this is bbc news, i'm samantha simmonds. the headlines at 2pm: six new claims of inappropriate behaviour by former deputy chief whip chris pincher have emerged, days after he was suspended as a tory mp after allegations he groped two men. russia says it now controls the whole of the luhansk region in eastern ukraine, but ukrainian officials say they can't confirm the reports. thousands of residents in australia's largest city sydney have been ordered to evacuate their homes after torrential rain and flash flooding. the influential british theatre director peter brook, who's career ranged from radical interpretations of shakespeare to broadway musicals, has died at the age of 97.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. six new claims of inappropriate behaviour by the former deputy chief whip chris pincher have emerged, days after he was suspended as a tory mp over allegations he groped two men. mr pincher denies the latest claims, which are reported in several sunday newspapers. borisjohnson is facing questions about how much he knew when he appointed the mp as the deputy chief whip in february. here's our political correspondent helen catt. it was what it's claimed happened on an evening of drinking here at london's carlton club that led to chris pincher�*s resignation from the government on thursday night and later his suspension as a conservative mp. in today's papers, there are more claims, denied by mr pincher, of incidents at other locations, stretching back a number of years. among them, that he made unwanted physical advances towards three male mps, including once in a parliamentary

bar and once in his office. one of those mps, it's reported, told downing street in february about his experience, when the prime minister was considering appointing mr pincher to the whip�*s office. but the government insists mrjohnson was not aware of specific accusations. so, how can you be sure that he didn't know about the allegations? i have been informed this morning that he did not know about specific allegations, as has been well reported, people spoke to him on friday and in agreement with the chief whip, the whip was removed from chris pincher, who, by the way, is now under formal investigation process and it is important that process is allowed to happen. the former number 10 aide, now critic of borisjohnson, dominic cummings said that the prime minister had long before laughingly referred to chris pincher as pincher by name, pincher by nature. downing street has so far not denied he's said this. i don't think they;ve taken these things seriously, i think they've made decisions which they shouldn't have made. i can't believe some

of the things in the papers today about what the prime minister may have been personally aware of before he made decisions like this. and all of politics suffers, there is no doubt about that. it affects the reputation of us all, that's what i find so frustrating. in a statement released yesterday, chris pincher said... ..and that he was in the process of seeking that now. he said he hoped to return to his constituency duties soon but he has agreed to stay away from parliament while he's investigated by its independent complaints and grievance scheme. the russian defence ministry says its troops have gained control of the eastern ukrainian region of luhansk. moscow's forces had been encircling lysychansk, the last city in the area which is still being defended by ukraine. our correspondent sarah rainsford is following developments from the ukrainian capital kyiv.

these reports of russia capturing the city began yesterday evening, in fact, we started seeing pictures on social media of chechen fighters, fighters from russia, saying they were in central lysychansk and celebrating its capture. shouting a la akbar, god is great, and they were celebrating, celebrating taking the city. of this important city, the city. of this important city, the last big, a significant one that has remained under ukrainian control in the lathan sked region of the donbas, in eastern ukraine. so what we have had since then its a statement from the defence ministry in moscow claiming that lithgow had fallen to their forces, and we have then heard that the defence has been and told vladimir putin, the russian president is that not only lysychansk but the whole of the luhansk region of the donbas is under russian control. that is disputed by ukraine, they say there

has been intense fighting but lysychansk the city itself is not yet encircled. but this is clearly a key moment, you don't normally get the defence minister of russia telling vladimir putin his forces have taken an entire region unless he's pretty confident that that's the truth on the grounds of. earlier, we spoke with yuriy sak, spokesman for the ukrainian ministry of defence, who countered russia's claim. we've been hearing these claims, actually, from yesterday, and these claims have not been confirmed yet by the ukraine's general staff, the armed forces of ukraine, neither by the local administration and authorities. what we can say with certainty, of course, is the situation in lysychansk has been very intense for quite a while now. after the battle for severodonetsk, lysychansk was the key focus of the russian offensive, their ground forces have been attacking lysychansk nonstop, the city was under intense artillery

fire, missile fire, bombardments, aerial bombardments. and like we've always been saying, and our minister of defence confirmed it a few days ago, for ukrainians, the value of human life is top priority, so sometimes we may retreat from certain areas, just so that we will retake them in the future. this will by far not be the game overfor the donbas area because, as you know, there are other large cities in the donbas area, particularly in the donetsk region, including slovyansk and kramatorsk. these are cities which are now controlled fully by the ukrainian armed forces. and these are cities which are, and have been for the last couple of days, targets for very severe missile attacks, artillery shelling in particular. today in the morning, there have been reports of a missile strike on kramatorsk. slovyansk is under artillery

shelling every day, but the battle for the donbas is not over yet. ukraine is hopeful and continues to receive military support from our western allies, and sooner or later, we will accumulate a sufficient number of heavy artillery and other types of weaponry that will allow us to go on the counter—offensive and liberate our lands, and notjust the donetsk and the luhansk regions, but also other parts of ukraine which are temporally occupied by these war criminals and aggressors. in another development, russia says kyiv has targeted missile strikes at the city of belgorod, close to its border with ukraine. it says at least four people have been killed. ukraine has made no comment about the claim. thousands of people have been told to leave their homes in australia's biggest city sydney because of the risk of flooding. the australian weather bureau has warned that heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding across the state of new south wales. some areas are already inundated.

our correspondent shaimaa khalil is in sydney and sent this report. another extreme weather event, only a few months since the last one. in the south—western sydney suburb of camden, home to more than 100,000 people, local shops and a petrol station were inundated. not much else has been spared here. many communities have seen a month's worth of rain in the last two days alone. thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate southwestern sydney. with torrential rain and damaging winds thrashing the east coast, there have been dozens of emergency rescues. heavy rains have also caused sydney's main anti overspill and the bureau of meteorology is warning of more flood risks. ——main dam to overspill. we are now facing dangers on multiple fronts. flash flooding, river rain and flooding and coastal erosion. this is a life—threatening

emergency situation. the wind and rain have been relentless here in sydney and the surrounding areas, with more wet weather expected in the next couple of days across new south wales. this is the start of the school holidays here and many families were getting ready to travel. the message from the emergency services is that unless you are ordered to evacuate, people should stay home. experts say the flooding emergency has been worsened by climate change, and a weather phenomenon. insurance companies in australia are warning that communities prone to flooding may be forced to relocate. as new figures suggest that floods earlier this year were one of the country's costliest ever natural disasters, some of the areas currently at risk have just been hit by devastating floods back in march. scientists have said that unless something is done to reduce carbon emissions and stop global warming, these extreme weather events will become the norm. for now, australia is once again

experiencing first—hand the reality of climate change. the chief executive of the uk health security agency dame drjenny harries has said the number of people going to hospital with covid is expected to rise further. the latest official figures show covid—i9 infections in the uk jumped by more than half a million in a week. dr harries was speaking on the bbc�*s sunday morning programme whilst we have an armament now of vaccines and anti—viral treatment, we do have, as you havejust highlighted, a rise in hospital admissions and occupancy, and that means it's notjust covid we are concerned about but our ability to treat other illnesses as well. one of post—war britain's leading theatre directors peter brook has died in paris at the age of 97. peter brook's early stage career ranged from radical interpretations of shakespeare to broadway musicals. his best—known film was lord of the flies, released in 1963. sarah campbell looks

back on his life. i know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows... a midsummer night's dream on trapezes, surely not? yet those who saw the royal shakespeare company's 1970 production thought it brilliant. what better way to capture the strangeness of shakespeare's playful comedy of dreams, fairies and love? peter brook had been directing for 20 years — always original, always challenging. he had flourished in the �*60s and �*70s, one of thousands of artists who rebelled against the old conventions. how are you today? then, controversially, he turned his back on english theatre. at the bouffes du nord, a former music hall in paris, he created an international company of actors. they toured the globe, performing in africa and australia, and with them, brook produced work that fused many different

theatrical traditions, like a nine—hour version of the hindu epic, the mahabharata. the theatricality of theatre is that one group is telling a story to the other and there is this intimate relationship which must never be broken, and a complete shared understanding that, of course, it's not for real. to many, he was the greatest theatre director of the 20th century, a man whose talent crossed continents and cultures, to create memorable and magical work. joining me now is nick curtis, who's the chief theatre critic at the evening standard. welcome to you, thank you for being with us. as a theatre critic, which made him so special in your view? i think if you look around, anything thatis think if you look around, anything that is considered radical in the theatre today, certainly the british theatre, and much of international

theatre, and much of international theatre, and much of international theatre, a lot of it came from peter brooke. was years and years ahead of his time, he broke down every wall that you can think of. you interviewed _ that you can think of. you interviewed in _ that you can think of. you interviewed in just - that you can think of. you interviewed in just a - that you can think of. you interviewed in just a few. that you can think of. you interviewed in just a few years ago, what was he like? he interviewed in just a few years ago, what was he like?— interviewed in just a few years ago, what was he like? he was 94 then, i met him a few _ what was he like? he was 94 then, i met him a few months _ what was he like? he was 94 then, i met him a few months before - met him a few months before lockdown. he was still working, incredibly, if he had the most incredible lust for life and lust for arts. incredible lust for life and lust forarts. he incredible lust for life and lust for arts. he was lit up from within, really, had some incredible zest for life. very courteous and enthusiastic, very charming man. tell us a bit more about his own life because he didn't come from a traditional theatre background? he: didn't. traditionaltheatre background? he: didn't. both his parents were chemists, jewish refugees from, i believe, that we are. he was a fairly prosperous, middle—class family from west london but i think he belonged to that generation who

came of age on or immediately after the second world war benefited from the second world war benefited from the educational explosion and from the educational explosion and from the old traditional amateurs giving it a go. he first worked in 1943 and a theatre that doesn't exist any more at the of 18, and was off and away. then went to oxford and immediately afterwards he was an established figure in his early 20s. to established figure in his early 20s. t. :, :, :, established figure in his early 20s. to and what made them leave the uk for paris? i — to and what made them leave the uk for paris? i think... _ to and what made them leave the uk for paris? ithink... i— to and what made them leave the uk for paris? i think... i wish _ to and what made them leave the uk for paris? i think. .. i wish ask- to and what made them leave the uk for paris? i think... i wish ask him . for paris? i think... i wish ask him that! i doubt _ for paris? i think... i wish ask him that! l doubt he _ for paris? i think... i wish ask him that! i doubt he would _ for paris? i think... i wish ask him that! i doubt he would have - for paris? i think... i wish ask him that! i doubt he would have given | for paris? i think... i wish ask him i that! i doubt he would have given me a direct answer, he was a very courteous man. i think there was a respect for artists and things are being given as much time as they needed to develop and for visionary thinking in paris, more than there was in britain at the time, perhaps. he also perhaps had gone as far as he could in a britain. left here in

1970, which is also the year he directed his revolutionary midsummer night's dream here, the one famously donein night's dream here, the one famously done in a white box with very expressionistic staging, which still has influence today, i would say. es, has influence today, i would say. a very ahead of its time. your spoken with actors previously but what it was like to work with, what have they said it to you?— they said it to you? interviewed helen mirren _ they said it to you? interviewed helen mirren once _ they said it to you? interviewed helen mirren once and - they said it to you? interviewed helen mirren once and was - they said it to you? interviewed i helen mirren once and was talking they said it to you? interviewed - helen mirren once and was talking to him about appearing in national treasure alongside nicolas cage but it was obvious she would be far too talk about working with peter brook 50 years before, because he was an incredibly visionary creator figure. i believe adrian lester regarded peter brook, working with them in 2000, is a high point of his career. etihad a film career as well, how did he manage the transition between

theatre and film? you did he manage the transition between theatre and film?— theatre and film? you would have to sa not theatre and film? you would have to say not terribly _ theatre and film? you would have to say not terribly well. _ theatre and film? you would have to say not terribly well. his _ theatre and film? you would have to say not terribly well. his most - say not terribly well. his most successful film was his earliest major proper film, successful film was his earliest major properfilm, his successful film was his earliest major proper film, his adaptation of lord of the flies in the early 60s. when i spoke to him, he said that fate decreed that his life would be in the theatre, i think a film he felt constrained by budgets and schedules, worsen the theatre he could spend as long as he wanted getting results that he wanted. to and with a career spanning more than 70 years, what do you think his legacy will be? 9.5 70 years, what do you think his legacy will be?— 70 years, what do you think his legacy will be? as they said about christoraher _ legacy will be? as they said about christopher wren _ legacy will be? as they said about christopher wren in _ legacy will be? as they said about christopher wren in the _ legacy will be? as they said about christopher wren in the centre - legacy will be? as they said about christopher wren in the centre of| christopher wren in the centre of london, look around you and you will see peter brook's legacy. any of the things that might once have been considered radical are now the norm on stages, immersive theatre, colour—blind casting — oras colour—blind casting — or as he called it colour aware casting, colour open casting, he regards it as a very liberating

thing — all these things were begun by him at ten, 15, 20 guest for the mainstream adopted them. thank you for “oininu mainstream adopted them. thank you forjoining us- — the headlines on bbc news: six new claims of inappropriate behaviour by former deputy chief whip chris pincher have emerged, days after he was suspended as a tory mp after allegations he groped two men. russia says it now controls the whole of the luhansk region in eastern ukraine, but ukrainian officials say they can't confirm the reports. the influential british theatre director peter brook, whose career ranged from radical interpretations of shakespeare to broadway musicals, has died at the age of 97. the government's spending watchdog is to review borisjohnson�*s pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 to see if it still represents good value for money, given spiralling inflation. details of the national audit office review first emerged in a letter to the shadow health

secretary wes streeting. but the department of health and social care insists the plan is on track to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. nigel edwards is chief executive of the nuffield trust, a think tank focused on health policy. he explained how many new hospitals had been built since the pledge. the word "new" is surprisingly slippery. if you think new means a completely new building on a new site, there's probably only two of those. the rest are largely rebuilding or refurbishment or new wings on existing buildings. all are very welcome now, because the uk is a massive outlier in high—income countries on how much we have been spending on health infrastructure, diagnostic equipment and buildings. so this is all very welcome, but one of the problems with the programme is that the idea behind it was to try to approach this with a standardised approach to building, reducing costs, but because these are all refurbishments and buildings on existing sites,

having to fit into existing building structures, it's very hard to standardise, the schemes become more complex, and the approach they want to take is going to prove very difficult, i think. travellers are facing more disruption to their plans, as the industry struggles with staff shortages ahead of a busy holiday period. holiday—makers are being told to expect more flight cancellations over the next few days. and in the us, a thousand flights have been cancelled across independence day weekend. 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 in 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, it means 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 ' —u . simply play|ng catch p the same issues have been plaguing other countries. in the united states, it is a holiday weekend with the country celebrating independence day on 4th ofjuly. but a shortage of pilots and crew has meant airlines have cancelled more than 1,000 flights. meanwhile, in the uk, with a rise due to fix their schedules by friday, it means a nervous few days for passengers. there are calls for the treasury

to cut the cost of fuel in remote, rural parts of the country after the average price of unleaded petrol reached a new high last week. relief on fuel duty is available in some rural areas in england and scotland, but not in northern ireland or wales. hywel griffith reports. this is linda's office. her car roams the roads of rural west wales, clocking up 1,000 miles a month so she can care for people in their own homes. it's a lifeline for her community... you 0k, ian? ..in one of the most remote areas of britain, but it comes at a rising cost. even with a mileage allowance from her employer, linda says she now spends half of her wages on fuel. i will have to leave this job, and i would hate to, i would really hate to. we don't have enough staff, i don't think any care company has enough staff, and they are going to leave.

there is a government scheme to bring down the cost of petrol and diesel in remote places. rural fuel duty relief is only available in a handful of post codes in england and scotland, and nowhere at all in wales or northern ireland. it's meant to compensate for the cost of getting fuel to remote forecourts, not the extra miles people drive in the countryside. the treasury says every driver in the uk has already benefited from the fuel duty cut in march. there's another garage, he's below £2. but nick says he has not felt the benefit. the cost of fuelling his cabs has risen 50% in the last six months, and after holding out, this month he has put up his prices. don't like it. i feel i'm letting people down. i don't like doing it, but i've got to, because otherwise, next week i won't be here. oh, you have grown it more now. robin has already put

up her prices and doesn't feel she can do it again, so this mobile hairdresser now stays at home. most of her customers now drive to her. for the time being, with the costs of the fuel, and everything else going up, working more from home i am not putting that price up for the clients. what did you do there? the cost of fuel has driven inflation across the uk, but in some of its most rural communities it risks changing lives and livelihoods for good. buying a home has become increasingly difficult for young people across the uk but in the western isles of scotland the issue is threatening to destroy communities which have thrived there for generations. in uist, there's a plan for affordable new houses based on a system of communal living

which dates back to before medieval times. 0ur reporter iain macinnes has more. with these challenges, it's looking more likely we'll have to move away again. ijust turned 29 last week and i'm still living at home. i'mjust finding there is nowhere even to rent. you lose young folk, . there is no community. people move, there is going to be no community at all. _ these stories are not unusual. depopulation is of course a long—term challenge in our islands. but a lack of housing is pushing it to crisis point. i think it's really no exaggeration to say housing poses an existential threat to island life. if we don't address the problems that, as you say, particularly young people are facing, the population will continue, people will move to the mainland forjobs, not because they want to but because they are faced with no alternative. this is where i grew up. and that section down there is hillary ballater. stephen's family have spent generations here, but for him and his new wife

the lack of housing may mean they have to turn their back on the place he calls home. my dream was always to move back here and raise a family myself. but housing isjust one of the main difficulty is that we find. so we are in a predicament now where, if we aren't able to find something long—term, we are going to have to sadly move away again. musician paul lives with his mother in the family home and is facing similar challenges. there is nowhere even to rent. there's nothing looking on us property and things like that. anything that gets built typically will have people waiting to get in. so it's just really hard to find a place to live. the housing issue here is a longstanding one, but there is hope that a potential solution may lie in a new take on an old concept. what's being proposed builds on the idea of an island clachan which was a handful of houses for communal working was key.

there were communities that were formed together, that work together, that shared their workspace and shared their growing space. the smart clachan would be offered to islanders in the first instance on a shared ownership model. the houses wouldn't be built right on the road. they'll be away from the road slightly so that it gives people the opportunity to have a bit more land with each home as well. and also, we'd be looking at communal garden spaces and with our community workspace, we hope that that will enable people who are living in the homes to be able to work from those spaces. the houses would also be built in the islands in modules at a local factory, and shipped to the site on barges. but the hope is that the project could then be replicated elsewhere. we know that if this project happens, this will start the ball rolling here, not only in uist but across the islands because it's very much needed. the smart clachan is now at planning stage, with those behind it looking for local and national support to make the project a reality. but for those searching for a place to call home,

the project would be just a small step in the majorfight against depopulation in our island communities. now it's time for a look at the weather with lucy martin. hello there. broadly speaking, today is a day of sunny spells and showers. the showers generally in the west, pitching east through the afternoon. here is the pressure chart, high pressure to the southwest, low personal in the north, so blustery in scotland, particularly the north, through the day. the temperatures in the high teens, low 20s. through tonight, showers fading away across england and wales, we continue to see a flow of showers on that blustery wind across scotland, northern ireland, into northern england and the far north of wales into the early hours. temperatures generally sitting at an overnight low of eight celsius. tomorrow, a band of cloud sitting across northern england and north wales, bringing the odd, isolated shower. that slipps south quickly, increasing cloud for a time but then

sunny spells behind it. across scotland, northern ireland and northern england, some showers but fewer than today, remaining windy in the far north with temperatures at a maximum of 23 celsius. this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. the headlines. six new claims of inappropriate behaviour by former deputy chief whip chris pincher have emerged — days after he was suspended as a tory mp after allegations he groped two men. russia says it now controls the whole of the luhansk region in eastern ukraine — but ukrainian officials say they can't confirm the reports. thousands of residents in australia's largest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes after torrential rain and flash flooding. the influential british theatre director, peter brook, whose career ranged from radical interpretations of shakespeare to broadway musicals, has died at the age of 97.

now on bbc news, logan mwangi: a boy betrayed. logan mwangi was five years old when he was murdered by the people he trusted. logan was a little boy who was seriously let down by those adults he was living with, and who had his childhood completely cut short in the cruellest and most savage possible way. please, please, help me, please! where are you ? my son! i woke up, he's not here! 0k, take a breath. take a breath. what's his name? is his name logan? logan. he's five. is he five, did you say? he's five. logan! like everybody else, i remember waking up that morning and seeing the news. news report: police are investigating after the body

of a five—year—old boy was found in a bridgend river.