we'll have the latest on all the action. good morning. a major shake—up of alcohol taxation has come into effect in the uk, with the price of stronger wines and spirit going up but some others falling. alcohol duty, which has been frozen since 2020, will increase overall as alcoholic drinks are taxed based on their strength rather than type. the government says the new system is simpler. ben king has more. when drinkers gather at london's king charles pub this evening, there will be a new tax regime in place. changes announced in march come into effect today, taxing stronger drinks,

more and weaker drinks less. at the same time, alcohol duties rise, with inflation up by 10.1%. the result? a complex series of changes. 12% sparkling wine will be $0.19 cheaper as higher rates for fizz are abolished. a can of pre—mixed gin and tonic will be $0.05 cheaper, but a bottle of 12%. still, wine will rise $0.44, a bottle of vodka up $0.76 and a bottle of 20% port at £1.30. so among drinkers, there will be some winners and losers. but the wine and spirits industry, which sees many of its products hit with higher taxes, says customers will see higher prices and less choice. we have the biggest duty increase in almost 50 years, at the same time as we have inflation rife and a cost of living crisis. on top of that, we have raw materials like glass that are increasing

in price exponentially. and of course, we have very long supply chains, and post—covid transportation has become much more expensive. so it's bad news all round for businesses and i'm afraid for consumers as well who are going to feel the heat. now, to support pubs which have been hit by the pandemic and rising prices, draught drinks are largely protected from the duty rises that other drinks are seeing, which means that you should pay up to £11 less duty on a pint of beer bought from a pub than you would pay on the same pint from a supermarket. these duty changes are welcome. they hopefully will make for a fairer system. recognising lower strength products should receive lower duty. however, there is still an increase overall for the beer category for your bottles and your cans. they will be going up 10.1%. and unfortunately, that costs the industry some 225 million. the government says it wants to simplify the alcohol tax system while protecting producers in pubs, but it has to raise revenue too. and for those who like their alcohol, strong drinks

will get more expensive. ben king, bbc news. inflation has slowed following a drop — inflation has slowed following a drop in prices. elsewhere, food price inflation in the uk has slowed to its lowest level this year, following a drop in prices for staples including oils, fish, and breakfast cereals. food inflation fell to 13.4% in july, down from 14.6% injune. that's its lowest level since december last year. however, shop prices were 7.6% higher injuly than a year ago. later in our business coverage, we will have more on all those stories. now to russia where the mayor of moscow says there's been another night—time drone attack on the russian capital. authorities say a drone hit the same commercial tower block that was struck by a drone on sunday.

you can see some of the damage in these pictures. emergency services are at the scene but there's no information yet about any possible injuries. several other drones were reportedly taken down by air defence systems. meanwhile, the mayor of the ukrainian city of kharkiv says at least three drones have hit populated areas of the city, one of them destroying two floors of a college dormitory and others hitting the city centre. one person is reported to have been injured. access to medical abortions has been significantly expanded in australia, with all doctors and nurses now able to prescribe pregnancy termination pills. all pharmacies can also stock it, after changes announced by the medical regulator. it's estimated one in three australian women will have an abortion during their lifetime. live now to our correspondent, phil mercer.

this is a huge shift when it comes to access the women? yes, eseciall comes to access the women? yes, especially according _ comes to access the women? yes, especially according to _ comes to access the women? yes, especially according to the - especially according to the government for women in regional and rural parts of australia. underthe regional and rural parts of australia. under the old regulations, doctors had to be accredited and have special training to prescribe the abortion pill but from today, the 1st of august, all doctors and nurses will be able to freely authorise the use of this drug and it will be stocked in all pharmacies as well. so certainly the government and many —— many medical professionals are heralding what they believe is —— landmark reform. what it means is people in more remote areas outside the bigger towns and cities in australia, women and cities in australia, women and those areas should have more access to this medicine. it was estimated that only 10%

of general practitioners were able to prescribe the drug under the old regime and now we have the new one and the government says it is a major victory for women's health. find victory for women's health. and how is this _ victory for women's health. and how is this being _ victory for women's health. and how is this being received in australia, this news?- australia, this news? well, frankl , australia, this news? well, frankly. we _ australia, this news? well, frankly, we have _ australia, this news? well, frankly, we have had - australia, this news? well, frankly, we have had a - australia, this news? well, | frankly, we have had a good look around today and it has been a pretty low—key affair. this was announced affair while ago by the australian medical regulator. there has been opposition in the past by the catholic church in australia and other groups, the catholic church saying that as far as it is concerned, life begins at the moment of conception, saying that abortion damages women. but for medical professionals and certainly for government ministers, they believe this is a significant step forward and brings australia into step with other countries such as canada. it is worth noting two things.

firstly, abortion is legal in every australian state and territory. the laws do vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and the abortion pill is only available to women up pill is only available to women up to nine weeks gestation. find up to nine weeks gestation. and as ou up to nine weeks gestation. and as you mention, _ up to nine weeks gestation. and as you mention, for women in rural areas this really is a game changer because if you are living in a rural area game changer because if you are living in a ruralarea in australia, you can be very, very cut off. australia, you can be very, very cut off-— very cut off. this is a very bi very cut off. this is a very his place. _ very cut off. this is a very his place. this _ very cut off. this is a very big place, this is - very cut off. this is a very big place, this is a - very cut off. this is a very | big place, this is a country thatis big place, this is a country that is more than 30 times the size of the united kingdom, and some regional and rural areas simply don't have the medical practitioners under the old regulations who were able to prescribe the abortion pill, so thatis prescribe the abortion pill, so that is changing. when we speak to medical professionals in this country, they believe there is still a challenge, in terms of upskilling medical staff, in terms of giving them the skills they need to prescribe this drug but under

the new changes coming in forster day, it is hoped that certainly women in those more out of the way places in australia will have the same access to medical therapies as women in the bigger towns and cities. ., ., ~ , ., cities. 0k, fail, thank you very much _ cities. 0k, fail, thank you very much indeed, - cities. 0k, fail, thank you very much indeed, phil. cities. 0k, fail, thank you - very much indeed, phil mercer with the latest in that story. 11 people are now known to have died, after heavy rains and flooding in northern china. state media in the country reports that 27 people are also still missing in beijing, as rescue efforts continue. storm doksuri first hit the country on friday, bringing almost a month's rainfall to the capital injust a0 hours. military units and helicopters are now being used to deliver food and supplies to rail passengers who've been stranded by the flood waters. forecasters have warned of the potential for more flash flooding and landslides in the coming days. burkina faso and mali have issued a joint statement saying they'll regard any military intervention in niger as a declaration of war on them.

the two countries, which have also both seen recent military coup, say they would come to the defence of their eastern neighbour in such a scenario. it's after a west african bloc gave niger's military seven days to give up power and threatened to use force if that didn't do so. before that joint statement from mali and burkina faso was released, niger's ambassador to the us spoke to my colleague sumi somaskanda. this coup has really no reason whatsoever. there was no political tension. there is no situation, security situation that is worsening as they claimed. in our country, you know, you accept to power by the ballot, not by the bullets. and we have elected a legitimate president, mohamed bazoum, and we want him

to be restored, like all the international community echo us, the regional body, the african union, the united states of america, france, all are... european union, all are asking them just to give back power to preseidnt bazoum. you mentioned ecowas. i do want to ask ecowas, the economic community of west african states and they have threatened military action. would you welcome that, that west african states would stage a military intervention here? i would hope and wish a peaceful solution, that thejunta will come to reason and give up, give back power to president bazoum and to the parliament that were again elected in a fair and transparent election. but if that is not possible, i will not rule out any solution that will restore democracy in my country. including a military?

absolutely. i will not rule out any solution because this junta in africa comes to power by force — they want to substitute force to election. this is not acceptable. they do exactly the same as the terrorist jihadist group we are fighting — because we have the bullets we have to rule the country. but if there were to be a military intervention, we could then see a full fledged conflict between the military leaders and any intervening forces. are you worried about that again? again, i am worried about anything that will create damage to my people. but if the choice is to the junta, they have to come back to reason. they have to realise thatjust because you have the bullets, because you have the arms, you are not ruling a country. if you want to rule the country, you have to run in an election.

energy giant bp is set to announce its latest financial results in a couple of hours. it comes after british gas posted record profits last week. profits for april to june may not be as big as we've been seeing recently though. like many energy companies, bp did big business last year, reporting record profits in 2022 of £23 billion — double the figure for the previous year. you can see a drop in profits on this graph, that was early in the coronavirus pandemic, the second quarter of 2020. then you can see profits soared, fuelled in part by high energy prices following the war in ukraine. profits have been down year on year for the first three months of this year, with a drop in wholesale gas and fuel prices.

but still the numbers are higher than pre—pandemic. fellow energy giant shell announced second quarter profits of nearly four billion last week. that's down significantly, moving closer to figures we'd seen previously, as energy prices continue to fall. it's thought bp�*s results may follow suit. both companies, though, will have been encouraged by the announcement by prime minister rishi sunak�*s announcement yesterday of 100 new gas and oil offshore licences to be granted in the north sea. even with that though, experts say bp and others will need to start changing their business models significantly. we'll have more on this story in around 20 minutes, these oil and gas companies will continue to seek licenses and extract as long as there is demand and we are looking for them to transition their

businesses so shell has invested in carbon capture storage. you could potentially make hydrogen, a low carbon fuel, out of that. there are things like offshore wind and that so we are looking for these businesses to start to move into either energy supply thatis move into either energy supply that is greener or helping to get rid of emissions. 50. get rid of emissions. so, ener: get rid of emissions. so, energy security, - get rid of emissions. so, energy security, the - get rid of emissions. so, energy security, the climate crisis, huge talking points at the moment, and we will be talking to a top oil analyst in around 20 minutes for more on bp. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. safe and sound asleep. these puppies are lucky to be here. their mum was a stray, rescued from the streets, heavily pregnant, clearly traumatised. when she arrived with us, she was so nervous to the point that she didn't actually walk for the first, i'd say, week. she wouldn't stand.

she was just so nervous she wouldn't go anywhere, particularly of men, but with everyone, basically.. staff at the rescue centre named the nervous collie roo and then when they're old enough, we will be finding them all homes and obviously roo as well. but for now, she's just she's really happy here. she's settled well. with tens of thousands of dogs in uk rescue centres. the national animal welfare trust says roo's story is an important reminder to think carefully before getting a pet. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. the united states says it would support the deployment of a multinational police force to haiti, as the country struggles to tackle criminal gangs. the state department says it could take the form of leading a push for the un security council to authorise the mission. former us ambassador to haiti,

pamela white, says sending international support could be difficult, but necessary. my friends in haiti are so desperate that they are like, let's try it, let's try it, we wanted canada, we wanted the us, we wanted a coalition, maybe the un troops, but nothing is happening so maybe some of the really well—trained, best—trained kenyan police force, maybe they can come over and really get in with the haitian national police who at one time functioned very well. the problem is also with the national police is that their numbers are going down, not up, so anyone that can escape to the united states under the biden immigrant visa sponsorship programme is going to get out of there. i mean, it is so dangerous. no—one is free and no one can say, oh, i am not going to get kidnapped because i am xyz, no,

no, no, everyone lives in fear. rishi sunak has called for the immediate release of the prominent russian dissident vladimir kara—murza, who has lost an appeal against his 25 year prison sentence. mr kara—murza, who has british citizenship, was arrested soon after russia's invasion of ukraine and found guilty of treason and spreading false information about the war. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports from moscow. applause. he came to court with little hope, but lots of support. and for that, vladimir kara—murza was clearly grateful. in april, the kremlin critic had been convicted of treason and sentenced to a quarter of a century in prison. this was his appeal hearing. the result, as expected — appeal rejected.

vladimir kara—murza is one of russia's most prominent opposition politicians. for a long time a thorn in the kremlin�*s side. he'd lobbied western governments to impose sanctions on russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses. he denounced the war in ukraine. he holds russian and british citizenship. his supporters condemned the ruling. it's very painful because 25 years is something unbelievable. he's a strong man, which want to make the better future for russia. so the conviction stands. the 25—year prison sentence remains unchanged. but in a country where the crackdown on dissent is accelerating the failure of vladimir kara—murza's appeal comes as little surprise. over the weekend,

vladimir putin made it clear what he thinks of dissent. a reporter asked whether it was normal for people to be arrested for things they've written or said. translation: the russian federation is in a state - of armed conflict with her neighbour. i think there should be a certain attitude towards those people who are causing harm inside the country. back in court, "friends," he says, "everything will be ok." "freedom ! " they shout. that's optimistic. for vladimir kara—murza, freedom feels a long way off. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. at the women's world cup, england, the united states and the netherlands are all looking to seal a place in the knockout stages later.

day 13 of the tournament sees portugalface the usa, vietnam against the netherlands, then later china play top of the group d table england, whilst bottom of the table haiti face denmark. live now to ines braga sampaio, sports journalist at portuguese radio station, renascenca. good to have you on the programme. so, iam assuming you programme. so, i am assuming you are programme. so, iam assuming you are gunning for portugal, a very important match today against the usa. m0 very important match today against the usa.— against the usa. no doubt. portu:al against the usa. no doubt. portugal have _ against the usa. no doubt. portugal have a _ against the usa. no doubt. portugal have a slim - against the usa. no doubt. | portugal have a slim chance against the usa. no doubt. - portugal have a slim chance but it is still a chance so we have to beat the usa or hope for a cataclysm for the novellas and is —— for the netherlands facing vietnam. if that happens, we pass. the best chances beating the us. yes, absolutely- — chances beating the us. yes, absolutely. you _ chances beating the us. yes, absolutely. you played - chances beating the us. yes,

absolutely. you played vietnam, 2-0 absolutely. you played vietnam, 2—0 against vietnam, unfortunately were not u nfortu nately were not successful against unfortunately were not successful against the netherlands, so it is all or nothing today for your team. definitely. it is going forward going and say goodbye to new zealand and australia. again, we are not favourites, the us are much stronger, they have a lot more history in the women's game than us but you never know, and we have, well, we have hope and may be the status of one cash underdog might benefit us.— of one cash underdog might benefit us. you never know, that is what _ benefit us. you never know, that is what makes - benefit us. you never know, that is what makes the - benefit us. you never know, | that is what makes the world cup such amazing —— amazing hearing. many out there in portugal supporting the team? portugal supporting the team ? not portugal supporting the team? not in australia or new zealand, we have a few but not many so also of course the players families, those are their and some fans but most portuguese fans are in portugal. is portuguese fans are in portugal-— portuguese fans are in portugal. is there a big

following _ portugal. is there a big following going - portugal. is there a big following going on - portugal. is there a big following going on in l portugal. is there a big - following going on in portugal right now? our bar is packed with tvs on when the games are on? , ., ,., , with tvs on when the games are on? , ., , ., , on? yes, all the bars have been -la in: on? yes, all the bars have been playing portugal's _ on? yes, all the bars have been playing portugal's games, - on? yes, all the bars have been playing portugal's games, all. playing portugal's games, all the radio stations and tvs are, you know, gunning for portugal, so it has been a massive following that i am not used to here in portugal, so it has been really pleasant to say. in been really pleasant to say. in terms of football as a sport for young girls, terms of football as a sport foryoung girls, is terms of football as a sport for young girls, is it popular? well, not quite as popular as we would want but it is growing. 0ur federation is taking steps to make sure more girls play football. because, you know, football is a sport especially for the men so if you can reflect that for the women as well that would be great. women as well that would be areat. ., , ., ., i. great. now, in terms of who you think might _ great. now, in terms of who you think might lift _ great. now, in terms of who you think might lift the _ great. now, in terms of who you think might lift the trophy - great. now, in terms of who you think might lift the trophy and i think might lift the trophy and to be world champions, who is your money on?—

to be world champions, who is your money on? maybe the us, if the no your money on? maybe the us, if they go through- _ your money on? maybe the us, if they go through. england - your money on? maybe the us, if they go through. england are - they go through. england are also strong candidates of course and i am watching japan with close attention. {lilia course and i am watching japan with close attention.— with close attention. 0k, all riaht, with close attention. 0k, all right. we — with close attention. 0k, all right, we wish _ with close attention. 0k, all right, we wish you - with close attention. 0k, all right, we wish you all - with close attention. 0k, all right, we wish you all the i with close attention. 0k, all. right, we wish you all the very best today, all of those watching in portugal right now, we are thinking of you today, we are thinking of you today, we hope you get the result you are looking for. it is tough, though, as you say, you are against the defending world champions. a big line—up today, including the lionesses and their team manager is saying that despite the fact that they are missing their midfielder, they will be sought are very confident they can do well today, so we are thinking of them. now it's a long way from the bright red royal mail post van but a new drone delivery service has been launched, pushing the envelope to provide people in scotland with their mail faster. royal mail is working with companies and local authorities to trial postal drones on scotland's 0rkney islands, in a bid to make deliveries more efficient. chris clements has more.

it may be one of britain's most picturesque deliveries, but its rugged landscape means 0rkney is also among the most challenging for local posties. a new scheme run by the royal mail aims to provide what it claims is a more efficient way of getting mail from a to b. electric drones. it says the scheme could help deliver parcels up to 2a hours quicker than by boat. the post arrives at kirkwall�*s delivery office is transported to stromness and then it's flown by drone to grimsby and hoi where staff then take them to the final destinations. deliveries using unmanned vehicles have been trialled before in these islands with much larger deliveries using this twin engine drone sending packages even further afield two years ago. but licensing rules prevented it from being made permanent. this new scheme has smaller electric drones and could be continued on a permanent basis under existing regulations. this pilot scheme without the pilots will

run for three months. and if it's successful, unmanned drones could be the future of mail delivery and some of our most remote communities. chris clements, bbc news. now, we have got all the top business stories here next, including more on bp, i will see in a moment. hello. july has certainly been a pretty wet month. and we started off the new working week with another dollop of rain, particularly across northern areas of the country. so skies quite cloudy like these in cumbria. it was also quite windy as well. and so far this month, we have seen some areas picking up more than three times as much rainfall as during an averagejuly, for example, in preston. so it has been very wet. even as the area of low pressure that brought the rain on monday starts to edge away, out in the atlantic, underneath this trough in the jet stream, we develop another potent area of low pressure that's set to bring

wet and windy weather our way by wednesday. now, over the next few hours, it is a story of the rain across scotland, northern ireland, northern england, gradually turning a little bit lighter and a bit patchier in nature. it's largely dry, though, further south for southern wales, the midlands, east anglia, southern england. so it should be a fine start to the day for these areas. on tuesday we go, and i think the thickest cloud we'll see will be across southeast scotland, northeast england, threatening a few patches of rain, probably a few showers running into the north—west of both england and wales, but otherwise should be a brighter kind of day. a little bit of sunshine poking out to northern scotland and across wales and parts of southern england as well. heading into tuesday evening and overnight, that area of low pressure i showed you on the satellite picture will continue to develop and will start to swing its way in. and this one will bring quite widespread outbreaks of rain and a swathe of strong winds just running into its southern flank. so quite wet weather for northern ireland, northern england, some heavy rain also pushing into wales and the south—west, but it is across the south—west

of england, really along the south coast, that we could get gusts of around a0 or 50 miles an hour, 50 to 60 perhaps across parts of northern france and the channel islands. that is likely to lead to some localised disruption. a few trees down and a few ferries across the channel could be affected by those strong winds and large waves as well. across northern scotland, that's probably where we'll have the best of the dry weather with some sunshine coming through. temperatures not that special across the north, not that special anywhere, to be honest. highs of about 17—21. that low pressure pulls away and for thursday the winds get a bit stronger in northern ireland for a time, but elsewhere the winds will gradually calm down. but it'll still be quite a blustery kind of day on thursday, a day of bright spells and passing showers. as you can see, as we work deeper into the first week of august, no real change — it stays unsettled.

live from london. this is bbc news. hsbc smashes analyst expectations and reports a 235% jump in pre—tax profits, with its bottom line boosted by high interest rates. one of the winners of the cost of living crisis, bp, is set to announce its latest earnings. profits are expected to be lower despite oil prices remaining sky high — we'll tell you why. pass on interest rates or face a fine — the uk's financial watchdog warns banks they face "tough action" if they

unjustifiably offer low saving rates to their customers. and china ramps up the trade war with europe and the us, by banning the export of two critical minerals which are key for smartphones and medical supplies. hello, i'm sally bundock, with the top business stories. we start with hsbc, which has just announced a 235% increase in pre—tax profit — some £17 billion — for the first—half of this year. europe's biggest bank benefitted from rising interest rates around the world. hsbc�*s results were slightly better than many analysts were expecting, and its shares have already risen around 20% so far this year. joining me now is frances coppola, who's an independent banking analyst.