NewsHour

Renewed clashes between Bedouin tribesmen and members of the minority Druze Community have erupted in the south of Syria. A war monitoring group says there's been fighting and shelling in neighbourhoods of the mainly Druze city of Suweida. We'll hear from Damascus and get a US view of Israel's policy.

Also, why President Trump and some of his most loyal supporters are at odds over the late, disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein.

And some virtuoso piano playing from a performer born with only one hand.

(Photo: Syria's interim president said government forces had expelled "outlaw groups" in Suweida. Credit: Reuters)

Three and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European Union countries have agreed to slap yet more sanctions on Moscow. Slovakia had been blocking the package over concerns regarding a separate EU proposal phasing out gas imports from Russia. This is the EU’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Also on the programme: we hear from a British surgeon working in Gaza about what he calls a concerning pattern of injuries in patients being brought to hospital from aid centres; and the North Korean defectors making their debut in a new K-pop boy band.

(Photo: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press point on 18th package of sanctions against Russia in Brussels, Belgium, June 10, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Yves Herman)

Pope Leo XIV has renewed his call for a Gaza ceasefire after three people sheltering in the Catholic church in Gaza City were killed in an Israeli strike. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzabella gives us his reaction to the bombing. The Israeli military says the incident is under review.

Also on the programme: We ask whether the Israeli bombing of targets in Syria complies with international law; and the sale of ROSEBUD, the wooden sledge that drove the plot of one of the greatest ever films: Citizen Kane.

Photo: Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Christians Saad Salama and Foumia Ayyad, who were killed in a strike on the Holy Family Church, according to medics, at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, in Gaza City, July 17, 2025. (Credit REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alka)

Syrian government forces have left the southern city of Sweida, where days of sectarian clashes involving the Druze minority have left hundreds dead. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa made a call for unity in the middle of the night.

Also in the programme: proof that a technique using genetic material from three people to create embryos is leading to children born free of incurable and devastating mitochondrial disease; and an interview with Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for more than 100 days after taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.

After sectarian clashes in southern Syria, Israel launches airstrikes on Syrian government targets, saying it needs to protect the Druze ethnic minority. We attempt to explain a complicated situation with defence expert Dr Robert Geist Pinfold, and hear from an eyewitness in the city of Sweida and an advisor to the Syrian foreign minister.

Also in the programme: continuing controversy in the United States over the legacy of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein; the plight of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have been abruptly deported from Iran; and a plan to breathe new life into the Victorian glasshouses at London's Kew Gardens.

(Photo: Damaged vehicles outside the Syrian Ministry of Defence building following an Israeli airstrike in Damascus; Credit: MOHAMMED AL RIFAI/EPA/Shutterstock)

Israel carried out a series of drone strike against Damascus, after the breakdown of a ceasefire between the Syrian government and fighters from the Druze community in the south of the country. The IDF says it is acting the protect the Druze community, and stop a military build-up by the government on its northern border. We bring the latest analysis from the region.

Also in the programme: a MAGA backlash after Trump's Attorney General says she won't publish the so called 'Epstein files'; and Labubu, the Chinese 'ugly-cute' elves that have overrun Tiktok.

(Picture:Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on Syria's defense ministry in Damascus, according to Al Jazeera TV, in Damascus, Syria July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi)

The British Government has revealed it has secretly moved thousands of Afghans to the UK, after a data leak by a defence official. We'll hear from the journalist who fought to reveal the story and an Afghan who says his family's safety has been threatened.

Also on the programme: our Washington correspondent who was having an early evening nap at home when Donald Trump gave him a call; and the world's biggest human imaging project that has scanned the bodies of 100,000 people.

(Photo: A captain of the Afghanistan army boards a British military plane at Kabul airport to be evacuated to the UK. Issue date: Tuesday August 24, 2021. Credit: Ministry of Defence)

president Trump says he is disappointed with Putin. Donald Trump talks to the BBC about Russia, the UK and the attempt on his life. Also in the programme: Israel strikes Syrian government forces, after tribal clashes in Syria’s Sweida; and the oldest marathon runner dies.

(Photo: President Trump speaking in the White House. Credit: Shutterstock)

Donald Trump says new weapons are en route to Ukraine and new sanctions could be heading to Russia as he gives vent to his frustrations with Vladimir Putin. We'll speak to one of the president's Ukraine envoys.

Also on the programme: the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slams the current government's plans to move Gaza's entire population into a new area in the south; and the woman re-imagining the ancient sound of the oud.

(Photo: US President Donald Trump announces a deal to send US weapons to Ukraine through Nato in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2025. Credit: Reuters)

Ukraine's President Zelensky has thanked the United States for its support, ahead of Donald Trump's expected announcement of more military hardware, to be paid for by the European Union.

Also in the programme: Taiwan doubles the length of its annual military drills; and "Crypto Week" in the US as Congress begins five days of debate aimed at overhauling American legislation around the entire crypto currency industry.

(Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and US Special Envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg (R), shaking hands during a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, 14 July 2025. Kellogg arrived in Ukraine to meet with senior Ukrainian officials amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Credit: Presidential Press Service of Ukraine/Handout/EPA/Shutterstock)