ukraine says its troops have moved further into russian territory, despite denials from moscow. this video from ukrainian tv shows troops pulling down the russian flag in sudzha, and president zelensky says they have pushed one to two kilometres further into russia just since this morning. by contrast, russia said today that its forces had repelled attempts by ukrainian mobile units to push deeper into its territory. the governor of the russian border region of belgorod has declared a state of emergency, saying ukrainian shelling had made the situation there extremely difficult. this map shows just how rapid the advance has been in the past seven days, with ukraine claiming to have taken more territory in a week than russia has all year. ukraine says is creating a "security zone" in russia's kursk region in a bid to protect their own border areas. our correspondent will vernon reports. the russian military has been busy

making slick videos, apparently showing it's striking back against ukrainian forces in kursk. russia's defence ministry claims the ukrainian advance has been stopped, but ukraine's president says his forces march on. translation: we're expanding our area of active operations _ in the kursk region. the commander—in—chief reported that our forces control 7a towns and villages. i thank every soldier and commander that has achieved this. in kursk, people queue for handouts of humanitarian aid. over 100,000 residents are said to have been evacuated. it's a sobering picture of how ordinary russians are starting to feel the impact of this war. and in russia's neighbouring belgorod region, the governor said a state of emergency has been declared due to shelling. "the situation is very complicated,"

said vyacheslav gladkov, "though no signs yet of an incursion." the aims of ukraine's offensive aren't yet clear, but the lightning advance of kyiv�*s troops has shaken the kremlin and surprised the west. it's creating a real dilemma for putin and we've been in direct contact, constant contact with the ukrainians. that's all i'm going to say about it while it's active. the ukrainian foreign ministry says kyiv isn't interested in seizing russian territory, but russia is struggling to repel the incursion, now in its eighth day, and ukrainian forces show no sign of pulling back. will vernon, bbc news. let's speak to michael bociurkiw, a global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the atlantic council. what do you think the point of this

incursion into russian territory is by ukraine?— incursion into russian territory is b ukraine? ~ , , ., by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by — by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by day. _ by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by day, and _ by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by day, and that _ by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by day, and that is - by ukraine? well, is becoming more clear day by day, and that is for - clear day by day, and that is for the ukrainians, through military means, which will evolve into political means, to push mr putin back to the negotiating table and also to divert russian manpower and equipment from the front line to the kursk area. the wall streetjournal reported this morning that us officials have confirmed that some russian forces have been moved. so i think the longer the ukrainians stay and the more land they seize, pressure will build on mr putin, especially when the war comes to the doorsteps of ordinary russians. if the ukrainians succeed further and mr putin is humiliated further, he may end up not at the negotiating table but rather on the menu, in other words, the talks will be in

ukraine's paper rather than his. is ukraine's paper rather than his. is that likely given that the russians outnumber ukrainian forces and russia have also said any likelihood of talks is pushed further back by this? one of our correspondents in the last hour told me that they don't think there is any sign of any diversion of russian troops as a result of this. isn't this potentially counter—productive by ukraine? potentially counter-productive by ukraine? ., ., , ., ukraine? there are a couple of oints ukraine? there are a couple of points there- _ ukraine? there are a couple of points there. the _ ukraine? there are a couple of points there. the russians - ukraine? there are a couple ofl points there. the russians have ukraine? there are a couple of- points there. the russians have been showing a very muddled and confusing response. mr putin is in desperate what is right now and he is throwing everything at it, the fsb, the internal bodyguards, the national guard, even conscripts. and i think if things continue trending the way they are, mr putin may have to call up they are, mr putin may have to call up another conscription, which is very controversial. another point is that in terms of this war affecting russian attitudes as well, if the elites start to get nervous or anxious and start leaving or moving

some of their assets out of russia, that will put additional pressure on mr putin to sue for peace and meet the ukrainians to talk about what they can swap in terms of land. again, is that likely, given the weakness of ukraine's overall military force compared with overall russian strength? i military force compared with overall russian strength?— russian strength? i think over the ast russian strength? i think over the past months. _ russian strength? i think over the past months, including _ russian strength? i think over the past months, including when - russian strength? i think over the - past months, including when yevgeny prigozhin made his march on russia, we have seen vulnerabilities in russia that nobody believed existed. 0ne russia that nobody believed existed. one of our europe correspondent today pointed out that $170 million was meant to be spent on defences on the ukrainian russian border in the kursk region. ukrainian troops just brushed by that. so i think what we are seeing as part of these weaknesses is years of hollowing out of the ministry of defence from corruption, and theyjust don't have the strength that they are believed to have. ~ . ., �* ~ the strength that they are believed to have. ~ . ., ~ ., ~ to have. michael bociurkiw, thank

ou. the us is stepping up pressure on israel and hamas to reach a ceasefire in gaza. president biden said such a deal could deter iran from launching attacks on israel and several of his key advisors are in the middle east, trying to smooth a path towards new talks. there were hopes a new round of discussions could begin in qatar tomorrow. israel said it would send a delegation but hamas is yet to commit. there is heightened tensions in the region with the threat of a new iranian attack on israel. us special envoy amos hochstein has been visiting lebanon. after meeting the lebanese speaker of the parliament, he said a ceasefire deal must be agreed now. speaker berri and i also talked about the framework agreement that is on the table for a gaza ceasefire. and he and i agree that there is no more time to waste and there is no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay. the deal would also help enable diplomatic resolution here in lebanon, and that

would prevent an outbreak of a wider war and create the conditions for the displaced lebanese people to return to their homes in the south and the displaced israeli residents to return to their homes in the north. this comes after the killing of a senior hezbollah commander. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega reports from beirut, in neighbouring lebanon. those diplomatic efforts continue, so today here in beirut, president biden�*s special envoy amos hochstein is having conversations in beirut with the country's top officials. he had a meeting with the parliament speaker who is a strong hezbollah ally and he said he didn't believe a wider conflict between israel and hezbollah is inevitable but he said there was no time to waste, so obviously this country is waiting for the response from hezbollah following the assassination by israel of a senior hezbollah commander here in beirut.

this visit happens on the eve of the talks that have been organised by international mediators, including the us, for a ceasefire deal in gaza, but i think there is very little expectation that any significant progress can be made. huge differences remain between israel and hamas, there are questions about how or even if hamas will be represented in those talks and there are many questions about the intentions of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, many believe he is not interested in a deal, that he wants to prolong the war to guarantee his political survival. so diplomatic efforts continue, but the us secretary of state antony blinken who was expected to come to the region has delayed his visit which i think is another sign of how difficult the situation is. hugo bachega there. the uk's rate of inflation has risen slightly for the first time since december.

prices rose by 2.2% — which is slightly less than expected — and mainly driven by the cost of gas and electricity. it means that prices are still going—up, but that increase is slower than it has been for the past couple of years. our business correspondent marc ashdown reports. the pace of price rises has cooled off over the past couple of years, which is good news for this family—run restaurant in hove on the south coast. since it opened back in 1969, marrocco's has weathered many an economic storm, but recent years have been a struggle. it has been tricky, especially since brexit and the cost of living, the price of products have gone up quite considerably. i mean, for the ice cream, we reckon about 30% they've gone up in the past three years. we've tried to keep our prices so that it's still obtainable to a lot of people, so we've put our prices up about 15%. so we've had to absorb some of the cost. the prices of gas and electricity

are largely behind this uptick in inflation, but it was widely forecast and remains close to the bank of england's long—term target of 2%. so inflation has come down a long way since that huge spike we saw at the end of 2022. injuly, prices rose at 2.2% and the bank of england expects them to stay around this rate until the end of the year. but, of course, inflation is made up of more than just that one headline figure. let's look at the services sector. things like hotel prices, restaurant prices — that's been falling steadily but remains at 5.2%. too hot for the bank's liking. that's come down more than people expected today, but it's still a lot higher than the rest of the inflation basket. this is what the bank of england is really focused on at the moment, and i think that means they're going to take interest rate cuts quite gradually. it means they probably won't cut rates again in september. hopefully, though, later in the year.

consumer confidence is another factor. the prices of most goods and food have come down from their peaks, but the cost of living can still feel expensive. my outgoings are quite a lot each month out of what i have incoming, so, you know, it's difficult, but i am aware of it and i'm on top of it. even things with, like, budget ranges in supermarkets, like, you might walk in one day and it's gone up fairly significantly. there's been a lot less— of the things that we would normally be doing that we've been able to do. so things like i used - to have some nice beers delivered and things i like that, that's gone. one of the blue cones. the bank's interest—rate setters will be hoping they aren't served up any surprises as they digest all the economic data and plot their next move. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

a new analysis shows that the six—tonne iconic altar stone at the heart

of stonehenge originated from north—eastern scotland rather than south—west wales. the discovery shows that its construction was a far greater collaborative effort than scientists believed. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. it's one of the most famous monuments in the world and also one of the most mysterious. why was stonehenge built and what was it useful? what we do know is that the giant outer stones are probably sourced locally from england. the inner blue stones are from wales, and we now know that the central altar stone is from north—eastern scotland and not from wales, as once thought. the irony is that the discovery was made by a young welshman. he still remembers being brought to the site as a one—year—old in 1992. i brought to the site as a one- ear-old in 1992. , one-year-old in 1992. i remember cominu one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with _ one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with my — one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with my dad _ one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with my dad and _ one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with my dad and being - one-year-old in 1992. i remember coming with my dad and being on| one-year-old in 1992. i remember. coming with my dad and being on his shoulders and looking over at the

stones, so it's nice to come full circle and make this discovery at somewhere so special to me. you are a roud somewhere so special to me. you are a proud welshman, _ somewhere so special to me. you are a proud welshman, and _ somewhere so special to me. you are a proud welshman, and you - somewhere so special to me. you are a proud welshman, and you have - somewhere so special to me. you are i a proud welshman, and you have taken the welsh status away from the stone. so how do you think it will go down in wales? i’m stone. so how do you think it will go down in wales?— stone. so how do you think it will go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk — go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk to _ go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk to me _ go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk to me again! _ go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk to me again! if - go down in wales? i'm not sure they will ever talk to me again! if it - will ever talk to me again! if it was from wales, no doubt, but wales has contributed so many rocks to this monument, i'm sure scotland can have one. �* ., , ., ., i, have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered _ have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered it _ have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered it had _ have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered it had a _ have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered it had a unique - have one. anthony analysed the rock and discovered it had a unique date i and discovered it had a unique date and discovered it had a unique date and composition. in thejournal nature, he says it could only have come from the far north of scotland, here in the 0rcadian basin, which includes caithness, 0rkney and moray firth. so this is the altar stone, the heart of stonehenge, now partially buried. it's among the largest stones here. at around six tonnes. the big question is how on earth it was transported from north—east scotland, and why the people back then thought it was so important to bring it all this way.

they must have been very technically advanced to be able to do that to bring it down by boat and bring it on sledges or whatever. band on sledges or whatever. and presumably. _ on sledges or whatever. and presumably, it _ on sledges or whatever. and presumably, it wasn't - on sledges or whatever. and presumably, it wasn'tjust on sledges or whatever. and presumably, it wasn't just a matter presumably, it wasn'tjust a matter of engineering, there must have been some sort of social cohesion for the scots and the welsh and english to work together?— scots and the welsh and english to work together? absolutely, to bring this to here. — work together? absolutely, to bring this to here. a _ work together? absolutely, to bring this to here, a sort— work together? absolutely, to bring this to here, a sort of— work together? absolutely, to bring this to here, a sort of focus - work together? absolutely, to bring this to here, a sort of focus in - work together? absolutely, to bring this to here, a sort of focus in a - this to here, a sort of focus in a at that time, there must have been linking between all of these areas. so what to say about neolithic society in britain?— society in britain? well, it certainly _ society in britain? well, it certainly implies - society in britain? well, it certainly implies great - society in britain? well, it i certainly implies great social connections and sophistication. i think_ connections and sophistication. i think we — connections and sophistication. i think we have to remember that these people _ think we have to remember that these people were just like us, in a way. they— people were just like us, in a way. they were — people were just like us, in a way. they were just as clever, but they had different technologies. but to bring _ had different technologies. but to bring a _ had different technologies. but to bring a stone of this size all the distance — bring a stone of this size all the distance from what we now call scotland — distance from what we now call scotland is really quite something. the new _ scotland is really quite something. the new discovery has changed the story of stonehenge and those that built it. the tail is now other people across great britain who were

more interconnected and advanced than previously thought, who came together to build this incredible monument. a woman from cheshire who suggested on facebook that a mosque "should be blown up with the adults inside" has been jailed for 15 months. 53—year—old julie sweeney from church lawton admitted a charge of sending a communication threatening death or serious harm when she appeared at chester crown court this afternoon. it's the latest in the prosecutions from the far—right and anti—immigrant riots in england and northern ireland after disinformation about the identity of the southport attacker. thailand has been plunged into deeper political and economic uncertainty, with the country's constitutional court dismissing the prime minister, srettha thavisin. the court in bangkok ruled that he'd violated the constitution by appointing a minister who'd served time injail for contempt of court. he's been in office less than a year.

the ruling threatens to destablise thailand's governing coalition. the country has faced decades of political uncertainty and governments toppled by the courts. mr srettha is the fourth thai premier in the past 16 years to be removed by the court. and just last week, the court dissolved the main opposition move forward party and banned its former leader from politics for 10 years. the move could also have major implications for south east asia's second—largest economy and impact investor confidence. 0ur south east asia correspondent jonathan head gave us this update on the court's decision. this is a court that many people argue is more powerful than any elected government in the country. for all that, the whole business about this petition against mr srettha was not taken that seriously. i mean, thailand's politics are not famous for their ethics, all sorts of colourful and pretty disreputable people have served in government and in parliament in the past.

and this was essentially a political decision and nobody thought that there would be real pressure to get rid of a prime minister who is still struggling to get the economy going and as you say, has only been in office forjust under a year. we still don't know exactly what lies behind this verdict, apart from reminding us aboutjust how powerful interventions of thailand's court are. it really does throw the country into some disarray. there is a process for choosing a new prime minister and a new cabinet. that will probably happen pretty quickly, we will expect a meeting in parliament on friday where the current coalition of 11 parties can discuss, it has to be somebody who is already registered as a prime ministerial candidate in the last election, which of them will become prime minister. but it is clear, it seems the dominant pheu thai party in the coalition did not expect this verdict and that there is some confusion about just exactly what kind of government is going to emerge. people near the greek capital athens are counting the cost of the worst wildfires to hit the region in a decade. the blazes have now been brought under control, but they've

left a trail of destruction. at least one person has died and dozens more have been injured. greek media is reporting that more than 100 buildings have been damaged around athens. less than 10% of the burnt areas were forests. let's speak to our correspondent azadeh moshiri, who's in a suburb of athens. azadeh, are all the fires out, even as we see the destruction behind you there? ., , ,., there? there are still some localised — there? there are still some localised fires _ there? there are still some localised fires in _ there? there are still some localised fires in certain - there? there are still some i localised fires in certain areas, but the fire service as well as officials we have spoken to has said that in general, it's under control. the threat to homes like these ones around me is not over, and that is because they do expect temperatures to reach a0 celsius. and that of course increases the risk of flare—ups. and when you look around me at some of the damage here in this neighbourhood, in one of the suburbs of athens that has been most

affected, you see exactly what is at stake. the government is going around trying to assess what kind of support communities like this need. they have allocated and earmarked money for people affected by this, businesses as well, people who have lost their livelihoods in the fires. we also know that they have given temporary housing to nearly 650 people since sunday. we have spoken to one of the families who live here in this residential area where homes have been affected. we spoke to their young son. when i come back, the oxygen is bad

and i_ when i come back, the oxygen is bad and i can't _ when i come back, the oxygen is bad and i can't really speak. i was worried — and i can't really speak. i was worried about the pets, the cats, and my— worried about the pets, the cats, and my friends because i have a friend _ and my friends because i have a friend around here. his house is close _ friend around here. his house is close and — friend around here. his house is close and was destroyed. and for my family. _ close and was destroyed. and for my family, because we have an aunt and her home _ family, because we have an aunt and her home was destroyed. so family, because we have an aunt and her home was destroyed.— her home was destroyed. so you are worried about _ her home was destroyed. so you are worried about your _ her home was destroyed. so you are worried about your family? - her home was destroyed. so you are worried about your family? yes. - he told me they have also had problems with their electricity. several tracks have been driving past trying to fix of the damage in neighbourhood. and the government is also trying to assess how to prevent this from happening again because of course, wildfires are not uncommon in greece, but there are things that they say, the prime minister mitsotakis says can be done to prevent it. he refers to the climate crisis, something he says is in fact a war, and that's because when you

listen to scientists, what they say is that the dry, hot temperatures that countries like greece experience are what increases the likelihood of things like fires. they fuel what could become wildfires like what we have seen this past week in greece. and they also explain that warming temperatures, the globe has warmed by about 1.1 celsius since the industrial era began and therefore, unless governments make steep cuts to emissions, these sorts of tinderbox conditions can continue. and also when you speak to residents in greece, once we have spoken to in the past week, they want results sooner. they say they want more resources to the fire service, something even officials have acknowledged to us, officials for penteli, one of the suburbs that has been worst hit, that they need more trucks and more firefighters to be able to respond to disasters like

the ones that greece has experienced.— the ones that greece has exerienced. �* ., ~ ., experienced. azadeh moshiri in one ofthe experienced. azadeh moshiri in one of the athens _ experienced. azadeh moshiri in one of the athens suburb _ experienced. azadeh moshiri in one of the athens suburb is _ experienced. azadeh moshiri in one of the athens suburb is affected, i of the athens suburb is affected, thank you very much. three people have been taken to hospital after a food bank in new zealand unintentionally distributed sweets laced with a potentially lethal amount of methamphetamine. police are trying to trace the sweets, which as many as a00 people may have received as part of food parcels. it's believed criminals may have packaged the drugs as sweets to avoid detection. animal welfare campaigners are warning that more beef and dairy cows could be kept indoors for the whole of their productive lives, amid a rise in so—called "mega—farms". the bbc found more than 915,000 cows are now being housed on large—scale farms, something the group compassion in world farming describes as "deeply concerning". the former british prime minister, liz truss, has walked off stage after becoming the latest target of the political activist group led by donkeys. ms truss, whose time in office was famously so brief that it was less than

the life span of a lettuce, was at an event in suffolk. she was delivering a pro—donald trump speech when a banner was lowered behind her. i have no idea where that has come from. applause and laughter. well, ms truss responded on x, saying: "what happened last night was not funny. far—left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. this is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech. i won't stand for it. would we see the same reaction if the activists were far—right?" more on that on the website. we are backin more on that on the website. we are back in a couple of moments. business is coming up. and we will

have more news from the uk and around the world. i'm geeta guru—murthy on bbc news. hello there. temperatures have been cooling somewhat since we had the highest temperature of the year so far to begin this week. today looks rather cloudy for parts of england and wales, with some rain at times, but plenty of sunshine thanks to this ridge of high pressure. but we look to the north west, this area of low pressure and its active weather front will bring a spell of wet and windy weather for many of us over the next 2a hours. that rain starts to push into scotland and northern ireland through this evening and overnight. much of england and wales will tend to be drier. we'll have a bit of cloud hanging on in the south east, that will stop temperatures from dipping much below 1a or 15 degrees, but it's a milder night to come further north than what we had the previous night. so we're dominated with this area

of low pressure and its weather front as we head into thursday. it will be a wet and windy day for large parts of scotland, northern ireland and getting into northern and western england and wales. the midlands and into the southeast will see variable cloud, some sunshine. yes, it will be breezy here as well, but we could still be up to around 25 or 26 degrees here. but it's the high teens, low 20s elsewhere, closer to what we expect this time of year. that weather front spreads across the rest of england and wales as we move through thursday night. fairly quickly, i think, clears off into the near continent, but there's still some warm air across the southeast. further north, it will be a fresher start to friday. eventually, that weather front clears through. fresher air will prevail across the country, but it will be a fine day, i think, for many, with some good spells of sunshine. breezy with a few showers across scotland and northern ireland and these sorts of temperatures are what we expect this time of year, high teens in the north to the low to mid 20s further south. now, the weekend is looking pretty decent. it's going to be dry. lengthy spells of sunshine.

it's because we're in between weather systems both saturday and sunday and a ridge of high pressure will bring light winds and a good deal of sunshine. just a few showers, perhaps, for the north west of scotland. so for saturday, then, a breezier day to come across northern areas, a bit more cloudy and maybe the odd shower the further south that you are across england and wales. we'll see more sunshine around and lighter winds. those temperatures reaching the mid 20s in the south. high teens, low 20s in the north. we do it all again on sunday. another fine day to come with plenty of sunshine. light winds further south, breezier for scotland and northern ireland and there will be a few showers grazing the northwest corner of scotland. again, those temperatures, high teens in the north to the mid 20s in the south.

us inflation has fallen below 3% for the first time in more than three years so will the federal reserve begin cutting rates at its next meeting? in the uk, inflation is also in the spotlight. injuly, price rises accelerated to 2.2% injuly — because of higher energy prices. and we'll take you on a tour of indonesia's new capital city — built from scratch in the borneo rainforest. welcome to business today. there's been a slowdown in inflation

in the world's biggest economy sparking hopes that a cut in the cost of borrowing could be around the corner. the us consumer price index rose by 2.9% in the year tojuly, down from 3% injune. most of this increase was due to a pick—up in housing costs. energy prices were unchanged in the month, while food price rose by 0.2%. this data comes at a time when there are concerns that the inflationary crisis era interest rates, which remain in place in the us, could cause a recession. it raises hopes of a response from the us federal reserve soon. so says doubleline's deputy chief investment officer, jeff sherman. yeah, i mean it's set up quite nicely for the fed to start the easing cycle. and right now the market kind of is saying you're either going to get 25 or 50 basis points of cuts. it's kind of a coin flip

between the two right now.