live from washington, this is bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken is in israel amid hopes that a gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. pro—palestinian protesters demonstrate in chicago as presumptive presidential nominee kamala harris arrives for the democratic national convention. ukraine strikes another key bridge in russia's kursk region. president zelensky says kyiv wants to create a buffer zone on russian territory. hello. i'm carl nasman. come to the programme. —— welcome. the us secretary of state antony blinken is in israel to push for a deal for a ceasefire in gaza and the release of hostages held by hamas. he's expected to meet the country's leaders on monday before heading to egypt on tuesday where talks mediated

by the us, egypt and qatar are set to continue. the us has expressed cautious optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has accused hamas of being stubborn and warned there are things his government can't be flexible about. in a statement released just hours after blinken�*s arrival, hamas said that a new us proposal for a gaza ceasefire is too close to mr netanyahu's position. the armed group accuses israel of blocking a deal by rejecting a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal from gaza. president biden said on sunday that a gaza ceasefire remains a possibility, and added "we're not giving up." the talks come as air strikes continue in gaza. palestinian health authorities said israeli strikes killed at least 21 people in gaza on sunday. among those killed were six children and their mother in the central city of nuseirat. our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken and he sent 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. 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. over 500 mostly fighters have been killed in lebanon, while in israel, 42 people have died, mostly civilians. 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, 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 heads 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 unsafely stored. we had six people died in this street 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, we tell her that it is training, it's army training, because i don't want her to understand there's war or something will 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. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. i spoke with firas maksad, a senior fellow at the middle east institute. as we heard, antony blinken making his ninth trip to the reader, meeting with israeli leaders, we believe benjamin netanyahu will be on the list. what do you expect from this trip and how much leverage and what difference can he make? this is near mission impossible for him. he has to deliver on a ceasefire that the administration so badly wants and needs for its own domestic reasons here. obviously, monday, we have the democratic convention in chicago and, yes, the administration has a hard

time balancing pro—palestinian groups, progressives within that group who really want to see a ceasefire come to fruition. it is also a test to see how much pressure america can bring to bear on israel, as others in the region bring pressure to bear on hamas, to come through with a ceasefire deal. it looks like right now that benjamin netanyahu was to continue the fight release or at least leave that potential out there and so does the hamas leader. we are already seeing some pro—palestinian protests in chicago the night before the democratic national convention. netanyahu says that hamas is holding up a deal, hamas says netanyahu is holding up a deal. what do you make of those claims? is either side really all that eager to sign on the dotted line? partly this is natural negotiation and positioning back and forth, what they are saying out in public is not necessarily what they concede and sign onto privately, so we will not know until the very end

as whether there will be a deal or not, this is part of the negotiations. but, yes, i do think that either party has reference to perhaps continue the fighting. netanyahu has a historic moment here, the us is playing defence for israel, he sees a ring of fire of iranian proxies surrounding israel, hezbollah the most powerful, but also syria, iraq and yemen, and he thinks these might be his chance. he has domestic political interests as a day of reckoning coming once this war ends. from day one, from october 7, the hamas leader was to drag iran and hezbollah to fight on behalf of his cause. yes, both sides have a reason to continue fighting, iran and the us want to bring this to an end. do you think iran wants to bring this to an end? because there has been talk that iran might retaliate, attack israel for the strike we saw on the hamas leader, is there a possibility because the violence, a broader conflict still?

those threats have been hanging in the air. a real possibility there are perhaps the most dangerous period for the region in decades there, carl. i also think that iran does not want this fight, not necessarily because it is a responsible actor in the region, but because the stakes are so high for it. iran has a very clear preference for asymmetric warfare, using these various proxy groups, hezbollah, the houthis, and others in the region, to really get at israel through 1,000 cuts. not a single blow. it understands that if a direct war situation, israel has the upper hand, particularly when the us is a fully mobilised in the region deeply dear friends on their behalf. i do not think iran is itching for this fight and i do not the us is either. let's talk briefly about hezbollah, located in lebanon. there has been plenty of tension there, we saw rocket fire in the last couple of days over the border. how prepared do you think

lebanon itself is for maybe a broader conflict breaking out there between israel and hezbollah? carl, i was supposed to be in lebanon two weeks ago and my plane was cancelled because of the assassination by israel in beirut. lebanon is not well prepared, this is a historic financial economic collapse in 2019, still reeling from it, hezbollah�*s own constituency does not want to see a repeat of the 2006 devastating war between israel and lebanon. there is no appetite for that. but the catch—22, the policy dilemma on hezbollah�*s side is that if they do not retaliate for the killing of their military chief, they fear it will only embolden netanyahu to go further. but if they retaliate and it's deemed to be too strong, that might be the pretext that netanyahu looks forward to broaden the campaign into

lebanon. the democratic nominee for us president, kamala harris, hasjust arrived in chicago where the democratic national convention gets under way in less than 2a hours. these are live pictures from outside the united center. very dark now. tomorrow that will be lit up. the democratic party will gather to vote on the party platform and kamala harris will formally accept the party's presidential nomination. pro—palestinian protesters are now on the streets of chicago. you see some images here. reuters reports tonight that 40,000 demonstrators are expected outside the convention centre on monday. organisers say they think that more than 100,000 people could take part. our north america editor sarah smith is in chicago. i spoke with her a little earlier. sarah, the dnc starting tomorrow. what can we expect from the democrats during this big week for the party? i think you will see a positive mood here because democrats have completely changed how

they feel about this election sincejoe biden stepped aside only four weeks ago. it's difficult to remember that much can change is such a short amount of time. joe biden ran behind donald trump in most polls and the party was divided whether he should be the candidate and really down in the dumps about what their chances were in november's election. suddenly now with kamala harris as their candidate, she is greeted with excitement and enthusiasm at the events she has been doing, democrats feeling revived as they can see a path to victory now in november. so it will be with excitement and relief i think that they greet kamala harris. how do you think the republicans will counter this celebration for the democrats? it seems as if donald trump has had difficulties finding his footing, finding a way to campaign against kamala harris. he seems to have been totally

wrongfooted by the democrats changing their candidate by facing a different opponents, a very different opponent. she is younger than him, as well as a female and black and south asian descent and he just does not seem to know what his line of attack against her is going to be, what it ought to be. while his campaign advisors and strategists are going on tv and pleading with him to concentrate on the issues, to talk about policy, focus on the economy in particular, he is flailing around, throwing out insults against kamala harris. he just does not really seem to know what he is doing. for someone who was such an assured campaigner, it is intriguing to watch him looking lost. he is promising he will do events every day that the democratic convention is happening in chicago to try and steal some of the spotlight, but whether they will be effective adverts for his campaign or not remains to be seen. we expect there to be some protests there in chicago.

maybe not on the level of the last democratic national convention that took place there, but do we expect some discord within the party? the large protests by go into labour the division is still within the party because although they have managed to cover less around one candidate, but does not mean it is all harmony. of course among the deepest divisions are over america's support for israel's war on gaza. there are many, many activists who are so furious about that, they say they will find it difficult to vote for democrats come november and they want to make their voices clearly heard. kamala harris has tried to distinguish herself from joe biden on this a bit, she has certainly been more vocal about civilian casualties in gaza, more critical of israel about that, but she supports the same policy. she would not change american support for israel as he talks about their right to go after hamas as well.

so this is something which can't be papered over easily this week and something the democrats will have to face, they are not united on everything, and very much not on gaza. let's ta ke let's take a look at the state of the campaign. it has changed. our partners at cbs news published new polling data on sunday, along with the analytics firm yougov. nationally, 51% of likely voters surveyed said they'll be voting for kamala harris. 48% said they want donald trump back in the white house. but in the battleground states, it's a 50—50 toss—up. the poll found that very few voters are open to switching their choice of candidate, meaning turnout will likely decide the election. before arriving in chicago, vice president harris delivered a speech to campaign staff in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. take a listen. 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. so, who can we expect to hearfrom at the dnc? presidentjoe biden will deliver the primetime address on monday night. a large tribute is reportedly planned for the outgoing president just four weeks after he stepped aside and endorsed kamala harris for the white house. other speakers on monday night include the democrats�* 2016 candidate hillary clinton and california governor gavin newsom. on tuesday, former us president barack obama and the former first lady michelle obama are expected to speak. vice presidential nominee tim walz

will give his acceptance speech on wednesday. and on thursday, kamala harris delivers her acceptance speech. harris would be the first female us president—elect if she wins in november. for more, i've been speaking to ken baer. he helped run the speechwriting operation at five democratic conventions, and he's the founder and ceo of crosscut strategies, a communications consultancy. this is going to be a convention maybe like none other. you have worked at several of these. how challenging will this be given the democrats have switched horses in the middle of the race? you are right, it is always hectic to the last minute as you try to make last—minute changes to the line of and any messaging, but reallyjust to tear up the entire script four weeks before the entire production is unheard of and historic

and a challenge to the crew. remember — this is four days of scripted, highly produced television. it is, by nature, deeply not exciting. it is a convention, thejob is to choose a candidate that's already chosen, and now they need to make it interesting. like it or not, there will be some dramatic scenes. we are already seeing it playing out right now in chicago, the protests, pro—palestinian sentiment within the democratic party, even the night before the convention we have scenes in chicago protests. how do you think the dnc and those who are planning the event will handle that? i think they need to make it two distinctions — to the streets of chicago, which is probably blocks away from the stadium whether convention is held, and what happens inside the hall. as long as there is no disruptions and no protests and no heckling inside

the hall, frankly, i think the democratic party needs to say what is true, which is most of these people in the street are democrats, —— are not democrats, they actually do not want to see the party win, they are radicals are not part of the tent, and you know what, they need to be handled and hopefully the police can handle them accordingly. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. 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 shut by the end of tuesday. the retailer was put into administration in march this year. ted baker began as a menswear brand in glasgow in 1988. police say more than 400 homes have been evacuated in newtownards in northern ireland following the discovery of a suspected world war ii bomb at a housing development on friday. a bomb disposal unit is on site with army personnel using diggers to pile sand on top of the device before

a planned controlled explosion. 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 is leading 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. you're 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 as a supply route by russian forces and that its destruction will hamper the movement of weapons. it's been two weeks since ukraine's surprise incursion into the area. about 120,000 local residents have evacuated from the fighting. ukraine destroyed another bridge over the river seym earlier this week, shocking the russian public. president volodymyr zelensky said on sunday

that ukraine hopes to create a buffer zone against further attacks by russian forces. our 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." "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?" iask him. "victory is when there will be peace," he says. on the town square, a patriotic pop concert.

music plays 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. one more storage to bring you before we go. —— story. there's been an altercation between the chinese and philippine coastguards in the disputed south china sea where tensions are running high. the philippines said two of its vessels were damaged in collisions with chinese ships conducting what it called unlawful and aggressive manoeuvres. china said its boats were rammed when the filipinos ignored repeated warnings after entering waters near the sabina shoal "without permission." stay tuned. london will have

plenty more for you right here. 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 on to 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 degrees. clouding over across much of southwest 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 northwest 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 southeast, 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 degrees. 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 or 16 degrees. highest values of around 23 or 24 with the best of the sunshine once again in the southeast. 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 to 22 degrees. 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.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. the following programme contains accounts of sexual violence _ contains accounts of sexual violence which some viewers may find upsetting. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. india, the world's most populous democracy, proclaims the strength of its constitution and the independence of its judicial institutions. together, they guarantee the rights of the indian citizen, irrespective of creed, caste or gender. well, that's the theory. to many indians, reality looks different. my guest is prominent indian human rights lawyer karuna nundy, who's won plaudits overseas and made enemies at home with her activism. when it comes to indian women, muslims, gays, do the law