And emotional scenes at kiev airport as ukraine and pro russian separatists complete a long awaited prisoner exchange. Hello and welcome to bbc news. Tens of thousands of residents in the australian state of victoria have been told to evacuate amid worsening bushfire conditions. Officials are predicting a day of extreme danger with rising temperatures combined with thunderstorms and a change of wind direction. Worst affected is the area around gippsland where some roads have been closed. Abc australia correspondent nicole asher is there and describes the situation. So basically, its really, really hot, here, its about a0 degrees where im standing, if not more, and theres hot winds and theres a lot of bushfires. Authorities are most concerned that with these strong winds, theyre going to push bushfires into communities and theyjust cannot control them at the moment. They have evacuated thousands of people. This area that im standing in is a really popular holiday spot. Were leading into
A warm welcome to the Programme Briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. Instagram is hiding likes on posts in seven countries to remove pressure on users. The aim is to help people concentrate on content rather than popularity. Is this a step forward for social media . Or will it undermine the popularity of the business itself . Let me know what you think. Get in touch on twitter using the hashtag bbcthebriefing. President trump says the us military has shot down an iranian drone in the strait of hormuz. He said staff on the uss boxer took defensive action as the drone came within 1,000 yards of a us navy ship. This, according to iran was the moment that it sees the panamanian flagged tanker. The circling speedboats were manned by members of the Iranian Revolutionary guard. Once on board, they say they found a million litres of fuel which they allege was being smuggled out of iran. Later, President Trump said the us military had shot down an iranian dro
Championship at royal portrush well have the very latest from the bbc sports centre. Good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. 17 people have been injured, some seriously, in what Police Describe as a horrendous car crash in hertfordshire. Two vehicles collided yesterday evening at a car event in stevenage, hitting spectators watching from the roadside. The images pausing just before the moment of impact. You can clearly see from the images, many people standing watching this car cruise event before this tragic accident unfolded. We are going to be live in steve na g e unfolded. We are going to be live in stevenage very soon. 2 million Public Sector workers are reportedly set to get a £2 billion pay rise. The plans are set to be unveiled as one of theresa mays final acts as Prime Minister. Its the biggest Public Sector pay rise in six years, which comes following concerns that salaries are rising faster in private sector. Lets get more on this from our Political Correspondent
Now on bbc news, unspun world withjohn simpson. Hello and welcome to unspun world. Its exactly two years since our programme launched, and the anniversary comes at a critical moment in the ukrainian war, which is also exactly two years old. Russias gaining ground, and President Putins only serious political opponent, alexei navalny, is dead. Sudden death syndrome, the Prison Authorities informed his family. Well, theres been a lot of that about where mr putins enemies are concerned. So, is putin untouchable now . We dont see that much of active support for the regime, that much of active support for the war. So this gives us an understanding that putin maybe is not that confident. Do ukrainians feel theyre on the road to defeat . I dont think that we can speak now about the defeat. Im sitting in kyiv, which is a free capital of ukraine. And is World Warjust around the cornerfor all of us . The military commanders are saying that there is an unprecedented threat from russia because of t
Now on bbc news, unspun world withjohn simpson. Hello and welcome to unspun world. Its exactly two years since our programme launched, and the anniversary comes at a critical moment in the ukrainian war, which is also exactly two years old. Russias gaining ground, and President Putins only serious political opponent, alexei navalny, is dead. Sudden death syndrome, the Prison Authorities informed his family. Well, theres been a lot of that about where mr putins enemies are concerned. So, is putin untouchable now . We dont see that much of active support for the regime, that much of active support for the war. So this gives us an understanding that putin maybe is not that confident. Do ukrainians feel theyre on the road to defeat . I dont think that we can speak now about the defeat. Im sitting in kyiv, which is a free capital of ukraine. And is World Warjust around the cornerfor all of us . The military commanders are saying that there is an unprecedented threat from russia because of t