Russian missile strikes on Kyiv kill 17

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0:30Download it today. Wireless plans require the purchase of a SIM card. Visit textnow.com for terms and conditions. The United States is about to mark its 250th anniversary. And so on the Global Story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story and a lot of people have bought it. I feel like the American dream is alive but not well. From the BBC, it's the United States at 2.50. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:11Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. Coming to you live from London, I'm Rajini Vaidyanathan. Football's governing body, FIFA, is facing criticism for lifting a one-match ban on America's top scorer. It's after President Trump rang FIFA's President Gianni Infantino. We'll bring you the latest on the fallout from that shortly. But first...

1:39The sound there of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kiev, one that's been all too familiar in the last four years. Once again, overnight Sunday into Monday, the city took a battering. At least 14 people have been killed in these latest attacks, which hit a residential building. Ukraine's Air Force says the reason the damage was so severe was because there's a serious shortage of interceptor missiles. It meant none of the 23 ballistic missiles launched by Moscow were shot down. Well, Aleksandra is a student living in Kiev. She told us what last night was like. I must say that last night was an outstanding one as usually they strike drones, like massive groups of drones before striking the ballistics right away or other types of arms.

2:28But this night they began only with the ballistics straight away, which was kind of unexpected. And drone and ballistics are different because drones could be intercepted easily by our government's arms. But the ballistics hit right away. it takes a few seconds for them to reach the city and strike. Therefore, the chances of them being intercepted are really low. That's why when we see that drones might approach the city, we know that, for instance, we have enough time to go to the shelter or that the chances of them actually reaching the city are not so high. When we see the ballistics approaching the city, you should know like the first thing that comes to my mind is that okay so I have like 10 seconds and then I can hear mentally this is absolutely horrendous like it is so hard to get back to you to your usual life especially in the morning when the attack is over you have to think how to continue how to go on and you never know what will be next what will be today for instance That's Oleksandra there.

3:48Well, let's go live to Kiev and join my colleague there, BBC's Sarah Rainsford. Good to talk to you on NewsHour, Sarah. First of all, you've been to the scene of those attacks, haven't you? Yeah, for the second time in a week, I found myself standing looking at the remains of a giant apartment block with a hole through the centre of it and able to see the sky on the other side. It was a real devastating scene, obviously terrifying for everybody. who was in that block of flats, and we spoke to quite of them. We saw a major rescue and recovery operation underway. There were sniffer dogs there going through the rubble.

4:26There were psychologists on hand, volunteers bringing food. Lots of people just standing around, stunned, some of them in tears. One lady, we were told, had two people missing, two relatives missing, in the remains, the ruins of their apartment block. And we know that in that just one building alone, a whole family was killed, Five people in total, at least, in that building have lost their lives. And there are similar scenes across Kiev this morning. And it's quite clear, I think, that the aerial strikes by Russia have increased in intensity. They're also happening more frequently. And they're very clearly now focused on Kiev itself, on Ukraine's capital.

5:04All of those things, I think, are new twists in this long and draining war. Yeah, and Sarah, what's quite surprising, I suppose, in some ways, is Ukraine saying that they weren't able to intercept any of those missiles, saying that there's a serious shortage of those interceptors? Yeah, I mean, they've been saying that for a very long time. They've been pleading with Ukraine's allies to provide more missiles to intercept the ballistic missiles that are fired at Ukraine because this is a problem that's been coming for time. Of course, America is the key supplier of Patriot missiles for the air defence system, the Patriot systems, and a lot of those were used in its war with Iran.

5:44So there's a severe shortage generally and a real shortage here in Ukraine and we're beginning to see the impact of that, particularly last night when not one ballistic missile was intercepted. The cruise missiles fly lower, they're slower, they're more easy to intercept but the ballistics are a massive problem and that's why we've seen such devastation today but also just four days ago. Yeah, Sarah, we're seeing bombs, drones and missiles flying in both directions. Ukraine, of course, is at the start of its 40-day operation to pressure Russia to end the war. And there is a renewed focus on Russian-occupied Crimea.

6:18Yeah, just one thing to point out, though, that the mass casualties are only in Ukraine. You know, we don't hear about mass casualties inside Russia. So Ukraine is certainly launching long-range drones against high-impact targets, particularly oil refineries inside Russia. And they're really focused now also on Crimea, that peninsula that has been occupied by Russia for 12 years now. I think that's a clear and deliberate campaign because Crimea is key to Russia's war effort. It's also very important to Vladimir Putin. And we saw just last night again Ukraine's military striking a military airfield in Crimea and also oil refineries and causing fresh blackouts across the peninsula.

7:03It isn't easy to speak openly from Crimea. if you don't support Russia. But Igor agreed to talk to me on an encrypted line to describe what life is like there, as Ukrainian drones target the peninsula every day now. Situation is catastrophic. We have blackouts, water cuts, the beaches are empty. When you step outside in the morning, there are hardly any cars. People thought the world would be far away, in Ukraine, but now it's here.

7:41It is all a long way from the euphoria in Russia in 2014. That's when Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea illegally. I remember the annual concerts in Moscow that followed, hailing his great achievement, and all the talk of Crimea supposedly returning to its rightful home. For Kiev, though, that takeover was Putin's first step towards this all-out war. Now Ukraine is striking Crimea, hitting Russian military logistics and the oil refineries.

8:26And social media from there is full of angry posts by people forced to queue in long, long lines for fuel. With the petrol shortages and the power blackouts, there is now an official state of emergency. I asked Igor about the mood.

8:47Some people are getting angry. They say things like we should drop a nuclear bomb. Others already say we should never have joined Russia. So why is Ukraine targeting Crimea now? We got part of the answer at a defence fair in Kiev. I'm just standing by a display area for drone manufacturers. Now one of the points that Ukraine makes is that they don't have the number of soldiers that Russia has. They don't have the money that Moscow can reach for. But what they do have is innovation. And that's what they're making the most of in targeting Crimea. People here talk of a window of opportunity, while Ukrainian drones are managing to break through Russia's defences.

9:33I wondered if you could spell out why there's such a strong focus on Crimea. That was my question to Ukraine's defence minister. up.

9:44Crimea is an important target because of the enemy's logistics there. And Ukraine's technology has reached the point where we have the capability to conduct operations like these. We're working to expand that every day so we can carry out new and even more effective operations, and not only in Crimea. Sarah Rainsford, Ripporshing there. Well, let's speak now to Patrick Burry, a senior lecturer in warfare and counterterrorism at the University of Bath here in the UK. Also a former NATO analyst and army officer. Welcome to NewsHour, Patrick. First of all, Ukraine's military today saying that its air defences were not sufficient to take down any of the ballistic missiles that Russia sent over to Ukraine.

10:28How serious is the challenge when it comes to air defences? Good afternoon. I think it's becoming increasingly difficult for Ukraine to intercept the ballistics. These are the high-end, more expensive missiles which go on a high trajectory basically up towards the edge of the atmosphere and then back down on a steep trajectory. So they need the most expensive and most technologically advanced interceptors like the Patriot or the Aster system, which is supplied by the French and others. And when the targets, when a barrage of drones and cruise missiles, which are the lower, slower versions, are launched alongside the ballistics, of course, the air defense teams must pick, you know, very quickly being fed from their radar and their data systems what targets to engage.

11:19Now, we don't know the exact cause of what this was, but of course, the Ukrainians have said afterwards this attack that they didn't intercept any of the ballistics. So 23 got through. They did intercept, I think, some of the cruise missiles and a large section of the drones. But of course, they've been saying this for the last few weeks that their stockpiles, in particular, the Patriot are running low. Yeah, we've heard Ukraine ask for more support when it comes to getting more Patriots in the past. We're heading into a week where we've got a NATO summit. How much do you think this is going to be on the agenda?

11:57And what else might we expect when it comes to this conflict? So I think there's two things. The patriots themselves, unfortunately, because of the US involvements again in the war against Iran and then the knock-on effect of attacks across its Gulf partners. A lot of the, as far as we can understand, the interceptor stockpiles and also the interceptor systems themselves, some have been damaged. there is basically a sort of stockpile and production issue. And Trump has asked the US defence companies to get moving on that. But there'll be a time lapse essentially with that. So that's one issue that this is a global problem.

12:39The second one then is can the Europeans convince Trump to sell them more, the patriots in the short term and in response for what? What will Trump want back for that? it might be some sort of security investment and further presence in Greenland. Of course, I think that's going to come up in the discussion in Ankara. I also think it ties into the wider picture where Trump is asking all the nations to move almost immediately of European NATO to 5 % rather than just set out a timeline for that. The UK, of course, has moved a bit towards that, but it's still far behind what it said it would. And finally, we're tied into that then is getting the Europeans to be able to produce this kind of kit themselves in sufficient quantities.

13:23But again, that's down the line. One of the things in particular at that level will be Zelensky asking for the rights to make the patriot system inside Ukraine itself. The Russians, of course, are saying that would mark a major escalation, as they always do, by the way. Okay, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and analysis. That's Patrick Bury there, Senior Lecturer in Warfare and Counterterrorism at the University of Bath here in the UK, also a former NATO analyst and army officer. We will, of course, have full coverage of this week's NATO summit here on the BBC World Service.

14:08Coming up here on NewsHour, we'll take a look at how speaking multiple languages from an early age protects your brain. I grew up speaking English, but I also learned Spanish. I also grew up speaking English. And I studied German in the school. And I speak Arabic in the second of Lebanon. I grew up in Korea and lived in Korean. I studied French in the Lycée and I studied Italian. My clever producers there, speaking multiple languages. We'll have more on that in 20 minutes. Let's take a look at some of the headlines we're watching this hour. As we mentioned, Ukraine's pleading for more air defences after revealing that none of the ballistic missiles in Russia's latest deadly barrage overnight were intercepted.

14:56And a two-day prison riot in Sri Lanka has left at least 25 people dead and more than 100 injured.

15:08You're listening to NewsHour from the BBC World Service with me, Rajini Vaidyanathan. Now, it's a moment every football player dreads, seeing the referee pull out a red card. It usually means they're not just sent off for the rest of that match, but are suspended for the next game in a tournament. Going by that, America's leading goal scorer, Folloran Balogun, who was sent off against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, shouldn't be playing in Team USA's next match on Tuesday against Belgium. But he is expected to, for now anyway, after football's governing body FIFA decided not to enforce an immediate sanction on the 25-year-old.

15:47It followed reports of an intervention from the White House, no less. President Trump made three calls, it's been reported, to FIFA's boss Gianni Infantino. Unsurprisingly, the decision's been a controversial one. Former England captain Wayne Rooney had this to say. I think it's an absolute disgrace. Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think the sportsmanship of this game is in question here. European football's governing body UEFA has also condemned the move, saying it crossed a red line. It released a statement which we've got a colleague to voice up. Football, like any other sport, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition.

16:33Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case, not. A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. It is a principle embedded in regulations which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension. When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.

17:11Equally, such a decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require equal treatment to the detriment of the competition. While there's been plenty more reaction, the European Commissioner for Sport said sport decisions belong to sporting bodies, not politicians. Former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, who of course resigned after being accused of corruption for which he was later cleared, posted on social media that red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They're overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies. Football must never become a playground for political power, he said.

17:48Well, you might remember it was only seven months ago that President Trump was awarded FIFA's first ever peace prize in what was a lavish ceremony. I just want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now. The United States one year ago was not doing too well. And now I have to say we're the hottest country anywhere in the world that we're going to keep it that way. Thank you all. Thank you. Have a great time. And Johnny, a tremendous honour. Thank you. Well, the story of Balogun's reprieve was broken last night by journalists on the New York Times sports site, theathletic.com. Nick Miller is at The Athletic and he's also the author of the book Who Owns Football?

18:28Welcome to NewsHour, Nick. You've been busy, I see, writing a lot about this. So thanks for taking the time to come on to NewsHour. Just make sense of all of this for us, because now we understand in the last few hours, Belgium has appealed and been granted the right to appeal. So what comes next now? What exactly are they appealing? They don't want Balogun to be on the pitch when they play Team USA on Tuesday, right? Yes. So essentially, Balogun was sent off in the last game via a VAR intervention in the game, which the US deemed an incorrect decision. and this process has kind of gone on over the last...

19:12Well, they kind of started engaging lawyers to look into any kind of recourse that they would have. The suspension was itself suspended yesterday, which came as a huge surprise to most people, really, not least the team that the US are playing later on today or 1am UK time. and yes they as you say they have appealed against this suspension the the kind of central problem with all of this is that um in the premier league and you know the european leagues if a player is given a red card and then as subsequently a suspension for subsequent games there is a defined appeals process where their club can say you know we think this is unfair and there is a you know that they can make what amount to kind of legal submissions within a kind of sporting context anyway and then the decision on whether that appeal is granted is it's all very kind of clear and open and the written reasons given that process isn't in place at the World Cup so the decision to suspend Balogun's ban is not subject to those things and it is all very kind of it's all very unclear and FIFA haven't really explained the reasons for it.

20:35But it all comes down to FIFA ultimately and you're saying they haven't really justified that decision which is obviously very controversial. Yeah that's I mean that's the other problem they haven't they basically haven't said anything about this they haven't told anyone why they reached this decision they haven't told anyone who kind of made this decision. They haven't told anyone the kind of specific reasons for it. There are basically two competing articles in the various kind of disciplinary codes. One that says a red card will be given a minimum one game suspension. And then there's another article which essentially says that the FIFA disciplinary committee can either increase or decrease any suspension at their discretion.

21:22and the problem being that there isn't it isn't really you know explained or defined what that discretion is or how or what the decision making process is yeah i mean we've heard from uefa haven't we saying these things should not be discretionary and regulations are there for a reason i mean let's talk about the other element to all of this those reports that president trump actually called uh johnny infantino not once not twice but three times yeah i mean they're they're good pals so you know maybe they were just having a chat about uh how the football's going maybe it wasn't anything to do with this but um you know it was uh it was a fear of many people in the build up to this world cup that um you know infantino was becoming so close to trump that um a situation where um he would uh he would trump would become involved in something during the world cup now obviously we don't know what was said in these conversations we don't know for sure what kind of influence Trump may or may not have asserted and we don't know what Infantino then did to then sort of expedite this process but the public look of it is not good for a FIFA president who has not had the greatest reputation over the last few years.

22:46And what's the precedent on this? Have we ever seen anything like this before? Not really, no. I mean, in terms of like a, during the tournament, a kind of big thing like this happening, there was a situation before the tournament where Cristiano Ronaldo and a few other players were supposed to be suspended for getting red cards in games before the tournament. but those suspensions were lifted as well. Ronaldo was the highest profile one but there were a couple of other players and this was under the same article of the FIFA Disciplinary Code that Balogun has been allowed to play well, as we speak at the moment has been allowed to play in this game which was also very controversial and it did seem to be a fairly arbitrary decision that these suspensions were lifted.

23:38So in terms of this type of decision during the World Cup, I can't recall another decision made so dramatically anyway. Dramatic indeed. We'll find out what comes next. And of course, we'll only know who plays and who doesn't when we see the team on the pitch. Nick Miller from The Atlantic, thank you very much for taking us through that story.

24:10Is the American dream still possible? I'm Asma Khalid, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. One of the most successful exports the United States has ever sold the world is the American dream, that tantalizing promise of a better, freer, richer life. But is it still attainable? I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. For more, listen to the Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

24:41Welcome back to NewsHour. Cape Verde's national football teams returned home after their defeat by current champions Argentina at the knockout round of the World Cup. While the team became the underdog heroes of the early stage of the tournament, gaining global fans and coverage in what was their first ever World Cup, the Blue Sharks, as they're known, were treated to a hero's welcome with supporters filling the streets wearing the colours of the country's flag. Well, the BBC's reporter there, Paul Njaye, captured the celebrations. The drumbeats of pride reverberate across Cape Verde's capital, Pryor.

25:19Thousands are gathered outside the main airport for a double celebration. Independence Day and the much-expected return of the national football team after an inspiring performance at the World Cup. And just as the chants and dance peaked, the boys made their grand entrance aboard a chartered flight. Among them, 40-year-old goalkeeper, Vozinia, who gave great teams like Argentina and Spain a hard time. I think this means for everyone. It's something for our national team, for our country. So it was a great job for everyone. And like I said before, I want to thank you to all of the guys, all the staff, all the federation, all the players.

26:03They deserve something bigger and I wish my teammates could have a bigger team from now on. The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde have just arrived here in Pryor. And behind me is Kevin Pina, who scored the very first goal. And there are other players making their way here, just going through immigration and checking. They've come at a time when the country is celebrating its 51st Independence Day. Defender Pico Lopez says it's a great combination. We've made history over the last few weeks and independence for Cape Red is history in itself. So the two of them sort of combine the same day. It really calls for a great day of celebration.

26:40The moment they were waiting for finally arrived. The Blue Sharks, led by coach Bubista, took a precious moment to greet the very people behind their motivation to fight and excel at the World Cup. It was also a moment for these passionate supporters to get the autographs of their favourite players. This was nothing but pure love. It's such an emotional moment being here to welcome the Blue Sharks. It was also very emotional during all the games and we feel very grateful to all the players for taking us to the top. Nowadays Cape Verde is widely known and we also saw the power of our nation. Cape Verde went down in history There is no country whatsoever that doesn't know Cape Verde It was historic, marvelous, and I'm very proud Every Cape Verdean is happy We are great, we are the big sharks As the caravan left the airport for the streets of Praia the team met with many more well-wishers lined up to see them Although they were eliminated from the World Cup by Argentina, these scenes portray the Cape Verdean squad as proud winners.

27:55They may not have won on the pitch, but they certainly succeeded to capture the hearts of many on the islands and around the world. BBC's Paul and Jay there, reporting from Cape Verde. For listening to NewsHour from the BBC, I'm Rajini Vaidyanavan. Now, it's been four months since Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in those US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the start of the war. Now, after a long delay, his funeral is being held in the capital, Tehran. Huge crowds of supporters of the Islamic Republic have been gathering for the seven-day memorial. In a country of more than 90 million, there are, many people who opposed his rule.