spacex's polaris dawn, 3 private space mission that aims to complete the first—ever civilian spacewalk — has been delayed again, for the third time in a row. hello, and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. but we start with breaking news from the occupied west bank. israeli security forces say they've carried out an operation in the north and west of the occupied west bank. the palestinian red crescent says at least seven people have been killed — five of them in drone strikes nearjenin and in thejordan valley. there was also military activity further south around tulkarm, involving the use

of bulldozers — but details are scarce. two days ago, the palestinian authority said five people were killed by an israeli air strike on a refugee camp near tulkarm. violence in the west bank has surged since the war in gaza began. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. hejoins me now, here in the studio. good morning.- studio. good morning. good morning- — studio. good morning. good morning. just _ studio. good morning. good morning. just update - studio. good morning. good morning. just update us, . morning. just update us, please. _ morning. just update us, please. on _ morning. just update us, please, on what - morning. just update us, please, on what is - morning. just update us, please, on what is going| morning. just update us, i please, on what is going on morning. just update us, - please, on what is going on in the west bank — the occupied west bank. the west bank - the occupied west bank-— west bank. indeed. we were talkin: west bank. indeed. we were talking two — west bank. indeed. we were talking two days _ west bank. indeed. we were talking two days before, - west bank. indeed. we were talking two days before, and| talking two days before, and yesterday, about the escalation in the west bank and how the situation is escalating there, whether on the military side or in the settler side. this morning, israeli forces started a big operation in the northern west bank injenin and tabas,

and also in the south in tulkarm. the israeli media are saying that this operation is the biggest in the west bank in 20 years, and so far there are tanks participating, helicopters, and a big amount of soldiers on the ground. palestinian health authorities are speaking about nine people were killed, eleven injured, and they are complaining that they cannot reach the dead bodies of the dead or injured people to rescue them, as the israeli forces are really in big numbers injenin and in tabas. it looks like it's a big operation, and this coincides with a continued big operation in gaza that left at least a0

people dead in the last hours. i wonder if we could take a step back and you could just, for our viewers, step back and you could just, for ourviewers, explain step back and you could just, for our viewers, explain why the occupied — and why it's described as "the occupied west bank" — is a flash point. could you lay out the foundations for us? ~ , �* ., ~ you lay out the foundations for us? ~ , �* . ~' , us? indeed. the west bank is described _ us? indeed. the west bank is described as _ us? indeed. the west bank is described as "occupied" - us? indeed. the west bank is described as "occupied" by i us? indeed. the west bank is| described as "occupied" by the un security council decisions because these areas were supposed to be palestinian areas. also, the oslo treaty between the palestinians and israel dedicates this area to be self—controlled by the palestinian authority. across the years, the israeli authorities established many settlements in the west bank and, according to our long—form reporter, isabelle young's

latest documentary, at least 50% of the areas in the west bank are occupied by the settlements, and these settlers are armoured, they are in connection with the army, and attacks from settlers on the palestinians recently left some people dead and fires being run and some violence has happened. so the situation in the west bank is really fragile. the difference between the west bank and gaza — the west bank has got israeli citizens, has got settlers. their numbers are nearly half a million people, and the situation is very fragile. gaza has preliminary palestinian people living there, but now with the israeli presence in gaza, it's making things really difficult. also, by separating the north in gaza

from southern gaza by the corridor making things really difficult for people there. thank you very much indeed. {iii thank you very much indeed. of course. donald trump has accused the us department ofjustice of trying to "resurrect a dead witch—hunt" after it filed revised election interference charges against him. the allegations relate to mr trump's efforts to overturn his loss tojoe biden four years ago. government lawyers were forced to amend their case because of a landmark supreme court ruling, that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution. the new indictment re—works the language of the accusations. they now refer to his status as a "political candidate" rather than "sitting president". speaking to reporters in nashville, mr trump's republican running mate, jd vance, hit out at the us special prosecutor, jack smith.

my my pushback on what they said is — look, if the president doesn't have some level of immunity in how he conducts his office in the same way that judges have to have immunity, police officers have to have immunity — there has to be some recognition that people can't be sued for doing theirjob. the way that i try to think about it is — try to make this nonpartisan. barack 0bama ordered drones to strike an american citizen in yemen. that's like the definition of murder — unless you recognise the president has some immunity in conducting his official acts. so ijust don't understand how you can even have a president of the united states if there's no immunity in how they do theirjob. that was jd vance there. 0ur correspondent, carl nasman, has the latest from washington. jack smith is really recasting this case to try to keep its legal future alive. this case to try to keep its legalfuture alive. it's not very different — it still contains the same four criminal counts as the previous indictment related to donald trump's alleged efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election — but it is a little bit slimmer. this has

been pared down. this is actually a copyright here of the new indictment. it's 36 pages long rather than a5 in the original one. so, what's missing? well, jack smith and his team have taken out some allegations that related to mr trump's conversations and activities with his ownjustice department — that's because those likely fall under the umbrella of what's called "official acts of a president". remember, that crucial supreme court case earlier this year said that donald trump and presidents are immune from prosecution for their official acts while in office. so, kind of the everyday activities of a president that they're meant to be doing in terms of part of hisjob. what this indictment now does do is kind of change the narrative a bit. it talks about donald trump the candidate for president, donald trump the personal citizen, rather than donald trump the president. so, one example of that — president. so, one example of that - it president. so, one example of that — it discusses within these pages donald trump's tweets on his own twitter

account as a private citizen. it also talks about other ways that he acted onjanuary 6, really trying to take this away from his acts as a president. donald trump has responded on his social media account. he said that this is basically trying to resurrect what he calls a "dead witch—hunt". 0f calls a "dead witch—hunt". of course, he's always denied these charges, and he continues to insist — without evidence — that this is all politically motivated. 0f that this is all politically motivated. of course, we know the next presidential election coming up on november 5, less than 70 days away — it's very unlikely that this trial will start before voters go to the polls. donald trump has announced he has "reached an agreement" to participate in a september 10 debate with kamala harris. the rules will largely mirror the terms used by cnn for its june debate, including that microphones will be muted as the other candidate speaks, and no studio audience will be present. mr trump's announcement follows

a period of negotiations between his and harris�* campaign teams, which had reached a stalemate over specific debate protocols, particularly regarding the muting of microphones when candidates are not speaking. and kamala harris and tim walz are expected to give to their firstjoint tv interview on thursday after weeks of demands by political opponents to hearfrom the pair. republicans have repeatedly accused vice—president harris of avoiding interviews since she replaced joe biden on the democratic ticket nearly five weeks ago. the two of them will speak to cnn's dana bash, while on a campaign stop in georgia. let's get some of the day's other news now: the pentagon says a tanker in the red sea which was recently attacked by houthi fighters appears to be leaking oil and could cause an environmental catastrophe. the greek—flagged sounion has

been on fire off the coast of yemen since last week. 10,000 doses of the mpox vaccine have arrived in nigeria. so far, the country has not reported any deaths, though a new more aggressive strain is spreading across central africa. more than 1,000 fatalities have been recoded across the region since the beginning of last year. brazilian government officials say they suspect "criminals" are behind a record number of fires which have devastated large swathes of sao paulo state. they said it was unusual, pointing out there had been no lighting strikes or downed high—voltage cables. four people have been arrested. two delta airlines workers have been killed and one has been seriously injured after an accident at an airline maintenance facility in atla nta. delta said the injured worker was receiving medical care.

the airline said the incident involved wheel components that were being disassembled and were not attached to the craft. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the launch of four civilians on a privately chartered spaceflight — the polaris dawn, featuring the first commercial spacewalk — has been delayed again. it's the third time in a row. jared isaacman, the flight�*s billionaire commander, and his team were due to blast—off at 0738 gmt, but the weather has conspired agaunst them. the launch was originally planned for monday, but the flight was delayed by 2a hours to complete normal pre—flight processing. another 2a—hour slip then was ordered after engineers discovered a leak in a launch pad umbilical that delivers helium to the booster to push propellants to the rocket�*s engines.

let's speak to cady coleman, former nasa astronaut. hello. welcome to the programme. hello. welcome to the programme-— hello. welcome to the - programme.- with these programme. thanks. with these dela s, programme. thanks. with these delays. should _ programme. thanks. with these delays, should we _ programme. thanks. with these delays, should we be _ programme. thanks. with these | delays, should we be concerned? i think they're just — you know, launching is hard. space flight is hard. and you have to get everything right. and these - i get everything right. and these — i myself, on my first mission, we had, i think, — i myself, on my first mission, we had, ithink, seven delays over 30 days. and especially in tonight's delay with the weather, it's actually something that — i mean, the weather, we've got weather requirements for a reason, you know, for launches — just to make sure that things are as safe as they can be. so it's not surprising. it's a little hard to happen — sorry, i have my cat here late at night...! laughs that's ok! we have cats as regular feline guests appearing on the programme...! ijust want to turn to the fact that

this is a civilian space flight. how much training would the astronauts, civilian spacepersons — i don't know how you describe them — what sort of training would they have undergone?— of training would they have undertone? , ., ., undergone? these folks have been trained _ undergone? these folks have been trained for _ undergone? these folks have been trained for a _ undergone? these folks have been trained for a couple - undergone? these folks have been trained for a couple of l been trained for a couple of years now, literally, for this mission. years now, literally, for this mission-— years now, literally, for this mission-- i _ years now, literally, for this mission.- i want - years now, literally, for this mission.- i want to l years now, literally, for this l mission.- i want to say mission. wow... i want to say at least since _ mission. wow... i want to say at least since early _ mission. wow... i want to say at least since early 2022. - mission. wow... i want to say at least since early 2022. and j at least since early 2022. and the two women that work for spacex are very experienced in launch operations and crew training. they've trained various crews to go to space themselves, so they're really quite knowledgeable. i know anna a little bit, and they're just extremely, extremely competent. petit is a test pilot, and gerard isaacman has already gone to space. i consider them quite well—trained for a mission that's quite different than, you know, than we've ever seen before. i you know, than we've ever seen

before. ., �* ~ ., you know, than we've ever seen before. ~ ., ., . before. i don't know how much detail you _ before. i don't know how much detail you actually _ before. i don't know how much detail you actually know- before. i don't know how much detail you actually know but, i detail you actually know but, would they have been onboard when the delay was announced? 0r when the delay was announced? or would this have come beforehand? and if you are onboard, what goes through your mind, waiting and waiting? and then, obviously, it's been cancelled — the mental strength, i'm trying to get at — what do you go through? i think it's something you have to really focus on — "how am i doing?" and knowing that — we have a launch that was cancelled about six seconds —— had a launch that was cancelled about six seconds before launch. soiajust about six seconds before launch. soia just have to really always be ready. these are very mature, just really capable people. i can't emphasise that enough. so i think they're excited about going. you really have to be exactly ready — even if you're strapped in. i don't think they were strapped in. i hadn't checked, but i think this delay came early enough that they didn't get strapped in. and

that's actually just — didn't get strapped in. and that's actuallyjust — the sooner that you announce the delay, the soonter is on the whole system in terms of fuelling and everything else. so i don't think that they were already onboard. i think it's actually hardest on the friends and family that come to the launch, and to the launch team! laughs and us as well, because you're waiting and waiting. i can imagine what impact it has on those close to you. you mentioned a couple of aspects of space traveller — the fuelling, for example. it is costly. this is a very expensive business. so, you're a former nasa astronaut. what are your thoughts on space being commercialised in the way that we're seeing now? i being commercialised in the way that we're seeing now?- that we're seeing now? i think it's been great _ that we're seeing now? i think it's been great for _ that we're seeing now? i think it's been great for exploration | it's been great for exploration in general. 0ften — i mean, when you have people onboard, it's a different thing. but when there's a rocket or you're testing something new for a space flight and there's no people onboard the spacecraft, the commercial folks can take

greater risks, but then government organisations like nasa or the nasas of the different countries — and so by doing that, they leap ahead in terms of what it really takes to build a spacecraft that's going to accomplish the mission. and then when they do that, with hardware, in finding out — do we need this thick of a heat shield? could we have fewer of these? how does this work? — they actually bring everyone with them. that's one really important aspect. the other one is the number of different kinds of people now able to go to space. you know, for a short time, for a long time — with this crew in particular, its a spacewalking mission, and they've got sarah and anna, and the whole crew will actually be wearing spacewalking suits, even though only two will go outside. but it's only two will go outside. but its two men, two women, and these women had a big role in developing the space suits and making sure that they fit all sorts of body types — namely

women. i think that kind of diversity that comes with commercial space flight is extremely valuable going forward. �* , , forward. 0k. it's been fascinating. _ forward. 0k. it's been fascinating. thank - forward. 0k. it's beenj fascinating. thank you forward. 0k. it's been - fascinating. thank you very much indeed. thank you. thanks very much- _ ukraine's leader, volodymyr zelensky, says the incursion into russia's kursk region is part of a victory plan he intends to present to president biden next month. president zelensky said the main point of the plan was to force russia to end the war on fair terms. ukraine says its forces are advancing in kursk, taking more territories and russian soliders prisoner. the number of controlled settlements is now 100 and almost 600 prisoners of war have been captured — according to the head of the country's military. it's also warned that the situation on the eastern front was difficult with russia transporting more troops and now controlling another village near the strategically important town of pokrovsk.

meanwhile, president zelensky says the newly arrived f—16 fighterjets — provided by the west — have been used to shoot down drones in recent attacks on ukrainian cities. already, in these huge attacks of russians, we've already destroyed some missiles and drones using f—16. i won't share how many, but we did it thanks to our partners and the weapons they provided to us. but, again, it's not enough. we have a small number of f—16s, and we need to do wider training missions, etc. we have propositions to the united states. it depends on their permission. they have to be positive on it. they have to look at this real. sir keir starmer is visiting berlin where he's expected to say the uk has a "once in a generation opportunity to reset" its relationship with europe. the british prime minister be holding talks with the german chancellor, 0laf scholz, to discuss

a new bilateral treaty to boost business and trade. henry zeffman is in berlin. as he landed in berlin for talks with the chancellor, 0laf scholz, the prime minister talked about wanting to reset relations with europe. we've heard that before, and we'll heard that before, and we'll hear it again. he also said that he wanted to fix the broken relationships that the uk has with some of the eu's main players. well, no prizes for guessing who he thinks broke those relationships. but on diplomacy, as on the economy, there will come a time where sir keir starmer will be judged on his own decisions. now to update you on a story we featured yesterday: after years of bad blood and barbed comments, one of music's biggest feuds appears to be over — with the announcement that noel and liam gallagher are re—forming 0asis for a series of uk and european concerts next year — the first time the brothers have played together in public since 2009. tickets go on sale on saturday,

in what's expected to be a multimillion—pound payday. colin patterson reports from manchester. me and him were, like, telepathic, you know what i mean? i know my brother better than anybody else. this is how 0asis announced they were back. the brothers finally confirming a series of huge shows next summer. always famous for their feuding... we don't like each other, man. he's swinging this guitar around and he kind of... you know, he nearly took my face off with it. today's news might help explain why noel gallagher had recently been so complimentary about liam. if songs were drinks, right, liam's is a shot of tequila, right? and mine's half a guinness. # maybe i don't really wanna know... it's exactly 30 years this week since the release of their debut album, definitely maybe. 0asis are being hyped as the best band around at the moment...

..when they were interviewed by zoe ball, who wore an extraordinary cap. you are being hyped as the best band around at the moment. is all the hype true? yeah. it is? yeah, we're the best band about today, on the planet. it's a fact. and, despite splitting up 15 years ago, there's a strong argument that they remained the biggest band in britain. not surprisingly, in manchester's northern quarter, it wasn't hard to find people with opinions on the reunion. when did they make up? how has this happened? what's your theory? 0h, a money grab. you can't say that! i can, it's too late, sorry. people are already reserving parking spaces, apparently. | and hotels are at £800 already. everyone's over the moon, aren't they? fingers crossed they don't fall out again, you know what i mean? in two minutes. you know what i mean? you know what they're like, don't you, eh? and, across the city, there was much excitement

at the microdot gallery, a stop on the oasis walking tour. we're very lucky to have the original fireplace from the front cover of definitely maybe. if this can be the catalyst to give people a bit of happiness, you know, who better to drag us out of the doldrums than liam and noel, at the end of the day? this is a posterfor 0asis's famous shows at knebworth, and have a look at the ticket price — £22.50. it's going to be rather more than that when they go on sale on saturday. # it's a crazy situation... the band have said they will not be playing glastonbury, there is no word on any new music and no confirmation on which other members of oasis will return. thanks to those rows, there are plenty of them to choose from. colin paterson, bbc news, manchester. the paralympic games arejust here — the paralympic games are almost here — beginning with the opening ceremony in paris on wednesday evening. so, later today.

like the olympic like the olympic opening ceremony, opening ceremony, it will be held outside it will be held outside a stadium for the first time. a stadium for the first time. athletes will take part athletes will take part in what's being described in what's being described as a "people's parade" as a "people's parade" travelling past some of paris' travelling past some of paris' most iconic landmarks, most iconic landmarks, located along the route located along the route between the champs—elysees between the champs—elysees and the place de la concorde. and the place de la concorde. spectators can watch for free spectators can watch for free along the route along the route before the official parade before the official parade take place in front take place in front of ticket—holders at of ticket—holders at the place de la concorde. the place de la concorde. 0rganisers estimate that around 0rganisers estimate that around 50,000 people will watch 50,000 people will watch the ceremony. the ceremony. we do have a lovely picture, we do have a lovely picture, actually, of paris. hopefully actually, of paris. hopefully we'll bring that up in a we'll bring that up in a moment. localtime moment. localtime we'll bring that up in a moment. local time 6:23 in the we'll bring that up in a moment. local time 6:23 in the morning. but the sun rising. as morning. but the sun rising. as you can see, preparations well you can see, preparations well underway for the paralympics underway for the paralympics today, and sir keir starmer — today, and sir keir starmer — britain's new prime minister — britain's new prime minister — will also be at that opening will also be at that opening ceremony with president macron. ceremony with president macron.

most of the venues being used most of the venues being used at the olympics at the olympics will

thing — 17 in london, about 15 around merseyside and similar values there for glasgow and edinburgh. so showers reaching northern ireland and western scotland. and here's that weather front stretching from northern england through the lakes, into lancashire, wales. maybe the west midlands, could be some spits and spots further south, too. so for a time some of us will catch some rain here, showers there moving into scotland. and big temperature contrasts on wednesday. eastern england, east anglia and the south—east, mid—high 20s. 0ut towards the west, it's a lot fresher — temperatures of around 18 in belfast and for glasgow. now this is fresher air that's arriving off the atlantic. in fact, the fresher air will spread right across the country during the course of thursday. so no longer is it going to be so warm in the east and the southeast. temperatures here will be closer to say, around 22 or 23 celsius out in the west around

18 degrees, with that atlantic breeze coming in. just a few showers for scotland. here's a look at the end of the week. high pressure is building off the atlantic. this azores high. showers are kept at bay across france, far away. so it's a day of light winds and sunny spells. really a very pleasant day. and for some of us, a perfect summer's day. neither too hot and not particularly cool either. and the temperatures will be around the high teens across western areas, maybe nudging up to 2a in london for the end of the week. so that's friday. how about the weekend? well, the high pressure is still with us weather fronts are trying to push in, but it's a substantial high so it's keeping things dry. maybe the weather going downhill a little bit with a few showers towards the south and towards the west as we head into next week. so here's the outlook, then. friday and the weekend looking pretty decent for many of us, with spells of sunshine looking quite warm too. and then into september, it does look as though we could catch 1 or 2 showers. that's it for me. bye— bye.

repairing relations — uk prime minister sir keir starmer is in germany meeting chancellor 0laf scholz later today, hoping to "turn the corner on brexit". battle of the giants — is it time to call a truce in the streaming wars? plus — barbie mania is driving a comeback in flip phones in the uk.

live from london, this is business today, with me, lu kwesa burak. germany's chancellor 0laf scholz will host the uk prime minister sir keir starmer today. this is his first trip to germany since taking office. it's expected to be the beginning of labour's eu reset, and although security is expected to be high on the agenda, deeper ties on business and trade could also feature. joining me now is alicia garcia—herrero, senior fellow, bruegel. hello and welcome to the programme. just taking that first point, that he wants to reset the relationship on brexit, what are your thoughts

on this? is that mission: impossible, do you think? well, it all