this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. washington is urging moscow to accept a deal to free the us basketball star brittney griner who's been sentenced to nine years in a russian prison. condemnation from the us and japan after china launches missiles during large—scale military drills around taiwan. the conspiracy theorist alexjones is ordered to pay more than $4 million in damages afterfalsely claiming the sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. and on the campaign trail as kenya prepares to choose its new leader.

hello and welcome. president biden has described as "unacceptable" the sentencing of us basketball star brittney griner to nine years in a russian prison for possessing and smuggling drugs. she admitted to having cannabis oil when she was detained in moscow in february, but maintained she hadn't intended to break the law. washington has offered a prisoner swap, but it hasn't been taken up. azadeh moshiri reports. i never meant to hurt anybody. i never meant to hurt anybody. i never meant to hurt anybody. i never meant to put in jeopardy the rest of the population. i never meant to break any laws here. it population. i never meant to break any laws here.- population. i never meant to break any laws here. it was her final plea _ break any laws here. it was her final plea to — break any laws here. it was her final plea to a _ break any laws here. it was her final plea to a russian - break any laws here. it was her final plea to a russian court - final plea to a russian court as the us basketball star britney griner said she had made an honest mistake, but it made an honest mistake, but it made no difference. despite insisting she had never

intended to use the cannabis oil authorities had found in her luggage, britney griner was sentenced to nine years in prison for smuggling and possessing narcotics. the lawyers said they will appeal the verdict. translation: iii the verdict. translation: , ., theverdict. translation: ,,~u, translation: if you look at the statistics, translation: if you look at the statistics. at _ translation: if you look at the statistics, at least _ translation: if you look at the statistics, at least one _ translation: if you look at the statistics, at least one third - statistics, at least one third of russians on similar charges receive a suspended sentence and all the rest receive a minimum sentence under article 229 but not nine years. considered one of the best female players in the years, mrs griner travelled to russia to play basketball in the us off—season but after her arrest at a moscow airport, it took six months for the trial to finally reach this point. her only hope now is a prisoner exchange. i only hope now is a prisoner exchange-— only hope now is a prisoner exchange. only hope now is a prisoner exchanae. ,, ., , , exchange. i know everybody is makinu exchange. i know everybody is making some _ exchange. i know everybody is making some assumptions - exchange. i know everybody is l making some assumptions here about what that proposal is. i won't go into detail about it, but it is a serious proposal. we urge them to accept it. they should have accepted it weeks ago when we first made it. the

ri . ht ago when we first made it. the right white _ ago when we first made it. the right white house is in discussions with china about another person detained, paul whelan, and reports suggest this is who the white house is offering excellent exchange. victor boots, and arms travel are known as the merchant of death. at the top of her game and facing years in a russian prison, this deal might be her only hope —— viktor bout. japan's prime minister has condemned china's military drills around taiwan, calling them a, "serious problem that impacts our national security." mutiple chinese navy ships and aircraft crossed the taiwan strait median line on friday morning. prime minister fumio kishida made the comments after meeting the us house speaker nancy pelosi for breakfast. ms pelosi's visit to taiwan earlier in the week sparked anger in china, but washington says its being used by beijing as a pretext to increase what it calls �*provocative activity.�*

the bbc�*s monica miller is in singapore. what developments have they been on this?— been on this? well, 'ust a few hours ago i been on this? well, 'ust a few hours ago us _ been on this? well, 'ust a few hours ago us house- been on this? well, just a few hours ago us house speaker. hours ago us house speaker nancy pelosi had called for peace in the taiwan strait and he also reiterated the us commitment, long—standing commitment, long—standing commitment, of the status quo. that is beijing's i—china policy, however, she said that beijing will not be isolating taiwan and preventing them from visiting there. now, china claims taiwan is part of its territory and it views of visitors of foreign officials is recognising the island sovereignty. taiwan said the chinese military fired ii sovereignty. taiwan said the chinese military fired 11 parts list dick missiles yesterday and said that this undermines regional peace. they said that

this exercise was necessary and just, pinning the blame on the escalation of the united states and its allies. military analyst said that beijing's state broadcaster cctv, that the goal was to practise a possible blockade of the island in the attempt that pro—independence forces try to make their way across the state. they say that leadership is the key to protect strength, rather, ahead of this crucial meeting that is expected in autumn. xijinping could be an unprecedented third term. this is why he is flexing his muscles at this point and fighting back as the us — as he says — has rattled tensions in it the region. i5 says - has rattled tensions in it the region.— it the region. is an irony, isn't there, _ it the region. is an irony, isn't there, that - it the region. is an irony, isn't there, that the - it the region. is an irony, | isn't there, that the show it the region. is an irony, i isn't there, that the show of us support, designed to bolster taiwan, to increase its sense of security, and yet it seems to have wrapped up, well, i was going to say military drills

but they feel even more than that. i but they feel even more than that. ., but they feel even more than that. . ., . , .,, that. i mean, nancy pelosi went there and _ that. i mean, nancy pelosi went there and she _ that. i mean, nancy pelosi went there and she never _ that. i mean, nancy pelosi went there and she never said - there and she never said anything about recognising it as an independent state. what she did say, though, is that the us is there to support them as a democracy. now, you know, this relationship between the us, china and taiwan has been a kind of fraught for many years, but what nancy pelosi's visit has done has brought it to light again at a time when the us and china are having very intense relationships. this goes back to when president trump was in the white house. president bidon hasn't necessarily taken his foot off the gas when it comes to pushing against china. so, this hasjust made tensions pushing against china. so, this has just made tensions even less. hasjust made tensions even less. ~ ., u, hasjust made tensions even less. ., , less. 0k. monica, thanks very much less. ok. monica, thanks very much for— less. 0k. monica, thanks very much for that. _ less. 0k. monica, thanks very much for that. monica - less. 0k. monica, thanks very much for that. monica miller. much for that. monica miller therefore is in singapore. at least 13 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a thai nightclub south—west of the capital bangkok. footage posted on twitter

showed people escaping from the mountain b night club in sittahip as it was engulfed in flames. around a0 people are also reported to have been injured in the fire, which took three hours to put out. all of the victims are thought to be thai nationals. a jury in texas has ordered the talk show host alex jones to make an initial payment of more than $4 million in damages over his false claims that the 2012 sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. the case was brought by the parents of one of the children killed in the attack. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the sandy hook massacre was one of america's worst ever mass shootings. 20 children and six adults died when a government went on the rampage, firing a semiautomatic rifle before killing himself. alexjones has repeatedly argued that the shooting was a hoax, i can organised by the us government

to deny americans they gonna write. he claimed the parents of the dead children were actors. the case against him was brought by the appearance of a six—year—old who died in the shooting. they argued they had enjoyed harassment and emotional distress because of the conspiracy theorist�*s comments. the conspiracy theorist's comments.— the conspiracy theorist's comments. , . , comments. this tragedy and this matter did _ comments. this tragedy and this matter did not _ comments. this tragedy and this matter did not happen _ comments. this tragedy and this matter did not happen and - comments. this tragedy and this matter did not happen and that i matter did not happen and that jesse was not killed. why people accused myself as a crisis actor, phony... in court. _ crisis actor, phony... in court, alex _ crisis actor, phony... in court, alexjones crisis actor, phony... in court, alex jones admitted crisis actor, phony... in court, alexjones admitted he was wrong, conceding that the killings were real. i was wrong, conceding that the killings were real.— killings were real. i truly, when i said _ killings were real. i truly, when i said the _ killings were real. i truly, i when i said the statements, when i said the statements, when i said something i mean it, that i really couldn't believe that it was totally staged at that point. of the infowars staged at that point. of the infowa rs website staged at that point. of the infowars website said it was an attack on his free speech but

he also said that it was the media is faulty could not retract his claim. yeah it was the media's fault and they still ran with lies that i was saying that it was not lies. they won't let me take it back. they— they won't let me take it back. theyiust — they won't let me take it back. they just want to they won't let me take it back. theyjust want to keep me in the position of being the sandy hook_ the position of being the sandy hook man. the position of being the sandy hook man-— hook man. early in the week, the case _ hook man. early in the week, the case took _ hook man. early in the week, the case took an _ hook man. early in the week, the case took an unexpected | the case took an unexpected turn when a lawyer for the parents revealed jones as lawyer had sent him to give worth of his clients mobile phone messages and texts and they revealed he had been lying in court. �* ., , ., in court. and that is howl know you _ in court. and that is howl know you lied _ in court. and that is howl know you lied to - in court. and that is howl know you lied to me - in court. and that is how i j know you lied to me when in court. and that is how i - know you lied to me when you said you did not have text messages about the sandy hook, did you know that? l messages about the sandy hook, did you know that?— did you know that? i told you the truth- — did you know that? i told you the truth. | _ did you know that? i told you the truth. i gave _ did you know that? i told you the truth. i gave them - did you know that? i told you the truth. i gave them my . the truth. i gave them my phone _ the truth. i gave them my hone. u, , the truth. i gave them my ohone, . ., , , the truth. i gave them my hone. , , ., the truth. i gave them my hone. , ., ., phone. the case is not over et. phone. the case is not over yet- the — phone. the case is not over yet- the jury _ phone. the case is not over yet. the jury will _ phone. the case is not over yet. the jury will now - phone. the case is not over. yet. the jury will now consider punitive damages againstjones, a sum of money to punish the broadcaster for the distress he cause. let's get some of the day's other news. the us authorities have

declared monkey pox a public health emergency. there have been over 6000 cases of monkey pox in two months — more than any other country. though vaccines and testing have been stepped up in the us, some communities say the response so far has fallen short. the usjustice department has charged four current and former police officers in connection with the fatal shooting of breonna taylor, whose death in 2020 became a focus of the black lives matter protests. ms taylor was killed by plain—clothes police in louisville, kentucky. the mayor of the french town saint—gervais has announced plans to make would—be mont blanc climbers pay a 15,000 euro deposit. jean—marc peillex says too many unqualified climbers are ascending the mountain from his town, and that they're gambling with their lives. he said the sum equates to the average rescue and funeral costs, which he added should not be funded by french taxpayers.

kenya is getting ready for one of its most contested presidential elections in recent years. the country's deputy president, who fell out with the current leader uhuru kenyatta is going up against a long—standing politician raila 0dinga. kenyans are going through a difficult time with a cost—of—living crisis, and they also want corruption to be tackled. the bbc�*s senior africa correspondent anne soy reports from nairobi. flaunting financial mice on the campaign trail, here politicians pull out all stops together and show of the largest crowds. hardly any questions are asked about its cost and how politicians can pull huge crowds every day of the week for once, if not longer. that politicians pay

people for attend the rallies is a foregone conclusion, but they all promised to fight corruption should they get elected. ., ,., , corruption should they get elected. ., , , elected. nobody is indispensable, - elected. nobody is j indispensable, and elected. nobody is - indispensable, and this is a war against corruption. when ou are war against corruption. when you are in — war against corruption. when you are in government, - war against corruption. when you are in government, the l you are in government, the office of the prime minister was investigated over some corruption scandals. it was investigated over some corruption scandals.- corruption scandals. it was mentioned _ corruption scandals. it was mentioned that _ corruption scandals. it was mentioned that there - corruption scandals. it wasj mentioned that there were investigations but there is no evidence that anybody that visited the prime minister did any wrong. he visited the prime minister did any wrong-— visited the prime minister did any wrong. he is running on a platform _ any wrong. he is running on a platform of— any wrong. he is running on a platform of fighting _ any wrong. he is running on a | platform of fighting corruption and has promised to give $50 a month stipends to poor families. his main opponent, the deputy president, is promising to deal with corruption. he has promised bottom—up econometrics and calls the slogan hostler which has struck a chord with the small traders. similar politics

in kenya has been around people who have brands. either your father was this sort your father was this sort your father was this sort your father was that. i can tell you, my father was not even a headman in our village. questions have been asked about his meteoric rise in politics and personal wealth, but he says his story should inspire young people, hustlers. the current administration has invested massively in infrastructure, like this expressway, some of the largest projects since independents, and it has borrowed heavily to finance them. we and it has borrowed heavily to finance them.— finance them. we are literally cavino finance them. we are literally caving under _ finance them. we are literally caving under the _ finance them. we are literally caving under the high - finance them. we are literally caving under the high level. finance them. we are literally caving under the high level of| caving under the high level of public debt in the country but we know that what has made the public debt levels rise is corruption. if we continue to have those corrupt people, people with questionable integrity, ethics and characters in office, it means we will always struggle in terms of reinvesting our

resources from pilferage. this election has _ resources from pilferage. this election has the _ resources from pilferage. this election has the same - resources from pilferage. this election has the same old faces in the new political outfits, but whoever wins, voters do not expect much will change. and with such opulence on the campaign trail, it is hard to see how can you leader can control corruption, or even attempt to end it. —— can you's. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 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. 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 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 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. ukrainian's president volodymyr zelenskyy has admitted that russia is making progress in parts of the contested donbas region. he's described some of the fighting there as hell. at the same time, both sides 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. 0ur 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. ukraine is promising a decisive counterattack, but it's not there yet. andrew harding, bbc news in southern ukraine. 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. in our study, we have treating these cats with aspirin could actually reduce the attendant clot which would help reduce the side effects of drawing clots to different organs and potentially leading to death so that's a big impact of the study and of course, with wildfires becoming more frequent around the world, in australia, in california, i think that we're to see more

and more pets being affected. now to the commonwealth games. jane dougall rounds up the main news from day seven in birmingham. so let's take a look at how the medal table stands after day seven. australia have 51 golds from a total of 132. an early crush from geraint thomas saw the welshman crashed into a barrier. australian grace brown won the time trial to beat england's anna henderson by 33 seconds. adding to australia's impressive metal hall. england are catching up. 0lympic gold—medallistjack 0lympic gold—medallist jack lowe has 0lympic gold—medallistjack lowe has is next gold medal after winning the final of the one metre springboard diving for england and in the women's ten metre 17—year—old andrea

spender illini was unsuccessful. and a new name on the disc is seen broke the world record twice for the best of 36.5 metres. a huge win for jamaica in the net all, beating the top seeds australia. jamaica, known as the sunshine girls, were five goals down but in a huge final 15 minutes to go on and win 57 points to 55. the biggest win of long jumper from the bahamas, jumped the best of eight metres, eight centimetres but so did india's

sri shankar. and in the most anticipated event of the night, jamaica's rashid broadbell made a commonwealth record in the hurdles, 13.08 seconds. barbados's shane braithwaite won the silver and england had to die for the line to win the bronze. police in bangladesh have been criticised for their heavy—handed tactics after arresting a man who's become famous for singing out of tune. 0fficers 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. sings out of tune: # you opened the door... let me introduce you to the unique musical stylings of �*hero' alom.

# my heart will 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 bit 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 bangladesh's national poet, kazi nazrul islam. translation: of course i think my rights were breached. -

if i'm not able to speak orsing, then, yeah, i think my rights are being snatched away. if all the other classical singers were called into the police station, then i would not feel like i was being singled out. after his brush with the law, hero quickly produced a video showing him behind bars. the police says he's apologized for performing the classical songs and will stop doing so from now on, but hero insists he wants to keep on singing for freedom in bangladesh. tim allman, bbc news. officials in france say a lost beluga whale has swum to within 45 miles of paris down the river seine. people have been urged to keep their distance to avoid distressing the whale , which is normally found in cold arctic waters. authorities are worried about its health. the whale was first spotted on tuesday in the river that flows through the french capital to the english channel, and follows the rare appearance of a killer whale in the seine just over two months ago. and finally, let's end — with some extraordinary images the latest eruption of a volcano close to the capital rekjavik. last year, the same volcano — erupted for six months.

plenty of molten lava — but so far — no real ash cloud — so no problem with commercialflights — or wider problems. but spectacular it certainly is. 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. yes, 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 1a 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.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. winter is coming: the uk faces the longest recession since the financial crisis, warns the bank of england, but says it has to hike interest rates as inflation soars. recession fears in the us, too, as the jobs market slows sharply in the world's biggest economy. gas pressure rising: prices hit their highest since the russian invasion of ukraine, as europe scrambles to cut energy use. plus, a whole different ball game: england's premier league turns 30, as it scores £10 billion in tv rights for the first time.