a spokesperson for the peacekeepers says repeated the injured ukrainians trying the injured ukrainians trying to stop russia's swift advances to stop russia's swift advances — we have a special report — we have a special report from the east of the country: from the east of the country: cheering and applause. cheering and applause. and, jubilation at spacex: and, jubilation at spacex: a world first, a world first, as part of its rocket as part of its rocket is captured on landing. is captured on landing. welcome to bbc news, welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. in the uk and around the world. we start with china which is it we start with china which is it has launched military drills has launched military drills around taiwan, describing them around taiwan, describing them as a warning to any separatist as a warning to any separatist act. this map provided by act. this map provided by beijing shows where it says it beijing shows where it says it

has sent planes and has sent planes and ships encircling the island which is considered as part of its own territory stop taiwan �*s defence ministry has condemned what it called an irrational and provocative act but said it had deployed appropriate forces in response. we're showing you some pictures coming to us, showing the airfield in taiwan airbase where we have seen in the last hour, jets taking off and landing. china �*s military exercises are thought to be the reaction to last week �*s national day speech either taiwanese president william lai who vowed to resist annexation by china. for more on this i am joined by our china corresponded stephen mcdonnell. tell us more about these actions by china and the timing of them. actions by china and the timing ofthem. ~ actions by china and the timing of them. ~ . . ., ., of them. according to the eo - le of them. according to the peeple "s _ of them. according to the people 's liberation - of them. according to the | people 's liberation army, of them. according to the - people 's liberation army, this people �*s liberation army, this is a sort of dress rehearsal from attacking taiwan

is a sort of dress rehearsal from attaci provocation. we drills are a provocation. we are seeing more and more of this tension and ping up between mainland china and taiwan, the democratically governed island which beijing says should rightfully be part of china. and we're seeing a lot of them now and it they seem to be getting bigger and although the pla seems to be increasingly attacking taiwan from all sides, you just have to see from the map that all around taiwan these exercises are taking place. it is a pretty regular occurrence and it doesn't necessarily mean there is going to be an imminent waranything there is going to be an imminent war anything like that. that said, what is concerning is of course what the taiwanese have said, they are preparing their own troops in response to this just in case and you would have to worry that one day there could almost be some sort of a miscalculation on either side leading to actual shooting from

both sides. that is of course the big worry. but we will have to see what comes of these exercises. however, according to the statements on the pla, they seem pretty significant, as i say, on all sides of taiwan, involving all branches of the people's liberation army from their southeastern command, that is right across the water from taiwan and so you could expect that over the coming days there will be more tension across the taiwan strait. ~ , , , strait. we will stay with this story and — strait. we will stay with this story and connect _ strait. we will stay with this story and connect with - strait. we will stay with this story and connect with the l story and connect with the political scientists and assistant presser at national taiwan university in taipei stop he is also a resident fellow at the atlantic council of global china hub. good to have your thoughts on this. as you havejust have your thoughts on this. as you have just heard have your thoughts on this. as you havejust heard our correspondence say there, quite a significant mobilisation of military personnel, what do you

make of this round of exercises?— make of this round of exercises? ~ . , exercises? we all saw this coming. — exercises? we all saw this coming. this— exercises? we all saw this coming, this was - exercises? we all saw this coming, this was not - exercises? we all saw this coming, this was not a - coming, this was not a surprise. and compared to some of the other high scale military drills we've seen in the past but these have the potential to be relatively low scale so in a sense they are only going to last for a day as opposed to days and weeks. the prc has made it known that any comment from someone from the dpp whether it is tsai ing—wen or william lai is unacceptable and will lead to these high level drills so even though these drills are not a good thing, they increase the likelihood of conflict, they should not be seen as a pretense for war or something unexpected but rather an unfortunate new normalcy in the taiwan strait.— taiwan strait. what do you see with taiwan — taiwan strait. what do you see with taiwan 's _ taiwan strait. what do you see with taiwan 's somatic - taiwan strait. what do you see with taiwan 's somatic status l with taiwan �*s somatic status in the region? we with taiwan 's somatic status in the region?— with taiwan 's somatic status in the region? we only know the perceptions _ in the region? we only know the perceptions of — in the region? we only know the perceptions of the _ in the region? we only know the perceptions of the prc - in the region? we only know the perceptions of the prc are - perceptions of the prc are declining and they are already at a very low rate and they

have also been declining at a low rate in south korea and japan as well. more the prc takes high scale drills in the region, its intended audience might be taiwan �*s domestic audience or the prc �*s own domestic audience but so much of the world sees that it is trying to use these military threats to coerce the countries in the region and that hurts its reputation as a regional leader. we havejust seen sunlight coming saying that taiwan �*s resident wants to hold a meeting over the chinese drills. ., hold a meeting over the chinese drills. . , , , hold a meeting over the chinese drills. . , , ., drills. that is i suppose also to be expected. _ drills. that is i suppose also to be expected. in - drills. that is i suppose also to be expected. in the - drills. that is i suppose also j to be expected. in the same drills. that is i suppose also - to be expected. in the same way that prc is _ to be expected. in the same way that prc is going _ to be expected. in the same way that prc is going to _ to be expected. in the same way that prc is going to have - to be expected. in the same way that prc is going to have this - that prc is going to have this scripted response to anything the dpp has had, now they will be a scripted response to anything the prc does in response. this is normal and the dpp �*s audience both domestic and international shows that it is attended to any of these military threats from the prc. people here in

taiwan, in my own data shows that people in taiwan are very aware of the potential threat of war but that people don't necessarily panic. people are going to be out in starbucks arejust as were going to be out in starbucks are just as were any other day as they were any other day is and is there a military drills going on. and is there a military drills going on-— going on. tell us about the relationship _ going on. tell us about the relationship with _ going on. tell us about the relationship with taiwan i going on. tell us about the relationship with taiwan 's| relationship with taiwan 's leadership and how these events play out domestically. figs leadership and how these events play out domestically.— play out domestically. as so lona as play out domestically. as so long as the _ play out domestically. as so long as the dpp _ play out domestically. as so long as the dpp and - play out domestically. as so long as the dpp and the - long as the dpp and the democratic party is in power and the national party is not in power, at least in the presidency, the prc does not pick up the phone to call taiwan so it doesn't matter if you are the most pragmatic almost extreme dpp person, and about who you are, the prc will not pick up the phone. for example, the last couple of years when tsai ing—wen was president who was largely agreed—upon to be the most levelheaded and pragmatic of the dpp politicians, prc refused to pick up the phone and call them through the presidency. another william lai is in power, there is no expectation that they would add to their approach to try to find a floor to stand on

between the two sides is going to be any different.— to be any different. thank you so much for— to be any different. thank you so much for your _ to be any different. thank you so much for your insight - to be any different. thank you j so much for your insight today and perspective, iappreciate your time. and perspective, iappreciate yourtime. political if you would like to find out more of this story you can dig into it a little bit more on our website. we will have a breakdown and this is a story we will be monitoring over the next day or so as well as things develop. moving onto the middle east. israeli defence forces say four israeli soldiers have been killed and several others are severely injured in a drone strike by hezbollah. it follows earlier reports at 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 binyamina arejust south military training camp in binyamina are just south of haifa. some reports say people had been eating in a canteen at the time of the strike. hezbollah says it was a retaliation for attacks by israel in lebanon which killed more than 50 people on saturday

alone. in while, the us has said it will send troops to israel as well as an advanced anti—missile system to bolster air defences will stop it follows rocket attacks by iran as president biden saying the move was meant to defend israel. anna foster has the latest on the strikes inside israel from beirut. 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 asked him what we should take from this mood i president biden. —— move i president

biden. 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 i ctober, 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 iran's 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 calls it self defence but given these actions, are we moving closer and closer to 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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are likely bbc news and we have a bit of an update on the top story we had regarding taiwan and china. the united states has said, or has condemned china 's military drills around taiwan saying the movie is unwarranted and risk escalation as it called on beijing to act with restraint. the us continues to say that it is seriously concerned by the people liberation armyjoint military drills in the taiwan strait and around taiwan. that is according to the us state department post adrack spokesman matthew millar

referring to china 's military. we have a response as well from taiwan whose defence ministry has said that we will not escalate conflict in our response. we will have to wait and see how this further develops just to reiterate, china 's defence ministry saying we will not escalate conflict in our response. —— taiwan 's defence ministry saying they will not escalate conflict. 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 111,000 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.

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. starship is absolutely enormous. it's 120 metres tall, that's nearly 400 feet. the rocket has two main parts. at the bottom is a super heavy booster which is incredibly powerful with its 33 engines. on top, is the spacecraft which can carry a cargo or a crew of an astonishing 100 people. and what makes it really special is that in theory, both parts are reusable.

it really is a remarkable feat. we leave you a newsday i want to show you our life pages up and running regarding our top story in taiwan where chinese lodging military exercises around the island and what it calls a stern warning against those seeking independence of the self ruled ireland. there is a lot more background and context to the story that island. we are keeping a close eye on this on bbc news. we will see you soon on business today. bye for now. 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 1a or 15 degrees, perhaps 16 or 17 in southern parts of england and wales. 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 as well. we are expecting that rain to move eastwards overnight, a bit of a clearance by thursday, 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. markets in china are trading under 1% higher after 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 stabilise 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 harrry murphy crusie explained if that's still possible. i think what we got over the weekend ticked most of the right boxes but was lacking in a couple of key areas, the first is the detail. we don't know the detail, when they will be implemented or how and for a lot of investors that left them wanting more. the other key thing lacking was support for

households. that is a key part of