in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.he ukrainian army rejects russia's claims that the city is encircled. and passengers around the world face more travel disruption, as staff shortages continue to cause major problems. thousands of residents of australia's biggest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of torrential rain and the threat of flooding. why the us supreme court's abortion decision is having an impact thousands of miles away — here in the uk. we had to call the police because protesters were shouting so loudly outside one of our clinics. there are plenty of groups with a heart and a passion to see abortion overturned in this country, to make abortion history. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. this is bbc news. we start with some breaking news in the battle for city of lysychansk in eastern ukraine, part of the industrial donbas region that russia says focussing its military power on. lysychansk was the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk. but now, ru

our top stories — in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.he ukrainian army rejects russia's claims they've encircled the city. russian state media says two more british men, captured by russian forces in ukraine, have been charged with being mercenaries. warnings of further disruption this summer at heathrow, for travellers passing through the uk's busiest airport. and the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets for the annual event. hello and welcome to bbc news. ukraine says its forces are enduring intense russian shelling in the eastern city of lysychansk, but it denies claims its troops are surrounded. lysychansk is the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk, which is part of the industrial donbas region. these pictures, from russia's state—owned domestic news agency, ria, show drone images of battles near the city. but kyiv denies claims that russian—backed fighters have encircled the city. elsewhere, russia is continuing its missile strikes. in the south, ukraine's military says the city of mykolaiv has

in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk. the ukrainian army rejects russia's claims that the city is encircled thousands of residents of australia's biggest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of torrential rain and the threat of flooding. why the us supreme court's abortion decision is having an impact thousands of miles away here in the uk. passengers around the world face more travel disruption — as staff shortages continue to cause major problems. hello and welcome to bbc news. ukraine says it's enduring heavy russian shelling in the city of lysychansk, as the battle for the east of the country intensifies. lysychansk is the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk, part of the industrial donbas region that russia is focussing its military power on. these pictures from russia's state—owned domestic news agency, ria, show drone images of battles near the city. but kyiv denies russian claims that the city has been encircled. meanwhile, two more britons captured by russian forces in ukraine have been

ukraine's forces had already left lysycha nsk when the russians walked in, claiming to be liberators.re now targeting neighbouring donetsk region. this, the aftermath of their strikes on the city of sloviansk over the weekend. and this was sloviansk today. distant explosions the sound of artillery getting ever closer. russia's forces are still advancing here in the donbas. they've already taken key cities and are now targeting the next line of ukraine's defences, including the city of sloviansk. the question, outnumbered and outgunned, can ukraine's forces stop them? nearby kramatorsk has also been hit. a few months ago, when i was last here, the streets were still busy. now, they're mostly deserted. the mayor says this month could be make or break for ukraine's defence of the donbas, and he says it all depends on the west providing more heavy weapons. look, without weapons, you are not able, and you will not be able to stop russians, without enough weapons, because without weapons and only with kalashnikovs, it's not possible to win. and it's not possible to stop artillery, and it's

our top stories: in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk. the ukrainian army rejects russia's claims they've encircled the city. the un calls for calm in libya as anti—government protests continue but demostrators say they won't give up. a council of afghan tribal elders ends with a call for the world to recognise the taliban and lift sanctions. the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets as it marks its 50th anniversary. and, getting fiery under the lights at wimbledon — the match one player described as a �*circus�*. ukraine says its forces are enduring intense russian shelling in the eastern city of lysycha nsk but it denies claims its troops are surrounded. lysychansk is the last ukrainian—held city in luhansk, which is part of the industrial donbas region. these pictures from russia's state—owned domestic news agency ria novosti show drone images of battles near the city. elsewhere, russia is continuing its missile strikes. in the south, ukraine's military says the city of mykolaiv has been hit by ten

in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.d the city. state media says two more british men captured by russian forces in ukraine have have been charged with being mercenaries. a council of afghan tribal elders ends with a call for the world to recognise the taliban and lift sanctions. more hell at heathrow — warnings of further disruption this summer for travellers passing through the uk's busiest airport. and — the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets for the annual event.

our top stories: in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.the city. the un calls for calm in libya as anti—government protests continue but demostrators say they won't give up. a council of afghan tribal elders ends with a call for the world to recognise the taliban and lift sanctions. the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets as it marks its 50th anniversary. and, getting fiery under the lights at wimbledon — the match one player described as a �*circus�*.

our top stories: in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk. as anti—government protests continue, but demonstrators say they won't give up. a council of afghan tribal elders ends with a call for the world to recognise the taliban and lift sanctions. the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets as it marks its 50th anniversary. and getting fiery under the lights at wimbledon: the match one player described as a circus.

in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.— as anti—government protests continue — but demostrators say they won't give up. warnings of further disruption this summer at heathrow, for travellers passing through the uk's busiest airport. the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets as it marks its 50th anniversary. and — getting fiery under the lights at wimbledon — the match one player described as a circus.

military has confirmed that it was forced to withdraw its troops from the embattled eastern city of lysychaollowing a sustained russian offensive. it said it made the decision to save its soldiers�* lives, adding that russia enjoyed multiple advantages in terms of artillery and troop numbers. the authorities in northern italy say they'll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche in the dolomites on monday. at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed, sending snow, ice and rock cascading down the slopes of marmolada. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. how do we live with a resurgent russia? do we need to confront or cooperate with china? can the uk repair its relations with the eu post—brexit? foreign policy matters again. my guest on political thinking this week hopes to be our next foreign secretary, the first labour foreign secretary for many, many years. it's a dramatic change for david lammy, who for years used his powerful voice in the back benches to argue for justi

military has confirmed that it was forced to withdraw its troops from the embattled eastern city of lysychadvantages in terms of artillery and troop numbers. the authorities in northern italy say they'll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche

military has confirmed that it was forced to withdraw its troops from the embattled eastern city of lysychaof artillery and troop numbers. the authorities in northern italy say they'll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche in the dolomites on monday. at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed,

broke the message today was it is said that the enemy is trying to gain a foothold in the city of lysychanka, conditionally speaking, this indicates that the retreat of the ukrainian troops beyond lysychansk has probably already taken place there defense can be received by the oligarchs, that is, units that hold back the advance of the enemy, and i think that now there are planned measures related to the construction, or rather, not the construction, but the rebasing of our troops on the line of defense, which can go directly from the seversk solidar and bakhmut , this line of defense actually already exists, it is quite well located and built from the point of view of the engineering arrangement and geographical features of this area. as for usiyeverodonetsk , lysychansk is enough now. for some reason, all the foreign media reported what they say about me what is the same sirodonetsk and now golovchansky strategic places for conducting defense, in fact, it is not quite so, or rather, not so at all. these cities actually have only a certain tactical significance from the point of view of

military has confirmed that it was forced to withdraw its troops from the embattled eastern city of lysychaollowing a sustained russian offensive. it said it made the decision to save its soldiers�* lives — adding that russia enjoyed multiple advantages in terms of artillery and troop numbers. the authorities in northern italy say they'll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche in the dolomites on monday. at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed — sending snow, ice and rock cascading down the slopes of marmolada. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. singapore is a city state that has thrived in the era of globalisation, international supply chains and mobile workers. but what happens when the geopolitical weather changes? when great power hostility and economic nationalism hold sway? well, my guest is singapore's long—serving home minister, k shanmugam. is singapore's political and economic balancing act sustainable in a world of rising tensions? minister k shanmugam in singapore, welcome to

our top stories — in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.o more british men, captured by russian forces in ukraine, have been charged with being mercenaries. warnings of further disruption this summer at heathrow, for travellers passing through the uk's busiest airport. and the biggest ever london pride — more than a million people take to the streets for the annual event.

military has confirmed that it was forced to withdraw its troops from the embattled eastern city of lysychaollowing a sustained russian offensive. it said it made the decision to save its soldiers�* lives, adding that russia enjoyed multiple advantages in terms of artillery and troop numbers. the authorities in northern italy say they'll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche in the dolomites on monday. at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed, sending snow, ice and rock cascading down the slopes of marmolada. now on bbc news, dateline london with shaun ley. hello, and welcome to the programme, which brings together leading uk commentators with the foreign correspondents who write, blog and broadcast to audiences back home from the dateline london. this is our 1937 moment — at least according to general sir patrick sanders, newly appointed head of the british army. his speech this week was a shot across the bows to the politicians attending two national international talking shops — the nato summit in madrid and, before that,

ukraine's forces had already left lysycha nsk when the russians walked in, claiming to be liberators. city. they're now targeting neighbouring donetsk region. this, the aftermath of their strikes on the city of slovyansk over the weekend. and this was slovyansk today. the sound of artillery getting ever closer. russia's forces are still advancing here in the donbas. they've already taken key cities and are now targeting the next line of ukraine's defences, including the city of slovyansk. the question, outnumbered and outgunned, can ukraine's forces stop them? nearby kramatorsk has also been hit. a few months ago, when i was last here, the streets were still busy. now, they're mostly deserted. the mayor says this month could be make or break for ukraine's defence of the donbas, and he says it all depends on the west providing more heavy weapons. look, without weapons, you are not able, and you will not able to stop russians, without enough weapons, because without weapons and only with kalashnikovs it's not possible to win. and it's not possible to stop artillery, and it's not possibl

top stories for you today — ukraine has confirmed that its forces have withdrawn from the city of lysychabeen the last ukrainian stronghold in luhansk — which is a part of the industrial donbas region that is the focus of the russian military. there are reports of russian fighters in lysychansk�*s city centre, and russia is claiming it controls the entire luhansk region. ukraine's military command said that any �*continuation of the defence of lysychansk would have led to fatal consequences' so a decision was made to withdraw. 0ur correspondent sarah rainsford sent this report. the capture of lysychansk was a moment for russian forces to celebrate. but their backdrop was another ukrainian city in ruins. russia has been pushing through the eastern donbas for weeks. blasting ukrainian positions in a slow but deadly advance. vladimir putin calls this a war of liberation. ukraine says it's obliteration. its own forces have been defending with everything they've got. but they say they need more, because russia's firepower is overwhelming them. and on day 130 of this war, ukraine had to admit i

let's talk about the fall of lysychansk let's talk about the fall of lysycha nsk to let's talk about big a blow strategically is this? first of all, this was a desperate move by putin, four months of war and he needed to show his electorate, the russians, that there are significant victories, and this is part of the reorganisation of the war effort, beating back from kyiv, and saying we will concentrate on the east and conquer the rest of the administrative territory of these two areas. and so he desperately needs to show there is a significant military success. forthe is a significant military success. for the ukrainians, the paramount importance was to keep the troops. keep throwing their much—needed supplies into this battle and keep in mind that it continues to outgun ukrainians and ukrainians don't have this history and tradition to use the troops as canon, the way the russians do, to have a sort of mandate to do it so well it is a victory, strategically speaking, i don't think it is a big one but yes, putin is now going to use this to try to regroup, freshen up the troops and t

ukraine's forces had already left lysycha nsk when the russians walked in, claiming to be liberators.hey're now targeting neighbouring donetsk region. this, the aftermath of their strikes on the city of slovyansk over the weekend. and this was slovyansk today. distant explosions. the sound of artillery getting ever closer. russia's forces are still advancing here in the donbas. they've already taken key cities and are now targeting the next line of ukraine's defences, including the city of slovyansk. the question — outnumbered and outgunned, can ukraine's forces stop them? nearby kramatorsk has also been hit. a few months ago, when i was last here, the streets were still busy. now, they're mostly deserted. the mayor says this month could be make or break for ukraine's defence of the donbas, and he says it all depends on the west providing more heavy weapons. look, without weapons, you are not able, and you will not be able to stop russians, without enough weapons, because without weapons and only with kalashnikovs, it's not possible to win. and it's not possible to stop artillery, and

in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.is encircled. and passengers around the world face more travel disruption, as staff shortages continue to cause major problems. thousands of residents of australia's biggest city, sydney, have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of torrential rain and the threat of flooding. why the us supreme court's abortion decision is having an impact thousands of miles away — here in the uk. we had to call the police because protesters were shouting so loudly outside one of our clinics. there are plenty of groups with a heart and a passion to see abortion overturned in this country, to make abortion history.

we have just heard from president zelensky who said it is impossible to say that lysycha nsk is undern control. he said the situation there was still dangerous and difficult and there was still fighting on the outskirts of the city but we have seen those videos of russian fighters walking through parts of lysychansk and it was the defence minister of russia who informed vladimir putin that the whole region of luhansk had been liberated as he put it which is a pretty bold claim if he wasn't sure. this is a key moment i think that is coming close. it is an important moment because russia has always talked about liberating the entirety of the donbas region, liberating it says of course, ukraine would say occupying. that moment has expanded. there has been heavy shelling beyond the luhansk region, in the donetsk region, the hotel i was in on the night this invasion began has now been destroyed by missile strikes and there has been deadly strikes inside russia itself as the project is accusing ukraine firing missiles into russian territory, as when it shot those down the fragments killed c

national defence minister in russia that the key city of lysychansk in russia that the key city of lysychaa that the key city of lysychansk in eastern ukraine, in the donbas, has now to russian forces. yesterday evening, we saw pictures on social media of chechen russian fighters claiming to have seized the city. this is a critical moment, because it was the last city held by ukrainian forces in the luhansk region of the donbas, and the russian defence minister has claimed that entire region has fallen to russian troops. ukraine is denying that and saying fierce fighting continues, but i think russia's slow creep across the donbas, its battle for the donbas, is obviously escalating with every single day. thank you, sarah rainsford. the government's spending watchdog is to review borisjohnson�*s pledge to build a0 new hospitals by 2030, to see if it still represents good value for money, given spiralling inflation. details of the national audit office review first emerged in a letter to the shadow health secretary, wes streeting. but the department of health and social care insists the plan

russian troops have taken control of the eastern ukrainian city of lysycha nsk yesterday — the finalurrounded and had to sit there while the city was being shelled. therefore, we decided not to allow an encirclement. 0ur correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood, explained the strategic importance of the russian capture of lysycha nsk. i think more symbolic than strategic, but it is both symbolically and strategically important. lysychansk was the last major city in the low hannah scott region which is one of the two regions that makes up the area called the donbas which president putin gave the liberation, as he put it, of the area is the main reason for the war. so taking lysychansk means they have taken the lohan scott region and for russia that is a symbolic region, and it was in quite a defensible position on the ukrainians of said they could have held it, but i�*vejust ukrainians of said they could have held it, but i�*ve just got off the phone with the governor of lou hanscombe, a man with nothing left to govern and he said they had made a strategic withdrawal. what they have realised

have withdrawn from the eastern city of lysychansk forces have withdrawn from the eastern city of lysychailes aimed at the city of belgorod on a side of the border with ukraine. ukraine's ambassador to turkey says customs officials have seized a russian cargo ship carrying ukrainian grain. the kremlin has rejected claims of theft —— saying russia is exporting goods from territory it controls. russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov said he believes that the uk is trying to find grounds and create conditions for the uk's royal navy to enter the black sea and lead the process of releasing grain from ukraine. translation: this food crisis is being used - for a variety of purposes. not only for propaganda, but to clear ukraine's - name and, once again, - blame everything on moscow. but, if you listen to, - for example, borisjohnson, and his foreign secretary, - they are clearly trying to create conditions to find a pretext. for the royal navy to infiltrate the black sea and begin the entire process of releasing grain - from the ports which have been mined by the ukrainians and which _ the ukr

so for them, taking lysycha nsk means for this war.off the phone with serhiy haidai the governor of luhansk and he says they have made a strategic withdrawal. translation: our military could have held the city for a long time, _ but russia currently has a huge advantage in artillery and ammunition. they would have simply destroyed the city from a distance, so there was no point in staying. we would have been surrounded and had to sit there while the city was being shelled. therefore, we decided not to allow an encirclement. what they realised is the russians were looking to encircle them and would have done so and if they had been encircled, i think that would have been really disastrous. what it turns out has happened from the ukrainian perspectives is over the last few days they have pull troops out to get back to the west and more defensible positions. they say they have done it without leaving anyone behind and without losing people which really, f2, and we should say this as only come from ukrainian source, actually remarkable. i

in eastern ukraine, further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.preme court's abortion decision is having an impact thousands of miles away here in the uk. passengers around the world face more travel disruption — as staff shortages continue to cause major problems.

our correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood, told us more about the importance of russia's capture of lysychaof the two regions that makes up this area called the donbas, which we talk about so often. which president putin gave the liberation, as he put it, of that area as a main reason for this war. so for them, taking lysychansk means they have taken the luhansk region and for the russians, that is a symbolic victory. strategically important, too, it is worth saying, it is in quite a defensible position. the ukrainians said they could have held it. i have just got off the phone with serhiy haidai the governor of luhansk, a man with nothing to govern. and he says they have made a strategic withdrawal. translation: our military could have held the city for a long time, _ but russia currently has a huge advantage in artillery and ammunition. they would have simply destroyed the city from a distance, so there was no point in staying. we would have been surrounded and had to sit there while the city was being shelled. therefore, we decided not to allow an encirclement. what they realised is the

area, as the main reason for this war, and so for them taking lysychansk war, and so for them taking lysycharategically important too, it is worth saying, it was quite a defensible position, the ukrainians said they could have held it. but i�*vejust said they could have held it. but i�*ve just got off the phone, done a skype interview with the governor of luhansk, a man with nothing left to govern now and he said they have made a strategic withdrawal. what they realised is that the russians were looking to encircle them and they would have done so much and if they would have done so much and if they had been encircle that would have been really disastrous so what it turns out has happened, from the ukrainian perspective, is over the last few days they have been pulling their troops out and trying to get back to the west to more defensible positions. they say they have done it without leaving anyone behind and without losing people, which if true, and we should say this is only come from ukrainian source, that is really remarkable. i think it probably tallies with what we saw happened because

over the weekend, ukrainian forces withdrew from lesser chance withdrew from ——lysycha nsk in the luhanskw means russia controls more than a fifth of ukraine and looks to be seeking more. russia might still want to take the coast, building on its seizure of crimea in 2014 by taking odesa and cutting off ukraine from the black sea. but that may be a step too far since they were recently pushed off the symbolically important snake island. so is russia now winning the war? despite early setbacks, russia certainly has had real tactical victories in recent weeks in the east, but it has been slow going with significant losses. and the real question is, will russia be able to maintain this progress? it certainly has the manpower and firepower to keep going, but ukraine is hoping it can slow the russians and then launch counter offensives to push back. crucial to that is the arrival of weaponry from the west. like the this and other long range artillery systems which are now slowly making their way to the battlefield. they could help shift the balance. so russia has made gains recently, but we ma

in eastern ukraine — further fighting for control of lysycha nsk.

it follows the withdrawal of ukrainian forces from the city of lysycha nsk after weeks of heavy shellingjoe inwood how significant is this takeover? i think it is symbolically significant. taking the luhansk region was one of the key aims of president putin's invasion and as a consequence for them, this is a significant moment. he gave the highest awards possible to the two command is responsible for taking lysychansk. what is interesting is the ukrainian state this something as a success which seems odd, but they say it has taken so long, the invasion of luhansk has taken so long. and they say they managed to get troops out with few losses, a tactical retreat, they say, and it has allowed them to set up new defensive lines. on the surface a success for russia, but the ukrainians do not seem too downbeat about it but it is difficult i think to have lost this territory. the question is how exhausted are both sides? the war in the east has become a war of attrition and ukrainian sale though they lost territory, they have managed to keep forces. the russians say they have got this crucial b

main target of the russian invasion so taking it lysychansk of the russian invasion so taking it lysychao try and reinforce and maintain defensive lines there but there is no getting around the fact that this is a loss for ukraine. it will be a blow and it will be a major pr victory for the russians, something they can sell back home as a success in what they still call a special military operation rather than operation rather war. they still call a special military operation rather war. == they still call a special military operation rather war. -- rather than a war. the prime minister is under mounting pressure to reveal what he knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour concerning mp chris pincher when he made him deputy chief whip. mr pincher was suspended by the conservative party over claims he had groped two men. he now faces six new accusations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back several years, which he denies. he now faces six new accusations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back several years, which he denies. our political correspondent ben wright is in west