Broadcast timeline
BBC News
Sunday 23 August 2026 · 13:00 BST · 30m · 5 stories · 15 annotated moments · 23 of 30 min on news stories (77%)
Broadcast overview
An AI-generated overview based on this broadcast's transcript.
President Zelenskyy said holding elections during Russia's invasion would be too dangerous, after a BBC interview with former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov who called for a vote. Separately, Russia withdrew its ambassador to Britain, with no replacement announced, as the embassy accused London of escalating the Ukraine war by supplying long-distance attack drones.
President Trump accused Canada of imposing massive tariffs on US farmers after trade talks collapsed, while Canada's prime minister announced retaliatory tariffs and described the country as under economic attack. The police watchdog is investigating a head-on crash on the A66 that killed seven, including two police officers, and cross-country trains cancelled most services across the UK due to a power cut at its Birmingham control centre.
Mayors in England could be given new powers to overrule councils on significant planning applications to boost house building, and the government announced restriction zones for serious offenders after release. Prince Harry urged a decision on taxpayer-funded security for his family when returning to the UK. The ball from Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal sold for $3.3 million, and China's World Humanoid Robot Games continued in Beijing, with robots competing in events such as boxing and sprints.
- 0:10
- 2:02
Charged quote Zelensky rejects wartime elections as sacked minister pushes for vote
that conversation and that a vote was inevitable sooner or later. In a video posted online earlier in the week, Mr Fedorov said that democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia and accused officials in the government of corruption, saying that it hurt Ukraine's war efforts against Russia. Our Ukraine correspondent, Dan Johnson, conducted that interview
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 2:02-2:07
- 2:43
Charged quote Zelensky rejects wartime elections as sacked minister pushes for vote
He said that he stood by those criticisms and that call had put to him that he had opened up divisions in Ukrainian society that some were saying were a gift to Vladimir Putin. A huge number of people started talking and supporting the idea of coming back to the democratic cycle, and I believe that neither Putin nor the president
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 2:43-2:45
- 7:42
Charged quote Zelensky rejects wartime elections as sacked minister pushes for vote
So we need to think about that. But I completely agree with those who argue that it's not time to hold these elections because it will crack the national unity and the Russians will exploit that. And by the way, the recent opinion by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology of August 2036 support my claim.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 7:42-7:46
- 7:58
Contested quote Zelensky rejects wartime elections as sacked minister pushes for vote
And by the way, the recent opinion by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology of August 2036 support my claim. 50% of Ukrainians support holding elections now even without a ceasefire. 23% would support elections if there is a ceasefire and support of our partners in form of peacekeeping or sort of.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 7:58-8:03
- 10:19
- 11:13
Claim US imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks collapse
The US and Canada failed to reach a trade deal, and 50% tariffs on Canadian goods have taken effect.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 11:13-11:21
- 11:13
Claim US imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks collapse
The US and Canada failed to reach a trade deal, and 50% tariffs on Canadian goods have taken effect.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 11:13-11:21
- 11:13
Claim US imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks collapse
The US and Canada failed to reach a trade deal, and 50% tariffs on Canadian goods have taken effect.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 11:13-11:21
- 13:32
Claim US imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks collapse
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said the US tariffs will be matched dollar for dollar.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 13:32-13:45
- 15:07 Story begins Seven die in head-on crash on A66 in Teesside
- 17:57
- 22:34 Story begins China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
- 23:49
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
Yay, big cheers from the crowd. But really the important thing for the competitors here, it's about money. This is a business thing. So China might call this a world robots games, but really it's a Chinese robots games. 95% of the competitors are Chinese companies. It's a cutthroat business. Not all these companies are going to survive,
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 23:49-23:55
- 23:58
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
So China might call this a world robots games, but really it's a Chinese robots games. 95% of the competitors are Chinese companies. It's a cutthroat business. Not all these companies are going to survive, but they need to perform here to attract investment. They need to be able to show off their new beaut gear,
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 23:58-24:00
- 24:49
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
And on that point, Stephen, how much is this rooted in terms of technological soft power for China on the global stage? It's huge. The Chinese government's very proud of its robotics. They're smashing it on this front. You just have to come to somewhere like this to see the huge amount of money being invested into robotics.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 24:49-24:52
- 25:19
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
So, yeah, China is probably leading the world now in robotics. They're selling these robots to the US. Even these dogs, which seem to have military applications to the US military. So, of course, this is a huge soft power thing for China. But again, the questions remain for investors. Where's the money going to come from?
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 25:19-25:24
- 25:35
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
Where's the money going to come from? You can buy these robots. You can buy one for as little as 6,000 US dollars or as much as 90,000. But all they can kind of do is dance and look cool. So it's more of a PR thing at the moment. They're not going to do your laundry or make dinner for you yet. And that was Stephen McDonnell, our China correspondent.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 25:35-25:37
- 25:37
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
You can buy these robots. You can buy one for as little as 6,000 US dollars or as much as 90,000. But all they can kind of do is dance and look cool. So it's more of a PR thing at the moment. They're not going to do your laundry or make dinner for you yet. And that was Stephen McDonnell, our China correspondent.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 25:37-25:40
- 25:40
Charged quote China hosts World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing
You can buy one for as little as 6,000 US dollars or as much as 90,000. But all they can kind of do is dance and look cool. So it's more of a PR thing at the moment. They're not going to do your laundry or make dinner for you yet. And that was Stephen McDonnell, our China correspondent. And we can show you these live pictures from the event.
BBC News, 23 August 2026, 25:40-25:43
- 26:02 ~4 min without annotations
Source: BBC NEWS, "BBC News", Sunday 23 August 2026. Transcript excerpts and stills are shown only to support the analysis annotated alongside them. Search-result excerpts are distinct from the editorial annotations — see our copyright basis. The full broadcast is not reproduced.