live from london, this is bbc news. the us secretary of state jets off to the middle east with plans to meet israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu as pressure mounts for a gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. the british government announces plans to confront hatred and extreme prejudice against women in its counter terrorism programme. vietnam's top leader to lam lands in china for a visit aimed to strengthen the bond between the communist—run neighbours. and the gift that keeps on giving — how old christmas trees are being re—purposed to save the environment.

hello, i'm samantha simmonds. the us secretary of state is travelling to israel as cautious optimism grows amongst israeli negotiators about the possibility of reaching a deal on gaza. anthony blinken 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 have been more israeli airstrikes in gaza and israel also said it had struck targets inside neighbouring lebanon which belong to hezbollah, the group which supports hamas in gaza. greg mckenzie has this report. images from across the region over the weekend show there are still huge obstacles to peace despite two days of us—backed talks in qatar. on friday night, an israeli airstrike reportedly killed 15 people in the central area of gaza. although israel said it had eliminated a number of armed fighters, several women and children

were also reportedly killed. us secretary of state antony blinken will arrive in the region to promote what is being called a final bridging proposal aimed at overcoming the differences between hamas and israel, which would hopefully lead to a ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners being held in israeli jails. in tel aviv, thousands took to the streets, including anti—government protesters and some of the relatives of hostages still in gaza who are calling the current negotiations as the last chance to get some of them out alive. the other 140 hostages are paying a political price because they could have come already with a deal such a long time ago. so many people could have

come alive but instead they are going to come home bodies. they're dead, there's an urgency for the next round of to succeed, with fears the conflicts in gaza and either side of israel's northern border could escalate into a wider regional war. but hamas officials have already dismissed american optimism as an illusion. greg mckenzie, bbc news. our middle east correspondent, jenny hill, is in tel aviv which is where anthony blinken is due to land in the coming hours. i think this is all about keeping up the momentum. in the us has been pushing really hard along with mediators qatar and egypt to get us

and israeli leaders and hamas to agree a deal. in the words ofjoe biden that we are closer to a deal than ever we have antony blinken been. plans to hold talks with the israeli prime minister and last night his office issued a statement in which it expressed cautious optimism about progress but hamas say any positivity or optimism is simply an illusion and a senior official told the bbc no progress has been made and is all this goes on so too does the war in gaza at a terrible human cost and it is feared thatis terrible human cost and it is feared that is in danger of becoming an

all—out war so as antony blinken arising as plain,. —— arrives in his plane. the united states were calling this are bridging proposal, the idea they were building on points of agreement as they described in recent weeks but also aiming to close remaining gaps to a number of sticking points we understand remain. israel would for example like to have some control over the return of displaced palestinians to northern gaza and also controversy over who controls a strip of land and gaza bordering egypt. also very keen to retain a veto over the palestinian prisoners released in exchange for israeli

hostages currently held captive in gaza by hamas. the political leader of hamas was killed in a strike in iran a couple weeks ago and the man believed to be the mastermind behind october seven now leads hamas, does that change anything? that is the make unknowable. one of the reasons in this region is in such a state of high alert as their political leader hamas was assassinated in tehran a couple weeks ago. israel has never confirmed or denied but it is widely acknowledged the assassination was las vegas work. his replacement is still believed to be in hiding in

gaza and believed to be much more hardline person than his predecessor who is described by negotiators as pragmatic and someone with whom they could do business so it is not really clear yet what the leadership and attitude towards the negotiations will be but certainly the concern as he is a more extreme figure with potentially a rather more extreme attitude towards whatever is on the table. thailand's new prime minister has said she will take steps to stimulate the country's flagging economy, combat drug problems and improve universal healthcare. paetongtarn shinawatra was speaking shortly after receiving the king's endorsement in a televised ceremony in the capital, bangkok. it paves the way for the 37—year—old to form a cabinet. ms paetongtarn�*s investiture comes on the same day her father,

the former prime minister thaksin shinawatra, ends his parole following convictions relating to abuse of authority during his time in office. following her endorsement from the king, paetongtarn shinawatra addressed the public. i'd like to thank the people of thailand, whether you voted for me or not. i promise to serve everyone equally and wholeheartedly. every age, every gender, every diversity. together, let's turn any change, any challenges into opportunities, making thailand a place where everyone can dream, create and shape their future. thank you. russia's air defence units destroyed five drones that ukraine launched overnight targeting the border kursk, belgorod and rostov regions, according to russia's defence ministry. it comes after the ukrainian

military released a 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, volodymyr omelya is a major in the ukrainian armed forces. he's been speaking to my colleague, lewis vaughan—jones, and outlined what ukraine's long—term plan for the incursion is. ukrainian armed forces flip the table. putin's dream was to trade ukrainian territory and to cut it piece by piece, having numerous peace settlements or peace negotiations. it failed. and right now we should talk about russian territory controlled by ukrainian forces as well. and definitely russia and kremlin specifically are in deep shock because they cannot still believe that it's a true operation and ukrainian armed forces

are there and controlling more than ioookm2. but for ukraine, there's no doubting the success so far of that mission. but for ukraine to be able to use it in any way for negotiations or whatever reason, it has to be able to hold it without too great a loss of ukrainian life and resources. are you confident ukraine can do that? lewis, you are absolutely right. it's war and any unpredictable thing can happen any second. but still, as of today, more than two weeks passed and we control this territory. we hold it and we progress. so it's the best answer to your question. definitely we cannot march to moscow as prigozhin tried to do. but in present situation,

it turned out that putin is not that strong as he dreams of. he is not scary any more. and kremlin doesn't have enough resources to withstand ukrainian attack in russian territory. so what response are you expecting from vladimir putin? we believe that he will try to push hard once again. but according to our data, russian economy is going down. and he's out of manpower regardless that he sends hundreds of russians to die every day. and right now, forfor him, choice is very simple. whether he announced new great mobilisation to call for army every single russian. and then he will end this russian tsar during world war one, or he will try to negotiate and to make a pause to prepare russia

better for new war. so do you think this incursion by ukraine, given what you've just said and the potential responses, do you think it will change the course of this war? it's not a miracle and it's not a miracle weapon. but yes, it increases morale of ukrainians and armed forces of ukraine a lot. we are happy to see that reaction of our allies is positive. and once again, using this opportunity, i would like to thank all the people of united kingdom for supporting ukraine. it's crucial for us to withstand this battle. but if to talk in numbers, russia controls more than iookm2 in ukraine. we control as of today more than 1000. so proportion is not in our good case. but we still believe that president is on the table, that we talk not only about ukrainian territory,

but we talk about russian territory. and putin should make a choice. 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. here in the uk, the home office says it will include extreme misogyny among types of extremism which the government should take steps to tackle. it's started a rapid review to address gaps in the current system and will develop plans to map and monitor extremist trends both on and offline. the home secretary yvette cooper said that for too long governments had failed to address the issue. with me is political

correspondent charlotte rose. yvette cooper is saying there will be a step change in how the government tackles extremism. whether offline are online and applied this rapid review by civil servants into how it is dealt with. she says she has asked them to look at the rise in both islamist and far right extremism as well as the rise in misogyny and other broad categories of extremism which she says includes a fixation on violence and says she wants evidence on what works to try to disrupt people spreading what she calls hateful and divisive beliefs that promote violence and undermine democracy and once ways to crack down on that kind of behaviour. people will have questions about whether today's announcement is linked to some of the riots we have seen in towns and cities across the uk in recent weeks but actually this was something in the labour election manifesto so clearly it is something the party

has been thinking about for some time. when they talk about extreme misogyny what kind of things at the talking about? is it radicalisation of men online? it is not something completely new, it has been looked at within the broader remit of extremism since the early 2020 �*s when a concern began to write about something called in cell culture. —— incel, communities of young men online saying they are involuntary celibate and this was linked to the time—shifting when five people were killed by a young man called jake davison. —— linked to the shooting. and this is also looking at people like influences like andrew tait and the content they have read by young

men in particular. and the home secretary saying she is concerned the previous government didn't have any kind of extremism policy dating back to 2015. that is when the last counter extremism policy was published and she saying this area has been hollowed out in terms of government response. this is not the first review labour has announced he's coming to power injuly, we have seen announcements of lots of reviews from the strategic defence review to a review of the national curriculum and i guess some critics of the government would seek it is quite easy to announce reviews and harder to actually take decisive action. i guess what the government would say is they need to know what the picture is before they can decide what action they need to take. vietnam leader to lam has begun a three—day visit to china in his first overseas trip since taking up the role. chinese state media is reporting he arrived in guangzhou, an industrial and export hub

near hong kong. he's due to meet with chinese leader xijinping and other senior officials during the trip. he's also expected to visit sites where the former vietnamese communist leader ho chi minh spent time. let's speak to professor christoph bluth who specialises in international relations at the university of bradford. china and vietnam are neighbours and have a close and important economic relationship. it's very important for china and vietnam because of potential tensions over the efforts by china to create a hegemony in the region and the territorial disputes in the south china sea. vietnam is seeking to preserve its sovereignty while at the same time relying very heavily economically in china. haw

heavily economically in china. how do ou heavily economically in china. how do you think _ heavily economically in china. how do you think that _ heavily economically in china. how do you think that the goal? vietnam has claims in the south china sea, it's a difficult balancing act for them when the realise the rely heavily on trade for china. vietnam has domestic _ heavily on trade for china. vietnam has domestic discontent _ heavily on trade for china. vietnam has domestic discontent and - has domestic discontent and demonstrations against china which the vietnamese government �*s clampdown on. at the same the office we want to maintain this trade balance and the vietnamese economy relies quite a lot on the heavy import of chinese goods for its own manufacturing industries so it is a balancing act vietnam has to perform. balancing act vietnam has to erform. . ., , balancing act vietnam has to erform. . .,, , balancing act vietnam has to erform. . , perform. vietnam has this bamboo diplomacy- — perform. vietnam has this bamboo diplomacy- an _ perform. vietnam has this bamboo diplomacy. an approach _ perform. vietnam has this bamboo diplomacy. an approach to - perform. vietnam has this bamboo diplomacy. an approach to staying | perform. vietnam has this bamboo i diplomacy. an approach to staying in good relations with its neighbour china and also the united states is extremely important to them. find it extremely important to them. and it also relies heavily _ extremely important to them. and it also relies heavily on _ extremely important to them. and it also relies heavily on russia - extremely important to them. and it also relies heavily on russia for - also relies heavily on russia for military modernisation so there is a

plethora of relationships. in that they are not necessarily in conflict, relations between the united states and vietnam don't really with china but china is very close and developing its core interests in the south china sea which conflict with those of other states so vietnam has to be very careful. ~ ., ., , ., ., ., ., careful. what does china want out of this visit? its _ careful. what does china want out of this visit? it's important _ careful. what does china want out of this visit? it's important for - careful. what does china want out of this visit? it's important for them . this visit? it's important for them to enhance _ this visit? it's important for them to enhance relations _ this visit? it's important for them to enhance relations with - this visit? it's important for them to enhance relations with china . this visit? it's important for them l to enhance relations with china and vietnam to prevent the kind of emerging conflict between the two countries and vietnam at the same time seeks to consolidate its own internal position of the communist party and therefore we have seen since the last year especially greater move towards smoothing over relations with china and xi jinping visited vietnam last year �*s

relations are a bit closer now than they have been for a while. the london fire brigade is investigating the cause of a fire which damaged part of the roof at somerset house. more than 120 firefighters tackled the blaze at the historic building in central london which started at lunchtime yesterday. 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 onto the roof, where the flames

are thought to be located. the cause is currently under investigation. the response was complex and technical due to the age and design of the building, and firefighters will remain at the scene today. 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 artworks are believed to be safe. it's too early to comment the building's condition, but thanks to the efforts of the emergency services i am confident that the damage is to one small part of the building. the venue will remain closed until further notice, but the courtauld gallery will reopen to the public today.

around a50 households in county down in northern ireland have been urged to evacuatr after a suspected world war ii bomb was discovered at a building site nearby. residents have been told that making the bomb safe could take five days, or longer. the predicted rise in sea levels due to global warming has focused attention on measures that can be taken to protect coastlines. sand dunes play a key role in providing a natural line of defence, but many are threatened. yet a project in the north of england to secure them using christmas trees is showing promising results. our reporterjudy hobson has been to find out more. these dunes once stretched for miles inland, but not any more. they had to make way for housing and roads. and now just 20% of these lancashire dunes remain. sand dunes are hugely important for many different reasons. first and foremost, they act as a wonderful soft sea defence. so in years gone by, you know, there's lots of people that would have put hard sea defences in through sea walls.

but i think we're finally realising that actually nature—based solutions play a huge role in coastal defence now. and sand dunes and salt marsh act as a buffer between the land and the sea. removing sand dunes has left towns along the coast here vulnerable to flooding. in recent years, though, there's been a huge effort to widen the dunes once again. this whole area has widened by up to 100m. hopefully we can go out another ten to 20m. the work that we're doing is pushing mean high water back. planting marram grass helps to bind the sand together, but over the years, volunteers have also placed christmas trees here to make the dunes even more secure. it's very effective, so we've been using it since 2013. we were definitely not the first sand dunes project to use christmas trees, but i think we are one of the longest—standing now and it's worked extremely well. so much so that it's acted as a case study for lots of other dune projects around the uk. sand dunes also provide a rare habitat. the land is owned by the local councils, who recently worked with conservation groups

to introduce these creatures. sand lizards, i love sand lizards. they weren't playing ball today, though. this footage was filmed by bbc springwatch. so we released them over four years, 412 in total, and myjob now is to monitor that population, to see where they're spreading, how many we've got and if they're breeding. we've seen over 70 this year, which is really good. previous years we've seen about 50, 40—50. so as we had the right habitat here, it was the perfect opportunity to get them out here. we can carry on building the dunes out towards the sea. eventually we'll hit mean high tide where we'll lose more dunes than we're making. and that'll be the point where we stop. the fylde sand dunes project is currently being funded by the environment agency until 2027, but it's hoped this essential project will be able to continue for many more years after that.

a man has been seriously injured after colliding with a whale off the coast of australia. the man, believed to be in his 40s — was in a boat when the incident happened, in waters near the border between new south wales and queensland. according to police in queensland, the man, who was in a small metal boat, didn't know the whale was there until it appeared in front of him. the whale's tail then struck him, leaving him unconscious. nearbyjet ski riders raised the alarm and the man was brought to shore by paramedics. he was then taken to hospital where he was treated for facial and spinal injuries. the ambulance service says the man is in a stable condition. french film star alain delon has died, at the age of 88. the actor was part of the golden era of french cinema, known for his tough—guy persona on screen in hits including the samurai and borsalino. his family say he died peacefully at home, surrounded by his children and family. once described as the most beautiful man in the movies, delon starred in hits from the 19605 onwards. he appeared in more than 90 films during his career, but in recent years had health

issues and became a virtual recluse. stay with us here on bbc news. 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. and the azores high is continuing to nudge northwards across much of england, wales and 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. 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 degrees in the southeast. it's 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 to 12 degrees. now, some changes taking place to start the new week. the first of a series of low pressure systems will work its way in to the country during the day. so we start off with plenty of sunshine, but the clouds will tend to build in the west and it'll turn wet and windy through the day. some pretty heavy and persistent rain for northern ireland, and it will turn windy with gales, perhaps around some irish sea coasts, but lighter winds again in towards the southeast, where it will stay dry and sunny all day. so temperatures responding up to 25 degrees or so. that's the high teens further north and west, picking up a little bit more humidity as well from the south. and then monday night that area of low pressure and its weather fronts crosses the country stays quite breezy into tuesday, with the low sitting to the north of scotland, and that will bring a day of sunshine and showers.

some of them will be heavy and thundery, particularly in the north and west, some of them merging together to produce longer spells of rain for western scotland. temperatures down a touch. i think 22/23 degrees will be the high mid to high teens further north, and then we look out to the atlantic. this next area of low pressure contains the remnants of what was hurricane ernesto, and that potentially could bring quite a lot of rainfall to the north west of the uk around the middle part of the week, certainly. so for western scotland, but further south and east it will tend to stay dry, i think, with some sunny spells, and it will turn increasingly humid as we pick up these southwesterly winds. stays pretty unsettled for the end of the week across more northern and western areas. a better chance of staying drier towards the southeast.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is on his way to israel in his latest effort to push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza. the us and israel have said that there's been positive progress since talks resumed in qatar last week. but hamas has dismissed the optimism as an illusion. contrary to popular belief, loneliness has been found to impact adults under 25 more than over—65s, in new research from a british thinktank. the research notes older people are more likely to converse with neighbours and family and attend community events but it caveats that loneliness in older age can become more chronic as circumstances change. the french actor alain delon, once described as the most beautiful man in cinema, has died at the age of 88. delon was one of the biggest stars in french film in the 19605 and 70s.

the us secretary of state antony blinken is travelling to middle east as cautious optimism grows amongst israeli negotiators about the possibility of reaching a deal on gaza. it comes after president biden said that a ceasefire deal was closer than ever. but senior hamas figures have dismissed such optimism as an illusion. meanwhile, there have been more israeli air strikes in gaza and israel also said it had struck targets inside neighbouring lebanon. lets get more for our middle east editor, sebastian usher. sebastien, welcome. quite different messaging coming from the opposite sides of the negotiating table here. yes. i think we have got three messages coming out in a way from the us, met very strong, urgent, very much pushing the ceasefire negotiations. they have broken down a number of times before. but i think the us feels the stakes are so

high this time with the threat of a regional all—out conflict potentially erupting after the killing of the hamas political leader in iran and the killing of a top has walloped military commander, that the ceasefire —— hezbollah military commander, that the ceasefire is needed, there is talk from us officials that they want this side signed and sealed by the end of the week. israel have had some positive indications but others, not so much. what the us essentially presented in two days of talks which took place in qatar was an attempt to bridge these long outstanding differences between israel and hamas. outstanding differences between israeland hamas. israel outstanding differences between israel and hamas. israel has said that there has been progress made on that, but i don't think there is a

full commitment yet to this modification. and that is partly to do with two potential conditions. one is the philadelphia corridor which runs right on the southern border with egypt and gaza that israel essentially does not want to hand that over to the palestinians, it wants to maintain some kind of control over that, because that is where they believe hamas weapons can come in, and the group would be able to restore its ability potentially in a military sense if that were to be closed up. and the other which has been a big obstacle for a long time is over allowing all palestinians to go back to the north of gaza. the israeli concern about thatis of gaza. the israeli concern about that is that among them, there may be hamas fighters. so that is still being discussed. from the hamas perspective, they have essentially said officials that they agreed that

do a deal that was outlined a couple of months ago, the president biden deal with three phases, and they say that israel, the government has put in extra conditions since then. and they do not accept the new conditions, they want, as far as what they are saying, they want to go back to exactly as they believe the deal was back then. there is still a lot that needs to be ironed out, we have antony blinken coming to israel, to the region, his tenth visit since october seven, he will be pushing very hard in his talks with the israeli prime minister and leaders and presumably also with palestinian officials to get this deal done. palestinian officials to get this deal done-— palestinian officials to get this deal done. ~ . deal done. meanwhile, the fighting ve much deal done. meanwhile, the fighting very much goes _ deal done. meanwhile, the fighting very much goes on _ deal done. meanwhile, the fighting very much goes on in _ deal done. meanwhile, the fighting very much goes on in gaza. - deal done. meanwhile, the fighting very much goes on in gaza. more l deal done. meanwhile, the fighting i very much goes on in gaza. more than 100 israeli hostages and other nationalities are still being held in gaza as well. it's nearly a year, coming up to a year, more than ten months since the hamas attacks on israel and the beginning of this

war. do you get the sense that it is reaching a conclusion now? i war. do you get the sense that it is reaching a conclusion now?- reaching a conclusion now? i really cannot say. — reaching a conclusion now? i really cannot say. i— reaching a conclusion now? i really cannot say, i don't _ reaching a conclusion now? i really cannot say, i don't think _ reaching a conclusion now? i really cannot say, i don't think anybody l cannot say, i don't think anybody cannot say, i don't think anybody can quite say that. in terms of the human cost, the cost of the palestinians continues on a daily basis. we had on saturday an israeli strike which officials in gaza say killed at least 17 people from the same family, children among them. those sorts of attacks have been happening every day. israel says that it needs to act in this way because hamas and other palestinian groups had taken positions near where displaced palestinians are sheltering. on the other side, as you say, the pressure on israel for the hostages to be released is building and building. on saturday night, there was a very big, very emotional protest in many towns and cities in israel. that so far seems to have fallen on deaf ears at the

israeli government but that must tell, that pressure, this sense that there may not be that large a number of israeli hostages still able to be saved, and so time is of the essence. we had just a week or so ago from the us, egypt and qatar, the mediators in this, saying there is not a moment to waste. and i think that feeling is echoing amongst many people in israel and of course in gaza. amongst many people in israel and of course in gaza-— demonstrations have been held across venezuela over the disputed result ofjuly's election. in caracas, thousands lined a highway to hear the opposition leader maria corina machado urge them to remain out in force. 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: we will not leave the streets. - we will use intelligence, prudence, resilience, boldness, and we will do it peacefully. because violence benefits them. we do not attack other venezuelans. research by a uk think tank suggests that, contrary to popular perception, older people are the least lonely age group in the country. four in ten elderly people say they sometimes feel lonely. but the figure jumps to seven out of ten when under 25s are questioned. the researchers say the elderly are much more likely to socialise and volunteer. josh nicholson is a senior resercher for the centre for socialjustice. he wrote the study and joins me now.

welcome, josh, good to have you on the programme. what kind of data where you looking at here? the centre for— where you looking at here? the centre for social _ where you looking at here? tue: centre for socialjustice where you looking at here? tta: centre for socialjustice polled where you looking at here? tt2 centre for socialjustice polled a representative sample, about 2000 adults from across the uk, we also conducted a major analysis of a survey called understanding society which contains tens of thousands of households. this is research we did in partnership with grassroot charity across the uk and it came out of the study that older people are the latest lonely group in society. it —— the least lonely group in the society. it shatters the stereotype that older people are the stereotype that older people are the most lonely. and it's actually young people, 75% of young people say they feel lonely at least some of the time. that's an astonishing number, if you go to a place where young people are, they are not feeling lonely only three out of ten of them. they are major problems that the government needs to get a handle on. ~ , ., ,., ., ,

that the government needs to get a handle on. ~ , ., ., , handle on. why are so many young --eole handle on. why are so many young people feeling _ handle on. why are so many young people feeling lonely, _ handle on. why are so many young people feeling lonely, and - handle on. why are so many young people feeling lonely, and you - handle on. why are so many young | people feeling lonely, and you think it has changed over the years? tt it has changed over the years? tit has changed over the years. one of the most significant changes to occur for younger people is a decline in the perceived strength of family relationships. so another organisation, we have worked with and spoken to, had found that over the last 20 years, the decline in family relationships, the strength of family relationships has caused a decline in well—being and a rise in loneliness in young people. and lonely nation parts to which we publish today, which specifically looks at older people, finds there is lots to learn from all the people, they are more likely to see extended members of family, they are more engaged in the community and volunteer more, this all protects against loneliness. there is more we can learn from our old friends in our community.— can learn from our old friends in our community. what is that decline in family changes _ our community. what is that decline in family changes down _ our community. what is that decline in family changes down to? - our community. what is that decline in family changes down to? i - our community. what is that decline in family changes down to? i think l in family changes down to? i think there has been _ in family changes down to? i think there has been significant - in family changes down to? i thinkl there has been significant changes, one of the most significant is

family breakdown. the uk has some of the most unstable family structures in europe, and this is actually ignored in loneliness research, it's not really looked at very often. the report is the second part in our series, earlier in the year we published a report specifically arguing that strengthening family needs to be at the heart of a new refreshed loneliness strategy. that is really the overarching call of these four reports which will be reporting this year, government needs to refresh its loneliness strategy, it's a rising issue in society, we have not heard anything about it yet from the new government but it needs to be tackled. what but it needs to be tackled. what about social _ but it needs to be tackled. what about social media, _ but it needs to be tackled. what about social media, what - but it needs to be tackled. what about social media, what part if any does that play if any? is there too much spent time online are not enoughin much spent time online are not enough in the real world for young people? enough in the real world for young --eole? , . enough in the real world for young eo le? , . ., enough in the real world for young neale? , . ., , ., people? there is evidence that young eo - le people? there is evidence that young --eole are people? there is evidence that young people are spending _ people? there is evidence that young people are spending a _ people? there is evidence that young people are spending a lot _ people? there is evidence that young people are spending a lot more - people? there is evidence that young people are spending a lot more time| people are spending a lot more time on social media and smartphones, and that could be causing a rise in loneliness because they are lacking

in person communities. interestingly enough, in our research, we found that in older people, the opposite is taking place. older people, being on a smartphone, using a smartphone is associated with being less lonely. so in older people, the causes of loneliness might be very different to young people which requires a lot more work by government to address this. we are calling for a new digital inclusion strategy, and a digital champions fund which will support charities that are getting older people online, teaching them those skills thatice online, teaching them those skills that ice having a massive effect on the ability to form relationships in a digital world.— the ability to form relationships in a digital world. really interesting, thank ou a digital world. really interesting, thank you for— a digital world. really interesting, thank you for being _ a digital world. really interesting, thank you for being with _ a digital world. really interesting, thank you for being with us, - a digital world. really interesting, thank you for being with us, josh. | thank you for being with us, josh. thank you. 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. mpox 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 you'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. one pharmaceutical company, bavarian nordic, says it's ready to ramp up production. outside of africa, mpox has now been found in a patient in pakistan, but it's not clear what strain it is. it follows a case of the more contagious and dangerous variant called clade1 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. french film star alain delon has died, at the age of 88. the actor was part of the golden era of french cinema, known for his tough—guy persona on screen in hits including the samurai and borsalino. his family say he died peacefully at home, surrounded by his children and family. once described as the most beautiful man in the movies, delon starred in hits from the 19605 onwards. he appeared in more than 90 films during his career, but in recent years had health issues and became a virtual recluse. i'm joined now by entertainment reporter and radio time5 columni5t caroline frost. welcome, caroline. tell us more about alain delon, he was a french 5uper5tar, what were some of his most defining performances? it is

most defining performances? it is the end of an _ most defining performances? it is the end of an era, _ most defining performances? it is the end of an era, 90 titles or more — the end of an era, 90 titles or more one _ the end of an era, 90 titles or more. one of the most defining things— more. one of the most defining things was the bookends of his relationship with romy schneider, whom _ relationship with romy schneider, whom he — relationship with romy schneider, whom he later described as the love of his— whom he later described as the love of his life. _ whom he later described as the love of his life. a — whom he later described as the love of his life, a german actress he met in the _ of his life, a german actress he met in the 19505— of his life, a german actress he met in the 19505 and co—starred in with christine — in the 19505 and co—starred in with christine. he was a bigger —— because _ christine. he was a bigger —— because she was a bigger star than him at _ because she was a bigger star than him at the — because she was a bigger star than him at the time but then he recruited _ him at the time but then he recruited her for the swimming pool. he was— recruited her for the swimming pool. he was desperate to reconcile, we have film — he was desperate to reconcile, we have film stars nowadays where we are more _ have film stars nowadays where we are more concerned with their romance — are more concerned with their romance that these two were something quite, just typical of centrai— something quite, just typical of central european glamour at the middle _ central european glamour at the middle of— central european glamour at the middle of the century. nobody was more _ middle of the century. nobody was more glamorous in these two, and they were — more glamorous in these two, and they were more than the sum of the parts _ they were more than the sum of the parts. thrillers, iwould have they were more than the sum of the parts. thrillers, i would have to mention— parts. thrillers, i would have to mention borsalino as well, he showed he could _ mention borsalino as well, he showed he could do— mention borsalino as well, he showed he could do something else very different— he could do something else very different alongside jean—paul del mondo— different alongside jean—paul del mondo in 1970, and i have to mention the samurai, — mondo in 1970, and i have to mention the samurai, because alain delon's

depiction— the samurai, because alain delon's depiction of a lonely, the solitude, a fixated _ depiction of a lonely, the solitude, a fixated man operating on the other side of— a fixated man operating on the other side of the _ a fixated man operating on the other side of the law, that has been cited in so _ side of the law, that has been cited in so many— side of the law, that has been cited in so many directors and actors list of top _ in so many directors and actors list of top influences. somebody like yana _ of top influences. somebody like yana reid — of top influences. somebody like yana reid is talking about his character— yana reid is talking about his character ofjohn whaite commerce —— key are _ character ofjohn whaite commerce —— key are no— character ofjohn whaite commerce —— key are no restocking about his character — key are no restocking about his character ofjohn wick, —— keanu reeves— character ofjohn wick, —— keanu reeves said— character ofjohn wick, —— keanu reeves said he was the inspiration for that _ reeves said he was the inspiration forthat. he reeves said he was the inspiration for that. he tried twice or more to break— for that. he tried twice or more to break into— for that. he tried twice or more to break into the international market and didn't— break into the international market and didn't crack it, always more of and didn't crack it, always more of a star— and didn't crack it, always more of a star in_ and didn't crack it, always more of a star in his — and didn't crack it, always more of a star in his native france but his legacy. _ a star in his native france but his legacy. his — a star in his native france but his legacy, his influence, his creative influence — legacy, his influence, his creative influence is— legacy, his influence, his creative influence is very much permanent and concrete _ influence is very much permanent and concrete in _ influence is very much permanent and concrete in more thanjust france. you touched — concrete in more thanjust france. you touched on his earlier years and his personal life, his personal life became complicated and public recently. became complicated and public recentl . ., , " ~:: , recently. for sure, in the 1960s there was _ recently. for sure, in the 1960s there was this _ recently. for sure, in the 1960s there was this wonderful - recently. for sure, in the 1960s - there was this wonderful photograph of marion faithfull and mickjagger talking, mickjaggertried

of marion faithfull and mickjagger talking, mickjagger tried to keep the attention of his then girlfriend and she is looking at the beautiful man on the other side of her, alain delon. that picture 5um5 man on the other side of her, alain delon. that picture sums up the 19605 for me. he had his roll call of beautiful tempestuous often, defining on the front of all of the celebrity pages in early years, and sadly for him, in later years, it 5adly for him, in later years, it was more marked by a breakdown in family relations, law 5uit5. he had a huge amount of money and a big family estate, he had children from early relationships, huge dirty washing squabbles that were played out across the french tabloids. the nice announcement that he was surrounded by his family when he passed away is a small consolation after reading all those things. thank you very much, caroline, taking us through his life and career. prince harry and meghan's tour of colombia continues as the pair visited a music school on the penultimate day of their four—day trip. the duke and duchess of sussex were greeted by the sound of booming drums as they arrived at the school

in cartagena on saturday. our south america correspondent, ione wells, has more. this may look like a typical sleepy saturday on the beach, but this colombian coastal city is preparing for a big vip visit. dozens of soldiers surrounded this traditional percussion school, preparing for the arrival of prince harry and meghan and the country's vice president. the city of cartagena is the second place they have visited on their trip to colombia for the third day of their tour. the day was filled with cultural visits like this. they are here on the invitation of vice president francia marquez, the first black woman to hold that role. she said she views the couple as two vital voices against injustice. well, prince harry and meghan are just leaving this event now, like the second day of their visit journalists weren't allowed anywhere near the actual event itself, but they say that this visit and their plans for the rest of the day are about celebrating african history and heritage in the country. their next stop took them out of the city to a small village with strong connections

to its african heritage. they were ushered in to meet some members of the community. organised for them were a few stalls to browse and some local music. the vice president said onstage that this was in part about showing that colombia is more than the violence it has had a reputation for. celebrating colombia's culture and history is what the remainder of their tour will focus on. ione wells, bbc news in cartagena. high—profile youtube stars ksi and the sidemen have been named alongside the creators of candy crush, minecraft and grand theft auto as some of the richest gamers and creators in the uk. taking the top spot of the sunday times' inaugural top 30 gaming rich list are the co—founders of playrix, brothers igor and dmitry bukhman. ksi and the sidemen are the highest placed gamers, coming injoint 21st with £50 million. let's speak to gaming journalist and critic, joshua lamb.

joshua, welcome to you. the gaming industry, as if we needed any influence of it, is hugely influential and its top stars can earn a really big bucks as you can see. tell us who these people are and how they make so much money. the list has and how they make so much money. tt2 list has got a real variety of names on it. as you mentioned there, playrix are at the top, they are known for mobile games like garden skates and townships. but there are a big variety of people like ksi, who started off like streaming games like fifa on youtube that has gone on to become a boxer and singer. we have got independent game makers on the list as well. it is a real mix of creative talent across the section of what video games offer. how do they actually make their money, is it from sponsorship? again, it depends. for example playrix used a format of video games

where they are free to download, but they will be advertising in the game, micro—transactions within the game, micro—transactions within the game as well. people like ksi, again, it is sponsorship, it does depend on which person you are looking at. an there are youtubers on this list? yes, ksi, sidemen is another example, who started out taking youtube videos on my craft. —— pewdiepie is another example. they have grown in popularity on social media and youtube, they get sponsorship, they rack up views and they have been able to project themselves into a variety of different careers on the back of video games. 50 different careers on the back of video games-— different careers on the back of video games. so for any gamers watchin: video games. so for any gamers watching or _ video games. so for any gamers watching or frustrated _ video games. so for any gamers watching or frustrated parents i video games. so for any gamers| watching or frustrated parents of game is concerned that your parent —— that children are making too much online time, how do you make money

in gaming? the online time, how do you make money in auamin? , , online time, how do you make money intramin? , , , in gaming? the first place is ickin: in gaming? the first place is picking up — in gaming? the first place is picking up a _ in gaming? the first place is picking up a controller, - in gaming? the first place is - picking up a controller, knowing your audience as well, knowing which platforms to use, youtube, twitch. if sports is quite important here as well, because that is a whole different industry. —— esports is quite important. many young gamers are turning to each sports as a way of competing. if you are good at playing fortnite, why not compete against other people? it's about building an audience and a following and if you are lucky enough you might get a sponsorship deal or a professional team picking you up, you have got to get the games and connect with the audience watching you. who knows, you might end up a millionaire. ~ ., you. who knows, you might end up a millionaire-— millionaire. who knows? that is the bi came millionaire. who knows? that is the big game for— millionaire. who knows? that is the big game for many! _ millionaire. who knows? that is the big game for many! thank - millionaire. who knows? that is the big game for many! thank you - millionaire. who knows? that is the big game for many! thank you very | big game for many! thank you very much for taking us through that. there are hopes one of england's most endangered birds can make a comeback, after being reintroduced to the fenlands of norfolk. the corncrake is a small, secretive bird known for its distinctive call which it sings from dusk until dawn.

conservationists say at least nine calling males were heard this year, up from only three in 2021. our reporter debbie tubby has been out to try and spot one. the corncrake, with its distinctive call, was almost extinct in england in the 19605. now it's starting to thrive in a small pocket of east anglia, thanks to what's thought to be the only breeding programme of its kind in the world. so these are the corncrake pens. tucked away in these aviaries are two week old chicks that arrived this morning. so newest arrivals are in these pens on the right hand side over here. we've got some that are slightly older further down the pen as well. they've been bred in captivity at pensthorpe, then hidden here away from humans to keep them wild. when the chicks are 1a to 16 days old, in the wild, they'd naturally be kicked out by mum. so we're extending that process by then, bringing them over here to us at welney and going in these pens, and we then look after them for about three to four weeks. and then once they're 35 to a0 days old, they'll get released out

onto the washes on our reserve. it's the only population we've really got in the uk of any significance. so it's very, very important. three years ago, there were only just three male calls recorded on this site. now they've recorded nine, which probably means there isjust as many females as well. corncrakes only live for two years. they have limited flight. at the moment, 10% of the 100 birds released from welney each year manage the epic migration to sub—saharan africa and back, returning to the exact same site here at welney. where are we off to? so we are going to go to the washes, where we can see where the wild corncrakes end up. how often would you actually see one of these birds in the wild? so they're really secretive. you might see them when they first arrive in april. but majority of the time you will never see a corncrake.

you'll just hear their sort of distinctive sound. so no point looking for them really? if you see one, you're doing incredibly well, but unlikely. the birds love these wetlands, relying on the grassland to breed and raise their young. so i think the aim, you know, we'd love to hear 30 birds calling at night, which would be incredible. and if we get more than that, that'd be, you know, amazing. so yeah, really, really excited. but they're proud of what they've achieved here so far. restoring lost wildlife to the wetlands. debbie tubby, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. plenty more on the website and the app. i will be back in a couple of minutes. i am samantha simmons, thank you for watching.

hello there. your sunday morning has started off on a rather pleasant note across many areas of the uk. we've got some dry weather with some sunny spells. a beautiful scene here in the shetland isles first thing this morning with some fair weather cumulus cloud in the sky, but there are a few showers moving their way through scotland at the moment. they'll continue to ease off into the afternoon, becoming few and far between. still a little bit breezy here elsewhere. still a little bit breezy here. elsewhere, we've just got some sunny spells this afternoon and maximum temperatures getting up to about 2k, maybe 25 degrees towards the south east of england. further north about 17 or 18 celsius there in aberdeen. 1a degrees in the northern isles. now through this evening and tonight, there'll be some clear skies across england and wales, but the cloud will thicken in northern ireland and scotland, maybe some spots of rain arriving here late in the night. overnight temperatures down

to about nine to 12 degrees. but in the countryside we could see temperatures down into fairly low single figures. so it could be a bit of a fresh start to your monday morning. but as we go through monday, well, there'll be some changes because we've got this area of low pressure moving in, these weather fronts, that's set to bring in some wet and also windy weather throughout the day on monday. but across eastern areas, starting off with some sunshine. and you'll keep that sunshine for pretty much all day. elsewhere, the cloud increasing, rain moving in and that will turn quite heavy, especially for northern ireland, northwest scotland into the southwest of wales. windy conditions for all of us, but particularly so around this irish sea coast. some significant gusts through the day and top temperatures about 16 to 17 degrees. where you've got that cloud and the rain. further south and east still temperatures in the low 205. that rain moves east overnight, so it'll be with you on tuesday morning across eastern areas. it will clear then we're going to see some showers coming

in across western areas of scotland where again it's going to feel quite cool. 13—14 celsius here. there'll be some sunny spells in between the showers and again temperatures getting up into the low to the mid 205 across eastern and southeastern areas. as we go through wednesday and thursday, this area of low pressure that's going to move in. it will make it a particularly windy day both on wednesday and thursday. unseasonably strong winds perhaps. with that, there'll be some outbreaks of rain coming in, especially across northern areas. further south a little bit drier with some sunny spells there in london. that's it from me. bye— bye.

pink live from london, this is bbc news: the us secretary of state jets off to the middle east with plans to meet israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu as pressure mounts for a gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. russian and ukrainian officials say air defences destroyed multiple drones and missiles fired by the other side overnight. and extreme prejudice against women in its counter—terrorism programme. and thailand's new prime minister received the king's endorsement at a ceremony in bangkok. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. the us secretary of state is travelling to israel as cautious

optimism grows amongst israeli negotiators about the possibility of reaching a deal on gaza.