welcome to bbc news, i'm david willis. our top stories: �*direct, in—depth, and straightforward', the white house's assessment of a marathon phone call between president biden and his chinese counterpart, xi jinping, in which taiwan was the main focus. on the frontline in ukraine, where western weapons are said to be making the difference against the russian invaders. �*let the games commence�*. 5,000 athletes from around the world are in birmingahm, in central england, for the start of the commonwealth games. and the return of the tiger, why nepal kept its promise

to double its numbers in the last decade. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has spent more than two hours on the phone with his chinese counterpart, xijinping. the two leaders both issued warnings about taiwan, which has once again emerged as a key point of tension, following reports of a possible visit there by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. although the visit hasn't been confirmed, mr biden told xi jinping, that washington �*strongly opposed' any unilateral moves that would change the island's status, or undermine stability across the taiwan straits.

president xi said: "those who play with fire will only get burned." joe biden responded to that with "on taiwan, the us policy has not changed." let's speak now to craig singleton, a national security expert, and former us diplomat, who's a senior china fellow at the foundation for the defense of democracies. thank you forjoining here on bbc world news. it was something of a marathon conversation by all accounts, two hours and 17 minutes. do we take it from this that the biden administration didn't exact leak condone the prospect of nancy pelosi's make visit to taiwan? . ~ of nancy pelosi's make visit to taiwan? ., ~ , ., of nancy pelosi's make visit to taiwan? ., ~ i. ., ., taiwan? thank you for having me. taiwan? thank you for having me- would — taiwan? thank you for having me. would say _ taiwan? thank you for having me. would say overall- taiwan? thank you for having me. would say overall the . taiwan? thank you for having | me. would say overall the call went about as well as the two sides could have hoped although expectations were generally pretty low at the core's upset that there would be any

diplomatic breakthrough. perhaps the biggest takeaway is that president biden and xi jinping are possibly planning to meet face—to—face as early as this fall during the 620 leaders summit. i think that the call in general, it is really part of a white house led effort to ensure that the intensified competition between the united states and china doesn't veer into the military domain and so they see these leader to lead exchanges as vital to that effort and that includes being able to have a very frank discussion about taiwan. it very frank discussion about taiwan. , . . , taiwan. it is a hard sell, though. _ taiwan. it is a hard sell, though, isn't _ taiwan. it is a hard sell, though, isn't it, - taiwan. it is a hard sell, though, isn't it, for - taiwan. it is a hard sell, though, isn't it, for an l though, isn't it, for an american president to seek to persuade his chinese counterpart that there is no change in us taiwan policy given that a senior member of his very own party is planning to do something which the chinese regard as quite absurdly provocative.

absolutely. china's clear hostility regarding speaker pelosi's planned trip is by and large very consistent with what we have seen from beijing in terms of its rhetoric and broader efforts to isolate the self—governing island nation. the trip also happens to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the founding of china's people's liberation army which is of course a sensitive moment and as you mentioned there is deep scepticism about american guarantees that the trip and others like it don't signal a change in us policy and that is made all the more difficult because president biden himself has consistently mischaracterised american security commitments under the taiwan relations act here in the united states but at the end of the day there is no indication at this point that china is preparing for any sort of imminent invasion in taiwan and nor is there any information to suggest that they are thinking about a serious military escalation in response to nancy pelosi's make possible plans to travel there.

but what action could raising actually take if nancy pelosi decides to press ahead with this trip to taiwan?- this trip to taiwan? sure. speaker _ this trip to taiwan? sure. speaker pelosi's - this trip to taiwan? sure. speaker pelosi's trip - this trip to taiwan? sure. speaker pelosi's trip is i speaker pelosi's trip is obviously not happening in a vacuum and the white house has made clear that it has major reservations about her trip and the plans, simply because they could disrupt other parts of the very complex water faceted relationship that exists between the us and china. there is precedent for nancy pelosi's make trip back in the 1990s, former speaker of the house newt gingrich travelled to taiwan but that was during a very different period in us—china relations when things were relatively positive and thatis were relatively positive and that is obviouslyjust not the case today. should nancy pelosi travelled to taiwan? i think what we are going to see quite immediately will be an increase in chinese error defence and incursions around taiwan and maybe even see a provocative act like something called a median line incursion and that is when chinese aircraft would

breach the maritime border that is in the median of the taiwan strait. ~ , ., strait. we must leave it there, thank you _ strait. we must leave it there, thank you very _ strait. we must leave it there, thank you very much _ strait. we must leave it there, thank you very much indeed i thank you very much indeed for joining us. to ukraine now, where soldiers on the frontlines are saying that the rate of russia's bombardment of eastern ukraine has dropped by at least a half, thanks to the arrival of sophisticated western weaponry. is it, though, mere a lull in the fighting, or a sign that the tide is turning in the conflict? andrew harding reports from ukraine the familiar sounds of war thunder across ukraine's front lines. but something is changing here in the donbas. we're rushing to a secret location and a rare rendezvous with a weapon that mightjust be helping to tip the balance in this war. the caesar is a gift from france to ukraine.

today, its giant gun is aiming at a russian target 27 kilometres away. ok, now we have to get out quickly before the russians potentially find our positions and fire back. "these guns are making all the difference," says dmytro, the unit commander. "their range, their accuracy. as a result the russian bombardment has been reduced by half or even by two thirds." and here's the proof. footage of giant russian ammunition stores now being hit far behind the front lines. and ukraine can now target key bridges like this one near the russian—held city of kherson, perhaps the start of a push towards crimea — which all helps to explain this. all quiet, unusually quiet, on this stretch of the eastern front. anothersign, perhaps,

of russia's faltering momentum. just listen to that silence. the point these soldiers keep making to us along the length of this front line is that western weapons really are making a big difference, but not yet a decisive difference. they still need many more if they are to turn the tide against the russians. "it's balanced now 50—50," says colonel yuri bereza. "that's thanks to the artillery the west has sent here, but we're not yet in a position to counterattack. we still need a lot more weapons, or it will be a bloodbath". and it's notjust about equipment. ukraine has lost so many soldiers that it's still struggling to fill the gaps, often with barely trained volunteers. acquiring my sight. they lack the basic soldiering skills that the west is used to. but a good positive is this is their homeland and all 36,

37 of these soldiers seem eager to defend it. you've got to have heart. skill's good, but heart's great. plenty of heart, then, but still not enough weapons or trained soldiers to be sure of turning the tide. andrew harding, bbc news in eastern ukraine. let's get some of the day's other news. sir christopher meyer, a former uk ambassador to the united states, has died suddenly. it's understood he suffered a stroke at his home in france. sir christopher, who was 78, was the uk's ambassador in washington prior to the invasion of iraq. a giant screen has fallen onto a stage in hong kong during a concert by the popular boy band, mirror. two dancers were severely injured. the screen, which had been hanging in the air, fell directly onto one performer before toppling into others. one of the wounded dancers is in a serious condition in hospital. several fans were

treated for shock. the two candidates vying to be the next prime minister, liz truss and rishi sunak, have taken part in the first official hustings with conservative party members. the event in the northern city of leeds was the first of 12 to be held over the next few weeks. the governor of the american state of kentucky says flash floods, caused by torrential rains, have killed eight people, including a woman aged 81. andy beshear described the floods, which have hit areas in the appalachian mountains, as "historic and ongoing", and said he feared further deaths as several people were missing. 6areth barlow has more. this is the power of the floods in kentucky. whole homes ripped from their foundations.

everything's gone, like everything is gone. my whole life is gone. it was cold and it was over my head so yeah, it was scary. this it was over my head so yeah, it was scary-— was scary. as the waters rose, residents — was scary. as the waters rose, residents rushed _ was scary. as the waters rose, residents rushed to _ was scary. as the waters rose, residents rushed to rooftops, l residents rushed to rooftops, some airlifted to safety. my mum's there _ some airlifted to safety. m mum's there and she's got parkinson's and we had to worry about getting her upstairs. with further rain forecast the state's governor declared a state's governor declared a state of emergency in six counties, mobilising the national guard, with officers using boats to rescue stranded residents. using boats to rescue stranded residents-_ residents. the situation right now is tough. _ residents. the situation right now is tough. there - residents. the situation right now is tough. there are - residents. the situation right now is tough. there are a - residents. the situation right now is tough. there are a lotj now is tough. there are a lot of people in eastern kentucky on top of groups waiting to be rescued. there are a number of people that are unaccounted for and i am nearly certain this is and i am nearly certain this is a situation where we are going to lose some of them.- a situation where we are going to lose some of them. dozens of

--eole to lose some of them. dozens of people have _ to lose some of them. dozens of people have been _ to lose some of them. dozens of people have been rescued - to lose some of them. dozens of people have been rescued and i people have been rescued and tens of thousands remain without power. the white house says the president has been briefed on the situation which has also seen severe flooding and mudslides in neighbouring virginia and west virginia. taste virginia and west virginia. we didn't virginia and west virginia. - didn't have no time to get nothing out of our apartment in the basement, i've lost everything, twice. this makes twice that i've lost everything.- twice that i've lost eve hin. , , twice that i've lost eve hina. , everything. many parts of kentucky _ everything. many parts of kentucky are _ everything. many parts of kentucky are still- everything. many parts of i kentucky are still struggling after being hit by tornadoes last year and this latest extreme weather, a reminder of the deadly impact of our changing climate. terrifying scenes there from kentucky's. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a rare dinosaur skeleton has sold at auction in the us for $6 million. he's a relative of the infamous t—rex, but faster and with a stronger bite.

cheering. the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation, after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own, in a private house, - not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why i all these people should wander in and say, _ "you're doing something wrong". six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at a worcestershire wildlife park, and have already been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely and sweet, yeah, they're cute.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president xi warnsjoe biden against disregarding the one—china principle over taiwan in a marathon two hour phone call. ukrainian soldiers say the rate of russia's bombardment of the country's eastern region has dropped by at least a half — thanks to the arrival of sophisticated western weaponry. sport — and the 22nd commonwealth games are finally underway. the opening ceremony took place on thursday evening in the english city of birmingham — and friday will see the sporting events commence. the commonwealth is made up of nations and territories that used to be part of the british empire. there comes a moment in any sporting event where the preparations and in the competition begins. for birmingham, that moment was now. spectators lining up outside the city's alexander stadium, as diverse and multicultural as the games

itself. ~ ., multicultural as the games itself. ., itself. we are so, so, so excited- _ itself. we are so, so, so excited. we _ itself. we are so, so, so excited. we got - itself. we are so, so, so excited. we got it - itself. we are so, so, so excited. we got it all. itself. we are so, so, so excited. we got it all to | excited. we got it all to ourselves. i think for us, it's one of those where we all unite, especially as english—speaking countries and we show our talent. melt english-speaking countries and we show our talent.— we show our talent. well it's a very different _ we show our talent. well it's a very different group _ we show our talent. well it's a very different group of - we show our talent. well it's a very different group of people | very different group of people around — very different group of people around the world to meet and joining — around the world to meet and joining together. in effect, it's a — joining together. in effect, it's a big _ joining together. in effect, it's a big broader family to enjoy— it's a big broader family to enjoy each other's company and learn _ enjoy each other's company and learn a — enjoy each other's company and learn a lot— enjoy each other's company and learn a lot from each other. the — learn a lot from each other. the opening ceremony was the usual eclectic mix of a spectacular and the slightly bizarre. honouring birmingham's one—time role as the workshop of the world and the home of the british car industry. at one point, a dry enormous all made of aluminium and steel entered the arena, an animal that has long been associated with the city. the real stars of the show of course are the athletes and soon they made their presence felt. more than 5000 of them, from dozens of different nations and

territories, in asia, africa and elsewhere. the queen's baton was then brought into the stadium, olympic gold—medallist tom daley among those doing the honours. prince charles representing the queen read out a message on her behalf where she paid tribute to the rich diversity and unity of the commonwealth. the games were officially open and to celebrate, there were fireworks, lots of fireworks. and a performance from local favourites duran duran. and as i try to make my way, through the ordinary world... they finished with us on ordinary world, the organisers hoping these games will be anything but. tim allman, bbc news. the bbc�*s jane dougall is in birmingham — and she has this preview of what we can expect on day one of the sporting events. there has been a party going

on here in victoria square as people gather to celebrate the opening of the commonwealth games in birmingham. representatives of 72 territories and nations around the globe will be taking part with 6500 athletes and officials all descending here on birmingham ahead of the events. it's going to be the biggest sporting programme in commonwealth games history, with new sports being added including women's twenty20 cricket, three on three basketball and mixed synchronised swimming. the events begin on friday and they are the most inclusive to date, with a record 42 para—sports be running concurrently at the games. and more medals will be available for the women than the men for the first time ever. 16 gold medals up for grabs today the first of which is the men's and women's triathlon, the men's gymnastics team final and in the

afternoon, the truck cycling. significantly more than 1.2 million tickets have already been sold for these games, making them the best attended yet. a rare dinosaur skeleton has sold at auction in the us forjust over s 6 million. the 6orgosaurus — the "fiercer" relative of the infamous tyrannosaurus rex — was reportedly faster and had a stronger bite. found in 2018 in the us state of montana, the 77 million year old skeleton was sold to a private buyer in new york. the buyer will now have the unique opportunity to bestow a nickname. joining me now is 6regory erickson, a dinosaur paleobiologist at florida state university. thank you very much forjoining us. the very fact that this has gone into private hands, well,

i imagine, be a disappointment to some in your line of work? yes, most of all thank you for having me. as a scientist, i think i can speak on behalf of every vertebrate palaeontologist, anytime you have a vertebrate fossil, particularly this one, which is obviously a very exciting specimen, it's a sort of robbing us of intellectual property so unfortunately, i specimen like this gets into private hands, we have to ignore it as if it doesn't exist, we can't publish on it, we can't do anything so in a perfect world, this person would donated to an accredited museum but as far as we are concerned, it went into a black hole. , .,. concerned, it went into a black hole. , ., hole. given the fact that dinosaur _ hole. given the fact that dinosaur skeletons - hole. given the fact that - dinosaur skeletons continue to, what, rake up millions of dollars at auctions, it's

likely to have surprised people likely to have surprised people like yourself, scientists, museums, out of the market, isn't it? , ., �* ., isn't it? yes, we don't have bribe money _ isn't it? yes, we don't have bribe money to _ isn't it? yes, we don't have bribe money to get - isn't it? yes, we don't have bribe money to get onto i bribe money to get onto ranchers lands, we reallyjust don't have the facilities to pay for these fossils and going back to the 1800s, the 1850s, there were fossils collected by private parties, that museums paid for but what happened is, in the 1980s and early 90s particularly, the price of these things just went crazy, and we just, these things just went crazy, and wejust, there is no way to, you know, we don't have millions of dollars to buy fossils. museums don't. as a professor, we don't have any money to pay for anything. it used typically would go onto ranchers lands and we would dig up ranchers lands and we would dig up these things for free. we

never made any money off them either. now they have monetary value and in america unfortunately, or the us, value and in america unfortunately, orthe us, i should say, if it's on private land, there are mineral rights, or water rights, whatever, it's your property and so this is a legal specimen, your property and so this is a legalspecimen, i'm ok your property and so this is a legal specimen, i'm ok with part of that but it's the way we are. . , part of that but it's the way we are. ., , ., , , we are. had these remains been found across _ we are. had these remains been found across the _ we are. had these remains been found across the border - we are. had these remains been found across the border in - we are. had these remains been found across the border in pio i found across the border in pio tuwai, canada, they would have automatically become public property, understand? thanks property, understand ? thanks alberto. property, understand? thanks alberto. , . , property, understand? thanks alberto. , ., , alberto. yes, any vertebrate fossil found _ alberto. yes, any vertebrate fossil found in _ alberto. yes, any vertebrate fossil found in canada - alberto. yes, any vertebrate i fossil found in canada belongs fossilfound in canada belongs to the government. a lot of countries have similar laws. mongolia, china, mocenacagi, rawaca, most countries have that, it's not the weight is in the united states. ——

nicaragua. there were some high—profile fossils which were illegally collected, so in this case, it followed a legal challenges. i like to hope that whoever purchases this thing would try to make it available to sign his and may ultimately give it to a museum. taste to sign his and may ultimately give it to a museum. we must leave it there, _ give it to a museum. we must leave it there, thank- give it to a museum. we must leave it there, thank you - give it to a museum. we must leave it there, thank you for i leave it there, thank you for joining us. let's turn to nepal now — where tigers are making a roaring comeback. the small himalayan nation is the first country to keep a promise to double its wild tiger population in the last decade. other iconic species including rhinos and elephants have also seen an increase. what's behind the success and what does it mean for the communities living with the tigers. the bbc�*s asia editor rebecca henschke reports from bardia national park. tigers have more than doubled in number in the last ten years here in nepal.

it's a victory in a battle to bring them back from the brink of extinction. one of the key factors of nepal's success has been strong enforcement against poaching, and that's involved the military. armed units like this one patrol across the park daily. tigers are the majestic creatures, you know? being assigned in the protection duties, it's an honour, you know, it's a privilege to be part of something that is really big. these forests where tigers are now being protected, used to be royal hunting grounds. archive: this is - a land whose people have always lived under the menace of marauding tigers. when queen elizabeth visited nepal in 1961, she took part in a tiger hunt. and yes, there was the tiger! king mahendra had fulfilled a time—honoured obligation of a host in nepal and provided

the royal party with a tiger to shoot. as a result of hunting, poaching and habitat loss, there's now less than 4,000 tigers in the wild. but here in bardia national park, there are signs of a remarkable recovery. hundreds of cameras hidden as part of a nationwide tiger census. and when you're analysing the footage, how do you make sure that your count is accurate? translation: just like people have unique fingerprints. all tigers have different stripes. that's how we distinguish them and count them. we have seen tiger cubs and also tigers rolling around. it is definitely something to be celebrated. it does not come without the cost. the common area that the tigers

and the prey species and the humanity shares is so tight. the community lives in terror. so there is a price that the community has paid for the world to rejoice. and with the news that nepal has successfully doubled its, you know, tiger numbers. sanjana lost her mother—in—law last year. she's one of 16 people killed by a tiger in the last 12 months. translation: during the next few years, more families will suffer like me. the number of victims will soar. ifeel like i'm going crazy. i want to scream into the forest and run. when a tiger kills a human, they're tracked down and taken into captivity. there's seven now behind bars. more number of tigers and more number of people. definitely there's going to be conflict. so it is going to be a challenging job for us to maintain peace between two species.

keeping that peace will be key to the successful return of the tigers. rebecca henschke, bbc news, nepal. that's all from bbc news, thank you forjoining us. hello there. this week has been quite a cloudy one for many parts of the country, but it looks like we're going to end the week with more sunshine, and that means it's going to be feeling warmer everywhere. into the weekend, though, we're going to look at this cloud that's been hanging around in the atlantic to push down from the northwest into the uk. ahead of it, we still have some cloud that's been producing some rain in scotland and northern england. but away from here, we start with some clearer spells early on friday morning and temperatures around 11—14 celsius. there will still be some rain left over across northern england and southern scotland. it'll tend to peter out in the morning, sunshine elsewhere, but over land, the cloud will bubble up, mightjust give one

or two light showers. bulk of those, i think, will be across northern england and eastern scotland. and many coastal areas will have a dry and mostly sunny day. it's going to be warmer, though, for all of us. temperatures low 20s, scotland, northern ireland, northern england, warmer further south and making 28 celsius in the south east of england. notice, through, this cloud coming in to northern ireland. we'll see some rain arriving here during the evening. and overnight, that rain will push its way eastwards into scotland, over the irish sea into northern parts of england. but again, further south, it's staying dry. it's going to be a warm start to the weekend, actually, those temperatures, 1a to 16 celsius. now, i showed you the cloud earlier on. that's on this weather front here, which is slipping its way into england and wales overnight and during saturday, but weakening all the while. so there won't be much rain left over by the afternoon. we start cloudy and with some rain across northern areas in the morning, that rain tending to peter out, slowly brightening up in scotland and northern ireland, and just a little bit of rain left over for northwest england and western parts of

wales in the afternoon. ahead of it, though, the midlands towards the southeast and east anglia, a warm day again on saturday with temperatures around 27 celsius. so we've got a weather front heading our way, bringing with it the possibility of some rain. and then that weather frontjust hangs around for the second half of the weekend. this is where we've got a lot of uncertainty. just little bumps along that weatherfront, maybe pepping up the rain from time to time. and it looks like that rain now is going to be a bit further south across wales, the midlands and across east anglia, the far south of england may stay dry, and further north, it looks like it'll be dry, brighter and a little bit cooler in scotland and northern ireland. still some warmth, though, if we do get some sunshine in the southeast of england.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has spent more than two hours on the phone with his chinese counterpart, xijinping. the two leaders both issued warnings about taiwan, which has once again emerged as a key point of tension. there are reports of a possible visit by us house speaker nancy pelosi. in ukraine, soldiers on the frontline are saying that russia's bombardment of the eastern region of the country has dropped by at least a half, thanks to the arrival of sophisticated western artillery pieces. it's not yet known if it's merely a lull in the fighting.

the 22nd commonwealth games are finally underway.