this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: 2a palestinians die in israeli air strikes on the gaza strip. israel says it's targetting the militant group islamic jihad. rising concerns over the safety of europe's largest nuclear power plant, held by russian forces in ukraine. hundreds are taking part in a desperate rescue effort as 10 miners remain trapped underground in mexico. cuba calls for help, including from the us, to tackle a major industrial fire. one body's been recovered so far. and a glimpse of life before the volcano. archaeologists shed new light on the lives people led in ancient pompeii.

hello and welcome to the programme. a very good to have your company. the palestinian health ministry says 2a people, including six children, are now known to have died in israeli air strikes on the gaza strip. israel is targeting the palestinian militant group, islamichhad, and says it expects the offensive to last a week. the british foreign secretary, liz truss, said britain stood by israel's right to defend itself, but has called for a swift end to the violence, which has broken more than a year of relative calm. from jerusalem, here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. explosion the full force of israel's new military operation in gaza. this building hitjust minutes after a warning strike. palestinians racing away. a year of relative

calm now shattered. this is where one of the first israeli air strikes killed an islamichhad commander, leaving his neighbour in shock. "we were safe in our home. "we were thrown out of it by the bomb", says maryam. "why didn't they warn us?" tonight islamichhad fired heavy barrages of rockets in revenge, it said, for its leader's death. most were intercepted by israeli air defences. but earlier a missile hit this israeli home. "the family went to their shelter when the air raid "sirens went off," local official yaron sasson said. "this is probably what saved them. "no—one was hurt." israeli forces are targeting what they say are militant bases in gaza. they maintain they're reacting to a direct threat from iran—backed islamichhad. with further deaths in gaza, much now depends on the decisions of

the powerful militant group hamas, which governs here. and tonight we are hearing about other important developments. at least six people killed, including children, in a blast in the north of gaza, with israel and some palestinians blaming a misfired militant rocket. that could complicate egypt—led efforts to broker a ceasefire. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. the un's nuclear watchdog has called for an immediate end to military action near ukraine's zaporizhia nuclear plant. the international atomic energy agency's chief, rafael grossi, said he was "extremely concerned" by reports of shelling at europe's largest nuclear power plant. ukraine says parts of the plant have been seriously damaged by russian military strikes. russia blames ukraine for the strikes. earlier i spoke to amy nelson, who's a seniorfellow at strobe talbott centre

for security, strategy, and technology at the brookings institution. i asked if she agreed with the iaea's warning. it's definitely concerning stop we have had these concerns throughout the conflict and it highlights how unsettling these incidents are and how little the solution we have in place for managing these kinds of concerns at this time. there are reports _ concerns at this time. there are reports of— concerns at this time. there are reports of several - concerns at this time. there i are reports of several strokes. russia blames ukraine, ukraine blames russia. how vulnerable is the site at the moment? you know, is the site at the moment? you know. it's _ is the site at the moment? you know, it's really _ is the site at the moment? you know, it's really hard _ is the site at the moment? 7m. know, it's really hard to is the site at the moment? 7m, know, it's really hard to tell in the fog of war, with the vulnerabilities are. we know that russia has been in control of the plant for a number of months right now, but that ukrainian engineers have been operating the plant, maintaining it on an ongoing basis. so if russia is

launching strokes from the plant using the plant as a shield, it's designed to deter the ukrainians from firing back. , . ., back. this nuclear disaster that the iaea _ back. this nuclear disaster that the iaea has - back. this nuclear disaster that the iaea has warned l back. this nuclear disaster i that the iaea has warned of, where does that risk come from? is it power facilities going down, meaning radioactivity is installed properly, is it that the strike directly hits the site at some kind of explosion? yes, that all of these things can cause a problem. what we fundamentally worry about is a radiation leak, so that could be in the case of chernobyl, no longer a functioning powerplant longer a functioning powerpla nt but longer a functioning powerplant but has a cap, that being disturbed and radioactive waste leaking, or it could come from one of the components of the powerplant erupting.— one of the components of the powerplant erupting. starting a fire. russia _ powerplant erupting. starting a fire. russia is _ powerplant erupting. starting a fire. russia is a _ powerplant erupting. starting a fire. russia is a signatory - powerplant erupting. starting a fire. russia is a signatory to . fire. russia is a signatory to the iaea's statute. does that

mean the united nations can somehow intervene, control decide, is russia obliged to allow the un in?— decide, is russia obliged to allow the un in? yes, russia is technically _ allow the un in? yes, russia is technically obliged _ allow the un in? yes, russia is technically obliged allow- allow the un in? yes, russia is technically obliged allow the i technically obliged allow the united nations or iaea inspectors on—site to maintain or oversee or officially report on the safety status of the site. this is a violation of nuclear safety rules and more gravely, international norms of not using nuclear facilities gravely, international norms of not using nuclearfacilities in conflict. not using nuclear facilities in conflict. . , . , ., conflict. finally, what should russian officials _ conflict. finally, what should russian officials do - conflict. finally, what should russian officials do to - russian officials do to guarantee the safety and security of this site? i think they should _ security of this site? i think they should allow _ security of this site? i think they should allow iaea - they should allow iaea inspectors in right away. they should cease launching any operations from the site. and issue a statement indicating that they intend to refrain from using nuclear power plants as war zones or shielding

themselves using nuclear plants going forward. themselves using nuclear plants going forward-— going forward. let's go to north america _ going forward. let's go to north america now. - ten miners remain trapped in a coalmine that collapsed and flooded on wednesday in mexico. hundreds of rescuers are now involved in the efforts, including several divers. the mine is in the town of sabinas in northern mexico, and in a region that is no stranger to incidents of this kind. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri has this report. mexico's president says rescue ten workers trapped in a coal mine have reached a crucial point. the miners have been deep underground since wednesday after their excavation caused the tunnel wall to cave in and triggered floods in three wells. rescuers are working on pumping out the water that has filled the mine to allow divers to enter. translation: the good news is that the pump, i which has much more capacity, is empty in one of the wells. this will hopefully deliver

a very positive result, compared to what was achieved throughout the night. five of the workers managed to escape within the first 2a hours, but since then, no survivors have been found. so the families have been waiting and hoping for good news, sleeping through the night in cots, blankets, plastic chairs, and whatever else they could find. translation: we are still hoping that they l are in a higher part, although it is too much water, the well was up to the top, but we trust in god. the incident has brought back memories of the pasta de conchos tragedy in 2006, when an explosion killed 65 people in a local mine. mexico's president has said investigations into who is responsible this time will have to wait. the focus right now is on saving lives. azadeh moshiri, bbc news.

staying in the region. cuba has requested help from the united states and other neighbouring countries to tackle a major fire in fuel storage tanks, which were struck by lightning on friday night in the city of matanzas, about 80km east of the capital havana. our central america and cuba correspondent, will grant, told me more. we know that at least 17 firefighters are missing, which is obviously a horrific situation for cubans, for the island more generally, and this couldn't come at a worse time for the nation in many ways, in the group, as it is, of a nationwide electricity rolling electricity board blackouts. ivana, the capital, has recently been told it'll have to start experiencing blackouts as they tried to move elements of the grid, the lectures are degraded, and other parts of the island that needed. it comes at a terrible time to have a fuel depot on fire, such an extent that they can't bring it under control, and have sort

of appeal to neighbours like mexico and, indeed, ideological flow of the united states, both of whom have indicated a willingness to help. do of whom have indicated a willingness to help. do we know what kind of— willingness to help. do we know what kind of help _ willingness to help. do we know what kind of help cuba - willingness to help. do we know what kind of help cuba is - what kind of help cuba is looking for and what they are likely to get back? the looking for and what they are likely to get back?— likely to get back? the very bottom line _ likely to get back? the very bottom line is _ likely to get back? the very bottom line is that - likely to get back? the very. bottom line is that they want to get the fire under control immediately. as soon as possible. if you can send firefighters, support, equipment, that's what they're looking for in the short term. beyond that, there will be elements they'll need to sort of rebuild the site and make it safe again. but in the short term, i think the emphasis is on simply bringing displays under control, and it tells a lot about where cuba is at the moment. that this place is so of control, talks to the extent of control, talks to the extent of the crumbling infrastructure on the island, worsened by the decade—long us economic embargo, something the united states has been at pains to point out that doesn't prevent

them from helping in a situation and emergency situation and emergency situation like this one. to the balkans, and in croatia at least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured after a bus from poland veered off a highway. the bus was heading in the direction of the croatian capital, zagreb, when it crashed near the city of varazdin. it was on its way to a roman catholic shrine in bosnia—herzegovina. our warsaw correspondent, adam easton, reports. the bus veered off the highway just before dawn and ended up in a ditch. on—board were two drivers and 42 pilgrims from across poland. 11 people were killed at the scene. the rest were taken to nearby hospitals, many of them in a serious condition. translation: one woman's operation is still ongoing - and will take a long time, because she has multiple bodily injuries and her life is in danger. we have eight patients in hospital, four in intensive care, two of whom are currently in the operating room.

the pilgrims were on their way to the small bosnian town of medjugorje. it's been a popular pilgrimage site ever since local children said they had seen a vision of the virgin mary there in the 1980s. many people in poland are deeply attached to their catholic faith, and the chance to make this pilgrimage is a highlight of their lives. from all over the country, they make the i,500km journey overnight on buses like this one. it's not known why this bus crashed. the tragedy has sparked deep anguish and sorrow here. in churches across poland, prayers are being said for the victims and their families. adam easton, bbc news, warsaw. this is bbc news. the headlines: 2a palestinians die in air strikes on the gaza strip. israel says it's targetting the militant group, islamic jihad.

the head of the un's nuclear watchdog, the iaea, says he's increasingly alarmed about the risk of disaster at the zaporizhzya power plant in ukraine. earlier this week, china started unprecedented military drills around taiwain in retaliation for a visit to the island by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. china considers taiwan part of its territory, and said the visit amounted to a direct threat to china's sovereignty. the military muscle—flexing means cultural and family ties between the chinese mainland and taiwan are once again being put to the test. the taipei historian albert wu told me the increased tensions have left young people wondering what their future might hold. it feels really complicated and confusing at this moment. like you said, my grandparents were positive side of the family, my mother's side of the family is from china, my father's side

from china, my father's side from taiwan, so i have a deep cultural routes to china, but i think the chinese threat and the chinese escalation and rhetoric has definitely solidified a sense of taiwanese identity, a sense that we have to resist this sort of chinese aggression in taiwan. but comes in a real deep sense, money, a deep sense of personal anguish, at these freight ties between china and taiwan.— at these freight ties between china and taiwan. young people in taiwan have _ china and taiwan. young people in taiwan have grown _ china and taiwan. young people in taiwan have grown up - china and taiwan. young people in taiwan have grown up with i in taiwan have grown up with this message from china. taiwan belongs to us and one day will bring it back under beijing plasma control but things really have had a peak in the last week. how does that make younger people feel about the future of the country?- future of the country? most --eole future of the country? most people that _ future of the country? most people that i _ future of the country? most people that i talked - future of the country? most people that i talked to - future of the country? most people that i talked to have taken a nonchalant attitude. they are used to the threat of the chinese bullion, but on the

other hand, there is a sense that people are rallying together, people are attending, for example, self defence classes, or preparing, where is our closest air shelter in the case that china does invade? but i think generally, within the younger generation, there is a coalescing around a more unified sense of taiwanese identity that is in opposition to mainland china. you are a historian. from an academic point of view, what does this story look like when you look through a historical lens, particularly when you compare it to recent events like we have seen in hong kong, for example? i think the turning point in taiwan was like in hong kong in 2013, 2014, with the sunflower movement, where young people occupied the legislation to try to block a free trade bill between china and taiwan.

and ever since then, i think there has been an increasing sense of taiwanese identity. but this process has been ongoing, ever since, one could say the 1950s, but really after the democratisation in the 1980s, where activists have really tried to carve out a sense of taiwanese identity that is distinct and different from china, and that has come through schooling, it has come through political movements, political engagement on the streets, but also just in reaction to geopolitics. i think as china has become more aggressive against taiwan, the sense of taiwanese identity is also building and growing. here in the uk, the two contenders for the leadership of the conservative party,

and to become british prime minister, have clashed again on how best to tackle the cost of living crisis. in the week when the bank of england sounded dire warnings on the economy, liz truss reiterated she would immediately cut taxes, and wouldn't be giving "hand—outs. " but her rival, rishi sunak, insisted it was wrong to rule out direct support to some households. here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. applause. thank you. liz truss in the sunshine in the west midlands, chasing the votes of tory party members. the looming economic crisis is now weighing on this race. ms truss today said if she was prime minister, she would not be giving more hand—outs to those struggling to pay their bills. she would cut taxes instead. well, what i will do from day one is reduce taxes, so reverse the national insurance rise, and also have a temporary moratorium on the green energy levy, so people are spending less of their money on fuel bills. but what i am about as a conservative is people keeping more of their own money, growing the economy, so we avoid a recession.

rishi sunak on the south coast said her tax cuts would amount to less than £200 for many average households, and he would look at doing more. we need to get real about this situation. it is simply wrong to rule out further direct support at this time as liz truss has done, and what is more, her tax proposals are not going to help very significantly people like pensioners or those on low incomes, who are exactly the kind of families who are going to need help. mr sunak�*s message to his party is that inflation is what matters. average annual energy bills could go up another £2000 in the coming months, and it is thought 40% of people are already struggling to pay. ms truss says her approach is about optimism, stimulating the economy, and not talking the country into a recession. damian grammaticas, bbc news. in italy, archaeologists have unearthed four new rooms in a house in pompeii — offering more insights into life in the ancient city. the discovery happened

in what was once one of the doomed city's largest neighbourhoods, before it — and its people — were hit by a volcanic eruption in 79 ad. about two—thirds of the city have now been uncovered — and it remains one of italy's most popular tourist attractions. tom brada reports. an ancient city frozen in time by a monstrous eruption almost 2,000 years ago. still—vibrant ceramics, a wooden dish cabinet, fragments of an extremely tired bed — just some of the treasures unearthed by archaeologist at pompeii, offering a glimpse of what life was like for ordinary roman citizens before the town was pummelled by mount vesuvius in 79 ad. these items were all found in four newly excavated rooms, first discovered at a property in 2018. in one room, there's a cupboard that had stayed open for the best part of two millennia.

translation: here, you can see the cabinet with the wooden - parts of the doors. inside the cabinet, there were shelves — and what we see is the shelf that collapsed when the volcano exploded. inside, we found glass objects like these bottles, but also ceramics like these vases that we're gradually discovering. in another room, there's a table still holding its original ornaments. and in another, even a bed with parts of the bed frame still intact and traces of fabric from the original inhabita nts' pillow. a lot of this excavation work is being carried out during peak tourist season. translation: we have - about 12,000 people coming in each day, sometimes up to 15,000. with due care, we are able to manage the situation safely. it's little surprise that pompeii continues to attract visitors in such numbers. thousands of years on from its infamous devastation, its ancient ruins continue to offerfresh insight into the lives of the people who once called it home. tom brada, bbc news.

let's turn to the commonwealth games now being held in the english city of birmingham — and day nine saw medals handed out on the track, on the field, in the pool and on the bowling green. tim allman has a round—up of the action. if anyone can make winning gold seem almost routine, it's jamaica's elaine thompson—herah. the five—time olympic champion picked up her second commonwealth gold adding the 200 metres to the 100 metres title she won on wednesday. trinidad and tobago's jereem richards took the men's 200 metres, beating frankie fredericks�*s record which has stood since 1994. in the women's 800 metres, kenya's mary moraa broke local hearts, outpacing england's keely hodgkinson on the home straight to take gold. a happier moment for the home crowd when nick miller successfully defended his men's hammer titles, a throw of 76 metres, 43 centimetres

was enough to see off canada's ethan kazberg. there was a clean sweep for england in the men's three metres springboard diving final. dan goodfellow taking the top spot on the podium. but the hosts will not defend their title in the women's netball, england losing to australia in the semifinals. it was a similar story in the cricket, this time india's women coming out on top. yeah, i am just gutted, really. gutted that i couldn't get my team over the line. there was a moment to savour for wales, gemma frizzelle winning the rhythmic gymnastics hoop final. it was the principality�*s first ever gold. let's take a look at the top of the medal table. australia lead the way with 58 golds and 154 medals over all. england are second on 146 medals, and canada are third. and one other historic

moment to take note of, alastair chalmers is taking bronze in the 400 metre hurdles, the first athletics medal guernsey has ever won at a commonwealth games. tim norman, bbc news. celebrations have been taking place all over the world — for the return of pride — the lgbtq event — that was forced to close amid the covid—19 pandemic. this is amsterdam — where hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the city's historic canals to celebrate canal parade, a pride flotilla of 80 brightly decorated boats packed with people partying, singing and waving rainbow flags, balloons and umbrellas. and here — in the german city of hamburg — thousands celebrated christopher street day. the theme was "diversity not violence". meanwhile, in the uk, brighton pride is back.

the singer christina aguilera has already performed on saturday. sam harrison reports. cheering. a celebration finally back to its brilliant best — but this time, it simply meant more. this morning, thousands gathered on hove lawns to send off the long—awaited pride parade. i felt a bit emotional when i first got here, because we've had such a long time away from each other, so it feels extra special. it's our first year since it's been back since covid, it's our first time having family and dogs here, so it's quite an exciting pride for all of us. it's really my first proper- pride in general, and honestly, it's kind of amazing already. with the parade in full swing, you can feel the excitement here — and you can see just what it means to people to be back celebrating this world —famous event. back in 2019, these smiling faces weren't to know what was around the corner. and for those running events today, it's a reminder that this celebration can never be taken for granted. this is still a protest,

us being here is a protest. today, the cameras will pan around and show people from all ages, colours, sexualities, genders — and that is a protest. and there will be somebody who's not here who'll look at that and go, "i want to be part of that, cos that's me, those are my people." after a packed day of parades and parties, attention this evening turned to the concerts at preston park. and with headline performer christina aguilera in town, it's set to be a night to remember. it's going to be electric! we've been waiting for this for three years, for pride to come back, so we're so excited. pride 2022 is already proving to be a pride to remember. sam harris and with that report. much more on our website. bbc.com/news. you can

find more on brighton pride and download pictures if you so wish. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston we will see you next time, goodbye. hello there. it'll be turning sunnier and warmer as we move through the weekend and into next week — we're expecting heatwave conditions certainly for england and wales. nights and days will become warmer. if it's rain you're looking for, most of that will be reserved for the north of the uk, as you can see here, particularly western scotland — barely any across england and wales here. it's expected to stay dry throughout. now for part two of the weekend, england and wales seeing the lion's share of the sunshine. more cloud for scotland and northern ireland, probably eastern scotland not faring to badly with the sunshine. but there'll be some splashes of rain around, particularly western scotland where it'll stay quite breezy. high teens here, low—20s in eastern scotland, and up to around 28 celsius across the southeast of england. little change as we head through sunday night — it stays rather cloudy, quite breezy across the northwest of the country,

some splashes of rain in towards the western isles. further south, lengthy, clearskies, light winds, temperatures falling down to around 10—15 celsius, so even the night—time temperatures are beginning to creep up, as well. monday, then, we start the new working week off with a lot of sunshine across the board, more for southern and eastern scotland and northern ireland with the windier, cloudy, wet conditions reserved for the northwest of scotland. so again, mid—to—high teens here, low—20s where it's sunnier in scotland and northern ireland, up to around 29 celsius in the warmest spots across southeast england, but generally the mid—to—high—20s for england and wales. tuesday it's warmer still again, quite windy across the northwest of scotland with gusts up to 40mph here with some splashes of rain. best of the sunshine, southern and eastern scotland, northern ireland, and england and wales — as you can see, temperatures widely in the low—20s, up to 29—30 celsius in the southeast. and then, by around midweek, it looks like we'll see heat wave conditions for england and wales — that's because we'll see temperatures well above average for more

than three days. and we could be up to the mid—30s in celsius as we move towards the end of the week. the reason for it is our area of high pressure will start to migrate towards the east of the uk, and that will draw up this very warm air from the near content across the country on a fairly light and moderate southeasterly wind. so temperatures will be building day by day — and by midweek onwards, you can see those values into the mid—30s across parts of england and wales. always a little bit fresher with a bit more cloud in the north.

this is bbc news. the headlines: at least 24 palestinians have been killed by israeli air strikes on gaza, as the military continues its campaign for a second day. more than 120 people have been injured. israeli officials say more than 350 rockets and mortars have been fired at israeli territory since friday. the head of the un's nuclear watchdog, the iaea, says he's increasingly alarmed about the risk of disaster at the zaporizhia power plant in ukraine. rafael grossi said military action could threaten public health and the environment. the plant is in the hands of occupying russian forces. ten miners remain trapped in a coalmine that collapsed and flooded in mexico. hundreds of rescuers are now

involved in the efforts, including several divers.