live from london. this is bbc news. ukraine says it's destroyed another key bridge in russia's kursk region, while the russian military claims to have taken a village on the frontline. us secretary of state antony blinken makes his ninth trip to the middle east since the start of the war in gaza — with more pressure than ever to secure a ceasefire deal. health ministers from southern africa agree to hold an urgent meeting to assess the impact of mpox in the region. and — a second world war bomb dug up at a building site triggers the evacuation of a community in northern ireland. hello i'm samantha simmonds. ukraine's air force say they've destroyed another bridge in russia's kursk region.

air force commander mykola oleshchuck released this footage claimed to be of the strike on the crossing over the seym river, saying "minus one more bridge". he added that these operations were depriving russia of logisitical capabilities. these are the latest pictures from the rostov region in south—west russia. the governor there says that firefighters were called to put out a fire at an industrial facility struck by debris from a ukrainian drone. both sides say air defences destroyed multiple drones and missiles fired by the other side overnight. in the last hour, belarusian president alexander lukashenko has claimed that minsk has deployed nearly a third of it's armed forces along the entire border with ukraine — in what he says is a response to ukraine stationing 120,000 troops at the border between the two countries. reuters attributing that report to the belta state news agency. let's speak to patrick bury. he is a senior lecturer in security from the department of politics,

languages and international studies at the university of bath. welcome at the university of bath. to you, thank you being \ us. welcome to you, thank you being with us. what do you of the latest pushback by ukraine into russia and what effect that might have? weill. pushback by ukraine into russia and what effect that might have?- what effect that might have? well, i think in terms _ what effect that might have? well, i think in terms of— what effect that might have? well, i think in terms of dropping _ what effect that might have? well, i think in terms of dropping the - think in terms of dropping the bridges i think that that is the second of three major bridges they have dropped now and that serves two functions. essentially, on the one hand, they are trying to stop reinforcements coming over that river to help the russians and slow their logistics, or even indeed, stop it. secondly, in the longer term view, if you look at the way in which the forces are positioned in that area, it is the north—west pocket they have managed to create, the same river will actually form quite a formidable defence of obstacle if the ukrainian forces can get up there and force russians out. they will then use that to anchor their left flank, as it were, which

would be an easier defensible line. that's what's really going on there. and what about these reports in the last hour or so, the belarusian president saying that ukraine has stationed more than 120,000 troops at its border with belarus and that minsk is now sending military formations along its entire body in response. although claims are credible at all? i response. although claims are credible at all?— response. although claims are credible at all? i could not speak to that, i credible at all? i could not speak to that. i am _ credible at all? i could not speak to that, i am afraid. _ credible at all? i could not speak to that, i am afraid. i _ credible at all? i could not speak to that, i am afraid. i have - credible at all? i could not speak to that, i am afraid. i have not . to that, i am afraid. i have not been tracking the actual build—up, if there is a build—up of ukrainian troops on the border, it seems to me that given the pressure that ukraine has been under, that seems quite a stretch, that amount of forces ready to sit in a border. the broader picture here is that since the war started to stabilise in 2022, military planners have looked to belarus and thought if we have to swing... it's an opportunistic area to actually conduct an military

operation, for example, there is a cityjust north of the border and to swing around through there and in a left hook into russia would make military sense and obviously it would be difficult militarily and politically. there would be some benefits for doing that and putin and lukashenko have realised that when the station weapons in belarus last year. the idea that if anyone tries that, we will blockade using these weapons. what we are seeing here is that given the ukrainian has done this into kursk and they are showing that they are willing to enter into another country's territory, i think belarus is a little rattled and is responding as such. i have not seen any evidence or talk so far of ukrainian build—up in that border area. find or talk so far of ukrainian build-up in that border area.— or talk so far of ukrainian build-up in that border area. and what about russia itself. _ in that border area. and what about russia itself, with _ in that border area. and what about russia itself, with all _ in that border area. and what about russia itself, with all eyes - in that border area. and what about russia itself, with all eyes on - in that border area. and what about russia itself, with all eyes on what | russia itself, with all eyes on what they could do next, what are your thoughts on that? i they could do next, what are your thoughts on that?— thoughts on that? i think that the ukrainian offensive _ thoughts on that? i think that the ukrainian offensive was _ thoughts on that? i think that the ukrainian offensive was trying - thoughts on that? i think that the ukrainian offensive was trying to | thoughts on that? i think that the l ukrainian offensive was trying to do two things and i think it may not

have actually been as risky in the short—term as you may have perceived initially. it was basically trying to force russia into choices. for example, if we are going to take kursk, you will have to move your forces around from somewhere at the front. and ideally for ukrainians that would have been from donetsk where they are under intense pressure and russia are still advancing there. it looks like putin has kept that axis is strengthened but put forces from all around the rest of the front to move around to kursk. i would expect them once they have arrived to first of all stabilise the lines where this pocket has been created and then reduce the ukrainians. the ukrainians have a difficult decision, do they stand and fight on those defensive lines where they are? and risk getting some of their best units with the best kit destroyed or do they pull back to more defensible lines and something they can hold for a longer period. we will have to wait and see because i don't know what they will actually do. ., ~' , ., i don't know what they will actually do. . ~ ., ., , ,

do. thank you manager being with us and then of your _ do. thank you manager being with us and then of your analysis. _ 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 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 mackenzie 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 air strike 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. and 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 talks 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. 0ur middle east correspondent, jenny hill, has more from 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, the us has been pushing really hard along with mediators qatar and egypt to get this deal across the line, to get hamas and israeli leaders to agree that a deal. we have had a lot of really positive messaging coming out of the states and it is a knowledge there is still more work to do but in the words ofjoe biden, we are as close to a deal, we are closer to a deal than we have ever been. mr blinking, once he arrives, is due to hold talks with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, israel is also sounding a positive note, mr netanyahu's office issued a statement expressing cautious optimism about progress. listen to what hamas has had to say, they say that any optimism or positivity is simply an illusion. senior official

told the bbc that no progress has been made. and while all of this urgent diplomacy goes on, so too of course does the war in gaza. at a terrible human cost. it is feared that that conflict is on the verge of escalating into an all—out regional war. as antony blinken�*s plana makes the hits way towards the middle east, he knows that the stakes could not be higher. here in the uk — the home office says it will include extreme misogyny — hatred of women — among types of extremism which the government should take steps to tackle. it's started a review of potential gaps in the current system and the government says it 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. here's our political correspondent charlotte rose with more on how the government plans to tackle extremism — in particular extreme misogyny. yvette cooper is saying there's going to be a step change in how the government tackles extremism, full stop,

and how that affects communities, whether on or offline. they've pledged this rapid review by civil servants into how it's dealt with. she says that she's asked them to look at both the rise in islamist and far=right extremism, as well as extreme misogyny and other broader categories of extremism, which she says includes a fixation on violence. she says she wants evidence on what works to try and disrupt people who are spreading what she calls hateful and divisive beliefs, things that promote violence and undermine democracy. she says she wants ways to crack down on that kind of behaviour. and, you know, people will have questions about whether today's announcement is linked to some of the riots that we've seen in towns and cities across the uk in recent weeks. but actually this was something that was in labour's election ma nifesto. so clearly it is something that the party has been thinking about for some time. and when they talk about extreme misogyny, what kind of things are they talking about? it's radicalisation of men

online really, isn't it? yeah. and this is interesting because actually it's not something that's completely new. it's something that has been looked at within the kind of broader remit of extremism, sort of since the early 2020s, when a concern began to arise about something called incel culture, which is communities of young men online who declare that they are involuntarily celibate. and that kind of ideology was linked to the plymouth shootings back in 2021, when five people were killed by a young man called jake davison. so it seems that this is looking at that kind of culture online. but of course, people will have to look at the rise of influencers like andrew tate and the kind of content that they're putting online, the kind of following that they get from, in particularyoung men, and how that might be influencing young, young men's behaviour and see that this is something that the government is really now concerned about. and the home secretary saying that she's concerned that the previous government didn't have any kind of extremism policy dating back to 2015.

that's right. that's when the last counter—extremism policy was published. and she's basically saying that this area has been hollowed out in terms of the government's response. now, this is not the first review that labour has announced since coming to power injuly. we've seen the announcements of lots of reviews, everything from the strategic defence review to a review of the national curriculum. and i guess some critics of the government would say, well, it's quite easy to announce reviews. it's harder to actually take decisive action. i guess what the government would say is, well, we need to know what the picture is first before we can decide what action we need to take. vietnam's top leader, to lam, is on a three—day visit to china. his first overseas trip since taking up the role. chinese state media reports 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.

professor christoph bluth specialises in international relations at the university of bradford. i spoke to him earlier. well, china and vietnam are neighbours, obviously, and they have a close, important economic relationship. it's very important, though, for china and vietnam because of potential tension. tensions exist over the efforts by china to create a hegemonic role in the region, and the territorial disputes in the south china sea that have affected vietnam specifically. so china, vietnam is seeking to preserve its sovereignty, while at the same time relying economically, very heavily on china. so how do you think that will go? because vietnam does have claims in the south china sea, doesn't it? it's a difficult balancing act for them when they rely so heavily for trade on china. yes. and so vietnam has to manage this very carefully.

there has been domestic discontent and demonstrations against china, which the vietnamese government has clamped down upon. at the same time, they obviously want to maintain the trade balance. and the vietnamese economy relies quite a lot on heavy import of chinese goods for its own manufacturing industries. so it's a kind of balancing act that vietnam has to perform. yeah, vietnam has this kind of bamboo diplomacy it's been labelled, doesn't it? its approach to to staying on good relations with china, its neighbour and also the us. that's extremely important to them. yes. and it also relies heavily on russia for its military modernisation. so there is a whole plethora of relationships that have to be reconciled in some form, but they're not necessarily in conflict. the relations between the us and vietnam don't really interfere with relations with china, but china is very, very close, and china is developing its core interests

in the south china sea, which conflict with those of of of other states. so vietnam has to be very careful. yeah. and what does china want out of this visit, do you think what's important to them? it's important for them to enhance relations with china and with vietnam, to prevent kind of the emerging conflicts between the two countries and vietnam at the same time, is seeking to consolidate its own internal position of the communist party. and therefore, we have seen since the last year, especially a greater move towards smoothing over relations with china. and xijinping himself visited vietnam last year. so relations are quite a bit closer now than they have been for a while. 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. her 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. he was included in a royal pardon for prisoners last month. 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.

health ministers in southern africa have agreed to hold an urgent meeting to assess the impact of mpox in the region. it comes as the africa centres for diseases control and prevention declared its first ever public health emergency, with 18,000 cases and 500 deaths reported since january. let's speak to now to our africa regional editor, richard kagoe. richard, welcome to you, bring us the latest on the mpox epidemic --. .. mpox has been spreading across different regions _ --. .. mpox has been spreading across different regions in _ --. .. mpox has been spreading across different regions in the _ --. .. mpox has been spreading across different regions in the continent - different regions in the continent and so far we have seen a significant rise in terms of cases and fatalities. the africa centre for disease control has indicated that since january this year about 17,000 cases have been recorded in the continent so this combines those which have been confirmed and of those which are suspected. right now

we have seen a regional response being developed by a regional bloc, thatis being developed by a regional bloc, that is the southern african development community. they have convened a health ministers conference where they're going to talk about how they are going to craft a response plan in terms of strengthening the surveillance and also diagnosis testing and increasing awareness, especially in the community level. there is a of... being witnessed across the continent and we also see different management teams and emergency operations centres and surveillance especially at points of entry. what especially at points of entry. what is their advice _ especially at points of entry. what is their advice for _ especially at points of entry. what is their advice for people - especially at points of entry. what is their advice for people are travelling to the regions affected and also those that live there? generally, it'sjust a point and also those that live there? generally, it's just a point of caution so what we are seeing is that countries are being sanitising their citizens —— synthesising their

citizens in terms of how they can implement disease prevention and control measures. things like hygiene, washing your hands, and also reporting suspected cases because one of the challenges that the continent has been facing, especially within the drc where the disease is systemic, is the issue about stigma. a lot of people have been coming out and seeking for medical assistance so that is where a lot of countries right now are advising their citizens are to be on the alert and also exercising some of these measures.— of these measures. travellers are also being — of these measures. travellers are also being urged _ of these measures. travellers are also being urged to _ of these measures. travellers are also being urged to consider - of these measures. travellers are i also being urged to consider getting vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. itut then that _ vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then that is _ vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then that is a _ vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then that is a bit _ vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then that is a bit of _ vaccinated, aren't they? absolutely. but then that is a bit of a _ but then that is a bit of a challenge especially within the continent because we don't have vaccines readily available. we have seen the africa centers for disease control talk to bavarian nordic to make available vaccines across the continents and they have indicated

through the partnership they will have about 2 million doses available at this year and possibly within the next year, 2025, about 10 million doses. they are urgently needed especially for populations which would be categorised at risk, such as health workers, people on the front line and within camps for internally displaced people for the democratic republic of the congo. that it has really been the appeal there. of course, the african union, has been urging the international community, organisations and our partners to ensure that there is adequate and equitable distribution of vaccines especially being deployed to the continent. thank you ve much deployed to the continent. thank you very much for— deployed to the continent. thank you very much for updating _ deployed to the continent. thank you very much for updating us. _ 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.

in the past few hours, president macron has posted his tribute on social media. he led his unforgettable face to shape our lives, melancholic, popular, secret, he was more than a star for france. earlier i spoke to the entertainment reporter and radio times columnist caroline frost and asked her what his most defining performances had been. i guess off the top of my head, one of the most defining things was the two, the bookends of his relationship with romy schneider, whom he later described as the love of his life, a german actress he met in the late 1950s and co—starred with in a film called christine. she was a bigger star than him at the time, but then in later years, he recruited her back for the film that turned out to be a poignant reunion for the swimming pool, and he was desperate to reconcile. it would be, you know, we have film stars these days where we're more concerned and aware of their romances, but these two really were something quite, uh,

just typical of central european glamour at the middle of the century. nobody was more glamorous than these two, and that they were more than the sum of the parts. and you've mentioned thrillers, gangster, thrillers, i would have to mention borsalino as well, because he showed he could do something else very different alongside jean—paul belmondo in 1970. and i also have to mention the samurai because, um, alain delon's depiction of a lonely a solitude—fixated man operating very much on the other side of the law that has been cited in so many directors' and actors' list of top influences. so we have somebody like keanu reeves talking about his character ofjohn wick, saying he based it solely on the grace of alain delon. similarly, back in the early 80s, richard gere was sent to do his homework for american gigolo by going and watching alain delon in purple noon. so even though some of his his biggerfilms, he tried twice or more to break into the international, the big hollywood market, he never quite cracked it. always more of a star back in his native france. nevertheless, his legacy, his influence, his creative influence is very much

permanent and concrete in in more thanjust france. you touched on his sort of earlier years, his personal life there, and in more recent years it did become quite public, his complicated personal life, didn't it? 0h, forsure. i mean, back in the 1960s, there's this wonderful photograph of marianne faithfull and mickjagger talking, well, mickjagger trying to keep the attention of his then girlfriend, and she is looking very much at the beautiful man on the other side of her, which was alain delon. and i mean, to me, that picture just sums up the 1960s. but certainly, yes, he had his roll call of beautiful, tempestuous, often, you know, defining on the front of all the celebrity pages in earlier years. and sadly for him, in later years, it was more marked by a breakdown in family relations lawsuits. 0bviously he had a huge amount of money. he had a big family estate, he had children from earlier relationships, huge sort of dirty washing squabbles that were played out across the french tabloids. but, i mean, the nice announcement that he was surrounded by his family

when he passed away is, is a small consolation. hong kong has said it will maintain a partial ban onjapanese seafood put in place after the discharge of wastewater from the damaged fu kushima nuclear plant. that's despite a plea by the japanese fisheries minister who had called for the restrictions to be dropped — saying they had no scientific basis. plenty more on that and all of the day's top stories on the bbc news website and app. that's it for me for the moment. i will be back in just a few minutes' time with plenty more. stay with us are here on bbc news.

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, 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. 0vernight 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 20s. 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 20s 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.

all this is bbc news, the headlines: the ukrainian military has released a video, which it says shows the destruction of second key bridge inside the kursk region of russia. the attack will further isolate russian troops, as ukraine fights to expand its hold on russian territory. meanwhile russia says it has captured another village in the donetsk region. some doctors in india have decided to continue protesting after a 2k hour strike came to an end. they're seen here marching in kolkata where a junior doctor was raped and murdered last week. they are demanding swift justice for the victim, and improvements to the safety of healthcare workers, especially women. the us secretary of state, antony blinken is making his ninth trip to israel since the war in gaza began. the us and israel have said that there's been positive progress on a ceasefire—hostage release deal, since talks resumed in qatar last week.