live from london, this is bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken is in israel, amid hopes that a gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. ukraine says it's destroyed another key bridge in russia's kursk region almost two weeks after its offensive into russia. we have a report from inside russia and hear what local people think of the situation at their border with ukraine. for the first time in more than 80 years you have foreign fighters on russian soil seizing russian territory. kamala harris campaigns in the vital us swing state of pennsylvania, ahead of monday's democratic national convention. the french actor alain delon, who was once described as the most beautiful man in cinema, dies at the age of 88.

hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. the us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel on his 9th visit to the region since the war in gaza began, to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage—release deal. the us and israel have expressed careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. but hamas denies progress is being made. this afternoon, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues and accused hamas of being "obstinate". jenny hill sent this report. there's a crushing familiarity to gaza's grief. funerals for those killed overnight in israeli airstrikes. israel insists it's targeting hamas fighters. this was an entire civilian

family, mohammed says. a woman and her six children. as the human cost of this conflict surges, so too does the risk it will spill over into all—out regional war. urgent diplomacy is under way. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, arriving in tel aviv hoping to seal a ceasefire and hostage release deal. the us is talking up the chances of success. israel, too, expressing cautious optimism, but hamas doesn't trust them — says it's an illusion. the world is watching, iran keeping a close eye. it's vowed to attack israel following the assassination of hamas�*s political leader. it's widely thought that, if a deal can be agreed, that mightjust reduce, perhaps even eliminate, that threat. violence intensifying too along israel's border with lebanon.

frequent fire between israel's military and the iran backed militia hezbollah. as diplomats dart back and forth, gazans are on the move, too, fleeing again as israel continues its war on hamas. few safe places left, little time for peace. jenny hill, bbc news, tel aviv. our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken, and he sent this update from tel aviv. well, antony blinken arrives for his ninth visit to the region since october 7th. that in itself, i think, shows just how hard to achieve this attempt at a conclusive gaza ceasefire and hostage release and prisoner release deal has become. now a senior administration official on the way here, saying that they believe this is a critical moment and, in their words, an inflection point. this is all about the americans putting on pressure to try

to finally drive through this deal, they hope, within the next week or two. and there is an increasing tone of optimism from the americans about the possibility of that. but i have to say that is not matched by the kind of language and the public messages, at least, from both hamas and the israeli leadership, who are both accusing the other, effectively, of obstinate cynicism, of blocking this deal. a key point there is about whether or not there would be a clause in this deal to keep some form of israeli occupation on the ground in gaza, at the south of the gaza strip, the so—called philadelphia corridor, on the border with egypt. what the americans are saying is that the time for trying to draw more concessions, final concessions from this deal is over. they have come here, and mr blinken will meet benjamin netanyahu the israeli

leader now tomorrow. and the message will be, this is the moment to take a deal. our correspondent orla guerin is in the lebanese capital, beirut, and has this assessment of how the talks are being seen in the wider region. it will be a large degree of scepticism, both here in beirut and in other arab capitals, about what the israeli leader is prepared to do to bring about a truce in gaza, as distinct from what he is currently saying. benjamin netanyahu today, at an israeli cabinet meeting, was stressing that israel was taking part in these talks, saying that it was hamas that was sticking to its refusal and saying that the pressure should be put on hamas and its leader, yahya sinwar. but let's not forget, it was just at the end of last month that israel was accused of assassinating the hamas leader, ismail haniyeh,

when he was on a visit to tehran, and he was the leader at that time of the hamas negotiating team. and as the mediators, qatar put it then, in extreme frustration, how can negotiations succeed if one side assassinates the negotiator on the part of the other side and he was regarded relatively as a more moderate figure. so i think there'll be a lot of caution in arab capitals. people will be waiting to see if there actually is real progress here and real room for progress, or if this is simply the americans making a last desperate push, throwing everything at this and saying that there's cause for optimism when maybe there actually isn't. ukraine's armed forces say they have destroyed another bridge in russia's kursk region. they say the crossing was used by russians to supply troops and its destruction will hamper the movement of weapons. it comes almost two weeks after ukraine's surprise cross border operation into russia.

ukraine's offensive represents the first time in more than 80 years that a foreign army has seized and occupied russian territory. the attack has shocked the russian public. they'd been lead to believe that their country's border was safely guarded. our russia editor steve rosenberg travelled to the town of aleksin, south of moscow, to hear russians�* reaction to the dramatic events. this is aleksin, a 700—year—old town about 100 miles from moscow. and i've come here to find out what people think about the dramatic situation which has been unfolding in kursk region with the ukrainian incursion. with ukrainian soldiers now in russia, lyubov tells me that she's worried. "i can't even watch the news on tv because i start crying," she says. "how is this possible? someone let this happen". "people here trust our soldiers to finish the job," andrei says. "and to win".

at the market, regina is selling vegetables from her garden. "the most important thing," regina says, "is that war doesn't come here, that they don't get all the way here. our soldiers, especially the commanders, must be more vigilant". keep in mind, this is a nation which is constantly being reminded by those in power here of the horrors of the second world war — the horrors of invasion. world war two is very much part of the national psyche here and now, for the first time in more than 80 years, you have foreign fighters on russian soil seizing russian territory. that's quite a shock. vladimir is worried but thinks that russia will achieve victory. what exactly is victory in this war, i ask him.

"victory is when there will be peace," he says. 0n the town square a patriotic pop concert. but the atmosphere is pretty subdued. people do seem worried, very worried by the situation in kursk region, by the ukrainian attack. people do want peace, there's no doubt about it. but here's the thing. they still seem to trust the man at the top, the man running the country, president putin, to secure that peace for them. the same leader who, two and a half years ago, launched the full—scale invasion of ukraine. steve rosenberg, bbc news, aleksin, russia. on monday, the democratic national convention gets under way in chicago — a key moment for kamala harris to set out her stall as to why she should be the next commander in chief.

her nomination is secured afterjoe biden withdrew and she won't make her big speech until later in the week. she's spending some of the time between now and then in the swing state of pennsylvania — this is the moment she arrived in pittsburgh, greeting her vp pick tim walz. irie sentner is a reporter with politico and has been following this election campaign. this is going to be really an opportunity for vice president kamala harris and minnesota governor tim walz, who is her running mate, to introduce themselves to the american people. she is definitely grabbing a lot of headlines, there is a lot of excitement among the democratic party that she is now the nominee, but this is going to be a chance for her to speak to the american people at length and hopefully we will get a chance to learn more about her policy positions, which she has been relatively quiet on. there is a lot of hope, i think, among democrats going into this dnc. a lot of hope but she continues to face accusations that she is not discussing enough about policies and that she is dodging

probing interviews. how much of an issue is that for her at the moment? as a journalist i think ijoin everyone in the american news media right now who would like to see her speak to the press more frequently. she takes a couple of questions here and there when she is getting on and off her plane but she has not yet done a sit—down interview with a major news outlet. hopefully that changes soon. i don't think it is going to change before the dnc but i do think it is important for her to take tough questions from the media and we would certainly welcome that. is it something that voters are noticing? is that an issue for her campaign? mm—hm. i think the republican party would certainly like to make it an issue. we have seen former president donald trump do two news conferences in two weeks and so i think he is really saying, "i am able to take difficult questions from reporters.

why is vice president harris not doing that?" on monday we are expecting a big speech from the president, joe biden. how much will he help the kamala harris campaign and what can we expect to hearfrom him? this is really interesting. this is a really interesting moment for presidentjoe biden. when he was the nominee this dnc was supposed to essentially be the capstone of his 50—year political career and now we see him flying in on monday, giving one big speech and then flying out and he is going to california to huddle with his advisers for the rest of the week. i think he is going to really push the same talking points that he has been pushing, which is that he believes that vice president harris is the best person to lead this country, and he also believes that former president donald trump, if he were to win the presidency, would be an existential threat to democracy, and i think he will certainly try to sell that idea and i think

that the audience of the dnc, at least, is definitely going to be excited to hear it. and i asked the question about the president because the accusation from the republicans is that kamala harris and her supporters kicked the president out of the election campaign, as it were. how is that playing out that with voters in the united states? i thinkjoe biden has been very clear that that is not the case. ithink, among democrats, they don't see it that way. they see kamala harris as having a better chance of winning, compared tojoe biden, absolutely. but you see the republicans criticising them, saying vice president harris never won a single primary. they are trying to sell this idea that she shouldn't be the nominee in the first place. but i think that also shows that is because they are concerned because they also see her as a challenger who is going to be

more difficult to beat thanjoe biden was. the remaining 31 ted baker stores in the uk are to close this week, putting more than 500 jobs at risk. all of the fashion brand's stores are expected to have shut by the end of tuesday. the fashion retailer was put into administration in march this year. ted baker began as a menswear brand in glasgow in 1988 and grew to have shops across the uk and in the united states, with licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in asia and the middle east. emer mccarthy has more. ted baker here on regent street in central london, is about to close its doors for the very last time. it's one of 31 ted baker brick and mortar shops that are set to close by the end of the week, and that puts more than 500 jobs at risk. now, this all comes after the firm

that is in charge of ted baker here in the uk, went into administration back in march. before that, nearly 1,000 people were employed by ted baker and there were dozens of stores across the uk. now it seems that it's just another casualty of the british high street, with all stores expected to close by tuesday. here in the uk the home office says it will include extreme misogyny — the hatred of women — 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. earlier our political correspondent helen catt aexplained what home secretary wants to achieve through this review.

it's expected to report back in it�*s expected to report back in september— it's expected to report back in september— october time and will look at addressing gaps in the current sip stem for attacking extremism. it will look for evidence that what works to turn people away from extreme views and to crack down on people who push them. it will look at a number of areas. it will look at a number of areas. it will look at a number of areas. it will look at the rise of islamist extremism, far right extremism, but it will also take in what the home office describes as ideological 0ffice describes as ideological trend is that it sees as having a worrying rise, and among those is extreme misogyny and extreme hatred of women. it also believes people who have a fixation on violence, they are going to look at that too. this will organise towards informing a counter extremism strategy that the government has pledged it is going to bring in. the government has launched quite a few of these reviews across departments and it took power injuly and the criticism thatis took power injuly and the criticism that is sometimes levelled that that is that there can be a way of being a substitute for taking action. but the home secretary yvette cooper is saying, at the last strategy we had

for this was in 2015 and that is nine years ago and we need to have a review to be able to look at new and emerging threats. thousands of residents in newtonards in northern ireland have had to leave their homes following the discovery of a suspected world war two bomb. police in county down say it was found at a building site at the rivenwood housing development on friday. lynsey telford has the latest. an otherwise sleepy housing development, but what has been unearthed has sent shock waves. suspected world war ii bomb. homes were forced to evacuate us as part sound with a view to carrying out an explosion. some were worried about the potential that might have on the homes around it, including one future owner. £31 homes around it, including one future owner.— homes around it, including one future owner. , �* ., future owner. of course i'm worried, but i think what's _ future owner. of course i'm worried, but i think what's more _ future owner. of course i'm worried, but i think what's more important. future owner. of course i'm worried, but i think what's more important is | but i think what's more important is the safety of human life and the

guys and girls up there that are working on that, that would be the main concern. fix, working on that, that would be the main concern.— working on that, that would be the main concern. a short distance away refu~e main concern. a short distance away refu . e for main concern. a short distance away refuge for those _ main concern. a short distance away refuge for those who _ main concern. a short distance away refuge for those who need _ main concern. a short distance away refuge for those who need it. - main concern. a short distance away refuge for those who need it. the i refuge for those who need it. the olice refuge for those who need it. the police came _ refuge for those who need it. the police came to — refuge for those who need it. the police came to our door last night and handed us a letter, basically telling _ and handed us a letter, basically telling us — and handed us a letter, basically telling us what to do. we had to go, we know— telling us what to do. we had to go, we know how big it is but we don't know_ we know how big it is but we don't know what — we know how big it is but we don't know what state it's in. the we know how big it is but we don't know what state it's in.— know what state it's in. the sports hall in the local _ know what state it's in. the sports hall in the local leisure _ know what state it's in. the sports hall in the local leisure centre - know what state it's in. the sports hall in the local leisure centre has| hall in the local leisure centre has been set up as a place for affected residents to come and have a cup of tea and to stay the night if needs be. it is pretty quiet now, with most residents choosing to stay with family and friends. but given that disruption is likely to last five days, the council is keen to let people know that this facility is here. it is a time of disruption, but hopefully, not for too long.

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. president macron has paid 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". entertainment reporter and radio times columnist caroline frost told us more about his most defining performances. i guess off the top of my head, one of the most defining things was 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 19505 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, 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 thriller. 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 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 early 1980s, 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 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 more than just france. 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. 0ur 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. the 2024 world pipe band champions have been crowned after two days of competition in glasgow. this year's line—up included entries from australia, oman and hong kong as well as plenty of bands from closer to home. 0ur scotland correspondent katie hunter reports. this is the pinnacle of pipe band competition. more than 7,000 pipers and drummers gathered in glasgow. bands from scotland, northern ireland, the usa and canada. among those competing for the biggest prize in piping.

our 2024 world champions are... inveraray and district. i feel absolutely ecstatic. really pleased for all the guys in the band and the effort they put in. it's been a tremendous couple of days, just really...|'m very proud of my players. and they're proud too. on top of the world for the third time. katie hunter, bbc news, glasgow. you are watching bbc news. a reminder— you are watching bbc news. a reminder you you are watching bbc news. a reminderyou can find you are watching bbc news. a reminder you can find more information about all our top stories— information about all our top stories on_ information about all our top stories on the bbc website. you can also no to stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the _ stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the bbc— stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the bbc news _ stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the bbc news app - stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the bbc news app and i stories on the bbc website. you can also go to the bbc news app and al also go to the bbc news app and a reminder that one of the key stories we are following their is that campaign by kamala harris and her running mate in the united states in the key battleground state of pennsylvania. you are watching bbc

news. good evening. it's been a fairly quiet weekend of weather. that's about to change. as we head into the new week, dare i say it, for some it's going to feel distinctly autumnal. there will be heavy rain at times, and the potential for some unseasonably windy weather, as well. not this evening, though. the showers are fading, the cloud will melt away, and we are in for a coolish night across central and eastern areas. could be a little bit of mist and fog for the morning rush. the nights are getting longer, it's hanging around a little later now. but further west the temperatures won't fall that much, because we will have the first signs of the cloud and patchy rain in here. so, this is the first deep area of low pressure, with its thundery rain moving through monday and tuesday. a brief respite before this system, the remains of hurricane ernesto entrained in there, so some tropical air delivering heavy rain and potentially very windy weather for this time of year. more on its way for friday. so, you will expect to see

the wettest weather across parts of wales, northern ireland, north—west england, but especially western scotland this week — in excess of 100 millimetres of rain — but not as much, or not that much, further south and east, where we will start the day with some sunshine. the mist and fog clears away, and we will hold onto that dry and fairly sunny weather in the south and the east. but already, by the middle of the day, really wet across northern ireland, the west of scotland, hence the met office warning for a couple of inches of rain in places, as it will be slow moving. strong winds with it, so not feeling very pleasant, but i do think it will feel quite warm in that sunshine in central and eastern areas. the wind is from the south west instead, and that heavy, thundery rain will push its way southwards and eastwards. not giving that much rain across southern and eastern areas, but we will continue with more heavy showers in the north and west through the night. so what we will notice about monday night is it will be much more uncomfortable again for sleeping. we've got that humid airwith us again. but it doesn't last long, because that weather front�*s out the way, and there may be another bout of heavy, thundery showers following on for a time, but then some drier weather away from the north and west.

that low pressure is anchored here, with its strong winds, so obviously it's going to feel quite cool here. and for most of us, anyway, having lost the humidity, it will be a fresher feeling day, despite some sunshine, which may well prevail in southern areas on wednesday. but by wednesday there is that next area of low pressure barrelling in, of course, with some tropical air, so it is going to give a lot of rainfall across the north and west. as ever, we will keep you posted.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel in his latest effort to push for a ceasefire and hostage—release deal in gaza. israel has warned there are issues in the talks it can't be flexible about. kamala harris has flown to the key swing state of pennsylvania, where she'll attend several campaign events before going on to the democratic national convention in chicago. ukraine says it has destroyed a second key bridge inside the kursk region of russia, as it presses on with its counter offensive. meanwhile russia says it has captured another village in the donetsk region. the french actor alain delon — has died at the age of 88. fellow star brigitte bardot said he left a deep void that nobody could fill.