america has approved the sale of $20 million worth of fighter jets and other military equipment to israel. us secretary of state antony blinken approved the sale of f—15jets and other hardware. the pentagon says delivery of some of the equipment would begin in 2026. in a statement the pentagon said: "the united states "is committed to the security of israel, and it is vital "to us national interests to assist israel to develop "and maintain a strong and ready self—defence capability." israel's defence minister, yoav gallant, thanked us officials for helping israel maintain "its qualitative military edge in the region" and the us commitment to israel's security. there's been some criticism of the us supplying israel with weapons, while the war on the ground in gaza continues.

meanwhile, hamas has fired two rockets at israel's largest city, tel aviv. hamas released footage of what it says shows the rockets being launched towards the city. explosions were heard there but there were no casualties reported. it comes as world leaders scramble to de—escalate tensions, iran and hezbollah — are vowing to avenge last month's killings of the hamas political leader, ismail haniyeh, and a top hezbollah commander. more on those peace efforts in a moment. but as they continue, so does the war in gaza. israel claims to have killed around 100 hamas fighters in rafah in southern gaza in recent days, and palestinian medics saying 19 people where killed in israeli air strikes on tuesday, with four—day—old twins, their mother and grandmother reported to be among the dead. lucy williamson has more from jerusalem. for four days, mohammed abu al-qumsan was a father. this day will haunt

him for ever. the day he left his newborn twins, ayssel and asser, at home with their mother, while he went to collect their birth certificates, and returned to find them killed in a strike on their building in deir al balah. today, he prepared to bury them. a new parent, comforted like a child. "i didn't even have time to celebrate them", he said. gaza's health ministry says 115 infants, including ayssel and asser, have been born and killed during this war. we asked the israeli army why the twins�* family home was bombed and are waiting for a response. fighting has continued across the gaza strip, with both israel and hamas under fresh pressure to agree a ceasefire deal to calm spiralling regional threats.

today, hamas released this video which it said showed rockets being launched from gaza towards tel aviv. israel's army said one had crossed into israeli territory and fallen into the sea. in the southern city of khan younis, displaced residents, not long returned, fled artillery and air strikes again. "who will breast—feed this baby?" one resident cried over the ruins of a building. "all her family were killed, even her mother." reem abu hayyah, three months old, was pulled from the rubble, bruised and battered, the only survivor of an air strike that her grandmother says killed her parents and eight siblings, along with ten other people. translation: they are the terrorists, the ones| that kill children. they are supported by america. out of 20 people, this one is the only one left.

the focus on gaza now is shrinking as the threat of regional conflict grows. but each child left without a family, each father left without his children, is adding to the long shadow of this war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, us secretary of state, antony blinken, is reportedly postponing his visit to the middle east. he was expected to be in the region ahead of thursday's ceasefire talks between israel and hamas. the us has been pushing for both parties to return to the negotiating table. it is unclear whether hamas has agreed to take part. america's ambassador to the un, told a security council meeting the goal was to "turn the temperature down" in the region. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, shared his analysis a bit earlier.

my my sense about all this is he still probably wants to do a visit to the middle east to put pressure on the ceasefire framework and on the talks actually going ahead once again. this is a question all about timing because you have all these uncertainties, still the concerns about a possible iranian retaliation or strikes by hezbollah into israel. that has not gone away with and also a lot of uncertainty about the ceasefire talks themselves and thatis ceasefire talks themselves and that is because after the americans have finally cajoled the israelis to send a delegation we have now had hamas say they will not attend the talks because they believe the talks because they believe the israelis have shifted positions, many demands at the last minute and they are asking for those demands to be stood down until they will agree to take part. down until they will agree to take part-— down until they will agree to take art. . , ., take part. hamas say they want to stick the _ take part. hamas say they want to stick the framework - to stick the framework presented by president biden more than a month ago. israel

says it wants to add different conditions terms, so how will anyone find common ground? that has been one of— anyone find common ground? that has been one of the _ anyone find common ground? twat has been one of the big issues here because we heard for many weeks the american saying it was hamas blocking this deal. that language has shifted in recent weeks and we have seen much more pressure being put on the israelis amid these reports they have added new conditions. as for the israeli prime minister�* office, they deny new conditions. they say all they have done is clarify the previous demands they were making, so both sides blaming each other. making, so both sides blaming each other-— each other. iran has dismissed calls from leaders, _ each other. iran has dismissed calls from leaders, the - each other. iran has dismissed calls from leaders, the us, - each other. iran has dismissed calls from leaders, the us, uk and other countries to show restraint when it comes to possible retaliation, but we have also heard from the us ambassador to the un saying the us goal in the middle east is to turn the temperature down. what are the conversations going on in the us government at the moment about how that

can be done?— at the moment about how that can be done? , ., ., can be done? the temperature on the ground _ can be done? the temperature on the ground has — can be done? the temperature on the ground has already _ can be done? the temperature on the ground has already been - the ground has already been rising pretty fast and the diplomacy has been around trying to call things. it is hard to try and predict what the iranians will do in any situation. they have a tendency in the past to act in what is sometimes an asymmetric way, not a direct attack into israel but perhaps attacking some of its interests overseas or, for example, us assets or us personnel in the middle east, something the us so desperately wants to try to avoid, but it gives you a flavour of the wide range of scenarios that could take place, that everyone is trying to stand down. i think when it comes to the iranians they have a new president in place, described by some as more moderate. i think any decision about military action, the driving force would always

be the supreme leader and the revolutionary guards and it is not clear where things are on that. a lot of heated rhetoric and threats made over the weeks, but that doesn�*t always translate into action itself. but you have this crucial moment now where these two things are converging. ukraine�*s president, volodymyr zelensky, has said his country now controls 7a communities in the kursk region of western russia, a week after launching its surprise military incursion there. the operation has given ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since 2022. russia has vowed to retaliate a week into the offensive and ukraine�*s military chief says its troops continue to conduct operations. over the last 2a hours they advanced i—3km northeast. that�*s despite russia insisting that its forces have prevented further capture of its territory.

president biden said ukraine�*s incursion posed a "real dilemma for putin". ukraine�*s foreign ministry claims it does not want to occupy russia, but that they intend to move forward with its military action until moscow agrees to peace. president zelensky said some russian soldiers who surrendered in the attack could be exchanged for ukrainian prisoners of war. russian officials say they opened 400 temporary shelters across the country to accommodate the estimated 30,000 people who evacuated from towns and cities along the border. in total, more than 120,000 people left their homes so far since the start of the incursion. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports. ukrainian soldiers in western—made vehicles, driving into russia, a potentially seminal sight which few saw coming. the russian guards were quickly overwhelmed. it has been a while since this border crossing was used in peacetime,

and the ukrainians have not stopped here. the central square of sudzha. a ukrainian armoured vehicle drives through a russian town. it�*s a military inversion which has restored momentum and morale to kyiv�*s war effort. and instead of directing events in ukraine, moscow�*s reacting to surprises at home. more of its kursk region is falling in the most dramatic of battlefield changes. "we�*ve just been to this russian supermarket, "and the selection isn�*t very good," remarks this soldier. slava ukraini! russia is struggling to contain this weighty offensive, but it is trying. across the border in ukraine�*s sumy region, evidence ukraine is deploying some of its best troops for a goal that is still unclear. military equipment is branded with a triangle, the symbol of this operation.

ukraine is committing to this gamble, but success might not come here with the capturing of territory across the border. it may well come elsewhere, where russian forces might be forced to redeploy. if this gamble doesn�*t come off, the consequences for ukraine�*s war effort could be catastrophic. for the border villages habitually hit by russian glide bombs, there is no fear of what moscow�*s response might be. translation: i want them to take it and do this. - translation: russia attacked first, not us. i now our guys responded, showed what we're capable of. if we had permission to do this earlier, we would have captured russia a long time ago. in the city of sumy, evacuees give their details to be rehoused. as with across the border, tens of thousands have been

moved after an increase in air strikes. ukraine has benefited from secrecy, but its civilians less so. in a choreographed briefing you would usually see in moscow, the head of the armed forces, 0leksandr syrskyi, tells president zelensky they are still advancing. translation: first, - i thank our guys and girls. also, i ask you not to forget to develop our important next steps. what ukraine does next will be crucial, especially with the moment of surprise now behind it. james waterhouse, bbc news, sumy region. elise labott, foreign affairs journalist and the host of cosmopolitics on substack, shared her analysis on the gravity of ukraine�*s incursion. what we are seeing are the biggest battlefield gains for ukraine since 2022. this is hugely significant. what is the

mood among us officials in relation to that? i mood among us officials in relation to that?— mood among us officials in relation to that? i think this is something _ relation to that? i think this is something they _ relation to that? i think this is something they would - relation to that? i think this | is something they would like relation to that? i think this . is something they would like to have seen a long time ago. you remember last summer they were thinking about some kind of offensive that never was. i think now the idea is they are definitely putting rusher on the back foot. you see russians scrambling, vladimir putin and the kremlin moving, reinforcements to these areas that the ukrainians have taken over and complaining about a lot of the things the russians have done to ukraine. you heard today national security council spokesmanjohn kirby today national security council spokesman john kirby say this spokesmanjohn kirby say this is vladimir putin�*s wore and if he wants to ends what is happening in russia you can get out of ukraine. i think there is a little concerned ukrainians can keep it up, that they say they don�*t want to hold onto any territory and hold onto any territory and hold russian territory, but the ukrainians could be in for some losses once the russians have

reinforcements. i think the us is hoping this will boost ukrainian morale, will damage russian morale, but strengthen ukraine because my hand at the bargaining table because this is how it is going to end. we have heard _ is how it is going to end. we have heard from some senators who have been in ukraine calling for those restrictions on us provided weapons from being used in russia to be lifted. it is there likely to be any movement on that? i think the us will be very careful about it now because this is the first time the ukrainians orany this is the first time the ukrainians or any country has been on russian soil in decades. certainly ukrainians have not been there and this time a boy so us has already loosened some administrations. —— already. they will be

lowered to increase restrictions.- lowered to increase restrictions. ., ., , restrictions. for months, ukraine _ restrictions. for months, ukraine was _ restrictions. for months, ukraine was asking - restrictions. for months, ukraine was asking for. restrictions. for months, i ukraine was asking for more help from the waist. that is finally starting to filter through including f—i6s. how much do you think that package has helped embolden ukrainian forces? i has helped embolden ukrainian forces? ~ , forces? i think it definitely has. forces? i think it definitely has- the — forces? i think it definitely has. the ukrainians - forces? i think it definitely has. the ukrainians were i has. the ukrainians were complaining and urging the us all along, let�*s get these weapons. we can show you we can hold territory, try and reverse some of these gains and i think now that you have seen a lot of these weapons come through, there is still some training they are waiting for but that ukrainians are showing they can use that equipment to further their aims in use that equipment to further theiraims in the use that equipment to further their aims in the war. i think again the question is where does this and? i think all sides know it will have to be at the negotiating table. clearly the russians have not been able to defeat the ukrainians and even though these incursions into russia and the territory they seize is

quite significant i think about 1000 square metres, the russians still have 100,000 square metres, which is 80% of ukrainian territory, so i think maybe the us is hoping the ukrainians can retake some of that territory. i do not think they want to see it expand more into russia, but certainly, the weapons delivered and the passing of the package has helped not only boost the ability of the ukrainians, but certainly the morale. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. a bbc investigation has found that a priest in blackburn, who was assessed as a potential risk to children and young people, was given a six—figure pay—off by the church of england. canon andrew hindley, has been the subject of five police investigations, including into allegations of sexual assault. he has never been charged and he has always strongly

denied any wrongdoing. a 13—year—old girl has pleaded guilty to threatening unlawful violence during disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers at aldershot in hampshire. the teenager, who can�*t be named because of her age, will be sentenced next month. more than 350 people have now been charged and 120 convicted linked to the violent disorder and riots over the last two weeks. a 32 year—old man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after an 11 year—old girl was stabbed in leicester square in london on monday. ioan pintaru a romanian citizen, is also charged with possession of a bladed article. he was remanded in custody to appear at the old bailey next month. the girl is recovering in hospital. you�*re live with bbc news. senior health officials in africa declared a continental public health emergency on tuesday over a new outbreak of mpox, formerly known as monkey pox.

cases of the highly infectious disease have spread quickly this year. data released by the africa centres for disease control and prevention show at least 887 new confirmed and suspected cases of mpox have been reported in the past week. that brings the total for the year to 15,132. 16 african countries have reported cases, including the democratic republic of congo, which has more than 90% of the recorded infections. 461 people in africa have died from mpox this year. the head of africa centres for disease control and prevention, jean kaseya, warned it could spiral out of control and called for immediate action. the head of the fire service in greece said there are no longer any active fires in the wider athens area but firefighters remain on high alert for potential flare—ups. the fires killed at least two people, and forced residents of some suburbs and the surrounding areas

to leave their homes. this drone footage shows the extent of the damage that people are returning to after the fires swept through, torching homes, cars, fields and forests. 0ne resident has described the fires as �*hell�*. they eased on tuesday after burning for three days, thanks to weaker winds. the government has announced compensation and relief measures for victims of a fire that greece�*s national 0bservatory said had damaged around 10,000 hectares of land. if you were here with me, you�*d be able to smell the ash around me, the smell of charred ground. and there�*s still this dry heat here in athens. which is why you can see some of the smoke right there behind me. and just to give you a sense of how close we are to homes there, right there behind me. now, this is a northern suburb of athens. that�*s how close the fires have come this year. and we�*ve passed through the area,

seen homes that have been devastated by the flames, cars that have been completely consumed. now, as you can see, the winds have dissipated. the fire service have told us that the next 2a hours are crucial in determining what will happen in the next few days. more than 700 firefighters have been fighting the flames, 35 aircraft and yet they still asked for more help from european nations who are once again answering that call with planes, helicopters and firefighters. it has also been a huge effort from the greek community as well. we have seen these human chains of people moving with volunteer firefighters as well as residents who are simply trying to save their homes. let�*s turn to some other important news around the world.

heavier than usual rains in sudan have killed at least 68 people this year, the country�*s interior ministry said. the rains, the heaviest since 2019, have impacted 10.7 million people sheltering in displacement camps at homes and schools, or stranded in the open air. the ongoing conflict between sudanese army and paramilitary forces has created the world�*s largest displacement crisis. former bangladesh prime minister sheikh hasina on tuesday called for action against those involved in what she described as killings and vandalism in the country last month. her statement, issued on x through her son, are her first public comments since she fled bangladesh amid deadly protests that led to her ousting. the statement came hours after a court ordered a probe into ms hasina�*s role in the death of a shop owner during the protests. a police officer in the us state of ohio has been charged with murder for the shooting last august of a pregnant black woman who had been

suspected of shoplifting. 21—year—old ta�*kiya young had refused to get out of her car when the officer fired through the windscreen. banksy has unveiled his ninth animal artwork in as many days, this time at london zoo. the graffiti of a gorilla, seal and birds is in a similar style to the artists�* eight other animal works that have been unveiled across london. monday an eighth artwork by the elusive artist featuring an rhino mounting a nissan micra was revealed in charlton, southeast london. however, it wasn�*t long before the installation was defaced. a man wearing balaclava was caught on camera walking up to the artwork and was seen spray painting it with a graffiti tag. 0ur reporter hary low has been down at london zoo tuesday, and sent us this report.

a high -- a high —— a hive of activity and fears of a repeat in peckham. it was taken within an hour of it and put up. this arrived at the zoo overnight. we did not see the people who did it. banksy works with a very closely guarded secret of team. we have spoken to locals who said it happened overnight and the staff at the zoo say they were surprised when they turned up this morning to see this mural on the shutters. the shutters would normally have gone up this morning but they did not because people were so keen to check out the ninth inaudible days as you say, real, appropriate place for this to turn up given banksy has been spluttering his animals throughout london over the past nine days and people are very concerned about further vandalism so for that reason the zoo has been here since first inaudible security guards here, measuring tapes out and now as you can see the perspex has been put over the top. i have asked the zoo about

this, the plans to preserve this. they say they plan, as well as these measures, to preserve this in some way in the future. we are naturally —— not exactly sure what they will do, move this mural inside but there is no question if you look around this morning and this afternoon many people have not been put off by the fact this mural has arrived and actually we think it mightjust be the last of the nine he has posted. all these other animals have appeared all over london throughout the past week and many people have rushed down. banksy has not commented, all of these posts on instagram he has made to confirm they are original banksys have been left without comment, so much excitement but perhaps a little sadness we may not see anything more like this throughout the rest of the week. if you want to see all the other artwork napping up to see all the other artwork popping up across london you can go to the bbc news website. we have a story on there, the

website and the images as well which have been popping up every day for the last eight days or so. that we and this half hour. this is bbc news. stay with us. hello there. tuesday wasn�*t as hot or as humid, but still with some sunshine across norfolk and suffolk before we got a few light showers, temperatures reached a very warm 29 degrees. other parts of the uk have cooled down a bit already, and it�*s still quite mixed through the rest of the week. there�*ll be some sunshine at times, but we�*re also going to find some spells of rain, and our weather essentially is going to be coming in from the atlantic. at the moment things have slowed down a bit and this weather front still bringing some rain early in the morning, particularly across the midlands. but a sunny start and a chilly start in scotland. some sunshine for northern ireland. it will cloud over here in the afternoon

and later in the day into western scotland. but more sunshine develops across northern england, wales and the southwest. and even though we�*ve got more cloud, the midlands towards the southeast, that should tend to thin and break up a little bit. we will trigger a few showers in the southeast in the afternoon. it�*s not going to be as warm here as it was on tuesday, of course, 23 or 2a degrees and elsewhere, those temperatures very similar to what we had on tuesday. so our weather is coming in from the atlantic, and this is the next weather system to bring some wind and rain in from the northwest. and it could be quite wet through much of thursday across scotland and northern ireland. this band of rain is only moving slowly into northern england and wales. it�*s going to be late in the day before we see some sunshine, but through the midlands, towards the southeast it may well be a dry day with more broken cloud we�*ve got a chance for things to warm up again. temperatures could reach as high as 27 degrees, but for scotland and northern ireland, it�*s likely to be a cooler day on thursday. that rain is slowly moving its way southwards, and that weather front will eventually take some rain into more southern

parts of england. it could hang around for a bit on friday, we�*re likely to find the rain tending to move away from the southwest, but the southeast it could be a bit more of a struggle. that rain could still be around into the afternoon at least more cloud. we�*ve got sunshine elsewhere once again until you reach the far northwest, with a bit of rain coming in here again as the breeze tends to pick up. so temperatures scotland and northern ireland 19 degrees at best. 0therwise our top temperature further south 23 or 2a celsius. i think it�*s those sort of temperatures that we�*ll see over the weekend. so not a hot weekend, but it looks like a fairly decent weekend. most places will be dry with some sunshine. just a few showers, perhaps towards the northwest.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello. i�*m katie razzall. this week: what role has online misinformation played in fuelling riots across parts of the uk? and an update on the ongoing saga of the netflix hit show baby reindeer. it�*s all coming up on the media show. commotion

parts of the uk have seen looting and race—based attacks, some centred around hotels housing asylum seekers — scenes the british prime minister condemned as "far—right thuggery". i guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online. what�*s it been like to cover these riots? i�*ve been speaking to the editor of the liverpool echo newspaper, maria breslin. yeah, i mean shocking and shameful scenes, really. it�*s very difficult to understand how the deaths of three little girls can be hijacked and this is the end result. we knew that there were protests in liverpool at the weekend and also counter—protests of these two groups of people who met down at the pier head — the famous liver building that many of you will know — and there were clashes, certainly involving the group and the police.