this is bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: israel launches airstrikes on the gaza strip. at least 10 people have died, including a senior commander of the palestinian group islamichhad. conspiracy theorist alex jones is ordered to pay m5 million in punitive damages after falsely labelling the sandy hook school shooting a hoax. chinese fighter jets fly close to the coast of taiwan, as bejing halts cooperation with the us on climate change and other key issues. thousands of performers descend on edinburgh as the world's biggest arts festival gets under way.

hello and welcome to bbc news. the palestinian group islamichhad says it's fired over 100 rockets at israel. these images show the rockets being intercepted by israel's iron dome air defence system. it comes only hours after an israeli airstrike in the gaza strip, which killed a commander of the islamichhad group. the palestinian health ministry says at least ten people were killed, including a five—year—old child. this footage was released by the israeli army, which they say shows the moment the strike hit gaza. israel's prime minister yair lapid spoke about the airstrike in a television address earlier, where he promised to do whatever it takes to defend the israeli people. israel carried out a precise

counterterror operation against an immediate threat. 0ur fight is not with the people of gaza. islamichhad is an iranian proxy that wants to destroy the state of israel and kill innocent israelis. the head of islamichhad is in tehran as we speak. we will do whatever it takes to defend our people. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell gave us this update. we have had these dozens of rockets fired by palestinian militants from gaza towards the centre of israel, even warnings silence from tel aviv. —— sirens. at the moment we are not getting reports of a direct hit or injuries on the israeli side, but there has been intense rocket fire, israeli media reporting there were some 70 rockets fired injust media reporting there were some 70 rockets fired in just an hour. we've seen a lot of

interceptions by the israeli iron dome defence system. this followed israeli airstrikes and also artillery strikes on gaza. in the south of the gaza strip, that high—rise tower building was hit in the centre of gaza city. we have had the comment by the israeli caretaker pm, yair lapid, in his television address, but he also said he was not allowing militant organisations in gaza, in his words, to set the agenda. this goes back several days to when israel arrested a senior islamichhad leader in the west bank. there was a deadly exchange of fire during his arrest. 0ne palestinian was killed. and afterwards islamic jihad did threaten to retaliate. that led them to a lockdown, a partial lockdown in the south of israel, close to gaza, where there are several

israeli towns and villages that were badly affected by road closures, that sort of thing. and then israel now saying it has been prompted to launch this new military operation. we can now speak to david makovsky who's the ziegler distinguished fellow and the director of the program on arab—israel relations at the washington institute of near east policy. very welcome, david. thank you forjoining us. fora very welcome, david. thank you forjoining us. for a lot of our viewers they might not be familiar with the islamichhad group. how would you describe them? , ., . group. how would you describe them? , . . g ., group. how would you describe them? , . _ ., ., , them? the islamichhad group is something _ them? the islamichhad group is something that _ them? the islamichhad group is something that is _ them? the islamichhad group is something that is funded i is something that is funded largely by orion, it isn't a mass. it is more of an rayney proxy, as yair lapid said. —— iran. they operate autonomously in gaza. their leader was arrested by israel. israel lockdown its neighbouring

communities right near the border and there was a lot of pushback, saying hey, their whole week we are stuck in our house because of this threat. but they, you know, they operate independently, and the name of the game, frankly, is to keep hamas out. and hamas has stayed out before when islamichhad and israel have exchanged blows. and that is the name of the game this time, if hamas stays out it will not escalate. but the question is will they be able to stay out of this fight?— of this fight? for islamic jihad, of this fight? for islamic jihad. what _ of this fight? for islamic jihad, what is _ of this fight? for islamic jihad, what is there - of this fight? for islamic jihad, what is there aim | of this fight? for islamic - jihad, what is there aim these days, as they carry out some of those actions?— those actions? they will say we want to liberate _ those actions? they will say we want to liberate all _ those actions? they will say we want to liberate all of _ want to liberate all of palestine. they don't accept israel under any borders, not the side of —— size of a telephone booth on a tel aviv beach. they are not the

dominant militant group that is hamas, but they maintain their freedom of action and it is also inclined to have hamas poke the israeli will when it suits them. if this goes on for another 2a hours, i don't think people will remember this a lot. but i think 85 point could be on sunday. there is a jewish father day where thousands of jewish people got to the temple mount. hamas has said it is the guardian ofjerusalem. but that might make it harderfor hamas to stay out. i think the question is what happens on sunday, know this will escalate with hamasjoining in, orwill this be over? it is clear that hamas and islamichhad are

rivals and hamas has not been too upset that when israel has kind of, you know, hurt its biggest rivals within the gaza strip. 48 hours from now will tell us, you know, is this going to an escalatory phase or is thisjust one going to an escalatory phase or is this just one and done. thank you forjoining us. the conspiracy theorist alexjones has been ordered to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages after falsely claiming the 2012 sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. the defamation case against the infowars founder was brought by the parents of one of the victims. they say they endured harassment and emotional distress because of the right—wing host's misinformation. 20 children and six adults were shot dead at sandy hook elementary school in connecticut. staying with that story, i'm joined by our correspondent nomia iqbal in washington. good to have you with us. for

some of our viewers who are not familiar with alex jones, some of our viewers who are not familiar with alexjones, can you set the scene a little bit for us about who he is and why this has been so closely watched in the united states? yes, for decades alexjones has built this cult following in america, broadcasting on his social media platforms to a very angry part of the us where he has tapped into their worst fears that people have about the government, you know, people legitimately worried about the government taking away their rights and that sort of stuff. but he really has tapped into that and with sandy hook, he latched onto this back into thousand 12, as you mentioned there, the worst school shooting in american history, and he claimed it was a hoax. he said it was put on by the us government, the dead were crisis actors, and this was all done to restrict guns, in order to take away people's rights to guns. and push that

for years and i spread that misinformation, spread those lies, and it led to a lot of families bringing defamation cases. they said that it wasn't just the fact that he was saying all this, it is what it costs them, because only they grieving the loss of their children, but they were also facing death threats and harassment. so this case was brought by the family of a six—year—old, is called jesse. they have already been awarded damages, but these are punitive damages, but these are punitive damages which is basically punishment for alexjones for punishment for alex jones for his behaviour. punishment for alexjones for his behaviour. i should add that that cost could be reduced by the judge in texas, but it is significant in the sense that you have this man who, as i have said, for years has pushed these conspiracy theories, now pentecost for doing that. theories, now pentecost for doing that-— theories, now pentecost for doinu that. ~ doing that. we were reporting the other day, _ doing that. we were reporting the other day, i _ doing that. we were reporting the other day, i think - doing that. we were reporting the other day, i think 4.1, - the other day, i think 11.1, maybe the other day, took about $45.2 million. this alexjones have that money? it s45.2 million. this alex jones have that money?— have that money? it was interesting _

have that money? it was interesting because - have that money? it was interesting because in i have that money? it was i interesting because in court have that money? it was - interesting because in court he claimed he was bankrupt. yet there was evidence presented by economists that said he was still making lots of money through his companies, about $800,000 a day. so they really question whether or not he was bankrupt. i should also add that in court he retracted his claims. he said that he had been you know, just pretty information that he had received. but he had also been going on his web casts and attacking thejudge, going on his web casts and attacking the judge, attacking the jurors, attacking the judge, attacking thejurors, his lawyer attacking the judge, attacking the jurors, his lawyer come outside court, once these punitive damages were decided, said this was an attack on the first amendment, this was his right to free speech. but the point that families are making and the defamation case is quite difficult to bring in the us, quite often. at the point the families in prosecuting were making is that free speech is not a blanket thing. that what alex jones did was is not a blanket thing. that what alexjones did was well outside the bounds of free

speech, given that the malicious lies and misinformation he spread did cost the families and added to the grief that they have been suffering for all these years. thank you so much. china is halting co—operation with the us in several key areas including climate change, military talks and efforts to combat international crime. the new measures follow a trip to taiwan by senior democrat nancy pelosi. you may have seen that. china views the visit as a challenge to its claims of sovereignty over the island. but taiwan's foreign minister, joseph wu, has defended ms pelosi's visit, and said that taiwan would continue to invite democratic politicians from around the world. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes sent this report from taipei. for the second day in a row, china has continued its military intimidation of taiwan. at least 68 chinese fighter jets are reported to have crossed into taiwanese controlled airspace. this video broadcast on chinese television this evening shows just how close some of them

came to the taiwanese coast. in the background, those are the mountains of central taiwan. china has also announced a long list of retaliation against america, including personal sanctions on nancy pelosi. but in taipei, foreign minister joseph wu told me he has no regrets about inviting the us house speaker to visit the island. the taiwanese government, especially the ministry of foreign affairs, has been working very hard in expanding taiwan's international space, making friends with important international leaders or trying to connect more with like—minded partners around the world, like speaker pelosi. to have an opportunity to visit taiwan is very significant, to allow the international community to understand that taiwan is a democracy. it's notjust taiwan's democracy that is threatened by china. it's a big chunk of the world's economy. one hour drive south of taipei, these are the huge fab plants

of the world's most important maker of advanced microchips. it's amazing to think that in these huge buildings behind me here, they manufacture around two thirds of the world's most advanced microchips, and in that building over there, currently under construction, they are going to start next year making the next generation of even more advanced chips. that makes this one corporation, tsmc, absolutely vital to the world's modern economy. it also makes this place very vulnerable. if only for this selfish reason, joseph wu says the world should care what happens to taiwan. without the computer chips here in taiwan, or without the tsmc, the international community is going to suffer. a chinese blockade of taiwan could make the worldwide chip shortage caused by the covid pandemic look like a minor blip on the global economy. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. now, the us climate change envoyjohn kerry has said

china's decision to suspend bilateral talks on climate does not punish washington, it punishes the world. let's discuss the implications of china's decision with daniel kammen, professor of energy at the university of california, berkeley — and a former climate change advisor to the us government. good to have you with us. thank you forjoining us. just looking at mr kerry's tweets there, and talking about that he expected china to continue with its plans for climate action with the us no matter what else was going on. but what else was going on. but what exactly did the us and china agree on in glasgow at the climate change conference, cop26, last november? actually, the us and _ cop26, last november? actually, the us and china _ cop26, last november? actually, the us and china agreed - cop26, last november? actually, the us and china agreed on - the us and china agreed on quite a lot. and i think that envoy kerry is quite in line. there are a number of areas where the us— china dialogue is

critical, but when it comes to forefront is the so—called global methane pledge. that is something the us and china had a critical role in to encourage our own countries, but also other countries that want to join to find opportunities to cut the amount of methane that is released, which is a particularly potent greenhouse gas. we get it from flaring natural gas, from agriculture, from other industrial actions. and this is something that really can't go ahead unless the us and china are partners, because they are the two biggest economies in the two biggest economies in the two biggest energy consumers on the planet. biggest energy consumers on the lanet. �* ., ~ ., biggest energy consumers on the lanet. �* ., 4' ., ., planet. and do we know what china will— planet. and do we know what china will or _ planet. and do we know what china will or won't _ planet. and do we know what china will or won't do? - planet. and do we know what china will or won't do? i - planet. and do we know what| china will or won't do? i know it is the first hours that this is coming out, but do we do anything concrete? indie is coming out, but do we do anything concrete? we don't know anything _ anything concrete? we don't know anything concrete, - anything concrete? we don't know anything concrete, but| anything concrete? we don't| know anything concrete, but i think the long game is critical here. and that is that the us and china critically medich other, not only because we need the two biggest economies to

play a positive and productive partnership role in addressing climate change, but also both the us and china are pivoting their economies towards clean energy. china is already the largest producer of wind turbines, batteries for electric vehicles, and solar panels. the united states has just come to the brink, passing the so—called inflation reduction act, which will put about $360 billion into clean energy projects, both direct investments and tax incentives. so both countries need this, but they also need the leadership. so the critical feature, here, is that secretary kerry and his chinese counterpart are very familiar with each other, they are close friends who work well together. so i am hopeful that that can find some bridges. but right now wejust don't find some bridges. but right now we just don't know how much the taiwan visit is going to derail these critical global talks. ., ., , derail these critical global talks. . ., , , , talks. the taiwan visit is 'ust one talks. the taiwan visit is 'ust thing. i talks. the taiwan visit is 'ust one thing. the i talks. the taiwan visit is 'ust

one thing. the us- i talks. the taiwan visit isjust one thing. the us- china - one thing. the us— china relationship probably will always be somewhat of a rollercoaster. and i don't know whether or not there is a player between the us and china like how to have a second track going so that the climate change action stays on track evenif change action stays on track even if the political manoeuvres have them at odds. it is an interesting point that you are making because both countries are committing to this change. the us is coming a little more slowly to it, but the actions of this past week have been really vital. and the us is now committed to a clean energy economy by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2050. china has made that pledge by 2060. that will mean that the opportunities to develop more sustainable, more socially and racially just access to critical materials like cobalt and lithium, all those things require us and china leadership or partnership. and so if they don't find a way to work past

this and keep may be climate in a special category, something for all mankind, if you will, then we really do not only slow down our ability to find new areas to co—operate, but also we slow down the ability of other countries to see what the two because economies are doing and to innovate, tojoin in, and to innovate, tojoin in, and to innovate, tojoin in, and to expand that. so it really is a vital moment. daniel, thank you so much for joining us. mi; daniel, thank you so much for joining un— daniel, thank you so much for joining us. my pleasure, thank ou. ukraine and russia have blamed each other for the shelling of the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in europe. the attacks are said to have also hit nearby high—voltage power lines. ukrainian and western officials have accused russian forces of using the complex to launch attacks, leaving the ukrainians unable to respond for fear of causing a disaster. ukraine's president zelensky said the kremlin must take responsibility for what he called a terror attack.

translation: today, the occuoiers _ translation: today, the occupiers created - translation: today, the occupiers created another| translation: today, the - occupiers created another very dangerous situation for all of europe. they shelled a nuclear power plant. they have done it twice in one day. this is the largest nuclear station on our continent and any shelling is an overt, blatant crime. a terrorist act. in afghanistan, the islamic state militant group has claimed responsibility for a deadly blast in the capital kabul on friday. afghan police said that eight people were killed and 18 wounded. they say the explosives were attached to a cart loaded with vegetables and parked in a shopping area. it was last august that a coalition of international forces, led by the us, withdrew from afghanistan, marking the end of a 20—year campaign in the country. the taliban swiftly took over, leading to chaotic scenes, as people tried to flee. a year on, nearly 10,000 refugees who came to the uk are still in hotels, unable to find stability. our special correspondent lucy manning has been speaking

to some of them about their new lives. my name is hala. i'm nearly four. my name is zara. for a year, home has been a hotel. the shelgari family, six children and their parents, living in one corridor of rooms. it's not the family life they hoped for. this the hotel is not for long—term living. we are hopeless. but it looks very long time. you feel hopeless? yeah, of course. they say that it might be solved within one month or two months, but it's nearly one year. marwa had to flee afghanistan because her mother was a politician. the uk gave her safety, but not stability. for close to a year, she's lived in a hotel in yorkshire with her family. last week, it stopped housing afghans. she's now in sussex, split up from the others. it was very, very hard to be separated from my family and it was more harder that we are staying very far from each other.

where has everyone gone? so my two brothers are in manchester and my sister is in leeds. to be honest, i couldn't just stop my tears. it's costing more than £1 million a day in hotel bills. unlike ukrainians, afghans have no sponsors, no—one to live with to help them, and they can't bring over other family members. the scheme for afghans has not been a success in terms of housing or integration. there have been the odd success stories, one a journey from kabul to aberdeen. we were just left behind in a dark room. we first spoke to burhan, a former british army interpreter in kabul, pleading for help in august last year. through the danger at the airport with bombs, he managed to get his family to safety. we spoke to him in isolation when he arrived. everyone is ok and now we are in safety, and we are very thankful. he's one of the minority who've made it out of hotels...

this is your new house. ..thanks to helga, the woman who saw our bbc news reports and offered him a flat in aberdeen. look in there. what do you see? the toys. a year on, we came to visit them. i named this city city of 0pportunities. city of 0pportunities? leaving behind your home, leaving behind families, is very hard. at least i can say that i'm the luckiest one amongst my friends, among tens of thousands of people who left afghanistan, that i am settled well in aberdeen by the help of generous, good people around me. the granite city has shown warmth. burhan has a job in security. narcis is learning english. before sepehr moved to aberdeen, he spoke little english. i'm excited about toys. now that's all changed.

and now my english is better, so i can speak english. and how is school? good. last week we learned about the human brain. what did you learn about it? we learned about cerebellum. cerebellum controls your body control. nearly 10,000 are still in hotels. the home office says the housing process is a complex one, but lives are being built here. marwa will study at university. narcis, a doctor, wants to practise here. and sepehr hopes to be a mechanic. lucy manning, bbc news. thousands of performers from across the world are in edinburgh for the start of the world's biggest arts festival. the edinburgh festival fringe will see more than 3,000 shows from 58 countries to mark its 75th anniversary. pauline mclean reports.

they are pulling out all the stops for a show that will welcome the world back to attenborough. it welcome the world back to attenborough.— welcome the world back to attenborough. it is incredibly excitina . attenborough. it is incredibly exciting- i — attenborough. it is incredibly exciting. i think— attenborough. it is incredibly exciting. i think none - attenborough. it is incredibly exciting. i think none of- attenborough. it is incredibly exciting. i think none of us i exciting. i think none of us really knew for sure whether the audience would be back or the artists would be back but here we are and ready to go and the city is buzzing as much as it has ever been. the show did go on last year. a smaller number of them in open avenues like this car park. those who took part so they owed it to attenborough and its festivals. i cut my teeth here. in 19961 was brand—new. as competition god so you think you're funny. i let my craft in it. how to be a stand—up. 0ver i let my craft in it. how to be a stand—up. over the years they have had no mercy at all. they will go for your neck when you are on stage. will go for your neck when you are on stage-— are on stage. the scots are ureat are on stage. the scots are great hecklers. _ are on stage. the scots are great hecklers. and - are on stage. the scots are great hecklers. and it - are on stage. the scots are great hecklers. and it is - are on stage. the scots are| great hecklers. and it is not just the friend. all the summer festivals are back offering music, art, cabaret, philosophy and fun. and for an industry

that has been so hard hit by the pandemic has never been more important to make a comeback. more important to make a comeback-— more important to make a comeback. , , , ., comeback. the biggest test of everyone's _ comeback. the biggest test of everyone's resilience - comeback. the biggest test of everyone's resilience to - comeback. the biggest test of everyone's resilience to the i everyone's resilience to the extremes this year but you only need to look at the streets and the stages in the venues in the number of artists and creators. i saw a human potato on the street yesterday and you just think the fringes back. anything can happen and everyone isjust anything can happen and everyone is just focused on the festival, the artists, the shows, the audience and it's great. shows, the audience and it's areat. �* ., . great. both fringe and international- great. both fringe and international festivals | international festivals celebrate 75 years this summer, but no—one is resting on their laurels. this show challenging perceptions about robert burns and regularfestival perceptions about robert burns and regular festival performer alan cumming. i and regular festival performer alan cumming.— and regular festival performer alan cumming. i am dancing and it's very challenging _ alan cumming. i am dancing and it's very challenging and - alan cumming. i am dancing and it's very challenging and i - it's very challenging and i realise that sometimes i do things that really challenged me to the point and i think

thatis me to the point and i think that is annoying, frankly. but as an artist keeps you around. pauline maclean, abc news, edinburgh. —— bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcnuala. hello. well, let's see what the weather's got in store for us this weekend. and as you might expect, a lot of warm sunshine, but a bit of rain in the forecast, too. not where we really need it, though — in fact, if we have a look at the rainfall accumulation over the next five days, most of it will fall across western parts of scotland, just dribs and drabs in the northwest of england,

and no rain at all for many parts of wales and england further south. and, in fact, the longer—term outlook indicates that the next ten days across southern parts of england will probably be dry, possibly the next two weeks, which is farfrom ideal. ok, let's have a look at the short term, then — so here's the cloud and the rain heading towards western parts of scotland. but for england and wales, the early hours are clear. a bit of a nip in the airfirst thing in the morning, temperatures will range from around 8—12 celsius in towns and cities, and in rural spots, it'll probably be a little cooler than that. now, the first half of the day may be quite overcast across more northern areas, but come the afternoon, the sun should poke through the clouds. but showers may continue in the north of scotland all day long. here, 15 celsius, 19 for newcastle, 22 for birmingham, and around the mid—20s expected in london

and the south—east. that was saturday — this is sunday, and more of the same in scotland, thicker cloud, occasionally some rain, but really not an awful lot. elsewhere across the country, it is looking dry and turning warmer. temperatures perhaps in the mid—20s pushing into the peak district and yorkshire, around 27 expected in london. now high pressure will build across the uk and much of western and central europe as we head into next week — and that will also open up the doorway for hot air to stream in from the near continent, all the way from spain, france, and then into the uk. so let's have a look at the outlook, then — london, birmingham, cardiff, and manchester, very warm if not hot. in fact, temperatures into the 30s, possibly even the mid—30s by the end of the week across some southern parts of the uk. further north, also warming up, but it'll be far more comfortable, and here always, perhaps a little more cloud. that's it from me, have a good weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: at least ten people have been killed in israeli air strikes on the gaza strip. israel says it was in response to a threat from palestinian group islamichhad. one of its top commanders is among the dead. the conspiracy theorist alexjones has been ordered to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages after falsely claiming the sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. the defamation case against the infowars founder and host was brought by the parents of one

of the children killed.