welcome to bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: at least ten people are killed in israeli air strikes on gaza, inluding a top commander of the islamichhad movement. the group's responded by firing hundreds of rockets at israel. 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 key issues including climate change. thousands of performers descend on edinburgh as the world's biggest arts festival

gets under way. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. palestinian militants from the islamichhad faction have fired dozens of rockets into israel in response to israeli airstrikes on the gaza strip that killed a commander of the group, as well as nine others, including an infant. islamichhad said 100 rockets had hit tel aviv and other cities. israeli media said there were 70 within half an hour. azadeh moshiri reports. garzo�*s skylight are israel's military lodges excessive air strikes. this is the footage

that they released at the attack. it lasted hours and claimed several lives, including that of a top military commander of palestinian islamichhad, a militant group also known as the pig. , ., ., ., the pig. israel carried out a recise the pig. israel carried out a precise counterterrorism i precise counterterrorism response against an immediate threat. ourfight is not response against an immediate threat. our fight is not with the people of gaza. islamic jihad is proxy of her too. we want to destroy the state of israel and kill innocent israelis.— israel and kill innocent israelis. , israelis. in response, the military _ israelis. in response, the military grow) _ israelis. in response, the military group fired - israelis. in response, the military group fired back| israelis. in response, the - military group fired back more than 100 rockets towards israel, most hitting the iron dome missile shield. sirens rang out and israelis sought shelter. translation: the occumtion _ shelter. translation: the occupation has _ shelter. translation: tue: occupation has initiated shelter. translation: tte: occupation has initiated crimes in the middle of the day by targeting residential buildings

while inhabitants were inside on the weekend and targeting a resistance leader. the crime occurred despite all our communication through mediators. the occupation must pay the price of this crime. israel's airstrikes reportedly killed civilians as well with garzo's local health officials saying a young girl was amongst the dead. —— gaza's. translation: the dead. -- gaza's. tuna/mom- the dead. -- gaza's. translation: ., ., , translation: how was that this uirl's translation: how was that this girl's fault? _ translation: how was that this girl's fault? she _ translation: how was that this girl's fault? she asked _ translation: how was that this girl's fault? she asked her - girl's fault? she asked her fatherfor a girl's fault? she asked her father for a school bag and clothes. what has she done wrong? clothes. what has she done wron: ? , clothes. what has she done wronu? , . wrong? this innocent child. dozens of _ wrong? this innocent child. dozens of palestinians - wrong? this innocent child. i dozens of palestinians carried the body of the dead commander after one of the most serious outbreaks of violence in gaza in over a year. israel says their move was preemptive after they rested one of the top leaders of the group earlier this week and received days of

threats. now hamas says armed groups are united in battle. we can now speak to natan sachs who's a senior fellow in and director of the center for middle east policy at brookings. his work focuses on israeli foreign policy, domestic politics and the arab—israeli conflict. good to have you with us. thank you forjoining us. we saw yair lapid, there are, of course. the government has changed quite regularly in israel of late. he talks about zero tolerance. how would you describe yair lapid's approach to this and perhaps what it tells us also about his approach to the larger conflict? in approach to the larger conflict?— approach to the larger conflict? , u, , conflict? in this case the israeli hope _ conflict? in this case the israeli hope and - conflict? in this case the israeli hope and the - conflict? in this case the | israeli hope and the hope conflict? in this case the . israeli hope and the hope of yair lapid is a continuation of previous policy, to contain this in a very precise attack against palestinian islamic jihad, hoping that hamas doesn'tjoin the fight. this is a continuation, and

establishment approach. it is a forceful approach against palestinian islamichhad. it has been over a year year of easing control of the gaza strip, hoping that hamas doesn'tjoin the fight. it is a mixed bag, but much like americans in a similar situation to the israelis, the response to islamichhad is quite forceful and quick. what do ou quite forceful and quick. what do you think _ quite forceful and quick. what do you think might _ quite forceful and quick. what do you think might be - quite forceful and quick. what do you think might be the - quite forceful and quick. what do you think might be the issue over whether hamas does or does notjoin over whether hamas does or does not join what over whether hamas does or does notjoin what has happened so far? not 'oin what has happened so far? ~ ., , , not 'oin what has happened so far? ~ . , , ., not 'oin what has happened so far? ~ ., , , ., ., far? well, there has been a lot of mediation, _ far? well, there has been a lot of mediation, attempted - of mediation, attempted mediation between the sides, between hamas and israel, and thatis between hamas and israel, and that is key. if hamas joins the fighting here we can see another situation similar to what we saw in may last year. if not, if it remains within a much smaller organisation, the

palestinian islamichhad, it would be a much more control fight. hamas want to see the easing of the brocade that we have seen every year or so. we don't know exactly what the relations inside there and also their relations with the palestinian islamichhad. but there is no love lost between their organisations and produces islamichhad �*s arrival, a small rival, but one that will often not obey its desires for some time. the ceasefire with israel and its attempt to improve economic relations, at least for its own good. relations, at least for its own aood. �* , ., relations, at least for its own aood. �* . ~' relations, at least for its own aood. �* ., ~ ., relations, at least for its own aood.�* ., «u,, good. and you talk about easing ofthe good. and you talk about easing of the blockade. _ good. and you talk about easing of the blockade. imagine - good. and you talk about easing of the blockade. imagine from l of the blockade. imagine from any palestinian, it isn't enough, but what do you see is progress or positive? tt is enough, but what do you see is progress or positive?— progress or positive? it is far from another _ progress or positive? it is far from another from _ progress or positive? it is far from another from my - from another from my perspective as well but it has included some important steps on desalination of water, on power, on a dozen, almost two dozen thousand work permits

into israel, the beach waters are for the first time in a long time now one is that people from gaza consuming. people on the gaza strip were in dire circumstances but we have seen progress on the right direction. it would be an enormous tragedy of this round of violence that back, change the direction back towards a hardening of the blockade and there was more bloodshed. thank ou for there was more bloodshed. thank you for spending _ there was more bloodshed. thank you for spending some _ there was more bloodshed. thank you for spending some time - there was more bloodshed. thank you for spending some time with l you for spending some time with us here at the bbc.— us here at the bbc. thank you very much- — 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. the bbc�*s nomia iqbal in washington told me more about the background to the story.

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 the 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 in 2012, 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 in order to restrict guns, in order to take away people's rights to guns. and pushed that for years and 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's what it cost them, because only they grieving the loss of their children, but also they were facing death threats and harassment. so this case was brought by the family of a six—year—old, called jesse. they've already been awarded damages, but these are punitive damages which is basically 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 say, for years has pushed these conspiracy theories, now paying the cost for doing that. we were reporting the other day, i think 11.1, maybe the other day, about $45.2 million. does alex jones have that money? it was interesting because in court he claimed he was bankrupt. yet there was evidence presented by an economist that said he was still making lots of money through his companies, about $800,000 a day.

so they really questioned whether or not he was bankrupt. and i should also add that in court he retracted his claims. he said that he'd been, you know, just spreading information that he'd received. but he had also been going on his web casts and attacking the judge, attacking thejurors. his lawyer, 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 defamation cases are quite difficult to bring in the us, quite often — but the point the families and prosecution were making is that free speech is not a blanket thing. that what alex jones 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. 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. 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. our 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. so where does this leave the dialogue on climate change? and what is it that the us and china agreed at the cop26 climate change conference? that's what i discussed with daniel kammen. he is a professor of energy at the university of california, berkeley — and a former

climate change advisor to the us government. well, actually, the us and china agreed on quite a lot. and i think that envoy kerry is quite in line. so there's a number of areas where the us—china dialogue is critical, but when it comes to forefront is the so—called global methane pledge. and that's something the us and china have 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 partnering, because they are the two biggest economies in the two biggest energy consumers on the planet. and do we know what china will or won't do?

i know it's just really the first few hours that this is coming out, but do we know 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 need each 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's already the largest producer of wind turbines, batteries for electric vehicles, and solar panels. the united states has just come to the brink, now, of 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. and so the critical feature, here, is that secretary kerry and his chinese counterpart are very familiar

with each other, they are close friends, they work well together — so i am hopeful that that can find some bridges. but right now we just don't know how much the taiwan visit is going to derail these critical global talks. and of course, the taiwan visit is just one thing. the us—china relationship probably will always be somewhat of a rollercoaster. and i don't know whether there's a plan between the us and china like how to have a second track going so that the climate change action stays on track even if political manoeuvres has them at odds. well, it really 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's made that

pledge by 2060. and what that's going to mean is that the opportunities to develop more sustainable, more socially and raciallyjust 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, maybe, 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 biggest economies are doing and to innovate, tojoin in, and to expand that. so it really is a vital moment. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: heading to edinburgh. thousands of performers descend on the scottish capital for the biggest arts festival in the world. 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: at least ten people have been killed in israeli airstrikes in gaza. dozens of rockets have been fired in response. alex jones is ordered to pay $115 million in punitive damages after falsely labelling the sandy hook school shooting a hoax. islamic state has claimed responsibility for a deadly last in the capitol on friday. 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 opportunities. city of opportunities? 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 show that will welcome the world back to edinborough. show that will welcome the world back to edinburgh. it is incredibly 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 air venues like this multi—storey car park. those who took part said they owed it to edinburgh and its festivals. i cut my teeth here. in 1996 i was brand—new. i was in a competition called so you think you're funny. i learnt my craft in edinburgh. 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. the scots are great hecklers. and it is notjust the fringe. 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, it has never been more important to make a comeback. it has tested everyone's resilience to the extremes this year but you only need to look at the streets and the stages and the venues and the number of artists and creators. i saw a human potato on the street yesterday and you just think "the fringe is back." anything can happen and everyone is just focused now on the festival, the artists, the shows, the audience and it's great. both fringe and international festivals celebrate 75 years this summer, but no—one is resting on their laurels.

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.

the headlines. it least ten people have been killed in israeli airstrikes on the gaza strip. 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. china has made a show of strength in the taiwan strait for a second day. the us has accused china of "fundamentally irresponsible behaviour" after beijing said it was stopping cooperation with the americans on a range of key issues including how

to tackle climate change.