stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.d the country's unprecedented monsoon rains and flooding as a national emergency. sherry rahman called for international help, and said the situation was a climate—induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. the provinces of sindh and balochistan have been the worst hit regions. more than 900 people have died sincejune. the french president, emmanuel macron, has said france and algeria should move beyond their painful shared history and look to the future. mr macron is visiting the former french colony, and announced that a joint franco—algerian commission of historians would be set up to study archives on algeria's time under french rule. now to some good environmental news. it was on the brink of extinction in britain more than a0 years ago, but thanks to conservation work, it's been a bumper summer for the large blue butterfly. thousands have been recorded this year, with the restoration of wild meadows, and south—west england now has the world's greatest concentration. helen

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. you're watching newsday on the bbc.e butterfly — once almost extinct in the uk. he is the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the southeastern sky, an orange glowing disc that is brighter than anything, save the moon, our neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months i and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved injust hours _ three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off—duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani, in singapore. 0ur headlines... the usjustice department is ordered to release a redacted version of the evidence that prompted the fbi to searc

our correspondent stephen mcdonell has sent this report from beijing.ear, you can walk to it across the dry bed of poyang lake. for 70 days, the yangtze river basin has been caught in a record heat wave and low river levels have hit hydroelectricity production. one of the worst—affected cities has been the inland metropolis of chongqing, home to tens of millions of residents. they've been riding underground trains in the dark because of power rationing. translation: this year, - you turn on the cold water tap for a few minutes and yet, it's still coming out extremely hot. translation: the weather is so hot, i cannot sleep. i then i wake up with the heat as well. environmentalists are opposing calls for more fossil fuel electricity to guard against future drought effects on hydropower. to ensure the energy supply of residents and industry is supposed to be the most priority thing for china to do right now, but we're also concerned that this kind of narrative will, you know, give opportunity for more new coal power plants in the local provinces. china has

stephen mcdonell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. the week on the weekend. we are not expecting record—breaking temperatures with the dizzying heights of a0 degrees, also the temperature will be quite so high across northern parts of the country. the high and hot sunshine will be throughout the uk over the next few days, as this high pressure is firmly in charge of the weather. here are the forecast temperatures for tuesday, here are the forecast temperatures fortuesday, pushing here are the forecast temperatures for tuesday, pushing 30 degrees across southern and central parts of england as well as wales. mid 20s further north and east. very little in the way of weather, clear skies overnight and into the morning. the morning temperatures will be between 11-15, morning temperatures will be between 11—15, so a little on the fresh side in some spots further north. a week whether from just off the coast, brushing north—western parts of scotland. otherwise, hot sunshine and widely into the low 30s across parts of southern and central en

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. the time is 1:19.and has defended its decision to raise interest rates to curb soaring prices, warning the uk faces a lengthy recession. conspiracy theorist alex jones is ordered to pay millions in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. coming up in sport on the bbc news channel: the latest from the commonwealth games, where some superb running from england's cindy sember sees her secure her place in the final of the women's 100m hurdles. the first in a series of hosepipe bans comes into force today, as a lack of rainfall continues to put pressure on water supplies. today's ban affects customers of southern water — but companies in other parts of the country are planning similar moves in the coming weeks. people who break the rules could receive a warning — or in extreme cases a fine, as zoe conway reports. i've actually used the hosepipe more... from today, people living here near alresford in hampshire will be banned from using a hosepipe in their gardens. fran

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.y the us open because he hasn't had a covid vaccine, which means he'll be refused entry into the country. the star has won 21 grand slam tournaments, including three us opens. the announcement came just hours before the draw for this year's tournament was due to take place. on twitter he wished his fellow players good luck and said he would wait for his next opportunity to compete. our sports reporter laura mcghie has more. djokovic unable to travel to new york for the us open. we had suspected that this may well be the case. if you do cast your mind back to january and the controversy surrounding the 21 time grand slam champion competing at the australian open — he wasn't able to defend his title because his covid—i9 vaccination status led to him being deported from the country. remember, he was detained in a hotel for five days in melbourne after his visa was cancelled. that's because novak djokovic has not been vaccinated against covid—i9, and the serbian says he has no plans to be

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.d after brexit. since formally leaving the eu injanuary last year, the government says claims can be ruled inadmissible if the asylum seeker arrived from a "safe third country". our home editor mark easton has been looking at the figures. what do they show? well, you will remember that these inadmissibility rules were hailed as the post—brexit solution to what the government calls asylum system. in the first 18 months of the new rules, 17,000 asylum claimants were identified as being potentially inadmissible, but, as you say, just 21 people have ended up being removed, returned to countries like denmark, germany and ireland. how many have been returned to france, you might ask? the answer is none at all. it calls into question the policy because since brexit, we have seen 52,000 migrants crossing the channel in small boats from france — 23,000 already this year and around 1,300 crossing in a single day earlier this week, the highest daily figure recorded. next week, the home office is

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.dlines in the uk. the british government is being urged to introduce new measures to help people struggling with rising gas and electricity bills, ahead of a scheduled rise in the energy price cap tomorrow. the cap is set to triple — compared to a year ago. the family of a nine—year—old girl killed in a shooting in liverpool on monday have urged her killer to hand himself in. police say they're pursuing encouraging lines of inquiry — but they can't rule out he may have left the country. the gap in gcse success has widened between students in london and other parts of england — particularly the north. the overall pass rate across england, wales and northern ireland fell this year compared to last — but was significantly higher than 2019. tennis champion novak djokovic says he will not play the us open because he hasn't had a covid vaccine — which means he'll be refused entry into the country. djokovic has won 21 grand slam tournaments, including three us 0pens. the announcement came jus

us has accused beijing of using military drills to change the status quo. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonellin the operational and is on the chinese party in beijing must be pretty happy we at nancy pelosi's visit has left them. more extreme military measures have now entered what we might consider as acceptable in terms of how the mainland deals with thailand. are we going to see every year now beijing ordering the pla to fire missiles over taiwanese territory —— how the mainland deals with taiwan. as the pla prepares for what some would see as inevitable attack on taiwan as a means of trying to reunify it with the mainland. there have been significant short—term problems, for example, commercial shipping has been disrupted, that is a very busy shipping lane, the taiwan strait, that's been significantly disrupted, as have commercialflights. taiwan's significantly disrupted, as have commercial flights. taiwan's economy has been hurt and apart from all these short—term impacts, beijing and washington are now not cooperating with one another on all this whole series of areas where they were ab

our correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing...kyline of beijing, as you can no doubt see, but all weekend, these live—fire drills will be continuing around taiwan in what is pretty obviously a dress rehearsal for a blockade of that island, should the mainline decide at some point to retake it by force. now, given the increased tensions we now have in the taiwan straits, all around taiwan, some are asking whether or not the visit there by the us house speaker nancy pelosi has been worth it. also, on all these other fronts, areas where the us and china were cooperating, beijing has cancelled all these initiatives. so, cross—border crime, including narcotics, cancelled, no more cooperation on that front. high—level meetings between officers from the military, us and china, cancelled. and, crucially, it includes even climate change talks. so the impact of this visit from nancy pelosi to taiwan has definitely been felt. there is no doubt that we are in a state of increased tensions, and the danger is it's going to be hard to put back f

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.med each other for shelling nearby. let�*s get more in this now with edwin lyman — who�*s director of nuclear power safety at the union of concerned scientists in washington. thank you so much forjoining us this evening. what can ukrainian authorities and the international community do to help? mei]! authorities and the international community do to help? well time i think the most _ community do to help? well time i think the most important - community do to help? well time i think the most important thing - community do to help? well time i think the most important thing is i community do to help? well time i | think the most important thing is to do everything possible to ensure that there is a reliable off—site power to the planned, and in the event that that is fully disrupted, if there is reliable and on—site back—up power, ensuring there is enough fuel for emergency diesel generators and other equipment and making sure that all that equipment isn�*t good working order. right mak

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell got rare access, and spoke to some of these disgruntled homeownersows have been put in. it is a shell of a building. here, families have decided to move into the apartments they've paid for, but which have not been delivered. i ask how many people are living here. translation: people are living here. tuna/mom- people are living here. translation: �* it i: ., i: i: translation: about 100 or 200. we have used — translation: about 100 or 200. we have used up— translation: about 100 or 200. we have used up all— translation: about 100 or 200. we have used up all of— translation: about 100 or 200. we have used up all of our- we have used up all of our savings to buy our apartments. it has now been five years, and we still cannot live in them. we can't bear it any longer. so what are their plans now? we | what are their plans now? we are out of— what are their plans now? - are out of options. because of covid in recent years, it is hard to make money, but there are still house and car repayments. it are still house and car repayments.— are still house and c

in a moment, we'll talk to gary 0'donoghue in washington, but first let's speak to stephen mcdonell inan now, but what will be the longer term impact of this visit? nancy pelosi's visit has provided hardliners in beijing with a perfect excuse to stage these live fire war games which look and awfully lot like a dress rehearsalfor a blockade of that island, which could form part of a battle plan to retake taiwan by force. now that a line has been crossed, as it were, will we see such encirclement exercises every year? will we see the people's liberation army straying into the territorial waters claimed by taiwan? 0ne territorial waters claimed by taiwan? one thing that the chinese government has to manage though is the expectations of its own nationalists. the government here has been saying that the people's liberation army will not sit idly by white nancy pelosi flies into taiwan, well, now that she has left, these drills, do they constitute enough to make those nationalists feel that the pla did not stand idly by? certainly some wanted more. they wanted pressure on her plane, or some

stephen mcdonell reporting.ve been killed in severe flooding and landslides in pakistan since the monsoon season began in june. thousands have been displaced. the government has promised round—the—clock help to affected communities, but it's been criticised for being slow to bring aid to the worst affected areas. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman who went missing in bristol a decade ago. 32—year—old claire holland has not been seen sincejune, 2012, after leaving a pub in the city centre. a0—year—old darren 0sment was remanded in custody. detectives searching for a student nurse, who disappeared nearly a month ago in south london, have arrested a fourth man on suspicion of murder. 2a—year—old 0wami davies from grays in essex was last seen in west croydon on 7thjuly. police say she was recorded on cctv in the company of a man on the night she was last seen alive. they are keen to speak to a van driver seen passing 0wami on the street. the family of archie battersbee have insisted they

our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, has more from beijing.le of days, china has been amassing large formations of planes and ships all around taiwan. and now the shooting has started, so these are live fire drills, and in those zones marked out to the north, to the south, east and west of taiwan, the pla has warned commercial ships not to enter, commercial planes not to fly through that airspace. interestingly, i see that the us air force has sent a ship, a plane there, to go and observe these military drills. this is something the us has done in the past when there have been live fire drills. there's talk that the pla could considerfiring missiles over taiwan's territory. if that happened, it would be a massive escalation, the likes of which we've not seen. but even already, these are unprecedented scenes. these zones, if they're all used up, they would involve mainland military exercises moving into taiwan's territorial waters. and, you know, you just have to wonder if this was all worth it in terms of a visit. i mean, if you're adding up t

taiwan says they amount to a blockade. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more from beijingattack helicopters view by the island, one of china's closest point to taiwan. after assembling for days china's military has stage massive live fire exercises in a dramatic escalation of pressure on the place it considers a rogue province. these are normally busy shipping lanes but in six huge areas surrounding the island commercial vessels and aircraft warned not to approach what looks like a dress rehearsal for a blockade of taiwan. some have asked whether the nancy pelosi visit was worth it given that they taiwan security appears to have deteriorated as a result. many taiwanese say they are used to such tensions. �* ,, �* taiwanese say they are used to such tensions. ~ ,, ~ , , tensions. translation: basically, i'm not tensions. translation: basically, i'm not afraid _ tensions. translation: basically, i'm not afraid of _ tensions. translation: basically, i'm not afraid of the _ tensions. translation: basically, i'm not afraid of the threats - tensions. translation: basically, i'm

our correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonell, has more.isits in the past from speakers, but that's a long time ago. xi jinping is now in power here, and the administration here has really been talking up its intention to one day grab taiwan back, even using military force if it's necessary and to have such a senior figure from the us arrives in taiwan, well, they see it as a bit of a slap in the face. however, i mean, what was nancy pelosi going to do? once china starts making threats it's going to be hard for her to back down as well. the danger with all of this posturing from beijing and washington and threats going back and forth and all of this military hardware in the region being assembled is that somehow or other, there will be an accidental flash, an accidental mishap, miscommunication, and it could lead to actual fighting between the world's two superpowers. there's some important historical context to consider, what's known as the one china policy. it's beijing's official position that china has a claim over taiwan. under the pol

let's talk to our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell.hat was made there. i would be interested on your take why china views this as it has being so provocative. views this as it has being so provocative-— views this as it has being so provocative. views this as it has being so rovocative. 1, , , ., , provocative. basically, china says this is part _ provocative. basically, china says this is part of _ provocative. basically, china says this is part of our _ provocative. basically, china says this is part of our territory, - provocative. basically, china says this is part of our territory, howl this is part of our territory, how on earth can the us government be sending officials to go and meet the leaders of what is seen as a breakaway province. beijing promised they would be a military response and that is what we have seen. it has come in the form of these exercises, i can imagine people sitting at home might see the images of these exercises, so what? it is a military exercise. these are massive live war games encircling taiwan. i hav

stephen mcdonell, bbc news.als plan an auction on thursday to sell 12 of them, aged between two and five years old. the world's leading conservation organisation — the world wide fund — says it is concerned about the sale of wild animals because some of the species are endangered like tigers. thank you for your company here on bbc news. wherever you are in the uk or around the world. i hope the rest of your day is good. hello again. the areas that have covers much of england, midlands, east anglia, southern counties, into the south—west. east wales, cheshire, and the greater manchester area. it means be prepared. what we have this afternoon is a lot of dry weather, sunshine around, a weather front draped across the southwest introduces thicker cloud, big enough for drizzle, and here too it is breezy, with temperatures 15—70 but further south, the temperature ranges more than likely going to be 22-30 ranges more than likely going to be 22—30 or ranges more than likely going to be 22-30 or 31. ranges more than lik

stephen mcdonell reports.aters off taiwan and, according to the people's liberation army, hit their targets. attack helicopters flew past pingtan island, one of china's closest points to taiwan. after assembling for days, china's military has staged massive live fire exercises, in a dramatic escalation of pressure on a place it considers a rogue province. these are normally busy shipping lanes, but in six huge areas surrounding the island, commercial vessels and aircraft were warned not to approach what looks like a dress rehearsal for a blockade of taiwan. some have asked whether the pelosi visit was worth it, given that taiwan's security appears to have deteriorated as a result. but many taiwanese say they are used to such tensions. translation: basically, - i am not afraid of the threats from china because, at least right now, when china says it wants to annex taiwan by force, they have actually said that for quite a while. translation: i think i am already used to the threat from china - and i have accepte

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has been following events from beijing.rmy has been staging vast live—fire war games in response to a visit to taiwan by the us house speaker. nancy pelosi went to the island, which beijing considers a rogue province, during this trip to asia. in response, the chinese government has now placed personal sanctions on her and her immediate family. in taiwan, people say they've become accustomed to increased threats from mainland china. despite a potential deterioration of the security situation, the government in taipei has defended the visit. the taiwanese government, especially the ministry of foreign affairs, has been working very hard in expanding taiwan's international space, making friends with important international leaders, or trying to connect more with like—minded partners around the world. the pla's missiles have indeed crossed taiwan's landmass, according to the national defence university in beijing. this marks a sharp escalation. however, the chinese government has blamed the us for increased tensions. translati

we'rejoined now from beijing by our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell. morning to you.nificant that opposition is to the visit among leaders in china right now stop beijing's main response to this visit by nancy pelosi has been to have a series of military exercises.— military exercises. people might look at that _ military exercises. people might look at that and _ military exercises. people might look at that and think, _ military exercises. people might look at that and think, say - military exercises. people might| look at that and think, say what? that is not such a big deal. these are massive, live fire military war games which encircle taiwan effectively. if the maps being provided by the pla are anything to go provided by the pla are anything to 9° by. provided by the pla are anything to go by, in part by those areas where they are having war games actually enter taiwan's territorial waters. you can imagine disruption to commercial sea lanes, flights in and out of taiwan. imagine flying towards taiwan over the next couple of days knowing you are coming near thes

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more. change into sharp focus for people on the street. then, to make things worse, this turned into a drought, which is really hitting the economy. consumers across china could find certain foods harder to come by, unless the drought breaks soon. what's more, if china can't rescue its autumn harvest — and has to buy more food from overseas — this could have an effect on global supplies. crops are said to be under severe threat, according to chinese officials, so extra water has been diverted from neighbouring provinces to the driest areas. translation: with | water, there is hope. this water is coming all the way from hunan. even water for everyday use has been hard to come by in some communities. with river levels so low, previously submerged 600—year—old buddhas have again become visible. they'll gaze out onto what humans have made of the world until the rains return, replenishing the water which will eventually reclaim the relics. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. the pictures are sh

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. anti—government demonstrations are normally restricted there, and civil society groups say the country's laws are making it hard for people to express their frustrations. the bbc's rhoda odhiambo reports from sierra leone's capital, freetown. the police and the military are patrolling this neighbourhood in freetown after anti—government protests were sparked by the rising cost of living. even after days, tensions are still high. inflation had already increased because of the covid—19 pandemic but it reached new highs this year. people here are either eating too little or nothing at all. the feeling is it is going to be very difficult. for this woman, herfamily has had to cut down on groceries. we used to buy a bag of rice, we now buy a half bag of rice, because of the other expenses we have to take care of, like house rent is increasing. a protest two weeks ago shocked the nation as police used force to disperse civilians. most protesters were young and unemployed. they were calling f

stephen mcdonell reports from beijing.iwan straits and to have the status quo prevail. in taiwan people say they�*ve become accustomed to increased threats from mainland china. despite the potential deterioration of the security situation, the government in taipei has defended the visit. the pla�*s missiles have indeed crossed taiwan�*s landmass according to the national defence university in beijing. this marks a sharp escalation, howeverat in beijing. this marks a sharp escalation, however at the chinese government has blamed the us for increased tensions. translation: the g7 gathered and issued a so—called statement on the current situation across the taiwan strait, china firmly opposes the statement because it confounds the right with the wrong and confuses black and white. it is blatantly propping up the infringer and puts pressure on rights defenders. where is the justice and what are the basic norms governing international relations if this tone is allowed to continue regional peace and world peace will be seriously