on a vital bridge, linking russia and crimea. but first, the international reaction to russia's pulling out of a grain deal has been widespread and swift. the black sea grain deal let ukraine ship its grain by sea despite moscow's naval blockade. the kremlin�*s spokesman says the agreement has been halted until russia's demands are met. but ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy remains defiant, saying his ships will sail without russian approval. it could have serious consequences, as we've seen in the past. that's because ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters key crops, including sunflower, maize, wheat and barley. when russia invaded ukraine in february of 2022, its navy blockaded the country's black sea ports. that trapped 20 million tonnes of grain, sending global food prices skyrocketing. injuly last year, the un and turkey brokered a deal to get grain flowing again. when shipments restarted, world food prices declined by about 20%.

since then, ukraine has exported 32.8 million tonnes of grain and other food. on monday, un secretary general antonio guterres sharply criticised russia's move. today's decision by the russian federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere. but it will not stop our efforts to facilitate the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both ukraine and the russian federation. our goal must be continuing to advance global food security and the global food price stability. this will remain the focus of my efforts, taking into account the rise in human suffering that will inevitably result from today's decision. our correspondent nomia iqbal has been covering the un security council meeting in new york. there's been condemnation of russia's decision not to extend the grain initiative.

the uk foreign secretary, james cleverly, who was heading the security council meeting, accused vladimir putin of using food as a weapon. earlier today, the un secretary general antonio guterres also expressed disappointment and condemned the decision, and issued dire warnings about the impact that it could have on many countries. russia hit back at the meeting. a spokesperson, to quote, called the west accomplices of the kyiv terrorists and they confirmed that the grain initiative won't be extended until, to quote the spokesperson, that the west meets its demands, so russia's food and fertiliser exports, they say, are being affected as a result of western sanctions, not directly, but indirectly, they say, due to restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance. in terms of what comes next, it's unsure. ukraine's grain association said it had been prepared for this to happen, for the deal to expire, so shipments had fallen, no new vessels had been initiated. they are looking at some options, such as looking to use ports in the river danube to carry out exports, but as of yet, there is no concrete decision or plan on what comes next.

russia's withdrawal from the grain deal camejust hours after an attack on the sole bridge connecting mainland russia to occupied crimea. our correspondent abdujalil abduraslov is in kyiv with more. russia had been under pressure, notjust because it decided to pull out of this agreement. its key strategic bridge in crimea, the kerch bridge, has come under attack and was significantly damaged, and this bridge is crucial for its troops because it is part of the key supply route that supports its forces in southern ukraine, and without regular supplies, they will be facing tremendous difficulties in maintaining control, and these regions are the ones where kyiv has launched their counteroffensive. this is what the russian government call an emergency situation.

this bridge is strategically and politically important to moscow. here's the kerch bridge from above. it stretches across the kerch strait, connecting russia with crimea, a territory that russia illegally annexed in 2014. traffic has been partially restored to the road section of the bridge, with the railway line, running parallel to it, remaining fully intact. this is the second time the bridge was struck. russia says it was hit by an unmanned craft on the water's surface and that two of its civilians were killed. sources in the ukrainian security services have confirmed to the bbc that ukraine was responsible. the us says it's too soon to tell if any military advantage was gained from the strike. russia president vladimir putin responded to this earlier. translation: this is | another terrorist attack by the kyiv regime. it was a pointless crime from a military standpoint and a brutal one. russia will,

of course, respond. the defence ministry is drafting proposals. on a visit in new york earlier, ukraine's foreign minister questioned the use of the bridge. not every bridge is civilian, by definition, and this particular bridge, first, it was built illegally. it exists beyond the law, and we should always remember that, and second, it is mainly used for military purposes, and we should consider it as such. russia's deputy prime minister marat khusnullin has said the bridge will be completely repaired by 1st november. earlier, i spoke with jane harman, president emerita at the wilson center.

good evening to you, thank you very much forjoining us on our programme tonight. sources in the ukrainian security services have confirmed to the bbc that it was responsible for this bridge attack. white house spokesperson john kirby was asked about this earlier. here's what he said. we don't tell them what is or isn't legally a legitimate target. they determine their targets for themselves. do you think it's fair to call this a legitimate military target? yes, i do. supplies for the illegal war effort started by russia against ukraine come over that bridge. it's been attacked twice now by ukraine. they've acknowledged this attack, and i think they may have acknowledged the last attack, and my understanding is russia is blaming the russian military for not being able to protect this bridge into what they call their territory. i think it's fair game. ukraine is trying to end this war with victory. they should. they claim, this is their call, that crimea is still part of ukraine, and i see no evidence that it isn't. it is part of independent ukraine, and ukraine is trying to defend it and defend its public against an outrageously illegal attack.

we know that this is an important logistical supply route for the russians. the kremlin does expect it to be fully operational again before the end of the year, so how does damaging this bridge actually change ukraine's counteroffensive? well, it makes it more effective at least until the end of the year. i gather from your reporting, which sounds right, that russia's retaliating in part by now going back on this agreement that was brokered by the un and turkey to export ukrainian grain to russia. think about that. what is russia really doing by taking this step? yes, it's punishing ukraine's economy, but it's sending a message to africa, which has massive food insecurity, that russia doesn't want to help. i thought russia was trying to build bridges in africa,

no pun intended from the other bridge, the kerch bridge, but i think this is a really unproductive move, and i also think it's an opportunity for recep erdogan to try to broker a change. he was just in vilnius remember, and he committed, backed up his suggestion to swedenjoining nato, and he also wants turkey to be part of the eu, if he is a good citizen here and tries to broker a change in russian behaviour, this might help his case. i want to ask you about this black sea grain initiative, because the former nato supreme allied commander tweeted earlier that this raises a risk of a direct confrontation between nato, because nato might decide it actually needs to escort these ships through the black sea. so how should the us and nato respond to this? well, i don't know what nato

will do, it's a nato decision. remember, the us is part of nato, and if conversations are going on, they are going on at the moment, not in public. nato could decide to do that, the un could decide to do this. this was a un—brokered deal after all, or let's go back to turkey. turkey is a member of nato, but turkey, as the broker of the deal, could decide to escort ships. one of turkey's borders is on the black sea, so turkey can claim that this is international waters and turkey is protecting freedom of the sea next to turkey. so you don't think there is necessarily the risk of a direct confrontation here, if the us decides with its nato allies to step in? i don't know. putin can make any argument he wants. he can claim right now that because of us sanctions, the us is at war with russia. i think the cost to him

of doing that are very high, and so i don't think he's going to do it. i also think the cost of using nuclear weapons in any form are very high, and he's been warned by china not to do this. so i don't know how much information actually gets through to him, and whether there is anyone telling him how isolated he is, and how poor his decision—making is, but at any rate, i don't think so far as i know, that this decision has been made by nato, and i don't know whether it would provoke a war against nato. i think the stakes for putin are very high, his army is degraded, his troops are untrained and he has no friends. maybe china, but i don't think china would want to venture into this mess over the black sea exports of grain, because china is starting to make friends with africa, too. so it is certainly complicated, certainly in the geopolitical sense. you are the chair of a commission on the national

defence strategy, which is this bipartisan commission investigating president biden�*s defence strategy, how to implement it, and you co—authored a piece last month, saying that... so, do you think that means that the us is at the moment unable to keep supplying ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield? well, yes and no. i mean, there are still things that we are producing. certainly cluster munitions, which we are going to provide, and i think it is a close case that we should do that, but we don't have regular ammo to provide, and those munitions would just be used on ukraine's soil, and ukraine would hopefully dismantle the after—effects of those munitions, so people wouldn't be hurt. that's one thing. we also do have these longer range missiles to provide and we have f—16s, which we have said we will provide up to the ukrainian

pilots are trained. but is there an issue about the defence industrial base in the us having the ability to produce what we will need for future wars? yes, there is an issue, and we are going to point that out in my commission, and on a bipartisan basis, and hopefully we will come up with some very targeted suggestions about how that base can be beefed up, and let's understand that future wars will depend much more on advanced technology than past wars, and one goal is to reduce dependence on vulnerable legacy systems, which were good for fighting the last war, and increase our production of technology and technology—connected weapons that will win the next war. jane harman, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us tonight. thank you. millions of people around the world are struggling with unrelenting heat,

across three continents. parts of the us and china have both topped 50 degrees celsius. that's about 122 degrees fahrenheit, and the mercury in europejust keeps rising. in a moment, we'll hear from our climate editor, justin rowlatt, but first, nick beake reports on the situation in greece. a thick blanket enveloped the hills outside of athens. wildfires, powered by heavy winds. the flames rapidly advancing on homes. there were small victories for those fighting from the air, but it's been a constant battle to contain the pockets of fire jumping up, as temperatures reached 44 celsius in some parts of greece. near the capital, more than 1,000 children were forced to abandon their summer camp. "there are about 1,500 kids who need to be bused "to safety", a local official explained, saying they'd been found emergency accommodation for the night.

as dark plumes ominously filled the horizon, many decided to escape. at these stables, a race against time — disorientated and distressed, but all rescued. there wasn't much in it. this is what they left behind. tonight, firefighters across the athens region are on high alert. greece's first major heatwave for the summer has now ended but another is on the way. nick beake, bbc news. and there are wildfires here in spain, too. 4,000 people had to be evacuated as 300 firefighters fought to control a blaze on la palma, in the canary islands. this man says, if a friend hadn't phoned to warn him, he would have died in the inferno. it comes as a second blistering heatwave sweeps into europe. temperatures in southern spain are pushing into the 40s,

10 celsius hotter than normal, in places. it makes it almost unbearable to work outside. it's been extremely hot this year. like, i normally get up at eight or nine in the morning, but i've been getting up at five just to get things done by 9:00, because it'sjust harsh. make you feel a bit better. colin runs an animal sanctuary just inland from the tourist beaches of the costa del sol. there you go. hot animals mean more work for him. you've got sweat all over you. they need to be hosed down to keep them cool, and it's too hot for the tourists, too, his main source of donations. the only animals that seem to be enjoying themselves are the meerkats. so colin has had to close the place and the cash is running out. i think we'lljust have tojust... ..bear with itjust now and just see what happens. this year's just been unbearable, it really has. you get no break

from it at all. here's why it's so hot. a high—pressure system, held in place by thejet stream, a rapidly—moving flow of air, high in the atmosphere, is funnelling heat up from the deserts of north africa and across southern europe. the climate of southern europe is changing, say local people. it's becoming more and more like north africa. the sahara desert is slowly creeping into europe. the weather is being turbo—charged by climate change, say scientists. humans are 100% to blame for the global trend in high temperatures that we are seeing. so all of the observed global warming is because of our burning of fossilfuels. and it's notjust hot in europe. china is reckoned to have recorded its highest temperature ever yesterday —

52.2 degrees celsius. and tens of millions of people are under extreme heat warnings in the us, too. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. voice-over: bbc news v0|ce—0ver: bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. greater manchester police are searching for illegal cosmetic medicines and treatments, including facial fillers. and treatments, including facialfillers. they and treatments, including facial fillers. they suspect there may also be linked money laundering. the investigation _ money laundering. the investigation today - money laundering. the investigation today is l money laundering. tie: investigation today is around supplying illegal medicines or licenses to medicines. it is suspected these have been imported from korea and china and these individuals are distributing them to members of communities.— communities. two people at this ro -e communities. two people at this preperty were — communities. two people at this property were arrestable - communities. two people at this property were arrestable a - property were arrestable a third person was arrested in another raid. police found a bag of cash containing £30,000 and a number of other assets were taken away, including an expensive car.— were taken away, including an expensive car. these products are sold online _ expensive car. these products are sold online via _ expensive car. these products are sold online via an - expensive car. these products are sold online via an illegal. are sold online via an illegal website. members of the public

unwittingly can go and buy them without realising that the product they are being supplied with his unlicensed so they have not gone through the rigourous tracks —— checks and safety and analysis. voice-over: for safety and analysis. v0|ce—0ver: for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you are watching bbc news. now to a new drug that could represent a major breakthrough in treating alzheimer's disease. first let's look at the numbers. here in the us, the alzheimer's association estimates 6.7 million people over the age of 65 are living with the disease. that's almost 11% of people in that age range — something the association predicts will steadily increase. in clinical trials, the drug donanemab was found to slow the pace of the disease by about a third in patients with early stage alzheimer's. the bbc�*s medical editor fergus walsh spoke exclusively with one of the patients from the trial. i seem to get more confident every day and i'm sure this is going to be successful.

it'll get all the rubbish off the top of my brain and i'll be back to normality. i'm very confident about that. dr emer macsweeney with recognition health, a uk—based research institute that studies alzheimer's treatments, discussed the gravity of the findings. this is really significant. this is one of the biggest breakthroughs in so much as this disease is a pandemic, it's getting more and more common. but there are risks to this drug. three people died after receiving the treatment due to brain swelling. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh puts it all into perspective. patients on the drug were more likely to be able to continue with independent lives — to be able to drive, to do their shopping, handle theirfinances, than those who were on a dummy drug. now, these benefits are modest,

but they are a start. i think it possibly is akin to where we were with cancer treatments coming in the 1970s. it heralded in an era of better treatments and now we have breakthroughs in cancer thankfully all the time. but we haven't had that. we've had decades of failed trials in alzheimer's. this is actually the second drug. the first, that we reported last year, is called lecanemab, it works in a very similar way. that is actually licensed in the us at a cost of around $27,000, £21,000, and so that gives an idea of what it might cost if it is introduced in the uk. both those drugs could be licensed in the uk next year. but health services here and around the world will have to see if they move now from the era of treatment for alzheimer's. drug—maker eli lilly says it expects us health officials to decide by the end of the year whether to approve the drug for use here in the us. in other news:

us presidentjoe biden has invited israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to visit the white house for the first time since mr netanyahu re—entered office in december. the white house has been slow to extend an invitation due to concerns about the prime minister's government. the invitation comes on the eve of a visit from israeli president isaac herzog. a small plane has crashed into a hanger at an airfield near the polish capital, warsaw, killing five people. at least seven others were injured. first responders said three people were aboard the plane when it collided with the iron hangar. 0fficials says bad weather probably caused the accident. the fifa women's world cup begins on thursday in australia and new zealand. 32 teams will battle it out for a chance at world cup glory. members of australia's national team, the matildas, have been at the forefront of pushing for equal pay as their male counterparts. katie silver reports from sydney. in 2015, fifa made us play the world cup on artificial pitches. the grass was fake and

the disrespect was real. in 2013, we signed a new deal to make sure we got our laundry done for us. fifa will still only offer— women one quarter as much prize money as men for- the same achievement. members of the home team, the matildas, make their appeal to fifa and football's power brokers just days before the world cup kicks off. all: this is our legacy. the soaring popularity of the women's game in australia has been on full display. two billion people globally are expected to tune in to watch this world cup, yet the prize money for female players is far smaller than the men's. the argument for why we are getting paid so much less is just kind of dwindling, it's not really much of an argument any more. if you look at the ticket sales and the interest and the tv viewing and all of that, there's just not much of an argument there any more.

in some countries like vietnam, the gender pay gap remains huge. that's according to former star nguyen thi minh nguyet, who played for the national team until 2016 and is now a professional coach. translation: at the moment, there are players in the team i who have to both play professional football and do other things like selling goods online or, together with theirfamily, open a restaurant or shop in order to make ends meet. for those that follow the game closely, this world cup is being seen as a watershed moment for women's pay. one of the most exciting parts of the 2019 women's world cup was after the final was won by the usa, there were chants of, "equal pay," that rang around the stadium. so this women's world cup coming up, it's a real, another opportunity to be able to talk about these bigger things and equal pay, its still something that not just women footballers are striving for, it's what women everywhere are striving for.

this world cup there have been stand—offs between multiple teams and their football associations, including the uk, south africa, nigeria and canada, and these fights are over everything from basic equal pay to bonuses. some teams are even threatening to boycott matches if their demands are not met. it's hoped that with this momentum, the next—generation's battle will be just on the pitch. katie silver, bbc news, sydney. and before we go, a sweater with a complicated royal history is heading to auction. princess diana wore the so—called �*black sheep jumper�* to a polo match in the summer of 1981. it depicts one black sheep amid rows of white ones. this was a month before princess diana's marriage to then—prince charles, and it set off a fury of speculation over what message she may be trying to send — if any. the item expected to sell for as much as $80,000 when it goes to auction later this summer. that's all from us here in washington.

i'm sumi somaskanda. we leave you with these live pictures of london as we hand off to our colleagues there. they will take over at the top of the next hour. thank you for watching. hello. if you're wondering whether any of the heat that's currently affecting southern europe might head our way, well, the answer is a resounding no, but that is good news, i think, when you look at these temperatures. these temperatures which we recorded in the south of europe on monday, are very dangerous indeed. and this heat shows no real sign of letting up. now, we are stuck in a very different type of weather. the jet stream diving to the south of us that's keeping us away from this hot air, instead keeping us in something cooler, and with low pressure in charge, it is quite unsettled. this weather system pushing its way in from the west right now is going to bring some very heavy rain for some through the day on tuesday. that rain through the morning across parts of northern ireland, then swinging across the irish sea into wales, the north of england, the south of scotland, southwest scotland

could be very wet for a time. bit of rain into the southwest of england. northern scotland seeing sunny spells and the odd sharp shower. the southeast of england should hold on to some hazy sunshine and some warmth, 23—24 degrees, but stuck under cloud and rain you may well see temperatures no higher than 111—15 degrees. very wet for a time through the evening, particularly across parts of southern scotland. that rain then tries to pull away eastwards. i think cloud and some patchy rain may linger across southeast scotland and northeast england into the first part of wednesday. those are the starting temperatures for wednesday. and then this legacy of cloud still sticking around across parts of northern england, maybe southern scotland, down towards the east of england as well, with the odd spot of rain through wednesday morning. elsewhere, sunny spells and scattered showers. some of those could be on the heavy side. and temperatures of around 18 degrees there for belfast, 23 degrees the high in london. forthursday, it's the sunshine and showers day. most of the showers are likely to be across the north and the east of the uk. not as many showers further west. and those temperatures again in a range between 16—22 degrees for most of us. so any big changes as we head towards the end of the week? well, not really. various weather systems, various areas of low pressure still featuring in the forecast. bit of uncertainty about where it might be wettest over

the weekend, just how windy it's going to be, but certainly staying unsettled and relatively cool and no change in that story into the start of next week.

shops looted, and houses this is bbc news. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. france has been embarking on a bout of soul—searching after the shooting dead of 17—year—old nahel marzouk in june. a police officer has been charged with culpable homicide. the killing provoked the worst riots in nearly two decades. several thousand people were arrested, hundreds of police officers injured,