this is bbc news. the headlines. nasa cancels the launch of the artemis space rocket on its mission to the moon, due to last minute technical issues. the next opportunity for the launch is on friday. the head of the institute for fiscal studies labels some of liz truss�*s tax cutting policies as �*worrying' and inadequade for dealing with rising energy costs. the ukrainian military has begun its long—awaited offensive on the southern front. it claims to have broken through the first line of russian defence around the main city of kherson. pakistan is set to launch a global appeal for the flooding catastrophe that's killed more than a thousand people and affected 30 million. a rapid rise in vaping over the past decade reaches record levels in great britain with an estimated a5 million people

taking up the habit. and after a two year pause due the pandemic, europe's largest street party kicks off its final day at the notting hill carnival in west london. nasa has cancelled today's launch of its most powerful rocket, artemis one, which had been due to take off for an uncrewed test flight to the moon. the us space agency said one of its engines had developed a bleed that couldn't be fixed in time; the next possible launch date is friday the second of september. the artemis programme aims to return humans to the moon. if successful, the plan is for astronauts to be on board the flight in two years time.

our science correspondent, jonathan amos told us what went wrong frustrating day today, ben, it really was. we had a number of little issues that cropped up. when we got here, it was pouring with rain and that delayed them tanking, putting all the propellants that they needed to go in this monster rocket over my shoulder. then they thought they had a crack halfway up the rocket, believe it or not, and decided that that was just frosting. you know, these propellants are super, super cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and the air, the moisture in the air then condenses on the side of the rocket. but what really did it for us today was one of the four engines underneath the rocket is sort of a shuttle—era engine, actually took them off the old shuttles, reconditioned them. one of them refused to go to the temperature, the operating temperature it would be required to work at, and so they called

a scrub, and as if to rub salt in the wound, just as they did that, we had this massive, great, big cloud move in from the left here. and that cloud would have been a no—go constraint as well, so all aound, big frustration, but we are hoping them that we will be back on friday, that we will have another go. so keep your fingers crossed. just, jonathan, explain the wider significance of this mission because some viewers might say, "well, hang on, we went to the moon half a century ago. what's all this about?" yeah, indeed, and if you look at this rocket and the capsule that's on the top, you kind of say, "well, it looks a bit like the saturn v and a bit like the apollo command module." and indeed they do, and part of that is because the physics has not changed in 50 years, you'll have noticed that, but believe me, there is a tremendous amount of new technology in these vehicles. much more lift on this rocket to put an awful lot more payload,

cargo in low earth orbit and then send it to the moon. because if you go back to apollo, they only went for, you know, hours and days. the apollo 17 mission, the very last mission which we'll celebrate the half—century of that in december at the end of the year, they went for 7h hours. that was the longest surface mission. when they go with this thing, they're going to go for, you know, a couple of weeks, maybe longer, because they'll have a space station in orbit around the moon as well. so, it's doing it and some when we go back, and that's the big difference. these are life pictures from there right now as we were these are life pictures from there right now as we were saying these are life pictures from there right now as we were saying a these are life pictures from there right now as we were saying a big disappointment, frustration that artemis i could not be launched today. just before then it was

announced that it wasn't going to happen because of all of those technical problems thatjohnson was alluding to. the vp of the us tweeted while we did hope to see the launch of artemis i today the attempt provided valuable data as we test the most powerful rocket in our history. our commitment to the artemis programme remains firm, and we will return to the moon. we also heard from nasa, they express their regret about the delay. they say safety is always first... earlier i spoke to tim peake, former european space agency astronaut and also a former crew member on the international space station. a test flight today, the first flight

of the sls and european service module there and these things happen, we have to go on the side of caution and we much want to learn as much as possible from this. when you say err on the side of caution, there is a safety issue here, isn't there? because there is a huge potential payload with this rocket? yes, there were a number of failures that could have been acceptable and still gone ahead with the launch, but if one engines having a problem and there is a potential loss of thrust and the rocket simply won't make it into orbit or it will be on the wrong trajectory for the moon, so this is absolutely a critical part of that has to be resolved. how important do you think this mission is? just give us some context of why we should care about this mission. this mission is the beginning of the entire artemis programme that will see multiple launches of not just this sls rocket, but a new rocket that is being built by spacex, for example, their starship launcher, another large vehicle and other commercial launchers that will enable us to build that space station thatjonathan was talking

about in lunar orbit, take astronauts down to the surface, build habitation modules there on the south pole of the moon, set up a permanent presence as a stepping stone to mars, so this launch today is really the cusp of this new area of space exploration. anyway, we are kind of colonising the moon, is that absolutely, we want to set up a permanent presence on the moon. there is a huge amount of scientific research to be gained we have barely scratched the surface, since landing sites, i2 humans having walked on the moon and it is the surface area of africa. we have since discovered hundreds of billions of tonnes of water ice at the poles and there are other extremely rare and precious minerals on the moon which could be of huge interest to us. we seem to have lost interest in the moon, is that right? and now we have suddenly regained it. i'm not sure we had lost interest, but we certainly didn't have the resources to be able

to go to the moon and have the international space station. the international space station has been a hugely successful programme... is one or the other? it is one or the other because of limited resources. now we are handing the iss over to commercial companies when it comes to the end of its natural life in 2030, new commercial stations will be in orbit. international space station focus now on national space missions was well. is that the right decision in your view? have they made the right decision about the decades ahead? i think they have made the right decision. there was an argument about whether they should bypass the moon altogether and go straight to mars, but to put it into perspective the lower earth orbit is 400,000 commuters, mars could be up to 400 million kilometres away, huge quantum leap between going to the moon on a 3—4 day mission and going to mars on a three—year mission. and as we said, a few glitches today. i suppose in some ways that is a need to be expected.

we were all excited about the potential launch at 1:30pm today, it didn't happen, but these things do happen? yes, it was disappointing because when they discovered that initial crack that they thought might have been the core it was actually just the insulation. everybody got very excited because that wasn't a huge issue and we knew we could launch with that, but when we started talking about the engine, i think most people realise that was much more serious stuff i confident they will be able to sort this out by friday? if they have to get this thing back in the assembly building, that is a big delay. if they can change it on the pad or resolve the issue on the pad, that is not as much of a problem.

she's saying she won't take anything off the table, but she says she believes the best tool in the cost—of—living crisis is tax cuts. so, what do we know she's going to do? she wants to reverse the recent rise in national insurance. she wants to scrap a plan to rise corporation tax. we are also hearing murmurings from her team about potential cuts in vat, potential changes to income tax. so, today, we have heard from pauljohnson. he's the director of the institute for fiscal studies, a respected, independent economic think tank. and he spoken to the times, and he's basically said that all this could not be done without, in his words, "completely crashing the public finances". and he says it's simplistic to just think that cutting taxes leads seamlessly to economic growth, and he says that all these talks are quite worrying at a time of high inflation and big deficits. now, liz truss�*s campaign has

responded, a spokesperson saying her plan will tackle economic orthodoxy and boost growth rates in the long—term. she's not the only one who comes in for criticism. rishi sunak, too, his plan under the microscope from pauljohnson, who says he doesn't think either candidate has adequate solutions to the cost—of—living crisis we are seeing at the moment. another person who has weighed in here is alistair darling, a former labour chancellor, but he was of course chancellor during the 2008 financial crash, so perhaps someone who's a bit more experienced with difficult economic situations. i'm not sure how much the two conservative candidates will listen to his advice, but he's given it anyway. he says the two candidates are piddling around with small measures, and he says if you want to deal with the economic problem of this scale, you need to do two things — you need to act quickly, and you need to go further than people expect you to go in order to shore up the economy. now, we don't have full plans from rishi sunak or liz truss yet. we don't have a full picture of what they're going to do. one of them will be the new prime minister a week today, and as soon as they are, they will be under a lot of pressure to spell out exactly

what they're going to do. and just briefly, david, i mean presumably any criticism there is now of their policies is not that relevant because most of the tory party membership have already voted. yeah, well, this competition has certainly been going on a long time, and conservative party members have been able to vote for some time now. we don't have figures on how many of them have made their decision and settled on a final decision, but the polls do suggest that liz truss has been ahead. rishi sunak has acknowledged that he is the underdog. all speculation at the moment, and one week today, we will know who the new prime minister is. earlier, we spoke to former conservative cabinet minister and former leadership hopeful in 2019, rory stewart, about the latest on politics, the conservative leadership contest and the potential comeback of borisjohnson. it would take a very, very unusual upset for liz truss not to be our prime minister.

and also you've said in the past, i think, borisjohnson could still make a comeback. is that realistic? well, he seems to... remember, he is a man with immense self—confidence and i think he feels very bewildered by being thrown out. there are quite a large number of people unfortunately in the conservative party that seem to wish he was still in office. so there will always be the temptation for him, as there was for donald trump and berlusconi, to feel that he can have a comeback. is there a way with the conservative party and the time they take to elect a leader, and here we are in the middle of a crisis, with rising energy costs, and yet we have the accusation that we have a zombie government because it is taking so long to come up with a new prime minister. it's very,very strange that borisjohnson has been on holiday during this period. theresa may, during a similar

leadership race, was working flat out and got out a lot of important policy out. she got a lot of education budget policies during that period, so there's absolutely no reason why the government could not be going full throttle at the moment. just very briefly, whoever wins this race, it will be an extraordinarily difficult, challenging time to take over as prime minister at this country at a time of such economic peril. yes, incredibly difficult. and we are in real danger of going into a prolonged recession. inflation is far too high, but at the same time, we're going to have to put more money into economy in order to support the very poorest. we are struggling to get growth off the ground, and we are in the serious risk of inflation and recession, and we haven't seen this on this scale for many years.

ukraine says it has broken through the first line of russian defences near the city of kherson, beginning its much—anticipated counter—offensive in the south. it says fighters from the self—proclaimed donetsk people's republic and russian paratroopers who supported them have retreated. there are also offensives in other directions. our correspondent hugo bachega has the latest from kyiv. so is this a counteroffensive and how successful does it appear to be? for weeks we've been talking about the yearnings trying to launch a major offensive we could be seem the beginning of it. we have reports that there is a tense fighting and parts of the south of the country. it seems the forces managed to break

through the first russian defences around the city. reports that electricity has been cut off. for weeks russians have been attacking deep inside russian territory away from the front lines using sophisticated weapons supplied by the west. obviously curse on is a city —— her son... the a lot of activity in the east in particular around the city of clark eve and did ask and luhansk in the in the south. so we could see perhaps the beginning of a change in the military situation on the ground. a

lot of concern about the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant what is the latest on that today today we had a sweet. announcing and mission was on the way. a mission is expected to travel to the power complex at the end of the week. for weeks we have been talking about fears of a nuclear catastrophe. the rains have accused the russians of turning this nuclear facility into a nuclear base. using it to watch attacks against ukrainian towns knowing ukrainian forces are unlikely to retaliate. the reactions fully back russians deny this saying they are protecting this plan. earlier this month the chief was

here in ukraine saying it was essential to allow international monitors into the nuclearfacility. he also talked about the need to create a demilitarised zone around the facility. so far the russians haveit the facility. so far the russians have it rejected this idea. have it re'ected this idea. thank ou have it rejected this idea. thank ou hu~o have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for — have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for bringing _ have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for bringing us - have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for bringing us up - have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for bringing us up to l have it rejected this idea. thank you hugo for bringing us up to date. nasa postpones the launch of the artemis space rocket on its mission to the moon, due to last minute technical issues. the next opportunity for the launch is on friday. the head of the institute for fiscal studies labels some of liz truss's tax cutting policies as �*worrying' and inadequade for dealing with rising energy costs. the ukrainian military has begun its long—awaited offensive on the southern front. it claims to have broken through the first line of russian defence around the main city of kherson.

sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. rory mcilroy has been one of the staunchest critics of the saudi—funded breakaway liv golf series, and following his victory at the season—ending tour championship on the pga tour, admits it won't be easy playing alongside them. whilst they can't play on the pga tour, liv golfers can play in europe's dp world tour, meaning the likes of sergio garcia and lee westwood will likely tee it up alongside mcilroy at the bmw championship next week. i hate what it's doing to the game of golf. i hate it. i really do. imean... it's going to be hard for me to stomach going to wentworth in a couple of weeks' time and seeing 18 of them there — like, that just. .. itjust doesn't sit right with me. so... yeah, i feel strongly. i believe... i believe what i'm saying are the right things.

and i think when you believe that what you're saying is the right things, you're... you're happy to stick your neck out on the line. ross barkley is a free agent after his contract with chelsea was terminated by mutual consent. after a £15 million move from everton in 2018, there were high hopes for the then england midfielder, but injuries and poorform have seen him make just 100 appearances in 11.5 years. today marks ten years since the opening ceremony of the london 2012 paralympics, which were a huge success at the time. but what's been the long—term legacy of a games which had the motto, "inspire a generation"? kate grey has been finding out. this is going to tearl up the record books! it is gold and silver| for paralympics tv! she's going to do with it, it's gold! | and a brand—new world record! the london 2012 paralympic games have certainly left their mark on the queen elizabeth olympic park. celebrated as the greatest games ever, with packed out stadiums and memorable moments.

johnny peacock stoning the crowd in the stadium. ellie simmons raising the roof of the aquatic centre. and sarah story unbeatable in the velodrome. but ten years on, what's the true legacy of the london paralympic games. in the past year, laura sugar has become a paralympic, world and european champions cup. i could see the look on laura sugar�*s face. she's absolutely delighted with that. but in 2012, she was just a spectator. that literally changed my life, and since 2013, i've been a para—athlete. yeah, and watching 2012, i'm literally the definition of the legacy from it, that i saw it, i got inspired by, i believed in it, believed in myself and suddenly realised there was an opportunity there. here, the opportunities at grassroots for

disabled people to access venues and supporting experiences are second to none. this all ability cycling club has been running since london hosted the games and has been thriving ever since. having a little bit on offer - or you can actually start to inspire and connect people that would not typically - come and use the assets on their doorstep was a reallyl important thing to achieve. and i think we've done that. but for us, i think that i in communities with the assets of the london 2012 games is hugely important. _ the impact of the games is clear to see. but is it enough? we should evidently massively celebrate 2012 as being, incredible, but you cannot expect a couple of weeks of the olympics and a couple of weeks of the paralympics to change the world. you know, years ago, you know, you made it if you had a $1 million a year shoe contract. you know, we are not even vaguely close

to that for a disabled athlete. celebrate the moment, but we cannot ever be complacent about where we are. london 2012 raised the bar for paris port and impacting disabled people like no other. now is the time for the next game changing moment to keep pushing those boundaries. kate grey, bbc news, at the queen elizabeth olympic park. and the us open is underway at flushing meadows. andy murray amongst the early starters against 24th—seed francisco cerundelo. follow that via the bbc sport website or social media channels. pakistan's climate change minister has said a third of the country is underwater �*right now�*, calling the flooding a �*crisis of unimaginable proportions'. the disaster has killed more than a thousand people and affected 33 million. international help has begun to arrive, but water

is still surging down the indus river and will flood the low—lying sind province even more over the next few days. azadeh moshiri reports. a young boy stranded on a rock as raging waters surround him. you can see a rescue worker edging out of the helicopter, lifting him up to safety. it's but one of the countless rescue efforts that are happening as pakistan faces one of the worst floods in years, with more than 1,000 people dead and millions affected. i find it very difficult to put into words. "flooding" doesn't quite seem to encapsulate the ongoing devastation and disaster that we're still witnessing. this is what rajanpur, in pakistan's punjab province, looked like before the flooding. its homes and fields were clearly visible. this is the situation now, overrun and overwhelmed. stepping away from the political turmoil surrounding his government, prime minister shahbaz sharif

was seen distributing relief items. while poor planning and infrastructure has played a role in all this, climate change is also to blame. pakistan only produces 1% of global emissions, yet the country is dealing with some of its worst consequences. facing monsoons and floods that are far more frequent and severe than the norm. sindh province has seen nearly nine times its usual august rainfall. so, the country is urgently asking others for help. we're working with 35 donors right now. but, you know, the responses are in principle very, very positive. but we do need technical assistance. we need a lot of mobilization on the ground. pakistan was already facing an economic crisis. so, these floods are coming at a difficult time. and with some areas bracing for torrents of water from swollen rivers, the damage is not over yet. azadeh moshiri, bbc news.

tarhub asgharfrom bbc urdu is in the koh—e sulaymans mountain range in central pakistan which has seen repeated flash flooding for the past month. officials have just opened the main access roads and started relief activities in the area. she has been speaking to those who have walked for hours to get relief help. right now, i'm at koh—e sulaymans mountains. it's a region of south punjab that is hit badly by a flood. there was a blockage, there was landsliding. people were there. now, today, we have reached to this place, and if you could see, there are mountains all around and currently people are talking about them. they don't have anything to eat because relief operation could not reach here because of the area that you can see behind me. we have one of the affected of this flood. we will try to talk to him.

translation: our- problems are enormous. the whole area has been wiped off. we didn't get any food, not even a single onion or a grain of salt. 25 people spent the night under a tent, the whole night, and the children kept crying. they're claiming that we are in this situation for last one month. a lot of people who actually said, "we travelled approximately four hours by foot to reach here just to get some kind of relief." translation: we left behind the kids and came here. - i have been coming here for three days, and no one here _ has anything to eat. my toenails have broken, - and they're bleeding from climbing the mountains to get here. i spent 15 years in - the army before retiring. translation: i have around 13 children. i we don't have anyone looking out

for us, and we don't know any of the officials to refer to. we only have god to watch over us. if you can see here, officials there, people are complaining to them, people are talking to them. they're actually asking them to write their names so that relief operation could reach to them. police believe a teenage boy who died after collapsing at the leeds festival had taken ecstasy. the 16—year—old fell ill on saturday night and died yesterday in hospital. west yorkshire police is investigating whether he had taken a particular type of ecstasy tablet, described as a grey or black oblong. vaping has risen rapidly over the past decade to reach record levels in great britain with an estimated 11.3 million people who are regular vapers, according to a new report. action on smoking and health (ash), which produced the data, said a "vaping revolution" has taken place over the past decade.

well earlier i spoke to professor of public health at the university of edinburgh about the report. we start with smokers and recent x markers they make of the majority of those who are smoking we just start with smokers and recent ex—smokers. those of the groups that we actually do want to encourage torts of —— they bang. and the young smokers. the young smokers are the ones who are vaping. we've also seen rises and youth use and cigarettes. they are not supposed to be sold to under 18—year—olds. we have to promote them appropriately to one group and keep them away from another and that is a difficult balance to strike. how is successful is beeping getting people off of cigarettes? we know this is successful because of quality

control trials that we have been involved in so we are looking at looking at behavioural support and looking up many months up to a year. now we are seeing vaping is more effective than replacement therapy to help people quit. and we are seeing that today's survey that they are popular. they are flavours, that are separate from separate. they are not risk—free.