welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: nancy pelosi, the us house speaker, is in taiwan for a hugely controversial visit. the white house tries to manage the tensions. the united states will not and does not, will not seek and does not want a crisis. we are prepared to manage what beijing chooses to do. the killing of ayman al—zawahiri — washington says the taliban broke an agreement not to allow foreign militants on afghan soil. the house that was targeted in the drone strike is just a few minutes away. but the taliban are not allowing anyone to film

nearby, insisting there is nothing to see. one even pointing his gun threateningly towards us. shrinking glacier streams in the himalayas are creating a water crisis — we have a special report on getting tap water to villages. hey, josh, it's gillian, how are you doing? very well, thank you. how are you? and the glasses allowing deaf people to see real—time conversations, right in front of their eyes. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news — it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. nancy pelosi, america's third highest ranking politician, is right now in taiwan, on a visit that's infuriated beijing. ms pelosi is due to visit taiwan's parliament and meet the taiwanese

president on wednesday morning. tensions are high. china considers self—ruled, democratic taiwan as its own territory, and it's been flying warplanes close to the island. four us warships have also been deployed to the region. our correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes, reports from taiwan. the speculation has been swirling for days, but it wasn't until this moment with her plane on final approach that we were sure nancy pelosi would defy beijing and become the most senior us politician to visit taiwan in a quarter of a century. for days, china has been making ominous threats that it would not stand by and allow it to happen. we are now beginning to see china's response. large—scale military exercises in the seas around the island, starting around thursday. translation: if the us - continues down the wrong path, we will take strong and resolute measures to ensure our sovereignty

and security interests. in taipei, the mood remains calm but defiant — the island's tallest skyscraper was lit up tonight with a message of welcome. i think this time if speaker pelosi can come to taiwan, it would be a crucial time for the united states to show their support to taiwan, to taiwan's democracy. you can see that not everybody in taiwan is delighted by nancy pelosi's arrival here, but on the whole, most people welcome a visit by such a senior us politician. in fact, the taiwanese government would like more such visits, not one every 25 years. but ms pelosi coming here does not by itself change the rather grim calculus now facing taiwan — which is a serious and growing threat from china, which since the russia's

invasion of ukraine, suddenly looks a lot more real. half—an—hour outside taipei in this disused factory, young taiwanese are learning basic gun skills. since the invasion of ukraine, enrolment on these courses has jumped by 50%. many of the new recruits are women. next door, jj lai and his friends are undergoing more advanced training. learning to work as a team and to evacuate the wounded. they used to do this for fun, but now it is much more serious. this is my home country, this is all i want, to protect it. i want to live here with my family, that's all. some critics say if taiwan wants america or any other country to help it fend off the threat from china, then it has to show that it is willing to fight. that is exactly what these young taiwanese men and women want to show nancy pelosi and anyone else who will listen. rupert wingfield—hayes,

bbc news, taiwan. you have seen the picture in taiwan. the white house national security council spokesman, john kirby, is trying to de—escalate tensions with china, reiterating that the us doesn't support independence for taiwan. the united states will not and does not, will not seek and does not want a crisis. we are prepared to manage what beijing chooses to do. at the same time, we will not engage in sabre—rattling. we will continue to operate in the seas and the skies of the western pacific as we have done for decades. we will continue to support taiwan. john kirby speaking there are little earlier. joining me is monica miller, our reporter who has been watching the latest developments for us. we've already seen the chinese react — warplanes in taiwanese airspace and now the foreign

ministry has summoned the us ambassador to beijing, nicolas burns, to protest against nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan. we are now hearing from officials waking up this morning. i cannot imagine they got much rest last night. one foreign minister has said the nature of speaker pelosi visit is vicious and they will continue to have a keen eye on this. they said they will not said ardently by and we have seenin said ardently by and we have seen in the last couple of hours, since her plane has landed, taiwan has confirmed they did see some military planes from china going over the taiwan strait, the body of water separating china and taiwan and also we have seen, on a diplomatic front, beijing is summoning us ambassador nicholas byrne to talk about theissue nicholas byrne to talk about the issue but they are not standing idly by and we can probably expect to see more of

these military exercises in the days to go by. we these military exercises in the days to go by-_ these military exercises in the days to go by. we have got what ou days to go by. we have got what you describe _ days to go by. we have got what you describe as _ days to go by. we have got what you describe as the _ days to go by. we have got what you describe as the chinese - you describe as the chinese reaction. at the same time we heard from john kirby sank the us does not support taiwan's independence so why can't the chinese take this simply as a visit and let nancy pelosi just have a visit to a visit? visit and let nancy pelosi 'ust have a visit to a visit?fi have a visit to a visit? they do not see _ have a visit to a visit? they do not see it _ have a visit to a visit? they do not see it that _ have a visit to a visit? they do not see it that way. - have a visit to a visit? they do not see it that way. i . have a visit to a visit? they i do not see it that way. i think nancy pelosi and the us is now say, there have been other people who have visited. back in april there was also a congressional team that went over but she is a high ranking member of the us government. she is the third in a succession to the president so this sends a strong message at a time when the relationship between the two countries is incredibly fraught. the two president, presidentjoe biden and xijinping had

that lasted over two hours at one of the discussions they have had was over taiwan and this was when nancy pelosi was thinking about taking the trip. after thatjoe biden said maybe this is not the best time for nancy pelosi to do this but then he backtracked saying we should have a right to go. i think president xi jinping should have a right to go. i think president xijinping has a lot at risk for this trip. it would be seen as losing face if she comes at a time when he is dealing with a lot of political pressures at home over covid. people have not been particularly happy with him. so this is just another thing particularly happy with him. so this isjust another thing he needs to content with and it threatens the legacy of his own presidency and the communist party. presidency and the communist pa . . , . . presidency and the communist pa . . , ' party. fascinating stuff indeed and i note _ party. fascinating stuff indeed and i note you _ party. fascinating stuff indeed and i note you will _ party. fascinating stuff indeed and i note you will be - party. fascinating stuff indeed and i note you will be keeping | and i note you will be keeping and i note you will be keeping a close eye on those

developments, nancy pelosi's trip in taiwan throughout the day. stay tuned for that. but for now, let's leave taiwan. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines: the first grain ship to have sailed from a ukrainian—controlled port since russia invaded the country has reached turkish waters. the cargo vessel razoni is waiting north of the bosphorus strait. it's hoped that resuming grain exports from ukraine will help ease a globalfood crisis that was compounded by russia's blockade of ukrainian black sea ports. a man's been charged with treason after being arrested in the grounds of windsor castle on christmas day, allegedly with a crossbow. jaswant singh chail, who's 20, is accused of intending to injure the queen. he's also been charged with threats to kill and having an offensive weapon. the american novelist, stephen king, has appeared in court to support the us government's case against the merger of two of the country's biggest publishers. the justice department wants to block the $2 billion deal between penguin and its rival,

simon and schuster, on competition grounds. the author of carrie and the shining said it had become increasingly difficult for authors to make money. i want to turn now to another big story today — the death of al-qaeda leader ayman al—zawa—hiri. washington says the taliban broke an agreement not to allow foreign militants on afghan soil by sheltering the militant group leader, who's been killed in a us drone strike in kabul. aymun al—zawahiri was one of the masterminds of 9/11 attacks on america, alongside osama bin laden, and was one of america's most wanted terrorists. our correspondent, secunder kermani, reports from kabul. one of america's most wanted. ayman al—zawahiri, right—hand man and successor to osama bin laden. this was the drone strike that

american officials say killed him as he stood on the balcony at this family home in an upmarket kabul neighbourhood. we can hear debris still being cleared up, but then we are told to stop filming. we are in the centre of the city. the house that was targeted in the drone strike is just a few minutes away, but the taliban are not allowing anyone to film nearby, insisting there is nothing to see, one even pointing his gun threateningly towards us a little earlier on. senior taliban figures must have agreed to al-qaeda's leader living here, but they have insisted in public the group no longer exists in afghanistan, so his death poses difficult questions. "he had trained

as a doctor in egypt "but became involved with radical circles. he helped plan the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. america placed a $20 million bounty on his head. president biden was in the command centre when osama bin laden was killed. and here he is being briefed on this weeekend's operation, a major success after criticism of last year's chaotic troop withdrawal from afghanistan. no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the united states will find you and take you out. unlike al-anda, the taliban have a national, not global, agenda, but they have been close allies of al-qaeda for years. recently they played

down their links, promising not to allow foreign attacks to be planned on afghan soil. al-qaeda is no longer the global threat it once was, but this drone strike will further deepen the mistrust between the taliban and the west. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. earlier i asked colin clarke, who's a senior research fellow at the soufan centre, and asked if the killing of al—zawahiri has significantly weakened al-qaeda. well, i think it's a big deal. i think first, symbolically, it's really important for americans. we lost 3,000 innocent citizens that day to the 9/11 attacks, and so there's a sense of vengeance that i think a lot of americans, you know, not only those that work in national security felt when the president announced zawahiri's death. more fundamentally for the group, it's a big blow because zawahiri has

led the group since may 2011, after bin laden was killed. he's led al-qaeda through some turbulent times, including the arab spring revolutions, but also the rise of the islamic state in 2014. so without him, they'll be searching for a new leader, and i think there's a lot of uncertainty within the organisation at the moment. so who do you see as replacing him? is there any sort of definitive person or leader that could replace him? and how do you see them steering the al-qaeda? well, the conventional wisdom suggests that an egyptianjihadist, much like zawahiri, with some military training and experience will take over. he is a known quantity, but is also believed to be living in iran, which is problematic for a number of reasons. first, he would be assumed to be under the thumb of the iranian regime, and second, he'd be vulnerable to being assassinated by israeli commandos who are

alleged to have assassinated another al-qaeda leader several years ago in tehran. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the new glasses allowing deaf people to see real—time conversations, right in front of their eyes. the question was whether we wanted to save our people and japanese as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly- caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life.

no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines: the us house speaker, nancy pelosi, is in taiwan for a hugely controversial visit, which china warns could have serious consequences for america. ayman al—zawahiri, the leader of al-qaeda, is killed by a us drone strike in kabul. washington says the taliban broke an agreement not to allow

foreign militants on afghan soil. now to a developing story in the uk. you might have been following the fairly lengthy process to find a successor to borisjohnson as uk conservative leader and british prime minister. they've whittled it down to two candidates, with a vote among party members in a few weeks. but now they've had to change the method of balloting after a warning that hackers could breach security. our reporter, mark lobel has been following that story, hejoins me now from the london newsroom. great to get you on the programme. mark, what more do we know? an unexpected twist because the arrival of voting papers for the next prime minister has been delayed, it also means that 160,000 tory members voting for the next

conservative leader will no longer get two chances to vote. the reason why is an e—mail we have received i would like to show you was sent out to those 160,000 members. ifi show you was sent out to those 160,000 members. if i read from it, it says your ballot is on the way but it will arrive a little later than we originally said, it was meant to arrive this week. it says not to worry, this is due to us adding extra security which has delayed us slightly. this delay is because of a warning from part of britain's security services that the vote itself could be hacked. the concerns are about the online part of the boat. of course, viewers watching this will be familiar with concerns about hacking at election time, most recently the us presidential election. the finger is often pointed at states or actors in states such as china, iran, russia. in this case it doesn't appear there is

any direct threat. it is more of a cautionary approach which really says the resilience of the system when looked at by britain's security services set “p britain's security services set up by britain's security services set up by the conservative party was not the strongest they would have liked. some big question of course is will this have an impact on the race itself? well, things change very quickly. just on tuesday liz truss had to deliver a huge u—turn over public worker pay. a contacted both liz truss and rishi sunak�*s camp to ask their reaction. rishi sunak�*s camp says the longer conservative members have two dues who is best suited to be the opposition leader at an election the more votes will shift rishi sunak�*s way. the liz truss camp is very relaxed because apollo has come out showing her with a lead. and in fact the daily mail, the conservative newspaper has come out to endorse her. the

momentum is definitely with her. . ~ momentum is definitely with her. ., ~ , ., momentum is definitely with her. ., ~ ., momentum is definitely with her. ., ., ~ , , her. thank you for keeping us uo-to-date — her. thank you for keeping us up-to-date mark _ her. thank you for keeping us up-to-date mark and - her. thank you for keeping us up-to-date mark and giving l her. thank you for keeping us | up-to-date mark and giving us her. thank you for keeping us i up-to-date mark and giving us a up—to—date mark and giving us a sense of because of that leadership competition as well in the uk. we will be sure to have lots of coverage of that as you can expect right here on bbc news as we get closer to a decision in back petition. —— competition. i want to bring you a special report from india, where indians living in remote villages in the himalayas are facing a water crisis. glacial streams are shrinking and it's hard to fetch water in freezing temperatures. the government says it has found a solution and is now using special methods to bring tap water to these villages. so are these methods working? for her latest report on india's water problems, the bbc�*s divya arya travelled to ladakh to see how successful this initiative is. 13,700 feet above sea level. it's a desert over a mountain. lamo has lived

here all her life, and never had tap water. translation: | keep | water for drinking here, and for washing utensils here. she and her husband take me on their daily trek to fetch water. we climb over many lower streams to reach the cleanest source. translation: temperatures fall so low that water - freezes when left outside. so we fill only as much as we need. if we need 20 litres, we fill 20 litres. so lamo has to make daily trips in biting winter. even that doesn't suffice. traditionally, these glacial springs had enough water to service the drinking water needs of this entire region. but over the decades, as the himalayan ice has receded, these springs have also shrunk — and this region has had to move its dependence

to underground water. deep digging is under way. to deliver on the government's promise of providing tap water, pipes and tanks must be safe from freezing. translation: ladakh is not like the plains, l where there are overhead tanks, from where water is distributed to homes in the village. here, tanks are built underground to prevent water from freezing. after a year of preparation, water supply is being tested in the village today. hello? most of the special thermal—coated taps remain dry. the local engineer explains that a pipe burst, causing the leakage.

while lamo waits, this tanker is the solution. if only they could get tap water. divya arya, bbc news, ladakh. fascinating report there. being part of a conversation can be problematic for those who are hard of hearing or deaf. so imagine how amazing it would be if they could actually see what people are saying — real time subtitles if you like. well, with the help of new glasses and an app, that could be possible as wendy urquhart reports. hello? hey, josh, it'sjillian, how are you doing? this new software makes it possible for people to see real—time subtitles of conversations that other people are having — which means those who are deaf or hard of hearing can actually see what people are talking about. it's the brainchild

of dan scar, from x—ray glass, who said he had an "a—ha" moment when his granddad started losing his hearing. it was just a little epiphany moment where i thought, "hang on a second, he watches tv all the time with subtitles on. why can't we subtitle the world?" the way it works is the glasses are tethered to smartphones with an app, which turns the speech into text, and that's displayed on the inside of the lenses — and it's causing a sensation. it's powerful. i can't understate the power and importance for people who are hard of hearing all over the world to feel that they don't have to solely rely on lip—reading any more, and it's a big moment. this is just the start. dan has big plans to adapt the software so that it's able to translate languages, voice tones, accents and pitch — and for many, this is an opportunity to be involved in conversations

for the first time ever. i might not quite catch everything, but this is going to mean a real—time narrative which enables me to be informed, to be involved, to make decisions, because i know what is being said. to help perfect the software, xrai glass is hoping to recruit alpha testers who either can't lip—read or struggle when multiple conversations are taking place at the same time. wendy urquhart, bbc news. and finally, it's a sum that would test the principles of even the richest people in the world, but tiger woods has apparently turned down a deal of over $700 million to take part in the liv series. greg norman, the ceo of liv, said tiger woods had been offered the money upfront before he took up his post. woods has been opposed to the saudi—backed breakaway league since late last year, and delivered his strongest comments at the open saying

players who signed up had "turned their back" on the pga tour that made them famous. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello. well, after another very warm and fairly humid night, as well, the humidity levels will drop across most parts of the country as we go through wednesday. and you'll also notice the winds starting to ease down after a very blustery spell of weather. strongest winds on the southern edge of this area of low pressure. the freshest of the air, though, is off to the northwest behind this weather front, which will be moving into parts of western scotland and northern ireland first light. but to the south and east of that, look at the temperatures as we start the day — around 16—19 celsius for the vast majority. now, while many of you start dry, we've got that rain at times in western scotland and northern ireland, there'll be a zone of cloud, rain, or drizzle southwest england through the midlands towards the wash — and that'll towards east anglia and the southeast. could produce a few spots of rain, but very little for the gardens here, and it will break up to sunny spells later.

lots more sunshine around, in fact, through wednesday. a few heavy showers through scotland and northern ireland, where temperatures will drop away through the day — whereas for england and wales, it still remains pretty warm. the humid air towards east anglia in the southeast 27—29 celsius. so, becoming less humid in the birmingham area, a lot more sunshine around for the commonwealth games, though, compared with tuesday, and a sunny end to the day here. there will be a few showers on northern england, scotland, northern ireland, some of those will continue through the night. some heavy ones, maybe the odd rumble of thunder, too. but what you will notice, as we go through into thursday morning, temperatures will have dropped more widely — still in double figures for the most part, but certainly a bit more comfortable to get to sleep in. but for thursday, lots of dry and sunny weather around for the vast majority. a zone of cloud and a few showers through northern england, wales drifting into the north midlands. some further showers then across scotland, very well—scattered, most places staying dry. and by this stage, temperatures actually dropping a little bit below normal across scotland and northern ireland, and maybe the far northwest of england. still pretty warm, though, east anglia and the southeast. that'll be the case on friday, but another cooler start, temperatures in single figures for some to begin the day.

sunny start, a bit of cloud bubbling up, 1—2 isolated light showers, most will be dry. still with temperatures in the mid—20s in the very far southeast, but most actually high teens, low 20s. and then, as we go through into the weekend, high pressure building in across southern areas does mean we'll see some wet and windy weather push across scotland for the start of the weekend. and temperatures will rise here into sunday. but for many, still a lot of dry weather around, but a good deal more comfortable across some southern parts. that's how it's looking, see you soon.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. the next train to arrive at platform one is the stopping service to the future of transport. we will call it at some incredible destinations and you can stop doing that city voice, by the way.

sorry, yes, we are on an augmented reality walking tour,