liverpool plays host to ukraine's celebration of lgbt rights. hello. we start in ukraine where president volodymyr zelensky has been visiting "advanced positions" of ukraine's special forces near the hotspot of bakhmut as kyiv ramps up its counter—offensive. within the last few minutes, these pictures of the president were released on him meeting soldiers. bakhmut is about 130 miles east of dnipro which earlier was hit russian missile strike. at least nine people were injured, including two children, when the missile hit a large residential tower. the building also housed part of ukraine �*s security services. ukraine blaming russia for those missile

strikes. this area is also just south of the city of david donetsk which is much closer to the border with russia, which ukraine retook from russian forces the other day. president zelensky released a video showing ukrainian fighters celebrating in the town as they retook it. we will bring you more as we have it, but these pictures arriving within the last few moments of president zelensky meeting ukrainian troops in the city of bakhmut in the east of ukraine. wildfires have left a trail of destruction across parts of southern europe and the mediterranean. in greece, emergency services have tried to prevent new wildfires in the central area of magnesia.

fires there triggered explosions at an air force ammunition depot on thursday. authorities say the outlook is improving for firefighters on the islands of rhodes, corfu and evia. 0ur correspondent bethany bell has been giving us the latest from rhodes. we have been told that around 50 fires, new fires have broken out, and although this situation is improving in general, firefighters, quite a large crew of firefighters is still hard at work here on rhodes, and also on corfu and the peloponnese, tackling these places, some of them new fires, some of them flare—ups of old fires, because you have to imagine that the ground is still smouldering in many places in these forest areas. it doesn't take much for a spark to fly in these very windy conditions that we have been seeing over the last few days, and set off new blazes. people here still very much on high alert but also beginning to count the cost of the fires that have ravaged parts of this island. we have been told that 50,000 olive trees were destroyed here, and around 2,500 animals

and beehives destroyed. let's speak to lee manning — he runs a horse—riding sanctuary centre in the village of gennadi. thank you for being with us. tell us about your experience with these fires. ~ , , ., , fires. well, terrifying is the only word i could _ fires. well, terrifying is the only word i could use _ fires. well, terrifying is the only word i could use to _ fires. well, terrifying is the only word i could use to describe - fires. well, terrifying is the only word i could use to describe it. | fires. well, terrifying is the onlyj word i could use to describe it. i have never experienced anything like this. my wife built this ranch, katie, she is currently in the uk, thank god. she had an injury so quite a lot of heavy work so i said we would swap. just as i got here, the gates of hell opened, it seemed. tell us what happened, how close did define getting around? it tell us what happened, how close did define getting around?— define getting around? it was about, when i turned _ define getting around? it was about, when i turned away, _ define getting around? it was about, when i turned away, thought - define getting around? it was about, when i turned away, thought it - define getting around? it was about, |

when i turned away, thought it would bend down and i couldn't watch it, it was about 400 and 500 metres away from our ranch, the only reason it stayed that far away is because a local farmer welded stayed that far away is because a localfarmer welded big stayed that far away is because a local farmer welded big teeth to his tractor blade and turfed all of the fields up around the back of our farm, could see a complete line when the fire stopped. he is a special quy- the fire stopped. he is a special i u . ., ~' the fire stopped. he is a special guy. talk to us about the landscape therefore people _ guy. talk to us about the landscape therefore people watching - guy. talk to us about the landscape therefore people watching who - guy. talk to us about the landscape | therefore people watching who have not been to rhodes. what is the picture? why is this by able to spread so quickly? it is picture? why is this by able to spread so quickly?— picture? why is this by able to spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions. _ spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions, it _ spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions, it is _ spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions, it is very _ spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions, it is very dry - spread so quickly? it is a mix of conditions, it is very dry and - spread so quickly? it is a mix of| conditions, it is very dry and this time of year, as you can imagine. we have water, on the island it is a limited resource. it isjust have water, on the island it is a limited resource. it is just a tinderbox, unfortunately, mixed with crazy window we have been having, swirling and changing direction, as you can tell by my hair! it is

crazy. the main point i'd like to get across is that it was the local people of this island who saved all of the tourists from hotels, evacuating tens and thousands of people from the village in a matter of hours. the guys on the front line fighting the fire, taxi drivers, bar staff, barbers, mechanics, the local men and women of this place are truly incredible people. i don't know if you saw the video of me ugly crying, unfortunately travelling around the internet. they are truly incredible and they really did risk their lives and make oath to save their lives and make oath to save their homes of people they didn't know. it is amazing, they have managed to save all of the tourist areas, ourvillage, managed to save all of the tourist areas, our village, the restaurants, hotels. foranyone areas, our village, the restaurants, hotels. for anyone thinking of coming to rhodes, some of our landscape does look a little bit like a moonscape right now, however all of the tourist resorts, hotels, restaurant, villages, beaches are

untouched and it is still a bit place to visit, pleat people need you more than ever to visit this island. ,., ., you more than ever to visit this island. h, ., ., you more than ever to visit this island. ,., ., ., ., you more than ever to visit this island. ., ., ., i. you more than ever to visit this island. ., ., ., ., ~ island. good to hear from you, thank ou, sor island. good to hear from you, thank you. sorry about _ island. good to hear from you, thank you, sorry about what _ island. good to hear from you, thank you, sorry about what you _ island. good to hear from you, thank you, sorry about what you have - island. good to hear from you, thank you, sorry about what you have had i you, sorry about what you have had to go through, but as you say, paying tribute to the locals who have done much of the firefighting, thank you, on the best. here in the uk, up to 20,000 rail workers in the rmt union are taking part in their latest strike today, in the long—running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. it's the second consecutive weekend of industrial action on the railways. just over half of the usual services are expected to run across the network. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin has this report. for the second saturday in a row, some of the 14 affected train operators are running very limited services. after more than a year of industrial action, many people have got used to changing their plans or found other ways of travelling on strike days. but hospitality businesses say they're still feeling the impact. every time there is a strike day, we do see trade fall off a cliff

in certain parts of the country, certainly towns and city centres. you know, the last week we've had sort of three strike days that affect the rail. we've had an overtime ban during the course of that week. we know that we've lost around £340 million worth of sales across the uk. now, it's getting better. we are seeing more trade coming through and being sustained, but it's still down at least 30 to 40% each time we have a strike day, and cumulatively over the course of the year, that's more than £3.5 billion of sales that the industry has lost. right now, there aren't any more full strikes in the diary, and unions have to give two weeks notice of action. but further walkouts are very possible. and after today's strike by rail workers in the rmt, the train drivers union aslef has two more overtime bans coming up at 15 operators from this monday until saturday the 5th of august, and again from monday the 7th to saturday the 12th of august. those are likely to mean disruption in some places.

the rmt and aslef rejected the train companies' latest offers back in the spring, which set out changes to ways of working in exchange for pay increases. government ministers and the industry continue to insist their proposals were fair and have given no indication they'll change them. there's going to be a wide variation of disruption that customers will face across the country, and there'll be in some areas no service at all. and in others only around half of the service that people would normally expect, with some trains starting later and finishing earlier than they would do normally. so i'd really encourage customers to check before they travel, before setting out tomorrow. clearly, we've been negotiating with the leadership of the rmt for over a year now and it's real... 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 has not been put to their membership, which would have brought this industrial dispute to an end. when it comes to the disputes on the railway, it feels like we're still far

from the end of the line. katy austin, bbc news. the port of dover has warned that people traveling to continental europe are having to wait up to two hours to clear border controls. it's asking travellers to be patient and please check with their ferry operator for information on next sailings. donald trump has been setting out why he thinks he should be the republican party candidate for next year's presidential election at a fund—raising event in the us state of iowa. mr trump has already insisted he will still run for office, even if he's convicted of any of the criminal charges he currently faces. 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 weaponization of the federal

government and fire the director of the fbi. that's his way of saying to trump supporters, "look, iagree "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. at least four people are feared dead after an australian military helicopter crashed into the ocean off the coast of queensland. the helicopter came down in an area near to where us and australian soldiers have been taking part injoint military exercises. police in australia have said they've recovered debris from the helicopter. this crash comes as us?secretary of state antony blinken and the defense?secretary lloyd austin are meeting their australian counterparts in brisbane. they're holding talks

on the aukus defence agreement, which will see the us supply nuclear submarine technology to australia. to west africa, where niger is grappling with the aftermath of a military coup. niger's democratically elected president, mohamed bazoum, was overthrown and detained as part of the coup this week. he was first elected to office in april 2021 in niger's first peaceful democratic transfer of power. us secretary of state antony blinken has called for mr bazoum's immediate release and the restoration of democratic order in the country. meanwhile, the man who led the coup, general abdourahmane tchiani, made this address on state tv. translation: the action of the (nsf is motivated by the sole desire - to preserve our beloved homeland in the face of the continuous deterioration of the security situation of our country. the fallen authorities have failed to give a real solution to the crisis and have provided poor

economic and social governance. live now to our correspondent, chris ewokor in neighbouring nigeria. let's talk about the international reaction, in the last couple of miles we saw comments from the african union and european union, tell us more. african union and european union, tell us more-— tell us more. starting with the african union, _ tell us more. starting with the african union, they _ tell us more. starting with the african union, they are - tell us more. starting with the| african union, they are coming tell us more. starting with the - african union, they are coming up with the strongest reaction yet. on this political development in niger. they are demanding that mutinous soldiers 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 i do not in

support of the soldiers taking over from the democratically elected president mohamed bazoum. that reaction is also similar to what we heard from the eu, they said economic and financial security support to niger until the restoration of constitutional order. antony blinken, us secretary of state, said that niger risked getting the aid from america, running into several millions of dollars, 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

overthrow of the government of mohamed bazoum, may be facing an uphill task, diplomatically, to try and convince those against them that they are in business. but i have seen reports of the head of the military in niger, that is the coup leader, generalabdourahmane leader, general abdourahmane tchiani, who leader, generalabdourahmane tchiani, who had met with senior civil servants in the country. state institutions, he casino sizzled sevenis institutions, he casino sizzled seven is to continue work instead of the ministers to ensure that the machinery of governance keeps running without stop. rains from typhoon doksuri have begun falling on northern china, with the prospect of more than 100 millimetres to come. the storm has triggered landslides and forced the closure of schools

and businesses, and the evacuation of workers from oil and gas fields. rescue operations have begun as forecasters warn of severe disruption over the next three days. the authorities in the capital beijing have suspended indoor and outdoor sports events. doksuri is the most powerful typhoon to hit china this year to germany next. two people have died trying to escape from a fire in a high—rise apartment building in berlin. the fire brigade said the victims eitherjumped or slipped from the 12th floor of the 15—storey block. another person was injured. it's not clear what caused the blaze. a new x logo has been installed on the top of the building in san francisco formerly known as twitter�*s headquarters, as owner elon musk continues his re—brand of the the social media platform. but city officials have launched an investigation, saying replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit.

the barbie film juggernaut continues its relentless race across the globe. now makers warner brothers say the picture has now made over half a billion dollars at the global box office. based on the famous toy doll, it dominates the box office in 69 countries and territories. with more on this, our reporter nicky schiller. i should have won my pink shirt! barbie is doing massively well at the box office, starring margot robbie and ryan gosling. it is driving a record number of people to the cinema, experts say the biggest number since the covid pandemic. warner brothers, who make it, say they have seen the biggest seven day box office for a single movie in history. let's take a look at the numbers. it has made $528.6 million, just over half a billion at the

global box office. it is number one movie in 69 territories. in 24 of those, it had the biggest opening weekend, including, looking at the list, australia, argentina, new zealand, brazil, colombia, and mexico. why is barbie doing so well? i think it is a combination of things. we remember barbie from our childhood, a lot of young people are going to see it. it is also because of this movie. 0ppenheimer. it has been part of the phenomenon and pr exercise and a lot of people are going to see both movies. 0ppenheimer has seen $300 million, but what a lot of people are doing is seeing both movies back—to—back in the same day. that means that not only 0ppenheimer has made money but it has pushed barbie to this over half a billion at the box office. the interesting thing about these is

that it the interesting thing about these is thatitis the interesting thing about these is that it is notjust a box office will stop now, it isn't. if that it is notjust a box office will stop now, it isn't.- that it is notjust a box office will stop now, it isn't. if you have been busy _ will stop now, it isn't. if you have been busy in _ will stop now, it isn't. if you have been busy in the _ will stop now, it isn't. if you have been busy in the movie, - will stop now, it isn't. if you have been busy in the movie, you - will stop now, it isn't. if you have| been busy in the movie, you know will stop now, it isn't. if you have i been busy in the movie, you know it has a very catchy soundtrack, and here in the uk that has led to six of the songs from the soundtrack being in the top 40, and a record numberfor a soundtrack being in the top 40, and a record number for a soundtrack in the top five, three of them, at number three billy eilish and what was i need for mac numberfour do a leaper at dance night away, my personal favourite number five, night away, my personal favourite numberfive, nicki minaj with barbie app numberfive, nicki minaj with barbie app world, if you're a fan of 90s music you will know it is a remake of that aqua head, barbie girl, i did and impression earlier. it seems to be plastic is fantastic! and this weekend, thousands of lgtbq+ people will march through liverpool as the city hosts a joint pride celebration with ukraine. kyiv�*s own march cannot be held there, due to the russian invasion, so liverpool is hosting the event on its behalf. josh parry reports.

liverpool became first place in many years for me of what felt like home. it was welcoming and kind of easy in many ways, mainly because of the people, because of the community i have over here. 2,000 miles away from their birthplace of donetsk, maria has a new place to call home. i like it about liverpool. that's very diverse. i love it for being a very diverse city with many people from all over the world. they're one of 3,000 ukrainians who found safety in merseyside since the war began. so i want to say thank you very much to the amazing queer couple who took me and made me feel like home for the first time. singing. this year, liverpool stepped in to host eurovision on behalf

of winners ukraine. and now that legacy will continue as the city plays host to kyiv pride — a chance to celebrate the community, but for ukrainians like maria, first and foremost, it's a protest. i've been to all the kyiv parades. i feel lots of like empowerment probably, and kind of embodying of strength. hopefully it will happen to gain some inspiration. thousands of lgbt people and their allies will march through these streets in solidarity with ukraine. while eurovision may have united them in music, pride will unite them in protest. right now it is the time to fight. and we fight for our freedom and our survival. and we all have to fight for lgbtq rights. the ukrainian constitution only accepts marriages between men

and women, meaning partners of lgbt soldiers have no legal recognition, something edward is hoping pride will help change. we have people in our team who are waiting for their loved ones who are on the front line right now, and they cannot receive any information if a person is injured or dead. they cannot take the body of a person if a person is killed in the war. they cannot inherit anything. they cannot care for children and so on and so on. when you are in the war, it's even more painful that you don't have those rights. each person marching in kyiv pride will carry a photo of an lgbt soldier serving back home. soldiers like borys and elena, who've decided to stay behind to work as combat medics. a lot of people in ukraine feel so grateful. i was sojealous because i want to go to eurovision and i want to go to pride too, but i can't. but of course, joke. it's not joke. it's notjoke. borys, earlier you sent me these videos of you enjoying pride.

i love this one. yeah. does that just feel like an absolute lifetime ago? it's feeling like it was, like, an absolutely different vibe. it's, er... it's really in some sense, which no one can subscribe how it's feeling to this... — to living in these times. are you looking forward to the day that you can both march together? yeah, because when pride will happen in kyiv, it will mean so like the war is over and we we can like back to some kind of normality to our lives. we know that the one _ that we will have after the victory will be just like the biggest and the brightest. - and it will be _ a celebration of victory. definitely. — and yeah, we are waiting for you. | so if you will be able to come, j please come to kyiv tojoin us. josh parry, bbc news, liverpool.

now to a hot bear in california and these remarkable pictures that have come in. 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 of the unusual bath. officers say locals had spotted the bear on a hillside before it took a dip in the pool. the owner said it was in there for about five minutes before climbing up a tree and falling asleep. to italy, and something that shocked locals in calabria. an elephant was spotted stomping down a highway. in this video, shared with the bbc, the animal appears to be heading towards a supermarket. local media reports say it escaped a local circus, and has since been returned.

the bbc contacted the police, but authorities avoided addressing the elephant in the room and were unable to confirm the story. stay with us here on bbc news. more on the website and app. see you soon. hello there. this weekend is not as wet as it was last weekend where we had a month's worth of rain in places, but it's not completely dry either. now we are seeing some spells of sunshine but will continue to see a scattering of showers as well. later in the weekend, this weather system here will bring some rain in from the atlantic, but it's that first area of low pressure that's dominating at the moment. and around it, we have these showers coming in on that stronger breeze as well. mostly showers closer to the low.

so scotland and northern ireland seeing heavier, more frequent showers with some thunder. some heavy showers could push into the far north of england. but further south, the showers will prove to be rather hit and miss. it will be quite breezy. so the showers will move through fairly quickly, but the temperatures will be limited to 18 or 19 in the west, up to around 21 or 22 in eastern areas. for the test match today, the greatest risk of showers will be early on through the morning session, perhaps around lunchtime. the weather should improve, the cloud breaking up more, and more sunshine coming through. and for many parts of england, wales late afternoon into the evening will be dry and sunny. but further north, those showers will continue. they'll still be around overnight, maybe even longer spells of rain for scotland, northern ireland increasing into northern parts of england. temperatures come the end of the night, first thing on sunday morning, typically 12 or 13 degrees. but we start with a lot of showers in scotland, northern ireland and northern england. now, through the day they should become fewer.

there'll be some spells of sunshine for a while, but the cloud comes in from the atlantic, that brings patchy rain into wales, the south west through the morning, perhaps extending through parts of the midlands into south east england in the afternoon. so too across northern ireland. that of course will limit the temperatures and on the whole temperatures may be slightly lower even than what we are seeing today. now we're seeing this cooler, wetter weather because the jet stream is further south than it would normally be at this time of the year. and the jet stream is pushing in those areas of low pressure from the atlantic, bringing more wind and rain. now, eventually, the next area of low pressure will move away out into scandinavia and that will introduce a northerly breeze which will bring even cooler air. so as we head into the start of august, you'd expect it to be turning a bit warmer and a bit drier, but that is not going to be the case. temperatures, if anything, may be dropping a little bit further and we've got showers or longer spells of rain never too far away.

live from london, this is bbc news. president zelensky visits advanced positions near the hotspot of bakhmut — as ukraine ramps up its counter—offensive against russia. the visit comes after a residential building and security building were struck on friday.

much of britain's railways are at a standstill again — in a long—running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. around half of the usual services are expected to run across the network. donald trump tells republicans he's the only candidate who can win the next presidential election — even as his legal troubles mount. he suggested this is the reason he faces a range of criminal charges. it's just gone half past midday. a good afternoon to you. now, the spy who got away with murder. freddie scappaticci — one of britain's top spies in the ira. code name — stakeknife. the famous sta keknife. he was obviously someone who had access to the higher

levels of the ira.