stephen mcdonell, bbc news, hangzhou.ights watch. thank you forjoining us on the programme. as wejust thank you forjoining us on the programme. as we just heard and at peace, china has given more rights and benefits to single mothers, but it still sounds quite hard. so what are the major challenges single mothers are facing?— are the major challenges single mothers are facing? there are two asects, mothers are facing? there are two aspects. one _ mothers are facing? there are two aspects. one is— mothers are facing? there are two aspects, one is that _ mothers are facing? there are two aspects, one is that it _ mothers are facing? there are two aspects, one is that it is _ mothers are facing? there are two aspects, one is that it is illegal - aspects, one is that it is illegal to have babies as an unmarried woman, but it is still hard to get the benefits and the maternity leave, insurance, all of that step. you can apply, there are a lot of hurdles. the bureaucrat said the government doesn't understand, the company doesn'

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. in south korea, authorities say the weekend saw at least 11 heat—related deaths. most of the victims were elderly people, several doing farm work. the korea meteorological administration has advised people to avoid outdoor activities, especially in the afternoons. the capital, seoul, is seeing night—time temperatures drop no lower than 26 celsius. japan has also been experiencing yet another scorching day temperatures above 35 celsius in many areas in the east and west of the country. officials of the meteorological agency and the environment ministry have issued heatstroke alerts for tokyo, kyoto, and 17 other prefectures. australia kept their women's world cup dream alive as the co—hosts this month marks 55 years since britain's first black female reporter made her debut. she came to the uk in search of opportunities, but she faced constant racism and, after eight years, she returned to jamaica. she's been talking to the bbc. 31july, 1968. the times newspaper she became the first bl

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, hangzhou.and, the amount of money female players receive for playing in the elite tournament is being put under the spotlight. before it started, fifa announced just under half of the tournament's $110 million prize pool would go directly to players. each would receive at least $30,000 for participating, and those on the winning team would get $270,000 each. but the figures pale in comparison to the money awarded in last year's men's world cup. in fact, a recent analysis by us media found female soccer players will earn just 25 cents in this year's tournament for every dollar a male player makes. to discuss this further, i spoke with sports journalist and author macaela mackenzie. thank you for being here. we have been hearing about this gap in prizemoney between men and women with women earning, on average, 25 cents for every dollar that the men make in their world cup. what is behind that discrepancy and what is the reaction being among women players? a fantastic question because so much prog

as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south—east china.ther. it's a lifestyle still frowned on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky to have moved to shanghai to run a business. translation: i'm grateful l for the tolerance of shanghai. i'm from rural hunan, an area which will have a lot of discrimination against me as a single mum. she became a single mother after her boyfriend's family rejected his choice of bride because her income and status was too modest. although she was pregnant, he broke up with her. her mother says the choice to continue with a pregnancy under such circumstances would have been impossible when she was young because of community pressure and official regulations. that this change in community attitudes has happened at this precise moment in history has been crucial. with an ageing population, the government wants more babies and yet

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more.pear to show an economy rebounding strongly from the coronavirus. experts say that's not the case. but rather these consumers in this small city are choosing a low cost, tasty option at a time of pressure on household incomes. translation: this place is great for ordinary people. _ recently it has been hard to make money but it's still easy to spend it. after three years of covid, the economy is only slowly recovering. university graduates are being especially hit by china's economic doldrums, with youth unemployment hovering at or above 20%. translation: yes, i'm worried. there is a lot of competition. it's hard to find a job. all my classmates feel the same pressure. those who have jobs can be reluctant to spend big because they are nervous about their financial security. you can see why if you travel just a bit further east, to the outskirts of a much larger city, where a property explosion hasn't matched real demand from buyers or renters. this woman bought a flat here a couple of

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, hangzhou.herfor human rights watch. it's legal to have babies as an unmarried woman, but it's still hard to get the benefits and maternity leave insurance and all that other stuff. you can apply. there are a lot of hurdles. the bureaucrats say the government doesn't understand the company doesn't want you to do that. that's one aspect. the other is a social stigma. it's still very stigmatised to be a single mother in china, that's to give birth without a dad next to the mum, so people feel ashamed, people feel there is a lot of judgement. population growth is a major concern for china. in terms of what officials are doing they have helped with some of the regulations, but are they doing anything to change the perception of single parents and society? i perception of single parents and society?— perception of single parents and society? i don't think so. because there's _ and society? i don't think so. because there's actually - and society? i don't think so. because there's actually a i and soc

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, shandong province., this is bbc news. voice—over: bringing you different stories from across the uk. 207 shipping containers with fake goods and drugs recovered from more than half. the sheer size, 580 tons is described as monumental. police say this seizure is the largest in uk history. over two weeks 100 officers were involved, backed up by brand experts and counterfeit specialists. i think it will put a nail in the coffin of the counterfeit good trade as we knew it at the time, so the shops are virtually gone. this area of manchester has been historically known as the uk capital of counterfeit trade. this operation is the largest in response. 33 criminal gangs are said to have targeted this area. a single premises can have flaws converted to house up to 18 shops. the containers themselves can also act as a trading point for online businesses. voice—over: for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. dangerous muscle building supplements are being sold t

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.ord. about a third of the fires burning in canada are in british columbia. so far this season about thirty million acres have been affected that's more than the land area of south korea or cuba. average temperatures in canada are rising faster than in many other countries. in south korea, authorities say the weekend saw at least eleven heat—related deaths. most of the victims were elderly people, several doing farm work. the korea meteorological administration has advised people to avoid outdoor activities, especially in the afternoons. the capital, seoul, is seeing night—time temperatures drop no lower than twenty—six degrees celsius. japan has been experiencing yet another scorching day, with temperatures above 35 degrees celsius in many areas in the east and west of the country. officials of the meteorological agency and the environment ministry have issued heatstroke alerts for tokyo, kyoto and 17 other prefectures. this month marks 55 years since britain's first, black, female tv

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, shandong province.6% of america's gdp in its brown trucks every day? well, over 300,000 ups workers are close to striking after the shipping company failed to reach an agreement with its union. if they do walk out, it'll be one of the largest strikes in american history. michelle fleury reports. making noise, ups workers preparing to strike after both sides accuse the other walking away from the negotiating table. among those getting betty, marvin, a full—time driverfor ten betty, marvin, a full—time driver for ten years. betty, marvin, a full-time driver for ten years.- betty, marvin, a full-time driver for ten years. over the ears, driver for ten years. over the years. the — driver for ten years. over the years, the frustrations - driver for ten years. over the years, the frustrations keepl years, the frustrations keep building up. it's like it keeps boiling, boiling. he building up. it's like it keeps boiling, boiling.— building up. it's like it keeps boiling, boiling. he says every worker deserves _

as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south—east china.ed on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky to have moved to shanghai to run a business. translation: i'm grateful l for the tolerance of shanghai. i'm from rural hunan, an area which will have a lot of discrimination against me as a single mum. she became a single mother after her boyfriend's family rejected his choice of bride because her income and status was too modest. although she was pregnant, he broke up with her. her mother says the choice to continue with the pregnancy under such circumstances would have been impossible when she was young because of community pressure and official regulations. that this change in community attitudes has happened at this precise moment in history has been crucial. with an ageing population, the government wants more babies and yet many young couples have refused

official statement named china's top diplomat, wang yi, as his replacement. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonelljing. this is, of course, absolutely massive news in china and yet in typical fashion it came in such a muted way with just a few sentences read out on the evening television news bulletin that the foreign minister qin gang was to be removed from his post and replaced by the communist party's seniorforeign affairs official, wang yi, someone who has done thejob before. for the chinese people that is all they get and i suppose it is for them to accept it. that is the idea. the government made a decision, this is your foreign minister, he is gone, no more explanation as to why. the interesting thing, though, is how somebody who was seen as being so close to xi jinping, who was appointed by xi jinping only half a year ago could have so quickly been removed from this post. because of the opaque nature of governance here, all manners of questions are being asked about this. i mean, he disappeared and was not fronting up for his normal duties about a month ago and the official explanation was

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.f cyprus — where a british pensioner who killed his seriously ill wife has walked free from court. david hunter was found guilty of the manslaughter of his wife janice at their home. mr hunter had told the court that she had begged him to end her life because she was in so much pain. he was sentenced to two years in prison, but released because he'd already spent most of that time behind bars. from paphos, fiona trott sent this report. unrelenting rain has brought flash flooding i wish i could i wish i found words to describe it i can't. when you are under pressure for two years one of which in court... don't know anything. i want to sit the key to all the people who donated to me and especially my mates, my workmates. i don't know where road be without them. i hope i am feeling the same of my family when i talk about that, my whole family. in family when i talk about that, my whole family.— my whole family. in that family. _ my whole family. in that family, thousands - my whole family

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell explained the details for us.n china. oin gang, one of the most visible figures in this government, the foreign minister has been removed from office, and replaced by wang yi, the communist party's senior foreign affairs official, someone who has done the job, by the way, before of foreign minister, but i say it is enormous news, however, it was delivered with very little fanfare, just a couple of lines from the wire service which were read out on the 7pm evening news bulletin, just calm of sentences, know explanation, but you know, previously, about sort of a month ago, when he disappeared from his normal duties the official reason given was health concerns, some sort of unspecified health problem, slowly people started to wonder as the weeks when on and he wasn't reappearing could it be more of a political thing? there has been enormous speculation on social media and the like it is because of an alleged affair, he is said to have had with a tv anchor, now that wouldn't be against the law here, but it could be c

our corresponding invasion, stephen mcdonell, looks at this for us.be a pretty wet month across parts of the country. some parts of it had twice the expected july rainfall, and a bit more rain on the way for the finalfew days of bit more rain on the way for the final few days of the month. an area of rain spreads gradually eastwards, so pretty soggy for northern ireland, wales. across the north—east of scotland and eastern parts of england, drier and brighter weather into the early evening. temperature still out a bit cooler up temperature still out a bit cooler up towards the northern isles. into this evening and tonight, that area of rain tracks eastwards, we see some pretty brisk winds in the south as well, a spell of blustery and wet weather for us tonight. once the rain gradually clears, it is still looking really muggy out there is, quite a humid feel to the weather. an air of low pressure not far as way as we had through thursday. lingering front spring rain across scotland, perhaps parts of southern england as well and the channel islands. slo

live now to beijing, our china correspondent stephen mcdonell.achieved.— what was achieved. no clear breakthrough _ what was achieved. no clear breakthrough in _ what was achieved. no clear breakthrough in terms i what was achieved. no clear breakthrough in terms of. what was achieved. no clear breakthrough in terms of an | breakthrough in terms of an achievement, but the fact that the talks happened at all is something of an achievement by itself, and that is because people were remembering that china pulled out of cooperation with the us on the climate front after us speaker, house speaker nancy pelosi visited taiwan. that is a lost year if you like in terms of cooperation between the world's superpowers. now we have had john kerry and his team here speaking with his chinese counterpart and even with others, it does show a level of cooperation has been re—established. now, that said, much has to be done. john kerry will have felt the heat here. this city, for example, has hit its record for extreme hot days in one year and we are only halfway t