hello. we start in the middle east, where it's day two of the israeli military raids in the west bank. israel says five palestinian fighters have been killed while hiding in a mosque in the city of tulkurem. earlier, palestinian officials said at least 11 people had been killed during what israel describes as "counter—terror raids". it's israel's largest operation in the west bank in about two decades. earlier, the un secretary general called on israel to halt its major military operation in the north of the territory immediately. from jenin, our middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report. it was a message of force, delivered quietly at first. israeli soldiers seeking their targets, street by palestinian street. at morning, hundreds of troops backed by armoured bulldozers

arrived in the refugee camps of tulkarm, nablus, tubas, jenin. home to armed palestinian groups and unarmed civilians. at least ten palestinians have been killed. hamas says six of them were its fighters. masoud naaja said he was injured when he opened the door of his house to young men asking for water. translation: we felt like something came down on us from the sky - and there was an explosion. i was unaware of what was going on. when i put my hand on my chest, it was all shrapnel and blood. injenin, army vehicles surrounded the city's two main hospitals. ambulances stopped and checked by militaryjeeps. israel's foreign minister has urged his government to use gaza as a model for dealing wth armed groups, here saying that iran was backing them and that this was a war for everything that israel must win.

the idf and our security forces are operating in tulkarm, jenin and other places from which murderous attacks have been launched. we will fight to eliminate terrorism wherever it emerges. almost 600 palestinians have been killed in the west bank by israeli forces since the hamas attacks. but fighters here are still presenting israel with the new tactics and new threats. israel's army has been targeting the same areas in the same cities, week after week for the past ten months, determined to dismantle the armed palestinian groups based here. now it's launched a wider, more coordinated operation across the west bank on a scale not seen for 20 years. in al—far�*a camp, near tubas, mobile phone footage showed red crescent staff lined up against the wall of their compound in front of israeli troops.

arriving injenin today, the west bank head of the red crescent. you've had ten months of these sorts of incursions. how worried are you by what's happening today? i'm very much worried because it seems there's a new stage. there's a new, er... they are escalating, scaling up their operation. when they talk about evacuating civilians and using the air force to bombing the camps, this reminds us of gaza. explosion. as night fell, explosions and gunfire from jenin�*s refugee camp. dust can be a signal to test the army's control. the war in gaza is changing this conflict. an old front creating new fears in the face of a regional war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.

our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem and described the me exactly what was concerning about this escalation... what is really causing so much concern as the scale and scope of this operation israel is conducting involving hundreds of troops and as you are saying the biggest of its kind in a couple of decades. still this morning this is ongoing in jenin and. they are saying they were a local leader in what was known as the battalion. the israeli military commentators highlighting how the bomb—making abilities are going on.

weapons and funding from iran, they say, and we have heard from the israeli military that it did find a command centre in the mosque in the urban refugee camp near thejordan valley. for palestinians, this is causing so much panic and fear, particularly some of the comments that came from the israeli foreign minister as well talking about possible evacuations of people being needed from parts of the west bank in the same way as we've seen already during the war in gaza which has been picked up on by the palestinian authorities, which is really talking about the dangers of such comments and also calling for israel to pull its forces back from around the hospitals which it continues to surround injenin and other places. the difficulties that

ambulances are having with their communication being blocked and unable to reach the wounded and they are really looking at the international community on the palestinian side for some sort of intervention because they are pointing out this isjust intervention because they are pointing out this is just a very dangerous moment. asa as a reminder, we do have a live page where we are posting a lot from our correspondence on the ground there. as a reminder, israel began what they're calling our counterterrorism on the west bank on wednesday at the un secretary—general antonio gutierrez has called on them to stop that operation calling it deeply concerning. we will return to you with any updates as they come. here in the uk the government is considering banning smoking in pub gardens. ministers are considering tighter restrictions on smoking outdoors as part of a drive to phase out tobacco. as first reported by the sun, external, smoking could be

banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, outside hospitals and sports grounds. we already knew the government was looking at carrying on with plans to gradually ban smoking so anyone born in 2009 all data will never legally be able to buy cigarettes, they have been quite open about that plan from the previous government and they have said they will make that a law when they get to it. what we've heard today, though, is going quite significantly further, suggesting smoking could also be banned outside pubs, restaurants, hospitals, sports grounds in england and wales as well. the department of health and

social care say they do not comment on leaks but what we are hearing is them suggesting that smoking comes at quite a significant cost and in their response they have talked about the number of lives that are impacted by smoking and also the cost to the nhs and they say it costs the taxpayer billions of pounds as well so they've been quite clear, the department of health and social care that they are considering a range of measures they say to stop people from getting second hand smoke essentially and when you see a statement like that from the government, then essentially they are not denying they are looking at this, it means they are looking at this, it means they very much are looking at this but there are still a whole process to go before it would actually a reality. moving onto paris... the british

prime minister sir keir starmer is meeting with emmanuel macron at the champs—elysees. what meeting with emmanuel macron at the champs-elysees-_ champs-elysees. what more did we find out about _ champs-elysees. what more did we find out about what _ champs-elysees. what more did we find out about what is _ champs-elysees. what more did we find out about what is being - champs-elysees. what more did we find out about what is being called l find out about what is being called a reset and how it relates to brexit? ~ . , . ., brexit? we are expecting him to arrive here _ brexit? we are expecting him to arrive here at _ brexit? we are expecting him to arrive here at the _ brexit? we are expecting him to l arrive here at the champs-elysees arrive here at the champs—elysees very shortly in the next few minutes, he spoken very much of what he says is a reset of relations with the eu following all the turmoil of brexit saying he did not want to reverse brexit but he said he wanted to get better relations and both he and the french leader were at the paralympics opening ceremony last night. today we've been told by the

elysee they will be discussing ukraine, the middle east and what elysee calls the continuing cooperation to tackle illegal migration from france to britain. what more do you know about his trip in berlin and what came out of that meeting? in berlin and what came out of that meetin: ? �* ., in berlin and what came out of that meetin: ? �* . , , in berlin and what came out of that meetin? �* . , , in berlin and what came out of that meetin ? �* . , , ., meeting? again, this is part of visitin: meeting? again, this is part of visiting two — meeting? again, this is part of visiting two very _ meeting? again, this is part of visiting two very large - meeting? again, this is part of| visiting two very large countries meeting? again, this is part of. visiting two very large countries in the eu, germany and france and in germany he announced a treaty they were working on and also warning words about the problem of far right parties. the prime minister said it was important not to have the snake oil of populism and he said progressive parties in europe like those of germany and france to work together and try and combat that, have a discussion. in together and try and combat that, have a discussion.— together and try and combat that, have a discussion. in general, what messaue have a discussion. in general, what message do — have a discussion. in general, what message do you — have a discussion. in general, what message do you believe _ have a discussion. in general, what message do you believe sir - have a discussion. in general, what message do you believe sir keir - message do you believe sir keir

starmer is trying to send about how his government will approach relations with the eu? how would that differ with the previous government? he that differ with the previous government?— that differ with the previous rovernment? , , ., , government? he used this word reset. he said he wanted _ government? he used this word reset. he said he wanted to _ government? he used this word reset. he said he wanted to push _ government? he used this word reset. he said he wanted to push ahead - government? he used this word reset. he said he wanted to push ahead in . he said he wanted to push ahead in economic ties with the eu and changing the tuna, the mood music, if you like, after so many years so this, i think, if you like, after so many years so this, ithink, is if you like, after so many years so this, i think, is looking ahead, saying they want to try to improve economic cooperation but not too much detail about what that would entail at this particular moment. thank you for that update and you can see those life pictures next to bethany there, being taken in full twice even because it is just that beautiful and we are expecting sir keir starmer to arrive at any moment, as bethany said there, expecting it in the next few

minutes. as soon as he arrives, we will bring that to you and look, there is president emmanuel macron which suggests that sir keir starmer is arriving now. again, this is part of sir keir starmer�*s efforts to build bridges with european leaders, holding talks with the french president emmanuel macron who looks and seems like he is about to greet him now. there he is. the prime minister travelled from berlin to paris, this is part of two days of meetings decide to show the uk wants to, in his words, reset its relationship with the european union, that of course follows years of tensions in regards to brexit. this is not the first time that they have met and sir keir and emmanuel macron were among the audience at the paralympic ceremony on wednesday

evening and now posing for that photo in front of the elysee palace and this follows a meeting with french business leaders at breakfast for sir keir starmer. now this summit here. as soon as we have more updates on that meeting, we will bring those comments to you. in the meantime, i did mention the paralympics. they are underway in paris. a spectacular opening ceremony marked the start of the paris 2024 paralympics games as athletes paradaed along the iconic champs elysee to place de la concorde in glorious condition. the head of the international paralympic committee, andrew parsons, told the crowd he wanted the games to be an "inclusion revolution". the first gold medals will be awarded in the comning hours in swimming, cycling and taekwondo.

sally hurst is in the french capital for us and attended last night's opening ceremony. there were tens of thousands of spectators packing out the place de concord last night in a spectacular opening ceremony. the stage was full of disabled dancers and performers and a powerful message of inclusivity that it has to mean more than just taking part that was a message echoed by the head of international paralympic committee, he said these athletes are not here to just take part, they adhere to smash records and win gold. we had music and fireworks, the court and —— cauldron was lit and reset the stage for the next 11 days of sport. —— music came from christine and the queens. that sport is already under way, lots of swimming events today including italian stars and the going and five events today.

—— the first of those today. injury has prevented kadeena cox from running this time so she will be keen to go for gold in cycling. rugby so popular here because it is so exciting, full contact, bit brutal at times as well and great britain are the defending champions in this but they say the competition has got a lot tougher since tokyo so lots of other nations in the mix there including the home nation, france, the us and canada as well. and there could be history made in the refugee team with the first medal winner for the refugee team here. she trains with the french national team and so could well get some home support from the crowd so in total there are 22 golds in

contention today up for grabs, it will be a really exciting start to these games. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

some news we received in the past hourfrom china, president xi jinping is currently meeting the u.s national security advisorjake sullivan at the great hall of the people in beijing. mr sullivan, is on the third and final day of talks with top chinese officials. his trip to beijing is seen as an effort to create more dialogue and reduce tensions between the two countries with the white house wanting to avoid any miscommunication that could lead to conflict in the region. on wednesday mr sullivan met with chinese foreign minister waang yi to set up a call between presidentsjoe biden and xijinping. the white house said both sides "welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication, including planning for a leader—level call in the coming weeks." 0n china's influence in the indo—pacific region, the white house said "mr.

sullivan underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the taiwan strait." working towards the fact that they are working on a phone call, which may not seem like much but can you explain the significance?— explain the significance? there is big significance _ explain the significance? there is big significance this _ explain the significance? there is big significance this time - explain the significance? there is big significance this time that - explain the significance? there is| big significance this time that jake big significance this time thatjake sullivan travelled to beijing. first time a national security adviser travelled to beijing, eight years after the last time. the timing of jake sullivan travelling to beijing is quite significant and if you look at the us elections coming up, it does show the us is prioritising security relations with china given the tensions around the taiwan

strait and the south china sea. to that point, we mentioned the risk of miscommunication. what is it that, despite all their tensions, they are really trying to avoid here? irate despite all their tensions, they are really trying to avoid here?- really trying to avoid here? we are seeinr a really trying to avoid here? we are seeing a very _ really trying to avoid here? we are seeing a very interesting _ really trying to avoid here? we are seeing a very interesting trajectory from the us, china relations moving forward from the trump administration to the biden administration to the biden administration and there was a lot of hope around a more smooth relation with a us — china with the biden administration but we see quite a continuity with us's china policy and what i mean in terms of communications very early on that, there was this kind of scheduled visit for blinken to visit china which was cancelled. there has been a lot of controversy surrounding it and trying to ensure this is actually smooth has been an ongoing challenge throughout the biden administration. that is not to say we have not had any kind of

communication like, for example, jake sullivan and his counterpart meeting five times in the past year orso meeting five times in the past year or so notjust in beijing with the united states, as i the g20, you're seeing initiatives to really have the two talk but in terms of tensions we see mounting tensions around into pacific and notjust indo—pacific because if you look the warren ukraine —— around the indo—pacific and outside of it because if you look at the war in ukraine you see it as well. the biden administration curving china's access to us tech, the economy, is that likely to change? that access to us tech, the economy, is that likely to change?— that likely to change? that is a continuous _ that likely to change? that is a continuous trajectory _ that likely to change? that is a continuous trajectory we - that likely to change? that is a continuous trajectory we are i that likely to change? that is a - continuous trajectory we are seeing in terms of what your seeing with us's china policy. throughout the trump administration has been a lot of trade, unilateral measures taken

towards this access to us tech and unfair practices and trade and we see these point repeated throughout the visit as well. it is notjust traditional military, what is happening in gaza, ukraine, the indo—pacific, but trade and economic security really coming into the agenda. security really coming into the arenda. . ~ security really coming into the arenda. ., ,, i. security really coming into the arenda. ., ,, ., security really coming into the aienda. ., ~' y., ., ,., security really coming into the arenda. ., ., ., agenda. thank you for your time and exertise. the ukrainian military says it attacked the �*atlas' oil storage facility in russia's rostov region on wednesday, which caused a fire. the military also says it attacked �*zenit�* oil depot in russia's kirov region and a field artillery depot in russia's voronezh region. meanwhile, ukraine's airforce says its forces destroyed 60 out of 7a russian attack drones and two out of three missiles launched at its territory overnight.

moving on to hong kong now... a court there found two editors of a news mediaoutlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles in a case that has drawn international scrutiny, the two editors, of the now—defunct stand news media outlet, could face a maximum jail term of two years. this is the first sedition conviction against any journalist or editor since 1997. authorities in hong kong have resurrected the sedition law as part of a crackdown on dissent — following mass antigovernment protests in 2019. 0ur correspondent martin yip in hong kong gave us a reminder of this case. back in december 2021 when the national security police led a raid to the newsroom of stand news in hong kong, stand news was an online multiplatform publication that is fairly popular among people who support the pro—democracy camp,

especially after the demise of the broadsheet paper which some may argue is a tabloid paper, but that was a major pro—democracy publication and once it is down, stand news somehow took over the place, so after the raid, the publication shut it down almost immediately and the two editors and publishing company were then charged with this publishing of seditious material charge and after so much of a delay after the raid in december 2021, today, in august 2024, we are finally hearing a guilty verdict and we just heard from the court that the two defendants have now been released on bail, pending sentencing, scheduled later in september.

injapan, three in japan, three people injapan, three people from the same family have died after a landslide hit their home after a typhoon in the country. this is a seaside city on the kyoto island. it left 250 —— three people from the same family died in a landslide which buried their home, after a powerful typhoon hitjapan. these are pictures from kagoshima prefecture, a seaside city onjapan's southern kyushu island. typhoon shanshan left more than 250—thousand homes without power when it made landfall on the island in southern japan. yufuin flooding further north on kyushu. the storm is expected to travel up towards tokyo this weekend. around a million people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, as the authorities warn that the threat of deadly floods and landslides is increasing. japan airlines cancelled 275 domestic flights on thursday, with more disruption expected into friday. before we leave you... stunning images of the natural world have been shared by the natural history museum as part of its wildlife photographer

of the year competition. (00v)this jaguar with a caiman in its jaws was captured this jaguar with a caiman in its jaws was captured in the pantanal wetlands in brazil, by british photographer ian ford. this stoat was seen "dancing" over the snow in france. the image was taken by manuel grandio, who called it �*twist and jump'. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. yesterday we reached 30 celsius in cambridge. today it's more likely to be 23. being our top temperature, it's going to feel fresher and we're looking at a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers. now, most of the showers today will be across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, enhanced by this weather front moving from the west to the east. driven along on quite a brisk breeze come further south. the spacing in the isobars is much wider, not much of a breeze at all. so away from the showers

in the north a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, fair—weather cloud bubbling up through the day. there's an outside chance of an isolated shower further south, but the lion's share will be in the north for some of those could be heavy and thundery. temperatures today 14 to about 23 degrees, so quite a drop from what some of us had yesterday. into this evening and overnight a lot of the showers will fade. we'll continue with a brisk breeze and some showers across the far north of scotland and in western areas. in the lighter winds we are looking at some mist and fog patches forming. it's also going to be a cooler night tonight than last night. 0ur overnight lows — 7 to 11 degrees, so any mist and fog that's formed overnight will lift quite quickly tomorrow. high pressure is firmly in charge. tomorrow is going to be fine and settled. but on saturday we've got a change in the weather forecast. this weather front looks like it's going to produce a bit more cloud. so on friday a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around, one or two showers coming in in a light breeze across the far north across the far north

of scotland initially of scotland initially and through the day we'll start and through the day we'll start to see some sea breezes developing. to see some sea breezes developing. so if you head towards the coast, so if you head towards the coast, temperatures will be temperatures will be that little bit lower. that little bit lower. but inland we're looking but inland we're looking at 18 in glasgow, 19 at 18 in glasgow, 19 in newcastle to 2a in london. in newcastle to 2a in london. so the temperatures climbing so the temperatures climbing a little bit more on saturday. a little bit more on saturday. we start off with some we start off with some mist and fog patches, mist and fog patches, but we've also got our weather front but we've also got our weather front in the south. in the south. now that's going to introduce more now that's going to introduce more cloud than we thought, cloud than we thought, and also the chance of some light and also the chance of some light and patchy rain move north of that. and patchy rain move north of that. it's drier and it's sunnier, it's drier and it's sunnier, but something we're watching is that but something we're watching is that area of cloud in the north sea. area of cloud in the north sea. itjust might come onshore itjust might come onshore across parts of eastern scotland across parts of eastern scotland and northeast england and northeast england through the day. through the day. temperatures 14 to 22 degrees. temperatures 1a to 22 degrees. now, beyond that, it turns a little now, beyond that, it turns a little bit more unsettled on sunday bit more unsettled on sunday and monday we've got fronts moving and monday we've got fronts moving northwards and also coming in from the west. they at times will introduce some rain and it could be heavy and thundery.

northwards and also

this is bbc news this is bbc news the israeli army says it's killed the israeli army says it's killed five people on day two five people on day two of its major military operation of its major military operation in the occupied west bank in the occupied west bank and the us national security and the us national security advisor has met a senior advisor has met a senior chinese military official, chinese military official, in a "rare" one—on—one meeting in a "rare" one—on—one meeting during a visit to beijing. during a visit to beijing. restrictions on smoking outdoors restrictions on smoking outdoors are being considered by the uk are being considered by the uk government. government. the paralympic games get underway following the paralympic games get underway following a spectacular opening ceremony a spectacular opening ceremony in paris last night. in paris last night.

hello. hello.