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.

more on the bbc news website and app. hello, i'm martine croxhall. 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. the us feels the stakes are so high with the threat of an all out regional conflict that wider peace is essential. that's according to our middle east correspondent, sebastian usher. let's take a listen. i think we have got three messages coming out in a way from the us, very strong, very 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 hezbollah military commander, that the ceasefire is essential, there is talk from us officials that they want this signed and sealed by the end of the week. from israel we have heard 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. 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 between 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 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 7th, 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. thailand's new prime minister has said she will take steps to stimulate the country's flagging economy, combat drug problems and improve universal health care.

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 challenges into opportunities, making thailand a place where everyone can dream, create and shape their future.

thank you. 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 focussed. 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 building's roof, which is where the flames are believed to be located. the cause of the blaze 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 on the building's condition, but i think thanks to the efforts of the emergency services, i'm confident that the damage is to one small part of the building. the venue will remain closed until further notice, noor nanji, bbc news. the courtauld gallery at somerset house has

reopened. several people have been injured after a ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival in eastern germany. videos show two carriages on the wheel alight, with smoke billowing into the air near the city of leipzig. 18 people were taken to hospital including one person who was injured in a fall and four people with burns. the cause of the fire is still being investigated. one of the onion—shaped domes on the roof of brighton's royal pavilion is at risk of collapsing because of rot. workers discovered the decay during routine maintenance. they say it'll cost £20,000 to fix, but as chrissie reidy reports, the organisation still needs to raise half the money. built some 200 years ago, the royal pavilion�*s onion—shaped domes have dominated brighton's skyline, but following recent restoration work on the building's roof, substantial damage was discovered on one of the domes. it's a combination of moisture getting in, you can see how friable this timber is. yeah, rotten, aren't they?

and therefore the masonry then has bonded and caused the fracture. debonded and caused the fracture. it's got to be fixed. the time frame is obviously relevant because we're in an exposed coastal location. we've got driving wind and rain. so it's not something you're going to want to just cover up and then deal with in another summer. it needs to be done as soon as possible. the former royal residence was built by architectjohn nash as a summer retreat for king george iv, and went on to be used as a hospital during the first world war. restoration on brighton's royal pavillion began back in february. there has been a mix of works. they've been cleaning the stonework, there's been some repairs carried out and some redecorating. of course, the upkeep on any historical building is constant and costly. and having onlyjust repaired the museum's roof, the charity says it's struggling to come up with the £10,000 needed. anyone out there, organisations or individuals who, in effect,

want to help this incredible building and become part of the history of this building because, in effect, you know, if they support it, it will be there forever, we would be so grateful in just helping us deal with this particular crisis. it's not, it's not affecting the public. it's not affecting, you know, the building being open. but we need a quick solution to this one. the pavillion attracts some 400,000 visitors every year, so helping to preserve this iconic building could be your chance to be part of history. chrissie reidy, bbc news. 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 twenty—fives are questioned. the researchers say the elderly are much more likely to socialise and volunteer. josh nicholson from the centre for socialjustice wrote the study, and told me a little more

about it the centre for socialjustice polled a representative sample, about 2000 adults from across the uk, we also conducted a major analysis and it came out of the study that older people are the least lonely group in society. it shatters the stereotype that older people are the most lonely. and it's actually young people, 70% 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, only three out of ten of them are not feeling lonely. they are major problems that the government needs to get a handle on. why are so many young people feeling lonely, and do you think it has changed over the years? it 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 part 2 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 lots we can learn from our older friends in our community. what is that decline in family relations down to? i think 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 producing 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. residents in south tyneside say their area is being overrun by rats, with sightings up nearly 50% in the last year. some people have blamed the build—up of rubbish following an eight month strike by refuse workers. but the local authority says there are a number of possible explanations, including weather conditions and available food supply. our reporter andy watson investigates. you caught a rat that was 18 inches long? 18 inches long, yes. it's more like a cat. it is a cat. jed's caught a lot of rats in his time, and some of them are monsters. butjed and his neighbours injarrod say they've seen a lot more

of them in recent months. i've lived here for 43.5 years, and i've never known as many rats. i've caught over 65. they've chewed through the bins. the old lady around the corner, she's had them in her bedroom. i put them in boxes, the traps. so there's no birds or animals that shouldn't be caught in them. they're very, very lethal. if you have a look at the trap. wow! that is a fine trap. the girl on the front, she actually counted seven or eight running about in the garden. she says "i was in the hot tub the other day," and she's got a little dog, and she just looked out thinking it was a dog. it was a rat running around the hot tub. where did you see a rat? where haven't i? cannot use the garden, i haven't been putting my washing out. i even having the back door open, . we don't want the back door open, you know, in case they come in the house. _

what do you think�*s causing it? well, it's the rubbish. and it's notjust in their street. across south tyneside, there's been close to a 50% rise in the number of rat sightings reported to the council since last year. jed says months of strikes have made things worse. and i might be putting a bill in to the council for the amount of rats that i've caught. so the bin strike, when bins have been overflowing, or when people have leftjust plastic bags at the side of their wheelie bins because they can't get anything more in, it'sjust like ringing the dinner bell. paul gowland from cobra pest control believes the strike could have also played a part in the number of sightings. if a fish and chip shop starts giving away free food, you'll see more people in the fish and chip shop. it doesn't mean that there's more people in the area. it'sjust people are taking the opportunity. and that's the same with the rats. as there's more waste, rats will take the opportunity to take advantage of the free food. but whether there's more rats is up for debate. south tyneside council said... we continue to work hard to reset

the service and get waste collection patterns back to normal. it is not possible to solely attribute an increase in reports of rat sightings to the bin strike. there are a range of factors that contribute to increasing rodent populations. anyone experiencing problems with pests can report instances to the council's environmental health team. back injarrow, jed says urgent action is needed to tackle this problem. i think yous need to get your finger out and have a good look about. i'm notjust saying it's caused with the bin men, but like i say, a lot of people's got waste in their garden, which they've just forgot about. with the strike now behind them and the bin men catching up on missed rounds, the people of south tyneside are hoping they'll have fewer unwelcome guests. a service which prides itself on being a safe space for women on nights out in leeds is facing an uncertain future,

as it's funding comes to an end. the �*safe—space—bus' was launched two years ago and has since supported more than 2000 women, including those who've been assaulted, abused or had their drinks spiked. our reporter emma glasbey spent a night with the team. it's a saturday night in leeds city centre. and as the bars fill up, a group of women are getting ready for a busy night. we've got bottles of water, we've got hot drinks, cuppa soups, biscuits and we've got period products, phone chargers, essentials. this is the leeds night safe space bus next to the corn exchange where people can get support. it's focussed on women. we have women come here for health care. we have women who have come here who have been assaulted. we have women who feel vulnerable and unsafe. they might have lost their phone, they might have lost their friends. they might think they've been spiked. they might have been spiked. there's not been a single night where i've thought we weren't needed here tonight for something really important.

throughout the night, the women keep a check on what's happening on the streets, and bars and clubs will often contact them when women need help. since starting at the end of 2022, they've supported more than 2,100 women. 178 of the women accessed emotional support, and 38 were helped to make reports to police. it seems this space is often in the right place at the right time. we have provided crucial suicide prevention work for some women. we have supported 51 women to disclose domestic violence and abuse for the very first time, have never told anybody about what they're going through. by being available in this sort of unique opportunity as part of a night out, people aren't always expecting it to be there, and that support is is unlike anything else that i know of in this city. women's safety has come under the spotlight more in recent years and whilst many feel comfortable on a night out, for others,

there are concerns. i think it's important to stay together and never be on your own, definitely in this day and age, sadly. we feel quite safe to be honest around here. like it's quite built up and there's cctv and things like that, so we do feel quite safe. you've got to think about who you're with and making sure that _ you feel safe with someone. and it shouldn't have to be like that. - you shouldn't have to think twice before you come out. _ safety wise it has been quite important, especially recently. we have heard of rise in spiking and whatnot. sojust protecting your drinks in general. i've had friends that have been spiked as well, and i've been spiked personally myself as well, yeah. tonight at the night safe space, the staff have supported several women, one with a head injury and a woman who'd experienced abuse as a child. but the staff are concerned about the future. so we're running out of funding in september, and we're doing everything we can to try and fight for funding. but we're really struggling at this point. and i think without this service, leeds as a city will suffer. presumably there's other services that women can go to? not at this time, not at night.

we've probably stopped so many assaults happening without even knowing. just by providing a safe place for women to wait for taxis, for women to come after nights out. and i think the statistics would demonstrate that if the service wasn't here. every saturday night, the bus is here in leeds. theyjust hope they can be here for many more weekends in the future. emma glasby, bbc news. 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 1960s. 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. a week on from the olympics closing ceremony, some of team gb�*s medal winners have been celebrating their paris success with a homecoming party in manchester. just a warning, there is some flash photography injo currie�*s report from the red carpet. surely this is where keely has to put her foot down and where she goes away. in paris, keely hodgkinson�*s world turned golden. now team gb�*s back on home soil she is already targeting the 800m world record. i think for a number of years people thought it was impossible to get to. i welcome the change in technology and the science, which is helping us get nearer, and i don't see it as far away and i would love to get there. even for the athletes whose games

didn't finish on the podium, this is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate their olympicjourneys. i feel very fortunate to have had such an amazing amount of support and people celebrating my career as a whole. that's what i need to try to do, take my time and zoom out and reflect on this as a 24—year career. so, yeah, i am very proud. while some athletes are saying goodbye to their olympic careers, others are saying hello to theirs. 19—year—old toby roberts' gold medal in climbing has put him and his sport in the spotlight. it's been absolutely wild. olympic champion still doesn't feel real. to be here with a gold around my neck is, like, truly surreal. the homecomings saw athletes and fans treated to a concert involving artists like rag'n�*bone man and jess glynn. the olympics may be over but their impact is only just getting started. jo currie, bbc news, manchester.

a horse racing track in washington turned prehistoric. more than 200 people took part in races dressed in inflatable dinosaur costumes. it took place at the emerald downs race course in auburn. it's a 91 meter dash with runners taking part in heats before making it to the final. fascinating how people spend their free time — fascinating how people spend their free time luff _ fascinating how people spend their free time. , , ,., fascinating how people spend their free time. , , , ., ~ fascinating how people spend their free time, , , ., ~ , free time. just some breaking news, ted baker is — free time. just some breaking news, ted baker is expected _ free time. just some breaking news, ted baker is expected to _ free time. just some breaking news, ted baker is expected to close - free time. just some breaking news, ted baker is expected to close its i ted baker is expected to close its remaining stores by the end of tuesday. the company behind the shops employs 513 people in the uk and 78 in ireland. thosejobs are sadly at risk. the fashion retailer was put into administration in march

this year. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen. 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.

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 that 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. 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.

to the region after president biden antony blinken is heading