conversations are ongoing to decide whether to allow ukraine to hit russia with long—range weapons donated by western allies. mr sullivan said on saturday that president biden will spend the rest of his term putting ukraine in the best possible position to fight russian aggression. mr sullivan spoke shortly after the head of nato�*s military committee said ukraine has the right to defend itself against russia even beyond its own borders during the committee's annual meeting in prague. also on saturday, russia and ukraine exchanged 206 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the united arab emirates. russia said the soldiers it released were captured during ukraine's incursion into the kursk region. russia said on saturday that it has recaptured a village in ukraine's eastern pokrovske region, hours after it shelled 15 other border towns. ukrainian troops told the bbc they're worried russia is trying to surround them. aruna iyengar has this report.

the latest attacks in ukraine's sumy region. volodymyr zelensky has accused the west of emboldening vladimir putin with its hesitation over long—range missiles. president biden and sir keir starmer had met to decide whether to allow kyiv to use storm shadow missiles against targets inside russia. i don't think much about vladimir putin. despite this putdown, there is still a cautious approach and no official change in policy. this wasn't a meeting about a particular capability. that wasn't why we got our heads down today. it was to allow ourselves the space which we took, the time which we took, to have a strategic discussion. these long—range missiles are at the heart of the talks. the uk already supplies storm shadows to ukraine, but only for use within ukraine. the coming weeks could see that

change, with them being allowed to be fired into russia at military installations. some military observers say ukraine isjustified in wanting to stop the attacks at source. now, what may happen here is some of this may get loosened up behind the scenes. you may see the us not object to the uk allowing the storm shadows to go. you may see some shift in the us position, butjust not announced as some sort of new policy. but the ukrainian frustration is palpable, and i think it is justified. and former uk defence secretary ben wallace said this. all of that delay, all of that tug—of—war, favours russia. it allows putin to insert, in the delay, threats and new red lines and efforts to divide and rule in the international community. the russian president, vladimir putin, chaired a meeting of his security council yesterday. russia says if restrictions are lifted, that would be an attack by nato on russia.

meanwhile, the former president of russia dmitry medvedev has upped the rhetoric, and he said, what arrogant anglo—saxon dimwits failed to admit, though, is you can only test someone�*s patience for so long. there is a delicate balance here for the west, weighing up the effects of action against the effects of inaction. added to the mix is worrying evidence that iran and north korea are supplying weapons to russia. president zelensky of ukraine is begging for help from the west. translation: putin and his accomplices must feel - all the problems that war brings. the war must become significantly harder for russia. this is the reality of war in ukraine. it is a country desperate for ongoing help. its allies are working out what is the best way to do it. aruna iyengar, bbc news. to some breaking news from venezuela now, where the government says it

has arrested three us citizens, two spaniards and one czech citizen, accusing them of involvement in alleged plots against president nicolas maduro's government. interior minister diosdado cabello said hundreds of weapons had also been seized and that the detainees had plotted to assassinate president maduro and other top officials. the us state department has categorically rejected claims of american involvement. relations with the united states and spain have deteriorated sincejuly�*s contested presidential election. washington recently sanctioned 16 venezuelan officials accused of electoral fraud. israel has carried out more deadly raids on gaza. health and civil defence officials in gaza say at least 14 people were killed in israeli airstrikes that targeted central and southern parts of the enclave overnight into saturday. one raid hit a former school in gaza city. palestinian rescuers say five people including two children were killed. in turkey, hundreds attended

the funeral of american—turkish activist aysenur ezgi eygi, who israeli troops shot dead last week in the occupied west bank. the israeli military says ms eygi was most likely killed "accidentally" during a protest. turkey says israel's killing was intentional. meanwhile, the deputy leader of lebanese armed group hezbollah warned that hundreds of thousands more people would be displaced if israel were to launch an all—out war. tens of thousands of people on both sides of the israel—lebanon border have already been forced from their homes as hezbollah and israel trade fire. the warning came after israel's defence minister said restoring security to the country's northern front was a top priority. local media reports expect us special envoy amos hochstein to visit both israel and lebanon next week to soothe tensions between the two countries. i spoke about all this with firas maksad, a senior director for strategic outreach at the middle east institute. he's got quite a task ahead of him, mr hochstein, when he arrives in the region.

what can he realistically expect to achieve? lucy, the american position has been very clear, and it's a red light as it pertains to israel broadening and launching an all—out war, an all—out campaign, in southern lebanon. the argument that's been put forward by the administration, as i heard it directly this week, to be put by amos hochstein to visiting israelis, is: can you achieve militarily what you have failed to achieve diplomatically? mr hochstein has essentially negotiated a pre—deal between hezbollah and israel. but that deal, which involves hezbollah moving a certain number of kilometres away from the israeli border — that needs to be unlocked through a ceasefire in gaza. that is the hezbollah and iranian precondition. so israel is much more forward—leaning here, wanting maybe to take the fight to hezbollah, but that very crucial american green light to go ahead and launch that campaign

is not there just yet. yes, because what does that look like on the ground, firas? if they're promising israelis that they'll be able to return home to the north, the thousands that have been displaced, what does that actually mean for people on both sides of the border? well, if there is a broadening of this campaign, as mr netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, is promising, it means more destruction and more displacement. obviously, the diplomatic row would preclude that. however, the key is can we get to a ceasefire in gaza? and itjust seems that things are deadlocked. we can discuss why that is deadlocked. i mean, on one hand, hamas and mrsinwar, who heads it, arguably have an interest in broadening this war and very much want to see hezbollah and iran being dragged into a fight on behalf of what he sees as his cause. that was the initial objective of 7 october. and also, israeli prime minister bibi netanyahu doesn't want to face a day of reckoning once the guns fell silent

and is using the philadelphi corridor, perhaps, as a pretext to stay away from that ceasefire. so the us very much pushing in the direction of a ceasefire. even iran, hezbollah�*s patron, is pushing in the direction of a ceasefire. but the local players here, hamas and bibi netanyahu, are perhaps not interested. but are you hearing any sentiment or rhetoric from lebanon that suggests that hezbollah really want to get any more involved — that they want to see this conflict widening? absolutely they have no interest. nor do their iranian patrons. they very much want to extract a price from israel for its ongoing war in gaza. let's remember that hamas is an ally of hezbollah and an ally of iran, and what israel is really doing here is dismantling the palestinian arm of that iranian axis. so this is something that is strategically painful and costly for both iran and hezbollah, but they don't want to be dragged into a direct war, and nor does iran want to see hezbollah stand in a major war with israel.

hezbollah is very useful to the iranians as a first line of defence should israel attack its nuclear facilities. so for those reasons, not because they're responsible players, iran and hezbollah do not want to see a war. firas, amos hochstein going to the region is a good thing because he is very experienced and has been many times, knows many of the players. aside from that, though, are you seeing any other progress or any signs of hope that we might be closer to some kind of a ceasefire deal — anything from any of the other regional players? well, you'll get different answers depending on who you talk to, but here's where things currently are. after hamas executed six of the israeli hostages, that really sort of put things up in the air in terms of the various ratios and formulas that had been negotiated in terms of the hostages in return for the freeing of palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. so that is going to take some time to figure itself out. on the other hand,

the other sticking point is the philadelphi corridor — that border between on one hand egypt and on the other hand the gaza strip. israel and bibi netanyahu very much want to remain there, under the pretext of controlling what comes in and out of gaza, fearing weapons smuggling. but even israeli security experts and military officials say there are other ways to solve that problem even if israel does leave that corridor, including an underground steel plate that would prevent the tunnels from being dug. so the reality is that this is complicated, and on both sides of this divide, there seems to be people who want this to drag on. it has been another historic week in us politics, and neither candidate is taking a day off. kamala harris attended a fundraiser here in washington where donors who gave $25,000 could take a photo with the vice president, and last hour ms harris wrapped up the headline speech at the congressional black caucus foundation's annual award ceremony. she spoke about campaign issues including health care, and hit at donald trump

for his answer at the debate about his concepts of a healthcare plan. we have a vision of our country where we understand that the access to healthca re access to healthcare should not be a privilege just of who can afford it, it should be a right. and that is why, together, we kept the costs of prescription drugs for our seniors, and we will the cost of prescription drugs for all americans. we actually have a plan for healthcare, notjust concepts of a plan. concepts! president biden also delivered remarks at the event. meanwhile, donald trump was in las vegas on saturday, where he received the endorsement of nevada's largest police body. he then went to utah to meet with donors. at a rally in vegas a day earlier, he raised a debunked conspiracy theory that ms harris wore an earpiece at the debate. and mr trump is doubling down

on his incendiary remarks from the debate about migrants in springfield, ohio. the former president repeated the former president repeated a conspiracy theory originating a conspiracy theory originating online that haitian migrants online that haitian migrants there are eating household there are eating household pets. pets. those comments are taking those comments are taking a toll on springfield. a toll on springfield. two hospitals there went two hospitals there went into lockdown on saturday into lockdown on saturday after receiving bomb threats. after receiving bomb threats. earlier, mr trump was asked earlier, mr trump was asked about this by a reporter. about this by a reporter. here's that exchange. here's that exchange. do you denounce the bomb do you denounce the bomb threats in springfield, ohio? threats in springfield, ohio? i don't know what happened i don't know what happened with the bomb threats. with the bomb threats. i know that it's been taken i know that it's been taken over by illegal migrants, over by illegal migrants, and it's a terrible and it's a terrible thing that happened. thing that happened. springfield was this beautiful springfield was this beautiful town and now they're town and now they're going through hell. going through hell. it's a sad thing. it's a sad thing. not going to happen with me, not going to happen with me, i can tell you right now. i can tell you right now. thank you very much. thank you very much. our colleagues at bbc newshour spoke to the mayor of springfield our colleagues at bbc newshour spoke to the mayor of springfield earlier on saturday. earlier on saturday. here's some of here's some of what he had to say. what he had to say. all the attention with god, the all the negative attention, has been a concern, for sure. but we are a

beautiful community and a

i think especially trump's advisers were looking at the really marginal gains that kamala harris made post—debate as this kind of reassuring moment that it's still a static race, the core issues in this election are probably going to remain the same, and that frankly what was a bit of a disastrous debate performance for donald trump is not hitting him as hard in the battleground states as they had feared. you cover trump extensively, though, hugo. do you think he was rattled by the debate, and what you've seen since then? it's difficult to tell with trump. certainly his team and his advisers saw it as a bad night. they saw it as many, many missed opportunities. for instance, just on the haitian immigrants eating pets episode, that was actually planned for. the trump campaign wanted to kind of make this point because their whole campaign revolves around saying every state is a battleground state, but it's also a border state. they're trying to make immigration the centrepiece of their campaign. what trump was supposed to do at the debate was to pivot and say all these immigrants are eating pets, this would never happen under my watch, and this is only happening because kamala harris was the quote—unquote "border cza r" he never got to the pivot.

he was busy arguing with the moderators about whether the story was even true, and he said surely it's true because i saw it on television. in these battleground states, immigration still remains a winning issue for trump, but now he is completely deepened the mire when it comes to the haitian migrants. look, that was a storyline that was not supposed to be as big as it was. we're still talking about it. we're still talking about it, and that was the problem for the trump campaigners. they wanted the debate to be the moment when trump could maybe regain momentum or get he managed to achieve neither thing. and so i think in that light, when you see what they were aiming to do and then you see that kamala harris's gain has only been marginal, they're a little reassured. but they still have this problem of what do they do to break through the polls. who influences him at the moment seems to be a big question that a lot of people are talking about. can you explain to our viewers who this woman laura loomer is? yes, so trump has his formal

team, and as he always does, then he has this group of allies, including donors. and then he has these outside influencers, people like roger stone, who became this big household name in the us in the post—2020 election era. this time round it's laura loomer, who's this kind of alt—right conspiracy theorist, 9/11 truther — denier, i should say — and has kind of made holocaust remarks and all kinds of incendiary bomb—throwing remarks that have gained her notoriety inside trump world. what laura loomer is actually supposed to be doing, and where she does have some effect, is doing opposition research against kamala harris. that is supposed to be herfunction. she is not paid, though. she is not a member of staff, is she? she's not formally part of the trump campaign. our reporting is that she wanted to be, and there was an introduction made to two of trump's top lieutenants about 1.5 years ago. she was interviewed for the job and even trump's advisers found she was a little bit too incendiary and controversial even for him.

what does he like about her, then? because she has appeared at some big events recently. it's frankly the loyalty and also the fact that she fights him. she does this opposition research, and laura loomer has been described as a bit a drug. they like the fact that she does this big incendiary opposition research stuff, but it's only right some of the time. so the problem they have is when you hit yourself to the laura loomer bandwagon, you can't just separate what you like and don't like. you have to be stuck with all of it, and so when the haitian immigrant story comes out and she is making kind of controversial remarks, they are saddled with all of that baggage. trump doesn't mind because he thinks all press is good press, and he has her travelling on the plane to places like the debate, to new stops, because he wants to reward her. and it's almost like trump saying, look, we're not paying you, you are not on the trump campaign staff, but i appreciate what you're doing, so come travel with me. we keep talkin: all so come travel with me. we keep talking all the _ talking all the time about battleground states and how

essential they are. what's happening on the ground in those states? are they mobilising volunteers? who has the other hand there? it is mobilising volunteers? who has the other hand there?— the other hand there? it is a really interesting question and it is difficult to tell, because there are two elements to field operations and ground games. you have the campaign's formal presence, paid staffers, and then you have the door knockis and then you have the door knock is on the canvases and the people who really drive the vote in the election cycle. they go door—to—door and not and say you need to return a ballot for the candidate. the trump campaign doesn't like to release its numbers. we have reported that they have more than 50. that's fine, but local republicans and state republicans and state republican say that is comparable, really, to a mid—term cycle, which is multiple times smaller than where it should be for a presidential. the rnc�*s projected numbers for this race were in the 88 to 90 range, so they are lower than that. meanwhile, the harris campaign has 275 staffers in the state of pennsylvania alone, which is the big deficit trump is trying to claw back by using outside groups, super pacs, and getting

them to use as door knock is is a problem. they have started extremely late, only started hiring in recent weeks. that causes dual issues. you don't get repeated voter contacts, which are really essential to get people to return a ballot. and you can only hire bad people late in a race. people don't want to do a two month contract late in the race, knocking on doors. at least four people have died and hundreds more have been evacuated after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern europe. those four deaths were reported in romania, where thousands of homes were also destroyed. the highest flood alert was declared in 38 locations across the czech republic, where four people are missing. more heavy rain is expected on sunday. evacuations have also started in poland as rivers rise to dangerous levels. public transport was disrupted in krakow after several underpasses were flooded. in austria, authorities are warning of ten to 20 centimetres of rainfall in many regions in a matter of days. in some places, well over 20

centimetres is possible. thousands of people have attended the funeral for ugandan olympic athlete rebecca cheptegei, who was killed by a former boyfriend this month. the service was in herfamily�*s home town, bukwo. she received full military honours, having been a member of the ugandan armed forces. the 33—year—old marathon runner, who competed in the paris games last month, died after being doused with petrol and set on fire. rebecca cheptegei's body was brought in from kenya, where she lived and trained. her death has renewed concern about the level of violence against women in kenya and uganda. herformer partner has since died of his injuries. our correspondent anne soy has more. formal military honours as uganda bade farewell to one of its finest ambassadors. sergeant rebecca cheptegei flew her country's flag high across the world in long—distance races, but back in her home, she fell victim to domestic violence. thousands of local residents

here turned up for the funeral. they said rebecca was a much—loved member of this bukwo community, and who inspired many children to take up athletics. she died in neighbouring kenya after a former boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her on fire. we are guilty as government, but also the community is guilty. it is not true that we did not know, even in the local community, that rebecca was facing family problems. domestic violence is endemic in the community where rebecca lived, and so many people are hoping that her death will mark the beginning of the end of this vice, so that elite athletes like her, and women generally, will feel safe in their homes. we have a right to live, and no—one has a right to take over someone's life, someone's daughter, someone whom their family depends on. local leaders here say they will name a road and a sports venue in her honour. anne soy, bbc news, bukwo.

the trailblazing ballerina michaela deprince has died at the age of 29. deprince was born during sierra leone's civil war, which took the lives of both her parents. she was taken to the us at just four years old, where her adopted family nurtured her love of ballet. the ballerina was also a dedicated humanitarian, advocating for children affected by conflict and violence. our reporter emer mccarthy reflects on her life and legacy. michaela deprince was just 29 years old. her death was announced on her instagram with this picture, and the caption read, "her life was one that purpose and strength, her unwavering commitment to her art, her humanitarian efforts and her courage in overcoming unimaginable challenges will forever inspire us. though her time with us was far too brief, her brilliance

and legacy will continue to shine in the hearts of all who were touched by her story for generations to come." she was a trailblazer in making history at the dance theatre of harlem before moving to the netherlands to dance with the dutch national ballet. back in 2017, she spoke to stephen sackur on the bbc�*s hardtalk. i think it's very important for people not to forget about the struggles they've been through, because it creates who you are. and if i did not go through those things, i wouldn't be as strong as i am today. because i go through horrible things every day in my dance career, and people say things to me that maybe i would cry about. but it doesn't necessarily faze me anymore because of the things that have been said to me before. you can use the things that you've been through to connect with the audience, and that is what art

is, and that's what makes us so passionate. it means it's sometimes hard, but at the same time you have got to have the same support system, the right people who can help bring you back into reality. in addition to that stellar dance career, michaela deprince also wrote a number of books, including a memoir reflecting on her early childhood in sierra leone. she also worked tirelessly and dedicated so much of her time promoting and advocating for the inclusion of black dancers in ballet. no cause of death has been reported, but tributes have been pouring in from across the ballet world, with dancers including misty copeland paying tribute. for the first time since 1988, zimbabwe will allow the culling of 200 elephants for human consumption. the controversial decision comes amid food shortages and a severe drought in the country which the world food programme says is the worst in more than a0 years.

paris bid a final farewell to the olympics on saturday with a grand parade on the champs—elysses, followed by musical concert around the arc de triomphe. around 70,000 people gathered for the parade, which included 300 french athletes and para—athletes as well as vounteers and public sector workers. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. in the forecast for sunday, we both have sunshine and some rain. but the rain isn't going to be particularly widespread, and with a bit of luck, most of us will have a fine, dry day. let's have a look at the satellite picture. here's the weather front sweeping towards us earlier on. that's brought the damp weather to parts of wales and northern england, and through the course of sunday, the weather front will drift a little bit further south and then eventually will rain itself out. so, through the early hours, the damp weather from northern wales, through merseyside, parts of lancashire, yorkshire.

to the north and to the south, the skies will be generally clear, and our temperatures early on sunday morning in the range of 8—13 celsius. so here's the weather front, then, through the irish sea, northern wales, most of northern england. occasionally it will be wet. some of the bursts of rain could be at least for a time heavy, but i think as we go through the course of the afternoon, that rain should eventually peter out. we'll also have showers across scotland, and then for most of us it should be at the very least a bright day. really quite sunny in the south and the south—east, where we'll have the highest temperatures — 20 celsius. here's that weather front as it moves southwards and also gently drifts towards the east. it eventually rains itself out. the forecast for monday shows fine conditions across most of the uk. a large area of high pressure with light winds. feeling very pleasant in that sunshine, and i think widely temperatures should reach the high teens, and probably so a beautiful start

to the week for most of us. now, the high pressure is indeed going to stick around for the next few days. it'll anchor itself over the uk. we're right in the middle of it, and it's not in a hurry to budge. now, the very far north—west of the uk will be potentially clipped by weather fronts, so maybe thicker cloud here at times and some spots of rain. but the vast majority of us are in the centre of that high, so sunny conditions, light winds, and look at these temperatures. whether you're north or south, it'll be around the high teens or perhaps even in excess of 20 celsius. now, the high will change in shape and there will be changes in the wind direction, so there might be one or two showers sneaking in, particularly into southern parts of the uk. but overall, the message is looking dry, bright and really quite warm. bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. we're coming to the end of what has been another enormous week in american politics, and in this presidential election, the first — probably only — debate between donald trump and kamala harris. highlights including accusations that immigrants are eating cats and dogs in ohio. that isn't true, by the way. and then a childless cat lady dropped a post on instagram just minutes after that debate finished. that's how taylor swift signed

off her endorsement of kamala harris. she posted it alongside a picture of her cuddling her gorgeous cat, benjamin button. and then she was onstage at the mtv awards as well this week, where she was encouraging people to vote. ..thank the fans, so thank you for what you've done. and the fact that this is a fan—voted award and you voted for this, i appreciate it so much. and if you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that's very important coming up — the 2024 presidential election. i love you all so, so much. thank you for this moment. cheers and applause. taylor swift is big. you don't need us to tell you that. she's very, very, very big. she's got a very big tour which has already grossed over $1 billion. she's got almost 300 million followers on instagram. she is one of the most photographed, most celebrated people on the planet. does that mean, though, that her endorsement of a political candidate

will make any difference at all with how people vote, or whether people are paying