this is bbc news. our top stories: the us federal reserve raises interest rates again — despite fears that it could add to the financial turmoil — after recent bank failures. the former uk prime minister, borisjohnson, denies lying t0 parliament about lockdown parties at downing street. i apologise for inadvertently misleading this house but to say that i did it recklessly or deliberately is completely untrue, as the evidence shows. uganda faces international criticism after passing a new law threatening anyone who identifies as gay, with life in prison but many locals welcome the bill. i was so excited about it and i really thank the parliament of uganda

because they didn't let us down. as ugandans, the biggest percentage of ugandans, they don't agree with the homosexuality. tiktok�*s chief executive agrees to appear before the us congress as security concerns grow, about the chinese—owned video—sharing app. and the search is on for the family of one of the uk's last world war two veterans ahead of his funeral next week. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the us central bank, the federal reserve has increased interest rates by 0.25%. it's trying to balance the need to tackle inflation while protecting the financial sector. the collapse of two us banks this month were blamed in part on higher borrowing rates. the latest decision has raised fears about the health of the us financial system but the fed chairman spoke

to reassure the public. our banking system is sound and resilient, with strong capital and liquidity. we will continue to closely monitor conditions in the banking system and are prepared to use all of our tools, as needed, to keep it safe and sound. in addition, we are committed to learning the lessons from this episode and to work to prevent events like this from happening again. earlier i spoke with alex horenstein, associate professor of economics, at the miami herbert business school. i began by asking him how significant the increase in interest rates were? well, i think the fed simply followed the market consensus. the market concensus was expected at 0.25 increase and that is what the fed did. unfortunately, i don't think the fed has a very good idea of what to do in this situation.

the fed are not the only economic decision—makers, including the treasury and other branches of government. the fed reserve chairman jerome powell wouldn't say what the outlook for future rate increases well. what is your assessment on what might actually happen next? my assessment is that there will probably one more increase and then we are going to see either a flat period of time or the start of a decrease, all depends on how the financial stability situation evolves. these changes have all come in part due to the collapse of those us banks. powell noted that the fed supervisors were aware of silicon valley bank, the issues the bank had. do you think the fed have done more to perhaps stop the collapse of the banks? well, here is the problem, and here is what i think. the whole situation

has been mismanaged. if they were aware, they didn't do association. if what they did, it was insufficient. it system is resilient and it wasn't mismanaged, there is no need to say they did that, but if there is reason, there could be systemic risk, then the system is not that resilient, so there are a lot of contradictions. even the treasury secretary, janet yellen, said that all depositors are safe, but she said not all deposits are safe. well, only those of what a systemic bank, but what a systemic bank is? i think at this stage, it will be good for the economy if the policymakers step back and try to think a little bit more of what's going on and wait for more data item to tell us what's going on. can people feel a bit more confident with what happened with the svb bank and the weaknesses that were known? does that potentially

exist with another banks? definitely, that potentially exists with other banks. we don't know how many banks are in problem and this is why i think that the lack of leadership and the permanent change in this course about what's going on is making the markets a little bit nervous and we saw this today at the end of the market round, at the stocks suffer a very large dip. borisjohnson — the former british prime minister — has repeatedly denied lying t0 parliament about lockdown parties at downing street. he has been giving evidence to a cross—party committee of mps, which is investigating whether or not he deliberately or recklessly gave misleading assurances that all rules and guidance had been followed. here's some of what he had to say. your first concern is that i may have knowingly and recklessly deceived parliament when i said the rules were not broken and the guidance had completely been followed at number 10. when i said those words, i was not trying to cover up

or conceal anything. i said what i said in good faith based on what i honestly knew and reasonably believed at the time. that belief, what was in my head, was based on my understanding of the rules and the guidance. that did not mean that i believed that social distancing was complied with perfectly. that is because i am others in the building did not believe it was necessary or possible to have a 2—metre, or i— metre afterjune 2a, 2020, electrified force field around every human being. indeed, that is emphatically not what the guidance prescribes. 0ur political editor chris mason has the latest. from westminster. there is an old adage in politics that if you are explaining, you are losing, and borisjohnson had to do a lot of explaining today, a lot of explaining about his record

in government, his relationship with the truth. all of those issues that were kicked around a year or so ago, dredged back up for all to see. there was the spectacle in that hearing of conservative mps scrutinising a fellow conservative mp while other conservative mps, allies of mr johnson, were heckling the questioner. a reminder of the insurrection, the civil war that was prompted within the conservative party by boris johnson's downfall and the chaos that followed. for the committee, they now have to go away and work out of mrjohnson recklessly misled parliament or intentionally misled parliament. proving intent, proving he lied as always, was always going to be a higher bar but recklessness is much more subjective and they are both labels the borisjohnson will be desperate to avoid. let's get some of the day's other news. the uk parliament have voted in favour of a key part of a new agreement for implementing post brexit

trading arrangements for northern ireland. 29 mps voted against it, including members of northern ireland's democratic unionist party and several high profile mp's from the governing conservative party. the pakistani opposition leader, imran khan, has accused the country's election commission of violating the constitution by postponing elections in punjab province. they are expected to take place next month. earlier, the commission said it was delaying the vote for the provincial assembly in punjab until october. 25 people have been injured when a ship tipped over in a dry dock in edinburgh's portarea. the 3,000—tonne vessel was dislodged by strong winds. the ship is owned by the us navy after they bought it from the joint founder of microsoft paul allen last year. the us secretary of state antony blinken has called on uganda's government to reconsider anti—lgbt draft legislation passed by parliament.

under the bill, anyone identifying as lgbt could face up to ten years in prison. the bill still needs to be signed by president yoweri museveni. human rights watch says — if it becomes law — it will be the first anywhere to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. the bbc�*s patience atuhaire reports from kampala. this gay man in his early 20s says that he is afraid for his life. he spoke to the bbc on condition that his identity is kept hidden and says that he has already faced online attacks and was outed to his family. translation: they even took the information to my mother, so my mum was very mad at me and called saying, "you're gay? "i never want you back in my life. "never even come near my other children. "you are no longer my child." the newly passed bill will see

anyone who is convicted of grooming or trafficking children for purposes of engaging them in homosexual activities face life in prison. but it includes even tougher penalties. a clause titled aggravated homosexuality now stipulates the death penalty in cases where somebody has sex with a minor, a disabled person, or in cases where the victim gets infected with a lifelong disease as a result of the assault. this is the first time in decades in uganda that the death sentence has been included in a new law. 0rdinary ugandans have been reacting to the passing of the law. i am over the moon, very happy, because as ugandans, the biggest percentage of ugandans, they don't agree with the homosexuality. i don't wish our kids to face that, like, ladies sleeping with ladies. i was so excited about it and i really thank the parliament of uganda because they didn't let us down.

activists have said that the anti—homosexuality bill may have far—reaching consequences for ugandans in general. there's no reason why we should have a bill that criminalises individuals that are having consensual same—sex adult relationships. all ugandans should be really scared of this bill because it will not just affect suspected lgbt individuals or people who are actually lgbt, it can affect anyone. you know, anyone can accuse anyone of touching with the intent to commit homosexuality. anyone can accuse anyone of promotion of homosexuality. government representatives in parliament gave the bill overwhelming support, but it will have to be signed by president yoweri museveni before it can officially become law. patience atuhaire, bbc news, kampala. 0ryem nyeko is a researcher at the human rights watch africa division and says it's a worrying time.

the idea, the notion that somebody should go to prison because they've had consensual sex with somebody who is an adult is, you know, it can have wide ranging impacts, not just the fact that it's now going to be a criminal offence but the fact that what it is essentially doing is endorsing homophobia. the government would say that it's all right to discriminate against people because you think that they are homosexual, because you think that they are having sex with somebody of the same sex and we have seen in the past, that can have wide—ranging impacts on people's lives and their livelihoods, but it's going to make things even worse going forward. the next stage is for the president to assent to it. he has to...hisjob, basically, is to sign it, if he agrees with the terms. either he signs it, but if he doesn't sign it and sends it back, the parliament can also vote back in if they get

a two—thirds majority and we saw yesterday, the bulk of parliamentarians were in support of this law so it's i think very likely that whether president museveni signs it or not, it's likely to go through. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: severe storms leave tens of thousands of californians under evacuation and without power. applause i'm so proud of both of you. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, - the committee has decided that south africa will be excludedl from the 1970 competition.

chanting streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the us federal reserve has raised interest rates again despite fears that it could add to the financial turmoil after recent bank failures. the former uk prime minister, borisjohnson, has denied lying to parliament about lockdown parties at downing street. tiktok�*s ceo, shou zi chew, is expected to give testimony in the us

congress for the first time on thursday over security concerns. mr chew is likely to face a barrage of questions on tiktok�*s relationship with china, what data it collects, and what it does with it. he will reportedly appear before the us house of representatives energy and commerce committee, as lawmakers scrutinise the chinese—owned video—sharing app. ivan tsranny, he is the ceo & co—founder of feroot— a cybersecurity firm joining us live from toronto. he explained to us why this could be a national security issue.

for this to reach the congressional hearing, it's absolutely significant because they don't hold this kind of hearing unless there is a pressure and something at stake and it's really oughtn�*t, so that's how we know it is significant. i am not a political person but this is definitely in the national security issue, specifically citizen's data is a national security issue in my mind. for example our study found even some cyber security companies were not aware of the fact the data was leaking out to china, doesn't mean the data is being used for nefarious purposes but we also don't know that isn't, it is not being used for those purposes, for example, the wall streetjournal independently verified the data we found for example that tiktok and other structures present on government websites that were collecting sensitive information there. all countries have expressed concerns about that, notjust the us, across and the uk about government devices, but there is no actual credible

evidence so far, is there? plenty of normal reasons to have those kind of trackers with it is from tiktok or bytedance or meta or many other countries that are doing very similar collections, from my perspective, when it comes to concerns, they like the mini spy balloons that was shot out of the sky by the us air force a few weeks ago, pixels and trackers are like the mini spy balloons once they are converted to websites that we used to a day to day basis, they can act like backdoors, that remain open and they can be collecting medical data or other sensitive information. so does come as a concern, notjust for nefarious purposes but many other implications that those pixels and trackers can cause. you mention some of those pixels and trackers and the concerns, tiktok not the only app can collect specific data, other apps do the same thing, can you explain more about apps might be collecting? like i mentioned, tiktok is just one of many we found during the study and

the research google, meta, microsoft, adobe and many other companies being present and sometimes collecting that same sensitive information. what kind of does stand out in an eye—opening moment for all of us, many people including congressional members, were not aware that those kind of tools no what company they are represented by, they will have your data, they can have your data whether you ever had a tiktok app or facebook app, you never even catch them. falling trees have killed two people in california as storms, winds, rain and snowfall continue to hit the western us state. stephanie prentice reports.

after ways of extreme weather in california in the last few months you before and after satellite images show the full extent of the flooding after what had been called atmospheric river storms. tens of thousands of people are without power in the central and southern ranges with evacuation winnings issued for 50,000 residents statewide, 14,000 people under orders to seek higher ground because of flooding. communities here have been struggling to get back on theirfeet been struggling to get back on their feet before another been struggling to get back on their feet before another storm hits, it is set to get worse before it gets better. with more intense rain expected an already saturated areas. in los angeles high winds have torn apart industrial areas in the city of montebello, social media footage claims to show a vortex touching down into a tornado. ripping roofs of buildings and destroying cars. the national weather service says it's assessing possible

tornado damage to infrastructure. throughout the succession of pacific storms there is been a direct reversal of fate for a state preoccupied simply by drought and wildfire. but it's a swing and weather extremes experts say is symptomatic of human induced climate change. stephanie prentice, bbc news. on wednesday, president zelensky visited military positions near the frontline town of bakhmut, in eastern ukraine. the devastated city has long been a focal point of the war as russian forces try to revive their military campaign in the east. his visit came as russian forces launched a series of strikes on ukrainian cities. sofia bettiza reports. a surprise visit from president zelensky to the eastern front line where ukrainian forces have held russia at bay for more than seven months. this part of ukraine has seen the longest and bloodiest battles since the start of the invasion. zelensky thanked the soldiers for defending their

country, relentlessly. and awarded them with medals. translation: i am honoured to be here today in the east i of our country, in donbas and to award our heroes, to thank you, to shake hands. thank you for protecting the state, sovereignty, the east of ukraine. a minute's silence was held to honour the memory of those who died in the war. the timing of this visit was significant. bakhmut is a fairly small town, military experts say it's not strategically important to the outcome of the war. but president putin has sacrificed so many troops to try to capture it, and ukraine has deployed so many soldiers to defend it, that it has become politically crucial. and an emblem of

ukrainian resistance. translation: in all areas of the east of our country | where there is a ukrainian flag, there is hope, you can feel it. we will do everything we can to ensure the blue and yellow colours continue their liberation movement to return normal life to our entire land. zelensky�*s visit came as russian forces launched a series of strikes on ukrainian cities. several people were killed near kyiv and zaporizhzhia. and, as fighting in bakhmut continues, ukraine fears that russia has amassed thousands of troops in the east and is getting ready to launch a major offensive. sofia bettiza, bbc news. prince william will meet ukrainian refugees in poland on thursday on the second day of his visit to the country, earlier, the prince of wales thanked british troops

in a trip to a military base in poland, near the ukraine border. his visit was kept secret until he left the area, because of security concerns. i just want to come here in person to say thank you for all you are doing, keeping everyone safe out here, and keeping an eye on what's going on. a big thank you for what you are doing on a day—to—day basis. i know some of you are coming to the end of your time out here, so looking forward to r and r when you get home, you are doing really importantjob out here, defending ourfreedoms is important and everyone at home is very supportive of everything you are doing with the polish and counterparts in providing that safety is really important. thank you for your time, lovely to meet you all, and good luck. thank you. the search is on for the family of one of the uk's last world war two veterans as preparations are made for his funeral next week. he died alone in his flat. flight sergeant peter brown never married and had no children. but there is hope some surviving relatives may be found.

helena wilkinson has the story. this is peter brown when he was serving as a flight sergeant in the royal air force in 1916. age 17, it's thought the young jamaican had travelled thousands of miles so he could volunteer to fly and fight in world war ii. after training, he flew as a crewmember in the avro lancaster, britain's famous strategic bomber that was used as the raf�*s main weapon against targets in germany. in december, the air force veteran died alone in his flat in west london. fiercely independent, stubborn as hell, but a wonderful guy, always smiling. he was never miserable. we chatted about his health. he was always complaining about one thing or another, but he kept going. "to the shops, got to keep it going."

peter brown had no known relatives. now officials are searching forfamily members to attend his funeral. after peter brown came to britain, he trained as a wireless operator and air gunner, and he flew in a lancaster bomber like this one when he served in 625 squadron. he was one of a50 young black men from the caribbean, africa and parts of the uk to fly with the raf during the second world war. they were specialists that became a tightly knit team. everyone's survival depended on everyone's abilities to do theirjobs. they were the best and the brightest. they took only the best and the brightest. his job was one of that team. without him, they would not have been able to go forward. it is hoped that anyone related to peter brown or anyone who knew him will get in touch ahead of his funeral next week, so he can be given the very best send—off he deserves. helena wilkinson, bbc news.

that's all for now. thank you for watching. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lmmisztak. hello, there. the weather is remaining pretty unsettled for the rest of this week. low pressure will always be nearby, out to the west of the uk, in the atlantic — steering weather fronts our way, bringing outbreaks of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. and it will be blustery, even windy at times, particularly across england and wales. but on the plus side, it'll be fairly mild, with our air source coming in from the south—west. but it's quite a messy picture, i think, as you can see here for thursday, low pressure out to the west, lots of isobars, plenty of weather fronts. this weather front will bring more persistent rain to the south and south—east of the country later in the day. so we'll have showers, even longer spells of rain affecting central, northern and western areas. some good spells of sunshine around, too. but later in the day, we'll see the cloud building up across the south and south—east

as this persistent rain starts to push in. it will be a blustery day, certainly for england, wales, parts of northern ireland, not so much for scotland. a quieter day for you, but gusts around a0 miles an hour in exposure. but another mild day to come, temperatures reaching the low to mid—teens for many. a little bit chilly there for the far north of scotland. that rain, then, persistent at times, affects the south—east corner and then pushes on into the north sea. that'll be followed by further showers, even longer spells of rain, across scotland, in towards northern ireland for a time, but some clear spells, too. and temperatures, again, fairly mild because of the cloud, the breeze, the rain. no lower than around 5—8 degrees. now into friday, our area of low pressure is a bit closer to the uk, so it looks like we'll start off with some sunshine, fairly breezy, but then showers will get going. they'll be widespread and they will be heavy at times, some thunderstorms mixed in, some hail at times too. but again, temperatures low to mid—teens for many. it will feel quite pleasant when you're out of the showers and in the sunshine.

then it's all change into the weekend. we start to pick up northerly winds. that'll turn things very much colder. and we'll see showers turning increasingly wintry, particularly across the northern half of the country. you can see the arctic air plunging its way southwards gradually as we move through the weekend. the coldness of the air initially at the weekend across the north and then spreading to all areas by the time we reach sunday. so another mild day on saturday with sunshine and showers. by the time we reach sunday, it'll be very much colder, particularly in the north — where we could see some snow, notjust in the hills, even down to lower levels.

this is bbc news — the headlines: us stock markets have fallen, after the central bank imposed a futher rise in interest rates. the federal reserve increased its key lending rate by 0.25%, despite fears it could add to the recent instability in the banking system. the former british prime minister, borisjohnson, has insisted he did not lie to the house of commons about lockdown parties at downing street. he was speaking to a cross—party group of mps, who must decide whether he deliberately — or recklessly made misleading statements to parliament. the white house has urged uganda not to enact a new law