steve mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing.oscow's business district. a skyscraper was hit for the second time in two days. russia has repeatedly accused ukraine of carrying out drone strikes on its territory in recent months. in the black sea, the kremlin says it's destroyed three ukrainian unmanned boats that were targeting russian warships. the family of captain sir tom moore have defended building an indoor swimming pool at their home in bedfordshire without planning permission. sir tom, who died in 2021, became famous for walking 100 laps of his garden during the coronavirus pandemic, raising £33 million for the nhs. his daughter hannah ingram—moore and her husband have lodged an appeal against central bedfordshire council after it ruled that building had to be demolished. a by—election will be held in the constituency of rutherglen & hamilton west after a petition to recall the mp margaret ferrier passed the required number of signatures. margaret ferrier has been sitting as an independent since losing the snp whip in 202

our beijing corrsepondent, steve mcdonnell, has been speaking to him.hance a foreign secretary has had to visit china for about five years. a lot has happened in the world. one of the things that has really struck me over the last few years is that where you lose that face to face interaction, the regular communications, there are more opportunities for perhaps misinterpretations, mistrust, errors. and so part of this trip is about making sure we reestablish those lines of communications. now, there are those in your own party who don't want you to be here at all. they say you're sort of essentially assisting a government that's guilty of serious human rights abuses. but, i mean, can you point to any breakthroughs on any trips like this in the past, which have actually changed human rights on the ground here? something concrete? well, ifundamentally disagree with those voices, including people i regard as good friends who feel that we should disengage from china. i don't think that is a credible option. i do believe we have influence and i do believe we

from beijing, our china correspondent steve mcdonnell sent this report. best option for emergency teams, but in places there are not enough of them. roads have become perilous fast—moving rivers, and some have not heeded warnings, trying to drive through suburban beijing in clearly dangerous situations. yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. it's not clear how many people died in this way. rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. zhuozhou in neighbouring hebei province has been especially inundated after water was diverted there to take the pressure off the capital. but still beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas where supplies have been stockpiled for them. translation: we have prepared water, noodles, bread and hot water— to keep people going. the government warned people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. but this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like the cities in the south of china. the last couple of days

from beijing, steve mcdonnell sent this report.e been the best option for emergency teams, but in places there are not enough of them. roads have become perilous fast—moving rivers, and some have not heeded warnings, trying to drive through suburban beijing in clearly dangerous situations. yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. it's not clear how many people died in this way. rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. zhuozhou in neighbouring hebei province has been especially inundated after water was diverted there to take the pressure off the capital. but still beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas where supplies have been stockpiled for them. translation: we have prepared water, noodles, bread and hot water— to keep people going. the government warned people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. but this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like the cities in the south of china. the last coupl

steve mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing.us route to reach europe illegally. many are travelling from pakistan to libya, sometimes via egypt. almost 300 pakistanis are thought to have drowned taking this route injune when their boat sank off the coast of greece. and according to the police in pakistan, nearly 13,000 pakistanis headed for libya and egypt this year, most haven't returned. caroline davies reports. the sharp end of the crackdown on illegal migration. all of these are men that you've arrested in association with human smuggling? all of them. the majority here are alleged to have been involved in filling the migrant boat that left libya and sank off the coast of greece, including husnan shah. he denies that he was involved, but willingly admits that he's been a smuggler for more than ten years. translation: we started this - because there was no other business and because of greed and the difficult situation, everyone is ready to take this journey. the government is not doing anything for the young generation here.

storm is weakening — but china's government has urged people to stay indoors. 0ur correspondent steve mcdonnelh flooding to the suburbs of beijing. cars have been washed away at an alarming speed. it's not known how many people have been trapped inside them or how many may have drowned as a result. a red alert has been issued in the capital, with residents told to stay indoors and employers ordered to allow staff to remain at home. hundreds of flights have been cancelled, as have many trains. some passengers have been trapped mid—journey, with rising water surrounding their carriages. rivers here have swollen to such an extent that even houses have been swallowed up. bridges in beijing have collapsed, and many city bus services have stopped. emergency services say they've been recovering bodies from raging waters, and that tens of thousands of people have been moved to safety. precipitation levels in beijing and other cities across northern china have already reached record levels. in worrying news, driving rain is expected to continue over the next 2a hours. and then, another typhoon will hit

from beijing, steve mcdonnell sent this report.ncy teams, but in places there were not enough of them. roads have become perilous fast—moving rivers, and some have not heeded warnings, trying to drive through suburban beijing in clearly dangerous situations. yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. it's not clear how many people died in this way. rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. zhouzhou in neighbouring hubei province has been especially inundated after water was devoted there to take the pressure off the capital. but still beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas where supplies have been stockpiled for them. translation: we have prepared water, i noodles, bread and hot water to keep i people going. the government ordered people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. but this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like this it is in the south of china. the last couple of days have been very toug

from beijing, steve mcdonnell sent this report.. roads have become perilous fast—moving rivers, and some have not heeded warnings, trying to drive through suburban beijing in clearly dangerous situations. yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. it's not clear how many people died in this way. rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. zhouzhou in neighbouring hubei province has been especially inundated after water was devoted there to take the pressure off the capital. but still beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas where supplies have been stockpiled for them. translation: we have prepared water, noodles, bread and hot water— to keep people going. the government ordered people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. but this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like the cities in the south of china. the last couple of days have been very tough. locals have pitched in to defend their neighbourhoods.