investigating the business practices of the trump organisation has called it a witch hunt. dozens of people are missing after a boat laden with migrants sinks off the creek codes, rescue operation is under way. china reaffirms that it could take taiwan by force. us house speaker nancy pelosi has visited sparta china strolls around the island defensive trip. we strolls around the island defensive trip.— strolls around the island defensive trip. we will not allow china _ defensive trip. we will not

allow china to _ defensive trip. we will not allow china to isolate - defensive trip. we will not. allow china to isolate taiwan. they have kept taiwan from participating in the world health organization and other ways where on to make a value contribution.— contribution. british farmers fear their — contribution. british farmers fear their harvest _ contribution. british farmers fear their harvest will - contribution. british farmers fear their harvest will fail. contribution. british farmers fear their harvest will fail as | fear their harvest will fail as a heat wave in drought conditions have a devastating impact on the agriculture industry. and the author and illustrator best known for the children's book, the snowman has died at the age of 88.

hello and welcome to the programme. donald trump is declined to answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into his family's business practices, they described inquiry by the new york attorney general as a witch hunt. they're looking into whether or not the trump organisation try to acquire loans and avoid taxes by the misleading the authorities they carried out an unprecedented search at his florida home as part of a separate investigation. shortly after his visit to the new york attorney generals office, he released the statement saying years of work, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this long simmering saga and to no avail. he added, i declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the united states constitution. a little earlier, i spoke to my

north american correspondent and he explained why mr trumps decision to plead the fifth amendment is so significant. it isn't a surprise and in another, they could say it as a surprise and donald trump statements over the years criticising others who have pleaded the fifth and mr trump suggested that anyone who does that has something to hide and now he says he understands why people do that when they feel their families feel that they are under attack in a particular way and this constitutional right not to answer any questions, up to see anything that could be incriminating or self—incriminating in one theory here is that they are not saying anything because in fact there is another investigation and the manhattan district attorney on and it is possible that,

had mr trump said anything today, had he answered those questions, that whatever he said could've been used against him in that criminal case. peter, he has been pushing this narrative, hasn't he, that he's been persecuted by authorities? how much is that narrative playing to his base? it seems to be playing quite strongly. there was a surge of support, it was almost visceral. we had people turning up outside his florida home, in the streets, waving flags, cheering on donald trump. that's certainly a very visual show of support for the former president, but perhaps even more significant than that, we've had some senior republicans over the last 2a, 36 hours coming out, again, in support of mr trump, or at least going as far to say that they believe the authorities, the fbi, the justice department, ought to justify why

some other republicans have noticed that he is standing again as a candidate for the presidency. a search and rescue operation is taking place off the coast of greece to find 50 migrants who have been missing since their boat sank in the aegean sea. the boat sank near karpathos in greece, as wendy urquhart reports. navy and commercial boats were deployed to the sea as soon as the alarm was raised by the greek coastguard. a greek air force helicopter hovered above, training spotlights on the ocean in a bid to help find survivors, but in the pitch black it was not easy, and very

strong winds made winding up those who were found a bit precarious. the boat was en route from southern turkey to italy when it capsized near the greek island of arthur �*s, 38 nautical miles south—west of rhodes in the middle of the night. there are conflicting reports about the number of people on board, with some saying there were 60, and others insisting there were 80. these are the lucky ones, just 29 people who are reportedly from afghanistan, iraq and iran, who was saved by the emergency services, and said no—one on board the boat was wearing a life jacket. thousands of people risk their lives every year sailing to greece in rickety boats to start a new life in europe. hundreds have been rescued, but 64 have perished already this year. the search and rescue operation in greece is continuing, but it's likely

that many of those who were on board the boat that sank tuesday night won't make it. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. north korea's state media says that the country's leader, kimjong—un, has declared victory in the battle against coronavirus, and ordered the lifting of restrictions imposed in may. he described government figures of seventy four deaths as an "unprecedented miracle" compared to other countries. at least 16 people are dead or missing in south korea after record rainfall caused severe flooding in the north of the country. most are in the capital, seoul. weather forecasters say it was the most torrential rain in over a century. a man allegedly linked to the so called islamic state has been arrested in the uk after arriving on a flight from turkey. aine davis is accused of being a member of a cell within the terror organisation dubbed the beatles because of their english

accents, which he denies. a beluga whale that got stuck in the river seine in france has died after a dramatic attempt to rescue it. experts used a net and a crane to hoist the mammal out of the water and into a truck, but it had to be euthanised after developing breathing difficulties. 1,000 firefighters have been mobilised in france to tackle a resurgence of wildfires in the southwest region of gironde. the blaze has spread faster than those that devastated the region in july. france, like the rest of europe, has been struggling this summer with successive heatwaves and its worst drought on record. turning to taiwan now, and china has vowed zero tolerance for "separatist activities" and reaffirmed that it would take the self—ruled island by force if necessary.

china's taiwan affairs office issued a white paper laying out how it intends to claim the island through a range of economic measures and military pressure. meanwhile, the chinese military says its successfully completed operations around taiwan after days of unprecedented excercises. military officials say the exercises focused on sea assaults, land strikes, air operations and anti—submarine operations. they say the drills also involved new military equipment such as stealth fighters and new rocket launchers. the multi—day operations around taiwan were in response to us house speaker nancy pelosi's stopover there last tuesday. well, nancy pelosi has defended her visit to taiwan. she said the purpose of the trip was to underline america's respect for taiwan's democracy,

and assert the rights of us goverment officials to go there. we will not allow where taiwan could make a very valued contribution, and they may keep them from going there, but we are not that they are not keeping us from going to tie one, we will not allow them to stop and rethink their reaction, that was our purpose, to salute this thriving democracy, don't take it from me, they have the freest democracies in the world, show our respect for that, for the success of their economy, for the enthusiasm of the young people to embrace democracy and others as well, the young knowing nothing else except a free taiwan. earlier i spoke to brian hart, fellow with the china power project at the centre for strategic and international studies, who said china's reaction is no surprise.

it's important to note that it is important for the united states to continue to support taiwan, to support its democracy and continue to support it being active in the international world, but i think this has clearly been received as a slight by beijing, which is not surprising. taiwan is one of the most sensitive issues for the chinese communist party and for the chinese government, and so it's not surprising that they've reacted so strongly. they have taken some unprecedented steps here, with their military exercises and other steps, to really show resolve and to punish taiwan and to show resolve to taiwan and the united states and to other us allies and partners in the region. so beijing has certainly responded pretty sternly to this, and i think i would just emphasise that while these exercises may be wrapping up right now, i think the long—term impacts are still likely to be doled out in the coming days, weeks, months. and what do you see

the long—term impacts of that looking like? as you point out, we've seen those military drills. are they the dress rehearsal for the real thing? are they closer to taiwan than what we've seen before? yes, these drills were very much closer than they were, for example, in the 1995/1996 taiwan strait crisis. the exercise zones around taiwan were closer to the island, they were further from the chinese mainland, which is a sign that the pla can project its military power further and that the pla is more confident in its ability to do so, and there were a string of moves that beijing took that i think really were aimed at showing that they're willing to escalate somewhat. they fired missiles over the island of taiwan, which was unprecedented. they fired those missiles into japan's exclusive economic zone. so we've seen a number of steps here. and the worry by people like me who watch the chinese military is that this will become part of the new normal, that beijing will

continue to escalate, it will continue to fly its pla aircraft across the median line that divides the taiwan strait. china's really ramped up crossings of the median line over the last week. and they've already made statements, official statements, this is largely going to continue, so i think the concern in the long—term is that beijing is using this as an opportunity to push the status quo further in theirfavour, on a military domain but also in other areas as well, so i think long—term, that's what worries me. was brian hart, at the centre for strategic and international studies speaking to us earlier on the taiwan china conflict. if you wanyt to get in touch with me i'm on twitter @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: we have the wonderful story of a woman who was forced to leave uganda in the 1970s, and went on to found one of the uk's most popular gujarati restaurants, but not untill after she turned 80. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979.

two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began its journey off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. the former us president, donald trump, has refused to answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into his business activities in new york. he's called it a witch hunt. dozens of people are missing after a boat laden with migrants, sinks off the greek coast. a search and rescue operation is underway.

the heat across most of the uk continues to intensify — a four day extreme heat warning coming into force on thursday, lasting until sunday. the continued dry weather is causing significant problems for farmers and the agriculture industry. our climate editor justin rowlatt reports from gloucestershire, in south west england. farmers' fields are their bank account. a healthy harvest means a healthy income and money to invest for next year's crop. but look, the fields have been desiccated by months of low rainfall. it is a disaster for many farmers. it can't sustain itself. david is trying to grow turnips to feed his cattle. not looking very happy. very dry. there's just not enough moisture, so most likely this crop will fail now and we're running out of time to re drill it. david is already feeding his cattle fodder he set aside for winter.

without the turnips and with grain prices at record highs, it'll cost him a fortune to feed them through to next year. and don't think his problems won't affect you, because what happens on farms like this helps determine the price we all pay for food. extreme weather almost always means bad harvests, bad harvests, less food. that's right, means higher prices for all of us. and it isn'tjust the uk, crops in much of europe have been affected too, and that is just the start. india, china, brazil and the us have all seen yields hit by unusually hot and dry weather this year. now add in the impact of the russian invasion of ukraine... we're producing less of our crops. we have less production effective when harvest happens. and this means that supply is limited and therefore, when people try to buy this supply, the prices then move upwards and it impacts the consumer, impacts the farmer, impacts a wide range of market players that have to deal with these

weather issues. we all know what will break us out of this cycle... i'm just looking for rain. that's that's all i need is the temperature to go down and rain andjust have some proper, decent rain and then everything will feel so much better and it will start to grow. by next week, we'll lose that intense heat... but the forecast from the met office is offering no guarantees of that. there's a regime change happening next week. we expect to see some heavy showers and thunderstorms potential there. not everywhere is going to get that rainfall. a lot of places are going to miss it, but at least there's a chance next week. so a chance of rain for some, which means there's only one thing farmers like david can do... they've got to hope for the best, that's all they've got left. justin rowlatt, bbc news, gloucestershire.

respect believed to have destroyed 40% of the oil depo there~ — destroyed 40% of the oil depo there a— destroyed 40% of the oil depo there. a lightning strike last week— there. a lightning strike last week caused one of the fuel tanks — week caused one of the fuel tanks to— week caused one of the fuel tanks to late on fire which then— then spread to other tanks. efforts_ then spread to other tanks. efforts to bring some of the fires under control our ongoing. the 1970s exodus of ugandan asians is well documented. they were fleeing from dictator idi amin who ordered them to leave the country within 90 days and accused them of �*milking' uganda's money. thousands were displaced, and many forced to emigrate to the uk including manju patel and her husband who arrived in london with just their two young boys. now 85, manju has seen her dream come true and today, she and her sons run one of uk's most popular and award winning indian vegetarian restaurants. gaggan saber—wal

has their story. meat 85 your. manju owns and runs one of the uk's popular restaurants. her restaurant, manju's is located 48 miles south—west of london, in the city of brighton in england. born in 1936, she later moved to uganda with her parents are. in 1964, manju got married and had two sons and was leading a very happy life until tragedy struck in august, 1972, when uganda's asians were asked to leave the country within 90 days by the dictator idi amin. around 25,000 of these displaced people, including manju, and herfamily, manju, and her family, emigrated manju, and herfamily, emigrated to the uk. my manju, and her family, emigrated to the uk. my brother was here in _ emigrated to the uk. my brother was here in london, _ emigrated to the uk. my brother was here in london, i— emigrated to the uk. my brother was here in london, i have - emigrated to the uk. my brotherj was here in london, i have come to london, my son is a seven—year boy when he came.

after three days i look out my door, because without money i come to england.— come to england. man'u had a assion come to england. man'u had a passion fort come to england. man'u had a passion for cooking h come to england. manju had a passion for cooking and - come to england. manju had a passion for cooking and had i passion for cooking and had always wanted to run her own restaurant, but because of her financial situation, she was forced to put her dreams on hold and took up a job at a local factory hold and took up a job at a localfactory where she hold and took up a job at a local factory where she worked as a machine operator until her retirement. b, as a machine operator until her retirement-— retirement. a new mum was alwa s retirement. a new mum was always wanting _ retirement. a new mum was always wanting to _ retirement. a new mum was always wanting to do - retirement. a new mum was always wanting to do a - always wanting to do a restaurant at some point in her life, so i said why not, let's do one, so we were actively looking at this place came up, and so we bought the place, and by coincidencejust and so we bought the place, and by coincidence just fell on her 80th birthday. i by coincidence 'ust fell on her 80th birthday._ by coincidence 'ust fell on her 80th birthday. i never thought m son 80th birthday. i never thought my son would _ 80th birthday. i never thought my son would buy _ 80th birthday. i never thought my son would buy me - my son would buy me a restaurant, i was so happy, so glad. _ restaurant, i was so happy, so glad. my— restaurant, i was so happy, so glad. my dream is now finished! and since — glad. my dream is now finished! and since 2017 the restaurant has been serving traditional home—cooked vegetarian bit to make dishes. we

home-cooked vegetarian bit to make dishes.— make dishes. we chose this restaurant _ make dishes. we chose this restaurant because - make dishes. we chose this restaurant because it's - make dishes. we chose this restaurant because it's the l restaurant because it's the food we know, it's the food mum has been cooking since she was 12, it's different. when we first opened people do not understand what it was, they would sit down expecting to eat chicken tikka masala. initially a lot of people would get up and walk out of. as the restaurant became more and more well—known, and it got easier. manju's is a completely family run restaurant with manju's sons, creating and taking orders from customers to manju and her daughter—in—law and repairing the food. translation: i never thought in a million years that i would be living in england and would be cooking for british people. i feel very happy about this. when customers visit us, they leave satisfied and happy and this makes me very happy. due to covid in _ this makes me very happy. due to covid in the _ this makes me very happy. due to covid in the recent rise in gas, electricity and food prices, manju's restaurant has had to face some challenging days, but neither covid or the

many days have deterred or slowed manju down. i many days have deterred or slowed manju down.- many days have deterred or slowed manju down. slowed man'u down. i like work, i like slowed manju down. i like work, i like cooking. _ slowed manju down. i like work, i like cooking. i _ slowed manju down. i like work, i like cooking. i will— slowed manju down. i like work, i like cooking. i will never - i like cooking. i will never stop my cooking. i like cooking. stop my cooking. i like cooking-— stop my cooking. i like cooking. stop my cooking. i like cookinu. ., cooking. you will never retire as a chef? — cooking. you will never retire as a chef? never retire! - the author and illustrator raymond briggs, best known for the snowman, has died. he was 88. in a statement, his family said he'd lived a rich and full life and had treasured drawings sent to him by fans, in particular children, who'd been inspired by his work. our arts correspondent david sillito looks back at his life. it's become part of christmas — the story of a snowman who comes to life. magical, heart—warming, and at the end, the snowman melts. # we're walking in the air... a very raymond briggs twist. he was a children's author who was never writing for children.

i don't think about what children want. you get an idea and you just do it. you don't think, "oh, children of 10 won't want this," or... you don't think like that at all. you don't think about the audience. couldn't possibly. it was his father christmas that was raymond briggs' breakthrough, but this was no jovial gift—bearer. this father christmas moaned, swore and drankjust a bit too much. the bogeymen are stirring in their beds... and then fungus — a gloriously disgusting story of a bogeyman having a midlife crisis. nice cold, filthy water! good head of scum on it this morning. raymond briggs had for a while worked in advertising and hated it. he illustrated children's books but loathed the saccharine stories. he had his own vision, and one friend who worked with him on the animations saw how much of it was an expression of his own joys and sadnesses.

raymond was someone who felt things, really, really deeply felt things. he's not afraid to study pain, to study grief, to study loss, and even as felt by a small boy, for instance, in the snowman. good morning, madame! just you keep off my clean step, young man. his childhood, his mum and dad, it was rooted in realfeelings. and over the years, he'd also helped change attitudes to his art form with the beauty of his drawings and their slightly subversive stories. raymond briggs who's died at the age of 88.

what a legacy indeed he has left. if you want to keep up with all the stories we're covering — just head to our website — there's hello. there will only be a few exceptions to the hot and sunny story over the next few days. so far this week, we've got above 30 degrees three times, 32 celsius on wednesday afternoon. the heatwave intensifies further through the rest of the week and into the weekend. we could have four consecutive days above 35 degrees, more than we saw back in 1976. the highest of the temperatures are in the area covered by the met office extreme heat warning, an amberwarning, health and transport impacts expected — leeds, liverpool, down the way to the south coast. and it's this area, under high pressure, where we'll also see heat build elsewhere. but notice weather fronts very close to the north of scotland. this is your exception. here, through the night and into the morning, we'll have had some rain, temperatures not dropping away much. maybe a little bit fresher through scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern england, but a warmer night and start to thursday morning

in the south. a few mist and fog patches clearing, dry and sunny for many, but across the western isles, orkney, shetland, the northwest highlands, rain will come and go through the day. 14—18 celsius here, but 27, 28 eastern scotland, 27 in parts of northern ireland, 35 degrees, potentially, to the south midlands, that heat continuing to build. now, as we go into thursday evening and overnight, more cloud, occasional rain or drizzle in the north of scotland. chance of a few mist and fog patches close to eastern coasts of england and scotland too, but night by night, temperatures starting to creep up a little bit as well. friday, we do it all again. some early morning mist and fog in the east, one or two patches close to eastern coasts, a greyer outlook across the north of scotland but not as wet as it'll have been for some on thursday. under sunny skies and light winds elsewhere, we'll see temperatures climb, potentially 36, maybe 37 celsius, through the south midlands. a little bit fresher down some eastern coasts. coolest of all, though, in the far north of scotland. by the start of the weekend, probably a better chance of some sunshine in the far north

of scotland, but a better chance of some low cloud continuing, eastern coast of scotland, northeast england, limiting the temperatures in aberdeen a little bit. 26 inland, 27 to northern ireland, again, 36 or 37 in some parts of southern england. that warmth and heat continues into sunday, but a slot of something changing. a bit more cloud, the chance of a few storms around later on sunday into monday, bringing a drop in temperature. but even though those storms may occur into next week, they'll be fairly sporadic, many places probably staying largely dry. and, of course, we need a good deal more rain.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. when you can't get water from taps, life revolves around where the water is. india's villages house 200 million families. only a fraction have tap water.