Newshour

The country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80 in Nashville, Tennessee. In a seven-decade career, she won 10 Grammy awards, sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and wrote in excess of 3,000 songs. We'll be looking back at her life and legacy.Also in the programme: the United Nations and the Red Cross have called for urgent negotiations to restrict the use of autonomous weapons; and why the Indian government is sending onions across the country.(Photo: The American country music star, Dolly Parton, performs on the Pyramid Stage during the Glastonbury Festival June 29, 2014. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton.)

China has vowed to protect its interests after the US announced plans to widen economic sanctions against Iran and its trading partners, which include Beijing. Will China scupper the squeeze on Iran?Also in the programme: the UN and Red Cross call for urgent new laws to police fully autonomous weapons, an at-home test kit for cervical cancer. and can Australia keep AI out of music?(Photo: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran,in Washington DC on 24 August 2026. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has unveiled a wave of sanctions aimed at isolating Iran's economy and says that other countries will be pressured to comply. But will the US deliver on its threats?Also in the programme: a group of cricket legends urges Pakistan to give the former prime minister, Imran Khan, proper medical care; and the edible cookie made from plastic waste. (Photo: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran in Washington, August 24, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein.)

The US treasury secretary has threatened Iran with "the single greatest financial offensive ever", claiming the US-Israel war with Iran was "entering its endgame".Scott Bessent said the US would sever all economic ties with the country in "an economic D-Day" and that any nation partnering with Iran financially would also be isolated. Will it work?Also in the programme: A blueprint for new weapons for Ukraine; the Taliban answers questions about its treatment of women; and the rare British bird on the rise.(Photo shows US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent speaks to reporters in Washington, DC, USA on 20 August 2026. Credit: Shawn Thew/EPA)

Iran’s currency, the rial, has hit a record low, trading at over 2 million rials to the dollar on unofficial markets. The devaluation comes a day before the United States is due to impose what US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant described as “the toughest sanctions in history” on Tehran. Iran was struggling financially even before the start of its ongoing conflict with the US and Israel, nearly six months ago.Also in the programme: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns against holding wartime elections, following repeated calls from his sacked defence minister to hold a nationwide vote; Syria’s foreign minister says he expects peace talks with Israel to resume soon; and we hear from the director of London’s Natural History Museum, where a gallery which has remained hidden from view since World War Two is about to reopen.(Photo: Iranian woman buys vegetables at a street market in Tehran, Iran, 22 August 2026. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock)

Ukraine's popular former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov tells the BBC he still wants nationwide elections, despite his country being at war. We hear a response from a supporter of President Zelensky. Also in the programme: how the Trump White House has turned one of the US's big sporting occasions into a political event; and diplomatic conflict between the UK and Russia, as Moscow apparently withdraws its ambassador from London.(IMAGE: Mykhailo Fedorov, who was at the time Ukraine's minister of defence, speaks at a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 1, 2026 / CREDIT: REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo)

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, has confirmed he'll impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States next month, saying trade talks collapsed because Washington made unacceptable demands.Also on the programme, the editor-in-chief and a reporter from the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes have been fired for 'insubordination', South Korea's first container ship to trial the much shorter and safer route to Europe via the Arctic has begun its journey, and a look at the event dubbed the "Robot Olympics".Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with the news media after he suspended trade negotiations with the United States, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada August 22, 2026. REUTERS/Chris Tanouye

Rescuers in the central city of Kryvyi Rih are continuing to search for survivors of Friday's daytime drone attack on a shopping centre. We hear from the EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, about what the EU can do following a week of Russian attacks. Also on the programme: we hear about how sharks are inhaling caffeine; and the music video maker Tim Pope on his life putting rock stars on film.

Weather experts are warning that a developing El Niño weather system could become the strongest since modern records began. The effects of El Niño on weather patterns are already being felt.Also in the programme: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has been returned to prison after being in hospital; and a new book on the violent career of Carlos the Jackal.(Picture: Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in Indonesia. A severe dry season, intensified by El Nino has fueled wildfires. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

Weather experts describe the developing climate system as an unprecedented event. Temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could climb more than three degrees above normal.Also in the programme: the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen speaks to Newshour about the legal case against Facebook's parent company for improperly collecting and using children's personal data; and dramatising the colourful life of the British economist John Maynard Keynes.(Photo: Mexico says mass bird deaths likely caused by El Nino's hotter waters. Credit: Mexican Government/Handout via Reuters)

15 people were killed in a Russian strike on Kyiv today, and the Ukrainian government has made an urgent request for more interceptor missiles. We hear from the BBC’s correspondent on the ground in the capital. Also on the programme: a new batch of 70,000 vaccines is being sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo to try to contain the fastest-spreading outbreak of Ebola on record. And the 26-year-old car salesman who has been recognised as Belgian royalty after a DNA test proved he was the son of Prince Laurent. (Image: Smoke rises in Kyiv during a Russian drone strike, August 20, 2026 Credit: REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak)

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has told the BBC that Ukraine needs more help from its partners to protect civilians, after another intense Russian bombardment overnight.Also in the programme: a court in China has sentenced the founder of the collapsed property firm Evergrande to life in jail; and we ask why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are coming back to live in the UK. (Photo: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko visits the site of a building damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, March 25, 2024. Credit: Reuters /Gleb Garanic.)

In a rare move the Israeli military has opened a criminal investigation into how its soldiers opened fire on a car carrying a five-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, and a separate incident in which fifteen aid and emergency workers were killed in Rafah in 2025. Also on the programme: a second man is arrested on suspicion of bombing the Nord Stream pipeline, and why thousands of jellyfish are washing up on Europe's coastlines.(Photo: Hind Rajab, who was killed along with six relatives in Gaza in 2024 poses for a photograph in this undated handout picture. Credit:  FAMILY/Reuters)

Ukraine's former defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections - which are barred in wartime under Ukrainian law. A representative of the Presidential Office has told the BBC that it would be bizarre to plan elections amidst missiles and drones. Earlier, around two hundred protestors gathered outside Ukraine's parliament, in protest against the swearing in of the new defence minister, who replaces Mr Fedorov. Also in the programme: Prime Minister Andy Burnham sets out homelessness plan; and what is the future for humanoid robots? (Photo: Ukraine's ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, August 18, 2026. CREDIT: Mykhailo Fedorov/Handout via REUTERS)

A landmark trial has begun in California with the tech giant Meta accused of deliberately making Facebook and Instagram addictive to children. We'll hear the case for the prosecution and the defence. Also on the programme: a court in Damascus sentences to death a cousin of the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad; and how short-sighted tree-shrews could be a big help to humans. (Photo: A woman holds a smartphone with a Facebook logo in front of a displayed logo for Meta in this illustration picture taken on October 28, 2021. Credit: Reuters)

Nine people have been killed and 23 injured, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on Russia, local officials have said. Russian attacks on Ukraine also killed at least seven people and injured more than 39 on Saturday night. We hear from Kyiv and Moscow. Also on the programme: Pakistan's Supreme Court orders authorities to move former prime minister Imran Khan to hospital from jail for health check-ups, we hear from his adviser; and, how thieves made off with valuable works by Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina.(Photo: Ukrainian servicemen repair anti-drone nets damaged by recent Russian strikes Credit: Tommaso Fumagalli/EPA/Shutterstock)