live from london. this is bbc news. lebanon says at least ten people, including two children have been killed in an israeli strike on a residential building in the southern city of nabatieh. doctors in india stage a 24—hour strike over the rape and murder of a colleague at a hospital last week. ukrainian troops destroy a strategically important bridge in russia's kursk region, making it harder for moscow to supply its forces. the world health organization is urging manufactuers to ramp up production of mpox vaccines — as travellers bound for regions of africa hit by mpox are encouraged to get vaccinated.

hello. president biden is sending his most senior diplomat to israel as part of us efforts to agree a ceasefire in gaza, and the release of israeli hostages being held there by hamas. the visit by the secretary of state, antony blinken, was postponed earlier this week because of concerns iran could mount a major attack on israel. as fighting continues in gaza, two days of talks have taken place between israeli officials and mediators from the us, egypt and qatar. hamas has not yet formally joined negotiations, accusing israel of changing its demands. meanwhile, lebanon's health authorities say at least ten people have been killed in an israeli strike on a residential building in the southern city of nabatieh. israel said the target had been a hesbollah weapons depot. earlier, president biden urged regional players to refrain from any action that could undermine gaza ceasefire negotiations but said he was hopeful an agreement could soon be reached.

here's our middle east correspondent, wyre davies, with more on those ceasefire talks. they are still progressing. the 48—hour is of talks did not break up in acrimony. there was positive mood music afterwards, even if substance is then on the ground. the americans feel this is the biggest chance for peace for some time. everybody wants some deal because of a threat of a wider regional war, and escalation of the conflict, with iran entering the conflict if there is no progress on the ground. perhaps the international community is overplaying the progress made in qatar. certainly when you speak to hamas officials, they don't see the progress that people are talking about, accusing israel of moving the goalposts. israel deny that. as a mr talks are continuing, anthony

blinking is coming to the talks, which is progress in itself. perhaps a ceasefire deal can be reached. we will have more on that in just a few minutes. non—emergency hospital services across india are shut as doctors take part in a 24—hour strike as part of ongoing protests following the rape and murder of a colleague in kolkata a week ago. thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across the country to demand justice. the violent assault on the 31—year—old has reignited national outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women. india's biggest medical association has called on authorities to do more to guarantee doctors�* safety. this is what some of those demonstrating had to say:

women of this country are being wronged daily. i don't understand what we achieve after studying for so many years. whether you're a rich or a poor woman, educated or uneducated, everyone�*s fate is the same. predators can do anything they want to women in this country, there is no justice, there is no action. we want all health care professionals to be protected. anyone can assault us and we can't do anything about it. we don't feel safe, very scared - right now because many of the times we are on night duties, i we work around the clock. we give 36 hours duty, like 36—hour duty shifts are there for us. - so if this thing happened inside the hospital, - that is like a second home to us. where are we safe now? our correspondent, archana shukla, has more from mumbai. now the largest grouping, which is the indian medical association has joined the protest. there are 2a hours of nationwide

strikes. government as private institutions. all nonemergency services, so all elective surgeries, as well as outpatient departments in both government and private hospitals will be closed today. that is a mark of protest. literally camping up the protest to put pressure both on the investigative agency, as well as the government, to do more about safety. we know the top crime agency is investigating the incident of the rape and murder of the 31—year—old trainee doctor in kolkata, and protesters are trying to demand a speedy trial and justice in that matter, and also demanding that the government come up with stricter laws to make it safer at a workplace, like we heard from one of the protesters, that they spent hours together at the hospital, it is literally like their second home. if they are not safe there, then where can women be safe? despite

laws having come into place, they are not effective on the ground. most of the protesters i have spoken so in the last few days have told me that there are laws, but they are not effective, hence they are demanding that the government come up demanding that the government come up with a central law that can protect doctors against any violence thatis protect doctors against any violence that is levelled at them, and secondly to also make it more safe for women at workplaces. despite the laws, violence against women has only gone up. in the last year, it has gone up by 4%, which is something that the politicians, the government and the public all need to sit up and take notice of. well, earlier i spoke to dr r v asokan — national president of the indian medical association. he gave me his reaction to developments.

in kolkata, a crime was committed against a young graduate student in a medical college in a major metropolitan city. it is qualitatively different, in the sense that, the safety of women and the safety of the workplace are concerned. we have taken a different stand now. and we have taken a stand now that the doctors are afraid to go for duty, to perform their duties. there has been outrage across the country, not only with the doctors, but from the entire medical profession and the people at large. travellers visiting central african countries affected by mpox should consider getting vaccinated against the virus, according to new advice. the disease, formerly known as monkeypox,

was this week declared a global emergency by the world health organization this week. the latest variant of the disease has already killed hundreds of people in the democratic republic of congo. and the world health organization is asking countries with mpox vaccine stockpiles to donate them to nations with ongoing outbreaks. our reporter, leigh milner, has more. in the democratic republic of congo, hospitals like this one are filling up with patients who have mpox. originally known as monkeypox, the disease can be passed on by close physical contact with anyone with the infection. it causes flu—like symptoms and blisters, which usually clear up in two or three weeks, but in a small proportion of cases, it can prove fatal, especially in vulnerable children. translation: we have been shown images on the phone and on tv - of people who are suffering from the same illness. i am scared and i am so worried.

so far, the mpox outbreak, centred in the democratic republic of congo, has led to more than 16,000 confirmed cases and more than 500 deaths this year. there's particular concern about a new type of the virus, known as clade 1b, which appears to be more virulent and infectious than the one which caused a public health emergency two years ago. so it's spreading much more rapidly than we had seen others spread. so that's one issue. it does have quite a high case fatality rate at the moment. currently, there are no cases of the new clade ib variant of mpox confirmed in the uk, but experts say cases can spread if international action is not taken. health officials are urging countries with mpox vaccine stockpiles to donate them to countries with ongoing outbreaks. there is a critical shortage of testing, treatment and vaccines across the continent.

these shortages are severely hampering the ability to contain the outbreak. we are calling for urgent international support to increase access to vaccine stocks and treatment options, and to scale up testing and alert investigation. vaccines against smallpox are thought to help with mpox, because they are similar, but there is a global shortage. vaccines from the uk are being offered to those most at risk. our reporter, richard kagoe has been looking at the challenges governments face in getting enough vaccines. the challenge here is, you know, africa needs about 10 million doses and so far, there is none across the continent. it's just that we have heard from the danish drugmaker, bavarian nordic, saying that they're going to donate about 200,000 doses. but then, there's just a drop in the ocean. so what african countries right now are doing is coordinating a response.

we've seen a heightened surveillance, especially in border points, and are also carrying out public, you know, health informationjust to sensitise citizens about, you know, the epidemic. and, you know, just the risk in terms of exposure. in terms of exposure. and just bring us up to date in terms of the scale of the outbreak, we know it's affecting kenya, where you are, but also other countries in the region. and we've also seen this case in sweden as well. absolutely. so the outbreak has been confirmed in a couple of countries. we're talking about 14 countries as at the latest, you know, update. so the disease has been, you know, endemic in the democratic republic of congo but then has since spread to rwanda, burundi, uganda and also kenya. it's also been confirmed in the central african republic. and there's also been cases reported in west africa, in ivory coast and also in nigeria. just about two months ago,

we reported about, you know, cases in south africa, though, those who are considered to be, you know, slightly milder and there are just local transmission. so then, suggesting that majority of the people didn't have like a travel history. so that's basically the situation that we're having in the continent at the moment. and richard, when we see outbreaks like this, public messaging is crucial. so what kind of messaging, what kind of conversations are happening there in the region to try and make sure people are aware of this outbreak? ithink, you know, historically, you know, the outbreak has been sort of like confined to central africa. so i'm talking about the democratic republic of congo and some of the surrounding countries. but what we are seeing right now is because of movement, you know, across the region and because of this strain, which is highly transmissible, it's been spreading to different parts of the continent. so what governments are doing right now is just sensitising the public, you know, just telling them about prevention measures like washing their hands, you know, just observing, you know, hygiene and also reporting people

with suspected, you know, cases possibly like symptoms. the only thing is that the new strain has milder symptoms. so that's why a lot of people may not know actually they have been infected. and then that exposes a lot of people in terms of, you know, being infected. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. hello to you. this is the moment in a premier league season when anything is possible. the weather's warm, the hope is high, new kits, new signings, and for kieran mckenna and ispwich, the end of a 22—year wait. at lunchtime the opening match of their first top—flight season since 2002 could barely provide a bigger challenge. liverpool are in town against town, as the promoted team try and keep the good vibes going. the group have worked so hard for the opportunity we have in front of us this season. of course, the club,

the town, the supporters have waited a long time to be back in the premier league and what we have ahead of us. there is great excitement. we know the scale of the challenge, we know what is ahead of us, but we are so excited for the game tomorrow, first premier league game tomorrow, first premier league game in 22 years. it will be a wonderful occasion. we're always talking about transfers, but it is positive that we kept — transfers, but it is positive that we kept our players. they are in a good _ we kept our players. they are in a good at _ we kept our players. they are in a good at the — we kept our players. they are in a good at the moment. i have said many times_ good at the moment. i have said many times that _ good at the moment. i have said many times thatjuergen left good at the moment. i have said many times that juergen left the team in a good _ times that juergen left the team in a good place. last season was a season— a good place. last season was a season where we could win a trophy with this _ season where we could win a trophy with this team, so we are aiming for the same _ with this team, so we are aiming for the same this season, but it won't be easy— the same this season, but it won't be easy because there are a lot of good _ be easy because there are a lot of good and — be easy because there are a lot of good and strong teams in the premier league _ good and strong teams in the premier league and _ good and strong teams in the premier league and they have strengthened their squads, but we are looking forward — their squads, but we are looking forward to— their squads, but we are looking forward to the challenge. champions manchester city don't play until sunday, so a chance not only for liverpool

but also the team who've come closest to dethroning city in the last two years, arsenal, to steal a march on them. arsenal take on wolves, while promoted southampton also play at newcastle. there are six games in all on saturday. across europe, the big leagues are getting underway — psg won in france on friday, inter start the defence of their serie a title later on saturday, while in spain they've been going since thursday. so with real madrid one of those to play on sunday, there are just two games to play later, including in valencia, where barcelona start life in la liga under new boss hansi flick, who realises in a strengthened real — now with kylian mbappe — they have a challenge to reclaim the title. when i signed my contract here, i knew it was not so easy, but i totally trust and believe in the club. at the moment, i'm happy with this, what the team has shown. when you see all of the injured players

we have out, if they are coming back, i think we have a really strong team. carlos alcaraz called his defeat at the cincinnati open the worst match of his career as his preparations for the us open took a hit. that was nothing like the hit his racket took during his match against gael monfils — one that had been postponed until friday after a rain delay. alcaraz had won the first set, but lost the next two to the 37—year—old to go out at the second round stage. today, i couldn't control myself, because — today, i couldn't control myself, because i— today, i couldn't control myself, because i was feeling that i was not playing _ because i was feeling that i was not playing any kind of tennis. it was realty— playing any kind of tennis. it was really frustrating for me. at some point, _ really frustrating for me. at some point, i_ really frustrating for me. at some point, i didn't want to the on the court _ point, ididn't want to the on the court any— point, i didn't want to the on the court any more. jack draper's good form continues in cincinnati. having beaten stefanos tsitsipas earlier in the week, the british number one then overcame

felix auger aliassime in three sets to reach the quarterfinals, although it ended with a controversial match point. draper's half volley was allowed to stand even though his opponent insisted the ball had hit draper's racket, then the ground. and new zealand avenged their rugby championship loss to argentina with a comprehensive 42 points to 10 win in auckland. willjordan scored two of their six tries as they defied the wet conditions at eden park — a place they've not lost in 30 years. meanwhile, in perth, australia are playing south africa a week after the world champions won their first encounter. they lead, having just scored the first try of the game, 8—3. and that's all the sport for now. let's get more on the middle east now, with those ongoing ceasefire talks in qatar and news of at least ten people being killed in an israeli airstrike in lebanon. it's also being reported from gaza that at least 15 people were killed and dozens wounded in a strike

in the town of zawayda, in central gaza. with me is our middle east editor, sebastian usher. that news coming in from gaza today, what do we know so far about that strike? we have been hearing from different sources, the latest saying that at least 18 people were killed, saying they all come from the same family, among them 11 children between two and 22. we don't have our own confirmation of this at the moment. we are not able to go into gaza ourselves. we haven't had the health ministry in gaza, often seen as the most authoritative source of this information either. but this is from eyewitnesses on the ground. we haven't heard anything from israel in terms of explaining what the strike might have been. the israelis have said they are aware of reports and are looking into them. they have

been a lot of evacuation orders issued in the past few weeks, one just a few days ago. it is not clear if this area where the strike happened actually came into that zone and if people in that area had received an evacuation order. you have been — received an evacuation order. you have been looking into another strike, this time in lebanon, just tell a swat you have been able to find out. , ., , ., find out. this time, we have israel sa in: find out. this time, we have israel saying they _ find out. this time, we have israel saying they carried _ find out. this time, we have israel saying they carried out _ find out. this time, we have israel saying they carried out a _ find out. this time, we have israel saying they carried out a strike, i saying they carried out a strike, saying they carried out a strike, saying it was targeting a weapons facility. but people on the ground and a health minister in lebanon give a different story, saying that syrian refugees, at least ten of them, were killed. we also hearfrom people on the ground that this was a house and a warehouse next to it and refugees were there in the house, but there were also syrian workers in the factory who were killed. in the last 30 minutes or so, there have been reports from israeli media

of interception of rockets being fired from lebanon into northern israel. they don't appear to have any casualties, specifically in response to this israeli strike there are concerns that this could spread further into lebanon, how is this all feeding into the ceasefire talks? it is giving a sense of added urgency. we have seen the talks resuming in doha, israel had a delegation, hamas did not participate directly, but its officials are in qatar. what we are hearing from the us side is relatively upbeat, suggesting progress has been made. we are hearing that a bridging solution has been put forward to get across these obstacles that we have talked about many times, but they have never got

anywhere. the us is trying to play this up, the secretary of state is in the region this weekend, meeting the israeli prime minister on monday. the talks will resume next week. the us is presenting it as being the last barrier, basically, before the deal will be signed. what we're hearing hamas doesn't suggest that necessarily will happen, and we don't know from the israeli side the conditions that hamas says that israel has added a getting that way. israel has added a getting that way. israel says it has not put in any new conditions. we are hearing different narratives from both sites was up the pressure is building internationally and domestically to do a deal. incidents like we saw this morning in gaza underlined the urgency of this for the palestinians in gaza, that these incidents happen

everyday, with up to 50 people being killed are sometimes more than that. so the need for an end to the war is accepted by much of the international community as urgent and immediate.— to russia, where ukrainian forces have destroyed a strategic bridge in the kursk region — cutting a supply route — as they continue their incursion into russian territory. in his nightly address, ukraine's president zelensky said "we see that the occupier is suffering losses, and this is useful, very useful for our defence." he's described the territory captured by ukrainian forces — since they launched their incursion 12 days ago — as an exchange fund, implying they could be swapped for ukrainian regions occupied by moscow. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, is in the sumy region and explains more

about the significance of ukraine destroying this key bridge. it seems that what ukraine is looking to do, alongside drawing in russian troops, is also control its logistics, orfrustrate russian troops, is also control its logistics, or frustrate the supply lines. what we saw in spectacular fashion was a major bridge crossing in the north of the kursk region, which flows into belarus. it had been used by russia's military to previously feed its invasion of ukraine. but ukrainian forces control a number of supply lines to the south, which were used by russian forces as well. notjust that, one town that ukraine has captured is on a hill, so it is allowing ukrainian forces to control the battlefield in that respect.

that is costing russia men and machinery. ukraine will be suffering losses as well, but at the moment it is ukraine doing the dictating. while its advances are slowing, what kyiv will point out is that, we might be making a kilometre a day, it is more than what the russian forces are making in a day in eastern ukraine. crucially, those russian forces are still moving. the same general who came up with this counteroffensive is now the head of ukraine's armed forces. he was responsible for these counteroffensive is in 2022 which blindsided russia, he used misdirection by talking up offences elsewhere, and he used the elements of surprise. the moment when things turned south, is when the fighting then slowed, it became static, and that favoured russia and its greater size. we have seen that again in the

kursk region, they have moved in, expanding it quite right, they have taken a lot of territory quite quickly, but russia will gradually divert more and more resources slowing that advance. once you have defensive positions firmly in place, then that really will be a test for ukraine and also it will presented with a difficult decision as to when or if it should pull out, because losing men is something ukraine especially cannot afford to do, unlike russia. thousands of residents of the canadian mountain resort town of jasper have been able to return for the first time since much of it was destroyed by a wildfire. about 25,000 people were forced to leave last month, as flames reached the area. about a third of all buildings in the tourist town in the rocky mountains were destroyed. stay with us here on bbc news.

certainly perfect conditions for the balloon festival getting under way earlier on this morning. lots of dry weather, lots of sunshine around for many of us, particularly towards eastern and south—eastern areas of england throughout this afternoon. elsewhere, the cloud will increase for a time, but still some sunny spells. possibility some showers into scotland and northern ireland, perhaps northern england and north wales as well, but few and far between. for many of us, staying dry and perhaps reaching 2a or 25 in the south east corner. they rather brisk

west or south—westerly wind, clearing skies elsewhere, and a tad fresh first thing on sunday morning. temperatures in the countryside getting down into single figures, but typically in towns and cities ten to 13 degrees. we have high pressure to the south, low pressure to the north and in between we a squeeze on the isobars, particularly around parts of scotland, where they will be some fairly strong winds on sunday. those will ease down later, but that will continue to bring some showers. feeling pleasantly warm in the sunshine with temperatures 21 to 25 degrees, 1a to 18 degrees further north. into next week, quite changeable. some areas of low pressure bringing some rain and some windy conditions for a time, but also some sunny spells in between these weather systems, but certainly you can see we are opening these doors to areas of low pressure.

weather fronts moving from the atlantic, meaning it'll turn quite wet throughout monday, especially towards scotland. the winds picking up towards scotland. the winds picking up as well, some gales around the irish sea coast, further east, for the midlands and eastern england, it will stay largely drive through sunday, then with some sunshine, 2a or 25 degrees. for the rest of the week, there will be some rain at times, but equally some sunny spells and temperatures typical for the time of year. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. lebanon's health minister says at least ten people have been killed in an israeli strike on a residential building in the country's south. israel says it was targeting a hezbollah weapons depot. hospital officials in gaza say at least 15 people, including children and women, have been killed in israeli strikes on central gaza. the israeli military had earlier ordered the evacuation of nine areas in central gaza. hospitals in india are turning most patients away as doctors stage a 2k hour strike. tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations, after the rape and murder of a doctor in a kolkata hospital. and — the number of confirmed mpox cases in africa this