welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: donald trump refuses to answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into his business activities in new york — he calls 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. china reaffirms that it could take taiwan by force. nancy pelosi, whose visit sparked china's drills around the island, has defended her trip. we will not allow china to isolate taiwan. they have kept taiwan from participating in the world health organization, other things, where taiwan can make a very valued contribution. british farmers fear their harvests will fail,

as a heatwave and drought conditions have a devastating impact on the agriculture industry. # we're walking in the air # we're floating in the moonlit sky and the author and illustrator, raymond briggs, best known for the children's book the snowman, has died at the age of 88. hello and a very warm welcome to the programme. the former us president, donald trump, has declined to answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into his family's business practices, at a hearing in new york. mr trump described the inquiry by the state's attorney general letitia james, as a witch—hunt. she's investigating whether the trump organization tried to acquire loans and avoid taxes by misleading the authorities.

mr trump's deposition comes just days after the fbi carried out an unprecedented search at his florida home, as part of a separate investigation. lawrence douglas is a professor of law at amherst college in massachusetts, and author of will he go? trump and the looming election meltdown in 2020, he joins us now from sunderland, massachusetts. thank you very much forjoining us. donald trump is a man normally happy to defend himself, often vociferously, it doesn't surprise you he has chosen to remain silent? it does not particularly surprised me. it is true in the past he has that only members of the mob can evoke the faith amendment but we also know that donald trump can be both quite sly, and there are tactical reasons for why he takes the

feet, to avoid any possible criminal exposure in a possible parallel investigation where the manhattan da is looking at things. also a tactic when he is on the defensive, he then goes on the offensive so he called the prosecutor, this again a civil case but it was a new york state attorney general, he calls her a renegade prosecutor and, of course, used is tried and true method to describe it as a witch—hunt. mr method to describe it as a witch-hunt.— method to describe it as a witch-hunt. mr trump would hiuuhliht witch-hunt. mr trump would highlight this _ witch-hunt. mr trump would highlight this investigation i highlight this investigation has been going on for a couple of years, one of many investigation, offered using public money and calling it witch—hunt. public money and calling it witch-hunt.— witch-hunt. what is your response? _ witch-hunt. what is your response? again, - witch-hunt. what is your response? again, it - witch-hunt. what is your. response? again, it comes witch-hunt. what is your- response? again, it comes as no surprise that he is an incredibly divisive force. the way he responds to the fbi

search, he sent out a tweet that they had planted evidence. he has already pretty successfully eroded our faith in our electoral process, he is trying to erode our faith in the fbi, law enforcement and now thejudicial system, the fbi, law enforcement and now the judicial system, all basically an attempt to protect himself and again what is so disappointing is the way in which these tactics of division, the way they can be at least in the politically successful.— at least in the politically successful. he is using his rihts successful. he is using his rights under _ successful. he is using his rights under the _ successful. he is using his rights under the fifth - rights under the fifth amendment to protect himself from self incrimination. this is a civil case, how does that change things. i is a civil case, how does that change things.— change things. i think the reason he _ change things. i think the reason he is _ change things. i think the reason he is using, - change things. i think the i reason he is using, invoking the faith in a civil case is because, if indeed make a misstatement, if he lied for

example, under oath, this could turn into a criminal perjury case. any statements made here could also be used by separate investigations into the family's business dealings, which the manhattan da is looking into. the point you make is an important one, which is, in the context of a civil trial, if it goes to a civil trial, if it goes to a civil trial, it is the case that a jury trial, it is the case that a jury can draw negative inferences from invocation of the faith amendment. that is not permissible in a jury trial in a criminal matter, cannot be used against a defendant in a criminal matter but can be used by a jury to draw negative inferences if this should go to a civil trial.— a civil trial. professor, thank ou a civil trial. professor, thank you very _ a civil trial. professor, thank you very much _ a civil trial. professor, thank you very much for _ a civil trial. professor, thank you very much for being - a civil trial. professor, thank| you very much for being with us. our correspondent is explained by the fifth amendment invocation is so important. in

a invocation is so important. i�*i a sense it is a surprise, in another sense it is not a surprise. donald trump is criticise others who have pleaded defeat, mr trump suggesting anyone who has done that has something to hide. although now he's saying he understands now why people do that when they feel they are under attack in a particular way. and this is his constitutional right not to answer any questions, not to say anything that could emanating or self—incriminating. one theory here is that he's not anything because in fact there is another investigation, the manhattan district attorney, on the same subject and that could potentially lead to criminal charges and it is possible that had mr trump sent anything today, having answered those questions, whatever he said could have been used against him in that criminal case. we

have had some senior republicans over the last 24 — 36 hours coming out, again, in support of mr trump or at least going as far as to say they believe the authorities, the fbi, the justice believe the authorities, the fbi, thejustice department, fbi, the justice department, all to fbi, thejustice department, all to justify why they searched his home. —— ought to. it has boosted his base to the point that some other republicans are suggesting to donald trump you should declare now or very soon that he again as a candidate for the presidency. a search and rescue operation is taking place off the coast of greece to find fifty migrants who've been missing since their boat sank in the aegean sea near the island of karpathos. wendy urquhart reports. navy and commercial boats were deployed to the scene 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 winching up those who were found a bit precarious. the boat was en route from antalia in southern turkey to italy when it capsized near the greek island of karpathos, 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 were saved by the emergency services, who 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. wendy urquhart, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines: state—run media in north korea say 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 only 74 deaths as an "unprecedented miracle" but many believe official numbers are unlikely to reveal the whole picture. 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's the worst rain in over a century. a thousand 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. 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. china has vowed zero tolerance for what it called "separatist activities" and reaffirmed that it would take the self—ruled island of taiwan 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 it's 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 visit there last week. 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 china to isolate taiwan. they have kept taiwan from participating in the world health organization, other things, where taiwan can make a very valued contribution. and they may keep them from going there, but they're not keeping us from going to taiwan. we will not allow them to. so we think their reaction — that was our purpose, to salute this thriving democracy —

don't take it from me, said one of the freest democracies in the world — show our respect for that, for the success of their economy, for the enthusiasm of their young people to embrace a democracy, and others as well, but the young knowing nothing else except a free taiwan. a man allegedly linked to the so called islamic state group has been arrested in the uk after arriving on a flight from turkey. aine davis is accused of being a member of an is cell dubbed the beatles because of their english accents — an accusation he denies. daniel sandford has the details. aine davis has always denied being the fourth member of the group that became known as the beatles, the english—speaking men responsible for the beheading of hostages, british and american hostages, in the so—called islamic state during its time in charge of parts of syria. before mohammed emwazi, the leader of the group, was killed by a drone strike,

and before the two men were brought to justice in america, alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh, aine davis was arrested in turkey and put on trial in turkey for membership of a terrorist organisation, and has been in prison in turkey since 2015. that prison sentence has come to an end, still has british citizenship, and on arrival in the uk at luton airpot this evening, he was arrested by police from the metropolitan police's counter terrorism command. he has not been held on suspicion of murder or hostagetaking. he is held on suspicion of terrorist offences to do with fundraising and possession of articles for terrorist offences. he is in custody in a police station in south london but obviously it's a very notorious case. extensive damage shown at a russian airbase in the crimea.

the saky base was rocked by a string of bombardment. ukraine has not claimed responsibility but it looks like a targeted attack. large areas of scorched earth left from fires that were adopted. —— that erupted. the pace main�*s run rate seems to be intact. at least eight aircraft appeared to be damaged and destroyed with several craters visible. a large number of planes were parked out in the open away from the covers of hangers. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the 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.

hello. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the former us president, donald trump, has refused to answer questions at an appearance before new york's attorney—general, who's investigating the business practices of the trump organization. he called it a witch—hunt. dozens of people are missing after a boat laden with migrants sank off the greek coast. a search—and—rescue operation is under way. here in the uk, the heat across much of the country continues to intensify. a four—day extreme heat warning comes into force on thursday, lasting until sunday. combined with the heat, the continued dry weather is causing significant problems forfarmers and the agriculture industry. our climate editor, justin rowlatt, sent this report 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. the 1970s exodus of ugandan asians is well documented. they were fleeing persecutation at the hands of the then ugandan dictator, idi amin. he 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. among them was manju patel and her husband who arrived in london with 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 restaurants. gaggan saberwal has their story. meet 85—year—old manju patel. manju owns and runs

one of the uk's most popular gujarati restaurants. her restaurant, manju's, is located 48 miles south of london, in the city of brighton in england. born in gujarat in 1936, manju later moved to uganda with her parents. 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 dictator idi amin. and around 25,000 of these displaced people, including manju and herfamily, emigrated to the uk. my brother is here and i'm coming in london. my son is a seven years boy. one is one year, 1.5 years. after three days, i look for myjob. because without money, i'm coming to england. manju had a 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 localfactory, where she worked as a machine operator till her retirement. i knew mum always wanted to do a restaurant at some point in her life. so my brother and i said, "why not? "let's do one." and so we were actively looking and this place come up. and so we bought the place, it came through, and in a coincidence, itjust fell on her 80th birthday. i'm not thinking my sons buying for me a restaurant! they give me surprise. so happy! i say my dream is now finished. and since 2017, the restaurant has been serving traditional home—cooked vegetarian gujarati dishes. we decided to do a gujarati restaurant, simply because we're gujarati, you know? it's the food we know, it's the food mum's been cooking since she was 12. it's different. when we first opened, people didn't

understand what it was. they'd sit down expecting to eat chicken tikka massala. initially, a lot of people would get up and walk out. as the restaurant became more and more well—known, then it got easy. manju's is a completely family—run restaurant, with manju's sons greeting and taking orders from customers to manju and her daughter—in—laws, dipali and kirti, running the kitchen and preparing 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. translation: whenever customers visit us, - they leave our restaurant satisfied and happy. and this makes me very happy. due to covid and the recent rise in gas, electricity and food prices, manju's restaurant too has had to face some challenging days, but neither covid nor the rainy days have deterred or slowed manju down. i like work. i like cooking. never stop my cooking. i like to cook.

so you will never retire as a chef? no, never retire, no. gaggan saberwal, bbc news, brighton. the bbc has a collection of stories about the exodus of south asian from uganda. you can search bbc history. 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. author and illustrator raymond briggs who's died at the age of 88. if you want to keep up with all the stories we're covering, just head to our website. there's background and analysis to all the main news, plus business, sport and weather. you'll find it all at bbc.com/news or you can

download the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. thanks for your company. goodbye for now. 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, the headlines: the former us president, donald trump, has refused to answer questions from the new york attorney general, who is investigating the trump organisation's business practices. mr trump invoked his right against self—incrimination under the fifth amendment. afterwards he called the process a witch—hunt. dozens of people are missing after a boat, laden with migrants, sank off the greek coast. the vessel is believed to have gone down near the island of karpathos, after setting sail from southern turkey and heading for italy. a search and rescue operation is underway. china has completed its military drills close to taiwan. they were launched

in response to a visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi