live from washington. this is bbc news. as fighting rages on in gaza, negotiators present a new proposalfor a ceasefire and hostage release between israel and hamas. ukraine destroys a strategic river bridge in the kursk region as it continues its cross—border offensive. the world health organization urges wealthy nations to share mpox vaccines with affected countries, as concerns grow over an outbreak in africa. hello, i'm carl nasman. us presidentjoe biden says a deal between israel and hamas is much closer than it was three days ago. that's after the us put forward a new proposal to bridge

the gap between the two sides at talks in qatar. hamas wasn't present for negotiations — in protest over the assassination of its political leader and chief negotiator, ismail haniyeh, injuly — which it blames on israel. but the group is in direct communication with the mediators. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the success orfailure of a deal was up to hamas, and urged other countries to pressure them to agree. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is heading to the region this weekend, in hopes of getting a deal over the line when talks resume next week. our state department correspondent, tom bateman has more. these two issues have become entirely intertwined now about a potential breakthrough in the cease—fire talks and iran's threatened retaliation to israel because i think the american feeling is very much that it heightens the possibility of a iranian strike significantly if it looks as though the cease—fire talks are falling apart. so what we have

now is, after 48 hours of talks in delhi as you have been hearing, a lot of very positive messaging from the americans. whatjoe biden said there, taking that they are really close. just here for my senior us official who described, a new spirit to drive us to a conclusion. from talks into the hall. so they think there is momentum. on the other hand, the palestinian version not so positive at all. have heard other such statements believing in effect the americans are trying to string everyone along that they have not got the israelis to move and drop new conditions that hamas said attached to this. so the trip by antony blinken is about piling public pressure on all sides to keep the engagement going into to try and take a deal. for more on the likelihood of a deal, i've been speaking to michael singh — managing director at the washington institute for near east policy, and a former senior director

for middle east affairs at the national security council. i went to start off by asking you about president biden. he sounded optimistic saying we are closer than ever to a cease—fire agreement. do you share his optimism? cease-fire agreement. do you share his optimism? obviously it is hard to — share his optimism? obviously it is hard to know— share his optimism? obviously it is hard to know what - it is hard to know what happened behind closed doors. it is important to remember that at these talks, hamas was not represented. what we have seenin not represented. what we have seen in the past few weeks is the us and israel have been publicly at odds over a cease—fire talks. there was a growing sense amongst american officials that prime minister netanyahu in israel was moving the goal post, creating new obstacles for the talks. it may be positivity that you are hearing from american officials reflects a closing of ranks between the us and israel. but that does not mean that hamas will accept the deal. the difficulty here is that now has to be somehow transmitted to the leader of hamas in gaza,

cinnabar and yes to be willing to accept that and so far that has been very difficult in these talks. —— sinwar. i5 has been very difficult in these talks. -- sinwar. is a 'ust a these talks. -- sinwar. is a just a matter— these talks. -- sinwar. is a just a matter of _ these talks. -- sinwar. is a just a matter of getting - these talks. —— sinwar. is a just a matter of getting the two sites physically to the table but or are there larger sticking points holding up the deal? element is a fundamental sticking point which is even though we call this a hostage deal or a cease—fire deal, and yes, a release of hostages any cease—fire would be part of it, wants total victory as prime minister netanyahu over hamas as was said, hamas not only want to survive, but to rule gaza and fight another day those two objectives are obviously fundamentally at odds. so live with sticking points are pending to do with hostages or a cease—fire, but the other provisions of a deal which would lead yellow back to hamas being able to drum destroy israel or not being able to pursue that effort. we

are hearing antony blinken will be meeting with prime minister netanyahu on monday, what you make of that visit? this is the latest in a long string of visits to the region, can antony blinken persist across the line, he hopes he can. we are a the line, he hopes he can. - are a dangerous point in the middle east he cease—fire talks are happening against the backdrop of a potential outbreak of a broader regional conflicts. we have threat of both his—brother—word—mack and iran had mounting a major military operation although frankly i think neither of those parties once a war and there's a lot of hope for getting a cease—fire done will allow his brother and iran to stand out or back off so i think the security of states going out to the middle east simply because he views it as the most immediate problem on his desk right now he is determined to be engaged in trying to address it. we

determined to be engaged in trying to address it.- trying to address it. we have been hearing _ trying to address it. we have been hearing this _ trying to address it. we have been hearing this week - trying to address it. we have| been hearing this week about the growing number of civilian casualties in gaza and now about a potential outbreak of polio among the population. but what would a cease—fire mean for the humanitarian situation there? fist for the humanitarian situation there? �* ., ~ there? at a minimum i think there's a lot _ there? at a minimum i think there's a lot of hope - there? at a minimum i think there's a lot of hope in - there? at a minimum i think. there's a lot of hope in the us and elsewhere that a cease—fire would mean the international community can get humanitarian assistance and to gaza including medical and food assistance and other types of assistance. frankly, in the long term, helping the people of gaza is going to depend on having security, good governance and things like this and gaza over the longer term. frankly, that means that hamas will have to go and some other entity will have to come in govern gaza and provide security there. after we get a cease—fire done, that big bird, those big questions will frankly, still remain. there are still a _ frankly, still remain. there are still a lot _ frankly, still remain. there are still a lot of _ frankly, still remain. there are still a lot of questions | are still a lot of questions out there, preferably you go,

could be of leadership in the us and a change could happen in israel with approval ratings low for netanyahu, is there a sense that there —— if there is no cease—fire work out in the next few weeks, this is the last chance?— next few weeks, this is the last chance? we will have a chance last chance? we will have a change of _ last chance? we will have a change of leadership - last chance? we will have a change of leadership in - last chance? we will have a change of leadership in the| change of leadership in the united states but this will go on. either donald trump or kamala harris will want to see ac fire happened in gaza. donald trump has talked about that specifically wanting to see the conflict wind down quickly. in israel i frankly don't think we will see a leadership to change anytime soon. netanyahu does not phase elections until 26 and right in his coalition is holding together despite his unpopularity in the polls. so i think we will continue along this track until a cease—fire either gets done or something else fundamentally changes there. ., ~' the un says pauses in fighting are desperately needed to allow for 600,000 children in gaza to be vaccinated against polio.

the disease has re—emerged in the strip for the first time in 25 years. the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, spoke to reporters earlier. the ultimate vaccine is peace and an immediate cease—fire but in any case, a polio pause is a must. it is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with were reaching all over. and amid the humanitarian crisis in gaza, violence also flared in the west bank. jewish settlers stormed a village thursday night, killing one palestinian man. the attack took place injit in the north of the occupied west bank. benjamin netanyahu condemned the attack. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports. no one knows who made rashid asidi a village hero. who shot the young it worker

as he threw stones to keep armed jewish settlers at bay. but they know who to blame. translation: even the ambulance that came for him was _ blocked by the army. they waited until he died. the blame is more on the army, because they are not controlling the settlers. they protect them. his mother said she didn't know if it was a settler or a soldier who fired the fatal shot. rashid's brother mahdi took me to where he was killed. the village boundary fence, broken in several places. a neighbour said dozens of settlers gathered here last night, and that he heard a hail of gunshots. he said he called the israeli army, who took two hours to arrive. the army said they deployed within minutes. residents say the settlers were masked, armed and organised into groups. some dressed all in black,

some all in white. hassan was at home with his family when they came down this road. his surveillance camera caught the moment they confronted him, setting fire to his car and entering his family compound. translation: they were all. armed with automatic weapons, light weapons, pepper spray. their attack was organised. they had a clear goal to kill or burn. here we are, unarmed. they have the government supporting them. we have nothing except ourselves. israel is under fierce international scrutiny over settler violence in the west bank. israel's army says it has launched a thorough investigation into last night's attack. those gathered for rashid's funeral prayers had little faith in justice. the body of rashid asidi is leading a procession of anger through the village ofjit. people here trace this violence right back to the behaviour

of israeli security forces and the policies of israeli politicians. a palestinian village surrounded by israeli settlements, distrustful of israeli forces, burying their anger along with their grief. ukraine has destroyed a strategic river bridge in the kursk region, cutting off a russian supply route as it continues its second week of a cross—border offensive. officials in moscow say destroying the bridge will disrupt evacutations, and make it harderfor the kremlin to supply its troops. the head of the ukrainian military says troops are strengthening their position, advancing between one and three kilometres further into the region. ukraine claims it has taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres, or 444 square miles, in the region since august 6. meanwhile in eatern ukraine, russian officials say

a series of ukrainian strikes wounded at least seven people and set a shopping centre ablaze in the russian—controlled city of donesk on friday. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, sent us this report. ukraine isn'tjust targeting russian troops, but their supply lines too. a missile makes light work of a major bridge in russia's kursk region. it was a counteroffensive which surprised just about everyone. apart from the ukrainian paratroopers who've released this footage. complete with dramatic music and muscular armour from when they first overwhelmed a russian border crossing and the soldier manning it. after a blistering land grab in the kursk region, ukraine's gains are starting to slow. russia is diverting resources, like these artillery units, to stem the tide. nevertheless, ukraine

is bringing in more troops to consolidate what it's taken. this is the main route from ukraine's sumy region into russia itself. you have to imagine it as an artery. and as advances start to slow, the question becomes, what next? kyiv took this territory relatively easily, with the element of surprise and elite forces. but keeping hold of it, as russia turns its head and redeploys thousands of troops, that will be very different. arnie signed up to defend ukraine with the full—scale invasion. translation: no-one likes war, we want to finish it. _ i am not keen to fight. but for our ukraine, for our people, we'll stand till the end. anatoly has just returned from russian soil and has noticed a difference in progress. translation: we are still advancing. - it's slowed down a bit, but we are moving forward. as long as we have orders and instructions,

we'll keep on moving. anatoly hopes his effort will relieve pressure on other parts of the front line. as of yet, that's not happening. regardless, ukraine's goal seems to be shifting from liberation to producing bargaining chips for a future peace deal, whenever that might be. james waterhouse, bbc news, sumy region. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. an inquest has found that a 13—year—old girl died after drinking a hot chocolate because costa coffee failed to follow its allergy process properly. the coroner said there had also been a failure of communication between the coffee shop staff and the teenager's mother. hannahjacobs died of a hypersensitive anaphylactic reaction. the family of a yoga teacher who was stabbed during the southport knife

attacks say she has been readmitted to hospital, due to breathing problems. leanne lucas is believed to have been one of the organisers of the taylor swift—themed dance class where the attack, which left three girls dead, took place. a three—day strike by border force agents at london's heathrow airport "will likely cause serious disruption", according to their union. hundreds of members of the public and commercial services union will strike from august 31st to september 3rd. they will then work—to—rule, which includes refusing overtime, until 22 september. a pcs spokesperson said the industrial dispute, which began in april, is over issues including the introduction of "inflexible rosters". you're live with bbc news. aid agencies are warning of a critical shortage of treatments and vaccines for mpox across africa. the who declared the outbreak a global health emergency on wednesday. our correspondent 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. originally known as monkeypox, it is 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 few weeks but mpox can be fatal 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 a hospital. after two weeks they were discharged. a week later my wife was infected. now a case of the more dangerous case 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 time. so it's important for all countries to be aware that this can happen. there have been 450 deaths in the democratic republic of the 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. doctor meera chan from the uk health security agency has said the risk to the uk population is currently considered low, however planning is under way to prepare for any cases that we might see in the uk — this includes ensuring clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly. 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 an international response is now vital. simon jones, bbc news.

the european centre for disease prevention and control has suggested that travellers should consider getting vaccinated against mpox if they are planning to visit the affected areas in africa. friday marks one week since the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in a government hospital is india's eastern city of kolkata. doctors across the country have stopped all non—emergency services in hospitals and are protesting in large numbers demanding immediate justice and safe workplaces. india's top crime agency is investigating the incident. but the bbc�*s archana shukla reports it has resurfaced concerns for the safety of women there and workplace security. they chant demanding justice. slogans demanding safety at workplace. these are the junior doctors gathered from across government hospitals in mumbai and they are angry. they are

here to protest against the lack of safety at workplace in most government hospitals. remember, these are the junior doctors that handle patient work and government hospitals, work and government hospitals, work overload hours, underpaid and mostly are at the forefront of any violence inflicted at health care staff. one of the biggest demands they have is of a central law curb violence against health care staff. a lot of the anger is directed towards the political establishment and that the government. who, the protesters say, has not done enough to bring safety at workplace for women. there are laws, but they are not effective on ground. but now, these protests are going regionwide and they have support from the private dr. seuss association and across the country nonemergency services will come to a

standstill as protest inputting protest —— pressure on the government. crime against women have not come down over the past two years despite laws being in place. over the last four years, being in place. over the last fouryears, cramming against four years, cramming against women fouryears, cramming against women has gone up by 4% according to the statistics of the government. that is something that all of the doctors here and across the country people supporting the protests are demanding. let's turn to some other important news around the world. president biden on friday designated a national monument at the site of the 1908 race riot in springfield, illinois. lawmakers and civil rights leadersjoined mr biden in the oval office as he signed the proclamation. the monument will serve as a reminder of a two—day riot sparked by mobs of white springfield residents after two black men were jailed on separate crimes against white people. the riots sparked the creation of the naacp, the nation's top civil rights organisation.

the duke and duchess of sussex have begun a four—day tour of colombia. prince harry and meghan were invited by the country's vice—president, francia marquez, for what's been dubbed a �*diy royal tour�*. they are set to take part in events promoting mental health for young people and how to combat cyberbullying. an eruption at mount etna in sicily has caused travel disruption during a public holiday in italy. the volcano began spewing lava, ash and smoke early on thursday, leading to flight cancellations at catania airport. etna is one of world's most active volcanoes. it's known as "snowball earth" — the longest and deepest ice age in our planet's history. exactly how it came about has long been a mystery — but a small group of scottish islands may have just given scientists the key to understanding it. the garvellach islands, in the inner hebrides in the west of scotland, offer the best geological record of the earth's transition into an ice age 720—million years ago. the findings could open the door to a better understanding of why it happened — and how it laid the groundwork for animal life to evolve here.

our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, has more. these tiny islands in the inner hebrides of scotland hold the key to how the first animal life emerged on earth hundreds of millions of years ago. each layer of this rock face in the garvellachs captures a snapshot of the planet's distant past. scientists have now dated fragments of the rock, and shown them to be from the only place in the world to have a detailed record of how our planet plunged into the most severe and prolonged ice age in our history. these tiny grains prove beyond any doubt that the garvellachs are the best and most complete record of a critical period in our history called snowball earth — when, for 80 million years, pretty much the entire planet was covered with ice. if we wind back the calendar hundreds of millions of years,

we see that scotland was in a completely different place, because the continents have moved over time. it was south of the earth's equator, and had a tropical climate until it — and the rest of the planet — became engulfed in ice. but then, something remarkable happened. after the melting of the snowball, we suddenly start to get bona fide modern—looking animals. it seems counter—intuitive that such a big freeze that could have prevented life was actually the spur to generate this explosion of life. after the snowball melted, of course, everything that had adapted to that and diversified in those specialist niches would have had to then compete with each other in some kind of arms race. geologists have been studying the rocks on the garvellachs for decades — first on foot, using the only building on the island as a base, and more recently, using drones to create

detailed computer—enhanced images of the rock layers. if the results are confirmed, these islands could be awarded a golden spike — that's an actual spike hammered in — to celebrate the location of a planet—changing geological moment. so tell me what you're doing, elias — you're hammering in the golden... the golden spike. laughter. elias rugen imagines what it might be like to receive one of science's greatest accolades. it would be fantastic. golden spikes around the world are a reasonably big deal. the previous one that was ratified was from 30 years ago, so it doesn't happen that often. do you think you'll get it? i'm hoping so. i think it's definitely the leading candidate. i don't think there's many other layers of rock and sections around the world that come close. so i'm quite confident, yeah. these are thejudges of the golden spike — a group of the world's leading geologists on the scottish island, seeing for themselves

what all the fuss is about. among the most influential of them is the secretary of the international subcommission on the era. scotland can get the golden spike. the chance is very high, based on the garvellach formation. presented, a great example — excellent example of the potential candidate of the golden spike. the researchers will find out next year whether they — and scotland — have won the golden spike. but in the meantime, they press on with their research, studying the rocks that hold the key to the emergence of the first complex life on earth. pallab ghosh, bbc news. and before we go — it's an unusual boat race in one belgian city. the annual bathtub regatta hosted more than 200 participants who sailed through the city of dinant on the meuse river. the colourful rafts must be fashioned from bathubs with awards given for originality, theme, beauty and ambiance.

the unique race started back in 1982. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we're into fine settled spell of weather now, just in time for the weekend, and we should see a lot of sunshine on both saturday and sunday, especially across england and wales. winds light in the south, always a bit fresher further north. that's because scotland is closer to this area of low pressure over iceland, but the azores high, bringing plenty of sunshine and lighter winds to england and wales. but it will be quite a cool start to saturday morning. cool and fresh, with temperatures in single digits out of towns and cities. but there'll be plenty of sunshine to begin the day, cloud tending to bubble up into the afternoon, and that will bring a few showers to northern and western scotland and northern ireland through the day, where it'll stay quite breezy but light winds further south. temperatures here 24—25 degrees. mid to high teens across the north, maybe 20 degrees across north—east scotland. now the showers tend to fade

away across most of the north, the odd one continuing across the highlands through saturday night. lengthy clear skies again, light winds to the south. so it's going to be another fresh night to come with seven to 12 degrees for sunday. the azores, high across the south, just nudges up a little bit further northwards. so large parts of england and wales, maybe northern ireland, southern scotland will see lighter winds, but still quite breezy across the north and west of scotland, where again we'll have a few showers and a few showers, perhaps for northern ireland, maybe just one or two across western england and wales, but similar sorts of temperatures, mid 20s in the south and mid to high teens further north. now as we head out to sunday to monday, our area of high pressure begins to get squeezed out in towards the near continent. as low pressure takes over across western areas, it goes downhill through the day across the north and the west. wetter and windier but central and eastern parts of the country will stay dry. plenty of sunshine and light winds, too. further north and west it

will be turning blustery with that rain, so temperatures here high teens at best, quite warm and turning increasingly humid across the southeast 25, maybe 26 degrees. tuesday looks more unsettled generally across the country. could even see a few showers in the south—east. it'll be a breezier day to come, but the heaviest of the rain will tend to be across the north and west of scotland. temperatures here again mid to high teens up to around 20 to 24 in the south. further areas of low pressure will cross the country, bringing wet and windy spells to the north and west, but it should tend to stay largely dry, quite warm, humid and breezy across the south—east.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. coming up on this week's rouramme: �* ., , ends up getting a gorgonzola cheese sandwich, you know, which even now is sort of fairly hip to the groove, you know? there's a seal over there also looking for his dinner. right, well, uh, it's night time. not only am i staying in the same house, i'm actually going to be sleeping in the very room that he had as a child. hey, hey!

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