this is bbc news, i'm samantha simmonds. the headlines at 3pm: 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.

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. they were shouting allahu akbar, god is great, and they were celebrating, saying that they'd taken the city. this is a really important city, the last big, significant one that has remained under ukrainian control in the luhansk region of the donbas, in eastern ukraine. since then, what we have had is a statement from the defence ministry in moscow claiming that lysychansk had fallen to their forces. and we have then heard that the defence minister himself has been and told vladimir putin, the russian president, 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 ground. 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. just want to bring you a line of breaking news. reuters are reporting that ukraine's ambassador to turkey says turkish customs authorities have detained a russian cargo ship carrying ukrainian grain.

to remind you, we reported yesterday ukraine's prosecutor—general has urged turkey to detain the ship, as they believed it was carrying grain looted from warehouses in occupied territory. the bbc has been tracking the ship, which is currently lying off the turkish coast, near the port of karasu. russia has previously denied ukrainian claims of theft. 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 southwestern 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 dam to overspill and the bureau of meteorology is warning of more flood risks. 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 la nina 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 ukjumped 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 treatments,

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. 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. earlier, i spoke to nick curtis, who's the chief theatre critic at the evening standard, and began by asking him what made peter brook so special. i think if you look around, anything that is considered radical in the theatre today, certainly the british theatre, and much of international theatre, a lot of it came from peter brooke. he was years and years ahead of his time, he broke down every wall that you can think of. you interviewed him just a few years ago, what was he like? he was 94 then, i met him a few months before lockdown. he was going blind but still working, incredibly, he had the most incredible lust for life and lust for art. he was lit up from within, really, had an incredible zest for life.

very courteous and enthusiastic, a very charming man. tell us a bit more about his early life because he didn't come from a traditional theatre background? he didn't. both his parents were chemists, they were jewish refugees from, from, i believe, latvia. it 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 who benefited from the educational explosion and from the old tradition of amateurs giving it a go. he first worked in 1963 at a theatre that doesn't exist any more at the age of 18, and was off and away. then went to oxford and immediately afterwards he was an established figure in his early 20s.

and what made them leave the uk for paris? ithink... i wish i asked him 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 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. he left here in 1970, which was also the year he directed his revolutionary midsummer night's dream here, the one famously done in a white box with very expressionistic staging, which still has influence today, i would say. very ahead of its time. you've spoken with actors previously about what he was like to work with, what have they said to you?

i interviewed helen mirren once and was talking to him about appearing in national treasure alongside nicolas cage but it was obvious she would far rather talk about working with peter brook 15 years before, because he was an incredibly visionary creator figure. i believe adrian lester regarded peter brook, working with him in 2000, as a high point of his career. he had a film career as well, how did he manage the transition between theatre and film? you would have to say not terribly well. his most 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 in film he felt constrained by budgets and schedules, whereas in the theatre he could spend as long as he wanted getting results that he wanted. and with a career spanning more

than 70 years, what do you think his legacy will be? as they said about 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 that are now the norm on stages, immersive theatre, 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 by him ten, 15, 20 years for the mainstream adopted them. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. good afternoon. it's one of those mega summer sporting sundays. we'll start at wimbledon where two brits are vying for quarterfinal spots. chethan pathak�*s in position for us. starting on centre court, heather watson in action, what sublethal

latest? . , ._ latest? heather is under way, the first time she _ latest? heather is under way, the first time she has _ latest? heather is under way, the first time she has been _ latest? heather is under way, the first time she has been in - latest? heather is under way, the first time she has been in the - first time she has been in the second week of a grand slam in her career, it is finally happening for her at 30 years of age. she has had a challenging year but she is a set down at the moment. she is on a break at the moment but heather watson has managed to hold onto her serve, she had broken her opponent only for the opponent then to break back. it is worth serve but credit to jule back. it is worth serve but credit tojule niemeier, her best performance at a slam. niemeyer standing critically at the net in bringing watson in with great hands. heather watson can rely on her serve but it was wayward at times. you can see are coming into the net, winning a point and shooter to win this set

or she is going out of these championships. heatherwatson or she is going out of these championships. heather watson with work to do on centre court at the moment. we will keep you updated. and then on court 0ne moment. we will keep you updated. and then on court one note, cameron norrie should be the favourite shortly to reach his first grand slam quarterfinal?— shortly to reach his first grand slam quarterfinal? sure have been the appmpriate — slam quarterfinal? sure have been the appropriate word! _ slam quarterfinal? sure have been the appropriate word! that - slam quarterfinal? sure have been the appropriate word! that is - slam quarterfinal? sure have been the appropriate word! that is what| the appropriate word! that is what british hopes may be penned own and ice heather watson gets out of. he is taking on tommy paul, who cites tim henman as his hero, the american. he loves the serve and volley game. cameron norrie, the ninth seed here, into the second week of a slam event for his first time in his career. a consistent player, cameron norrie, not a huge number of problems, had a five set battle on the weight of this game. he said he was feeling better than

ever one with so much a quotation on the shoulders but if you look at his draw, it does not count for him. luxury went out to roger federer in the third round, he has had to play at rafa nadal at that stage before, kinder draw this time, he will be the favourite against tommy paul. 0ne surprise to tell you about, the french open champion has been put out in three sets, a great comeback from the challenger had lost the first set. a great all—round game there, getting thejob first set. a great all—round game there, getting the job done. first set. a great all—round game there, getting thejob done. i will keep you updated throughout the afternoon but for now, back to you. follow that across bbc tv and iplayer. england were all out for 284, on the third day of their rescheduled final test against india. they began the day on 84—5. jonny bairstow and ben stokes came out fighting — a brilliant catch from india's captainjasprit bumrah

removed stokes for 25. but bairstowjust kept going — he gave the edgbaston crowd plenty to cheer, scoring his third hundred in as many tests, and helping england avoid the follow—on. but after bairstow was out for 106, the england tail could only add another 43 runs. sam billings out for 36. matt potts was the last wicket to fall, england's first innings 132 runs short of india's. so england were all out for 284 in reply to india's 416. mohammed siraj took the last three england wickets to finish with four for 66. but england have taken an early wicket in in india's second innings, shubman gill caught behind off james anderson by zak crawley. the tourists are 13—1. the british grand prix hasjust got under way at silverstone. there was a big crash at the start involving george russell and four other cars, that's seen the race red flagged. live commentary right now on the bbc sport website. earlier this morning at silverstone, roy nissany

was extremely fortunate to escape unhurt from a crash during the formula 2 race. the israeli driver tangled with dennis hauger, which sent the norwegian onto the grass with almost disasterous consquences. remarkably, both drivers were able to walk away from the wreckage, the halo device saving nissany�*s life. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website, including the final few miles of stage three of the tour de france and a choice of matches from wimbledon too. more in sportsday at 6:30pm. 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. travellers are facing more disruption to their plans as the industry struggles with staff shortages ahead of a busy holiday period. holidaymakers 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, 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. the same issues have been plaguing other countries. in the united states, it is a holiday weekend with the county 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're growing 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'm 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. now it's time for the weather with lucy martin. hello there. broadly speaking, today is a day of sunny spells and showers. the showers generally in the west, pushing 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 slips 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 at 1530. 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 — from russia with blood. are legal loopholes allowing russian criminals to launder dirty money? jim fitzpatrick follows the cash.

money is just like clothes.