welcome to bbc news, i'm david eades. our top stories: president biden accuses republican—controlled states of mounting a dangerous attack on voting rights in america. there's an unfolding assault taking place in america today — an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections. heightened unrest in south africa — 72 people have died, amidst looting, protest and confrontations following the jailing of south africa's former presidentjacob zuma. carlos ghosn's great escape — the former boss of nissan recounts to the bbc his extraordinary flight from house arrest injapan, hidden in a box like this. the 30 minutes waiting

in the box in the plane, waiting for the plane to take off, were probably the longest period of waiting i have experienced in my life. and this year's emmy nominations are out with the crown and the mandalorian tying for top position with 2a nods each. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has accused republican—controlled states of mounting a dangerous attack on free and fair elections by restricting voting rights. the republicans have introduced a number of changes following donald trump's claim that voter fraud cost him the 2020 election. speaking in philadelphia, the birthplace of american

democracy, mr biden called those republican—led efforts un—american. to date, 17 states have brought in a variety of new measures, such as changing voting hours. but president biden pointed out there had been no evidence of widespread fraud. there's an unfolding assault taking place in america today — an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections. an assault on democracy. an assault on liberty. an assault on who we are. who we are as americans. for, make no mistake — bullies and merchants of fear, peddlers of lies, are threatening the very foundation our country. the state currently at the heart of this controversy is texas. several local democratic politicians have flown out

of the state of texas in a procedural effort to prevent republicans from being able to vote through the new rules. the governor of texas has threatened to arrest them. jasmine crockett is one of those lawmakers who fled the state on monday night. i am an attorney. that is my background. i do criminal defence as well as civil rights work. so, to be clear, i've not committing a crime, so i can't be arrested and thrown in jail. i can't be detained. one reason we are out of the state is simply because you know that if there is any authority, it does not extend past the state of texas. so we won't step foot back in the state of texas so we can go ahead and kill these bills — the house bill as well as the senate bill, in an effort to, you know, give dc another opportunity. so what are some of the main policies in the texas voting bills? 24—hour and drive—thru voting, which were brought in for last year's presidential election in some areas,

are banned. there'll be new id—requirements for voting by mail, previously ballots were verified by a signature matching process. also the authority of observers at polling stations, who work for one party or the other — the so—called partisan poll watchers — is to be expanded. democrats fear they could intimidate people as they turn up to vote. our north america correspondent david willis is in los angeles and he put president biden's words into context. it was very strong language, david, perhaps his most forceful denunciation so far of these moves by republican—led states to suppress voting rights. and perhaps his most forceful denunciation of his predecessor. even though he didn't mention donald trump directly by name, he did, however, attack the so—called �*big lie�*, that's donald trump's assertion that the 2020 election was clouded by voter fraud

and other irregularities and he said that was completely false. he said this was the most scrutinised election in american history. but instead of it being celebrated, it was an example, he said, of human nature at its worst, something darker and more sinister. and of course, these voting restrictions are being broadened to a variety of republican states. now, more than a dozen of them have implemented them so far. president biden of course has really kind of found it very frustrating as far as getting national voting rights legislation on the books because it's currently stalled in the senate. is there anything he could do about that? because i think some of his democrats believe he could act, he could be firmer, but he doesn't seem to want to? that's right. and there are those who say he could do this by perhaps putting influence on democratic senators to overturn

the convention of the filibuster, which demands all important votes get 60—40, and currently it is a 50—50 split in the upper chamber. but president biden of course has served for many years in the senate, reluctant to weigh in on that particular debate, if you like. i think what he's looking to do, david, is to focus attention on this issue, the fact that this is happening in quite a number of different states, that these laws are being tightened — democrats claim to the cost of minorities, and groups that would traditionally vote democrat — so that democrat voters will be more inclined to get out to the polls next year for the mid—term elections and to cast their votes. so he's looking to, i think, raise awareness of what is going on, to draw attention to it in the hope of mitigating

its effect next year. nonetheless, i guess for many democrats who feel very strongly about this, this is a deeply frustrating time to have to witness so many states going in a different direction? absolutely. and of course republicans argue this is all about enhanced election security. they feel the laws were relaxed too much, surrounding voting rights in the united states, last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. they said that that has not made the election system here safe and secure, so they are justifying these rules which are being brought into place in certain states. democrats, for their part, point out the number of proven cases of voter fraud in this country is more or less infinitesimal. just adding the republican national committee has

dismissed president biden's claims and said the republicans were trying to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. police in south africa now say 72 people have died in the violence which has erupted since the jailing of former president jacob zuma last week. that includes ten people killed in a stampede during looting on monday night at a shopping centre in soweto , the country's biggest township. the military has now been deployed to help the overstretched police. nomsa maseko reports. screaming and yelling. thrown by her mother to safety. cheers of relief after looting, fires and rampage caused these people to flee their homes.

rioters targeted on the ground floor here, then set the building on fire, affecting apartments on the upper floors. this man returning again and again to help people escape. what initially started as a pro—jacob zuma protest has now become almost like a free—for—all. the looting spree began five days ago and it has continued unabated. the military has been deployed on the ground, but even they cannot control the situation. nearly 800 people have been arrested and the leaders of the provinces affected by rioting have said 19 people have died while the death toll stands at 26. despite the visible criminality and violence here, some believe this is still very much aboutjacob zuma, the jailed former president. do you think this is aboutjacob zuma? it is aboutjacob zuma. it is about the jacob zuma, because if you notice very well, this thing started on the day that jacob zuma's arrested. after he was arrested at a police station. that's when the thing started.

because people didn't want jacob zuma to be arrested, in the beginning. and then ramaphosa, which is the president of this country, should have done something to prevent this. in guateng, the country's economic hub, people say livelihoods have been affected. it's sad because they are increasing unemployment and some of us are not employed, yet depending on other people to help us reach food and everything else, so this is not ok. whatever they're doing is not ok. my sister's now, she is at home doing nothing, she was employed. so now i don't know what's gonna happen from now. i feel bad because we are using the shops, we are going to be hungry and we are not going, we're going to go far away for bread... more troops are expected to be deployed overnight to prevent the rioting from spreading to other areas. let's get some of the day's other news. the un world food programme says it needs to sharply

increase the quantity of food aid it's started delivering to ethiopia's tigray region, where months of fighting has led to widespread hunger. a spokesperson said a hundred trucks a day would be needed to reverse what he described as catastrophic conditions. hundreds of thousands of people are facing famine. the french competition authority has fined google a record 600 million dollars in a copyright dispute. the authority said google hadn't negotiated in good faith, when it came to paying for press reports it runs on its news aggregator site. coronavirus cases are on the rise once again in the united states. new infections climbed to an average of more than 23,000 per day on monday. that's according to data from johns hopkins university. experts cite a slowdown in vaccination rates, and gatherings over the fourth ofjuly holiday as reasons for the increase. the uk government has seen off a rebellion within the ruling

conservative party over the plans to cut the foreign aid budget. several senior members of parliament voted against the plan, which will wipe almost four billion pounds — that is at some $5.5 billion from the sum the uk spends on tackling poverty and corruption overseas. some of the biggest charities say it's a disaster. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. britain has long given humanitarian aid like this to the world's poorest people, but the government is cutting that aid. and what was promised to be temporary has now become much longer—term — and all, the prime minister says, to save money. we are doing this in the midst of a terrible crisis, when our public finances are under greater strain than ever before in peacetime history, and every pound we spend in aid has to be borrowed. millions less has already been spent on humanitarian crises

in syria and yemen, part of a £4 billion cut this year to the aid budget, money that labour said made a real difference. it reduces conflict, it reduces disease and people fleeing from their homes. it is a false economy to pretend that this is some sort of cut that doesn't have consequences. for the first time, mps had a chance to vote on these cuts, either to restore aid spending to previous levels next year or tie any future rise to the state of the government finances — a vote the government won despite a sizeable tory rebellion. the ayes to the right 333, the noes to the left 298. the ayes have it, the ayes have it. so now, two new tests will have to be passed before aid spending rises. the amount of long—term debt the government owes must be falling, and day—to—day government spending must no longer be reliant on borrowing.

the prime minister believes these cuts reflect the priorities of voters, even if not all his backbenchers, who said these tests would not be passed for years. we made a promise to the poorest people in the world. the government has broken that promise. this motion means that promise may be broken for years to come. there is an unpleasant odour wafting out from under my party's front door. this is not who we are. this is not what global britain is. when i come to choose i between money and lives, i always choose lives. 0nly rarely does the house of commons debate matters of life and death, but today's vote means that the government's cut in aid spending is no longer temporary but locked in for a number of years. and that will have a direct impact on the lives of millions of people around the world. this vote is going to mean children not getting vaccinations around the world, half a million children whose lives could have been saved through uk aid who will now die.

we are going to see three million children no longer in schools. the government will still spend £10 billion on aid this year, but its cuts are now entrenched and backed by a majority of mps. that was james landale reporting. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the 2021 emmy nominations have been unveiled. netflix hit the crown and star wars spin off the mandalorin lead the field with 2a apiece. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally. called the great white way by americans but tonight. — it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans - of the problems that the energy crisisj

has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation and third world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much, they could barely stand. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president biden has accused republican—controlled states of mounting a dangerous attack on voting rights following donald trump's defeat in the 2020 election. more than 70 people are now known to have died in south africa in violent unrest and looting sparked by the jailing of former

presidentjacob zuma. a diplomatic row has broken out between the greek government and the eu over the country's treatment of migrants trying to reach europe from turkey. human rights groups claim that thousands of people seeking asylum in europe have been blocked by greek boats and pushed back to turkey. but athens has rejected claims by a senior eu official that the country is breaching european fundamental rights. fergal keane's report from the island of lesbos contains some strong language. 0n europe's southern frontier, the guardians of the law are accused of breaking it. please! help us! pushing asylum seekers across an international border, time and again. in some cases, shots fired in the air, and into the water. all to intimidate.

we've been investigating the stories of some of those who allege they've been victims of pushbacks. 0njune the 10th last, migrants filmed part of their encounter with greek coastguards. using the footage, we verified the date and location of the incident. translation: they asked us why we didn't get - a visa before entering. we explained that we fled the country, there was no way to get a visa when you flee like that. with the war at home, the multiple problems, our exit is illegal. they insulted us. they made the sign of the cross. they told us to go screw ourselves, and if we came back, they'd kill us. some do manage to land in greece. but that doesn't end the danger of being pushed back. we have heard evidence of people who've gotten ashore and been discovered by the greek authorities, only to be taken back out to sea and pushed in the direction of turkey,

without any due process. translation: then they put us on the bus and took us - to a military port, then put us in boats. it was around 8pm. there were police wearing dark blue and commandos covering their faces with masks. i could only see the eyes. they were armed with weapons. then we arrived as a location at around quarter past midnight. they put us all in one boat. after that, we realised we were in regional turkish waters. najma says they were then transferred to dinghies with no engines and allowed to drift before being eventually picked up by the turkish coast guard. since these scenes six years ago, sentiment has hardened against migrants in europe. and the eu is accused of turning a blind eye to abuses because greece is keeping migrants out. some boats from the eu's

own border agency are even accused of helping with pushbacks. but now a top eu official has told the bbc pushbacks defy its core values and must stop. i think these are violations of our fundamental european values. and when we are protecting our borders, we are protecting our values. and that's why we can't see violations of fundamental rights go on without having a proper response to that. but this evening, athens hit back. allegations affecting race are clearly unfounded, rely on footage or testimony provided from the country of departure. numerous cases have been investigated, including by the european union, and reports have found no evidence of any breach of eu fundamental rights. that denial will be challenged,

if the eu is serious about ending abuses on its borders. fergal keane, bbc news, lesbos. it was an extraordinary escape — carlos ghosn, the former boss of the car making giant nissan, has been describing how he fled house arrest injapan by hiding in a box that was then loaded on to a private jet. he'd been arrested in tokyo in 2018 and charged with financial miscondcut offences. he denies the charges and says he believes he is being treated as collateral damage. he is now in exile in lebanon from where he has been speaking exclusively to our business editor, simonjack. i could not show my face, so i had to be hidden somewhere, and the only way i could be hidden is to be in a box, or be in a luggage. so, nobody could see me, nobody could recognise me and obviously, the plan could work. before joining the box, i needed not to be detected because i departed from an airport outside tokyo.

so, we used a train and taxis, so i had to wear things that i never usually wear. you know, the plane was scheduled to take off at 11pm that night. we were ready and i was in the box in the rear of the plane probably around 10:30 p:m.. the 30 minutes waiting in the box in the plane, waiting for the plane to take off, were probably the longest period of wait i've ever experienced in my life. the nominations for this year's emmys have been announced, with the crown and the mandalorian leading the charge, with 2a nominations apiece. the netflix hit series based on the british royal family has garnered acting nods for olivia colman, josh o'connor and emma corrin. it's also up for best drama series, while disney's

the mandalorian is recognised in the same category. i spoke to sandro monetti an entertainmentjournalist and editor of hollywood international filmmaker magazine, a short time ago — he says the cream of the crop has been recognised. it has been an incredible year for television but quality has risen to the surface. interestingly these are the two most expensive shows on television. it costs up to $13 million to make each episode of the crown, $15 million for the mandalorian. but you get what you pay for. these are the two duking it out. the crown is there again. year after year the competition gets better but the crown still gets nominated on the question must be asked, is this the best tv show of all time? i thoroughly enjoyed it although i am one of those who is a bit sceptical about the format, is this real, is it history, is it drama?

i think the same about the mandalorian. i don't know so much about that one. but they are different productions, aren't they? the mandalorian, the small screen spin—off of star wars has proved much more entertaining than the recent star wars movies. baby yoda rapidly becoming the biggest tv star in the world. there he is behind me, you have a star on the show tonight. and those two lead the way. this is a year when among all the nominees, i think that more of the tv shows have been watched than ever before because so many of us during the pandemic were at home binge watching and you just have to look at social media to see how much love there is from the public for the crown and for the mandalorian, and that love is clearly being shown by the emmy voters. you make a good point.

and apple tv are doing well — ted lasso has 20 nominations, i plug it because my son has a tiny role in the next series. what do you think of their chances? it is a football sitcom, and if you're still depressed after sunday, just watch ted lasso because it really shows the funny side of football. can you imagine such a thing? it is about an american coach coming into the english premier league to manage a failing team and try to turn it around. he tries to do it with a mixture of charm, comedy and sweetness and sweetness is really the quality of this show. and before we go, we have the heart—warming story of a long overdue reunion in china. this is the moment

when a mother and father were reunited with their son, 2a years after he was taken from their doorstep. guo gangtung's son was snatched, aged two, hello there. summer weather is increasingly set to take hold over the next few days. it is looking largely dry. we'll see increasing amounts of sunshine and increasing temperatures as well, and it is all because of high pressure. currently, this area of high pressure is sitting to the south—west of us, but it is going to build towards the uk over the next few days, hence the increasing amounts of sunshine and those higher temperatures as well. but actually, through wednesday, many spots will see a decent amount of sunshine. we will have quite a lot of cloud through the morning across some eastern parts of scotland and eastern england, tending to retreat towards the coast through the day, and also, more cloud

into northern ireland and western scotland. and actually, as that cloud thickens up through the afternoon, it could even produce the odd spot of drizzle. but elsewhere, some good spells of sunshine. temperatures in the sunniest spots up to 2a or 25 degrees. a bit breezy for north—western areas and also for some eastern coasts. now, as we head through wednesday night into thursday, we will see more cloud rolling down across northern ireland and scotland, getting into northern england and wales by the end of the night. clear spells further south, a pretty mild night — 11—15 degrees in most places. into thursday, we are going to see more in the way of cloud pushing southwards down into england and wales. there'll be some spells of sunshine and certainly, some brighter conditions developing for northern ireland and for scotland, and in the best of the sunshine, temperatures again getting up to around 2a or 25 degrees. and for friday, many spots can expect to see plenty of blue sky and sunshine. a bit more cloud at this stage across north—western parts of scotland, northern ireland, but certainly more cloud across the northern isles. the sunnier skies further south lifting those temperatures up to 25—26, maybe at this stage, up to 27 degrees. and that sets us up for the weekend because our area of high pressure is going to become firmly established

across the uk, bringing lots of dry weather, lots of sunshine. you can see frontal systems close to the far north perhaps giving a bit more cloud at times, but with our high pressure in place, we can expect some pretty warm weather through both saturday and sunday. so, let's look at some city forecasts. you can see across shetland, it'll stay cloudy and a bit cooler, 15 or 16 degrees. but most other places, fine, dry, some spells of sunshine and temperatures easily up to 27, maybe 28 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has accused republican—controlled states of mounting a dangerous attack on free and fair elections by restricting voting rights. the republican national committee dismissed mr biden's remarks as dishonest. it said republicans were trying to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. the deployment of hundreds of troops in south africa has failed to prevent a fifth day of violent unrest and looting. at least 72 people have been killed and about 800 have been arrested since protests erupted in response to the jailing of the former president, jacob zuma. a diplomatic row has broken out between the greek government and the eu over the country's treatment of migrants trying to reach europe from turkey. human rights groups claim that thousands of people seeking asylum in europe have been blocked by greek boats and pushed back to turkey. now on bbc news,

the highlights of tuesday