Plus: The next phase of the war in Gaza, and the designer behind Beyoncéâs neon green sari
| | | | | | | Hello. With Ukraine’s Dnipro river the site of fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops, one Ukrainian soldier's account to correspondent James Waterhouse speaks of the exhaustion of serving on the front line. From Jerusalem, international editor Jeremy Bowen examines the next phase of the war in Gaza. Finally, on a lighter note, BBC Asian Network Bertin Huynh interviews visionary Indian designer Gaurav Gupta on dressing some of the world’s biggest stars. |
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| | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Southern Ukraine | | The front line by the Dnipro river | | | | The river separates the Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-controlled parts of the southern Kherson region. Credit: AP | | The banks of Dnipro river in southern Ukraine have become a key front line in the Ukrainian army’s counter-offensive against the Russian military, launched six months ago. But one front-line soldier has given a sobering account of Ukraine's struggle to cling on to its foothold, highlighting growing tensions as Ukraine's defence against Russia's invasion grinds to the end of another year. | | | | James Waterhouse, BBC Ukraine correspondent |
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| "When we arrived on the [eastern] bank, the enemy were waiting,” the soldier says. “Russians we managed to capture said their forces were tipped off about our landing so when we got there, they knew exactly where to find us. They threw everything at us - artillery, mortars and flame-thrower systems. I thought I'd never get out."
President Volodymyr Zelensky has been keen to talk up this offensive, framing it as the beginning of something more. This soldier's testimony, however, reveals splits between Ukraine's government and its generals over the state of the war. "No-one knows the goals,” says the soldier. “Many believe that the command simply abandoned us. The guys believe that our presence had more political than military significance. But we just did our job and didn't get into strategy." |
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| Questions Answered | | The next phase of the war in Gaza | | | | Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza have been targeted more heavily since the end of the temporary truce. Credit: Getty Images |
| | Before the end of the seven-day ceasefire last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent out clear guidelines for how Israel should engage in the conflict in Gaza. Here, international editor Jeremy Bowen explains how the evacuation orders for Gazans relate to those guidelines. For his take on the stakes of the US involvement in this new phase of the war, hit the link below. | | | | Jeremy Bowen, International editor |
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| | Where have Gazans been directed to? | | The Israeli military has released maps showing a divided Gaza Strip that's been split into 2,400 blocks, giving civilians conflicting advice about where they're supposed to go. One area they tried to push people to is al-Mawasi on the coast. According to the people I've spoken to, it has no facilities so now people are being directed elsewhere. | | How easy is it to follow the evacuation orders? | | It's hard enough for me in Jerusalem to get my head around the orders, but for people inside Gaza it must be very complex. These are residents without transportation, who have been displaced and have families to take with them, all of which make it very hard to travel at a moment’s notice to an area that isn't guaranteeing safety. | | Why is Israel giving evacuation orders? | | Israel is under heavy pressure from the US, its most vital ally, to kill fewer Palestinian civilians. That’s why it’s brought in this scheme which it says will preserve lives. But it seems too complicated and too dependent on working smartphones to be a workable solution in the chaos of Gaza under attack. | | | | | | |
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| | The big picture | | The designer who put Beyoncé in a sari | | | | The neon green sari was one of three outfits Gaurav created for the Renaissance tour. Credit: Getty Images |
| | Among the stunning outfits Beyoncé wore on her Renaissance tour, some of the most striking gowns were the creation of Indian designer Gaurav Gupta. His roster of clients also includes Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Lost America | | The stories behind Dorothea Lange’s legendary shots. | | |
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| | And finally... in Denmark | | It was an unfortunate big catch: a 130kg (286lb) World War Two bomb got trapped in a fisherman’s net off the coast of Denmark. The Danish navy took care of detonating the weapon at 15m (49ft) below the surface. It still made a pretty big splash, as you can see on this video. (If you enjoy stories about wartime relics, did you see this 29kg "naval projectile" being used as a garden ornament by a couple in Wales? It has also been blown up - thankfully not when the owner was using it to knock the soil from her trowel.) |
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– Sofia |
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