that is appropriate in a way that is appropriate for taiwan to be successful with — for taiwan to be successful with their own trade, security etc, _ with their own trade, security etc, and _ with their own trade, security etc, and to do so in a way that opens— etc, and to do so in a way that opens many more possibilities. we came — opens many more possibilities. we came here to listen... studio: _ we came here to listen... studio: this is bbc news. a warm welcome to all of our viewers on pbs at around the world. you join us as nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives addresses not just the president of taiwan, but also the appointed delegates. she hasjust delegates. she has just completed, delegates. she hasjust completed, in fact, delegates. she hasjust completed, infact, heraddress on what is seen as an historic moment but an antagonistic one as well, as beijing has made it very clear they did not want this visit to take place, they did not think it was appropriate for nancy pelosi to come to taiwan and offer her support to the democracy there,

because beijing itself believes that there needs to be reunification between taiwan and china, and that taiwan is a part of course of the chinese nation. so it is a meeting, which is high in symbolism, but it also has had, as a result, some more significant moments. we have seen military manoeuvres, both by the chinese and american vessels being sent into the region as well. low level, in terms of that military operation, and it is not engagement, it is just operations in and around the seeds of around taiwan. but nonetheless, it has ratcheted up nonetheless, it has ratcheted up further the very difficult relations that currently exist between beijing and washington. it has been an awkward scenario for the white house because

they do not have control over nancy pelosi, there were some effort to persuade her not to make this journey, effort to persuade her not to make thisjourney, but effort to persuade her not to make this journey, but it has been made and they will stand supportive behind, of course the woman who is after all the third most powerful politician the united states. but to that point let's just hear from the white house spokesmanjohn white house spokesman john kirby white house spokesmanjohn kirby explained the american situation. 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. that's john that'sjohn kirby that's john kirby i that'sjohn kirby i want to show you the image because we have the family photo if i can call it that members of congress who have accompanied

nancy pelosi on this particular visit, standing there, shoulder to shoulder with the president and her own team, is a picture of solidarity and support of one for the other but as i said a moment ago the flipside as it is a picture of antagonism as seen from the beijing perspective who have already called on the us ambassador to beijing, for a formal complaint about this meeting taking place. i've been speaking to lyle goldstein, he is director of asian engagement at defence priorities, and visiting professor at brown university, i wanted to find out from him what he made of this situation. i'm very concerned, we have seen some moves that are somewhat unprecedented, my own view is that this likely will not leave to war, but you know,

i think it's here to say that, the us and china do seem to be on that kind of collision course, and this is kind of one step down that road, so i'm very, very concerned. and watching how this is developing, there are probably some reasons why china might consider use of force, you know, earlier rather than later, we can explore those but generally, i think, later, we can explore those but generally, ithink, there later, we can explore those but generally, i think, there are more reasons suggesting that china will not pull the trigger now, although, i'm thinking this is a show of force but still, it shows just how delicate the situation is, and i'm extremely concerned. presumably they are watching and considering what their best response is, we have some images here, this is we are

waiting for nancy pelosi to meet the president of taiwan, that will happen soon, those pictures will be beamed around the world but also across beijing will see them all. those irritations, presumably, mount up. those irritations, presumably, mount lip-— those irritations, presumably, mount up-_ mount up. right, china isi rate about _ mount up. right, china isi rate about this, _ mount up. right, china isi rate about this, furious - mount up. right, china is i. rate about this, furious they have made that very clear, and they are aiming to show that, and will do so over the next few days, with some very intense military exercises, these exercises will happen to these exercises will happen to the north, south, east and west of the island, totally unprecedented, so hold onto your hat and buckle your seatbelt this is very, very dangerous.— dangerous. that is very dangerous, _ dangerous. that is very dangerous, sorry - dangerous. that is very dangerous, sorry to - dangerous. that is very - dangerous, sorry to interrupt you, that is very worrying language. not many people are expecting open confrontation at this stage though?—

this stage though? well, that's ri . ht, this stage though? well, that's riaht, i this stage though? well, that's right. i think — this stage though? well, that's right, i think most _ this stage though? well, that's right, i think most people - right, i think most people believe that the timing for a variety of reasons, you know, there will be a major party congress in the fall that probably, xijinping has been facing a lot of challenges at home, related to the pandemic, economic challenges the ukrainian war has been a sobering picture of what real war is like sol sobering picture of what real war is like so i think there are many reasons why probably will not lead to conflict, and arguably the chinese military is nearly ready but not 100% ready, so there are reasons why hopefully this will not break out into an open conflict but, ijust think it's important that this goes well beyond the nancy pelosi visit, there has been a string of high level as most people don't realise, this kind of vitriolic language has been characteristic of chinese statements for at least the last five years, this is not

terribly new, pattern growing over time and i think china has decided to draw the line here. lyle goldstein on a very uncomfortable moment in relations between beijing and washington. we will keep across that for you of course. some breaking news, people in the us state of kansas have voted to keep abortion legal, they rejected an amendment to the constitution that would change the ballot in the republican—dominated state the first of its kind since the us supreme court decision to overturn a constitutional right to abortion that was lastjune. let's join to abortion that was lastjune. let'sjoin nomia iqbal who can lay out above all else, how big a vote was and the significance of this? , , , of this? this is hugely significant, _ of this? this is hugely significant, i'm - of this? this is hugely| significant, i'm coming of this? this is hugely - significant, i'm coming to you from the party that was held by the campaign that led, the

campaign to protect abortion rights. tojust spell out rights. to just spell out what's happened, as you mentioned this is the first time we are getting a sense of how americans are feeling post— roe versus wade which was overturned two months ago by the supreme court. when that happens lots of republican state said they would ban abortion outright or restricted, kansas could not do it because it is enshrined in its constitution that abortion rights are protected. so it was put on the ballot as part of the primary is directly to voters do you want to pass this amendment to overturn their constitutional right? so the result has come through, it is a rejection it will be confirmed in a week, the 79% of votes have been counted, 61.2% of people have voted no, that is a resounding victory, i want

to go people here have been completely joyous about this, they said to me they never thought this would happen somewhere like kansas but to quote one woman she said it is notjust kansas people said no they said to quote her, hell, know this is seen as a huge victory, for pro—choice folks but also for the democratic party, before this moment said abortion rights were on the ballot for the mid—term elections, it was all theoretical they will look to this as a key sign abortion rights will hugely motivate voters at the mid—term elections. voters at the mid-term elections.— voters at the mid-term elections. . , ., elections. that is fascinating without wanting _ elections. that is fascinating without wanting to _ elections. that is fascinating without wanting to entirely l without wanting to entirely politicise the issue of pro—life for pro—choice, you are in a republican stronghold, and yet 60 plus %, are going against the grain, that would be the best way to describe it in political terms. you mentioned the november

midterms, still a few months away but this will be another big philip, ithink away but this will be another big philip, i think for president biden and his democratic party? it president biden and his democratic party? it well be. after the _ democratic party? it well be. after the supreme _ democratic party? it well be. after the supreme court - after the supreme court overturned roe versus wade i was outside the supreme court and speaking to people who had come from different states, they said this will be the most basic issue, but there are lots of other issues americans care about such as the economy, inflation, gun rights it's good hard to get a sense of how motivating this was but the democratic party will certainly see this as a huge victory for them because they can point this and say if it can happen in kansas that shows this is an issue everywhere and that is what some of the people who voted no, have said to me. in the run—up to this there was a lot of anger on both sides, lots of accusations by those who are pro—choice that the whole ballot was very confusing

and counterintuitive because you had to vote no to pass, so would protect abortion rights. even just when the polls close speaking to a few people who voted no said they were convinced it would be a landslide for the anti—abortion group. just to recap as i mentioned, no have voted 6i.2%, it is a projection it will be confirmed in a week, but it is seeing a huge moment for pro—choice and the democratic lobby. in pro-choice and the democratic lobb . , ., , lobby. in terms of broader significance _ lobby. in terms of broader significance kansas - lobby. in terms of broader significance kansas had i lobby. in terms of broader significance kansas had to| lobby. in terms of broader - significance kansas had to hold this boat because of its own constitutional arrangement as a state, how often is that going to be married in other states around the united states today? that's the big question, if you think about all the states around kansas, they have as i

mentioned either band abortion or they will be moving to ban it out right, and so kansas is very much a bellwether, and there was a huge expectation it would vote to remove vote to pass this amendment to remove the constitutional right to abortion, this is a state donald trump one very easily twice, just to quote the people here i have been talking to, they were quite cautious about it, they didn't think that would go their way, but their view is that this is now galvanising voters this is not a theoretical thing anymore it's the way they are seeing it, if people here in kansas the vast majority according to this projection had moved to protect abortion rights that can theoretically happen for other states and it will now become a big issue going into the mid—term elections in november. the mid-term elections in november.— the mid-term elections in november. . ~ , . november. thank you very much ou can november. thank you very much you can see _ november. thank you very much you can see from _ november. thank you very much you can see from the _ you can see from the backslapping and sharing and

hugging going on very much in the land of the pro—choice and they have got what they would want at this stage. just to remind you that is a projection but it does look as if kansas is going against the grain of the supreme court ruling, we will get the complete results for you as and when they are pulled together, could be as long as a week but the message is pretty clear. you are watching bbc news. stay with us. the new glasses allowing deaf people to see conversations through real—time subtitles. 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 bbc world news. the latest headlines: the us house speaker — nancy pelosi — is in taiwan, for a hugely controversial visit — which china warns

could have serious consequences for america. the consequences foramerica. us the consequences for america. us state of kansas has voted the us state of kansas has voted against lastjune's voted against last june's supreme court voted against lastjune's supreme court decision to restrict abortion rights. the american government claims the taliban broke an agreement not to allow foreign militants on afghan soil by sheltering the afghan soil by sheltering the afghan leader —— the al-qaeda leader ayman al—zawahiri. he was killed by us drone strike in kabul. he was one of the masterminds of the 9—11 attacks and one of america's most wanted. 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 of 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. zawahiri had trained as a doctor in egypt, but was drawn into radical circles.

afterjoining al-qaeda, he helped plan the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. america placed a $25 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 weekend'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-qaeda, the taliban have a national, not global, agenda, but they have been close allies of al-qaeda for years. she 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. so so did the taliban break the deal they had hatched? lisa curtis under the trump administration attentively negotiations with the taliban in qatar and i have been sticking to her about where this strike leaves the doha agreement. it shows how weak the agreement is.

the taliban chose to see it differently. it shows the weakness of the agreement and that the terms were never clear, because if you read it carefully, and you did just read it out, but nowhere does it say the taliban must break ties to al-qaeda, and nowhere does it say that the taliban must expel al-qaeda from afghanistan. and even though it says the taliban will not grant travel documents to foreign terrorists trying to come into afghanistan, that really could be seen as a loophole, that they could allow terrorists to come in, and as long as they don't provide the documents, then it's ok. i think that's what we need to understand. the taliban is the same taliban they were over 20 years ago, and if there were any doubts about that, i the fact that we see that zawahiri was sheltered in the middle of kabul by the taliban leadership, that should lead to rest any doubts as to what the taliban is about, the fact they are still allied with al-qaeda.

there is some suggestion, and we are talking about harbouring foreign terrorists here, and the point has been made that the taliban, 21 years ago in fact, granted al—zawahiri citizenship within afghanistan, so again perhaps that is bouncing around on the head of a pain a little perhaps that is bouncing around on the head of a pin a little bit as to who is or isn't eligible for bohar bit as to who is or isn't eligible for doha arrangements. but i suppose the point about the agreement if was that it was going to be the model that allowed the current situation to develop, for the united states to get out? yes, i think that's right. i think this shows the doha agreement was meaningless. you can drive a truck through it, and that is exactly what the taliban has done, and anybody who is following the situation closely, who is reading about what is happening, the united nations has been very clear that the taliban remains allied with al-qaeda, that al-qaeda is rebuilding its strength in afghanistan,

so, yeah, i think the point is this agreement was very flawed, it is a very weak agreement, it doesn't protect us national security interests, and it is meaningless. really, the biden administration should have scrapped the deal when they came to power injanuary 2021, and now it is clear that there is no need for it, and, in fact, if i canjust make one last point. 0k, briefly. yeah, i think the us needs to halt its engagement with the taliban, and it needs to reinstate the travel ban on the taliban, because that's only allowing them to gain legitimacy, when they do things like attend international conferences, which they did in uzbekistan just two weeks ago. some other news for you now.

britain's governing conservative party has changed balloting procedures for its leadership contest, after the cyber intelligence agency, gchq, warned that hackers could alter people's votes. originally, party members were going to be allowed to vote by post, and amend their choice online, if they changed their minds. that is going to have to change. 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 $2.2 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. 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 xrai glass, who says he had an "a—ha!" moment when his granddad started losing his hearing. there 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 the 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 i 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, orstruggle when multiple conversations are taking place at the same time. wendy urquhart, bbc news. that really could be life changing for so many people, couldn't it? ijust have time to remind you of our top story. nancy pelosi — the us house speaker is in taiwan for a hugely controversial visit and has met with the taiwanese president. tsai ing—wen. china is furious about her

visit and the white house is trying to manage the increasing tensions. we will keep across that store if you hear on bbc news. thank you for watching. 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 to 18 or 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 and 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, though, in 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, one or two isolated light showers, most will be dry. still with temperatures in the mid—20s in the very far south east, 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. the headlines: the speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has met the taiwanese president after addressing parliament. china's foreign ministry has summoned the us ambassador to beijing to protest against the trip. the white house has said mrs pelosi's visit was consistent with the one china policy. pro choice advocates in kansas are celebrating after the us state voted against lastjune's supreme court decision to restrict abortion rights. the proposed amendment would have removed the guaranteed right to the procedure and could have paved the way for stricter regulations. president biden's administration has accused the taliban of breaking

an agreement not to allow foreign militants on afghan soil.