welcome to bbc news, i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: us basketball star brittney griner gets a nine 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 $4 million in damages afterfalsely claiming the sandy hook school shooting was a hoax.

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. we start in the united states 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 our russia

editor steve rosenberg. in court today brittney griner said she made an honest mistake when she brought vape cartridges with cannabis oil into russia. she made a plea for leniency and that fell on deaf years and the judge found her guilty and sentenced her to nine years in a russian prison. her defence team says it will appeal. president biden said the sentence was unacceptable and said that brittney griner should be released immediately. question, might russia release her? after all, we know that america and russia have been talking about a possible prisoner swap that could involve griner and also a former us marine, paul whelan, is also injail in russia. washington says it is put a substantial proposal on the table. some reports suggest that in order to bring these two people home america may be prepared to release the notorious arms traffic.

viktor bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in an american jail one decade ago. now there is no doubt that there would be a degree of controversy over such a swap because victor was alleged to be one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world and was dubbed the merchant of death. so it would be a controversial swap. he was rumoured to have links to russian intelligence agencies and he has denied that in the past but this is someone the kremlin has long wanted to bring back to russia and if it manages to bring him back there is no doubt the authorities here would present that is a major victory. i'm joined now by brian freskos, a senior researcher at the conflict awareness project. steve was outlining their about what this prisoner swap might be about if indeed it goes ahead. what do you think about that? ~ ., . ., ,

that? well, we have chased victor bout _ that? well, we have chased victor bout for _ that? well, we have chased victor bout for decades - that? well, we have chased victor bout for decades all i victor bout for decades all over the world. he has been linked to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people all over the world. you can imagine how much we have struggled with the idea of his release. however we also recognise that britney greiner is an american citizen being detained unlawfully. we all want to see her come home. i think the question is, what is the white house going to do next, what is russia going to do next but i don't think today's sentencing is going to be the last of element in this case. ~ ., ,, ., be the last of element in this case. what steve also mentioned there is that _ case. what steve also mentioned there is that it _ case. what steve also mentioned there is that it could _ case. what steve also mentioned there is that it could be, - case. what steve also mentioned there is that it could be, to - there is that it could be, to people for one person in the sense of paul whelan who was accused of espionage along with brittney griner in return for victor bout. how do you come to

a decision about whether something is appropriate or just when it comes to prison it swaps? i just when it comes to prison it swa s? ~ ., just when it comes to prison it swa s? ~ . ., ., swaps? i think that there are a lot of concerns _ swaps? i think that there are a lot of concerns about - swaps? i think that there are a lot of concerns about this - lot of concerns about this swap, the message that it sends to arms dealers, that being that they may not have to serve the entire sentences if they have the right connections which victor bout definitely does. i think what we would like to see if the swap does go through is stepped up efforts all over the world to go after arms dealers. there is not enough resources put towards this issue and there is a lot of these individuals still operating. there should be efforts taken operating. there should be efforts ta ken to stop operating. there should be efforts taken to stop that. victor bout, as we heard there, he served ten years of a 25 year sentence. would somebody

like him, because you have followed him so extensively over the years, still have power and influence after ten years inside?— power and influence after ten years inside? yes, absolutely, we believe _ years inside? yes, absolutely, we believe so. _ years inside? yes, absolutely, we believe so. this _ years inside? yes, absolutely, we believe so. this is - we believe so. this is happening at a time when russia is being increasingly isolated over sections over the war in ukraine. we have tracked a number of victor bout�*s associates who continue to operate to this day. so we believe that if he gets out, that he could certainly go back to his old ways.— to his old ways. really interesting. _ to his old ways. really interesting. we - to his old ways. really interesting. we will i to his old ways. really - interesting. we will follow it over the coming days, exactly what the white house and what russia decided to do. we don't have that just yet, russia decided to do. we don't have thatjust yet, as you say. thank you so much forjoining us. 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 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. 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. medical adviser to president

biden, dr anthony fauci said there could be some spillover into the general population given the ways in which the virus spreads. a jury in texas has ordered a prominent far—right conspiracy theorist to pay more than $4 million 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. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, told us more. we 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 — 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 — $4.2 million, as something of a victory for himself but, and it is a big but, we have to see what the jury decides in terms of punitive damages and they are, effectively, to punish him for what he said. is it possible to know, because he had a huge following, alex jones, 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 could make a difference and, again, we need to see what the punitive damages are, it could make a huge financial difference to him and he has already said that he simply does not have the money, there's a state of bankruptcy for his company, infowars, 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 interesting question perhaps is wider afield, his followers and those who believe in 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 unlikely to change the minds of those people or even deter them from

expressing those controversial views. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: four us police officers are arrested and charged over the fatal shooting of breonna taylor two years ago. we'll be discussing what these new charges mean for the case. 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 2 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 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 9—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 exercises around taiwan — the us says it's "irresponsible" while japan calls for the drills to stop. to the war in ukraine,

and for months now much of the focus has been in the eastern donbas region, but both ukraine and russia now appear to be gearing up for an escalating conflict in the south. ukraine is looking to take back the strategic city of kherson, before its russian occupiers hold a possible referendum on its status next month. our correspondent andrew harding has been to the frontline just west of kherson, and sent this report. an exposed road near the front line. ukrainian trenches to one side, then the carcass—like ruins of a newly liberated village. it's like stepping back a century into the desolation of world war i. a world of underground bunkers and unpredictable skies. this village is eerily empty, only the dogs here and the soldiers. we have to be very careful about what we film here,

so we don't give away ant ukrainian positions, they're very wary about their security after months under pretty much constant russian bombardment, russian drones overhead as well. but here, near the black sea coast, ukraine is starting to claw back territory and to gear up for a much bigger push. a weary smile from a soldier named phoenix. his unit has taken heavy losses here. "we don't underestimate the russians," he says, "but the enemy is struggling with supplies "and reinforcements now. " "yes, we can feel that." ukraine is certainly making lots of noise about an imminent counter—offensive in the south — videos like this one trumpeting the destruction of russian supply lines. and just across the front lines in the strategic russian—occupied city of kherson, anticipation is growing.

we spoke to this ukrainian journalist who's hiding in kherson and hoping the city will soon fall. "we're happy," says konstantin ryzhenko, "when we hear the ukrainian bombs "exploding closer, because that means our troops "are getting nearer to us." perhaps they are. but remember, this is a vast front line, and both sides are trying to trick each other about their real military intentions. no wonder ukraine's soldiers play down talk of a quick victory. "we know the russians are bringing "more reinforcements to this area," says sergey belinsky. "on our side, we do now have accurate western weapons, "but nowhere near enough. " that phrase has become ukraine's lament — "not enough weapons". and so for now, the russian bombs keep falling

in the south on the front lines and on cities like mykolaiv. this ukraine is promising a decisive counterattack, but it's not there yet. andrew harding, bbc news in southern ukraine. forfibre and for fibre and serving police officers have been arrested over the killing of breonna taylor. over the killing of breonna ta lor. ., ., let's remind ourselves of exactly what happened. breonna taylor was shot in her home in louisville, in 2020, by plainclothes 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 sonia gipson rankin, who's a law professor at the university of new mexico. she is also member of the new mexico supreme court commission on equity and justice. thank you so much forjoining us today. what do you think our viewers need to know about these new charges? i viewers need to know about these new charges?- viewers need to know about these new charges? i think it is really important _ these new charges? i think it is really important to - is really important to understand these are federal charges. it is different to any state proceeding and if they are against particular individuals. what the doj department ofjustice has determined or alleging is that they were particular behaviours by these officers that led to deprivation of ms breonna taylor constitutional right to be free from unlawful seizure. how did they come about at this point, so long after that initial incident?-

point, so long after that initial incident? 874 days since ms _ initial incident? 874 days since ms taylor - initial incident? 874 days since ms taylor died - initial incident? 874 days since ms taylor died and | initial incident? 874 days - since ms taylor died and what it has taken a really has been a lot of investigation to determine exactly what happened with the search warrant that had been issued, what the doj is alleging is that there was a falsification put to the search warrant, that the information was stale, out of date, not accurate and lacked probable cause. these are the allegations in the charge. the judge that acted on this wrong information issued a surge warrant and these officers allegedly continued and falsified information after ms taylor was killed and then specified to continue the falsified information. the

allegations _ falsified information. the allegations and _ falsified information. the allegations and i - falsified information. the allegations and i do - falsified information. the allegations and i do not have anybody from the defence to respond at this point. absolutely, yes, and the fourth charge is a little bit different. this is against the individual who did fire the shots. it is been alleged that this officer also then deprived ms taylor of her constitutional rights from unlawful search and seizure and because the firing deadly to her death. this seizure and because the firing deadly to her death.— deadly to her death. this will continue with _ deadly to her death. this will continue with this _ deadly to her death. this will continue with this particular. continue with this particular case but some are thinking that it may change the landscape when it comes to prosecuting police officers because of the doj is involved. there are so many aspects. you have taken a look at one aspect within the breonna taylor case which is no knock warrants. can you tell our viewers and how they played into this case? h0

our viewers and how they played into this case?— into this case? no knock warrant _ into this case? no knock warrant is _ into this case? no knock warrant is something - into this case? no knockl warrant is something that into this case? no knock - warrant is something that has been growing in practice into the united states, this idea that if a person is inside of the property, they mean a wed that there is low enforcement and they could be destroying evidence inside. these are usually towards drug charges and this is the foundation of this search warrant. what a lot of research is uncovering is it is actually not leading to the kind of outcomes that law enforcement wanted. it is not uncovering great amounts of drugs or illegal behaviour and so there are grave concerns that these no knock warrant, whether there was a knock or not, is not what has been discussed in the breonna taylor case but that this idea that no knock warrant is leading to a different kind of issue that the united states is going to

look at more deeply.- look at more deeply. sonia gi son look at more deeply. sonia gipson rankin _ look at more deeply. sonia gipson rankin thank - look at more deeply. sonia gipson rankin thank you i look at more deeply. sonia | gipson rankin thank you for spending some time with us on bbc news. researchers in california have revealed that cats affected by wildfires are more susceptible to deadly blood clots. wildfires have swept across parts of the western united states this summer, and the study says that pets are suffering health impacts beyond just burns and smoke inhalation. the university of california took blood samples from affected cats and studied the platelets, which are tiny, microscopic blood cells that cause blood to clot. the cats which suffered from inhaling smoke from wildfires and injury showed overactive platelets that led to increased odds in blood clot formations. 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 to the unique musical stylings of �*hero' alom. # go on and on... he is 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 thing a little too literally. translation: if the police 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. 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 and national poet kazi nazrul islam. translation: 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 singled out. after his brush with the law, hero produced a video showing him behind bars. the hero produced a video showing him behind bars.— hero produced a video showing him behind bars. the he insists he wants to _ him behind bars. the he insists he wants to keep _ him behind bars. the he insists he wants to keep on _ him behind bars. the he insists he wants to keep on singing . him behind bars. the he insistsj he wants to keep on singing for freedom in bangladesh. tim allman, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ bbcnuala

thank you for watching bbc news. 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 ia 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, 2a 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 nine 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,