♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello, you are wae context, on bbc news. >> all ukrainian tanks and all ukrainian soldiers will gather at one place and then a general would come out with the starting gun and things will begin to happen. we say that whatever happens is never announced. >> ukraine is trying to stretch the russians in his many directions as possible. it's not possible to cover it all at once. >> vladimir putin has said the

report of ukrainian counter fenc is absolutely nothing, keep calm and carry on, basically is mr. putin's style. ♪ >> welcome to the program. ukrainian military sources have told the bbc that their forces are carrying out a sies of small-scale armored attacks against russian occupiers and shifting to offensive actions in some areas along the front line. we will take a look at claims from moscow on -- if a full-scale ukrainian counteroffensive has begun. and we will head to california, apple is showing off new products including a new headset. and a plan to stop small boats

crossing the channel is working, we will ask a migration expert if she agrees. and what needs to be done to freshen up our diets. first we start with the war in ukraine. it looks like a significant escalation in the fighting. is this the start of a counteroffensive? we will ask our experts in just a moment. first we will take a look at what we know in what we don't know. ukrainian army released these images than -- that they say are of their forces attacking russian troops. on the others, russia released this video saying it is repelling armored attacks and inflicting heavy losses on ukraine. there is no independent confirmation. ukraine says russia is not to be trusted as a source of information. ukraine put out this video that shows there soldiers asking for silence about their plans.

they will not say whether this is the start of their long-awaited, full-scale counteroffensive. the social media, reports say ukraine forces have made several attacks along the south and eastern front line. let's take a look at where, russian military bloggers have spoken of ukrainian advances in one area. first two kyiv, and are ukrainian correspondent. reporter: i think ukraine has reveled in the inflation news of late on how it will mount a counteroffensive. you reach this tipping point where military maneuvers start to come to the fore. i think when you look at the

ukrainian claims of taking territory in several areas, the fact the defense minister says they have moved into the defensive positions across multiple areas of the front lawn. the fact that the russian defense ministry has said the same, saying that ukraine has mounted offenses, but they claim to have failed in infecting -- inflicting high losses. when you look at the correlation with the military activity and the small attacks we've seen with armored vehicles, i think we can say ukraine's counteroffensive is in its early stages. conditions laid with long-range missile strikes in attempt to -- were now seeing you honey forces trying to stretch the russians in his me -- in as many directions as possible. when you are defending a 600 mile front line, it is not possible to cover it all at once. >> here is our russia editor, steve rosenberg. >> what vladimir putin has said

about the situation on the battlefield is absolutely nothing. keep calm and carry on, basically, is mr. pruden style. example, today he held minister with his minister of transport and head of the russian railways to discuss boosting transport links with what russia calls the new territories. which is ukrainian territory under russian occupation. there was a not so hidden message in all of this. that the kremlin leader has no intention of ceding ukrainian territory that russia troops have -- russian troops have captured. despite his attempts to show that it is business as usual, it cleay is not. in some regions, several radio stations carried a hoax address president putin, which wasn't really by president putin, claiming that ukrainian troops had come across the border into russian regions. utter fake as it was described

later. meanwhile schelling continued in russia's belgrade region, and all of this, what putin still cause a special military operation that was only supposed to last a few days or a few weeks maximum. >> that is the state of play. we can speak to the former ukrainian defense minister, thank you both for coming on the program. is today going to be remembered as the start of the ukrainian counteroffensive? >> we will see about that in some future, but at that moment the military position is that it is not. that is why we shouldn't be preempting their words, basically let them do their job

and we will see in the next weeks how that develops. currently this is a series of attacks in different parts of the front line. several attacks are a continuation of the operation which has started recently, encircling boxwood. -- encircling bakhmut. it's not yet the massive strategic scale offensive which everybody has been talking about. >> what do you make of the information coming out of moscow, out of russia today, saying they have been witnessing a big movement on the ukrainian side,nd in their works they have inflicted considerable damage on the ukrainian side? >> what they've announced is not true. i checked myself, i called some people in that there were

casualties, there are casualties unfortunately every day, but not even close to what russia is saying. but russian sources have always been giving some information regardless of whether it is true or not. here in ukraine, nobody believed him for a second. >> i will come back to you just a moment but i'd like to get a word with berea. i'd like to ask -- with maria. i'd like to ask the same question, is today the start of the counteroffensive? >> i am so much thankful to you for referring to the famous video circulating not only on ukrainian social media but around the world, of ukrainian amazing armed forces asking to be silent in a very symbolic way, which we will keep on doing. we will expect more news

arriving soon but we should be very cautious about that. i would like to refer to the recent address of president zelenskyy to the nation and the world, when he said just a couple of minutes ago, the enemy knows that ukraine will win. that's why this hysterical report is coming from the russian media as fake news. no one has confirmed it on the ukrainian side. it is an obvious response to something which is low morale in the russian army and the low spirit of the fight, where we are seeing different videos from the ground. we're seeing videos of war prisoners of russia which are treated according to the geneva conventions and they are -- they have no reason to fight. our reason remains strong.

we will liberate ukrainian territories, we are expecting more international military aid to arrive from nato partners and beyond and of course we are expecting the vilnius summit and the presidents meeting of south asian companies happening tomorrow in blondish rest -- wladyslaw. in my home region of kharkiv, a damage pipeline in one district, which is symbolic for them to show that they are targeting mainly civilian infrastructures and trying to damage the ecological landscape rather than military operations. >> that's exactly what i wanted to ask about, kharkiv and the region where you're fro what is life like there right now? >> i just got back from a small

celebration of the birthday of my friend, he is serving in the military forces. many are enrolled in the army but we are all trying to help them to keep the spirit, to keep the fire burning and high morale. i would like to say that kharkiv as one of theorefront of defense of ukraine, not only since february 2020 two, but way before 2014 when it was forced to fall into russian arms but it didn't, it it chose the ukrainian way. people are coming back, we were 2 million before the invasion and its 1.4 million people right now. transport is working fine,

schooling is still online but we expect some changes possibly in september. we are still facing difficulties with soviet type romp it's -- rockets, but we are cooperating with different scientists. everything is ok. we keep strong and with the support of u.k. and other humanitarian aid as well, it is going fine here. >> i have to jump in because i want to bring andre back in, but thanks for that slice of life. those details about schooling and things are really useful for -- for people around the world to get an idea of what is happening. i want to pick up on what maria was going on to say about the supply of western support. there is a worry that if this counteroffensive isn't in quicken things drag on, that plays into russia's hands. is that a concern that you have? >> no, because we know that

ukrainian armed forces have very good commanders. we believe that they are more talented and more empowered than the russians, and we have very good weapons supplied by our partners. so we will do everything possible to make this operation a success as soon as possible. we need to understand we're still dealing against a vy powerful army and there are still things which it takes time to complete and also takes effort to complete. that's why we will be doing our best. >> thank you both very much for lendings your time, i really appreciate it. thank you. so a fascinating insight there into life around her keep, one

of those areas badly affected, and the current state of military thinking. we will keep an eye on events in the ukraine, but we will take a look now at some other stories. we will head to california in the u.s., where apple has been announcing its newest products, including something quite new, it's called apple vision pro. take a look at this. >> with vision pro, you are no longer limited by a display. your surroundings become an infinite canvas. use your apps anywhere and make him any size you want. capture photos and videos and relive your most important memories in an entirely new way. watch your movies, shows, and sports, and immerse yourself in games on a giant screen, surrounded by special audio. and connect with people is if you're sharing the same space. so in the same way that mac

introduced us to personal computing, and iphone introduced us to mobile computing, apple vision pro will introduce us to spatial computing. >> i don't quite know what to make of it, but i'm not the technology expert. thankfully we have one, talk us through your reaction to this. >> well, here i am. you can see be hind me apple park in cupertino. we have heard what tim cook hopes will be a future direction, he and others have compared it to the moment the iphone was unveiled. we will have to wait and see whether that is actually the case. this is an ai headset that augments reality and mixed reality. you can see apps, you can watch tv, video calling your friends. with this augmenting experience

of seeing a large screen in front of you while still be able to see wherever you are in the home. they may tell you about the price tag, 3500 dollars, nearly 3000 pounds. it will be out in the u.s. next year. bob iger is also here today, he is throwing disney's weight behind this. he thinks this might finally be the piece of hardware that gets us all using virtual reality. it has been around for ages but has not quite become that essential bit of kit that everybody has, and do enough people have $3500 to make it happen. >> so instead of having your head down on your phone all day and then getting home and putting a slightly bigger screen on on your tv, you just where this headset and instead of looking down at your phone, everything is right there in front of you.

and if you want to watch a film, you just hit play and it appears right in front of u.s. well. reporter: exactly right. it's moving away from that small device screen. if you have an iphone you probably got an apple computer well. it is hoping the apple vision pro will become part of that family to keep you completely hooked into apple products. in the past it was massively targeted at gamers. apple -- it is very much aimed at communicating with her family, you can flip your videos and photos and see them in a much bigger way than you would see them with a screen. you can interact with them and share them with other people and -- who presumably also have a headset. they are looking at a very different way of building a

community iannterting with your friends. the question is whether enough people will take the lead. the view in the past is that the hardware is clunky and people just don't like to wear it for long times. will it be something people are happy to keep on their faces for a bit longer, and that is something the whole industry has been struggling with. we will have to see if apple is able to make that work. >> show us how we are going to control this thing? reporter: you put it on your head and there is a dial to make the picture bigger or smaller, you can speak commands, you can use gesture control as well. it's very much about using your body and trying to make it as easy as possible to make this thing work. as we know, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. >> thank you so much for that.

the release that may or may not be changing our lives next year. this is bbc news. we will just take a look at some other stories making the headlines now. an inquest that a riptide may have led to a girl and a teenage boy drowning last wednesday. police say they're keeping an open mind about the circumstances around the 17-year-old and 12-year-old. there are now considering the potential effects of the weather conditions and the state of the water. phil schofield left the show after saying he had lied about an affair with a member of the show's production team. she said she felt shaken, let down, and full of questions. research suggests that mortgages have continued to rise with the average two year fixed rate deal

now 35 pounds, more expensive than just a few weeks ago. inflation has remained higher than predicted. many lenders are expecting another increase in the bank of england's interest rates. you are live with bbc news. next, prince harry was never safe from newspapers trying to get information about him illegally and there was a period in his life where he was never alone. that is the time of the prince's lawyer in the opening day of a trial which will see prince harry testify in court tomorrow, the first oil to do so since the 19th century. he accus newspapers of using unlawful means to get stories, including phone hacking. the newspaper's lawyer said there was no evidence to back up prince harry's claims.

and thanks so much for coming on the program. >> thank you very much for inviting me. >> you heard the opening day of this trial. what did you make of it? >> today was kind of mono procedural, just setting out the basis for which evidence will be taken tomorrow when prince harry goes into the witness box and will have to face a day or so of cross-examination. it has been a long trial so far. nearly 2.5 weeks, and after prince harry has given his evidence, there was still be another couple of weeks to go. >> the statement from the lawyers so far. >> the statements from the lawyers, they did admit to one person, just one person who actually hacked iphone.

it's interesting to see that of the vast number of journalists who are still working for the mirror, none of them have been called so far to give evidence in defense of their position. whereas we believe certainly from the evidence that we have and certainly from all the private investigator invoices and the court data that it is a very substantial case that is being put to the court to prove that unlawful information gathering was taking place. >> let's look ahead to tomorrow with prince harry appearing. what should we expect? >> the procedure will be that david sherbourne, who is appearing for the claimants, and i represent two of those claims, which have been sustained

pending the outcome of this judgment that we are waiting for. what will happen is he will just open very briefly and set the scene, and then will pass over to these qc's to cross-examine harry. that could take several hours. >> quite aside from the legal arguments which of course will be central, there will be a lot of interest on a royal taking the stand in that way. it's not an easy thing to do. >> it's absolutely in norma's. and i think it is a very brave thing for him to do. he feels very strongly as i understand about his position, from the day he lost his mother, thereafter the invasion into his privacy and his private life, both as a young teenager going out to make his way in the world, both with the opposite

sex and the various girlfriend that he had at the time, and finding that they were hacked. one of the important things is that the case will be based on a number of articles that appeared in newspapers. there were originally 140 that could have been particularized, which sources or friends or powell's said, they are not direct quotes from anybody. usually you see that, that is something that is probably the product of phone hacking into his voicemails. so we shall see how this pans out. >> explain a little bit about the burden of proof, how that operates, who has to prove what? >> it's the balance of probabilities that prince harry and the claimants have got to

show that there was unlawful information gathering. if the judge finds that, then the case is proven. and then go to the next stage which is damages and how much money he is entitled to receive as a result of this misuse of information. >> absolutely fascinating. we may have to get you back on once we have heard the days events tomorrow that will be watched by so many people. thank you so much for laying out what is potentially up next. so that is tomorrow, there will be plenty of coverage across the bbc of those events of course. just want to remind you of our main story for the program. those events in ukraine, the increased military activities that we have been witnessing, going along with claim and

counterclaim for the ukrainian side and the russian side on exactly what is happening. we know a certain amount, but there is a lot we don't know with the information and misinformation campaigns. we are doing our best to filter through it for you. that is narrator: funding for this presentaon of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.