counter offensive. the comments come after attacks on dnipro and the wagner group claiming it fully captured the city of bakhmut. the battle there for control has been the longest of the war. the head of russia s wagner mercenary group has announced that its forces have started withdrawing from the ukrainian city. ukraine denies this. now, one of the country s most senior security officials says ukraine is ready to launch its long expected counter offensive against russian forces. oleksiy danilov has been speaking exclusively, to our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. this is what s left of bakhmut in eastern ukraine. images filmed by russian forces of the ruins they now largely control. mercenaries from the wagner group claim they re withdrawing, being replaced by regular russian troops. but ukraine insists its forces are still engaged on the ground and the outskirts, as the country s most senior security official told us. translation: we controljust a small i part of
hello there. welcome along. thank you forjoining us. here s what s coming up. we start with football because manchester united have qualified for next season s champions league after thrashing chelsea 4 1 in the premier league at old trafford. erik ten hag s side needed only a point, but secured all three in style. casimiro scored his second goal in two matches to send them on their way when he opened the scoring with a header in the sixth minute. marcus rashford scored the fourth after anthony martial and a bruno fernandes penalty had put the home side firmly in control. it means united are now guaranteed a top four finish and a return to europe s premier club competition. so we finalised the season and that was our objective. we achieved it and that s huge, especially in this league because there are many competitors who also have the same objectives and they have all good squads and teams. so when you achieve it, it s a massive performance and we are really happy with it.
counter offensive against russian forces. in a rare interview, oleksiy danilov describes the planned assault as an historic opportunity . now on bbc news.political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking, a conversation with rather than an interrogation of someone who shapes our political thinking about what has shaped theirs. every so often there s an issue that bubbles up. if you ll forgive the metaphor, and reaches beyond the westminster bubble. the issue we re talking about today is the issue of sewage, the quality of our waterways, our rivers and our seas. my my guest this week is the man who is insured that no political figure can and should ignore the question of the waterways. he is keen angler, campaigner, and original lead singer with the undertones, fergal sharkey, a man who left the stage in order to campaign for musician s right before taking up his current position another one of the country s leading environmental campaigners. he b
you are live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we re keeping a close eye on two developing stories this hour. in texas, the state s attorney general is facing an impeachment vote. ken paxton is accused of bribery and abuse of power. the conservative republican says it is illegal and being pushed by corrupt politicians. in washington, meantime, house speaker kevin mccarthy says progress is being made in talks to avoid the nation s first-ever debt default. a short time ago a source familiar with the intense discussions says it is now down to one final sticking point between the white house and republican leaders. the issue at issue at this hour is work requirements for social safety net programs. let s begin our coverage of the debt talks. manu raju is up on capitol hill for us. manu, just being told it s down to one issue is cold comfort. that could be the one thing that drags this thing out. what are you learning about the state of the negotiations at this
and massive corruption, criminal gangs ready to kill anyone who tries to stop the looting. i was shaking badly. i was literally lying like this and i started gasping for air. a mixture of cyanide and sodium arsenite. today, south africa still gets almost all its power from burning coal. it s a lethal addiction. it s killing us. this coal is killing us. the answer, to many, is a green revolution. but can western money and pressure help south africa embrace renewable energy? or is the rot here simply too deep? it s very depressing. it s very concerning. our country is in a serious dark place. stage 4 load shedding will continue to be implemented until further notice. it says that stage 6 will be implemented at 8pm tonight until 5am. how did it come to this? south africa, the continent s great economic powerhouse, is in deep trouble. long daily power cuts injohannesburg and across the country. dawn, and the traffic lights are still not working. this is alexandra township, a poor