this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories? notjust one ...but now a second: after a chinese balloon flew into us airspace — another is reported — over latin america, the first one angered the us government. the presence of a surveillance balloon in us airspace is a clear violation of us sovereignty and international law. and the missing person case that's left investigators in the uk perplexed , mother—of—two nicola bulley hasn't been seen for eight days — police think she may have fallen into a river. forest fires in chile sparked by a devastating heat wave have left at least 13 people dead. the boss of tesla, elon musk, is cleared of fraud

charges brought against him by the company's shareholders. raise your voices against injustice —— the call from pope francis to south sudan's christian leaders — on his first full day in the world's newest country, which remains plagued by violence and extreme poverty. and it's one of mother nature's greatest displays, flock of starlings. china has made another attempt to calm the diplomatic crisis caused by the detection of a chinese surveillance balloon over the united states. the top foreign policy official wang yi has discussed the dispute with the us secretary of state

anthony blinken, who postponed a trip to beijing this weekend in response to the dispute. by the detection of a chinese surveillance balloon over the united states. the top foreign policy official wang yi has discussed the dispute with the us secretary of state anthony blinken, who postponed a trip to beijing this weekend in response to the dispute. china insists the balloon is a weather obervation airship that went off course, but washington says it's being used for spying. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. a surreal but increasingly serious international row. this speck in the sky could be spying on the us — the chinese balloon that's been hovering over the country for several days. china insists it's a platform to conduct weather—related research that's deviated from its route. beijing has apologised but the us state department says it stands by its assessment that the balloon is being used for surveillance, and defence officials now say there's a second balloon. we are seeing reports of the balloon transiting latin america. we now

assess it as another chinese surveillance balloon. antony blinken had been due in beijing this weekend to hold talks on a wide range of issues, including security, taiwan and covid—19. but he said that was no longer possible because the purpose of the trip — to forge better relations between the two countries — had been undermined. the presence of this surveillance balloon in us airspace is a clear violation of us sovereignty and international law, that it is an irresponsible act and that the prc�*s decision to take this action on the eve of my planned visit is detrimental to the subsequent discussions that we planned to have. beijing says in a phone call on friday night, antony blinken was told by his chinese counterpart that accidental incidents had to be dealt with in a calm and professional manner and that both parties needed to avoid any misjudgements. us defence officials say the first balloon is still hovering somewhere over the united states and they're keeping their options open.

and i can tell you that the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the centre of the continental united states. again, we currently assess that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time. officials say the immediate objective is to get this balloon out of us airspace. peter bowes, bbc news. our china correspondent — stephen mcdonell — has been guaging the response from beijing. there had been great hope here in beijing that the visit by us secretary of state antony blinken could provide something of a breakthrough, of a reset in us—china relations. but this balloon or these balloons have put a stop to that. there was, however, a call between china's most senior foreign policy official, wang yi, and antony blinken and according to official readout of that call from the chinese side, they're saying that wang yi told antony blinken that both sides should maintain steadiness and with timely communication,

they could avoid misjudgment in terms of this balloon affair, but that beijing would not accept any groundless conjecture or hype regarding the balloons. also, in a separate statement from the chinese foreign ministry, they said that some politicians and media in the us have hyped up this as a means of attacking and smearing china. so you can see, even as china is trying to reassure the us that the balloons have accidentally floated into us airspace, they're still trying to take a strong stand, i guess maintain some face either way. a lot of work is going to have to be done to rebuild the trust that would be required for anthony blinken to set another date to come to beijing to have these talks, which, as i say, are supposed to be designed to ease tensions between the world's superpowers.

isabel hilton who is the founder of china dialogue and visiting professor at the lau institute. she explained why this balloon was so disturbing to the americans. i think it raised the alarm when it was passing over montana, which has 150 intercontinental ballistic missile sites. and that, i think, is what what made it a particularly sensitive balloon. do you think that the chinese were expecting the reaction to reach the point of the secretary of state cancelling his visit? well, if they weren't, then they don't really read american politics very closely, because whatever the american military might think about the seriousness or not of the appearance of this balloon, and they seem to feel that they've got it pretty well—contained and can presumably

cancel any any signals that it's sending. but unfortunately, the political reaction in the united states is not so easily containable. and within hours of this news being public, we can see the american republican right and donald trump, you know, being very, very loud about the failure of the biden administration to take a strong line on china. so had antony blinken proceeded with the visit as planned, that would simply have left the biden administration hostage to these attacks about its failure to deal with china. even as blinken would be sitting down in beijing, the american right would say, the republican right would say, that they were allowing a spy balloon to hover over the us�*s most sensitive military sites. so you can see that this just created an impossible situation. better to postpone,

let the thing die down. is it, in part, that this reaction has been driven by the publication in the united states, just a couple of days before, of this memo, apparently written by a senior general, predicting the possibility of china and the united states being in armed conflict by 2025 over taiwan. yes. look, everybody knows that there is a possibility of armed conflict over taiwan. the general concern was relying on what he called his gut to put the date on it. and a lot of people, including myself, tend to disagree. we're in a very delicate situation over taiwan. and that was one of the things that it was hoped that the blinken visit might at least get under control. there's a confrontation over taiwan, but the danger is, that without open communications, a confrontation can produce an incident and an incident can produce a crisis. so it really was quite important for both sides. and i think that the chinese were quite keen on the blinken visit.

there were hints that xi jinping would meet him, which, you know, he didn't have to do. blinken is not the president. so there was every sign that preparations were being made for a more contained and reasonable conversation between the us and china that we've seen for some time. and it fits in with with the charm offensive that china has launched in the last two months to say, look, you know, lockdown�*s over, come back, come and invest. and all these things have now been quite badly damaged by this episode. so it's a bit mystifying. you know, either the military, the pla, presumably whose balloon they say is, were not paying attention to the diplomatic moment or this is a rather stupid provocation. here in the uk — a missing person case has been perplexing investigators. but lancashire police investigating the disappearance of mother—of—two nicola bulley now believe she fell

into a river. the 45—year—old was last seen next to the river wyre in the village of st michael's on wyre, on a dog walk a week ago. a major search for ms bulley continues, but no trace of her has been found. in response to the police�*s theory, nicola's friend of ten years emma white said it's important to keep searching for evidence. we can't be talking about a life and basing it on a theory. we can't go and tell those girls, well, the theory could be x, y and z. we need some evidence. whatever the news is, then we'll deal with whatever the evidence is. so again, we're out in force today and raising that awareness. if anybody does see anything, hear anything, jogs the memory of last friday, please share. but on the bulletin yesterday, we're asking for factual information so that influx of calls yesterday, we want the facts. our reporter olivia richwald joins us live now from the village of st michael's

on wyre in lancashire. you are talking in the last hour about continuing operations in the river and in the area. what about continuing operations in the river and in the area.— about continuing operations in the river and in the area. what i police auoin to river and in the area. what i police going to be _ river and in the area. what i police going to be doing _ river and in the area. what i police going to be doing this _ river and in the area. what i police going to be doing this weekend? l river and in the area. what i police i going to be doing this weekend? just since going to be doing this weekend? jut since we have been here this morning, we have seen the police helicopter overhead, flying very low, and hovering for a long time, presumably scanning the river for any signs of nicola. we have also seen police search teams on foot. just a few minutes ago they passed this section further up the river. they tell me they are walking the entire length of the river today. nicola bulley is a 45—year—old mum of two young girls. it is now eight days since she vanished. she had just dropped her children off at school and was walking back along this footpath, a popularfootpath here next to the river. she disappeared from a spot around about 400 metres further upstream. she was walking her dog and she had her

phone with her the. the phone and dog were found, but there has been no sign of nicola since then. yesterday the police held a press conference here in the village, and they were keen to stress there were no suspicious circumstances that they can ascertain at the moment. they don't believe there is any criminal involvement. their working hypothesis is that nicola has accidentally fallen into the river, and that is why their search is, today, and this weekend, focusing on the river itself. there is a huge team of volunteers also searching, and like nicola's friend emma, they don't want to give up hope. they are looking at all possibilities to try to find out what has happened to nicola, and find her. yesterday the police confirmed that they had very thoroughly search this one kilometre stretch, but the riverfrom here to the sea, it is about 14 kilometres long, so clearly there is a lot more work that needs to be done to search the river. it is not an easy river to search, because although it looks narrow, it is quite deep and very

murky. police have been using sonar and using underwater search teams. they have also been consulting river flow experts to try to work out where nicola might be. meanwhile the volunteers are still coordinating a detailed search of the area. everyone is hoping that there is a positive outcome to this curious case. ., ., u ., case. one of the old circumstances, which was apparent _ case. one of the old circumstances, which was apparent after _ case. one of the old circumstances, which was apparent after she - case. one of the old circumstances, which was apparent after she had i which was apparent after she had disappeared, was that she was on the phone, apparently moments before, and that the phone was found, even though she wasn't found. she had beenin though she wasn't found. she had been in the middle of a conference call with colleagues. i suppose that was something which would make people think, if you suddenly leave your phone and you vanish, has somebody attacked you and drag you off? do the police think they could come up with an alternative explanation for that very odd, small but very odd matter? yes

explanation for that very odd, small but very odd matter?— but very odd matter? yes that's ri . ht, but very odd matter? yes that's right. there _ but very odd matter? yes that's right, there have _ but very odd matter? yes that's right, there have been - but very odd matter? yes that's right, there have been a - but very odd matter? yes that's right, there have been a lot - but very odd matter? yes that's right, there have been a lot of l right, there have been a lot of theories as to what might�*ve happened to her, and that is why the police held their press conference yesterday, to try to reassure people that they had scoured the area and they have searched cctv, and they don't believe nicola left the area. the phone you are talking about was found on a bench, it was still connected to a teams call that nicola had joined. connected to a teams call that nicola hadjoined. it connected to a teams call that nicola had joined. it was still left on and still connected to that call on and still connected to that call on the bench. the police believe that possibly she joined that call, she was walking her dog, perhaps the dog found something or got into a difficulty, and perhaps nicola left her phone on the bench and entered the river by accident. that is the theory that they are working on at theory that they are working on at the moment, and they are keen to stress, they don't believe there are circumstances. olivia, in st michael's on the river wyre, thank you.

chile has declared a state of disaster in several central—southern regions after a heat wave sparked forest fires that left at least 13 people dead. more than 100 homes have been affected and 47,000 hectares of forest destroyed since the wildfires broke out on wednesday. stephanie prentice reports: scenes of devastation in chile. these are just some of the homes razed to the ground by fires raging out of control. some of the people living here in santa juana trying desperately to save their communities. doing what they can to salvage the dry earth on arable land. thousands of firefighters and civilian support crews have been sent out to try and contain the fires on the ground between the capital, santiago, and southern farming regions. but on friday, a helicopter trying to assist them came down, killing two of the rescuers. other civilians have died trying to flee in cars through the smoke, at least two when their car crashed.

translation: i want you to know l we are not going to leave you alone. today the priority is to put out the fire. that's what our resources are deployed for. as a government, we are concerned about support for reconstruction and recovering everything that has been lost. the most important thing is to save lives. there are fears that strong winds predicted over the next few days could scorch this landscape further. reconstruction and recovery of these farming areas at least seemingly a longer term goal. stephanie prentice, bbc news. ajury in the united states has found elon musk not guilty of fraud over a tweet about tesla. mr musk was being sued by shareholders who claim they lost billions following tweets by the founder of the carmaker that he was taking the company back into private ownership. — something which never happened. summing up, the lawyer

for the shareholders said that the billionaire was not above the law while mr musk�*s attorney said his client was not a tweeting monster. james clayton has been following the case. elon musk seemed nervous after giving evidence. he had a lot to lose. elon musk had a lot to lose, potentially billions. in terms of an individual tweet, this one had already been extremely costly. he tweeted out that he had funding secured to take tesla private. that would mean buying out tesla shareholders and many investors say they took mr musk at his word, buying up tesla stock. after that tweet, the share price rocketed but soon it

became clear that the deal was far from done. tesla never went private, it is still a public company. and that became clear, the share price duly fell. investors lost big money. the securities exchange commission had already fined him and tesla $14 million for the tweet and stripped him of his position of chairman of position as chairman of the board. in addition, many shareholders showed. this court in san francisco has been hearing evidence. the question the jury had to decide was whether elon musk had knowingly tweeted out something not true and, if he had, what damages he should pay. elon musk argued in court he had acted in good faith and after deliberation the jury concluded he did not have to compensate investor losses. this is a lawyer who is an expert in securities fraud. when we looked at the case i thought it was a slam dunk. he comes out, says funding secured. i mean, that is as concrete of a statement of taking a company private as there can be. finding

elon musk not guilty is a travesty, because it means that from now on corporate executives can put out tweets, use social media and skirt the line very thin on what is real and not real, as long as they can say that they believed it and or many legal experts thought that elon musk would lose this case, but they were wrong. it means one of the worlds richest people has just saved himself billions of dollars. here in the uk —nhs leaders are warning that there will be a struggle to clear backlogs and improve emergency care — unless industrial action by thousands of staff is brought to an end. it comes as nhs england prepares for the biggest round of strikes in its history next week, with thousands of nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists planning walkouts. health leaders have called on ministers and the unions to urgently find a resolution to break the deadlock. the uk's royal navy

is conducting an investigation after sailors on a warship needed hospital treatment for drinking contaminated water. hms portland returned to portsmouth after the incident, which is thought to have been caused when a crew member put the wrong chemical into the ship's drinking water system. nearly all of the sailors have been discharged from hospital. the ministry of defence said it's taking measures to safeguard personnel. pope francis is continuing his visit to south sudan where he's trying to persuade political leaders to end conflict in the country. pope francis is on an unprecedented �*pilgrimage of peace' in the world's youngest country. on saturday evening, the pope will lead prayers at the mausoleum of south sudan's independence leader, john garang. 50 thousand people are expected to attend. our correspondent mercy juma has the latest from the south sudan capital, juba.

the mausoleum whether people will be meeting and where pope francis, together with the other two leaders are going to hold a meeting, is already full. people started streaming into the mausoleum as early as 7am, so we expect a lot of activity today. pope francis has met religious leaders and political leaders, and the seminaries, people who are preparing, who want to become president in future. he has had a good session with them at one of the catholic churches here. another key thing that we expect pope francis to do is to meet some of the victims that have been affected by civil war and conflicts in south suzanne. this is a young country, but a country that has had a really difficult inheritance, and things have not got any easier. how important is this visit in how it is perceived in south sudan? this important is this visit in how it is perceived in south sudan? this is a

very important. _ perceived in south sudan? this is a very important, grand _ perceived in south sudan? this is a very important, grand moment- perceived in south sudan? this is a very important, grand moment for| very important, grand moment for south sudan. when pan pope francis was coming into the country, one woman told me of the joy she was dealing that can only be equated to how she felt when south sudan gained independence. it has been a rough patch, civil war and intercommunal conflict. as we spoke about a day ago, there was an inter—communal conflict that killed about 27 people. it is a big deal that not only pope francis, but to other religious leaders are here with him today. they are really hoping that the messages of peace and hope that it brings will be taken in by the political leaders. yesterday, when he was addressing the president of south sudan, and other political leaders, pope francis said that it was time for them to stop fighting and to build this nation and to be father figures and to build this nation and to be

fatherfigures to and to build this nation and to be father figures to the orphans, millions of them, who are in south sudan. they are hopeful here, that things will change. pope francis kissed the feet of the leaders, but they are hopeful that this will be they are hopeful that this will be the time their country can move forward. a murmuration of starlings is one of mother nature's greatest displays — but you don't necessarily have to trek miles into the countryside to see one. bird—watchers have been enjoing some epic aerial entertainment on a trading estate in the west of england. tracey miller went to join them.

the mesmerising spectacle of thousands of starlings. it is footage like this that has brought us to the unlikely location of trading estate near tewkesbury. these birds will be travelling a long way, they will be coming from 15, 20 miles long way, they will be coming from 15,20 miles in all directions and coming in to roost communally. they will be keeping warm and sharing information about the feeding places they have been that day, and also, by murmur rating above the roosting site, they make sure they can avoid predators like peregrine falcons. jt predators like peregrine falcons. it is never guaranteed they will show up, but as dusk began to fall, huddles of hopeful humans began to gather. huddles of hopeful humans began to cather. , ., , , . ., gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. gather. very hopeful, expectant, even- when _ gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. when you _ gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. when you see _ gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. when you see the - gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. when you see the birds - gather. very hopeful, expectant, even. when you see the birds fly| even. when you see the birds fly head and hear— even. when you see the birds fly head and hear the _ even. when you see the birds fly head and hear the sound - even. when you see the birds fly head and hear the sound of - even. when you see the birds fly head and hear the sound of theirj head and hear the sound of their wings— head and hear the sound of their wings beating. _ head and hear the sound of their wings beating, it— head and hear the sound of their wings beating, it is— head and hear the sound of their wings beating, it is quite - head and hear the sound of their wings beating, it is quite an - wings beating, it is quite an incredible. _ wings beating, it is quite an incredible, powerful- wings beating, it is quite an| incredible, powerful feeling. wings beating, it is quite an - incredible, powerful feeling. you .et incredible, powerful feeling. you get goose — incredible, powerful feeling. you get goose bumps _

incredible, powerfulfeeling. you get goose bumpe— incredible, powerfulfeeling. you get goose bumps. then they came, small grouos _ get goose bumps. then they came, small groups building _ get goose bumps. then they came, small groups building up _ get goose bumps. then they came, small groups building up until- get goose bumps. then they came, small groups building up until we . small groups building up until we were treated to this aerial ballet. the sound that gives it the name oration. —— murmur oration. that is wing beats creating a murmur of sound, planning at speeds of up to 50 miles an hour, and the cameramen did well to keep up.— did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and _ did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and all _ did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and all in _ did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and all in the _ did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and all in the middle - did well to keep up. awe-inspiring, beautiful. and all in the middle of l beautiful. and all in the middle of an industrial— beautiful. and all in the middle of an industrial estate. _ beautiful. and all in the middle of an industrial estate. it _ beautiful. and all in the middle of an industrial estate. it was - beautiful. and all in the middle of an industrial estate. it was a - an industrial estate. it was a fantastic _ an industrial estate. it was a fantastic experience, - an industrial estate. it was a fantastic experience, and . an industrial estate. it was a i fantastic experience, and they an industrial estate. it was a - fantastic experience, and they could be back— fantastic experience, and they could be back tomorrow. _ fantastic experience, and they could be back tomorrow.— fantastic experience, and they could be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, the all be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, they all landed — be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, they all landed to _ be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, they all landed to roost _ be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, they all landed to roost in _ be back tomorrow. then, in a moment, they all landed to roost in the _ they all landed to roost in the trees. i can remember seeing one on christmas day once in devon. it did feel like it was almost magical, seasonal moment.

and how's this for beginner's luck. 18—year—old juliette lamourjust scooped nearly 36 million dollars in canada's gold ball lottery jackpot on her first try. although she's the youngest canadian to ever win such a big prize, she still plans to finish her university studies and become a doctor. hello there. this weekend's weather is certainly going to be a tale of two halves. but one of the weekend, rather cloudy and mild, limited brightness around, but by sunday, it's going to turn chillier and largely sunny, as high pressure topples in right across the uk. today we are in this wedge of milder airfor one more day, before the cold air starts to move in behind this weather front, cold air starts to move in behind this weatherfront, introducing outbreaks of rain to the north and west of scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon. some dry and bright weather towards the south and east of scotland for a while, but for most of england and wales, we are staying dry, a lot of clout around, limited brightness, some of the best of it what eastern areas, one or two spots of drizzle

towards western hills. top temperatures 12 degrees in the south, just around 10 degrees further north. this evening and overwrite that weather front and spread southwards and weakens as it does so, so barely anything on it, just a band of cloud around dawn. it should eventually clear from the south and south—east of england, introducing much colder air. it is going to be a chilly start to sunday, with some frost certainly in north and west areas, perhaps a bit of mist and fog too. but two of the weekend, the area of high pressure sitting across the uk, with the chilly air trapped underneath. temperatures will be close to the seasonal norm, but it will be a colder start than what we have been used to for sunday, a bit of early frost and mist and fog around, and thenit frost and mist and fog around, and then it is going to be dry, widespread sunshine across the board. a bit of cloud for the northern and western isles, may be for the far south—west of england and into the channel islands, otherwise it is going to stay dry and sunny for most, and temperatures down and what we have been used to, seven to 9 degrees. forced an area of high pressure still with us as we head into monday, drifting a little

bit towards the east, that may allow this weather front to encroach in to the north—west of the uk. i think it could be a bit cloudier on monday for scotland and northern ireland, breezy to, we could see some splashes of rain in the western isles. most of england and wales for a chilly start and mist and fog, it is going to be another dry day with pretty much widespread sunshine. temperatures range from around seven to 9 degrees, and high pressure holds on for much of this upcoming week, so a lot of dry and settled weather to come, quite a bit of sunshine too. it would be chilly by day, close to the seasonal norm, but knights will be cold, with frost and mist and fog.

this is bbc news. the headlines: after a chinese balloon flew into us airspace another is reported over latin america. us secretary of state antony blinken earlier called off a visit to beijing, calling the balloons "an irresponsible act". in the uk, the search for missing mother—of—two nicola bulley enters another weekend after police say they believe she fell into the river while walking her dog. the search continues, but no trace of her has been found. the tesla founder elon musk has been cleared of wrongdoing for a tweet in which he said he had "funding secured" to take the electric carmaker back into private ownership. forest fires in chile sparked by a devastating heat wave have left

at least 13 people dead and tens of thousands hectares of forest