families living just behind the frontline. eastern ukraine is being eroded. russian forces are approaching, taking village after village. and for the people living here, death or occupation feels imminent. valeriy and his grandson denys have taken up the offer of evacuation. their home in toretsk is in russia s sights. here, it s making its size and ammunition reserves count. ukrainian forces are going backwards. and with valeriy s town now constantly shelled, it s time to go. translation: i lived my life already. - but i need to save the little one. police take them to kostyantynivka, a place of relative safety but increasingly less so. the city is used to being close to the battlefield, but its risk of being captured is growing. when ukraine liberated territory more than a year ago, there was hope. but the tide hasn tjust changed it s approaching. now there is fear that cities like kostyantynivka will be gradually destroyed and its people will be forced to flee. this is
detaining the president, mohamed bazoum. on friday, the head of the presidential guards unit, general abdourahmane tchiani, declared himself niger s new leader, saying insecurity, economic woes and corruption prompted him to seize power. the us, the eu, and france, niger s former colonial ruler, say they won t recognise the coup leaders, with some suspending security cooperation and budgetary aid. there are concerns among many countries over which states niger s new leader will align with, potentially moving closer to russia, as happened after coups in neighbouring burkina faso and mali. later, leaders from the 15 countries that make up ecowas, the economic community of west african states, and the eight leaders from the west african economic and monetary union will meet to discuss their response. earlier, chris ewokor, who is following the story from neighbouring nigeria. well, right now in niger, things are happening quite fast. earlier today, one of the members of the mili
has killed at least one civilian and wounded five. officials said the missile hit an education centre. earlier on president putin spoke at the annual navy day parade in st petersburg, the same city he was meeting african leaders. there was a flotilla of ships present and the russian president gave a speech in which he said the russian navy baguette that 30 new battleships and thanking naval trips for their services and the love of the motherland. let s take a listen to some of putin s speech. translation: patriotism is at the core of the particular neighbour culture which helps them fulfil the tasks and evokes pride among our people in the strong fleet. this pride proves that the people of russia can hold the power on the seas. today, the russian fleet is solving the tasks of national policy and increasing its strength. this year alone, 30 new battleships are joining the navy one of which has been named after a glorious seafarer and it is great that we have this tradition to
so, this is a radio drama studio. hello, i m john wilson. welcome to this cultural life, a radio four podcast in which i ask leading creative figures about the influences and inspirations that have fired their artistic imagination. my guest in this episode is sir kenneth branagh. a huge talent, a star of stage and screen for more than four decades now. he s an actor, director, writer and film maker, whose credits range from hamlet to tenet, from henry v to thor. we spoke in the very atmospheric radio drama studio of bbc broadcasting house. ken, welcome to this cultural life. thank you. a show about cultural inspiration, cultural influences. what is your earliest cultural memory, do you think? something that had a big impact? i think, early doors, i can remember winston churchill s funeral, i think it was 1965, seeing it on the television and just being told about the great man. the world cup final of 1966, where the nation stopped. and in our own household, my brother had a s