peace—keeping force. and farewell to the football ferns — co—hosts new zealand are knocked out of the women's world cup. hello, i'm rich preston. we start in niger where thousands of people have gathered in the streets of the capital niamey to protest outside the french embassy. protesters have responded to a call from the leaders of this week's military coup, who also denounced the upcoming meeting between leaders from across west africa on the situation. in a statement, the soldiers are warning of what they call military intervention. soldiers announced the military takeover on wednesday, detaining the president mohamed bazoum. on friday, the head of the presidential guards

unit, general abdourahmane tchiani, declared himself niger's new leader, saying insecurity, economic woes and corruption prompted him to seize power. the us, the eu, and france — niger's former colonial ruler — say they won't recognise the coup leaders, with some suspending security cooperation and budgetary aid. there are concerns among many countries over which states niger's new leader will align with — potentially moving closer to russia — as happened after coups in neighbouring burkina faso and mali. later, leaders from the 15 countries that make up ecowas, the economic community of west african states, and the eight leaders from the west african economic and monetary union, will meet to discuss their response. earlier, chris ewokor, who is following the story from neighbouring nigeria gave me an update on what can come out of this meeting.

well, right now in niger, things are happening quite fast. earlier today, one of the members of the military coup came out on state television to denounce ecowas meeting and alleging that the meeting was intended to take action on carrying out military intervention of that country and now they also cold on nigerians to come out to protest against that mission. currently, as we speak, hundreds of people are out on the streets protesting against ecowas and against the west, especially france, near the france embassy, and the intention possibly is to whip up enough sentiments among the people against ecowas and whatever the outcome of the meeting today would

be. pork is through some of the potential ways forward on this, because we have heard from the eu, suspending financial assistance, but at the same time niger is a country where more than 40% of the population live in poverty. there are suggestions that suspending financial aid won't help. what a way that neighbours and regional allies can help niger? well, niger is a member of the 15 nation ecowas block and basically it is landlocked. it is the seventh largest producer of your crew —— of uranium but it is quite a per country and has been depending on aid from the international community. now, ecowas really has worked in their hands and it is a tricky situation for the leadership of ecowas, now having to deal with four military regimes within the subregion, so it is not

clear yet but usually what we have seen ecowas to was to slam sanctions on the country and it is not clear if that is going to be part of what the decision today will be, but now we have also seen that the coup leaders have now called on russia to come to their aid. this effectively put paid to speculations about interference and who is behind them and the coup. earlier, we had a statement encouraging the nigerians and the coup leaders saying that niger is fighting to free itself from the colonial masters who enslaved them. so today what will be determined is whether the ecowas leaders are going to go into a form of understanding in order not to push the military leaders into an

alliance outside of the west, just as mali has done. just in the last few moments, we have heard from the afp agency, saying that paris has issued a condemnation of the violence in front of its embassy in the capital of niger. it has called on authorities there to ensure its security. we will bring you more on that when we have it. russia's president, vladimir putin, has said he does not reject the idea of peace talks on ukraine. speaking after meeting african leaders in st petersburg, he said an african or chinese peace initiative could serve as a basis for talks. but mr putin also said it was hard to implement a ceasefire when the ukrainian army was on the offensive. it comes as the mayor of moscow has accused ukraine of a drone attack on the russian capital. two office blocks were damaged but there were no

reports of any injuries. meanwhile, ukraine says a russian missile attack on the north—eastern city of sumy has killed at least one civilian and wounded five. officials said the missile hit an education centre. let's take a listen to some of putin's speech. today, the russian fleet is solving the tasks of national policy and increasing its strength. this year alone, 30 new battleships arejoining the navy, one of which has been named after a glorious seafarer and it is great that we have this tradition to give the names of our glorious

seafarers to our ships. the name is a sign of our strong navaltradition, our courage and the staunch spirit of naval officers. stephen hall is an assistant professor in russian and post—soviet politics at the university of bath. he gave me his interpretation of the speech. well, it was certainly fascinating, but certainly short and it was the usual sense of showing russian pride to a domestic audience. at the same time, also providing a few threats to the west, primarily that they have 30 new ships coming online and as we saw with 3000 sailors and 45 ships at the parade was very much a military

build—up and putin used his usual historical analysis as well, but as with many things with putin, his historical vision only go so far. he didn't mention that the commander of the ship was poisoned with arsenic in 1833, when he was looking at the audit books of the fleet in sebastopol, so it isn't necessarily quite as rosy as he paints it, but certainly his speech was very much about threats, showing russian patriotism and how impressive russia is as a military power still. these speeches can sometimes be a bit copy and paste, as you suggested there. glory to the motherland. the troops are doing fantastically. he mentioned 30 new battleships. was there anything else new in the speech, really, today? as far as i can see, from having listened to the speech, apart from the 30 new ships which are coming online, there wasn't anything which was necessarily new. it was the usual

rehash of patriotism. he can't obviously say the russian army is weak and we are going to lose this war, but it was the usual patriotism, it was the usual russia is a great power, everyone fears us, and we are moving forward towards our goals, whatever those are. meanwhile, as we mentioned, mr putin has suggested a chinese or african peace initiative might work when it comes to settling things with ukraine. what you take from that? well, certainly russia he is being very understanding towards the chinese peace deal because the chinese peace deal isn't really workable, in my understanding, and it would allow russia to gain control of the territory that it already possesses in terms of ukraine and in terms of the african deal, which i think is led primarily by south africa, it is very similar as well. putin has said, yes, we are open to talks,

but obviously ukraine has to accept facts on the ground and ukraine has to stop its counteroffensive and if it stops this counteroffensive, then maybe we can have these talks at a later date, but obviously then the momentum of the ukrainian offensive, which has just started to get going, is going to obviously be limited, so again he is trying to maintain his allies, as it were, or at least nominal supporters, by saying that, yes, we are open to negotiations and then leave it to the ukrainians to deal with the actual negotiations, so we will see what happens, but we know that saudi arabia is also having talks on the 5th and 6th of august about how to deal or find a solution to this crisis. russia will be excluded from those, so whether putin actually really wants negotiations, i still don't think he does. 0k, stephen hall, from the university of bath. kenya says it's ready to lead a multinationalforce in haiti — where clashes between security forces and criminal gangs

have displaced tens of thousands of people. kenya's foreign minister says nairobi would deploy 1,000 police officers to the caribbean nation. the mission is subject to a mandate from the un security council and formal authorisation from the kenyan officials. earlier this month, the un secretary, general, antonio guterres, called for the creation of a multinational force for haiti. let's get more on this with mimi swaby from the bbc world service. why can you ? why can you? well, kenya is seen as a democratic anchor in the region and has already participated in multiple peacekeeping operations in its immediate region, for example the drc and somalia. as you said there, the prime minister of haiti has been calling for a non—eu multinational force has been calling for a non—eu multinationalforce to has been calling for a non—eu multinational force to support the peacekeeping process. no nation, despite multiple pleas and promises,

has come yet, so can you is the first to do so but it is still proposed and although there is a high need for deployment, it is still very risky because the gangs are really well—organised and well armed. there is no clear exit strategy, so if a nation does come in on a mission to help support these plays and try to stop gangs from overwhelming the country as it currently is, they may come into trouble themselves. give us a bit of the background here. how have things deteriorated so badly in haiti? well, haiti is dealing with multiple crises at once. it has a deteriorating humanitarian situation, a security crisis, and kind of a political void, a vacuum that was triggered by the assassination of its president to years ago. and this has led to thousands of people being displaced by gang violence and that violence is intensifying. criminal gangs are

thought to control 60—80% of the capital, port—au—prince, another was a civilian movement to try to challenge that in recent months which was quite successful, kidnappings have returned to the capital and wider region with force, so much so that the us embassy in haiti actually urged and ordered any nonessential personnel and family members of government employees to leave the island as soon as possible due to the intensified clashes between the police and the army as well as the high threat of kidnappings and other violent crimes. just yesterday, us nurse and her child were kidnapped from porto crowns, so this is a situation which is quickly deteriorating. i want to ask about another story coming out of your region, the arrest of the son of the colombian president. what we about this. well, his son nicholas and his ex—wife are now

facing money—laundering charges, which prosecutors are saying that they received irregular fans during they received irregular fans during the campaign election that saw his father become the first left—wing president of colombia. now, he has promised, though he is very sad at this news, not to interfere and he will let the court carry out a fair trial although he has denied any wrongdoing. thank you very much. it's day 11 of the women's world cup, and huge disappointment for the co—hosts new zealand, who are out of the competition. they could only maanage a draw against group—winners switzerland, who are joined in the knockout stages by norway, who thrashed philippines 6—0. 0ur correspondent in auckland, shaima khalil, spoke to me earleir about the co—host new zealand being knocked out of the tournament. heartbreakfor heartbreak for the new zealand fans and of course for new zealand's football ferns as theirjourney at the world cup and is here. i have

never gone through the knockout stages. they were just hoping this time it would be different. 0ne stages. they were just hoping this time it would be different. one goal was all they needed. one goal was a difference between them staying and then leaving the tournament. and it was this one goal that eluded them through the whole match. there were chances where the ball hit the post, another where it went right into the hands of the switzerland goalkeeper and many, many more. the crowd was excited. they were supportive. they were nervous. and in the end, they were nervous. and in the end, they were frustrated and they were disappointed but they never lost their support for new zealand. i have spoken to a number of people and they said they gave it their all, they played really, really well, theyjust could not finish properly and i think you saw it on people's faces and of course you saw it on the player's faces as well. this is the women's world cup of firsts. this is the first time that 32 teams are taking part. this is the first time that it comes to the southern hemisphere. it is the first time that it has two hosts. and as

it stands, one of those two hosts, new zealand, the co—hosts of the women's world cup, is now out of the tournament. and you can follow all the twists and turns from the world cup on the sport website. here in the uk, the prime minister, rishi sunak, has ordered the �*department for transport�* to review existing so—called low—traffic neighbourhood schemes — which seek to reduce the numbers of cars using streets in some residential areas. mr sunak told the sunday telegraph newspaper he wanted to show drivers that he was on their side. here s our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. low traffic neighbourhoods, loved by some, loathed by others. they use barriers, bollards and automatic number plate recognition cameras to control or limit access to some streets. they've been set up in recent years in london, bristol, birmingham, bournemouth and more cities with tens of millions of pounds of government funding. the aim — to keep through traffic away from residential streets, lower average speeds,

improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. in some places, tempers have flared between drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. at least one opinion survey commissioned by the government has shown broad support in areas where they've been put in place, but some motorists and businesses are opposed. earlier this month, the transport secretary said he was halting funding for any new schemes in england. now rishi sunak has ordered a review into how existing ones are working. mr sunak told the sunday telegraph... "the vast majority of people in the country use their cars to get around and are dependent on their cars", adding, "i just want to make sure people know that i'm on their side in supporting them to use their cars". it comes after mr sunak�*s conservatives retained the parliamentary seat of uxbridge and south ruislip in west london on the back of a campaign focused on opposition to the expansion

of london's ulez charging zone for older polluting vehicles. the labour mayor of london, sadiq khan, is pressing ahead with that after a legal challenge brought by some conservative councils failed this week. he says it's important to clean up london's air and tackle the climate crisis. he's promised to look at new ideas to help people meet the costs. after uxbridge, rishi sunak appears to have identified car owners as a target for conservative policies. but it's not clear what effect his review of low traffic schemes will have. government sources could not say whether local councils could be forced to remove any already in place. damian grammaticus, bbc news. in china, until recently, it was extremely difficult for single women to have children. last year, the government said health insurance should cover the cost of giving birth for single mothers and that they should also get paid maternity leave.

despite widespread conservative cultural attitudes, a shift is underway ? especially in the big cities ? where more unmarried women are choosing to continue their pregnancies. as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south—east china. two—month—old hung—hung is being raised by his mother and grandmother. it's a lifestyle still frowned on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky to have moved to shanghai to run a business. translation: i'm grateful l for the tolerance of shanghai. i'm from rural hunan, an area which will have a lot of discrimination against me as a single mum. she became a single mother after her boyfriend's family rejected his choice of bride because her income and

status was too modest. although she was pregnant, he broke up with her. her mother, says the choice to continue with the pregnancy under such circumstances would have been impossible when she was young because of community pressure and official regulations. that this change in community attitudes has happened at this precise moment in history has been crucial. with an ageing population, the government wants more babies and yet many young couples have refused to answer the call on financial grounds, so more and more we are seeing officials starting to change the rules which had been blocking single women from giving birth. yet she isn't waiting for the government to sort out all the health insurance hurdles. she will soon become a single mum on her own terms. we met her at an expo in hangzhou showcasing her online sales platform. translation: my mum always

told me that women should - be more independent, confident and strong. i don't want to marry into another familyjust because of a child. the 30—year—old says the time wasn't right for marriage when she accidentally became pregnant with her much younger boyfriend. however, women's status and financial independence are shifting in china, giving more options. translation: traditionally, women relied on men - and the family for support. as we earn more, men and the women become more equal. women can even employ people to help them. the situation is patchy in china. even in some cities, single mothers on lower incomes are being denied the paid leave and health insurance needed to give birth. unmarried parents can now get the documents to, for example, process a child's school application. however, other government regulations still need to catch up with what's becoming

a reality in china. the old ways of making newspapers, the hot—metal typesetting and the rotary presses, were abandoned with the arrival of computers back in the 1980s. in northern france, ?they are still printing their local paper using machines that were familiar 100 years ago. hugh schofield has been finding out more. it's like something out of a �*30s movie. the clanking press churning out the latest headlines, the rolls of paper transformed into news. the machine does indeed date from 192a, but this is today. and this is the staff of a newspaper casting a critical eye over a test run for the latest edition. as always with technology this old, a few minor problems.

that line's too much impression. since 1906, they've been serving up the news this way when the great switchover came to computers and new technology. they stayed put. and if they didn't exactly thrive, they survived. translation: our production method is different - - when all the other newspapers changed, we stayed with the old machines. it means we have a very small circulation and we just about keep our heads above water. the typesetting, the composition of the pages, is also all done either manually or using a hot metal linotype machine where the letter molds are dipped in molten lead. part of the appeal is that you can look at it and understand what it's doing. with a computer, you look at it, you don't know what it's doing. and if something goes wrong, you don't know where to look. but this one, you can see where it's going wrong.

you can see what it's doing. it's, yeah, it's alltransparent. upstairs are the rudimentary archives. only three times in it's 117 years has the paper briefly stopped printing — in the two world wars and under covid. a cheval, a good horse for sale. and un voiture anglaise. an english car. wow. at the end of the process, the paper has been printed, cut and folded, and 2,000 copies are ready for distribution. so what's the latest from this part of the world? we've got a hiking organization that's organizing something and also we have a farm show on the 14th of may. the wonderful unchanging world of local news. fleet street it ain't, but who cares? the good people of vervins are getting their news fix old style. hugh schofield, bbc news, northern france. finally this half—hour, how's this for a declaration of love ?

a farmer in the us has planted a massive field on sunflowers as a surprise gift for his wife. lee wilson from kansas planted 1.2 million sunflowers on 80 acres of land for his wife, renee, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. he got his son to help secretly plant the field back in may. tourists have flocked to the field to take pictures of the state flower in bloom. hello. it has been a promising start to the day with some sunshine and a few showers around two but if we look out in the atlantic, this weather system is pushing in the cloud and that will be bringing some rain to some parts of the country. around that first area of low pressure, we have had the showers swirling across scotland and northern england. the worst of those are moving away, so fewer showers and still some sunshine into the afternoon.

the wetter weather arriving and pushing into northern ireland and also across to the south—east of england. it could be quite windy for the time of year across england and wales. lighter winds for scotland and northern ireland. in the sunshine in scotland, it should not feel too bad. highest temperatures in eastern england ahead of the rain but it looks like that rain will be heading towards the oval for the morning session which sees the best of the weather. if we don't get the weather in the afternoon session, it will be arriving after tea. that steady rain pushing across more of england and wales and northern ireland. and that wet weather continues to journey northwards into parts of scotland. further south, the rain does ease of but we keep a lot of cloud so it will be a warm start to monday. northern parts will be more cold with the clear skies and the promise of some early sunshine to start the new week but the weather will be driven by an area of low pressure which is focusing most of the rain.

we still have that weather front sitting through the english channel so cloud and rain here, moving on to the south coast at times and threatening the south—east of england. the rain affects more of scotland through the day and then it gets wet again across northern ireland and wales. maybe a slice of something more dry and eventually brighter. not particularly warm for this time of year. low pressure continues to dry in across the uk. it is pushing on these winds. this is the jet stream. and we are in cooler air and there is one area of low pressure getting moved away and another one comes in as we arrive into wednesday which will bring some wet weather, especially across england and wales and the start of august will not get any warmer because as the rain clears away later in the week, we end up with a northerly breeze.

this is bbc news — the headlines: the leaders of the military coup in niger say that the west african regional bloc, ecowas, could stage an imminent military intervention. it comes as ecowas is to hold an extraordinary summit in the nigerian capital, abuja, to discuss possible sanctions against those who've seized power. president putin has been praising the might of russia's fleet

at navy day celebrations in st petersburg. earlier, mr putin had said he didn't reject the idea of peace talks on ukraine. but he also said it was hard to implement a ceasefire with ukraine on the offensive. here in the uk, the prime minister has ordered the department for transport to review existing so—called low—traffic neighbourhood schemes, which seek to reduce the numbers of cars using streets in some residential areas. rishi sunak says he wanted to show drivers that he was on their side. now on bbc news, hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. imagine swimming at the north pole. or in a tunnel below the antarctic ice. or along the entire length

of the english channel. now, all of these feats of superhuman endurance have