welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. the un chief says any damage to ukraine's nuclear plant would be �*suicide�* — on a visit to lviv he calls for an end to fighting near the facility. in russia, a fire at an ammunition depot is blamed for the evacuation of two border villages. and reports of explosions at an airfield, in russian occupied crimea. also on the programme, a usjudge unseals some documents that authorised the fbi to search donald trump's florida home. we'll get the latest from washington. we speak to the former australian prime minister kevin rudd on the tensions in the pacific between us—china relations and beijing's relationship with taiwan.

and japan launches a nationwide competition to try to enourage people in their 20s and 30s to drink more alcohol. we start in ukraine, where the un secretary general who's in the country, said he was gravely concerned about nuclear safety. after talks with president zelensky, antonio gutteresh said the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — seized by russia — must not be a target for military operations. turkey's president erdogan — who was also at the meeting — warned of the danger of "another chernobyl". our ukraine correspondent

james waterhouse reports. the hunt for a solution. featuring turkey's president erdogan, antonio guterres, the united nations chief, and ukraine's leader, volodymyr zelensky. one agenda item, russia's continued occupation of the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. there were repeated calls for a demilitarisation zone and for international inspectors to be let in. moscow has continually refused but ukraine is practising for a worst—case scenario. in an online post, staff there have described feeling powerless in the face of madness. agreement is urgently needed to establish zaporizhzhia as purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the area. the next agenda item seemed more positive. the only diplomatic breakthrough in this war. a grain deal which has and still is allowing ukraine

to export it through the black sea. kyiv and moscow were urged to make sure it continues to succeed as it could be a long—term route to peace. today though we were reminded of ukraine's condition for that to happen. translation: i'm very surprised to hear that they are ready - for some kind of peace. the people who kill, rape, hit our civilian cities with cruise missiles every day cannot want peace. first they should leave our territory. while today hasn't brought much in terms of concrete outcomes, there has been some progress. ukraine and russia still are not talking to each other but they could reach future agreements with the united nations and turkey as brokers in the middle. for now, any hope is eclipsed by the daily reality of this war. 17 people the latest to lose their lives in ukraine's second city kharkiv, in what authorities called one of their most tragic days. james waterhouse,

bbc news in kyiv. well in the last few hours, since those talks, there have been several explosions near a military airfield in russian—occupied crimea north of the city of sevastopol, around the belbek airfield. the governor of sevastopol said russian anti—aircraft forces had shot down a ukrainian drone, although it's not yet known whether the two events are connected. you'll remember another russian airbase in crimea was hit by explosions earlier this month. and seperately, in russia itself, two villages close to the border with ukraine were evacuated after a fire broke out at an ammunition depot. the fire was less than fifty kilometres from the frontier. no casualties were reported. i spoke earlier to angela stent, she's a senior fellow at the brookings institution. i started by asking for her analysis on the latest reports of explosions in crimea. i think the ukrainians are hitting back really hurts.

where it really hurts. they thought they had crimea secure and that they're having summer holidays and suddenly, ukrainians have shown that they can damage russian assets there. airfields, ammunition dumps and it's really russians have to recalibrate what — they're doing now. when you look at that calibration, this is taking all of this happening against backdrop of increasing worries about the nuclear power plant in zapori—cha; un sec gen saying damage to the plant would be suicide — is there any way out of this, two sides coming to an agreement? i wish they were, but the russians have recklessly used this nuclear power plant, the largest one in europe as a military base and they're firing from the nuclear power plant into ukraine and the ukrainians really cannot fire back because they would risk a major nuclear explosion. so it is a form of blackmail but the russians have

refused to let the international atomic energy agency, inspect and speak to them and i'm sure that they will continue to plead for that. i'm not sure what is going to take for the russians to agree to that because by doing this, they are intimidating everyone around them and cutting off electricity to much of ukraine. i'm intrigued as to what you make of this word narrative. it is impossible to say at this point, given the competing narratives about who is ahead influence, at an area that you are well versed with, how do you think that is changed? putin has made the choice with this war tojettison good relations with the collective west by which, north america, europe, australia, new zealand, japan and south korea. and reallyjust turn to china and to the global south and he has been quite successful in that because, china has neither condemned russia nor sanctioned russia. india, a democracy, a member of the quad and in partnership with the us and australia and japan, india has not condemned or sanctioned russia

and is importing more oil than other country, all of the other countries are the same time they have maintained this neutrality. africa and even latin america and mexico are major trade part of the us. they are all taking a stance where they want they are all taking a stance where they won't condemn russia and are neutral and they have used power blocs emerging from this. ajudge in florida has unsealed some of the documents which allowed fbi agents to search the mar—a—lago home of donald trump. it comes after a group of news organisations argued it was in the public interest to know more information about the search. earlier i spoke to our washington correspondent chi chi izundu and asked her what we have learned from the documents that have been unsealed so far.

so, we've learned two very valuable things. the first is that two documents have been unsealed as part of today's court hearing. the first was why the government wanted the warrant and the affidavit, the statement of oath of the evidence that they gathered in order to get the warrant signed by a judge kept sealed and it says there's a good cause because the integrity of the ongoing investigation might be compromised and evidence might be destroyed and the second, if you like, more interesting piece of unsealing documentation that we've got from today's court hearing was a bit more detail on exactly what the government are accusing donald trump of. last week, the fbi went into the home on a search warrant of donald trump and on friday, we found out, as per the request of the department ofjustice, via court,

the warrant had essentially the fbi agent had removed eleven sets of records from donald trump's mar—a—lago home, including some which were stamped top secret. the organisations were not happy with that amount of disclosure, so they went to court and that hearing was today and we found out exactly what the fbi and the government were investigating donald trump for. last week, we were made aware that it was under the espionage act. today, we found out that they were investigating him for willful retention of national defence information, concealment or removal of government records and obstruction from the federal investigation. the man accused of stabbing author salman rushdie in new york last week has pleaded not guilty to two charges in court. 24—year—old hadi matar appeared in the chautauqua county court earlier.

he faces charges of second—degree attempted murder and assault over the incident, that happened while the author was on stage at a retreat in new york state. salman rushdie faced years of death threats for his 1988 novel the satanic verses. he remains in a serious condition in hospital. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. thousands of students have received their a—level results today, after completing their first set of exams since the pandemic. while the proportion of top grades was down on last year, the result is higher than in 2019. a feeling of relief. i definitely got what i wanted and i'm glad that this with the future holds. i. pare and i'm glad that this with the future holds. i.— future holds. i. are do an apprenticeship _ future holds. i. are do an apprenticeship in - future holds. i. are do an| apprenticeship in business future holds. i. are do an - apprenticeship in business and it's amazing. i get to do what i want — it's amazing. i get to do what i want to— it's amazing. i get to do what i want to do.

rail passengers will face more disruption on friday, as companies try to get services up and running after a 2k hour strike that ground most trains to a halt. the department of transport accused rail unions of inflicting �*misery on millions', as the parties try to resolve a dispute overjobs. to japan now — which has a rather unusual new strategy when it comes alcohol consumption. you would generally expect a government to promote less drinking. but injapan, the country's national tax agency has launched a nationwide competition, asking for ideas to encourage people in their 20s and 30s to drink more alcohol because it's keen to increase its revenue from alcohol tax. my colleague mariko oi has more. for generations, many considered alcohol part of their daily life, even at work, believing that going out for drinks helps with business negotiations. that's been changing because stagnant salaries mean

japan's young adults are not drinking as much alcohol as their parents generation. and according to government figures, people that only drink three quarters of what they used to in the 19905, and that's affecting the country's budget. it's alcohol tax revenue was already falling, but in 2020, due to pandemic restrictions, it suffered its biggest fall in over 3 decades. now, the government has launched a nationwide competition called sake viva, encouraging people in their 205 and 305 to drink more alcohol — but not surprisingly the competition has been criticised for promoting an unhealthy habit. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. we'll be hearing from the former australian

prime minister kevin rudd on the esclating tensions between china and taiwan. that's coming up shortly so stay with us. 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 group5. 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 ma55 before a congregation of morej than two—and—a—half million pe0ple 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. 0ur headlines. the un chief says any damage to ukraine's nuclear plant would be �*suicide' — on a visit to lviv he calls for an end to fighting near the facility. and a usjudge unseals some documents that authorised the fbi to search donald trump's florida home. from global trade to influence in the pacific — the us and china are often at odds with policies that have seen tit for tat tariffs, and shows of military might in the taiwan and south china sea over the past decade and more. and now — increased tensions over taiwan which has found itself — again — right in the middle of current us—china relations. chances of a military conflict are higher than ever — but my next guest, the president of the asia

society and former australian prime minister kevin rudd says that does not have to be the case. well, mr rudd isjoining me here in the studio today in singapore. karishma's questions: first nancy pelosi's visit — then more us officials to taiwan — now these new trade negotiations between the us and taipei — seems like a doubling down of their approach. and some asian diplomats say this pushes the chinese into a corner, how do you see it? with increasing difficulty. prison xi jinping wants to take back taiwan and wants to do by 2049 but most previous chinese political leaders have left this and defined space in the

future. chinese military preparations are under way. financial preparations are under way. financial preparations are underway. in financial preparations are under way. in the allies and pushing back. ithink under way. in the allies and pushing back. i think the problem with the nancy pelosi visit was that it went to a core elemental sensitivity in relationship whether china believes that the united states is supporting a one china policy whether the us is departing from that and in that perspective, if the us is becoming more explicit and it's like the military intervention and support of an increasingly independent taiwan. i’zfe and support of an increasingly independent taiwan. i've heard from lots of — independent taiwan. i've heard from lots of asian _ independent taiwan. i've heard from lots of asian diplomats i from lots of asian diplomats that it appears washington is doing either by design or by accident is to push china further into a corner and that increases the risks of tensions.— increases the risks of tensions. , ., tensions. the truth is that -rison tensions. the truth is that prison xi _ tensions. the truth is that prison xi jinping _ tensions. the truth is that prison xi jinping is - tensions. the truth is that prison xi jinping is also i prison xi jinping is also change the game plan. previous —— president xijinping. for

resolving the taiwan issue, he has up the scale of the intensity of military operations and around taiwan and the level of economic reach is not significant. the us is pushing back and of course, my argument is to preserve strategic stability in the taiwan strait. we need to do is do everything we can to preserve the status quo and my argument is if you don't do that, you don't do that by messing around with the one china policy. that's why i've never been a fan of speaker pelosi's visit because it upsets the symbols of the relationship and the subject of what we should be doing in relation to taiwan is continuing to augment taiwan's ability to deter a future military strike from china. is military strike from china. is a military strike from china. 15 a geopolitical di5a5ter military strike from china. 15 a geopolitical disaster is avoidable and you are: get

managed strategic competition. what does that look like? we have what does that look like? - have unmanaged 5trategic have unmanaged strategic competition which is no rules of the road, no guard rails, to push and shove it down of the last amusing kids in the playground playing push and shove. ,, ., ., . ., , shove. quite often, actually. and so. shove. quite often, actually. and s0- i _ shove. quite often, actually. and so. i observe _ shove. quite often, actually. and so. i observe this - shove. quite often, actually. and so. i observe this quite. shove. quite often, actually. | and so. i observe this quite a bit, and so. i observe this quite a bit. solve _ and so. i observe this quite a bit, solve quite _ and so. i observe this quite a bit, solve quite a _ and so. i observe this quite a bit, solve quite a bit - and so. i observe this quite a bit, solve quite a bit until- bit, solve quite a bit until one falls over and that it escalates. in geopolitics, that's what we have right at the moment with too much metal on metal. south china sea and around taiwan, aircraft ships. they say basic guard rails and rules of the road around five since the strategic redlines led by taiwan. between the two sides so you don't accidentally tripwire anti—crisis conflict and war. and the rest of the relationship can be conducted as non—lethal strategic competition. the rest of the foreign policy and the risk of economic policy in the

ideologicalfind is to economic policy in the ideological find is to shapes the next international system. on the domestic front, both of 0n the domestic front, both of these countries are facing political pressures. midterms coming up in the us, xijinping has the party congress towards the end of the year, is their political will for that kind of negotiation, compromise, sensible conversation? find sensible conversation? and australian _ sensible conversation? and australian at _ sensible conversation? and australian at large - sensible conversation? and australian at large on - 5en5ible conversation? fific au5tralian at large on the australian at large on the loose perspective. running an american think to an bit of time in washington and recently visiting beijing. you get down to basics in beijing or washington, that there's an appetite for war —— there isn't. at least the rest of this decade, by next decade, xi jinping may think he is prepared to launch a strike but

the purpose of my book is to provide something of an outline, something of a potentialjoint outline, something of a potential joint strategic framework which may reduce the need for accidental crisis exe escalation over the next seven years. . escalation over the next seven ears. . ., , y y years. . hopefully they will read it soon. _ years. . hopefully they will read it soon. the _ years. . hopefully they will read it soon. the us - years. . hopefully they will read it soon. the us china | read it soon. the us china relations for now, talking about a subject that has dominated headlines back in homer you are. i think i'd be remiss not to address this. if the former prime minister in the former prime minister in the headlines because of the fact that he secretly assigned himself all of these different ministerial positions. what do you make of that was meant to think he should resign as mp? i think he should resign as mp? i will leave this to the australian labour prime minister and he is taken to assemble all the facts as to what transpired and how many joint portfolios the prime minister assigned himself in the past. at the bottom line is, this is notjust

politically odd. australia is 120 plus of political history and a robust democracy. is plain bizarre. i and a robust democracy. is plain bizarre.— plain bizarre. i believe you have summed _ plain bizarre. i believe you have summed it _ plain bizarre. i believe you have summed it up - have summed it up appropriately. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme right here in the singapore studio on newsday. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a long—serving senior executive for donald trump's family business has admitted conspiring with the company in a fifteen—year tax fraud. allen weisselberg, who's 75, avoided paying tax on more than one—and—a—half million pounds worth of unreported perks. under his plea deal, he will serve five months in prison and will have to testify against the company. somalia's best known poet, mohamed ibrahim warsame hadraawi, has died, age seventy—nine. sometimes referred to as the shakespeare of somalia, hadraawi wrote lyrics to more than 200 poems and 70 songs. he spent five years in jail in the seventies for criticising the then—president, before going into exile in djibouti.

to the uk now — where, the recent heatwave and subsequent dry weather has caused havoc — from wildfires, to damaged crops, and fields suffering after scorching hot temperatures. but animals are finding it tough too — not only to survive during the heat but also to find enough water to hydrate themselves. 0ne farmer in suffolk in the southeast of england is so worried, she's been putting out trays of water and even caught some visitors on camera. debbie tubby has more. this hare is wary, but thirsty. it normally wouldn't drink out of a container, but there is no moisture in the grass. this jay is trying to cool off. a badger, brazen about enjoying a possibly life—saving drink. even a fox has come to this man—made watering home. i kind of thought it might be a goshawk, and i've never seen one to photograph.

i didn't know they were on the farm. which is really nice. all of them have been caught on camera by sue cross, who is so concerned about their welfare after weeks of no rain she has been putting water out for them to drink. i think the wildlife needs water. 0ur ponds have dried up, the river is very low. and they are using the water trays that are out, so it obviously is making a difference. she lives on a 600—acre farm near bury st edmunds. just go over there. there's probably about three on the other side of this hedge here. she now spends all day every day refreshing and refilling 70 trays of water for the wildlife which calls this farm home. she is a farmer, but her hobby is wildlife photography. her priority now is keeping them alive and capturing them instead on hidden cameras. oh, wow, this is a first. a tawny owl. that's amazing. you see things you

haven't seen before. a camera card full every day to get through and see it, but it's a nice thing to do in the evening. some are so desperate for water they don't mind who they drink with. this rat is possibly dinner for this polecat, once on the brink of extinction, but it needs a drink first. we've got to do things differently. things have got to change. without water and moisture — it is moisture which is the main thing we need — things are going to struggle. it's a big wake—up call. all creatures great and small. amazing pictures, but many will question whether we should be seeing this at all. debbie tubby, bbc news. a russian rapper and restauranteur have joined forces to reopen a chain of coffee shops, with a rather familiar name. �*stars', due to open today, is the rebranded version of the us chain starbucks. after 15 years, the global coffee giant shut 130 stores

in late may, as part of a mass exodus of companies from russia in reaction to its invasion of ukraine. fans of starbucks will recognise the similarites between the old and new looks — with the new owners saying they sought to find some continuity for customers. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. there have been several explosions near a military airfield in russian—occupied crimea north of the city of sevastopol. the governor of sevastopol said no damage had been done to the belbek airbase and that russian anti—aircraft defences had shot down a ukrainian drone. separately, russia says two villages close to the border with ukraine were evacuated after a fire broke out at an ammunition depot.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello there. the weather is still looking quite mixed, really, over the coming few days. we end the week with some warm spells of sunshine, but there will be a few showers blown in, mainly towards northwestern parts of the uk. towards the southeast,

on thursday, temperatures reached 27 in central london and 28 at heathrow airport in the sunshine — that sunshine was ahead of this band of cloud that brought some patchy rain. and that cloud and patchy rain is heading towards the south east at the moment, it will keep the tempers up here by the end of the night. but clearer skies will follow to the north, those numbers dropping away to 11—12 celsius. and you may get a view of the northern lights in scotland, maybe the far north of england and northern ireland. some early rain here in the south—east corner of england and cloud — that soon moves away, sunshine comes through. cloud will tend to build up a bit and, as the wind picks up in scotland and northern ireland, will blow in some blustery showers. here, the odd showers possible across england and wales, but on the whole it looks dry, some sunshine. temperatures similar to what we had on thursday — could make 20 celsius in eastern scotland and eastern parts of northern ireland, low—to—mid—20s across england and wales. now we still have an area of low pressure to the north of the uk — around the base of that, this weather front is pushing in from the atlantic, and that means we start

the weekend with some cloud and rain in scotland and northern ireland. but it does move through, and we'll get some sunshine following, a few showers into the northwest. this narrow band of rain gets stuck across northern england. to the south, there could be some spells of sunshine and maybe 1—2 light showers — nut again, it's generally dry, and those temperatures are not really changing much as we head into saturday afternoon. second half of the weekend, and remember, everything is sort of coming in from the west — this is where our weather is coming from, and we've got some more weatherfront, some thickening cloud tending to come in from the atlantic, slowly but surely. and things are slowing down a bit, really. so we start dry, bright, some sunshine on sunday. and with that cloud coming in steadily from the west during the day, the winds probably a bit lighter on sunday, and a bit of rain coming into some western areas later on. if anything, temperatures maybe a shade lower on sunday — 18 central belt of scotland, 20 for london and the home counties. now the jet stream is sitting righ, over now the jet stream is sitting right over

the uk at the moment. that's bringing the unsettled weather. into next week, the jet stream heads further north — and that allows some warmer weather to arrive, especially in the southeast. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues — straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. and this is riga, the capital of the small baltic state of latvia, which was liberated from moscow's rule some three decades ago, and which is now braced for a new era of confrontation with russia. vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine reminded latvians of the russian threat.

it also stoked internal tensions — because a quarter