welcome to bbc news — i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: us basketball star brittney griner gets a 9—year sentence on drug charges in russia. president biden denounces it as "unacceptable." japan and the us condemn china's military exercises in the waters around taiwan and call for an immediate halt. this afternoon, china fired dongfeng ballistic missiles from the coast of china across the taiwan strait, and they fell into waters in the exclusion zones just here off the north taiwan coast. the primary objective is obviously intimidation. the conspiracy theorist alexjones is ordered to pay more than four million dollars in damages afterfalsely claiming the sandy hook school

shooting was a hoax. he sings my heart will go on he's an internet sensation in bangladesh for singing out of tune, but we'll find out why this crooner failed to strike a chord with the police. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe we start in the us with the case of us basketball player, brittney griner, who has been sentenced to nine years injail by a court in russia. the court found her guilty of possessing and smuggling drugs. president biden said washington would use all means possible to guarantee her release, and added that her sentencing

is "unacceptable. " the two time olympic gold—medallist admitted to possessing cannabis oil when she was detained in february. here's what she said after both sides presented closing arguments. i made imade an i made an honest mistake and i hope that it does not end my life here. i'm joined now by kimberle crenshaw, executive director of the african american policy forum. good to have you with us and thank you forjoining us. what is the initial reaction to the sentence? it is outrageous. obscenely unfair and at the same time, of course, it was not unexpected. that this would happen. it more or less reinforces what so many of us have been saying for the last six months, the failure to take up six months, the failure to take up her case as soon became a case has contributed, of

course, to the sense that this can be done to her and there will be very few consequences. so it is deeply disturbing but also just reinforces the need to keep this case in the forefront of the administration's purview. and do you feel that it is? i know that president biden said it was unacceptable but do you have faith in what they will do for her going forward? where i place my face is in the efforts of so many, frankly, black women to say we will not let you forget brittney griner. so it is a reflection of that exercise of political power, of lobbying, of calling the white house to account this. remember, she has been in prison for nearly six months. most people didn't start

talking about her case until a month ago. so that tells us something about the fact that this two—time olympian could be held like this and so few people knew anything about it. in fact, when a meeting was set “p in fact, when a meeting was set up between brittney and her wife, no—one in the state department bothered to say that the telephone meeting was unlikely to happen when it expected it to because nobody was in the office on that day. the disregard was profound and disturbing. fortunately i think efforts to lobby on her behalf have created a moment of accountability from the white house. ~ , ., ~' accountability from the white house. ~ , ., ~ , ., house. why do you think, 'ust a cursory view i house. why do you think, 'ust a cursory view for i house. why do you think, 'ust a cursory view for anyone h house. why do you think, just a cursory view for anyone who - house. why do you think, just a | cursory view for anyone who has a look at griner, realises what a look at griner, realises what a star—studded career she has had within the wnba and also in russia where she is now. why do you think there was no attention to her case until

now? u, , attention to her case until now? , , now? of course, everybody is ”ointin now? of course, everybody is pointing out _ now? of course, everybody is pointing out that _ now? of course, everybody is pointing out that she - now? of course, everybody is pointing out that she is - now? of course, everybody is pointing out that she is a - pointing out that she is a queer black woman, she is not someone that many people necessarily were willing to put a lot of capitol on the table for but i think the most significant factor is that she is a female athlete. let's think about this. if this had been lebronjames, if this had been lebronjames, if this had been tom brady, tiger woods who had been arrested and held six months ago, we would have heard about it daily. so this is, of course, one of the most extreme examples of the fact that female sport heroes are not given the same attention as their male counterparts. but it is part of a larger cultural structural disregard for those

women who have accomplished so much. , ., ,., ., much. there is now potential -risoner much. there is now potential prisoner swap _ much. there is now potential prisoner swap offer, - much. there is now potential prisoner swap offer, one - much. there is now potential i prisoner swap offer, one person mentioned in that is a controversial russian whose name is victor boot and maybe another american swapped with brittney griner on the first details we are seeing. surely if the white house takes part in that swap it shows that they do care, they have invested any —— n brittney griner. it —— n brittney griner. it definitely shows the power of political organising. we have to remember that the most loyal constituency that supports the democratic party, the most loyal constituency that president biden has to think for thejob he now holds is black women and black women understood that and learned how to play the game. so when

brittney griner comes home and i have every hope that she will, it will be because of the political power that black women bought to bear to see that it would happen. [30 women bought to bear to see that it would happen.- that it would happen. do you have any _ that it would happen. do you have any idea _ that it would happen. do you have any idea when - that it would happen. do you have any idea when it - that it would happen. do you have any idea when it comes j that it would happen. do you i have any idea when it comes to the timeline of how quickly you think it might move? i the timeline of how quickly you think it might move?— think it might move? i have no idea of when _ think it might move? i have no idea of when that _ think it might move? i have no idea of when that will - think it might move? i have no idea of when that will happen. | idea of when that will happen. what i do know is that those who have been organising to make the demand will not live up make the demand will not live up until she does.— make the demand will not live up until she does. thank you so much for _ up until she does. thank you so much forjoining _ up until she does. thank you so much forjoining us _ up until she does. thank you so much forjoining us here - up until she does. thank you so much forjoining us here on - up until she does. thank you so j much forjoining us here on bbc news. japan is demanding an immediate end to china's military exercises around taiwan, after five chinese missiles landed injapan�*s exclusive economic zone. the us national security spokesman, john kirby said beijing had no reason to act aggressively. beijng, you'll remember is conducting live firing exercises in the sea around taiwan for the next several days, in response to a recent visit there by the senior us politician, nancy pelosi. from taiwan, rupert

wingfield—hayes reports. it began with this barrage of rockets streaking into the sky from the southeast coast of china. it's thought these came down somewhere in the middle of the taiwan strait. but this was just the prelude. further inland, rocket forces were preparing to launch these much bigger and much more capable ballistic missiles. in all, china is thought to have fired ii of these missiles into waters around taiwan. japan says several of them also fell inside its exclusive economic zone. in taipei, president tsai ing—wen addressed the nation, urging calm and calling on china to end its irresponsible acts. "i want to emphasise — we will not escalate this conflict," she says. "but we will firmly protect our sovereignty and our national security. " so this is exactly what we suspected might happen. this afternoon, china fired dongfeng

ballistic missiles from the coast of china across the taiwan strait, and they fell into waters in the exclusion zones just here off the north taiwan coast. now, the primary objective is obviously intimidation, but these tests also bring tremendous disruption to taiwan's shipping industry, to its airline industry, and to its large and important fishing fleets. on the dockside, we found these rather glum fishermen fixing their nets. they can't go fishing, and no fish means no income. this captain told me he tried to put to sea, only to be ordered back by the coastguard. "we don't know where these exclusion zones are," he told me. "so we had no choice but to do what the coastguard tells us." taiwan's defence ministry has described these missile tests as an attempt to blockade the island. but this retired navy captain told me what china is really doing is an elaborate performance. "what china is engaged in is psychological this warfare," he says. "all the missiles being fired, all the explosions, it's

to show china's domestic audience how tough beijing is being, while at the same time intimidating the people of taiwan." it is nevertheless an impressive show and illustrates just how far china's military has come in the last two decades. and it's not over yet. captain liu says china's next step could be to fire a missile over the top of taiwan — something it has never attempted to do before. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. a jury in texas has ordered a prominent far—right conspiracy theorist to pay more than four million dollars in damages to the parents of a child killed in the shooting at sandy hook elementary school in 2012. alex jones was accused of causing emotional distress to the parents by repeatedly insisting the massacre of 20 children and six adults at the school was a "hoax" manufactured by gun control activists. the jury still has to decide on the amount of punitive damages.

we're joined by our north america correspondent, peter bowes, in los angeles. is good to you with us. this $4.1 million, last night we were talking about this case, the parents was seeking $150 million. what do you think this particular decision means? irate particular decision means? we are halfway — particular decision means? - are halfway through the story and it depends on who you listen to in terms of analysis post case in terms of what it means. alexjones has been talking about this on his website in the last few hours saying that as far as he is concerned when you consider those hundreds of millions of dollars that the parents have been hoping to get and so far we are at $4.2 million, he is framing this as a victory for himself and he makes the point that yes, he said what he said and he accused, essentially, the us government of staging

this hoax shooting at sandy hook, even going as far as to call the parents crisis actors in this situation. he is now saying that he was wrong based on the information that he had at the time and that he has apologised to the parents. so he frames this relatively small number, still a lot of money, as something of a victory for himself but, and it is a big but, we have to see what the jury but, we have to see what the jury decides in terms of unity of damages and they are, effectively, to punish him for what he said. is effectively, to punish him for what he said.— effectively, to punish him for what he said. is it possible to know, because _ what he said. is it possible to know, because he _ what he said. is it possible to know, because he had - what he said. is it possible to know, because he had a - what he said. is it possible to j know, because he had a huge following and he is part of the culture wars in america and he is a conspiracy theorist, does a judgement like this make any difference to that influence that he has had? it difference to that influence that he has had?— difference to that influence that he has had? it could make a difference — that he has had? it could make a difference and, _ that he has had? it could make a difference and, again, - that he has had? it could make a difference and, again, we - a difference and, again, we need to see what the punitive damages are, it could make a huge financial difference and he has already said that he simply does not have the money,

a state of bankruptcy for his company although it is still, essentially on the air or on the air through the internet, he is still getting his message out. but let's see what happens at the end of this case and whether the financial implications are so overwhelming that he cannot continue. i think more question perhaps is widerfield, his followers and those who believe what he says, whether this will send any kind of message and if you look at the state of american politics and this incredibly divided nation at the moment and the entrenched views that we see on all sides but especially the right, it seems as if this kind of action is likely to change the minds of those people or deter them from expressing those controversial views. from expressing those controversialviews. —— from expressing those controversial views. —— is not likely to change their minds. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the us declares monkeypox a public health emergency after recording more cases than any other country

in the last two months. 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 news. the latest headlines: washington condemns the nine—year sentence handed down to basketball star brittney griner in russia, and urges moscow to accept a deal for her release. china launches live missiles as part of large scale military exercise around taiwan. the us says it's irresponsible, while japan calls for the drills to stop. four serving and former police officers in the us have been arrested and charged over the fatal shooting of breonna taylor two years ago. their alleged crimes include the illegal use of force and obstruction. let's remind ourselves of exactly what happened. breonna taylor was shot in her home in louisville

in 2020 by plain—clothes police. at the time, the police said they were executing a search warrant as part of a drugs investigation. no drugs were found in the property. it led to scenes like this — racial injustice protests all over the country. this is the lawyer for breonna taylor's family reacting to the news. because of a breonna taylor, we can say this is a day that black women saw equaljustice in the united states of america. we can now speak to dr rashawn ray who's a senior fellow at the brookings institution. dr ray regularly testifies at the federal and state levels on racial equity, policing and criminaljustice reform. good at you happy with us. thanks so much forjoining us. tell our viewers a little bit about what is happening procedurally because they will remember this case. then it was

decided instead to reinvestigate some of these charges. reinvestigate some of these charaes. ., .,, reinvestigate some of these charaes. . ., ., charges. thanks as always for havin: charges. thanks as always for having me — charges. thanks as always for having me on. _ charges. thanks as always for having me on. as _ charges. thanks as always for having me on. as you - charges. thanks as always for having me on. as you noted, | charges. thanks as always for i having me on. as you noted, in march of 2020, breonna taylor was killed in her home. it is important to note that black women in the united states are significantly more likely to be killed in their homes and other groups. in april 2021, the department ofjustice lodged a pattern and practice investigation into the louisville police department many that they saw some sort of discouraging, biased behaviour that was out of alignment with the current law. we fast forward to today and we have the department ofjustice formally charging those four offices with lying to investigators, violating breonna taylor's civil rights, and then also playing a role and then also playing a role and to conspire in terms of getting the search warrants, forging it to go into her home. so, do you see this, because we have looked at a number of

cases, sadly, of where african—american men and women were killed by police officers. do you see this action by the department ofjustice as a change in the landscape? i department ofjustice as a change in the landscape? i do. i think it is _ change in the landscape? i do. i think it is a — change in the landscape? i do. i think it is a change. - change in the landscape? i do. i think it is a change. anotherl i think it is a change. another important part people have to remember is that these officers were charged before in the state of louisville and kentucky and they were found not guilty of killing breonna taylor. now, some of those offers were found guilty of actually harming or endangering others, and that was actually the drywall in between breonna taylor's home and her neighbours home, for shooting bullets through there. at the department ofjustice, this particular department of justice, led by merrick garland, they will investigate police departments and that is another point that is important. underthe another point that is important. under the obama administration and even under president bush, there were a lot of police departments investigated. underformer president trump there was zero. bidon has aims to change that

with merrick garland and make no mistake, the department of justice really brings forth charges unless they have a lot of evidence and in this case, the big thing is they said that these officers met together to conspire, actually allegedly in a garaged, to meet, to come up with a story that matched the intimation that was received to cover themselves. {iii intimation that was received to cover themselves.— cover themselves. of course, i don't have _ cover themselves. of course, i don't have a — cover themselves. of course, i don't have a response - cover themselves. of course, i don't have a response from - don't have a response from those police officers or their defence at the moment either, which ijust want defence at the moment either, which i just want to point out. when it comes to breonna taylor, though, why do you think it has taken this long to come to this point? i think with other cases, if it was eric garner, for example, or george floyd, that was something that exploded into the public consciousness very quickly, and i think it has been a different case when it comes to breonna taylor. j comes to breonna taylor. 1 think it is a few factors. comes to breonna taylor. i think it is a few factors. the first big factor is video. with george floyd as well as eric gardner and some others, we had

video evidence. we did not have that for breonna taylor. it was a big thing. it was also alleged that they turned off their cameras and they supposedly went working so that is a big deal. people did not see the level of violence that happened in that home. the other thing is also, in essence, the marketing. we have louisville compared to new york and people actually did cry out for breonna taylor and there was a civil settlement handed down pretty quickly and people have to recognise that in the entered states, whether we are talking about george floyd, eric gardner breonna taylor, thatis eric gardner breonna taylor, that is a tax problem that does not come from police problems, budgets, comes from taxpayers and we really have to think about that. but i think when it comes to breonna taylor, the big thing is the video evidence, and also people have noted the fact that we have black men compared to black women. black men are significantly more likely to be killed by police and black women more in their homes. those are the steps that we

need to bring to bear because it will impact the black community and all of us, whether we are americans all living around the world. doctor rashawn ray. _ living around the world. doctor rashawn ray, thank _ living around the world. doctor rashawn ray, thank you - living around the world. doctor rashawn ray, thank you so - living around the world. doctor i rashawn ray, thank you so much was talking to us and bbc news. thanks for having me. monkeypox has been declared a public health emergency in the united states in a move that frees up federal funding and resources to fight the outbreak. over the past two months, the country's recorded more cases than any other — over 6,600 — most of them in men who have sex with men. we can now speak to peter chin—hong who's a professor in the ucsf health division of infectious diseases. what about this move? do you think this could make a difference to the outbreak, declaring an emergency? it difference to the outbreak, declaring an emergency? it will make a difference, _ declaring an emergency? it will make a difference, but - declaring an emergency? it will make a difference, but the - make a difference, but the question is whether it was too late, and many people are worried that too little too late, and maybe people are asleep at the driver's wheel. so, talk me through that a

little bit. why do you think it is too late?— is too late? well, in the middle _ is too late? well, in the middle of _ is too late? well, in the middle of may, - is too late? well, in the middle of may, we - is too late? well, in the middle of may, we had | is too late? well, in the i middle of may, we had our is too late? well, in the - middle of may, we had our first middle of may, we had ourfirst case. there were a trickle of cases after that. now we have 6600. we are the highest grossing country in the world right now and that the longer you wait, the more expensive it takes. for example, if you imagine having a few cases and the doing contact tracing around that, it is very manageable. you can nip it in the bud. if you wait for 6600, and many people think this is really the tip of the iceberg because it is so hard to diagnose clinically, not a lot of patients are going to get a diagnosis, and not a lot of clinicians are recognising it in time to give a diagnosis and apart from that it is stigmatising to say, "hey, doctor, can you give me a monkey pox test because it evokes images of sex and not being responsible."— evokes images of sex and not being responsible." what needs to ha en being responsible.�* what needs to happen now— being responsible." what needs to happen now if— being responsible." what needs to happen now if there - being responsible." what needs to happen now if there is - being responsible." what needs to happen now if there is this i to happen now if there is this funding? you mention some of

the challenges that are there. if you were the person who was spending that money, what would you do first? i spending that money, what would you do first?— you do first? i think the focus is on vaccines. _ you do first? i think the focus is on vaccines. vaccines i you do first? i think the focus is on vaccines. vaccines will l is on vaccines. vaccines will get us out of this because of the problems in diagnostics, that i imagine. so, ithink the problems in diagnostics, that i imagine. so, i think for the first type, maybe dividing, or multiply the doses, by five. if you administer it in a different way, which is being entertained notjust like the us but by the who are soulful global equity, and then i think about the three m's. money. we need to find people to do contact tracing. we can't use money from covid funds, illegally. the second amber is medicines. we have 2 million doses of a good antiviral approved for monkey pox. not approved for monkey pox. not approved for monkey pox. not approved for monkey pox — approved for monkey pox — approved for monkey pox — approved for smallpox. if that gets emergency use authorisation, lower value of the treatment, and iii mis of course meta data and that is

just public emergency. they are not obligated to report to be cdc. , .,, not obligated to report to be coc. , ._ . ., ., cdc. this may change that. thank you _ cdc. this may change that. thank you so _ cdc. this may change that. thank you so much. i cdc. this may change that. thank you so much. really| thank you so much. really interesting to have your analysis on this. police in bangladesh have been criticised for their heavy—handed tactics after arresting a man who's become famous for singing out of tune. officers made a dawn raid at a house in dhaka, and the singer says he was kept in custody for eight hours, and he insists he's been mentally tortured, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. # you opened the door... let me introduce — # you opened the door... let me introduce you _ # you opened the door... let me introduce you to _ # you opened the door... let me introduce you to the _ # you opened the door... let me introduce you to the unique i introduce you to the unique musical stylings of �*hero' alom. musical stylings of 'hero' alom. ,., musical stylings of 'hero' alom. ., . ., he is alom. # go on and on... he is something _ alom. # go on and on... he is something of— alom. # go on and on... he is something of an _ alom. # go on and on... he is something of an internet i something of an internet sensation, with millions of followers on social media. hero is famous, or notorious,

depending on your point of view for what has been described as his unique crooning style and arresting videos. but it seems that the local police took the whole arresting think a little too literally. translation: iii too literally. translation: . translation: if the police wanted to _ translation: if the police wanted to talk _ translation: if the police wanted to talk to _ translation: if the police wanted to talk to me, i translation: if the police wanted to talk to me, they | wanted to talk to me, they could have simply summoned me. i would have gone there myself. they were not supposed to pick me up and behave so rudely to me. ., me up and behave so rudely to me, ., ., , , me up and behave so rudely to me. ., ., , , ., me. hero admits he is not the world's greatest _ me. hero admits he is not the world's greatest singer, i me. hero admits he is not the world's greatest singer, but . me. hero admits he is not the| world's greatest singer, but he stepped into the breach when no—one else was willing to perform in his videos. the trouble began when he started to sing classical works, including some written by nobel laureate rabindranath tagore laureate rabindra nath tagore and laureate rabindranath tagore and cancer in rubble is lamb. checkjaune of course i think my rights were breached. if i cannot sing, of course i think my rights are being snatched away. if the other classical singers were called into the police station i would not feel that i was being out. —— kazi

nazrul islam. thank you for watching bbc news. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcnuala. i'd love to hearfrom you. goodbye. little change on the weather front as we head into friday and the weekend. for most of us, it's going to be predominantly dry. there is some rain in the forecast, but it'll fall in the form of hit—or—miss showers, and most of that is expected in western and northern scotland. indeed, the weather fronts that have been crossing the country in the last few days mostly fizzle away by the time they reach southern parts of the country. so, here, it remains bone—dry, and this high pressure which will be building across the uk and europe will be responsible for bringing some very warm weather, some hot weather towards the end of next week. so, the short term, then — a few showers around western scotland, around the irish sea as well, but elsewhere, it's a case

of clear spells or clear skies. temperatures around 14 in london, but in rural spots of scotland, five degrees possible on friday morning, so a bit of a nip in the air there in the north. let's have a look at friday — a northwesterly breeze, scattered showers for scotland, the lake district, maybe the pennines, maybe one or two sneaking across the pennines and getting into lincolnshire and hull, but south of that, it is predominantly bright or sunny. warm in london, 24 degrees. typically more around 20, so not all that hot — 17 in the north. for the commonwealth games in birmingham on friday, we're expecting highs of around 20 degrees with bright or sunny skies, so very pleasant weather overall. here's the weekend, and saturday, the weather fronts bringing those outbreaks of rain that we're forecasting for northwestern and northern scotland, so fresher here — 15. elsewhere, it's generally dry, turning very warm in the southeast, up to around 26 by the time we get to saturday. and those temperatures will continue to climb into sunday and monday and tuesday and wednesday as this high

pressure builds in off the atlantic, spreads right across the uk into scandinavia and many other parts of europe as well, and will draw in that hotter air, that really warm atmosphere from the southern climb. so, the confidence is increasing for that hot spell to arrive, at least from midweek onwards. let's have a look at those temperatures — in fact, quite conservative estimates here. the indication is that temperatures by the end of the week could actually approach low or the mid 30s. in some parts of southern britain. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: washington says the 9—year sentence given to the american basketball player brittney griner in russia is unacceptable. she was convicted of smuggling drugs after admitting to possessing cannabis oil. the us has urged russia to accept a deal for her release. the white house has condemned china's decision to launch live missiles as part of large scale military exercises around taiwan. china launched the operation after a visit to taiwan by the us house speaker nancy pelosi, which it saw as a challenge to its sovereignty claims over the island. the american conspiracy theorist and far right broadcaster alexjones has lost a defamation case over the sandy hook school shooting. he was ordered to pay more than $4 million in damages to the parents of a child killed in the massacre,

for falsely claiming it was a hoax.