i'm sumi somaskanda. it's good to have you with us. the first presidential debate between kamala harris and donald trump is officially set for september tenth — according to abc news, which will televise it. the confirmation came after republican nominee former president donald trump said he had agreed to three possible debate dates in september. he spoke during a rare news conference at his florida home. trump's democratic rival, vice president kamala harris, continued to tour through us swing states, seeking to build on fresh momentum in the race after president biden dropped out. new polling shows ms harris has gained ground against mr trump in a nationwide survey of likely voters, taking a 6% lead. the poll by marquette, released on thursday, found that the vice president leads the former president 53% to 47% — that's among people who expressed a strong interest in voting.

the margin of error is 4.7 points. a similar poll conducted in may showed a much tighter match—up between mr trump and the then—presumptive democratic nominee presidentjoe biden. the pair were tied at 50% each. however, donald trump claims his campaign's internal polls show him leading in key battleground states. he also cited his continued support among white males and certain black and hispanic voters. the former president saying he believes the momentum is actually with the republican party. the honeymoon period has got to end. look, she's got a little period, she's got a convention coming up. it's about policy. it's not about her. i think she's incompetent because i've watched her. she destroyed california, she destroyed san fran — everything she's touched has turned to bad things. i want to use — i'm not going to use foul language — but everything she's touched has turned bad. she's incompetent. meanwhile, vice president kamala harris and her running mate minnesota governor tim walz wrapped up their visit

to michigan on thursday. they voiced support for organised labour at a union hall in detroit, speaking to members of the united auto workers. the uaw originally backed presidentjoe biden�*s re—election campaign but when he ended his bid last month, the union later endorsed ms harris. ms harris drew similarities between unions and her campaign saying both support working class americans. you know, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. applause we know what we stand for and we stand for the people. and we stand for the dignity of work. and we stand for freedom. we stand forjustice. we stand for equality. cheering and applause and so, we will fight for all of that. earlier, cbs news chief election and campaign correspondent robert costa shared his reaction to trump's news conference. former president donald trump insisted that he's not his

—— he's not recalibrating his campaign but his actions show he is addressing the new entrant into the race — vice president harris and, you see from former president donald trump an attempt to dive into the new cycle, not having to relevant and answer reported questions. he talked about issues including the transfer of power earlier this week i spoke with president biden and president biden, in our conversation for cbs sunday morning — which is going to air sunday — expressed alarm as to whether they would be a peaceful transfer of how if trump loses in front that insisted there would be a peaceful transfer but only saying i want to make sure it's an honest and fair election and what exactly that means we will have to see in the months ahead. to the middle east. the three mediating countries in the gaza conflict — the us, qatar and egypt — have issued a joint call for israel and hamas to resume ceasefire negotiations next week. they suggest the talks should be based on a new framework agreement and will take place

either in cairo or doha. israel has agreed to attend. there's been no response so far from hamas. in a joint statement, us presidentjoe biden, egyptian president abdel fattah el—sisi and the emir of qatar say there is no further time to waste, nor any excuse for further delay, adding: the renewed diplomatic push is considered an attempt to stop regional tensions from spiralling out of control after the killing of hamas�*s political leader ismail haniyeh in iran's capital tehran last week. israel and hamas have competing conditions for a truce — hamas wants a permanent end to the war but israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says its military operations in gaza will only end once hamas is defeated. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu spoke to time reporter eric cortellessa in his first exclusive interview since october 7. my colleague caitriona perry asked eric how bullish mr netanyahu has been in his approach. i think he is bullish on continuing the stated military

mission, which is to destroy, as he would say, i must�*s military and governing capabilities, to remove it from power —— from us. i think he believes the idf can still take up believes the idf can still take up the last remaining battalions that hamnas is the in the southern city of rafah and dillier are sinwar, the mastermind of the october seven attack, head of himars now after ismail haniyeh was assassinated, he was just promoted to being head of the political bureau —— hamas. i think he is going full throttle ahead on the mission that he has outlined of removing hamas from the gaza strip.— from the gaza strip. there is much opposition, _ from the gaza strip. there is much opposition, though, i from the gaza strip. there is much opposition, though, toj from the gaza strip. there is . much opposition, though, to his handling in the war of israel, is particularly is what is perceived to be a failure to bring the hostages home. figs perceived to be a failure to bring the hostages home. as you take the criticism _ bring the hostages home. as you take the criticism on _ bring the hostages home. as you take the criticism on board? - bring the hostages home. as you take the criticism on board? he l take the criticism on board? he doesn't, he dismisses it out of hand. there are a lot of allegations that he is prolonging the war or adding

new conditions on the hostage negotiations is one senior official told me, do not have to reach a ceasefire that would result in the return of all hostages because that would end the war and potentially lead to snap elections which could result in his ousting. the way that the prime minister describes it to me is that he doesn't want to have a deal that would not allow israel to continue its need to remove, from the gaza strip. this has the price of —— remove hamas. this is the price of the terrorists storming the southern border and killing 1200 innocents, the price of that attack on israeli soils and israeli innocence is that hamas loses gaza. that's the way he believes israel can restore its deterrence in the region in order to fend off future attacks from other hostile adversaries. many also

la the hostile adversaries. many also lay the blame _ hostile adversaries. many also lay the blame for— hostile adversaries. many also lay the blame for those - hostile adversaries. many also | lay the blame for those attacks at his feet, that he presided over such a colossal intelligence failure. you asked him whether he would apologise. interestingly enough, the backdrop of this is that we are ten months into the war and netanyahu had not to date apologised for october seven, he had never expressed any remorse for what happened on his watch and, in fact, the only apology he issued was for a social media post, blaming his security chiefs for failing to foil the attack and so, i asked him why haven't you apologise to israelis? his first answer was they are in the middle of the war and cannot go through this and i said would you do it now, and he said, "i am sorry deeply that something like this would happen". so in a lot of ways, it was the first time he expressed any remorse for the fact that this happened while he was presiding as prime minister, that there were

intelligence and security failures, and this was really a first since october seven. israeli forces continued to bombard gaza on thursday, killing at least 15 people in two schools that were being used as shelters for displaced people. the israeli military said its forces took steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians. meanwhile, the humanitarian challenges in gaza are mounting. the world health organization says it is sending more than a million polio vaccines to gaza, for an urgent immunization campaign following the complete collapse of the sanitation system. vladimir putin is accusing ukraine of a "major provocation" as ukrainian troops continue a cross—border offensive into russia's kursk region. nearly 1000 ukrainian troops with tanks and armoured vehicles began the incursion on tuesday, in what appears to be the largest assault on russian soil since the war began. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said moscow needs to "feel" the consequences for the invasion of ukraine. local leaders in regions adjacent to kursk, in both russia and ukraine, have urged residents to evacuate for their safety.

earlier, i spoke to evelyn farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defence for russia and ukraine. evelyn, do you think that this fighting in kursk marks a new chapter in this war? sumi, it's a little too early to tell but it seems like the ukrainians are determined to boost the morale of their forces, boost the morale of their people to maybe kind of reset the negotiating table. obviously, we have american elections coming up. so there may be thinking about hedging their bets and trying to make sure that they are ready for a future negotiation. i don't know whether they can hold this line, so i think it's a little bit too early to say exactly what it means. so, from what i understand from what you're saying, you think that this fighting could be perhaps more symbolic in messaging to the international community and also for troops' morale than actually

to have a strategic aim? possibly. i'm not ruling out a strategic aim but i think so far, it's not clear from the outside watching this how they are going to achieve a strategic objective, given the fact that they are now stretching their own lines of defence — and they already were pretty stretched — so as they moved into this new offensive position which was quite daring, they stretched their lines. they now have to defend what they have and they seem to be interested in keeping this territory, rather than just kind of making an excursion and running back over the border, which we saw earlier this year — a move that was conducted by ethnic russians who were working to help ukraine. when you say "keeping this territory," evelyn, that would signify a major escalation, wouldn't it? in a sense, but i wouldn't get alarmist about it. the russians have gone in and annexed ukrainian

territory, so if the ukrainians go and seize russian territory in order to have some chip to use to negotiate, i think that's within their rights. so long as they are fighting according to the laws of war, they can take prisoners of war, they can attack military targets and they can take territory if they believe that helps them achieve the ultimate objective, which is peace and the sovereignty of the ukrainian state and the people. what impact do you think this is all happening on the towns and villages along the border, if this indeed does continue going forward? well, i can only imagine it is traumatising the civilians there. and, of course, that mirrors — it's not even the same kind of trauma that the ukrainians, of course, have felt because the russians have deliberately attacked civilians and in this case, the ukrainians are not deliberately

attacking civilians but attacking military targets and seizing territory so nevertheless, it's a hardship for the russian people. i feel like the ukrainians want the russians to feel some hardships that they put some pressure on the government to end this war. talk about the us aspect in all of this because the state department says it does support them using donated us weapons for this incursion because it's where some russian attacks have originated from, this area. do you think there is concern, however, here in washington about the prospect of this escalating further if the ukrainians push further into russian territory? look, there's always danger of escalation but you have to balance that with the risk of the ukrainians losing the war and how catastrophic it would be notjust for ukraine but for all of nato and europe and, frankly, the world because china is watching as well. so i think the risk is manageable, it's bearable. there has to be more pain and pressure inflicted upon the kremlin.

and the ukrainians seem to be trying this approach right now. a question about pain and pressure on the kremlin. this could bring the war home to some russians who until now have not at all have this conflict actually affect their lives. does it matter in russia if public opinion shifts? it could make a difference and you never know exactly how this will play out because, of course, citizens could become enraged and say wait, "i need to defend my country". my sense is, based on russian history and the fact that they don't have — the people of russia don't have an innate kind of fear or hatred or animosity towards the ukrainian people — my sense is that if they start to realise what kind of war the government has been waging on their behalf, they are more likely to say, "let's just make peace. "i don't want to be bothered and chased out of my home." and what for, you know? "ukraine and the ukrainians are not our enemies."

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. sir keir starmer says police forces should remain on high alert as they continue to deal with the aftermath of a wave of unrest in england and northern ireland. on thursday, he chaired a third cobra meeting with law enforcement officials, saying there's no doubt that rapid sentencing, as well as a major police presence across the country, acted as a deterrent to prevent widespread violence. northern ireland's first minister michelle o'neill has condemned the continuing violence in belfast, and says there's no place for racism in society. on wednesday, police officers came under attack in the east of the city. the stormont assembly has been recalled from summer recess to discuss the crisis. police made 22 arrests in total with 15 people charged. an artwork by the street artist banksy appears to have been stolen less than an hour after it was revealed. the painting, of a wolf howling at the moon, was on a satellite dish

in peckham in south london. it's the fourth animal—themed image unveiled by the bristol—based artist in recent days. you're live with bbc news. the united nations world health organization on thursday raised its response to the mpox outbreak in more than a dozen african countries amid what it calls an unprecedented spike in cases. the who says the democratic republic of the congo has the highest number of reported cases, including a new variant that emerged last september. the alert will boost the agency's mobilisation efforts across the continent. it's been 160% rise in rates in the past year, according to the head of the who. joining me now is epidemiology professor at the mailman school of public health in columbia university, dr stephen morse. great to have you won with us, stephen. why are we seeing this outbreak? hat stephen. why are we seeing this outbreak? ., , ,

outbreak? not entirely sure. wh are outbreak? not entirely sure. why are there _ outbreak? not entirely sure. why are there so _ outbreak? not entirely sure. why are there so many - outbreak? not entirely sure. | why are there so many cases right now? we are seeing however is a very complex situation with a number of different outbreaks, all occurring at the same time. starting in may of 2022, there was a worldwide outbreak which is still going on, in which the who declared a public health emergency. and that was a monkeypox essentially from west africa originally, brought to the uk and then spread throughout the world and still going on from the nigerian outbreak. there is another clade or variety, if you will, branch of the mpox virus in central africa which has been classically known, and it's more severe. but usually, we don't see such a large number of cases. fik. so we're seeing of cases. ok. so we're seeing several academics —— academics superimposed on each other.

serious is this virus for who contract it?— serious is this virus for who contract it? ., ., . contract it? clade to which has been going _ contract it? clade to which has been going on. _ contract it? clade to which has been going on, the _ contract it? clade to which has been going on, the west - contract it? clade to which has i been going on, the west african variety, usually has, it's very painful for those for many of the people who contracted and we saw many cases in new york as well who are really suffering —— clade ii. the case mortality rate seems to be low, luckily, and is transmitted largely by direct contract. clade i, the central african, is considered a more dangerous. it spreads in much the same way but it is more severe and so, you can have a higher number of deaths compared with a number of cases. ,, , ., ., of cases. stephen, how worried do ou of cases. stephen, how worried do you think — of cases. stephen, how worried do you think it _ of cases. stephen, how worried do you think it escapes - of cases. stephen, how worried do you think it escapes which i do you think it escapes which will be that this outbreak could spread globally like in 2022 that you mentioned —— how worried you think we should be in this case? i worried you think we should be in this case?—

in this case? i don't know, and is one of— in this case? i don't know, and is one of the _ in this case? i don't know, and is one of the reasons - in this case? i don't know, and is one of the reasons why we l is one of the reasons why we need to contain it as quickly as we can wear it to occur locally. i don't think anyone took seriously the possibility that we would be saying mpox travelling around the world from nigeria, where there had been an outbreak in 2017 and ongoing. but since then, i think we took it too much for granted. it's a close relative of smallpox and people used to be protected because everyone got a vaccination but we don't do that anymore, so people are vulnerable now.— vulnerable now. ok, let's talk about containment. _ vulnerable now. ok, let's talk about containment. you - vulnerable now. ok, let's talk about containment. you said l vulnerable now. ok, let's talk| about containment. you said it is spread through direct contact so what can be done to contain the spread of this point? contain the spread of this oint? , .,, contain the spread of this oint? , , ., ._ point? first, those who may have been — point? first, those who may have been exposed - - point? first, those who may - have been exposed - obviously, have been exposed — obviously, the first thing is to identify those who are infected and sometimes, there may be a lesion on the skin or several or they may have a rash and fever. much like a mild

smallpox. sometimes it is not visible because it is in the mouth or some other mucosal site but obviously, identifying those individuals and then, those individuals and then, those who are in contact with them and they can be educated, cautioned and, of course, a vaccine is available, as we hope it will be, those at risk should be vaccinated. and that includes people who may be in the same social networks as the existing patients. 0k. the same social networks as the existing patients.— existing patients. 0k. stephen, thank ou existing patients. 0k. stephen, thank you so — existing patients. 0k. stephen, thank you so much _ existing patients. ok. stephen, thank you so much for- existing patients. 0k. stephen, thank you so much forjoining . thank you so much forjoining us. a really important story for us to be covering. we appreciate your insights tonight. appreciate your insights toniaht. ., ~ appreciate your insights toniaht. ., ., ~ appreciate your insights toniaht. ., ., tonight. thank you. thank you for inviting _ tonight. thank you. thank you for inviting me. _ muhammad yunus says his priority is to restore law and order in the country after being sworn in as leader of bangladesh's interim government. mr yunus succeeds former prime minister sheikh hasina who fled bangladesh after weeks of anti—government demonstrations in which hundreds of people were killed in clashes with security forces. a nobel peace laureate,

mr yunus has the backing of student protest groups and the military. during a ceremony in dhaka on thursday, he said he would support and protect the constitution. the bbc�*s samira hussain has the latest from bangladesh's capital, dhaka. last week, they were on the streets, demanding the government step down. today, they flocked to the airport to welcome the man they believe will lead them to a stable future, nobel laureate muhammad yunus. how do you feel? i feel good. i'm back. there's a lot of work to be done. people are excited, know that something — new opportunities have arrived. what is your message for people here? discipline. discipline, hard work and get it done. his positive message cannot disguise the fragile moment bangladesh finds itself in. weeks of deadly protest forced the country's autocratic prime minister to resign. hundreds died in the unrest. several more were injured.

and that same government wanted to imprison mr yunus. now, he makes a triumphant return as interim leader. an incredible amount of security for mr yunus. the people here elated that he has finally arrived in bangladesh. they are putting their hopes for the country's future in his hands. we dream for a democratic country where no leader — no leader can be a dictator. we are the generation of z and we know that we can raise our voice, and we know that how best to lead our country. a moment decades in the making. but for shopna, bangladesh's moment of hope has come at an unbearable cost — her 17—year—old son died in the protests. translation: i could not understand why such - a thing happened. i thought someone might have

hit him in the head. i never believed that he would be shot. she finds some comfort in knowing her son would be happy — this change in government is what he wanted. tonight, a new era of government begins. mr yunus and his colleagues will hope the support of the people they enjoy for now endures. samira hussain, bbc news, dhaka. and bangladesh's ex—prime minister hasina's son hasina will return to bangladesh when elections are declared. taylor swift fans have descended on vienna, despite her three shows being cancelled over a security alert. officials say a teenager arrested on wednesday has confessed to planning a suicide attack at one of the gigs. two other teenagers have also been arrested. the concerts have now been moved to london and police there say there's nothing to indicate that the shows at wembley stadium will be affected. bethany bell reports from vienna. all: one, two, three, four!

they came to vienna to see taylor. instead, they're singing in the streets. all three taylor swift concerts here were cancelled after police said they'd uncovered plans for a suicide attack. jess, from bristol, said she cried when she heard the news. i missed out on the lover fest in 2020 because of covid, so this is the second time it's now been cancelled for me so, yeah, i was just completely, like, heartbroken, to be honest. becky from exeter says she can't believe she's missing the show. i think the ultimate thing we feel is just grateful that we're safe and that everyone else is safe, so a bit of a mixed bag of emotions. there's so much disappointment here. people have come from so far away — from the uk, from america, from japan — but everyone says they understand that safety has to come first. and in the meantime, they're doing like taylor, which is to sing. the authorities say a 19—year—old austrian man has confessed to planning a suicide

attack at the concert venue. translation: he said| he intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives. we've also seized these weapons. he considered both options, and his aim was to kill himself and a large crowd of people, either today or tomorrow at the concert. welcome to the eras tour! taylor swift's vienna concerts were part of the european leg of her eras tour. she's set to hold five shows in london next week. that's small consolation for the fans in vienna. but while their shows may have been cancelled, the songs go on. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. there has been a show of unity between the us and china as san diego zoo officially opened its new panda enclosure

to the public. yun chuan is a five—year—old male while xin bao is a four—year—old female. the pair are the first pandas to enter the united states in 21 years. the zoo's president says their new residents �*will bring joy to their visitors and symbolise the power of international conservation efforts. that's our programme at this hour. thanks so much for watching and a reminder, you can go to our website bbc.com/news for the latest headlines and analysis from our correspondence around the world. hello there. we did have a lot of cloud through thursday afternoon and with that came drizzle, some heavier outbreaks of rain across northern portions of the uk — for example, here in stirling. with that rain, some low cloud and misty conditions. the air�*s actually been very humid, the humidity caused by southwesterly winds brought in by a warm sector. a cold front out in the atlantic is going to be spreading fresher air

in from the west over the next few hours and with that, drizzle will tend to ease away from scotland, northern ireland, northern england and wales, eventually leaving the rather humid air to start the day on friday across east anglia, south east england, where there could well still be a few patches of drizzle, a bit of mist around, too. but that lot should clear out of the way quite quickly and then, we're looking at those fresher conditions spreading across all of the uk. sunny spells widespread. ok, there could be some patches of cloud at times across england and wales — won't be completely gin—clear sunny skies — and there will be some showers, particularly for western scotland, one or two possible for northern ireland and north wales. but there will be a lot of dry weather through the afternoon and plenty of pleasant, warm spells of august sunshine. now, for the weekend, we have weak weather fronts pestering england and wales, bringing a rather mixed weather picture here. cloud will vary through the day. it will tend to come and go. there could be a few patches of rain but equally, some warm spells of sunshine. the sunniest weather, though, will be further northwards for scotland, northern ireland, northern england. could be a few showers, though, for western scotland once again.

temperatures widely climbing into the low to mid 20s, so again it's going to feel warm in that august sunshine. but then, for some of us, it gets hot on sunday. the reason? well, we get this ridge in thejet stream. that encourages air to descend over parts of the uk and that boosts temperatures. now, the hottest weather on sunday will always be across parts of england and wales. to the northwest, we're going to have to watch this area of potentially heavy, thundery rain. it could get into northern ireland and western scotland through the day, so it certainly won't be hot and sunny absolutely everywhere but it will be pretty humid for most of us. and in the sunshine across england and wales, yes, you do have hot weather — high 20s to low 30s. sunday night and into monday, quite extensive, heavy and thundery outbreaks of rain across the uk. could cause some localised surface water flooding issues but towards the south—east and probably parts of east anglia, it's another hot day — temperatures peaking somewhere between 30—33 celsius — before those temperatures drop away again as we head into tuesday. bye for now.

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.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. donald trump isn't getting the presidential election race he wanted, and he doesn't seem happy about it. a visibly ageing, faltering joe biden was the ideal punchbag. now he's in the ring with kamala harris, seemingly more energetic and confident running for the white house than she's been as vice president. the polls have tightened. republicans are suddenly nervous. my guest is chris ruddy, a long—time trump friend and ceo of the conservative media group newsmax. is team trump veering off track?