the israel defense forces say the air strike killed two senior members of hamas. appearing before the knesset on monday, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu called it a tragic mishap . mr netanyahu said israel will follow policy as it looks into the matter. the united nations secretary general antonio guterres responded to the strike, saying. sunday s air strikes happened near a un facility in the tal al sultan area about two kilometres north west of the centre of rafah. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more on the attack, and a warning, her report contains some upsetting images. morning didn t end the nightmare, but it brought the children, picking through the debris of the dead. the burned remains of shelters mark the place where israel says a top hamas commander was hiding among thousands of displaced families fleeing the fighting in rafah to the south. translation: we were - preparing our children s beds for the night and we heard a very loud noi
why have birth rates declined dramatically and how much does it matter? stephen shaw, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let s start with a basic fact. the world s population is still rising. at some point later this century, it s going to get to about 9.7 billion. and we can see the immense strain that our planet is already under in terms of resources, in terms of fragile ecosystems. and yet you seem to be saying that we as a species need to focus on having more babies. why? well, just to be clear, the reason the world s population is still growing has got nothing to do with births. births peaked in the planet around ten years ago, at around 143 million. today, that s down to around 135. we re already past peak birth as a planet. so, why is, confusingly, this total population increasing? it s because, thankfully, people are living out their lives. people are not dying the way they would have done before particularly in poorer, less developed parts of the world
but now, data scientists and demographers, like my guest today, stephen shaw, say we re actually facing a disastrous spiral of de population. why have birth rates declined dramatically and how much does it matter? stephen shaw, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let s start with a basic fact. the world s population is still rising. at some point later this century, it s going to get to about 9.7 billion. and we can see the immense strain that our planet is already under in terms of resources, in terms of fragile ecosystems. and yet you seem to be saying that we as a species need to focus on having more babies. why? well, just to be clear, the reason the world s population is still growing has got nothing to do with births. births peaked in the planet around ten years ago, at around 143 million. today, that s down to around 135. we re already past peak birth as a planet. so, why is, confusingly, this total population increasing? it s because, thankfully, people are
in gaza says at least 50 people were killed including women and children. the israel defense forces confirmed it targeted a hamas compound in the area. in its most recent statement, the idf said it killed two senior hamas commanders. in an earlier statement, it said: the us state department says it is aware of the reports and is gathering more information. earlier on sunday, hamas launched a missile attack on israel for the first time in months. the israeli military said at least eight rockets were launched from the rafah area towards tel aviv. all the projectiles were either intercepted by air defence systems or fell in fields. meanwhile, our partner cbs news is reporting that us diplomatic efforts to broker a deal to release hostages held in gaza by hamas and other allied groups are expected to continue soon. negotiators from qatar, egypt and the united states will be part of the talks. cia director william burns last week travelled to paris to revive talks after negotiat