recent wildfires following the recent wildfires on the outskirts of athens. hello. 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 equpment 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 defense minister yoav gallant thanked us officials for "critical force buildup initiatives that assist israel "in developing and maintaining its qualitative military edge "in the region." adding, "as we fight to defend israel on seven different "fronts, your message of support and commitment "to israel's security, are clear."

there's been some criticism of the us supplying israel with weapons, including from members of congress from mr blinken�*s own democratic party meanwhile, world leaders are scrambling to de—escalate tensions between israel and iran. tehran are vowing revenge for recent israeli assassinations of iran—back militant leaders, and officials have told the reuters news agency only a ceasefire in gaza will make it back down. 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 recent days, while palestinian medics say 19 people were killed in israeli air strikes tuesday. four—day—old twins, their mother and grandmother are reported to be among those killed. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more. 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?" 0ne 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. the us has been pushing for both parties to return to the negotiating table. israel says it will attend ceasefire talks on thursday, but a representative for hamas has told our us news partners cbs they won't be sending a delegation. and on tuesday, us secretary of state, antony blinken, reportedly postponed a planned visit to the middle east ahead of those talks. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, shared his analysis a bit earlier. my sense about all this is that 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. but 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 and also, a lot of uncertainty about the 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 israelis have shifted positions, made new demands at the last minute and they are asking for those demands to be stood down until they will agree to take part. hamas say they want to stick the framework that was 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 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. iran has dismissed calls from leaders, from 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? the temperature on 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 caputure 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 soliders 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, oleksandr 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 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 russia on the back foot. you see russians scrambling, 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 spokesman john kirby say this is vladimir putin's war and if he wants to ends what is happening in russia, he can get the health 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 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, this will damage russian morale, but strengthen ukraine's hand at the bargaining table because this 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 right now because 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 in the war so us has already loosened some administrations. they will be loathed to increase restrictions. the restrictions that were lifted will be the most modest about it.

for months, ukraine was asking for more help from the west. that is finally starting to filter through including f-i6s. how much do you think that package has helped embolden ukrainian forces? i think it definitely has. the ukrainians were complaining and urging the us all along, let's get these weapons. we can show you that 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 that they are waiting for but that ukrainians are showing they can use that equipment to further their aims in the war. i think again the question is where does this end? 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 18% 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 ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making some 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. cases of the highly infectious disease — previously known as monkey pox — 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. bringing 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 percent 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 rapid spread and high fatality rate of the disease over the last few months are two reasons why the african centres for disease control has declared there is public health emergency, it is to prompt african governments to mobilise their resort is and co—ordinate their resort is and co—ordinate their response, this would include ensuring adequate medical aid and medical

supplies available in affected areas increasing surveillance at airport and increasing public awareness perhaps through public health campaigns. the director—general of the african cdc has said that lessons have been known from covid and this time around, they will not wait for the rest of the world to help but rather be proactive and the african union have already approved a 10 million us package to assist the africa cdc effort. the who, the world health organization have convened an emergency committee to discuss whether this outbreak is of international concern and now the strain of mpox is highly infectious, 40,000 cases this year so far and more than 450 deaths. it causes skin lesions, rashes and flulike symptoms and although this can be resolved within two — four weeks, the disease can

be fatal but for in the hundred cases leading to death. the africa cdc have said that at least 10 million doses of the mpox vaccine are needed on the continent but only 200,000 are available but they have said that they are discussing with international partners and how they can secure more vaccines for the continent. our west africa correspondent, simijolaoso has more from lagos. let's ta ke let's take you to greece. 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. one 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 observatory said had damaged

around 10,000 hectares of land. our correspondent azadeh moshiri in pendeli, a suburb of athens. 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 24 hours are crucial in determining what will happen in the next few days.

so far, we know that these flames have already taken a life. one 63—year—old woman — her body was found another northern suburb of athens. people have been injured, mostly through smoke inhalation. animals have been burnt. and on top of all of that, more than 100,000 acres of [and have been consumed by the flames, and yet the fire service is poured a lot of resources into this. more than 700 firefighters have been fighting the flames this week. 199 fire engines, 35 aircrafts. and yet they've still asked for more help from european nations who are once again answering that call with planes, helicopters and firefighters. it's also been a huge effort from the greek community as well. we've seen these human chains of people mixing with firefighters, volunteer firefighters, as well as residents who are simply trying to save their homes because that's another challenge that these firefighters have and will continue to have. should these fires have these resurgences throughout the week, it's that people are refusing to leave their homes. they're refusing to leave their livelihoods, refusing to see all these things go up in flames. but of course, for many of the people, some who are here, it's already too late. doctors at government hospitals

in several indian states have gone on an "indefinite" strike in protest of the sexual assault and murder of a trainee medic on friday. the woman's body was found with multiple injuries in a state—run hospital in kolkata in west bengal, where she was a resident doctor. the demonstrations, demanding justice and better workplace security, have now spread to other parts of the country. local media reports say a man— who worked at the hospital has been arrested in connection with the case. according to data from the national crime records bureau, an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in india in 2022. languages reporter umang poddar sent this report from delhi. chanting: we want... justice! out on the streets after launching an indefinite strike — doctors protesting in response to the alleged rape and murder of one of their colleagues, a 31—year—old trainee doctor at a hospital in the city of kolkata in west bengal. they are angry and want action. translation: our first demand is that there should _ be a judicial inquiry. the culprits should be arrested. there has been one arrest, but we don't have any further updates. and whether there were any others involved along with him. the demonstrations are spreading. they demand justice and better

workplace security. many say they don't feel safe doing theirjobs. translation: whether it is this | hospital or any other hospital, | you will see the same scenario, that of an unsafe environment. we do our duties despite the unsafe environment. so far, police have arrested one person. i visited three big government hospitals in delhi and spoke to a dozen female doctors and nurses during the night shift. all of them said that hospitals were an unsafe space to work, especially at night. they complained that anybody could walk into the hospital without any security checks, and patients and their families sometimes turn violent. opposition leaders have demanded an independent investigation into the incident. across india, queues are growing, with some now calling for a total nationwide shutdown until their concerns are addressed. umang poddar, bbc news, delhi. we leave you again and some

reports from the russian border region of belgorod from the regional governor there who was declared a regional urgency because of attacks by ukrainian forces, we have been reporting on ukraine's incursion throughout the day here on bbc news, more on that so do stay with us. thank you very much for watching. 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 24 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. otherwise our top temperature further south 23 or 24 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. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. imagine being belarus's dictatorial president alexander lu kashenko. you tie yourself ever closer to vladimir putin in moscow,

you're apparently hosting russian nuclear weapons and remnants of the mercenary wagner group, and then you watch as ukraine launches an extraordinary offensive inside russia. what do you do? and what does the belarusian opposition do? well, my guest is pavel latushka, a leading figure in that opposition. how is the ukraine war impacting the struggle for regime change inside belarus? pavel latushka in warsaw, welcome to hardtalk.