live from london, this is bbc news. "a decisive moment for the gaza ceasefire talks". america's top diplomat is in israel for discussions as the israelis and hamas both blame each other for blocking a deal. kamala harris is in chicago for the democratic national convention where she'll be formally confirmed as the party's presidential candidate to face donald trump in november's election. emergency measures are brought in to ease prison overcrowding in england as more rioters are sent to jail. president zelensky says ukraine wants to create a buffer zone in russia's kursk region after destroying multiple bridges. we find out why london zoo has removed banksy�*s final artwork in his animal—themed series. and, as thousands gather in edinburgh, we will have the lastest from the city's spectacular festival fringe.

hello, i'm lauren taylor. america's top diplomat, who's on a visit to israel, has said it's "a decisive moment" and maybe the last opportunity to reach a ceasefire in gaza. us secretary of state, antony blinken, who's already met israeli president isaac herzog is currently holding talks with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. israel and hamas have accused each other of lacking the will to compromise. mr blinken says it's time for all sides to agree a deal without excuses. this is a decisive moment. probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease fire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security. i'm here as part of an intensive diplomatic effort on president biden�*s instructions to try to get this agreement to the line and ultimately over the line. it is time for it to get done. it's also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process.

and so we're working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity. i know this is a fraught moment in israel, with deep concern about the possibility of attacks coming from iran, coming from hezbollah and other sources. and as you heard the president say, the united states has taken decisive action to deploy forces here to deter any attacks and, if necessary, to defend against any attacks. but the focus of my visit is intensely on getting the hostages back, getting the cease fire done. it is time for everyone to get to yes, and to not look for any excuses to say no. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent tom bateman who is travelling with the us secretary of state,

and our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, who's injerusalem, shortly after antony blinken had started a meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. this is a meeting that is taking place behind closed doors. we don't have official details, but we know that the us is really putting this bridging proposal on the table to try to bring israel and hamas together to overcome the outstanding issues — that following on from this doha summit last week, where you had the us and qatari and egyptian mediators present, along with an israeli negotiating team. now, if you look at the comments, while the americans are sounding positive, really, from the latest statements from israel and from hamas as well, not that same positivity, certainly from the israeli prime minister's office. they're saying that hamas is sticking to its positions of refusal. hamas has really accused the prime minister's office of adding new conditions to the negotiations, which they say are meant

to sabotage the talks. you can look at the different sort of sticking points as they emerge coming out from from both sides. really, first of all, moving from the first phase of the three—phase plan, which is supposed to be the ceasefire and hostage release deal with palestinian prisoners being released from israeli jails as well. and then moving from that first six—week phase into the second phase, which should be working towards a full ceasefire. that is a problematic area. you also have where israeli forces would remain in the gaza strip, which is strategically important locations israeli forces want to remain in after the gaza war. hamas, of course, has been demanding a complete israeli withdrawal from gaza. and then also, we understand there are issues around the palestinian prisoners that would be released from israeli jails as part of all this, as well. yolande knell, thank you very much.

over to tom now. you've been travelling with the us state department party. so there's been ramping up the language, but what other pressure can the us put on making sure that these parties come to a resolution? well, the way they are trying to apply pressure is by creating a sense of urgency. and you heard it there with antony blinken saying this is maybe, he said, the last chance and that there should be no more excuses. i think the problem is that that sense of urgency and, in effect, a deadline being imposed by the americans looking ahead to a week from now where they're hoping to get some kind of breakthrough and to get it over the line, as antony blinken has said. that deadline is being imposed by washington rather than the sides at war here. and that matters because for there to be enough incentive for both the israeli prime minister and the leaders of hamas to clinch this deal, they have to feel that sense of urgency, too. and my sense is we're not really at that point.

and that's why i think the american optimism is really outmatching what you feel on the ground here. the approach of mr blinken, who is by his nature a pretty cautious us secretary of state, has been quite a traditional one, which is to show sort of tough love when it comes to the israelis in general and benjamin netanyahu in particular. he's not one for the sort of diplomatic arm wrench. the question now is about how tough and how much love. and i think we're going to see that over the next few hours. he's due to hold a small press conference here in tel aviv this afternoon. i doubt we're going to be hearing particularly sort of critical messages against mr netanyahu himself — as opposed to many of his critics, both at home and abroad, who believe that he is sort of stringing the americans along for his own political survival. mr netanyahu himself says that he's just simply pushing for a tough deal against hamas in order to ensure israel's safety. but the fact remains that the americans do not have a strong track record in this

conflict in terms of leveraging the israelis to change course at critical moments when they have wanted to. now, they dispute that, really, when you push them on this. they believe that they did get the israelis to do more about opening up humanitarian assistance and also to to pull back the scale of the offensive, particularly in the south of the gaza strip. but i think many critics of the americans will say they simply haven't applied enough leverage. and now you have what they are themselves describing as a critical moment where they have to push both sides, but in this part of the trip, benjamin netanyahu over the line, as they put it — make him take a deal and stop trying to squeeze more concessions out of it. i don't have the sense yet that they're really doing that. let's they're really doing that. recap on our breaking new coming let's recap on our breaking news coming from italy, reuters is

reporting one person has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by a whirlwind and sank off the coast of the sicilian capital palermo overnight. italy's fire brigade and coastguard said earlier divers were searching for seven missing people and had immediately confirmed body had been found. pictures coming in from the scene where there were seven people are missing and one person is said to be dead now. one crew member and six passengers are missing, and we know now the nationalities are british, american and canadian. we understand that four britons, two americans under canadian are missing after this incident. 15 people who were rescued from the boat overnight are in a stable condition divers from the fire department are continuing searches around the vessel at a depth of around 50 metres and half a

mile off the coast. we will bring you more details and updates on that breaking story is the morning continues. the uk government has activated emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding as more rioters are sentenced for their part in recent disorder. across the north of england, defendants waiting for a court appearance will be kept in police cells until prison space is available. the chairman of the prison officers�* association has been explaining how the system will work. operation safeguard is where we use police cells, and the desire is only to have prisoners in police cells for a maximum of 2a hours. the police now have a decision to make — so if they can't take all the prisoners from their cells this morning or this afternoon, they then need to decide whether to hold that prisoner for another 2a or 48 hours hoping they will be up in front of the magistrate so they can go into prison custody, or do we have to bail them? in reality, the most serious offences will end up in court, we will guarantee them a prison cell

and the lesser offences, the police will decide whether to hold onto them or to bail them. our political correspondent, henry zeffman shared his thoughts with us. the government is not pretending this is anything other than an emergency measure that is a sign of the seriousness of the prison overcrowding issue. in practical terms, what will happen here is in most areas of the north of england, when people are waiting for a court appearance in a police cell, there will be a discussion over whether there is availability in a prison for a potential prison sentence. and if there isn't, they will be held in that police cell longer. that is something the government is very loathed to do. they have done it once in recent times back in may, but then the then conservative government briefly activated this to ease prison overcrowding. but if you think this is the sound

of a justice system in crisis, well that is the word the government themselves are using to describe the situation that has led to them activating this emergency measure this morning. also presumably starting to release people early, is that right? not quite yet. one of the earliest announcements this government made on taking office in july was that some prisoners would begin to be released after they have completed just 40% of their custodial sentence. at the moment, some are released after 50% but 40% is obviously a fairly significant reduction. that is only going to start taking effect in early september, so once that policy starts to be enacted, i think the government is hoping they will be able to lift this short—term policy of keeping people in police cells because they will be because there will be more space in prisons, but over the longer term, there just are not enough prison spaces for the number of people that tend to be given custodial sentences in the uk and that will lead i think

to a broader discussion about this government's approach to penal policy and the balance between rehabilitation and punishment and where that should fall, about the kinds of crimes which should receive custodial sentences and the kind that shouldn't, but that discussion is a long way off and this government is very much dealing with a rapid acute short—term issue for now. some pictures have just some pictures havejust come in from jerusalem where the us secretary of state antony blinken has been meeting the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for what he described as a decisive moment in trying to achieve a ceasefire deal which would also include releasing the hostages. they have been months of talks to try to get to this point and some diplomatic activity is continuing to try to bring that deal over the line. the latest pictures there of mr blinken with mr netanyahu.

ukraine's president zelensky has for the first time spoken about the establishment of a buffer zone on russian territory — it's as 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. president zelensky said the aim was to destroy as much russian war potential as possible. here's what president zelensky said in his nightly address. translation: today, we achieved good and much-needed results _ in destroying russian equipment near toretsk. and all this is more thanjust offence for ukraine. it is now our primary task in defensive operations overall to destroy as much russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, is following the situation from ukraine's northern sumy region and sent this update. president zelensky is suggesting that he's in this for the medium haul. he has previously said he doesn't want to permanently capture

and occupy this russian territory which has been captured. but clearly, he wants to hold on to it, i think, for as long as this war rages on. because when he says buffer zone, he means a defensive measure. he means pushing russian forces back from the ukrainian territory they routinely strike. but in time, this land will have a political value for any kind of future peace negotiation. perhaps it could be leveraged, swapped in exchange for some of the land russia has captured and isn't letting go of inside ukraine. we are seeing ukrainian forces continue to advance, moving from village to village in small armoured vehicles. they've just destroyed a second major bridge on the same river further north, frustrating russian supply lines. but there is a big but here. whilst ukraine is advancing here, russia is also pushing forward in the eastern donetsk region in ukraine towards seven settlements, and there really is a protruding spike,

if you like, on the front line, where men and machinery are being concentrated in an area towards the town of pokrovsk. it is true russia has had to redeploy thousands of troops from ukraine as well as russia itself. but it's still not enough to slow advances in the east. nevertheless, ukraine is committed, i think, from where we are in the sumy region. there is no reverse gear. for now, they are going to try and push forward where they can, i think, and try and keep hold of it. but that is a very different proposition than from the...compared with the surprise attack we saw the best part of two weeks ago. the surprise incursion into the kursk region, causing 120,000 local residents to flee, marked the first time in more than 80 years that a foreign army had seized and occupied russian territory. it shocked the russian public who'd been led to believe that their country's border was secure.

our russia editor, steve rosenberg, has been speaking to people in the town of aleksin which is located just over 100 miles from moscow. 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. our 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'll be peace," he says. on 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. steve rosenberg, bbc news, aleksin, russia. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now an update to our breaking story in the last hour — seven people are missing after a super—yacht sank in the early hours of monday off the coast of sicily. the italian coastguard says four britons, two americans and a canadian citizen are missing. 15 other people were rescued. we also now know from reuters reporting that one person has died

and six are missing. divers from the fire department are continuing searches in the area where the vessel was last seen. these are live pictures coming from near palermo and we have some drone pictures from the coastguard and also pictures on the surface of the water where the searches are continuing. we understand that of the people rescued, one was a one—year—old child. the child was transferred to a local hospital and all were in stable condition. the coastguard says the yacht was built by an italian shipbuilder in 2008. we have confirmed by our verified team that the ship is managed by a company whose spokesperson said they are currently dealing with the situation on board one of the managed vessels but we have not confirmed which vessel or any more details. we will bring you more on that story as soon as we get it.

kamala harris has arrived in the us city of chicago for the democratic national convention, where she'll be formally confirmed as the party's presidential candidate. she flew into o'hare airport on air force two after a day of campaigning in the swing state of pennsylvania with her running mate, tim walz. security around the venue is tight ahead of the four—day event. pro—palestine protesters have already been holding demonstrations. our correspondent emma vardy reports from chicago. leaning out of a 94th floor, this city of skyscrapers is a dramatic sight. now thousands are descending on chicago for the convention. this is an amazingly important and unprecedented thing that's going on. it will affect how americans will vote in november. to us, this is a really important election. 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. there's been a surge of excitement for the democrats' new presidential candidate sincejoe biden withdrew over concerns about his age. kamala harris has had a meteoric rise from joe biden�*s running mate,

to being the democratic nominee, to now leading in the polls against donald trump, and she's done it all in less than a month. now the stage is set for the party to rally behind her, with former presidents barack obama and bill clinton among the big names who will speak over the next four days. expect plenty of razzmatazz as the democrats try to keep this new feel—good factor going. there's thousands of balloons up there waiting to rain down on this arena, for starters. but good vibes alone may not be enough, because there's an appetite from democrats now for kamala harris to use this podium to put more flesh on the bones of what she really stands for. outside, chicago's braced for big protests over the war in gaza, one of several key issues kamala harris has yet to set out her stance on in detail. and come and take a look behind the scenes, because this is also a massive broadcasting operation for the american networks, which the democrats would like to become must—watch tv. in the swing state of pennsylvania at the weekend, donald trump attacked his rival.

i'm better looking than she is. in her speech yesterday, kamala went full communist. you heard that — she went full communist. she wants to destroy our country. it's in the battleground states where the race really gets dirty. in wisconsin, a demolition derby gave people something to cheer for. it's voters here that kamala harris will have to win over. i like her, but i don't know if she's strong enough. i would consider myself republican. i don't know if trump is the exact answer for that party, but i sure like his, uh, his viewpoints. he did things, you know? do you think kamala harris has got him rattled? i think, uh, no. i think he has her rattled. in a race that's been upended in recent weeks, the two new opponents are onlyjust getting their horns locked. emma vardy, bbc news. banksy�*s ninth and final artwork

in his animal—themed london series has been removed by london zoo. the zoo says the piece, which featured an image of a gorilla, has been removed for safekeeping and replaced with a reproduction of the work and a sign that said, "banksy woz ere." a rare blue supermoon is expected to rise over the horizon later. supermoons occur when a full moon rises during its closest point in its orbit to the earth. it's as smoke from wildfires across the atlantic has brought spectacular vivid colours to sunsets across the uk. the unusual hues are expected to continue when more unsettled weather will begin to disperse the smoke in the upper atmosphere. rebecca boyle, sciencejournalist and author of �*our moon', told us what to look out for. this will be a great chance to take a look at this beautiful supermoon we have. this is the third full supermoon we have had so far this season, that's why it is a blue moon

and thatjust means there's multiple full moons in single scene or two in a month, this time it is the third full month in a season of full moons. there's these weird terminologies, but this one will be great because it's bright and close to earth so it is bigger in this guy, about 30% bigger, and about 15% brighter than normal so it will look very bright. you almost have to squint and looking at it. i did this evening as it was rising at my house a couple of hours ago. it was very bright, and it's very low which will be a fond site to see. —— fun sight to see. be a fond site to see. -- fun sight to see. ~ ., ., be a fond site to see. -- fun sight to see. ., ., , reuters is reporting one person has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by a whirlwind and sank off the coast of

the sicilian capital palermo overnight. we are looking at heavy rain at times, particularly in the north—west. it's likely to be unseasonably windy with gales in the west but equally some sunshine. today, low pressure is very much driving our weather. you can see the weather front crossing from monday into tuesday which is bringing in rain and windy conditions. the driest and brightest conditions will be in the south—east for the longest, plus the rain advances from the west towards the east, the cloud building ahead of it, and it will be windy, particularly so through the irish sea with gales but windy in the coast is adjacent to the irish sea. temperatures about 13 to 25, possibly 26 or 27 depending on the amount of sunshine in the

south—east. through this evening and overnight, the rain advances eastwards. there could be the odd heavy burst and rumble of thunder. some clear skies and windy, worth looking out for the supermoon. and still humid across the south—east but not so for the rest of the uk. but that takes us into tomorrow. we start with the dregs of the front from today producing patchy light rain, that clears, then into sunshine and blustery showers. windy, especially in the northern half of the country where the showers will be heaviest and you might hear thunder as well. temperatures 1a to about 23 degrees. so then, into wednesday, we have a ridge of high pressure across the south so we start off on a fine note. the cloud building through the day with scattered showers in the west but there will be heavy rain, particularly across western scotla nd, particularly across western scotland, but we will see some of that getting to northern ireland and the rest of scotland through the course of the day and it will be

windy. temperatures 13 to about 22 degrees. into thursday, low pressure still with us for this cold front producing the rain, tied up in this where the remnants of hurricane ernest oh so again we will see a fair bit of rain from this for a time and behind it brightest guys follow in an blustery showers. temperatures on thursday 1a in lerwick and stornoway, highs of 23 in the south—east.

this is bbc news, the headlines: "a decisive moment for the gaza ceasefire talks." america's top diplomat is in israel for discussions as the israelis and hamas blame each other for blocking a deal. the focus of my visit is intensely on getting the hostages back, getting the ceasefire done. it is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no. kamala harris is in chicago for the democratic national convention where she'll be formally confirmed as the party's presidential candidate to face donald trump in november's election. london fire brigade's most senior officer tells the bbc that people living in grenfell tower were told to "stay put for too long" and, as thousands gather in edinburgh, we will have the latest from the city's spectacular festival fringe.

hello, i'm lauren taylor.