this is bbc news, welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the latest headlines. israel carries out air strikes on gaza. palestinian militants fire rockets in return. it's in the worst escalation of violence there in more than a year. �*broken and devasted'...the british parents of 12—year—old archie battersbee say all legal routes to try and keep their son alive have been exhausted. they're preparing for his life support to be switched off. russia and ukraine accuse each other of shelling europe's biggest nuclear power plant. there are warnings of possible dispersal of radioactive particles. the us conspiracy theorist — alexjones — is ordered to pay nearly $50 million in damages, afterfalsely claiming the sandy hook school shooting

was a hoax. in the uk, the two candidates trying to become the next prime minister set out their plans to deal with forecasts of an economic downturn. chinese fighter jets fly close to taiwan's coastline, as bejing halts co—operation with the us on key issues including climate change in the aftermath of nancy pelosi's visit to taipei. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. israel says it has arrested 19 members of the palestinian group, islamichhad, in raids across the west bank, after carrying out air—strikes against targets in gaza yesterday. the raids killed ten palestinians, including a commander of islamichhad and a child. in retaliation, islamichhad militants fired dozens of rockets

into israel from gaza. azadeh moshiri reports. gaza's sky lights up as israel's military launches successive air strikes. this is the footage they released of 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 pi]. israel carried out a precise counterterrorism response against an immediate threat. our fight is not with the people of gaza. islamichhad is an iran proxy that wants to destroy the state of israel and kill innocent israelis. in response, the militant group fired back more than 100 rockets towards israel, most of them hitting its iron dome missile shield. sirens sounded out across the streets, with israelis seeking shelter.

hamas, which governs the palestinian territory, condemned the strikes on gaza. israel's air strikes reportedly killed civilians as well, with health officials saying a young girl was the among dead. translation: how is it this child's fault? she was dreaming of going to kindergarten and asked her father for a school bag and clothes. what has she done wrong? this innocent child. thousands 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 theirs was a pre—emptive move after they arrested 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. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. yolande knell, our middle east correpondent joins me from jerusalem.

what are we expecting to happen now? well, at the moment, we still have sirens warning of incoming palestinian missiles, they have been sounding in the past few minutes and some of the big israeli citizens out of the country close to gaza. there are more reports of israeli strikes endows as well with at least one killed there. the military says it is targeting the islamichhad militant group. those letters began firing their rocket after dark ring the funeral of the islamicjihad commander. at one point, the warning sirens were reaching into the suburbs of tel aviv. we are hearing from the israeli ministry that they have intercepted a number of the rockets that were fired from gaza, most of them in fact, the last figure they gave us was about 190

rockets that had been fired. this all adds up really to the most serious flare—up we have seen in the past year between israel and gaza. but so far despite the fighting talk and defiant statements from hamas, the bigger militant group which actually governs gaza, so far there are no indications that it too has joined the rocket fire and that is very significant because if hamas were tojoin in, things could escalate very quickly. an escalate very quickly. an interesting _ escalate very quickly. an interesting distinction to draw. thanks for that. you have covered many of these flare—ups, how do they tend to flare out —— play out? is there a de—escalation protocol that can be followed here? this there a de-escalation protocol that can be followed here?— can be followed here? this is interesting — can be followed here? this is interesting because - can be followed here? this is interesting because israel- can be followed here? this is. interesting because israel itself has said it started a new military operation and it has unusually been given out statement saying that this could last for up to a week, it doesn't usually put a timeframe on things in that way. it said it is

acting in response to a direct threat that it sees from islamic jihad, it is acting creatively. but all of that aside, we know that egypt, the traditional mediator here between israel and the gaza militant groups, it has already said it is going to talk to members of islamic jihad, that it is summoning them, there is a lot going on behind—the—scenes to try and stop this from escalating further. we have had comments from the white house overnight as well saying that it was working with regional partners to try and restore calm. thank you. the family of archie battersbee is preparing for his life support to be withdrawn. the campaign group, christian concern, which is supporting the 12—year—old's parents, say they've exhausted all legal routes to continue his treatment. the royal london hospital, which has cared for archie since april, has made no official statement this morning. vinnie mcaviney reports. for nearly four months,

archie battersbee has been at the centre of a lengthy legal battle over the withdrawal of life support. archie has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by this mother in his bedroom on april 7th. doctors say he suffered catastrophic brain injuries. the next day he was transferred to the royal london hospital in whitechapel where he has been treated ever since. he has never regained consciousness. on april 26th the nhs trust started high court proceedings, by asking for archie to undergo brainstem testing. the following month, the court approved mri scans which archie's parents would not consent to, to determine his condition. these scans were performed four days later and confirmed that archie was brainstem dead. the following month the high court accepted these findings and agreed that treatment could be withdrawn. i do not believe archie has been given enough time. from the beginning i have always thought, what is the rush? his heart is still beating, he has gripped my hand and, as his mother, my gut instinct

tells me my son is still there. in the months since, his family have fought for archie's case through the british court system with the supreme court declinig to intervene in the case and supporting the court of appeal�*s final decision on tuesday. the family then even tried unsuccessfully to take their fight to the european court of human rights and the united nations. acknowledging the defeat they had one final wish — for archie to be transferred from the royal london hospital to a hospice where they could have said goodbye. that request was opposed by bart's health nhs trust which runs the hospital. and a high courtjudge last night accepted their position that archie's condition is too unstable and moving him even a short distance would have created significant risk. this is not the first high—profile case where doctors and families have disagreed, but the hospital maintains it has archie's best interests at the forefront of its care. for archie's family, after an unimaginably difficult four months they are now preparing to say their final

goodbyes in hospital. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. alison britton is a professor of healthcare and medical law at glasgow caledonian university. she talked to us about the relationship between the law and medical decison making in cases like this. whilst these cases when they do occur attract an enormous amount of attention, and rightly so, they are in fact very rare. these are decisions, clearly, as your presenter has just said, about life and death and the quality of that life, and it is right and proper that these discussions are had between the families and those who are caring for them in the hospital. and disagreements do occur, and more conversations usually occur, and in the majority of cases there is some form of resolution, agreement is reached on how to be able to manage and care for an individual such

as archie in the condition that he is in there. and sometimes there has to be some assistance to help reach that decision, and very often that will come may be in the form of a hospital ethics committee, where they will come in and try and mediate, make sure that the families understand the prognosis, the consequences of treatment or indeed withdrawing treatment, and try and reach an understanding that way. but if all of these mechanisms fail, then the final sort of option there is indeed to turn to the courts for resolution. the decisions have now been set, there are no further legal options for the family. i think all that can be hoped for at this point, archie's mum has talked about privacy and dignity and respect for the family, and of course most importantly for archie at this time, and i think that is really what we should all be focusing

on at this point. ukrainian russian has blamed... ukraine and russia have blamed each other for the shelling of the russian—occupied zaporizhia nuclear power plant. 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 occupiers created another very dangerous - situation for all of europe. they shelled a nuclear power plant and have done it twice in a day. this is the largest nuclear station on our continent and any shelling is an overt, blatant crime, a terrorist act. let's get the latest with uur correspondent hugo bachega whojoines me from kyiv.

sta kes stakes particularly high, the largest nuclear power plant in europe is at the centre of potential hostilities. , ., ., ., hostilities. yes, we have heard that from president _ hostilities. yes, we have heard that from president zelensky, _ hostilities. yes, we have heard that from president zelensky, saying - hostilities. yes, we have heard thatl from president zelensky, saying that russia again was creating another extremely risky situation at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. this is a complex which has been under russian occupation since the very beginning of march, even though ukrainian technicians are still operating the facility. yesterday, tensions were high with ukrainian and russian officials trading accusations, the ukrainian saying that russian forces shelled the site twice, in one of those attacks and reactor had to be disconnected, but we haven't had any reports of any radioactive leaks. but the russians are saying that, well, the ukrainians were the ones behind these attacks and they have described it as a criminal act. the

reality is that the days, we have been hearing from ukrainian officials, also us officials, saying that the russians have essentially turned this nuclear site into a military base, and in fact, yesterday i spoke with the mayor of a city located near the nuclear plant, and he said that his city has been under constant shelling by russian forces positioned at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and he said that these forces are using this as a nuclear shield.— he said that these forces are using this as a nuclear shield. hugo, 'ust away from — this as a nuclear shield. hugo, 'ust away from the fi this as a nuclear shield. hugo, 'ust away from the incidents * this as a nuclear shield. hugo, 'ust away from the incidents there, h away from the incidents there, deeply troubling, of course, at the nuclear power plant. i want to talk about grain because we have been following it so closely, the resumption of those shipments. where are we now? is there the expectation that the number of ships needed to get operations back up properly could start moving?—

get operations back up properly could start moving? yes, so far so aood for could start moving? yes, so far so good for this _ could start moving? yes, so far so good for this deal, _ could start moving? yes, so far so good for this deal, three _ could start moving? yes, so far so good for this deal, three more - could start moving? yes, so far so i good for this deal, three more ships left yesterday carrying almost 60,000 tonnes of corn, one of those ships is going to the uk. and the first ship to be loaded is expected to arrive in the next few days, so all of this obviously is happening under that landmark deal that was signed by russia, ukraine, the united nations, turkey, too, to allow ukraine to resume its ukraine —— grain exports, it is one of the largest exporters of grain in the world, and the hope is that this deal with —— will use a globalfood crisis, and that is why everybody is paying attention to what is happening with these ships. 11 people have been killed and 3a others injured in croatia when a polish bus veered off a highway. the bus was heading in the direction of the croatian capital zagreb when it crashed near the city of varazdin.

it was on its way to the town of in bosnia—herzegovina. these are the latest images from the scene. the polish prime minister said the passengers were on their way to a site of a well—known catholic pilgrimage. let's go live to poland and speak to our warsaw correspondent adam easton. what more details do we have this awful incident?— what more details do we have this awful incident? well, it seems that around just — awful incident? well, it seems that around just after _ awful incident? well, it seems that around just after 5:30am _ awful incident? well, it seems that around just after 5:30am this - around just after 5:30am this morning, about 60 kilometres north of the croatian capital zagreb, the bus, which was carrying these pilgrims, for some reason ed veered off the highway and rolled into a ditch, causing what is now confirmed by the polish foreign ministry, 12 people who have been killed and 33 who have been injured, number them seriously injured. the polish prime minister has said that these people, the passengers, were on their way to bosnia—herzegovina to a very popular

in poland, a roman catholic pilgrimage site in a small town there which has been famous since there which has been famous since the 1980s after reports of apparitions of the virgin mary and lots of polish people make their way to that small town in bosnia—herzegovina in the summer months. also, the polish feminist has said that the country's health minister and the deputy foreign minister, as well as a team of medics, are on their way to the crash site to try and help with the operation there. —— the polish prime minister has said the country's health minister is on his way. the effects from a cyber attack on the uk's nhs111 system could take until next week to resolve. the service helps people get the right advice and treatment when they need it. the company which provides the software for the service confirmed the attack happened on thursday morning. it affected the phone service and electronic referrals to out—of—hours gps. nhs england said disruption was minimal.

the conspiracy theorist alex jones has been ordered to pay more than $115 million in punitive damages, after falsely claiming that the 2012 sandy hook school—shooting was a hoax. the defamation case against the founder of the infowars website was brought by the parents of one of the victims, who say they endured harassment and emotional distress because of the right—wing host's disinformation. nomia iqbal reports. after decades of building a cult following, alexjones is facing the cost of spreading lies. for years, he claimed that the deadliest school shooting in us history, in sandy hook, connecticut, ten years ago, was a hoax. he said it was staged by the government to increase gun controls. 20 children and six teachers were killed. his behaviour led to families being harassed and targeted with death threats. this action was brought by the parents of six—year—old victim jesse lewis. the jury's already ordered jones

to pay them more than $4 million for the trauma he has caused. today is very important for me. it's been a long time coming. i feel very good about being here today — to face alexjones and hold him accountable for what he said and did to me, and to restore the honour and legacy of my son, that was tarnished by mrjones. during the trial, jones retracted his conspiracy theories and explained why on his webcast. i admitted i was wrong. i admitted it was a mistake. i admitted that i followed disinformation but not on purpose. i apologised to the families. and the jury understood that. but he continued to use his platform to continue to attack thejurors and judges. his lawyer said he had a right to free speech. alex jones will be on the air today. he will be on the air tomorrow. he will be on the next week.

he's going to keep doing his job, holding the power structure accountable. the conspiracy theorist also claimed he's bankrupt. the court heard he wasn't that broke. he is a very successful man. he promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation, but he made a lot of money, and he monetised that. earlier in the week an unexpected twist happened — jones' lawyers accidentally sent two years' worth of text messages to the other side. and that is how i know you lied to me when you said you didn't have a text message about sandy hook _ did you know that? the committee investigating the january 6th capitol riots now want to talk to jones to see what role he may have played. alexjones established himself as a maverick of the far right but his reckoning could now set a precedent for the price of fake news. nomia iqbal, bbc news. back here in the uk,

the conservative leadership contenders have used their latest round of hustings to set out their approaches to dealing with the economic downturn forecast by the bank of england. rishi sunak has warned that the conservatives could kiss goodbye to winning the next election unless inflation is quickly brought under control. but his rival, liz truss, said the uk should not talk itself into a recession and keeping taxes low was the best way to avoid a downturn. we're joined now by our political correspondentjonathan blake. the economy is central to both leadership contenders here. yes. the economy is central to both leadership contenders here. yes, as it has been — leadership contenders here. yes, as it has been throughout _ leadership contenders here. yes, as it has been throughout this - leadership contenders here. yes, as it has been throughout this contestl it has been throughout this contest and in the hustings last night, the latest of several both candidates are doing throughout the campaign, it was more of the same, the economy that they could divide in line. but i think both candidates took their message to a new level. rishi sunak doubling down on his warning that if liz truss gets in, the conservatives will lose the next election, in his words, we can kiss goodbye to

winning. and liz truss, on the other hand, with a different tone, saying that although the forecasts we have heard this week from the bank of england are bad, they are not destiny, and we shouldn't be talking ourselves into a recession, as she put it. i think what we had from the candidates last night really reinforces the two contrasting messages we have had from both of them throughout. the problem for rishi sunak is what he would see as a precautionary sensible approach is to other people perhaps a more negative approach. and not inspiring people and firing up the conservative party base in the way that liz truss has been able to do, as far as some of the poll suggests, we are talking about tax cuts and growing the economy. 50. we are talking about tax cuts and growing the economy.— we are talking about tax cuts and growing the economy. so, we are caettin a growing the economy. so, we are getting a sense — growing the economy. so, we are getting a sense of _ growing the economy. so, we are getting a sense of the _ growing the economy. so, we are getting a sense of the difference | getting a sense of the difference between the big picture between the two candidates, what about the specific measures they are likely to introduce? it specific measures they are likely to introduce? ., , , . ., ,., introduce? it has felt this campaign is happening _ introduce? it has felt this campaign is happening in _ introduce? it has felt this campaign is happening in a — introduce? it has felt this campaign is happening in a parallel— introduce? it has felt this campaign is happening in a parallel universe i is happening in a parallel universe and not too much talk of exactly

what each candidate would do on day one in downing street to grapple with the economic conditions, which as we have now heard when the bank of england and others this week, are forecast to get worse before very long. interestingly, liz truss in an interview with the financial times, asked what she would do to help with people with a soaring cost of energy bills which are forecast to rise still higher, and she said she would look at what more could be done, but the way i would do things is the way, and a conservative way, not given hand—outs. that appears to rule out any direct financial assistance for people, which some argue is the only real way to help people in the short term with a cost of energy bills which simply aren't going to be met with tax cuts and economic reform, more of a longer term aim there. so it'll be interesting to see how she perhaps expands on that position and what rishi sunak counters ed with, he said he will cut vat on fuel bills, perhaps more help to come to. thank ou, perhaps more help to come to. thank you. jonathan — perhaps more help to come to. thank

you, jonathan blake. _ much of europe is struggling to cope with what's being described as the worst drought on record. high temperatures and a lack of rain have led to serious problems in several countries. people are being told to conserve water — and the forecast says more hot weather is on the way. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. in this part of south—east france, these fields are usually bursting with colour, row after row of lavender. but this year, the soil is like sand. the plants seem lifeless. the heatwave taking its toll. ministers came to see the situation for themselves. the french government has set up a special crisis unit to try and deal with a problem they say is unprecedented. there is no reason to think it.. it is a vicious circle.

so, just how bad has it got? well, more than 100 towns and villages across the country have run out of fresh drinking water, with supplies having to be bussed in. the national energy company, edf, says some nuclear power stations have had to reduce output because river temperatures are too high to properly cool the reactors. and farmers are warning they've reduced yields, which could lead to higherfood prices. here, not farfrom the palace of versailles, the water inspectors are on patrol. visiting this golf club, they want to make sure the restrictions are being respected, the rules are being followed. translation: this year, obviously, the situation here is similar - to what's happening in france as a whole. we're experiencing a period of drought that is quite exceptional. it's not just france. italy is experiencing its driest year since records began more

than 200 years ago. in romania, the river danube is nearing its lowest ever level, with exposed sand dunes making navigation difficult. "i can tell you, the danube had a low level before, "but the elders say it's never been like this," said this man. "we hope maybe a divine force can help us with some rain." even in the uk, a country not exactly renowned for high temperatures, they have experienced the driestjuly since 1935. water restrictions are being imposed in the south—east and in parts of wales. with the heat likely to rise and no sign of rain in the coming days, things may well get worse before they get better. tim allman, bbc news. railway companies are warning passengers in the uk to expect fresh disruption next weekend — as train drivers at nine operators go on strike. the walk—out will take place on saturday, over the continuing dispute around pay and working conditions. a revised timetable is due to be published on tuesday.

we arejust going we are just going to pause and say goodbye to our viewers watching around the world. shorter opening hours and limited menus, these are just some of the ways many pubs and restaurants are adapting to cope with increasing running costs. recruiting staff is also a big problem within the sector — many businesses are at risk of closing altogether. andrew plant reports. hospitality has had a rough few years, closed for parts of the pandemic and then navigating social distancing, tier one, two and three restrictions, and even covid passports. now pubs are back but it's not quite business as usual at the bar, as new struggles to find staff, and increasing bills come pouring in. it has been exceptionally hard to find decent work staff who will actually stay with the company, because at the moment people can choose whatever employer they want to go to, and people do tend to move

around quite a lot. across the whole uk hospitality industry, about 6% of staff are leaving and need to be replaced every month. for pubs the figure is higher, 8%. and whereas in 2019, 43% ofjobs were filled by workers from the eu, now that figure is just 26%. and it's notjust staffing. energy bills for air—conditioning, fridges, heating — even beer — is up about 8%. there will be businesses who actually say, "d'you know what? "it's not worth opening on monday or tuesday." and that's already happening, but even if they can find staff, which is very challenging, it's not taking because the energy costs are so much that the money they're going to take over those two days isn't worth it. some are predicting many more pubs could close in the next couple of years. injuly 2020, the government temporarily reduced the rate of vat to 5%, it went back

to the full rate in april. many want another cut, and soon. we're looking for those costs of businesses to be managed over the next few years, particularly business rates which is at the heart of many our businesses. it's our largest single cost that these guys are having to paying out. looking at vat support, just to make sure we continue to keep consumers able to come into these pubs, and looking at other elements such as an energy. some have already reduced their menus, others are saving on energy like only opening at the busiest times, as the hospitality industry here lurches out of the covid crisis and straight into severe staff shortages, making the road to recovery even harder. andrew plant, bbc news. now, you'd think strapping yourself to the wing of a plane was daring enough — but one 93—year—old has taken that terrifying stunt to a whole new level. let's introduce you to betty bromage. she's thought to be the oldest person to do a loop—the loop whilst

doing a wingwalk. 0ur reporter will glennon was there to watch. still living the daredevil life at 93, betty bromage defied her age to soar through the air on top of a stunt plane, again. after a normal morning at home, betty came to the rendcomb airfield for her fifth safety briefing, looking forward to another adventure. it's quite exhilarating. you're looking around, seeing what is going on. first time i looked and i thought, gosh, that wing's a bit close to the grass! and then i thought, oh dear, and then he flips over to the other side. and i thought, well, this is close to the grass again! well, i'm still here, so what have i got to lose at my age? betty's raising money for the sue ryder leckhampton court hospice which cares for people with terminal illnesses. betty's story's amazing. this is herfifth time doing it. we really rely on community donations and groups getting behind us, and amazing people like betty supporting us. it's the heart of the hospice,

it's all of the people who come and support us, so we really do appreciate it, it's vital. betty's no stranger to danger, she's already done four wing walks, herfirst aged 87, and she's abseiled down cheltenham's tallest building. and once betty was strapped into the harness today, she was ready to go again. it looked exhilarating, and betty was even keen to do aerobatics. then, before too long, she was safely back on the ground. it was great, yeah, it was great. yeah, it was a bit... at the top there, but yeah, i enjoyed it! i don't know who was more scared, her or me, but once we got herup there... i think she's an amazing lady, absolutely incredible. we think betty has set a new world record as the oldest wing—walker to loop—the—loop. and she's not ruling out another go next year, either.

will glennon, bbc news.