the widow of haiti's assassinated president has accused his political enemies of hiring mercenaries to kill him in order to halt efforts to introduce constitutional reform and better living conditions for all. in an audio message posted on twitter, she urged the people of haiti to continue fighting. more than 30 million people in the south—western united states are experiencing another brutal heatwave. nearly 200 square miles of forest has been closed due to wildfires and people have been moved from their homes close to the nevada border in northern california. in football, argentina have beaten their arch rivals brazil 1—0 in the final of the copa america, ending 28 years without a major trophy. argentina scored the only goal in the first half through the paris saint germain player, angel di maria.

wimbledon has a new women's champion. world number one ash barty has claimed her first title at the all england club. she defeated eighth seed karolina pliskova from the czech republic in three sets, as chetan pathak reports. what a moment for ash barty. ten years after winning thejunior title here, she is now wimbledon champion, emulating what her hero evonne goolagong did 50 years ago. goolagong an idol to so many from the indigenous australian community. barty, from the beginning, has talked about winning this title and today, she achieved that dream. it wasn't easy and it took three sets in the end against karolina pliskova, the czech eighth seed, who really started this one slowly — barty winning the first 14 points in a row. but once the world number one had won that first set, pliskova did find her rhythm

again, taking the second on a tie—break and leading us into a decider. but barty�*s game of variety and slicing and stronger movement got her over the line in the end. and when she won, she dropped to the ground, the tears soon followed. and like pat cash and many before her, she made her way up the stairs and to her box, to celebrate with her team — in particular, the physios that have got her ready for these championships. it was only at the french open that she had to walk out in the second round with a hip injury. huge uncertainty about whether she'd be fit for wimbledon. she's ended up going all the way and winning the title. now, the question will be, with two grand slams, can she go on and dominate the women's game? in the men's game, all we've seen is domination for the last two decades — federer, nadal and, of course, novak djokovic. on sunday, djokovic goes for his sixth wimbledon title. he's a man motivated by numbers.

if he beats matteo berrettini, it would be 20 grand slams, and that would bring him level with nadal and federer. it has just it hasjust gone it has just gone 330. now on bbc news, our world, and a storm is brewing in the south china sea. there are currently four chinese vessels patrolling this area on the outskirts of the shoal. there's trouble in the south china sea. the chinese government is amassing ships, taking over reefs and rocks. we sail into occupied maritime territory to take a closer look at beijing's aggressive policy and the militia it uses to enforce it. five years since a landmark legal victory

for the philippines, we ask whether china is adhering to the ruling. what you get is this overwhelming narrative that's now global of china as a bully, china as a rules—breaker in the south china sea. all chant. we head straight into the century's hottest geopolitical dispute and meet filipino fishermen caught in the middle. bolinao is a fishing community in the north—west of the philippines. george has been fishing since he was just 12 years old.

george's sonjr fishes too, but worries for his future. george and jr fish in the hotly contested south china sea. $3.5 trillion worth of international trade passes through here every year. it's believed to hold sizeable reserves of oil and gas. six countries claim exclusive economic zones, according to a united nations treaty, each one stretching up to 200 nautical miles from their coastlines.

the area in the middle is regarded as international waters. but china stands alone in claiming all of the territory and its resources within its disputed nine—dash line, created after world war ii. george and jr fish at scarborough shoal, around 160 nautical miles from bolinao and more than 400 nautical miles from china's coast. the shoal is above water at high tide, so it does have its own territorial sea, but the philippines claim it as theirs. vietnam also claims historical rights to fish there. china has been blockading the lagoon since 2012. george and his sonjr have been repeatedly chased away from scarborough shoal. they've agreed to take me with them to witness what happens at sea.

this journey became riskier earlier this year when china changed its coast guard law to allow the use of weapons to eliminate dangers when their national sovereignty is being infringed upon. after 22 hours of sailing, we arrive at scarborough shoal. it's high tide and the reef is hardly breaking the surface but if you look closely, waves from the deep blue ocean break on a lighter turquoise body of water. that's the limestone reef you can see in this satellite image.

easier to spot is the chinese presence. so there's a chinese coast guard vessel that's watching us at the moment. it's done three sweeps, first of all 200 metres away, then 100 metres away, and now 50 metres away. it's watching our every move. the coast guard ship leaves without incident but it's made its point. going inside scarborough shoal is off limits.

instead, the crews stay on the outside, fanning out in small boats. they're rigged to compressor pumps and long tubes — a risky alternative to air tank diving. they pass by what looks like old torpedo or artillery shells — possible remnants from the time america maintained military bases in the philippines and used the shoal as a firing range.

day two and we're going inside the lagoon, carefully evading the attention of the chinese blockade of the eastern entrance. george and jr take the risk for this — a giant talakitok, worth roughly us$40. that's more than the average national daily wage in the philippines. the one thing that strikes me about scarborough shoal is how fitting the name is.

�*shoal�* is old english for shallow and everywhere i've looked the last 20 minutes, it's been maybe chest height max. given how flat it is, it's an ideal place for land reclamation, and china have a long history in doing exactly that. scarborough shoal isn't the only reef in the south china sea that china has taken an interest in. satellite images from 2012 to 2020 of mischief reef in the spratly islands reveal it's slowly being transformed into a muscular military base, complete with airstrips and anti—aircraft guns. at mischief and six other reefs in the spratlys, china used dredges to dump sand and rock on top of coral reefs, turning them into artificial islands. similar developments have taken place in the paracels — another group of islands where china maintains a constant presence. some believe if beijing builds

on scarborough shoal, it will completely control access to the south china sea. last and next port of call, over. tensions rose this year when china began swarming reefs and rocks with hundreds of boats in the spratly islands. philippine secretary of foreign affairs, teodoro locsinjr, had had enough and tweeted asking china to get the "f out" of philippine waters. i spoke with secretary locsin to ask why he reacted so strongly. talk us through your twitter feed and your rants and explosive tweets.

secretary locsin deleted his tweet and apologised to his chinese counterpart. a spokesperson said they hoped "a certain individual from the philippine side will mind basic manners and act in a way that suits his status". this is a scarborough shoal at low tide. it's named after a british trading ship that ran aground here in the 18th century. filipinos refer to it as panatag, or �*peaceful�* shoal. you can see hundreds of these rocks jutting out

from the waterline. and although it seems like a benign place, this is an area that's at the centre of a major geopolitical dispute. 0n the one hand, china claims large swathes of these waters as theirs. and then you have countries like the united kingdom, the united states, australia and india, coming together with this indo—pacific doctrine, this idea that these waters should be free and accessible to all. america's indo—pacific strategy aims to reassert its influence in asia by working with its allies to promote rules—based international order. when nations try to game the system or tip the rules in their favour, it throws everything off balance. that's why we are so adamant that these areas of the world

remain peaceful, whether that's the south china sea, the arabian gulf and, increasingly, the arctic. it's of vital interest to america's foreign policy to secure unimpeded flow of global commerce. the united kingdom plans to test that freedom later this year when its new flagship aircraft carrier, the hms queen elizabeth, will sail through the south china sea. china sees international moves to keep these seas open as a plot to contain its rise and sabotage its stability. but the country signed a 1982 united nations convention on the law of the sea — the international legal framework to settle maritime disputes. when the philippines used the law to challenge china in the permanent court of arbitration, the tribunal ruled that china had unlawfully prevented

filipinos from fishing in scarborough shoal. china did not participate in the tribunal, nor accept its findings. on our fifth day at scarborough shoal, winds marking the beginning of the monsoon season rock george's boat. it is around six o'clock in the morning here and we have moved to the eastern entrance of scarborough shoal. 0n the horizon, you can't see anything, apart from three big boats, and they're guarding the eastern entrance to scarborough shoal. normally, under these weather conditions, philippine vessels would shelter inside the lagoon. this is no longer possible under china's control — a violation of the 2016 ruling.

jr and i want to take a closer look at the blockaded eastern entrance. after ten minutes in the mouth of scarborough shoal, we notice a boat moving quickly towards us. i don't want to attract their attention, so i hide my camera. jr wants us to get out of here. the boat that sped at us belongs to china's third force, not the navy,

not the coast guard, but the maritime militia. this year, the same paramilitary group released a music video showing a training exercise where a small fishing boat is rammed. over the last ten years or so,

some small component, probably a few hundred boats of this militia force, has been professionalised. the national government and provincial governments have dumped money into upgrading them, building new boats, giving them uniforms and weapons training and integrating them into the chain of command of the china coast guard and the chinese navy. so now you've got a militia that really is a professional paramilitary force. by cross—referencing our footage with satellite data, it appears that the militia vessel that sped at us is called qiong sansha yu00311. we cannot get a very good handle on what exactly it was doing, other than being there at the shoal for weeks at a time. and this is one of the major problems that you face throughout the south china sea. we've got at least 300 chinese militia boats operating in contested areas every day

of the year, and the vast majority of them you can't see until you basically bump into one. in the 2016 ruling, the tribunal found that china's vessels had moved in a dangerous manner, causing a serious risk of collision. the militia that sailed at us came at speed and close to our boat. the chinese government refers to scarborough shoal as huangyan island. we asked the chinese embassy in the uk to comment on our evidence. they said: all chant.

filipinos are fighting for control of what they defined as the west philippine sea. under president rodrigo duterte, relations with america have deteriorated, calling into question the two countries�* military alliance. his foreign minister may have told beijing to f off, but in the past, president duterte has made no bones about steering the country towards closer ties with china. president duterte recently said he does not respect the 2016 arbitration ruling that handed his country a legal victory over china.

representative neri colmenares is a member of the left—wing philippine opposition coalition, bayan muna. the moment the president of the philippines says that he will throw it in the trash can, that can be used by china to justify its encroachment of the entire south china sea so for us, it is this really treacherous on the part of the president to disavow, or at least set aside, a decision that is really a major victory notjust for the philippines, but for other countries that are being trampled upon by china in the south china sea. president duterte�*s secretary for foreign affairs denies that chinese financial aid influences philippine policy.

it is our final day at sea. in the last year, filipino fishermen from zambales province, the closest to scarborough shoal, have lost an estimated 70% of their income because of the blockade of the lagoon, according to a national federation of fishermen. masinloc is a fishing

town in zambales. this couple used to earn a living fishing but stopped when they were harassed by the chinese authorities at scarborough shoal. now they work here at the market. what is your message to those fishermen who say they are out of pocket now because of the incursion in scarborough shoal?

what would be your message to them? the couple are notjust worried about financial support, but also the prospect of conflict between superpower nations playing out on their doorstep. the reasons behind china's combative actions in the south china sea are unclear. whether the motive is natural resources — fish, oil and gas —

or to protect themselves from invasion, calm diplomatic heads will be needed to prevent escalation and a conflict that is in nobody�*s interest. hello. fairly quiet on the weather front right now. plenty of dry weather across the uk, but we are expecting some showers and even the odd downpour and thunderstorms later on. and, of course, it's a very big day in the world of sport. we've got wimbledon, we've got the final at wembley too, so eyes on the weather too. we'd like the best weather conditions we could possibly get. so, this is what it looks

like early in the morning — some sunshine and dry — but weather fronts are approaching and showers are brewing. the good news is that, for wimbledon, we're expecting fine weather conditions, very pleasant temperatures of around 18 to 20 celsius with some scattered clouds. so, this is what it looks like for most of us then through the morning. it's dry, but then in the afternoon, very quickly, heavy showers will develop across parts of northern england and scotland. some of them could be thundery. also in the south—west, a weather front is approaching at the same time, so wet weather for the west country, parts of wales too. and this weather front will move slowly eastwards through the course of the day, so areas that will have been dry through the afternoon may turn a little cloudy and then wet, and that does mean that, just around kick—off time, we are expecting some rain at wembley. but the good news is that it should be mostly light and fleeting. so, the forecast, then, into the week ahead. well, here's a dip in thejet stream here. and you see some blobs of blue, so that indicates further showers on the cards. quite often, when we do get

a dip in thejet stream, we have low pressure over us and the ingredients for further showers, so lots of showers on the way once again on monday, some of them heavy. if you squint, you can just about make out some lime green colours there. that indicates a downpour or two. temperatures in the sunshine will be around 20 degrees 01’ so. the good news is that on tuesday, the weather improves. there will be fewer showers around. but we are watching these very close by over the near continent, northern france. they could just about clipped the south—east. but the further north and west you are, i think the drier and brighter the weather will be on tuesday. and then from midweek onwards, we are expecting high pressure to gradually drift from the azures in our direction. that means that the weather will settle down, there will be more dry weather around, lighter winds and also a little bit warmer too. i suspect in one or two spots eventually towards the end of the weekend, temperatures will hit 25. but wherever you are today, have a good day.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm mark lobel. our top stories: the widow of haiti's assassinated president claims he was killed because of his drive to improve the lives of his people. we hear from the country's minister for elections. for now, i think the country is calm, there is no response yet, but we still believe there is a threat for the elections to come and we still believe haiti will need some kind of assistance. california and nevada brace themselves for record—breaking temperatures as the us heatwave continues. messi's moment: the argentine superstar leads his country to victory in the copa america. and the world number one, australia's ash barty, wins the wimbledon women's singles final.