ukraine's president expresses shock at the lack of aid from international agencies after a major dam in southern ukraine was destroyed, unleashing a flood of water at towns and cities. the sky turns an eerie orange over parts of north america, caused by smoke coming from huge uncontrolled forest fires burning in canada. us prosecutors could be moving closer to charging donald trump over his handling of classified documents — with us media reporting the former president's lawyers have been told he's the target of a federal investigation. and celebrations after west ham wins the europa conference league ringing home theirfirst major trophy in four decades. hello.

i'm sally bundock. we have a packed programme so let's get started. ukraine's president says he is shocked by the lack of help from international aid agencies, a day after the kakhovka dam was destroyed. he singled out the un and the red cross. vlodymyr zelensky said it was impossible to tell how many would die without outside assistance. translation: every person that dies there is _ translation: every person that dies there is an _ translation: every person that dies there is an indictment - translation: every person that dies there is an indictment of - dies there is an indictment of the international structure and international organisations that have forgotten to save lives. if an organisation is not in this disaster area now than they do not exist. they are incapable of functioning. we have made all relevant appeals. president zelensky sa s appeals. president zelensky says hundreds _ appeals. president zelensky says hundreds of _ appeals. president zelensky says hundreds of thousands| appeals. president zelensky l says hundreds of thousands of ukrainians have been left with our drinking water and emergency services are searching for people stranded by the floods. water continues to surge down the river that

divides russian and ukrainian controlled territory and thousands of people have been moved from their home in the region. ukrainians and russians blame each otherfor the blame each other for the damage. blame each otherfor the damage. here is our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. this eastern bank of the dnipro river is currently a no—man�*s—land. neither russia nor ukraine control here. now, no—one can live here. the ukrainian army drone spotted catalina trapped in her home. they tried to drop her water — no luck. her son then makes the crucial catch. they're both taken to kherson, along with her daughter, maria. a city once occupied by russia, then liberated by ukraine, now on its knees. translation: we managed to find the simplest boat, i but my father and a neighbour got carried away in it. it came loose and the current was too powerful yesterday. rowing didn't help.

so we were left with my kids, the three of us, for the night. it feels like we lived a whole life in one day. otherwise, we're very grateful to everyone. this once innocuous road, now a slipway rescue boats. as people are brought to safety from submerged streets, the relief is palpable. to move through the streets now, you need one of these. the silence reflects just how uninhabitable pockets of the city have now become. that sign would normally be at head height. the trunks of those trees are completely submerged. rescue teams are trying to help people, and you can see how they'd be trapped. the water is cloudy. kherson, after everything it's gone through, is a city on its knees. shelling is a common occurrence in kherson. the russians might have left, but they're never far. it takes a lot for locals to be forced to leave here, but, for a growing number,

that moment has come. president zelensky has criticised the international response to what's happened, accusing the un and red cross of not being here. in two days, kherson has partly been submerged by the dnipro river. the flooding is more extreme on the eastern bank — part of ukraine, but controlled by the russians. there is a military dynamic to the kakhovka dam's destruction — it makes any ukrainian offensive from here more complicated. as for those living here, it's gone from difficult to the verge of impossible. james waterhouse, bbc news, kherson. the damage caused to the dam in ukraine has happened at a significant moment in the war, just as ukrainian forces seemed to be embarking on their long—awaited offensive against the russians. this is the front line in the conflict. it's some 600 miles long,

with the areas under russian control shown in red. we know that fighting is continuing around the city of bakhmut. earlier this week, there were reports of ukrainian attacks in the area west of donetsk. around zaporizhizhia, the russians control huge areas of the region but the ukrainians are still in control of the city. our correspondent quentin sommerville is there. i've been to those very front lines where there's an offensive going on right now, and it's very difficult ground to attack across. it is wide open fields with very little cover, and those fields are peppered with russian artillery craters. when we were there a few months ago, the men we were speaking to in the trenches told us the lines had only moved perhaps ten, or maybe a few hundred metres — well, they're certainly moving now. we're getting reports ukrainian forces have gained five kilometres, perhaps even ten of territory. it's not just the fact that they're moving, it's how they're moving,

which is an indication of how the main offensive will go. they're using armoured vehicles, using tanks, and moving fast. they're attacking from multiple different axes. but they're facing a very formidable foe, because the enemy on the other side of the line has been there for a long time, and has dug in and built formidable defences. they have plenty of artillery and anti—tank missiles, as well. so that much—anticipated main offensive is coming, and the ukrainian commanders will be looking at the lessons of these early offensives — but let's not forget, just the other week, president zelensky said that ukraine was ready for this counteroffensive but he warned that in the coming days and weeks and months, many lives would be lost. the ukrainian soldiers we've spoken to have a solemn understanding of that. they realise there's a lot riding on this counteroffensive, perhaps everything.

we will be live to ukraine later in the programme for more. for more. hundreds of uncontrolled forest fires continue to blaze across canada, threatening critical infrastructure and forcing evacuations. the canadian government says nearly a hundred million people in the us and canada are experiencing poor air quality. we know that hundreds of american firefighters have landed in canada to help local firefighters battle the flames. this is canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau. the reality is, unfortunately, over the past years we have seen extreme weather events increase in their intensity and impact on canadians as well as on the cost to families, two provinces and the federal budget. over the past year we have seen atmospheric rivers in bc causing devastating floods, we have seen a hurricane fiona hit harder than hurricane is in

recent memory. last year. and this year the warmest wildfire —— the worst wildfire season we have had. so we need to continue to adapt and adjust to what we have been doing. some cities, like new york, have been reporting hazardous air quality conditions — our correspondent samira hussain reports from there. a thick orange aids engulfed new york city. smoke from several hundred wild fires burning across canada blanketed the north—eastern united states with polluted air, giving an eerie orange glow to the son. another new york city attraction to photograph. officials told people to stay inside. many of those who ventured out wore masks, reminiscent of the pandemic. ever seen anything like this question like i said it was like the apocalypse. this is scary and _ like the apocalypse. this is scary and dangerous. - like the apocalypse. this is scary and dangerous. i've l like the apocalypse. this is l scary and dangerous. i've not had a mask on since covid. i’zfe had a mask on since covid. i've never seen _ had a mask on since covid. i've never seen anything like this before _ never seen anything like this before. , , ~ , before. this is bonkers. i was shocked by —

before. this is bonkers. i was shocked by the _ before. this is bonkers. i was shocked by the hayes - before. this is bonkers. i was shocked by the hayes and, i before. this is bonkers. i was i shocked by the hayes and, like, you could smell this horrible horrible smell. it you could smell this horrible horrible smell.— you could smell this horrible horrible smell. it feels like a videogame- _ horrible smell. it feels like a videogame. we _ horrible smell. it feels like a videogame. we don't i horrible smell. it feels like a videogame. we don't feel. horrible smell. it feels like a i videogame. we don't feel real. overnight, new york reported one of the worst air quality is of a major city in the world. normally from where i am in lower manhattan you can easily make out those buildings in new jersey. step over this way, over my shoulder, that should be the statue of liberty and if you cannot make it out, you willjust have to take my word for it. the blurry new york city scenes may be around for a few more days as the hazardous air will linger until the end of the week. we see images of that although the social media. a former colleague tweeted these pictures of the skyline airily cloaked in orange as she says. it's got a lot washington now where we can speak to a meteorologist. what is the

outlook question mike everyone is being warned about this and being told to stay indoors. what will it be like going forward?— what will it be like going forward? ~ . ., ., g; ~ forward? we have another 36 hours worth _ forward? we have another 36 hours worth of _ forward? we have another 36 hours worth of this, - hours worth of this, unfortunately, as the wind pattern continues to come down from the north. the low pressure system over nova scotia pulls down northerly winds and the fires so the flames go up and the smoke goes up flames go up and the smoke goes up and arrives further south and it has all the way down the south—central us. saturday morning, the wind will shift pushing the smoke offshore but until then that toxic shroud looks much looks to engulf much of the eastern us.— of the eastern us. there is an intense heat _ of the eastern us. there is an intense heat dome. _ of the eastern us. there is an intense heat dome. talk i of the eastern us. there is an i intense heat dome. talk through that and how that impact. fires, we do not know what ignited them to begin with but we know that a heat dome made them more likely to occur are more likely to spread quickly as they did. a heat dome is a

sprawling ridge of high pressure, this bubble in the atmosphere that deflects the jetstream further north like a force field getting rid of weather, no rain no cloudsjust sunshine. you get hot dry sinking airfuelling sunshine. you get hot dry sinking air fuelling these wildfires. this is a record—setting heat dome we saw a few weeks ago around the same time the fires began, the third big heat dome to occur since late april. these heat domes are becoming more frequent, intense and larger and longer intense and larger and longer in duration thanks to human induced climate change so we cannot save an individual fire was caused by a change but outbreaks of this become more common and there is no surprise we see these impacts become much more significant. by the way, i will note that 3.5 million hectares of boat across canada this season and we are only halfway through the season. the northern hemisphere has seen record fire emissions in 2023. ., ~ , c, has seen record fire emissions in 2023. ., ~ , ., , has seen record fire emissions in 2023. ., ~ _, y a around the world

and across the uk. this is bbc news. ina in a nature reserve nestled between the industrial estate, the team at rspb want visitors to fall in love with nature on their doorstep with the help of a new installation dedicated to a ferocious historic predator. thankfully for visitors it is very small and only emerges in warm weather. it is a real monster. if you scale it up to our sizeable make any horror film you want to go and watch. they are huge predators. and people love it. fascination with life on the water gets people excited. notjust the kids, it is often mums and dads and older kids. as it gets warmer we will see more and more around of them. and whether or not they make an appearance, the fascination for the dragonflies encourage people to emerge into the great outdoors, whatever the weather. come here all the time. they love walking through

the dragonfly that garden. for more stories from across the uk — for more stories from across the uk head to the bbc news website. live from london this is bbc news. to the united states where prosecutors have reportedly told lawyers for donald trump that he is a target of an investigation into his handling of classified documents at his florida residents. analyst sadie is the clearest sign yet that prosecutors are moving closer to charging the former president. our correspondent is jessica parker who has more detail. federal prosecutors have sent donald trump's legal team a target letter, that informs someone they are a target of an investigation, in this case investigation, in this case investigation into the handling of pacified document, the transfer of files to donald

trump the former president mara logo home in florida stopping this development along with some other things happening around investigation is being read as a potential sign that a charging decision could be near, even an indictment but we do not know that for certain. donald trump has always denied wrongdoing and in a message is sent to supporters he says nobody has told him he is being indicted. donald trump is facing a number of potential legal battles, as he tries to get back into the white house, he is currently the front runner according to polls, and the race to become the republican nominee. and he has a support base, a hard—core support base that are very loyal to him but the question for the donald trump campaign will be what extent these legal woes affect voters who are outside of that hard—core support base, and to what extent might they clash with the upcoming presidential campaign.

the upcoming presidential campaign-— the upcoming presidential cam-ain. ,, ., ~ campaign. jessica parker, we will stay on — campaign. jessica parker, we will stay on that _ campaign. jessica parker, we will stay on that subject. i in the us, the latest republican to announce a bid for the presidency is the man who served as donald trump's vice—president — mike pence. he's told a crowd in iowa that following the result of the 2020 election, donald trump had tried to put himself above the constitution when he refused to accept joe biden�*s victory and tried to overturn the result. our north america editor sarah smith has the latest. the land of opportunity... selling himself as a christian conservative, mike pence kicked off his campaign with a flashy video. that's why today, before god and my family, i am announcing i am running for president of the united states. not one image of donald trump appears in this launch video. but mike pence cannot escape from four years of servile loyalty as vice president. and mike pence is going to have to come through for us and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country. right up until he refused to try to blockjoe biden becoming president.

"hang mike pence," was the cry from rioters who stormed the capitol on the 6th of january. now defying donald trump and defending the constitution is a campaign pitch. i believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states. and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the united states again. mr pence is on much safer ground in iowa which will be the first state to pick a republican presidential nominee. also gripping and grinning with voters is florida governor ron desa ntis. senator tim scott, in fact, eight presidential candidates were all under the same roof last weekend. i want to say to you with deep conviction that god is not done with america yet. applause. mike pence is already

well—known to voters, and yet he is still trailing badly in the polls behind trump, the clear frontrunner. who knows? the more candidates like pence who get into the race, the more they split that anti—trump vote. and the easier they could make it for mrtrump to win the nomination. these voters did not get to hear from trump himself but skipping this event doesn't seem to undermine his support. can i ask you, have you decided who you are supporting for the nomination? who i'm supporting? trump. yeah? yeah. or desantis. i'd go for either one but first i think. well, i voted for president trump last time. i love his policies. the name—calling has got to stop. pence is definitely one i of the guys i'm looking at. i think he needs to be a little bit| stronger but i think. if you are going to be the president, you got to have a little bit i of the bulldog in you. mike pence will do what he can to attract attention. straddling a harley—davidson if that is what it takes. in a very congested race, it's still candidates like him

versus the absent donald trump, and it is the former president who still is clearly in the lead. sarah smith, bbc news, des moines, iowa. returning to the stop —— top story the situation in ukraine and the aftermath following the destruction of the kakhovka dam at the start of this week in the south of the country. svitlana romanko is a ukrainian environmental lawyer and climate justice campaigner with the razom we stand organisation. a warm welcome to the programme. of course, president zelensky is calling for international aid and very quickly for those who are stranded in the area, surrounding that damn. what is your take on the response so far? ., ~' , ., your take on the response so far? ., ,, i. ., ., far? thank you for having me here today- _ far? thank you for having me here today. my _ far? thank you for having me here today. my take - far? thank you for having me here today. my take on i far? thank you for having me here today. my take on the i here today. my take on the response is the destruction

represents a massive ecological catastrophe and its ramifications will be suffered by the people here and the environment and climate for years to come. the root cause of why it has happened as fossil fuels, of why it has happened as fossilfuels, my of why it has happened as fossil fuels, my take on that is that the countries and the mother countries that are still buying russell fossil fuels, must ban buying russian fossil fuels that enable them to wage the war against ukraine. my take is that it is extremely hard to be at war time in the country affected for over a year, and try to facilitate immediate aid for the people, who are as you said stranded. it is very correct. in those people, i am devastated to hear those who are on the occupied territories, have lost access to evacuation services, and it

is not personable to evacuate them. i think this must change, and i believe political pathways must be used to do that, countries have two support ukraine as i said as they have been doing for a year. they have been doing for a ear. , . ., ., year. the destruction of the dam has — year. the destruction of the dam has been _ year. the destruction of the dam has been devastating l year. the destruction of the i dam has been devastating both for ukraine and russia as well because of course, where it has happened it affects both sides in this conflict in a significant way, making it very challenging for both. in terms of the reaction that is required, orwhat of the reaction that is required, or what is needed for ukraine right now, what are you calling for, of course, your stand as a campaign against the use of fossilfuels stand as a campaign against the use of fossil fuels in general, russian is the second biggest supplier of oil in the world. of course that is not going to happen any time soon, what are you thinking about what could happen in the short term? i think the best solution for russia would be never to attack

ukraine, but they did that so i do not think they are affected by this conflict in this will because the consequences for ukraine are huge and there was extremely atrocious. but, what we could do, the changes already happening, it is under way and we can see huge decline in russian economy, fossilfuel profits, over 50%, in russian economy, fossilfuel profits, over50%, but of course there are challenges because the world still importing russian oil, but in a smaller scale and a different violation of existing band, but we need to put a full embargo to cut financial flows to russian undemocratic regimes. this is the only language they will understand because all diplomatic measures in language

does not make an advance so far as we see. we does not make an advance so far as we see-— as we see. we thank you for our as we see. we thank you for your thoughts _ as we see. we thank you for your thoughts on _ as we see. we thank you for your thoughts on this i as we see. we thank you for your thoughts on this and i as we see. we thank you for l your thoughts on this and your analysis on the latest in ukraine. analysis on the latest in ukraine-— the uk prime minister will meet president biden at the white house later on thursday. top of the agenda — the war in ukraine, but also the regulation of artificial intelligence after rishi sunak announced the uk will host a global summit on the safety of ai in the autumn. our political editor chris mason reports from washington. diplomacy can be politician's meeting each other for talks but when prime misters are abroad it can involve something colourful and culturally colou rful a nd culturally releva nt colourful and culturally relevant so when in america, how about baseball, rishi sunak went to a sparsely attended machi last night. now it is back to serious discussion about trade links between america and the uk, and about the war in ukraine. i’m

america and the uk, and about the war in ukraine.— the war in ukraine. i'm proud uk has played _ the war in ukraine. i'm proud uk has played a _ the war in ukraine. i'm proud uk has played a leadership i the war in ukraine. i'm proud l uk has played a leadership role when it comes to supporting ukraine, especially militarily but the us obviously has been the largest contributor to that effort, i'll be working closely with the president to make sure we continue to support ukraine with the resources they need to defend itself in the here and now but thinking ahead to what kind of longer term security arrangements and agreements we can put in place. both the conversations i will be having with the president. you conversations i will be having with the president.— with the president. you are 'ust with the president. you are just below _ with the president. you are just below the _ with the president. you are just below the ceiling, i with the president. you are just below the ceiling, that| with the president. you are i just below the ceiling, that is a drone — just below the ceiling, that is a drone up there. he promised to turned _ a drone up there. he promised to turned no — a drone up there. he promised to turned up to _ a drone up there. he promised to turned up to an _ a drone up there. he promised| to turned up to an after-school to turned up to an after—school club with a technology buzz, he will spend this morning meeting business leaders. he will be at the white house later, his first visit as prime minister. talking about ukraine but also talking about trade, although there will not be talk of any trade —— free trade deal between the uk and the us that is to the not happening. also

likely to feature artificial intelligence, computers are becoming cleverer than us and all the implications of that, or all of us and what role of in the uk may play in regulating. britain will host what is described as a global summit on artificial intelligence in the autumn. the focus now, those on the get—together here, this afternoon, as the prime minister meets the president. chris mason, bbc news, washington. we will have a lot more on that in our business coverage but we have to talk about the football. it was a massive night for west ham, who won the final of the europa conference league in the czech capital last night, clinching their first major trophy in a0 years. they've got this man to thank — jarrod bowen who scored in the 90th minute of play securing their 2—1 victory over italian side fiorentina. thousands of fans were in prague — many more than could fit the stadium.

this was the scene in one of the fan parks that had been set up in the city when bowen scored the winner. the celebrations went off without violence, though followed an earlier incident that saw 16 people arrested at a bar. for one of the fans proved to be a little bit too overwhelming. be a little bit too overwhelmina. ~ , , overwhelming. absolutely amazing- _ overwhelming. absolutely amazing. this _ overwhelming. absolutely amazing. this is _ overwhelming. absolutely amazing. this is the i overwhelming. absolutely amazing. this is the best | amazing. this is the best moment of my life ever, i cannot believe i am here. i couldn't believe west ham have won something, we have won more than spurs now. i can't believe. the best club in the world, west ham are the best club in the world! congratulations to west ham. we will have all the top business stories next including a look at the uk's ai ambitions. see you in a moment.

hello. well, our weather's been stuck on repeat a bit over the past few weeks, hasn't it? it's been largely dry and settled, with the best of the sunshine towards the west. but things are changing, as we head through the latter part of the week and into the weekend, the heat and the humidity are going to build, and there's a chance of some thunderstorms, as well. now, heading through the course of the weekend, these are the sort of temperatures we could see — mid—to—high—20s, very small chance, one or two places possibly getting near 30 celsius. but we do have a heat health alert that's been issued by the met office and the uk health and security agency, too. so, high pressure has been in charge of our weather, but cast your eyes down towards the southwest — this is storm oscar, and over the next few days, that low pressure is going to push closer towards the uk — and as it does so, we'll draw in these winds for more of an easterly, or even southeasterly direction, so that is what is bringing us the warmer weather. but for the here and now, still in that cooler air mass at the moment, so thursday morning dawns with quite a bit of cloud for central

and eastern areas, and, like recent days, that cloud will burn back towards the east coast through the day. so lots of strong sunshine — you'll notice the breeze blowing through east anglia, southern england, through the english channel, too — but the warmest spots probably getting up into perhaps the mid—20s, still mid—teens, though, for parts of eastern scotland and northeast england. and grass pollen season will be reaching its peak soon, so very high levels of pollen — you'll notice that across england and wales, if you suffer from hay fever. now, thursday evening and overnight into friday, the cloud rolls back westwards once again, as it has done over previous nights. it's probably a little bit less cold, though, temperatures staying up around about 8 or 9 degrees for most of us into friday, we'll see that subtle change in wind direction. so friday, mostly dry again, still a bit of cloud lingering in the northeast, but not as much as recent days. breeze blowing in from the east or northeast, across the southern half of the uk, but look at those temperatures — more widely, we're getting up to about 2a—25 celsius, still a little bit cooler than that again in the northeast. heading into saturday, a few showers start to work in, initially for the far southwest, they'll creep their way northwards and eastwards — perhaps northern ireland, central parts

of england and wales could catch some of those hit—and—miss thundery downpours. so we're looking at temperatures probably warmest for many central and eastern areas on saturday. temperatures above average for all of us, as we head through the next five days or so. chance of some heavy showers — it looks like they ease away for many of us through the course of next week. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news.