live from london, this is bbc news. an israeli team has said it is cautiously optimistic about the gaza ceasefire talks — but hamas has described suggestions of progress as an illusion. venezuela's opposition leader, maria corina machado, leads anti—government demonstrations in caracas — promising continued defiance after nicolas maduro�*s claim to have won the presidential election. why actors say they're increasingly worried about being asked to perform graphic scenes for video games. and an investigation begins into what sparked a fire at london's historic somerset house.

hello, i'm loren taylor. there's cautious optimism amongst israeli negotiators about the possibility of reaching a deal on gaza — that's according to the office of the israeli prime minister. the us secretary of state is heading to the region this weekend, after president biden also said that a ceasefire deal was closer than ever. but senior hamas figures have dismissed such optimism as an illusion. there were more israeli air strikes in gaza overnight — and israel also said it had struck targets inside neighbouring lebanon which belong to hezbollah, the group which supports hamas in gaza. with the latest from jerusalem, here's our middle east correspondent wyre davies. munitions explode images and reports from across the region show there are still huge obstacles to peace, despite the positive messages coming from talks in qatar. in gaza, an overnight israeli air strike reportedly killed 15 people in the central area of the palestinian territory. although israel said it had eliminated a number of armed fighters, several women and children were also reportedly killed.

translation: what happened is that around 1am in the morning, _ three rockets hit directly the house of this man and his family. there were many children and women inside, mainly women — around 20 in total. to the north, deep inside lebanon, the israeli air force said it had also struck hezbollah targets including a weapons storage facility. but reports from the scene said that at least ten people were killed, many of them syrian refugees, including a woman and her two children. translation: this is an industrial area, a brick factory, _ slaughterhouse, metal factory, aluminium factory and cow farm. it is an industrial and civilian area. there is an urgency for the next round of talks to succeed amid fears that the conflicts in gaza and either side of israel's northern border could escalate into a much wider regional war. but hamas officials have already dismissed american optimism as an illusion. president biden has welcomed

the reported progress in the qatar talks. i'm optimistic — farfrom over, just a couple more issues, i think we've got a shot. are you more optimistic now than you have been in months passed? yes. why? if i told you that, i'd give away what was going on. his secretary of state, antony blinken, is heading to the region to promote what is being called a final bridging proposal, hopefully leading to a ceasefire in gaza and the release of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners being held in israeli jails. wyre davies, bbc news, jerusalem. our senior international correspondent orla guerin sets out the likelihood of a deal being reached by both israel and hamas. we've had the israeli negotiating team has spoken of cautious optimism, about the possibility progress. president biden has also used the word optimism,

saying a deal is closer than never before. but critically, the palestinian group hamas is pouring cold water on all of that, saying that the americans are trying to buy time, that they are being overly optimistic. a hamas official told the bbc today that in fact, during the past two days of talks in doha this week, no progress has been made. we know the americans have passed the two sites what they're calling a bridging proposal to bring them together, and we know the mediators will get together again this coming week in cairo will stop but it still seems as if they're trying to square the circle, trying to keep the pressure on to keep these two sites engaged in this process. but i think we're coming towards a make or break point where it will be clear that either there is actual progress, something

substantive, or there's no chance. it doesn't feel like this intense international diplomacy can be sustained at this level for a long time without something to show for it. the ukrainian military has released video which it says shows the destruction of a key bridge inside the kursk region of russia. this video shows large explosions on the structure, about 11 kilometres from the border, in an area of kursk that remains under russian control. moscow says a bridge was destroyed on friday. russia says it is pushing back the ukrainian forces, which have captured territory in its kursk region — but ukraine's president zelensky says his forces are strengthening their positions. the russian authorities are continuing to evacuate civilians in areas near to where the fighting is taking place. according to local officials, more than 3,000 more people have been moved to safer areas in the past 2a hours. the fighting also continues inside ukraine — these pictures show the aftermath of what ukraine says was russian shelling of the city of sumy — about 35 kilometre from the border with russia.

two people are said to have been injured. and we have one other set of images to share with you. ukraine released these pictures of what it says was the moment its forces crossed into russia, into the kursk region, on the 6th of august — the beginning of their incursion. they appear to show a heavily damaged border post — and no further resistance from russia forces. james waterhouse is in the sumy region, with more on the significance of ukraine destroying this key bridge. well, it seems that what ukraine is looking to do, alongside drawing in russian troops, is also control its logistics or frustrate supply lines. so we saw, as you saw there, in quite spectacular fashion, a major bridge crossing in the north of the kursk region. it goes over a river that flows into belarus, and that had been used by russia's military to previously feed its invasion of ukraine. but ukrainian forces also control a number of major highways from north to south,

connecting to the belgorod region of russia further south, which had been used by russian forces as well. and notjust that — the town of sudzha, which ukraine has captured, is on a hill, so it is allowing ukrainian forces to control the battlefield in that respect and force russian forces to react, and that is costing them men and machinery. ukraine will be suffering losses as well, but at the moment it's ukraine doing the dictating. and while its advances are slowing, what kyiv will point out is, look, we might be making a kilometre a day, that is still more than what the russian forces are making in a day in eastern ukraine. but, crucially, those russian forces are still moving forward. the un's atomic energy agency says that the nuclear safety situation at ukraine's zaporizhzhia power plant is continuing to deteroriate. the nuclear station has been occupied by russian forces since shortly after the invasion.

it has occasionally been damaged by fighting — and a un team says there has been intense military activity in the area over the last week. that includes a drone explosion just outside of the plant, near to the essential cooling water sprinkler ponds. the director general of the international atomic energy agency, rafael grossi, said he was extremely concerned that there had been another escalation of security dangers at zaporizhzhia. over 100 london firefighters tackled a blaze at the iconic somerset house, in london this afternoon. large plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the roof of the former stately home, which is now an arts venue and art gallery which is home to numerous masterpieces. our culture reporter noor nanji reports. clouds of grey smoke filling the central london skyline on a busy saturday afternoon. they came from a fire that broke out in somerset house just before midday. staff and visitors were evacuated and 20 fire engines were sent to the scene.

this is where efforts to tackle the fire are being focused, on the side of the river that faces the river thames. you can see some of the scale of the operation behind me. they're spraying water on to the building's roof, which is where the flames are believed to be located. the cause of the blaze is under investigation. the response was complex and technical due to the age and design of the building. firefighters will remain at the scene into tomorrow. crews are now working to extinguish the final pockets of fire. a number of staff and visitors left somerset house before the brigade arrived and there are no reports of any injuries. somerset house is an historic site dating back centuries. it's now used as an arts venue and is home to the courtauld gallery, which houses priceless artworks including by van gogh, claude monet and paul cezanne. those art works are believed to be safe. it's too early to comment on the building's condition, but i think, thanks to the efforts

of the emergency services, i'm confident that the damage is to one small part of the building. the venue will remain closed until further notice, but the courtauld gallery we will reopen to the public tomorrow. noor nanji, bbc news. two cases of the disease known as mpox have been identified in sweden and pakistan. it comes as an outbreak of the new strain of the virus spreads across 16 countries in africa, where more than 500 people have died. aid agencies are warning of a shortage of vaccines and are asking wealthy countries to share supplies. the nhs says it has contingency plans in place, and anyone travelling to the affected areas is advised to get vaccinated. here's our heath correspondent sharon barbour. the nhs says it's getting ready should a worrying new strain of m—pox be confirmed here. hospitals are preparing to manage patients safely and plans are being put in place to test and isolate patients

and trace any contacts. health workers in the democratic republic of congo are treating an increasing number of patients, many of them children. m—pox has now spread to 16 countries in africa, with 18,000 cases confirmed. travellers are being advised to get vaccinated before going to affected areas. but health experts say, with the global shortage of vaccines, priority should be given to the countries with serious outbreaks. if we're actually able to help the countries where most cases are, which is west africa and central africa, to get that under control through vaccinating people routinely there, that would actually stop the spread of the virus in those countries and then protect them. the world health organization is calling on western nations not to stockpile vaccines. 0ne pharmaceutical company,

bavarian nordic, says it's ready to ramp up production. outside of africa, m—pox has now been found in a patient in pakistan, but it's not clear what strain it is. it follows a case at the more contagious and dangerous variant called cladei being announced by authorities in sweden. scientists around the world are concerned. it is very controllable, but it does need resources being delivered to those african countries where this infection is endemic and currently causing a major outbreak. the department of health says there is a supply of vaccines in the uk with planning under way as to how that would be rolled out. sharon barbour, bbc news. when friends actor matthew perry was found dead in a hot tub at his los angeles home last year, it seemed to have been an accident. he had been treating depression with ketamine — and no foul play was expected.

but the arrest of five people — including medical doctors, perry's assistant, and an alleged dealer — shed light on a suspected underground distribution network, and cast doubt on the use of ketamine to treat depression. rachel feltman is a science journalist, specialising in psychedelic drugs and ketamine therapy. i asked about the prevelance of ketamine use in therapy. it's definitely exploded in recent years. back in 2021, i wrote a feature for popular science magazine about the use of ketamine and actually about my own experience using it as a treatment for ptsd. and at that time, it was estimated that there were around 75 clinics offering it in the us. recently, one outlet estimated that that's now closer to 750 clinics. so clearly there's been a big surge in demand for it. and explain to us what it does to humans because it's more generally known as a horse tranquilliser. and presumably the dosage is important. sure, absolutely.

it has been used as a sedative for humans as well since, i believe, the 19705. and that is what it has fda approval for. it doesn't have fda approval for anything else, but it's very easy to get it off label, as is the case with many drugs, which is sometimes a good thing. you know, it does have these therapeutic uses. it's one of many psychedelic drugs that are being researched for their potential to treat depression in humans. but in terms of what it does, it's known as a dissociative anaesthetic at very high doses. it anaesthetises the patient. at lower doses, it can induce anything from relaxation to sort of deep meditation or trance—like state and, you know, into an actual hallucinatory psychedelic state as well. i mean, clearly, the investigations have found that the police said on thursday that their investigation launched in may, uncovered what they called a broad underground

criminal network of drug suppliers who distributed large quantities of ketamine. so has it become — you said it's used off label. how easy is it to obtain it now, do you think? so that's an interesting question because people have used ketamine recreationally and illegally for as long as it's been used as an anaesthetic. so the use of ketamine as a recreational drug and in high quantities and illegally is not new. what is new is that it's now quite easy to access it through these clinical settings. and as you said, these are much lower doses than matthew perry had in his system. the doses that matthew perry was getting from these people who were very clearly exploiting him were truly like an order of magnitude higher than what you see in psychedelic assisted therapy. performers working in the games industry have spoken of their distress at being asked to work on explicit content

without notice, including scenes featuring sexual assault. sex scenes are common in modern games — and are often made by filming human actors who are then digitised into game characters. i was joined by robbie taylor hunt, who's worked as an intimacy director and coordinator for both stage and screen, and i asked him how much of an issue this was across his industry. yes, it is really sad and shocking to see that these kind of things are happening. 0bviously, actors want to be able to turn up and do theirjob and do it well, and not having the information available, being put on the spot, means that they are not able to do thatjob meaningfully and also, leaving work feeling potentially exploited or harassed in that situation. so you know, i am shocked to hear it but also unfortunately, this was a common thing in the tv and film industry not too long ago, and now we have intimacy coordinators and a better process — but it looks like we are not quite there yet in the video game industry. why do you think that is, that the video game industry is lagging behind film and tv

on the intimacy issue? yeah, i imagine it is partly the mocap element of it, it feels a bit more abstract did and like, we are not really asking you to do it, you are in a suit, there is that element to it, but of course they are being asked to do these things, they are simulating sex, there is intimacy being performed with another person, it is still happening, so we need all the same processes in place as for tv and film. and for the voice side of things — actors being been asked to come in and perform vocal performances to voice these characters in video games, i think people think of intimacy and intimacy coordinators being brought onjust for the physical side of things, if there is nudity or simulated sex being acted out physically with another person, and if they are by themselves in a booth, it is fine. but it is still asking someone to perform something very intimate, asking them to voice a sex scene or erotic talk, or performing an organism or something at a microphone in front of people

they don't know at work. so intimacy coordinators give that process for people to be able to do that work in a way that they can feel proud of the work and that brings better performances and better use of the script and characters and stories for a video game. aside from the use of intimacy coordinators, what about the side of things where people are obliged to sign nondisclosure agreements and they only find out at the last minute? is that something which is also lagging behind the film industry, do you think? absolutely, for consent to be really consent, people need to be informed that something is going to happen, that is a huge pillar of consent. if you're not letting people know what they are going to do until the moment they are going to do it, you can't really say that they are freely consenting to something. we need to make sure, like in the equity guidelines, people need to be aware, at least in general terms, of what the scene is going to be. it does not mean that they need to have the script or a real sense of the intimate act expected — and that is where we're at with tv

and film now, on the whole, if you are accepting a role on a tv show and there is a sexy or nudity required for the role, then at the point of casting, at the point they are engaged in the production, we say that this requires this, or it is really desirable that this element is part of this role, and we want to see the same in the video game industry. i understand there was one game that did hire intimacy coordinators and that was unusual. yes, so the intimacy coordinators who worked on baldur�*s gate 3, i know them, and firstly, the actors who played the lead roles, the romanceable characters seem to be proud of working on the game, you see them talking about their involvement in it quite openly but you also see that fans of the game love the romantic storylines which have central and intimate romantic storylines and that has become a really exciting part of the game, a real success story for the studio and the game. it also goes to show that for the studios, if they meaningfully engage with intimacy coordinators,

that will mean it is also better content and the fans will like it more. it feels like a win—win. you mentioned in passing, the issue of the suits that people wear, and people sometimes use that as an excuse for not having that kind of protection for the actors. tell us how the suits work or how they film it, and what you then do to say, these are the kind of safeguards we would put in place in order to protect people. i think with the suits, because largely people are in full lycra suits so there is no nudity, right, people think about something as really simulating sex if there is nudity — if there is something in the way, a lycra suit, there is technology there, so i think that means there is a sense of detachment from it being something more exposing. but when the suits are worn, they are trying to capture the movements of the performers, and so they want as realistic and characterful and dynamic choreography as possible, and that means really trying to get

performers to simulate sex as closely and realistically as possible for the characters. the only real difference from what we are saying there to what we see on a tv and film set is that maybe, on a tv and film set, people will be performing with a higher level of nudity. but in terms of the performance happening, it is exactly the same and it should be treated as such. have other protections been put in place in the film and tv industry partly because of union involvement, and is much different in the gaming side of things? it is great to see that the gaming industry is getting more involved with these guidelines and the use of intimacy coordinators, and giving that warning. i am involved with bectu, the intimacy coordinators branch, and we have created guidelines on how tv and film professionals should be working on intimate content, when you need to bring in an intimate coordinator, how it works with you. so we are trying to make it easy for the companies to engage with us. we are not going to turn up and shut everything down, and say everyone is doing everything terribly. we want people to enjoy the process of working with us and we want to be

able to do ourjobs, and make working lives better for the actors and crew and everyone involved. i think union involvement is a really key part of that puzzle and hoping that the industry engages with the more. —— engages with the unions properly. to venezuela now — where opposition leader, maria corina machado, has called for both nationwide and international demonstrations, urging people to protest against president nicolas maduro's disputed election victory last month. she addressed supporters from the back of a truck in caracas, saying that she would not abandon her protest. a group of united nations experts said that venezuela's presidential election lacked "basic transparency and integrity". experts have criticised venezuela's national electoral council for declaring the incumbent, president maduro, the winner without publishing detailed voting tallies. on friday, the organisation of american states, meeting in washington, adopted a resolution calling on venezuela to publish comprehensive details of the results. ms machado had this message for her supporters. translation: when this |

regime saw it was defeated and their scheme discovered, they chose the most cruel of all politics. we won't leave the streets. we will use intelligence, prudence, resilience, boldness — and peacefully — because violence benefits them. alfredo romero is a venezuelan human rights lawyer. he spoke to us from caracas about the risks protesters were taking. we have verified and identified more than 1,400 detainees, which are being detained precisely in protest and mass protest that has happened in those 15 days. and before now, and we're verifying that and identifying different kind

of situations happening injails and everything. so of course it's an important risk because repression is being used effectively to, as you said, to crack down protests. and what recourse do people have if they are arrested? well, there are many things happening. at this point, the problem that happened is that we don't have access to detainees as far as private lawyers. right now, when the families, because they have been incommunicado for about 15 days, right now is when families have been having access to detainees and they're reporting some kind of situations. for example, there is a guy, just to tell you one thing that happened yesterday, there is a guy with autism in one specific prison centre,

and he's beenjailed there. there are minors, for example, people from 1a years old to 17 years old. right now, we have verified and identified 126 minors from 14—17 years old. there is, for example, one girl named victoria. she is part of the orchestra system here in venezuela. you know, she's a musician and, you know, there are many situations happening because this massive protest, this massive repression, i mean, the results are that everyone that is walking on the street is being detained, even if they don't participate in this protest. one of the best—known tourist destinations in wales has become too popular. bannau brecheiniog — formerly known as the brecon beacons — has attracted large numbers of people taking pictures of themselves to put on tiktok or instagram. authorities in the park are now urging people to visit outside of the summer months to ease congestion.

dorian thomas is a mountain leader at trigpoint adventures, who frequently heads up to the region. he described the impact it was having on the environment first of all, in environment, obviously, you know, you are seeing that the footpaths are being worn out much more quickly, and these footpaths are being designed and built to kind of cover a lot of footfall. you are seeing lots more rubbish, i also saw an abandoned tent up there last week which has been pulled off by the national trust wardens. so you know, there is a massive impact on it. it is not very nice for other people to have to look at as well, when you take people around, just seeing the mess left by other people. we want people to come and visit and enjoy our beautiful areas but obviously, we don't want them to go and spoil it. so, yes, come and visit. plan your visit. come on a bit of a quieter day, midweek maybe, rather than the weekends. and leave it as you find it or maybe even better still, leave it in a better condition than you find it. arcade game fans are preparing to compete in what's being described as the uk's only dedicated pin—ball

event this weekend. pinfest uk will see some of the best compete in the three day tournament. 0ur reporter laura foster met one of the regional champions who'll be taking part. a warning, her report contains flashing images. in nathan's childhood home, there's a room dedicated to his favourite hobby. to those who love it, pinball has all the rules and strategy of video games, mixed with the timing, precision and skill of sports such as pool and snooker, and it's becoming more and more popular. # sure plays a mean pinball. there's nothing else like it. it's just really, really enjoyable to do. in east anglia, we've had our own league this year. that's never happened before, because there's never been enough venues, enough collectors, enough games in order to do it. he's been playing since he was a kid and they've even got their own electronic scoreboard.

it's great. it means i get to spend a lot of time with him. he beats me. he beats lots of people. he's very good. i think it's given nathan a big, big field of friends over the years as well. so it's a good thing. this weekend, nathan will be competing at pin fest, the uk's biggest pinball contest, in daventry. but there will also be hundreds of machines for members of the general public to play on forfree. and there's already some talk in the community about competitions getting even more prominence in the future. i think people would be surprised by how entertaining it is to watch because, you know, people stream these tournaments, you can watch them online, on twitch and things. sadly, there wasn't enough time in ourfilming schedule to capture my very high final score. laura foster, apparently at the bottom of the leaderboard, bbc news, in ipswich. let's take a quick look at tomorrow's front pages now. starting with the independent — who carry a warning from the nhs over drug shortages on key medication including

schizophrenia and adhd. they also feature a picture of somerset house catching fire earlier today. the mail on sunday makes its feelings clear — claiming keir stamer has capitulated to rail unions over pay that will be paid, it says, by the tax payer. �*em billion bill for keir�*s shabby union cave—in�* is its headline. the observer leads on the work and pensions secretary's pledge to end the blame culture over the benefits bill. liz kendall warns that rising welfare spending is unsustainable. according to the sunday telegraph, extreme misogyny will be treated as terrorism for the first time, under new plans to combat the radicalisation of young men online. the sunday times pictures a group of captured russian soldiers in a prison cell as ukraine's incursion into russia continues. and finally, the sunday express asks the question, �*how many old age pensioners will freeze this winter?�* accusing the chancellor of burying

a report into the impact of axing winter fuel payments. time for the weather. hello there. there was a lot of cloud around on saturday for northern and western areas. the best of the sunshine was further east — and part two of the weekend looks pretty similar. we start dry with lots of sunshine, and then the cloud amounts will tend to build up into the afternoon, producing just one or two showers. now the azores highs continuing to nudge northwards across much of england, wales, northern ireland. so, light winds here, but fresher across scotland. it will remain breezy throughout the day here. we start off with plenty of sunshine after that fresh start, and then clouds will tend to build up into the afternoon. it could turn quite grey in a few places. the odd shower likely for western scotland, maybe western hills of england and wales. otherwise it's mostly dry, up to 25 celsius in the southeast, the high teens further north. sunday night, we do it all again, the clouds tend to melt away for many, and the clear skies, it'll turn quite fresh again with temperatures of 8—12 celsius. now, some changes taking place to start the new week.

the first of a series of low pressure systems will work its way