Ambassador, thank you very much forjoining us here in our studio. Military coup leaders in niger have on monday arrested two more cabinet ministers, as well as the head of the governing party. What do you make of these latest developments . I mean, that shows that thejunta has no intention to respect human rights as he started by claiming that he will do that. And again, i mean, this coup has really no reason whatsoever. There was no political tension. There is no situation, Security Situation that is worsening as they claimed, that just faints. The Security Situation is improving in our country. You know, you accept to power by the ballot, not by the bullets. And we have elected a legitimate president , mohamed bazoum, and we want him to be restored, like all the International Community echo us, the regional body, the african union, the United States of america, france, all our european union, all are asking them just to give back power to preseidnt bazoum. You mentioned aikawa. I do want to ask ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States and they have threatened military action. Would you welcome that, that West African States would stage a Military Intervention here . Yeah, my position my position is is as following. Of course, i would hope and wish a peaceful solution that thejunta will come to reason and give up, give back power to president bazoum and to the parliament that were again elected in a fair and transparent election. But if that is not possible, i will not rule out any solution that will restore democracy in my country, including a military. Absolutely. I will not rule out any solution because this junta in africa comes to power by the force they want to substitute force to election. This is not acceptable. They do exactly the same as the terrorist Jihadist Group were fighting because we have the bullets we have to rule the country. But if there were to be a Military Intervention, we could then see a full fledged conflict between the military leaders and any intervening forces. Are you worried about that again . I am worried about anything that will create damage to my people. But if the choice is to the junta, they have to come back to reason. They have to realize thatjust because you have the bullets, because you have the arms, you are not ruling a country. If you want to rule the country, you have to run in an election. What about the people themselves . Because we have seen protesters on the streets, especially in the capital, waving the flags, for example, of russia burning the flags of france and also supporting the coup leaders here. What do you make of that . And do you think this opens the door for russia to gain more influence in your country . I think two things. First of all, demonstration, if you know west africa, if you know urban cities in west africa, you have a lot, a lot of young people without jobs. These people are easy to manipulate and to make demonstration. Demonstration are not a substitute for election. So youre saying these demonstrators are just being manipulated . Yes, i can see it loud and clear. And again, demonstration, even if it is not manipulated, is not a substitute of election. You go by power, go to power by election, not by demonstration. But at the same time, there was a recent survey from the afrobarometer that showed that 52 of the people who were surveyed in your country said that they thought the country is going in the wrong direction, that they wanted the government to do more for the economy, to reduce the inequality between the rich and poor. Do you think there is a level of frustration there that the president did not anticipate . I mean, what you are asking me is that if if the opinion if the opinion if those who are rating a president or a government as bad or is that the favorable the positive rating is not good, then the president should go. If you go by this one, it will be no president in any ocd country. So from time to time people yes, people can be upset. People can be impatient for the policies to deliver. But we are working hard. We have done 7 of economic growth. We have had the first the first Peaceful School year in 15 years. No strike. There is no strike at all in our country for the last year. So, yes, we are a poor country. People have a hard time in their day to day life. But thats not a justification for people who keep the arms, who are supposed to protect the president , who are supposed to protect us. To protect our freedom. To protect our liberties. To come and to seize power. Very quick final question. You are the ambassador here in washington. What do you want to see washington and its allies do . Washington is is already doing a lot. Have you seen all the statements by Secretary Blinken and he keep doing it . Thats what we want him to do and thats what hes doing. Our un, our us partners are standing with us firm and strong. They want democracy back immediately in niger. And thats exactly what we want. Ambassador, thank you so much for the conversation today. Thank you. The Reuters News Agency is reporting a drone strike in central moscow. It says it hit a high rise building with a second drone downed in the citys suburbs. It happened after officials in Ukraine S Second largest city . Kharkiv . Say Drone Strikes destroyed two floors of a College Dormitory there and also hit the citys centre. They say one person has been injured. At least six people were killed in a separate strike on president Volodymyr Zelensky s hometown. It partially destroyed a residential block. Zelensky has called the strike an act of terrorism. Meanwhile, after a year and a half of bloodshed, the Battle For Bakhmut shows no sign of ending. The city holds little strategic value, but it holds great symbolic value for both sides, especially as ukraine pushes on with its counter offensive. The bbc has been given exclusive access to a team of elite snipers, named the ghosts of bakhmut, conducting night raids close to the city. Our Defence Correspondent jonathan bealejoined them on a journey to the front lines. Were on our way to a secret location, a place they call the edge of existence. Behind the wheel, the man simply known as ghost. He tells me his team of snipers are all known as the ghosts of bakhmut because they silently bring death. Their base is already well within range of russian artillery. That was close. But theyll be going even closer towards enemy lines. Translation you can hide from artillery, but not from snipers. And their work is more precise than the shelling. Do you know how Many Russians your team have killed . Translation yes, the confirmed number is 524. 76 of those are mine. The ghosts have been operating on the Edges Of Bakhmut for the past six months, often looking for high value russian targets. They record every kill through their sights. Kusia will be the marksman for tonights mission. Before the war, he worked in a factory. Translation when i was a civilian, i didnt like weapons, but now ive had to take up arms to defend my country. Of course im scared. Only a fool wouldnt be. A quick blessing. Music plays. We leave with dusk approaching. The music to lift the mood and mask the sound of artillery. Several times, the driver, kuz, warns incoming. They wear british supplied uniforms. The insertion of the team can often be the most dangerous part of the mission. From here, theyll have to walk another mile to reach their target. And thats a big explosion. We soon discover that shrapnel has torn through one of the back tyres. Its a long, nerve racking limp home. Metallic clunking. Now the anxious wait for the teams return. Ghost says he hand picked each man for their patriotism. While he waits for news, he calls his seven year old daughter. Hes already taught her how to strip a gun. Seven hours later, the two man team are extracted. Early morning, just before the shelling resumes. The relief is palpable. Kusia, the sniper, says the mission was a success. Just one shot. One shot, one target, he says. The commander, ghost, is just relieved theyre safe. Translation every trip could be our last. But we are doing a noble deed. Its also part of ukraines Psychological Warfare killing from a place that cant be seen and with a sound that cant be heard. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. To my family it meant a lot. I am theirfirst to my family it meant a lot. I am their first grandchild who was meant to be getting married and an only child as well. Millie and mitchell had planned their wedding for 18 months and saved hard as well. Theyd already paid £7,000. The club said it is with the heaviest heart that we will closing down and entering liquidation. Please note this is not be the easiest of decisions and we understand people will be angry, upset and worried and they go on to say that weve tried everything we can to remain open but with bills continuing to rise, its no longer possible. For more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. You are watching bbc news. The United States says it would support the deployment of a Multinational Police force to haiti. The caribbean country is in the grips of a criminal gangs crisis. The state Department Says it could take the form of spearheading a push for the Un Security Council to authorise the mission. Kenya has offered to lead the mission and send 1,000 Police Officers to haiti to help combat an epidemic of lawlessness and kidnappings. The state Department Also says its aware of the kidnapping of a us nurse and her child in the country. For more, i spoke with former Us Ambassador to haiti, pamela white. Ambassador, great to have you on bbc news. I want to start with the american nurse and her child who have been kidnapped in haiti. We know that gangs are carrying out kidnappings there with increasing frequency. What can the State Department do in this specific case to try to secure their release . Yes. Well, first of all, its just a horror show in haiti. And the fact that this woman was kidnapped is tragic. But this woman, these kidnappings of women and babies every single day practically is complete chaos in haiti. What im really positive about is that this woman, because shes an american citizen and because shes so good, has attracted international attention. So i think thats a really positive step forward because of all the killings and the kidnappings over the last several months. In fact, a year and a half since certainly moise was assassinated, i think have sort of not gotten the attention that they should have. So the the State Department has lots of inroads in haiti. They know where these gangs hang out. They know who the leaders of these gangs are. Could you tell us why the situation has grown so chaotic, has deteriorated so much . Absence of good or courageous or leadership that everyone could have respected leadership. When that doesnt function, then than what fills in the void are negative criminals and gangs and people that are grabbing for power. And ive seen it many times. Who fills the void for security in haiti and any kind of semblance of normal life has been the gangs. Theyre the ones that patrol neighborhoods. And theyve grown and theyve grown and grown because theres not been any good force to combat them. They have more money, they have more guns, they have more people than the national police. If we talk about solutions, you said in a hearing in the House Of Representatives last year that we havent witnessed anything like what were seeing in haiti. And you advocated for boots on the ground. And we just heard that the us plans to introduce a resolution to the Un Security Council to authorize a multinational force. Kenya has made an offer or expressed willingness at least to lead this mission. Do you think that would be the right step . Oh, god. You know, ive been grappling with this all day. You know, would it be a good thing . Would it not be a good thing . My friends in haiti are so desperate that theyre like, well, lets try it, lets try it. I mean, we wanted canada, we wanted the us, we wanted a coalition, maybe the un troops, but nothing is happening. Nothing is happening. So maybe some of the really well trained, best trained haitian, i mean, sorry, Kenyan Police force, maybe they can come over and really get in with the Haitian National police, who at one time was functioned very well. The problem is also with the National Haitian police is that their numbers are going down, not up, that anyone that can escape to the United States under the Biden Immigrant Visa sponsorship program, its going to get out of there. I mean, its so dangerous and no one is free and no one could say, well, im not going to get kidnapped because im x, y, z. Everyone lives in fear. Well, weve seen Civil Society groups in kenya say that they dont necessarily want a foreign intervention. They want local solutions on the ground. Do you think that there are local solutions that can be effective . I dont. I mean, you know, two years ago, i started saying, listen, bring back the policemen from miami and new york that used to work in haiti when i was there. These people were these police men and women were fabulous. They were well trained. Many of them were, what, first born, second born haitians. And so they spoke creole, which is really, really important when you come into a country and youre going to Start Playing around with their security. I mean, language really matters. And thats one of my major worries. You know, Kenyan Police are rather well known for their own brutality. So im a little tad worried about that. And then also worried about theyre not going to have a common language. And if, you know, in the security business, its really, really important that you can communicate well with each other, which was why the key best thing about the miami police and the new york police that came down in the hundreds, which ive been advocating for for months and months and months and months, and nothing has happened. Ambassador, thank you so much for speaking with us today. Thank you. Youre wonderful. An Affiliate Group of the Islamic State, the iskp, is claiming responsibility for a Suicide Bombing at a political rally in pakistan. Mourners are burying the dead after sundays attack that killed at least 5a people in the north of the country and injured hundreds more. Pakistans goverment says it will find those responsible. 0ur pakistan correspondent, caroline davies, reports from islamabad. Weve now heard from the Amaq News Agency that the so called Islamic State in kp. This is the province where the suicide blast took place that that group has now claimed responsibility for the Suicide Bombing that took place on Sunday Afternoon so far, taking the lives of 45 people. Now, this has come through the Amaq News Agency, which is quite often the outlet that the so called Islamic State tend to use to announce when and claim various different attacks and the same thing for their Affiliate Groups as well. Now, while this declaration did include the name of the individual that they say was the suicide bomber, it hasnt contained any further details of the motive and the intention behind it. But the fact that this has happened and this is not the first time that the so called Islamic State has carried out attacks in pakistan. This many people are already suggesting that this appears to show a growing rift between the so called Islamic State and other religious groups operating in pakistan, and that this is becoming increasingly serious. In israel for the first time all 15judges on the country S Supreme Court will take part in a hearing on the first law passed in the governments overhaul of the judiciary. Itll happen next month. The reforms have led to weeks of protests. The planets hottest month on record is coming to an end. But theres been more extreme weather of a different kind in china. Typhoon doksuri brought relentless rain to parts here, turning roads into rivers. Beijing is recovering from the worst flooding in over a decade, with the storm dumping record rainfall on the city. Its killed at least two, and forced mass evacuations, as our correspondent Stephen Mcdonell reports. Unrelenting rain has brought Flash Flooding to the suburbs of beijing. Cars have been washed away at an alarming speed. Its 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 theyve 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 southern china. Stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. Staying with china and there are new claims the country is trying to suppress uyghur dissent abroad. Researchers say chinese authorities are pressuring Uyghurs Living Overseas to spy on Human Rights Campaigners by threatening their families back home. Heres the bbc� s sam judah. A demonstration outside the Foreign Office with a dark twist. These uyghurs want the government to speak up about Human Rights Abuses in china. But someone has been asked to infiltrate their ranks, gather intelligence, and send details to the chinese authorities. Were calling him alim, and concealing his identity. Hes a refugee living in the uk. It was an audio call through wechat. When they called me, i recorded it with my other phone. Alim has shared recordings of those calls. Weve adapted a few to mask key details. We paid a visit to your family in xinjiang. My colleague collected their details. If you want to see them, i can set up a video call. Yes, please arrange that. I just want to talk to them and find out how they are. I wont ask about anything else. 0k. No problem. Ill arrange that for you. Alim was granted a very unusual video call with his mother. The officer connected them by holding two Mobile Phones facing each other. He used one phone to connect with my mother, and then he used another phone to contact me, allowing me to see my mother through his screen. When i saw my mother, i couldnt contain my emotions. It had been 6 7 years since i last saw her, and it was an incredibly heart wrenching moment. There was a price to pay. The officer wanted something in return. Weve heard that the uyghur activists are planning to meet next month. We want you to attend and find out what they say, especially the leaders. We know who they are. They took my family hostage, putting me through this ordeal. Even though i may appear fine on the outside, on the inside, im suffering. A report published this year says 60 of the 400 Uyghurs Living in the uk have been approached with a similar request to inform on their peers or to stop speaking out about whats happening in xinjiang. This is about the way the Chinese Government harasses and threatens uyghur people abroad and tries to control their daily activities and their friendships. Most face threats and harassment from police and government officials, but all experience family separation. Uyghurs outside china offer a line to the International Community. They can speak for those still in xinjiang, telling the world about its internment camps, where the un says more than a Million People have been detained in the last few years. Alim refused to cooperate. And we understand that the vast majority of requests made by Chinese Police are rejected by those in the uyghur community. Sam judah, bbc news. The Chinese Embassy in london says the allegations are totally groundless. The statement says china protects uyghurs and their communication with overseas relatives in accordance with the law. Thanks for watching. Im Sumi Somaskanda in washington. Stay with us here on bbc news hello. July has certainly been a pretty wet month, and we started off the new working week with another dollop of rain, particularly across Northern Areas of the country. So skies quite cloudy like these in cumbria. It was also quite windy as well. And so far this month we have seen some areas picking up more than three times as much rainfall as during an average july, for example, in preston. So it has been very wet. Even as the area of low pressure that brought the rain on monday starts to edge away, out in the atlantic, underneath this trough in the jet stream, were developing another potent area of low pressure thats set to bring wet and windy weather our way by wednesday. Now, over the next few hours, it is a story of the rain across scotland, Northern Ireland, northern england, gradually turning a little bit lighter and a bit patchier in nature. Its largely dry, though, further south for southern wales, the midlands, east anglia, Southern Parts of england. So it should be a fine start to the day for these areas. On tuesday we go, and i think the thickest cloud well see will be across south east scotland, northeast england, threatening a few patches of rain, probably a few showers running into the north west of both england and wales, but otherwise should be a brighter kind of day. A little bit of Sunshine Poking Out To Northern Scotland and across wales and parts of Southern England as well. Heading into tuesday evening and overnight, that area of low pressure i showed you on the Satellite Picture will continue to develop and will start to swing its way in. And this one will bring quite widespread outbreaks of rain and a swathe of strong winds just running in to its southern flank. So quite wet weather for Northern Ireland, northern england, some heavy rain also pushing into wales in the south west, but it is across the south west of england, really along the south coast, that we could get gusts of around a0 or 50 miles an hour, 50 to 60 perhaps across parts of Northern France and the channel islands. That is likely to lead to some localised disruption. A few trees down in the ferries across the channel could be affected by those strong winds and large waves as well. Across northern scotland, thats probably where well have the best of the dry weather with some sunshine coming through. Temperatures not that special across the north, not that special anywhere to be honest. Highs of about 17 21. That low pressure pulls away and for thursday the winds get a bit stronger in Northern Ireland for a time, but elsewhere the winds will gradually calm down. But itll still be quite a blustery kind of day on thursday, a day of bright spells and passing showers. And as you can see, as we work deeper into the first week of august, theres no real change. Chinas restrictions on two rare earths used in the Chip Making Process takes effect from today. And officials roll out more measures to boost the chinese economy, as the latest data showed continued slowing. Hello and welcome to Asia Business report. Im monica miller. Starting from today, the 1st of august, chinas Export Restrictions on two materials key to the Semiconductor Industry will take effect. The country produces a majority of the rare earths gallium and germanium for the Global Supply chain. China slapped Export Restrictions on the materials last month, in a move widely seen as retaliation for American Curbs On Tech Sales to china. Nick marsh with more. You may never have heard of gallium or germanium, untiljust now, maybe, but they are important elements, so called critical materials, and they are needed for chips in things like Mobile Phones, leds, satellites, Military Equipment as well, and the reason that they have been in the news is because most of it comes from china. 60 of the worlds germanium and 80 of the worlds gallium and from today, it will be much more difficult much more difficult for businesses to get their hands on it