welcome to bbc news, i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories. president biden warns of the threat to equality and democracy from election deniers and "make america great again" republicans. too much of what's happening in our country today is not normal. donald trump and the maga republicans represent an extremism that threaten the very foundations of our republic. ukranian troops continue their counter—offensive, in the south of the country as they struggle to retake areas seized by russia. the threat here isn't just the artillery. it's also landmines

all along this pathway. an urgent international appeal is launched to help the millions of people affected by the flooding in pakistan. just look at all this water. it's like being in the middle of the ocean, except those are people's houses, and the water levels here are rising. and japan declares war on retro technology after discovering almost 2,000 government processes are still carried out using minidiscs, floppy disks and cds. president biden has made an impassioned speech in defence of american democracy. he warned that donald trump and what he termed "maga republicans" represent a form of extremism that threaten the us way of life. he urged all americans to come together to defend american

democracy regardless of their ideology. donald trump and the maga republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. i want to be very clear... applause. very clear up front. not every republican, not even the majority of republicans are maga republicans. not every republican embraces their extreme ideology. i know, because i have been able to work with these mainstream republicans. but there's no question, the republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by donald trump and the maga republicans, and that is a threat to this country. earlier, we werejoined by sidney blumenthal, a journalist, former senior advisor to president bill clinton and long—time confidante of hillary clinton. i asked him to reflect on the

president's speech for us. not since abraham lincoln has a president delivered a speech like this, declaring that there was a fundamental threat to american democracy that was internal, not external. and that encompassed the other party, and more than that, the supreme court, which sees itself as bulwark, of reactionary partisanship, rescinding basic american rights as we saw in roe vs wade. this was his launch before the mid—terms to attempt to retain democratic control of congress. iwonder, though, listening to his speech and some of the threats there, do you think voters will get

the message or is it more about the cost of living increase and inflation that's in front of their noses? republicans have a lot that they can speak about, the problem they are having is creating a consistent narrative because of their own factionalism,internal conflict, and the presence of donald trump, who is overwhelming everything. the criminal investigations into trump, from mar—a—lago to january 6th, to the georgia election fraud, is dominating everything. trump is not allowing republicans to develop their own campaign theme, away from his own big lie about the 2020 election and his own difficulties. he is a disruptive factor who is really undermining

mitch mcconnell, who's trying to take control of the republican senate campaign, and at the same time, the trump candidates have dominated, gaining control in the primaries. they are wildly extreme. 0ne candidate in arizona questioning whether the united states fought on the wrong side in world war ii, quoting hermann goering. highly unusual, these candidates right now. this is why biden is now sounding the alarm, and it strikes a clear bell for a lot of voters. with this particular message he is trying to get across, he is also concerned about the election results being disputed, for example, when they happen in the mid—terms. how hopeful are you that this can be resolved, particularly with what we saw after the presidential election of not accepting

an election result? the trump republicans simply do not accept election results the trump republicans simply do not accept election results right now, and are determined to create a process where elections are not decided by popular majorities. there is a case that will appear before the supreme court when it is next in session, in north carolina, in which the supreme court may rule that state legislatures controlled by one party can determine the outcome of an election. of an election, despite what the majority wants. that is what biden is deeply worried about, and the country is deeply worried about. so we are not only looking towards this threat democracy that's immediate... so immediate that there are threats to the fbi by sitting us senators, saying there would be riots if trump is indicted.

but in 2024, what would happen if the republicans control the house of representatives and refused to certify an election of a popular majority, and even the electoral college? some news from you know, their vice president cristina kirchner, she was threatened with a gun late on thursday. this was according to local television. she remained unharmed and no shots were fired. the pictures you can see are not from this incident, it is archive footage. the incident took place at the entrance of her home in bonus diaries, hundreds of protesters have gathered in recent days to support the former president.

—— in bonus aries. a minister called it an attempted assassination. a police spokesperson said a man had been arrested near the residence and a weapon had been found a few metres from the scene. we will bring you more details as we get it. no shots were fired. inspectors from the united nations have finally arrived at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in ukraine, which has been occupied by russian forces since march. shelling around the plant has led to fears of a catastrophic nuclear accident. ukrainian troops are pressing ahead with a counter—offensive in the nearby region of kherson, to retake areas seized by russia. 0ur correspondent quentin sommerville filed this exclusive report from the frontline, in the donbas region of eastern ukraine. and a warning, there are some distressing scenes in his report.

in donbas, there will be no harvest. as russian shells fall about us, these fields and furrows are instead ploughed by gun tracks and fighting men. ukraine's national guard leads us through the barrage. they pause only briefly and by the cover of tree lines. this is a war of artillery, of seemingly limitless firepower, and of scorched earth. the destruction is measured in the square kilometres. with phosphorus and cluster bombs, russia burns and scores what it seeks to capture. a canopy of acacias gives some protection from drones. but from here onwards, they must go on foot. the breakthrough in kherson has buoyed spirits, even as russia's dominance in donbas rings out loudly.

but this was isn't only being fought at long distance. take care, there is a land mine, be careful. careful. the threat here isn'tjust the artillery you can hear, it's also these landmines all along this pathway. that's why i'm following very closely in the footsteps of the men ahead. there's another one. explosion. and there are more threats — some locals are ambivalent, this is zero line, the front of the front line, eyeball to eyeball with the enemy. the big

difference this time is manpower. back then, they were outnumbered by about one to seven. now, it's one to three. the russians are literally the other side of the river. the farthest point... inaudible. it's a lonely and deadly outpost. some locals are ambivalent, others hostile to ukrainian forces. but not sergiy. where is your wife, is it hard being apart? translation: yes. every hour, every moment i miss her.

it's difficult without her because i love her, and she loves me. what a life. but i think we will get through it all, everything will be for the better. despite the shelling, yeva and her mother appear numb to danger. we can hear the shelling all around us. explosion. translation: i am afraid. i have a small selection of medical supplies which could be helpful. if suddenly, god forbid, something happens to my child or to anybody at all, i will give them first aid and take them somewhere for further treatment. but at the moment, as long as i have strength, i want to stay at home. so for now, julia and yeva will hang on here amid the illusion of a normal life. explosion. in villages and towns for hundreds of kilometres, there's no school, no work, no life. a country frozen in time and in conflict.

few live this war as fast and as close to danger as ruslan and his team of army medics. the cost of hesitation lies all too apparent by the roadside. speed is a matter of life and death for them and for their patients. their ambulance can't afford to wait until the shelling stops. but there are times when even ruslan and his medics have to take cover. explosion. translation: over there, you can see smoke. - their mortar is working. ruslan, we can see incoming russian mortarfire here. what do you do when you have casualties out there and this kind of firepower is coming in? what decisions do you have to make? translation: we see the enemy and the enemy sees us, _ but the enemy hides in the tree

line there, disguising himself. we can't do that, our ambulance is exposed. we have to pick up the injured and take them out. man screams. russia's viciousness is the daily burden of ukrainian combat medics. this man curses in agony. 0nly moments earlier, he was wounded by a mine. they're still not sure of his injuries. but in this field hospital, they have an intimate knowledge of the damage that shrapnel and artillery do to the human body. they are covered in blast wounds, their limbs broken. his colleague too has been hit. time is critical here for two reasons — the patient�*s life, and the medics never know when more casualties will arrive. this is only a snapshot of the

cost of this war. without a decisive breakthrough, ukraine is still suffering. quentin sommerville, bbc news, donbas. a cargo ship carrying a grain shipment from ukraine has run aground in turkey's bosphorus strait. it's halted shipping through istanbul. turkish officials say lady zehma suffered rudderfailure, but was safely anchored. the ship is one of six that left black sea ports in ukraine under a un—brokered export deal. japan declares war on retro technology — after discovering almost two thousand govenment processes are still carried out using, minidiscs, floppy disks and cds. she received the nobel peace prize for her work

with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. a we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting, and wives are waiting. hostages appeared — some carried, some running — trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today. described by all to whom she i reached out as "irreplaceable", an early morning car crash| in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, - warmth and compassion.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. ukranian troops continue their counter offensive in the south of the country as they struggle to retake areas seized by russia. president biden has used a prime time speech to warn of the threat to equality and democracy from election deniers and "make america great again" republicans. let's turn to pakistan now, where the disasters emergency committee has launched an urgent appeal to help the millions of people affected by the floods caused by exceptionally heavy monsoon rains this year. more than a thousand people have died and around a million homes have been destroyed or damaged. 0ur correspondent pumza fihlani reports from dadu, close to the indus river. finally on safe ground — but kareem is injured. it takes a group of people to carefully help her out of the boat. she's shaken and disoriented.

translation: one of | the walls fell on my leg. i was stuck there and couldn't move for days. i've lost everything. i thought i was going to die. kareem is then treated by medics. officials say 80% of dadu is already under water, and it's spreading to more villages. people need saving and there isn't much time. the military, aid agencies, and villagers are all part of a frenzy to evacuate those stranded. wejoined them. just look at all this water. it's like being in the middle of the ocean, exceptjust over there are people's houses, and there are many more in far—flung communities, and the water levels here in dadu are rising. and officials say around 250,000 people are at risk of drowning unless they can get them out to safety. after some time searching, we come across a village.

tens climb on board, but not everyone can make the trip. some have left relatives behind. translation: i left everyone behind, but i'm worried, - because i don't know when the next boat will arrive and when i'll be able to return to them. but i have to go and find food for us, we are going hungry. on our way to dry land, we come across more people and pick them up. they've been in the water for hours. three boats had gone past them in a rush to get to other villages. for one of the men, help came too late. translation: our friend drowned just moments i before you arrived. he slipped, and he was swept away. we couldn't save him. he's gone. in other parts of dadu, families who've lost their homes are sleeping on the roadside. some do not even have tents, let alone food.

and it's all become too much. "our children are hungry," she says. "we're not getting any food, why is no—one helping us?" the water is coming from all sides — from the overflowing indus river and the mountains in the north, and in the middle of it all are people growing more desperate by the day. pumza fihlani, bbc news, dadu. rosmah mansor, the wife of ex—malaysian prime minister najib razak, has been sentenced to ten years in prison. she was found guilty on three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes to help a company win a $280 million project. just days earlier, her husband started serving a i2—yearjail sentence for corruption charges related to the state—owned fund imdb. chengdu has become the latest

chinese city to be locked down after a fresh outbreak of covid—i9 as beijing continues to pursue its controversial "zero—covid" policy. around 21 million people have been ordered to stay indoors, with just one person per household allowed to go out for essential shopping. poland says it will formally demand reparations of more than $1.3 trillion from germany for losses inflicted during the second world war. the german foreign ministry has said berlin considers the issue of reparations to be closed. to japan, somewhere which most of us associate with hi—tech and innovation. but it's also a country whose government still uses floppy disks. that's right. it's reported up to 1,900 government procedures still require businesses to use the storage devices and now the country's digital minister has "declared war" on floppy disks and other retro tech that's still used. taro kono says regulations would be updated to allow people to use online services instead.

we can go live to tokyo now and speak to the wall street journal's tokyo bureau chief, peter landers. welcome, good to have you with us. declaring war on floppy disks, what is that going to look like? i disks, what is that going to look like?— disks, what is that going to look like? i think right now, bureaucrats _ look like? i think right now, bureaucrats love _ look like? i think right now, bureaucrats love paper - look like? i think right now, | bureaucrats love paper most look like? i think right now, i bureaucrats love paper most of all, looking for a construction permit for example, to bring in a piece of paper, having a she” a piece of paper, having a shelf on the wall where everything is neatly organised, and the floppy disk was kind of what the bureaucrats might consider... inaudible. at least something, a physical thing people could bring into city hall. thing people could bring into ci hall. �* thing people could bring into ci hall. ~ ., city hall. and now the minister is saying. we — city hall. and now the minister is saying, we need to - city hall. and now the minister is saying, we need to make - city hall. and now the minister is saying, we need to make all| is saying, we need to make all of this illegal. it’s is saying, we need to make all of this illegal.— of this illegal. it's so interesting, - of this illegal. it's so interesting, we - of this illegal. it's so | interesting, we often of this illegal. it's so - interesting, we often have this idea of japan interesting, we often have this idea ofjapan looking to the future, the bullet train introduced many years ago, years before other high—speed

rail, but what is this attachment floppy disks, and retro tech, particularly within government circles that you think might try and be more on the cutting edge?— the cutting edge? japan is really strong _ the cutting edge? japan is really strong in _ the cutting edge? japan is really strong in hardware, | the cutting edge? japan is i really strong in hardware, if you talk about industrial robots, some of the most advanced come from japan, video game machines, little parts that go into smartphones, this is really more of a software problem. it's getting information that might be on my desk into the hands of a government official, maybe a list of employees or something. it could be anything. i think that's where japan really is struggling and finally is recognising that. the covid—i9 pandemic really inspired these reforms. ., pandemic really inspired these reforms.- early - pandemic really inspired these reforms.- early in - pandemic really inspired these reforms.- early in the| reforms. how so? early in the pandemic. — reforms. how so? early in the pandemic. you _ reforms. how so? early in the pandemic, you had _ reforms. how so? early in the pandemic, you had health - pandemic, you had health officials trying to fill out

forms by paper and sending a fax to the central government... fax to the central covernment... ., ., ., government... hang on, fax? yes, they— government... hang on, fax? yes. they are — government... hang on, fax? yes, they are still _ government... hang on, fax? yes, they are still used - government... hang on, fax? yes, they are still used here. | yes, they are still used here. we saw it on the front page of the wall streetjournal a few years ago, they were having a war against the fax and this is the new campaign. i5 war against the fax and this is the new campaign. is anybody ”ushin the new campaign. is anybody pushing back? _ the new campaign. is anybody pushing back? the _ the new campaign. is anybody pushing back? the cyber- pushing back? the cyber security minister admitted a few years ago that he had never used a computer. i'm just wondering what the public reaction is, with floppy disks still being in use or indeed to the war on floppy disks? i think there is a lot of sympathy for the minister dealing with this, kono. he knows this is a way to get attention for his initiatives. people here are familiar with bureaucracy. another reason

change has been slow, no one would object to improving procedures but they are also accustomed to bringing in paper and floppy disks, that kind of thing, so maybe there wasn't a strong impetus for reform until now. . , , �* , now. really interesting, let's see how he _ now. really interesting, let's see how he gets _ now. really interesting, let's see how he gets on, - now. really interesting, let's see how he gets on, thank. now. really interesting, let's i see how he gets on, thank you forjoining us from tokyo, peter. a reminder of our breaking news. it is from argentina, the vice president, cristina kirchner, threatened with a gun late on thursday. according to local tv footage, she remained unharmed, no shots were fired. the incident took place at the entrance of her home, where hundreds of protesters have gathered in recent days. she is in the midst of a corruption trial, but the police spokesperson has said a weapon was found, and a man has been

arrested. thanks so much for watching, stay with us if you can. hello there. summer 2022 was certainly a memorable one, wasn't it? and as we bring summer to a close, these are some of the standout headlines — england'sjoint warmest summer on record, and the driest year so far for the uk since 1976. now, there is actually some rain in the forecast as we go through friday and towards the weekend. the weather is set to change. we've got this weather front here gathering pace into the northwest, and this weather front�*s been bringing some showers. now, those showers may well linger for parts of england and wales — fairly isolated, but nevertheless, they'll still be there. the best of the sunshine, north wales, northern england and eastern scotland. showery outbreaks of rain gather into the far north west of scotland and northern ireland. here, temperatures perhaps

at around 18 celsius the high — but it will be another hot and humid afternoon for central and eastern england, with temperatures into the high 20s. all change as we move into the weekend — for some, there will be some thundery showers around or longer spells of rain, and it will turn increasingly windy for all. as an area of low pressure anchors itself out to the west, spiralling around that low in an anti—clockwise direction is a series of weather fronts that'll bring some rain, some of it fairly persistent, through northern ireland and southwest scotland throughout the weekend — and that could have an impact. it will certainly have an impact on the feel of the weather. elsewhere, sunny spells and scattered showers. not a bad day to the far north of scotland, highs of 19 here — but in the sunshine, in east anglia, if you dodge those showers, you should see highs of 2a celsius. more wet weather in a similar position coming up through southwest england, wales, and then, sitting across northern ireland and southwest scotland. showers elsewhere — if you dodge those showers,

you still keep those blustery winds, but it will still feel quite warm in the sunshine for parts of england and wales, as temperatures still likely to peak at highs of 25 celsius — disappointing under the cloud and the rain. the low pressure is not set to move very far, very fast at all — into the early half of next week, it anchors itself down to the southwest. the wind direction still coming from the south, still relatively mild, but still, we could see some showers and those showers could be heavy and quite widespread for the early half of next week.

this is bbc news. the headlines... president biden has made an impassioned speech in defence of american democracy. he warned that donald trump — and what he termed "maga republicans" — represented a form of extremism that threatens the us way of life. mr biden asked all americans to defend democracy regardless of their ideology. ukrainian troops pressing ahead with a counter—offensive in the south of the country, are meeting fierce resistance from russian forces. skirmishes have taken place as inspectors from the united nations arrived to check on the safety of the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. an urgent international appeal has been launched, to help the millions of people affected by the flooding in pakistan. a third of the country is currently submerged and more than 1,100 people have died in what the un has called a "climate catastrophe".