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Pokrovsk has not fallen yet.

That is despite President Vladimir Putin's recent claim that Russian forces have taken the city.

There is no doubt Ukraine has been losing ground in this key city in the east.

For Russia, Pokrovsk is another stepping stone towards its goal of taking control of all of the Donbas.

But Ukraine needs to prove it is still capable of resisting.

At a Ukrainian command post, well behind the front line, orders are relayed by radio in rapid and quick succession.

Soldiers watch dozens of live drone feeds.

They are coordinating strikes on Russian positions inside the city.

The commander of the Skala Assault Regiment, Yuri, is keen to prove to us that Ukraine still controls the north of the city - to show that the Kremlin's claim that it has taken Pokrovsk is a lie.

Over the radio, they ask two of their soldiers to break cover from a building to display a Ukrainian flag.

A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.

The Global Environment Outlook, the result of six years' work, connects climate change, nature loss and pollution to unsustainable consumption by people living in wealthy and emerging economies.

It warns of a "dire future" for millions unless there's a rapid move away from coal, oil and gas and fossil fuel subsidies.

But at a meeting with government representatives to agree the findings, the US and allies said they could not go along with a summary of the report's conclusions.

As the scientists were unwilling to water down or change their findings, the report has now been published without the summary and without the support of governments, weakening its impact.

Researchers say the objections to this new report reflect similar concerns expressed by countries at the recent COP30 talks.

The BBC has approached the relevant US government departments for comment.

Issued every six or seven years, the Global Environment Outlook is a significant scientific analysis of the major threats to the planet.

Developed under the auspices of the UN, the normal practice for studies like this is to have the key conclusions and recommendations agreed word by word with governments and published as a "summary for policymakers".

These summaries are seen as critical because they show that governments agree with the science and are prepared to put the findings into action.

President accuses neighbor of violating treaty governing water-sharing and urges water to be released ‘immediately’ Dona

ld Trump has threatened to impose an additional 5% tariff on Mexico if it does not immediately provide additional water to help US farmers, accusing the country of violating a treaty that outlines water-sharing between the neighbors. Unde

r the treaty, which dates back to 1944, Mexico must send 1.75m acre-feet of water to the US from the Rio Grande through a network of interconnected dams and reservoirs every five years. The

agreement also stipulates that the United States must annually allocate 1.5m acre-feet of water from the Colorado River to Mexico. The

water from the Rio Grande is used to support agriculture in Texas and other US border states. In a

post on Truth Social on Monday, the president said that Mexico “owes” the US 800,000 acre-feet of water due to violations of the treaty over the past five years. He deman

ded Mexico release 200,000 acre-feet of water before 31 December, and more “soon after”. The lack of

water was hurting crops and livestock in Texas, Trump said. “As of now,

Mexico is not responding, and it is very unfair to our U.S. Farmers who de

serve this much needed water,” Trump added. “That is why I h

Sudan's air force has carried out bombings in which at least 1,700 civilians have died in attacks on residential neighbourhoods, markets, schools and camps for displaced people, according to an investigation into air raids in the country's civil war.

The Sudan Witness Project says it has compiled the largest known dataset of military airstrikes in the conflict, which began in April 2023.

Its analysis indicates that the air force has used unguided bombs in populated areas.

The data focuses on attacks by warplanes, which only the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is capable of operating.

Its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) does not have aircraft.

It launches drone strikes, but drones were excluded from the research.

The RSF has been internationally condemned for allegedly carrying out ethnic massacres in Sudan's western Darfur region, triggering charges of genocide by the United States.

"The RSF are being held responsible for a lot of damage and violations, and I think rightly so," says Mark Snoeck, who ran the project.

"But I think the SAF should also be held accountable for their actions."

The military has also faced international criticism, accused of indiscriminate bombings.

A three-year-old girl was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday, according to local sources inside the Palestinian territory.

Ahed Tareq Al-Bayouk was reportedly playing near her family's tent in Mawasi, Rafah, southern Gaza, when she was shot.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was "not aware of a strike" but would "conduct an additional review" as more information was provided.

Since a ceasefire came into effect in October, at least 370 people have been killed in Gaza including 140 children, according to Amnesty International.

The BBC is prevented by Israel from reporting independently from inside Gaza.

Ahed Al-Bayouk's death appears to have taken place on the Palestinian side of the so-called Yellow Line, behind which Israeli troops agreed to withdraw as part of the first phase of a US plan to end fighting in the region.

Phase one also required the return of all 20 living and 28 dead hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

All have been returned except for the remains of an Israeli police officer, Ran Gvili, 24, who is believed to have been shot and killed while trying to repel the attack in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

The World Health Organization says at least 16,500 wounded or seriously ill Palestinians are in urgent need of evacuation for lifesaving medical treatment outside Gaza.

European leaders have said "now is a critical moment" to ramp up support for Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to bring an end to the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to discuss the latest version of a peace plan, drafted between Ukrainian and US officials last week.

There, the European leaders said more work was needed to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine, as the US puts pressure on Kyiv to agree a swift deal with Russia.

Zelensky, who has travelled to Brussels to meet Nato officials, said that Ukraine would share a revised plan with the US on Tuesday.

Last week, Ukrainian officials spent three days with the US negotiating team in Florida pushing for changes to a US-backed peace proposal which has been widely considered favourable to Russia.

Answering questions from journalists after Monday's meeting in London, Zelensky said that the "most certainly anti-Ukrainian points have been removed" from the initial deal proposed in November.

But the Ukrainian president acknowledged that there were some outstanding concerns about ceding territory and a compromise had "not yet been found there".

The US has proposed Ukraine pulls its forces entirely out of eastern regions which Russia has attempted to take by force but has been unable to capture in full, in return for Russian withdrawals elsewhere and a cessation of fighting.

But this is an unpalatable option for Zelensky, who refuses to reward Moscow for its aggression and who has repeatedly warned Russia would use any foothold in the eastern regions to launch future assaults on Ukraine.

"Americans are inclined, in principle, to finding a compromise," Zelensky said on Monday.

A major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 has hit Japan's north-eastern region.

The quake occurred at 23:15 (14:15 GMT) at a depth of 50km (31 miles), about 80km off the coast of the Aomori region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said,

It prompted tsunami warnings which have now been downgraded to advisories, while waves of 40cm (16in) were seen in some places.

Local media reports that some people in the region have been injured, while trains have been suspended as a precaution.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.

Orders were issued for about 90,000 residents to evacuate, according to Reuters news agency.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK quoted a hotel employee in Hachinohe as saying a number of people had been injured.

The government has set up a response office within the prime minister's crisis management centre and convened an emergency team, chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara has said.

"We are making every effort to assess the damage and implement emergency disaster response measures, including rescue and relief operations," he added.

No irregularities were reported at the Higashidori and Onagawa nuclear power plants as a result of the quake, Tohoku Electric Power said.

Paramount Skydance has made another offer to buy Warner Bros Discovery as it seeks to trump a rival plan from Netflix to buy the company's studio and streaming networks.

Paramount, which is backed by the billionaire Ellison family, said it was making a direct offer to shareholders of $30 per share to scoop up the whole of Warner Bros, including its traditional television networks.

It said its proposal was a "superior alternative" to Netflix's, delivering more cash upfront to shareholders and greater prospect of approval by regulators.

President Donald Trump has said "there could be a problem" with Netflix's purchase, pointing to competition concerns given the size of the companies.

The hostile bid from Paramount, a smaller player than Netflix which is known for brands such as CBS News, Nickelodeon and Mission Impossible, is the latest twist in a saga that started a few months ago, when Paramount started submitting offers to buy Warner Bros.

That eventually prompted Warner Bros, owner of HBO and classics from Looney Tunes to Harry Potter, to formally open a bidding process.

Paramount had been seen by many on Wall Street as a strong suitor for Warner Bros, in part because the relationship between David and Larry Ellison, who is a Republican megadonor, and Trump was expected to help ease the approval process.

But Warner Bros declared Netflix the winner of that auction on Friday, announcing a deal that valued its studio and streaming networks, including HBO, at about $83bn, including its debt.

It said the sale would proceed after a planned spin-off of other parts of Warner Brothers' business, including CNN, into an independent company.

Paramount's offer values the entire company at $108.4bn, which it said was a better deal.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has met key European allies as he faces US pressure to reach a swift peace deal with Russia.

In London, Zelensky held talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The meeting came amid US efforts to get Moscow and Kyiv to sign up - quickly - to a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

For Kyiv, the crucial, thorny issues are the question of ceding territory to Russia as part of any peace deal and obtaining strong security guarantees to ensure that Moscow respects an eventual agreement.

Ahead of the meeting in London, Starmer insisted - as he often has in the past - that Ukraine needed "hard-edged security guarantees".

He has also repeatedly said that Kyiv must determine its own future, not have conditions imposed on it.

The big names Starmer hosted in London discussed hugely significant issues - not only for Ukraine's future, but for the security of the continent as a whole.

There's concern that if Russia is "rewarded" by being given Ukrainian territory as part of a peace deal, it could feel emboldened to attack other European countries in the future.

But will Monday's talks in London make any meaningful difference to peace negotiations?

The visuals of Europe's arguably most influential nations standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street tell one story.

Cyril Ramaphosa says theories, promoted by Donald Trump, ‘conveniently align with wider notions of white supremacy’ Whit

e supremacist ideology and false claims that South Africa’s Afrikaner minority is being racially persecuted pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty and national security, the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has warned. Since taki

ng office for his second US presidential term in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that South Africa’s government is seizing land and encouraging violence against white farmers. “Some in our

society still adhere to notions of racial superiority and seek to maintain racial privilege,” Ramaphosa said on Monday at a conference of his African National Congress (ANC) party, which is the largest in South Africa’s governing coalition and has led every national government since the first post-apartheid democratic elections in 1994. He continued: “The

vehement opposition by some groups to our policies of transformation and redress conveniently align with wider notions of white supremacy and white victimhood, fed by false claims of the persecution of white Afrikaners in our country. The propaganda of th

ese false claims has real implications for our sovereignty, international relations and national security.” Trump and the South Af

rican-born billionaire Elon Musk have promoted the false claim that there is a “white genocide” in South Africa, bringing what was previously a niche, far-right conspiracy theory to a far wider audience. Without naming either man,

Ramaphosa said in his speech: “It is essential that we counter this narrative and defeat this agenda … This is a campaign that needs to be launched not only in our country, but globally as well, particularly to address the notions that some globally are perpetrating about what is happening in South Africa.” The US boycotted last month’s G2

0 leaders summit in Johannesburg and argued that a consensus could not be reached in its absence. The meeting, led by South Africa,

produced a final communique that cited the importance of tackling issues such as gender inequality and climate breakdown, positions that have become anathema to Trump’s agenda. The 2026 summit will take place at t

Two senior military officials taken hostage during Sunday's attempted coup in Benin have been freed, a government source has told the BBC.

It remains unclear how they were released or if other hostages are still being held.

Security forces are continuing a manhunt for those involved in the plot, who remain at large.

A group of soldiers appeared on state TV early in the morning to announce they had taken over in the West African country, and gunfire was heard near the presidential residence.

However, President Patrice Talon later announced that the situation was "totally under control".

Regional power Nigeria assisted in thwarting the mutiny, saying its fighter jets had helped "dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp" following a request from Benin's government.

On Sunday afternoon, huge explosions were heard in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and seat of government.

They were thought to have been the result of an air strike.

Prior to the explosions, flight-tracking data showed that three aircraft had entered Benin's airspace from neighbouring Nigeria before returning home.

Earlier on Sunday, Benin government spokesperson Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji told the Reuters news agency that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the attempted coup.

The US Supreme Court on Monday is hearing a case that could have major implications for the independence of federal agencies long shielded from the White House.

The case, called Trump v Slaughter, stems from President Donald Trump's firing in March of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, alongside another Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The court is hearing arguments on whether Trump had the authority to fire a member of the FTC despite a law that says a commissioner can only be fired for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office".

Ms Slaughter sued Trump after she was ousted for being "inconsistent with [the] Administration's priorities".

A lower court ruled that Ms Slaughter had been illegally removed from the FTC, leading the Trump administration to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

In a 6-3 decision, the conservative-majority court in September issued an emergency order maintaining her firing until the case could be heard.

Trump has argued a president should be able to have full control over government agencies, even those set up by Congress to be shielded from presidential interference.

When the FTC, established in 1914 to protect the public from deceptive business practices and unfair competition, Congress passed a law saying a president could only remove commissioners for cause and that the five-member commission can have no more than three members of the same political party.

Trump appointed Ms Slaughter in 2018 to fill a Democratic position on the FTC, and she was later reappointed by former President Joe Biden.

Similar firing rules exist for other independent agencies like the National Labor Relations Board.