militaryjuntas in neighbouring burkina faso and mali — warned that any foreign military intervention in niger, would be considered a declaration of war on them. a french mp for emmanuel macron�*s renaissance party spoke to the bbc about the country's evacuation mission and said paris was left with no other choice. translation: we estimate that a few hundred people french _ people wish to leave, and have clearly expressed this intention, since we know that the tradition between european countries is to show solidarity. if other european countries decide to organise your evacuations, which is possible, we would work together to evacuate those who want to leave. niger is a key part of africa's — sahel region — which stretches from the atlantic — to the red sea. burkina faso and mali, have also seen recent military coups, and say, they would come to the defence of their neighbour. on sunday, the regional bloc — ecowas — made up of 15 west african countries, gave the coup leaders in niger one week to restore president bazoum or threatened them with use of force. and of course there's been extensive coverage of this story ulf laessing is the sahel regional director for the german think tank konrad—adenauer—stiftung joining us from bamako in mali. thank you for being on bbc news. your assessment of where we currently are?— your assessment of where we currentl are? . w ., ., currently are? the french evacuation shows that whatever _ currently are? the french evacuation shows that whatever hopes - currently are? the french evacuation shows that whatever hopes there - shows that whatever hopes there might�*ve been that the can be stopped and normalcy restored our fading fast. we are heading for escalation. there is another protest planned from the french embassy, we have seen threats of military intervention so it's a toxic mix. i think france acted because it struggled to get it citizens of the sedan so they extra guard. hora sedan so they extra guard. how dangerous _ sedan so they extra guard. how dangerous is — sedan so they extra guard. how dangerous is the _ sedan so they extra guard. how dangerous is the situation? it . sedan so they extra guard. how dangerous is the situation? it is deceptive- _ dangerous is the situation? it is deceptive- so — dangerous is the situation? it is deceptive. so far— dangerous is the situation? it is deceptive. so far it _ dangerous is the situation? it 3 deceptive. so far it is, but people know something is going to happen. the hunters are not going to leave and nicholas has raised the states by threatening military action eco—s. i don't think there will be military intervention but the stakes are rising and there's lots of possibility of escalation and you see lots of disinformation campaign, probably linked to russia who are trying to heat up things. i will come back — trying to heat up things. i will come back to _ trying to heat up things. i will come back to russia - trying to heat up things. i will come back to russia in - trying to heat up things. i will come back to russia in a - trying to heat up things. i will come back to russia in a moment but give me your analysis of the implications and significance. niger for the west, america france, is critical as an ally.— critical as an ally. there's a question — critical as an ally. there's a question of _ critical as an ally. there's a question of migration, - critical as an ally. there's a i question of migration, nigeria critical as an ally. there's a - question of migration, nigeria is the interest up from the migration route from central sudan and africa into europe. the route to libya has been blocked by certain authorities since 2015, so there is a fair around europe that the new government meant might open this route to libya and might allow more people to go to italy from libya. the other situation with officers now being busy playing politics, the western countries want container that various corporation and train informants,. that various corporation and train informants"— that various corporation and train informants, . that various corporation and train informants,. ., ., , , ., informants,. you mention russia, the white house — informants,. you mention russia, the white house said _ informants,. you mention russia, the white house said in _ informants,. you mention russia, the white house said in the _ informants,. you mention russia, the white house said in the last _ informants,. you mention russia, the white house said in the last 45 - white house said in the last 45 minutes they didn't think russia was behind this coup but they began this as big players in africa and that comes against the situation as well, doesn't it? i comes against the situation as well, doesn't it? ., �* ~' comes against the situation as well, doesn't it? ., �* ~ , , ., ., , doesn't it? i don't think russia has a hand but — doesn't it? i don't think russia has a hand but it's _ doesn't it? i don't think russia has a hand but it's a _ doesn't it? i don't think russia has a hand but it's a chance _ doesn't it? i don't think russia has a hand but it's a chance for- a hand but it's a chance for them. you can see they were preparing the ground before since the french left and miley mentioned to ask the un forces to leave, this disinformation play on social media has been focusing to discredited discredited the president as someone close of friends, being an agent of paris or the west, and they heated up last week that campaign when the coup came into place last week. they are hoping if everything falls together there is a dealfor the russians to come in. i don't see wagner but there's a potential of russian allies in burkina faso and mali transit reach out to leaders and make friends with them. it is transit reach out to leaders and make friends with them.- make friends with them. it is a fluid and complicated - make friends with them. it is a | fluid and complicated situation, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. there has been extensive coverage of the story. and of course there's been extensive coverage of this story on bbc focus on africa. the programme presenter wahiga mwaura. what began as a coup seven days ago in one of west africa's largest countries, niger, is something that has caused divisions within the country, within the region, within the continent and the world as well. and that's what we'll be focusing on, on focus on africa at 1730, british standard time, as we look at what different countries are saying, which side they are taking within the coup. that's something, matthew, that will really be focusing on why they are making those decisions and also what the regional implications are. niger has stood out as the last hub for western backed counter—terrorism attempts. you know, niger is hosting that a usa base, that france based as well with 1500 troops, french troops on site. and we'll be looking at what this all means with the leaders, the coup plotters. having stated that one of their biggest concerns was about regional insecurity, deteriorating insecurity within the country. and one then wonders, could they be looking for new allies in all this. and the name of wagner that russia backed group is one that keeps coming up. so we'll be looking at all these implications. matthew on the programme a bit later on. yes. and just rewind almost in terms of i'm interested to have your assessment on why this coup has happened in the first place? so different theories have been probed, matthew, as to why this could happen. obviously, you first have to begin with what the coup plotters themselves said, and they stated that they were concerned about rising insecurity and deteriorating economic conditions within the country. but of course, we've seen different coups happen and the reasons have also been pretty similar. some say that's a default excuse. there could be many underlying factors. one of them could be a question about the ethnicity of the democratically elected president, mohamed bazoum. he comes from an ethnic minority, and there are questions about whether he had full support when he was sworn in back in 2021 in the country's first peaceful transition. and that could be one of the reasons. some of the other reasons, however, could also be the fact that previous coups you talked about, almost eight of them having been attempted over the last couple of years, three at least, that was successful. and you've seen what's happened after that as much as they've been strong responses from the african union ecowas, economic community of west african states and other regional and international bodies as well. the coup plotters still managed to stay in power and in some sense begin to establish normal relations with the rest of the world. and one then wonders, did these military leaders look at what was happening within the country, within the region, look at what previous trends they've been in regards to coups and made a similar decisions as well? so those are some of the factors that have been touted as to the reason why this coup happened. and it wasn't the first attempt on a coup on the presidency of mohamed bazoum, but this one seems to be progressing quite successfully, if that's the right word to use to describe the situation that the country finds itself in. all of that coming up on the bbc focus on africa in 20 minutes' time for our international viewers here on bbc news. let's turn now to moscow — where a tower block in the centre of the city — has come under attack for a second time. the building was first hit on sunday, these pictures were taken from a short distance away. this was the aftermath — of the second attack last night. you can see some of the damage in these pictures. emergency services have been at the scene. several other drones were reportedly shot down by air defence systems. here's some reaction from a moscow resident. translation: after the first attack, everyone said it wouldn't hit - the same place twice, and today we all woke up and were a bit shocked. i don't know what i'm going to do, but i think i'll move from here. nick beake, at the bbc�*s evidence hub, has more detail on the attack: drone striking at the heart of the russian capital. it's a big psychological win for the ukrainians but here at bbc verify we have been taking a closer look at what has been happening in the air and on the ground. i want to show you this video from last night of the latest attack. you can see the aftermath of it. the damage that has been done to this skyscraper, the windows they're blasted out. but this building was attacked 2a hours earlier and if i show you this video, it's much more dramatic and you can see within seconds of this video starting, that huge blast that rips through what is the financial district of moscow. you can see people coming at this point and trying to work out what has been happening, filming from themselves on their phones. if we look at the map. the financial district and the business district is only about five kilometres from the kremlin, as well as government ministries, there is also restaurants and luxury flats there. but you can see how close it is so when the ukrainians talk about they were coming to president putin's doorstep, this, ithink, is what they mean. i can show you the complex, the places struck in the space of days, this is actually one skyscraper complex. as for the drone that was used, in the videos we have been looking at you, you cannot see the drone itself at the moment of impact but i want to show you this video, it's interesting. this is the outskirts of moscow and this particular drone is distinctive because it has got a much larger rear wing than the front wing, we have put this on the up so you can see it will do what we have done is we've been talking to drone experts about what they think this could be, and they're pointing to this, the characteristics of a larger rear wing and a smaller front wing, and look at this, they say it all points to this, a ukrainian made long—range device, it's quite due, reportedly has a range of up to 1000 kilometres, so potentially could have been fired within ukrainian territory towards the russian capital. it's worth pointing out that ukraine has not claimed responsibility for this and we don't know where the drone in question was deployed from. what we're doing at bbc verify is trying to get a sense of the wider picture here. i want to show you this map because what we have done is we've been looking at russian media reports of drone strikes within russia russian —controlled territory this year, so if we go to our map here, we see a spate of attacks in the capital moscow. also on the border and edging towards belarus there, around the kharkiv region of ukraine, so over the border, striking russian targets, and also if we come down to the south here, russian annexed crimea, back in 2014 that to the south here, russian annexed crimea. so this gives a sense of what is happening here, notjust the russian capital that has been attacked by drones but other wider parts of russia and russian —controlled territory, too. breaking news that the snp market area has been stripped of her seat. this follows her breach of coronavirus rules back in 2021 that -- 2020. she coronavirus rules back in 2021 that —— 2020. she said she made an error ofjudgment, she trusted positive for coronavirus was speaking in the british house of commons but instead of isolating she travelled by train more than 400 miles back to scotland. she was suspended from the party and the house of commons for 30 days and that triggered this recall petition in her constituency and that can remove a lawn marker if 10% or more of registered voters signed the petition, there's a price that threshold and she has been stripped of her seat and there would no be a by election in that seat which would be an interesting test of support between labour and the snp but that news just breaking. we were anticipating that news but margit ferrier losing her seat after that recall petition. we will have more in the story later on in our programme. in the women's world cup — england easily beat china — to make it through to the knock out stage. the lionesses won 6—1 — and now qualify as group winners. elsewhere — denmark have beaten haiti, to qualify second in group d. earlier, defending champions — the usa — suffered a huge scare, against world cup debutants, portugal before scraping through. they drew 0—0 — with the portuguese hitting the post in the closing stages. the usa will now face the winners of group g. and the netherlands topped group e — ahead of the us — as they thrashed vietnam — 7—0. the former england lioness, lynda hale shared her thoughts on england's latest game... the result, you couldn't expect any more. it was absolutely brilliant. and the performance, such an improvement from the last one. sarina weigman is such a brilliant tactician, she worked everything out and everything went to plan. it really did, there were those wobbles and worries with keira walsh out with injury, how the midfield would stack up. they've struggled perhaps in their earlier games, only getting one goal in each of those matches, but they seemed to really click today. you couldn't have asked for anything better. she gave everybody a job to do, the job they did was perfect, and the goals just came flowing. it's a shame that laurenjames' goal was disallowed because that was absolutely icing on the cake. how are you enjoying the tournament? absolutely brilliant, absolutely brilliant. i mean, i've watched football for years but the actual standing of the football this year is absolutely brilliant. i want to put another picture on the screen as you're talking because this of course is light years away from your time with england. you were the second person ever to score for england women back in 1972. we have that picture on the screen, the first official game for england. how does it feel, watching what has happened to women's football over these recent decades? from when i first started playing, we had next to nothing, and now they... what the england team have got now, they are absolutely elite players. but actually, working up from when i first started playing, with all the money and the grants from the lotteries and other things, there is no end to what we can do. it's an absolutely brilliant time for women's football. it was interesting, i was reading about your time, you had to apparently come through trials after the fa lifted the 51—year ban on girls and women playing football. i mean, that moment when you pulled on the england shirt, what did that actually feel like, after all of that? the ban really affected me as much as, that i never played on really good pitches, we all used to play on, like, a wreck or something like that, a common... but putting that shirt on, it's 50 years ago we did that, there wasn't the publicity, all the hype and everything. to me, i wasjust going out to play football and representing my country. and never really got any recognition at all. quick final thought, how far can england go, do you think? sky is the limit, with what she did today. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's bring you some of the main stories across the uk now. almost half of under 18s in need of urgent care for eating disorders in england, are waiting more than three months to begin nhs treatment — according to new analysis. this is despite an nhs promise to ensure that by 2021 — the majority of children with acute cases, would begin treatment within a week. nigel farage says coutts bank has offered to reinstate his personal and business accounts — after they were closed. last month, the former ukip leader accused the bank of shutting down his accounts, because it did not like his political views. both the head of coutts and the chief executive of its parent company, natwest have since resigned. 0rganised crime is seen as an increasing problem for rural counties and is causing widespread concern. you're live with bbc news. tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in beijing, as heavy rain and flooding continues to batter northern china. at least 20 people are known to have died as a result of storm doksuri. president xi jinping today called for "every effort" to rescue those "lost or trapped" by the rains. from beijing, our china correspondent steve mcdonnell sent this report. methods from the old days have been pulled out to reach people cut off by flash floods. boats have 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 couple of days have been very tough. locals have pitched in to defend their neighbourhoods. when firefighters arrive, they are helping the most vulnerable. and china can also mobilise the people's liberation army at times like this. helicopters have been crucial. translation: if we can get in and land we will. - but if we can't soldiers will rappel down on ropes and reach those that need help that way. the priority for them now is to reach communities cut off from the outside world, without water and without electricity. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. if you were watching the programme yesterday — you might remember these incredible pictures from qatar. jaan roose — an estonian athlete — walking across this slackline — between two iconic towers — 185 metres above the ground. incredible stuff — and i'm delighted to say that jaan joins us live. jaan roose, the slackline athlete who made this incredible walk. it was a tough challenge for me. not the longest line i have done, before that i did a highline that was ten times longer but this was the hardest one for me because it took us way more time than expected because of harsh, harsh wind conditions. i because of harsh, harsh wind conditions.— because of harsh, harsh wind conditions. _, . ,, ., conditions. i will come back to the harsh conditions _ conditions. i will come back to the harsh conditions in _ conditions. i will come back to the harsh conditions in a _ conditions. i will come back to the harsh conditions in a moment - conditions. i will come back to the harsh conditions in a moment but| conditions. i will come back to the l harsh conditions in a moment but to ordinary people it looks absolutely nuts doing that. do you get frightened, do you get nervous? what is going through your mind? we are playing the pictures as you are talking to us to stop what are you thinking about in the sec. and moments? i thinking about in the sec. and moments?— thinking about in the sec. and moments? . ,.. ., moments? i am getting scared of heirhts moments? i am getting scared of heights and _ moments? i am getting scared of heights and that _ moments? i am getting scared of heights and that is _ moments? i am getting scared of heights and that is probably - moments? i am getting scared of heights and that is probably one i moments? i am getting scared of| heights and that is probably one of the reasons i do it, and overcoming those fears. also, i am thinking about step—by—step trying to fight the wind in my world, and trying to catley the next steps. there is so much destruction. the noise from the city. we much destruction. the noise from the ci . ~ ., much destruction. the noise from the ci . . . . much destruction. the noise from the ci . ~ . ., ., , much destruction. the noise from the ci. . . much destruction. the noise from the city. we have a really tight shot of ou and city. we have a really tight shot of you and you _ city. we have a really tight shot of you and you can — city. we have a really tight shot of you and you can see _ city. we have a really tight shot of you and you can see the amount i city. we have a really tight shot of| you and you can see the amount of movement on that line, it's quite something. the slack line is different to a tight rope, isn't it? a slack line is different, the dynamics are different. does that mean it moves _ dynamics are different. does that mean it moves more? _ dynamics are different. does that mean it moves more? it - dynamics are different. does that mean it moves more? it moves l dynamics are different. does that - mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and — mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and is — mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and is not _ mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and is not stable. _ mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and is not stable. it _ mean it moves more? it moves more in the wind and is not stable. it can - the wind and is not stable. it can remove it can move metres and oscillates and i have to control the whole slack line with my body weight, arms, legs, everything. i have to use my arms instead of some sort of stick. have to use my arms instead of some sort of stick-— sort of stick. that makes it even more difficult, _ sort of stick. that makes it even more difficult, and _ sort of stick. that makes it even more difficult, and you - sort of stick. that makes it even more difficult, and you speak i sort of stick. that makes it even i more difficult, and you speak about the wind which we can see in the pictures. the way you were buffeted around, how do you compete combat that? i around, how do you compete combat that? ., ., ~ , that? i have to keep reminding m self, that? i have to keep reminding myself, actually, _ that? i have to keep reminding myself, actually, that - that? i have to keep reminding myself, actually, that i - that? i have to keep reminding myself, actually, that i should| myself, actually, that i should breathe because it's so dense to be “p breathe because it's so dense to be up there that every little muscle is working too much in my body. so it makes me quite tense and the whole body and mentally not forgetting what i need to do to make a step and also breathe and control of my movements and not rush. because every single second i could fall off and lose balance and i would not be successful. . , , . , ., successful. incredible picture is an incredible account. _ before we break up, breaking news that there would be up by election after the petition to recall the coronavirus rule breaking mp, the petition pass the required number of members. in 2020 and she was diagnosed with coronavirus and took the train back to scotland, she described it as a error ofjudgment but resisted calls to resign. she lost her seat and we are back live in a moment or two. hello again. the weather for the next few days will remain pretty unsettled. conditions go down hill across all areas have a ring picks up across southern and western areas as a centre of the low edges closer towards our shores. 0n the plus side it would be mild across the country with temperatures in the low to mid—teens celsius range. tomorrow we will see the winds picking up with gail's across southern england sitting through the channel 50 to 60 mile gusts and some heavy rainfall in the afternoon across england and wales. there will be light winds and slow moving heavy and thunder downpours. temperatures will reach 20 or 22 degrees in warm spots but it mid to high teens for most. low pressure pulls out east into the north sea and near concert in and takes heavy rain with it and we see a northerly wind developed across the uk. it is dry to start thursday but there'll be plenty of showers across southern areas. this is a pressure start chart for thursday. there'll be northerly winds and one of sunshine and showers. we have heavy showers from the word go across parts of britain. sunshine around and more clout for the northern part of scotland, some spells of rain here. heavy showers through the afternoon could be across central and western parts of the uk. those winds fairly brisk and cool and temperatures at best reaching from around 14 to 20 degrees. from north to south across the country. for friday, it's a similar story with northerly winds and sunshine and showers and most of showers affecting southeast scotland down into the east anglia and the southeast and there could be the odd hungry one there. some better son he towards the west but it will feel cool for the time of year. it remains unsettled into the weekend, a low—pressure nearby and showers and longer spuds of rain and it with you pretty cool for early august will stop and see you later. welcome to bbc news. let's turn to main headlines. the scottish mp is stripped of her seat in parliament after broken covid rules. food inflation dropped to 13.4% thanks to the falling cost of staple goods. france says its operation to evacuate citizens out of niger is under way. several plans are en route to west africa. in the uk may soon be able to launch its first rocket from a tiny island off the scottish mainland. we hearfrom one of the people behind the let's return to the breaking news that a scottish mp has been stripped of her seat in parliament. the former snp member has passed the required number of signatures. she was suspended from the comments for 30 days after being convicted of breaking covid travel rules during lockdown. let's head straight to the constituency of roth or glenn and stephen gaudin, in, who's there for us. the threshold was 10%. we know what the numbers were here eventually?— what the numbers were here eventuall ? . , , .,. eventually? eventually, they reached 10% uuite eventually? eventually, they reached 1096 quite comfortably. _ eventually? eventually, they reached 1096 quite comfortably. i _ eventually? eventually, they reached 1096 quite comfortably. i think- eventually? eventually, they reached 1096 quite comfortably. i think was i 10% quite comfortably. i think was about 14% or so.