and that putin accepted. plus, an a—i forum, an impending retirement, and the threat of an impeachment. we'll wrap up a busy day on capitol hill. i'm helena humphrey. it's good to have you with us. more than 5 thousand people are now known to have died in libya after a storm unleashed a torrent of floodwater on sunday. these drone shots from the city of derna give a sense of the devastation, and the difficulties getting aid to where it's needed. the city of around 100—thousand, on the mediterranean coast, at the mouth of a season river called wadi derna — was particularly badly hit. these satellite images show the scale of the damage

after two dams and four bridges collapsed. thousands of people are still missing — the mayor of says he fears as many as 20 thousand people may have died. many people were asleep when their homes collapsed around them — and many people were washed out to sea in the torrent. the bbc�*s quentin sommerville has been following the story from beirut — he sent this report, which contains distressing images. when the storm came, fractured libya was ill—prepared. half a year's rainfall fell in just 2a hours. in daylight, as much as a quarter of the port city of derna was revealed to be gone, engulfed by flood water after two mountain dams failed. families were washed out to sea as they slept. the grim work to retrieve the lost is under way. locals working alongside the army are helping to remove the dead, which now number in their thousands.

bodies are being washed ashore by the dozens. with terrible force, the flood swept through this city, destroying homes, cars, bridges. there was no warning, no evacuation order. gently, the body of a child is recovered from the rubble. few here are being found alive. derna and libya are overwhelmed. it is too much for those left grieving. entire families were swallowed by the deluge. translation: i already lost six people. - we managed to take out three and we did not find the other three people. we're searching for the bodies

here, we could not find then. derna has long been marginalised. it was once a base for the islamic state group. years of neglect and conflict and two rival governments have seen libya fall apart. translation: it has been - an enormous shock and i don't want to point the blame at anyone or create controversy. even if all measures had been taken, there would have been losses, massive losses. but more could have been done. translation: we warned the authorities since last l week, no, for years, that the dam had cracks and needs to be maintained. we said it and nobody listened to us and now the whole of derna is flooded. what remains here already barely functions. this hospital is struggling, deep in water, and flooded with casualties. and for the medical staff, it is all too much. translation: this is | a catastrophe from god. we have lost brothers.

international help is on the way. these planes are from jordan, but with many of the roads in eastern libya washed away, aid will struggle to get through. this is libya's third day of national mourning, and still, the corpses keep coming. after a decade of chaos, this fresh tragedy is one the country can't bear alone. quentin sommerville, bbc news. further west from libya — in morocco, there's been growing criticism of the government's response to friday's earthquake. adding to the chaos there: aftershocks. this was the moment of panic on wednesday after an aftershock hit a village close to the epicenter of last week's quake. rescue workers, villagers and journalists ran to open land. many people have been sleeping outside. here's what one desperate resident had to say: we lost our friends, our

family. we lost everything. we don't have a place to live any more. the trauma on the ground is hard to put into, according to the latest estimates, more than 2,900 people are dead. and at least 5,330 are injured. when it come to international aid: the country has accepted help from four countries: the united kingdom, qatar, spain and the united arab emirates, but resources from several other countries and the united nations remain on standby. north korean leader kimjong un invited russia's president to visit his country, during their talks on wednesday. that's according to pyonyang's state media. the report added that putin accepted the invitation, without providing further details. the pair held talks at russia's vostochny space centre on wednesady. putin said the they discussed the "possibilities" of military cooperation.

in return, moscow has indicated it will help pyongyang with space technology, seen as a critical part of its wider nuclear weapons program. with me isjennifer welch, chief geoeconomics analyst at bloomberg and former nsc directorfor china & taiwan & special advisor to the vp on asia & pacific. if we take a look at what we have been seeing it appears that we are seeing an ever strengthening relationship between vladimir putin and kim jong—un. is that what you are seeing and how concerned do you think we should be about that? i think that is exactly right especially if we compare this to the last meeting in 2019 and kim were seeking sanctions relief amid heavy us pressure. then get a lot of love from moscow at that time. putting indicated support but other than that and reach further forward. today we are seeing two leaders who both have something to gain and a lot

less to lose by cooperating with each other given that they are all facing sanctions and putin needs munitions, he needs workers. kim needs energy, he needs military technology, as you mention, and he needs food. of piercing the prospect, then, 0f piercing the prospect, then, of a serious weapons dealer any weapons deal on the table you did mention the fact that the pressure needs munitions for its war in ukraine. do you think that, potentially, this could prolong the aggression we are seeing against ukraine? that is of the good question and that is exactly what washington and a lot of ukraine's partners are worried about. i think any north korean artillery is likely not to have artillery is likely not to have a decisive impact on the battlefield. it could extend conflict that is already having a serious toll on ukraine. at a time in the united states and many of its partners are struggling to fill ukraine's existing military needs.

curiously, it is fair to say, what about that promise for help for north korea's space programme. how concerned should be be about that. what would that look like and what would that look like and what would that enable pyongyang to do? putin said it himself. they met at the space launch centre for at the space launch centre for a reason and it is because they're interested in seeing where they can cooperate. he made vague references to how he is aware of sanctions on north korea but he still sees prospects for cooperation. north korea's side they are looking to get a reconnaissance satellite programme off the ground quite literally. the challenges of technology overlaps with rocket launch technology and that is where the us and partners overly concerned about any technology that would enable not only north korea's nuclear programme but its ability to get that programme off the ground. we are talking about what bedsides could gain and we are wondering about the optics of it and how it could backfire because what we are now seeing is that

russia has few backers and it is looking to north korea to be one of them. what does that say about its isolation on the global stage? about its isolation on the aulobalstae? ~ ., global stage? washington said this must be _ global stage? washington said this must be act _ global stage? washington said this must be act of— global stage? washington said | this must be act of desperation and that distinction back to 2019 when moscow was very reluctant to engage in a discussion of sanctions relief to where we are today where russia might be feeling its backis russia might be feeling its back is up against the wall and has a lot less to lose from cooperating and a lot to potentially gain. i5 cooperating and a lot to potentially gain. is there anyway. _ potentially gain. is there anyway. do _ potentially gain. is there anyway. do you - potentially gain. is there anyway, do you think, i potentially gain. is there . anyway, do you think, then, that western governments can operate, can work together to push these two sides further apart? i push these two sides further a art? ~ . . apart? i think the challenge there is immense _ apart? i think the challenge there is immense given - apart? i think the challenge| there is immense given that russia and north korea are already facing with the heavy sanctions. earlierthis already facing with the heavy sanctions. earlier this year the united states sanctioned a couple of individuals and entities for involvement in arms talks of some sort but it is unclear whether those individual sanctions, especially given the totality of what the regimes are already facing, is going to be enough

to deter cooperation going forward. ~ u, to deter cooperation going forward. ~ , , ., forward. we can be sure that watchin: forward. we can be sure that watching all— forward. we can be sure that watching all of _ forward. we can be sure that watching all of this _ forward. we can be sure that watching all of this will - forward. we can be sure that watching all of this will be i watching all of this will be beijing, very closely. i do think they could react to these talks? ., ~ , , talks? the foreign ministry commented _ talks? the foreign ministry commented this _ talks? the foreign ministry commented this morning . talks? the foreign ministry l commented this morning and indicated support for the talks and putin is going to be heading to china later this fall in october. we know that conversations are always ongoing between beijing and pyongyang. i don't think china is going to necessarily express concerns openly about the deal and we have seen that china has continued to indicate its partnership with russia. and continue to indicate support for north korea.— continue to indicate support for north korea. jennifer, what about the _ for north korea. jennifer, what about the us? _ for north korea. jennifer, what about the us? how _ for north korea. jennifer, what about the us? how do - for north korea. jennifer, what about the us? how do you - for north korea. jennifer, whatl about the us? how do you think they will be watching this? how would they react to this? washington is watching very closely, in fact, washington is watching very closely, infact, in washington is watching very closely, in fact, in advance of this meeting washington thought that something was likely to happen in the two leaders have been exchanging letters and they have a lower level conversations between the two regimes. washington is also threatened additional sanctions

if they come to some sort of agreements i think we'll have to watch and see what washington does but, again, the challenge there is additional lavage might be limited given the amount of sanctions that are in place. the amount of sanctions that are in place-— are in place. with a great to talk to. with _ are in place. with a great to talk to. with us. _ are in place. with a great to talk to. with us. thank - are in place. with a great to talk to. with us. thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the un envoy to sudan says he's stepping down from the job. it comes more than three months after sudan declared him "unwelcome" in the country, refusing to recognize him. volker perthes told the un security council that fighting between rival military factions was heading towards a full—blown civil war. he'd been in the role for 2 1/2 years. the wife ofjailed mexican drug lord, joaquin el chapo guzman, has been released from prison. emma coronel was sentenced in 2021 to three years in prison, but had her sentence reduced after pleading guilty to drug

trafficking charges. her husband, who led the notorious sinaloa drug cartel, is serving a life sentence in new york. one of the largest unions in the us says it's preparing coordinated strikes at auto plants if new labor agreements aren't reached with automakers by late thursday. the united auto workers says it has rejected pay raises of as much as 20% over four and a half years for its 146—thousand us autoworkers. you're live with bbc news. here in the us, a two—week manhunt for an escaped killer came to a dramatic end on tuesday. police in the us state of pennsylvania recaptured danelo cavalcantay, a brazilian native who had been sentenced to life last month for murdering his ex—girlfriend. more than 500 officers were involved in tracking him down. some posed with him after the capture. cavalcante had survived since his escape by robbing

people's homes, even taking possession of a gun. he escaped from prison by crab—walking up between two walls, in video that captured the attention of the world. here in washington, its been a busy day on capitol hill for both politics and policy. we'll get to the politics in a moment, but we'll start on the policy side with lawmakers and tech giants sitting together in one room for a forum on al. the talks were a first—of—its—kind private summit to discuss regulations. tech billionaire elon musk was at the summit and said the meeting was �*historic�*. ai has seen a boom in investment and popularity since the release of 0penai's chatgpt. but lawmakers and tech leaders are grappling with the potential dangers of the emerging technology. bbc�*s north america correspondent was also on capitol hill, and spoke to people who were in that closed—door session. this was a real who's who of tech tycoons gathered behind

me. they met all 100 senators in order to discuss ai, discuss the benefits, the risks and how to regulate it. the meeting was bipartisan but so has been the criticism, with some lawmakers on both sides questioning why the meeting was close to the public, close to the reporters, there was also concerns over how this wasn't a congressional hearing, such, so the they weren't subject to a grilling, they were given questions beforehand to answer them and had the lawyers with them. earlier i spoke to a senator during a break and i asked him if he and the other senators understood ai if he and the other senators understood aland if he and the other senators understood ai and the risks of it and how to regulate it and he made an interesting analogy with the bbc, saying, look, bbc listeners don't understand how radio waves work but it doesn't stop them from receiving news thatis stop them from receiving news that is fair and impartial. so i think what he is implying is that you don't need to know the menu share of the technology in order to understand the risks of it all the benefits of it.

but how to regulate it, that is something that they need to reach a consensus on and no closer to understanding how they plan to achieve that. and a fun fact, courtesy of forbes via axios, the combined net worth of the tech titans in that rom on wednesday is more than $500 billion dollars. that's roughly the annual gdp of austria. it's also been an eventful day for republicans on the hill. us senator mitt romney of utah — a republican moderate — says he will not seek reelection. senator romney announced his retirement from congress on social media. romney, whojoined congress in 2018, ran a campaign for presidency in 2012, losing to barack 0bama. before that, he was governor of massachusetts. he is also one of the most outspoken critics in congress of former president trump and his political movement. he was the only senate republican to vote to convict the former president

in the senate after mr trump was impeached in the house both times. the senator told the press that it was time to step aside. the times living in, we need a man of the next generation to step up and express their point of view and make decisions that will shape american politics over the coming century to the back century. having a bunch of guys around from the post—war error, we are ones to be making the decisions for tomorrow. senator romney also told the bbc that he thinks both president biden and former president trump should stand aside and let their parties pick someone in the next generation. meanwhile, over the in the house, speaker kevin mccarthy spent his day trying to shore up support for his impeachment inquiry into presidentjoe biden. the inquiry accuses the president of lying about knowledge of his son hunter biden�*s business dealings and other allegations. republicans have not found any concrete evidence of misconduct. but mccarthy is working hard to justify his reasoning, holding a private meeting today with republicans to do just that.

some of gop hardliners are threatening mccarthy's leadership position if they don't get what they want. the white house has repeatedly dismissed it, calling the inquiry "baseless." that's all happening against the backdrop of a looming government shutdown that's just 18 days away. to talk about all of this, i spoke with louisiana republican congressman clay higgins, who's on the right flank of the republican party. you met today with the republican conference. what did he say about the impeachment inquiry and what comes next? speaker mccartney has decided that we should begin a formal impeachment inquiry to enhance the work that we have been doing on oversight committee now for the balance of this year. and some others were looking into through our own

offices since, really, last year and before but the impeachment inquiry gives us particular rights to request and to subpoena information and data and evidence that, without the formal declaration of the impeachment inquiry, we are limited to what is called a legislative purpose so the oversight committee on which i sit, we are leading the investigations into dividing criminal actions, and his... his actions have... with determined that they are impeachable, clearly impeachable. so it was time to begin formal impeachment inquiry and, that is what speaker mccartney has initiated.— speaker mccartney has initiated. ., �* , ~ ., initiated. we don't yet know whether there _ initiated. we don't yet know whether there are _ initiated. we don't yet know whether there are criminal l whether there are criminal actions and four months, as you have been talking about, republicans have been

investigating the bidens. they yet to prove allegations that biden directly profited of his sons foreign business deals. your colleague has also said that they haven't seen any evidence linking president biden to his son's business activities and what do you say to members of your party and outside of your party as to whether impeachment should be on the table?— on the table? you'd have a clear understanding - on the table? you'd have a clear understanding of- on the table? you'd have a| clear understanding of what on the table? you'd have a - clear understanding of what the constitutional parameters of impeachment are. constitutional parameters of impeachmentare. impeachment impeachment are. impeachment was impeachmentare. impeachment was never a process that was used by government to control the actions of executives that had breached the trust of the people. it has its own set of standards and that is loosely defined in the constitution as high crimes and misdemeanours but actually is an old british

description that was used for hundreds of years by parliament. it hundreds of years by parliament.- hundreds of years by parliament. it we did yesterday. _ parliament. it we did yesterday, after - parliament. it we did yesterday, after this| parliament. it we did - yesterday, after this quote, impeach him, after we saw that announcement by speaker mccarthy. and speaker mccarthy, the process is going about is taking this to the committees which essentially slows this down without a floor vote. are you happy? are you satisfied with the way he is handling this? it i think we should become at this point, very aggressive, and the speaker has chosen a judicious and cautious rout and the evidence that we have harvested and revealed has been quite shocking and incredibly condemning of the president and his family and the president's involvement, primarily, when he was vice president, a great deal of corrupt monies has been exchanged, with eggs identified sheu exchanged, with eggs identified shell companies and millions and millions of dollars funnelled into the biden family

banks through very suspicious financial transactions that, six banks, six major banks have identified as laundering money. congressman, i have to say that not everybody in your own party agrees on that. and, at this stage, these allegations, not evidence. i stage, these allegations, not evidence-— evidence. i respect my colleagues. _ evidence. i respect my colleagues. personal. colleagues. personal background, i was a police officer before congress. in an investigator. everton seniority investigator. everton seniority in the oversight committee, and have seen the evidence. i've watched it unfold and have looked at it very calmly, through the eyes of an investigator. and although i respect my colleagues, anyone that disagrees about that we should write righteously move forward with impeachment, is not grasping the significance of the evidence. we already

have. and we are getting more, as the days and weeks unfold. 0ur investigative effort continues and is quite productive because bank records are, it is like gold for investigators. there is no republican bank records or demo quite bank records, there are just bank records.— quite bank records, there are just bank records. want to move on because _ just bank records. want to move on because we — just bank records. want to move on because we do _ just bank records. want to move on because we do have - just bank records. want to move on because we do have to - just bank records. want to move on because we do have to talk. on because we do have to talk about the fact that the government is due to shut down, essentially, if congress does not take action by the end of the month. would you support a continuing resolution to keep the government funded and give congress more time to come up with their spending deal? hat with their spending deal? not under the _ with their spending deal? iirrt under the current circumstances, i would not support a continuing resolution. we require a more comprehensive agreement with leadership. and i say we i mean the most conservative amongst us. demand, respectfully, but we demand a larger, more

conservative and comprehensive concurrence on what we shall do with the 12 appropriations bills that we have written and that we are prepared to pass but there has to be a larger plan and strategy. let but there has to be a larger plan and strategy.— but there has to be a larger plan and strategy. let me ask ou, plan and strategy. let me ask you. then _ plan and strategy. let me ask you, then come _ plan and strategy. let me ask you, then come about - plan and strategy. let me ask you, then come about that i plan and strategy. let me ask. you, then come about that plan. a kind of deal on federal spending do you want to see and can you continue to rely on funding from the united states going forward? in the agreed to 2022 spending levels by and large. it is how the media has faced. not exactly true. we divide discretionary spending into categories that does not restrict defence spending and does not touch social security and benefits, etc, but, basically, the freedom caucus, which i am a member of, most conservative of us, we recognise that america requires

a change of the trajectory of spending. a change of the tra'ectory of spendingh a change of the tra'ectory of spending. you're 'ust asking for a reasonable _ spending. you're just asking for a reasonable and - spending. you're just asking for a reasonable and wise i for a reasonable and wise adjustment to the trajectory of our spending. we insist upon that. ., ,, ., that. congressman, should americans _ that. congressman, should americans than _ that. congressman, should americans than prepare - that. congressman, should americans than prepare for that. congressman, should - americans than prepare for the prospect of a government shutdown? aha, prospect of a government shutdown?— prospect of a government shutdown? ~ ,., , ., shutdown? a government shutdown is not an accurate _ shutdown? a government shutdown is not an accurate description - is not an accurate description of what would happen. it would be a pause of nonessential services. we reached that abyss before and stepped back from it. but this is where gentlemen of system meshed accomplishment and deep principled stand upon those core principles and be ultimately come to an agreement. i believe that will happen. none of us want a government shutdown or a temporary pause of the essential services. we don't want that and we don't have to have that. what we require, in order to avoid that, is a conservative agreement on how

he moves forward with spending in america. he moves forward with spending in america-— in america. congressman clay hi ains, in america. congressman clay higgins. thank _ in america. congressman clay higgins, thank you _ in america. congressman clay higgins, thank you for - in america. congressman clay higgins, thank you for being l higgins, thank you for being with us. ., ~ , ., thank you. the us space programme has set a new record—holder. frank rubio took a congratulatory call from nasa's adminstrator, after logging the longest single spaceflight by an us astronaut. by the time he returns the earth on september 27, he'll have spent 371 days in space. the record was previously set by astronaut mark vande hei in 2022 who spent 355 days in space. to be fair, the overall record is held by russian valeri polyakov, who spent 437 continuous days aboard the mir space station in the mid—90s. that's a year and two months. hello. thursday promises to bring a real mix of weather across the uk. for much of wales, parts of the midlands and northern england, we will have a band of cloud bringing some outbreaks of rain at times.

to the south of that, it will be dry and warm. to the north of that, a mix of sunshine and showers. and in the far north, in northern scotland, some strong winds. it's all because of an area of low pressure and this dangling frontal system here. this weather front, will be very, very slow—moving through the day on thursday, so we will see that band of cloud and rain across wales, parts of the midlands, some parts of northern england. we start the day with gales across the north of scotland and some heavy rain drifting its way across the northern isles. scotland, northern ireland, the far north of england can expect a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. then here's our rain bands, the rainjust waxing and waning across parts of wales, the north midlands, northern england. to the south of that, some spells of sunshine and some warmth, highs of 23, 2a, maybe 25 degrees. now, through thursday night, our rain band will tend to pep up again and it will also drift northwards across northern england, into northern ireland, southern and central parts of scotland by the end of the night.

to the south of that, clear spells, 11 or 12 degrees. to the north of that, actually rather chilly in the north of scotland. but for friday, well, it looks very wet indeed across northern ireland, rain also affecting southern and central parts of scotland. and underneath the cloud, with the outbreaks of rain, temperatures in glasgow only getting to 13 degrees, 1a there in belfast. compare that with 25 in london. some warmth and humidity building down towards the south. into the weekend, this area of low pressure swirling to the south—west of us will try to throw some showers or longer spells of rain in our direction. and with that, some relatively warm and humid air. that said, many places on saturday will see a fair amount of dry weather. a little bit of cloud, some bits and pieces of rain here and there, maybe some thunderstorms in the channel islands and the south—west of england. but towards the south—east

corner, in the sunshine, highs of 26 or 27 degrees. always cooler and fresher further north, but some warmth and humidity for many of us on sunday. with that, some heavy showers and some thunderstorms. that's all from me. bye for now.

fuel prices in the us are driving up the cost of living, raising concerns over whether the us federal reserve will keep rates steady. drivers are revving

their engines for this weekend's f1 in singapore. but the sport is far from the finish line when it comes to meeting their energy emissions goals. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. we begin in the us, where consumer prices have risen by more than expected last month, driven by higher costs for rent and fuel. the inflation rate rose 3.7% over the 12 months to august. that's up from 3.2% injuly. the figures underscore the challenges facing officials trying to stabilise prices, which soared last year at the fastest pace in decades. analyst dimitri zabelin says american consumers continue to feel squeezed by the rising cost of living. a lot of the inflation, if you look at it in the us,

is really coming from shelter and housing.