Armenia says more than 6,500 people have fled across the border, amid fears of persecution and ethnic cleansing. Now, there are reports of a large explosion at an oil depot as people queued up to fill up their cars to leave. Its believed some 200 people were injured as a result. The territory is at the heart of one of the worlds longest running territorial and ethnic conflicts. Its recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan, but has been controlled by Ethnic Armenians for three decades. Bbc russian� s Nataliya Zotova sent this report from goris near the border between armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The exodus of refugees started late sunday night. Some arrived in the border town of goris in ambulances exhausted, too weak to walk on their own. With a few belongings they could transport, families that crossed had lost all hope of ever returning. Translation we went to the airport. Everyone was collected in one spot. Everyone was in a terrible state. Stressed out. Children crying. Old people crying. Hungry, cold, without enough clothes. Driving closer to the Armenian Border with Nagorno Karabakh the next morning, the scale of the evacuation became clear. Russian peacekeepers we saw were helping refugees cross the border and unloading their bags. This is the main road leading from Nagorno Karabakh to armenia, and we have seen dozens of cars with refugees coming. And they are welcomed with basic supplies. Temporary tents have popped up at the border to register the new arrivals. Aid workers told us people are in need of food, clothes and medication. The impact of one days war and a nine month blockade imposed on the territory by azerbaijan. The azerbaijanis deny it was to target civilians, but say it was to prevent arms being taken into the region. Translation no, there was nothing. How did you cook meals . We only picked what we had in the garden. Potatoes, beans. We didnt have bread, flour, nothing. Translation people are malnourished from being in blockade for nine months. They are crushed because they have lost their homes. We see people who come in unsuitable footwear and just the clothes they had on. Armenia says that it will take in all refugees from karabakh potentially up to 120,000 people. In the 1990s, a different ethnic group fled Nagorno Karabakh the azeris, who havent lived alongside Ethnic Armenians for centuries, felt threatened after the region decided to secede. They headed to azerbaijan, where many of them still live, in temporary and often dismal accommodation. For these armenians, its unclear what the future holds. The priority today is sheltering themselves and the very little belongings they have from the rain. Nataliya zotova, bbc news, goris in southern armenia. Meanwhile, thereve been further protests in the armenian capital, yerevan, calling on Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan to resign. 0pposition groups accuse him of failing to prevent azerbaijan from seizing Nagorno Karabakh. Mr pashinyan has blamed russia, and particularly, the Russian Peacekeeping force in karabakh for looking the other way while Azerbaijani Forces took control of the enclave earlier this week. The kremlin has rejected the claims. A thai activist and lawyer made famous for his open calls for reform of thailands powerful regime was sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults. Human rights lawyer arnon nampa denies any wrongdoing. He is widely known for his taboo breaking speech during pro democracy protests in 2020 during which he called for public debate on the role of thailands powerful king. We will have more on that one may get more detail, that storage is coming into the newsroom in london. Write that story just. The metropolitan police have launched an investigation into allegations of Sexual Offences following the recent claims against Russell Brand. They are already looking into a possible offence back in 2003. These new claims are also historic. The comedian and actor has denied all the allegations against him which include rape and sexual assault. Heres our media editor katie razzall. I believe this is about freedom. Is about real democracy. Because for there to be real democracy, there has to be dissent. Back streaming on the video sharing platform rumble, where he has 1. 6 million followers, and Russell Brand was on the attack. We are going to be talking about the state and the legacy medias war on free speech, and in particular how that has affected me this week. Less than half an hour before his show streamed, the metropolitan police announced its central Specialist Crime command team is now investigating a number of allegations of non recent Sexual Offences committed in london and elsewhere in the uk. The senior investigating officer said, we continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us. We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take, and i want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support. The Police Statement didnt name Russell Brand, but it did refer to this investigation by channel 4, the times and the sunday times, and made public two weekends ago. Four women made the original claims of rape and sexual assault, which they allege took place in the us and the uk. The day before the programme was broadcast, the comedian and presenter strongly denied any wrongdoing. I dont mind them using my books and my stand up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What i seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. The fallout financially has been swift. Content creators earn money from streaming services when they attract advertising. Youtube has barred brand from monetising his Video Content since the allegations surfaced. Rumble prides itself on standing up to cancel culture. Its accused the Uk Parliament of what it called a deeply inappropriate demand, after the chair of the culture, media and Sport Committee wrote to its ceo asking whether his site planned to follow youtube and suspend brands ability to earn money from his content. Since the story broke, the number of people following Russell Brand on social media and subscribing to his channels has increased by several hundred thousand. Katie razzall, bbc news. Russia is seeking to re join the United NationsHuman Rights Council in an election that will be seen as a key test of its international standing. Russia was suspended from the council after its invasion of ukraine. The bbc has obtained a copy of russias Position Paper circulated to un members promising what it called Adequate Solutions for human rights issues. Live now to rachel denber, Deputy Director for europe at the ngo Human Rights Watch. Good to talk to you. What do you make of this move on the part of russia, looking to rejoin the Human Rights Council . It rejoin the Human Rights Council . Rejoin the Human Rights Council . ,. , , council . It is a completely nical council . It is a completely cynical move. Council . It is a completely cynical move. Russia council . It is a completely cynical move. Russia is. Council . It is a completely cynical move. Russia is noj council . It is a completely cynical move. Russia is no more appropriate tojoin the cynical move. Russia is no more appropriate to join the Human Rights Council now than it was a year ago when it was voted off the Human Rights Council because of the atrocities it had been perpetrating in ukraine. So nothing has changed in the past year, if anything things have got worse. In no way could russia ever in the current circumstances be said to be meeting the standards required of Human Rights Council members. Required of Human Rights Council members. Why does russia believe council members. Why does russia believe it council members. Why does russia believe it could council members. Why does i russia believe it could rejoin . 0n russia believe it could rejoin . On what basis does it it could . Does it argue. I think it is less a matter of what it believes in terms of its qualifications than it is an issue of what it wants, which issue of what it wants, which is to be shielded from scrutiny by the United Nations and to shield its friends from scrutiny of the United Nations. It wants to stop the United NationsHuman Rights Council from exerting scrutiny in russia, that is the agenda. But in terms of russia, that is the agenda. But in terms of the russia, that is the agenda. But in terms of the United NationsHuman Rights Council, we would assume, would we, that it will not allow russia to rejoin . United nations General Assembly votes on the membership of the Human Rights Council, and when russia was suspended from the Human Rights Council a little more than a year ago, it was by a landslide vote against it. Right now it is up to delegations and estates to make sure that russia with its atrocious record of atrocities, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity is that the United Nations has itself documented against ukraine, and at the same time an unparalleled crackdown against Civil Society in russia today that is just unprecedented in the post soviet era. This is also an area, an issue that the United Nations has investigated, the un special expert on russia just last week published a new report saying that russia was engaging in a massive crackdown on human rights at home. I massive crackdown on human rights at home. Massive crackdown on human rights at home. I was going to sa , in rights at home. I was going to say. In terms rights at home. I was going to say, in terms of rights at home. I was going to say, in terms of watching rights at home. I was going to i say, in terms of watching human rights, which is exactly what you ngo does, what are you able to verify about whats going on in ukraine thoroughly and also in ukraine thoroughly and also in russia . I know that it is a huge question to answer but give us a sense is a global audience what is happening currently. Audience what is happening currently currently. Well, russia has been engaged, currently. Well, russia has been engaged, has currently. Well, russia has been engaged, has committed atrocities, a litany of atrocities, a litany of atrocities and humanitarian law violations in ukraine that Human Rights Watch has documented and verified through Extensive Research on the ground, Digital Research using state of the art methodologies, and we have found case after case of indiscriminate bombing and shelling. We are in the United Nations in our own separate investigations have also found widespread systematic torture by Russian Forces in areas of ukraine they are occupying. We have also found numerous cases, the un has also found numerous cases of Summary Executions of civilians, Arbitrary Detention and also forced to transfer of civilians, ukrainian civilians. And of course the International Criminal court has issued an Arrest Warrant against Vladimir Putin and the russian human rights, childrens rights commissionerfor their rights, childrens rights commissioner for their role in the forced deportation and forced transfer of ukrainian children. So thats quite a record. , ~ record. Indeed. Rachel, thank ou so record. Indeed. Rachel, thank you so much. Record. Indeed. Rachel, thank you so much, we record. Indeed. Rachel, thank you so much, we appreciate l record. Indeed. Rachel, thank. You so much, we appreciate your time today. India continues to emphatically deny allegations by canada that it had a hand in the murder of a canadian sikh injune. But indian Media Outlets are now reporting that delhi does want to put renewed pressure on some foreign sikh activists naming seven britons among 19 people whose Indian Properties are set to be confiscated. It comes at a time when some british sikhs are concerned about a mischaracterisation of their community. Heres our religion editor aleem maqbool. Whenjustin trudeau accused india of involvement in the murder of this canadian sikh, he might have hoped for unequivocal public support from canadas friends. A lot of your allies have been silent on this. I wonder what your reaction to that is. But that hasnt come, even from the uk leaving Prime Minister trudeau a lonely figure, and british sikhs upset. Some already felt they had reason to feel aggrieved. Take the case of jagtar singh johalfrom dumbarton. Hes a well known sikh rights activist, and in 2017 went to india to get married. But there, he was bundled into a car and has been in prison ever since. He says hes been tortured and is frequently marched to court, accused of extremist offences, which he denies, though hes yet to be tried. There have been six years of protests. A Un Working Group publically called for mrjohal� s immediate release, but the British Government has yet to do the same. Jagtar� s brother says hes impressed by canadas stance. The canadian Prime Minister stood up for his citizen, heard about whats happened to one of his citizens, and as a result, hes went into parliament, spoke to the opposition and said what he did. I dont see rishi sunak doing that. The Prime Minister has said he wants jagtarjohal� s case resolved as quickly as possible. But Narendra Modis administration has long demanded britain do more to counter a resurgent movement of sikhs in the uk supporting a breakaway homeland one they want to call khalistan. The uk governments Formerfaith Engagement Advisor agrees. It was a major finding in a report he published earlier this year. I think the British Government have been, for many, many years, naive in not addressing the pro khalistan extremists and sikh extremists that have been hiding in plain. Sight in the uk. Well, british sikh groups across the spectrum expressed outrage for what they see as activism is being characterised as extremism. They feel that somehow, the government is kowtowing to delhi. But this is undoubtedly a difficult tightrope to walk for the uk, for whom india is such an important strategic partner, particularly on security and trade. Aleem maqbool, bbc news, at the foreign office. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. School support staff are due to begin their three day strike in 2a of scotlands 32 councils. Thousands of pupils will be at home for the next three days as members of the union Unison Stage Industrial Action in their row over pay. A renewed offer from cosla and last minute talks over the weekend failed to halt action from the union with the largest representation. A Hospital Trust failed to send out 211,000 letters from senior doctors to patients and their gps after they became lost in a new computer system, the bbc has learned. Newcastle hospitals has warned that the problem, which dates back to 2018, is significant. The Health Care Regulator has sought urgent assurances over patient safety. Uk workers are taking more sick days than at any point in the last decade according to new research. Staff took on average 7. 8 sick days in the past year, thats up from 5. 8 before the pandemic. Youre live with bbc news. The Summer Counter Offensive in ukraine is drawing to a close without making the breakthroughs many had hoped for. Newsnight� s diplomatic editor mark urban secured rare access to one brigade the 24th Mechanised Brigade who are fighting in the east. The men and theirfamilies spoke to him candidly about the how they are bracing themselves for a long war with no end in sight. In this war, there are the hunted and the hunters. The uk