the eu has suspended all security cooperation with niger after the country's army took power in a coup. it comes shortly after the us declared its "unflagging support" for ousted president mohamed bazoum — seen as a key western ally in the fight against islamist militants. on friday, the head of the presidential guards unit general tchiani declared himself niger's new leader. he said insecurity, economic woes and corruption led him to seize power. but there are now concerns in the west about which countries the new leader will align with. niger's neighbours, burkina faso and mali, have both pivoted towards russia since their own coups. nick westcott was the british ambassador for niger between 2008 and 2011. i spoke to him earlier and asked him what his thoughts were on the current situation there.

the last coup that took place in 2010 was a relatively good coup. it removed a president who had decided he wanted to stay on for a third term, probably indefinitely in the military, intervened, removed him, and then managed a transition to civilian rule. this coup is exactly the opposite. there was a duly elected, democratically, popularly chosen president who has been removed by the military, it seems primarily for their own individual interest. so the reaction from both african countries and western countries is not entirely surprising. but there's a dilemma because, if western countries come down very heavily on the new regime, there is a risk that they will turn to moscow. they will look to wagner to come in and protect them. but not to do that encourages further coups in other countries. and the key factor is what african

neighbours of niger are doing. and there, the african union, as your correspondent said, has been very tough and said, we must restore civilian rule in one weak, the regional organisation in west africa is going to meet tomorrow and i expect they will also take a very tough line because african countries are worried that there will be contagion, either ofjihadist involvement, because the military have not been very effective at dealing with jihadists where they've taken over, as in mali and burkina faso, or simply of coups. so there is a big african interest and the western tough line that you're seeing reflects that. and in terms of what i said about it being a key ally in terms of the counter—terrorism, can you put that into some sort of perspective? how important a role does niger play on that front? the jihadist organisations, and there are two or three of them in the sahel, have been becoming more powerful lately. they control a number

of the gold mines. they therefore have a source of revenue. their attacks have been spreading further and further south. the countries along the coast of west africa — ghana, cote d'ivoire, nigeria — are very concerned that this is going to spread so, locally and internationally, because some of these jihadist groups are linked to islamic state, to al-qaida, is very real. and both the french and the us have forces based in niger. this has been become their base for tackling the counter—terrorism effort across west africa. so there is a vital strategic interest there. the french have a vital strategic interest from being... niger is their main source of uranium for fuelling their nuclear power industry. so there are some critical interests in the region which do concern the eu has a big interest because niger is part of the migration route north to the mediterranean and then

across the mediterranean into europe. so i think that's why we're seeing such a strong and quick reaction to this coup because, if nigerfalls to an uncontrollable government, there are high risks for the neighbours and for the west. and you mentioned moscow and i mentioned also how burkina faso and mali have also turned to russia since their coups. do you expect wagner group to be brought in? do you expect that to be a turn to russia? i don't at the moment. i think there is a lot of pressure being put on the military coup leaders to restore civilian rule. what are they going to get out of this if they stay? and only if that fails, then prigozhin, the leader of the wagner group, has already offered his support to the coup leaders. and if the experience of central african republic and mali is anything to go by, they will simply come in and prop up

the regime and take most of the money that they can, so of no benefit to the nigerian people. so there's a real interest in maximising the pressure now to restore civilian government. that's what the west is trying to do. if that fails, then, yes, there is a risk that the coup leaders will turn to whoever will offer them support. and the first in line is mr prigozhin. president putin is talking after a meeting with african leaders, he have been talking about the war in ukraine of course but also their meeting with these african leaders, saying they were friendly, there were attempts to resolve the situation in ukraine. he was asked about making any changes, he was talking about making any changes in the ukraine front and he said there had been no serious changes for now,

there was no intensification of actions on the ukrainian front now, and he also talked about a possible ceasefire, saying a ceasefire is hard to implement when the ukrainian army is on the offensive but he said we do not project talks in ukraine, so that is president putin talking to the media after meeting african leaders, saying he does not reject talks on ukraine. what else did he say? i have a couple of notes coming in, we have a translation, africa's peace initiative could be basis for peace initiative could be basis for peace as well as the chinese one, so president putin giving a press conference there in saint petersburg, we will carry on listening to it and bring you any more lines of interest later on in the programme. england cricketer stuart broad has announced he will retire after the conclusion of the fifth

ashes test at the oval. the 37—year—old bowler has taken 602 wickets in 167 tests, making him the second most successful paceman in test history, behind team—mate james anderson. he has been one of england's great performers in ashes cricket, taking a record 151 test wickets against australia. and we'll have more on this story in the sports news shortly. rail passengers in the uk have faced a day of disruption as up to 20,000 members of the rmt union stage another strike over pay, jobs and working conditions. around half of services are thought to have been affected. our business correspondent, hannah miller, has more from leeds in the north of england. with almost half of train services across the country ground to a halt for the second saturday in a row, at this coffee shop in leeds, it's grinding down their business too. james says customer numbers fall every time there's a strike. i sympathise with the workers because you're going to take a day's pay lost then they're not going to be striking for nothing, but it's extremely difficult

for businesses like ours. it's a complete disaster for us. you know, my staff still need paying, the suppliers still need paying. you know, it's really, really tough and i just wish they could get round the table and fix it. but the government and train operators insist that their proposals, rejected by this union backing the spring, are fair. we've been negotiating with the leadership of the rmt for over a year now, and it's a real shame that the offer that we made to them, worth 13% in terms of an increase in pay for the lowest paid, is not being put to their membership, which would have brought this industrial dispute to an end. but the unions say it's about more than pay. the government is in control of what the train operating l companies say to us and, i even when they speak to us, they're not allowing them to come i back to the table with revisions i to their proposals. we are available to do that . but at the moment we've got a situation where cuts are being imposed. i 2,300 job cuts. every booking office _ in the country is going to close. and after more than a year of strike

action, passengers arriving for a night out in leeds have got used to finding ways around it. i understand why they do it, but i also think it's inconvenient to everyone, people who need to get to work and people who need to go out. the last couple of weeks, actually, quite a few of myjourneys have been affected by train strikes. i work quite a bit down in london, so having to change plans, change meetings and stuff like that. it was annoying in the beginning, but now you make the plans, - plan ahead and accept it. it's becoming life, becoming a normal part of life. - today was the last day of industrial action in the diary for the rmt but the drivers�* union, aslef, has two more overtime bans in the coming weeks and the two sides in this argument still have a long way to travel before this dispute comes to an end. now a time for look all that they's sports news.

the big news coming out of the oval is that the england pace—bowler stuart broad will retire from all cricket at the end of the series. the 37—year—old said he only made his decision last night and that he wanted to go out at the pinncale of the game, the ashes. he has taken 602 wickets so far in a 17—year career. 0nlyjimmy anderson has taken more test wickets for a pace bowler. broad is england's leading wicket taker in the current series with 20. at the close of play on day 3, he spoke to the bbc�*s isha guha. i have been thinking for a couple of weeks but ultimately i still did not know at 25 past eight last night but at half eight i made the call. but ultimately it came down to, this has been one of the most enjoyable and fun series i have been a part of, i

have a love affair with ashes cricket in england versus australia, i have always wanted to finish at the top of the game, and england versus australia at the oval is a cool way to do that, and part of me also wanted to finish playing when i felt like i could still do it and i was still bowling well and i did not want to get to that stage where i was getting booted out, so it has been such an incredible ride and a pretty long one, to be honest, but it has been really enjoyable and ultimately i love being part of that changing room, it is such an addictive environment, and walking away from the playing side of the game with memories that i have got and how much i am enjoying it makes me feel pretty special. two not out — alongside anderson — on a batting day to remember for england who were 389 at stumps — a lead of 377.

joe wilson was watching the day's action unfold. was defined by stuart broad's decision to announce his retirement, he now has an opportunity to go out on another win thanks to the way that england batted, from the very first over the intention was obvious, batting performance from the day probably from joe root, he could not quite believe it when he was out, todd murphy persevered, there was a late batting fund from james anderson and this position that england are in means that stuart broad can imagine himself taking match winning wickets on the fourth day and if so then his timing is perfect. to the women's world cup and france have taken a big step towrds the knockout stages after beating brazil. france captain wendie renard scored the winner in a 2—1 victory — withjust seven minutes remaining.

france are now top of group f on goals scored, and need just a point against panama to reach the last 16 — they sit bottom of the group after losing 1—0 to jamaica. sweden are into the last 16 with a game to spare — after thrashing italy 5—0 in wellington. new arsenal signing amanda ilestedt scored twice — they'll face one of the united states, the netherlands or portugal in the last 16. one other football line to bring you — and it looks as though manchester united have landed a new striker. they've agreed a deal in principle for atalanta's rasmus hojlund, with the fee due to be £61; million, plus an additional £8 million in add—ons. hojlund is expected to sign a five—year deal. another day in formula one — another day of dominance for max verstappen — as he continues to ease

towards a third world championship title in a row. he won the sprint race at spa — ahead of sunday's belgian grand prix — picking up another eight points in the title race. he's 118 points clear at the top. verstappen finished ahead of mclaren�*s 0scar piastri and alpine�*s pierre gasly. defending champions new zealand have made it two wins from two at the netball world cup, beating uganda 54—44. wins too forjamaica, fiji and australia. england have also made it two wins from two. they followed up yesterday's victory against barbados with a 62—39 win against malawi. there were also victories for the hosts south africa, scotland and trinidad and tobago. with one more day of racing, demi vollering produced a stunning ride to take the leaders�* yellow jersey at the tour de france femmes. stage seven was one of the most demanding, a summit finish on the iconic col du tourmalet, and the dutch rider pulled away in the final 6km of the 17km climb and now leads by one minute 50 seconds heading into a time trial to decide the race on sunday.

and that's all the sport for now. wildfires that have raged across parts of greece for more than a week are beginning to die down but around 100 are still active. the effects of the fires on farming and agriculture are starting to become clear. 0fficials estimate that on the island of rhodes alone more than 2,500 animals have died. to discuss this further, i'm nowjoined by charlotte von croy who is the disaster response and risk reduction programme 0fficer at the international fund for animal welfare. i understand you have been monitoring the situation in greece, can you talk as to how bad it is? yes, of course. i have been monitoring the situation since the 17th ofjuly, since the beginning of the fires, the situation is pretty catastrophic, so since the beginning of the fires, there were more than

35,000 hectares all around greece that was burned, 20,000 people evacuated and at some point there were 61 fires raging at the same time across greece. most was on the islands of rhodes and corfu, it is important to note that the area but now is equivalent to 2.5 times the usual average for the time of year, so it's a lot. it is a bit early now to estimate the amount of wildlife that was affected, so the amount of injured or dead animals, but we assume there will be a lot of them. what sort of animals are we talking about, is it mostly i would presume, we are looking at pictures of cows, i would presume the small animals are less likely to be able to run away from the fires? absolutely.

eseciall away from the fires? absolutely. especially difficult _ away from the fires? absolutely. especially difficult for _ away from the fires? absolutely. especially difficult for the - away from the fires? absolutely. | especially difficult for the smaller animals, the smaller species, slow—moving species such as tortoises and juvenile species which are unable to escape the flames, so there are a lot of burnt or to assess found in the greek countryside, but also larger species which can run away, that can outrun the flames are often disoriented and confused and they often enter into collisions with cars, so it's not only the smaller species but also the bigger ones in the larger ones. in a second time when they get hit by cars unfortunately.— in a second time when they get hit by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave — by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave it _ by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave it there _ by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave it there but _ by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave it there but thank - by cars unfortunately. thank you, we have to leave it there but thank you | have to leave it there but thank you very much. have to leave it there but thank you very much-— nine people are reported to have been killed — and more than a 100 injured in thailand after fireworks stored in a warehouse

were ignited by welders. a man has died in hospital after a crash involving an ambulance and a scooter in barnsley. south yorkshire police say the ambulance was responding to an emergency call last night when the collision happened. detectives are appealing for witnesses. a 14—year—old boy who was arrested after a seven—year—old girl was killed in a hit—and—run crash in walsall has been released on bail. katniss selezneva died on thusday after being struck by a motorbike. officers say they've recovered two abandoned bikes, which are now being forensically examined. let's get more now on the news that the england cricketer stuart broad has announced he will retire after the conclusion of the fifth ashes test at the oval. we can speak now to james butler, cricket broadcaster and presenter of the cricket badger podcast. what is your reaction to this? we

heard a clip of the stuart broad talking earlier, saying that he wanted to leave while he was at the top of the game rather than getting booted out, he was a long way from that, so what do you make of him leaving now?— that, so what do you make of him leaving now? that, so what do you make of him leavin: now? , , , leaving now? very few sportsmen get the opportunity _ leaving now? very few sportsmen get the opportunity to _ leaving now? very few sportsmen get the opportunity to decide _ leaving now? very few sportsmen get the opportunity to decide when - the opportunity to decide when they 90, the opportunity to decide when they go, stuart broad goes right out on the very top in an ashes series, the leading england wicket taker in the ashes series as well and he has chosen to go out on a high. he said he decided at 8:30pm yesterday that it was time to go, most sportsmen i spoke to said there's a moment when you realise may be your time is up, but to choose to go out as he has done at the top of his game is testament to him, he has had a fantastic career and good luck him. tell us more about the brilliant career he has had, more than 600 test wickets, his career has gone on for more than 17 years, talk us through how brilliant he is. he started through how brilliant he is. he: started out being more than able to

bat, but is a fast bowler to stay fit and keep that pace and to keep the drive and the enthusiasm, all those warm ups every single day he has played the game, and to stay as driven as he has done is incredible. obviously him anjimmy anderson go together, and they have formed a formidable partnership for england and the pace bowling department, and we will never see the like of the two together again but in a way it's unfair on stuart broad to include jimmy anderson and the conversation because he is an individual on his own, 602 test wickets, he has power to add to that tomorrow and he is going out at the top of the game, to keep that pace up and keep the enthusiasm up, and he seems to relish in this battle, this english australian rivalry that has been going on for so many years. it seems to bring out the best in him, it fires up thejuices, it is

to bring out the best in him, it fires up the juices, it is over two years before england go down for another ashes series, he has decided he doesn't have that left in him so he doesn't have that left in him so he will go out now. he he doesn't have that left in him so he will go out now.— he will go out now. he has such a aood he will go out now. he has such a good personality _ he will go out now. he has such a good personality and _ he will go out now. he has such a good personality and he - he will go out now. he has such a good personality and he is - he will go out now. he has such a good personality and he is so - good personality and he is so popular, it must be down to that personality as well as being so good at cricket. i personality as well as being so good at cricket. ~' ., , personality as well as being so good at cricket. ~ ., , ., ,., , ., at cricket. i think to be a popular sportsman. _ at cricket. i think to be a popular sportsman. he — at cricket. i think to be a popular sportsman, he is _ at cricket. i think to be a popular sportsman, he is not _ at cricket. i think to be a popular sportsman, he is not popular- sportsman, he is not popular everywhere, the australians take great delight in taking the mickey out of him, notoriously he almost refused to walk all those years ago, but that comes out of a grudging respect, they respect their rivals, the australians, and stuart broad has been a thorn in their side on more than one occasion, he ripped through them on that first morning of the ashes test match at trent bridge, but that is one of many tremendous performances. thank you ve much tremendous performances. thank you verv much for— tremendous performances. thank you very much for talking _ tremendous performances. thank you very much for talking to _ tremendous performances. thank you very much for talking to us, _ tremendous performances. thank you very much for talking to us, cricket. very much for talking to us, cricket broadcaster and presenter.

here in the uk, liverpool has been hosting ukraine's biggest gay pride march, kyiv pride. organisers hope it'll cement the city's links with the country after hosting this year's eurovision song contest on behalf of ukraine. our correspondent, josh parry, has more from merseyside in liverpool. in this rainbow, the yellow and blue take centre stage. thousands of people, including hundreds of ukrainians, marched through liverpool's streets as the city played host to kyiv pride. we understand that people are kind of tired of the war, but you cannot be tired because people are dying on the front line, our friends and loved ones, queer people, are dying on the front line to protect freedom. liverpool and ukraine already have a special relationship after the city stepped in to host eurovision back in may. organisers see this march

as a chance to continue that legacy. those marching carried messages of support for those on the front line back home. like combat medics boris and alina. are you looking forward to the day that you can both march together? yes, because it will mean the war is over and we can return to some sort of normality in our lives. why was it important that liverpool played host to kyiv pride this year? i think when we stepped in to do eurovision we found that the reception that we got from the country about hosting it on behalf of ukraine was really positive. so planning for pride wasjust going on as normal anyway, and it was suggested to us that at that point we do a joint pride. the logistics were tricky, but we have managed to do it today. while eurovision may have united liverpool and ukraine in music, today, pride has united them in protest.

let us listen a bit more to president putin, he has been speaking after meeting african leaders there, he has been saying that there should be agreement on both sides when it comes to ukraine, talking about a possible ceasefire, he was saying the afrika's peace initiative could be a basis for peace as well as a chinese one but then he also said a ceasefire is hard to implement when the ukrainian army is on the offensive, he was also claiming that after the 11th of june ukraine lost 415 tanks and 1300 armoured vehicles. we don't know whether that is true or not. he talked about how they would be no intensification of actions on the ukrainian front now. so that our

some of the lines coming out of president putin's press conference he is holding in saint petersburg after meeting african leaders, i will bring you any more lines as we get them. to italy and something that shocked locals in calabria. an elephant was spotted stomping down a highway. in this video shared with the bbc, the animal appears to be heading towards a supermarket. local media reports say it escaped a local circus, and has since been returned. hello. today was quite a showery day for some of us, particularly in the north. further showers to come through this evening and overnight. how about sunday? it starts off quite bright in a number of locations but clouds will thicken through the morning into the afternoon and more persistent rain is on the way too. here is one weather system ready to come our way. this is the one that we had

through the course of sunday and this is what brought the showers. in fact, the showers will continue through the night, broadly speaking, across the northern half of the uk. further east and south, the weather will be drier with some clear spells. early morning temperatures around ten in aberdeen, 13—14 in the south of the country. this is the next weather front heading our way. early in the morning, some bright and sunny weather in a number of locations, although the showers do continue in the north. but then this more widespread weather front sweeps into ireland, through wales and many parts of england eventually. i think newcastle and hull will hang on to the sunshine the longest in england and also some very decent weather there in northern and eastern scotland. elsewhere, you can see that cloud spreading in, a south—westerly wind, a lot of murk and drizzle around the coasts, not a very pleasant second half of the day. an increasing breeze, too, and quite a large area of low pressure, elongated, slow moving from west to east, and it brings a lot of cloud on monday too. you can see the weather front

is placed across scotland at this stage, middle of the day, with heavy rain for a time at least in the lowlands. to the south of that, we have got the cloud, showers and occasional sunny spells. temperatures hovering around the high teens or the low 20s. august is just around the corner. how about the weather and this jet stream pattern? well, the jet stream is going to be quite strong, close to us and generally south of us through the course of this week, especially the middle of the week onwards. that allows the cooler air to stream in from the north. if we have a look at the pattern through tuesday and into wednesday, big low pressure parks itself across scandinavia and, around it, the winds are coming in from the north. it will be cooler than average. showers are expected, quite widespread showers, even some cracks of thunder from time to time. here's the outlook from sunday into the week ahead. it is looking, surprise, surprise, very unsettled. that's it from me. bye— bye.

the now on bbc news — scandalous: phone hacking on trial: episode three. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart

of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. it's really difficult for me to sit here and talk about this because... the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty to expose them as they've exposed us. prince harry and sir eltonjohn have launched legal action _ against the publishers of the daily mail. - action is being taken against the sun newspaper. legal action against the mirror group over allegations of phone hacking. who did you hack? be quicker to say who i didn't hack, wouldn't it? _ be easier. celebrities, politicians... i was living in this sort of superhighway of illicit information.

it was exciting. you felt like a spy.