the injured ukrainians trying to stop russia's swift advances china says it has launched military drills around taiwan, describing them as a warning to any separatist act. the island �*s ministry condemned what it called the provocative act. cheering and applause. and, jubilation at spacex: a world first, as part of its rocket is captured on landing. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in the middle east where the israel defence forces says four israeli soldiers have been killed and seven others severely injured in a drone strike by hezbollah. it follows earlier reports that around 60 people were injured in a drone attack by hezbollah.

the armed group said it launched "a swarm of attack drones" at an israeli military training camp in binyaminajust south of haifa. some reports say people had been eating in a canteen at the time of the strike. hezbollah says it was retaliation for attacks by israel in lebanon — which killed more than 50 people on saturday alone. meanwhile, the us has said it will send troops to israel as well as an advanced anti—missile system to bolster air defences. it follows rocket attacks by iran with president biden saying the move was meant to defend israel. from beirut, anna foster has the latest on the strikes inside israel. this is what appears to have been as successful — as hezbollah would term it — drone strike into northern israel, between tel aviv and haifa. the suggestion is that this has happened at some sort of military facility. there's been some pictures on social media appear to show a dining hall with a hole in the roof.

there will be questions asked now about of course israel's defence system which normally picks up so many of these missiles and rockets that hezbollah is firing across the border. it will cause real concern for people living there in northern israel and of course those missile attacks by hezbollah have continued today, as they do every day. there are several hundred each day, missiles that go across the border from southern lebanon into israel and that is why, again, you've got that strip of northern israel where people have left their homes and haven't been able to come back yet. the drone attack comes as the un peacekeeping mission in southern lebanon insists its flags will continue to fly — despite benjamin netanyahu telling unifil to immediately evacuate its troops. the un accused israeli forces of forcibly entering one of its bases in southern lebanon, breaking down its main gate. israel says it was trying to rescue wounded soldiers. about 10,000 un peacekeepers from 50 countries are stationed in lebanon.

since 1978, they've patrolled the area between the litani river and the un—recognized boundary between lebanon and israel, known as the blue line. in recent days, a number of unifil troops have been injured in military action — israel has admitted responsibility for firing toward un posts in some cases. israeli tanks today entered the un base in ramyah, as our correspondent hugo bachega reports from beirut. they're deployed to keep the peace in southern lebanon. but there's no peace left to keep. now, they're caught up in this war. today, un peacekeepers came under israeli attack again. earlier this year, wejoined them on a patrol along the border, when they were still able to leave their bases. israel's war against hezbollah is expanding, and even peacekeepers are not safe. today we had israeli forces entering inside one of our positions in the middle of the night. they stayed there for 45 minutes, damaging the entrance and leaving shortly after.

it's the fourth time in as many days that you've come under attack, come under israeli attack. do you think this is deliberate? well, we are seeing that the first one was injuring two peacekeepers inside our headquarters. inside one of the towers inside. so, that's a deliberate attack. these are all incidents that are making us think, why are they doing it? the israeli military said a tank that was "trying to evacuate injured soldiers while still underfire backed several metres into a unifil post. it said following the evacuation of the soldiers, the tank left the post." today, the israeli prime minister had this message. mr secretary general, get the unifil forces out of harm's way. it should be done right now, immediately.

the israeli prime minister is saying that you should leave those bases along the border. we decided just the other day that we are staying. there was a unanimous decision. we are here at the request of the security council. we cannot let one member state decide the fate of an international organisation, of a peacekeeping mission that is there because of the will of the international community. gunfire. israel says it's targeting hezbollah in lebanon, but the entire country is under attack, even the un. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. as israel's offensive continues in gaza — its forces have struck what they say are hamas targets in the north. in the al—shati region — five young boys were reportedly killed by the strikes while they were playing on a street corner. a bbc correspondent was told seven others were injured in the attack. the israeli military has not yet commented on the incident. the idf is looking into a separate report — that an israeli strike on a school used to shelter

displaced palestinians killed at least 13 people. officials say the site in central gaza was struck by a barrage of artillery, killing families and wounding 50 people. for more of the us deploying high altitude anti—missile system and a us military crew to israel to help bolster its air defences after a missile attack from iran earlier this month. i was joined now by aaron david miller, seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. i think it's a contingency based on the administration's view, and probably israelis as well, that when the israelis in fact respond to the october 1st iranian strike of more than 180 ballistic missiles, that the israelis are going to respond, to use the words of the defence minister, in a precise, deadly and surprising manner, and the iranians may well respond. if they respond with the same kind of launch or greater

than they did on 10ctober, then thaad which has the capability, the terminal high altitude area defence system, has the capability of intercepting missiles anywhere from 150—200kms away. it's a very effective system and it comes along with at least 90 plus, almost 100, us troops to operate the system as well so i think it's a contingency. it's also clear demonstration at a time when we are closing on one of the most consequential elections in modern american history that the administration does not want to show weakness in the defence and in the face of ira'ns second ballistic missile attack against the israelis. iran is a toxic issue in washington and i think that probably figured into the administration's calculation. you're calling it a contingency and president biden called it self defence but given these actions, are we moving closer and closer

to a direct conflict between iran and israel? i don't think there's any doubt about it. i mean, you've seen two norms broken — one, april 13—14 when the iranians launched 300 high trajectory weapons, most of which were intercepted before they impacted israeli airspace, and then october 1, the long promised iranian response which was a saturation attack. if it wasn't for israel's multilayered air defence system it could have been catastrophic in terms of civilian casualties. so the israelis are going to respond. the real question then is the degree to which the iranians are prepared to absorb this attack and at least call it quits for this round, or whether or not we're moving up the escalatory ladder, and i think you have to entertain both possibilities as real outcomes.

a man armed with guns and a fake media pass was arrested by police at a checkpoint near a trump election campaign rally in california on saturday. the suspect, a 49—year—old man from las vegas, was stopped in a black suv more than a quarter of a mile from the location in coachella where donald trump had yet to appear. the secret service has issued a statement saying the former president was not in any danger and their investigation is ongoing. a statement from the trump campaign has thanked law enforcement, adding that they are monitoring the situation. meanwhile, us presidentjoe biden has visited florida, as the state recovers from two back—to—back hurricanes, helene and milton. mr biden said more than half—a—billion dollars will be made available for restoring power grids damaged by the storms. more than three million homes and businesses are without power in the wake of the hurricanes, which together killed more than 250 people across the southeastern united states. mr biden praised the resilience of floridians, and the way they had come together, not as democrats or republicans, but as americans.

i'm proud to announce $612—million to six new cutting—edge projects to support communities impacted by hurricane helene and milton. that includes $47 million for gainesville regional utilities and another $47 million for florida power & light. this funding will not only restore power but will make the region's power system stronger and more capable and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages while extreme weather events become more frequent. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. uk government has admitted it had to have a with logistics for home dp world. dp world, to secure a billion pound port investment —

after one of its subsidiary companies was criticised by the transport secretary. louise haigh called for a boycott of p&0 ferries and criticised its record on workers�* rights. business secretary, jonathan reynolds, said her comments didn't reflect the government's stance. more than 100 venues across britain are backing a new law, known as martyn�*s law, to protect the public from terror attacks. it's due to be debated in the house of commons later. the bill is is named after martyn hett, who was killed alongside 21 others in the 2017 manchester arena terror attack at the age of 29. the bbc boss is to warn that the scaling back the corporation's world service output because of funding cuts, has helped russia and china broadcast "unchallenged propaganda". tim davie is expected to say in parts of africa, latin america and the middle east, facts—based journalism is being replaced by state—sponsored propaganda. the bbc world service transmits news and current affairs in more than a0 languages. you alive with bbc news.

china has launched missiles around taiwan and it shows where it has sent planes and ships encircling the self—governing island with china considers part of its own territory. taiwan �*s defence ministry has condemned what it calls any rational and a provocative act. it says it has deployed appropriate forces in response. the exercises are thought to be a reaction last week �*s national day speech by the tigray knees president who vowed to resist annexation by china —— taiwanese. joining me now is rupert wingfield—hayes. good to speak to you about this. what is the main thing we should understand about china �*s recent actions? the first thing we need to say about these exercises which have been called joint saw 2024 b is the be is significant here because joint b is the be is significant here becausejoint saw b is the be is significant here because joint saw 2024 a happened back in may after president ley was inaugurated as taiwan �*s newly elected

president. that was china �*s response to him becoming the president. he is, i don't think it is too strong a word to say absolutely loathed by the communist regime in beijing and because there was an a, we always thought that was going to be a b and of course after there was a national day address on taiwan �*s national day last week, we are now getting part b of these exercises so they were widely expected. although having said that, if you look at the deployment that china is making, how closest ships and aircraft are coming to taiwan and the very fiery rhetoric coming from china right now, this is very, very aggressive behaviour by china and i think in any other context would have been seen as a dramatic excavation of tensions in this region but it comes off the backdrop of already very high tensions in this region a day to day, we see chinese aircraft and ships coming close to taiwan and that has been going on for the best part of two or more years now.— on for the best part of two or more years now. and rupert,

there has — more years now. and rupert, there has been _ more years now. and rupert, there has been at _ more years now. and rupert, there has been at a _ more years now. and rupert, there has been at a and - more years now. and rupert, there has been at a and nowl more years now. and rupert, | there has been at a and now a b, there might be a c coming down the line. what is the current situation with william lai now as president?- current situation with william lai now as president? there are no relations. — lai now as president? there are no relations, there _ lai now as president? there are no relations, there has - lai now as president? there are no relations, there has been - lai now as president? there are no relations, there has been no| no relations, there has been no could direct contact between taiwan and the government in beijing since i think the last time they met was in 2015, if i remember correctly. that was the previous government here of the previous government here of the now opposition party, the nationalist party, which is much more friendly towards beijing and has had much better relations with jet beijing in the past. democratic party in taiwan which has been in power for nine years now solidly, the previous administration of president tsai ing—wen was disliked beijing and william lai disliked even more by beijing. the government he has said it is ready to sit down at any time without condition to

discuss peace and constructive relations but the chinese government has decided very clearly that it is just going to cut off any contact with the dpp until the time —— taiwanese people and by implication taiwan �*s allies like the united states that this is not a regime it can accept and this is not a regime that can deal with in taipei and that by backing it and arming it it is just causing more trouble for this region in the long run. rupert, thank you for the context to the refit —— recent developments. in ukraine's eastern donetsk region, russia has advanced swiftly in the last few months. fighting is intense, with the ukrainian military reporting nearly 150 battles every day as it tries to stall russia's momentum. just two months ago pokrovsk was considered a relatively safe place. about 14,000 civilians are still there — war weary, and desperate for the conflict to end. from the frontline, the bbc�*s yogita limaye reports, with imogen anderson and sanjay ganguly — and a warning you may find some of the images in this report

distressing. just before dawn, we are taken to what's being called the hottest front line in ukraine. the darkness, a bit of cover from being spotted by russian drones. ukraine is throwing its might into defending pokrovsk. if it falls, russia would gain a gateway to central ukraine. in a bunker nearby, vadym tells us he knows what's at stake. translation: the russians are constantly attacking us. | they have more manpower and weapons. yes, we are tired, but we have to fight. otherwise it will be catastrophic. and just a few miles behind the front line, this is where the toll of battle is most clearly visible.

the first point of treatment for injured soldiers. serhii has shrapnel in his eyes, nose, skull and brain. "my friend, i'm going to take off your bandage. let me know if it hurts," the doctor says. he's in a serious condition. they work quickly to stop the bleeding. they are receiving dozens of injured every day. early this morning, two were brought in dead. under a barrage of fire, ivan and taras are unclear of whether they were hit by mortars or grenades dropped from drones. all of the soldiers brought here, they were injured about eight to ten hours ago.

but it's only now, about two hours after dusk, that it's become safe enough to evacuate them till this point, and that's because of the constant threat of being attacked by russian drones. the delay in getting treated could have grave consequences. taras has no sensation in his arm and it might have to be amputated, his doctor tells us. this is now the third year of a grinding war. driving through pokrovsk, it's evident that most of its residents have left. "this is one of the most dangerous districts of the city," says serhii. a volunteer, finding his way through an empty neighbourhood to evacuate some of those still here. 80—year—old nadia is disabled. she's been living alone in the dark in this room. "i'm falling," she screams.

serhii reassures her. "this damn war, i'm going to die," she cries. another evacuee, viktoria, tells us she can't believe the front line moved so quickly to pokrovsk. translation: the neighbouring towns have been wiped out - and drones buzz near our windows all the time. theyjust stop and look inside. i have constant panic attacks. i'm afraid of the nights. we should negotiate. there's nothing left standing in the areas russia has taken anyway. over the past few months, ukraine has lost territory in the donetsk region at an unexpected pace. many blame this on faltering

military aid from foreign allies. after the loss of avdiivka earlier this year, russia's military has advanced very quickly towards pokrovsk. if ukraine's invasion of kursk in russia was meant to distract the russian military from here, that has not happened. even until a couple of months ago, this city was considered a relatively safe spot where soldiers would retreat to for a bit of rest, where people from further east were brought to so that they could be evacuated from the train station. among most of the people we speak to, we find eroded morale. translation: we have to negotiate. _ so many of our boys have been dying. so many have become disabled. they are sacrificing themselves and it's going on and on. a sentiment that might have once been unthinkable for ukrainians, now being voiced by many — at least here near the front line. yogita limaye,

bbc news, pokrovsk. taking a look at some other stories in the headlines. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky has accused north korea of sending personnel to work alongside russian troops occupying parts of his country. he did not specify in what capacity they were supposed to be acting — but said russia's strengthening alliances with regimes like that of north korea were notjust about transferring weapons. the kremlin has called reports of pyongyang sending troops �*fake news'. and thousands have taken to the streets of madrid — to demand more affordable housing amid rising rents in spain. the demonstrators also chanted slogans urging tourists to leave the spanish capital. the city has been at the forefront of a debate around tourism — with a growing number of short—term holiday rentals increasing prices and reducing long—term capacity. spacex is celebrating what it's called �*a day for the history books�*, after successfully guiding the booster from this starship rocket

back to the launch pad — intact — for the first time. the booster was caught in mid air by two mechanical arms — nicknamed chopsticks — as it slowly descended back to earth. the achievement is a major step forward for spacex — which one day hopes to make reusable rockets that are capable of reaching the moon and mars. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has been taking a closer look at the rocket itself. three, two, one! cheering it's the most powerful rocket ever built and it's about to make history. radio: we have lift off. a perfect take—off. .. vehicle down range. stage separation. ..followed by a successful separation of the first and second stages. but now, watch this. instead of crashing into the sea, the lower stage makes its way back to the launch pad.

it's falling at supersonic speed but its engines fire to slow it down. then, most of them are turned off so that it gently makes its way to the launch tower. then it's actually caught by two robotic arms. the process is called the "chopsticks manoeuvre". cheering and applause. there were so many things that could have gone wrong, but they succeeded first time of asking. let's have a closer look at starship. it's 120 metres tall — that is 400 feet — and, as we saw, it has two main parts. the bottom is the super heavy booster which has 33 engines. on top is the spacecraft, which can carry cargo

and eventually have room for up to 100 astronauts. the aim of the starship system is to be reusable and so bring down the costs of space travel. and really, that is the big gamechanger in terms of making spacecraft more reusable and having a faster turnaround to land them back on earth almost ready to go again. an hour after liftoff, the rocket�*s top section splashes into the indian ocean. we have a ship in the water! but there are concerns about the environmental impact of these tests. the more things such as satellites and rocket bodies that go up into space, the more of that material comes back through the atmosphere, burns up, leaving soot and, again, lots of heavy elements in the upper atmosphere. the long—term environmental effects of which, we don't yet know. we can see those chopsticks now...

cheering and applause. the mid—air catch was an incredible achievement, paving the way for cheaper space travel — which may bring with it its own problems. pallab ghosh, bbc news. before we go i want to bring you some light from a taiwanese airbase. china has announced what appears to be a large—scale military exercise on all sides of taiwan. the democratically led island says it condemned the drills and will deploy its own forces to respond as needed. we will be keeping a close eye on this story as it develops on newsday. hello there. for the past few days we have had colder air across the uk the risk of some frost. but over this week, things are going to be very different, because that colder air is getting pushed away, the wind direction is changing, and in the next few days we'll have a strengthening southerly wind. that'll bring some mild air all the way up from spain, but it will also bring cloud and rain. we've got that around mainly

through the midlands and eastern england early on monday morning. that should tend to move away, leaving cloudy skies behind, a little bit of dampness too. the far north of england, much of scotland and northern ireland though, having a good day with some sunshine, and temperatures widely reaching 12 or 13 in the afternoon, so a little bit higher than what it was on sunday. now, if we look out in the atlantic, here it's all dominated by a big area of low pressure, with some cloud and some rain. that eventually is going to head our way, but not just yet, because ahead of that on tuesday we are seeing this southerly wind develop. that in turn will bring a lot of cloud, so there won't be much sunshine. the best of it for a while probably in northern scotland. later in the day there could be rain in these western areas, particularly towards the south—west, it's certainly a risk here, but temperatures widely reaching 14 or 15 degrees, perhaps 16 or 17 in the south. those temperatures could get a little bit higher, as we head into wednesday. but at the same time,

we've got these weather fronts and this area of rain pushing in from the atlantic, combined with a stronger wind as well, and that wind is pushing the rain northwards across scotland and gradually eastwards across england and wales. it will be a strong wind, i think, on wednesday. of course it's still a southerly wind, that's bringing in the mild air, so even where you have the rain it's mild for the time of year, but ahead of the rain there could be a bit of sunshine for a while across lincolnshire, east anglia, perhaps the southeast of england, so temperatures could reach 20 or 21 celsius, just depends how quickly the rain moves in and how widespread it is. we are expecting that rain to move eastwards overnight, a bit of a clearance by thursday, but we're going to keep an eye on this rain in france. that could head its way northwards into southern areas during the afternoon, rather than the showers coming in from the atlantic. but ahead of that, many places will be dry, with some sunshine for a while, and those temperatures in the southwesterly wind still very mild, 16 to 18 celsius. goodbye.

china's finance minister hints at more stimulus to come, but fails to provide much detail. and we take a look at the economic toll of hurricane milton, as president biden pledges millions in aid. hello and welcome

to business today. i'm steve lai. markets in china are now online, trading over a percent higher. that's despite the finance minister's highly anticipated briefing on saturday, which in many ways fell short of expectations. while no concrete steps were unveiled, lan fo'an said beijing will start taking on more debt to stimulate growth. he also announced some additional measures to stabilize the property and jobs market. economists have been insisting that china needs additional fiscal support, especially if the world's number two economy is to meet its 5% growth target for the year. economist harry murphy cruise explained if that's still possible. i think what we got over the weekend ticked most of the right boxes or said the right things but, as you mentioned, it was lacking in a couple of key areas. the first thing, the detail. we simply do not know how big these new supports will be, when they will be implemented, how they be implemented and, for a lot of investors, that really did leave them wanting more. the other key thing lacking was support for households.