of bajaur is near pakistan's border with afghanistan. it's not immediately clear what caused the explosion, though police suspect it was a suicide bomber. no organisation has admitted carrying out the attack. our pakistan correspondent caroline davies has the latest, from the capital islamabad. a sunday afternoon political rally by one of pakistan's biggest religious parties. hundreds crowded in, flags, chance then the explosion. this is one of the raleigh's organisers on stage at the time it happened. his ears are still ringing from the blast. what do you remember after the explosion? it was remember after the explosion? it was in'ured remember after the explosion? it was injured peeple — remember after the explosion? it was injured people around, _ remember after the explosion? it was injured people around, dead - remember after the explosion? it "was injured people around, dead bodies. it was like doomsday, local people try to help the injured. there were not enough ambulances so people were taking their own cars. he not enough ambulances so people were taking their own cars.— taking their own cars. he said several people _ taking their own cars. he said several people around - taking their own cars. he said several people around him i taking their own cars. he said i several people around him died. taking their own cars. he said - several people around him died. he isn't sure why he survived. these pictures show some of the chaos, structures were carried by any hands that could offer help. the district hospital declared a health emergency and occult was put out for blood donations. as the boards filled up, some were taken by helicopter to a nearby peshawar. the death toll rose quickly, police have said they have struggled to identify all of the dead. among those named as a local political leader. pakistan's prime minister condemned the attack. there has been an increase in violent attacks across pakistan, especially in this province. police have said they have discovered evidence suggesting the explosion might have been a suicide bomber but have not yet confirmed it. if this was an attack, it is not clear what the motive has been no group has claimed it. leaving many questions about what has happened and how it could affect the build—up to pakistan's much anticipated general election, still expected later this year. joining me now is senior analyst for pakistan news channel geo, mazhar abbas. thank you so much forjoining us. some really shocking images. yet another deadly attack in pakistan wuth a massive human cost. what's the reaction been to this in pakistan? very shocking, it is one of the worst in recent years. this is the worst in recent years. this is the worst attack. it is just before, two weeks before the assemblies will be dissolved and we will go for elections, so such an attack is really scary and one can foresee such an attack during an election as happened in 2013, in the same area, in the same locality. this attack directly targeted, on a political rally, on a political gathering. the situation is likely to go from bad to worse. and although the security in the last few years have launched several targeted operations and many militants, but it seems they still have sleeper cells and target and pick their targets, and in the last few weeks or so, they targeted security personnel, also police officers. this is the first time in recent, during this government, that they have targeted a huge rally of a government ally. the head of the ruling alliance, it is definitely directly an attack on a government coalition partner.— coalition partner. there are concerns — coalition partner. there are concerns of _ coalition partner. there are concerns of more _ coalition partner. there are concerns of more security | coalition partner. there are - concerns of more security risks, especially as we move towards that upcoming election. does it put the election into question here, whether it even goes ahead? in election into question here, whether it even goes ahead?— it even goes ahead? in march, when the assembly _ it even goes ahead? in march, when the assembly was _ it even goes ahead? in march, when the assembly was dissolved - it even goes ahead? in march, when the assembly was dissolved during l the assembly was dissolved during the assembly was dissolved during the former prime minister's government, the election commission took this point and postponed and delayed the election and so far it has not been held, because of the law and order situation. now, the second attack, if more such attacks occur i am afraid the election commission might make a similar decision as happened in march. but the political parties, the different political parties, that criticised and even the former prime minister criticised and condemned the attack, but he also criticised the government and asked the government, instead of concentrating on law, they are targeting his party. by and large, the attack today really raised a lot of questions about the operations against the militants. but since no one has claimed responsibility, but according to jui—fforces, one of responsibility, but according to jui—f forces, one of the leaders was supposed to be there, an elected member of the parliament and he said it is not only an attack on a rally, on his rally or his party's rally but a direct attack on democracy. he didn't rule out the possibility of more such attacks. it is not a very healthy situation. at a time in the few months pakistan will go to another election. if there are more attacks in different parts of the country, then i am afraid things will go from bad to worse. figs country, then i am afraid things will go from bad to worse. as he wrote saying. — will go from bad to worse. as he wrote saying, we _ will go from bad to worse. as he wrote saying, we haven't - will go from bad to worse. as he wrote saying, we haven't yet - will go from bad to worse. as he | wrote saying, we haven't yet had will go from bad to worse. as he - wrote saying, we haven't yet had any confirmation of who exactly is behind the attack but do you think the security threats in pakistan at the security threats in pakistan at the moment are becoming harderfor the moment are becoming harderfor the leadership to get under control? 0nly the leadership to get under control? only recently pakistan's security agencies and the government, the prime minister, held a meeting of the defence committee which comprised of both security personnel and leaders, and they are aware. because this is the month of the... this is a religious month, so they are already on high alert. that is why it is quite surprising, that while pakistan is on high alert, such an attack causes a lot of questions arises a lot of questions about the security especially in those areas. but bajaur, an area like bajaur, there has been a concern about recent incidents of terrorist attacks, and agencies are aware of these attacks. they will most probably launch a tract and on the militants, not only in that area but in some other parts of the country. but in some other parts of the count . ., ., ., .,~ , ., country. you mention that pakistan is on hiuh country. you mention that pakistan is on high alert. _ country. you mention that pakistan is on high alert. what _ country. you mention that pakistan is on high alert. what does - country. you mention that pakistan is on high alert. what does this - country. you mention that pakistan is on high alert. what does this sayj is on high alert. what does this say about the wider political unrest in the country at the moment? almost all the political _ the country at the moment? almost all the political parties, _ all the political parties, irrespective of their position, they all condemn this attack and they have asked... parliament is already in session, it will take up session was probably tomorrow and they are likely to debate this issue, but it happened at a time when the chinese arrived here in the pakistan for a two—day visit to celebrate ten years. so the country is already on high alert, so that is why this huge explosion and bomb blast, which police have not confirmed it is a suicide attack, it has really caused a lot of concern amongst security personnel at the highest level. political parties also, because they will be preparing for the next election, or the political parties. and in 2013, if you remember, there had been a lot of... and at that time, the prime target was some parties, butjui—f and the taliban in the past survived two or three attacks, so it is not the first time that jui—f attacks, so it is not the first time thatjui—f came under attack. there had been attacks on them in the past also. but evenjui people are pretty cautious since nobody has claimed responsivity. there might be either taliban or any other who targeted them, and that is whyjui leaders, although supporters, remain... qm. although supporters, remain... 0k, thank ou although supporters, remain... 0k, thank you so _ although supporters, remain... 0k, thank you so much for your analysis here on the bc news and for talking to me. i appreciate your time there. ukraine's president zelensky has said the war is gradually coming home to russia. he was speaking hours after russia said it had downed three ukrainian drones over moscow. let's hearfrom president zelensky. translation: russian aggression has gone bankrupt on the battlefield. - today is the 522nd day of the so—called special military operation, which the russian leadership expected to last for a week or two. ukraine is getting stronger. gradually, the war is returning to the territory of russia, to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process. live now to our correspondent james waterhouse in kyiv. thanks so much forjoining me. president zelensky saying the war is coming to russia, what is your analysis on that statement and what can we take away from this? we never know for sure — can we take away from this? we never know for sure who _ can we take away from this? we never know for sure who is _ can we take away from this? we never know for sure who is behind _ can we take away from this? we never know for sure who is behind these - know for sure who is behind these drone strikes deep inside russia, but ukrainian propaganda is having a field day. if we look at the language used by president zelensky, that these attacks are a natural, inevitable, fear, then that is a level up from keith's previous denials of responsibility when these attacks took place. i remember the bridge brings struck in unoccupied crimea, president zelensky described the bridge as a legitimate target. that is the most cautionary language we have seen to this point. why is he doing this? he is not only looking to apply pressure on vladimir putin and the kremlin, but also the russian people because the majority of them appear to believe that the invasion of ukraine is both just and fair. if people in russia, as per president zelensky�*s suggestion, start to connect the explosions in the city with what is happening inside ukraine, then it mightjust make it more difficult for vladimir putin to justify this invasion. that is at least the help, but all signs are pointing to him only throwing more of what he still calls his special military operation.— calls his special military oeration. �* ., calls his special military oeration. ., ., calls his special military oeration. �* ., ., operation. he hasn't gone as far as confessin: operation. he hasn't gone as far as confessing to _ operation. he hasn't gone as far as confessing to a _ operation. he hasn't gone as far as confessing to a ukrainian _ confessing to a ukrainian responsivity, but is it a sign of him piling on the pressure on the kremlin and what is russia saying in all of this? . , all of this? vladimir putin is -auttin all of this? vladimir putin is putting on _ all of this? vladimir putin is putting on a _ all of this? vladimir putin is putting on a display - all of this? vladimir putin is putting on a display of - all of this? vladimir putin is - putting on a display of everything being fine. he was... it was maybe date today inside moscow, he was seen looking at his troops. he has hinted that russia would indeed be “p hinted that russia would indeed be up for peace talks even, i can tell you the feeling in kyiv is very different. what the kremlin is saying is that ukraine needs to accept its new territorial reality, as he put it, and what ukraine is more intent on is repelling russia completely, while it feels it still can. there is a lot at stake. what ukrainians are desperate to do is notjust to beat russia on the battlefield, but apply psychological pressure to its war effort closer to home, because that directly feeds into the soldiers fighting close on the front line.— into the soldiers fighting close on the front line. ., ,, , ., , . here in the uk, the prime minister has said he's reviewing what he called "anti—car schemes" such as low traffic neighbourhoods across england. mr sunak has faced pressure to water down some of his environmental commitments after a conservative by—election victory was linked to the party's opposition for plans to extend london's ultra low emission zone. earlier this month, it was announced funding would end for any new projects in england. from newcastle, alison freeman has more. all quiet on this street in newcastle today. it's part of one of several hundred low traffic neighbourhoods known as ltns that have been introduced in cities across the country. the aim — to reduce traffic in residential areas and stop side roads being used as rat runs. it's sort of adding 10 minutes onto yourjourney and you sort of think to yourself, is this actually doing any good for the environment? my road might be quieter, but the main roads are chock a block. it's definitely quieter down the roads and the traffic down the main road's not even that bad. so i don't really see what the problem is. tell me about the clean air sitting in those queues, i those incessant queues. queues. queues, queues of cars pumping out fumes and using up extra fuel. - this ltn, which was introduced back in march, is going to be trialled for 18 months. but these bollards have not only physically divided jesmond, they've divided opinion too, with more than 4000 people already signing a petition against it. feelings about low traffic neighbourhoods have been running high nationally. protests in places like ealing in west london led to the reversal of some zones there. and earlier this month, the government said it was halting money for new schemes. today the prime minister said the government will be reviewing existing low traffic neighbourhoods and that he is on the side of drivers. but labour argues there is still a place for the zones. we are in favour of well—planned, low traffic neighbourhoods but as i say, they have to be decisions that are made by local communities. many people here say it's created more problems than it's solved, but with the drive towards net zero, more ways of tackling pollution need to be found. alison freeman, bbc news, newcastle. the economic community of west african states has agreed to impose immediate financial sanctions on the leaders of the military coup in niger. following a meeting in neighbouring nigeria, the bloc — known as ecowas — gave the junta a week to hand back power, and said it wouldn't rule out the use of force. niger's ambassador to the united states told the bbc he would welcome military intervention if peaceful solution was not reached. the bloc has also imposed a no fly zone on all commercial flights to and from niger, and closed all land borders between niger and member countries. aneliese bernard is director of strategic stabilization advisors, a washington—based risk advisory group focused on west africa. she was formally with the state department in niger. she gave me her reaction to the events there. this military coup was not exactly precedented. that said, we need to be clear that niger itself has only had one democratic election, that being the one that got us president bazoum in the first place. so coups in general are somewhat of a familiar terrain for nigeriens and for the government, for the region, for that matter. that said, ecowas�*s response to this coup is incredibly significant and probably one of the more severe responses we've seen in the region. the last time ecowas threatened the potential use of force to dislodge the coup was for the gambian coup that took place in 2016. before that was in mali in 2012. so the point made is that the past five coups that have taken place in the sahel have not been met with such strong rhetoric by the regional bloc, but also the international community. so this is quite significant. and niger's neighbours, burkina faso and mali, they both pivoted towards russia since their own coups. do you think that will be the case for niger? it's absolutely unclear at this point. there is so far no evidence that russia is part of this or has influenced this directly. similarly with burkina faso and mali, we should anticipate that at least russian influencers and those who are trying to exploit the chaos, so to speak, would possibly step in. and i wouldn'tjust look towards russia. i mean, we can also consider other issues at play, such as the presence ofjihadists in the region and how those groups also exploit some of the confusion around lack of governance and lack of security in situations like this. to the women's world cup now — there's huge disappointment for the co—hosts new zealand, who are out of the competition. they could only manage a draw against group winners switzerland, who are joined in the knockout stages by norway, who thrashed philippines 6—0. and a major shock, as colombia have beaten two time champions germany 2—1. earlier i spoke to sports writer and broadcaster nicky bandini about today's huge results in the tournament. we started off by speaking about colombia beating germany. huge, huge result for colombia. such a sort of impressive group and put together so many young players, making a huge difference for that team. and have been for a while, of course. they did reach the final of the copa america just last year. but seeing linda caicedo, 18 years old, only two years removed, by the way, from an ovarian cancer diagnosis, scoring such a brilliant, brilliant opening goal in this game. and then even after germany, thisjuggernaut, who haven't lost a world cup group game since 1995, they get that penalty at the end of the game and you think, ok, this is sort of reverting to the story everyone expected. and manuela vanegas comes up with that 96th minute winning header in injury time. i think it was probably the most dramatic game of the tournament so far. and there have been a couple. itjust goes to show anything can happen, right? and it is a huge result for norway as well, as they beat the philippines 6—0. yeah, i think that was perhaps an expected result, but what's maybe more of an important part of the story for norway is they recovered from such a bad start to the tournament. nobody thought they were going to lose that opening game to new zealand, which they did, and then they drew their second game. and you've got a team with some of the best players in the world in it — ada hegerberg, who didn't play this game because she is injured. she's a ballon d'or winner. you've got caroline graham hansen, who is then at odds with the coach but is a brilliant, successful barcelona forward who has been playing in the champions league finals. you've got serie a's player of the year in that team — such a strong norway team. and we hadn't seen a game from them yet at this tournament, and finally it is like all of those girls showed up all at once. a really big performance from sophie haug in that game today as well. so they got through the group a bit more by the skin of their teeth than they expected to, but the important thing is to be into the knockout rounds. nicky, it is sad news, isn't it, for new zealand. the hosts are out. but i guess great news for morocco because they scored their first goal in the tournament. yeah, unfortunately new zealand are the first world cup hosts not to make it through the group stage. at the same time, if you think of the beginning of this group stage they were talking about the fact they had won their first ever group game, men's or women's at a world cup, so it was a huge start. and theyjust couldn't quite build on it. and as you say for morocco, a huge moment. another team claiming its first win at this world cup. and at the expense of a south korea team who a lot of people expected bigger things from as well. that was sports writer nikki speaking to me earlier about the women's world cup. litter picking probably isn't something you'd expect to go viral on social media — but forjosh donaldson— what started as a hobby has made him an online star. clearing up the forests near his home in eastern scotland, josh says he's inspired by his children. louise cowie went to meet him. environmental anxiety is a real thing for a lot of people. especially my generation. we grew up, all the world's on fire, like, there's nothing you can do about it. butjosh donaldson is doing something for the environment. for the last few years, he's been ridding the angus countryside of rubbish. i'll pick it up, i'll carry it up the hill. i'll come down, i'll pick up another bit, i'll carry it up there. i'lljust keep doing it until it's gone, you know? but it's good to see the pile getting bigger at the top, and that's the driving factor. it's nice to see an actual, like, a visual representation of your work. it's good. yeah, it's good. the 32—year—old began sharing his clear—ups on social media, and they were a huge hit. he now has 1.5 million followers on tiktok, and his videos are watched by, and inspire, hundreds of thousands of people far and wide. people send me videos of them, like, cleaning beaches and rivers, all over the world. like, vietnam and things. like, america and stuff like that. 0pposite ends of the world. it's nice to see that it's having an effect beyond just what i'm doing. and i think that keeps me going for the most part, that it affects more than just me now, you know what i mean? so, too, do thoughts of his daughter. i think having her made me think a bit more about what we were leaving behind. and every time i pick a bit up, well, she'll come down here, she'll never see that. she'll go for a walk and that won't be here, like. and that kind of drove me forward, to leave something better behind for her and the rest of her generation. josh's online supporters raised funds for a van, to allow him to carry out even bigger clear—ups, and his long—term goal is to set up his own recycling centre. i think going forward, if we can make positive changes and do nice things, it might not change everything, but it'll make a nicer walk for the kids, or a nicer ten minutes in the woods than it would have been without it, which i think�*s worth it. louise cowie, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. july has been a wet month across the uk and as we look towards the end of the month and into the start of the new one, there is more rain on the way. styles of wind and rain this week, rather cool as well. looking back, the rain we have had so far, these figures are valid up to 10am on sunday. you can see that in preston, 285% of the average july see that in preston, 285% of the averagejuly rainfall, that means preston has had up to three times the rain fell in a typicaljuly. that means preston has had close to three times the rainfall we would expect in a typicaljuly. and those figures got a further top up as sunday went on because we saw a band of heavy rain pushing northwards and eastwards in association with this frontal system still with us for monday morning. all tied in with this area of low pressure, which will be wobbling its way eastwards through the day. so a band of rain pushing northwards across scotland, some sunshine, at least for a time in the north of scotland, and then to the south of that, for northern ireland, for england and wales, large amounts of clouds and mist and murk, some splashes of rain and, actually, some really heavy and persistent rain across the channel islands that may just graze into southern counties of england at times. temperatures 17—21 degrees in most places. so at the oval for the crickets, i think we are going to see some showers at times. i'm hopeful of some lengthy dry spells as well to allow some play to take place. and then as we move through monday nights, well, quite a mishmash of weather. some areas of clouds, a bit of mist and murk, some splashes of rain. we mayjust see a few more clear spells working into the mix by the end of the night, temperatures of 12 or 13 or 1a degrees. now, tuesday looks set to be one of the drier days of the week. i can't promise it's going to be completely dry. there'll still be some bits and pieces of rain, some showers around. but we should at least get to see some spells of sunshine and some decent dry gaps between the showers. rain, though, you'll notice, returning to the far south west of england later in the day. and temperatures at best 17—21 degrees, not particularly impressive for the first day of august. and then for wednesday, well, this deep area of low pressure pushes eastwards. this is a very autumnal looking weather chart. there will be some really strong winds, particularly on the southern flank of this low around the south west of england, also through the channel islands can be very windy indeed. some outbreaks of rain, and then it looks like staying decidedly cool towards the end of the week. this is bbc news, the headlines at least a0 people have been killed in a bomb blast in pakistan —during a rally organised by an islumist party. dozens of people were also injured in the north—west bajaur district. president putin praises the might of russia's fleet at navy day celebrations. he said he doesn't reject the idea of peace talks on ukraine— but it's hard to implement a ceasefire with ukraine on the offensive. hundreds of supporters of niger's military coup protest outside the french embassy in niamey as france stops aid, leaders of the coup have warned against military intervention to reinstate the ousted president. here in the uk, the prime minister wants a review into low—traffic neighbourhood schemes which seek to reduce the numbers of cars in some residential areas. now on bbc news. this cultural life: kenneth branagh.