this is bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the latest headlines... air raid sirens sound injerusalem for the first time since the start of last year's full—scale conflict between israel and palestinian militants in the gaza strip. it's the third day of renewed violence between the two sides. nearly 170,000 tonnes of grain and sunflower oil leaves on a second convoy of ships out of ukaine after russia's blockade caused global shortages. in the uk, liz truss promises a cut in national insurance, within weeks, if she wins the conservative party leadership race. her rival rishi sunak disagrees and says he wants to give more direct help to those hardest hit by inflation. taiwan accuses china of practising for an invasion of its island

after beijing expressed fury over us house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to taipei. and french officials trying to rescue a beluga whale trapped in the river seine come up with a new strategy to free it — find out how they plan to return it back to sea. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. air raid sirens and explosions have been heard injerusalem as a conflict between israel and the palestinian militant group islamichhad escalates. it follows intense israeli air strikes in gaza which killed a second senior leader of the islamichhad group. khaled mansour was considered the most important man in the armed

wing of the organisation. these are images of the latest airstrikes. up to 32 palestinians — including six children — are now reported to have been killed in this latest outbreak of violence. earlier, i spoke to our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, to get the latest on what's been happening this morning. i heard distant blasts as these rockets were fired by palestinians in the gaza strip towardsjerusalem. it is the first time that has happened since the full—scale conflict in gaza last may. they were intercepted by israel's missile defence system. but this was very important symbolically. it happened just at a time because it's a jewish holiday, there are israeli nationalists who are being allowed to visit the disputed holy site injerusalem, known as temple mount to thejews. for palestinian muslims, it's al—aqsa mosque compound, the holiest place for them injerusalem and the holiest place injudaism. so, this is always

a sensitive point, always a flashpoint. and itjust fed into all of the other violence that is going on. islamichhad has also been promising to rain down rockets, in its words, on the heads of israelis after it lost a second commander in gaza overnight. he was killed in an israeli air strike in the south, in rafah. this man, khaled mansour, is supposed to be the most senior person that had been left from the islamichhad leadership on the ground in gaza. a real serious blow to the organisation. i'm joined now by dahlia shendlin, a political analyst based in tel aviv. thank you forjoining us. where do you see this conflict as things stand, where do you think it goes from here. i stand, where do you think it goes from here-— stand, where do you think it goes from here. ~' ., , ., from here. i think the main question is whether hamas _ from here. i think the main question is whether hamas who _ from here. i think the main question is whether hamas who effectively i is whether hamas who effectively controls gaza from within willjoin

in this fighting against israel, in that case it is very likely to expand into a much bigger operation, like a conventional war and that could last weeks and cause tremendous damage, civilian damage on both sides and probably massive casualties primarily in gaza but also on his release and that's the big question. so far, the fighting has been primarily limited to israel and palestinian islamichhad. the leadership generally has taken the line that it holds hamas responsible for everything that happens in gaza and hamas is understood to have the capability to stop firing from islamic palestinian jihad, capability to stop firing from islamic palestinianjihad, but if israel is fading islamichhad that is not necessarily bad for hamas, as your reporter pointed out they've lost senior figures this weekend. 50 that's part lost senior figures this weekend. so that's part of the political calculations that hamas are making at the moment. making that decision,

whether they step in or they don't. what about the political calculations from the israeli side, what are the kind of things they will consider?— will consider? you really cannot divorce this _ will consider? you really cannot divorce this from _ will consider? you really cannot divorce this from the _ will consider? you really cannot divorce this from the fact - will consider? you really cannot divorce this from the fact that l divorce this from the fact that israel is in the middle of an election campaign, its fifth campaign in 3.5 years, an unusual situation, the current prime minister has only been in office for just over a month following irritation deal with the government that was only established a year ago and everybody from the prime minister to the head of the opposition, the former prime minister benjamin netanyahu is trying to assert and convey to the israeli public that his party is the best one and the most capable of dealing with the situation while at the same time trying to make a show of unity because israel is like every country during war time trying to rally around the flag and they don't want their leaders fighting with each other but each side wants to prove it is top of the security issue ahead of the election campaign and no one wants to look soft. figs

and no one wants to look soft. as ou and no one wants to look soft. as you point out, that's the conventional wisdom, people rallying around the flag and that's good for electoral purposes but there comes a point of conflict is much too protracted and elongated, that political capital then starts to fall. how tmo this goes on, how entrenched it becomes is also a crucial factor in the calculation. absolutely and i think it very much matters to what extent there is a threat to civilians, as you point out, how long it goes on but what extent there are salvos fired at the central areas of israel. it's sad to say but as long as the fine is limited to the south there is a great deal of sympathy for the residents there but it will change the electoral calculus. if the forest birds to the central regions and there have already been salvos of tel aviv, the central block any anti—jerusalem, if those continue, it could easily cross the line to being seen as a failure of the

leadership to manage the situation effectively. it's a very fine line, you are right. this is certainly going to play into the elections but having said that, if it ends quickly, within a couple of days which is still possible, or up to a couple of weeks, i imagine there's still time before the elections for people to get back to normal and sadly for israelis, there is an understanding that these escalations are at regular intervals, they have learned to normalise them, they see them as part of life and they don't often enough ask themselves which political party is offering a change of the overall policy. israel has been effectively controlling everything that goes in and out of gaza and the main crossings with the exception of rafa since 2007, a policy that has led to five rounds of war. it'll be interesting to see if anybody dares to raise the possibility of a fundamental policy

change but up to now be seen general statements, from the left—wing parties, one day they should be an overall political resolution but nothing more concrete. really important _ nothing more concrete. really important to _ nothing more concrete. really important to put _ nothing more concrete. really important to put these - nothing more concrete. really important to put these things | nothing more concrete. really - important to put these things into political context and thank you for that. to ukraine, where another convoy of ships has set sail from the country's black sea ports carrying grain and sunflower oil. four vessels set off from 0dessa and chornomorsk via a safe maritime corridor, heading for turkey where they'll be inspected as part of a deal reached with russia and the un. the agreement is aimed at freeing 20 million tonnes of grain and other essential supplies which have been blocked in ukraine since the russian invasion, causing worldwide shortages. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega is in kyiv. it seems that it is another sign that this deal is working. so four more ships departed the ports of chernomorsk and 0desa in the south of ukraine. they are now going through that safe maritime corridor that's been created because the black sea is infested with mines.

once they get to turkey, they will be inspected by a team of russian and ukrainian officials, also officials from turkey and the united nations, which helped broker this deal. so two of those ships will stay in turkey, the other two will be going to italy and china. another vessel has been authorised to come to ukraine to be loaded with grain. it is a positive development. now, we've heard from the ukrainian infrastructure minister saying that they expect to be able to export up to 3 million tons of grain every month. so to give you a sense of perspective, there are 20 million tons of grain stuck here in ukraine. so it is, you know, vital for ukraine for this deal to be working, to be a success, not only because it is going to ease a global food crisis, but it is also fundamental for ukraine to be receiving some foreign currency. indeed. and if we go right back to the beginning of this,

when this agreement was first signed, russia did attack targets in and around the port of 0desa. and a lot of people were very pessimistic that this would get off the ground. is there still that level of trust and confidence between the two sides that this deal will hold? well, we heard from president zelensky in his evening address saying that it is a positive development, that these ships are being allowed to leave ukraine. some other ships are coming to ukraine to be loaded with grain. but he said that there are some security concerns. he says that, you know, he needs to see if russia is going to abide, is going to follow the terms of this deal. but so far we're seeing that there haven't been any kind of incidents. so far, so good for this deal. here, in the uk conservative leadership candidate liz truss will reverse the planned increase in national insurance contributions within weeks of becoming prime minister, according to her campaign team.

arguments between ms truss and former chancellor rishi sunak over how to handle the economy and the cost of living crisis have been central to the campaign. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake has the latest. the foreign secretary pledged at the start of this campaign to reverse the rise in national insurance payments, it was brought in while she was in government and her rival rishi sunak was the chancellor. it was expected that would happen in april, at the start of the uk tax year, but she said she would be able to and would do it within weeks of taking office, promising to hit the ground running with an emergency budget. one of the measures within that would be this. not a new policy but in terms of the timescale, pledging to go ahead with this faster than she initially had done. as to what difference it will make, rishi sunak�*s campaign have hit back

and said reversing this tax rise will not make too much of a difference depending on people's earnings, slightly less than £200 a year for a typical earner. they argue because of changes he made as chancellor to the threshold at which people start paying national insurance actually the people who are needing help the most in this coming winter as energy bills and prices rise, they will not get much out of this at all. and an intervention by a former prime minister this morning? talking of an emergency budget, that is what former labour prime minister gordon brown has said is needed and he called for collaboration between borisjohnson and the two candidates to replace him, to agree on a date for that to happen as soon as the winning contender takes office. he has warned of a financial time bomb threatening to explode and push millions over the edge. as that predicted rise in energy bills goes ahead in october and again at the start of next year.

he's been explaining that this morning. talking about tax cuts that will not benefit the people who are really poor right throughout this campaign and only because the pressure is growing are they talking about the changes that will happen immediately but it is the urgency i feel is missing about the needs of people who are... children have been going to school ill—clad and hungry and we've got families having to choose between feeding their meters and feeding themselves. we see churches discussing how they can run heat hubs during the winter months because they know people cannot afford to heat their homes. the best we can hope is whether through blankets or duvets or sleeping bags, hot water bottles, or duvets they can heat themselves. the crisis will affect 15 million households, the severity of these households could be {30—40 a week short of what is needed to pay their bills

and we are talking about the social consequences, more children in care and more homelessness and more mental illness and more suffering, and this unbearable burden has got to be taken off the shoulders of the people who are least able to fend for themselves. gordon brown talking about the direct impact of the cost of living crisis on so many people, and he is one of many voices suggesting the way this leadership contest has played out has focused too much on ideological arguments and ignoring the real impact that people are facing and the financial hardship so many are struggling with in the uk at the moment, and calling for the candidates to say more about what exactly they would do. let's go to the growing tensions between china and taiwan now — and china's military exercises continued on sunday morning in close proximity to taiwan, albeit at a lower intensity than on previous days. taiwan has accused china

of practicing for an invasion of the island, while the us has accused beijing of using military drills to change the status quo. 0ur correspondent in taipei, rupert wingfield—hayes gave us this update. what we are hearing from the defence ministry in taiwan is that it believes the last few days of military drills have been a dry run for a future invasion. interestingly we have also heard from the people's liberation and army command in china, effectively saying almost the same thing. perhaps the most significant statement has come from washington over night. the white house releasing a statement saying it believes the jewels from china are an attempt to change the status quo in the taiwan strait. that language is very significant, for the last a0 years or more the fundamental bedrock of the relationship between america and china has been that america will

oppose any unilateral attempt by taiwan or china to change the status quo in the taiwan strait. for the last few days, we've been hearing loudly from china from the foreign minister and other officials that it is america that is to blame for this crisis, the visit from nancy pelosi that has provoked this. this is washington pushing back against that, saying to beijing, it is you being aggressive, you are trying to change the rules of the game and you are attempting to unilaterally change the status quo in the taiwan strait. in cuba, a body's been recovered from the site of a huge industrialfire that's been raging since friday — when a fuel depot was struck by lightning. this is the moment of storage facility exploded. more than 120 people have been injured, and i7 firefighters who were tackling the blaze are currently missing.

cuba has asked the us — and(map)neighbouring countries — to help in efforts currently under way in the coastal city of matanzas. 0ur cuba correspondent will grant has the details. we know 17 firefighters are missing and this couldn't have come for a worse time at the nation, in the grip of a nationwide electricity, running electricity blackout. havana, the capital, has recently been told it will start experiencing blackouts as they try to move elements of the electricity grid to other parts of the island that need it. so it comes at a terrible time, to have a fuel depot on fire, to such an extent that they cannot bring it under control and have appealed to neighbours like mexico and the ideologicalfull appealed to neighbours like mexico and the ideological full of the united states, both of whom have indicated a willingness to help. the very bottom line is they want to get the fire under control immediately, as soon as possible. if you could

send firefighters, support, you know, equipment, that is what they are looking for in the short term. beyond that, there will be other elements they need to rebuild the site and make it safe again. but in the short term, i think the emphasis is on simply bringing the blaze under control and this tells us a lot about working a bit is at the moment, this place is so out of control, talks to the extent of the crumbling infrastructure on the island, worsened by the decades long us economic embargo, something the us economic embargo, something the us has been at pains to point out that doesn't prevent them from helping in a situation and an emergency situation like this. monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across pakistan. more than 550 people were killed in the disaster across the country over the past six weeks. thousands of homes have been either partially damaged or fully destroyed by the deluge, along with the destruction of infrastructure such as highways, roads, and bridges. in remote communities, where help has been slow to arrive, people are trying to rebuild. we visited some of the worst

affected areas in balochistan — where more than 160 people died and also karachi find out how people are coping in the aftermath. 0ur pakistan correspondent pumza fihlani has been there and filed this report. he combs through the ruins of his home, the daunting work of rebuilding begins. his village was laid to waste by the floods and not much could be saved. "i lost everything," he says. he tells us he is worried about more rain coming. he is not the only one. the people are picking up the pieces, but say they don't know for how long or how much time they will have until the next disaster. more than a7,000 homes have either been partially damaged or flattened by the heavy rains across the country.

but it is notjust homes that have been lost, it's livelihoods too. this is a farming community. in a matter of days, this man lost a year's harvest and he says he does not know how he will provide for his family. translation: things are really difficult, we don't know- where our next meal will come from. that is our biggest worry. the casualties from the floods are the highest seen in recent years and the most vulnerable have been the hardest hit. more than 200 children have died. in another village, the community have gathered to pray with a family who have lost three. translation: we are hopeless. only god can help us. i fainted when i found my son's dead body. people had to come and help me. pakistan has some of the most

extreme weather patterns in the world, often battered by nature's worst elements. but climate experts have warned there are already signs that things are changing for the worse. it's notjust remote communities that were affected. here in the main city, karachi, the rains lead to urban flooding. for days, this street was completely submerged in water. some say this disaster has shown a harsh light on how vulnerable communities are but also how inadequate the country's infrastructure is. many are saying some of the deaths could have been prevented with better planning. while authorities admit relief efforts were slow in some parts, they said it was not a matter of will, but of resources. in a country where the monsoon rains are not uncommon, experts say people should not still be dying in their hundreds from flooding.

they say pakistan needs to be developed with its climate challenges in mind so innocent lives can be spared. pumza fihlani, bbc news, karachi. french officials trying to rescue a beluga whale trapped in the river seine have come up with a new strategy, a vitamin cocktail. the visibly malnourished beluga was first spotted on tuesday and has swum upriver to within 70 kilometres of paris. rescuers say it has so far refused their offerings of fish, either because it lacks energy or is sick. they hope that injecting it with vitamins will stimulate its appetite and help it to make the i60km returnjourney to the english channel, where it can swim back to its arctic habitat. let's go live to cornwall to speak to danjarvis, director of conservation and the british divers marine life rescue.

good morning. this is, obviously, we are hoping for this beluga whale, but it doesn't sound like a good situation at all?— but it doesn't sound like a good situation at all? that's right. the animal appears _ situation at all? that's right. the animal appears to _ situation at all? that's right. the animal appears to be _ situation at all? that's right. the animal appears to be in - situation at all? that's right. the animal appears to be in quite - situation at all? that's right. the. animal appears to be in quite poor nutritional condition and broadly speaking, that generally points to a period of long—term declining health, whether this is caused by disease or perhaps a nagging injury of some sort. that remains to be seen. the prognosis in these situations is usually not a happy one, i'm afraid.— situations is usually not a happy one, i'm afraid. what difference do ou think one, i'm afraid. what difference do you think an _ one, i'm afraid. what difference do you think an injection _ one, i'm afraid. what difference do you think an injection of _ one, i'm afraid. what difference do you think an injection of vitamins . you think an injection of vitamins will make? i you think an in'ection of vitamins will make?— will make? i think it's quite a novel idea. _ will make? i think it's quite a novel idea. it _ will make? i think it's quite a novel idea. it remains - will make? i think it's quite a novel idea. it remains to - will make? i think it's quite a novel idea. it remains to be i will make? i think it's quite a - novel idea. it remains to be seen whether this will work. so i think we are all sort of waiting in the background to see what happens with this technique to see if it has any effect on the health of the animal and its ability to feed. in

effect on the health of the animal and its ability to feed.— and its ability to feed. in normal situations. _ and its ability to feed. in normal situations, i— and its ability to feed. in normal situations, i said _ and its ability to feed. in normal situations, i said normal, - and its ability to feed. in normal situations, i said normal, we - and its ability to feed. in normal. situations, i said normal, we hear every now and again about this happening. if the weather was fully healthy, what are the kind of techniques and how do you go about getting these kind of animals out of the rivers and back to where they belong? the rivers and back to where they belon: ? a . ~ the rivers and back to where they belon? ii'f~ the rivers and back to where they belon? ::'j~ ., ., , ., belong? back in 2018 we had a beluga whale of a loan _ belong? back in 2018 we had a beluga whale of a loan in _ belong? back in 2018 we had a beluga whale of a loan in the _ belong? back in 2018 we had a beluga whale of a loan in the thames - whale of a loan in the thames estuary, for about four months, and that animal was in good health and was able to feed itself and remained in the area with supervision from ourselves and the port of london authority and others to make sure it was kept safe and wasn't disturbed and so on and under its own steam, it left after a period of time and we have seen similar circumstances with other rare arctic visitors such as the walruses that came to the uk and ireland last year.— and ireland last year. sorry to “ump in, we and ireland last year. sorry to “ump in. we — and ireland last year. sorry to “ump in, we are showing i and ireland last year. sorry to “ump in, we are showing pictures h and ireland last year. sorry to “ump in, we are showing pictures ofh and ireland last year. sorry to jump in, we are showing pictures of that| in, we are showing pictures of that very incident that you were describing, so ijust wanted to be

clear for people watching at home. why do these whales end up in rivers, is it happening more often? it certainly seems we are seeing more of the arctic visitors coming down to areas outside their normal habitat. whether that's related to climate change is hard to say for sure, of course. we are receiving more records of them. for wales coming up rivers, again, potentially, you know, we are seeing animals that are looking for food in areas they are not used to going into. so over the last few years we've had some wealth coming up the river thames, the humber and other places, and hard to say whether there is a natural increase or whether it's a bit of a blip. fir whether it's a bit of a blip. 0r whether it's a bit of a blip. 0r whether we are noticing and recording it more. it's really interesting to get your perspective. we have fingers crossed for a good result. not looking good at the

moment. danjervis, thank you. you are watching bbc news. and wejust and we just paused there to say goodbye to our viewers watching around the world. but if you were watching on bbc news now... 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 was 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 offer fresh insight into the lives of the people who once called it home. tom brada, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. it's going to get much hotter again as we go through this week. and in fact, temperatures already building today across england and wales, especially under blue skies. a bit more cloud across scotland northern ireland, although northern ireland see more sunshine develop compared with this morning. western scotland, still some rain and drizzle around. eastern scotland always that bit brighter. but even here, there will be increasing amounts of cloud. but here as well, temperatures up

on yesterday's values, high teens, low 20s, maybe mid to highs 20s across parts of central, southern and eastern england. into this evening and overnight, it stays dry for many. the rain just eases in western scotland, but the western isles will see more rain return later with a strengthening breeze. some rural parts could get down into single figures, but most city centres and suburbs will be around 10 to 15 degrees as we start monday morning. dry starts for most. there will be a bit more cloud through yorkshire, lincolnshire and the northeast of england compared with today. but that will break up. lots of sunshine again for england, wales, sunny day for northern ireland, southern scotland. more cloud in northern scotland with some rain at times in the highlands and the islands, and turning hotter in the south.

hello this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the headlines... air—raid sirens sound injerusalem for the first time since the start of last year's full—scale conflict between israel and palestinian militants in the gaza strip. it's the third day of renewed violence between the two sides.