beirut and jerusalem. five people have been found alive, and four bodies have been recovered after a tourist boat sank off egypt's red sea coast. ukraine says russia has launched a record number of drone strikes, damaging critical infrastructure across the country. vauxhall�*s van making factory in luton is to close, putting more than 1,000 uk jobs at risk. # the first cut is the deepest # honey, i know...# and rod stewart's return — 23 years after he last headlined at glastonbury, he will be back to play the legends�* slot. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. let's start in lebanon — where there's been a series of huge israeli air strikes

that, despite all the attention and build up, about whether a ceasfire will be agreed in the coming hours. we'll have more on the diplomatic moves in a moment. but let me show you the pictures from beirut — the skyline shrouded with multiple plumes of smoke. the israeli military gave evacuation warnings shortly before the attacks. they've said, they attacked 20 �*terror targets�*. lebanese government officials say, more than three and a half thousand people have died since the conflict began in the past few months. a million people have aso been displaced. yesterday, hezbollah fired rockets into northern israel — two people were injured. meanwhile, israel's security cabinet has been meeting to discuss backing a truce, which has been brokered by international mediators, including the us and france. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is said to have, netanyahu is said to have already agreed to it in principle, and he's due to speak in just under an hour's time. we'll bring you that

as it happens. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardner, is injerusalem. he told me the cabinet would not simply be rubber—stamping a ceasefire deal. there are voices who are not in favour of it, most notably from the national security minister, who is a famously hard line ultra nationalist — that's itamar ben gvir. he took to social media yesterday saying that this was a bad deal. it wasn't too late to stop it, because he believes that hezbollah are on the back foot militarily, that they are broken and that now is the time to, in his words, to sort of press home israel's advantage and finish them off. that is not the official government view here, because whereas israel has vowed, as its strategic war aims, to defeat and destroy hamas in gaza, they haven't vowed to do the same about hezbollah. so they seem to accept that hezbollah, as well as being a military force, is also a politicalforce in lebanon. hezbollah are members of the parliament there. there are mps, and they are very much part of lebanon's national fabric.

so what they're trying to do in this deal is to push them north, well north of the border, 30km north beyond the river litani, and have a framework in place that has a strong enough force policed by a number of countries in southern lebanon that stops hezbollah from coming back. so i think it's likely the deal is going to pass. it's clearly what mr netanyahu, the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu here, wants to happen. the lebanese government said that it's in favour of it. remember, this is a deal between lebanon and israel, not between israel and hezbollah. but it's only going to work if hezbollah find it acceptable. they already have been putting out messages that this is a victory, that they have held off the forces of israel because israeli ground forces haven't gone very far into lebanon. they've gone just a short distance from the border, blown up a lot of villages, they say, have been storing weapons for hezbollah, but they're not very far into it. it's not like the occupation that they had for 18 years in the last century.

antony blinken secretary of state is speaking in a moment, we'll show you more of it in a moment but a line on this, the cease—fire talks are, quote, in its final stages. we'll return to that in a moment or two, but i've also in the last hour or so been speaking to lina sinjab is our correspondent in beirut — she said people there are worried for their lives. the situation in beirut today is catastrophic, you know. there were more than 20 air strikes in almost two minutes, targeting parts of the city. some of them were sent without warning, you know, people are rushing out in different directions, they are worried for their lives, thinking that it's the hell before the end of a catastrophic period, or a start of a new period. terrible messages are being sent with these air strikes continuing inside the city.

people are really hoping that a deal will take place but also worried that the details of this deal may not meet the success or the hopes that people want to go back to normality as soon as possible. lina, you take me to what is actually thought to be in this deal. take me through what we think is on the table because we are showing pictures of the skyline, we are showing pictures of the damage. we know a million people have been displaced. we know it's going to cost a huge amount for the reconstruction. but in terms of buffer zones and what will happen over the next 60 days, what do we think is going to happen? i think the most important thing that the israelis want is disarmament of hezbollah, pushing hezbollah away from the borders. having the lebanese army forces to be in charge of the south and that will continue to disarm hezbollah and that is

the big question here. even if hezbollah pulled out from the south and handed the border areas to the lebanese army, there are fears of internal conflict between the lebanese army and hezbollah, is hezbollah going to disarm itself in other areas? these are the questions that are at stake. and a reminder, we are expecting at 1800 gmt to hear from benjamin netanyahu, as soon as that starts we will obviously carry it live and when antony blinken talks more about the cease—fire deal we will also return to that news conference that is currently under way. five people have now been found alive in the rescue operation for the tourist boat that sank in the red sea yesterday. those rescued are two belgian nationals, one swiss national, one egyptian national and one finnish national. but egyptian authorities say they have also recovered four dead bodies. that means that seven people

who were on board the ship are still unaccounted for — including two britons. the boat had set off on a five—day diving tour from port herlib in egypt. there were 44 people on board, 31 tourists and 13 egyptian crew members. sally nabilfrom bbc arabic is in egypt. she outlined what the authorities have been saying. the authorities didn't reveal much information so far about the dead bodies recovered. they didn't say what their nationalities are, but they pointed out that all that have been found, whether alive or dead, have been pulled out from the sea by the rescue teams. and as far as we know, five have been found alive. a finnish, a swiss, two belgians and one egyptian, and four have been found dead. and the number of the missing keeps going down. now we have around seven people missing. we don't know if the rescue teams will be able to find them in the coming few hours, but we understand that the search operations are still under way,

led by the egyptian navy. and this is the second batch of survivors to be found today, because yesterday they found 28 people. and we understand that all of them are in good health condition and they are receiving due medical attention. but there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding this incident. what caused the boat to sink? we know it's a new boat, it's in good shape. the governor of the red sea said there were no technical errors in the boat at all. so what exactly happened? that what we don't know so far. bad weather might have been a factor. survivors have been quoted as saying that the boat was hit by a big wave. but is it just about the weather or is there something else that we don't know yet? the investigations are taking place, but these inquiries in egypt, they usually take a long time. the people here are worried about their livelihoods because such a tragic incident might have an impact on the tourism industry here, which is a lifeline

to the people in the red sea. let's return to the breaking news in the uk. the car giant stellantis, which owns vauxhall, has announced plans to close its van—making plant at luton — putting more than a thousand jobs at risk. the company, which also owns the peugeot, citroen, chrysler and fiat brands, said it would consolidate its electric van production at its other uk factory in ellesmere port in cheshire, which will benefit from a £50 million investment. stellantis says it plans to produce an all—electric vehicle hub in ellesmere port. let's speak to our business correspondent theo leggett joins us from luton. give us some of the reaction that has been where you are. this plant here in luton has been making motor vehicles since 1905, so it is obviously a major shock for the region,

but at the moment, as things stand, the production lines will grow into a hole for a final time next year, early in the spring. there have been doubts over the future of this plant before. they have been long entrenched as it is an old plant but not so long ago it was being lined up to build a midsized electric man, electric version of the viv aro. that secured its immediate future but now the decision is been taken that in fact the production of that van will go up production of that van will go up to ellesmere were still into this is already building electric commercial vehicles. its remaining work on petrol and diesel vans, construction of those will go to france. what has gone wrong? we know that still lantos is very unhappy, otherand that still lantos is very unhappy, other and your manufacturers are. —— stellantis. but a certain quota of electric cars and vans, if they don't, then they are subject to heavy fines. 22% for

cars, 10% for vans. subject to heavy fines. 22% for cars, 10% forvans. many manufacturers are struggling to meet that target, if they don't need it they could face fines, they want flexibility from the government, they've been lobbying very hard. now, stellantis has explicitly stella ntis has explicitly linked stellantis has explicitly linked its decision to those rules. the business secretary, jonathan reynolds, and has said the government is willing to consider changes. he has launched a consultation in the past few minutes he announced that two mps. but it doesn't look as though there is going to be any major change. government remains committed to a target of 2030 for outlawing the sale of new petrol and diesel powered vehicles. it doesn't look as though there will be any compromise on that. it might compromise on some of the methods in which manufacturers can meet those targets. but the industry is saying it also needs incentives to promote people to buy electric vehicles. in the meantime it looks like a decision is taken. production is moving up to ellesmere, there will be new investment

there will be new investment there is well.— there is well. briefly, you mentioned _ there is well. briefly, you mentioned how _ there is well. briefly, you l mentioned how devastating there is well. briefly, you - mentioned how devastating it was for communities there. is the government saying anything about additional help?— about additional help? well, the government _ about additional help? well, the government is _ about additional help? well, i the government is sympathetic towards the people here. but i should mention that there is an opportunity for workers at this plant to move up to ellesmere. they say the company and says there will be a relocation package and that several hundred newjobs will be created in cheshire, but it is a net loss and many of the people who work here will not be in a position simply to pull up be in a position simply to pull up stakes and move north. thank ou ve up stakes and move north. thank you very much- — let's return to that news conference that antony blinken is giving in italy. he's been talking about a range of issues, he talked about continued security assistance to ukraine to bolster defences in the east, he also has been talking about the middle east. little dip in and hear a little bit of the questions and answers. bit of the questions and answere— bit of the questions and answers. ,, ., , bit of the questions and answers. , ., , answers. some time here 'ust as we have in path answers. some time here 'ust as we have in past weeks _ answers. some time here just as we have in past weeks and - we have in past weeks and months, working on that plan

and that too is something that will be working on intensely over the coming weeks and talking to the incoming administration about. thank you mr secretary- — administration about. thank you mr secretary. my _ administration about. thank you mr secretary. my question - administration about. thank you mr secretary. my question is - mr secretary. my question is about— mr secretary. my question is about what could be the coordinated response that you discussed today regarding the escalation of north korean troops _ escalation of north korean troops to russia since apparently the sanction policy didn't— apparently the sanction policy didn't work. the same question is about— didn't work. the same question is about china, the chinese summ— is about china, the chinese support to the russian basic industries, what could be the response _ industries, what could be the response of the g7, in addition to condemnation?— response of the g7, in addition to condemnation? thank you. i think we've _ to condemnation? thank you. i think we've seen _ to condemnation? thank you. i think we've seen over - to condemnation? thank you. i think we've seen over the - to condemnation? thank you. i think we've seen over the last l think we've seen over the last more than two and a half years now, coordinated and effective sanctions deployed by the g7 countries, by the eu, by other countries, by the eu, by other countries concerned, to continue to increase the pressure on russia and any of those who are aiding and

abetting its ongoing aggression against ukraine. that's the case for example, with regard to chinese entities that are supporting russia's defense industrial base, using us but you've also seen in europe, sanctioned many of those entities. with regard to north korea, we've been working together for some time to increase the pressure on north korea, including through sanctions. but i think what's essential here is this — china has an important role to play in using its influence, its influence with the d prk, north korea, as well as with russia. two cc activities. and in the absence of that, i think one of the things you're going to see is the countries in the end of pacific region particularly on the korean peninsula, including the korean peninsula, including the united states, including south korea, including japan,

taking further steps to strengthen our defence capacities. as i mentioned before, we are deeply concerned about this two—way street, not only what north korea is doing for russia and its aggression against ukraine, but what russia is and may do for north korea in terms of its missile capacity, nuclear capacity, all of which increases insecurity and instability on the korean peninsula and will cause us to take further steps building on what we have artie done to strengthen our deterrents and strengthen our deterrents and strengthen our deterrents and strengthen our defence. these are undoubtedly steps while not directed at china, china will not like. so when they are hearing not only from us but for many countries in europe and from many countries in asia, the deep concerns that we all have, about this relationship between russia and north korea and as a permanent member of the united nations security council, we i think it

would all look to china to use its influence to try to bring this to an end.— its influence to try to bring this to an end. hello mr sec.. do ou this to an end. hello mr sec.. do you think _ this to an end. hello mr sec.. do you think the _ this to an end. hello mr sec.. do you think the european . do you think the european consensus on support for ukraine _ consensus on support for ukraine will hold if the next administration pulls back from that effort, can it survive without _ that effort, can it survive without the full throated support of america and particularly the american president? and i know you've been — president? and i know you've been in — president? and i know you've been in meetings, i don't know if you've — been in meetings, i don't know if you've seen the images, but the beirut _ if you've seen the images, but the beirut skyline is littered with — the beirut skyline is littered with smoke plumes from the israeii — with smoke plumes from the israeli operation. i'm wondering why the us hasn't been — wondering why the us hasn't been able to be more influential in guiding israel cosmic— influential in guiding israel cosmic actions in these conflicts. at this point, because the us israel alliance benefit — because the us israel alliance benefit israel more than it has the united states? let benefit israel more than it has the united states?— benefit israel more than it has the united states? let me take the second _ the united states? let me take the second part _ the united states? let me take the second part first, _ the united states? let me take the second part first, i'll- the second part first, i'll come to ukraine and europe in a minute. i think what you're saying everyday, that is

rockets and missiles are going in both directions. 0nly underscores how urgent it is to get the cease—fire and it's why we've been working so intensely on bringing it to conclusion. that's the single most important thing to make an immediate difference, to stop the rockets and missiles from flying. again, in both directions. yes, we are seeing these attacks in beirut directed against hezbollah, but every single day, hezbollah has been launching projectiles into northern israel, as it has done virtually every day since october 7. which is how this problem started. so, again, i'm not going to speak to that, we have been focused on trying to see that the cease—fire agreement gets over line. and gets implement it. that's what's going to make the

biggest difference. look, we have been very clear also from day one. that have been very clear also from day one.