gas station at the time. this was about nine

o'clock at night here in texas. they were going across the oklahoma border but all those people figured something is not right so they got inside this gas station and then one person was screaming out to all of them inside and saying, everybody, get in the bathroom right now! and that is key. everybody ran to the bathroom instead of being in the interior area of this gas station, where you can see multiple lives possibly could have been lost if they were in there. so everybody got themselves surrounded by as many walls as they could add those people survived, about 50-60 those people survived, about 50—60 people because the guy told them get in the gas station bathroom right now. well, thank goodness he knew what to do. but overall do you think people were prepared for the storms?— the storms? yes, it is really, really rough _ the storms? yes, it is really, really rough and _ the storms? yes, it is really, really rough and sometimesl really rough and sometimes people do not exactly know what to do when they see the alert go off on the phone. there is a

tornado watch, and that will tell you there was a possibility of a tornado around your area. then there is a tornado warning, saying radar is indicating there is a tornado actively in your area. and there is beyond that called a tornado emergency, which means there is a massive destructive tornado in the area. we have had several of those this month and last month. it has been a destructive day and a destructive day and a destructive few months here in tornado alley. this section of the middle of the united states where more tornadoes happen here than anywhere else on the planet. here than anywhere else on the lanet. �* ., here than anywhere else on the lanet. �* . ., , planet. and what has the response _ planet. and what has the response been _ planet. and what has the response been from - planet. and what has the - response been from authorities for those people affected? the thin ou for those people affected? the thing you can _ for those people affected? the: thing you can do for those people affected? tie: thing you can do to protect yourself is make sure you are inside a building as hardened as possible. there are tornado shelters you can get into. some actually underground. you may have seen that in the wizard of

oz when they went into the underground shelter. that does exist here, notjust in the movie. there are more hardened shelters you can get in that a fema regulator, the federal emergency management association put those together and put out recommendations of how to build shelters inside your house but if you cannot get something like that they recommend going into an internal closet as low as you can go, surround yourself with walls and that is how a lot of people survive this but we do have a report of dozens, of up to a dozen people who are dead across here, from here in texas all the way up to the midwest in the united states. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making the headlines: an raf pilot, who died when his spitfire crashed during a battle of britain memorialflight, has been named as squadron leader mark long. the vintage aircraft came down in a field near raf coningsby in lincolnshire on saturday.

the prince and princess of wales have offered their condolences, saying they're "incredibly sad" to hear of the tragedy. a full investigation is under way. phil norton has more. squadron leader mark long served his country as a fighter pilot, and relished the chance to honour wartime heroes. he was due to take command of the battle of britain memorial flight later this year. outside the hangar at the team's base at raf coningsby where he took off from yesterday, a sign still shows the expected departure and return time for the spitfire he was flying. but the aircraft crashed into a field a short distance from the lincolnshire runway. this is the aircraft involved. it's one of only a handful still flying, which saw service during world war ii. you're live with bbc news. to the uk, where on the fourth day of campaigning for thejuly 4 general election, labour said it won't raise income tax or national insurance, if it wins power. the pledge was made

by shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, in an interview with the bbc, but she didn't rule out some spending cuts, saying there would be "difficult decisions" to make. leila nathoo reports. who do you trust with your money? which party should be given control of the public purse? thank you very much. she wants the chance to make decisions on tax and spending. rachel reeves making her pitch in west yorkshire this afternoon, promising a labour government would ensure economic stability. today she said if she became chancellor, there would be no rises in income tax or national insurance. but she acknowledged she would face difficult decisions, and that public services were struggling. we're not going to be bringing back austerity. but we have got that immediate injection of cash into our frontline public services. that's a down payment on the changes that we want to make. but in the end we'll have to grow the economy. rachel reeves insisted all her plans would be fully costed. she didn't rule out having to make cuts to public spending. there was no public campaigning

from the tories today, butjunior treasury minister bimn afolami said in a statement in response... both labour and the conservatives are committed to getting debt falling as a share of national income. but there's a warning that whichever party gets into government would find itself hemmed in. rachel reeves and jeremy hunt are both desperately trying to square a very difficult circle at the moment. if there's going to be no tax increases over the next several years, then it's going to be desperately difficult to find enough moneyjust to avoid cutting spending on some public services, let alone finding money to increase them. this is how the liberal democrats will be getting from a to b during this election campaign. an echo of labour's promise from them, too. well, we were already pledged not to raise taxes for ordinary people.

people are paying far too much tax under the conservatives. the conservatives have raised taxes to record amounts in this parliament. and during the cost—of—living crisis, that's hurting people really hard. a long road ahead to polling day. all parties will be trying to attract attention until then. leila nathoo, bbc news. and the home secretary, james cleverly, says the conservatives' plan to introduce a form of mandatory national service if they win the election, would get young people "out of their bubble". under the plans, 18—year—olds would be given the choice of eitherjoining the military for a year, or taking part in community service. non—compliance wouldn't mean prison, but there'd be some form of sanction. officials in north—central nigeria say gunmen abducted about 160 people during an attack on a remote village on friday. around eight people are believed to have been killed. a local government representative in niger state said the attackers were well armed, and also looted homes.

reporters say attacks in the region are increasingly common, although it is often unclear if attackers have links to violentjihadist groups. isa sanusi is nigeria directorfor amnesty international. he spoke with me a short while ago. what more do we know about how this incident unfolded. i understand it took place in a very remote part of the country?— very remote part of the count ? , ., , , ., country? yes, it happened on friday around _ country? yes, it happened on friday around midday. - country? yes, it happened on friday around midday. a - country? yes, it happened on | friday around midday. a group of gunmen on a convoy of motorcycles, dozens of motorcycles, dozens of motorcycles, storms that remote village and went from house to house abducting people, kidnapping women and children and looting shops. and they also took their time to make tea and was so relaxed while doing this. do tea and was so relaxed while doing this-— doing this. do we have an understanding _ doing this. do we have an understanding and - doing this. do we have an i understanding and indication doing this. do we have an - understanding and indication of who these abductors might be? so far there are strong

speculations they are boko haram but i understand only investigation can verify that. in that part of nigeria that has been uplifted by of this kind of attacks by different various gunmen i believe it has to be investigated. but it can possibly be boko haram because for over 3—4 years there are strong indications that boko haram have been setting up camps in the forests in that area. i camps in the forests in that area. ., , area. i am interested in something _ area. i am interested in something you - area. i am interested in something you said - area. i am interested in| something you said with area. i am interested in - something you said with regards to them taking women and children, appearing to be quite leisurely about how they went about this, looting shops, making tea and so on. what do you think that tells us? in terms of _ you think that tells us? i�*i terms of increasingly nigerian authorities are failing, squealing failing to live up to their responsibility to protect their responsibility to protect the people and ensure that every stress within that night

during borders are secure and protected. these people feel that they are so relaxed, so at home, so free because they believe that nothing will happen to them, they always begin and finish their operations without anybody intervening. theyjust begin and end quite sure that nobody will come to stop them and that is why they are so relaxed, they are making tea and many other things that show they are not afraid of any intervention coming to stop them from committing the atrocities they have been committing against these people. for have been committing against these people-— these people. for the people livin: in these people. for the people living in these _ these people. for the people living in these areas, - these people. for the people living in these areas, this - living in these areas, this must be very scary for them, the prospect of kidnappings, abductions, which we have also seen are on the rise again since 2014, cheaper girls which everybody remembers?

definitely, but these people are traumatised, have been going through this kind of horror again and again. in fact, one of the biggest was in 2021. so, these people want can almost say that they are used to these atrocities to the extent that this is not something you. it is just that the number of people this time is bigger and much more higher than the previous one. but they are used to being kidnapped, used to being abducted for ransom, used to being, having their wives raped within their matrimonial home is. they are used to having their daughters abducted and raped serially. it is not something you it is just that the kilt this time is bigger and unacceptable for the night though, nigerian authorities to have an international and national obligation to protect the people from these horrors. i5

obligation to protect the people from these horrors. is a people from these horrors. is a lane people from these horrors. is a large number _ people from these horrors. is a large number of _ people from these horrors. is a large number of people that you just said in some cases they are hiding them in the bush. what kind of conditions do they face when they have been taken and what kind of risks are they then exposed to?— then exposed to? amnesty international _ then exposed to? amnesty international previous - international previous investigations of such situations, we interviewed people who were in this kind of situation but who were able to get freed through many ways. some of them told us they go through starvation and they go through starvation and they go through women go through serial rape again and again and daughters are raped in front of their parents and husbands watch while their wives are being raped by these gunmen. so, sometimes they even also witness executions or severe punishment of people who attempted to escape from these places. so, they go through

series of terrible and horrendous experiences that are quite unacceptable and that is why amnesty international have said that nigerian authorities have to wake up and do the right thing and stop leasing something by thoroughly investigating and making sure all those suspected behind these atrocities are brought to justice through a fair trial. rescue teams are searching for survivors, following a huge landslide that swept away a village, in papua new guinea. the disaster was sparked by an earthquake that hit enga province on friday, 370 miles from the capital, port moresby. the un says up to 670 people may have been killed. villagers are using sticks, spades, and agriculturalforks to search for bodies, as vehicle access is limited. our correspondent katy watson has the latest. there have been many tributes, for one of hollywood's most successful songwriters, richard m sherman, who's died at the age of 95. he wrote more than 150 songs with his brother robert, for classic films like

jungle book and chitty chitty bang bang, and mary poppins. you are watching bbc news. more at the top of the hour. join me then. hello. thanks forjoining me. the weather, this bank holiday weekend has been a little hit and miss. this is what we had earlier on during the course of saturday. storms breaking out quite widely across england, parts of wales, some across the irish sea as well, and outbreaks of rain in scotland. now further showers are expected not just on bank holiday monday, but indeed the rest of the week. temperatures will be near normal, nothing spectacular. but at least by the end of the week, it does look as though these low pressures should finally pull away as we see high pressure building. but the winds will still come in from the north. so there's certainly no major warm—up in the forecast. ok, let's have a look at the forecast then for the short term. so by the end of the night

through the morning, we will have had some clearer weather in the south, further north, always more cloud and some showers first thing. and these are the temperatures around 7am, typically double figures in most of our major towns and cities. so clouds will be bubbling up through the morning. there'll be plenty of sunshine in most areas right from the word go. but storms will also develop, particularly across northern and eastern parts of scotland. now the showers will be very hit and miss. as far as the temperatures go. no real change compared to what we've had in the last few days. so typically mid or high teens, a little on the cool side. now, the thunderstorms may continue into monday evening across parts of northern and eastern scotland. elsewhere, the sky should turn clear before the next area of low pressure rolls in first thing on tuesday morning. and you can see outbreaks of rain crossing the country as the weather fronts sweep in. i think the air�*s going to be quite close. temperatures on tuesday despite the cloud still getting up to about 18 degrees in some spots. and actually later in the day, we'll probably see sunshine developing — or at least a little bit. now, wednesday midweek,

we're expecting showers to develop almost anywhere, but more especially across eastern parts of the uk. one or two rumbles of thunder can be expected. i think come the late afternoon the skies should clear out towards the west and it should be a fine, sunny end to the day, for example, in cardiff, plymouth and along the south coast of england. so here's the summary for the week ahead. plenty of shower clouds most days and those temperatures hovering near normal, perhaps a little below at times. that's it for me. bye bye.

the leaders of china, japan and south korea are in seoulfor their first trilateral summit since the pandemic. and we explore how technology is helping musicians cope with stage fright. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. the leaders of china, south korea and japan have gathered in seoul for a trilateral summit — theirfirst meeting in more than four years. ahead of that, south korea's president yoon suk—yeol met separately with china's premier li qiang on sunday, where they agreed to resume talks on a free trade agreement. japan's prime minister fumio kishida and li qiang also had a meeting. according to japanese media, kishida asked that china lift its ban on imports of japanese seafood during that one—on—one. i spoke to bates gill, senior

fellow at the national bureau