welcome to bbc news, i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: taiwan sends up flares to deter aircraft, hours after beijing protested at the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. the un secretary—general describes oil and gas companies making record profits on the backs of the world's poorest people as �*immoral�*. i urge all governments to tax these excessive profits and use the funds to support the most vulnerable people through these difficult times. in a major victory for pro—choice groups, the conservative state of kansas votes to keep its abortion services. and tributes to roy hackett, one of britain's most influential civil rights campaigners, who's died

at the age of 93. taiwan has scrambled fighter planes after chinese military aircraft entered its air defence zone. beijing is protesting against the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi, who vowed her country would never abandon the island. china has also begun manoeuvres around taiwan that are affecting air and shipping links. taiwan is self governing and lies about 160 kilometres across the taiwan strait. it sees itself as independent, but china views it as its own. from taiwan, here's rupert wingfield hayes despite what china has been saying, today's meeting between nancy pelosi and taiwan president ing—wen didn't

look terribly sinister. president tsai began by presenting ms pelosi with taiwan's highest civilian honour. she in turn praised taiwan's democracy and promised america would stand by the island. our solidarity with you is more important than ever, as you defend taiwan and your freedom. we are supporters of the status quo, and we don't want anything to happen to taiwan by force. so strength, and one of the biggest sources of strength is democracy. most people here are unfazed by china's threats. if anything, they're excited that the world's attention is focused on taiwan, if only for 2h hours. i think everybody is very excited here and very happy that she can come. and, more importantly, that people can show their excitement that, you know, that they're very welcome. to most people here, taiwan is a proud, independent

country, with its own national flag and its own democratically—elected president. it is not some renegade province of china. but beijing has used its considerable economic and political clout to make sure this place is recognised by almost nobody. and that's why nancy pelosi's trip here today has been so important to them. they also knew china might retaliate, and that is exactly what it's now doing. china has declared these six areas around taiwan closed to all air and sea traffic, starting from midday on thursday until midday on sunday. some of them encroach on taiwan's own territorial waters. in beijing, the foreign ministry said china had been forced into taking these actions. translation: for days, china has repeatedly - expressed its opposition to pelosi's taiwan visit, but the us and the taiwan separatist forces seem not to have heard. in this case, china can only speak

to them in a language that they can understand. china's state television has been showing warplanes and navalforces mobilising, and ballistic missile carriers on the move. taiwan's defence ministry says china may be preparing to blockade the island. if so, we could be heading for the most serious crisis in more than 20 years. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. earlier i asked our news reporter azadeh moshiri, what more we know about these military drills. we know these drills will involve long raise ammunition shooting. they will happen in what is about ten miles or 16 kilometres from taiwan. it is one of the most busy waterways in the world. taiwan has also said that china has sent about 27 warplanes in its air defence zones prior to these drills beginning. they are arguing

given the zones that china is covering, the fact it is in circling the islands, it affect the effectively amounts to a blockade. china is arguing this is wholly justified blockade. china is arguing this is whollyjustified based on the us visit saying the us violated its sovereignty and anyone who offends china will be punished. anyone who offends china will be punished-— anyone who offends china will be punished. how about china and other— be punished. how about china and other countries _ be punished. how about china and other countries like - be punished. how about china and other countries like the i and other countries like the us, how are they responding? taiwan has responded by putting in some contingency measures for its own safety, it has as you said scrambled more than 20 jets to want them. it is also directed its ships to find alternative routes to avoid the drills. it is also in negotiation with neighbouring countries japan and the philippines to find other aviation roots it can use. in tabs of the us, they say this is completely unjustified and they are going to be watching these drills closely. in fact we can listen to the white house national security council spoke presentjohn kowbi when he spoke to be busy earlier. we

have serious security commitments throughout the region — commitments throughout the region. five of our seven security— region. five of our seven security alliances are in the indo—pacific. we take them seriously— indo—pacific. we take them seriously build up nothing has changed _ seriously build up nothing has changed. eitherabout seriously build up nothing has changed. either about our commitments to help taiwan in their_ commitments to help taiwan in their self— commitments to help taiwan in their self defence but also to summ— their self defence but also to support their self defence, rathen _ support their self defence, rather. also, nothing has changed _ rather. also, nothing has changed about our one china policy— changed about our one china policy was that we have said all along _ policy was that we have said all along there is no basis, no justification for the chinese to establish some kind of pretext _ to establish some kind of pretext for this to emerge into a crisis — pretext for this to emerge into a crisis or— pretext for this to emerge into a crisis or conflict.— a crisis or conflict. well there is _ a crisis or conflict. well there is of _ a crisis or conflict. well there is of course - a crisis or conflict. well there is of course what| a crisis or conflict. well - there is of course what john there is of course whatjohn kowbi says there, i think some of our viewers might be saying, this sounds quite familiar because we have been through theirs when it comes to ukraine and russia and the us supporting ukraine and then rush are also pushing back against this. there appears to be parallels?— against this. there appears to be parallels? there does appear to be a few _ be parallels? there does appear to be a few parallels _ be parallels? there does appear to be a few parallels here. - be parallels? there does appear to be a few parallels here. in . to be a few parallels here. in terms of the history, the geography, the fact that they

are separated by water here, china and taiwan, they are also significant differences. a specially because most countries in the world don't actually acknowledge taiwan's independence. they are formal ties with beijing, that is very different to the situation with ukraine. as you state this has been a concern in the west at that china will be looking at the invasion of ukraine and perhaps china will be taking its cues from president vladimir putin's decision and the weight responded. there's been a concern all the way along back from february especially from the white house national security ounce or that this could be a moment where tensions will be more heightened than they were before. let's get some of the day's other news. sri lanka's new president ranil wickremesinghe has said the country is in great danger as it faces an unprecedented shortage of goods. in his first address to parliament, he called on all parties to form a unity government to address the economic crisis. the country is hoping to secure

a $3 billion bail—out package from the international monetary fund. at least three people have been killed in renewed fighting between armenia and azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of nagorno—karabakh. this footage was released by azerbajan's military claiming the strikes were in response to armenia breaking a russian—brokered truce that ended fighting there two years ago. yemen's warring parties in the ongoing civil war agreed to renew an existing truce for another two months. the un special envoy for yemen has credited the truce with calming the conflict and decreasing the number of civilian casualties. however, the un is seeking to establish a more comprehensive agreement to provide a platform for further trust—building, and to ultimately establish a permanent ceasefire. the united nations secretary general has said it is immoralfor oil and gas companies to be making record profits on the backs of the world's poorest people, and at massive cost to the climate. presenting a report on the energy crisis, antonio guterres urged

all governments to tax excessive profits and use the money to help the most vulnerable. the un secretary—general did not mince his words. guterres tore into what he called the grotesque greed of these oil and gas companies and their financial backers. they have seen bumper profit and with oil and natural gas prices soaring since the war in ukraine. it is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people in the communities and at a massive cost of the climate. mr guterres is urging the government introduced a windfall tax on the record profits and together he pointed out the largest producers made a profit of almost a hundred billion dollars in the first three months of this year and he wants the money for this

collection to be helping those most in need. mr guterres is picking up on a rising chorus of voices who are calling for a windfall tax on energy. in america, you have some congressional democrats who have floated the idea and in europe, spain is planning to following the footsteps of britain and italy which have already adopted such plans. it is also not the first time the oil industry has been criticised for taking advantage of the global supply shortage to fatten profits. injune, president biden singled out exxon saying it had made more money than god this year. meanwhile, the russian energy giant, gazprom, says the delivery to russia of a turbine crucial to its gas supplies to europe has been made "impossible" by the current sanctions. but german chancellor 0laf scholz has blamed moscow for not honouring its gas supply contracts and accused putin of blocking delivery of the turbine. this comes as fears of gas shortages and even blackouts are growing in germany as the country tries to prepare

for a tough winter ahead. jenny hill has this report. he's holding europe's feet to the fire. vladimir putin knows germany relies on his energy, that its industry needs his gas. the aluminium they produce here flows down vital supply chains — cars, medical equipment, wind turbines. but no—one can rule out shortages this winter. honestly, if they cut energy, there is no real contingency plan. the only thing you can do is then prioritise, and, let's say, allocate the capacity that you could still run to the most important markets, where you think the damage to society is the biggest, right? so you'd cut back on production? that's the only way. russia cut gas to europe, but it wants the world to think it's germany's fault. so, today, a photo—op. the german chancellor and the german turbine russia

says it can't do without. 0laf scholz insists it's available and there is no technical reason for russia to withhold its gas. but this is a chancellor who promised to phase out coal and end nuclear power. he is having to rethink those pledges now. "germany's last three remaining nuclear power stations," he said, "only provide electricity, and only a small amount." "nevertheless, it could make sense to keep them going." it would be a huge political compromise. one of those plants is in bavaria, and provides 12% of the region's electricity. it's due to be decommissioned at the end of the year. in the nearby town of landshut, they're painfully aware that germany doesn't yet have enough gas stored for the winter. translation: we are preparing for disaster management. - should the gas supply break down, energy intensive industries would be the first to be taken off the supply grid, which would have

catastrophic consequences for industry in our region. secondly, we would have to ensure places like hospitals and old peoples' homes are looked after. vladimir putin is casting a long shadow over the baking heat of the german summer. he may not yet have triggered the economic and political turmoil he'd no doubt like to unleash in the heart of europe, but he is forcing governments like germany's into difficult decisions and uncomfortable choices. and that's before you throw soaring energy bills into the mix. europe faces a volatile winter. and its leaders, a critical task — to insulate europe from russian power. jenny hill, bbc news, landshut, in bavaria. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: star—studded but dropped — we'll be finding out why the batgirl film is being scrapped just months before it's due to be released.

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: taiwan has launched flares to deter aircraft, hours after beijing protested at the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. the un secretary general has accused oil and gas companies of making huge profits on the backs of the world's poorest people. president biden has hailed a vote in the conservative state of kansas to uphold access to abortion services. it's a major victory for pro—choice groups, after the us supreme court overturned roe v wade, two months ago, ending federal protection for the procedure. since that ruling, abortion has been banned in ten states across the us and restrictions imposed in at least four.

the referendum in kansas is the first time voters have had the chance to weigh in. nomia iqbal reports. cheering. in this deeply conservative state, it is a moment that has giving liberal groups hope. it's going to be ok, it's going to be ok. they'd expected the vote to protect abortion rights to either be tight, or not go their way at all. i am speechless, really. i'm so proud and relieved. i'm relieved that our rights remain intact in kansas. when the us supreme court overturned roe v wade, two months ago, a ruling that legalised abortion nationwide, many republican—led states banned or restricted the procedure. not kansas, because the right is enshrined into the state's constitution. an amendment had to be passed to remove that right. it was a yes or a no vote. no won, by a lot. so proud of everybody in this state of kansas who has stepped

forward and worked so hard for this. for president biden, this result is proof that the removal of roe v wade is out of step with public opinion. voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women. the voters of kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall, the american people will vote to preserve and protect the right, and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians. and my administration has their back. anti—abortion groups say this is a temporary setback. this campaign has been bitter and divisive. about $12 million has been spent by both yes and no sides, in a state with a population ofjust three million people. both groups have accused each other of aggressive and misleading tactics. unlike its neighbouring states, abortion is currently legal in kansas, until 22 weeks of pregnancy. and now will stay that way.

for many, that's emotional and disappointing. itjust goes against my faith, i guess, or my feelings. i just don't like to see an innocent life taken, if it isn't really, really medically necessary. other states will now vote directly on abortion rights in the mid—term elections in november. but this comfortably republican state has shown just how unpredictable this issue is in america. nomia iqbal, bbc news, kansas. warner brothers has scrapped its upcoming batgirl film, just months before it's due to be released, after poor screen—testing results. the dc film, which was set to feature hollywood stars, leslie grace, michael keaton, jk simmons and brendan fraser, was filmed entirely in glasgow. production reportedly cost more than $70 million and the film was scheduled for release later this year in cinemas and on hbo max.

dawn chmielewski is the entertainment business correspondent at reuters and joins us now from los angeles. welcome. the big question everybody _ welcome. the big question everybody will _ welcome. the big question everybody will be - welcome. the big question everybody will be asking i welcome. the big question everybody will be asking is j everybody will be asking is why, why was it dropped? batgirl was defeated by the lethal strategic shift and corporate strategy. let me explain. warner bros discovery it is a newly merged company. as the new executive team came in, they decided to shift strategy. this movie, batgirl, is intended to go directly to hbo max, the streaming service but its budget approaches that of a theatrical release. under new management, the company

thinks that these big budget films should have some sort of a theatrical run. see them in theatres, generate sales and bars and then go to the streaming service. this movie however was not quite good enough and would have required an additional investment on the part of warner bros discovery an another $50 million to get audiences excited with the promotion. that additional cost was not worth it in the estimation of the new executive team at warner bros discovery. just based on test audiences, people did not like it, it was a sticker?— a sticker? exactly. what sources _ a sticker? exactly. what sources are _ a sticker? exactly. what sources are telling - a sticker? exactly. what sources are telling me l a sticker? exactly. what| sources are telling me is a sticker? exactly. what i sources are telling me is it would have required some additional work, some reshooting to get it to the level that it can be shown in theatres. another nuance to

this, dc is one of the crown jewels of the warner brothers library and the new management is hoping to release films and series that are really of a high calibre in the hopes of matching the economic performance of walt disney co. �*s marvel films. this did not hit the mark. it '5 marvel films. this did not hit the mark.— hit the mark. it is not going to hbo max _ hit the mark. it is not going to hbo max either? - hit the mark. it is not going l to hbo max either? because people might want to skip over the theatre and get it online? well, we will see what social media drums. we have seen social media spark the release of other films like the cyber cut. fans can generate enough enthusiasm that a field ultimately is release. for the moment it does not seem to have a home. ., , ., moment it does not seem to have a home. .,, ., .,

a home. people might want to watch it now — a home. people might want to watch it now that _ a home. people might want to watch it now that they - a home. people might want to watch it now that they can. i a home. people might want to watch it now that they can. a i watch it now that they can. a huge disappointment for glasgow, where it was filmed. is this a bit of bad news for the uk film production looking to have more movies come and film here? liik to have more movies come and film here?— film here? uk film a business is booming. _ film here? uk film a business is booming, based _ film here? uk film a business is booming, based on - film here? uk film a business is booming, based on some l film here? uk film a business| is booming, based on some of the productions i see, house of dragon, the hbo prequel to the game of thrones was shot there, bridget turn was shot there, star wars and war. an increasing number of productions are actually heading to london. you folks have already got hollywood's attention. �* have already got hollywood's attention-— attention. but it will not be this one. — attention. but it will not be this one, batgirl. _ attention. but it will not be | this one, batgirl. apparently they are not ready to spend any more. thank you forjoining us. thank you. one of the uk's most influential civil rights

campaigners, roy hackett, has died, at the age of 93. he helped organise the bristol bus boycott, the campaign in1963, to end the bristol 0mnibus company's colour bar, on employing black and asian people. the protests that followed paved the way for the race relations act. 0ur correspondent, jo black, looks back at his life. trying is what i did in my life, in my whole life, i keep trying. for 60 years, roy hackett dedicated his life fighting for racial equality. in 1963, he was one of the driving forces behind this campaign, the bristol bus boycott. the protest, which sought to overturn a ban by bristol 0mnibus company on employing black and asian drivers and conductors. back then, it was legal for companies to discriminate against someone because of the colour of their skin. there were cards in the door — no irish, no gypsies, no

black were no dogs. bristol, it wasn't like it is today. it was very hard for us to find a place to live, number one, and it was very hard for a black man to get a job here in bristol. that fight saw the company changed its policies, and helped pave the way for the race relations acts of 1965 and 1968, which made discrimination illegal. that fundamental step, just getting the law on the side of anti—racism, the bristol bus boycott and roy hackett and his colleagues were absolutely fundamental. this is our story, the british colour bar, the british bus boycott, and roy is an absolutely central figure in that story. it's really the story of how we became the britain that we are today. roy hackett�*s name became synonymous with civil rights, and for many, his tireless campaigning made him a fatherfigure, not just here in bristol. to remember him is notjust to remember a moment in the civil rights movement, but it is to remember that moment

in a continuum of history and struggle against racism. roy hackett was also one of the founders of saint paul's carnival, one of the uk's most inclusive events. the jamaican—born campaigner was appointed 0be in 2009 and became an mbe in 2020. he has been described as a humble, principled freedom fighter, a man whose legacy lives on. roy hackett who's died, at the age, of 93. and before we go, i want to show you these incredible pictures from iceland where fagradalsfjall volcano has started erupting again just a few months after its first eruption in 6,000 years ended in september last year.

iceland's government says that as it's a lava eruption there's currently no expectation of ashfall or of damage to infrastructure. we will leave you, looking at those magnificent pictures. hello there. we've had some exceptional weather through july and statistics came through this week to show that it was the driest on record in some southern and eastern parts of the uk, and there's little sign of any rain here for the rest of the week and into the weekend. but it's notjust been dry across the south and east. across the whole of the uk, through the summer so far — the meteorological summer, june, july — we've had just over 100mm of rain. whilst during the whole of the summer — so another month, august, added on — we'd normally expect to see about 240mm, so we're way off that. it has been dry across many parts, but obviously exceptionally so in the south. and with this high pressure moving in, over the next few days, that's going to keep our weather fronts at bay, and it means the dry weather persists.

rain will fall, but mostly in the north. this shows the accumulations over the next 3—4 days, and we do expect some rain for northern ireland and for scotland, but very little across the south and east where we need it. there's been some heavy rain, actually, overnight across scotland and northern ireland, some heavy, thundery rain just across the east of scotland in particular. it could be some quite nasty conditions for travelling here, localised flooding. further south, we're losing the humidity — finally, we're lowering the humidity — more comfortable for sleeping. so, some rush—hour issues potentially with spray and standing water on the fast routes in the south and east of scotland before that clears away. sunny spells and scattered showers, heavy in the north of scotland, rumbles of thunder potentially, one or two into the midlands, east anglia. but notice the temperatures, 20—25, feeling a lot fresher, i think, compared with recent days, less oppressive. we'll notice that, actually, at the commonwealth games in birmingham — temperatures 3—4 degrees down here. through the evening and overnight, the showers continue, as you can see. perhaps some heavier ones clumping together and a fresh feel again. more noticeable again across the south,

and we keep that fresher air, actually, through the weekend. the rain comes in the form of showers, just one or two getting into northern parts of england, perhaps the midlands, again, and parts of wales, but few and far between for the most part. temperatures on a par with those of thursday, 17—24 celsius. then, into the weekend, there is going to be some rain, particular the across the north of scotland, but elsewhere, there's a lot of dry and settled weather, warming up again into next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: taiwan has scrambled fighter planes after chinese military aircraft entered its air defence zone. beijing has protested against the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi, who vowed her country would never abandon the island. china has also begun manoeuvres around taiwan that are affecting air and shipping links. the head of the united nations, antonio guterres, has accused oil and gas companies of making huge profits at the expense of the world's poorest people. he said the energy industry had displayed "grotesque greed". president biden has hailed a vote in the conservative state of kansas to uphold access to abortion services. it's a major victory for pro—choice groups after the us supreme court overturned roe v wade two months ago,

ending federal protection for the procedure.