NewsHour

President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will not abandon the eastern Donbas region -- which has been partially seized by Russia and its proxy forces since Twenty- Fourteen. He warned doing so would give Russia a springboard for future attacks on other areas.

Also in the programme: We'll hear from the UN investigator on systematic abuses spreading in Myanmar; a warning over changes to federal funds for scientific research in the US; North Koreans tell BBC they are being sent to work 'like slaves' in Russia; and can cats get dementia?

(Photo credit: EPA)

Amid the devastation in Gaza, remarkable stories of hope and resilience do emerge. Sixteen-year-old Sama Nijm, a gifted violinist from Gaza, is using music to bring comfort and healing to the youngest victims of the conflict. Some of the children have lost their parents, and in some cases, their limbs or arms.

BBC Newsday's Charlene Rodrigues spoke to Sama, and began by asking her what inspired her to become a violin teacher in the midst of war.

Russia has been trying to tackle a significant labour shortage by recruiting North Koreans; the BBC has been speaking to some of them.

Also in the programme: the American surgeon recycling surgical pins and plates in Gaza; and how studying cat dementia can help humans.

Photograph: President Putin and Kim Jung Un meeting in Pyongyang in 2024. Credit: Reuters.

Funerals have been held in Gaza City for five journalists from the news channel Al Jazeera who were killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Sunday night - including the prominent reporter Anas al-Sharif. The BBC understands before the war, he worked for a Hamas media team, but Israel accuses him of posing as a journalist, while serving as the head of a Hamas cell. We'll speak to war correspondent Jon Lee Anderson about the killings.

Also on the programme: Donald Trump says he's sending in the National Guard to regain control of the hell-scape that he says Washington DC has become;

And we'll hear about the beachside solution that's being offered to inveterate snorers.

(Picture:Palestinians inspect the destroyed tent of the Al Jazeera team following an Israeli strike, outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 11 August 2025. Credit: Photo by MOHAMMED SABER/EPA/Shutterstock)

The Israeli military says it targeted 28-year-old correspondent Anas al-Sharif, alleging he had "served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas", but has produced little evidence to support that claim. We speak to Al Jazeera's Managing Editor.

Also in the programme: The Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay has died from wounds sustained when he was shot at a campaign rally in June; and mentally fit at 96 - we meet the man willing to have his mental arithmetic tested on a television gameshow.

(Photo: Al Jazeera staff members gather at the network’s studios, to remember their colleagues Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and another colleague, who were killed in Gaza City by an Israeli strike. Credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Israel's Prime Minister defends his plan to seize Gaza City - but the cousin of an Israeli hostage tells us it's a terrible idea, and explains why he's supporting the call for a general strike in protest.

Also in the programme: what Russians want from the Putin-Trump summit on Ukraine; and the last news hawker of Paris, about to be honoured by President Macron.

(IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu holds a press conference for international media, Jerusalem, Israel - 10 Aug 2025/ CREDIT: ABIR SULTAN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock)

The leaders of Europe's largest military and economic powers have issued a statement, saying that Ukraine must play a role in peace talks, ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Sergie Marvov, former member of parliament for Vladimir Putin's United Russia party tells our programme that Russia will demand that European troops cannot be stationed in Ukraine following any ceasefire deal.

Also in the programme: Mo Salah criticizes UEFA after the killing of Palestinian footballer Suleiman Obeid during an Israeli strike in Gaza. We get the reaction of the Palestinian national football team manager Ehab Abu Jazar; and amid a deadlock over global negotiations to end single use plastics, we hear from John Chweya, President of the Kenya National Waste Pickers Welfare Association.

Picture: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk walk to attend a joint press conference following a meeting of the 'Coalition of the willing' at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, 10 May 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Credit: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of people have been arrested in London for protesting against the UK government’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. We hear from one of the protest organisers, who says the right to free speech is being undermined, and from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which supports the move.

Also in the programme: after President Trump talked about Ukraine giving up territory to Russia, President Zelensky says that's not happening; and the protests in Mexico City against foreign expat gentrification.

(IMAGE: Supporters of Palestine Action attend a mass protest organized by the Defend Our Juries group as part of their campaign to end the proscription of Palestine Action, in Parliament Square, London, Britain, 09 August 2025 / CREDIT: TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock)

Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out surrendering Ukrainian land to Russia, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin prepare to meet next week. In a video address, President Zelensky said any decisions taken without Ukraine would be -- as he put it -- dead decisions. Mr Trump has talked of Russia and Ukraine swapping territory. Several Ukrainian civilians have been killed during another night of aerial attacks by Russia.

Also in the programme: Protecting Sudan's archaeological sites; Seoul 'convenience stores' fighting isolation; and we will hear from a survivor of the nuclear bomb attack on Nagasaki that ended World War Two.

(Photo: President Zelensky. Credit: Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House. In 2023 Azerbaijan took full control of the contested area of Nagorno-Karabakh - so what's in a peace deal for both sides, and for the US?

Also on the programme: a former officer in the Israeli military analyses Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy Gaza City; and could there be a giant gas planet near Earth with moons that could support life?

(Photo: US President Trump delivers remarks, Washington DC, 7th August 2025. Credit: Shaun Thew/EPA/Shutterstock)