welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines — as ukraine confirms it has launched armoured attacks along the front line with russia, president zelenskyy praises his forces. translation: well done soldiers, we can see how historically russia soldiers, we can see how historically russi- historically russia greets every step _ historically russia greets every step we _ historically russia greets every step we make - historically russia greets every step we make they historically russia greets - every step we make they come every step we make they come every position we take. the enemy knows that ukraine will win. , . ., , , win. dental health becomes the most recent _ win. dental health becomes the most recent catastrophe - win. dental health becomes the most recent catastrophe to - win. dental health becomes the most recent catastrophe to hit i most recent catastrophe to hit afghanistan. we have a special report. and apple reveals its first augmented reality headset, its first major hardware launch in a decade. live from our studio in

singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with a notable increase in military activity increase in military activity in the southern and eastern ukraine. the ukrainian armed forces say they've launched several attacks, forces say they've launched severalattacks, but forces say they've launched several attacks, but the russians insist there attacks have been repelled. russian officials are claiming that their troops have succeeded in blocking attacks around donetsk, luhansk and zaporizhzhia. the ukrainian attack on donetsk was set to be on a significant scale, but the eastern city of bakhmut is described as the epicentre of hostilities, where ukraine's ground forces are set to be moving forward strongly against russian positions. in the moment, we will have the latest from moscow, but there is to keep, and our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse.

shhh. in a war of words, a call for quiet from kyiv. shhh. when it comes to its anticipated counteroffensive, ukraine has certainly revelled in trying to confuse russia. this video came with the caption — "plans love silence". but today words seem to have been followed by actions. dance music. in another produced video, with its own techno music, kyiv claims its troops are advancing close to the eastern city of bakhmut, and says that's not all. troops are moving to offensive actions in the eastern front too, according to the country's deputy defence minister, hanna maliar. even russia's defence ministry reported three major counterattacks, which it says it repelled. it released this footage from near the city of donetsk. bbc verify has confirmed it was most likely filmed there, but we don't know when. "the enemy launched a n u nsuccessful attempt at a large—scale offensive in the south donetsk direction,"

said its military spokesman. so, has ukraine's counteroffensive started? well, if you look at the heightened language from both sides, as well as the military movement, it certainly looks to be in the early stages, but what will take longer to answer is the question of whether it will be successful. mr president, welcome. any potential liberation will rely on continued political support, today coming in the form of the uk's foreign secretary, james cleverly, with an exchange of pleasantries with president zelensky. when we made the commitment publicly that we would continue backing you and your country until you are victorious in your self—defence, we meant it. when we said that we would do more and go further, we meant it. it's about opening the possibility for training missions for our pilots on fighterjets. kyiv has always managed to straddle defending with diplomacy. you can be sure the

talking won't stop. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. meanwhile, in russia, president putin did not comment on the claims when he made a public appearance, so what is the view from moscow? here is our russia editor, steve rosenberg. the claim by moscow is that ukraine's army launched a major attack in the donetsk region, which failed. these images from the russian defence ministry — and its claim to have inflicted heavy losses — have not been independently verified. but russia's been expecting a counteroffensive by kyiv for weeks now. singing. in the russian capital, a stark contrast to the battlefield. in the cathedral of christ the saviour, a masterpiece returns. the holy trinity is one of russia's most precious icons, but its display here has sparked controversy.

for a century, the fragile, 600—year—old painting had been kept in stable conditions in moscow's tretyakov gallery. but the kremlin ordered its transfer to the church. lev lifshits was part of a group of experts who'd advised against that, fearing major damage to a unique work of art. translation: this decision i was someone's personal whim. the gallery's restoration council was categorically against this. this is a political decision. those in power here are looking to the heavens and hoping for help from above. or at least for help from the church in continuing tojustify russia's war in ukraine. translation: this icon returns to the church at a time - when our fatherland is confronting massive enemy forces. it returns so that

we can ask god to help our country, and pray for our orthodox president, vladimir putin. these are uncertain times for russia. the war in ukraine has not gone according to plan, and now, all this talk of a possible ukrainian counteroffensive, and amid such instability, the kremlin relies increasingly on the orthodox church to sustain public support, both for the "special military "operation" and for the president. more icons — this one, vladimir putin gave to his commanders fighting in ukraine. he is really a religious man, but this is not about christianity, as such, with these real christian values, because cruelty is not christian values. in that sense, putin is a follower of a very specific kind of religion. in moscow, those queueing to see the holy trinity icon were hoping for miracles.

"it's difficult now with the special military operation", valentina says. "we pray for victory". "any sensible person will hope the conflict ends soon", says antonina. "i think god will help." russia's orthodox church paints the war in ukraine as a holy war, to make russians think that god is on their side. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. now to the us, where the race for the republican presidential nomination for president is getting even more crowded. former president donald trump still leads the field in the polls, with florida governor ron desantis trailing behind. but former vice president mike pence hasjust but former vice president mike pence has just formalised but former vice president mike pence hasjust formalised his bed and will be launching his campaign atan bed and will be launching his campaign at an event on wednesday in iowa. our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue has the latest.

so the much—anticipated moment when the former vice president enters the race for the republican nomination. mike pence has filed his papers with the federal election commission, and he will make his announcement formal on wednesday at an event in iowa. he enters the race really only in third place, and it's a pretty distant third place — he's polling at around 5 or 6% among republicans — that's 15 points behind the florida governor ron desantis, and a whopping 45 points behind his former boss, donald trump. now, mike pence does have some advantages — he has a lot of administrative experience, notjust being vice president, but before that in congress and as governor of indiana. he also has a lot of popularity among the evangelical vote — that'll be incredibly important for the republican nomination, as well as nationwide name recognition — he has that, too. but he is the man who refused to overturn the election, he's the man that wouldn't help donald trump change the outcome

of the 2020 election, and for a lot of republicans that makes him a bit of a traitor. it's a long, long road ahead to the nomination, but now we have another real big hitter in for the battle. gary o'donoghue reporting there. to afghanistan now where doctors have told the bbc there is a catastrophic dental health crisis, particularly among women and girls, they also report a sharp increase in cases of suicide. the united nations has also raised concerns about this latest trend. official numbers aren't available because of the taliban regime but the bbc has travelled to different parts of the country to investigate what's going on. translation: | just wantl someone to hear my voice.

i am in pain and i'm not the only one. most of the girls in my class have had suicidal thoughts. we are all suffering from depression and anxiety. in her 20s, this afghan student told us why she tried to end her life. we're hiding her identity to protect her. going to university and meeting my friends was the only comfort and happiness i had in my life, and it was banned. i started spending a lot of time alone, at home, withjust one thought on my mind. that nothing was ever going to be ok again. one night, i tried to take my own life. her words give an insight into a less visible yet urgent crisis facing afghanistan. particularly its women. in a patriarchal society, especially one worn out by a long war,

one in two people — most of them women — suffered from mental health issues, even before the taliban took over. now, experts tell us, the situation is worse than ever before. i am really sorry for your loss. can you tell us what happened? we spoke to the father of a girl who took her own life on the first day of the new school term this year. he is in a remote province. translation: until that day, she had i believed that the schools would eventually reopen, but when it didn't happen, she couldn't cope. she became extremely distressed and took her own life. what impact has it had on you and your family? our life has been destroyed. nothing means anything to me or to my wife any more. we are at the lowest we have ever been. five other families also told us their daughters killed themselves for similar reasons.

we started looking into this issue, because we saw an increasing number of articles in the local news, reporting suicides from different parts of the country. partly because of the stigma associated with it, and partly because the taliban are not recording numbers, official figures are not available. in the absence of that, we have been speaking to families in different provinces who have lost loved ones to suicide in recent months. we have spoken to people who have attempted to take their own lives. we have seen recent research that suggests two thirds of afghan adolescents, mostly female, but also male, are suffering from depression in parts of the country, and we have asked numerous mental health professionals to give us their assessment of the scale of the crisis. we met this teenage girl, in the presence

of her psychologist, who has been treating her since she tried to take her own life. sighs. translation: the staying at home without an education or a future, it feels ridiculous. i feel exhausted and indifferent to everything. education is the only hope we had, and it has been taken away from us. there is nothing left for us now. sighs. don't worry. hundreds of miles away, this is one of the psychologists we met. she receives seven to ten new calls for help each day. we have a pandemic of suicidal thoughts, mental health issues in afghanistan. which rarely people think of, which rarely people talk about.

it's like, as you are slow poisoned, we are like this. she said the economic crisis is another major reason and men are also affected. the taliban did not respond to questions about a surge in suicides since they took power. for the first time in a0 years, no part of this country is at war. but its people are not at peace. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. if you make a small mistake, you really get overtaken by a lot of people. in you really get overtaken by a lot of maple-— lot of people. in the event they can — lot of people. in the event they can get _ lot of people. in the event they can get close - lot of people. in the event they can get close to - lot of people. in the event they can get close to 40 i lot of people. in the event - they can get close to 40 miles they can get close to a0 miles an hour and it is a winner takes all format used in the final. with only one place up

for grabs in the great team, that adds up to a lot of pressure. that adds up to a lot of pressure-— that adds up to a lot of pressure. that adds up to a lot of ressure. , , . . , pressure. this year was the first time — pressure. this year was the first time in _ pressure. this year was the first time in my _ pressure. this year was the first time in my life - pressure. this year was the first time in my life where l pressure. this year was the first time in my life where i | first time in my life where i head. — first time in my life where i head. it _ first time in my life where i head, it wasn't particularly a dream — head, it wasn't particularly a dream anymore to go to the olympics or to try to win a medal_ olympics or to try to win a medal for britain, it was like becoming something that could becoming something that could be feat — becoming something that could be real. this winter was so difficult, _ be real. this winter was so difficult, icecap christmas with— difficult, icecap christmas with my— difficult, icecap christmas with my family, ice kept my 30th— with my family, ice kept my 30th birthday, my uncle passed away— 30th birthday, my uncle passed away and — 30th birthday, my uncle passed away and i couldn't make the funeral. _ away and i couldn't make the funeral, couldn't be with him in his— funeral, couldn't be with him in his last _ funeral, couldn't be with him in his last moments and i'd certainly— in his last moments and i'd certainly visualised a lot the sacrifice _ certainly visualised a lot the sacrifice and i'd try to channel that an use that in the performance of. for channel that an use that in the performance of.— performance of. for more stories from _ performance of. for more stories from across - performance of. for more stories from across the i performance of. for more | stories from across the uk performance of. for more - stories from across the uk head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. now to california where apple has been announcing its latest product and apps including a brand—new product called apple pro. let's take a look. itruiitli pro. let's take a look. with vision pro _ pro. let's take a look. with vision pro you _ pro. let's take a look. with vision pro you are - pro. let's take a look. with vision pro you are no - pro. let's take a look. with | vision pro you are no longer limited by a displaced copy

your surroundings become an infinite canvas. use your apps anywhere and make them any size you want. capture photos and videos and relive your most important memories in an entirely new way. watch your movies, shows and sports and immerse yourself in games on a giant screen surrounded by spatial audio.— spatial audio. that was the boss of apple _ spatial audio. that was the boss of apple tim - spatial audio. that was the boss of apple tim cook - spatial audio. that was the | boss of apple tim cook and spatial audio. that was the - boss of apple tim cook and here is our technology editor who explains the difference between virtual and augmented reality. virtual reality is this idea of a completely immersive experience where you are transported via a headset to another world, transported via a headset to anotherworld, if transported via a headset to another world, if you like. augmented or mixed reality is much more about superimposing digital content on the real world, so for example you are in your house that you can see your house around you but also in front of you on the headset is a giant screen of the movie you are watching all the photos you are watching all the photos you are watching all the photos you are looking at all the

video of your friends that you are chatting with and that is apple's vision, really. it's even got on this new device a little kind of mail so that you can dial up or down exactly how immersive you want the experience to be. i think virtual reality was certainly way the industry was going in the days and now it is much more looking to integrate it with our reality rather than to try to completely remove ourselves from it. care i am in cupertino and behind me is apple park and what is happening today is a new moment from a firm that hasn't really introduced anything staggeringly new in several years and it's got the clout of disney behind it, disney boss was here and said was going to bring real life magic to people's lives? is there a drawback? one of those big drawbacks is the price, $3500 it will cost at launch a new sort of have to ask, in terms of making this device for

something that is an immaculate body's pocket how many people are actually going to be able to afford ms white if you have been wondering why you haven't been wondering why you haven't been able to catch updated instalments of some tv shows its because more than 11,000 it's because more than 11,000 hollywood have been on strike for the last five weeks. one reason for the action is that writers are worried they will be replaced by artificial intelligence and want more regulation of the technology. for more on what is being done in that direction i've been speaking to the dutch minister for digitisation. the mission that i have, the government has as we need to make the internet, digitalisation something very safe to ensure that it adheres to values like privacy, transparency and nondiscrimination and therefore we work not only on the present things that we already see in the digital world, social media platforms and so on and so

forth but also look into this new form of ai, generative ai and how it is going to affect our world. and how it is going to affect our world-— and how it is going to affect our world. , , ., our world. indeed because of the warnings _ our world. indeed because of the warnings have _ our world. indeed because of the warnings have been - our world. indeed because ofj the warnings have been quite stark, that it could actually lead to our extinction and so on. a lot of discussions about regulating this technology and how governments can work together to tackle this, is that something you are discussing while you are here in singapore with yellow yes, i'd definitely hope so because basically what we are seeing is the going to be paradise or the other way around. find the going to be paradise or the other way around.— the going to be paradise or the other way around. and i believe we need to _ other way around. and i believe we need to look— other way around. and i believe we need to look into _ other way around. and i believe we need to look into first - other way around. and i believe we need to look into first what. we need to look into first what is happening today, we see lots of data consumer, energy usage and speculation about what it will do two jobs and i think it is very good that we discuss that further, that we try to figure out what this could mean to our societies but also how we can make sure that it is going to be safe and adhering to our values and make sure that it to our values and make sure thatitis to our values and make sure that it is not going to steal away the jobs that we find important to keep but basically

also to look into issues of privacy, data sharing and so forth. it privacy, data sharing and so forth. , . privacy, data sharing and so forth. ., . forth. it is a tricky balancing act because _ forth. it is a tricky balancing act because you _ forth. it is a tricky balancing act because you don't - forth. it is a tricky balancing act because you don't want | forth. it is a tricky balancing i act because you don't want to stifle innovation but at the same time, you want to regulate the industry. how do you think governments can address issues like misinformation and also making sure that our children will actually have jobs in say? this is a balancing act and both of them we are doing in europe, we are looking at how can this help innovation, how can this help innovation, how can also new forms of ai help for instance in healthcare, help to make some jobs easier. we also look at this part of, how can we defend the rights that we find so important, privacy, nondiscrimination, transparency, therefore we build regulation, we are trying to build that further, we are working on it and i am very happy share this here and how,

your country but basically also this region is looking into this. how do we look into these new forms of ai that can be very, very good, do super nice things but also make sure that we have them work for us. do ou we have them work for us. do you think _ we have them work for us. do you think that al is something thatis you think that al is something that is very different from other issues that you've seen in terms of technology? this a new challenge in addressing and regulating? i new challenge in addressing and reauulatin ? ~ , new challenge in addressing and regulating?— regulating? i think it is new, riuht? regulating? i think it is new, right? and _ regulating? i think it is new, right? and if — regulating? i think it is new, right? and if you _ regulating? i think it is new, right? and if you look- regulating? i think it is new, right? and if you look to - regulating? i think it is new, j right? and if you look to add from a technological point of view it is very clever, it is very new, do something that you could do loads of things that we didn't know computers could do before but now that we see it we have to ask questions to add because it is basically a social experiment, everybody is using it or at least a lot of people are using it, seeing the advantages but now we have to look into how we are going to make sure that it is actually going to be adhering to our values, to the idea that you can use it safely and that

people can feel secure about what is happening in their world and that part of the regulation that we need for thatis regulation that we need for that is something that i would really like to discuss here and see how countries from this region are looking into this western. region are looking into this western-— region are looking into this western. , , ., ~ western. -- this question. a case at the _ western. -- this question. a case at the high _ western. -- this question. a case at the high court - western. -- this question. a case at the high court in - western. -- this question. a case at the high court in the| case at the high court in the uk brought by prince harry and other public figures alleging that mirror group newspapers illegally gathered information including packing phone voicemails. but harry was not in court to give evidence prompting thejudge to in court to give evidence prompting the judge to express surprise at stopping the newspaper's lawyer said there was no evidence to back up prince harry's claims although they did admit previously that illegal means had been used in separate incidents. locked in a battle with the tabloid press, harry versus mirror group newspapers, a fight that began many decades ago and has ended up in court.

prince harry claims he was targeted by the papers, even when he was a child, and right up to 2011, thatjournalists and private investigators hacked his phone and the phones of his friends and associates and used other unlawful methods to invade his privacy. his barrister said today the daily mirror had also listened into his mother, princess diana's voice mail messages. the information which he claims could only have been obtained illegally often ended up on the front pages and these stories drove sales. a headline in 2001 — "rugger off" — about how a back injury was stopping the then 17—year—old prince playing rugby, had all the tell—tale signs, said his barrister, of being discovered unlawfully. another from 2002 about drug—taking is alleged to have involved payments to private investigators. many of the 33 articles under scrutiny in the court concern his on—off relationship with chelsy davy. the pressure led to prince harry suffering bouts of depression — and with the mirror apparently knowing their every move, you can hardly blame her for ending the relationship, the judge heard today. prince harry was not

at the high court. he flew into london overnight from los angeles. the judge said he was a little surprised at the prince's absence today, as he had previously said witnesses should be available the day before they're due to give evidence. mgn's lawyer, andrew green kc, did not mince his words, calling it "absolutely extraordinary that he is not available for day one of his own trial". mr sherborne, for the prince, explained... the mirror has admitted in a previous court case that phone hacking did occur at its papers between 1999 and 2006 and has paid out £100 million in damages, but it says there is no evidence in prince harry's case — no data showing calls to his phone, no admissions byjournalists, no suggestion by the police that he was hacked. his security operation was like very few on earth, said mr green, and journalists would have been taking an enormous risk in targeting him. as to the claims mgn hacked princess diana,

he called it total speculation without any evidential basis whatsoever. outside this court, they have been preparing for the intense interest tomorrow will bring, when the duke of sussex steps into the witness box — the first senior royal in more than a century to give evidence in a court. prince harry will be cross examined for the next day—and—a—half by a skilled barrister whose job it is to prove him wrong about where mgn got their stories. it is likely to be highly personal, about information he would rather had never made it into the public domain. it could be bruising and reputationally damaging, but in his efforts to reform the tabloid press, he clearly thinks it is worth the risk. katie razzall, bbc news. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. i will be back with business news at the bottom of the hour where we will be covering the headset that apple launched and what investors and analysts made of it. for now, thank you

so much for watching newsday. hello, there. ourfine, dry run of weather continued on monday. plenty of sunshine out west, bit more cloud in the east, and that created some cooler air that then flowed across the uk, hence the lower temperatures that we had — for example, london going from 23 on sunday to 18 for a high on monday. the highest temperatures out west, 2a celsius, warm in the sunshine. we'll see some changes in the weather picture, though, over the next few days, and it's all down to storm oscar that's bringing torrential rain to madeira. some strong gusts of wind there, as well. oscar itself doesn't actually make it to the uk — it stays to the southwest — but it will be transporting some much warmer air our way. humidity levels rising, as will the temperatures through the weekend, mid—to—high 20s. but it won't be dry everywhere, there will be some fairly hefty thundery showers around, as well, to watch out for —

something that gardeners might want, actually, given how dry the weather's been over the last few weeks. now, at the moment, we're seeing cloud come back in off the north sea, affecting central and eastern scotland, central and eastern england, eastern parts of wales, too. and so, for these areas, we start the day tuesday with a lot of cloud that cool breeze with us, notable again first thing in the morning. out west, sunshine from the word go once again. now, where you start cloudy, that cloud will probably get burned back towards those north sea coasts by the time we get to the afternoon, so most areas will brighten up, but there could be some areas in the east. there the cloud loiters, the onshore winds continue to blow, it'll feel quite cool, 1a—15 celsius — and that is a feature of the weather we've seen so far this month. for example, in holbeach in lincolnshire, the average forjune's 19 celsius — we'll be nowhere near that so far this month, on account of often cloudy weather we've seen, and often those chilly northeasterly winds. and another feature of the weather we've got at the moment is some of you will see quite high levels of pollen — and it's grass pollen we have at the moment —

so if you're allergic to that, you might find it being a bit sneezy on tuesday. wednesday, probably less in the way of cloud around. what little cloud there is could loiter across some english eastern coasts, but otherwise more sunshine, and so probably temperatures a little bit higher, 2a, maybe 25 out west. and over the next few days, more of the same — it's really into the weekend that we see those temperatures rise, along with the humidity, and we'll probably start to see showers and thunderstorms break out, as well.