welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: war as a way of life. we have a special report from eastern ukraine, where three years of conflict has brought misery to thousands of people. this wall has grown to a stalemate. that means untold suffering, particularly for the civilian population —— war. a serious blow to president trump's proposed healthcare bill, as two more republican senators announce their opposition. after venezuela's referendum, president trump threatens strong and swift economic action if plans to rewrite the constitution go ahead. and george and charlottejoined and george and charlotte joined the duke and duchess of cambridge for a family state visit to poland. it is three years since the malaysian airlines flight

mh17 was shot down over eastern ukraine, killing 298 people. it was the worst single loss of life in the conflict, between russian—backed separatists, and the government in kiev. a ceasefire in the region isn't holding, with regular skirmishes, as rebels who want closer ties to moscow battle ukrainian armed forces, in mainly russian—speaking areas. our special correspondent fergal keane and cameraman darren conway have been to the front line, in the town of avdiedvka. high summer, and at first the land looks at peace, until very quickly, we walk into the war. here, you follow in the steps of those who know the safest path, like this 50—year—old who joined

the army when the war began. we just paused here, because there is a sniper who has a direct line. she is telling us to go now. the sprint to cover that is the hallmark of all the world's warzones. this was once a thriving industrial zone, now mangled by shellfire. where the long silences of a half—hearted ceasefire are suddenly shattered. thousands of shells have landed here. this unexploded rocket detonated by ukrainian troops. there is a grim humour here, the bullet placed next to the bible. this army is hardened now, after three years of war. bolstered by local soldiers,

whose homes lie beyond the bridge where the territory of the russian—backed forces begins. so that big building to the left is them? the trenches of a european war, with a front line more than 400 kilometres long. the ceasefire allows men to dig close to rebel lines. there is some protection, but it is not a place to stand tall and draw attention. we are at the furthest point forward now, in the ukrainian positions, and these trenches are just a0 — between a0 and 50 yards from the russian—backed forces on the other side, just over a wall here.

that is why nobody speaks loudly in this place, and you can get a sense of how precarious it is by looking at the sniper who is positioned here. and he is scanning, he is watching for any movement on the other side that would threaten the men digging these trenches. what does all this tell you? it tells you it is about permanence, that this war has ground into a stalemate. and that means untold suffering, particularly for the civilian population. more than a million people are displaced on both sides. ludmila has moved from one war—battered village to another. she takes her seven—month—old son for a morning walk, taking advantage of the absence of shelling and the emptiness of war. a four—lane highway. nothing comes but an occasional military truck. ludmila came here after her own home was shelled at the beginning of the war. but it is the fear of random shelling that haunts the family,

making this tiny basement their refuge. ludmila worries constantly about a direct hit. there are many stories like this on the other side, too. for those who cannot move, but must eke out their days near the front line, a visit from aid worker olga breaks the relentless loneliness. living in a flat that was hit by a shell and gutted by fire

at the war‘s beginning is anna. she survives on a pension of £50 a month. i'm praying that god will take me, she says. her memory stretches back through previous ages of famine and war in ukraine. this child, aged seven, is an orphan of the war. and what that bomb did is locked in her memory. she found her mother's mutilated body just after the shell landed. her grandmother is laying flowers at the spot where her daughter and three others were killed. there are small reminders of the lives taken away. mobile phones, left here since the day of the shelling last

may. in a country whose war has become a brutal stalemate, she has learned too young, too cruelly, the fragility of human life. fergal keane, bbc news, ukraine. now, two more republican senators have said they will oppose their pa rty‘s plant replacement have said they will oppose their party's plant replacement for president 0bama's healthca re party's plant replacement for president 0bama's healthcare act, making it impossible for the replacement bill to pass in its current form. with a majority of only four in the senate and all democrats expected to vote against, the republicans could only afford to blues two votes. —— to lose two votes. thank you very

much for talking to us. repealing and replacing 0bamacare, such a big deal in the trump election campaign. how did it come to this? well, we have to understand, this is notjust pa rt have to understand, this is notjust part of the trump campaign. this has actually been eight years in the making. after this bill was passed by barack 0bama, republicans immediately jumped on, and by barack 0bama, republicans immediatelyjumped on, and they used it as immediatelyjumped on, and they used itasa immediatelyjumped on, and they used it as a large campaign tool that they used to take over both the house and the senate. and it is one of the major issues that largely helped secure donald trump's victory. now here we are, in the final hours here, where mitch mcconnell was trying to get his bill over the finish line, and now, just recently, we have seen two more republicans peel away from this bill. so it has become increasingly difficult for mitch mcconnell, who is widely seen as a very shrewd political operator, to now be able

to bring along his caucus. i think this is a very problematic thing not only for the republicans but for mitch mcconnell personally, because he is always seen as a stalwart champion of being able to bring his caucus together. but now, just when we thought that he only needed maybe one or two votes, now you see more republicans peeling off. and suddenly the health ofjohn mccain isa suddenly the health ofjohn mccain is a big deal. notjust to senator mccain, but to his party. absolutely, but now that we have moran and lee who have actually peeled off the bill, now the question becomes what more republicans have actually peeled away from supporting this legislation. and i think that is the difficulty that mitch mcconnell will have. we see wisconsin's senator ron johnson actually broached the subject of saying that perhaps mitch mcconnell is not being crucial with his caucus in terms of what the true value is of this bill. so we are seeing deep tensions within the

caucus. and now, and this is where i think being not only the president of the united states, but being the leader of your party, comes into play. and donald trump, given his low approval numbers, given how toxic is administration has become, u nfortu nately toxic is administration has become, unfortunately isn't able to corral his caucus to get this deal over the finish line. and i think that is what is deeply problematic, and what is not getting the attention that ensured, is that you have got a president who wants this bill, who is ready to sign this bill, but because he hasn't been able to build the bridges across the board, with centrist and democrats, he can't go out to the public and win support, and he can't find support even in washington. he has said i will be very angry if it doesn't get through, he said a lot of people will be very disappointed, but does he not see it as hisjob will be very disappointed, but does he not see it as his job to work ha rd to he not see it as his job to work

hard to get the bill through? is that not what he thinks he should be doing? well, i do believe he thinks he should be working, but the problem is, because he is so toxic, because now these latest revelations on donald trump junior, because now these latest revelations on donald trumpjunior, with potentially allegedly trying to couude potentially allegedly trying to collude with the russians, now i think what you are seeing is a president who is boxed in. he can't find support within the republican—controlled congress, and he can't go out into communities, in two states, and try and muster up support among regular americans. because, overall, the bill only has a 12% approval rating. i mean, that is lower than many lawyers in this country, and if you know anything about the united states, people hate lawyers. but the bill has a very low approval rating, and so he can't find the support for the bill within the public. he can't find it within the public. he can't find it within the senate. and this is in essence where, because he is only six months then, typically with young administrations, the party in power will actually give the president

what he wants, even if they see that it is not beneficial to their chances of winning re— election. we saw those with president barack 0bama, when he passed 0bamacare eight years ago. many democrats knew that to support the bill meant that they would lose their seats, and many of them did, but they gave the president what he wanted because they knew this is what he needed in order to establish himself as the president. not for the country, but for being able to move legislation in washington. and republicans are turning their backs on as president. well, as many people will be thinking, and as you know, this is an initiative which looks as if it was done for before, and has been resurrected. we may well be talking again if it comes back. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: the united arab emirates says it had nothing to do with a hacking attack on qatar's news websites which helped to trigger the boycott of qatar by neighbouring states. the washington post has suggested the uae instigated an operation in which qatar's ruler was made to appear to praise iran. the united nations says the number

of civilian casualties in afghanistan has reached a record high this year. 1,600 people were killed by the end ofjune, an increase of 2% on the same period last year. most victims died in attacks by the taliban and the islamic state group. an australian woman has been shot dead by police in minneapolis, responding to an emergency call. justine damond, who was living with her american fiance, had reported a noise near their home, and was shot when she approached the police car that responded. her family want to know why the officers' body cameras were switched off at the time. the white house says an announcement will be made very soon on iran's nuclear agreement, reached with world powers during the 0bama administration. every 90 days, the us state department must notify congress if tehran is in compliance. president trump has repeatedly said he thinks the agreement is a bad deal for america. in the past few hours, iranian foreign minister, mohammad javad zarif, said iran is a serious partner

for all those countries fighting extremism in the region. we have fought extremism in afghanistan. we have fought extremism in iraq. we have fought extremism in iraq. we have fought extremism in iraq. we have fought extremism in syria. us allies supported extremism in afghanistan. you remember, the only three countries that recognise the taliban as government were pakistan, a neighbour, saudi arabia, in the uae. these are the same countries that support terrorism and extremism in syria, the same countries that support terrorism and extremism in iran. they have been consistent in supporting terrorism and extremism. we have been consistent in objecting to it. they made the wrong choices, and now they are complaining, why are they reaping the fruits of their own wrong choices? it's not our fault that we made the right choice.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we will hear from the cast and crew of the film lipstick under my burkha, which has finally been passed by censors in india. the flamboyant italian fashion designer gianni versace has been shot dead in florida. the multi—millionaire was gunned down outside his home in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the "great white way" by americans, but tonight it is completely blacked out. it is a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. 200 years ago today, a huge parisian crowd stormed the bastille prison — the first act of the revolution which was to topple the french monarchy. today, hundreds of thousands throng the champs—elysees for the traditional military parade. finally, fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge

shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: three years after malaysian airlines flight, mhi7, was shot down over eastern ukraine, the region remains locked in a brutal stalemate. in the us, two more republican senators have said they will oppose president trump's proposed healthcare bill. it's now impossible for the bill to pass in its current form. the us president has issued his sharpest statement yet on the economic and political crisis in venezuela. mr trump has threatened nicolas maduro's government with strong and swift economic action if it goes ahead with plans to scrap the national assembly and rewrite the constitution. this weekend millions of people took

part in an unofficial vote rejecting president maduro's plans, and the opposition has called a general strike later this week. mr trump described him as a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator. i spoke to suzanne kianpour in washington. there's been a lot of unrest and violence in venezuela as of late. this is effectively mr trump's shot across the bow at nicolas maduro. he is playing the business card, which he knows well. it is sort of a classic donald trump statement, calling him a bad leader, saying that he dreams of becoming a dictator. meanwhile, the state department response has been that this was a statement by the venezuelan people as support of free and fair elections, and respect for the existing

constitution. how far it will go, exactly what this means, it remains to be seen. we don't exactly know what it means yet, but the venezuelan economy is crumbling. this threat will not fall on deaf ears. the american statement adds, the us will not stand by as, the statement puts it, as venezuela crumbles. if the maduro regime imposes its constituent assembly onjuly 30, the united states will take strong and swift economic actions. translation: it is daylight robbery. they're acting like bandits on the road, taking away property which belongs to us according to a bilateral, intergovernmental, ratified document. and, in order to get it back, they act according a principle — what's mine is mine, what's yours, we will share. decent people do not behave this way. the russians have also said that

they hope political ties will prevail. anything that looks like a concession to the russians is only going to cause president trump further problems? indeed. you hit the nail on the head. the climate here, the political climate, is extremely toxic. anything that looks like a concession to vladimir putin isa like a concession to vladimir putin is a major problem for mr trump, his administration is mired in several different investigations. this could not come at a worse time. especially on the heels of this meeting that has raised questions between one of donald trump's sons and a russian lawyer. the russians have said that this is a priority. they gave him six months and it has almost

expired. it was inevitable that this was going to come to a head. what the resolution is going to be remains to be seen. we have not seen a statement from the state department out of those meetings that they held with senior russian officials as of yet. i was just in nebraska last week and his supporters, his base, they cannot really be bothered with the sort of russian fever. they want stronger relations with vladimir putin, and thatis relations with vladimir putin, and that is what he promised. what is trump to do? the duke and duchess of cambridge are in warsaw for a visit to poland and germany. their children joined their parents for the trip. 0ur royal correspondent reports. 0n the tarmac, george struck a nonchalant pose, and practised the odd ballet move. a fidgeting prince, with a lifetime under an intense spotlight ahead of him.

princess charlotte faces a similarfuture, a reality, aged two, she can remain blissfully unaware of for now. does anyone speak english? the language divide isn't the only challenge. here, a country that relatively recently embraced the eu is welcoming royals from one on the way out of the institution. it's the union jack. it's called the unionjack. unionjack. the nitty—gritty of brexit won't feature here. rather, william and kate are in warsaw to remind people of the depth of past links, and the potential for future ones, between the uk and poland. warsaw's past on display on a memorial wall to those murdered when, during the second world war, the poles tried and failed to end german occupation. so you wore this all the time during the uprising?

yes. tonight in warsaw, prince william talked about the two countries' close relationship, and the fact polish is the second—most spoken language in the uk. such links, diplomatic, military, cultural, offer much promise and opportunity for the future. he didn't utter the word brexit, but it influenced his speech, as it will the time william and kate spend, first in poland, then in germany. peter hunt, bbc news, warsaw. an indian film, lipstick under my burkha, will be screened in cinemas this week after a long battle with censors in the country. it's a movie which revolves around female characters and one of the reasons given for it being banned initially was that it was ‘lady oriented'. censorship has recently become a big issue in india, with many filmmakers having to make cuts to their movies before they can be released. let's take a closer look. the uproar, the outrage tat was out about this film,

you would think that we have done something very wrong. but we haven't. there is nothing wrong with being lady—oriented, and what is wrong with telling stories from our point of view? why should it make people so threatened? i don't think there should be censorship in the first place. i think, in a free and democratic nation, where adults are allowed to elect their own governments, they should be able to watch a film if they want to. it is not like we don't see women at all. we see women. but often the sexuality

of the storyline for the women is gratuitous, and it serves the purpose of the main protagonist. india is a country where there is so much violence against women, and there is so much discrimination against women. in that kind of a society, when you have a popular culture that is legitimately trying to silence 50% of the population, there's something wrong. there is more on that story and more

on the news at any time on our website. thank you so much for watching. hello there, good morning. yesterday, we saw 27 degrees in the london area, with increasing amounts of medium and upper—level cloud, but the sky stayed pretty much clear in northern scotland. and, through the day today, we're going to see those temperatures creeping up a notch or two. 29 degrees somewhere in england and wales. then midweek, big changes on the way, some thunderstorms heading our way, and then by the end of the week, it is going to be a good deal cooler, 27 degrees. as the cloud goes to the southern half of the uk, clearer skies further north to end the day on monday. and, with those clearer skies, we see temperatures dipping down to 11—12 degrees in major cities, and rural areas could be single figures. but not so further south — it is a warm night here. today, a south—easterly breeze

striking in some hot and humid air from the near continent. that breeze will be quite a noticeable breeze, in the south—east in particular. but a decent day for many places. some sunshine for much of scotland. maybe a shower or two developing as we get on into the afternoon, but a lot of sunshine, and it is going to be quite warm as well. 25 in glasgow and 22 in inverness. northern ireland should have a decent afternoon, 22 degrees or so, similar in northern england. always a bit fresh along that north sea coast. but get away from that, 25 or so in the manchester area. southern england and wales gets to 28—29 degrees. but, as we get down towards the south—west, we start to see some thunderstorms developing. they will be in the channel islands early on, and drift ever northwards. hit and miss, but if you get one, you will know all about it. and those thunderstorms continuing to drift their way north through the small hours of wednesday. there will be some hail, some gusty winds to go with that. wednesday itself, thunderstorms continuing to drift north.

dry in large parts of england and wales. but then we see more rain coming in from the west, and some of that could be quite heavy. temperatures coming down a little bit across the west side, norwich 29 degrees, but generally temperatures are beginning to come back down on wednesday. and that process continues on into thursday. as this weather front goes from west to east, it will bring some rain with it, and also some fresher air. for the golfers at royal birkdale, quite strong winds making it challenging. early rain and then sunshine and showers into the afternoon, and temperatures in the upper teens. so on thursday, yes, some rain spreads from west to east. it will be an unsettled end to the week, with some more general rain across quite a large area. this is bbc news. the headlines: three years after malaysian airlines flight mhi7 was shot down over eastern ukraine, the region remains locked in a brutal stalemate. a ceasefire has failed,

amid regular skirmishes between rebels who want closer ties to moscow and ukrainian armed forces. in the us, two more republican senators have said they will oppose president trump's proposed healthcare bill. mike lee and jerry moran say the new legislation doesn't go far enough in repealing 0bamacare. it is now impossible for the bill to pass in its current form. venezuela's political crisis has deepened after voters rejected plans to rewrite the constitution. president trump has said the country will face strong and swift economic action if the controversial plans go ahead. venezuela's opposition has called a 24—hour general strike on thursday. a