• Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to restrict use of tents by homeless
  
  The home secretary is proposing new laws, arguing that rough sleeping in tents is a "lifestyle choice".

• Tory MP Bob Stewart surrenders whip after racial abuse conviction
  
  Bob Stewart was found guilty of a racially aggravated offence after telling a man to "go back to Bahrain".

• Laura Kuenssberg: Why the PM could be drowned out at the King's Speech
  
  The new monarch's big moment will also be a chance for Rishi Sunak to try to revive his government.

• Keir Starmer: Labour will bulldoze barriers to British success
  
  The Labour leader sets out his plans for the economy, but faces questions on party splits over Gaza.

• Unlikely first Covid lockdown could have been avoided - Johnson
  
  The former PM says only a vaccine or drugs - unavailable at the time - could have averted the curbs.

• Planned protest on Armistice Day would be disrespectful, says Sunak
  
  Rishi Sunak says there is a risk war memorials such as the Cenotaph in London could be "desecrated".

• Scampton asylum plan could cost £260m over 3 years
  
  A Home Office memo concluded housing asylum seekers on RAF Scampton represented "marginal" value for money.

• What could be in the 2023 King's Speech?
  
  We take a look at the measures that might feature in the government's law-making plans for this year.

• Councillors call on Starmer to resign over Gaza
  
  The two council leaders are unhappy with the Labour leader's refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza.

• Humza Yousaf's relief as family cross Gaza border to safety
  
  The first minister's parents-in-law say they are "completely exhausted" after entering Egypt.

• Call for transparency after Covid advert 'bung' claim
  
  Lib Dems call for scrutiny over Dominic Cummings's claim Boris Johnson "bunged" money to friendly media.

• Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak AI will put an end to work
  
  The prime minister and the tech billionaire sat down together to talk tech, education - and killer robots.

• AI summit: Education will blunt AI risk to jobs, says Rishi Sunak
  
  The prime minster says the technology can help rather than replace workers, as the UK's AI summit ends.

• Covid inquiry hears Matt Hancock wanted to decide who lived and died
  
  Former NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens tells the Covid inquiry the "horrible dilemma never crystallised".

• Andy McDonald threatens to sue Tory MP over Hamas claim
  
  Suspended Labour MP accuses Tory of defamatory statement about his speech at pro-Palestinian rally.

• Bank holds interest rates and warns it's too early to cut
  
  The UK is expected to see zero growth until 2025, but the Bank says it's too early to cut interest rates.

• West Midlands mayor Andy Street calls for crime commissioner powers
  
  Andy Street writes to the home secretary to suggest the two roles should be combined.

• 'Macho' culture at No 10 harmed Covid response, Helen MacNamara says
  
  Former top official Helen MacNamara tells Covid inquiry women were sidelined in male-dominated No 10.

• City of Edinburgh Council declares housing emergency
  
  The Scottish government is being urged to provide extra resources to help meet "severe challenges".

• Boris Johnson asked scientists if hair dryer could kill Covid, says ex-aide
  
  Former adviser Dominic Cummings says the ex-PM asked top scientists about a video making the claim.

• David Mackintosh trial: No comment given in police interviews
  
  A jury is told a former MP did not know his election campaign was paid for by a property developer.

• Victims wait up to 13 hours for police response, new figures reveal
  
  The Lib Dems say their figures show police risk losing vital witnesses or time-sensitive evidence.

• Humza Yousaf quizzed over Covid WhatsApp cover-up claim
  
  The first minister is urged to accept that some senior government figures may have broken the law.

• Somerset Council considers selling properties amid bankruptcy fears
  
  Somerset Council may sell off 48 commercial properties that it owns, potentially making a £70m loss.

• Sir Jeffrey Donaldson: Can the DUP negotiate its way out of deep water?
  
  BBC News NI's Gareth Gordon says the DUP's road to Stormont is only passable with care - if at all.

• Wales right on Covid lockdown - ex-Boris Johnson aide
  
  Boris Johnson's communications chief says the Welsh government correctly used three-week firebreak.

• Rishi Sunak: AI firms cannot 'mark their own homework'
  
  Governments must act to protect citizens from potential AI risks, prime minister tells the BBC.

• David Mackintosh trial: Conservative given £10k after EastEnders visit
  
  The trial of a former MP is told how he visited the TV soap as a guest of his co-defendant's wife.

• Analysis: First minister has a Covid transparency problem
  
  BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell says Mr Yousaf's dilemma is not personal but corporate.

• London air quality improved by Ulez and Lez - report
  
  Researchers find the Lez and Ulez schemes have had health and economic benefits in London.

• Warning one in 10 county councils face effective bankruptcy
  
  County councils in England are demanding emergency funding to stave off financial collapse.

• King Charles: Tackle AI risks with urgency and unity
  
  King enters debate on AI as UK holds summit and announces global declaration on managing threats.

• Paul Bristow sacking over Gaza letter is shameful - Islamic leader
  
  A Peterborough Islamic leader criticises government for firing Paul Bristow over his ceasefire call.

• Boris Johnson thought old people should accept Covid fate, inquiry told
  
  The former PM's handling of the virus comes under attack over six hours of testimony by aides.

• Rafah crossing: First Britons leave Gaza but others face nervous wait
  
  About 400 people are crossing to Egypt but some UK nationals are still waiting at the border.

• Keir Starmer says he understands calls for Gaza ceasefire
  
  The Labour leader seeks to quell tensions in his party, but insists time is not right for a ceasefire.

• King Charles says 'no excuse' for Kenya colonial violence
  
  King Charles acknowledged the "wrongdoings" of the colonial era during his state visit to Kenya.

• Plans to close rail ticket offices in England scrapped
  
  The government tells train firms to ditch the controversial closures, sparking anger from rail bosses.

• Brexit: Work begins on Larne harbour border control post
  
  Preliminary work starts on the upgrade of the border control post at Larne harbour.

• Homelessness: Calls made for government action on temporary accommodation
  
  The government is facing calls to take immediate action on temporary accommodation from councils.

• Proposed Isle of Man assisted dying laws progress to next stage
  
  A bill giving terminally-ill Manx residents the right to die moves forward in the House of Keys.

• Scottish ministers to release 14,000 Covid WhatsApps
  
  Scotland's deputy first minister says the unredacted information will be handed to the UK Covid Inquiry.

• RAF Scampton: Dambusters base asylum plan unlawful, court told
  
  Authorities are challenging plans to house asylum seekers in ex-RAF bases in Lincolnshire and Essex.

• Elon Musk to do an interview with UK PM Rishi Sunak
  
  The tech billionaire and British PM are due to broadcast a conversation after the global AI summit.

• Trans women could be counted as women in Senedd elections
  
  New law could see trans women be counted as women for Senedd elections in gender equality plans.

• Andy McDonald: Labour suspends MP after speech at pro-Palestinian rally
  
  The party says comments made by Andy McDonald at the weekend were "deeply offensive".

• American bully XLs added to list of banned dogs in England and Wales
  
  The breed has been associated with a number of attacks, but owners insist the dogs are lovable pets.

• Starmer challenged on Labour divisions over Gaza policy
  
  Labour leader says a "humanitarian pause" is the only practical way to alleviate suffering in the region.

• MacNamara: 'Not a pleasant place to work' with Cummings
  
  A day after Dominic Cummings is challenged about some emails about a colleague in No 10 from 2020, she gives her reaction..

• Cummings: My appalling language was obviously my own
  
  Boris Johnson's former adviser tells the Covid inquiry his claims about the judgement of "a lot of senior people was widespread" back in 2020.

• Starmer explains why he is not backing Gaza ceasefire
  
  Hamas would have the "infrastructure and capability" to carry out further attacks if a ceasefire is called, says Sir Keir Starmer.

• Covid was 'wrong crisis for Boris Johnson's skill set'
  
  Lee Cain tells the inquiry that Boris Johnson was someone who would often delay making decisions and change his mind on issues.

• King's Speech: What is it and why is it important?
  
  The King's Speech will take place on 7 November, but what is it and why is it important?

• What we learned from a shocking week of Covid testimony
  
  A picture emerged of a dysfunctional, divided No 10 - a timely reminder of events in November 2020.

• Covid inquiry: Read the private WhatsApp messages from inside Downing Street
  
  "Meltdown", "liar", "embarrassing" - messages lay bare Downing Street divisions during the pandemic.

• Analysis: Keir Starmer walks political tightrope on Gaza
  
  The situation in Labour is volatile and the party's fragile unity is at risk of shattering.

• Covid inquiry: Key points from Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain evidence
  
  Two former key advisers to Boris Johnson discuss how Downing Street worked during the pandemic.

• General election: When is the next one and who decides?
  
  A UK general election has to be held by 28 January 2025, but could take place earlier.

• Can Rishi Sunak’s big summit save us from AI nightmare?
  
  The BBC's tech editor, Zoe Kleinman, looks ahead to this week's AI Safety Summit, hosted by the UK.

• Covid inquiry: Why would the Scottish government delete WhatsApps?
  
  Much of the material from the government's 137 messaging groups during Covid has not been kept - but why?

• Online Safety Bill: divisive internet rules become law
  
  The legislation requires firms to remove illegal content but has attracted privacy concerns.

• Is the asylum backlog going down and other claims checked
  
  Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick made a number of claims about the government's record on asylum seekers.

• Where are asylum seekers being housed in hotels in the UK?
  
  The government wants to end contracts with hotels for housing asylum seekers, in order to cut costs.

• What is COP28 in Dubai and why is it important?
  
  The climate change summit follows a year of weather extremes and broken temperature records.

• Chris Mason: Is it back to the 1990s for Starmer's Labour?
  
  Huge by-election swings to Labour raise parallels with Blair in 1997 but these are very different times.

• Mid Beds voices: 'The Conservatives have let us down'
  
  What do Mid Bedfordshire commuters make of the constituency's new direction of travel?

• John Curtice: By-election results show terrible night for Tories
  
  Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice says the results corroborate the message that the Tories are in electoral trouble.

• What do young unionists make of political crisis?
  
  These Gen Z unionists are not short of opinions on the stalemate at Stormont - and how to fix it.

• Scotland's Yes movement: Inspired or disillusioned?
  
  On the day Nicola Sturgeon hoped to stage a second referendum, activists give their views on the state of the independence movement.

• Rishi Sunak's five promises: What progress has he made?
  
  In January the prime minister said five priorities should be used to hold his government to account.

• Labour conference: Six takeaways from Keir Starmer's speech
  
  Glitter, being a builder, bashing Sunak - what did the Labour leader say in his speech?

• Chris Mason: Don't go big, don't do flash - inside Labour's strategy
  
  Our political editor reflects on a Labour conference filled with expectation about its prospects.

• Keir Starmer: Labour leader hoping for keys to Downing Street
  
  A profile of the former lawyer hoping to return his party to power after 13 years in opposition.

• Labour election rally buzzing - up to a point
  
  Party activists in Liverpool are daring to dream about victory, but caution is never far away.

• Chris Mason: Thunderbolt by-election transforms political weather
  
  Labour's victory in Rutherglen and Hamilton West allows them to dream of a Scottish revival.

• Angela Rayner: Labour big-hitter who beat the odds
  
  How Sir Keir Starmer's deputy overcame a difficult start in life to climb the ladder at Westminster.

• HS2: What has been built so far?
  
  A visual guide to the progress made on one of the most expensive rail projects in the world.

• Five policy ideas being pushed at Conservative Party conference
  
  Some big themes have emerged as the party builds its manifesto ahead of the next general election.

• Tories imitating our policies, says Reform UK leader Richard Tice
  
  The Conservatives are moving towards Reform UK on net zero and HS2, says leader Richard Tice.

• Rishi Sunak: The Star Wars fan turned political force
  
  After a year in office, the prime minister is attempting to change his image ahead of an election.

• Would you do jury duty in the House of Lords?
  
  Conservative conference attendees bat around ideas for changing Parliament's upper chamber.

• What could Rishi Sunak's British baccalaureate look like?
  
  The prime minister wants more students to study maths and English until the age of 18.

• Windsor Framework: How will the next stage of the Brexit deal work?
  
  The Windsor Framework reaches a major milestone as the green and red lane system starts.

• Rishi Sunak: What we learned from PM's BBC radio grilling
  
  Rishi Sunak ran the gauntlet of back-to-back interviews with BBC Local Radio stations.

• Laura Kuenssberg: Rishi Sunak needs political superpowers to make his rebrand work
  
  Whether it's shifting green targets or a HS2 wobble, there is political cost to PM's changes, writes Laura Kuenssberg.

• Liberal Democrats: Who is leader Sir Ed Davey?
  
  A profile of the former cabinet minister who once won an award for a lifesaving act of bravery.

• Voters aren’t talking about Brexit, says Lib Dem leader
  
  Rejoining the EU isn't on the agenda, Sir Ed Davey says as the Lib Dems gather for their annual conference.

• Lobbyists take close-up look at Lib Dems
  
  Businesses and campaigners say they have gravitated towards a party with a sense of optimism.

• Net zero: Will Rishi Sunak's changes to climate policies save money?
  
  Decarbonising will cost money but some argue in the long run it will boost the economy.

• Rishi Sunak: Cars, boilers and net zero - key takeaways from PM's speech
  
  The PM announces changes to his green approach, but says 2050 net zero targets will still be met.

• Could Rishi Sunak's green review threaten UK net zero?
  
  The prime minister has rolled back some net zero policies, but says he's still committed to targets.

• What is net zero and how are the UK and other countries doing?
  
  The UK may weaken some key green commitments, despite its pledge to reach "net zero" by 2050.

• Laura Kuenssberg: Labour - damned if they dare, damned if they don't?
  
  When Keir Starmer unveils a policy it is roundly attacked - is this the price of getting a hearing?

• Parties battle to be seen as the UK's housebuilders
  
  A government defeat gets to the heart of one of the biggest issues in contemporary domestic politics.

• Spy claims turbocharge debate on approach to China
  
  Rishi Sunak has attempted to warm up relations with Beijing, but some Tory MPs want a tougher line.

• Laura Kuenssberg: Inside the high-stakes soap opera that led to political chaos
  
  Key players tell Laura Kuenssberg how six years of political turbulence rocked the British state.

• Who is Gillian Keegan? The education secretary who left school at 16
  
  Gillian Keegan is the face of the government's handling of the RAAC crumbling concrete crisis.

• Claire Coutinho: Who is the new energy secretary?
  
  A big promotion sees the East Surrey MP become the youngest member of the cabinet at the age of 38

https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/health/rss.xml

• Unlikely first Covid lockdown could have been avoided - Johnson
  
  The former PM says only a vaccine or drugs - unavailable at the time - could have averted the curbs.

• What we learned from a shocking week of Covid testimony
  
  A picture emerged of a dysfunctional, divided No 10 - a timely reminder of events in November 2020.

• Why do we itch when reading about bedbugs?
  
  Experts explain why just thinking about bedbugs can leave us feeling itchy.

• Children's health warning system rolled out by NHS
  
  The concerns of families and carers will be at the heart of a new early-warning system, the NHS says.

• Suicide site encouraged daughter to die - parents
  
  Bronwen Morgan's parents are calling for a block on suicide websites after she took her own life.

• Pioneering operation combines cancer surgery and Caesarean
  
  Four women have had a landmark two-in-one operation to reduce the inherited risk of ovarian cancer.

• No new mental health support for farmers hit by floods
  
  The government rejects calls to provide new funding for mental health support for farmers in crises.

• Covid inquiry hears Matt Hancock wanted to decide who lived and died
  
  Former NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens tells the Covid inquiry the "horrible dilemma never crystallised".

• Brain power dropped among over-50s during Covid-19 pandemic, study shows
  
  Cognitive skills, such as memory, waned - possibly linked to stress, loneliness and alcohol, study shows.

• Hospitals fail people with learning disabilities, says watchdog
  
  Watchdog concerned over lack of specialist nurses, training for staff and information sharing in England.

• Cough syrup maker boss jailed in Indonesia
  
  The pharmaceutical firm, Afi Farma, has been linked to the deaths of more than 200 Indonesian children.

• Student nurse used suicide website before taking her life
  
  A coroner voices concern that sites promoting self-harm are accessible to vulnerable people.

• Scientists excited by AI tool that grades severity of rare cancer
  
  AI is twice as good at grading the aggressiveness of tumours than lab analysis, a study suggests.

• Covid inquiry: Read the private WhatsApp messages from inside Downing Street
  
  "Meltdown", "liar", "embarrassing" - messages lay bare Downing Street divisions during the pandemic.

• 'My NHS hell waiting for surgery and information'
  
  When former BBC correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones broke his elbow he waited days for an operation.

• Belfast Royal Victoria Hospital: I'm nearly 80 and still nursing
  
  "Unflappable" Jimmy turns 80 next month and is still working in intensive care at a Belfast hospital.

• Sepsis failings still causing too many deaths - ombudsman
  
  Patients are still dying due to failings highlighted more than a decade ago, the health ombudsman says.

• Scientists: Allow forbidden 28-day embryo experiments
  
  Many UK scientists want to double the time allowed for embryo research - and there could be public support.

• How is the ADHD medication shortage in the UK affecting people?
  
  People with the condition say they face uncertain times as their supplies run out or run low.

• Where Ukraine’s army of amputees go to repair their lives
  
  Orla Guerin visits a hospital and clinic in Ukraine, where 15,000 lost limbs in the first half of 2023.

• Vaping - is it a risk-free option?
  
  Colourful gadgets and fruity flavours are popular, but what's really known about their health effects?

• Covid booster: Who can get another jab this autumn?
  
  Covid vaccine rules are changing, but those most at risk are being offered another jab this autumn.

• What the babies' parents told Lucy Letby as she was sentenced
  
  The dad of two murdered boys says "it destroyed me", and a mum says she relives an attack "every day".

• NHS consultant strike: How pay compares globally
  
  Analysis suggests senior doctor pay a little behind Germany and Ireland but higher than Spain and Italy.

• How much do junior doctors really get paid in England?
  
  The BBC asked two junior doctors in England to show us their payslips and reveal their salaries.

• What to do if you have Covid: Symptoms, tests and can you go to work or school?
  
  No Covid restrictions are in place across the UK, so how should you manage having it?

• Error to open pubs not schools, Covid inquiry told
  
  The ex-children's commissioner in England says most senior officials did not put children first.

• What you need to know about Covid as new variant rises
  
  Hospital admissions have risen since the summer and a new variant is spreading. Should we be concerned?

• Covid inquiry: What is it investigating and how does it work?
  
  The second round of public hearings is examining how ministers made decisions during the pandemic.

• Covid and flu winter jabs to be brought forward in England
  
  Vaccines for the most vulnerable will start being given in September instead of October in England.

• Should we be worried about Covid this winter?
  
  Experts are not too concerned about a new variant of Covid but say monitoring should continue.

• Covid Inquiry: What have we learnt so far?
  
  The first phase of the Covid Inquiry has come to an end. What have we learnt over the past six weeks?

• Captain Sir Tom Moore: What has happened to his legacy?
  
  How much money did Captain Tom raise and why is his family under the spotlight?

• Matt Hancock says UK's pandemic strategy was completely wrong
  
  Planning focused more on burying the dead than averting disaster, ex-health secretary says.

• Covid Inquiry: Abuse of experts must stop, says Whitty
  
  Sir Chris laments treatment as he gives evidence to Covid Inquiry on pandemic preparedness.

• Isolating sooner might have avoided first lockdown, Hunt says
  
  The UK should have prepared to test and isolate more, the ex-health secretary tells the Covid inquiry.

• Covid Inquiry: Former chief medical officer close to tears over pandemic deaths
  
  Dame Sally Davies apologises to bereaved families and says the UK was poorly prepared for the pandemic.

• What we know about the Covid variant EG.5 dubbed 'Eris'
  
  The World Health Organisation declared the variant of interest, with cases reported in 51 countries.

• Covid Inquiry: Mistake not to consider range of pandemics - David Cameron
  
  David Cameron says "group think" meant government focused on flu pandemics, rather than other diseases.

• Covid inquiry: UK's public services were 'depleted' when Covid hit
  
  The nation's health was declining and the NHS was struggling by 2020, the Covid inquiry hears.

• Sunak 'not worried' about Covid inquiry seeing messages
  
  Chris Mason asks Rishi Sunak if he has something to hide from Covid inquiry in pandemic messages.

• Pandemic akin to war, lawyer tells Covid inquiry
  
  Decisions were "finely balanced" and, with hindsight, might have been different, Fiona Scolding KC says.

• Covid inquiry: Failure to consider 'potentially massive impact' of lockdown pre-pandemic
  
  The UK may not have been well prepared "at all", says the lead lawyer for the Covid inquiry.

• Toxic debate over lab leak theory hampers search for Covid origins
  
  US agencies cannot agree on how the pandemic started, with the scientific community bitterly divided.

• Covid global health emergency is over, WHO says
  
  Close to 20 million people are likely to have died during the last three years, says the WHO.

• Isabel Oakeshott reveals why she leaked Matt Hancock's WhatsApp messages
  
  The journalist released WhatsApps she obtained while working on the former health secretary's book.

• Matt Hancock: Eight government WhatsApp Covid messages revealed
  
  The ex-health secretary's pandemic text messages have been published by a newspaper - here are eight.

• Covid origin: Why the Wuhan lab-leak theory is so disputed
  
  The claim Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory dates from early in the pandemic. Here's what we know.

• Covid map: Coronavirus cases, deaths, vaccinations by country
  
  Key maps and charts explaining how the virus has spread around the world.

• Conjoined twins meet at London hospital that treated them
  
  The six sets of siblings were all treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

• Life's better without drink, says teetotal teacher
  
  Emily Power said her life has improved in every way since she stopped drinking.

• MP breaks down as she recalls 'terrifying' traumatic birth
  
  MP Theo Clarke tells the Commons she thought she was going to die in a traumatic experience giving birth.

• NHS must modernise or die - Streeting tells Labour conference
  
  The shadow health secretary says it is up to Labour to "rescue, rebuild and renew" the NHS.

• Smoking: Prof Sir Chris Whitty backs tobacco phase-out plan
  
  The chief medical officer says as a doctor he sees people in hospital desperate to stop smoking.

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https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/education/rss.xml

 

• CBeebies' Rebecca Keatley to see other side of screen with baby due
  
  Rebecca Keatley is seeing her work in a new light as she prepares to become a parent this winter.

• Miscarriages led to years of loneliness for mum before baby
  
  Hawys Barrett waited "month by month" for fertility treatment to work before having a son.

• Bedford students given £3.6k to help with university costs
  
  University student Kezia-Rose says £3.6K from the Bedford-based Harpur Trust has helped them.

• Stephen Hawking's daughter gives keynote speech at school
  
  Lucy Hawking gives a speech to pupils in Cambridge on creating a better world for the future.

• Northern Ireland teacher pay: No extra money for rise, says department
  
  NI teachers have not had a pay rise in nearly three years and get less than their GB counterparts.

• Bereaved families welcome move to block suicide forum
  
  Bereaved families had asked internet providers to block the forum, following a BBC investigation.

• St Ives teachers to strike over 'heavy handed' policies
  
  Union reps say "draconian" behaviour rules undermine teachers' authority.

• Cornell University student held over threats to Jewish classmates
  
  Prosecutors say Patrick Dai threatened to shoot Jewish students at the prestigious New York university.

• Malmesbury Primary School may have to turn down £6m donation
  
  Sir James Dyson says he has "battled" to be able to give the money to the school.

• 'Most of our friends use AI in schoolwork'
  
  BBC Young Reporters Theo and Ben look at how teenagers use AI like ChatGPT to spruce up their schoolwork.

• Kenya's school floggings: The children suffering from a hidden epidemic
  
  BBC Africa Eye investigates an increase in severe and sometimes deadly beatings at Kenyan schools.

• 'My BTec course is being scrapped for T-levels'
  
  The government wants to streamline post-16 education, but colleges say some students could be left behind.

• When is the deadline to apply for primary schools?
  
  The application rules and deadlines for 2024 primary school places vary across the UK.

• Secondary school applications: When is the deadline?
  
  The application rules and deadlines for 2024 secondary school places vary across the UK.

• The 'gay tax' facing same-sex couples starting a family
  
  Couples are still paying thousands before they can access NHS fertility treatment, the BBC finds.

• What are T-levels and what are the grades worth?
  
  T-levels are equivalent to three A-levels, and focus on practical rather than academic subjects.

• Class sizes grow to keep up with GCSE resits
  
  Colleges say lower grades and more teenagers mean they are struggling to cope with compulsory resits.

• Northern Ireland: Young asylum seekers face restricted access to education
  
  Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK in offering education to young asylum seekers.

• Rallies for Palestine, Israel create tense scene at US universities
  
  Simultaneous rallies supporting Israel and Palestine caused a tense scene at Columbia University.

• Crowsmill Craft Centre celebrates 10 years of helping people
  
  Crowsmill Craft Centre in Shropshire celebrates10 years of supporting people.

• 'School is meant to be a safe environment'
  
  Katie Mitchell, who is disabled, was recorded sustaining head injuries while at school.

• How one blind boy helped rebuild his school in Yemen
  
  Ahmed is a charismatic 11-year-old Yemeni boy the BBC met two years ago when he was teaching a class in a bombed-out classroom.

• A look inside a school with unsafe concrete
  
  Scalby School in Scarborough has not reopened after the summer holidays due to the concrete crisis.

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 https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/science_and_environment/rss.xml

• James Webb telescope: Baby star launches giant jets and shocks
  
  The James Webb observatory records the giant jets and shocks created by a birthing star in Orion.

• Boom in unusual jellyfish spotted in UK waters
  
  Climate change is warming the world's oceans, creating good conditions for jellyfish in the UK.

• No new mental health support for farmers hit by floods
  
  The government rejects calls to provide new funding for mental health support for farmers in crises.

• Deep divisions ahead of crucial UN climate talks
  
  COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber has acknowledged the challenges he faces.

• Carbon emissions threaten 1.5C climate threshold sooner than thought - report
  
  Fossil fuel emissions threaten a key climate threshold sooner than previously thought, a report says.

• Band walks 870 miles to complete Wales tour
  
  While Beyoncé uses private jets, Filkins Drift promote sustainability by walking to their gigs.

• The man rescuing Britain's 'magical' glow worms
  
  Glow worms are a rare sight in the UK but one young conservationist is trying to bring them back.

• Reintroducing wildlife species 'not a priority'
  
  Bringing previously extinct native species like beavers back to England is not on the Environment Secretary's priority list.

• Bacterium found in African elephants may explain sudden deaths
  
  A bacterium found in several wild elephants may explain why hundreds died suddenly in Botswana in 2020.

• Regulator reveals water firms with worst finances
  
  Thames Water is among firms being closely monitored due to concerns over their performance.

• What is COP28 in Dubai and why is it important?
  
  The climate change summit follows a year of weather extremes and broken temperature records.

• Could the UK's tides help wean us off fossil fuels?
  
  The UK has some of the world's most powerful tides - and is well placed to exploit their power.

• Climate Change Committee says UK no longer a world leader
  
  The UK's statutory climate body criticises the government for backing new oil and gas projects.

• Africa proposes global carbon taxes to fight climate change
  
  Despite suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change, the continent only gets 12% of financing.

• Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet
  
  The oceans are a vital regulator for the climate and our weather but are rapidly heating up.

• Will the Gulf Stream really collapse by 2025?
  
  A new paper says its collapse could be imminent, but some experts argue science is not established.

• What is net zero and how are the UK and other countries doing?
  
  The UK may weaken some key green commitments, despite its pledge to reach "net zero" by 2050.

• US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network
  
  Dish Network will have to pay $150,000 for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from the Earth.

• James Webb telescope makes 'JuMBO' discovery of planet-like objects in Orion
  
  The new space observatory sees pairs of Jupiter-sized objects floating free between the stars.

• Osiris-Rex: Nasa confirms return of asteroid Bennu samples
  
  A capsule carrying debris from asteroid Bennu lands safely in the Utah desert.

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• 'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried faces decades in jail after guilty verdict
  
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• James Webb telescope: Baby star launches giant jets and shocks
  
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• Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak AI will put an end to work
  
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• Call of Duty: Can the world's favourite shooter game last another 20 years?
  
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• AI summit: Education will blunt AI risk to jobs, says Rishi Sunak
  
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• King Charles: Tackle AI risks with urgency and unity
  
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• Temu adverts banned for sexualising a child and objectifying women
  
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• Broadband providers block suicide website linked to 50 deaths
  
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• Rishi Sunak: AI firms cannot 'mark their own homework'
  
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• Canada bans Chinese app WeChat from government devices
  
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• US announces 'strongest global action yet' on AI safety
  
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• How Amazon uses drones to deliver from the sky
  
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• Sustainable fishing: The tech making it cheaper and greener
  
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• Why are fewer women using AI than men?
  
  The use of artificial intelligence appears to have a significant gender imbalance.

• Can Rishi Sunak’s big summit save us from AI nightmare?
  
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• Portugal's tech boom challenged by tax change
  
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• Would you drink genetically modified beer?
  
  A growing number of US brewers are now using GM yeast to make their beers.

• What happens after a nuclear power station is closed?
  
  Taking decades, an intricate clean-up process has to be followed after a nuclear power station closes.

• Airbnb turns to AI to help prevent house parties
  
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• Short selling: Don’t be the 'Dumb Money'
  
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• Does the paper industry need to cut its water usage?
  
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• Why a 'hologram revolution' could be on the way
  
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• Is AI about to transform the legal profession?
  
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• The incredible power of blue LEDs
  
  LEDs dominate lighting systems but their efficiency rests on the tricky production of blue light.

• Is the UK doing enough to monitor air pollution?
  
  There are now 555 air quality monitors across the country, but some say they aren't good enough.

• Can German engineering solve the challenges of fusion?
  
  With extra government help German firms are attempting to make working fusion reactors.

• Could an AI-created profile picture help you get a job?
  
  Young adults are using artificial intelligence to make professional-looking headshot photos.

• How to make cars less dangerous for pedestrians
  
  New rules and tech could make cars safer for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

• The hunt for a new way to tackle clothing waste
  
  Scientists in the US are trying to find enzymes or bacteria that will decompose manmade fibres.

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• I believed in Sinead O'Connor, says her producer David Holmes
  
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• Drumsheds: What it's like to go clubbing in an old Ikea?
  
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• How to Have Sex: The film that will get everyone talking about consent
  
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• Matthew Perry Foundation set up in late Friends star's name to help addicts
  
  A fund "driven by his passion for making a difference" is set up in the late Friends star's name.

• Lisa Marie feared film would show Elvis as a predator
  
  Lisa Marie Presley complained that a new film would make Elvis out as "a predator and manipulative".

• Steven Tyler: Woman accuses Aerosmith singer of sexual assault
  
  In a case filed at New York's Supreme Court, the woman says she suffered "severe emotional distress".

• Man denies alleged plot to kidnap Holly Willoughby
  
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• Just Stop Oil: Protesters deny aggravated trespass at Les Miserables show
  
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• Glastonbury Festival fans upset at 2024 tickets sale delay
  
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• Blackpink: Lisa blocked on Chinese social media after Paris cabaret show
  
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• HBO boss Casey Bloys admits using fake accounts to hit back at critics
  
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• Beatles fans queue in Liverpool to buy newly-released track
  
  Called Now and Then, the track has been 45 years in the making and was honed using AI technology,

• Tupac Shakur: Duane Davis pleads not guilty to murder
  
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• The story behind The Beatles' 'final song'
  
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• CBeebies' Rebecca Keatley to see other side of screen with baby due
  
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• 'We had to give up our Halifax bedroom for the Beatles'
  
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• Call of Duty: Can the world's favourite shooter game last another 20 years?
  
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• How rap is breaking Belfast barriers brick by brick, song by song
  
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• Fingernails: Film asks, what if a machine could find your life partner?
  
  Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed star in Christos Nikou's intriguing drama about modern dating.

• Heidi Klum proves why she is queen of Halloween
  
  It wouldn't be Halloween without the biggest stars bringing us spooky - and some not so spooky - looks.

• Chandler on Friends: A match made in comedy heaven
  
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• Succession actor Sarah Snook: 'AI is terrifying'
  
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• Halloween 2023: Heidi Klum wows at her annual party as a peacock
  
  Celebrities donned their best spooky outfits at Klum's 22nd annual party in New York.

• Joining rehearsals of London's 'nerdiest' choir
  
  Ready Singer One was started in early 2020 and specialises in music from film, TV and video games.

• Sir Cliff Richard sings in BBC interview 'without artificial insemination'
  
  The legendary singer treats BBC viewers to a melody and says he won't use AI in his work.

• Fans pay tribute to Friends star Matthew Perry
  
  Actor Matthew Perry has died at the age of 54, he was found at his home in LA.

• Taylor Swift: Artist paints the star on giant Halloween pumpkin
  
  It took Ohio-based Jeanette Paras 10 hours to create the artwork.

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• What is happening in Israel and Gaza, and what is Hamas?
  
  How is Israel responding to the deadly attack by Hamas three weeks ago?

• Ukraine war: Zelensky says Israel-Gaza conflict taking focus away from fighting
  
  One of Russia's goals is to draw global attention away from the war in Europe, says Ukraine's president.

• Hostage situation at Germany's Hamburg airport - police
  
  Police are in negotiations with the driver, who is believed to have a child in the car with him.

• Nepal earthquake: More than 150 killed in remote western Nepal
  
  Rescuers are digging through the rubble for survivors after the quake in a remote part of Nepal.

• Moussa Dadis Camara: Guinea ex-ruler taken by armed men back in jail
  
  Moussa Dadis Camara is back in prison after he and three others were broken out early on Saturday.

• An English teacher who fled the Taliban finds a home at last
  
  In 2019, the BBC met an Afghan trapped in a refugee camp. Four years later, he writes his own story.

• Russell Brand: Woman accuses comedian of sexual assault on film set
  
  The actor is accused of exposing himself and sexually assaulting an extra on set in a US lawsuit.

• Matthew Perry buried in private ceremony, US media reports
  
  A private funeral was held in Los Angeles for the actor, attended by family and his Friends co-stars.

• China and Australia: Frenemies who need each other
  
  Australia's Anthony Albanese is in Beijing this weekend for the first such trip in seven years.

• Pioneering operation combines cancer surgery and Caesarean
  
  Four women have had a landmark two-in-one operation to reduce the inherited risk of ovarian cancer.

• Anwar El Ghazi: Dutch winger's Mainz contract terminated over Israel-Gaza post
  
  Former Aston Villa and Everton winger Anwar El Ghazi has his contract terminated at Mainz for a social media post about the Israel-Gaza conflict.

• Maersk cuts 10,000 jobs as shipping demand falls
  
  One of the world's largest export firms reported a huge drop in profits as freight costs have plunged.

• Twitter fired us then ghosted us – Africa staff
  
  Distraught former colleagues are teaming up to take the social media giant, now known as X, to court.

• Israel-Gaza war: Ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup, says Blinken
  
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• Red Crescent says 15 killed in strike on Gaza ambulance outside Al-Shifa hospital
  
  Israel said it hit an ambulance it said was carrying Hamas operatives without specifying where.

• Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt fails to open for foreigners
  
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• Hezbollah steps back from all-out war on Israel over Gaza - for now
  
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• Israel rebuffs Blinken's call for Gaza humanitarian pause
  
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• Pentagon acknowledges flying unarmed drones over Gaza
  
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• Gaza mother: 'I'm not able to hug my children'
  
  Amani left her family in Gaza to study in the UK just days before the war broke out. Now she watches anxiously.

• Could an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza meet its aims?
  
  Israeli forces are expanding ground operations in Gaza, and their ultimate goal is to dismantle Hamas.

• Gaza reporter removes protective vest after learning of colleague's death
  
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• Shops flooded as Storm Ciarán strikes Tuscany
  
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• Li Keqiang: Official nerves show as BBC hears praise for dead Chinese leader
  
  Journalists are kept at bay as crowds mourn Li Keqiang, who in death poses a challenge to Xi Jinping.

• Migrants to Europe dying in gun battles and car crashes
  
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This simulation reveals how a US-Russia nuclear war would play out Story by Zeleb.es 

This simulation reveals how a US-Russia nuclear war would play out (msn.com)

 

 The Daily Digest

 

This simulation reveals how a US-Russia nuclear war would play out Story by Zeleb.es  

 

 

 

   

The war in Ukraine has caused concerns about nuclear war

With the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has reminded Europe on more than one occasion that Russia is still a nuclear superpower.

 

Third World War

This warning brought back old fears about atomic warfare: What cities would be attacked in such a conflict? How many victims? What would a nuclear war look like?

This simulation reveals how a US-Russia nuclear war would play out (msn.com)

Dragged into a world war

The scenario would involve many countries in the conflict, mainly those where NATO has military bases

First strike: 2,6 million casualties©Provided by The Daily Digest

According to the Princeton simulation, Russia would attack first with approximately 300 nuclear warheads and short-range missiles, striking NATO bases and troops. NATO would respond with around 180 warheads carried by aircraft over Russian objectives. Casualties? 2.6 million in the span of three hours.

Image: Screencap from the Princeton University simulation.

Second strike: 3.4 million casualties

With Europe in ruins, NATO launches 600 warheads from US soil and submarine-based missiles aimed at Russian nuclear forces. Russia counterattacks with missiles launched from silos, submarines, and road-mobile vehicles. This conflict continuation would last only 45 minutes and have a toll of up to 3.4 million victims.

Image: Screencap from the Princeton University simulation.

Third step: Total annhiliation

NATO and Russia, following the scenario elaborated by Princeton University, would launch attacks on important economic and population centers to hamper the other side's recovery. Five to ten nuclear warheads would be used for each city. Thermonuclear warfare would kill 85.3 million people in 45 minutes.

Image: Screencap from the Princeton University simulation.

Death toll: 34.1 million

The study estimates that, in total, a nuclear war would immediately affect 91.5 million people, which would cause 34.1 million deaths and 57.4 million wounded within the first four or five hours.

Repeating Hiroshima©Provided by The Daily Digest

The landscape after the conflict would be something like that: Hiroshima in 1945, when an atomic bomb dropped by the United States leveled an entire city. Over 800,000 people died and some 70,000 were wounded. Those affected by radiation would raise the death toll over the following years.

Strike first, strike hard©Provided by The Daily Digest

The Princeton University simulation started off from the idea that, in a conflict between Russia and the United States, Moscow would strike with nuclear weapons first.

Either way, the result is the same©Provided by The Daily Digest

If the United States is the first to start a nuclear strike, the result would be more or less the same. The scenario presented is based on how the NATO defensive strategy is thought out in case of Russian aggression.

A clockwork war

There really isn't much that can be done during a nuclear war: Everything is programmed and there's virtually no time to stop Armageddon.

Also known as 'MAD'

The fragile principle that held together peace during the Cold War between the United States and Russia was Mutual Assured Destruction, also known as MAD. The idea was that no side would dare to push the button since nobody would win.

1 + 1 = 0©Provided by The Daily Digest

The phrase is attributed to nuclear scientist John von Neumann, seeing here receiving the Freedom Medal from President Eisenhower in 1956. The German-born scientist translated the idea into mathematic terms as 1 + 1 = 0.

The Doomsday Machine©Provided by The Daily Digest

Film buffs might remember The Doomsday Machine from 'Dr. Strangelove', a Soviet supercomputer that would automatically start a nuclear strike in case the US started a nuclear war. A 2009 piece by NPR reveals that such a system was real and that it was still functioning.

WarGames

A relatively more recent example was the 1983 John Badham movie 'WarGames'. The premise rests on the tension on how to stop a military supercomputer once it has started to run its attack protocol.

'The only winning move is not to play'

'WarGames' spoilers ahead: The supercomputer programmed to start the nuclear war plays tic-tac-toe against itself and figures out that nobody can win a game like that.

Life's not a Hollywood movie

However, life isn't a Hollywood movie, especially when it comes to war. When a conflict begins, it's hard to say how it will end. Just look at recent cases in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Atomic nightmare

The threat of the nuclear apocalypse loomed over the 1980s. Is the world regressing to this scenario? Will humanity go from a global pandemic to a new world war?

Give peace a chance

Right now, nuclear war is just a hypothetical scenario run by Princeton University. Let's hope it doesn't ever become reality.

 

• Ukraine war: Zelensky says Israel-Gaza conflict taking focus away from fighting Published 9  Nov 4, 2023    Russia-Ukraine war

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67321777?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

By Jaroslav Lukiv  BBC News

President Zelensky rejected suggestions that fighting in Ukraine had reached a stalemate

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1403D/production/_131618918_2d1e16d4bb74e26c42c4594b0e471b8d735785b6-1.jpg.webp

The Israel-Gaza war is "taking away the focus" from the conflict in Ukraine, the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted.

He said this was "one of the goals" of Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

And he denied that fighting in Ukraine had reached a stalemate, despite a recent assessment to this effect by the country's top military general.

Ukraine's counter-offensive in the south has so far made little headway. 

This has prompted fears of war fatigue among Kyiv's Western allies, with suggestions of growing reluctance in some capitals to continue giving Ukraine advanced weapons and funds.

In a separate development on Saturday, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed that Ukrainian soldiers from 128th Mountain Assault Brigade "Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia)" were killed, ordering a "full investigation in what he described as a "tragedy". 

He did not say how many soldiers died in what Ukraine's military said was a Russian missile strike in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Friday.

Reports in Ukrainian media and among Russian military bloggers earlier said more than 20 Ukrainian service personnel were killed during an award ceremony in a village close to the front lines.

Ukraine's military also said that on Saturday it successfully hit "sea and port infrastructure" of a shipbuilding plant in Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Russia's defence ministry was later quoted by the country's state-run news agencies as saying that 13 out of 15 Ukrainian missiles fired on the plant in the city of Kerch, eastern Crimea, were shot down, but a Russian ship was damaged.

• Why Kyiv's east bank gain could be significant
• War in maps: Ukraine widening Russia defences breach

Speaking at Saturday's briefing in Kyiv with visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Zelensky said: "It's clear that the war in the Middle East is taking away the focus" from Ukraine.

He said Russia wanted this focus to be "weakened", but stressed that "everything is in our powers".

Mr Zelensky was also asked to comment on this week's assessment by Ukraine's chief military commander Valery Zaluzhny that the war was now moving to a "positional" or static stage, and this would benefit Moscow by "allowing it to rebuild its military power".

"Everyone is getting tired and there are different opinions," Mr Zelensky replied, adding: "But this is not a stalemate."

He admitted that Russia was "controlling the skies" and that Ukraine urgently needed US-made F-16 warplanes and advanced anti-aircraft defences to change the situation.

The Ukrainian leader recalled that last year, there had also been a lot of talk about a stalemate on the vast battlefield in Ukraine - but he pointed to Kyiv's subsequent major military victories in the north-eastern Kharkiv region and Kherson in the south.

 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A7E5/production/_131618924_3ea1bcc4b5be0592c6a5fff80565e5bd4a69d3ab-1.jpg.webp

Russia has in recent weeks been trying to advance in eastern Ukraine, with heavy shelling of the key town of Avdiivka

Mr Zelensky also rejected media reports that he was coming under growing pressure to consider negotiations with Russia.

"Today, no-one among EU, US leaders and others - our partners - is putting pressure for us to now sit down to negotiate with Russia, and give away something to it. This will not happen."

 

Moscow on Thursday also commented on Mr Zaluzhny's assessment, with Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman saying the current battlefield situation was not a "stalemate".

"All the [war] goals that were set must be achieved," Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Ukraine must realise that "even talking about any prospects for the Kyiv regime's victory on the battlefield is absurd".

President Putin has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine's counter-offensive had failed, while his Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said this week that Kyiv was losing the war despite supplies of new weapons from Nato allies.

Meanwhile, the UK defence intelligence said in its latest report on Saturday that Russia "has likely lost around 200 armoured vehicles during its assaults on the Donbas town of Avdiivka" in eastern Ukraine.

"It is plausible that Russia has suffered several thousand personnel casualties around the town since the start of October 2023.

"Russia's leadership continues to demonstrate a willingness to accept heavy personnel losses for marginal territorial gains," the report said.

Moscow has in recent weeks been trying to advance in eastern and north-eastern Ukraine - but Ukraine's military says all the attacks have been rebuffed.

The claims by the two warring sides have not been independently verified.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/5E9B/production/_131591242_ukraine_invasion_east_map-2x-nc.png.webp

Ukraine war: Why Kyiv's Dnipro east bank gain could be significant

• Published 21 October Russia-Ukraine war 
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67182172
  
• https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/286D/production/_131494301_ukrainewar.jpg.webp
• By Jenny Hill BBC News, Ukraine

  Ukrainian fighters on the frontline say troops have not only crossed into Russian occupied territory but held a position, apparently for the first time, on the fiercely defended east (or left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region.

  The development is potentially significant. Ukraine's counteroffensive aims to slice through Russian occupied territory, severing a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula which Moscow annexed - illegally - in 2014.

  In a text exchange, the 46th brigade told the BBC that troops were engaged in heavy fighting as they try to take full control of the village of Krynky.

  If successful, the force said, the settlement would give advanced units a base from which to launch a larger offensive aimed at dividing Russian troops and cutting off their supply lines.

  The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that Ukrainian forces were continuing larger than usual ground operations on the east bank and Russian military bloggers have also noted fighting in Krynky.

  And the action is being closely scrutinised - success here would be seized upon by Ukraine's military chiefs. Their counteroffensive, launched in June, has made slow progress, with limited territorial gains.

  • Ukraine troop build-up reported across Dnipro river
  • Biden seeks 'vital' war aid for Israel and Ukraine

  But the fighters we spoke to acknowledged that, even if the troops were to take Krynky, a modern day "Normandy landings" style attack was unlikely.

  And they gave us a glimpse of the dangers and challenges they face, particularly as winter approaches.

  The 46th brigade is fighting further along the vast frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region with the same aim in mind - to cut off Russian access to the Crimean peninsula.

  They told us they had just managed to partially breach the first line of Russian defence near the village of Verbove - and that they'd successfully targeted some ammunition depots and bases, but that progress was limited.

  They described heavily mined Russian fortifications and daily air attacks on their logistics routes without, they complained, air support of their own.

  Russian troops, they said, had been on the defensive but were now on the attack.

  And, as winter approaches, conditions are deteriorating - for both sides.

  Rainy weather is affecting the work of drones, reconnaissance equipment and aviation, the soldiers said. But they did not anticipate any let-up in the fighting.

  "Winter will not be a time for respite," they said.

  Additional reporting by Anastasiia Levchenko

   

  Ukraine war: Kyiv troop build-up reported across Dnipro river  19 October   2023   Russia-Ukraine war

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67058953 By Jaroslav Lukiv BBC News

  
•  

 Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in the south in June - but the advance has been slow so far

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/0999/production/_131475420_114f46f42e354042935e6b34fd029da69c8d3f93-1.jpg.webp

Ukraine's military appears to have confirmed reports that its troops have crossed on to the Russian-occupied left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River.

The armed forces general staff listed Pishchanivka village in the southern Kherson region, 3km (two miles) east of the river, as being shelled by Russia.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian troops had advanced up to 4km east of the river.

Russia's Vladimir Putin insisted that Ukraine's operation was failing.

Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in the south in June, seeking to sever Russia's land corridor to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

Kyiv aims to reach the Sea of Azov coast, splitting Russian troops in the region in two, and making the Kremlin's supply lines more complicated.

The counteroffensive has so far been slow, bringing only limited territorial gains.

• Has Ukraine broken through the dragon's teeth?
• War in maps: Ukraine widening Russia defences breach

Ukrainian troops have made a number of smaller raids across the Dnipro river before - but the latest reported advance appears to be an attempt to expand the area under their control in anticipation of a larger offensive cross-river operation.

In its report on Thursday morning, the General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia had carried out air strikes on Pishchanivka in the past 24 hours.

It provided no details on whether there were any Ukrainian troops in or near the village.

Hours earlier, the ISW quoted Russian sources as claiming that "likely company-sized elements of two Ukrainian naval infantry brigades conducted an assault across the Dnipro River on to the east bank" on 17-18 October.

"Geolocated footage published on 18 October indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced north of Pishchanivka (14km east of Kherson City and 3km from the Dnipro River) and into [the village of] Poyma (11km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River)," the US-based think tank added.

Russian military blogger WarGonzo claimed on Thursday that the Ukrainian units fighting on the eastern bank of Ukraine's main river had been previously trained in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry appeared to have confirmed Ukrainian operations in the area.

In its report on Wednesday evening, it said Russian troops had "suppressed the activity" of four Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in Poyma and the nearby village of Pidstepne.

Moscow claims that, overall, Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Kherson region is failing.

"There is no result yet. There are [Ukrainian] losses," said President Putin during a visit to China on Wednesday.

In other key developments:

• Three people were wounded in Russian shelling of Kherson on Thursday, local officials say
• Five people have been confirmed dead in the southern city of In Zaporizhzhia in a Russian attack on Wednesday
• Further blasts have been reported in Zaporizhzhia and the central city of Dnipro after Russian air strikes. It is not clear whether there are any casualties

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More on this story

• Ukraine uses US long-range missiles for the first time  Published 17 October 

  

• Has Ukraine broken through the dragon's teeth?  Published 18 September, 2023 

  

• War in maps: Ukraine widening Russia defences breach Published 29 September , 2023 

  

• Russia attacks east Ukraine stronghold of Avdiivka Published 12 October , 2023
  

  Ukraine in maps: Tracking the war with Russia

  • Published 29 September  2023
     Russia-Ukraine war By The Visual Journalism Team BBC News
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682

  Ukraine has been widening the breach in Russia's defences in the southern Zaporizhzhia region as its counter-offensive continues to make slow progress against Moscow's forces.

  Here are the latest developments:

  • Ukraine has brought heavy equipment beyond Russia's first line of defences in the Zaporizhzhia region for the first time, analysts say
  • It has also made advances around Bakhmut after Russia moved some of its most experienced troops from the city to the Zaporizhzhia region
  • Meanwhile, Russia has maintained drone attacks on Ukraine's River Danube ports, damaging the country's grain export infrastructure

  Ukraine's armoured vehicles advance

  Ukrainian forces have been widening their breach of Russian defensive lines near the village of Robotyne for several weeks and analysts say they may be preparing for a new push.

  The tiny village, some 56km (35 miles) south-east of the city of Zaporizhzhia, has been a focal point since Ukraine's counter-offensive began at the start of June.

  Progress has been slow but analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) say they have confirmed that Ukrainian forces are operating armoured vehicles beyond the Russian anti-tank ditch and dragon's teeth obstacles in the area for the first time - just to the west of nearby Verbove.

  

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/CABF/production/_131230915_before_and_after_around_robotyne_640-2x-nc.png.webp

War in maps: Ukraine widening Russia defences breach

The ISW describes this as an "important sign of progress" but adds it is not prepared to say that Ukraine has broken through as its forces have not breached the last visible defensive positions.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says this is the most strategically important part of the Ukrainian counter-offensive and, if it is successful, could cut off Russia's supply lines that connect the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Crimea.

Doing so would make it all but impossible for Russia to maintain its huge garrison in Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, he adds.

• Has Ukraine broken through the dragon's teeth?

However, the advance so far has been restricted to the area around Robotyne and Ukrainian forces have a long way to go if they are to achieve this aim by reaching the Sea of Azov.

 

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/F1CF/production/_131230916_ukraine_invasion_south_close-up_ma0_21_09_23-2x-nc.png.webp

The battle for Bakhmut

As Ukraine has been trying to widen the breach near Robotyne, Russia has been bringing reinforcements into the region - including some of its best trained soldiers that had previously been deployed elsewhere.

The UK Ministry of Defence says the redeployments of Russia's paratroop formations, known as the VDV, have probably weakened its defences around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which has endured some of the heaviest fighting of the war.

It has been under Russian control for several months but Ukraine has gained some ground in the surrounding areas and the MoD says Ukraine has now secured the villages of Klishchiivka and Andriivka, about 8km (five miles) south of the city.

 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/13FEF/production/_131230918_bakhmut_no_so_close_up_map22-2x-nc.png.webp

Attacks on Crimea

Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on the Crimean peninsula in the past month - including a missile attack on the port of Sevastopol on 22 September which it says killed Russian 34 officers.

It initially claimed they included the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, but Moscow later released a video of Viktor Sokolov, which it said was filmed several days later.

That attack came just over a week after a major attack on the same city, which is the headquarters of the fleet, using cruise missiles supplied by the UK and France that is thought to have destroyed a ship and a submarine.

It also caused significant damage to the dry docks, which are vital for maintenance of the entire Black Sea fleet.

The next day Ukraine said it had succeeded in destroying a sophisticated Russian air defence system - the S-400 - on the peninsular.

Attacks in late August destroyed another S-400 and others knocked out Russian radar positions on offshore gas platforms.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/118DF/production/_131230917_crimea_attacks_2x640-nc.png.webp

Russia's Black Sea fleet is an important target for Kyiv - it is seen as the flagship unit of Russia's navy and its ships have launched missiles at Ukraine causing devastating damage.

It has also been threatening to block the Black Sea shipping routes that Ukraine has been using to export grain - which is a particular sticking point for Kyiv currently.

 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/3EB4/production/_131225061_sevastopol_attack_crimea_640-2x-nc.png.webp

Moscow pulled out of the internationally brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative in mid-July - guaranteeing safe passage of non-military vessels - arguing that Russia's own agricultural exporters were being disadvantaged.

• Is Ukraine trying to retake Crimea?

Since Russia pulled out, only a handful of vessels, have been able to sail from Ukraine's Black Sea ports such as Odesa, with the first large grain shipment leaving Chornomorsk, just south of Odesa, this week and reaching Turkey on Friday.

Drone attacks on Danube ports

The UK's Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) says 65% of Ukraine's grain exports are now going from the ports of Izmail and Reni, on the Danube. The grain is then transported by river and canals into the Black Sea, via the Romanian seaports of Sulina and Constanta.

In theory it is safer to go this way, as vessels entering the Black Sea from the mouth of the river immediately enter Romanian territorial waters.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/643F/production/_131036652_barges_take_ukraines_grain_to_constanta_640-nc-2x-nc.png.webp

But Russia has also been attacking Ukraine's Danube ports using drones.

Since the River Danube forms part of Ukraine's border with Nato, Russia's attacks have an added geopolitical dimension - at least one Russian drone has been filmed exploding across the river from Izmail, inside Romania.

• Russian drones threaten Ukraine's economic lifeline

More than a year of fighting

Russia's invasion began with dozens of missile strikes on cities all over Ukraine before dawn on 24 February 2022.

Russian ground troops moved in quickly and within a few weeks were in control of large areas of Ukraine and had advanced to the suburbs of Kyiv.

Russian forces were bombarding Kharkiv, and they had taken territory in the east and south as far as Kherson, and surrounded the port city of Mariupol.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/166FF/production/_131230919_ukraine_control_quad_640_21_09_23-2x-nc.png.webp

But they hit very strong Ukrainian resistance almost everywhere and faced serious logistical problems with poorly motivated Russian troops suffering shortages of food, water and ammunition.

Ukrainian forces were also quick to deploy Western supplied arms such as the Nlaw anti-tank system, which proved highly effective against the Russian advance.

By October the picture had changed dramatically and having failed to take Kyiv, Russia withdrew completely from the north.

More than a year since the invasion, Ukraine is now hoping its latest counter-offensive can turn the war in its favour.

By David Brown, Bella Hurrell, Dominic Bailey, Mike Hills, Lucy Rodgers, Paul Sargeant, Alison Trowsdale, Tural Ahmedzade, Chris Clayton, Kady Wardell, Mark Bryson, Zoe Bartholomew, Sean Willmott, Sana Dionysiou, Joy Roxas, Gerry Fletcher, Jana Tauschinsk, Debie Loizou, Simon Martin and Prina Shah.

Ukraine war: Why Kyiv's Dnipro east bank gain could be significant

• Published 21 October  2023 Russia-Ukraine war
• Ukraine war: Why Kyiv's Dnipro east bank gain could be significant - BBC News
• By Jenny Hill BBC News, Ukraine
• 
• Hostage situation at Germany's Hamburg airport - police
  
  Police are in negotiations with the driver, who is believed to have a child in the car with him.

Ukrainian fighters on the frontline say troops have not only crossed into Russian occupied territory but held a position, apparently for the first time, on the fiercely defended east (or left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region.

The development is potentially significant. Ukraine's counteroffensive aims to slice through Russian occupied territory, severing a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula which Moscow annexed - illegally - in 2014. 

In a text exchange, the 46th brigade told the BBC that troops were engaged in heavy fighting as they try to take full control of the village of Krynky.

If successful, the force said, the settlement would give advanced units a base from which to launch a larger offensive aimed at dividing Russian troops and cutting off their supply lines.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that Ukrainian forces were continuing larger than usual ground operations on the east bank and Russian military bloggers have also noted fighting in Krynky.

And the action is being closely scrutinised - success here would be seized upon by Ukraine's military chiefs. Their counteroffensive, launched in June, has made slow progress, with limited territorial gains.

• Ukraine troop build-up reported across Dnipro river
• Biden seeks 'vital' war aid for Israel and Ukraine

But the fighters we spoke to acknowledged that, even if the troops were to take Krynky, a modern day "Normandy landings" style attack was unlikely.

And they gave us a glimpse of the dangers and challenges they face, particularly as winter approaches.

The 46th brigade is fighting further along the vast frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region with the same aim in mind - to cut off Russian access to the Crimean peninsula.

They told us they had just managed to partially breach the first line of Russian defence near the village of Verbove - and that they'd successfully targeted some ammunition depots and bases, but that progress was limited.

They described heavily mined Russian fortifications and daily air attacks on their logistics routes without, they complained, air support of their own.

Russian troops, they said, had been on the defensive but were now on the attack.

And, as winter approaches, conditions are deteriorating - for both sides.

Rainy weather is affecting the work of drones, reconnaissance equipment and aviation, the soldiers said. But they did not anticipate any let-up in the fighting.

"Winter will not be a time for respite," they said.

Additional reporting by Anastasiia Levchenko

Biden seeks 'vital' war aid for Israel and Ukraine

• Published 20 October  2023
•  Biden seeks 'vital' war aid for Israel and Ukraine - BBC News
• Russia-Ukraine war

Biden: Abandoning Israel and Ukraine 'not worth it'

By Holly Honderich & Sarah Smith BBC News, Washington

By Holly Honderich & Sarah Smith

BBC News, Washington

US President Joe Biden has said world history is at "an inflection point" as he made the case for billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel.

In a speech at the White House, he said Hamas and Russia both wanted to "annihilate a neighbouring democracy".

Mr Biden said he would send an urgent funding request - expected to be $105bn (£87bn) - to Congress on Friday.

But the House of Representatives has no leader and can't approve any spending.

Mr Biden's rare primetime address to the nation from the Oval Office on Thursday evening was just the second of his presidency.

It came a day after his whirlwind trip to Israel following the attacks by Hamas on 7 October.

Mr Biden said the emergency aid request would "pay dividends for American security for generations".

In his 15-minute address, he also condemned any acts of hatred against Jews or Muslims in the US, and condemned the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea al-Fayoume in Chicago this week.

"We must without equivocation denounce anti-Semitism," he said. "We must also without equivocation denounce Islamophobia."

The White House has not yet officially released details about the expected aid package.

But a source familiar with the request told the BBC's US partner CBS News it would include:

• $60bn for Ukraine and replenishing US stockpiles
• $14bn for Israel
• $10bn for humanitarian efforts
• $7bn for the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan
• $14bn for US border security

Mr Biden also took great care to stress his sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as talking about meeting the families of Israeli and US victims of the Hamas attacks.

Democrats hope that by tying the different aid packages together they can win support for the Ukraine funding, which some Republicans oppose.

But the request will arrive at an effectively frozen Congress, as House Republicans have been unable to elect a Speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a right-wing revolt more than two weeks ago.

Mr Biden, who is a Democrat, did not explicitly address the political dysfunction, though he acknowledged "divisions at home".

"We have to get past them," he said. "We can't let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibility as a great nation.

"We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen."

But it is unclear if the spending package would pass Congress, even with a House Speaker.

The Republican leader of the Senate has indicated willingness to take up the measure, but there is opposition within the party.

Eight Republicans, led by Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, wrote in a letter: "These are two separate and unrelated conflicts and it would be wrong to leverage support of aid to Israel in an attempt to get additional aid for Ukraine across the finish line."

Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance called Mr Biden's linking of the two conflicts "disgusting".

"He's using dead children in Israel to sell his disastrous Ukraine policy," he posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the speech.

More on Israel-Gaza war

• Follow live: Latest updates
• Explained: What evidence tell us about Al-Ahli hospital blast
• History behind the story: The Israel-Palestinian conflict
• From Israel: Community frozen as Hamas atrocities emerge
• From Gaza: BBC reporter flees Israel bomb warning

There was even a sign of dissent within the Biden administration on Thursday as a state department official resigned in protest at the US decision to keep sending weapons to Israel as it lays siege to Gaza.

Josh Paul, who headed the bureau that oversees arms transfers, told the BBC after quitting that he believed Israel's actions violated US legal provisions meant to restrict weapons sales to human rights abusers.

"I think our mechanisms for determining violations are broken," he said 

Additional reporting by Phil McCausland and Max Matza

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Israel-Gaza war
• Gaza
• US politics
• US Congress
• Joe Biden

 

Ukraine's Crimea attacks seen as key to counter-offensive against Russia   Russia-Ukraine war

• Published 16 September  2023
• Ukraine's Crimea attacks seen as key to counter-offensive against Russia - BBC News

• By Paul Adams Diplomatic correspondent, in Kyiv

  

  This week saw spectacular Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean Peninsula, hitting Russian warships and missiles.

  Estimates of the damage done ran into billions of pounds and raised the question: is Ukraine getting ready to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014?

  Crimea is a Russian fortress, so it is important not to get carried away.

  "The strategy has two main goals," says Oleksandr Musiienko, from Kyiv's Centre for Military and Legal Studies.

  "To establish dominance in the north-western Black Sea and to weaken Russian logistical opportunities for their defence lines in the south, near Tokmak and Melitopol."

  In other words, operations in Crimea go hand-in-glove with Ukraine's counter-offensive in the south.

  "They depend on each other," Musiienko says.

  Let's look at Ukraine's recent successes in Crimea.

  On Wednesday, long-range cruise missiles, supplied by the UK and France, dealt a heavy blow to Russia's much-vaunted Black Sea fleet at its home port of Sevastopol.

  Satellite images of the scene at the Sevmorzavod dry dock repair facility showed two blackened vessels.

  On Friday, Britain's Ministry of Defence said a large amphibious landing ship, the Minsk, had "almost certainly been functionally destroyed".

  Next to it, one of Russia's Kilo class diesel-electric submarines, the Rostov-on-Don - used to launch Kalibr cruise missiles hundreds of miles into Ukraine - had "likely suffered catastrophic damage".

  Perhaps equally importantly the dry docks - vital for maintenance of the entire Black Sea fleet - would likely be out of use "for many months", the ministry said.

  On Saturday, Ukraine offered tantalising new details.

  It said special forces had played a key role, using boats and an unspecified "underwater delivery means" to get ashore, before using "special technical assets" to help identify and target the vessels.

  • Russian air defence system destroyed in Crimea
  • Ukraine launches missile attack on Crimea
  • Ukraine claims to retake Black Sea drilling rigs

  But with the fires barely out in Sevastopol there were more dramatic night-time explosions as Ukraine blew up one of Russia's most modern air defence systems, an S-400, around 40 miles (64km) north at Yevpatoria.

  This was another sophisticated operation that used a combination of drones and Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles to confuse and destroy a key component of Russia's air defences on the Crimean Peninsula.

  A significant side note: Russian attempts to use exactly this technique over Kyiv have generally failed, largely thanks to the presence of US Patriot interceptor missiles.

  Thursday was the second time in less than a month that Ukraine has knocked out an S-400 surface-to-air missile system on the peninsula.

  On 23 August, at Olenivka, on the western tip of the Tarkhankut Peninsula, Ukraine managed to destroy another launcher and a nearby radar station.

  Russia was thought to have not more than six S-400 launchers in Crimea. Now it has lost two.

  But these are only some of Ukraine's recent operations.

  Others have knocked out Russian radar positions on offshore gas platforms and, according to Kyiv, used experimental maritime drones to attack a hovercraft missile carrier at the entrance to Sevastopol harbour.

  With its airbases, troop concentrations, training grounds and the Black Sea fleet, Crimea has been a key target since Russia's full-scale invasion last year.

  "In Crimea, they still have a lot of stockpiles, with artillery shells and other types of weapons," Musiienko says. "And this is the main logistic supply line for them."

  Over the months, Kyiv's operations have grown in sophistication, from a drone attack in August 2022 which destroyed an estimated nine Russian aircraft at the Saky air base, to the combined drone and missile attacks of today.

  With more advanced weapons thought to be in the pipeline, Musiienko expects Ukraine to launch ever more sophisticated operations.

  "When we get ATACMS (tactical ballistic missiles) from the United States, I think we will try to use - in one attack - ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and also drones," he says.

  "And that will be a serious problem for Russia's air defence system," he adds.

  "We will try to blind them."

  Each successful attack, he says, makes the next one easier. "We are clearing the way, and it's becoming more simple."

  • Ukraine punches through key Russian line, generals claim
  • Rogue Russian pilot tried to shoot down RAF jet

  The latest reports from Washington suggests the Biden administration is close to approving the ATACMS long range missile system after months of Ukrainian lobbying.

  Does any of this mean that Kyiv is getting closer to its goal of liberating Crimea?

  "It's getting closer, but there's still a lot to do," says retired Ukrainian navy captain Andriy Ryzhenko.

  "We need to liberate the Sea of Azov coast and cut the land corridor," he says, referring to Ukraine's slow, grinding offensive in the south.

  And then there is the Kerch Bridge.

  Ukraine has been hitting Moscow's lifeline to Crimea for almost a year, but Russian heavy equipment still moves along its vital railway.

  Despite being much better defended now, it remains very much in Kyiv's sights.

  "When we shut down the Crimean bridge, it will be a logistical problem for them," Ryzhenko says, with some understatement.

  Cutting off Crimea would be catastrophic for Russia and provide a welcome boost to Ukraine's difficult southern offensive.

  So is all this a prelude to a Ukrainian effort to retake the peninsula?

  Observers here in Kyiv are trying not to get ahead of themselves.

  "I think this could be a preparation for the liberation of Crimea," Musiienko. "But I understand that it will take time.

  "What we're trying to do right now is clean the way to Crimea."

  On Saturday, the Secretary of National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Ukraine was using every means at its disposal to force Russia to abandon Crimea.

  "It looks like if the Russians do not leave Crimea on their own," he said in a radio interview, "we will have to 'smoke them out'."

  Related Topics

  • Russia-Ukraine war   Crimea

  More on this story

  • Russian air defence system destroyed in Crimea - Ukraine

     
  • Published 14 September
     

  • Ukraine launches missile attack on Crimea

     
  • Published 13 September 

  • Ukraine claims to retake Black Sea drilling rigs

     
  • Published 11 September
     

  • Historic Ukraine sites added to UN danger list

     
  • Published 16 September 

  • Rogue Russian pilot tried to shoot down RAF jet

     
  • Published 14 September
     

  • Ukraine punches through key Russian line, generals claim

     
  • Published 3 September

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