live from london, this is bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken travels to the middle east, amid hopes a gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. ukraine says it's destroyed another key bridge in russia's kursk region, while the russian military claim to they've taken a village they've taken a village on the front line. the british government announces plans to confront hatred and extreme prejudice against women in its counter—terrorism programme. and the french actor alain delon — once described as the most beautiful man in cinema — dies at the age of 88. hello, i'm martine croxall. 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. antony blinken is heading to the region after president biden also said a ceasefire deal was closer than ever. but a senior hamas official told the bbc no progress had been made. meanwhile there have been more israeli air strikes in gaza — and israel said it had struck targets inside neighbouring lebanon which belong to hezbollah, the group that supports hamas in gaza. leigh milner reports. he's on his way hoping to seal a peace deal after months of negotiations. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, hopes the talks will lead to a ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners being held in israeli jails. us presidentjoe biden said he was feeling optimistic. however, hamas officials have already dismissed american optimism as an illusion.

in tel aviv, thousands took to the streets last night, including anti—government protesters and some of the relatives of hostages still in gaza, who are calling for the current negotiations as the last chance to get some of them out alive. we don't believe in this government at all. we want our hostages to be back and we want to find some sort of solution to what is happening here. but 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. this morning, theirfunerals began to take place. translation: an entire civilian i family, a mother and six children - the oldest of whom was 15 years old and the youngest a year and a half.

what was their crime? what was their crime in front of the world? and, in the south of gaza, the fighting continues, with israeli forces pushing through khan younis and hamas launching a series of rocket attacks. with more than 40,000 people killed in gaza since the war began, there is an urgency for the next round of talks to succeed with fears of a wider regional escalation. leigh milner, bbc news. 0ur middle east correspondent, jenny hill, has more on the ceasefire talks that have been taking place in qatar 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 deal. we have had a lot of very positive messaging coming out of the states. it is acknowledged that there is still more work to do. but in the words ofjoe biden, we are closer to a deal

than ever we have been. now, mr blinken, once he arrives, is due to hold talks with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. israel is also sounding a positive note and last night mr netanyahu's office issued a statement in which it expressed cautious optimism about progress but then listen to what hamas has had to say — they say that any positivity or optimism is simply an illusion. a 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 and it is feared that that conflict is on the verge of escalating to an all—out regional war. so, as antony blinken arrives in his plane he knows the stakes could not be higher. yonahjeremy bob is an author and senior military correspondent

forjerusalem post. he explained the potential sticking points in the ceasefire talks. if you talk to some of the negotiators — who are people who really want there to be a deal, they have been trying for ten months to get these hostages back to their families — they're very optimistic. if you talk to some of netanyahu's people, they're very pessimistic. now, there's a reason here, even though they're, you know, it's part of the same country and system, but netanyahu is worried about losing his government. he has two very right—wing ministers who could bring his government down, and they have said that they will bring his government down if he ends the war without having destroyed hamas. he hasn't destroyed hamas yet. 0n the other hand, there's this huge contingent in israel that want the hostages back, even if the war has to be paused. does it mean two months? six months? that's not the point. people want the hostages back. the negotiators want the hostages back. and so you see sometimes this zig—zag that almost seems to make no

sense within israel of different messages coming out. how critical is what happens to the philadelphi corridor, this eight—mile strip of land between egypt and the gaza strip? the philadelphi corridor is super critical. if israel controls the philadelphi corridor, hamas cannot re—arm. the philadelphi corridor is the cross border between gaza and egypt. that is the only way that hamas can interact with the outside world. israel can prevent arms coming in from, you know, the air from coming in from the sea. israel has not been able to prevent arms coming in from there. we heard recently there's something like 180 tunnels that hamas has had to be able to smuggle weapons. so if israel controls that, hamas cannot re—arm. that is huge for hamas�*s future. 0n the other hand, hamas has made it clear that they won't give up the hostages if israel holds on to the corridor. so there have been creative solutions that israel could maintain technology on the corridor that it gets to man, and maybe some other international representatives,

because israel doesn't trust either hamas or the palestinian authority. would that give israel enough security? would netanyahu be able to keep the very right—wing ministers in his government from knocking the government down as he has that? that's anybody�*s guess. a senior hamas official has told the bbc that there is no progress being made. of course, negotiators directly or indirectly are going to have to now deal with a new head of hamas, yahya sinwar, rather than ismail haniyeh. what difference is that changing leadership going to make? so i want to step back for a second and realise that at this stage, the hostages, it's sad to say, but they're not the main issue. the main issues are the potential iran—hezbollah regional war with israel and whether there's going to be a future of hamas in gaza. israel has beaten most of hamas military in gaza, but not completely. so if israel stops the war and lets

hamas make a comeback, then from the israeli perspective, maybe this is a failure, from the hamas perspective, with all of their losses, maybe this is a victory. and that's what the negotiation is really about. willa regional war be prevented? and who between israel and hamas can declare victory, or can both sides declare some kind of victory? if they can find a magic formula to do that, then both yahya sinwar of hamas and benjamin netanyahu could sign on. but if either one of them think that the other one is declaring victory too much, then sinwar will feel like he's lost too much, it's not worth him to make a deal, and netanyahu, worried about losing his government, also wouldn't want to make a deal. ukraine's air force say they've destroyed another bridge in russia's kursk region. air force commander mykola 0leshchuck released this footage, saying russia was "minus one more bridge" and that strikes were depriving them of logistical capabilities. these are the latest pictures from the rostov region in south—west russia.

the governor there says 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. meanwhile, belarusian president alexander lukashenko said his country had deployed nearly a third of its armed forces along the border with ukraine. in a television interview, mr lukashenko said minsk�*s move was aimed at defending the country against any threat posed by ukrainian troops. patrick bury is a senior lecturer in security from the department of politics, languages and international studies at the university of bath. he explained more about the tactics of the ukrainian incursion. well, i think in terms of dropping the bridges over the same river, that's the second of three major bridges they've dropped now, and it serves two functions. essentially, on the one hand, what they're trying to do is stop reinforcements coming in over that river to help the russians and slow

their logistics, or indeed stop it. and secondly, in a sort of more longer—term view, if you look at the way that the forces are positioned in that area, it's the northwest part of the pocket that they've managed to create, and the river will actually form a quite formidable defensive obstacle if the ukrainian forces can get up there and force the russians out or capture them, given the fact that they don't have that many avenues of retreat left, and then use that to anchor their left flank, as it were, which would be an easier defensible line. so i think that's what really is going on there. 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. why are they doing this now? the home why are they doing this now? tie: home secretary, yvette cooper, has asked civil servants in the home office to take a look again at the extremism and how the government tackles it to make sure people are protected both online and off—line. she has asked civil servants to look at what are the particular activities that both promote violence also undermine democracy? she says she will be looking at the rise in far right ideology, also islamist extremism, and now of course extreme misogyny, but she says also there is extremism that fits into broad categories like fixation on violence. i guess there might be questions about whether this is a specific response by the government to the riots and disorders that we have seen across towns and cities across the uk, but this was something that was in labour's manifesto during the election. it is honestly selling the party has been thinking about for some time. we know that since coming

into government injuly, the labour party has launched a whole load of reviews on different things. we had defence reviews, spending reviews, curriculum reviews. they might say a review is a proxy for actual action. yvette cooper has said there has in a new counter extremism strategy since 2015, nine years ago, so we need to look at what the new and emerging threats are. how need to look at what the new and emerging threats are.— need to look at what the new and emerging threats are. how clear is that at the moment _ emerging threats are. how clear is that at the moment what - emerging threats are. how clear is that at the moment what they - emerging threats are. how clear is l that at the moment what they mean emerging threats are. how clear is - that at the moment what they mean by extreme misogyny? i that at the moment what they mean by extreme misogyny?— extreme misogyny? i think that is not clear at _ extreme misogyny? i think that is not clear at the _ extreme misogyny? i think that is not clear at the moment, - extreme misogyny? i think that is not clear at the moment, and - not clear at the moment, and certainly the government hasn't set about specifically. if we look at the kinds of things we like talking about, there has for a long time been a concern something that was known as in cell culture. this is an online movement that tended to involve young men, those who describe themselves as involuntarily celibate. —— incel. that was linked to the plymouth shootings in 2021, when jake davison to the plymouth shootings in 2021, whenjake davison killed five people

including his mother before shooting himself. i was linked to that online movement. seeing the popularity of social media influencers like andrew tate and the huge following he has in particular amongst young men right across the world, that is something that has perhaps prompted the government to say we need to look at this formally. i the government to say we need to look at this formally.— look at this formally. i would imaaine look at this formally. i would imagine as — look at this formally. i would imagine as well _ look at this formally. i would imagine as well there - look at this formally. i would imagine as well there will. look at this formally. i would imagine as well there will be j look at this formally. i would i imagine as well there will be a number of women's group that want to have a look at this, because we have seen some terrible stuff happen online to women.— seen some terrible stuff happen online to women. that is absolutely correct. online to women. that is absolutely correct- we — online to women. that is absolutely correct. we see _ online to women. that is absolutely correct. we see terrible _ online to women. that is absolutely correct. we see terrible things - correct. we see terrible things happening in the real world and online, and obviouslyjess phillips, who is now a government ministerfor tackling violence against women and girls, has long talked about the fact that very little inroad has been made on tackling abuse both online and also the number of homicides and violent crimes committed against women. so, i think this is something that those groups will be very pleased to hear, but will be very pleased to hear, but will want to know the details. thank ou ve will want to know the details. thank you very much. _ will want to know the details. thank you very much, charlotte. _ now it's time for a look

at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. we're under way in the premier league, on the first sunday of the season and it's brentford who have the lead in their early afternoon game against crystal palace. the latest score there is 1—0 after bryan mbeumo's first half finish on the break. palace thought they had the lead, but eberechi eze's free—kick was ruled out. brentford are without ivan toney for the match — he's been dropped due to transfer speculation. into the second half, currently brentford 1—0 crystal into the second half, currently brentford1—0 crystal palace. and that game proving the appetiser for the today's main course — manchester city against chelsea. city begin the defence of their premier league title injust over 45 minutes, against a side they couldn't beat in the league last season, on their way to becoming the first team in history to win the top flight title four times in a row. they also haven't lost in the premier league since december. but pep guardiola says it's going to take a lot of work to make it five. 114 points to play, we start from zero everyone, and we will see. if we are going to conquer, we have to conquer again.

because they are not going to give us now the premier league for 24—25 season, so we have to do it. so i understand because normally when people say, we are favourites, i will not accept it. when you have won four in a row, six and seven, it's normal to accept we are favourites. we have to live with that but i know what we have to do. this is point by point, it must be, must we win, and of course every season is more and more difficult. i've said many times after eight, nine years together you can do so many different things, so pep is not a manager that is always doing the same. he is always changing and with us, we will be exactly the same so it will be a tough game but as you said, exciting. the start the premiership, start against the champions and we'll see. tottenham have accepted a bid from leicester for midfielder 0liver skipp. the fee for the 23—year—old, who came through the academy at spurs, is in excess of £20m. he is expected to have a medical on monday, before the two clubs meet in their opening premier league match.

the last three places in the scottish league cup quarter—finals are up for grabs on sunday. two matches are into the second half. dundee united are a goal up against st mirren, motherwell are 0—0 against kilmarnock. and celtic v hibs kicked off at celtic park a quarter of an hour ago. celtic have the lead in that one there, celtic1—0 celtic have the lead in that one there, celtic 1—0 hibernian. holger rune has ended jack draper's run to the quarter finals of the cincinnati 0pen. the danejoining frances tiafoe, alex zverev and world number one jannik sinner in the last four of the final tournament before the us open. the british number one had come from a set down to win his previous two matches but was unable to repeat the feat against rune who won in straight sets. each had three break points — draper took none and rune all three of his. australia plan to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first—ever test match by playing england in march 2027 at the melbourne cricket ground —

the same venue as the original game. the two teams will return to the mcg, just like they did 100 years on from that first test. the match in 1977 remarkably ended in exactly the same way as in 1877 — a 45—run win for australia. a second consecutive round of 64 has pulled hideki matsuyama away from the field, with the final round of the stjude championship now under way in memphis he's trying to become the stjude championship now under way in memphis. he's trying to become the first japanese player to win a fedex playoff event. he's five shots clear on 17 under par. this is the first event of the fedex cup playoffs on the pga tour — and will determine the top 50 players who'll go through to the next tournament. and in the scottish women's open, lauren coughlin is the woman to catch. she's out in front at dundonald links on 14 under. esther henseleit of germany is close behind. britain's charley hull has dropped off the pace slightly.

you can catch up with that on the bbc sport website. just let you know, crystal palace have an equaliser, it is now 1—1. we will get more updates for you on that game a bit later on throughout the afternoon. donald trump has been hurling personal insults at kamala harris, and accused her of unleashing devastating inflation on the united states, whilst on a rally in pennsylvania. meanwhile, chicago has been gearing up to officiate kamala harris as democratic nominee — replacing joe biden in a historic turnaround months before the us election. let's speak to shannon felton spence, us political and communications strategist. shejoins us now she joins us now from massachusetts. welcome to bbc news. how much of an advantage or disadvantage is that that kamala harris has had very little time to prepare for this convention? fist little time to prepare for this convention?— little time to prepare for this convention? �* ., , convention? at the moment, it is a hue convention? at the moment, it is a huge advantage —

convention? at the moment, it is a huge advantage. they _ convention? at the moment, it is a huge advantage. they are - convention? at the moment, it is a huge advantage. they are running l huge advantage. they are running on vibes only. the moment is truly in her favour at the vibes only. the moment is truly in herfavour at the moment. it is vibes only. the moment is truly in her favour at the moment. it is very evident, based on how much excitement is around her and her running mate, tim walt�*s, thatjoe biden stepping away from the ticket was absolutely the right move for the democratic party. there were such high voter apathy, that the so—called double haters, people who didn't want to vote for a joe biden or donald trump, they were going to sit it out, i know a lot of those people are off the couch, on their social media, advocating for harris, engaging in the process, and that is all based off switching out the top of the tickets. she is running into the convention to secure the nomination, just with a lot of energy, and also needs to do is keep that going less than a hundred days, and she will be in really good shape. and she will be in really good sha e. ~ ., and she will be in really good sha e. ~ . ., and she will be in really good shae. ~ . ., . , , shape. we have had celebrities endorsin: shape. we have had celebrities endorsing her, _ shape. we have had celebrities endorsing her, there _ shape. we have had celebrities endorsing her, there has- shape. we have had celebrities endorsing her, there has been| shape. we have had celebrities| endorsing her, there has been a rather heavy heady fandom with her

brat girl summer plenty online. to what extent has she got to convince the party? the what extent has she got to convince the -a ? , what extent has she got to convince thea ? . the party? the parties convince. the -a are the party? the parties convince. the party are locked _ the party? the parties convince. the party are locked up _ the party? the parties convince. the party are locked up for _ the party? the parties convince. the party are locked up for harris - the party? the parties convince. the party are locked up for harris and i party are locked up for harris and walz. there is no fight for who should be the next candidate. the democrats, hardcore democrat voters, are locked up. there's a whole crop, millions of new americans who have just turned voting age, young americans, who are up for grabs, and that might make a huge difference in this election. there are also people who sat out the last couple of elections. those who feel outside of the magan movement, they are looking for somebody to commence in one way or another. that is the play which made her pick ten walz, to bring those never trumped republicans overture her side. home

those never trumped republicans overture her side. how prominent will be tim _ overture her side. how prominent will be tim walz? _ overture her side. how prominent will be tim walz? we _ overture her side. how prominent will be tim walz? we haven't - overture her side. how prominent i will be tim walz? we haven't heard much from him in the run—up to this. i actually disagree. 0ne much from him in the run—up to this. i actually disagree. one of the things we have heard about is walz—mania. nobody had really heard of him, he had almost no name recognition, and he has really caught fire. that sort of unknown factor has really worked for the ticket�*s advantage, but i'm a little afraid that he might end up upstaging her, because he is so good on the stand. she has to introduce him as much cs introduce herself to voters at the moment, so this election will have a lot of this is who kamala harris is, this is her story, this is what she stands for and this is who tim walz is, and this is what he wants to do for the country. the number one thing you need for a presidential election win is name recognition, neither of

those people had a huge amount of that before they were on the ticket, so that is a bit of a hill to climb. how much will be here on policy terms? ~ , ., ., ., ., , terms? we should hear a lot. this camaian terms? we should hear a lot. this campaign at _ terms? we should hear a lot. this campaign at the — terms? we should hear a lot. this campaign at the moment - terms? we should hear a lot. this campaign at the moment has - terms? we should hear a lot. this| campaign at the moment has been running purely on vibes, which is good, it was needed, we needed that energy, we needed a shift in messaging for voters to get excited, but we need also a discussion on policy, and we need to understand why a vote for kamala harris and ten walz is a vote for —— is different from a vote for donald trump and jd vance. they will roll out their economic policies, and that will tell the story of what the average american can expect in their pocket books if they vote for the democrats. economics really drives the voters to the polls, but what i'm looking to hear is foreign policy. we two very prominent wars raising in gaza and ukraine, and we haven't heard almost anything on foreign policy from vice president harris or her running mate. they

will need to be a focus on that at the convention. conventions are about locking up the nomination, so about locking up the nomination, so a lot of it will be excitement and razzle—dazzle with a side of policy. thank you very much for talking to us. india's ministry of health has urged all doctors to return to work, promising to form an urgent committee to look into the safety of healthcare professionals. the ministry was responding to a nationwide strike over the rape and murder of a female junior doctor at a kolkata hospital. tens of thousands of people have been protesting over the last week, also calling for more action to tackle violence against women. 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 last few hours president macron has paid his tribute — posting on x, "alain delon

played legendary roles and "made the world dream. "lending his unforgettable face to shake up our lives. "melancholic, popular, secret, he was more than a star: "a french monument. " film and culture critic ashanti 0mkar says it was his bright blue eyes and winning charisma that drew audiences to him. he was just so charismatic in all his roles. it felt like though this man did not come from a background of acting, he imbibed those roles like they belonged to him. women were gaga over him. and he had those deep blue eyes that really drew people into the screen. what was the appeal for the top names later on in his career to work with him? people like martin scorsese, quentin tarantino, who sought him out. well, whilst they didn't directly work with him, they cited him as an inspiration in a lot of their work, you know, including people likejohn woo, especially with the samurai that

you mentioned, because this is a film that people looked at the role and the way he essayed it and said, this guy, he has brought a magnetic character to the screen. how do we also do something like this? and french cinema was very different from hollywood. and you know, when you when you look at alain's life, he has worked in france, in europe, that's where he has made the most mark. and he was also very well loved in japan. but when it came to hollywood, hollywood directors were looking at him and saying, how do we make this happen in our own cinema? and so they've cited him as somebody that they have looked at and have been very inspired by, because he indubitably has been an icon of cinema. but he did express some views which some people the film and culture critic speaking to us a bit earlier. there is much more about the life and career and personal life, in fact, more about the life and career and personal life, infact, of more about the life and career and personal life, in fact, of alain delon on the bbc news website and

app. you watching bbc news. good afternoon. it's been a fairly quiet weekend of weather. it's all change again next week. even today, we're not without a few showers. they've been peppering scotland, one or two elsewhere across northern ireland, western fringes of england and wales, but hopefully the cloud will melt away. more sunshine will come out to end the day and it's feeling pleasantly warm, although there's quite a brisk wind in the north and west in particular, but the wind does tend to ease a little overnight, allowing some mist and fog to form across england and wales. but look for the west winds strengthening. the next band of rain is approaching, so temperatures won't fall quite so low here, and it is all about the areas of low pressure as we move into the new week. the first one sweeps in through the second part of monday, clearing tuesday, then a brief ridge of high pressure. this next one coming in wednesday. thursday contains the remnants of hurricane ernesto, so that's sure

to give us some wet weather. and as you can see from the tightly packed isobars, some windy weather as well. more rain hot on its heels for friday. it still looks as if many southern and eastern areas won't see that much rain this week. these are the rainfall totals for the next five days, but we could see in excess of 100mm up across the north west of scotland, so that's certainly one to watch. the early fog will clear, might be around for the first hour or so of the rush hour, and then some fine and dry weather, but the rain really takes hold mid—morning across northern ireland, the south and west of scotland, and the met office have a warning out for as much as 50mm of rain throughout monday, monday night and into tuesday morning. still quite warm, particularly where we see the sunshine in southern and eastern areas. but the wind and the rain does arrive here, although not as heavy, and we do have more rain through the night pushing back into the north. i think the main thing is it will be much warmer, more humid overnight monday into tuesday. more uncomfortable for sleeping, but most of the rain should clear, with it the humidity. but then we have a band

of heavy thundery showers following as well. the rain could be thundery as well in the north and west close to that low pressure. there's more of that to come in northwest scotland, but i think on the whole a fresher day. now, later tuesday into wednesday, brief bump of high pressure, but then the next weather system rushes in off the atlantic giving us some really quite wet weather. there are warnings out for this as well. across western scotland we could see another two, three, four inches of rain in places and some unseasonably windy weather as well. certainly one to watch.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the us secretary of state antony blinken travels to the middle east to push for a ceasefire in gaza. president biden said a ceasefire deal was closer than ever. the hamas—run health ministry says at least 21 people including six children have been killed in the latest israeli strikes. ukraine says it has destroyed a second key bridge inside the kursk region of russia. the attack will further isolate russian troops, as ukraine presses on with its kursk counteroffensive. meanwhile russia says it has captured another village in the donetsk region. the french actor alain delon, once described as the most beautiful man in cinema, has died at the age of 88. president macron has called him a french monument, who embodied legendary roles and made the world dream.