�*welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. a dire warning about the near—critical situation in ukraine's zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — under russian control — as they train for a crisis that some fear could be more serious than the chernobyl disaster. it is impossible to ensure the safety of the nuclear power plant or the russian occupying forces are there. this is the key concern that we all need to clearly understand. a powerful blast at a kabul mosque during evening prayers — amid reports of multiple casualties, we'll have the latest from the afghan capital. bouncing back from defeat — fresh from her primary loss, one of donald trump's fiercest republican critics, liz cheney, says she's thinking

about running for president. rolling out the rocket that could pave the way for astronauts to return to the moon. after one venue cancels his latest production, over comments on trans rights and the metoo movement, monty python's terry gilliam, says british theatre, needs to be more courageous. i think the whole artistic community has to be brave. it is what art is about, pushing the limits. it's hello and welcome to the programme. officials in ukraine are warning that the situation

at the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power station "is approaching critical". emergency workers in the nearby city of zaporizhzhia have been staging drills to practise cleaning operations in the event of radioactive contamination. russia took control of the nuclear plant — the biggest in europe — in early march and there's been recent heavy shelling at — and around the site — with both sides blaming each other for the attacks. our correspondent james waterhouse reports from the nearby city of zaporizhzhia where residents are on edge. ukraine's vast, rich landscape, full of produce, industry, but still under threat. we are being taken to see preparations for a worst—case scenario. if you want to get anywhere quickly these days, this is how you do it. we are travelling very low to stay out of range of russian missiles and aircraft. you get a real sense ofjust

how vast this country is. in zaporizhzhia, they are training for a crisis which some fear could be more serious than the chernobyl nuclear disaster, the worst ever. the region's power plant further south has been under russian control since early march and officials say the situation is approaching critical. it's changed dramatically, and of course we are concerned. that's why we are here, that's why we created this group, that's why we are involved in everyday communication with this. translation: it's impossible to ensure the safety _ of the nuclear power plant while the russian occupying forces are there. this is the key concern that we all need to clearly understand. there are growing concerns that russia has been using it as a military base. the city of enerhodar where the plant is has seen recent heavy shelling, both ukraine and russia blame each other. elena has just escaped from there with her children

and just wanted to get out. translation: there has been many more explosions and it i became much more dangerous to stay there. i didn't want to leave home, but when it became unbearable i had no other choice. the nato alliance is the latest voice to call for international inspectors to be let into the plant. with ukraine unable to force the russians out, it's instead preparing for the worst, if it happens. james waterhouse, bbc news, in zaporizhzhia. a huge explosion has ripped through a mosque in the centre of the afghan capital, kabul. the blast is thought to have ocurred during evening prayers, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more. reports suggest the imam of the mosque is among those who died. the wounded are said to include a seven year old child. it's not yet clear who was behind the attack — which comes a week after the death of a prominent

taliban cleric in a suicide bombing. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kabul and gave us this update: what update: we know is that there is a powerful what we know is that there is a powerful bomb trip through a fairly crowded mosque after night fell in evening prayer at times of the mosque will be crowded. in this mosque is not just full of adults but children, a religious dude to to said he was just outside the mosque when the explosion happened to be so many dead and injured bodies sprawled inside the mosque and what we know from the main hospital here, emergency run by an italian ngo which is often the hospital which is often the hospital which treats the victims of violence, it has received dozens of casualties, including several children. i'm not going to be specific with that because we expect those figures

to get higher as the hours go by. it isjust to get higher as the hours go by. it is just two days since the taliban celebrated, we saw and heard the celebrations here in the capital of kabul, celebrating what they call their independence day, talking about their defeat of the us military as well as of the powerful data armies. but for every day, or they do occasionally savour these moments of calm or they can drive on roads which previously were impossible because of taliban attacks, because of the us—led military campaign, they're not asking in legitimately so, whether what happened on september 2021 was simply the end of another chapter war and ushered in another. we do not know for sure whether it was islamic state, but it follows the

pattern of their killing. this signature used to be devastating attacks against the community, but in the past few months, they appear to have targeted three prominent religious figures in one month alone. let's turn to the us now where liz cheney, one of donald trump's fiercest critics in his own republican party — has said she is thinking about running for president. her comments come within hours of a resounding defeat at the hands of one of donald trump's supporters. cheney, whose father dick cheney is a former us vice president, has represented the state of wyoming since 2017. but she's effectively been de—selected after losing a primary election. within a few hours of that result, cheney appeared on nbc�*s today show and was asked whether she was thinking of running for president. she didn't give a direct answer at first, but after being pressed on it, here's what she said.

that's a decision i'm going to make in the coming months. i'm not going to make any announcements this morning but it is something that i'm thinking about and i'll make a decision in the coming months. our north america correspondentjohn sudworth is in wyoming, and was asked what he thinks liz cheney's chances are, if she does decide to go for president. well, that's a really tricky question to answer. i think on the face of it, it is very difficult to see how she can easily forge a path to presidency given that this defeat as you say shows that she has effectively lost the support of the republican rank and file. wyoming is this deeply red rural heartland of republicanism, what better symbol of this rugged state and the spectacular mountains behind me. but republicanism is shifting and this is a battle for the soul of the party and

she has lost it. her hope is that they made very clear in the concession speech and this is the beginning of something else. doubling down on this project to take on donald trump and the full frontal assault on his future presidency. she will do everything in her power to make sure he never gets anywhere near the oval office again and some saying that if she does run, it is likely to be as an independent for all of those reasons and for what we have seen here in the real name, although they would never say that is to attempt to win the white house for herself and a break on donald trump's prospects. a split of the vote. if she can get 30% of the republican electorate, even if they cannot see a publicly by

donald trump having another go, she can split the vote, maybe she can split the vote, maybe she can split the vote, maybe she can stop him. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. at least 26 people have died in forest fires in algeria. it brings the total number of people killed in wildfires this summer up to 30. more than a hundred fires have broken out in the country since the start of the month, destroying more than 2,500 hectares of woodland. singer r kelly, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking earlier this year, is now standing trial in chicago. the 55 year old is accused of luring underage girls to have sex with him as well as obstructing a 2008 case which ended in his acquittal. donald trump's former lawyer, rudy giuliani, is appearing before a special grand jury in georgia, part of a criminal investigation into attempts to overturn the twenty—twenty us presidential election result. state prosecutors have told him he's a target of the probe.

australia's ex—prime minister has defended his actions of secretly appointing himself to several key ministries during the covid—19 pandemic, rejecting accusations he created a "shadow government" and undermined the country's democracy. scott morrison has rejected demands to resign from parliament, insisting he was right to take "emergency powers" without telling the public or his cabinet colleagues. he added he was "steering the ship in the middle of the tempest."here's what he said at the press conference. i believed it was necessary to have authority over what were emergency powers to exercise in extreme situations that would be unforeseen that would enable

me to act in the national interest. and that is what i did in a crisis. those safeguards are put in place for precautionary, prudent responsible reasons and i did not consider either at the time, given everything as those going on in the other priorities who are dealing with, that it was a matter that needed to be raised at that point because if i needed to use the powers, than i would've disclosed with the minister. for more on this, i am joined now by our australia correspondent shaimaa khalil who's in sydney. it's fair to say — this is a bit unusual isn't it — secretly appointing yourself to other government ministries. what's been the response? ican see, i can see, but if you're scratching your head in a bit

confused, i do not blame you because this is been an extraordinary week in australian politics and it is a strange as it sounds. now we know that when referring to scott morrison, were not only referring to the former prime minister, were also referring to him as the former secret ministerfor home to him as the former secret minister for home affairs, finance, health, resources and environment. this is extraordinary in so many ways. in fact that he had appointed himself to others portfolios and that he kept his secret not just from the public in the media but for members of his own cabinet. the health minister knew but if you remember, this was essential watching for everyone in the country. scott morrison and greg hunt, discovered 19 briefings at the height of the pandemic, briefing the public on markdowns, to vaccination

roll—out, little did we all know that we were actually looking at two health ministers, not one. at what scott morrison is saying that this is an extraordinary time any needed extraordinary measures. but he failed to explain is why this was all donein explain is why this was all done in secret if he is doing something wrong or something thatis something wrong or something that is lawful and fine, also, for example it is state of emergency or case of emergency or one of the ministers was a capacity covid—19, like i need to? when a leader is ill or something like that, it can be deputize. why did he have to centralise power like this? and others are saying this is the centralisation of power. find centralisation of power. and 'ust nets centralisation of power. and just gets more _ centralisation of power. and just gets more curious because he is refusing to go, the current prime minister saying he is trashing the democracy.

he says he has no intention of going because he is the mp for sydney increases the public are still grateful for the way that he led the country through the pandemic and this is politically very, very bizarre and so, it remains to be seen how the government would deal with this and i don't think they're going to go, i still think their questions to be asked by the legality and the administrative loophole that allowed this to happen in the first place. this is not the last are going to hear from this, for sure. i last are going to hear from this, for sure.— last are going to hear from this, for sure. i know you be keeping _ this, for sure. i know you be keeping us _ this, for sure. i know you be keeping us up-to-date - this, for sure. i know you be keeping us up-to-date on i this, for sure. i know you be l keeping us up-to-date on the keeping us up—to—date on the programme and making sense of it and thank you forjoining us. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. we'll tell you about nasa's latest rocket that could pave the way for astronauts to return to the moon.

washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! _ czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 187 mariners who died aboard the kursk. we are with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of morej than two—and—a—half million peoriie in his _ hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to the desert rome?"

this is newsday on the bbc. in singapore. our headlines. a dire warning about the near—critical situation in ukraine's zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — under russian control — as they train for a crisis that some fear could be more serious than the chernobyl disaster. a powerful blast rocks a mosque in kabul during evening prayers — reports say at least three people have died. let's turn to germany now, which has been baking in searing temperatures for the last few weeks, and that has drained the water levels of the rhine. the lower water level means fewer boats can navigate germany's biggest river and that's pushed freight costs through the roof. wendy urquhart reports. the rhine stretches from the

swiss alps to the north sea it is a major freight route with hundreds of tonnes of goods being shipped down the river every day. the lack of rain the summer means that water levels have plunged to depths not seen since the drought of 2018. it makes it extremely hazardous for captains to navigate the river without damaging the boats and many have already gotten stuck on the riverbed. shipping companies have reduced their load split up to 70% to make sure that they can reach their destination. they've also had to contend with a hike and freight charges from 20 euros a tonne to 110 euros a tonne sincejune. germany was since june. germany was planning sincejune. germany was planning to use cold this winter as a substitute for the lack of russian gas supplies. and it being shipped down the rhine to the local coal plants. before the war, one in ten barges were carrying coal. now,

this one and five and it's been a huge spike in core transport. the problem is that the larger the drought lasts, the more likely it is that there will be a severe shortage of coal in the winter months because right now, the boatsjust cannot carry enough to meet demand. i want to tell you now about the us space agency, nasa, which is preparing to launch a new rocket to the moon. it's just been rolled out to a launchpad, ahead of it's first flight, currently scheduled for august 29th. if the mission is successful, it could pave the way for astronauts, heading back to the moon. our science editor, rebecca morelle, has the details. inch by inch, slowly and carefully, nasa's new rocket embarks on the first stage of what's going to be a long journey. it's heading towards the launch pad at cape canaveral in florida and getting into position, ready for its maiden flight to the moon, the start

of the artemis mission. the rocket is carrying a capsule which will go into lunar orbit, circling the moon before it returns to earth. it's a test flight so there won't be any people inside, but if this works, the next step is to get astronauts on board. jessica meir has already been into space. now she's part of the artemis team and could be selected for a future trip, because nasa's ultimate aim is to see the first woman and first person of colour walk on the lunar surface. i think it's still difficult for me to believe that it might be reality, thinking that i could possibly be one of these people to be walking on the moon, to be in orbit around the moon, to be looking back at the earth from that incredible distance. charlie duke is one of only 12 astronauts who have experienced this for themselves during the apollo missions. you were looking out the window a lot, look

at that rock over there. it is 50 years since he set foot on the moon and he didn't think it this test flight will pave the way for a landing scheduled in 2025. he's upbeat about its chances of success. i'm excited about artemus and as we build up the capability, they have picked the south pole, near the south pole, for the landing, because that is probably, if there is any ice on the moon it will be down in that region. so, that's going to be difficult because it's really rough down there, but we'll pull it off. nasa's rocket is aiming for lunar lift off in less than two weeks, but this is just the beginning. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the monty python star and director, terry gilliam, has told the bbc that �*theatres have

got to be braver". in his first broadcast interview since london's old vic cancelled his production of �*into the woods' last year, mr gilliam also warned that we're "living in a time when thoughts are dangerous". it comes after some old vic theatre staff were said to be unhappy, about the director's remarks about trans rights and the metoo movement. the musical was picked up by the theatre royal bath. our culture editor, katie razzall has been speaking to terry gilliam and co—director, leah hausman. the show goes on at bath's theatre royal. # into the woods to grandmother's house # into the woods to grandmother's house.# a production axed by the old vic reportedly because some of the london theatre staff were upset by comments director terry gilliam had previously made about the metoo movement, race, and trans rights. i think theatres have got to be braver. i think the whole artistic community has to be brave.

that's what art is about, is pushing the limits. and when you start censoring, closing down, making a safe little world to go to the theatre is boring, folks. and its death to a healthy civilisation. cinderella had planted a branch at the grave of her mother. into the woods feels like a good fit for the intensely imaginative former python. # why, then, am i left behind # mother, is there something more i should do?# _ gilliam and his fellow director are promising surprises in their production of stephen sondheim's classic musical, which subverts some of our best—known fairy tales. # silver and gold throw down on me# _ on one level, you get the stories of cinderella, jack and the beanstalk, you get rapunzel and her tower, you get the princes, you get all sorts of wonderful, delightful things. but then you get the flip side of the story, which is the genius of sondheim. you get what happens

after the happy ending. what do you think he would have made of your production? i think he would like it. he's very ironic, sardonic, he's asking for trouble half the time. takes one to know one. this octogenarian stands by the comments he made that apparently offended some old vic stuff, though he points out he is often making jokes. comedians have a responsibility to speak recklessly. the last straw, it's been claimed, was when gilliam encouraged his facebook followers to watch the comedian dave chappelle's netflix show criticised by many as transphobic. i'm very worried that people are frightened to think freely and to express their thoughts. that's what i am frightened by. trans people say they don't have a voice. i'm wishing them good luck, good luck, be whatever you want, but remember to learn to take a joke. i'm not attacking anybody. the controversy around this production is yet another example of the debate raging about where the lines are drawn when it comes to free speech. for terry gilliam, art

is about pushing boundaries, but to for terry gilliam, art is about pushing boundaries, but too far for the old vic, which says it wishes the show well for its future. katie razzall, bbc news, bath. and before we go, the 17th of august — was indonesian independence day, and one way of celebrating is taking part in a greasy tree trunk competition. yes, that's right, teams compete to reach the top of an oiled, palm tree trunk to get their hands on the prizes. to be successful, teams must work together and not look down! or slide off the tree trunk. a slippery business. and just to say it is the first such event in two years after indonesia suspended large public events to prevent crowding and the spread of disease during the covid—19 pandemic. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello there. over the past couple of days we have seen some torrential downpours across england and wales, localised flooding in places. the heavy thundery showers have now eased away and it looks like over the next few days we will see a little rain at times, mainly in the north and west, with increasing sunshine in the south and east. low pressure in off the atlantic will bring a breeze on thursday, and this weather front will bring cloud and rain slowly spreading from west to east across the country. initially we start with quite a bit of cloud, heavy showers in the south—east, but increasing sunshine for central, southern and eastern areas in the afternoon. the weather front will bring patchy rain across scotland, northern ireland and western parts of england and wales. behind it, heavy showers for scotland and northern ireland in the afternoon.

further south and east, it would be more dry with temperatures reaching 25, in the high teens further north and west, quite breezy as well. the weather front continues to cross england and wales on thursday night, clearer skies with the odd shower, temperatures a bit cool in the north and west, but quite warm and mild in the south and the east. the weather front eventually clears away from the south—east on friday, low pressure to the north of the uk, brisk westerly winds and sunshine and blustery showers. we will lose the cloud and rain in the south—east on friday morning. plenty of sunshine in central, southern and eastern england. a mixture of sunny spells and scattered blustery showers elsewhere. temperatures ranging from the high teens up to 20 degrees in the north, 20—25 further south and east. around the seasonal norm. on saturday, low pressure to the north of the uk, northern and western areas will see the most showers, some could be quite heavy, with sunshine in between. a greater chance of staying dry in southern and eastern england. again 25 the high, mid—to—high teens further north. on sunday, the area of low

pressure clears, and we look to the west for another one pushing on across the uk, arriving later in the day. much of the country will have a dry sunday before it turns more wet and windy. initially across western areas, gradually moving into eastern areas on sunday night and into monday.

this is bbc news. the latest news headlines will follow this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. london prides itself on being a culture capital. this city buzzes with creativity. now artistic trends come and go, of course, but my guest today has retained his status as the godfather of pop art for some six decades. sir peter blake came to fame in the 1960s.