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The UN's top humanitarian official Tom Fletcher says the report on the famine in Gaza City is 'irrefutable testimony'. But Israel categorically denies any claims of famine. Also in the programme: the FBI raids the home of President Trump’s former advisor John Bolton; and the Indian government cracks down on online gambling.(Image: A child reacts surrounded by pots as Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 21 August 2025. Credit: Reuters/Hatem Khaled)

A report by the internationally recognised body for determining global food insecurity has confirmed that there is now famine in Gaza City. The IPC warns that the dire situation is likely to expand to other parts of the territory by the end of next month - with half-a-million people in Gaza facing catastrophic conditions. Israel denies there is famine in the territory.Also in the programme: Spain’s most famous architect on the path to sainthood; and the dinosaur with the 'eye-catching sail'.(File photo: Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Hatem Khaled)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the start of negotiations to end the war in Gaza on ‘Israel’s terms’. He said those included the release of all hostages held by Hamas. This comes as he approves plans to take over Gaza City. Also in the programme; why political parties in the United States are seeking to manipulate the boundaries of electoral constituencies; the new research that confirms there are four species of giraffe.(File Picture: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a reception in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool)

Israel has launched a new assault on Gaza, stepping up its bombardment of northern suburbs Gaza City. We’ll hear from a journalist in the city.Also in the programme: A torrent of Russian drones and missiles have hit Ukraine; a warning that AI might bring on psychosis; and the impact of tourism on Antarctica.(Photo: Palestinian family fleeing Gaza City. Credit: Reuters)

Israel says it's widened its offensive in Gaza City has begun, while also approving the construction of a settlement that largely splits the occupied West Bank. Newshour hears from Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, a member of the Religious Zionism party, and from Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative.Also in the programme: the ongoing deportation raids in California; and the battle to save one of the world's tallest trees from fire.(Picture: Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim)

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

A day after Hamas accepts a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza, an Israeli government spokesman tells us Israel is not interested in a “partial deal. We ask what's changed since Israel backed a very similar proposal three months ago.Also in the programme: the White House says work continues on hammering out security guarantees for Ukraine; and a cocoa connoisseur on new scientific insights into what makes great chocolate.(IMAGE: Israeli tanks deployed along the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, 19 August 2025. / CREDIT: Photo by ATEF SAFADI/EPA/Shutterstock (15447793c))

President Volodymyr Zelensky says work has already started on security guarantees for Ukraine after talks in Washington about how to end the war. But there's been no let up in Russian attacks on Ukraine - with oil and gas infrastructure targeted overnight.Also in the programme: Mediators await Israeli response to new Gaza ceasefire proposal; entire church begins two-day journey across Swedish city; and the women trapped in Afghanistan's mental health system. (Photo credit: EPA)

The Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky visits the White House, six months after an Oval Office dressing down, and three days after Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin. Several European leaders also flew to DC to show support for Ukraine. But is there any evidence of any progress towards peace? And on what terms? Also in the programme: as Hamas says it accepts the latest Gaza ceasefire offer, our correspondent Lucy Williamson reports from the West Bank, where she witnessed Palestinian farmers being attacked by settlers; plus a cartographer explains why many maps literally distort our picture of the world - a problem the African Union has now joined calls to correct.(IMAGE: United States President Donald J Trump (R) meets President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 18 August 2025 / CREDIT: Photo by PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock)

President Zelensky has condemned the latest deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine, ahead of his talks with President Trump and European leaders in Washington. Mr Zelensky accused Russia of carrying out what he called demonstrative killings to 'humiliate diplomatic efforts' to end the war. Ukraine says at least ten people have been killed in strikes on Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.Also the Egyptian foreign minister and the Palestinian prime minister are visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to highlight the need for more food aid to get through. We have an interview with the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa.And Croatian ultra-nationalist mega-gig exposes divided society.(Photo: A residential area damaged by strikes in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, on Monday. Credit: EPA)

Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, says Vladimir Putin has agreed to 'robust' security guarantees for Ukraine. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has welcomed the US offer - we'll get more details about what was discussed at the summit in Alaska.Also in the programme: the robots that imitate athletes; and we look back on the life of the English actor Terence Stamp, who has died aged 87.(Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Brussels; 17 August 2025. Credit: OLIVIER HOSLET/EPA/Shutterstock)

What next for Ukraine? EU leaders have said they intend to travel to Washington as President Zelensky prepares for talks with Trump. Also in the programme: Hostage families have called a general strike in Israel; and the great Mayan forest and efforts to save it.(Photograph: President Zelensky and Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels. Credit: Shutterstock)

Vladimir Putin has reportedly demanded a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for a freezing of front lines elsewhere. The Russian president made the demand during Friday's meeting with President Trump in Alaska, according to sources involved in the talks. We speak to Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations.Also in the programme: Environmentalists have welcomed a deal signed by Mexico, Belize and Guatemala to protect the second large rainforest in the Americas; and are mangoes good for diabetes?(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Donald Trump has said he, along with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, have determined that a peace agreement was preferable to a ceasefire in the conflict between the two warring nations.The announcement comes after Mr Trump's high-profile summit in Alaska with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin ended without an agreement.We'll hear a Ukrainian response to the sight of President Putin being given a red carpet welcome in Alaska and get reaction fom the foreign minister of the Czech Republic.Also in the programme: Violent clashes erupt in Serbia's capital after demonstrations by pro-government and anti-corruption groups; and we mark 80 years since the publication of George Orwell's Animal Farm.(Photo shows US.president Donald Trump at a press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska,on 15th August 2025. Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

The world’s media watches as the presidents of Russia and the USA meet in Alaska. Russian officials say they want to discuss broad US-Russian relations, but on Air Force One President Trump said he wanted to focus on Ukraine. Also on the programme: we hear from an Indian soldier who saw the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and the people trying to crack an unsolved code sitting right outside the CIA’s headquarters. (IMAGE: Trump and Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska, 15 August CREDIT: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Can Donald Trump strike a deal with Vladimir Putin in Alaska today and get a ceasefire in Ukraine - and if so, on what terms? President Trump has previously spoken of 'land swaps' but Kyiv has already rejected the idea. We hear from a teenager who lived under Russian occupation in the Donbas for 10 years, and recently escaped.Also in the programme: the world marks 80 years since Japan surrendered, ending World War Two; and as talks on a global plastics treaty collapse – again – is there any hope countries can ever agree?(IMAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump waves while boarding Air Force One, as he departs for Alaska to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., August 15, 2025 / CREDIT: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

There's been fierce international criticism of Israeli plans to build more than three-thousand homes in a controversial settlement in the occupied West Bank. The country's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the move - which will split the territory - will "bury the idea of a Palestinian state". Britain's foreign secretary, David Lammy, described the plan as a "flagrant breach of international law" that "must be stopped". Also in the programme: Humanitarian workers in Sudan say they lack the resources to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak in camps for people displaced by the civil war; what sort of welcome are Alaskans preparing for President Putin; and why are some female Australian birds developing male sex organs. (Photo: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

Ahead of the Trump / Putin meeting in Alaska, we ask what's happened to Ukraine's missing children? Ukraine says thousands have been taken by Russian forces - many indoctrinated in Russian military schools – and some are now fighting on the frontline against their home country.Also in the programme: what are Israelis now thinking and saying about the war in Gaza – and how well informed are people about the conflict? Plus the good news that medication for ADHD may also reduce suicidal behaviours and substance misuse, and even make people less likely to have transport accidents and commit crime.(IMAGE: Children's handprints decorate the wall of the culture centre of the Ukrainian frontline village of Kalynove, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, April 11, 2025 / CREDIT: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura)

The US president reportedly told European leaders that his goal for the summit was to secure a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow. Poland's president, Karol Nawrocki, was one of the Nato leaders on the call with the Donald Trump. We'll hear from his foreign policy advisor, Marcin Przydacz.Also on the programme: Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun has warned against foreign interference in the country’s affairs during a visit by a senior Iranian official, as his government takes steps towards disarming Hezbollah; and we'll hear about one project in Australia that's hoping to ease the world's rare earth bottleneck.(Photo: US President Donald Trump delivers a speech as he hosts an event at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, in Washington, DC, USA, 13 August 2025. Credit: WILL OLIVER/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock)

European leaders are holding talks with Ukraine's President Zelensky ahead of a Trump-Putin summit on Friday. We hear about the latest developments on the frontline in Ukraine. Also in the programme: Will a $5m bounty help capture Haiti's most powerful gang leader? And how toothpaste made from hair could help repair teeth. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) attend an online meeting with other European leaders to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 13 August 2025. Credit: John Macdougall/Pool/ EPA/Shutterstock

President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will not abandon the eastern Donbas region -- which has been partially seized by Russia and its proxy forces since Twenty- Fourteen. He warned doing so would give Russia a springboard for future attacks on other areas.Also in the programme: We'll hear from the UN investigator on systematic abuses spreading in Myanmar; a warning over changes to federal funds for scientific research in the US; North Koreans tell BBC they are being sent to work 'like slaves' in Russia; and can cats get dementia?(Photo credit: EPA)

Amid the devastation in Gaza, remarkable stories of hope and resilience do emerge. Sixteen-year-old Sama Nijm, a gifted violinist from Gaza, is using music to bring comfort and healing to the youngest victims of the conflict. Some of the children have lost their parents, and in some cases, their limbs or arms. BBC Newsday's Charlene Rodrigues spoke to Sama, and began by asking her what inspired her to become a violin teacher in the midst of war.

Russia has been trying to tackle a significant labour shortage by recruiting North Koreans; the BBC has been speaking to some of them. Also in the programme: the American surgeon recycling surgical pins and plates in Gaza; and how studying cat dementia can help humans.Photograph: President Putin and Kim Jung Un meeting in Pyongyang in 2024. Credit: Reuters.

Funerals have been held in Gaza City for five journalists from the news channel Al Jazeera who were killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Sunday night - including the prominent reporter Anas al-Sharif. The BBC understands before the war, he worked for a Hamas media team, but Israel accuses him of posing as a journalist, while serving as the head of a Hamas cell. We'll speak to war correspondent Jon Lee Anderson about the killings.Also on the programme: Donald Trump says he's sending in the National Guard to regain control of the hell-scape that he says Washington DC has become; And we'll hear about the beachside solution that's being offered to inveterate snorers.(Picture:Palestinians inspect the destroyed tent of the Al Jazeera team following an Israeli strike, outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 11 August 2025. Credit: Photo by MOHAMMED SABER/EPA/Shutterstock)

The Israeli military says it targeted 28-year-old correspondent Anas al-Sharif, alleging he had "served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas", but has produced little evidence to support that claim. We speak to Al Jazeera's Managing Editor. Also in the programme: The Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay has died from wounds sustained when he was shot at a campaign rally in June; and mentally fit at 96 - we meet the man willing to have his mental arithmetic tested on a television gameshow. (Photo: Al Jazeera staff members gather at the network’s studios, to remember their colleagues Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and another colleague, who were killed in Gaza City by an Israeli strike. Credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Israel's Prime Minister defends his plan to seize Gaza City - but the cousin of an Israeli hostage tells us it's a terrible idea, and explains why he's supporting the call for a general strike in protest.Also in the programme: what Russians want from the Putin-Trump summit on Ukraine; and the last news hawker of Paris, about to be honoured by President Macron.(IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu holds a press conference for international media, Jerusalem, Israel - 10 Aug 2025/ CREDIT: ABIR SULTAN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock)

The leaders of Europe's largest military and economic powers have issued a statement, saying that Ukraine must play a role in peace talks, ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Sergie Marvov, former member of parliament for Vladimir Putin's United Russia party tells our programme that Russia will demand that European troops cannot be stationed in Ukraine following any ceasefire deal. Also in the programme: Mo Salah criticizes UEFA after the killing of Palestinian footballer Suleiman Obeid during an Israeli strike in Gaza. We get the reaction of the Palestinian national football team manager Ehab Abu Jazar; and amid a deadlock over global negotiations to end single use plastics, we hear from John Chweya, President of the Kenya National Waste Pickers Welfare Association.Picture: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk walk to attend a joint press conference following a meeting of the 'Coalition of the willing' at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, 10 May 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Credit: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of people have been arrested in London for protesting against the UK government’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. We hear from one of the protest organisers, who says the right to free speech is being undermined, and from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which supports the move.Also in the programme: after President Trump talked about Ukraine giving up territory to Russia, President Zelensky says that's not happening; and the protests in Mexico City against foreign expat gentrification.(IMAGE: Supporters of Palestine Action attend a mass protest organized by the Defend Our Juries group as part of their campaign to end the proscription of Palestine Action, in Parliament Square, London, Britain, 09 August 2025 / CREDIT: TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock)

Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out surrendering Ukrainian land to Russia, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin prepare to meet next week. In a video address, President Zelensky said any decisions taken without Ukraine would be -- as he put it -- dead decisions. Mr Trump has talked of Russia and Ukraine swapping territory. Several Ukrainian civilians have been killed during another night of aerial attacks by Russia. Also in the programme: Protecting Sudan's archaeological sites; Seoul 'convenience stores' fighting isolation; and we will hear from a survivor of the nuclear bomb attack on Nagasaki that ended World War Two.(Photo: President Zelensky. Credit: Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House. In 2023 Azerbaijan took full control of the contested area of Nagorno-Karabakh - so what's in a peace deal for both sides, and for the US? Also on the programme: a former officer in the Israeli military analyses Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy Gaza City; and could there be a giant gas planet near Earth with moons that could support life?(Photo: US President Trump delivers remarks, Washington DC, 7th August 2025. Credit: Shaun Thew/EPA/Shutterstock)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plans for a new military push in the Gaza Strip have raised warnings from the army leadership, opposition from hostage families and concerns that more Palestinians will be killed.We'll hear from a resident of the territory and find out why the Israeli government thinks an intensification of the war will work now.Also in the programme: We'll hear about fresh allegations against the Australian woman who poisoned three of her relatives; and why some of France's most prestigious mineral water companies are up to their necks in crisis.(Photo shows Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on 27July 2025. Credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with his security cabinet and says he wants a complete military takeover of the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City. The Israeli leader believes a full takeover is “the only way” to destroy Hamas and free the remaining Israeli hostages.Also on the programme: reports that Sudan’s military destroyed a UAE plane carrying Colombian mercenaries; and a tribute to the pioneering Latin-jazz musician Eddie Palmieri, who has died aged 88.(Photo: A damaged Israeli flag stands in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Gaza, 7th August, 2025. Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world - which US president Donald Trump has advocated for - have come into effect.Producers of staple goods such as Brazilian coffee say the tariffs will have a big impact on their industry.Also in the programme: The Kremlin says presidents Trump and Putin will meet in the coming days to talk about Ukraine; and we'll get a rare glimpse into a besieged city, el Fasher in Sudan, where people are starving and terrified.(Photo shows shipping containers in Frankfurt, Germany on 7 August 2025. Credit: Hannes P Albert/EPA)

The United States is imposing an extra twenty-five percent tariff on imports from India because Delhi continues to buy Russian oil. President Trump is using this to increase pressure for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Delhi's called it 'unfair'. The executive order came after the US envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow.Also on the programme: As dozens are injured and killed in Gaza when four aid trucks tipped over, we take a look at how the crisis is being reported in Israel and whether public opinion is changing; Italy plans the longest suspension bridge in the world; and the new research that shows how female gorillas form strong friendships with each other that last years. (Photo: Russian President Putin meets U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow Credit: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/via REUTERS)

The US Health Secretary has stopped about $500m worth of funding for the development of mRNA vaccines against viruses that cause illnesses such as flu and Covid-19. Robert F. Kennedy - a vaccine sceptic - claims they pose many risks. Newshour hears from vaccinology professor Dr. Paul Offit who says Mr Kennedy's decision is not based on science.Also in the programme: we hear from a Hiroshima survivor; and the gorilla sisterhood.(Picture: A nurse prepares a booster dose of the Moderna mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, Spikevax, at a vaccination centre in Berlin, Germany, January 1, 2022. Credit: Reuters)

The UN's food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation. Also on the programme, an investigation into the gangs running illegal migration from France to Britain; we speak to 93 year-old Nobel prize winner Setsuko Thurlow about surviving the Hiroshima nuclear bomb.(Photo: Houda Ali Mohammed, 32, a displaced Sudanese mother of four, prepares food at a camp shelter amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, July 30, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Jamal/File Photo)

Israel has authorised the gradual re-entry of goods including food supplies to Gaza via private traders for the first time in ten months. How does food distribution operate at the moment, and how often can it be a case of survival of the fittest?Also in the programme: as the final push for a global plastics treaty begins in Geneva, we hear from the head of the United Nations Environment Programme on why it needs to happen; and we report from a camp for Ukrainian children trying to cope with the trauma of parents missing because of the war with Russia; plus why Dolly Parton has been given the status of global icon.

The former head of the Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet, Ami Ayalon, tells Newshour why he thinks Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu needs to end the Gaza war. Meanwhile, reports suggest that the prime minister may order the Israeli Defence Forces to seize and hold the entire Gaza Strip.Also in the programme: the family of a Hiroshima atom bomb survivor reflect as the 80th anniversary of the bomb approaches; the devastation plastic pollution is wreaking on human health; and why Indian cricket fans have been ecstatic over today's game in London.(Photo: Protest outside Israeli PM Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. Credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

The Israeli prime minister is reportedly planning to expand military operations in Gaza. It comes as hundreds of retired Israeli security officials have written to President Trump, urging him to pressurise their government to end the war. They say Hamas is no longer a threat and the war is no longer just. We speak to one of signatories of the letter Ami Ayalon, a former director of Shin Bet, Israel's domestic secret service agency.Also in the programme: More than 70 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen; why Texan Democrats are running away from a vote; and Sir David Attenborough's latest BBC One series documents how parents from across the animal kingdom sacrifice everything in order to raise their young.(Photo: Protest outside Israeli PM Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. Credit: Reuters)

Pope Leo XIV has implored a million young Catholics from around the world to aspire to great things and not settle for less at a special Jubilee celebration in Rome. We have a report on the Catholic social media influencers who spread the gospel online. Also on the programme: Arab nations have condemned a visit to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem by Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir; and Kim Kardashian’s new facial wrap you wear while sleeping generates much online chatter. (Photo: Pope Leo XIV presides over Holy Mass on the occasion of the Jubilee of Youth, at Tor Vergata in Rome, Italy, 03 August 2025. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics, including many social media influencers, have gathered for a vigil and Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. Also in the programme: the former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina faces a criminal trial; Russia’s Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupts for the first time in hundreds of years; and the enduring appeal of Thomas the Tank Engine. (Picture: Pope Leo XIV waves to the faithful during a Holy Mass on the occasion of the Jubilee of Youth, in Rome, Italy. Credit: Photo by ANGELO CARCONI/EPA/Shutterstock)

Hamas releases a shocking video of an emaciated Israeli hostage as the US special envoy says they are determined to push for a deal to end this war rather than reach a temporary ceasefire.We speak to one of the Israeli hostage families who met US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Tel Aviv. Also on the programme: a court in southern India has sentenced a prominent politician to life in prison for raping one of his domestic staff; and would you use an app allowing guests to buy a seat at your wedding for €150? (Photo: Steve Witkoff meets with Israeli hostage family members on August 2, 2025. Credit: The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters)

Russian media have dismissed Donald Trump's announcement that he will deploy nuclear submarines closer to Russia. Mr Trump said his decision was prompted by “provocative comments” on social media by the former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. Mr Medvedev said in a post on X on Monday that President Trump was playing "the ultimatum game" with Russia, and that such an approach could lead to a war involving the United States.Also in the programme: The world's first legislation to control artificial intelligence starts coming into force in the EU today; and from Gaza, the sixteen-year-old with a dream to become a great violinist. (Photo: Dmitry Medvedev was Russia's president in 2008-12. Credit: Reuters)

President Trump says he wants to help the people of Gaza to live, following a visit by his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to a controversial US and Israeli- backed aid site in the territory. Plus, the BBC investigates the cases of 160 children shot dead inside the Gaza Strip.Also in the programme: Malawi hits its UN development goals for HIV and AIDS ahead of its targets; radioactive injections aimed at saving South Africa's rhinos; and we follow the market reaction to Donald Trump's global tariff deals -- and new US job figures.(Photo credit: US government)

The BBC World Service has pieced together the story of two-year-old Layan al-Majdalawi, who was killed in Gaza in areas where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was operating. Layan is just one of more than 160 cases of children shot in the war in Gaza, for whom we have gathered accounts. The IDF told us they are examining the case, and that: "Intentional harm to civilians, especially children, is strictly prohibited."Also the programme: President Trump announces he is imposing higher tax rates on imports to America from dozens of countries who've failed to reach a trade deal with him; and Chinese schoolgirl Yu Zidi becomes the youngest swimmer in history to win a medal at the World Aquatics Championships. (Picture: Layan al-Majdalawi, two, killed in Gaza in November 2023. Credit: Majdalawi family).

The US special envoy Steve Witkoff is to visit Gaza on Friday. We hear from American medics working in the south and centre of the strip calling on him to include hospitals in his tour, and on their government to take action to end the suffering. Also in the programme: Ukraine’s parliament votes to reverse anti-corruption legislation that was heavily criticised both inside and outside the country; and the stunning tattoos of a 2,500 year old mummy.(IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets the US President's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, in Mr Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, Israel, amid warnings of a famine in Gaza. 31st July 2025 / CREDIT: Kobi Gideon / GPO / Prime Minister's Office)

Donald Trump has stepped up his diplomatic assault on the government of Brazil's left- wing president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. He's signed an executive order which brings total tariffs on Brazilian goods to fifty percent. At the same time, the US Treasury has imposed financial sanctions on the senior Brazilian judge overseeing the criminal case for coup plotting against Brazil's former leader, Jair Bolsonaro. We speak to Brazilian ambassador to London, Antonio Patriota.Also, we speak to Yehuda Cohen - the father of an Israeli soldier taken hostage on October 7th -- who tells us he thinks the recognition of a Palestinian state will help pressure his government to get his son home. And the actor Stephen Fry on playing a formidable aristocratic woman in Oscar Wilde's most famous play, the Importance of Being Earnest.(Photo: President Trump and Brazilian then-President Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago in 2020. Credit: Getty Images)

Developments in the Middle East have come thick and fast this week. On Tuesday the IPC - a UN-backed monitor group - warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Britain, meanwhile, warned that unless Israel met a number of conditions before the UN General Assembly convenes next month, it would join France in recognising a State of Palestine. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupied West Bank has received little international attention since the war in Gaza began. Attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians living there are on the rise - up by 13 percent over the past year, says the UN. We examine attacks in one village and a town.Also in the programme: Why is Greece detaining all migrants arriving from North Africa? And the English city of Birmingham says goodbye to Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne.(Photo: Locals inspect a burnt car in the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 28 July 2025. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli settlers attacked the village of Taybeh and set two vehicles on fire and spray-painted racist slurs on walls. Credit: Alaa Badarneeh/EPA/Shutterstock)

The UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes "substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza", its prime minister Keir Starmer has said.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move "rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism".Also in the programme: As tsunami waves reach the US west coast after Russian earthquake, we'll look at what's behind the earthquake and tsunamis; and the UK gets its first female astronomer royal in 350 years.(Photo shows Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking during a press conference in Jerusalem, Israel on 21 May 2025. Credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters) )

UK will recognise Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and other conditions. Israel says the move rewards Hams.Also in the programme: Ex-Colombian president Álvaro Uribe has been found guilty of witness-tampering; and an Australian woman - Joan Anderson - who went largely uncredited for her leading role in the creation of the hula hoop has died at the age of 101.(Photo: UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer making a statement in Downing Street, London, following a Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. The UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September before the UN General Assembly, unless the Israeli government takes steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza, the Prime Minister has told the Cabinet. 29 July 2025. Credit: Toby Melville/PA Wire)