hello, welcome to bbc news now. i want to bring you some breaking news from thailand, where the country's legislature says parliament will convene on friday for a special meeting to pick a new prime minister. it's after the country's constitutional court dismissed prime minister srettha thavisin. the court in bangkok ruled that he'd violated the constitution by appointing a minister who'd served time injail for contempt of court. he's been in office less than a year. the ruling threatens to destablise thailand's governing coalition. the country has faced decades of political uncertainty and governments toppled by the courts. srettha is the fourth thai premier in the past 16 years to be removed by the same court. and just last week, the court dissolved the main opposition move forward party

and banned its former leader from politics for ten years. the move could also have major implications for southeast asia's second—largest economy and impact investor confidence. mr srettha spoke shortly after the ruling. translation: i respect the verdict of the - constitutional court. i reiterate that for almost one year i have been in this role, i have tried with good intentions to lead the country with honesty. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head told me the court's decison on mr srettha came to a suprise by the people. they are, even though, of course, the court has an extraordinary track record. all those prime ministers you mentioned, it has actually dissolved more than 13 parties and this is a court many argue is more powerful than any elected government in the country. for all that, the whole business about this petition against mr srettha was not taken that seriously. i mean, thailand's politics are not famous for their ethics, all sorts of colourful and pretty disreputable people have served in government

and in parliament in the past. and this was essentially a political decision and nobody thought that there would be real pressure to get rid of a prime minister who is still struggling to get the economy going and as you say, has only been in office forjust under a year. we still don't know exactly what lies behind this verdict, apart from reminding us aboutjust how powerful interventions of thailand's court are. it really does throw the country into some disarray. there is a process for choosing a new prime minister and a new cabinet. that will probably happen pretty quickly, we will expect a meeting in parliament on friday where the current coalition of ii parties can discuss, it has to be somebody who is already registered as a prime ministerial candidate in the last election, which of them will become prime minister. but it is clear, it seems the dominant pheu thai party in the coalition did not expect this verdict and that there is some confusion about exactly what kind of government will emerge. do they have the clout, pheu thai, to lead the next government still then, jonathan? well, their clout has much

diminished, this is the party that dominated elections for 15 years, but in the last election, of course, it was eclipsed by the reformist move forward party who got ten more seats than pheu thai, who were expecting to get an outright majority. so pheu thai are seen in many ways as a diminished force. but also it had to do a lot of backroom bargaining to get its patron thaksin shinawatra, the former prime minister, who was in exile for all those years, he is the main power and bankroller behind the party, to get him back from exile last year. now, the assumption was that was part of a grand bargain with the palace, there had been a lot of enmity with ultra—royalist and mr thaksin in the past. but seeing this new much more reformist party come together, seemed to suggest that they'd come together and made this deal. it is clear whatever deal that was it was not as settled as people thought and that some of that bargain has now unravelled. and what that says about thai

politics is there is really not agreement on the rules, there isn't agreement on who should run thailand or the direction the country should go in. and thatjust leaves a country which already has one of the most poor performing economies in the region floundering trying to find a sense of direction. you explained a bit about the power dynamics in the country, when we look at the military, the monarchy as well we should mention, as well as now the court, but what about the wishes of the people? well, they don't really count, do they? after all, the election last year, the results for move forward party, which had already been cut down, was a stunning rebuttal to those trying to marginalise it. clearly there was a huge hope for real change and real new direction, the new ideas, that was completely swatted aside and said the same court to dissolving move forward party last week, but pheu thai which is a diminished force, cannot keep its prime minister in power and there is a real question about what consensus exists at the top of the country. at this stage we cannot say for sure how much the palace is involved, how much other conservative forces are involved, it was

difficult to know. this was a shock decision and no—one is quite sure why it happened. i suppose the judges themselves will simply say technically they were correct, technically it was a violation of ethics to appoint a once convicted lawyer to cabinet, but given the normal state of thai politics, everyone understands there is an awful lot of politics behind this, it is not really about ethics. russia says any idea of peace talks with ukraine will be put on hold after kyiv�*s surprise incursion into russian territory. ukraine's president zelensky says they have pushed one to two kilometres further into russia today alone. and ukraine's state tv showed video of ukrainian troops pulling down the russian flag in sudzha. the governor of the russian border region of belgorod has declared

a state of emergency, saying ukrainian shelling had made the situation there extremely difficult. this map shows just how rapid the advance has been in the past seven days, with ukraine claiming to have taken more territory in a week than russia has all year. president biden says ukraine's surprise offensive has created a real dilemma for president putin. mr zelensky says his country controls more than 70 communities in the kursk region of western russia, an area of about a thousand square kilometres. russia says it has destroyed more than 100 ukrainian drones and four missiles fired at its border regions during the night. our correspondent will vernon reports. the russian military has been busy making slick videos, apparently showing it's striking back against ukrainian forces in kursk. russia's defence ministry claims the ukrainian advance has been stopped, but ukraine's president says his forces march on.

translation: we're expanding our area of active operations _ in the kursk region. the commander—in—chief reported that our forces control 7a towns and villages. i thank every soldier and commander that has achieved this. in kursk, people queue for handouts of humanitarian aid. over 100,000 residents are said to have been evacuated. it's a sobering picture of how ordinary russians are starting to feel the impact of this war. and in russia's neighbouring belgorod region, the governor said a state of emergency has been declared due to shelling. "the situation is very complicated," said vyacheslav gladkov, "though no signs yet of an incursion." the aims of ukraine's offensive aren't yet clear, but the lightning advance of kyiv�*s troops has shaken the kremlin and surprised the west. it's creating a real dilemma for putin and we've

been in direct contact, constant contact with the ukrainians. that's all i'm going to say about it while it's active. the ukrainian foreign ministry says kyiv isn't interested in seizing russian territory, but russia is struggling to repel the incursion, now in its eighth day, and ukrainian forces show no sign of pulling back. will vernon, bbc news. we are getting lots of contradictory reports about what is happening in these regions. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg told me earlier how it is seen in moscow. i think the first thing to say, lucy, is that it is difficult to work out what is actually happening, how much territory ukraine has actually seized over the last eight or nine days. such is the fog of war, it is very thick and it is very difficult to work that out. you have claim and counterclaim from moscow and kyiv. certainly, this story

is getting a lot of coverage in the state media here, and the message from the state media to the russian people is that russia is succeeding in stopping the advance of ukrainian troops, there are lots of images being shown on tv here from the russian defence ministry of russian troops targeting ukrainian troops, and so, russian officials are speaking on russian television and sound very confident that they will have the situation under control. and yet, every day, there are more reports coming from the other side of more russian villages having been seized by ukrainian troops. certainly, this situation is not under control yet. vladimir putin will be keen, that is an understatement, very keen, to ensure he regains control of russian territory as soon as possible. the governor of belgorod has declared a state of emergency for that region. what are people in that area,

ordinary people, going through? belgorod region has come under sustained shelling, certainly the border area, for some time now. it's a very difficult situation. i think there is concern in belgorod region that there could be some kind of incursion, a ukrainian incursion, similar to that we saw in kursk. that is why they have been evacuating thousands of people from the border area there as well. looking at kursk, the number of people being moved from their homes there is astonishing. officials said 180,000 people were to be moved from the combat zone a couple of days ago. a couple of days ago, i think 120,000 people had been moved. the kremlin calls this a provocation and talks about the situation on the border, but this is serious stuff. that is why the kremlin will want to get on top of it

as soon as possible. the russian foreign ministry spokesperson said any idea of peace talks with ukraine would be a nonstarter, but where where we ate with them anyway? it is a good question. over the last few weeks and months, even, the idea of peace talks and negotiations has been hanging in the air. there have been lots of different players and countries trying and claiming to be acting to try to bring the two sides together, and it felt as if russia and ukraine were edging closer to a moment when perhaps they could sit down at the table together and try to discuss some kind of peace. but two days ago, president putin made it clear, and this was a headline in the russian government yesterday, who is there to talk to? there is nobody to talk to.

today we are getting the same message from other senior russian officials that the idea of peace talks is off the table at the moment, and will be until russia manages to restore control on its own territory. the us is stepping up pressure on israel and hamas to reach a ceasefire in gaza. president biden said such a deal could deter iran from launching the iranian government has dismissed calls from the uk and other western countries to refrain from retaliation against israel for the killing of hamas leader ismail haniyeh in tehran last month. during a meeting of the un security council which was punctuated by accusations, the us ambassador said the temperature in the middle east must be turned down. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega reports from beirut in neighbouring lebanon. those diplomatic efforts continue, so today here in beirut, president biden's special envoy is having conversations with the country's top officials. he had a meeting with the parliament speaker who is a strong hezbollah ally and he said he didn't believe

a wider conflict between israel and hezbollah is inevitable but he said there was no time to waste, so obviously this country is waiting for the response from hezbollah following the assassination by israel of a senior hezbollah commander here in beirut. this visit happens on the eve of the talks that have been organised by international mediators, including the us, for a ceasefire deal in gaza, but i think there is very little expectation that any significant progress can be made. huge differences remain between israel and hamas, there are questions about how or even if hamas will be represented in those talks and there are many questions about the intentions of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, many believe he is not interested in a deal, that he wants to prolong the war to guarantee his political survival. so diplomatic efforts continue, but the us secretary of state antony blinken who was expected to come to the region has delayed his visit, which i think is another sign of how difficult the situation is.

the us has approved new arms sales worth $20 billion to israel. rights groups and some members of the democratic party have urged the administration to curb or stop weapons sales to israel, over the mounting civilian casualties in gaza. a short while ago i spoke to cbs correspondent jarred hill in new york about what the us has approved. we are talking about $20 billion worth of arms, 50+ f—15fighterjets as well as advanced medium range air—to—air missiles and tank ammo. this is not expected to arrive in israel for years. we are looking at 2026 at the earliest. the most robust part of this package, which includes those jets, are not looking to arrive until 2029. democrats have already expressed their unhappiness, some of them, at this deal. take us through some of the reaction. this is an increasingly

unpopular position by voters within the democratic party. in fact, we saw vice president harris had some protesters when she was at a recent rally into detroit in the state of michigan where they were asking her to support cutting off supplying arms to israel. but the democratic establishment as well as democratic voters in congress are largely still behind this type of robust support for israel. especially when we're talking long term. that is despite the fact that a couple of months ago, we saw president biden advocating for a halt in some of the arms being sent to israel because he said he wasn't necessarily satisfied with how the country was handling its war with gaza. again, this is something that democrats in particular, especially in an election year, are having to find a critical way to walk that line between supporting israel, which they see as not only an ally but important to us security, but also making sure that the democratic base doesn't

turn against them in november. coming up on bbc news now, we'll be in walsall after a major incident declared following a toxic chemical spill in a canal.

here in the uk, a major incident has been declared after a toxic chemical spill in a canal in walsall near birmingham. the public have been warned to avoid a 12—mile stretch of the canal network. let's speak to our colleague jo black, who is in walsall. jo, jo, what happened? we are not sure at the moment. the investigation into what happened is ongoing, but a major incident has been declared. as you can see behind me, there are police here. there are people who have been walking around in high

visibilityjackets. have been walking around in high visibility jackets. just over have been walking around in high visibilityjackets. just over the road, there is some police tape across the entrance to the canal and the towpath, meaning people can't go down towards the canal. if you look down towards the canal. if you look down there, you can see dead fish in the water. it'sjust down there, you can see dead fish in the water. it's just a rough estimate, but we think we can see around 100 fish from here. 0bviously, around 100 fish from here. obviously, there will be others reported elsewhere along the canal. the toxic spill, we are told, was discovered on monday. as i say, an investigation is ongoing and we believe water testing is taking place. some of the people in high visibilityjackets place. some of the people in high visibility jackets that we saw, place. some of the people in high visibilityjackets that we saw, one of them had a long pole with a metal baker. and another one was carrying something like a bag that you put your sandwiches in on a hot day. those tests should be ongoing and we hope we will find out soon. walsall council leader gary perry has confirmed the substance as sodium cyanide. we understand that that chemical can cause seizures,

vomiting and loss of consciousness. as you were just saying, the public have been told to avoid a 12 mile stretch of the canal network which runs from walsall, where we are now, to birmingham, but also taking in wednesbury, tipton and west bromwich. this chemical, we understand, is used in industry for things like metal cleaning, plating and photography. it dissolves in the water and if you come into contact with it, it can be risky. so it can be risky to people and their pets. anyone who is concerned has been told to contact the local nhs, 111, or 999 if there is an emergency. the authorities say they are working as cautiously and quickly as they can and hopefully, the restrictions will be reduced once they feel like they have got a grip on the situation. thank you for updating us. i just want to bring you some breaking news.... ukraine is creating a "security zone" in russia's kursk region

and plans to organize humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go either to russia or to ukraine. the country's deputy prime minister iryna vereshchuk said on telegram that ukraine planned to organise access to the area for international humanitarian organizations as well. so ukraine is creating a security zonein so ukraine is creating a security zone in russia? kursk region. residents near athens in greece are counting the cost of the worst wildfires to hit the region in a decade. the blazes have now been brought under control, but they've left a trail of destruction. at least two people have died and dozens more have been injured. my colleague azadeh moshiri has been getting the latest from the ground. well, lucy, they're assessing the damage, so much so that some of the figures, the houses damaged, the amount of forest that has been consumed, those could change.

and helicopters have still been flying over us, trying to douse some of the remnants of the fire and also prevent new resurgences from beginning. and when they're assessing the damage, we spoke to a volunteer firefighter as well as the mayor's office here, and they sent us here because these points allow you to see just how barren some of the land has become. you can see how scorched the land is behind me. and it was completely green before these fires began. and if i take you right here, you can see how close this came to homes here in this suburb of athens, one of the hardest hit. there's some scorched land there over there as well. and as well as trying to assess the damage that's been caused by these wildfires, they're trying to understand the cause. and of course, climate change comes into play here. now, the prime minister, mitsotakis, has previously called this a climate crisis. he says it's evident

here in greece, so much so that he's called it a war, and a lot of that is because of what scientists are telling us about climate change. and here's one of them, someone who specialises in heatwaves. this year in greece was remarkable because it was the earliest heatwave that they had had in records, and so the conditions have been building up over the period and that is a trend that's likely to continue unless we have this, you know, transition to net zero. so we have a reduction in emissions that we know is causing the rise in likelihood of the weather conditions that are conducive for wildfires to spread. what scientists are telling us is that climate change increases the risk of this dry, hot weather that is likely to fuel wildfires like the one that greece has seen this past week. and they also say that the globe, the world has warmed by about 1.1 c since the industrial era began, and that if we want to stop

climate change from having this sort of role in these natural disasters that we see, governments have to make steep cuts to emissions. to a big political story out of japan. the prime minister, fumio kishida, says he will not stand in his party's leadership contest next month, clearing the way for a new premier. mr kishida — who came to power in 2021 — said it was important to show the public that his liberal democratic party was changing. they have governed japan for most of the period since the second world war. prime minister kishida made the anouncement during a press conference. translation: i believe tackling internal and external— challenges is very important, but that is exactly why trust in politics, trust from the people is key. by regaining the trust and empathy from the people, policies can be done. considering all these factors, the liberal democratic party needs to change. and in order to prove

that the ldp is changing, the first step is for myself not to run in the party leadership vote and step down. this is how i have reached this decision. animal welfare campaigners are warning that more beef and dairy cows could be kept indoors for the whole of their productive lives, amid a rise in so—called "mega—farms". the bbc found more than 915,000 cows are now being housed on large—scale farms, something the group compassion in world farming describes as "deeply concerning". three people have been taken to hospital after a food bank in new zealand unintentionally distributed sweets laced with a potentially lethal amount of methamphetamine. police in new zealand are racing to trace the sweets, which as many as 400 people may have received in food parcels. it's believed criminals may have packaged the drugs as sweets to avoid detection.

stay with us here on bbc news. coming up, we have the latest business and sport for you. hello there. temperatures have been cooling somewhat since we had the highest temperature of the year so far to begin this week. today looks rather cloudy for parts of england and wales, with some rain at times, but plenty of sunshine thanks to this ridge of high pressure. but we look to the north west, this area of low pressure and its active weather front will bring a spell of wet and windy weather for many of us over the next 2a hours. that rain starts to push into scotland and northern ireland through this evening and overnight. much of england and wales will tend to be drier. we'll have a bit of cloud hanging on in the south east, that will stop

temperatures from dipping much below 1a or 15 degrees, but it's a milder night to come further north than what we had the previous night. so we're dominated with this area of low pressure and its weather front as we head into thursday. it will be a wet and windy day for large parts of scotland, northern ireland and getting into northern and western england and wales. the midlands and into the southeast will see variable cloud, some sunshine. yes, it will be breezy here as well, but we could still be up to around 25 or 26 degrees here. but it's the high teens, low 20s elsewhere, closer to what we expect this time of year. that weather front spreads across the rest of england and wales as we move through thursday night. fairly quickly, i think, clears off into the near continent, but there's still some warm air across the southeast. further north, it will be a fresher start to friday. eventually, that weather front clears through. fresher air will prevail across the country, but it will be a fine day, i think, for many, with some good spells of sunshine breezy with a few showers across scotland and northern ireland and these sorts of temperatures are what we expect this time of year,

high teens in the north to the low to mid 20s further south. now, the weekend is looking pretty decent. it's going to be dry. lengthy spells of sunshine. it's because we're in between weather systems both saturday and sunday and a ridge of high pressure will bring light winds and a good deal of sunshine. just a few showers, perhaps, for the north west of scotland. so for saturday, then, a breezier day to come across northern areas, a bit more cloudy and maybe the odd shower the further south that you are across england and wales. we'll see more sunshine around and lighter winds. those temperatures reaching the mid 20s in the south. high teens, low 20s in the north. we do it all again on sunday. another fine day to come with plenty of sunshine. light winds further south, breezier for scotland and northern ireland and there will be a few showers grazing the northwest corner of scotland. again, those temperatures high teens in the north to the mid 20s in the south.

that's the opening bell on wall street on wednesday morning. it's less than an hour since traders got the news they've been waiting for all week — july inflation in the us has fallen below 3% for the first time since 2021. the drop in inflation reinforces expectations that the federal reserve will begin cutting rates in september, as concerns mount that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a recession. in the uk, inflation is also in the spotlight.

injuly, price rises accelerated to 2.2% injuly — as higher energy prices bit. and we'll take you on a tour of indonesia's new capital city — built from scratch in the borneo rainforest. welcome to business today, live from new york. inflation in the us has slowed to its lowest in over three years — infact since march 2021. the consumer price index rose by 2.9% in the year tojuly, down from 3% injune. most of this increase was due to a pick—up in housing costs. energy prices were unchanged in the month, while food price rose by 0.2%. jeff sherman is deputy chief investment officer of doubleline in los angeles.