numbers of tigers have risen in bhutan the first time a decade. president zelensky has been visiting ukraine's special forces near the hotspot of bakhmut, as kyiv ramps up its counter—offensive. mr zelensky praised the troops. he said he had travelled to meet them to another strength. the city has been some of the fiercest fighting in the war and a security building were struck by missiles in

cyril ramaphosa. at least nine people were injured and it caused widespread damage. james waterhouse has the latest. it was last in bakhmut at the start of the year when his forces controlled the city, which is now pretty much in ruins. now he has visited advanced positions on the outskirts where he has thanked his troops. he hasn't gone into detail about what their plans are. he even posed with them in a petrol station having a coffee, which is a ukrainian pastime. you often see soldiers in petrol stations making long journeys back and forth from the front. ukraine is attempting its counteroffensive, there are small hard—fought gains taking place, and this is the political effort alongside that where he wants to be seen near the front to preserve that morale. james, we were just seeing pictures now of president zelensky meeting those soldiers.

in terms of where the ukrainians are with bakhmut, you have been there, what is the position at the moment? if you can imagine, it's like a moving line where it one like a moving line where at one point at the start of the year when i was there, ukraine was still in control and it was clear they wanted to hold on to the city for as long as possible. the claim from officers there were that they were inflicting so many russian losses that they wanted to hold on. ultimately, though, russia with its mass and its equipment was able to take the city so now ukraine is in a more retreated position, but what it's been trying to do is probe around the outskirts to almost give russia a taste of its own medicine in that area where it has been trying to encircle russian troops. the endeavour is there, but it hasn't materialised in a sizeable reclaiming of territory. this was a place that started symbolic. it was clearly somewhere russia

dearly wanted to take, a trophy that the kremlin wanted. now it has it, ukraine has been quite focused in trying to take it back. we have to remind ourselves, we are talking about a once—thriving city that has been reduced to almost nothing. it is simply a battlefield where a lot of people have lost their lives. james waterhouse in kyiv, our ukraine correspondent. the south african president has praised vladimir putin met praised vladimir putin at a summit between russian and african nations. speaking during the meeting with putin, south african president cyril ramaphosa thanked the russian president for his respect and support of african states, and said the region's "strategic" relationship with russia was benefited. it's wonderful to be working with a partner like you because i'm a hard worker too, so that's very good. thank you very much for hosting

the russia—africa summit. we believe that it was successful, most successful. it was well organised and the outcome is very, very good. the declaration was well—negotiated and well—crafted, and it represents the views that the various countries that were here put forward, together with your views, and i believe that we've got a declaration that can take our relationship between africa and russia forward. that was the south african president, cyril ramaphosa. here in the uk... up to 20,000 rail workers in the rmt union are taking part in their latest strike today in the long—running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.

over half of the usual services are expected to run across the network, but some will finish earlier than usual. live now to louisa pilbeam, who's at euston station. there are some trains running today, aren't there?— aren't there? yes, and down here at euston station, _ aren't there? yes, and down here at euston station, there _ aren't there? yes, and down here at euston station, there are _ aren't there? yes, and down here at euston station, there are quite - aren't there? yes, and down here at euston station, there are quite a - euston station, there are quite a lot of people down here. they have pretty much overall looked up the train they wanted to get and have found a train, so most people have found a train, so most people have found they can get where they want to go. on the board here, there are trains to manchester, birmingham, liverpool and glasgow but they are running less frequently than usual. so a lot of people here are not too frustrated because they have planned ahead. but this is a long—running dispute.

another rail strike in what's been a year of industrial action. for the second saturday in a row, some of the 1a affected train operators are running very limited services. these cricket fans have come all the way from australia for the ashes, and while the cricket may have gone their way, the trains haven't. the trip is supposedly to take two and a quarter hours, but we got there five hours later. the train was overbooked, people were arguing within the train and it was getting very testy. the rmt and the drivers' union aslef rejected the train company's latest offers back in the spring. the rail delivery group says that offer is acceptable. we've been negotiating with the leadership of the rmt for over a year now, and it's a real shame that the offer that we made to them were 13% in terms of an increase in pay for the lowest paid is not being put to their membership, which would have brought this industrial dispute to an end. but the rmt�*s mick lynch says it's about more than pay. the government is in control

of what the train operating companies say to us, and even when they speak to us, and they're not allowing them to come back to the table with revisions to their proposals. we're available to do that, but at the moment we've got a situation where cuts are being imposed, 2,300 job cuts, every booking office in the country is going to close. government ministers and the industry continue to insist their proposals were fair and have given no indication they'll change them. hospitality businesses say they are feeling the impact of the strikes. this cafe in leeds has seen customer numbers fall massively on strike days. the owner says it's very difficult for them. we've had dozens and dozens of days like this. this shop here in the weekday, it relies on office workers. we've got a few big offices nearby and they just all tell their staff to work from home, so it's a complete disaster for us. my staff still need paying. the suppliers still need paying. you know, it's really, really tough. and ijust wish they could get round the table and fix it.

after today's strike by the rmt, the drivers' union aslef has two more overtime bans — one from monday and one the following week. so when it comes to the disputes on the railway, any resolution is likely to be far down the line. down here, it's actually got a bit busier and it is quite busy, as you mentioned, lots of hospitality businesses and all sorts of businesses are impacted by the strikes, particularly at the weekend. the question is are there more to come?— more to come? when it comes to the rmt, they actually — more to come? when it comes to the rmt, they actually don't _ more to come? when it comes to the rmt, they actually don't have - more to come? when it comes to the rmt, they actually don't have any - rmt, they actually don't have any more strikes planned at the moment. they have to give two weeks' notice if they are going to strike. but as i said, that's at the moment and they haven't been round the table, and that shows this action is likely to continue. as for the train drivers union has left, they have two overtime bans and one of them

starts on monday, and another one the following week. so that will cause disruption across the uk. there will be trains running, probably a bit like today where you will be able to catch some trains. but one thing to point out is that as the day goes on today, the trains get fewer, so around seven o'clock this evening you might find it much harder to get where you need to be today. harder to get where you need to be toda . . ~ harder to get where you need to be toda . ., ~ ,, harder to get where you need to be toda . . ~' ,, , harder to get where you need to be toda. ., , . ., ., today. thank you very much for that u date. today. thank you very much for that undate- you — today. thank you very much for that update- you can _ today. thank you very much for that update. you can get _ today. thank you very much for that update. you can get all _ today. thank you very much for that update. you can get all the - today. thank you very much for that update. you can get all the latest i update. you can get all the latest on the strikes and which lines are effected on our website. as we have been reporting all week, wildfires have been raging. in greece, emergency services have tried to prevent new wildfires in the central area of magnesia. fires there triggered explosions at an air force ammunition depot on thursday.

authorities say the outlook is improving for firefighters on the islands of rhodes, corfu and evia. 0ur correspondent has been giving us the latest from rhodes. itruffle our correspondent has been giving us the latest from rhodes.— the latest from rhodes. wee been told around _ the latest from rhodes. wee been told around 50 _ the latest from rhodes. wee been told around 50 new _ the latest from rhodes. wee been told around 50 new fires _ the latest from rhodes. wee been told around 50 new fires have - the latest from rhodes. wee been i told around 50 new fires have broken out, and although the situation is improving in general, firefighters, quite a large crew of firefighters is still hard at work here on rhodes and also on corfu and in the peloponnese tackling these blazes. some of them are new and some of them flare—ups of old fires because them flare—ups of old fires because the ground is still smouldering in many places in these forest areas and it doesn't take much for a spark to fly in these very windy conditions we have been seeing over the last few days and set off new blazes. so people here still very much on high alert, but also beginning to count the cost of the fires that have ravaged parts of

this island. we have been told that 50,000 olive trees were destroyed here and around 2500 animals and beehives destroyed. that here and around 2500 animals and beehives destroyed.— here and around 2500 animals and beehives destroyed. that was bethany bell reporting — beehives destroyed. that was bethany bell reporting from _ beehives destroyed. that was bethany bell reporting from the _ beehives destroyed. that was bethany bell reporting from the island - beehives destroyed. that was bethany bell reporting from the island of - bell reporting from the island of rhodes. donald trump has said he is only being targeted because he is polling well in the race to return to the white house. he didn't give any evidence, but said this at an event in iowa attended by other republican hopefuls. he is speaking after prosecutors widened a criminal probe into claims he mishandled secret documents. 0ur north america editor sarah smith was at the event. there are about 1,200 republican supporters in this ballroom this evening, listening to all the different republican candidates, trying to decide who they should support for the republican nomination. but of course, the night was dominated by one man. and, of course, that one man was donald trump. this is the first speech he's given since the new criminal charges were unveiled against him.

he's a man whose legal problems just keep piling up and up, and never seem to stop. but he won't let that deter him, and he didn't tonight. i mean, this was not the best speech he's ever given. he was rushing through his script, trying to stick to the ten—minute time limit. but nonetheless, he still grabbed everybody�*s attention and did what he always does best — made it all about him. that's what all these other candidates are up against, what they're trying to compete with. one of the lesser—known candidates, former congressman will hurd, well, he dared to say the only reason donald trump is running for president is to try and stay out of prison. well, he nearly got booed off the stage for that. ron desantis, well, he got a very enthusiastic reception, in fact, and he approached the whole issue rather differently. he didn't say donald trump's name, but he did say that if he's elected president, he would end the weaponisation of the federal government and fire the director of the fbi. that's his way of saying to trump supporters, "look,

i agree with you that the charges against donald trump are politically motivated, but i'm still the guy that you should elect to put in charge of all of this." but, you know, when he's having to make that case, it still means this race is all about donald trump, who is still very clearly the front runner in the polls and very much the man that all the other republican candidates have to try and beat. elon musk has rebranded twitter, replacing the iconic bluebird with an x. the bird, known as larry, has been the logo for around 17 years. elon musk said twitter will now be known as x.com and users can search x.com to get to the platform. now

the sport. we will start with great drama at the women's world cup. it was billed as the battle of two of the pretournament favourites, and the match between france and brazil did not disappoint. france took the lead. brazil levelled in the second half. a win for them would have seen them into the last 16 but they will have to wait. the french captain headed a late winner for a vital 2—i headed a late winner for a vital 2—1 victory. in the same group, we are into the final stages of the match between jamaica and into the final stages of the match betweenjamaica and panama. jamaica took the lead 11 minutes into the second half, and they still lead. just three minutes to go in that one, both teams looking for their first win in the tournament. elsewhere, sweden are into the knockout stages with a game to spare after thrashing italy 5—0. now some

good news for england because a scan has revealed midfielder kira walsh has revealed midfielder kira walsh has not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury as first feared. the barcelona star suffered a knee injury in the i—0 feared. the barcelona star suffered a knee injury in the 1—0 win for england over denmark, later appearing on crutches. she will remain at england's base camp during her recovery but will miss england's match against china. so good news for england, and good news as well for england, and good news as well for australia because their captain sam kerr says she is definitely available to face canada in monday's crucial group match. she missed their opening two games with a calf injury suffered on the eve of the tournament. i feel good. the plan has always been the same, missed the first two games and then reassess, so i'm feeling good. i was out on the pitch today.

erm, as good as i can be. it will go down to the wire. i will definitely be available but how we decide to use that is not to be given to the opposition, i think is the main thing. so that is the good news. now to the bad for norway. norway's striker has withdrawn because of injury. she withdrew after their last match, after feeling discomfort in her groin during the warm—up. norway are bottom of group a and have just one point from their two games so far. australia were comprehensively beaten by new zealand at a packed cricket ground in melbourne. the all blacks responded with five unanswered tries to thrash the hosts 38—7. eddiejones has lost all three of his matches since taking over as australia head coach.

it was looking like being a struggle for australian cricketers on day three, the fifth and final ashes test at the oval. a couple of quick wickets might be changing the mood. england were showing off their batting capabilities, racing pass 200 for the loss of two wickets at the time. but in the last few minutes, ben stokes and harry brooke are both out, and perhaps then a glimmer of hope for australia. currently 235—4, a lead of 223. and katie lydia key has created a moment of history at the world aquatics championships injapan. the american swimmer won 800 metres freestyle to not only retain her title but win a record 16th individual gold at the championships. she also becomes the first swimmer to win a single world event six times, doing so consecutively. well done to her.

that is all the sport for now, back to you. thank you, we will catch up with you later on. some good news now. there are more tigers in bhutan. this survey, organised by the country's government as well as the environmental ngo wwf. the news was welcomed by biodivesity experts. as a top predator, tigers are considered essential for preserving the ecosystem. however, they are an endangered species. according to data, the global wild tiger population has dropped by around 95% over the past century. earlier our world service environment correspondent navin singh khadka told us more. this is quite positive, as you explained. the drop was towards the turn—of—the—century until 2010 and then slowly in some countries they started seeing an uptick.

this has to be seen in the context of warnings we are hearing from scientists thati million species are heading towards extinction within decades, and tigers are top predator species by the way and it's also on the red list. it is still known as endangered and therefore it is very important, and the fact that tigers, to conserve them, you have to have swathes of forest. so experts say that when you protect tigers, you are also protecting forests, so it is a win—win in terms of bigger planetary gains. conservation work is rather pricey. it is quite expensive work. how is bhutan able to do that? and clearly it's doing this work on behalf of the world, essentially, and is it asking for much in return? the thing is, as you said, conservation does need money and countries like bhutan definitely seek support, but apart from this direct money involved,

what my sources tell me is that increasing number of farmers particularly, people on the ground, they are now demanding compensation from what is known as human wildlife conflict and the bill is going up. the country might not be able to support all that. and also, quickly, bhutan is graduating to become a bloc country which means it might not get all the donor support. that's why bhutan is a bit concerned and is hosting this conference soon to get secure financial support, yes. this weekend in the uk, thousands of lgbtq+ people will march through liverpool as the cityjoins a host pride celebration with ukraine's kyiv. the match cannot be held there because of the russian invasion so liverpool is hosting the event on its behalf. , .,

liverpool is hosting the event on its behalf. , . , h, its behalf. yes, a significant event for ukraine. _ its behalf. yes, a significant event for ukraine. a _ its behalf. yes, a significant event for ukraine, a significant - its behalf. yes, a significant event for ukraine, a significant event - its behalf. yes, a significant event for ukraine, a significant event for liverpool. the last time pride was able to be held was in 2021, months before the russian invasion of ukraine, they had the largest attempted march in its history and it was the last time it passed peacefully without being a target for violence. today they cannot hold it in ukraine so instead, any continuation of the spirit of eurovision, liverpool is hosting it in their place. earlier today, i spoke to the organiser of kyiv pride have said it's important we keep talking about ukraine. we understand --eole i talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind — talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind of _ talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind of tired _ talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind of tired of _ talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind of tired of war _ talking about ukraine. we understand people i kind of tired of war but - people i kind of tired of war but people — people i kind of tired of war but people are dying on the front line to prolect — people are dying on the front line to protect freedom, to protect europe — to protect freedom, to protect europe from conservative values

which _ europe from conservative values which russia provides, not only bombs — which russia provides, not only bombs and rockets. and which russia provides, not only bombs and rockets.— which russia provides, not only bombs and rockets. and as you can see, that protest _ bombs and rockets. and as you can see, that protest has _ bombs and rockets. and as you can see, that protest has walked - bombs and rockets. and as you can i see, that protest has walked through the streets of liverpool today and ended at the waterfront where just a few months ago they were hosting the eurovision village. through the rest of the day there will be various fringe events, djs and parties going on, but for those people for ukraine, it's mostly seen as a protest. eurovision may have united them in music, but today pride has united them in that protest. josh par in united them in that protest. josh parry in livable _ united them in that protest. josh parry in livable for _ united them in that protest. josh parry in livable for us _ united them in that protest. josh parry in livable for us there. let's get more on the women's world cup. live now to a commissioner of women's football at the panamanian football federation. match isjust coming up to full time shortly, and jamaica are leading i—0. carolina... i don't know if we have got karoly no, we might have technical

problems. at the moment, the match is coming to an end. carolina, can you hearus? is coming to an end. carolina, can you hear us? we are trying to connect to you, carolina. can you hear us? no, i connect to you, carolina. can you hearus? no, idon't connect to you, carolina. can you hear us? no, i don't think we can quite connect to her. we were going to speak to her about the match where jamaica is leading i—0 and the matches coming to a close but it looks like jamaica was going to clinch that and you can get the latest on that score from our website. the barbie film continues its relentless race across the globe. warner brothers say the picture has now made over half a billion dollars at the global box office. based on the famous toy doll, it dominates the box office in 69 countries and territories.

with more on this, our reporter nicky schiller told me more. i wish i had won a little bit of pink like you today as i'm talking about barbie! the film stars margot robbie and ryan gosling, and is doing massive business at the box office around the world. the experts say the film has helped drive people to the cinema, and it's been the busiest week since before the covid pandemic. so let's take a look at the numbers we are talking about. it has made $528.6 million. 0rjust over half a billion at the global box office, and it is one of the number one movies in 69 countries or territories. and warner brothers who make the movie say that in 2a of those countries, it has been the biggest opening weekend for any of their films ever. as i was looking at the list, and it includes australia, argentina, new zealand, brazil, colombia and mexico. so why is barbie doing

so well at the box office? i think it's a combination of reasons. first of all, a lot of people have childhood memories of barbie dolls and a lot of young people are also going to see it as it stars some big names and it is fun. the other reason is this — 0ppenheimer, which has made $300 million at the box office, but the key point is barbenheimer. it's pr hype but it's driven people to see both movies at the same time on the same day. i think what that has meant is people who may not originally had wanted to go and see barbie have done because they have also gone to see 0ppenheimer. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. it's a fresh day out there with sunny spells

and a scattering of showers. no surprises there. the story ofjuly — and more of that to come the next few days in fact. if we look at the satellite picture, you can see the low pressure just to the west of scotland. showers circling around the centre of the low. here's the radar from the last few hours. you can see the pockets of rain moving across the country from west to east. so the temperatures today peaking at around 22 degrees in london, norwich and hull. in the northwest it will be closer to the high teens. now, the showers will be most frequent the closer you are to the centre of this low pressure. so northern ireland, scotland, northwestern parts of england, least frequent showers further east and southeast. the temperatures early in the morning on sunday will range from about seven degrees in rural parts of scotland. but for most towns and cities, it'll be around 12 or 13 degrees. so again, showers in the morning in the north with some sunshine to start the day.

but then the next weather front and the next area of low pressure, of course, sweeps in off the atlantic. temperatures on sunday typically in the teens. it doesn't bode well for the ashes because that weather front will be sliding across the uk during the course of the afternoon. so some rain is certainly possible. you can see where the heaviest of the rain will be — a little bit further north. so low pressure, no surprises there, is still with us on monday. it's a fairly slow—moving low, and that implies a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain too. heaviest of which probably across more northern parts of the country. further south, quite blustery, a lot of cloud, occasional showers, a few sunny spells too. and those temperatures more or less what we've been used to for quite some time now. so low 20s, i think, at best. now, how about that jet stream? we're all talking about it. it is to the south of the uk through the week ahead, and that opens up the door to yet more cool

weather streaming in from the northern climes. so no change to our overall weather pattern. look at this outlook there into thursday. i mean, it's a case of showers pretty much every single day, more or less. that's it for me. bye bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. president zelensky has been visiting advanced positions of ukraine's special forces in the hotspot of bakhmut as kyiv rocks up the counteroffensive against russian troops. the visit comes after a multistorey residential building and a security building was struck in dnipro on friday. here in the uk, up to 20,000 rail workers in the rmt union are on strike for the second week in a row. it is part of a running dispute about pay, jobs and conditions. about half the usual services are expected to run across the network. donald trump has told a gathering of republicans that he is the only candidate who can win the next election, as he suggested this is the reason he faces criminal and civil charges. he was addressing a party fundraiser in iowa with other presidential hopefuls.

now on bbc news, scandalous phone hacking trial, episode three. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. it's really difficult for me to sit here and talk about this because... the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty to expose them as they've exposed us. prince harry and sir eltonjohn have launched legal action _ against the publishers of the daily mail. -

action is being taken against the sun newspaper.