US approves $1.1bn arms sale to Taiwan

The US State Department has approved the sale of a new package of arms to Taiwan, worth one point one billion dollars, amid rising tensions with Beijing over the island. A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said China would take counter-measures unless the deal was revoked.

Also in the programme: The Russian energy giant Gazprom says its key gas pipeline to Europe will remain closed indefinitely, due to an oil leak in a turbine; and desperation and displacement in Sindh province, one of the flood-hit areas affected by heavy flooding in Pakistan.

Joining Paul Henley to discuss these and other issues are Dr Christos Christou, International President of Medecins Sans Frontieres, and Ulrike Franke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

(Image: Air Force soldiers prepare to load US made Harpoon AGM-84 anti ship missiles. Credit: SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)