welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm steve lai. the headlines: us secretary of state antony blinken is in israel, amid hopes that a gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. kamala harris campaigns in the vital us swing state of pennsylvania, ahead of monday's democratic national convention. 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. and the sound of scotland on a global stage — we report from the world pipe band championship.

we begin in israel — where the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived on his ninth 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. earlier, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues, accusing hamas of being "obstinate." our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with antony blinken and has this update from tel aviv. well, the air is thick with a bit of optimism and a lot of expectation, when it comes to antony blinken. one senior official i was talking to on the way here used phrases like this being "an inflection "point," a critical

moment in terms of what they want to get from this ceasefire deal. some are talking in terms of their hopes that they can get this thing over the line as soon as this time next week. now, that may seem extremely optimistic — and perhaps it is, because what we're seeing here, i think, is antony blinken trying to apply as much diplomatic pressure as possible, starting tomorrow morning with a meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. what he will try to urge him to do is drop any final attempts to squeeze more concessions from this deal, to stop going for what he might think is a perfect agreement, and settle for something that the americans think is already very good. so, that will be the diplomatic part of this. but the problem is, these talks are not happening in the diplomatic rooms — they're actually happening in a very technical way, led by the cia, by mossad, by egyptian spy chiefs. we saw that in doha at the end of last week. very technical and difficult discussions —

much of that was about the exchange of israeli hostages for palestinian prisoners. that's known in the language of the deal as "the keys". some progress has been made on that, but when it comes to another quite fundamental point about the situation on the ground at the end of the conflict, that's much more difficult because the israelis want to keep boots on the ground, particularly in the south and in the centre of the gaza strip. and hamas are currently saying, "no way". we've had more defiant statements from both those sides tonight. so no breakthrough seems imminent on that — perhaps this is a bit of a negotiating tactic from the two. but one final point — remember the backdrop to all of this, for the americans, is their electoral politics. it gets much harder to do all of this with the political energy needed close to the american presidential election. and so, for a democratic administration, i think the clock is ticking that much faster, trying to get an agreement than it is for the two sides involved. the efforts to secure a ceasefire in gaza come

amid widespread fears of a broader war across the region. there is already conflict between israel and the militant group in lebanon, hezbollah — which is backed by iran. since october, tens of thousands of people have fled from both sides of their shared border. 0ver500, mostly fighters, have been killed in lebanon, while in israel 42 people have died, mostly civilians. many in lebanon now fear an escalation to all—out war. from the capital beirut, our senior international correspondent orla guerin reports. call to prayer as international mediators clutch at a ceasefire in gaza, hezbollah buries its dead. this is dahieh, in south beirut, where many are born into the iranian—backed armed group. and many die for it, fighting against israel. but we found some mourners hoping for a diplomatic breakthrough. we hope that the

international world can play a role to ceasefire. it seems that we are going through a very great explosion and everybody will be loser, no winners. funerals like this are a familiar sight here. hundreds of hezbollah fighters have been buried in recent months. people here say they're not looking for all—out war, but they're not afraid of it, either, and if it comes, they'll be ready to fight. just how ready is on display in this new propaganda video, apparently showing hezbollah�*s network of tunnels, and some of its arsenal of weapons. we can't verify the contents of this video, but hezbollah is much stronger now than in 2006, when the two sides

last went to war. we are in danger and we've been feeling it even more. the minister who has to plan in case of another all—out war says people here know too well how bad things could get. the images they've been seeing, watching on the news, receiving on their phones from gaza... the war that led to more than 40,000 people being killed, a lot of them children and women — civilians — making people afraid. do you think people here expect it will be like gaza, if it happens? i think the images from gaza are being played in the house of every lebanese. and these images, too, are fresh in people's minds — a massive blast four years ago this month at beirut port. caused by chemicals

and safely stored. we had six people died in this straight and in the parallel street we had, like 20 people died. etienne had to rebuild his restaurant from the rubble. he says if beirut becomes a war zone, he will rebuild again but he is worried for his daughter. she's a six—year—old girl. so, every time a sound happen or something, it is training, army training... because i don't want her to understand it is war or something happen. but when it will happen, it will happen. the next move may come from hezbollah or its iranian backers. both have promised to hit israel hard for the assassination of senior militant leaders. without a ceasefire in gaza, they may not hold fire for much longer. 0rla guerin, bbc news, beirut.

negar mortazavi, editor and host of the iran podcast and a senior fellow at the centre for international policy, told me more about what we can expect from those ceasefire and hostage release talks. the white house has been putting out optimistic lines in the past few days, but i think, from what we're hearing from the ground, the reality may be a little further from the level of optimism from the president. although, you know, isee a lame duck president who has pulled himself out of the race — these are the last months of his not only presidency, potentially his career. presidents retire after their presidency ends. so, this would also be a big legacy, a big foreign policy legacy, a legacy for peace for president biden. there's a lot at stake here. it'sjust, i don't think what we're hearing from the actual ceasefire on the ground matches the level of optimism that we've heard from the white house, and also from secretary blinken. yeah, so biden�*s optimism aside, then,

what's your assessment of how discussions have gone? both sides are accusing each other of blocking the ceasefire deal. yes, it seems like it's becoming... it's a pattern that we've seen in the past round of the ceasefire. and what i also see significant is the growing criticism from inside israel, and some here in the us of specifically prime minister netanyahu and israeli leadership for, well, both sides, as you said, are accusing, but essentially moving the goalpost and not really showing an interest, a deep interest for ending the war — in fact, expanding the war seems to be what's been happening in the past ten months. so, again, it's another round of talks. the mediators have tried hard. the us can play a very significant role. i think the us has actually more leverage than they have used until now, but i'm just not sure if this round is going to end with success.

but at the same time, a lot is at stake. there are high stakes here because iran and hezbollah have also, in a way, put a retaliatory strike on waiting for this ceasefire process. so, if this round fails, this war could really see another major level of escalation. and if that does happen, what form do you think that would take? well, it's not very clear. the iranians haven't really communicated — unlike in april, when they retaliated against the israeli attack on their consulate in syria, and then, they attacked israeli soil from their soil for the first time unprecedented. but they telegraphed their intention and used back channels to sort of signal what they were doing. this time, they're not. both sides, all sides, iran and its allies, so—called axis of resistance, are signalling that element of surprise. not clear what's going to happen, when it's going to happen.

we've seen hezbollah escalate its level of threats or the psychological war, if you call it, but it seems like they they are in a, as i said, put this on sort of mode and status. but potentially, if the ceasefire talks completely fail this round again, they could potentially do a retaliatory attack together, or something separate in different phases. it's not very clear, but it's something that they've been vowing. there's less than 2a hours until 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 she arrived in pittsburgh. let's take a listen to some

of what she said at a campaign rally in rochester. 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. joe biden and the former president barack 0bama are among those duty make speeches at the event. 0ur north america editor sarah smith is in chicago to look ahead. this is very much her week, as she's going to be publicly crowned as the democrats�*

presidential candidate. you know, it's only four weeks ago that joe biden stepped aside — but in that time, this race has been completely transformed. kamala harris is energetically campaigning across the country — as you mentioned, in pennsylvania today. and what is quite remarkable about all of these events are the levels of excitement and enthusiasm she's greeted with wherever she goes. and the opinion polls suggest that support for her is growing, too. wherejoe biden was often a few points behind donald trump, kamala harris nationally is a couple of points ahead, and also ahead in the key swing states where those votes really matter. and it's not going to be all plain sailing this week, though — there are some very large demonstrations planned which will highlight divisions within the democratic party, principally over america's support for israel's war on gaza, which many are furious about, and could cost the democrats significant numbers of votes in november. and, as the baton is passed here in chicago from joe biden to kamala harris, tributes will be paid to mr biden. but it's going to be

a bittersweet week for him, i think, because he remains as the president of the united states — and yet, it's very clear that kamala harris is very much going to be the star of the show here. a former democratic congressman committee told me what to expect from this week's rally. conventions are normally vital showcases for both parties, the republicans have their convention in milwaukee several weeks ago now, i will be heading there tomorrow. the purpose of a convention is to showcase the candidates, is values and priorities in a four—day advertisement, a four—day advertisement, a four—day marathon on a prime—time television event, with two important emphases, number one, communicating to the party base, motivating them to contribute money, to get on the streets and knock on doors, to join the the streets and knock on doors, tojoin the campaign the streets and knock on doors, to join the campaign and organise immobilise the more

importantly it is aimed at the narrowband over still undecided moderate voters who live in seven or eight battleground states who have not yet paid attention to the campaign and adjust tuning in. this becomes even more important because kamala harris was the vice presidential candidate less than a month ago, tim walz was the governor of minnesota, now the governor of minnesota, now the convention is vital in introducing them to the large number of voters who have not yet been fully educated about them. ., , ., , , them. there are protests exnected _ them. there are protests expected over _ them. there are protests expected over the - expected over the administration at gaza policy, administration at gaza policy, a fault line in the democratic party. how robust is the unity and you think the convention will address it?— and you think the convention will address it? kamala harris has a unified _ will address it? kamala harris has a unified the _ will address it? kamala harris has a unified the party - will address it? kamala harris has a unified the party and - has a unified the party and consolidated the party with almost breathtaking, unprecedented speed. i saw some polling today about the so—called enthusiasm a gap, a

month ago only about 35% of democrats said they were enthusiastic about the parties choices in november, and now we are tied with republican enthusiasm for donald trump, so despite the protests and the dissension that is out there, we are democrats, are you through peterson dissension, despite all this convention begins with a fully consolidated, unified, motivated and a jubilant democratic party.- motivated and a jubilant democratic party. what will be the main message _ democratic party. what will be the main message for- democratic party. what will be the main message for both - the main message for both kamala harris and tim walz, the nominee, what will they be trying to inform voters in what contrast will they want to set against the trump campaign? you said it, it is— against the trump campaign? 7m, said it, it is contrast, and thatis said it, it is contrast, and that is what is so vital. hours ago, the democratic national committee unveils the themes for the convention, literally just hours ago i received an

e—mail along with other former members of congress and democratic elected officials, and the themes will be fighting for the people, fighting for our freedom and fighting for the future, each light will be dedicated to one of those themes in each night will deliver a contrast between the democratic fight and what we stand for, are democrats sample, how they will prioritise their values versus the republican 0rthodox positions and platforms. by thursday night that contrast will be abundantly clear to particularly those unaffiliated voters who have not yet made a judgement. voters who have not yet made a judgement-— judgement. just quickly on the republicans. _ judgement. just quickly on the republicans, however - judgement. just quickly on the republicans, however the - judgement. just quickly on the i republicans, however the trump campaign look to counter programme this week? they will talk about immigration, - programme this week? they will talk about immigration, they - talk about immigration, they believe that the democrats have a soft spot on one particular issue, immigration, and so they will, my senses, counter programme by talking significantly about the border and immigration.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news. 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 ukrainian troops carried out a surprise incursion into the area, causing 120,000 local residents to flee. it's 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 who'd been led to believe that their country's border was secure. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has been speaking to people in the town of aleksin. 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." "0ur 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, 2.5 years ago, launched the full—scale invasion of ukraine. steve rosenberg, bbc

news, aleksin, russia. let's ta ke let's take a look at some other stories in the headline. emergency teams in turkey are battling to contain wildfires that have broken out in five provinces. 0fficials that have broken out in five provinces. officials have warned of a continuing high risk of wildfires for the next ten days due to high temperatures, low humidity and strong wind. in his first major policy speech, the acting leader of bangladesh has promised that the interim government will support the huge number of refugees in the country. he says a sustained international support was needed for humanitarian work and wanted the eventual repatriation to myanmar. the newly appointed party chief in vietnam is on a three—day visit to china in his first overseas trip since taking the role. he is due to meet with xi jinping and other officials during the trip.

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. walking past, i have seen a number of shopping bags and ted baker bags. they are very familiar, floaty dresses, sharp suits — it meant ted baker really was a stalwart of the british high street. but of course, the firm in charge of the company went into administration

back in march. and since then, it really has all been up in the air. now, before that, there were dozens of brick—and—mortar stores across the uk, as well as the us, and an online store. now, 500 jobs are at risk across the ted baker brand. all stores are expected to close by tuesday. the olympics may have finished, but in glasgow in scotland, there's been two days of fierce competition to be crowned 2024 world pipe — band champions. this year's line up included entries from australia, oman and hong kong — here's katie hunter. 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! cheering. 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... i'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. and congratulations to those who have secured victory there. that's all for now — stay with bbc news.

hello there. with schools in england and wales still on holiday, i'm very aware that the vacation season is still in full swing — and if you're about to set off on yours, certainly worth bearing in mind, particularly if you're in this country, and particularly if you're under canvas. heavy rain and gales are forecast for some of us throughout this week — please keep abreast of the forecast and tune in to your bbc local radio station for further updates, as areas of low pressure start to push in from the west. we'll start off largely fine and quiet on monday. eastern england clinging onto the sunshine and, once again, the warmth throughout the day — and that's where we're likely to see highest temperatures. so, if we stretch a line from hull down to the isle of wight anywhere south and east of that, keeping some sunshine and highs of 25 celsius. clouding over across much of south west england and wales, with some heavier bursts of rain starting to push in. it will turn increasingly windy through the irish sea and up into north—west scotland. for northern ireland

and scotland, there'll be some heavier bursts of rain at times, strong winds, and temperatures certainly more subdued. that heavy rain continues through scotland overnight. it will weaken as it moves its way down through the south—east to just a band of showery rain. but certainly again here, the notable thing will be the feel of the weather. quite a warm night monday night into the early hours of tuesday morning, with overnight lows of only 17 celsius. now, for england and wales on tuesday, it's a case of sunny spells and a few scattered showers. some of those showers, perhaps heavy with the odd rumble of thunder. close to this area of low pressure, we see a frequent rash of showers being driven in along west—facing coasts — and here, noticeably cooler once again, 14—16 celsius. highest values of around 23—24, with the best of the sunshine once again in the south—east. now, as we go through wednesday, on the whole, we've got this little ridge of high pressure quietening things down. but there is another spell of very wet and very windy weather developing. so, towards the latter stages of the day, the winds will strengthen

close to gale force. that's going to drive in some showers across north and west scotland. elsewhere, we keep some sunshine. the winds strengthening, but not a bad day on wednesday — highs of 14—22 celsius. it's overnight wednesday into thursday where we see a real spell of wet and windy weather. that will linger in the northwest towards the end of the working week, somewhat drier and brighter conditions further south.

hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the us, where stock markets have recorded their best week of the year. the s&p 500 index rose by 4% while the nasdaq added around 5% in the week ending on friday. with less than three months to the us presidential election, the economy is a key issue for winning over american voters. for more on what is driving markets, we'rejoined by ryan sweet, chief us economist at oxford economics. he explained the market

reaction and what he expects with volatility in the months ahead.