singapore i'm steve lai. the headlines: the democratic national convention opens in chicago — president biden is set to address delegates later — but it will be kamala harris�* week. a search is ongoing for the technology entrepreneur, mike lynch, and five others, who've been missing since a sudden storm sank their yacht near sicily. we have a special report from myanmar — with witness testimony of a mass killing of rohingya. my wife, my mother, my daughter, son and sister were dead when the bomb struck. all of them died. i don't know why i survived. my daughter died in my arms. the israeli military is reported to have launched an airstrike on a hezbollah weapons depot in easterm lebanon. and the spectacular lunar event of a blue supermoon — as seen by skywatchers

around the world. welcome to bbc news: we begin with the race for the white house — which heats up this week with a star turn from, kamala harris, at the democratic national convention, which is getting underway in chicago. the event will offically confirm kamala harris as the party's presidential candidate. protesters continue to gather around the event — they're demonstrating over issues including israel's war in gaza, immigration, abortion rights and criminal justice reform. there is a substantial police presence as well. at the moment very peaceful you could see a palestinian flag being waived.

but this convention is a far cry from what organisers had planned just a month ago — when president biden was still the democratic party's nominee for november's election. it'll be a bitter sweet moment for him when he addresses the convention in the next couple of hours. sumi somaskanda and ione wells are at the venue in chicago with more on what to expect in the hours ahead. a lot of excitement here today. this is, as you know, day one of the convention. it's set to kick—off in just a few hours. we can expect a star studded line—up of speakers. this will take place throughout the entire week. tonight we're going to see at the very end of the night, president biden deliver his speech, a very different picture, as you mentioned, than what we expected to see a few weeks ago. this was going to be president biden�*s convention, wasn't it? now he is the keynote speaker on day one, opening up this convention for the rest of the week. what we can expect to see tonight really is a tribute to president biden. remember, he made that difficult decision not to run for a second term,

to hand off the reins, if you will, to kamala harris to his vice president, despite all of the pressure within his campaign to stay in the race as well. what we're going to see tonight as well is the first lady, jill biden, speaking, and we'll see some other big starfigures in the democratic party, people like alexandria ocasio—cortez and one of his close allies, senator chris coons of delaware, who, by the way, will be on our programme a little bit later tonight as well for an interview. so stay tuned for that. but you can really get the sense of the enthusiasm, the excitement of delegates here on hand, especially surrounding kamala harris. now that she is the democrats pick. and to get a feeling for that excitement, i think our correspondent ione wells is on the floor behind me. i'm not going to turn around, but i think we can see herjust in oui’ screens now. and let's try to bring her up and see. ione, great to have you give us a sense of what's happening on the floor right now. well, on the floor of the convention centre, seats are starting to really fill up i'iow.

more and more delegates are arriving from around the country. and of course, they're all here not to support some of the big political names that we know are speaking on this stage behind me, but also to vote on party policy as this convention goes on. now, of course, tonight, the main event that everybody here has come to see is going to be the president, joe biden. we saw him just a couple of minutes or so ago in the last half hour, hour, warming up on that stage behind me, along with some of the other speakers and performers that are going to be here this evening. that's because he's going to be giving this flagship speech, notjust kind of introducing this convention, but also, as you touched on they're really kind of trying to spell out what he sees as his legacy as president. i think we can expect to hear from him, for example, some of what he sees as his kind of greatest hits and achievements. things like his massive expansion and investment in greenjobs, infrastructure and technology around the country. we know that kamala harris wants to make the economyjobs,

the economy, jobs, improving the cost of living a big focus of her campaign. so i think we can expect to hear from him on that and how he plans to pass on to kamala harris in her campaign going forward. and, ione, what are delegates there on the floor saying about what they want to see from the democrats and from kamala harris this week? she, of course, is set to speak on thursday night as she formally accepts the nomination. that's right. and of course, she's already been kind of confirmed in this virtual way. but this will really be a kind of ceremonial, essentially a ceremonial process for her to be officially confirmed again as the nominee in this race. now, i think really what delegates want to see is a bit more about kind of what she stands for, who she is, her policy platform. and i think, as i say, what she will be keen to do is try and draw some dividing lines, particularly between her and donald trump. we know that she's set to focus on the economy, and in particular, trying to help ordinary americans with the cost of living, but also things like health

care. also, things like reproductive rights, i think are going to be a very key dividing line that she wants to draw with the republicans. so i think we can expect to hear more from the president, joe biden, about his record on some of those issues, but also from her about some of the protections and freedoms which she hopes to protect if she were elected. 0k, ione, thank you for giving a sense of the mood there on the floor tonight before those speeches kick off. thank you. ione wells and steve, just before we hand back to you to give you a sense of the numbers, there are about 50,000 visitors expected here at the convention and about 4000 delegates. and they are spread out in some of those pictures that you've been seeing throughout the arena. and they will be a loud and happy bunch, as we see this convention continue through the week. and we'll see, of course, what the reception will be like for president biden. we're expecting a very

warm reception indeed. warm reception expected inside the venue of the dnc. sumi somaskanda and ione wells reporting. thousands of people have been marching in protest of the governments position on several issues, including israel's war in gaza and immigration. you can see a police presence there, trying to keep things calm as reported on our live page, which is following the events in chicago for that we can tell you that protesters have been returning to union park after marching near the convention site. we have seen reports that in outer security fence was knocked down and protesters were able to rush through for the local media reported that police swiftly gained control and moved protesters out of the security zone. several of the rest were made. the marchers otherwise

been orderly with most protesters sticking to the agreed—upon route. will be keeping an eye on those events both inside and outside of the dnc convention centre in chicago. let's get you up to speed with the search continuing into the night for six people. missing after a british luxury yacht sank in a freak storm off sicily in the early hours on monday. there were 22 people on board — 15 were rescued and one person is confirmed dead. among those still unaccounted for are the british tech tycoon mike lynch and his 18—year old daughter. it's thought the yacht may have been caught in what's known as a waterspout — a tornado which hits over water rather than land. 0ur correspondent, mark lowen, reports from sicily. after the rescue, the retrieval. the sea giving up lives it snatched away. since the early hours, emergency teams have been scouring the site from the air and on the water

where the yacht sank. 15 of the 22 on board were saved. 0thers, british, american, canadian, weren't so lucky. the wreckage now some 50 metres below water, where the search is focusing. a luxury superyacht that had won awards for its design but that became a death trap. the british flagged bayesian photographed last night of the port of porticello in sicily, before being hit by a heavy storm and a water spout. they are tornado—like clouds, a rotating column of air which in this case smashed the mast and capsized the boat. these pictures nearby show the force of the winds at around 5am. the yacht couldn't withstand them. charlotte golunski, the mother of a one—year—old who also survived, spoke of holding her daughter above the water with her whole strength. "all i could hear around me", she said, "were the screams of others." a doctor who treated the baby gave an update.

translation: a one-year-old child arrived in our paediatric i emergency room in palermo together with her mother. the child is fortunately fine. the mother had injuries that we treated. the father had his wound stitched and he was then reunited with the whole family. the captain of another boat, hailed as a hero for rescuing the 15 at sea, spoke of the nightmare. the other ship, strange enough, it's 55 metres, i think. a 72 metres long mast. they went slap on the water and then down. with a light, we saw that the ship was aside and then we saw a triangle, so i think she went back down. terrible, terrible moments. yes. in the liferaft was also a baby and the wife of the owner. among those missing is the british multimillionaire

tech entrepreneur mike lynch and his 18—year—old daughter, hannah. his wife, angela bacares, who was rescued, is listed as the yacht�*s owner. its chef, ricardo thomas, is also unaccounted for. as the underwater search goes on, the fear is that bodies will be found trapped inside the submerged wreckage. of those holidaying at sea, suddenly engulfed by freak weather that smashed what stood in its wake. mark lowen in sicily — and you'll find lots more on our website. now to the middle east — and the israeli military is reported to have launched an airstrike on a hezbollah weapons depot in lebanon's eastern bekaa valley. an israeli strike on a lebanese border village killed two hezbollah fighters before that. cross—border exchanges between iran—backed hezbollah and israeli forces have intensified recently, raising fears that they could spark a wider regional war.

earlier, the us secretary of state said it's up to hamas to agree to a ceasefire in gaza now that israel has approved a proposal aimed at bridging the divide between the two sides antony blinken was speaking after talks with israeli leaders. washington has expressed optimism about a deal since talks resumed in doha last week. for president biden, there's a deep sense of urgency in getting this done and i also hear that throughout this country, as well as throughout the region. it's the single best way not only to get the hostages home, to ease the suffering of people in gaza, it's also the best way to make sure that conflict doesn't spread, that we don't see escalation. it is two weeks since ukrainian forces crossed the russian border and occupied several towns in the kursk region — the first time foreign troops have been on russian soil since the second world war. how is moscow likely to respond? and does it make an end to the war more or less likely? here's our defence correspondentjonathan beale. it was an audacious, surprise attack by ukraine that few saw

coming — not in russia or even ukraine's closest western allies. ukraine today releasing new footage of some of its most experienced and battle—hardened troops crossing the border into russia just two weeks ago. and they made quick gains — against relatively weak defences. ukrainian forces swallowing up an area of over 1,000 square kilometres — and up to 35 km deep into russian territory. that advance has slowed down. but ukraine is now digging in, building defences and blowing up bridges to hold this territory and impede any russian counterattack. this has all been a blow for president putin. his rigid russian military — seldom fleet of foot — has so far been relatively slow to respond. but president putin may also be biding his time —

still focussing his resources on making gains in eastern ukraine. so what does president zelensky and his military commanders hope this high risk strategy achieves? one goal was to relieve the pressure on ukrainian forces elsewhere on the front. so far, there's little evidence that's happening. but kursk might also be a political bargaining chip. if ukraine has decided to dig in, in the way they are blowing bridges and digging trenches has suggested they will try and hold it for the next few months, i think the logic is if donald trump is elected and they are suddenly the ukrainians forced to negotiate from a position that would be extreme weakness, they need to have something to trade with the russians to bargain with that russia values politically. in that sense, holding on to their incursion might make sense despite the high cost it will mean for their own troops and material.

the reality is that ukraine's limited military resources are being stretched even further. remember, ukraine was already defending a front line of more than 1,000 kilometres — all the way from the south to the east. a renewed russian offensive in kharkiv created even more of a strain. and now it's having to worry about defending this pocket in kursk up in the north. and all the while, russia is still making slow gains elsewhere — often at huge cost. pokrovsk, in eastern ukraine, a key supply hub, is now the latest town to be evacuated. civilians told to flee as the russians close in. we still don't know whether ukraine's big gamble in kursk will pay off. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the bbc has uncovered testimony from what may be one of the worst incidents of mass killings in myanmar. on august the 5th, eyewitnesses say hundreds of civilians from the rohingya muslim community were bombed as they tried to flee. it's the latest deadly violence against them — in 2017, hundreds were killed in what was described by the un as ethnic cleansing by the country's military. in recent months, scores of rohingya muslims have been killed and thousands have fled to bangladesh — but now they say they're also being attacked by the other side, those fighting the military, the rebel group arakan army. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports from the border at teknaf in bangladesh — her report contains distressing images, including of people who died as a result of the attack. across the river naf, rakhine state in myanmar. hidden from the world, deadly violence is unfolding there against rohingya muslims.

chilling accounts trickling in from those who've managed to escape to bangladesh. until two weeks ago, this man was a wealthy trader with a family in myanmar. now, he's alone, hiding in a hut. if caught, he could be sent back by bangladeshi authorities. he and his family were part of these crowds, fleeing their homes on the 5th of august. in videos verified by the bbc, women, children, the elderly — seen rushing to the banks of the river to save themselves. the trader says it was by the shore in an open space where arakan army, an ethnic insurgent group, dropped bombs on unarmed rohingyas using drones.

translation: we heard a loud sound and an explosion. - we were thrown on the ground. i, my wife, my mother, my daughter, son and sister were there when the bomb struck. all of them died. i don't know why i survived. my daughter died in my arms. he showed us a video he found online of the aftermath of the bombing. he sobs. "all of the people here have died", a man cries. distressing to watch, but it's crucial evidence of what appears to be a massacre. the ground covered with bodies — many of them children. the trader told us this is his wife... ..fatally injured but alive.

he wasn't able to carry her out. she died later. translation: my heart is broken. i'll never go back to myanmar. i saw more than 200 bodies. arakan army doesn't want to leave any muslim alive. those who've escaped are hiding in these camps in bangladesh. built back in 2017, when a million rohingyas fled brutal violence carried out by myanmar�*s military. now, the junta's troops are being pushed out of the rakhine by arakan army. but for the rohingyas, that has not brought hope of a return to their land. instead, it's renewed fears. in the past week alone, thousands have paid boatmen

and armed traffickers to take them to safety. this video, filmed by a rohingya man. not a long journey, but it's fraught with risks. more than a dozen have drowned. these crudely marked shallow graves are where some of the bodies that washed ashore are buried. she sobs. among them were five of this woman's children. rosmah, aziz, faisal rozia and bilkis rani. "my children were like pieces of my heart. after my husband died, i raised them with so much difficulty. when i think of them, i feel like i want to die. i miss them so much", she told us. this is her grandson. both his parents and his younger brother have died.

"the arakan army attacked us with drones. "we heard nine bombs fall while we were hiding", the woman told us. "later, we had to run across bodies on our way to the river." in the alleys of these camps, we've heard from more than a dozen survivors — all of whom have said they were deliberately attacked by the arakan army. in response to the bbc, the group has said that the attack happened in an area which is not under their control, and they have no connection to it. the arakan army has been making rapid advances in the rakhine state. it's projected itself as a resistance group that's fighting on behalf of the people against the militaryjunta. but from what we've heard here now, it faces credible accusations of the mass killings of civilians. there are calls for it to be investigated for war crimes. this family was also caught in the drone attacks,

their baby boy killed. in a corner, their daughter, running a high fever after two days spent on a boat without food or water before they could slip into bangladesh. the man told us, "rohingyas are being forcibly conscripted "and persecuted by both sides." translation: we are beingj targeted by the arakan army and the myanmar military. they are killing us almost every day. we are helpless. these are the only images they have their baby — one of scores of rohingyas killed indiscriminately. the dead uncounted, their stories undocumented. yogita limaye, bbc news, teknaf. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines.

health ministers from across southern africa are due to meet on tuesday to come up with a coordinated response to mpox. the government in the democratic republic of congo says it hopes to receive its first doses of mpox vaccine by next week. the former republican congressman george santos has pled guilty to two federal charges — in a deal, weeks before his trial was set to begin. he pled guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identiy theft. this ends a nearly two year legal saga that saw him expelled from congress. military officials in south korea say their annual joint military exercises with us forces will include civil defence drills aimed at responding to a nuclear attack by the north. but the defence ministry in seoul refused to offer details of how much participation us troops would have. stargazers have been treated to a rare, blue supermoon. millions got the chance to watch the blue supermoon. the phenomenon happens when a full moon is at its closest

point in orbit to the earth — and so appears even bigger in size. here it is over seoul in south korea. let's get you back to chicago where the democratic national convention is taking place. 0utside convention is taking place. outside the venue is where we've seen earlier protesters out again some of the governments positions, including israel's war in gaza and immigration. these are earlier pictures from the protest, which have been largely peaceful. we will take you to have a look inside the venue for the united centre, we can see proceeded to have gotten under way. we will have live coverage of the dnc where we have comments in coverage in the next hours ahead. you join us then. goodbye.

hello. bouts of heavy rain and unseasonably strong winds feature in our forecast for the rest of this week. although tuesday isn't looking too bad on balance, some sunny spells, but also some hefty, blustery showers, particularly up towards the north west of the uk, closest to the centre of this area of low pressure. a lot of white lines. a lot of isobars squeezing together, indicative of some brisk winds. starting tuesday morning, with this frontal system bringing a little bit of rain across the far southeast that will clear. and then we're into that mix of sunny spells and hefty showers, the showers most plentiful across northern ireland and northern and western parts of scotland. some heavy thundery ones blown in on some brisk winds. in fact, increasingly windy across northern ireland, western scotland, the northwest of england. just 1a degrees for stornoway and 16 for belfast. compare that with 23 in norwich and then through tuesday night while things do quieten down briefly, a ridge of high pressure killing off most of the showers, giving some clear spells

and it is going to be a rather cool, fresh night, some places down into single digits. but as we head through wednesday, all change again. a frontal system bringing cloud and outbreaks of heavy rain through northern ireland into western scotland, some of that rain getting down into parts of northern england and north wales. it is going to be a windy day across these northern and western areas, could be gales around some coasts in western scotland further south and east breezy but largely dry. 22 degrees in london, 16 for aberdeen and for glasgow. and then as we move through wednesday night into thursday, we continue to see this frontal system moving through, this one containing the remnants of what was hurricane ernesto. certainly not a hurricane any more, but an injection of moisture and energy, bringing some outbreaks of heavy rain southwards and eastwards with some really strong winds. we're looking at wind gusts of 40, 50mph or more

in a few exposed spots. these kinds of winds, pretty unusual for this time of year. temperatures north to south 1a to 22 degrees. we end the week on friday with the potential for more windy weather. certainly the potential for more wet weather, and it does look like staying rather unsettled as we head into the weekend. bye for now.

us markets are in an upswing as the democratic national convention begins, with the economy in focus. and we speak to the boss of a japanese giant which is now facing a massive overseas buyout. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the united states. the democratic party has begun its national convention in chicago where it'll formally confirm kamala harris as its presidential candidate. this comes as a rally on wall street rolls on, driven by expectations of interest rate cuts. the bbc�*s michelle fleury has all the highlights. conflicting economic data has had wall street on a worrilow coaster ride as of late, it's on the upswing right now the 500 rose 1% in the tech heavy was of 1.4% and the industrial average climbed six tenths of a

percent. stocks tumbled earlier