this is bbc news — i'm nancy kacungira — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world... in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk. the ukrainian army rejects russia's claims they've encircled the city. state media says two more british men captured by russian forces in ukraine have have been charged with being mercenaries. a council of afghan tribal elders ends with a call for the world to recognise the taliban and lift sanctions. more hell at heathrow — warnings of further disruption this summer for travellers passing through the uk's busiest airport. and — the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets for the annual event.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. ukraine says its forces are enduring intense russian shelling in the eastern city of lysycha nsk, but denies claims that they are surrounded. russia has also fired more missiles at cities in the north and south. lysychansk is the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk, which is part of the industrial donbas region. these pictures from russia's state—owned domestic news agency, ria, show drone images of battles near the city. but kyiv denies the claims that russian—backed fighters have encircled the city. elsewhere, russia is continuing its missile strikes. in the south, ukraine's military says mykolaiv has been hit by ten missiles targetting the port and other

industrial infrastructure. it's not yet clear if there are any casualities. the ukrainian authorities have accused moscow of hitting civilian targets in an effort to force them into making territorial concessions. meanwhile, two more britons captured by russian forces in ukraine have been charged with being mercenaries, according to russian state media. it comes after two other british men were sentenced to death last month. joe inwood reports. andrew hill travelled to ukraine to help fight the russian invasion. dylan healy went there to help evacuate civilians. both men now face being tried as mercenaries in an unrecognised separatist court. they would not be the first to appear there. last month, aiden aslin, shaun pinner and a moroccan man, brahim saadoun, were all sentenced to death by the so—called donetsk people's republic. according to dominik byrne, who is working on their cases,

it is no coincidence most of them are british. this really shows that the russians are putting more and more pressure on the british government than other governments and using the british prisoners as more of a political tool and negotiation tool more than others. and we believe that's the case because the british government have really seemed to rattle the russians within ukraine. rattled or not, on the battlefields of the east, russia is very much on the advance. they are said to be taking ground in lysychansk, the last part of the luhansk region held by the ukrainians. russia is moving to encircle the city. if they do, they will cut off some of ukraine's most experienced soldiers. but it's notjust the eastern donbas region that has felt the effects of russia's invasion. the last fortnight has seen attacks right across ukraine — here in the capital, kyiv, at a shopping centre in the town of kremenyuk and, most recently, in the resort of serhiyivka. 21 people are now known

to have died when three russian missiles struck the popular holiday destination. roman tried to help. everyone who was inside at that moment, they all died. my neighbour was a very good person. it's a great pity. she simply died in my arms. it's really scary. i don't know how to put it into words. the attack on serhiyivka came just a few hours after russia was driven from the strategically important snake island under massive ukrainian bombardment. russia claimed it left as a gesture of goodwill but last night returned to bomb the equipment it had been forced to leave behind. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. religious leaders and tribal elders who've been holding a three—day meeting in the afghan capital kabul have called on the international community to recognise the taliban rulers and lift all sanctions. around 3,000 clerics attended the men—only conference, which was organised

by the islamist group. earlier, i spoke to our south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan, and asked him why this conference had been called. after the taliban captured power in august, they had a military, but they did not have the support of the entire community because they always argue that this was the first time they had united the entire of afghanistan, even during the previous rule, that the northern part was under control of a rival group, and this time they wanted legitimacy from their own community because the taliban don't have democratic elections, so that is why they want the tribal elders in the village is to give them their backing, the rubber stamp of authority. that's why they call for nearly 3000 of these clerics to come together for this three day meaning, and they passed these resolutions, asking for recognition from the international community, recognising them as the authority within afghanistan and also

urging the international donors to release the frozen funds of the country. they also warned that anyone who supports opposition against the taliban ruler, action will be taken against them. so the taliban did present this demand to be recognised, but that they make any concessions because the sanctions were put in a place for a place for everything, weren't they? ironically, the conference itself was a men's only conference. no women represented there during this conference. also there are different ethnic groups. we did not know how many of them or how many representatives where they are. it was not very clear whether it was unifying afghanistan conference or it was presenting only those who support the views of the taliban. international community has been urging the taliban for several months now to respect human rights, especially women's rights,

for example, the education for secondary school girls, the schools have been shot for months. they have not been reopened at all, and a women's right to work. many departments, the women have been sent home and they have been urging women not to come in public places unless or until they have a real demand, and they are asking them to come with their male family members. many people lost theirjobs. so that is why people have been asking that taliban that they promised to be a new version, like 2.0, but they have brought back their original very harsh of sharia rules back in afghanistan, which has disappointed the international community, and that is why they are holding this conference and asking the taliban to change their attitude before this money can be released. president biden has warned that states passing strict anti—abortion laws will try to jail women who choose to travel to get abortions. and he promised the federal government will act to protect women's rights to travel. he was speaking at a virtual meeting with democratic state governors.

if extremist governors try to block a woman from travelling from her estate that prohibits her from seeking medical help she needs to estate that provides that care, the federal government will act to protect our bedrock rights through the attorney general�*s office. earlier we heard from mary zeigler a professor at the florida state university college of law. and the author of "abortion and the law in america". i asked mary what she made of presidentjoe biden saying women travelling for abortions will be protected by the federal government. the thing that president biden is alluding to is that if states passed laws to stop people from travelling, that the biden administration's justice department will take steps to challenge those laws in court. there's not much the biden administration can do to stop states from passing those laws, but the administration can at least take up challenges

to their constitutionality or legality. and what sort of ways our people already finding around these laws in different states? yeah, the most common, i think, people are ordering medication on the internet through international organisations. there have been mobile clinics set up on the borders of some states — in other words, states between that are offering legal abortion and states that are not — to facilitate travel. we know in some instances, abortion clinics have opened large physical locations near the borders with other states. so, there's kind of been, i think, the beginnings of a network of people to get access, particularly to medication abortion in places where it remains legal. there's been a big response from companies as well that say they will help pay for the employees to travel to different states for abortions if they need to. did that surprise

you, but reaction? not really. we've seen actually somewhat stronger reactions from companies when states began denying lgbtqia rights, for example, access to transgender people. some states have pulled events or threatened to relocate headquarters in some instances. so, i was expecting some kind of response from companies on this as well. are reimbursement for the cost of travel and abortion services. i think that there will probably be some kind of tent for tat for lawmakers in some parts of the united states. ., . ., ., states. you are one of the worlds leading _ states. you are one of the worlds leading authorities| states. you are one of the i worlds leading authorities on abortion in america. what do you see happening next? especially when it comes to challenges in different states. it is highly unpredictable. if states do in fact try to stop people from travelling outside of the united states and sometimes do that using what are called texas

style laws that allow people to sue anyone who is travelling potentially performing an abortion. that's an unprecedented situation and really in the recent history of united states or even the entire history of the united states. we are likely to see illegal uncertainty and divisiveness because lawmakers are not going to know what they can get away with and are likely to push the envelope to find out. the united nations has called for calm after protesters stormed libya's parliament in the eastern city of tobruk on friday night and set fire to part of the building. the protesters are demanding the dissolution of parliament. the activists say they will continue protesting until the ruling elite steps aside. they want the elections originally scheduled for last december to be held. earlier, i spoke to bbc world service middle east editor, youssef taha, and iasked him why these protests are happening now.

younger libyans now are running out of patience i apologise for that technical difficulty. there are warnings of further disruption for air travellers passing through heathrow this summer, with more flights set to be cancelled in the coming weeks at the uk's busiest airport. the cuts are expected as the airlines change their schedules ahead of the busy school holiday period. our business reporter, noor nanji, has the story. after big queues at airports this summer, warnings of more disruption, with a new wave of flight cancellations expected to be announced next week. we're now right in the midst of the peak summer travel season but we're still experiencing the problems

of lack of manpower, not only for airlines but across airports, ground handlers and even in some cases border control staff, so the mix of high volumes and lack of people is causing tremendous dislocation at many airports. the government is allowing an amnesty on airport slot rules, which they say is part of their plan to tackle disruption ahead of the summer season. it means airlines are able to cancel flights without being penalised for not using their slot, but they must finalise their schedules by this friday. british airways services from heathrow are likely to bear the brunt of any cancellations. but ba said the relaxed rules would help them provide certainty to customers by making it easier to consolidate some quieter flights. ba is already facing the threat of summer strikes from cabin and ground crews over a pay dispute. today, there are already strikes by ryanair and easyjet cabin crew in spain, and some passengers are being

stranded across europe. so what should you do if you're caught up in all of this? crucially, i know what my rights are if anything is cancelled and that is to get a replacement flight on the same day if there's anything available that will take me there at the airline's expense, and then furthermore hotel accommodation if need be and compensation if it's the airline's fault, which if it's technical issues or staff shortage, it generally is. but for one passenger who's stuck in geneva after having his flight to bristol cancelled for three days in a row, it's tough. i don't have any available funds to pay for anything. easyjet have said they'll refund me any expenses, but i can't pay for anything at the minute. after two years of covid rules, the travel industry and passengers were hoping for a return to normality, but for now those fears of delays and cancellations are not going away.

back to that story from libya, as i mentioned, i spoke to bbc world service middle east editor, youssef taha, and iasked him why these protests are happening now. younger libyans now are running out of patience with the political elite who have been fighting each otherfor so long. they all have been promising holding these elections, which were scheduled for last december, but they have never taken place so far. they all said they support the holding of the elections but that is about it and these youths have had enough of all these vacant promises because libya is one of the richest countries in oil and gas, yet these people are not reaping the rewards of this wealth. living standards have been falling and they have become so bad now, power cuts last for days, internet cuts, the same thing, and they have had just about enough of all this.

they are now urging the political elite to step aside. so they can achieve their goals. why is it so hard for these elections to take place? since 2011, there has been chaos in libya, presumably a stable government would really get it on the right track. the interesting thing that all the political faction figures in libya have together, well, had got back together in 2011 to get rid of the long term leader, gaddafi, once he was removed from office, they turned on each other and turned their guns against each other. and they have been fighting since. they have not come together to set their differences aside, and have elections, have a new president, have a new government. and some of these reports, according to the interim prime minister appointed by the libya based parliament, who used to be the interior minister under the government

of national unity which was recognised by the united nations, he went to the capital tripoli in may, mid—may, but violent clashes broke out and he overestimated his support in the capital tripoli. and he said that he wanted to spare any further bloodshed. however, they have not set those differences aside to let the elections take place, and the youth of libya, which has a population of under seven million, have had about enough, and they said they want democracy and they want living standards to be improved. tell us more about those living standards, especially for the youth in libya, what is it like now? it is very difficult for most people to survive, especially that the security situation is pretty bad. libya has been lawless since the removal of colonel gadaffi. and military groups have been fighting each other, and apparently, they do not want to lay down their arms for fear that they would be

arrested and prosecuted for all the violence arrested and prosecuted they had committed over they ears. and this seems to be going to continue for a while. the protesters said they will continue their protest until the political elite step aside and the elections take place. here in britain, there are fresh allegations about the behaviour of chris pincher, the mp suspended from the conservative party amid allegations he groped two men. mr princher resigned as deputy chief whip on thursday, after admitting he had �*drunk far too much�* and embarrassed himself at the carlton club in london. he now says he's seeking �*professional medical support.�* 0ur politcal correspondent, damian grammaticus, has more the sunday papers are now saying they have new allegations, these are just allegations, made about chris pinter , these are just allegations, made about chris pincher and his behaviour. the mail on sunday and

the sunday times in particular including things like the mail says they have spoken to someone who claims that a decade ago when they were 2a says they were subject to unwanted advances from chris pincher. another claimed that a tory staffer tried to prevent lecherous advances to a young man at a tory conference and chris pincher threatened to report that staffer to her boss. another claim that boris johnson was made aware two months ago about claims that chris pincher had made unwanted advances to a tory mp and when rebuffed had gone to that tory mp�*s wife with allegations of a sexual nature about the mp. all of these are now being reported by the sunday papers. have we learnt anything more from chris pincher himself? i tried to contact him and i put these to him. it's day six of the wimbledon championships and there's just been a major upset in the women's tournament with the top seed iga swee—ontek defeated 6—4 6—2 in the third

round by alize cornet of france. earlier on centre court coco gauff was also knocked out of the tournament while rafael nadal will be in action later. chet—an pa—tak from bbc sport is at the tournment and told us about the earlier upsets. chetan patak from bbc sport is at the tournment and told us about the earlier upsets. is at the tournment and told us for the we have seen the upset of the championship so far, the world number one and number one seed knocked out in the third round. that incredible 37 match winning streak comes to an and as the french woman who is 32 now came onto the radar back in 2014 by knocking out the den world number one serena williams has now got that stand out result in her wimbledon resume by knocking out her opponent in three sets. she's been very honest during these championship saying she is still struggling to make that transition from clay to grass. she's evidently got work to do if she is to add wimbledon to her already two french open titles. coco gauff, someone we

have been talking about as a contender, she reached the french open finaljust last french open final just last month. french open finaljust last month. 18 now and looking like she's really progressing quickly, but her wimbledon has been brought to an end by fellow american, fellow floridian, amanda winning in three sets, coco gauff took the first batch credit to amanda who has reached the fourth round here before, really powering through in the second and third set leaving this women's dry wide open. another perhaps a prize result, not a shock at all, i think it's fair to say, and in different year, having won the warm up titling eastbourne, but she has been knocked out by the fourth seed in the world number four, paola who is showing us that she is a real contender on grass. we have got one for a champion through, looking really good

and on sunday, we will see one of the other contenders we've been talking about. london has seen its biggest ever pride — more than a million people have taken part, in the first event since 2019, because of the pandemic. it's also the 50th anniversary of london's first pride event. 0ur lgbt and identity correspondent lauren moss reports. it's loud, it's proud and it's back where it all began. the pride march has took to the streets of london once again, led by the gay liberation front, who started it in 1972. generations came together under the rainbow flag, including 17—year—old erin and her mum vicky, who have travelled from leicestershire. i came out this year to my mum as bi. i'd always wanted to come to one of these festivals. when i discovered we'd be down here anyway for the guns n roses concert yesterday, i asked if we could go, and my mum was so for it.

i'm so proud of erin, ireally am. to see everybody today, it's the most amazing experience. for others, it was a homecoming. jamieson went to his first pride 46 years ago. it's wonderful now to see the progression of what it was, and what we have become. and there were some familiarfaces. after coming out last month, dame kelly holmes went along for the first time. it's my first pride. it's thought around 30,000 people took part in the parade today, passing some of the route the original march took in 1972. it's one of the most colourful celebrations in the country. but pride is still a protest at its heart. we are not being complacent. we saw this time last week in oslo, hours before their pride, a terrorist attack leading to two people being killed and more than 20 being injured, so we can't pretend that there isn't discrimination, bias and violence against people from this community. pride is reaching far and wide across the uk, with events from shetland... ..to salisbury, and will continue for the next several weeks.

lauren moss, bbc news. racing pigeons are known for their incredible navigating skills but even they can sometimes take a wrong turn. one of them — called bob — was supposed to fly from guernsey to gateshead but instead ended up andrew hartley has the details. reunited, his owner and his prize racing pigeon. the bird who made alabama his sweet home. this is bob, now a long, long way from gateshead. how is bob? 3 , long way from gateshead. how is bob? �* , , �* , ., bob? he's very well. he's doing areat. bob? he's very well. he's doing great- stepped _ bob? he's very well. he's doing great- stepped by _ bob? he's very well. he's doing great. stopped by tractor - great. stopped by tractor su -l great. stopped by tractor suwly as _ great. stopped by tractor supply as shane - great. stopped by tractor supply as shane got - great. stopped by tractor supply as shane got him | great. stopped by tractor| supply as shane got him a great. stopped by tractor - supply as shane got him a water dish, _ supply as shane got him a water dish, got — supply as shane got him a water dish, got a — supply as shane got him a water dish, got a temporary cage firm with a _ dish, got a temporary cage firm with a little perch. so we can hang — with a little perch. so we can hang out _ with a little perch. so we can hang out and recover and get some — hang out and recover and get some food in hand. the bird's

eic tri some food in hand. the bird's epic trip started _ some food in hand. the bird's epic trip started in _ some food in hand. the bird's epic trip started in guernsey. | epic trip started in guernsey. his 400 mile race back to when layton was expected to take no more than ten hours. instead, the pitch and took a wrong turn, travelling more than 4000 miles across the atlantic, landing in the small town of monroeville alabama. this is where bob — monroeville alabama. this is where bob will— monroeville alabama. this is where bob will be _ monroeville alabama. this is where bob will be back - monroeville alabama. this is where bob will be back to - monroeville alabama. this is i where bob will be back to come of this is his box.— of this is his box. back in tyneside. _ of this is his box. back in tyneside, bob _ of this is his box. back in tyneside, bob is - of this is his box. back in tyneside, bob is thrilled | of this is his box. back in i tyneside, bob is thrilled his spirit has been found. i tyneside, bob is thrilled his spirit has been found.- spirit has been found. i saw him yesterday, _ spirit has been found. i saw him yesterday, he - spirit has been found. i saw him yesterday, he looked i spirit has been found. i saw - him yesterday, he looked really not in a good state, but i looked at him today he looked a lot betterjust in one day, so we are looking after them pretty well. i think probably jumped on a ship. he have flown that way. it’s jumped on a ship. he have flown that wa . �* , ., jumped on a ship. he have flown thatwa. �*, ., ., ., that way. it's not uncommon for racin: that way. it's not uncommon for racing pigeons _ that way. it's not uncommon for racing pigeons to _ that way. it's not uncommon for racing pigeons to go _ that way. it's not uncommon for racing pigeons to go missing, i racing pigeons to go missing, but the sheer distance bob has travelled has made in the talk of pigeon fanciers around the world. alan is now planning to fly to the states to bring the

four—year—old bird back home. andrew hartley, bbc news. a very fort lee pigeon and position system there. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. part two of the weekend is looking fairly unsettled as well. we'll have more showers around, some of them could turn out to be quite heavy in places, maybe some rumbles of thunder. the winds light in the south, quite breezy across northern areas, and it's because we've got low pressure to the north of the uk, high pressure towards the south and a couple of weak weather fronts crossing the country. these will enhance the shower activity. now, one such front will be lying across central parts of the uk through the morning, so it'll be rather cloudy here with some showery rain, some sunshine across the south, showers. quite breezy across scotland and northern ireland. but into the afternoon, all areas will see sunshine and showers — some of them could be heavy across some central and eastern areas. it could turn a bit drier towards western areas later in the day. top temperatures 21—22 degrees in the south and east,

generally the mid—teens further north. there could be a passing shower at wimbledon, but i think the emphasis will be on drier and sunnier weather with light winds and a top temperature of around 22 degrees. now, through sunday night, it looks like the showers will fade away. lengthy clear skies again across england and wales. scotland and northern ireland will stay breezy with showers or longer spells of rain, and temperatures will range from around 9—12 celsius across the uk. so, monday, we start off with some sunshine across southern and eastern areas — a few showers developing here into the afternoon. most of the showers will be across the north and west of the country, leaving some longer spells of rain at times, for the north and west of scotland. temperatures again, the mid—teens in the north. we could see 22 or even 23 degrees across southeast england. this area of high pressure want to continue to build into the southwest, but around the top of it, it will feed and a lot of cloud to northern and western parts of the country. some cloud getting down into the south and east as well — maybe just one or two showers here, and top temperatures around 17—22 celsius.

as we move deeper into the week, it looks like this area of high pressure will continue to influence our weather, pushing these weather fronts away, but it'll always be cloudier with the chance of some showers and stronger breeze across the north and the west of the uk for the rest of the week. you can see the cloudier sky across scotland and northern ireland. further south you are, a better chance of staying dry and it should start to turn warmer, perhaps reaching 26 degrees on friday.

this is bbc news. the headlines. fighting appears to be intensifying around the ukrainian city of lysychansk as russian forces try to take the only remaining city in the luhansk region not under their control. it's come under intense shelling, but a ukrainian spokesman denied claims that russian—backed fighters had now encircled the city. two more britons captured by russian forces in ukraine have been charged with being mercenaries, according to state media. dylan healy and andrew hill are being held in the east. two other british men, along with a moroccan man, were sentenced to death last month. a three—day meeting of religious and tribal leaders in afghanistan has ended with a call on the international community to recognise the taliban government and lift all sanctions on the country. the men—only meeting

also declared that any armed resistance against the militants would be