in nottingham last year. america's defence secretary orders a guided missile submarine to the middle east, as fears of a wider regional conflict grow. after weeks of sporting excellence, the olympics have drawn to a close — now paris turns its attention to hosting the paralympics. hello, i'm anita mcveigh, and welcome to the verified life. russia's president vladimir putin has told a meeting of his senior officials that ukrainian forces must be kicked out of the country. he was speaking as ukraine continues its week long offensive with troops advancing up to 30 kilometres — that's 18 miles —

inside russian territory. local authorities are now evacuating residents from a second region — belgorod — which is situated next to kursk — that's where the ukrainian offensive began last tuesday. the acting governor of the kursk region said ukraine was in control of 28 villages there, president putin claimed ukraine was trying to improve its negotiating position. translation: the defence ministry's main task is to push and kick- the enemy out of our territory. the enemy is probably trying to improve its future negotiating conditions. what negotiations can we conduct with people who are targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure? or those trying to threaten nuclear energy safety? but the main target is a military one, to slow the russian advance in other parts of the front. so what? the speed of the russian advance has increased 1.5 times. so what will this ukrainian advance mean, in the wider context of the war? with more on this rapidly—developing situation, here's our security

correspondent gordon corera. russian citizens who fled their homes amid fears that fighting may spread. this is in the belgorod region today, where 11,000 people have been told to move. it comes after more than 70,000 were evacuated from the neighbouring kursk region. that's where ukraine launched its lightning advance. people's surprise at the events as they unfolded was clear. translation: my husband kept running to the cellar on the first day _ i ran to the cellar, then i couldn't. i was in my room. i lay huddled up and it went bang, bang, bang. the attack started nearly a week ago, with elite ukrainian forces heading over the border into the kursk region. their advances here in yellow. in some cases, they've been operating 20 miles inside russia. the plan seems to be to draw russian forces away from the areas in red

inside ukraine where moscow had been making steady advances. these burnt—out russian military vehicles are one indication of how far moscow was taken by surprise, but it promised a tough response to what vladimir putin has called a major provocation, and it's sending troops into the region. the battle to come and this battle has only just started. but the battles to come in this kursk pocket will be measured in days and weeks, not weeks and months, because the russians will not allow this to stand. they will put into this pocket whatever it takes to snuff it out, whatever it takes. because they, you know, whatever happens in ukraine is less important than what happens on the russian border. and inside ukraine, the brutal war of attrition between the two sides continues, carrying with it risks. this is the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant where a fire broke out. ukraine blamed occupying russian

forces, while the russians blamed ukraine for the blaze. ukraine's incursion into russia is a bold but risky move. it has changed the dynamic of the war for the moment, but the outcome remains uncertain. gordon corera, bbc news. i've also been speaking to former deputy minister of defence for ukraine, alina frovola, about the motivation and strategy behind ukraine's offensive. i think that ukraine never declared that we are ready to negotiations now. so i think that there could be a plenty of different other reasons behind, including that we do not perceive that as a like a crossing a border. we do perceive it as a like very flexible border line or front line. and that's just like a change of the initiative on the front line. so that, although, yes, if there would be a negotiations,

which doesn't seem realistic now because russia is still not changing their position and demonstrating their readiness to negotiate, that could be some part of the pressure. so ukraine has obviously demonstrated its willingness to take the offensive into russia, but based on its capabilities, resources at the moment, i'm thinking of in particular, how long do you think this offensive can last? well, it depends on what is the purpose of this operation? we still don't know yet. this is only our conclusions from the situation. but there is a command. there is like a president and chief of defence, and they do have some picture behind it. it can be short term, it can be long term. and i think that this is still war. there are a lot of like those factors which can influence on further developments. i heard like statements

in the beginning that this would be only...aggression. and i think that very much will depend on what we would like to reach and how russians reacted on this. for now on, we don't see some kind of strong reaction from russian side. they cannot relocate troops, they cannot stop the movement of ukrainian forces. and we'll see. joining me here is vitaly shevchenko. so some new statements coming in from president zelensky about the offensive — bring us up—to—date. within the past hour, he's chaired a meeting of his top defence commanders, and one of them, the commander—in—chief of the ukrainian army, has said that you —— ukraine controls 1000 km2 of russian territory. that's obviously a claim we could not verify — for the first time, president zelensky has named

the russian region, which ukrainian forces have launched an incursion to come he said, that ukraine is conducting offensive operations in the kursk region. so clearly, ukrainians are moving towards a full—blown acknowledgement of what they are doing in the kursk region. a meeting earlier today of russian officials, when president putin talked about kicking... what were your key takeaways from watching that? , ., ., ., ., that? things are not going well for the russians _ that? things are not going well for the russians - _ that? things are not going well for the russians - even _ that? things are not going well for the russians - even president - that? things are not going well for l the russians - even president putin, the russians — even president putin, he didn't say that russian forces were pushing the ukrainians out of the kursk region, he said that this was the main task facing the russian defence ministry. but then, ifelt that things have gotten slightly wrong for president putin when the

acting governor of kursk region started speaking about the scale of the ukrainian version — at which point president putin interrupted him and said, "let's let the military talk about how deep the ukrainian forces are in our territory, you talk about how you're helping the people." and still, the governor of kursk region spoke about ukrainians controlling 28 villages where, according to him, there are still 2000 russian citizens, and he said, "we don't know anything about the effect." these kinds of statements are very rare on kremlin —controlled tv, which is usually all about good news. and when this was happening, you could see the displeasure on president putin's face — he pursed his lips, and clearly he wasn't satisfied with the way his special military operation was going. way his special military operation was uaoin.~ ., ., way his special military operation wasuaoinf ., ., way his special military operation

was uaoinf ., ., ., was going. what sort of impact do ou think was going. what sort of impact do you think that _ was going. what sort of impact do you think that will _ was going. what sort of impact do you think that will have _ was going. what sort of impact do you think that will have on - you think that will have on russian public opinion? i you think that will have on russian public opinion?— public opinion? i think this is one hue public opinion? i think this is one huge reason _ public opinion? i think this is one huge reason why _ public opinion? i think this is one huge reason why ukrainians - public opinion? i think this is one huge reason why ukrainians havej huge reason why ukrainians have embarked on an operation like that, trying to show russians what war is like — so fear and confusion, and hopefully, for kyiv, undermined support for this special military operation, as the kremlin calls it. whether or not this will work is a completely different matter because one of the most striking figures i saw emerging from kursk region was of local residents telling the reporter, "we support your war, help us." ., ~ reporter, "we support your war, help us." . ~' , ., reporter, "we support your war, help us." . ~' i” ., reporter, "we support your war, help us." . ~' ., , reporter, "we support your war, help us." . ., , , reporter, "we support your war, help us." thank you for being us right up to date. the eu's civil protection mechanism has been activated, after greek authroities appealed for help fighting a severe wildfire that is approaching the northern

outskirts of athens. it's spread across the wooded mount penteli area near the city, burning homes and a school. aircraft are being used to tackle the blaze, but residents have complained there are not enough firefighters on the ground. the fuel tanks of parked cars have exploded, creating new flare—ups. at least eight people have been taken to hospital with breathing problems. jon donnison reports. dawn in the hills around athens. the fierce sun almost obscured as the fires close in on the greek capital. from the city's famous monuments you get a sense of how close the danger is. hundreds of fire fighters are struggling to contain the fires. and around athens, police have ordered thousands of people to flee their homes. translation: it hurts. we have grown up in the forest. we feel great sadness and anger. but some are reluctant to go. "my family have all left," iannis

says, "but i am staying nearby so that i can keep an eye on my house." just to the north of athens, a children's hospital had to be evacuated overnight. and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. with some having to be rescued from their homes. the army has been brought in to help with the evacuation. translation: the| situation is chaotic. our military unit has been here from the beginning and we are trying to help the fire unit and volunteer teams. we are surrounded by fire here. the fires are being fuelled by strong winds and temperatures close to a0 celsius. after the hottestjune and july on record the ground is tinder dry. we also have this very, very dry fuels which contributes to the rapid spread of the fire and also they increase the chance of having spot fires and generating

a very quickly expanding wildfire. overall, i would say that it is another very difficult day and the situation right now, in terms of the fire spread and fire behaviour, is extremely difficult from the point of view of controlling the fire. greece suffers wildfires almost every year. but scientists say their increased frequency and intensity is down to climate change. and these latest ones so close to the capital and show no sign of abating, with forecasters predicting difficult conditions in the coming days and nights. jon donnison, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

here in the uk — a doctor who treated valdo calocane, three years before he fatally stabbed three people in nottingham, warned that his mental illness

was so severe he could "end up killing someone". calocane's mother and brother have told bbc panorama it was one of a series of missed opportunities that could have prevented the killings. he was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter of caretaker ian coates, and students barnaby webber and grace o'malley kumar last year. our correspondent navtej johal reports. for so long, we had thought that it would end in tragedy. but i thought the tragedy would be him taking his own life, and it was, like, infinitely worse than that. the family of valdo calocane are talking publicly for the first time. in 2023, he fatally stabbed students barnaby webber and grace o'malley—kumar, and school caretaker ian coates. he also seriously injured three others by driving into them. valdo calocane was convicted of manslaughter for the killings, and is detained in a secure hospital. the families of his victims believe that although he was mentally ill, he knew what he was doing and should have been convicted of murder and sent to prison. calocane had been diagnosed

with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020. we've got a bunch of the medical records from valdo's time in the care of nottinghamshire health trust. the family only received these records after he was sentenced for the killings, and have shared them with bbc panorama. they revealed that three years before the nottingham attacks, a psychiatrist during a ward round had expressed serious concerns. this entry is from the second admission into hospital. the second time he's been sectioned? the second time he's been sectioned. and yeah, there's an entry here about a meeting that the doctor has, a chat he has with my brother. and, you know, my brother is so psychotic that the doctor notes that there seems to be no insight or remorse. and the danger will be that the next time this will happen again, and perhaps valdo will end up killing someone. a doctor wrote nearly three years before the nottingham attacks that valdo could end up killing someone? mm. we know valdo's care wasn't up to standard,

but reading this note isjust beyond anything. you think, this could have been avoided, you could have done something. richard taylor is a forensic psychiatrist. he didn't treat calocane, but has been an expert witness in more than 150 court cases. have you ever seen it written down in medical notes? that the patient could potentially go on to kill someone? i can't recall of a case where i've seen that written down in the medical records. if it's that unusual and potentially that serious, what would you expect to happen? if a psychiatrist is committing themselves to a potential risk of homicide, then i think that's something that i would expect to be taken seriously. valdo calocane was detained under the mental health act four times in two years, each time following a violent incident, but never for longer than seven weeks. i don't think it's fair to say that he was ever treated. i don't think he was

ever really treated. he was sort of managed, like, so he had interventions. but with regards to a proper, i guess, treatment plan, i'm not sure that we ever saw that. nottinghamshire health care nhs trust says it's committed to preventing such a tragedy reoccurring. that work continues to improve the safety and quality of services for patients, and to give its full support to learn from the events ofjune last year. the care quality commission is due to publish a report into valdo calocane's care tomorrow. calocane's family say the missed opportunities in his care are the product of a system which they say needs urgent reform. navteonhal, bbc news. and if you are watching in the uk you can watch panorama, the nottingham attacks: a search for answers on bbc one and the bbc iplayer tonight at 8pm. the pentagon says the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has

ordered a guided missile submarine to the middle east and has told an aircraft carrier strike group to sail to the area more quickly. that deployment of additional fighterjets and navy warships to the middle east was announced earlier this month, as washington seeks to bolster its presence, following an escalation in violence between israel, and iran, and its allies hamas and hezbollah. meanwhile leaders of the uk, france, and germany have renewed calls for an for the immediate resumption of ceasefire negotiations, saying the fighting must end and all hostages must be released. the latest push for a truce follows the killing of hamas' political leader, ismail haniyeh, during a visit to iran. fresh talks for a ceasefire deal for gaza are slated for this week. hamas has urged mediators to implement an existing plan presented by president biden last month — and has ruled out new rounds of negotiations over the terms of a deal. israel said it will send a team of negotiators to take part. i spoke to the bbc�*s

barbara plett usher and asked her where the ceasefire talks stand now. well, lucy, the mediators, that is the qatar and egypt along with the united states, have renewed a very intense push to try and get those ceasefire talks back on track and this is because of the regional tensions of the potential attack by iran following that assassination of the hamas leader on its soil. the us administration believes that a ceasefire deal in gaza is a crucial to try and get the tensions down in the region so they are really creating a push to have those talks later in the week. so, they said that the framework is on the table, this is, of course, the framework that president biden presented at the end of may but there was differences about how to implement it and they were prepared to issue a bridging proposal if it was necessary. israel had said earlier that it was ready to send negotiators and hamas have not said anything until recently but now they have responded. they said that those

ceasefire talks should resume from where they left off, that israel has since proposed new conditions but it seems that hamas is willing to participate in the talks despite the killing of its political leader, itjust doesn't really believe that israel is a serious leader, israel is serious having launched these new conditions and continuing operations in gaza. what the hamas position really is, is they're waiting to get a clear answer from the negotiators and from israel about what exactly is on the table at this point. emmanuel macron has paid tribute to everyone who made the paris olympics what the french president described as a "huge success". the games drew to a close on sunday night after more than two weeks of sporting excellence, ending with a spectacular ceremony at the stade de france. there were fireworks, jubilant athletes, and even a cameo from tom cruise. grace harbage has more

details about that — and also what we can expect from the paralympics, which start later this month. here we are, the day after the night before, and what a closing ceremony we were treated to. it had everything, really, didn't it? i want to show you the newspapers in france today. i start off with le figaro saying, "paris, the game of all records". and that amazing photo inside the stade de france showing the stage as a map of the world. crowds full, athletes there in all of their colours and uniforms and flags. i want to show you the parisian as well, simply saying, "merci" for what a wonderful games, that iconic shot of the olympic cauldron and of course the eiffel tower. so i'm sure lots more photos of that to come. lots online of every twist and turn of the closing ceremony last night. it had everything from leon marchand taking the flame from the tuileries garden up to the stade de france, and in to the crowds there, handing over to the formalities from thomas bach and tony estanguet as well. and then, of course,

that moment that had been rumoured for a long time yesterday, tom cruise came in over the top of the stade de france to collect that olympic flag from simone biles and then ride out of the stade on the motorbike with the flag right behind him, down the champs elysees, down past the eiffel tower as well. and then there we were in la with, again, more rumoured faces from that day. there was billie eilish, red hot chilli peppers, snoop dogg and doctor dre, so it gave us a really good sense of what la will give us and what we can expect from those games in 2028. but before we get there, of course, in just over two weeks' time, we've got the paralympic games here in paris. and we've spoken to lots of people who've said these olympics, they're just a warm up to the main event being the paralympics, so we know we're in for a treat. there has been so much time and effort and energy into making the paralympics a real spectacle, a real event. we'll have 4,000 athletes expected for these games, competing in 22 sports, so it's sure to be quite the spectacle.

we've heard issues from organisers about the accessibility in paris, and actually we've spoken to people who've said a lot of work has gone into making sure paris is accessible for everyone and moving around the city won't be a problem. there are lots of cars put on for moving those athletes around. so there we go, we've had one games and now we've got plenty to look forward to with the paralympics here in paris. this afternoon, the sporting heroes of team gb have been arriving back in london — with thousands at st pancras station there to welcome them. the team managed a haul of 65 medals throughout the course of the games. one of them was a silver belonging to diver tom daley. it'll be his last, with the 30—year—old confirming his retirement from the sport. right now, like, obviously it's a lot, but i, you know, i'm really

happy with how everything's gone. ijust think it's always hard when you say goodbye to your sport, so ijust... yeah, lots of things to process. but, you know, ithink it's the right time. like, this year felt like such a bonus. and i got to compete in front of my family, my kids. so...and i got to be flagbearer. so, yeah, like, bucket list ticked off on every occasion. and your kids must be so glad that daddy's home and, you know, they've got their daddy back, and they must be so proud of you. yeah, i'd like to think they're very proud of me. and i'm sorry. i didn't realise i wouldn't be able to actually speak. it's not very like me. you're doing very well. but, yeah, iam happy, which is not, what, like... but it's — yeah, it's just hard to talk when you have loved something so much. a very emotional time daily. just time to show you what is the eighth

artwork in an animal themed collection unveiled by the mysterious artist banksy in london over the last number of days — it is a silhouette of a rhinoceros climbing on top of a small car. and there's been a series, all animal themed, eight in total — let's see if there's more to come, keep us guessing. you are watching bbc news. hello again. this current heat has culminated in intense showers and thunderstorms. we still have to confirm the highest temperature, but without a doubt the warmest day of the year so far temperatures right might read up to 30 degrees.

very few showers following behind, western parts of england and wales, and even further east, look at those temperatures, 30—35 c with that high humidity. but behind our band of showers, the humidity will step down a notch, so slightly more comfortable night for sleeping in many areas of england and wales. but further west, those winds bringing more rain across western scotland by morning, so quite a warm and muggy night as well. we could have missed the low cloud around the coasts. as we going to tuesday, there is that next band of rain, the winds stronger, but it's mostly a future through the morning for northern ireland and scotland, crossing into wales in the afternoon, but southern and eastern areas staying largely dry and still very warm, 27—28 c. wendy are here in the northwest, making it feel colder. come

wednesday, and southern areas, no more than a band of cloud with a ridge of high pressure building in. so dryerfor northern ridge of high pressure building in. so dryer for northern ireland and scotland, and just a few shall reverse of rain along our weather front further south, but taking temperatures down. 20—25 c not above average for the time of year. thursday, rain coming in, moving further south albeit very slowly to give dryer weather was just a few showers to the north of that weather system. it mayjust be hanging around in the south as we move into friday as well, so you can see that as the heat comes to an end, we will start to see more rainfall, particularly in the north and west, but eventually some rain further south and east. stay up—to—date on the website.

this is bbc news. the headlines.... russia evacuates parts of its belgorod region — close to kursk — as ukrainian forces continue their surprise cross—border offensive. vladimir putin says russia will respond. thousands of people in greece are told to flee their homes, as wildfires edge to outskirts of athens. the greek government calls for international help.

uk records the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 35 celsius in some areas. and this is no one trick pony. a new study proves horses are smarter than previously thought — now with all the latest sport. here's olly. tom daley says the time is right to retire from diving. the paris olympics was his fifth games, and his silver in the syncro ten metre platform alongside noah williams was his fifth olympic medal, making him team gb's most decorated diver. now 30 he first competed as a 14—year—old in bejing in 2008. his only gold came in tokyo 3 years ago. right now, like, obviously it's a lot, but i, uh, you know, i'm really happy with how everything's gone. ijust think it's always hard when you say goodbye to your sport, so ijust... yeah, lots of things to process.