hello, i'm lauren turner. we start in the middle east, where gaza ceasefire talks are resuming in qatar, after what a us official described as a "constructive" first day of discussions on thursday. israeli representatives are attending, but hamas, which runs gaza, has stayed away, accusing israel of changing its terms since previous rounds of talks. a hamas official also reiterated that, "any agreement must achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete israeli withdrawal from gaza and the return of the displaced." on thursday, the hamas—run health ministry reported that the number of palestinians killed in gaza has passed 40,000, although israel disputes the figure. later, the families of israeli hostages still held captive in gaza following hamas�* october the 7th attacks, gathered to demand a deal to secure their release, with several thousand marching in tel aviv. a little earlier, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, gave me a sense of how the ceasefire

talks have gone so far. well, we had a white house spokesman saying late yesterday that they had got off to a promising start. the israeli media this morning has been talking about guarded optimism, saying it's a positive sign that the israeli delegation that was sent, the negotiating team, decided to stay overnight, despite what they see as some security risk in doha, and that they are continuing these talks with us, qatari and egyptian mediators today. now, hamas, as we were saying, has not sent a delegation along to these indirect talks. but, of course, hamas leaders are present in doha. and what mediators have been saying is they have ways to get messages back to hamas. so this is not seen as being the obstacle that it may appear to be. and in the meantime, a development on the west bank, israeli political leaders, including benjamin netanyahu and two far—right ministers, have condemned a large group ofjewish settlers who went on the rampage in a village in the occupied west bank,

setting houses and cars on fire. settlers, some of them wearing masks, were armed with batons, rocks and molotov cocktails as they descended on the village ofjit. at least one palestinian was killed and others seriously injured, and it's a reminder that there's violence quite often in the west bank that is less well reported than events in gaza. that's right. although we've had these strong comments coming from israeli leaders, the president calling it a pogrom, for example, this is by far, you know, farfrom an isolated incident. we have the un ohchr agency, which has been monitoring attacks on palestinian civilians by extremist settlers, saying that since the start of the war in gaza, they have found something like 1,250 attacks by settlers on palestinians. and there have been on top of that, you know, something like i7, 18 palestinian communities where people have been forced by settler harassment

away from their homes. those communities in some places having settlers move in, setting up temporary outposts there. those are sort of seeds of settlements that are not even authorised by the israeli authorities. all settlements seen as being illegal under international law. we had the white house also coming out quickly to condemn what has happened, saying that such violence against palestinian civilians was unacceptable and must stop. and there have been lots of complaints from the international community, from israeli ngos as well. there is a sense of impunity when it comes to a lot of these attacks. you do not see prosecutions by the israeli authorities. nomi bar—yaacov, middle east expert and associate fellow of international security programme at chatham house, gave us her analysis of the talks. we are at a critical stage. we are at a make or break stage.

and i think that is known not only to the three mediators, qatar, egypt and the us, but also to israel and hamas. and therefore we are at a pivotal moment, a breaking point. and i'm cautiously optimistic. i think talks are going well and the lines have been drawn. they're very, very clear. and hopefully there will be an outcome of an agreement on a framework. it is unlikely that all of the details will be ironed out today, but it is very much my hope and the hope of the mediators and the parties that a framework will be agreed, and thereby the implementation will be what is going to need further discussions beyond today. hamas are not attending directly but they are based in doha. some of their political fellows are based in doha, so they presumably will get some of the feedback from the talks. do you think it makes any difference if they're not directly attending?

no, i don't, actually. i think that given the hamas leadership is based in doha, they are essentially a part of the negotiation. in any event, the israelis and the hamas are not sitting on the same room as the negotiators, so they are being updated regularly by the mediators and feedback is coming in. so i think, yes, they announced that they're not sending anyone, but they're actually there. what do you expect in terms of any kind of retaliation from iran or hezbollah for the killings of ismail haniyeh and also the hezbollah commander? there was some talk that perhaps, if a ceasefire in gaza was achieved, that might be taken off the table? do you think they will still go ahead anyway with some form of retaliation? i think everything hinges on the outcome of these current negotiations. hezbollah have vowed to retalliate for assassination of fuad shukr, for which israel took resonsibility. and iran have vowed to retaliate

for the assassination of ismail haniyeh, the political leader of hamas on their soil just over two weeks ago. that said, there has been tremendous diplomatic efforts — both behind the scenes and openly — to ensure that no retaliation takes place and that the chance for a ceasefire agreement is being given. and the chance is now. so i think everything hinges on the outcome of this particular negotiation. if a framework agreement will be reached, i do not think we will see an iranian and hezbollah immediate retaliation. if an agreement is not reached, on the other hand, i think we're all doomed and we're going to see a very serious coordinated retaliation between iran, iran's many long arms and proxies in the region, and hezbollah. doctors and medical workers in new delhi hold a protest

to demand justice and safer working conditions after a trainee doctor was raped and killed at a medical college campus in kolkata on august 9th. the hospital where she worked was attacked in a protest. there are also medical strikes, the indian medical association saying that it will have a nationwide strike of nonemergency services on saturday and also doctor's associations in other cities in west bengal have planned marches on friday and over the weekend to continue protesting against the attack on the female trainee doctor, which has caused such outrage around the country. we will monitor those protests for you and report on that story from india for you. next to the global concern

over the spread of the deadly new strain of mpox from parts of africa — china has announced heightened screening for goods and people coming from areas where the new highly contagious strain of the disease has been detected. the world health organization, which declared a global public health emergency on wednesday, says more cases of the dangerous variant are likely to be found in europe in the coming days, after sweden reported the continent's first infection. simonjones reports. in the democratic republic of congo, the country hardest hit, public health campaigns are under way to warn people of the dangers of mpox. 0riginally known as monkeypox, it's transmitted through close contact, such as sex, skin—to—skin contact or breathing close to another person. it causes flu—like symptoms and skin lesions. they often clear up within a couple of weeks, but mpox can be fatal, particularly for people with weakened immune systems. translation: three of my children and i were infected. _ one was treated here and the other two were taken to hospital. after two weeks,

they were discharged. a week later, my wife was infected. now a case of the more dangerous strain of mpox has been recorded in sweden. the authorities say the person became infected during a stay in an area of africa where there is currently a major outbreak. it is very probable that we will see more cases in europe in the near...close time, so it's important for all countries to be aware that this can happen. there have been a50 deaths in the democratic republic of congo following an outbreak of the new strain. it's also been detected in neighbouring countries, including the central african republic, uganda, kenya, rwanda and burundi. the surge of mpox in the democratic republic of the congo and a growing number of countries in africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. who is warning also about the potential of this mpox virus to spread further across countries in africa, and possibly outside the continent.

dr meera chand, from the uk health security agency, said... outbreaks can be controlled by preventing infections with vaccines. the uk government says it has stockpiles as part of its preparedness plans. the world health organization says a coordinated international response is now vital. simon jones, bbc news. in the aftermath of the rights of the uk, we are hearing that the first adult in england has been charged with riots as opposed to violent disorder. the crown prosecution service has authorised a charge of riot against kieran usher

in relation to disorder in sunderland. that is from the chief crown prosecutor for the region. sunderland. that is from the chief crown prosecutorfor the region. it follows a 15—year—old being charged with the same or serious offence yesterday, and those charges of riot carry a longer potentialjail sentence of ten years, as opposed to five years you would get for violent disorder, which is the charge mostly used in the follow—up of those rights. we will bring you more on that story as we get it. to the us, where five people have been charged over the drug—related death of the friends star, matthew perry. the 54—year—old actor was found dead in a hot tub at his los angeles home last year. he had taken ketamine. those charged include the actor's former personal assistant, two doctors who are accused of supplying the star with the drug, and a woman known as the "ketamine queen". emma vardy reports from los angeles. hey, i got you a present! oh, my goodness, where did you hide it? to fans, matthew perry, best known

as chandler bing, was the funny characterfrom friends, who'd made no secret of his flaws. he'd struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout his career. i'm in control of the first drink, and so i do all these things to protect myself from not having the first drink. sure. at the time of his death, he was said to have been undergoing therapy for depression — taking small doses of ketamine. but when he was found in the jacuzzi at his home, the levels of the drug in his body were much higher. the five people facing charges are alleged to be part of a criminal network, supplying the drug, including two doctors, who used the actor say law enforcement as a way to make money. these defendants took advantage of mr perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. they knew what they were doing was wrong. were doing was risking great danger to mr perry, but they did it anyways. the desperation that led perry to these individuals was not met with help, as it should have been from the doctors,

but instead it was met with exploitation — exploitation by those who should have guided him toward help. matthew, right here first. thank you _ matthew perry was charged 2,000 for a dose of ketamine worth around $12. the doctors are accused of acquiring the drug and falsifying medical records — one of them writing in a text, "i wonder how much this moron will pay." and matthew perry's personal assistant has admitted injecting him on the day he died. investigators say while looking into the actor's death, they uncovered a drug supply network, involving a dealer known as the ketamine queen in hollywood, and say that other suspects in connection with the operation are continuing to be investigated. emma vardy, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to thailand, where paetongtarn shinawatra has become the country's youngest ever prime minister. the 37—year—old says she's "very honoured and happy" to take up the post. her selection by thailand's parliament marks the return of the shinawatra dynasty — she is the daughter of the billionaire tycoon and former leader, thaksin. the former prime minister, srettha thavisin, was dismissed earlier this week by the constitutional court. here's some of what paetongtarn shinawatra had to say. i talked to my family, and i talked to a lot of people from my party. and i decided that it is about time to do something for the country and for the party as well. and i hope that i can do my best to... ..make the country go forward. that...is what i try to do. right now, of course today, i feel very honoured and i feel very happy.

our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, in bangkok gave us his analysis. she's a good campaigner. she will come across as very natural in the way that she came to the job. she led the campaign of her party last year, but she is not a political heavyweight. she doesn't have a lot of experience. she spent a lot of time working for her family hotel business, she onlyjoined the party tee years ago. in that sense, she is untested and, given the very tricky nature of thailand politics at the moment, most people would see hertz facing a serious challenge in holding her coalition government together. in order to meet the expectations of voters that she can revive the economy, something her predator so was unable to do —— her predecessor was unable to do.

because she comes from the shinawatra clan, and there is a lot of mistrust between them and the conservatives, she faces a type of court intervention that has dismissed prime ministers in the past. dismissed prime ministers in the ast. ., ., ,, ., ., ., past. you mentioned the shinawatra clan. while they _ past. you mentioned the shinawatra clan. while they so _ past. you mentioned the shinawatra clan. while they so significant - past. you mentioned the shinawatra clan. while they so significant in - clan. while they so significant in thailand? ., ., ., , ., thailand? how father really sort of shattered the _ thailand? how father really sort of shattered the mould _ thailand? how father really sort of shattered the mould of _ thailand? how father really sort of shattered the mould of thailand i shattered the mould of thailand politics, he made his money very quickly out of telecoms in the 19905, quickly out of telecoms in the 1990s, so he became rich very quickly and superseded a lot of other more well—established families, then establish this election machine that did not seem able to lose. using that power, he tried to transform the country in the way that he liked, but he ruffled the feathers of the royalist elite, particularly people close to the monarchy, who felt he was trying to rival its prestige. for those reasons, they felt he was abusing

his power, of corruption. they justified the coup against him, and also against his sister in 2014, and governments that have been led by his family or associates. it is the most high—profile political dynasty in thailand and has retained this prominence for many years. you mentioned _ prominence for many years. you mentioned the _ prominence for many years. you mentioned the coup and the role of the courts in thailand politics. how will she manage one of the priorities, the economy? the economy is critical for — priorities, the economy? the economy is critical for them. _ priorities, the economy? the economy is critical for them. it _ priorities, the economy? the economy is critical for them. it has _ priorities, the economy? the economy is critical for them. it has been - is critical for them. it has been stuck in low growth for a long time and has been the hallmark of a party that they make people better off. if they can't do it this time, they will be punished at the next election three in years. she will always be watching over her shoulder, the courts and other institutions that are very conservative are distrustful of elected politicians. they place the strict rules where it is easy to break the rules in some way and the

courts have this sweeping power to step in and dismissed prime ministers, to dissolve parties. that is a reality in thailand politics. governments serve at the will of these unelected groups, much more than the electorate. here in the uk, details of compensation to be paid to victims of the infected blood scandal have been set out by the government. some of those affected could each receive up to £2.5 million. an estimated 30,000 people were infected with hiv and hepatitis c from contaminated blood products and transfusions between the 19705 and early 1990s. our health editor, hugh pym, reports. they'd called for years for truth and justice, and campaigners who gathered in may to mark the publication of the public inquiry report felt that had been delivered. it said the scale of the scandal was horrifying and that doctors, the nhs and government had repeatedly failed patients. today, more details of the final compensation package have been published. payments to those infected will start by the end of this year

and to those affected, including families, some time next year. existing support schemes will continue as well as compensation. about 3,000 people so far have been in touch with the official body running the scheme, but it's not clear how many will claim. it's important that the support schemes do continue because that gives financial security to our community and it is an important recognition of past loss. it's separate compensation because compensation is a recognition of the damage that was inflicted on the whole community through treatment given to them by the nhs. earlier plans from the government have been assessed by the head of a new compensation authority sir robert francis. he's backed most of them and suggested changes. these include extra payments to those who were subjected to scientific trials without consent. that was what happened to some pupils at the special school

treloar�*s in hampshire, which had a unit to care for haemophiliacs. they'll receive £15,000 extra as well as compensation, but they say that's not nearly enough. i think the £15,000 proposed award is both derogatory and insulting, not only to the children that are still alive, the young adults that died, but also theirfamilies. um, i really do. there aren't really... there aren't really words. i just can't believe it, none of us can. and those infected with hepatitis c, or who lost loved ones because of the virus are concerned at earlier suggestions their compensation would be a lot less than those infected with hiv. no update on that has yet been announced. ministers said it was an important milestone for victims and campaigners, and everything possible would be done to deliver compensation quickly. campaigners, though, will be anxious to see more of the detail. hugh pym, bbc news.

prince harry and his wife meghan have begun a four—day tour of colombia. the duke and duchess of sussex were invited by the country's vice—president, for what's been dubbed a "diy royal tour". our south america correspondent, ione wells, has more from bogota. prince harry and meghan are no longer working royals. but, as their first visit to latin america shows, when on tour, they still get a majestic welcome. they're here in colombia as guests of the country's vice president, francia marquez, the first black woman to hold that role. for both parties, this visit is about sharing ideas to protect children from harm online. they met children at this school before discussing solutions with activists and experts too. prince harry and meghan have spoken openly about attacks they've faced on social media. colombia's vice president said she, too, had faced discrimination since she was a child. for both parties, this is also about publicity with the couple and government only allowing their own personal videographers

into some events. prince harry and meghan hope to promote their campaigns to make the internet a safer place and maintain their influence and visibility on the world stage. they still attract meetings with global leaders. for the government here, it's publicity too, ahead of elections next year. the sussexes have said they fear doing similar high—profile events back in the uk after suffering threats online and no longer receiving the government—funded security they did as working royals. this second overseas tour in just a few months leaves many wondering if international campaigning is where their focus is turning. ione wells, bbc news in bogota. a further eruption of mount etna in sicily has caused renewed travel disruption during a public holiday in italy. the volcano began spewing lava, ash and smoke early on thursday, leading to flight cancellations. etna is one of world's most active volcanoes.

it's the tallest in europe, and is believed to have the longest documented history of eruptions among all volcanoes, with records dating back to 425 bc. volcanic activity from etna has intensified this week, with vigorous explosions following a four—year dormancy period. the first adult to be charged with riot following the widespread disorder across england will appear in court today. in a short statement, gale gilchrist, the chief crown prosecutors for cps north east, said that 32—year—old kieran usher would face the allegation of riot in relation to the disorder in sunderland on 2 august.mr usher is due to appear before south tyneside magistrates court, in south shields, later on friday. this is after a 15—year—old was charged with riot in relation to the disorder yesterday. a reminder that the maximum prison sentence for rioting is ten years in jail, whereas violent disorder carries up

to five years in jail. we will keep you up—to—date with that on our website. to stay with us on bbc news. goodbye for now. hello. whilst some of us had some pretty heavy rain yesterday and overnight, today and into the weekend brings a window of drier and more settled weather on the cards. so for most of us, the weather is looking predominantly dry through the rest of today and into the weekend with some sunshine around, and things will feel pleasantly warm in that sunshine. the windiest weather will be found out towards the northwest of the uk, closer to this area of low pressure, which will throw a few showers in at times across parts of scotland. but further south, once we lose this frontal system that's brought some early cloud and rain to the southeast, that should clear away. a lot of dry weather on the cards. so some fairly strong uv levels out there for the rest of today for many of us. we've just got those scattered showers blowing in across the western isles, the northern isles and parts of highland. temperatures between about 15 to 25 degrees for most of us. still some fairly high levels

of pollen across england and wales. you'll notice that weed pollen this time of year, if you do suffer from an allergy to that. moving through this evening and tonight, still blustery showers continue across parts of scotland for a time. a little bit more cloud and breeze generally for scotland and for northern ireland. further south across england and wales, lighter winds, one or two misty patches forming and actually quite a fresh start to saturday morning. in more rural spots, we could see six or seven degrees to kick off the weekend. so, into saturday, and this weather front is well and truly out of the way, sitting across the near continent. so a ridge of slightly higher pressure in charge. a westerly influence to our weather through the course of the weekend. and that breeze coming in from the west or the southwest across scotland will still bring one or two showers, but they'll be few and far between. further south, you'll stay dry, with the longest spells of sunshine across east anglia and the south—east. elsewhere, areas of cloud drifting around but a fine, settled sort of day. 15 to 24 degrees our top temperatures on saturday. similar day again into sunday. that westerly breeze bringing a few

showers to parts of scotland, could be one or two around coasts and hills in the west of britain and northern ireland as well, but further east, long spells of sunshine once again. so, 14 to 25 — fairly typical temperatures for this time of year. warm in any sunshine. but as high pressure clears away into next week, low pressure will start to influence us more from the atlantic. so things turning a little bit more unsettled. still quite warm and humid, especially in the south on monday. a return to some showers and slightly fresher conditions, but still some sunny spells for the rest of next week. bye.

us democratic presidential nominee, kamala harris, is set to unveil her economic plan on friday. as india celebrates 77 years of independence, prime minister narendra modi delivers an upbeat message about the country's future. the eu imposes tariffs on imported chinese biofuels — after accusing china of dumping them at unfairly low prices. welcome to business today, i'm tadhg enright. the us democratic presidential nominee, kamala harris, is set to unveil her economic plan on friday. the economy and the high cost of living have been

a key issue for voters — something both harris and republican nominee donald trump have addressed in their campaigns. our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from maryland. along the shore of the chesapeake bay, it costs more to eat out than it did before. maryland's famous crabs and seafood have increased in price likejust about everything else in america. so it may look like the living is easy but people are still worried about inflation. who do you blame for the crisis? i blame the democrats. yeah? i believe... yeah, the policies are hurting the working man. i get paid by the hour so to get up and go to work every day, i take it you have to do that to get the american dream but ijust know it's getting harder. every three days i have to go to a grocery - store and i spend $100 every time i go to the grocery store. - it's nuts. that gets really hard to take. donald trump's pitch that he is making is, if you

felt better off four years ago than you do now, vote for me.