glad you could join me. we begin in ukraine, where a russian air strike killed at least seven people on friday in the city of kharkiv.among those killed was a 14—year—old girl on a playground. the six others were killed when the strike hit an apartment building. many others were wounded, including 20 who are in a "severe condition" according to the regional governor. ukrainian officials said the area was hit by a guided bomb. kharkiv has come under heavy russian attacks for months. our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov has the latest. the city of kharkiv is located just 30 kilometres from the russian border so moscow targets the city on a regular basis using bombs, using drones and guided bombs as well. and for many people in kharkiv their life is basically russian roulette. each day they can only guess who and what moscow will target next. today, russian bombs killed people in an apartment block. they also killed a 14—year—old girl in a playground.

the guided bombs that moscow used to attack kharkiv, they are not as precise as ballistic rockets or cruise missiles. their main purpose, their main aim is to cause devastation and this is exactly what the kremlin wants to achieve, kyiv says. therefore they asked their partners to provide them with long—range weapons and president zelensky has already responded to this attack by once again calling on his partners to allow them to use these weapons to hit targets deep inside russia. ukraine currently cannot use weapons provided, such as storm shadows and other missiles, to hit deep inside russia and the ukrainian partners say that if they allow them to do so, it will only escalate the war. however, the ukrainian authorities say that these weapons will be used only to hit military targets such as airfields from where russian bombers take off and attack

ukrainian cities. on friday, ukraine's president zelensky fired the head of the ukrainian air force, mykola oleshchuk, days after an f—16fighterjet crashed, killing its pilot. the f—16 was recently sent by nato allies. it crashed while repelling a barrage of russian missiles over ukraine. meanwhile, moscow is withdrawing 100 paramilitary troops from the west african country of burkina faso to fight against ukraine. the officers from the bear brigade — a russian private military company — will support russia's defence of its kursk region, as ukraine continues its incursion. 200 russian paramilitary troops will remain in burkina faso to help its militaryjunta. on saturday, at least 300 people were killed in one of the worst jihadist attacks in burkina faso in years. and russian president vladimir putin is set to travel to mongolia. it is first time mr putin will go to a country that is a signatory to the international criminal court

since it issued a warrant for his arrest, alleging he committed war crimes. icc member nations are instructed to arrest mr putin upon his arrival, but the kremlin says it is not worried. the icc says it will look into any non—cooperation by mongolia. for more on all this, i spoke with retired colonel brendan kearney, former chief of staff for us marine corps forces in europe and africa. i asked him about russia ramping up its attacks on ukraine in the wake of the ukrainian army crossing the russian border into kursk at the beginning of august. the kursk invasion, for lack of a better word, this incursion on the part of the ukrainians, a successful one we may add, into russia has deeply deeply embarrassed and offended vladimir putin. he is responding with an increased air attack by missile, by glide bombs, into ukraine and this is an example of a terror strike. we have to realise again that what these glide bombs do, it means the aircraft that released the bomb was flying over russia.

as your correspondent mentioned it is only 30 kilometres from the border, kharkiv from russia, so they release in relative safety and then it is guided down to its target and it has almost 700lbs of explosives. they have larger ones that have 1000le of explosives. that is a devastating bomb. so i am not surprised with the damage and the casualties that this particular thing has caused. vladimir putin will keep this going. so if putin continues this, what do you think the ukrainians can do? i heard a comment today from the danish prime minister saying that ukraine needs to win the war. all discussions about redlines must end. what are your thoughts on that? i think he is right. sadly it is coming a lot from washington, dc,

from the american government who placed handcuffs on the ukrainians. we gave them weapons. the us knows and we have encouraged other countries to give them weapons. the uk's missile mentioned, the storm shadow was a superb weapon and they should all be used to strike as deep into russia a the targets ukrainians are going to go after. and i trust the ukrainians when they say they are going after military targets as opposed to the russians who have launched this terror campaign that has been going over now for well over two years against civilians. so we have to allow the ukrainians to go ahead and just hit back and hit back very, very hard against the russian military. the concern that has been expressed by western officials including those in washington, dc was that in doing so and in using weaponry that comes from those nato countries is that it then opens up this

war, potentially, further. the risk of a further escalation. are you worried about that? do you think that is a point to which president putin may go to? we would be foolish not to worry about these things. not to consider the implications of what these additional actions may bring with it. that being said, this is a war and it is a war that the russians started. ukraine has performed superbly. we have got to stop second—guessing the ukrainians. i hate to say this but if putin decides he wants to up the ante against the ukrainians, if they are allowed to use these newer and more effective weapon systems, then so be it. the ukrainians likewise will respond. do i think it will engulf europe? no, i do not. that is not in the best interests of putin, he does not want that. russia will be devastated.

there will not be another russia to follow what would be left if nato decides, for whatever reason, if nato gets involved in this thing and europe gets involved and europe has to come militarily to the aid of the ukrainians. i want to briefly ask you and i know intelligence can be thin on the ground on this but what shape do you think the russian forces are in right now when you look, for example, at the withdrawal of some paramilitary troops from burkina faso to continue to fight in this war. does that tell us anything about the shape of russian forces ? it does. it tells me that they are having significant manpower problems. there was reporting that you saw about a month ago that the russian prison system has basically given up everything it can in terms of letting convicts out to go and fight for mother russia. so if they have to do redeploy folks from overseas and these adventures they were having in africa. it's small numbers of people,

but if they have to redeploy small numbers of people that tells me they are hurting when it comes to personnel. four palestinians have been killed in an israeli air strike that hit a vehicle accompanying a us aid convoy in the gaza strip. the convoy had been carrying food and fuel to the emirati red crescent hospital. in a statement, us—based aid charity anera says the rented vehicle was driven by locals to help secure the convoy. the israeli military says the car had been seized by gunmen and it alleges that the four were militants. it follows a similar incident in which a world food programme truck was struckjust days ago. the vehicle was hit ten times by israeli military gunfire. the two staff members in the vehicle were unharmed. israel's military operation in the occupied west bank continued into a third day on friday, with the army saying it killed a hamas commander. on thursday, the israeli military withdrew from a refugee camp near the city of tulkarem in the north of the west bank. it says forces killed five people including the local head

of the iran—backed islamichhad movement. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report. on a road outsidejenin this morning, israeli forces came face—to—face with the man they believe led hamas here. inside the white car, wissam khazem, shot dead by the army. and with him, two other men who tried to escape. killed in an airstrike as they ran. israel says all were involved in shooting and bombing attacks. the eastern areas ofjenin and its refugee camp have both been sealed off for the last three days and there are fresh reports of casualties — including an 82—year—old man who paramedics said was shot nine times. this morning, the army pulled out of the camp in tulkarem. the destruction there enough

to remind residents of a war. the army laid wires from this woman's home to blow up two houses opposite. families she has known for decades. translation: i have ten-year-old triplets | and they trapped us in a room and then they started the explosions. five explosions in total. imagine the walls shaking and your children clinging to you. it feels like we are in gaza. we met fadwa, stranded by the rubble that used to be her neighbour's house. translation: they told us that we have tunnels - and we smuggled armed groups to this house. they claimed we have tunnels like those in gaza. they drilled and dug into the floor and all they found was a sewer drain. later she shows us the broken floor. beneath it what appears to be a drain. too small for a person to fit through. you hear a lot of comparisons

here now with the war in gaza. this is still a very different situation but almost one year of the gaza war has changed attitudes and tactics on both sides. it has changed the sense of threat that israel feels from this conflict here and many people are saying it is changing israel's response. negotiating the damaged streets, a funeral procession for ayed abu hajja, a 69—year—old with a disability shot dead by a sniper, neighbours said, when he opened his window. alongside it, gunfire for the local leader of the armed groups here. mohammed jaber also killed in this operation. a show of force from the armed fighters of tulkarem, less than one day after israel's army withdrew. lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin. this weekend the un's health agency will begin the first stage of distributing polio

vaccines to thousands of palestinians in gaza. israel and hamas agreed to pause fighting to allow the mass vaccination programme after a io—month—old baby contracted gaza's first case of polio in 25 years. starting sunday, aid workers will begin a programme that aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children. the head of the world health organization welcomed the humanitarian pauses, but urged the israel and hamas to reach a permanent ceasefire. in the last hour, us central command announced us soldiers in iraq carried out a mission this week against islamic state operatives in an effort to �*disrupt�* the group's ability to carry out attacks. according to central command, the us carried out a raid in partnership with iraqi security forces. they say it took place in western iraq in the early hours of thursday. centcom says 15 islamic state operatives were killed in the raid, and that there was no indication

of civilian casualties. in a statement, central command said islamic state" remains a threat to the region, our allies, as well as our homeland. us centcom alongside our coalition and iraqi partners will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists. again this news of a joint us—iraqi operation in iraq against the islamic state group, just coming into our into oui’ newsroom. we'll keep following this story and keep you up—to—date with any developments. voters in eastern germany will go to the polls on sunday with the far—right alternative for germany party set to come out on top. the afd has built a strong base in the states of saxony and thuringia — and anger with chancellor olaf scholz�*s government is surging, especially after a knife attack last weekend in which three people were killed. the main suspect is a syrian asylum seeker who had been facing deportation. the anti—immigration party is now germany's fifth largest party. a win this weekend would be its first—ever state victory.

our correspondentjessica parker sent this report. applause . booze and shouts aimed at chancellor olaf scholz, among them traitor and warmonger. chancellor scholz has not been a very visible during this campaign in the east. he is not exactly seen as an electoral asset and the reception for him here is mixed. an argument in the crowd. the man on the left supports the far right alternative fur deutschland, the man on the right does not. does germany feel divided to you at the moment? yes, they say, that's the one thing they can agree on. music plays some upbeat music, but don't be fooled, there's tension in germany, especially around immigration. that's feeding the

afd's immigration. that's feeding the afd�*s popularity. a party infringer that's last by domestic intelligence as right—wing extremist. some people in germany are notjust critical of the afd, they say they are actually scared of the afd. translation: ., ., ., , ., afd. translation: ., ., ., , translation: no-one wants to be called right-wing _ translation: no-one wants to be called right-wing extremist - translation: no-one wants to be called right-wing extremist or- called right—wing extremist or nazis. we make conservative politics but it is far away from right—wing extremism. that's what people are being told every day and they fall for it. ., ., a told every day and they fall for it. ., ., ., ., for it. life looks good here, but something's _ for it. life looks good here, but something's bubbling . for it. life looks good here, j but something's bubbling in for it. life looks good here, - but something's bubbling in the former communist east. what's driving this discontent? well, there's annexed on issues ranging from immigration to germany sending weapons to ukraine, a deep frustration with the parties that have governed this country since reunification, and they dissatisfaction amongst people in east germany about what reunification has or hasn't

delivered.— reunification has or hasn't delivered. ., , delivered. you can constantly see where — delivered. you can constantly see where the _ delivered. you can constantly see where the easter - delivered. you can constantly see where the easter begins l delivered. you can constantly i see where the easter begins and whether west begins. infrastructure, but industry. it's more concentration on the west. and we are getting, like, forgotten. west. and we are getting, like, forgotten-— forgotten. constantine, who sa s he forgotten. constantine, who says he will _ forgotten. constantine, who says he will support - forgotten. constantine, who says he will support the - forgotten. constantine, who| says he will support the afd, hops on his east german made simpson sis mot paired. over decades pride in the east was decade, many would dispute whether the far right is the way to get it back, but here that's where the momentum lies. jessica parker, bbc news, infringer. live now to liana fix, she's a political scientist at the council on foreign relations. welcome to you. thank you for being with us. we can go back to 2013 and talk about the flow and ebbo popularity, waxing and waning for the afd in germany, butjust talk to waning for the afd in germany, but just talk to us

waning for the afd in germany, butjust talk to us more about why we are seeing more of that flow, more of that backing for the afd in a few of these east or formally east german states. what is interesting about the formally east german states is that in the past decade they have been governed in majority by the populist left wing and the populist left wing is now set to be succeeded by the right—wing extremist afd. what does this tell us? it tells us that there is a discontent which is not necessarily related to the political direction but which looks for easy answers. an interesting spin to that is thatjust recently a new left—wing party has emerged from the left wing who can rival the afd but is on immigration is as conservative as the afd, so it is really about populism and discontent,

less about the exact party and their positions. but less about the exact party and their positions.— their positions. but if you look, their positions. but if you look. for _ their positions. but if you look, for example, - their positions. but if you look, for example, at - their positions. but if you | look, for example, at what their positions. but if you - look, for example, at what we are seeing in saxony, thuringia, and watching those results very closely over the weekend, do you think this is representative of how other states across germany feel, the rest of the country, or more of an exception?— rest of the country, or more of an exception? no, actually the afd has been _ an exception? no, actually the afd has been rising _ an exception? no, actually the afd has been rising across - afd has been rising across germany, especially in southern germany, especially in southern germany, for example in bavaria it has gotten quite good results in opinion polls and that has started already last year. so the corona pandemic of the war against year. so the corona pandemic of the waragainst ukraine, the war against ukraine, inflation, the waragainst ukraine, inflation, all that the war against ukraine, inflation, all that has accumulated and discontent with the current governing coalition between the greens, social democrats, and liberals have really accumulated to arise for the afd across the entirety of germany, it isjust much more pronounced in the east, but we

also have to see this in proportion. the population in the east is less than the population in the west, so overall despite the popularity in the east the afd in the west is still becoming stronger as well, so it is not only the east of germany here. so well, so it is not only the east of germany here. so i want what ou east of germany here. so i want what you think _ east of germany here. so i want what you think all _ east of germany here. so i want what you think all of _ east of germany here. so i want what you think all of this - what you think all of this means for the chancellor, for his governing coalition, particularly if we do see a strong showing for the afd over the weekend, particularly when it comes to topics like immigration, the economy, support for ukraine. what kind of you think that will put his coalition under wes ellis at the next federal elections will be in september 2025, so next year. in be in september 2025, so next ear. ., year. in the governing coalition _ year. in the governing coalition has - year. in the governing coalition has barely i year. in the governing l coalition has barely held together so far because they have to cut the budget and this governing coalition has been an unlikely coalition which has promised to its constituency a lot of things that they can't

finance now anymore, so the challenge will be how to survive until the next federal elections for this coalition and that is a sad result for a progressive liberal coalition that has started after the end of the angela merkel era with the promise of bringing change to germany and bringing referm —— form to germany, it is so unpopular across germany it is very likely to be voted out in the next september federal elections in 2025. find the next september federal elections in 2025.— the next september federal elections in 2025. and on that oint elections in 2025. and on that point more — elections in 2025. and on that point more broadly, _ elections in 2025. and on that point more broadly, looking . elections in 2025. and on that| point more broadly, looking at germany, zooming out, you are mentioning that the rise of new far left party created, expected, according to some bowls to come in and third place, if talking about the rise and the resurgence of the far right, the afd party and the far left as well, what does that tell us about polarisation in germany?— that tell us about polarisation in germany? yes, germany has become a _ in germany? yes, germany has become a political _ in germany? yes, germany has become a political landscape i become a political landscape where more and more parties are

emerging, that makes it incredibly difficult to build stable coalitions, especially in those eastern countries where the afd is very high and many other countries refused to co—operate with the afd. the new left party is the only one who could imagine to co—operate or at least accept laws by the afd. so that makes germany unstable politically. germans are like that, they like stability in their political party system. and at the same time it challenges the centre and the mainstream parties, if you want to call them that way, so just the structure of the party system in germany at the moment feeds into populist, into the success moment feeds into populist, into the success of moment feeds into populist, into the success of populist parties. into the success of populist arties. ~ . ., ., parties. we will continue to have coverage _ parties. we will continue to have coverage of _ parties. we will continue to have coverage of those - parties. we will continue to - have coverage of those election results throughout the weekend. liana fix, political scientist at the council on foreign relations, great to get your analysis. thank you, liana.

thank you. x, formerly known as twitter, has been banned in brazil. that ruling came just hours ago after the platform missed a deadline to name a new legal representative in the country. a supreme courtjudge ordered the "immediate and complete suspension" of the social media platform until it complies with all court orders and pays existing fines. the decision comes after x removed its legal representative from brazil, citing claims that the judge had threatened her with arrest. elon musk has responded to the ban, saying: my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke about the ruling with paresh dave, he's a senior writer with wired. right now there still seemingly users who are accessing it, but within 2a hours the sort of telecoms, regulators and telecoms, regulators and telecoms companies should be starting to take away access,

the app stores will probably take away access to x as well and, you know, the government has even threatened to fine users if they try to evade the band. ,, ., users if they try to evade the band, ,, ., ., users if they try to evade the band. ., _, , , ., band. so at the core this is a battle, because, _ band. so at the core this is a battle, because, over- band. so at the core this is a battle, because, over free i battle, because, overfree speech, because elon musk is saying this is a road judge who was trying to censor free speech. could this set a precedent?— speech. could this set a precedent? speech. could this set a recedent? . ., , ., precedent? yeah, i mean, you see this battle _ precedent? yeah, i mean, you see this battle played - precedent? yeah, i mean, you see this battle played out - precedent? yeah, i mean, you see this battle played out in i see this battle played out in 70 countries. on the one hand you have someone saying that these are legitimate threats to democracy and we cannot allow this kind of speech that, you know, may contribute to public misunderstanding of the government or the electoral processes stop —— so many countries. on the other hand you have people doing this as a judge was targeting politicians he doesn't like and that is problematic also. so how to come down with the right answer in these situations is often complicated but we see playing out in so many countries right now. let's turn to some

other important news around the world. the former strictly come dancing professional artem chigvintsev has been arrested in california on suspicion of domestic violence. he's also worked on the us version of the show. he was booked into napa county jail in california on thursday morning. online jail records say he was arrested under a section of california law that deals with corporal injury to spouse. it is not clear whether mr chigvintsev�*s current wife is in any way involved. tributes are pouring in for american hockey star johnny gaudreau after he and his brother matthew were killed after being hit by a car. mr gaudreau played for the columbus bluejackets. he and his younger brother were hit while riding their bikes on a rural road in newjersey. the driver is suspected of driving under the influence. johnny gaudreau was nicknamed johnny hockey, scoring 2a3 goals over his 11—year career with the bluejackets and calgary flames. the north—west switzerland riverside city of basel will host next year's eurovision song contest. geneva, had been widely regarded as the favourite.

switzerland gets to host the contest next may as they won this year's competition with the song the code performed by nemo. watching bbc news. i'm helena humphrey. once your company. they will have more at the top of the hour. i will see you then. hello. this weekend will take us out of august and into september — technically speaking, the start of the meteorological autumn. but in spite of that, there is some warmth and some humidity on the way. warm and humid conditions drove a lot of the showers and thunderstorms across the western side of continental europe during friday. that warm and humid air wafting its way northwards over the weekend. and while there will be some spells of sunshine, we also have the chance of some pretty intense thunderstorms, although there is still a lot of uncertainty about exactly

how many of those there will be and where they might crop up. and actually, saturday will be a largely dry day. quite a lot of sunshine around, more cloud spilling into southern parts of england, perhaps south wales, and the chance of one or two showers and perhaps the odd thunderstorm across the channel islands and perhaps south—east england later in the day. a breeze will keep things cool close to these north sea coasts — 17 for aberdeen and newcastle. more generally, though, 19 to 22 or 23 degrees, so quite a warm day. quite warm and humid overnight, through saturday night into sunday, especially across the south, and we will see further, very well—scattered showers and thunderstorms pushing northwards, i think especially across some eastern counties of england. 16 degrees the overnight low in london, a cooler 9 degrees there for glasgow. as we go through sunday, well, that warm, humid air continues to push northwards. with it, quite a lot of cloud and the chance for one or two of those showers and thunderstorms. if they do crop up, they could bring a lot of rain, perhaps some squally winds, maybe some hail thrown in, especially across eastern england, but many spots will avoid the showers

and stay dry. 19 to maybe 27 or 28 degrees down towards the south—east. now, through sunday night, we will see further showers and thunderstorms, perhaps most especially across eastern england. but low pressure's swirling in from the west, and that means from monday, there will be a lot of cloud, there will be some outbreaks of rain. some of that rain will be heavy, possibly thundery. it could really be quite misty and murky around some coasts out towards the west, but we will see some spells of sunshine as well. still getting up to around 25 degrees across parts of east anglia, but out towards the west, things will be turning cooler and fresher. and that sets the theme, really, through the middle part of the week — some cooler conditions, some rain at times. it might warm up again, though, for some of us by the end of the week.

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