live from london, this is bbc news. us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in israel, amid hopes that a gaza ceasefire deal can be reached. kamala harris campaigns in the vital us swing state of pennsylvania, ahead of monday's democratic national convention. and the sound of scotland on a global stage — we'll report from the world pipe—band championships. we begin in israel — where the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived ion his ninth visit to the region since the war in gaza began, to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage—release deal. the us and israel have expressed

careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. but hamas denies progress is being made, and accused israel accusing hamas of being "obstinate."

what he will try to urge him to do is drop any final attempts to squeeze more concessions from this deal, to stop going for what he might think is a perfect agreement, and settle for something that the americans think is already very good. so, that will be the diplomatic part of this. but the problem is, these talks are not happening in the diplomatic rooms — they're actually happening in a very technical way, led by the cia, by mossad, by egyptian spy chiefs. we saw that in doha at the end of last week. very technical and difficult discussions — much of that was about the exchange of israeli hostages for palestinian prisoners. that's known in the language of the deal as "the keys". some progress has been made on that, but when it comes to another quite fundamental point about the situation on the ground at the end of the conflict, that's much more difficult because the israelis want to keep boots on the ground, particularly in the south and in the centre of the gaza strip. and hamas are currently saying, "no way". we've had more defiant statements from both those sides tonight. so no breakthrough seems imminent on that — perhaps this is a bit

of a negotiating tactic from the two. but one final point — remember the backdrop to all of this, for the americans, is their electoral politics. it gets much harder to do all of this with the political energy needed close to the american presidential election. and so, for a democratic administration, i think the clock is ticking that much faster, trying to get an agreement than it is for the two sides involved. the efforts to secure a ceasefire in gaza come amid widespread fears of a broader war across the region. there is already conflict between israel and the militant group in lebanon, hezbollah — which is backed by iran. since october, tens of thousands of people have fled from both sides of their shared border.

over 500, mostly fighters, have been killed in lebanon, while lebanon, while in israel, 42 people have died, mostly civilians. many in lebanon now fear an escalation to all—out war. from the capital beirut, our senior international correspondent orla guerin reports. call to prayer. as international mediators clutch at a ceasefire in gaza, hezbollah buries its dead. this is dahieh, in south beirut, where many are born into the iranian—backed armed group. and many die for it, fighting against israel. but we found some mourners hoping for a diplomatic breakthrough. we hope that the international world can play a role to ceasefire. it seems that we are going through a very great explosion

and everybody will be loser. no winners. funerals like this are a familiar sight here. hundreds of hezbollah fighters have been buried in recent months. people here say they're not looking for all—out war, but they're not afraid of it, either, and if it comes, they'll be ready to fight. just how ready is on display in this new propaganda video, apparently showing hezbollah�*s network of tunnels, and some of its arsenal of weapons. we can't verify the contents of this video, but hezbollah is much stronger now than in 2006, when the two sides last went to war. we are in danger and we've been feeling it even more.

the minister who has to plan in case of another all—out war says people here know too well how bad things could get. the images they've been seeing, watching on the news, receiving on their phones from gaza... the war that led to more than 40,000 people being killed, a lot of them children and women. civilians. making people afraid. do you think people here expect it will be like gaza, if it happens? i think the images from gaza are being played in the house of every lebanese. and these images, too, are fresh in people's minds. a massive blast four years ago this month at beirut port. caused by chemicals and safely stored. we had six people died in this straight and in the parallel street we had, like a 20 people died. etienne had to rebuild his restaurant from the rubble. he says if beirut becomes a war

zone, he will rebuild again but he is worried for his daughter. she's a six—year—old girl. so, every time a sound happen or something, it is training, army training... because i don't want her to understand it is war or something happen. but when it will happen, it will happen. the next move may come from hezbollah or its iranian backers. both have promised to hit israel hard for the assassination of senior militant leaders. without a ceasefire in gaza, they may not hold fire for much longer. 0rla guerin, bbc news, beirut. ukraine's armed forces say they have

destroyed another bridge in russia's kursk region. they say the crossing was used by russians to supply troops and its destruction will hamper the movement of weapons. it comes almost two weeks after ukrainian troops carried out a surprise incursion into the area, causing 120,000 local residents to flee. it's the first time in more than 80 years that a foreign army has seized — and occupied — russian territory. the attack has shocked the russian public, who'd been led to believe that their country's border was secure. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has been speaking to people in the town of aleksin. this is aleksin, a 700—year—old town about 100 miles from moscow. and i've come here to find out what people think about the dramatic situation which has been unfolding in kursk region with the ukrainian incursion. with ukrainian soldiers now in russia, lyubov tells me that she's worried. "i can't even watch the news on tv because i start crying," she says. "how is this possible?

someone let this happen". "people here trust our soldiers to finish the job," andrei says. "and to win". at the market, regina is selling vegetables from her garden. "the most important thing," regina says, "is that war doesn't come here, that they don't get all the way here." 0ur soldiers, especially the commanders, must be more vigilant". keep in mind, this is a nation which is constantly being reminded by those in power here of the horrors of the second world war — the horrors of invasion. world war two is very much part of the national psyche here and now, for the first time in more than 80 years, you have foreign fighters on russian soil seizing russian territory. that's quite a shock.

vladimir is worried but thinks that russia will achieve victory. what exactly is victory in this war, i ask him. "victory is when there will be peace," he says. 0n the town square, a patriotic pop concert. but the atmosphere is pretty subdued. people do seem worried, very worried by the situation in kursk region, by the ukrainian attack. people do want peace, there's no doubt about it. but here's the thing. they still seem to trust the man at the top, the man running the country, president putin, to secure that peace for them. the same leader who, two and a half years ago, launched the full—scale invasion of ukraine.

here in the uk — the home office says it will include extreme misogyny — the hatred of women — among types of extremism which the government should take steps to tackle. it's started a rapid review to address gaps in the current system and will develop plans to "map and monitor" extremist trends — both on and offline. the home secretary yvette cooper said that "for too long" governments had "failed to address" the issue. i spoke with our political correspondent helen catt, to find out more. this is a rapid review that she's asked civil servants in the home office to carry out. she hopes that it will be completed by about october time, and the idea is to look at the current strategies for tackling extremism, to identify any gaps, to look at the evidence for what works in turning people away from these sorts of views, and to look at cracking down on the people who push them. and so it will look at the rise of islamist extremism, of far—right extremism, but it will also look at other

forms of of ideologies that the home office says they've seen a rise in in recent years. so that includes things like extreme misogyny, the extreme hatred of women. it also includes things like people who have a fixation on violence. now, considering misogyny as an extremist ideology isn't entirely new, so incel culture is already recognised as a form of extremism, people are referred to the anti—terrorism strategy prevent for it. that is, of course, involuntary celibacy, where generally young men believe that they are involuntarily celibate and they blame their problems on women and what they call "alpha males". so that is already recognised as a form of extremism. and there's been a bit of a focus on misogyny in recent years as well, in recent months as well, because of the rise of social media influencers like andrew tate, for example. now this review, as i said, it's hoping to be done pretty quickly. it will then go on to inform a new counter extremism strategy.

and there hasn't been a new one of those since 2015. the government promised it in its manifesto. the criticism that's often levelled at these reviews is that sometimes they can be a way of being a substitute for action. but what the home office, what the home secretary is saying is, "look, we haven't had a new strategy since 2015, we need a review to see what the new threats are." let's return to our top story now — and america's top diplomat, antony blinken, has arrived in israel on his ninth visit to the middle east since the war in gaza began to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage—release deal. president biden said on monday that a gaza cease—fire remained a possibility. i'm joined now by negar mortazavi, who is an editor and host of the iran podcast, and a senior fellow at the centre for international policy based in washington, dc. thank you forjoining us on the

programme. so both sides are accusing each other of blocking the deal that's on the table — do you think we are headed for yet another deadlock in these negotiations? i think it's a little early to say, but it sounds like it's going that way. if we look at the pattern of the past round of negotiations, usually it starts with more optimism from the us and the white house, antony blinken — but we've also seen the same pattern, both sides accusing each other. and we've also seen a growing criticism call from inside israel, some hostage families, critics of the prime minister, essentially saying that they don't want an end to the war — in fact, they want to expand the war. so there seems to be an interest in moving the goal posts, which was one accusation during negotiations, or any which was one accusation during negotiations, orany time which was one accusation during negotiations, or any time a cease—fire deal is put forward, it's

something that we witness. but this time, the stakes are very high because there very serious potential this will escalate to a war with hamas and hezbollah attacking israel. .. ., ~ hamas and hezbollah attacking israel. .,~ ., israel. speaking of further escalation _ israel. speaking of further escalation of _ israel. speaking of further escalation of conflict, - israel. speaking of further escalation of conflict, iran i israel. speaking of further - escalation of conflict, iran has been drawn into gaza — house is playing within iranian media, what's the conversation there, especially from the leadership in the country? well, there's a new president, a reformist president in iran who just started on his first day — the hamas political leader was assassinated in tehran, this was the day after a senior hezbollah leader was assassinated in beirut, so double attacks in two capitals. and the new president has vowed they would respond to these israeli attacks. at the same time, tehran has shifted a

little bit their strategy — this time around, unlike where they did a tit—for—tat attack in april, they've put this on pause and signalled that if a permanent cease—fire happens, they may actually let this attack go and not retaliate. but at the same time, they are using it as leverage, essentially threatening, if cease—fire talks fail, that they could retaliate and this would escalate the war to the next level, potentially pulling even the united states in. 50 potentially pulling even the united states in. ., ., , , , ., states in. so what happens if a cease-fire _ states in. so what happens if a cease-fire isn't _ states in. so what happens if a cease-fire isn't agreed - states in. so what happens if a cease-fire isn't agreed this - states in. so what happens if a l cease-fire isn't agreed this time cease—fire isn't agreed this time around? what would iran likely do? does it have the appetite for an all—out conflict with israel? perhaps they'll just all—out conflict with israel? perhaps they'lljust keep pushing both sides to reach an agreement? that's the internal debate —— internal debate within iran as well, because they want to establish deterrence and use this as leverage

in cease—fire talks. but if it does fail, essentially they are risking having to take an action that would further escalate, which is something they don't want. so they want something that's not too small and not too big — and i'm not sure if that's even a possibility, and what that's even a possibility, and what that would look like. so they know that would look like. so they know that if the escalation is seen as too big from the other side, that the expansion of the war would essentially have to come in the end inevitably, pulled the united states in. madness is something the biden administration has resisted the past ten months, even in april when the tit—for—tat attack happened between iran and israel, the us didn't get involved in the retaliation from the israeli side, basically drawing the line and saying they don't want to be pulled into an open war with iran. but this time around, i think it may be different if this were really does escalate to another level, a dangerous level, then the whole dynamic of the region can

change. whole dynamic of the region can chance. . ~ whole dynamic of the region can chance. ., ~ i. whole dynamic of the region can chance. . ~ i. ., whole dynamic of the region can chante, ., ~' y., ., ., whole dynamic of the region can chance. . ~ ,, ., ., , whole dynamic of the region can chance. . ~ ., ., , ., change. thank you for “oining us on bbc change. thank you for “oining us on sac news. — change. thank you for “oining us on bbc news. thanks — change. thank you for “oining us on bbc news. thanks for _ change. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. thanks for having - change. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. thanks for having me. | to the us now — where the democratic national convention gets under way in chicago tomorrow. a key moment for kamala harris to set out her stall as to why she should be the next us president. her nomination is secured afterjoe biden withdrew, and she won't make her big speech until later in the week. she's spending some of the time between now and then in the swing state of pennsylvania — this is the moment arrived in pittsburgh, greeting her vp pick tim walz. let's take a listen to some of what she said at a campaign rally in pittsburgh. we know our country is going to be as strong as our willingness to fight for it. and to fight for what we stand for. you know, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. when you stand for working people, you fight for working people. when you stand for freedom, whether it be to make decisions about your own body or love who you love, you fight

for those things. when you believe in ending child poverty, you fight for that. when you believe in what we need to do to lift up the middle class, you fight for the middle class. these are the things we stand for, and these, therefore, are the things we fight for. kamala harris speaking a little earlier. 0ur north america editor sarah smith is in chicago to look ahead. kamala harris has been laying out more and more of her plans, she gave a speech about the economy with several ideas as to how she would like to lower the cost of living. but don't expect the kind of detailed manifesto you might get from political parties in different as she accepts the nomination to be the democratic candidate. and

there'll be speeches from the current president, former presidents, as well as other party members — which will again be talking more about the direction of this election, the messages this is about, moving the country forwards, not taking it backwards, protecting the freedoms that are under threat from donald trump if he were to become... from donald trump if he were to become- - -_ from donald trump if he were to become... ., ., ,, ~' , become... the how do you think they will handle next _ become... the how do you think they will handle next week, _ become... the how do you think they will handle next week, the _ will handle next week, the republicans? 50 will handle next week, the republicans?— will handle next week, the reublicans? . , will handle next week, the reublicans? ., , republicans? so donald trump has been promising _ republicans? so donald trump has been promising that _ republicans? so donald trump has been promising that he'll— republicans? so donald trump has been promising that he'll do - republicans? so donald trump has| been promising that he'll do events every day to try and steal some of the spotlight away from the democrats here in chicago. but the truth is, you're right, he's been really struggling to work out how to change his campaign to cope with the fact that he's now facing different opponent, a younger woman of black and south asian heritage, instead of

the older president and joe biden. he seems to be lost —— a bit lost and unfocused. you have done critics artists and members of his own party talking publicly about his need to talking publicly about his need to talk more about policy and the economy — but he seems stuck laying in a personal insult against kamala harris and long rambling stories. he just doesn't seem to be able to focus on exactly how he'll attack kamala harris and how he'll prosecute this campaign all the way through to november. find prosecute this campaign all the way through to november.— prosecute this campaign all the way through to november. and sarah, 'ust talk us through — through to november. and sarah, 'ust talk us through some i through to november. and sarah, 'ust talk us through some of i through to november. and sarah, 'ust talk us through some of the i through to november. and sarah, 'ust talk us through some of the latesth talk us through some of the latest opinion polls that we have coming in, which show that the two candidates are neck and neck at the moment — that's perhaps a positive for kamala harris? tell us what all this right now. for kamala harris? tell us what all this right nova— for kamala harris? tell us what all this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion — this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion polls — this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion polls had _ this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion polls had joe _ this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion polls had joe biden - this right now. sure, so for months, the opinion polls had joe biden a - the opinion polls had joe biden a little bit behind donald trump — then when they changed candidates four weeks ago, that all changed as well. so you are seeing kamala harris building what looks to be

significant a more support thanjoe biden had but probably really not enough yet to say she is definitely going to win. the margins are very small. today, the washington post had a poll that put her four points ahead nationally in a poll that covered the whole country. romolo harris on 49%, donald trump at a5. and harris on a9%, donald trump at a5. and there had been some recent polls in key states, the seven state that will probably decide the selection, and they had kamala harris i headed most of them as well, or tied with donald trump in some. so the direction of travel is deathly very positive for kamala harris at the moment — but of course, she's enjoying something of a honeymoon with the voters right now, and that will probably carry through this week if they have a successful convention here in chicago, but it might become more testing as we get closer to the election. so although kamala harris does appear to be ahead, these margins are tight enough that it could go either way. the remaining 31 ted baker stores in the uk are to close this week,

putting more than 500 jobs at risk. all of the fashion brand's stores are expected to have shut by the end of tuesday. the fashion retailer was put into administration in march this year. ted baker began as a menswear brand in glasgow in 1988, and grew to have shops across the uk and in the united states, with licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in asia and the middle east. emer mccarthy has more. ted baker here on regent street in central london is about to close its doors for the very last time. it's one of 31 ted baker brick—and—mortar shops that are set to close by the end of the week, and that puts more than 500 jobs at risk. walking past, i have seen a number

of shopping bags and ted baker bags. they are very familiar, platy dresses, sharp suits — it meant ted baker really was a stalwart of the british high street. but of course, the firm in charge of the company went into administration back in march. and since then, it really has all been up in the air. now, before that, there were dozens of brick—and—mortar stores across the uk, as well as the us, and an online store. now, 500 jobs are at risk across the ted baker brand. all stores are expected to close by tuesday. let's take a look at what's making news — in monday's front pages. the gaurdian is leading with the war in the middle east — reporting that the us secretary of state has joined "11th hour talks on a gaza ceasefire deal". while the daily telegraph's front page features the war in ukraine with claims the uk pm is being accused of weakening his support for the eastern european country.

the daily mail's top story tomorrow says more than half of labour mps have taken donations from unions since the election was called. "big payouts for workers contacted out of hours" reads the front page of the times, which is reporting bosses could face compensation bills worth thousands under labour's "right to swich off" plan. "war on women—haters" — that's the main headline for the metro — which focusses on the government's plans to treat "extreme mysogyny like terrorism". meanwhile, the daily express features a story on all tory leadership candidates demanding the decision to scrap the winter fuel payment be overturned. the i reveals thousands of children and teens have been spiked by vapes or drinks in three years. and the financial times main story tomorrow looks at a warning from a us federal reserve offical over lowering rates too quickly. however, its uk story focusses on suella braverman's lucrative work tapping

into the right—wing speaker circuit. the 202a world pipe band champions have been crowned after two days of competition in glasgow. this year's line up included entries from australia, oman, and hong kong. 0ur scotland correspondent katie hunter reports. this is the pinnacle of pipe band competition. more than 7,000 pipers and drummers gathered in glasgow. bands from scotland, northern ireland, the usa and canada among those competing for the biggest prize in piping. 0ur 202a world champions are...

..inveraray and district. cheering i feel absolutely ecstatic. really pleased for all the guys in the band, and the effort they put in. it's been a tremendous couple of days, just really... i'm very proud of my players. and they're proud too. on top of the world for the third time. katie hunter, bbc news, glasgow. time now for the weather with helen willetts. good evening. it's been a fairly quiet weekend of weather. that's about to change. as we head into the new week, dare i say it, for some, it's going to feel distinctly autumnal. there will be heavy rain at times, and the potential for some unseasonably windy weather, as well. not this evening, though. the showers are fading, the cloud will melt away,

and we are in for a coolish night across central and eastern areas. could be a little bit of mist and fog for the morning rush. the nights are getting longer, it's hanging around a little later now. but further west the temperatures won't fall that much, because we will have the first signs of the cloud and patchy rain in here. so, this is the first deep area of low pressure, with its thundery rain moving through monday and tuesday. a brief respite before this system, the remains of hurricane ernesto entrained in there, so some tropical air delivering heavy rain and potentially very windy weather for this time of year. more on its way for friday. so, you will expect to see the wettest weather across parts of wales, northern ireland, north—west england, but especially western scotland this week — in excess of 100 millimetres of rain — but not as much, or not that much, further south and east, where we will start the day with some sunshine. the mist and fog clears away, and we will hold onto that dry and fairly sunny weather in the south and the east. but already, by the middle of the day, really wet across northern ireland, the west of scotland, hence the met office warning for a couple of inches of rain in places, as it will be slow—moving.

strong winds with it, so not feeling very pleasant, but i do think it will feel quite warm in that sunshine in central and eastern areas. the wind is from the south west instead, and that heavy, thundery rain will push its way southwards and eastwards. not giving that much rain across southern and eastern areas, but we will continue with more heavy showers in the north and west through the night. so what we will notice about monday night is it will be much more uncomfortable again for sleeping. we've got that humid airwith us again. but it doesn't last long, because that weather front�*s out the way, and there may be another bout of heavy, thundery showers following on for a time, but then some drier weather away from the north and west. that low pressure's anchored here, with its strong winds, so obviously it's going to feel quite cool here. and for most of us, anyway, having lost the humidity, it will be a fresher feeling day, despite some sunshine, which may well prevail in southern areas on wednesday. but by wednesday, there's that next area of low pressure barrelling in, of course, with some tropical air, so it is going to give a lot of rainfall across the north and west. as ever, we will keep you posted.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. replacing joe biden with kamala harris has injected a shot of adrenaline into the democratic party's campaign to retain the white house. the upcoming party convention should maintain that bounce. but then what? well, the next three months will be a battle for the hearts and minds of key swing voters. my guest will be in the thick of it. shannon watts founded a nationwide gun control movement led by women, and now she's rallying women — specifically white women, for harris. is her activism, strategically savvy or potentially divisive? is her activism strategically savvy or potentially divisive?