this is bbc news, broadcasting in the uk and around the globe, i'm frankie mccamley. our top stories... in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk. the ukrainian army rejects russia's claims that they've encircled the city. passengers around the world face more travel disruption as staff shortages continue to cause major problems. why the us supreme court's abortion decision is having an impact thousands of miles away here in the uk. thousands of residents of australia's biggest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of torrential rain and the threat of flooding. greece welcomes the first of more than 200 foreign firefighters — going in to help contain summer wildfires.

hello and welcome to bbc news. ukraine says it's enduring heavy russian shelling in the city of lysychansk as the battle for the east of the country intensifies. lysychansk is the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk, part of the industrial donbas region that russia is focussing its military power on. these pictures from russia's state—owned domestic news agency, ria, show drone images of battles near the city. but kyiv denies russian claims that the city has been encircled. 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 saaudun, were all sentenced to death by the so—called donetsk people's republic. according to dominic 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 rattled the russians within ukraine. rattled or not, on the battlefields of the east, russia is very much on the advance. they're 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 kremenchuk, 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. translation: everyone who was inside at that i 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. i'm joined now by mark galeotti, professor at the school of slavonic and east european studies at university college london. thank you forjoining us. what would you say, we are seeing fighters, foreign fighters being prosecuted, what is russia? game plan? should first. what is russia? game plan? should first saying — what is russia? game plan? should first. saying foreign _ what is russia? game plan? should first. saying foreign fighters, - what is russia? game plan? should first. saying foreign fighters, the i first. saying foreign fighters, the evidences the most recent two brits were actually involved in humanitarian relief efforts rather than anything else. what russia wants to do, particularly by characterising people who actually had joint the ukrainian military and in due all the protections of illegal combatant under the geneva

convention, by calling the mercenaries and threatening them with a firing squad, they're probably that will not happen, they are trying to do two things, create and clinch it and hoping they can get britain to negotiate with these undeclared, and recognise pseudo— states, but also trying to deter other people from coming and helping, the idea is to basically make people think twice before coming and bringing humanitarian relief to the ukrainians or indeed joining the ukrainian international lesion. we joining the ukrainian international lesion. ~ . , joining the ukrainian international lesion. . , , ., , lesion. we have seen with previous --eole lesion. we have seen with previous peeple that — lesion. we have seen with previous people that have _ lesion. we have seen with previous people that have been _ lesion. we have seen with previous people that have been involved, i lesion. we have seen with previous i people that have been involved, what their fate has been, people that have been involved, what theirfate has been, what do you think is likely will happen to these two men? i think is likely will happen to these two men? ., �* ~' , think is likely will happen to these two men? ., �* ~ , ., , two men? i don't think there is any auestion two men? i don't think there is any question that _ two men? i don't think there is any question that the _ two men? i don't think there is any question that the kangaroo - two men? i don't think there is any question that the kangaroo court i two men? i don't think there is any question that the kangaroo court isj question that the kangaroo court is going to convert them and find him guilty of being mercenaries, and will probably condemn them to death by firing squad, but i really think it is important to stress it is very unlikely that they will actually be

killed, they still have a chance to appeal, probably we would either see the donetsk 30 as an act of leniency commuting it to a sentence in prison are there is talk that these features may be annexed by russia and is a russian governance has suspended the death penalty. in one way or another, they will probably end up in prison but the main thing is it is not about the sentence, it is it is not about the sentence, it is about a show trial that will be splashy and a deterrent. we are seeinu splashy and a deterrent. we are seeing this _ splashy and a deterrent. we are seeing this heavy _ splashy and a deterrent. we are seeing this heavy bombardmentj splashy and a deterrent. we are i seeing this heavy bombardment in lysychansk, what is the russian strategy there? it lysychansk, what is the russian strategy there?— lysychansk, what is the russian strategy there? it looks like they have near enough _ strategy there? it looks like they have near enough taken - strategy there? it looks like they have near enough taken the - strategy there? it looks like they have near enough taken the city| strategy there? it looks like they i have near enough taken the city and in fact the ukrainians are conducting a fighting myth role. this is part of the current offensive pushing slowly but nonetheless forcefully through into taking the luhansk region, and as in your package, you heard essentially

that once they have taken lysychansk they pretty much will have accomplished most of that goal. clearly having failed to take ukraine as a whole, having failed to take kyiv, now what putin is requiring or demanding his generals to do is conquer all of the dom bess region. if you can take the donbas region. if you can take the donbas region and also the land corridor to the crimea, that is something he will be able to spin as a victory and probably that is the point at which he would feel comfortable with how the war has gone. this is part of a continued slow grinding offensive, what we don't know, the key uncertainty is how much metaphorical fuel key uncertainty is how much metaphoricalfuel in a key uncertainty is how much metaphorical fuel in a tank the russians have got, how much further will they be able to push their offensive? probably they will soon be exhausted.— be exhausted. finally, briefly, we are hearing _ be exhausted. finally, briefly, we are hearing at _ be exhausted. finally, briefly, we are hearing at least _ be exhausted. finally, briefly, we are hearing at least three - be exhausted. finally, briefly, we are hearing at least three people | are hearing at least three people have been killed in the russian city of belgrade, close to the ukrainian border, what does that tell you

about russian firepower? this you can never step _ about russian firepower? this you can never stop these _ about russian firepower? this you can never stop these attacks, i about russian firepower? this you can never stop these attacks, it i can never stop these attacks, it doesn't tells much about russian firepower, but it does tell us the ukrainians are trying to say they message to russia, saying that there will be cost to you as well off the battlefield. and we could do this, we can continue to do this if you continue to strike civilian targets in ukraine. continue to strike civilian targets in ukraine-— continue to strike civilian targets in ukraine. ., ~ ,, , . in ukraine. thank you very much, mark. it's little more than a week since the us supreme court overturned the automatic right to have an abortion — but the effects of that landmark ruling are already being felt outside of the us. here in the uk, staff at some women's clinics are reporting larger numbers of anti—abortion protestors gathering outside — which they say is causing distress to patients. 0ur religion editor aleem maqbool has been finding out more. the lord's prayer opposite an abortion clinic in london in footage taken by a member of staff there.

0ne provider told us there's been a noticeable increase in protest activity in the uk since news emerged that abortion rights would be overhauled in the us. regularly, anti—abortion protesters stand directly outside our clinic entrances, approaching women as they go in. they will call them �*mummy�* for example, hand them literature saying �*abortion causes breast cancer�*. and you have heard reports to that effect in recent days? yes, absolutely. just yesterday we had an incident in which we had to call the police because protesters were shouting so loudly outside one of our clinics that the women in the treatment rooms could hear them while they were undergoing their procedures. in this country on the whole, it remains a very low number of anti—abortionists who go to stand outside of clinics, and a handful of local authorities have introduced measures to keep them away from women accessing treatment. that's not to say that anti—abortion

groups haven't been buoyed by recent news from the us. just as culture here impacts what happens in the united states, so what happens in the united states impacts what happens here. but there just isn't the momentum behind the kind of campaign here. momentum can build. there are plenty of, uh, there are plenty of groups with a heart and a passion to see abortion overturned in this country, to make abortion history. christian concern might want that but it's not a realistic prospect. there was a recent court case brought by heidi crowter to move towards ending the possibility of late—term abortions on the grounds of disability like down syndrome. i am really upset not to win. the case was lost but will be heard at the court of appeal later this month. at the moment, abortion is still technically a criminal offence in england, scotland and wales, except when there's substantial risk the child would have mental or physical

abnormalities, the life of the pregnant woman's at risk, or there's risk of harm to the pregnant woman's physical or mental health. the vast majority of abortions here are signed off by doctors under the last provision. butjust as events in the us appear to be encouraging anti—abortion voices here, pro—choice activists hope it'll galvanise support to decriminalise abortion. aleem maqbool, bbc news. passengers are facing more disruptions to their travel plans, as the industry struggles with staff shortages ahead of a busy holiday period. in the us, 1,000 flights have been cancelled across independence day weekend. while here in the uk, holidaymakers are being told to expect more flight cancellations over the next few days. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. it's scenes like this that airlines and the government want to avoid. but after months of travel chaos,

which included the easter and jubilee holidays, passengers now face more disruptions in the days ahead. what you are going to see over the next few days are thousands of flight cancellations by british airways and others because they have a window in which they can effectively hand back the slots that they use for taking off and landing at airports like heathrow. and with this window, there is no penalty for them. they also want to give consumers more than 14 days notice of any cancellation, because if they give more than two weeks notice, they won't have to pay compensation to those of us who find flights are cancelled. so the next few days are going to be very tricky indeed. staff shortages have been causing long queues at airports and severe problems with baggage handling. after thousands of aviation jobs were lost during the covid pandemic, businesses have struggled to hire new staff in time for the holidays. that's why ministers have said security checks are being turned

around in record time for new recruits. the department for transport has even said counterterrorist checks are being processed on average in under ten days. that is half the time it took in march. in a statement, transport secretary grant shapps said... but labour argue the government have been missing in action and are now simply playing catch—up. either way, with airlines due to fix their schedules by friday, it means a nervous few days for passengers. in the us, it is a holiday weekend

with the _ in the us, it is a holiday weekend with the country— in the us, it is a holiday weekend with the countr— with the country celebrating independence _ with the country celebrating independence day. - with the country celebrating independence day. airlines| with the country celebrating i independence day. airlines have cancelled more than 1000 flights. protesters in libya say they'll continue demonstrating until the ruling elite steps aside. marches have taken place in cities across the country as living conditions deteriorate and a political deadlock conitnues. the united nations has called for calm after crowds stormed parliament and torched part of the building on friday. kate peevor reports. libya's parliament in flames. protesters were marching in several cities, but it was here in the eastern city that the anger was on full display. despite it being an

oil—rich country, that wealth hasn't trickled down to the people. libya has been suffering continued power cuts and rising prices. since its ruler colonel gaddafi was ousted more than ten years ago, the country has been locked in chaos. but in the light of day, not all people in libya approved of their parliament being torched. translation: yes. being torched. translation: yes, these protesters _ being torched. translation: yes, these protesters are _ being torched. translation: is: these protesters are under the poverty line, they don't have money and cannot have a decent life, not even food moby support them and support their rights, but not the way they did it —— not even food. we support them. way they did it -- not even food. we sunport them-— support them. what happened after sunset, or support them. what happened after sunset. or the _ support them. what happened after sunset, or the destruction, - support them. what happened after sunset, or the destruction, is i sunset, orthe destruction, is considered a shame to the city. with a count considered a shame to the city. tn a country struggling through political deadlock, the protesters have specific demands. they want all ruling bodies to give up their powers and want elections that were originally scheduled for last december to be finally held. the un

has said the protest should be a clarion call for the political class to put their differences aside. until that happens, protesters have vowed to step up the pressure. authorities in israel say they've shot down three unarmed hezbollah drones heading towards a rig in the karish gas field. ownership of the field is disputed between israel and lebanon. the militant group says it launched the drones as part of what it called a reconnaissance mission. israel has pledged to defend it's infrastructure. thousands of residents of australia's biggest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of torrential rain and the threat of flooding. the weather bureau says it expects heavy rainfall along the east coast region, which will intensify over the next two days. the rain has hit at the beginning of school holidays, and people have been asked not to travel in the region. the emergency services say its a life—threatening situation and warn of flash flooding,

and coastal erosion. the level of the dams, there is no room for the water to remain in the dams, they are starting to spell, the rivers flowing very fast and very dangerous, and then we have the risk of flash flooding depending on whether rainier is, there is a lot of risk they are that our communities need to be aware of, i asked utc the warnings. —— where there rain is. six new claims of inappropriate behaviour by the former british conservative deputy chief whip, chris pincher, have emerged just days after he was suspended from the party for allegedly groping two men. the accusations — made to three of today's newspapers — stretch back more than a decade. mr pincher has not responded to the bbc over the latest allegations — but denied them to the newspapers. an official investigation into his conduct has been launched. and with me is our political correspondent helen catt. what more do we know about these allegations?

these are claims that appeared in three sunday newspapers, mail on sunday, sunday times and independent, they span a number of years, the oldest dating back decades. three of these claims relate to chris pincher making unwanted advances towards male mps, and one occasion any parliamentary bar, another in his parliamentary office, also an allegation that a party staffer had alleged she had tried to stop him making an advance on a young man at a conservative conference. no official complaints were made and chris pincher has denied the allegations to the papers but hasn't responded to the bbc request for comment. he put a statement last night responding to the allegations from last week, he said he was truly sorry for the upset caused and he was seeking professional medical support. has there been any downing street response? downing street hasn't commented on

these fresh claims and of course what the stories in the papers have done is raise once again questions around what borisjohnson knew and when, so last week downing street said he had not been aware of any specific allegations about chris pincher when he appointed him as deputy chief whip in february, the bbc have been told that a number of mps had contacted downing street to raise concerns, a report today says one of the mps involved in one incident told downing street about what he said had happened to him, what he said had happened to him, what downing street was saying earlier in the week was in the absence of any formal complaint it hadn't been appropriate to stop an appointment on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations, that is a line that has been repeated this morning. we a line that has been repeated this morninu. ~ ., ., ., , ., , an election pledge that the british prime minister borisjohnson's made to build a0 new hospitals by 2030 is facing

the national audit office intends to conduct a "value for money review" which could consider the affordability of projects because of spiralling inflation later this year. the bbc understands only five nhs trusts were currently building a whole new hospital. the department of health and social care has said the first of the a0 new hospitals "opened for patients last year and a further six are under construction". greece has welcomed the first of more than 200 firefighters from other european countries, who are going there to help contain summer wildfires. last year, following the worst heatwave in decades, a spate of wildfires caused devastation across the country, as gail maclellan reports. the first european firefighters from romania and bulgaria have arrived in greece along with their fire trucks. they will be joined by colleagues from france, finland, germany and norway. the project is being funded by the eu's civil protection mechanism and the greek

government is grateful. translation: we thank you very much for coming to help us _ during a difficult summer for our country and for proving that european solidarity is notjust theoretical, it's real. greece is on high alert this year. the government conscious of the anger that followed last year's devastating fires and what was seen as their slow response. this year they have boosted firefighting capacity and the european forces will provide crucial back—up. translation: france has. a strong knowledge when it comes to forest fires, particularly around the mediterranean region, so this mission will be an opportunity for very interesting discussions with the greek firefighters. we will see what they have to teach us, what we can teach them and how it will benefit both sides. this is what they have come to prevent. in two weeks last august, more than 116,000 hectares went up in smoke on evia just

80km east of athens, laying waste to homes, pine forests, olive groves and livestock after the worst heatwave in 30 years. the european firefighters will be on standby with the local groups during the hottest months, july and august, all hoping that history will not repeat itself. gail maclellan, bbc news. at least 2a people are now known to have died in a landslide in northeastern india. part of a hill fell on a railway construction camp in the state of manipur, following heavy rains. 38 people are still unaccounted for. news now of a lovely couple from the english county of northumberland who've been together for nearly a decade, and have raised 22 young ones. they're ospreys, and they used to be extinct here — but now one forest is seeing a population boom, thanks in large part to this single pair. alison freeman caught up

with their latest arrivals. a sign of success. two ospreys, who are the most prolific pair of breeders here at kielder forest, are nurturing and unprecedented for chicks this year. each of them named after a different landmark in northumberland, it is time for the siblings to be ringed so there are future movements can be recorded. they are also weighed and they are six determined if possible. this is a great size to ring them, when they've got lots of feathers like this. the young one, the runt as we call them, that's unusual to be that small, the difference. but it's because there is a brood of four, which in itself is most unusual. and exciting, you know? it's fantastic to have four chicks out of one nest when normally we only get two, occasionally three. to have a brood of four is very exciting. so they are surprisingly docile, martin. why is that? basically, if you live up in a nest like that with nowhere to hide,

it's completely open, the last thing you want to do is run around. so they freeze. as soon as that adult calls, theyjust drop down on the nest and don't move, freeze. and the camouflage, you can see all these white spots on their backs, itjust blends into the nest. so any potential predator flying over won't notice them — that's the idea. osprey squawks. in the skies above, mum and dad call out — a fish in dad's talons. and it's the skill of this couple, kielder�*s oldest established breeding pair, together since 2013, that is part of the key to their success as parents. she is a very good mother, looks after them well, broods them well, feeds them well, and he is a generally very good provider of fish. so they are a great couple to watch. they have raised 22 chicks to fledging successfully, and given that we should get to 100 fledgling chicks this year at kielder forest, that's nearly 25% of the population that are fledged to successfully come from this nest. when you're ready. 0spreys were once extinct as breeding pairs in the uk, but kielder is one of the areas

that's been successful in attracting them, erecting nesting poles. and joanna has witnessed their success on her travels to africa, where the birds spend winter. it was this year, in february, when i was staying at a lodge in casamance, southern senegal. and we were watching birds flying around the lagoon there and one flew towards us and i could see that it had a blue ring. and i was taking photographs of it, and when i zoomed in it was one from here, from last year, and it was from the most important nest last year, in the sense that it was the first kielder grandchick, and that was him. and he flew past me where i was staying. how could you ever say that could happen? and it's relating to the... yeah, it's his grandchild. yeah. so that was just total bliss. well done. the chicks are expected to fledge in the next few weeks, and it's hoped that they will go on to help the uk's osprey population grow. alison freeman, bbc news, northumberland. you are watching bbc news, thank you

forjoining us, enjoy your day. a lot of dry weather around today, some places staying dry, stay on guard for darker clouds on the horizon, if you shall be scattered across the country, they will continue into the afternoon. main rain bearing weather front we had yesterday, pushing off into the continent, bringing a drop into the continent, bringing a drop in temperature after record—breaking heat. if you weather fronts, tangled across the uk, focus for a few showers, yorkshire towards east wales and midlands as we go to lunch. this afternoon eastern areas prone to heavy showers, in the west many places becoming dry, longer spells of sunshine. bright afternoon in the north of scotland. temperatures low, and agrees because

of that. winds gusting 30—35 mild power, wind freshening, further batches of showery rain mist and the order one into northern england, daytime show is fading and it will be a dry night for most. monday morning, temperatures similar to recently, 10—13, dry and bright start, could be a bit more cloud, isolated showers drifting southwards, more shallow set times in scotland, northern ireland, few in scotland, northern ireland, few in number, the vast majority dry on monday, temperatures 16—18 across the north, feeling fresher in the cloudier sports, the north, feeling fresher in the cloudiersports, low the north, feeling fresher in the cloudier sports, low 20s in the south. tuesday, high—pressure nudging into the atlantic, multilayer waiting to come round, a lot of cloud, aspects and starc can't thickening, patchy rain and drizzle later. this many places

having a dry day, the best of the sunshine to the south and east. high pressure slowly nudging in as we go through that we come out weather fronts and breezy conditions toppling around the north, eventually temperatures rising. at the moment we have one thing across europe, record—breaking heat, warmer colours depart, luke list relative to normal, whereas we have warming up to normal, whereas we have warming up relatively. city forecast for cardiff and london, temperatures may 20s later in the week with the best of the sunshine, cloudy in scotland and northern ireland, not desperately chilly, timid as above where they should be. —— temperatures above.