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 — and accused israel of adding new conditions to the agreed proposals. this afternoon, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues — accusing 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. 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 borders were 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 ii 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 us president. 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 arrived this is the moment she arrived in pittsburgh, greeting her vp pick tim walz. earlier, i spoke with our north america correspondent, peter bowes, who told us more about the significance of kamala harris�*s appearance in pennsylvania ahead of the convention.

pennsylvania is one of those key states, a battleground state, as it is known. she has to win it if she is to become the president from the beginning of next year. battleground states of michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, nevada, here in the west, and arizona. they are the key states that either candidate must win. because of the way the system works in this country, it isn't popularity vote, the latest opinion polls are interesting because they suggest kamala harris is of donald trump are interesting because they suggest kamala harris is ahead of donald trump nationally, that is a popularity vote. she is neck and neck. in pennsylvania where she is right now, the latest cbs poll shows she is a 50—50 with donald trump in state. that shows it is very close, clearly, and she has a lot of work still to do. that is why she is there right now in the run—up to the convention. she wants to make a mark. she will no doubt be returning to these estates returning to these states in the coming weeks. combined with the work she will do

in the convention in terms of reintroducing and continuing to allow the american people to get to know her, what her policies are, this is the job she now must do. some of the opinion polls have shown that some americans say they don't really know what kamala harris stands for. that is often a problem for a vice president as she currently is. that's during the administration she works and she is overshadowed. she works in she is overshadowed. now is the time to show that she has her own woman and that she is the leading candidate for the democrats, and she will have to persuade voters that she has what it takes to become the president. and as you know, most candidates have years to prepare for a national convention like the one that is about to take place next week. she has only had a matter of weeks to prepare. how much of an impact will it have on the convention? and the message she has to share with the country? we are in uncharted territory in terms of the speed

of the run—up to the convention. it remains to be seen. judgment will be made in five or six days. what we are currently seeing as an energised seeing is an energised democratic party campaign, and that is in large part because of the speed with which things have happened. energised, that isn't a word we used in association withjoe biden and's campaign. with joe biden�*s campaign. there were a lot of depressed democrats who believed he couldn't win. ultimately, that is what led him to step down. he was seemingly persuaded that was the case. kamala harris, right now, seems to be riding a crest of a wave in terms of popularity. i think to a certain extent there is relief among the democrats she is now the candidate. she also seems to have brought some fun to the campaign that was lacking before. she might have been light on policy announcements so far, she did do a policy speech a couple of days ago and was talking about taxes and affordable housing, and child benefits, and those are the details she will talk

about more, but i think that for now, and in terms of the speed of the campaign, she is riding a wave of relief and popularity. peter bowes reporting. the builder continues in the build—up to the national convention. they are testing the lights out there. there will be a big speech on monday night at the opening of the convention from the president, joe biden. later in the week we will hear from the former presidents 0bama and clinton. this is before kamala harris officially accept the nomination for the presidential nominee. that is in chicago. herspeech the presidential nominee. that is in chicago. her speech will be on thursday evening. let's speak to thomas gift now — who is an associate professor at university college london.

thank you for journeys thank you forjourneys in the programme. this convention is expected to be a time when the candidates have maximum publicity. 0ver candidates have maximum publicity. over the last few weeks, kamala harris has dominated headlines. do you think a strategy will change the convention? will it be more of the same? . ~' ,, convention? will it be more of the same? ., ~ i. ., ., , same? thank you for having me. it is auoin to same? thank you for having me. it is going to be — same? thank you for having me. it is going to be with _ same? thank you for having me. it is going to be with you. _ same? thank you for having me. it is going to be with you. these - going to be with you. these conventions are really four—day infomercials for the political parties. there is some discussion of policy, but a lot of it is personality. the analysts speaking their got it right when they said that this is kamala harris�*s opportunity to introduce herself to the american people. she has been the american people. she has been the vice president for the last three and a half years and for the last couple of weeks we knew that she was a presumptive nominee, now officially the nominee. there is still a lot that americans don't know about her. i think that she has been riding this wave, kind of in the midst of a honeymoon period where she hasn't got quite as much scrutiny as perhaps she might. i think she wants to leave that for as long as possible, then she knows

reality is going to head. she hasn't done any media since becoming the nominee. that is something the republicans are attacking her for, but basically, when it comes to the convention, she wants to stay on message. it is highly curated, the speeches that individuals give kind of know what they say. it is going to be a lot of cheerleading to harris. ,, ., ., . ., , harris. she announcing to escape the accusations — harris. she announcing to escape the accusations she _ harris. she announcing to escape the accusations she is _ harris. she announcing to escape the accusations she is running _ harris. she announcing to escape the accusations she is running on - harris. she announcing to escape the accusations she is running on good i accusations she is running on good vibes alone. what do you think —— mankind you think we will see her back to the test? is it the debate with donald trump in september? absolutely. good vibes alone are not going to get you to the finish line when they can get you quite close. a lot of republicans suggest the media has been relatively friendly to kamala harris. you have seen increasing consternation in republicans and journalists that harris hasn't answered any questions. she delivered a big speech on the economyjust a couple of days ago where she outlined

plans, for example, to place a federal ban on price gouging to expand credits for housing, and do more when it comes to health care. at the same time, i think she is going to have to be more specific and when she gets specific, the devil is in the details, and it will give donald trump more fodder to run on. �* ., give donald trump more fodder to run on. ~ . ., , ., on. and we have heard reports and have seen reports _ on. and we have heard reports and have seen reports that _ on. and we have heard reports and have seen reports that there - on. and we have heard reports and have seen reports that there might be some pro—palestine demonstrations turning up at the convention. she has her party's support, but is she assured that everyone is behind her within the democratic party? i think ou are within the democratic party? i think you are right- _ within the democratic party? i think you are right. just _ within the democratic party? i think you are right. just as _ within the democratic party? i think you are right. just as important - within the democratic party? i think you are right. just as important as l you are right. just as important as what happens inside the convention centre is what happens outside. i do think that there is potential for some of the gaza protest is to create at least a huge distraction, if not more. a lot of experts have drawn parallels to the democratic national convention in chicago in 1968, where protesters clashed with police over the vietnam war. if

something like that ignites, and really spreads on social media, i do think it could be bad for the democrats. there are a lot of reasons why those parallels to 1968 and not necessarily the best, but at the same time, there are some anti—war protesters saying: death to america, or death to israel, those are going to go viral and overshadow the convention.— the convention. thomas gifts, thank ou for the convention. thomas gifts, thank you forjoining _ the convention. thomas gifts, thank you forjoining us — the convention. thomas gifts, thank you forjoining us on _ the convention. thomas gifts, thank you forjoining us on the _ the convention. thomas gifts, thank| you forjoining us on the programme. now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre manchester city have started their premier league title defence with a 2—0 win at chelsea. erling haaland, the golden boot winner for the past two seasons, opened his account in the first half and matteo kovacic scored late on against his former club. england internationals phil foden, john stones and kyle walker started on the bench for city after being given more time on against his former club. england internationals phil foden, john stones and kyle walker started on the bench for city

after being given more time off after the euros, spanish midfielder rodri was left out of the squad after only returning to training this week. considering his restrictions when it came to selection , the city manager, was more than pleased with the start. i know these guys and what they can do. the first day, the lack of training, the team, the body language and what they have done, last season we felt we couldn't win. starting that way is good news. the bad news is we have 65 or 70 games left. be patient, it is important to start to win. for sure, we can improve many things — we have just had six weeks together so you can imagine how many things we need to add and improve. at the same time, i think the game was quite clear. we tried to play our football, keep the ball, create chances against this kind of team it isn't easy, but we did it quite well. brentford beat crystal palace 2—1 in the earlier match . the big talking point

was ivan toney being left out of the brentford squad. the england striker is set to leave the club by the end of the transfer window, the bee's maanger thomas frank saying it's a case of when , not if he goes . when, not if he goes . saying it's a case of when, not if he goes. they did pretty well without him, bryan mbeumo and yoan wissa scored their goals two matches in spain's la liga this sunday. real sociadad lost 2—1 at home to rayo vallecano, and real madrid have started their titile defence kylian started their titile defence kylian mbappe making his la liga debut at mallorca. rodrygo has given them the lead. there are four matches in serie a this sunday. where bologna and udinese drew 1—1. antonio conte's first match as napoli boss was an embarrassing antonio conte's first match as napoli boss was an embarrassing 3—0 defeat at verona cagliari against as roma is still goaless. lazio are beating venezia 2—1. the american lauren coughlin won the women's scottish 0pen

at dundonald links in ayrshire finishing on 15 under, four shots clear of the field she struggled early on with some early bogeys, but rallied on the back nine to take the title. her second on the lpga tour in the past month. following her first win at the canadian 0pen. her closest challenger was esther henseleit of germany who finished on 11 under par. england's charley hull finished in 5th it is kind of unbelievable, two in three weeks is pretty crazy. three events. i kind of stuck in there and tried to stay is present as i could. i played super solid all four days and just tried to let the wind to do what it did and not fight it too much. and i was able to just hit the ball where i was trying to, most of the time, in a good distance and make some putts. kasia niewiadoma of poland has won the tour de france femmes by just four seconds —

taking the title on the final iconic climb of l�*alpe d'huez. the defending champion deymi vollering, who was a minute and a quarter down in the standings, after crashing earlier in the race — won the stage, leaving niewiadoma having to finish within 65 seconds of the dutchwoman to keep the yellow jersey. and she made it with just four seconds to spare for the biggest win of her career. the narrowest margin of victory in any of the grand tours, either men's or women's. that is all of the water now. and that's all the sport for now. 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. 0ur political correspondent,

helen catt told me more. this is a rapid review that she's asked civil servants in the home office to carry out. she hopes that it will be completed by about october time, and the idea is to look at the current strategies for tackling extremism, to identify any gaps, to look at the evidence for what works in turning people away from these sorts of views, and to look at cracking down on the people who push them. and so it will look at the rise of islamist extremism, of far right extremism, but it will also look at other forms of of ideologies that the home office says they've seen a rise in in recent years. so that includes things like extreme misogyny, the extreme hatred of women. it also includes things like people who have a fixation on violence. now, considering misogyny as an extremist ideology isn't entirely new, so incel culture is already recognised as a form of extremism, people are referred to the anti—terrorism

strategy prevent for it. that is, of course, involuntary celibacy, where generally young men believe that they are involuntarily celibate and they blame their problems on women and what they call alpha males. so that is already recognised as a form of extremism. and there's been a bit of a focus on misogyny in recent years as well, in recent months as well, because of the rise of social media influencers like andrew tate, for example. now this review, as i said, it's hoping to be done pretty quickly. it will then go on to inform a new counter extremism strategy. and there hasn't been one of a new one of those since 2015. of...a new one of those since 2015. the government promised it in its manifesto. the criticism that's often levelled at these reviews is that sometimes they can be a way of being a substitute for action. but what the home office, what the home secretary is saying is, "look, we haven't had a new strategy since 2015, "we need a review to see what the new threats are." 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 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. a 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 their 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 the 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 bigger films, 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. in turkey — authorities are continuing to battle wildfires which are burning in the southwest of the country for a fourth day. more than 200 fires have broken out since thursday — but most of them have now been contained. officials are warning there's a high risk of further wildfires in northern and western provinces in the next couple of days because of high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. stay with us here on 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 antony blinken flies in to israel as the gaza peace talks intensify, with both israel and hamas accusing the other side of making unhelpful demands. kamala harris is campaigning in the key swing state of pennsylvania as one poll shows her neck and neck with donald trump. we'll have the latest on the race for the white house. more than 400 homes are evacuated in northern ireland as experts deal with a suspected second world war bomb. and the sound of scotland on a global stage. we'll report from the world pipe band championships. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga.

the talks aimed at ending the war in gaza — at least temporarily — are set to resume in the coming days — but it seems neither israel nor hamas are indicating that success will be easy to achieve. both sides have differing goals — but israel has made it clear it wants the safe return of the remaining hostages, who were taken by hamas last october. hamas has stated it wants israel to pull its military back. and in the last few hours — we've heard israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying there are some things his country cannot be flexible about — with hamas accusing israel of adding conditions to the agreed proposals. the bbc's senior international correspondent 0rla guerin has been following developments from beruit. i asked her how much we should read into the apparent differences between the two sides. clearly there is posturing going on, probably on the part of all sides. we've had the israeli leader this afternoon at a cabinet meeting in tel aviv stressing that israel

was taking part in negotiations and that hamas was not, that it hadn't sent a delegation to the meeting in doha. he said hamas was, quote unquote, sticking to its refusal and that there should be heavy pressure put on hamas and on its leader, yahya sinwar. now, we have had, as you say, president biden using the word optimism, the israelis talking about cautious optimism, but we have had hamas saying, again, that what the americans are talking about is an illusion and complaining about american diktats. now, we know that later this week in cairo on wednesday or thursday, there is due to be another round of negotiations. we also know the americans are extremely keen to wrap this process up in the coming week, by the end of next week, but it is completely unclear whether a deal is within reach. the white house continues to stress it's closer than ever before,

but i think we have to see an element of that as american pressure trying to box the parties, if you like, into a corner. and certainly neither israel nor hamas will want to be seen to get the blame if these talks fail. but let's not forget it was just at the end of last month that israel was accused of assassinating the then hamas leader, ismail haniyeh, when he was on a visit to tehran, and at that time, qatar, which has been leading mediation efforts, a senior official said in frustration, "how can negotiations succeed when one side kills the negotiator on the other side"? and in hamas terms, haniyeh was seen as a relative moderate. so i think we'll have a lot of statements coming from diplomats and mediators in the coming days, but what's happening behind closed doors remains very unclear. and publicly at least, hamas is pouring cold water

on the idea that a deal is within reach. and we've heard from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, saying that "there are things that we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on". what do you think the sticking points are for israel in these negotiations? well, i think the sticking points for both israel and hamas are the question of control of a strip of land that sits between egypt and gaza, the so—called philadelphia corridor, which israeli officials insist is a lifeline for hamas and an area between egypt and gaza, the so—called philadelphi corridor, which israeli officials insist is a lifeline for hamas and an area that they use for smuggling. another critical question is whether or not israel will be allowed to have control and inspection opportunities for those who are returning to the north of gaza. hamas is insisting that people who lived in the north should be allowed go back. israel is insisting that it should be allowed to inspect them and make sure that they are not carrying any

weapons, that hamas doesn't have an opportunity to reconstitute itself in the north. and of course, the critical question for hamas is will there be israeli agreement on a cease fire? that had been an absolute sticking point for hamas earlier on during the talks. it has given way on that. it has said that that's not now something that has to happen in the first stage. but obviously hamas wants to see some kind of mechanism there to ensure that a cease fire is reached. and i have to say, there will be a lot of scepticism on the part of palestinians, also on the part of officials here in beirut where i'm speaking to you from, and in arab capitals across the region, about what the israeli leader is prepared to actually do, rather than what he says he's prepared to do. 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 us president. this is the live shot from the hall in chicago. apologies, that is kamala harris arriving in pittsburgh earlier today, there she is reaching her v peak. today, there she is reaching her v eak, , ., ., today, there she is reaching her v eak. ,., ., . ., her nomination is secured — afterjoe biden withdrew — and she won't make her big speech until later in the week. kamala harris is in pennsylvania today — a key battleground state for republicans and democrats. this is the moment she arrived in pittsburgh, greeting her vp pick tim walz. there are the key speeches from

presidentjoe biden and former presidentjoe biden and former president barack 0bama. let's take a listen to some of what she said at a campaign rally in pittsburgh we know our country is going to be as strong as our willingness to fight for it. and to fight for what we stand for. you know, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. when you stand for working people, you fight for working people. when you stand for freedom, whether it be to make decisions about your own body or love who you love, you fight for those things. when you believe in ending child poverty, you fight for that. when you believe in what we need to do to lift up the middle class, you fight for the middle class. these are the things we stand for, and these, therefore, are the things we fight for. let's speak to democratic strategist — joi cheney now. thank you forjoining us on the programme. we have seen some of her speech there in pennsylvania and we have seen similar many of the staged performances over the past few weeks, the acquisition is she is not answering tough questions, and i guess the convention will be more of

the same. i guess the convention will be more of the same. ~ , ., , ., , the same. i think she has answered tou~h the same. i think she has answered tough questions — the same. i think she has answered tough questions because _ the same. i think she has answered tough questions because think - the same. i think she has answeredl tough questions because think about having to pay but as quickly as we have, to hit the ground running and pick your running mate, she has done a lot, more importantly answering the questions of voters underground meeting with her, so i think she has been answering the tough questions, i know what you are saying, but this is the moment we are talking about the future of our nation and going into an amazing week, and it feels so hopeful, i am thrilled.- so hopeful, i am thrilled. hopeful and throws. _ so hopeful, i am thrilled. hopeful and throws, and _ so hopeful, i am thrilled. hopeful and throws, and on _ so hopeful, i am thrilled. hopeful and throws, and on monday, - so hopeful, i am thrilled. hopeful- and throws, and on monday, president biden will be addressing the convention. there is criticism from the republicans that it appears she pushed out the president from the election campaign stop do you think is speech will help or hinder kamala harris western mark it is? it is auoin to harris western mark it is? it is going to help. _ harris western mark it is? it is going to help. i _ harris western mark it is? it 3 going to help, i don't know if any of you viewers saw that prescription drug event that happened in maryland

that we spoke about all of these drugs that the biden — harris administration has been able to negotiate lower prices for drugs used by many americans to reduce cost of living in this country, let me tell you, people were screaming thank you, joe, and he is popular amongst democrats, we know how people felt about him being too old or whatnot, people felt about him being too old orwhatnot, but people felt about him being too old or whatnot, but we are thankful for what you did for the nation, so that would be an exciting place to start on monday, rights, so where we are, the peak, and then to go in as we go into the former presidents as well as tim walz and then the vice president harris under rhino outing on thursday night. i think there is a lot of excitement, the perfect crescendo to pass the torch in terms of age, and we are building on our success. �* ., ~ , of age, and we are building on our success. ~ ., ~ , , , ., success. another key issue for kamala harris _ success. another key issue for kamala harris is _ success. another key issue for kamala harris is the _ success. another key issue for kamala harris is the war- success. another key issue for kamala harris is the war in - success. another key issue forj kamala harris is the war in the middle east, of course, we continue

to report on the situation in gaza. it is suspected there would be some pro—palestine demonstrators, perhaps thousands of them at the convention centre next week, and when she has been challenged on gaza in the past, she has been short with some of the people speaking at some of these writings, so that really is perhaps a weak point for her going into next week. �* . , , a weak point for her going into next week. �* ., , , a weak point for her going into next week. �* , , , a weak point for her going into next week. �* , �* a weak point for her going into next week. ~ , �* ., ~ week. always, she says i'm talking let me talk, _ week. always, she says i'm talking let me talk, don't _ week. always, she says i'm talking let me talk, don't interrupt, - let me talk, don't interrupt, because i will give you your moment to, and as they prepare for the dnc, you will see that we welcome debates, we welcome people who are lawfully protesting. that is the appropriate thing to do was stop i think the vice president hopefully, candidate waltz, was it we are more than happy to have people who have come views, even if they are not contrary views and just want to make their views known, that would be welcome, there will be a place for that, but we want to make sure it is

a safe environment for everyone, and so we will be focused on that. i don't think it is a weakness, you will see democrats shine in our ability to handle process and debate. �* , , ., ., .,~ debate. and briefly, how do you make ofthat debate. and briefly, how do you make of that republicans _ debate. and briefly, how do you make of that republicans responded - debate. and briefly, how do you make of that republicans responded to - of that republicans responded to kamala harris�*s camping and what their strategy might be next week? it is better than any pokemon vice president harris has been inching up in the poll, but the best example that we are doing better than folks expected, that we are making the republicans nervous, is in their behaviour. the fact that it appears that former president trump is soaking, only done if you camping events, two of them from his mentions, and they were very odd, very low turnout at these events, that the vice presidential candidate jd vance has been frankly, weird, i

hate to overuse the term, but it fits, and the fact that they seem to be just making unforced fits, and the fact that they seem to bejust making unforced error after unforced error, is a sign that they are nervous, they have been knocked off their game byjust a blitz of competence and excitement and hope. thank you forjoining us on the programme, and as we know the title of this campaign can change at any moment, thank you joi cheney, democratic strategist. 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. 0n 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, but the courtauld gallery will reopen to the public today. noor nanji, bbc news. thousands of residents in newtonwards 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. a suspected world war ii bomb. more than 400 homes were forced to evacuate as army personnel piled sand onto the device, 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. of course i'm worried, 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. a short distance away — refuge for those who need it. the police came to our door last night and handed us a letter, basically telling us what to do. we had to go, we had to leave. we know how big it is but we don't know what state it's in. this sports 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. lynsey telford, bbc news. 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. 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. 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 pavilion 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 pavilion 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. if you're scared of rats you might want to look away now. 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. 0ur 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. ged 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... back injarrow, jed says urgent action is needed back injarrow, ged 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.

stay with us on 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.

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. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga.