BBC News Briefing

11 August, 2026

Sofia has long brown hair and brown eyes and is wearing a green top

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Luigi Mangione has returned to court in the US ahead of the start of his state trial for murder - we have the latest. From Ukraine, our correspondent reports on Russia's intensifying strikes in the Black Sea. And finally, watch a bride honour her farmer roots.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Ground rules laid out in high-profile trial

Luigi Mangione sits in court. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, He is wearing a white shirt and and a grey suit. A court officer is standing behind him.

Mangione faces a separate federal trial next year, in which he has also pleaded not guilty. Credit: Reuters

A judge in New York has laid out the ground rules for public and media access to Mangione's state trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The 28-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including second-degree murder and weapons-related offences. If found guilty, he could face decades behind bars. The case has attracted a lot of attention. Mangione's backers empathise with anger against the cost of US healthcare. Both his supporters and his critics are analysing every detail. With jury selection due to start 8 September, the scrutiny is likely to intensify. My colleague Kayla Epstein has been looking at the questions that remain unanswered.

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Russia releases former US Marine

President Donald Trump said Robert Gilman was on a flight back to the US alongside his mother, doctors and members of the administration. Gilman, who was arrested in 2022 for allegedly kicking a police officer while aboard a train to Moscow, had recently been moved from prison to a civilian hospital in Russia after going into a catatonic-like state.

Find out more

GET UP TO SPEED

Bashar al-Assad pictured in 2016 speaking while gesturing with one hand. He is wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie.

Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia

It's the first conviction against the ousted Syrian dictator, who fled the country with his family in December 2024.

Read more >

Woman with angry expression holds phone up to her ear looking frustrated. She has brown hair and wears a grey knit top.

France bans unsolicited telemarketing calls

Starting from Tuesday, unsolicited calls are prohibited for businesses in all sectors - with some exceptions.

More details >

Trump's Patriot Games for high school athletes begin

Each US state sent two teens to compete in the games, one of the events celebrating the 250th anniversary of US independence.

What to know >

Anne Hathaway wears a light blue top cropped over her baby bump on the red carpet at the world premiere for The End of Oak Street in Los Angeles on 9 August

Anne Hathaway pokes fun at 'fake baby bump' claims

The US actress announced in June that she is expecting her third child with husband Adam Shulman.

What happened >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Extreme heat: The Met Office estimates summer 2026 is on course to be the UK's hottest since records began - and it is not even over yet.

Eclipse glasses: Finding the gear is no easy task due to soaring demand, but it is still possible to safely watch the spectacle using household items.

Lucy Davis: The actress, who played Dawn Tinsley in the original UK version of The Office, has revealed she has "incurable" breast cancer.

AT THE SCENE

Odesa, Ukraine

Living under threat of Russia's strikes

Men fish on a pier as black smoke rises from a vessel damaged by a Russian attack in the Black Sea in July.

Local authorities said 28 people were killed by Russian strikes in the Odesa region last month. Credit: Getty Images

From Our Own Correspondent: Russia is ramping up its efforts to strangle Ukraine's commercial links with the rest of the world, launching attacks along the country's Black Sea coastline. In the port city of Odesa, the sound of air raid sirens is a near-constant soundtrack to people's daily routines.

Paul Adams, diplomatic correspondent

While we were filming on the crowded water’s edge, the siren sounded yet again. No-one paid any attention. Nor did most people flinch when a Ukrainian drone zoomed into the sky and a jet could be heard flying overhead. It was surreal. But away from the nonchalance and the determination to ignore the war as much as possible, Odesa is full of pain.

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Svitlana Halchenko, a warehouse shift manager at the port, is limping from the injuries she sustained at work a year ago when a Russian missile exploded nearby, killing two colleagues. And trying, really hard, to keep smiling as she described to us the extreme stress of working in a place where every day brings the threat of a drone or a missile.

Listen now

Leipzig airport: The discovery of a drone loaded with explosives on a runway has renewed talk in Europe of hybrid war.

Healthcare workers: Hospitals and ambulances in Ukraine are increasingly coming under Russian drone and missile attack.