bhutan reports an increase in its wild tiger population , the countryjoins a small number of nations where numbers of the big cats have risen in the past decade. hello. president zelensky has been visiting ukrainian special forces near the city of bakhmut, as kyiv continues its counter—offensive. mr zelensky praised the troops for their �*truly heroic�* performance and said he had travelled to meet them to �*honour their strength�*. the city has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. the visit comes after a multistorey residential building, and a security service building, were struck by missiles in the central city of dnipro. at least nine people were injured, and the strikes caused widespread damage.

james waterhouse has the latest from kyiv. it feels like the focus is shifting eastwards in recent days, where let�*s start with that missile strike. the top of a residential block as well as a headquarters building belonging to ukraine�*s security services was damaged. but no one was killed thankfully, but nine were injured, and it reminds you of the residential block that was struck earlier in the year when dozens of people lost their lives. i think the city of dnipro is interesting because it is only three hours from the front line but it is a place that has just really carried on as normal. i think the images of last night, another missile strike in the heart of the city, it�*s shown moscow�*s attitude that it is deploying in that it sees civilian casualties or areas themselves as acceptable collateral

damage in its continued invasion or it is a deliberate targeting of a civilian area. we have heard from the kremlin saying it was targeting a ukrainian command post with what it called high precision weapons, but nevertheless, it is a messy situation for people this morning. and as you say, president zelensky has been making another visit to front line positions. he 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 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. the ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, who i spoke to a little earlier on. sticking with russia... the south african president has praised vladmir putin at a summit between russia and african nations. african leaders have urged moscow to move ahead with their peace plan for ukraine and have agreed a deal to

secure grain exports. president putin has promised to supply free grain to several african countries. speaking during the meeting with putin, cyril ramaphosa thanked the russian president for his support. 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. nine people, including at least three children, are reported to have been killed — and dozens injured in southern thailand when fireworks stored in a shop were ignited by welders. a large area of the town of sungai golok, on the thai—malaysia border was destroyed in the explosion and the fire that followed. residents described hearing a huge explosion, which shook buildings, shattered windows and collapsed some roofs, sending a massive plume of smoke into the air. video taken after the explosion shows many buildings ablaze, some completely destroyed, and a substantial area of the town close to the river which divides thailand from malaysia in ruins. here in the uk the chair of the common�*sjustice select committee sir bob neill has urged ministers

to change prison compensation rules. it�*s after a man who spent 17 years injailfora crime he didn�*t commit, may have money deducted from his payout to cover living costs. andrew malkinson, says he could be charged for his board and lodging in prison, despite having his conviction quashed. in england, somehow it�*s become the norm to fight tooth and nail after you�*ve already fought tooth and nail to clear your name. it�*s a whole new battle. they don�*t like paying compensation, and there�*s resistance every step of the way. so what do you live on at the moment, if i ask you that? i�*m living on benefits. and may ijust also say, justin, i feel very strongly about this. somehow the prison service has, i guess, lobbied the government in the early 2000s, such that the result is even if you fight tooth and nail and gain compensation, you then have... it is just so...it�*s kind of sick.

you have to pay the prison service, a large chunk of that. if you win compensation for so—called board and lodging, which is so abhorrent to me, i�*m sickened by it. with more on this with our political correspondent damian grammaticas. damien, you�*ve been following this story. there has been reaction from westminster as we were talking about earlier on. yes westminster as we were talking about earlier on. , w , ~ westminster as we were talking about earlier on. , w , �* ~ earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as — earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you _ earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you can _ earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you can see _ earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you can see here - earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you can see here on - earlier on. yes exactly. andrew mel concern as you can see here on the| concern as you can see here on the court of the steps of appeal this week when he won that appeal to overturn his conviction. i7 week when he won that appeal to overturn his conviction. 17 years he had spent injail. that overturn his conviction. 17 years he had spent in jail. that admission there, or that statement there that he made on bbc radio, that caused huge concern and discussion because of this issue that the compensation paid to him could potentially, this

is all still in process and it hasn�*t finally been decided, but it could have this money deducted from it. it is actually explained as a deduction for saved living expenses. so what he didn�*t have to spend on his own living expenses while he was in prison, now the reaction you are talking about today has come from sir bob neill, senior conservative mp in the house of commons. the justice committee. he says he thinks that this is something the government should look at changing. it is clearly not right that someone was deprived of their living because of the _ was deprived of their living because of the failures of the state. they should _ of the failures of the state. they should be — of the failures of the state. they should be obliged to give some money back to _ should be obliged to give some money back to the _ should be obliged to give some money back to the state for the privilege of having — back to the state for the privilege of having been wrongly incarcerated by them _ of having been wrongly incarcerated by them. that surely offends any kind of— by them. that surely offends any kind of sense ofjustice. what by them. that surely offends any kind of sense ofjustice.- kind of sense of 'ustice. what he exlained kind of sense of 'ustice. what he explained was _ kind of sense ofjustice. what he explained was that _ kind of sense ofjustice. what he explained was that when - kind of sense ofjustice. what he explained was that when this - explained was that when this practice was brought in back in the early 2000, it was because at the

time it was thought that the public would be offended if someone who overturned their conviction on a technicality then got compensation, and that this was a way of dealing with that issue. but he says in this case, there is a clear miscarriage ofjustice. this was a case where dna evidence, scientific evidence, came to light, which assured that it could not have been andrew mel concern. it pointed to someone else who�*s name is on the police records. thatin who�*s name is on the police records. that in this case a clear miscarriage ofjustice and the law should be changed. it is worth seeing too that others have echoed that. damon priti patel who was the home secretary and interior minister here, she has said also this week, she has described it as utterly shameful. she has described it as utterly shameful-— shameful. thank you for that analysis- _ shameful. thank you for that analysis. you _ shameful. thank you for that analysis. you can _ shameful. thank you for that analysis. you can read - shameful. thank you for that analysis. you can read that l shameful. thank you for that - analysis. you can read that article that was on the screen behind damien on our website and app. african and

western powers have united in the power grab of niger. they are seeking to isolate the coup leaders there. they have given the military 15 days to return to barracks and restore constitutional order. the european union has suspended financial and security cooperation and in the last hour, france has suspended all development aid with immediate effect. it says it only recognises the government of president mohamed bazoum and would hold the coup leaders accountable for his well—being. earlier, washington said its substantial aid contribution was in jeopardy. washington said its substantial aid contribution was injeopardy. west african leaders are due to meet on sunday to discuss the crisis. 0ur correspondent chris ewokor is in neighbouring nigeria and is explained more. well, starting with the african union, they are coming up with the strongest reaction yet on this political

development in niger. and they are demanding that the mutinous soldiers in niger return to their barracks and restore constitutional order. they gave the soldiers a maximum of 15 days to restore democracy in that country. they said they condemn the coup strongly and are not in support of the soldiers taking over from the democratically—elected president, mohamed bazoum. and that reaction is also similar to what we�*ve heard from the eu. the eu sent the economic and financial security support to niger until their assertion of a restoration of constitutional order. and of course, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, said that niger risk getting the aid

from america, running into several millions of dollar suspended, and security support also suspended. these are very strong reactions to the development in niger. and it seems that the coup leaders who led the overthrowing of the government of mohamed bazoum may be facing an uphill task diplomatically to try to convince those against them that they are in business. but i�*ve seen reports of the head of the military in niger. that is the coup leader, general abdourahmane tchiani, who had met with senior civil servants in in the country. he has dissolved state institutions and has asked the senior civil servants that they should continue

work instead of the ministers, to ensure that the machinery of governance keeps running without stop. chris ewokor on that coup in indonesia. here in the uk, up to 20,000 rail workers, members of the rmt union, are on strike for the second saturday in a row. it�*s part of a long running dispute about pay, jobs and working conditions. just over half of services are expected to run across the network, but some will finish earlier than usual. louisa pilbeam reports. there are some trains running, and down here at london euston station, which is one of the uk�*s busiest stations, there are quite a lot of people down here. they have pretty much overall looked up the train they want to get and have found one. most people have found they can get where they want to go. 0n the board here, there are trains to manchester, birmingham, liverpool,

glasgow, but they are running less frequently than usual. so a lot of people here, you know, are not too frustrated because they 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 14 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 supposed 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 — worth 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. as you mentioned, lots of hospitality businesses and all sorts of businesses are impacted by these strikes, particularly at the weekend. the question on lots of their minds is, are there more to come? when it comes to the 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, aslef, they have two overtime bans and one of them starts on monday for the week, 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. butjust one thing to point out is that as the day goes on today, the trains get fewer, so around six, seven o�*clock this evening, you might find it much harder to get where you need to be today. that is louisa pillbeam in a london�*s use in stadium. here in the uk, use in stadium. west midlands police have released a 14—year—old boy on bail — after he was arrested on suspicion of causing death

by dangerous driving. seven—year—old katniss selezneva was hit by a motorcycle in walsall on thursday and died later in hospital. a short time ago, the police confirmed it had recovered two motorbikes that are now being investigated in connection with the incident. we�*ve just had some breaking news we�*vejust had some breaking news in the last hour or so. there is a man in his 30s dying in a collision with a scooter in south yorkshire. we�*ve had a statement saying we can now confirm that the man involved in that collision last night on friday has sadly died. this is from the police. at about 10:25pm, the police received a call from a member of the public and another report from yorkshire ambulance services about a reported collision between an ambulance that was responding to an emergency call and a scooter. so thatis emergency call and a scooter. so that is sad news that a man in his

30s has died after a collision whilst he was on a scooter and was transported to hospital, but sadly died from his injuries. rutan has announced an increase in its tiger population. figures show the tiny country is now home to up to 27% from the last figure is shown. experts also found evidence of tigers breathing at different altitudes. in the country, it suggests that bhutan could help regional populations recover as a result. the tigers are considered essential for preserving the ecosystem but they are also an endangered species. the global wild tiger population is thought to have dropped to around 95% over the past century. earlier, ourworld service environment correspondent told us more. ~ , ,

more. well, this is quite positive, as ou more. well, this is quite positive, as you explained. _ more. well, this is quite positive, as you explained. the _ more. well, this is quite positive, as you explained. the drop - more. well, this is quite positive, as you explained. the drop was i as you explained. the drop was towards the turn—of—the—century until 2010 and then slowly in some countries we started to see an uptick. now the thing here is that this has to be seen in the context of warnings that we are hearing from scientists that 1 million of warnings that we are hearing from scientists that1 million species are heading towards extinction within decades. tigers are our top predator species and it is also on the red list and is known as endangered. therefore, it is very important. and the fact that tigers, to conserve them, you have to have areas in forests. so what experts say is to protect tigers is also to protect forests. it is a win—win in terms of our bigger planetary gains. the conservation work is rather pricey. it is rather expensive work. how is bhutan able to do that? clearly, it is seen as work on behalf of the world, essentially. is it asking for much in return? the

thin is, it asking for much in return? the thing is. as _ it asking for much in return? the thing is. as you _ it asking for much in return? tie: thing is, as you said, they do need money and countries like boot and definitely seek support. but apart from this direct money involved, my sources within the administration tell me that an increasing number of farmers and people on the ground 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 of that. and also rutan is graduating from a list of countries blocked to becoming a developing country which means it might not get all of those donor�*s support. that is why there is concern and the conference is being hosted soon to get a secure financial support. donald trump has told a republican rally the us justice department is only targeting him because he�*s polling well in the race to return to the white house. he didn�*t give any evidence

to support his claim, which he made at an event in iowa, attended by other republican hopefuls. he was speaking after prosecuters widened a criminal probe into claims he mishandled secret documents. 0ur north american 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.

we are going to leave you with a rather hot bear in california. the grizzly bear was caught on camera cooling off in a private home�*s pool in burbank during the record—breaking heatwave temperatures on friday. police released this footage on the unusual bath. officers say locals had spotted the bear on a hillside before it took a dip in the pool. hello. today was quite a showery day for some of us, particularly in the north. further showers to come through this evening and overnight. how about sunday? it starts off quite bright in a number of locations but clouds will thicken through the morning, into the afternoon and more persistent rain is on the way, too. here is one weather system ready to come our way. this is the one that we had through the course of sunday

and this is what brought showers. in fact, the showers will continue through the night, broadly speaking, across the northern half of the uk. further east and south, the weather will be drier with some clear spells. early morning temperatures around ten in aberdeen, 13 or 1a in the south of the country. this is the next weather front heading our way. early in the morning, some bright and sunny weather throughout in a number of locations, although the showers continue in the north. but then this more widespread weather front sweeps into ireland, through wales and many parts of england eventually. i think newcastle and hull will hang on to the sunshine the longest in england and also some very decent weather there in northern and eastern scotland. elsewhere, you can see the cloud spreading in, south—westerly wind, a lot of murk and drizzle around the coast, not a very pleasant second half of the day. an increasing breeze, too, and quite a large area of low pressure, elongated, slow moving from west to east and it brings a lot of cloud on monday, too.

you can see the weather front is placed across scotland at this stage, middle of the day, with heavy rain for a time at least in the lowlands. to the south of that, we have got the cloud, showers and occasional sunny spells. temperatures hovering around the high teens or low 20s. august is just around the corner. how about the weather and this jet stream pattern? well, the jet stream is going to be quite strong, close to us and generally south of us through the course of this week, especially the middle of the week onwards. that allows the cooler air to stream in from the north. if we have a look at the pattern through tuesday and into wednesday, a big low pressure parks itself across scandinavia and around it, the winds are coming in from the north. it will be cooler than average. showers are expected, quite widespread showers, even some cracks of thunder from time to time. here is the outlook from sunday into the week ahead. it is looking, surprise, surprise, very unsettled. that is it from me. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president zelensky has been visiting �*advanced positions�* of ukraine�*s special forces near the hotspot of bakhmut as kyiv ramps up its counter offensive against russian troops. the visit comes after a multistory residential building and a security service building were struck

in the central city of dnipro on friday. here in the uk, up to 20,000 rail workers in the rmt union are on strike for the second weekend in a row. it�*s part of a long running dispute about pay, jobs and working conditions. around half the usual services are expected to run across the network. donald trump has told a gathering of republicans that he�*s the only candidate who can win next year�*s election, and he suggested this is the reason he faces a range of criminal and civil charges. mr trump was addressing a party fundraiser in iowa with other presidential hopefuls. now on bbc news, the arts interviews: abba bj rn and benny. abba are one of the most popular groups in musical history, having sold hundreds of millions of albums. they won the eurovision song contest in 1974 and split up around eight years later, but it�*s never really felt like they have been away. after a 39—year gap, the band recorded a new album in 2021,