tom bateman _ to try to take a deal.om bateman there. _ earlier, i talked with david daoud, a senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies, a thing tank that takes a hard line on iran. first of all we heard there from president biden, who was fairly optimistic that those so—called gaps can be narrowed. are you as optimistic? thank you for having me on. i'm rarely not that optimistic and i think there are already reports of some snags. hamas has publicly criticised the offers on the table, now american officials have said not to take that face value. but at the same time there are unbridgeable gaps in the positions between the israelis and hamas that we have seen in the past was not we're talking about the identity of the hostages to be released in exchange for what palestinian security prisoners are going to be released. the number of hostages to be released and, you know, what phases they are to be released, how many are going to be living versus, you know, not still alive. this has been a snag that has be

tom bateman _ remains in the balance.hts from two officials who've worked on diplomacy in the middle east, kirsten fontenrose, former director of the gulf for the us national security council, and former iranian ambassador to germany, seyed hossein mousavian. the interesting thing is the gaps are fairly narrow, it is simply the stated problem that everyone in the international community want a ceasefire and yet the two parties involved do not. the gaps on things like whether or not the israeli military should stay south of rafah and whether or not hamas will have a political world moving forward, those are clear redlines for both parties. they sit at this table but neither are interested in making sincere ceasefire and neither are interested in conceding any positions. the international community continues to press them. it is difficult when two parties involved are the two least supportive of the idea of a ceasefire. let me turn to you and asked the same question. actually i am not really optimistic because i believe net

tom bateman with the latest. peace agreement. do stay with us. playing are to come. —— plenty here to come. hello there, good evening. still some hazy sunshine at times today towards eastern areas of england. the colours in the sky affected by the particles of smoke from wildfires in north america still, but a lot of heavy rain too, especially in the north and the west. weather fronts pushing eastwards, and that sets the scene for the rest of this week. it will feel very autumnal at times. more heavy rain, unseasonably windy, particularly blustery for irish sea coasts, but still some sunny spells. the best of the dry, sunnier weather, further south and east. but low pressure very much a dominating force for the rest of the week. it's out towards the north and the westjust pushing these fronts further eastwards. and we'll continue to see some more showers, again, especially in the north west overnight tonight. the winds ease down a little. there will be some clear spells if you want to see the full moon outside fo

. >> our state department correspondent tom bateman is following the story today.this such a controversy? >> first of all, because donald trump's opponents are using this as a further sign of not only the character of the candidate, but his campaign team. because of the huge sensitivity, this being the most hallowed ground for american war dead and is the nature of this incident. this has been the accusation. it has taken a few details for the details to be fully firmed up and they were today in the statement by the army where they confirmed and arlington cemetery authority was in their words pushed aside during this visit by donald trump and his campaign team for potentially breaking the rules around filming in a sensitive part of the cemetery. then, we had the response from the trump bank -- trump campaign both earlier in the week where you said they described in the individual, the employee in the cemetery as somebody clearly suffering from a mental health episode. further attack to the individual describing them as despicable, spreading lies, dishonoring the me

tom bateman, thank you.m breaking news from the fbi, officials they are saying that the gunman who tried to kill donald trump mounted what they described as a sustained and detailed effort to attack a major gathering of some sort before deciding to target the republican presidential candidate. you remember that happened at a in pennsylvania injuly. officials said thomas kirks who is 20 search more than 60 times for information about the republican presidential candidate as well as his rival democratic presidentjoe biden before registering for the trump rally in earlyjuly. that is coming into us as the fbi continues its investigation into that shooting. on his first official visit to germany since becoming prime minister, sir keir starmer says a reset of relations with the european union doesn't mean reversing brexit. he was speaking after talks with the german chancellor, olaf scholz in berlin, saying he wanted deeper cooperation between the two countries. the two men agreed a new treaty, covering science, t

tom bateman in washington, thank you.as described a deadly attack by israeli settlers on a village in the occupied west bank as "horrific". the settlers set fire to cars and houses as they descended on the village ofjit — armed with batons, rocks and improvised firebombs. at least one palestinian was killed and others seriously injured. thousands gathered injit for the funeral of the man who died. the uk's foreign secretary david lammy has been visiting jerusalem — he gave this response to the violence in the west bank. the scenes overnight, of the burning and the torching of buildings, of the molotov cocktails thrown at cars, of the widespread rampage and chasing of people from their homes, is abhorrent. and i condemn it in the strongest of terms. the un has recorded hundreds of attacks byjewish settlers since the hamas assault on israel last october. merlyn thomas from bbc verify has been looking at video posted on social media of this latest incident. this was the scene in the village ofjit, in the occupied west bank,

tom bateman reporting. national convention gets under way in chicago — a key moment for kamala harris to set out her stall as to why she should be the next us president. her nomination is secured afterjoe biden withdrew, and she won't make her big speech until later in the week. she's spending some of the time between now and then in the swing state of pennsylvania — this is the moment she arrived in pittsburgh, greeting her vp pick tim walz. let's take a listen to some of what she said at a campaign rally in pittsburgh. we know our country is going to be as strong as our willingness to fight for it. and to fight for what we stand for. you know, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. when you stand for working people, you fight for working people. when you stand for freedom, whether it be to make decisions about your own body or love who you love, you fight for those things. when you believe in ending child poverty, you fight for that. when you believe in what we need to do to lift up

our us state department correspondent tom bateman has this report.eli leader is to take a deal now. the time for trying to get even more out of the talks, say the americans, is over. this is the us secretary of state's ninth visit since october the 7th, and washington wants the ceasefire deal done by as soon as next week. but mr netanyahu for one is digging in, saying he insists the truce sees israel keep boots on the ground in strategic parts of gaza. hamas says that is not in the us framework, and means no end to the war. each side accuses the other of blocking a breakthrough. good morning, mr secretary. welcome again to israel. meeting the israeli president this morning, mr blinken stressed a sense of urgency. this is a decisive moment. probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get hostages home, to get a ceasefire 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 i

tom bateman there. mohamed taha from bbc arabic is with me in the studio. good morning.eek begins. what are you hearing about antony blinken�*s arrival in the region and the hope of a ceasefire deal?— in the region and the hope of a ceasefire deal? antony blinken will be in israel— ceasefire deal? antony blinken will be in israel today, - ceasefire deal? antony blinken will be in israel today, having l will be in israel today, having negotiations with the israeli officials. he will be in egypt tomorrow, egypt will be the centre of the negotiations this week and we expect israel officials to be there, american officials to be there, american officials to be there, american officials to be there, qatari officials to be there, qatari officials to be there, qatari officials to be there, but no officials to be there, but no officials from hamas will attend these negotiations. in terms of how must's concerns about the process so far, they have some key sticking points —— hamas. have some key sticking points -- hame— have some key sticking points -- hamas. , . , -- hamas. they

we can talk about that with our state department correspondent, tom bateman. about the sanctions. tom: it is important to remember the u.s. government imposing sanctions on israeli citizens and organizations is a very new thing. it only started this year. it has been an effort by this administration to try to show some sense of evenhandedness. even though they armed the state of israel very aggressively in terms of israeli policy, they are also trying to support palestinians attacked by settlers in the occupied west bank. we have seen more sanctions against this non-governmental organization, which basically supplies volunteers that appropriate land and use that to attack and try to expel palestinians from their homes. and another individual who is a so-called security coordinator from a very extremist settlement. he has been sanction, too. something significant about the sanctions is they are a first that they particularly target organizations who have fed israeli government funding. this individual has been paid by the israeli taxpayer. that is relatively ne

for more analysis on all of this, i spoke with our state department correspondent tom bateman. know about what happened? well, this is a very established us based charity, anara, that's worked with palestinian refugees for many years. they were in charge of a convoy that was moving from the kerem shalom crossing with israel towards and taking desperately needed food and fuel to the emirati red crescent hospital in rafah yesterday. now, what the charity says happened was that the transport contractor that they use on the ground was operating the convoy when some locals, four men, they say, who they say had previously helped securing such convoys, offered to take over the lead position of the convoy because, as they said, of the risk of looting. now the charity says these people weren't vetted. this wasn't part of the coordination with the israelis. and after that happened, there was an israeli missile strike firing on that vehicle killing the four palestinians inside. what the israeli military says is something different. they say that gunmen had seized a vehicle at the front of

tom bateman is on that trip with the secretary. heard from antony blinken, saying the israeli prime minister accepted this american bridging proposal. remember where the talks had got to, was effectively a standoff between israel and hamas over the entire agreement, both sides trading workroom and nation sing the other was blocking a breakthrough on the deal. a key issue is about the future of what happens on the ground in the gaza trip. -- strip. netanyahu has said that they will maintain is really boots on the ground in egypt and the gaza strip. hamas says that amounts to a continuation of the war and said they do not accept that. the americans came up with a bridging proposal they hoped would narrow the gap between the sides. they have yet to reveal details. mr. blinken says mr. netanyahu has accepted that, the bridging proposal. there is a sense in which they are trying to bounce him into the position by outing him so publicly. they said they reiterated israel's commitment which takes into account israel's security needs. the l

our state department correspondent tom bateman is what's us to discuss this. what happened? very established u.s.-based a charity that has worked with palestinian refugees for many years. they were in charge of a convoy moving from the care of shalom crossing from israel taking food to the iraqi red crescent hospital in rafa yesterday. that charity says the transport contractor they used on the ground was operating the convoy when some locals, four men they say had previously helped in securing such convoys, offered to take over the lead position, they said, because of the risk of looting. the charity says the people were invented. it was not part of coordination with israelis. after that, there was an israeli military strike firing of the vehicle could and four palestinians inside. israeli military says something different. they say gunmen seized a vehicle at the front of the convoy and had taken it over and therefore they targeted that vehicle and killed the people inside. so there was a discrepancy in the account. as for what the charity says, the head of the charity on a

. >> tom bateman, our state department corresponded who has been covering the negotiations closely. very much. for more, let's turn to frank, former special envoy for israeli-palestinian negotiations at the u.s. state department. great to have you here for your thoughts from what has taken place in the region. i want to ask you about hamas. they are not directly taking part in these talks. why is that and do you think that could be holding up the progress of the agreement? >> i do not think it is so important whether or not hamas shows up because they are basically negotiating on their behalf. hamas does not really want the temporary cease-fire. they would do a deal that ended the war altogether, implemented all three phases of president biden's three cease-fire but benjamin netanyahu is only interested in the first phase when the hostages are released and he plans to resume the work. from hamas' perspective, they have the opportunity for hezbollah to join the fight and take more aggressive action against israel and that was our plan from the beginning, trying to spark a regional wa

our state department correspondent tom bateman has more. >> the two issues have become entirely intertwined potential breakthrough in cease-fire talks and iran threatening retaliation to israel because the american feel it is very much that this heightens the possibility of an iranian strike significantly if it looks as though cease-fire talks are falling apart. so, now we have come after 48 hours of talks in doha, a lot of very positive messaging from americans. you had what joe biden said there. we are just hearing from senior -- a senior u.s. official that described a new spirit to drive this to a conclusion from the talks in doha. so they think there is momentum. on the other hand, the palestinian version not so positive at all. you read a statement from hamas and we have heard other such statements believing that, in effect, the americans are trying to string everyone along and they have not got the israelis to move to drop the new conditions that hamas said the israelis attached to this. i think mr. blinken strip is really about piling public pressure on all the sides to keep the enga

tom bateman there. as he was saying, qatar is absolutely critical when it comes to these talks.ni, former director of qatari defense intelligence. what is holding up the ceasefires that the negotiations are over. as you reported earlier, the israeli media poke some holes in it. the attacks today on the evacuation centre, as i see the numbers in front of me to 12 killed, that doesn't help that that news happened on the same day. as well as hamas, it has to understand it won't get everything it wants. i think qatar's job with the united states and egypt is to focus both parties on three main points. one, the end of hostilities and a ceasefire. two, the release of all hostages, agreed ijy the release of all hostages, agreed by both parties. three, humanitarian aid. if israel wants a deal without a deal, that is by definition a non—deal. a lot of palestinians are suffering. the families of the israeli hostages are suffering. i think the israelis and palestinians are represented here by hamas in gaza have to reach the understanding that they won't get everything they want. they won't

our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with antony blinken and has this updatel aviv. well, the air is thick with a bit of optimism and a lot of expectation, when it comes to antony blinken. one senior official i was talking to on the way here used phrases like this being "an inflection "point," a critical moment in terms of what they want to get from this ceasefire deal. some are talking in terms of their hopes that they can get this thing over the line as soon as this time next week. now, that may seem extremely optimistic — and perhaps it is, because what we're seeing here, i think, is antony blinken trying to apply as much diplomatic pressure as possible, starting tomorrow morning with a meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. what he will try to urge him to do is drop any final attempts to squeeze more concessions from this deal, to stop going for what he might think is a perfect agreement, and settle for something that the americans think is already very good. so, that will be the diplomatic part of this. but the problem is, these talks are not hap

our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken and he sent this updatel aviv. well, the air is thick with a bit of optimism and a lot of expectation when it comes to antony blinken. one senior official i was talking to on the way here used phrases like this being "an inflection point," a critical moment in terms of what they want to get from this ceasefire deal. some are talking in terms of their hopes that they can get this thing over the line as soon as this time next week. now, that may seem extremely optimistic — and perhaps it is, because what we're seeing here, i think, is antony blinken trying to apply as much diplomatic pressure as possible, starting tomorrow morning with a meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. what he will try to urge him to do is drop any final attempts to squeeze more concessions from this deal, to stop going for what he might think is a perfect agreement, and settle for something that the americans think is already very good. so, that will be the diplomatic part of this. but the problem is, these talks are not happe

intense discussion with the united states. " let's get more from our state department correspondent, tom batemanan you tell us about these sanctions and crucially that response from the israelis?— that response from the israelis? , , ., , israelis? this is the latest raft of sanctions - israelis? this is the latest raft of sanctions that, - raft of sanctions that, remember, something new this year. only been in the last few months the us government started to impose sanctions on is really individuals and entities like we have seen today. what is interesting about today is these are among the very first, the target, this organisation that basically sends out volunteers with grazing animals to take over palestinian land and in some cases we have seen cases with that kind of activity in which palestinians are attacked, harassed and eventually forced out of their homes. also an individual, you mentioned security co—ordinator at the extremist and ideological sentiment. at the extremist and ideologicalsentiment. in at the extremist and ideological sentiment. in many cases there are israeli public fund

our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with antony blinken, and has this updateiv. element one senior official who was talking to on the way here used phrases like this was talking to on the way here used phrases lik- was talking to on the way here used phrases like this being an inflection point, _ used phrases like this being an inflection point, a _ used phrases like this being an inflection point, a critical- inflection point, a critical moment in terms of what they want to get from the cease—fire deal. some are talking in terms of their hopes they can get this thing over the line as soon as this time next week. now that may seem extremely optimistic, and perhaps it is. we are seeing him try to apply as much pressure as possible, starting minister netanyahu. minister neta nyahu. what what he will try to urge him to do is drop any final attempts to squeeze more concessions from this deal, to stop going for what he might think is a perfect agreement, and settle for something that the americans think is already very good. so, that will be the diplomatic part of

earlier our state department correspondent tom bateman told me the latest on where the negotiations standthere has been a lot of feverish american diplomacy to try and get some sort of agreement. we are not there yet but what about diplomats and officials saying to you? i think it is really interesting that, from president biden downwards, we are hearing incredibly positive tone around the way the last two days discussions in doha have gone. president biden saying we are closer than ever to a ceasefire deal. i was hearing from one senior administration official that said there was new spirit to drive this to a conclusion. on the other hand from the palestinian side, we had much more positive messages about how this has gone. they believe the israelis have moved. a statement from the office of benjamin netanyahu saying this was about hamas�*s refusal to take the proposal on the table. the parties themselves are not reflecting the positive message we are hearing from the americans. there is a couple of things going on. what the us is doing and has been doing for a few weeks is trying to app

earlier, i spoke to our correspondent tom bateman who is travelling with the us secretary of state, andiddle 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 talk

our state department correspondent, tom bateman, shared his analysis a bit earlier.this is that he still probably wants to do a visit to the middle east to put pressure on the ceasefire framework and on the talks actually going ahead once again. but this is a question all about timing because you have all these uncertainties, still the concerns about a possible iranian retaliation or strikes by hezbollah into israel. that has not gone away and also, a lot of uncertainty about the ceasefire talks themselves and that is because after the americans have finally cajoled the israelis to send a delegation, we have now had hamas say they will not attend the talks because they believe the israelis have shifted positions, made new demands at the last minute and they are asking for those demands to be stood down until they will agree to take part. hamas say they want to stick the framework that was presented by president biden more than a month ago. israel says it wants to add different conditions terms, so how will anyone find common ground? that has been one of the big issue

the bbc correspondent in the usa, tom bateman, waited for a long conversation on the x network betweenlono maskom and donald trump and says: this dialogue at times resembled a mutual recognition of sympathy. further his observations. when it comes to how many people have listened to it, it's about audio. interview on the eks platform, the number of those who listened live exceeded a million, and if you look at elon musk's tape, several million people have already listened to the more than one-hour conversation, so it clearly has an impact, and this is the meaning of the conversation, when it comes to the alleged hacker attack, which elon musk cited as an explanation for the delay of more than 40 minutes , then he said that this is an attempt by unnamed persons to undermine freedom of speech. to prevent people from hearing donald trump, although experts quoted by the us media this morning doubted that this could be the reason for the delay. according to their version, the page is simple could not withstand a heavy load. it didn't really feel like an interview, but more like an exercise

our state department correspondent tom bateman was with mr blinken�*s team — and he gave us this analysishu feel like they're becoming a bit more of a prominent feature of this relationship, it's quite rare. it had been quite rare for the two men to speak. they have a pretty fractious and complicated relationship, but i think this shows the phase that this has got to. now, the white house feeling it has to intervene again. and what we saw on this trip with mr blinken now back in washington, was something that started with a sense of american expectation, optimism even, really ending with nothing like the kind of breakthrough, at least not imminently, that the americans were in some ways sort of setting up. i think much of that is to do with the challenges that have come in the relationship between the americans and the israelis, not to mention, of course, the very, very difficult business of the negotiation between israel and hamas. what we saw in tel aviv, after mr blinken had had a three hour meeting with the israeli prime minister, was then a fairly spectacular set of recriminations, w

our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken, and he sent this update, antony blinken arrives for his ninth visit to the region since october 7th. that in itself, i think, shows just how hard to achieve this attempt at a conclusive gaza ceasefire and hostage release and prisoner release deal has become. now a senior administration official on the way here, saying that they believe this is a critical moment and, in their words, an inflection point. this is all about the americans putting on pressure to try to finally drive through this deal, they hope, within the next week or two. and there is an increasing tone of optimism from the americans about the possibility of that. but i have to say that is not matched by the kind of language and the public messages, at least, from both hamas and the israeli leadership, who are both accusing the other, effectively, of obstinate cynicism, of blocking this deal. a key point there is about whether or not there would be a clause in this deal to keep some form of israeli occupation on the ground in gaza, at the south

here's our state department correspondent tom bateman.ention of secretary blinken is to try to drive this deal through. you know, we've had a fair amount of expectation mixed with optimism from the americans about their hopes for trying to push some form of breakthrough. they have thought within even the next week or so, i have to say, the mood on the ground as we've moved from israel here to egypt simply hasn't matched that expectation. what we heard from secretary blinken on monday night was him saying that prime minister netanyahu had accepted the american bridging proposal. the language from the israelis themselves has been a bit less emphatic than that. although the israeli prime minister saying that he was committed to this proposal. but some suggestions within the israeli press that this has been perhaps more mediation or negotiation between the americans and the israelis to get to a position than it has been between the israelis and hamas. so far. the purpose here in egypt, critically, is to discuss perhaps the main sticking point

i'm joined by our state department correspondent, tom bateman. what can you tell us? the trips that he does and he travels widely, this would have been his ninth trip to the region since october the 7th. —— blinken. there's always a lot of manoeuvring in the background from a planning the itinerary and the schedules before the trips are formally announced. it usually happens in a day or two before they actually take place. the important thing to say is we haven't had any formal announcement from the state department about the trip that

joining me now is our correspondent tom bateman who is travelling with the us secretary of state, andur middle east correspondent, yolande knell who's injerusalem. and the stakes are incredibly high for this visit, aren't they? the? for this visit, aren't they? they are indeed. _ for this visit, aren't they? they are indeed, and _ for this visit, aren't they? they are indeed, and we _ for this visit, aren't they? they are indeed, and we know - for this visit, aren't they? they are indeed, and we know mr. for this visit, aren't they? tie: are indeed, and we know mr blank for this visit, aren't they? ti3:1 are indeed, and we know mr blank and hasjust need to are indeed, and we know mr blank and has just need to talk to the israeli prime minister. this is a meeting thatis prime minister. this is a meeting that is taking place behind closed doors. we don't have official details but we know the us is really putting this bridging proposal on the table to try to bring israel and how massed together —— hamas together. if you look at the comments, well the americans are sounding positive. from

our state department correspondent, tom bateman has more. two issues have become entirely intertwined now about a potential breakthrough in the cease—fire talks and iran's threatened retaliation to israel because i think the american feeling is very much that it heightens the possibility of a iranian strike significantly if it looks as though the cease—fire talks are falling apart. so what we have now is, after 48 hours of talks in delhi as you have been hearing, a lot of very positive messaging from the americans. whatjoe biden said there, taking that they are really close. just here for my senior us official who described, a new spirit to drive us to a conclusion. from talks into the hall. so they think there is momentum. on the other hand, the palestinian version not so positive at all. have heard other such statements believing in effect the americans are trying to string everyone along that they have not got the israelis to move and drop new conditions that hamas said attached to this. so the trip by antony blinken is about piling publi

i'm joined by our state department correspondent, tom bateman. what can you tell us?n terms of a potential trip to the region by antony blink and this week, the first thing is to say with all of the trips that he does and he travels widely, this would have been his ninth trip to the region since october the 7th. —— blinken. there's always a lot of manoeuvring in the background from a planning the itinerary and the schedules before the trips are formally announced. it usually happens in a day or two before they actually take place. the important thing to say is we haven't had any formal announcement from the state department about the trip that had never taken place. what had happened was the planning around this trip had leaked to the website via the israeli journalist who reported last night that the trip is being planned with a potential departure of tuesday night. us and east coast time. and reporting today that that has been postponed. so i think it is important to point out first of all this isn't any sort of formal postponement of a trip because the trip had act

i spoke to our north america correspondent tom bateman asked him about the number of people who listenedand the influence it might have. in terms of the numbers listening, because it was an audio interview on x, on the platform. certainly the live numbers were well over a million. if you look at elon musk�*s feed, there's over an hour long version of it which says it has 12 million views, which you would assume means people have watched, seen at least part of it as it's popped up in theirfeed. so clearly, this has influenced, that was the point of it. as for that claim about a denial of service attack that elon musk gave as an explanation for why it was over a0 minutes late, he said that that was an attempt by people unnamed to inhibit free speech and to stop people listening to donald trump. although, experts quoted in the us media this morning are questioning whether or not that would have actually been the cause of this, and perhaps, it could have been that the site was just overwhelmed, along with its sort of normal bandwidth. we don't really know the answer to that. but clearly, thi

our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken.s message to the israeli leader is to take a deal now. the time for trying to get even more out of the talks, say the americans, is over. this is the us secretary of state's ninth visit since october the 7th, and washington wants the ceasefire deal done by as soon as next week. but mr netanyahu for one is digging in, saying he insists the truce sees israel keep boots on the ground in strategic parts of gaza. hamas says that is not in the us framework, and means no end to the war. each side accuses the other of blocking a breakthrough. good morning, mr secretary. welcome again to israel. meeting the israeli president this morning, mr blinken stressed a sense of urgency. this is a decisive moment. probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get hostages home, to get a ceasefire 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 ultimatel

of the things she was saying, so we will get the latest from a state department correspondent, tom batemanbout the potential of a four—day working week here in the uk. a lot of traction that is getting on the bbc website, so we will have the conservative response, they have been warning that businesses are petrified of that proposal. all of that after weather with darren bent. hello there. today we've got high pressure sitting over the uk and that means dry weather and it means quite a bit of sunshine today. temperatures are maybe a degree higher than they were yesterday. we're going to peak at around 24 or 25 in the southeast of england. the cloud probably bubbling up a bit over land, but as we head into this evening, that will tend to dissipate. and we've still got light winds for a while, but the winds will pick up here in the southeast of england, and we'll start to see some cloud coming in here, maybe bringing one or two showers. that will keep temperatures a bit higher than last night, but head further north into scotland and northern ireland and again we could see temperatures as lo

our state department correspondent tom bateman was with mr blinken's team as they travelled across thequite rare for the two men to speak. they have a pretty fractious and complicated relationship, but i think this shows the phase that this has got to. now, the white house feeling it has to intervene again. and what we saw on this trip with mr blinken now back in washington, was something that started with a sense of american expectation, optimism even, really ending with nothing like the kind of breakthrough, at least not imminently, that the americans were in some ways sort of setting up. i think much of that is to do with the challenges that have come in the relationship between the americans and the israelis, not to mention, of course, the very, very difficult business of the negotiation between israel and hamas. what we saw in tel aviv, after mr blinken had had a three hour meeting with the israeli prime minister, was then a fairly spectacular set of recriminations, where as we left and headed from tel aviv to the arab mediators, first to egypt, and a reported statement from mr ne