BBC WORLD

#Ukraine #Russia #BBCNews One of Ukraine’s most senior military commanders has said that their offensive against Russian military forces is not going as fast as they would like. Speaking to the BBC, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russian defences, including minefields, mean that quick results are “practically impossible”. But, having led the defence of Kyiv at the start of the Russian invasion and masterminding Ukraine’s surprise counter-attack in Kharkiv last summer, General Syrskyi said he hopes Ukraine will be able to recapture the city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Wagner forces earlier this year.

#ClimateChange #Cerberus #BBCNews A heatwave which has caused extreme weather in southern Europe is expected to peak today (Tuesday 18 July), though extreme conditions could continue for another 10 days. The Italian island of Sardinia is expected to see a high of 46C (114.8F), while the Spanish island of La Palma and mainland Greece have experienced wildfires. Across the globe, extreme weather has caused temperature spikes in the US and China, and heavy rainfall and flooding in South Korea. And, with millions around the world under heat advisories as officials warn of danger to life from the hot temperatures, scientists warn that climate change is making heatwaves longer, more intense and more frequent.

#BBCNews If you or anyone you know has been affected by this story, visit BBC Action Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/ Current and former McDonald’s workers have told the BBC about a toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying at the fast food company’s UK outlets. McDonald’s is one of the largest private sector employers in the country, and has one of the UK’s youngest workforces – with three quarters of its employees aged between 16 and 25. Thirty-two of them made allegations of sexual assault, and 78 made allegations of sexual harassment. Allegations of racism and homophobia were also heard. McDonald’s said it had “fallen short” and it “deeply apologised”.

#Ukraine #BBCNews Russia has attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, with residents reporting hearing explosions. Pictures from the city show damage to buildings, while it is also thought that the port was targeted by drone strikes and shelling. The city is at the centre of the latest centre of the war, with a UN-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to export grain set to expire. Russia has not agreed to extend the deal, which allows Ukraine to be exported across the globe. Before the deal was struck in 2022, Russian warships blockaded routes across the Black Sea, sparking fears of global food shortages.

#CommonwealthGames #BBCNews The 2026 Commonwealth Games are in doubt as the Australian state of Victoria has cancelled its plans to host the sporting event. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria had been "happy to help out" when approached to host last year, but after projected costs tripled to more than A$6 billion for the 12-day event, it became “well and truly too much" for the state to bear. The government said it will still complete the stadium upgrades it promised, while using the money it is now saving on housing and tourism initiatives – while the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) said it is "committed to finding a solution" for the multi-sport tournament.

#BBCNews #Ukraine #Russia Vladimir Putin has vowed to retaliate following a "terrorist" attack on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for the incident - which left two people dead - but Kyiv has not officially said it was responsible. The Kerch bridge was opened in 2018 and enables road and rail travel between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014. In October 2022, the bridge was partially closed following a huge explosion. It was fully reopened in February.

#Heat #BBCNews #Weather In the US, a heat dome over the south-west has left tens of millions of people under extreme heat warnings. Europe’s highest temperature on Monday was in southern Spain – where Andujar reached 44.8C. China provisionally recorded its highest temperature ever on Sunday - 52.2C in Xinjiang, the UK Met Office said. It’s also set to continue for much of this week with some places expected to see even higher temperatures over the next few days.

#BBCNews #Newsnight #StableDiffusion The BBC’s been investigating the rise in child sex abuse material resulting from the rapid proliferation of open-source AI image generators. Our Cyber Correspondent Joe Tidy looks at how paedophiles have been able to get around safeguards designed to stop sexual AI images being made. He’s left shaken after being shown the never-before-seen illegal imagery that has been redacted by the Internet Watch Foundation. In Munich, the scientist who created a leading AI image generator is challenged about why he decided to make it open source. Who are the people who make these images and publish them on the internet? One man who does it tells the BBC that no children are harmed with AI image generation. But a forensic psychologist and former US Marshal argue the material encourages the abuse of kids.

#Newsnight #BBCNews Film Director Shekhar Kapoor has just won another award - this time for his new movie “What’s Love Got to Do with it”. The 77-year-old Indian filmmaker, who is also behind the likes of the Oscar-winning film Elizabeth starring Cath Blanchett - is accusing Hollywood of casting black and brown actors in some roles because of what he describes as its own “guilty conscience”. He’s now urging filmmakers to do more than simply give diverse talent work - he says they need to shift their thinking when it comes to storytelling, and change the point of view of their narratives. Newsnight’s UK Editor Sima Kotecha has been speaking to him to find out more

#Lizzo #ClassicalMusic #BBCNews US popstar and rapper Lizzo is known for hit songs, including 'Good as Hell' and 'Juice'. But she recently made headlines for performing Mozart on the flute at Glastonbury festival, UK. The singer is a classically trained flautist and the British Flute Association has credited her for making the flute ‘cool again’.

#ArtificialIntelligence #BBCNews "There will be winners or losers on a global basis in terms of where the jobs are as a result of AI." Those are the words of tech entrepreneur and the UK's new artificial intelligence advisor, Ian Hogarth. There have already been reports of multiple job losses as a result of companies choosing to use AI tools instead of humans, with BT recently saying it will shed 10,000 staff by the end of the decade. Hogarth also said in an interview with the BBC that expert warnings of AI's potential to become an existential threat should not be dismissed - but he was cautious of not missing the benefits of these technologies.

#BBCNews #Ukraine #Russia Russia has officially confirmed it won't be extending the Black Sea grain export deal, following an attack on Kerch bridge which links the occupied Crimean peninsula with Russia. The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey last July, was due to expire today (Monday 17 July). Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of sunflower, maize, wheat and barley. After Russia invaded the country in February 2022, Ukraine's ports were blockaded sending global food prices soaring. Since the grain deal was signed, world food prices have decreased by some 20%.

#Dementia #Alzheimers #BBCNews Results out today confirm that the drug donanemab, hailed as a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer's, slows cognitive decline by about a third. The antibody treatment helps in the early stages of the disease. It works in Alzheimer's disease, not in other types of dementia, such as vascular dementia. That is because it is designed to clear away one of the key features of Alzheimer's disease - a substance called amyloid that builds up in the spaces between brain cells.

#WomensWorldCup #Football #BBCNews The Fifa Women's World Cup kicks off this week down under, but ticket sales are struggling in the rugby-loving nation of New Zealand. The tournament is being jointly held across nine different cities, five in Australia and four in New Zealand. The opening match takes place at Eden Park stadium in Auckland, where an estimated $21m (USD) was spent upgrading facilities. But sales have so far been lacklustre in a country more known for its love of rugby than football.

#JaneBirkin #BBCNews The singer, actress and fashion icon Jane Birkin has died at the age of 76. The English-French star rose to fame alongside songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she recorded the iconic track "Je T'aime...moi non plus”, which was banned in several countries. French President Emmanuel Macron described Birkin as a "French icon" and a "complete artist".

#BBCNews #Ukraine #Crimea Two people have died after an "attack" on the bridge linking the occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia. The head of Crimea's parliament blamed Ukraine for the incident, state media reported, but Kyiv is yet to officially comment. The Kerch bridge was opened in 2018 and enables road and rail travel between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory occupied by Moscow's forces since 2014. Russia's transport ministry said the bridge's supports were not damaged.

#Scotland #BBCNews An entire pod of 55 pilot whales has died after a mass stranding on a Scottish beach. Only 15 were alive after they washed onto Traigh Mhor beach on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides at about 07:00 on Sunday morning. Marine charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) attempted to refloat one of the more active whales but it was then restranded. The decision was taken to euthanise the remaining whales on welfare grounds.

#SouthKorea #ExtremeWeather #BBCNews At least 40 people have died in South Korea after a weekend of severe rains caused widespread flooding and landslides across the country. The disasters have prompted calls from President Yoon Suk Yeol to "overhaul" how the country combats extreme weather arising from climate change. On Monday, the nation was reeling from a tunnel tragedy where at least 13 people died in their vehicles after becoming trapped by floodwaters. The full death toll is still unknown.

#Heatwave #Climate #BBCNews A heat dome over the US south-west has translated into extreme heat warnings from coast to coast, which continue to affect more than 110 million people. Temperature records could be broken in as many as 38 cities. It comes as soaring temperatures are also hitting southern Europe and Canada is battling the worst season of wildfires in its history.

U.S. Navy CONFRONTS Iran Near Strait of Hormuz, FOILS Oil Tanker Seizure | Watchman Newscast LIVE

#India #IndiaMoonMission #BBCNews India has launched its third Moon mission and is hoping to become to the first to land near its south pole – which has rarely been explored. If successful, the Chandrayaan-3's orbiter, lander and a rover are due to touch down on the Moon's surface on 23 or 24 August. The rocket set off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre space centre just after 09:05 GMT (10:05 BST; 14:35 local time). The launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is the country's first major mission since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government announced policies to spur investment in the space industry.

#BBCNews #trending #viral A fierce heatwave is sweeping across southern Europe, with warnings of record-breaking temperatures Temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. In Italy, temperatures could reach as high as 48.8C (119.8F). A red alert warning has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence. The Cerberus heatwave - named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's Inferno - is expected to bring more extreme conditions in the next few days. It isn't just Europe that is hot. This summer has seen temperature records smashed in parts of Canada and the US as well as across a swathe of Asia including in India and China. Sea temperatures in the Atlantic have hit record highs while Antarctic sea ice is at the lowest extent ever recorded. And it is going to get hotter. A weather pattern called El Niño is developing in the tropical Pacific. It tends to drive up temperatures by around 0.2C on average. Add in the roughly 1.1C that climate change has pushed average temperatures up by worldwide and it’s perilously close to the 1.5C threshold the world has agreed to try and keep global temperatures below. Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by climate editor Justin Rowlatt.

#Newsnight #BBCNews Andrew Ridgeley was in one of the biggest bands of the 1980s, Wham! And now a new documentary on Netflix celebrates his friendship with George Michael, who he affectionately calls Yog - and the success of the two best friends who formed the group together as teenagers. Newsnight has talked to Andrew Ridgeley about the documentary, which features interviews from the time as well as old footage. He tells Victoria Derbyshire about how the band coped with fame back then, about the undesirable consequences of it, the dilemma George Michael faced about his own sexuality, and about whether Andrew Ridgeley could envisage creating an ABBA-style avatar show for Wham!

#Europe #Heatwave #BBCNews A heatwave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe and north-west Africa, with potential record-breaking temperatures in the coming days. Temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. In Italy, temperatures could reach as high as 48.8C (119.8F). A red alert warning has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence. On Tuesday, a man in his forties died after collapsing in northern Italy.

#Microsoft #Gaming #BBCNews US regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is appealing against a decision to allow Microsoft to proceed with its $69bn (£53bn) purchase of games publisher Activision Blizzard. Earlier this week, the FTC's request to block the takeover was rejected by a district judge in San Francisco. The technology giant's deal to buy the Call of Duty maker would be the biggest of its kind in gaming industry history.