in the english channel. we have a special report tonight on our 51—day search for those responsible. also on the programme — it's the turn ofjoe biden and donald trump to debate tonight, their first of the presidential campaign — a critical encounter. we'll be live in atlanta to assess the state of the race. and how do you get the international space station out of orbit safely? elon musk�*s spacex has been contracted the job. we will hear from one of the former commanders of the iss about the mammoth task ahead. good evening. we begin tonight with an exclusive investigation. the bbc has tracked down and confronted a people—smuggler who was responsible for organising a small—boat crossing to the uk in april in which a seven—year—old girl died. our paris correspondent

andrew harding was on the beach in france during that incident, and, in a lengthy investigation, has tracked the smuggler through europe to luxembourg. excuse me, sir. andrew harding from bbc news. we've come to luxembourg to confront a man we've been chasing across europe. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he's responsible for putting hundreds of people in small boats heading from france to england. and responsible for one boat in particular. this one. we came across it back in april on a beach in northern france. police, battling with a group of smugglers. chaos as people clambered onto the boat. we saw a girl here in a pink coat. she was one of five to die at the scene. her name was sara, seven years old, born in belgium, raised in sweden. a few days later, we found her

father, ahmed, an iraqi man consumed by grief — and also by guilt. but what of the smugglers? multiple sources tell us the man paid to arrange sara's journey is still active and working from a distant city. so we've come now to antwerp, a city in northern belgium, to try and track down the smuggler, the man who organised the boat and who, to some extent, was responsible for sara's death. and so we set a trap. one of our team poses here as a migrant looking to cross the channel. wearing a hidden camera, he goes to meet a middleman in antwerp. someone who can put us in touch with the smuggler. and the plan works. we are now waiting for the smuggler to call us. he's just sent us a text message,

so it could be any moment now. finally, he does call. believing he's talking to a potential client, he offers us seats on his next boat. so, the smuggler is still in business. but he's not in belgium any more. we now hear he may be on the run, that he's heading to luxembourg — and we're in pursuit. we've received a photo and video suggesting he's hiding in some sort of camp. an online search directs us to this migrant reception centre in the city of luxembourg. our new plan is a stakeout. we've been watching for three whole days now. still no sign of him. but by now we have more evidence. this photo of the smuggler and his passport.

he's called rebwar, from iraq. and then we catch this glimpse of him inside the camp. and a few hours later, we're racing to catch him outside. that's my colleague ahead of me, in black. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he insists we have the wrong man. "i swear it," he says. do you want to call him? just check that he's got the same number that we've been calling. but then we call him on his mobile. the same number he used when he offered to smuggle us to england. who are you? so he's answering the phone. we know that this is you, sir. we know 100% that you are a smuggler. that you are responsible for the death of this seven—year—old, that you put her on a boat, that you took money from her parents, that she and four other people died. that's you. we know this is our man. he's getting on a tram now. we're going to let him go. there's not much more we can do.

so, he leaves. and while we don't follow him, we do inform the french authorities, who've declined to comment. as for the family sara left behind, they're being housed temporarily in this tiny french village. ahmed has claimed that hiring a smuggler was his only option. true or not, he now says he's learned a hard lesson. "the smugglers only care about money," he says. "i hope they'll be arrested and my daughter's death will not be in vain." but his other children have no access to school here and no idea what comes next. what do you miss most? to have, like, a normal life, like everybody. that's what you miss? do you think you will have one soon?

where do you think? in england. i'm sorry. but there's little chance of that right now. her sister's body has been buried here in france. but this grieving family has no permission to settle anywhere in europe. instead, they wait in limbo while the smuggling industry thrives. andrew harding, bbc news. an extraordinary report, our thanks to andrew. let's speak to zoe gardner, who is an independent researcher on migration policy. good to see you. andrew harding found this guy, sue mitchell found one of the other notorious people smugglers — if our guys, as good as they are, can find these people, why aren't your apollo, interpol, the

french and european police doing as good a job? french and european police doing as aood a “ob? ., , ., ., , french and european police doing as good a job?— good a job? your investigators are obviously brilliant, _ good a job? your investigators are obviously brilliant, but _ good a job? your investigators are obviously brilliant, but i _ good a job? your investigators are obviously brilliant, but i think- obviously brilliant, but i think there's a bigger problem here, which is that we are fighting an unwinnable war. there will always a market for the smugglers as long as we don't give the families like we just heard from any sort of solution. so even if they did manage to arrest the man you confronted, there would simply be another one who would be willing to take that money and put people across in a boat because there is another solution for them. but boat because there is another solution for them.— boat because there is another solution for them. but that's the solution for them. but that's the solution labour _ solution for them. but that's the solution labour is _ solution for them. but that's the solution labour is offering - solution for them. but that's the solution labour is offering in - solution for them. but that's the | solution labour is offering in this election, is it not, that they would invest half £1 million — £500 million, i should say, in a border force that will track the gangs and break them up, and you're telling me that's not the solution? it break them up, and you're telling me that's not the solution?— that's not the solution? it isn't the solution _ that's not the solution? it isn't the solution because _ that's not the solution? it isn't the solution because the - that's not the solution? it isn't - the solution because the smugglers are not the root of the problem. the root of the problem is what we just

heard — that was a family from iraq who were so scared that, even though they had been living in europe for years and their children had been born in europe, they were so scared of being deported back to danger in iraq that they thought they were better off trying to take a dangerous journey to reach where they hoped they might eventually be safe in the uk. and if you arrest another smuggler but don't give that family a solution, that little boy that we just heard from who spoke to us in english was 12 years old, he needs a solution. and as europeans, we are not offering that. and it's a really important reminder that keir starmer and rishi sunak, even nigel farage seem to be in this race against each other about who will propose the policies that will push people away and make them seek help elsewhere. but people away and make them seek help elsewhere. �* ., ., , ., ., ., elsewhere. but how do you manage this? i take — elsewhere. but how do you manage this? i take your— elsewhere. but how do you manage this? i take your point _ elsewhere. but how do you manage this? i take your point that - elsewhere. but how do you manage this? i take your point that you - this? i take your point that you need legal routes, the us are looking at this and the europeans have tried it, but you can't set a quota for these things, and once you

set up the legal routes, don't you invite more and more to come? and what is the limit? at invite more and more to come? and what is the limit?— invite more and more to come? and what is the limit? at the moment, we are usin: what is the limit? at the moment, we are using the — what is the limit? at the moment, we are using the risk _ what is the limit? at the moment, we are using the risk of _ what is the limit? at the moment, we are using the risk of death _ what is the limit? at the moment, we are using the risk of death and - are using the risk of death and the death of this seven—year—old little girl as the way that we have of preventing suppose in greater numbers from coming, and that's morally repugnant and unacceptable. but it also goes to the fact that we are in an international race to the bottom here. so as i say, rishi sunak and keir starmer are notjust competing against each other to push people away, but against the rest of europe. there is an international race to the bottom where no one wins and people will die. so what will be deemed necessary and the only long—term solution is european cooperation to create a fair distribution of shared responsibility with safer access to our asylum systems across the continent. and that's desperately needed. europe has a an ageing population, we are in desperate need of workers, so this can be

beneficially mutual. —— mutually beneficial. ending up with children dying on our shores, we can change tack and put money in our communities so they are supported to be able to receive people, and those are people that we need and who need us. ., are people that we need and who need us. ., , ., ., " , are people that we need and who need us. zoe gardner, thanks for coming on the programme. _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some of the headlines here in the uk. one person in england has died linked to the ongoing e—coli outbreak, according to the uk health security agency. the person died in may and had underlying health conditions. the outbreak is thought to be caused by some supermarket sandwiches containing salad leaves. the number of metropolitan police officers suspected of placing bets on the timing of the election has risen to seven. one of them, a member of rishi sunak�*s close protection team, has already been arrested and suspended. scotland yard says it's also investigating a small number of cases where it's possible that offences, including "misconduct

in a public office", may have been committed. and with just one week to go before the general election, most opinion polls suggest that the lib dems could once again become the third—largest party in the house of commons. they won just 11 seats in 2019, but their leader, ed davey, has told the bbc he is hopeful that the party is finally turning a corner. a week today, we will be voting here in the uk. last night, in theirfinal televised debate, rishi sunak and sir keir starmer clashed on tax, immigration and the welfare budget. the prime minister urged voters not to "surrender" to a labour government, while sir keir accused rishi sunak of lying. tonight, attention turns to the contest in northern ireland, where the leaders of the parties take to the debate stage in belfast. for our uk viewers, you will be able to watch it on this channel at 9pm tonight.

our ireland correspondent sara girvin is there for us. just remind us if you would first of all about the result in 2019, and what's at stake this next week in northern ireland.— what's at stake this next week in northern ireland. while there are 18 seats for northern _ northern ireland. while there are 18 seats for northern ireland _ northern ireland. while there are 18 seats for northern ireland up - northern ireland. while there are 18 seats for northern ireland up for- seats for northern ireland up for grabs at westminster, and the way that all work out last time, it's all the dup as the biggest party with eight seats, sinn fein following closely behind with seven, the sdlp had two and alliance had one. as you can see, final preparations are here under way in the studio where this evening's northern ireland leaders debate will be taking place. studio and audience members are taking their seats, and we know the politicians, the leaders are in the building — they may not be quite asjovial as are in the building — they may not be quite as jovial as the audience and for ours, but i think it's fair to say it's been quite a lackluster campaign here in northern ireland so

far. even on the party —— all the parties must make manifest have been quite low—key. there's been no surprises, it's been all issues that have been rehearsed by the parties again and and the uup and sdlp launch their manifestos just yesterday — so it only feels things are getting up and running here with seven days to go. you can see the audience numbers behind me, some of them will be asking questions of those political leaders, and i've just been listening in on some of the discussions of those snippets, so it can give you an idea of the issues of her discussion. the health service is a big one here in northern ireland, the waiting lists are the longest in the uk here. i'm hearing discussions about what's happening in the middle east, how northern ireland is funded and trust in politicians — i've heard a few audience members talk about that. and as you say, you can watch that leaders debate here on the bbc news

channel at 9pm and also on iplayer to hear how all that is discussed this evening. to hear how all that is discussed this evening-— to hear how all that is discussed this evening. sarah, thanks very much indeed. _ let's ta ke let's take you to atlanta, georgia, where joe let's take you to atlanta, georgia, wherejoe biden, president biden has just come down the steps of air force one, about to get into the beast to be transferred to cnn's studios for tonight's live televised debate. he's been in television debate. he's been in television debate prep the last few days at camp david, being put through the paces by his team. it's a big night forjoe biden in all the swing states, seven swing states in all, he is currently trailing donald trump. this is an opportunity to put a stamp on the campaign earlier than normal, of course, this debate. we don't usually get one so early in the cycle, butjoe biden certainly looking forward to an opportunity to put his case to us voters tonight.

my colleague caitriona perry is there, and in the spin room for us. the spin room will be busy, as always is, after this event. yana it sure will stop what i read that 70% of people will be watching this debate — i can't help but think there's much they don't know about these two candidates, but it's the nature of the debate in america at the moment that you can't really take your eyes off it. find the moment that you can't really take your eyes off it.— take your eyes off it. and i think that's part _ take your eyes off it. and i think that's part of — take your eyes off it. and i think that's part of the _ take your eyes off it. and i think that's part of the fascination, i that's part of the fascination, christian, is that people are so familiar with both these men, joe biden as president, donald trump was president, everyone news who they are and thinks they know about their personality, they know what they are like as president, they are guessing at what they might be like as president in the future. so everyone i've been speaking to anyway right across the country in the last few weeks, travelling around, are planning on watching this. while they watch the whole hour and a half? i don't know, does that take a special political nerd to sit through an hour and a half? maybe —

will certainly watch some of it and consume whatever clips of it later on. i'm talking to you here from the spin room, as you say, at georgia tech university, this place is nicknamed the thriller dome. will it be a thriller? who knows, but it'll be a thriller? who knows, but it'll be the first in many ways, never usually so early in the year, and is the first time to people who have been present are facing off against each other, and it's the first time in many years there hasn't been an audience in the room with them as well, the first time the campaigns have gone outside the presidential commission to organise this debate with only one media organiser, cnn — that's what you see so much cnn branding around me, they are running the show here — so much so, a bit of breaking news for you, that the white house media correspondence has criticised cnn for refusing to let one single white house pool reporter in the studio during the debate. both campaigns have said they don't

have an issue with it, but cnn are saying no. why is that an issue? is the first time the microphones will be muted during the debate, there be a countdown for each candidate, and their michael turned off. from a journalistic perspective, if the other candidate keeps talking, if you're watching it at home or in another on the screen, you won't know what they say, the under kennett —— the other candidate will hear them but no one else will. i have a countdown clock, they fed my mic out, and it makes quite a difference, i can tell you that. let's talk aboutjoe biden because i made the point that he needs is the most. looking at the polls, he does, he needs momentum.— most. looking at the polls, he does, he needs momentum. absolutely, we've not to take he needs momentum. absolutely, we've got to take polling _ he needs momentum. absolutely, we've got to take polling these _ he needs momentum. absolutely, we've got to take polling these days _ he needs momentum. absolutely, we've got to take polling these days with - got to take polling these days with a giant trickle load of salt, with the greatest of respect to polling companies, but it's very hard to drill down into who are the voters. and of course, the particular thing about the us presidential election is everyone's vote matters in a way, but only the undecided voters in 3—7

battleground states, that number of areas depending on who you speak to, areas depending on who you speak to, are the ones who really will decide the selection. so in those key battleground states, donald trump is ahead ofjoe biden the last two months in almost every single pole, sometimes by up to seven points. still small but beyond the margin of error, so a lot hangs on this debate. it's still a long way away from election day — you'd be a fool to predict the outcome at this point in time — so both will want to remind the american public what they've done, tell them what they are capable of, and also to generate are capable of, and also to generate a sense of trust and likability with them, because both these candidates have really high on favorability ratings with the american people. we will talk to plenty more tonight, standby. join us for live coverage of the cnn presidential debate from 0100 to 0500bst on the bbc news channel or bbc.com.

if you are in the uk, you can also watch it stream live on bbc iplayer. it is as big as a football field, it is heavier than 200 elephants — it's safe to say you would not want the international space station falling on your head. so how do you get it out of orbit safely and land it back on earth? elon musk�*s company spacex has been tasked with finding that solution. the california—based company will now build a vehicle capable of pushing the space station into orbit and into a remote part of the pacific ocean in the next decade. the splashdown target is called point nemo, named after the famous submarine sailor from jules verne's 20,000 leagues under the sea. named after the famous submarine sailor from jules verne's 20,000 it has become a space

graveyard, 2,500 kilometres from the nearest piece of land. and when the space station does splash down, it willjoin hundreds of other spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean. who better to talk to tonight than the man who commanded it? our good friend and astronaut leroy chiao, who lived on board the international space station for six months until april 2005. always good to see you, leroy. we never done anything like this before, it's big and unwieldy — why pushit before, it's big and unwieldy — why push it this way back to earth, rather than push it the other way in outer space? the rather than push it the other way in outer space?— outer space? the bottom line is it would take _ outer space? the bottom line is it would take a _ outer space? the bottom line is it would take a lot _ outer space? the bottom line is it would take a lot less _ outer space? the bottom line is it would take a lot less energy - outer space? the bottom line is it would take a lot less energy to i outer space? the bottom line is it l would take a lot less energy to slow it down so that it gets captured by the atmosphere, then the drag brings it down. the way you'd want to do it of course is in a controlled manner like this, so you plan to attach basically a series of rocket engines and a fuel tank, and you slowly push against the space station to slow it down until it can be captured by the

atmosphere. you plan that trajectory so it comes down in that space graveyard vicinity. the last time we had a large object come together, it was the mere space station, the russians used one of their supply ship tugs to do exactly that, trying to slow it down and planet so it goesin to slow it down and planet so it goes in a place he wanted to go, and that worked out. of course there is uncertainty, but i would suspect with something like this, space—x certainly has the ability to do it, and i think they'll be able to do it well. ~ , ., ., well. why are we getting rid of it, lero ? is well. why are we getting rid of it, leroy? is a _ well. why are we getting rid of it, leroy? is a becoming _ well. why are we getting rid of it, - leroy? is a becoming more dangerous, are the stresses of space taking their toll on a space station eventually?— their toll on a space station eventually? their toll on a space station eventuall ? , , eventually? everything runs their course, eventually? everything runs their course. and _ eventually? everything runs their course, and the _ eventually? everything runs their course, and the space _ eventually? everything runs their course, and the space station - eventually? everything runs their| course, and the space station was designed to have that 30 year life — so 2030, for many years now, it's been the plan to be decommissioned

around 2030, some of the parts are starting to show age, particularly in the russian segment, we've had cracks and leaks that have been patched with epoxy and other materials, but generally speaking, 2030 will be about 30 years of service life, and that's really what it was planned for. russian partners are indicating they may want to pull out a little bit earlier, they through 2028 out there. so everybody is kind of comfortable in that 2030 timeframe, and it's good to start planning now in case it needs to be moved up for political reasons. irate moved up for political reasons. we were just discussing in the office earlier why — we took it up piece by piece, why are we not bringing it down piece by piece so that people can enjoy it and see it, rather than sticking it at the bottom of the ocean? ,, ., ., , ocean? sure, and at the very beginning — ocean? sure, and at the very beginning of— ocean? sure, and at the very beginning of the _ ocean? sure, and at the very| beginning of the programme, ocean? sure, and at the very - beginning of the programme, one of the questions that was discussed was

exactly this, what will be do with it at end of life? we can'tjust let it at end of life? we can'tjust let it tumble out of orbit and see where it tumble out of orbit and see where it goes. we've got a budget for bringing it down in a controlled manner — does it make to take it apart like we put it together? the problem is, one of the big problems as we don't have a space shuttle any more, so we can't really bring those pieces back down that way. also it's the expense — even if we did still have a space shuttle, the money we would spend to bring the pieces down would spend to bring the pieces down would be a lot more than disposing of the thing. so unfortunately, we get budgeted and this is the way it works — we get budgeted to build a vehicle, not to take it apart. and even when it was designed, there was no money to decommission it. now unfortunately, there's a budget for that and we are beginning to study it early enough and designed it early enough so we can responsibly get it done. just early enough so we can responsibly get it done-— get it done. just quickly before the break, will we _ get it done. just quickly before the break, will we need _ get it done. just quickly before the break, will we need another, - get it done. just quickly before the break, will we need another, or. get it done. just quickly before the i break, will we need another, or have

we learned enough now from our low earth orbit that really, the focus is the moon, mars, bases on other worlds? ., , , ., ., , , worlds? ohno, space station is very much a part — worlds? ohno, space station is very much a part of _ worlds? ohno, space station is very much a part of the _ worlds? ohno, space station is very much a part of the explanation - much a part of the explanation programme, and it serves not only a training test ground for astronauts in engineering, studies on things like long—duration life—support systems, which is surprisingly difficult to do — but it also serves as a biomedical test—bed because there are a lot of biomedical things that happen to people when they're in space for a long duration and we have to work out these countermeasures, and develop them and test before we can confidently send humans to mars for long—duration missions. so the space station has been playing that role very much as well. the plan is, nasa has already ceded some commercial companies to begin developing their own private commercial space stations, and the idea with that would be, by the time it's time to

commission the iss, there will be round or more commercial stations we could send astronauts the microsatellites do to continue this work. ., .,y , microsatellites do to continue this work. ., , ., ., work. leroy, always gratefulfor our work. leroy, always gratefulfor your exoertise. _ work. leroy, always gratefulfor your expertise, thanks - work. leroy, always gratefulfor your expertise, thanks for - work. leroy, always grateful for l your expertise, thanks for coming onto the programme. on the other side of the break, it's a i decoded. stay with us for that. hello. the warm and humid air that's been affecting many parts of the uk over the last few days has been swept away by this band of cloud, this frontal system that's been moving its way eastwards. it's all connected with an area of low pressure, actually an unseasonably deep low. a lot of isobars on this chart as this low drifts across the northern half of the uk. so, to go through the evening, we will continue to see some pretty strong winds across parts of northern ireland, scotland, northern england, parts of north wales. gusts of a0 to maybe 50 mph, some outbreaks of rain as well. furthersouth, breezy, but not as windy. and for south wales, the midlands, the south and the east of england,

it will stay largely dry. temperatures overnight generally holding up in double digits, but as we head into tomorrow, we will have some outbreaks of rain across the north of scotland. still quite windy, particularly in the north of the uk. showers through the day across scotland, northern ireland, northern england. but further south, across wales, the midlands, east anglia, down towards the south coast, not too many showers, some spells of sunshine. fresher than it has been of late, so highs of around 22 degrees, but it won't feel too bad in the sunshine. further north, 16 for aberdeen and for glasgow. and then into the weekend, actually it doesn't look too bad. there'll be a lot of dry weather, spells of sunshine. in the sunshine, it will feel warm, but a little bit of rain at times. on saturday, that rain will come courtesy of this frontal system, a very, very weak affair pushing in from the west. not a lot of energy with this weather front, just a zone of cloud. some bits and pieces of patchy rain likely to affect parts of north wales, northern england. to the north of that,

sunny spells, one or two showers. to the south of that weather front, well, we will introduce some slightly more humid air again. not as warm as it was, but temperatures in london up to 211—25 degrees. now, by sunday, it looks like all of us will be back into the fresher air. a lot of dry weather around for the second half of the weekend, some spells of sunshine, best of that in the south. could see just one or two showers here. more cloud further north, and those temperatures north to south between 13—21 degrees. now into next week, things look pretty unsettled. showers or longer spells of rain at times. perhaps the best of the dry weather in the south. and no sign of any return to anything particularly warm.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. we are going to take a look at how hackers are "testing" ai language models to highlight their flaws. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. christian, good evening to you, and we start with cricket. england are chasing 172 to beat beat india

in their t20 world cup semifinal. jos buttler won the toss and decided to bowl first. the start was delayed by rain and they also had to go off mid—innings, but india still posted 171—7. virat kohli and rishab pant went cheaply, but captain rohit sharma and suryakumar yadav put on 73 for the third wicket. there you can see the really, really bad news for england. england in reply 62—5 off ten overs. salt, buttler, bairstow, moeen and curran the wickets to fall. axar patel has taken three of them. the defending champions are in big, big trouble. harry brooks making a go of it, but they have got to get a lot of runs in a very short period of time. south africa are waiting for the winner of that match after they made very light work of afghanistan in their semifinal. they won by nine wickets in trinidad, but the state of the pitch has come in for a lot of criticism.

afghanistan were bowled out forjust 56, the lowest score