welcome to world news america. we start with the deepening crisis in niger as european nations begin evacuating hundreds of citizens from the country. france, italy, and spain announced the evacuations over concerns that their nationals would become trapped after a military coup plunged the nation into crisis. the regional bloc ecowas has threatened to use force to reinstage niger's ousted president — mohamed bazoum. niger's new military leaders have warned against these attempts. some countries in the region have come to the new leadership�*s defence, including burkina faso, mali, and guinea — declaring that any military invention in niger would be considered a declaration of war. niger is located in the sahel region. it's a key region for western countries in counterterrorism operations. the uk foreign secretaryjames cleverly is visiting west africa and talked to the bbc about the coup�*s impact on the fight against insurgency.

it is disruptive, incredibly disruptive. it is wrong and it is clear that the international condemnation to this action including the leadership in the region. what we wants, but i am here to demonstrate is the fact that africa is a continent that has huge potential. for more on how western governments are responding to the crisis, our africa correspondent catherine byaru hanga sent in this report. some european governments say they are working hard to get their citizens out of niger, first off there is the french, the french government saying it would start its evacuations on tuesday afternoon. this is because it says that niger's airspace has been closed making it hard for individual citizens to get themselves out of the country. italy

and spain are following suit but the k government says it is advising its citizens to stay indoors and to register for the citizens to stay indoors and to registerfor the moment, it will not be carrying out evacuation missions. this is all happening because there has been a growth of anti—western sentiment in niger over the past few days since a who happened last wednesday. the anti—western sentiment has been focused on france which is niger's former colonial power. the french embassy was recently attacked during protests in the country. niger matters for western governments because it has been a key ally in the fight against islamist groups in the region. groups that i live so called to the islamic state and al-qaeda. this is a region that has been fighting this insecurity and we have seen other countries such as burkina faso, mali where crews have also happened and so there is a worry that there will

be growing instability in the region. there is also the prospect that pressure can take advantage of this instability to grow its allegiances in west africa. this has close ties with molly and the wagner group and with burkina faso so there is a prospect that niger could be a new ilife for russia in west africa and that is the big concern for western government at the moment. for more perspective on this, i spoke with the us state department's principal deputy spokesperson, vedant patel. thank you so much forjoining us. francis taken the decision to evacuate it seasons of from niger that i know the state department is constantly assessing the situation, but what conditions with their need to be for the us to also evacuate its citizens. to be for the us to also evacuate its citizen— its citizens. thank you for having me. you its citizens. thank you for having me- you were — its citizens. thank you for having me. you were correct. _ its citizens. thank you for having me. you were correct. the - its citizens. thank you for having me. you were correct. the state i me. you were correct. the state department has no higher priority than notjust the

department has no higher priority than not just the safety and security of american citizens abroad, but also our personnel and diplomats that work in operate in our facilities overseas. they are continuing to assess the security situations on the ground just as we would in any country. the important thing to remember it is that at this time it continues to be relatively calm. our embassy remains and we have full accountability there and it is operating as standard today and will continue to adjust and make assessments should the circumstances on the ground change. it is relatively _ on the ground change. it is relatively calm _ on the ground change. it is relatively calm but - on the ground change. it is relatively calm but west african states have threatened to use force if president mohamed bazoum is not restored to power and we asked the niger's capacitor to the us if you would support in intervention and this is what he told us. i would support in intervention and this is what he told us.— this is what he told us. i would not rule out any _ this is what he told us. i would not rule out any solution _ this is what he told us. i would not rule out any solution because - this is what he told us. i would not rule out any solution because this | rule out any solution because this junta _ rule out any solution because this junta in_ rule out any solution because this junta in africa comes to power by

force _ junta in africa comes to power by force they— junta in africa comes to power by force. they want to substitute force force. they want to substitute force for an _ force. they want to substitute force for an election. this is not acceptable. they did exactly the same _ acceptable. they did exactly the same as— acceptable. they did exactly the same as a — acceptable. they did exactly the same as a terrorist to haggis group we are _ same as a terrorist to haggis group we are fighting. —— jihadist. same as a terrorist to haggis group we are fighting. -- jihadist. we are fighting. -- 'ihadist. groups like scowas_ we are fighting. -- 'ihadist. groups like ecowas have _ we are fighting. -- jihadist. groups like ecowas have shown _ we are fighting. -- jihadist. groups like ecowas have shown immense | like ecowas have shown immense leadership as this event has unfolded of the past few days. they share the united states's mission in ultimate goal here which is the release of president mohamed bazoum and his family and the return to constitutional order and the recognition of the democratically elected government and president of the government of niger. so we will continue to be working closely with regional partners like ecowas as it relates to this. i will not speculate or get into hypotheticals, but we will continue to work closely with relevant partners on this. we have seen in the region burkina faso and mali saying that any use of intervention or force on the grounds

intervention or force on the grounds in niger would be seen as a declaration of war against them. are you concerned, the state department, about the possibility that we could see a spill—over of violence from niger into the region? film; see a spill-over of violence from niger into the region?— see a spill-over of violence from niger into the region? any kind of attem ted niger into the region? any kind of attempted takeover _ niger into the region? any kind of attempted takeover by _ niger into the region? any kind of attempted takeover by force - niger into the region? any kind of attempted takeover by force like i attempted takeover by force like this one has the potential to lead to further instability, notjust of course in the immediate country, but on the continent and on the region broadly. so of course we are concerned and we are continuing to play close attention and that is why the united states has taken the situation so incredibly seriously. secretary of lincoln, ambassador thomas greenfield and the vice president all have had the opportunity to engage appropriately with interlocutors and have been speaking in unison with the ultimate goal of the release of president mohamed bazoum and his family and the return to constitutional order in the capital and the recognition of the democratically elected government and leader. if

of the democratically elected government and leader. if that does not ha en government and leader. if that does not happen one _ government and leader. if that does not happen one of _ government and leader. if that does not happen one of the _ government and leader. if that does. not happen one of the consequences, with the us consider imposing sanctions? we with the us consider imposing sanctions?— with the us consider imposing sanctions? ~ ., , ., , sanctions? we will not preview any otential sanctions? we will not preview any potential us _ sanctions? we will not preview any potential us actions _ sanctions? we will not preview any potential us actions from - sanctions? we will not preview any potential us actions from here, - sanctions? we will not preview any| potential us actions from here, but the secretary when asked on this over the past few days has been incredibly clear that there are a lot of things that are at risk as a result of this attempted takeover by force. whether it be the immense security partnership and cooperation that we have in niger, humanitarian assistance, all of these have the potential to be impacted. the important thing to remember is that president mohamed bazoum has not resigned. he is still the constitutionally elected leader of the government of niger and we will continue to work with relevant partners to restore order and have him into his family release. we saw the us secretary _ him into his family release. we saw the us secretary of _ him into his family release. we saw the us secretary of state, - him into his family release. we saw the us secretary of state, antony l the us secretary of state, antony blinken who you mentioned, and visit in march when he was there he nets $150 million of direct assistance: the country a model of democracy, did the us focused too much on

niger's geostrategic importance as an ally in the region and too little on the governance in niger on and what is happening in the country. no, i think at that time and currently niger continues to be an incredibly important partner in the region. and on the african continent. it continues to be an important partner in a number of spaces including when it comes to security cooperation. as i said, these aspects continue to be at risk with this attempted takeover, but i would echo sec. blinking's words from that trip earlier this year. they have also in speaking to purchasers on the grounds in niger and they see the west but also france and their allies including the us as needing to leave niger as they want russia to be their primary partner on the grounds. do you think this coup opens the door for russia to experience its influence in africa? . , ., .,

africa? the incidents that have unfolded in _ africa? the incidents that have unfolded in the _ africa? the incidents that have unfolded in the place _ africa? the incidents that have unfolded in the place and - africa? the incidents that have unfolded in the place and no i africa? the incidents that have . unfolded in the place and no other country than in niger itself and so as i said, any kind of instability is prime forfurther as i said, any kind of instability is prime for further instability for spreading knobs in the immediate country but more broadly. this is why we continue to pay immense attention but at this time we are just having to speculate. i attention but at this time we are just having to speculate.- attention but at this time we are just having to speculate. i want to ask ou a just having to speculate. i want to ask you a question _ just having to speculate. i want to ask you a question but _ just having to speculate. i want to ask you a question but what - ask you a question but what is happening in a rush at the moment because moscow has seen drone attacks on its financial centre also on buildings that belong to the defence ministry. ukraine has not directly address this, but president zelensky said after sunday's attacked that saying, quote inevitable, naturaland attacked that saying, quote inevitable, natural and absolutely fair to bring the war to russian territory. i know the bite in a ministration has said it does not support attacks in russia itself, but does the us see this development as president zelensky said, absolutely fair? —— biden. you as president zelensky said, absolutely fair? -- biden. you are sot on absolutely fair? -- biden. you are spot on the _ absolutely fair? -- biden. you are spot on the nose. _ absolutely fair? -- biden. you are spot on the nose. this _ spot on the nose. this administration, this government has

been incredibly clear that we do not encourage such attacks or such actions to take place. our focus encourage such attacks or such actions to take place. ourfocus has been on supporting our ukrainian partners is that they can defend themselves against russian aggression and take—back the territory that has been taken from there. it is important to remember that you and i the reason we are having this conversation and you are asking me even about russia and ukraine is because last february, russia made the unlawful, illegal decision to subjugate ukraine and its borders, and consistent with the un charter, basically attempting to erase the borders of a neighbour. russia could very much end this war today, if it wanted to. and every day it has instead chosen to escalate, chosen to target civilians, civilian infrastructure and civilians across ukraine. that is fully unacceptable. so the us is going to continue to do everything

he can to support our ukrainian partners. he can to support our ukrainian artners. . ~' ,, he can to support our ukrainian artners. ., ~ i. ,., he can to support our ukrainian artners. ., ~ i. . he can to support our ukrainian artners. ., ~ . ., partners. thank you so much for 'oinin: partners. thank you so much for joining us _ partners. thank you so much for joining us on _ partners. thank you so much for joining us on bbc— partners. thank you so much for joining us on bbc news. - now to russia, where hundreds of civil servants spent the day working from home after a drone struck their moscow office block for the second time in three days. the kremlin is blaming ukraine for the latest attack on a skyscraper in the capital — with president zelensky warning that the conflict could move to russia. russia has called the strikes an attempted "terrorist attack�*” the attack was on the "iq-quarter" tower in central moscow's business district. russia's air defence says the drones flew in direct from ukraine. earlier, russia's defence ministry said it had destroyed three ukrainian sea—drones that tried to attack two russian naval ships in the black sea. it's also claimed russian commercial ships had been targeted, but kyiv dismissed any suggestion it would attack merchant vessels. here's what a moscow resident said about the attack. translation: after the first attack, everyone said it wouldn't hit - the same place twice. and today we all woke up and were a bit shocked. i don't know what i'm going to do,

but i think i'll move from here. the bbc�*s james waterhouse reports from kyiv. we are now in the throes of drone strikes happening both in ukraine and russia. it's worth stressing, though, that in ukraine, dozens of civilians die every week. we've seen a college dormitory directly hit by a russian missile overnight. but what we are also seeing are more and more drone strikes deep inside either russian territory or russian—controlled territory in ukraine. kyiv will never acknowledge responsibility, but there's been a definite heightening of language used, where you have president zelensky warning that the war is going to come to russia. today, we have a senior adviser talking about the conflict being brought to the authors of this war, and he has promised

more drone strikes. so ukraine really is stretching the boundaries of denial, but we don't know for sure who's these drone strikes. russia, after all, is no stranger to false flag operations, where it fabricates events to justify future actions. it's currently raising the conscription age and increasing the fine people face for resisting mobilisation. and you wonder what ukraine's western allies make of what is happening at the moment, because they have long been wary of this war spreading beyond ukraine and into russia, out of fears of an escalation. possibly, their hopes of these drone strikes destabilising russia's invasion, they might outweigh those fears of moscow taking things to another level. july ended as the hottest month ever on record, and august has kicked off with scorching global temperatures. temperatures maxed out in phoenix, arizona at 108 degrees fahrenheit on monday, ending the city's 31—day—long streak of temperatures over 110 degrees fahrenheit — roughly 43 degrees celsius.

but residents are bracing for even hotter temperatures — possibly reaching 115 degrees fahrenheit, or 46 celsius, by the end of this week. while phoenix's respite is short—lived, iran has called for two days of public holidays this week because of the "unprecedented heat," according to state media. the government warned those who are elderly or with health conditions to remain indoors as temperatures soared as high as 123 degrees fahrenheit in some parts of the country — that's nearly 51 degrees celsius. many evacuation orders for a wildfire blazing on the us—canadian border have been lifted, though residents should remain vigilant. officials have greatly reduced the number of evacuation orders for residents near oroville in washington state and osoyoos in british columbia, canada. but evacuation alerts still loom for more than 2,600 properties in the area. torrential downpours have forced tens of thousands

to flee their homes in beijing. at least 11 people have died and more are missing. pictures show cars being swept away and bridges destroyed. the death toll is expected to increase. authorities have issued a red alert — the highest warning for dangerous rainfall — in several regions as downpours are forecast to continue. state media say more than 50,000 people in the city have been evacuated. meanwhile, in southern china, typhoon khanun is expected to hit zhejiang province in the coming days. china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. methods from the old days have been pulled out to reach people cut off by flash floods. boats have been the best option for emergency teams, but in places, there were not enough of them. roads have become perilous, fast—moving rivers, and some have not heeded the warnings, trying to drive through suburban beijing in clearly dangerous situations. yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. it's not clear how many people died in this way.

rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. zhouzhou in neighbouring hebei province has been especially inundated, after water was diverted there to take the pressure off the capital, but still, beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas, where supplies have been stockpiled for them. translation: we have prepared water, noodles, bread and hot water— to keep people going. the government warned people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. but this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like the cities in the south of china, and the last couple of days have been very tough. locals have pitched in to defend their neighbourhoods. when firefighters arrive, they are helping the most vulnerable. and now, receding rains have revealed the devastation,

with questions being asked about the frequency of extreme weather events in china. the fingers of scientists are pointing squarely at climate change. but in the short term, what's needed is a solid break in the rain to take control of the situation. at times like this. another typhoon was expected to hit the south of the country over the next 2a hours. the south of the country it may now head towards japan instead. steve mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. the bbc has learned that thousands of pakistani migrants are taking a dangerous route to reach europe illegally. many are travelling from pakistan to libya, sometimes via egypt. almost 300 pakistanis are thought to have drowned taking this route injune when their boat sank off the coast of greece. and according to the police in pakistan, nearly 13,000 pakistanis headed for libya and egypt this year, most haven't returned. caroline davies reports. the sharp end of the crackdown on illegal migration. all of these are men that you've arrested in association with human smuggling?

all of them. the majority here are alleged to have been involved in filling the migrant boat that left libya and sank off the coast of greece, including husnan shah. he denies that he was involved, but willingly admits that he's been a smuggler for more than ten years. translation: we started this - because there was no other business and because of greed and the difficult situation, everyone is ready to take this journey. the government is not doing anything for the young generation here. i do not have a main role. it's the people who are sitting in libya who are very big and rich. do you feel guilty for the sort of things that have happened to people on these routes? i felt very sorry and we are really ashamed over this. but what can we do? if i don't do this, someone else will do it. hundreds of pakistanis are thought to have drowned when the packed boat sank injune, including teenage brothers fahad and tahid — theirfamily may never have a body to bury.

praying instead, they only have photos and voice messages. translation: they messaged their father early morning - instead, they only have photos and voice messages. translation: they messaged their father early morning - from somebody�*s mobile saying we are leaving. "tell mother this is our last message." her sons took a newly popular route, flying from pakistan to egypt, then to libya. officials told us that nearly 13,000 pakistanis travelled to the two countries in the first six months of this year, almost double the number of all of last year. around 10,000 are unaccounted for. do you have any idea where these thousands of people are? yeah, but we don't have it

because they have gone to libya and we don't know whether they are still in libya or they have gone to any of the european countries. their flights out of the country are legal. these people have legal documents. they have legal visa, they have legal passports. so, we wouldn't stop them. some who hope to cross are still stuck in libya. this group didn't want us to show theirfaces, afraid that their young men held there might face retaliation for their family speaking. translation: my son is living in a lot of difficulty. _ sometimes the only give food after 2 to 3 days. my son cries a lot and says, "what kind of trouble have we landed in?" "we gave them money and we are dying here." pakistan's economy is in turmoil. youth unemployment is high.

and despite the dangers and the crackdown, some still want to play the odds. many are afraid to appear on camera in case they are arrested. but we've spoken to multiple pakistanis who've told us that they would still take an illegaljourney. we've also spoken to a smuggler who says that they are still taking people out of the country. and we've spoken to police authorities who confirmed that they know that people are still leaving illegally. farid and najma spent months weighing up whether to let their teenage sons go. farid agreed. they went with the same smuggler that had taken him to germany illegally eight years before. translation: i thought, we are poor people. - even if they get educated, they won't find a job. we don't have much land. so i thought they will go there, get educated and work. it doesn't matter how much anyone convinces you, you shouldn't go. this village may remember those that died in greece's waters, but many we spoke to hold little faith in what pakistan can

offer and the pull to go can outweigh the fear. caroline davies, bbc news, punjab, pakistan. in other news: the lieutenant governor of the us state of newjersey has died. shelia oliver had been serving in that role since 2018. before that, she was the state's first black woman to be speaker of the general assembly. newjersey governor phil murphy praies her as a "trailblazer in every sense of the word." she was 71 years old. a settlement has been reached between the descendants of henrietta lacks and thermo fisher scientific. this comes after the biotech firm exploited locks cancer cells, following her death in 1951, to develop revolutionary new treatments, fuelling a billion—dollar biotech industry. ms lacks' abnormally resilient cancer cells were removed without consent and used for decades without her family's full knowledge. locks' cells were the first human cells to survive and reproduce indefinitely in lab conditions.

job openings in the us are at the lowest level in two years. on the last day ofjune, the us labor department reported 9.852 millionjob openings — that's a drop of 3a,ooo from the month before. this apparent labour market resilience suggests the federal reserve could keep rates higher for longer. nasa says it has received a signal from a distant spacecraft it accidentally severed contact with. the american space agency had lost communication with its voyager 2 probe after it mistakenly sent it the wrong command. now two weeks later the space agency says contact, albeit limited, has now been re—established. the signal came through during a regular scan of the sky. given that the space—craft is almost 20 billion kilometres, or more than 12 billion miles, away, that signal will have taken around 18 hours to reach earth. nasa says the news confirms voyager 2 is still broadcasting and is in "good health." the probe has been floating in space since 1977 when it was launched to study the outer solar system.

remember, you can find more on all the day's news at our website. plus, to see what we're working on at any time, make sure to check us out on twitter. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you for watching world news america. feeling cool across all areas for the time of year. we note thatjuly was a pretty wet month up and down the country, many weather stations recorded more than double what we expect the july average rainfall a few areas saw three times what we

expect in a normaljuly rainfall wise. early august, not much change and an unseasonably deep area of low pressure spreading across the country bringing gills across southern britain and in towards the channel. 50—60 mile gusts here. heavy rain into the afternoon where winds will be late in the centre of the law across england and wales given some centre, we could see some heavy and downpours develop as well, slow moving. disappointing temperatures for the time of year generally ranging from around 16-19 c. as generally ranging from around 16—19 c. as we move through wednesday night into the early hours of thursday, the low pressure system pulls away allowing a run of northerly winds to dig in. a little but try with a few showers across the south, but more cloud across northern scotland to start thursday. temperatures will be coming down somewhat as well. this is the pressure chart for thursday. northerly winds across the uk, there will be a day of sunshine and showers but it could be quite bit of sunshine around certainly to begin with an clouds bubble up showers will develop most will be central

and western areas, a few heavy maybe once, but stood rather cloudy across the northern half of scotland was not a breezy day to come certainly close to northern and western coasts. that will make it feel a little bit cooler. generally mid to high teens could just make 20—21 across the south—east given some good sunny spells. into friday we have a run of north— north—westerly winds so sunshine and showers the breeze may be not quite as strong on friday and most of the shower since time will be across most eastern areas. some of these could be heavy, thundery even fairly slow moving as well. the best of the sunshine towards the west, time temperature 19-20 , towards the west, time temperature 19—2o , otherwise it will feel quite cool for the time of year for most. into the start of this coming weekend, it looks like another area of low pressure may move close to the uk. again i think it is one of sunshine and showers some of the showers moving together to produce longer spells of rain and places. a

little bit of sunshine as well, the eros will be on the cool side for early august. at best we're looking at 15-18 c. -- early august. at best we're looking at 15—18 c. —— hermas. well below the seasonal norm on saturday. the jet stream looks like it will continue to power across the uk, the rest of next weekend and into next week rooting for the low—pressure systems, but then it buckles its way north was as an area of high pressure pushes and from the west. it looks like the low—pressure systems will tend to clear away and something we have not seen for a while, an area of high pressure which could settle things down around the middle part of next week. that will bring something drier, brighter and a bit warmer. an unsettled next few days, through the weekend into the start of next week, but then something a little bit drier, sunnier and warmerfrom next wednesday onwards. take care.

live from washington, this is bbc news. hello. we are coming to you from washington at this hour because we have breaking news for you. former us president donald trump says he will be indicted for a third time. he called it "another fake indictment" and an attempt to interfere in the 2024 presidential election campaign, being led by a "deranged" prosecutor. those are his words, as you see

there in the statement. there has been much speculation that an indictment over trump's alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election and his role in the january 6 riot is imminent. no other sitting orformer us president has ever been indicted on criminal charges. for donald trump, this is potentially his third time. he's already due to stand trial next year in two separate cases. all the while, according to opinion polls, he remains the outstanding favourite to win the republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election and he has repeatedly said he will run for the white house even if convicted and jailed. live now to former republican national committee official doug heye. you have been following all the latest development with us here, and we are seeing there's a lot happening in the courtroom here in washington at the moment. the latest we are hearing is the grand jury has just returned a sealed indictment of the judge has approved the summons of an unnamed individual to appear in court, butjust take us through

what we're expecting see here.