this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: british counter—terrorism police investigate as a couple fight for their lives after coming into contact with the nerve agent — novichock. we can confirm the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok which has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated the sergei and yuliya skripal. training for escape in thailand. the boys trapped in a flooded cave get advice from the military on a possible plan to get them out safely. we report from syria on the plight of people in one of the last rebel strongholdsunder fire from government forces. coming up in the business briefing: copyright fight. the eu decides on a huge legal sha keup that — according to some — could mean the end of the internet as we know it. we'll also be hearing from the director general of the world trade organisation. he's warning current trade tensions could put global economic growth in jeopardy.

a warm welcome to the programme. briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. today is a rest day at the world cup, but wimbledon bosses are said to be fuming at fifa's decision to schedule the world cup final to clash with the men's singles final. so we are asking what will you watch? will this cause angst in your household? get in touch just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. let's get started

the uk home secretary, sajid javid, will chair a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee later, after police revealed that a couple who are critically ill in amesbury in wiltshire in south west england had been exposed to a nerve agent. dawn sturgess and charlie rowley have been in hospital since saturday. last night, police said it had been established that they were poisoned by novichok — the same toxin used on the former russian agent, sergei skripal and his daughter, julia, in nearby salisbury earlier this year. here's duncan kennedy with the latest. four months to the day after the salisbury attack, and dawn sturgess and charlie rowley have become the new victims of nerve agent poisoning in britain. the couple were taken ill from their home on saturday are now critically ill in hospital. this is the moment the emergency unfolded on saturday night. the bbc has been given these phone

images of the fire and ambulance services at the property. this man says he is a friend of the couple and saw what happened. he was sweating, dribbling and he couldn't speak and was making funny noises and was rocking back and forwards, there was no response, he didn't even know i was there. it was like he was in another world, hallucinating. the nerve agent was identified in porton down near amesbury in the same place used to identify the novichok liquid in march. tonight the metropolitan police counterterrorism unit confirmed the latest findings. following the detailed analysis of those samples, we can confirm the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok, which has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated both julia and sergei skripal. the latest update we have from hospital is that both patients remain

in a critical condition. for the past four months, salisbury has been a scene of massive decontamination, after the poisoning of sergei and julia skripal and a police sergeant. a number of sites were handed back to the public, but the cleanup is still going on in the places with the highest concentrations. everyone had assumed that cleanup would be the end of the contamination story, so the revelation tonight there is a fresh nerve agent incident will come as a shock to many people. although public health england have stressed again today that the risk to the public remains low. wiltshere police say five sites are being investigated in this latest novichok incident,

including this church in amesbury and this park in salisbury. both of which, it is thought, the couple caught up in this latest poisoning had visited. they are being treated in the same salisbury hospital as the skripals were, dawn sturgess and charlie rowley now receiving world—class care to fight this deadliest of substances amid an extraordinary twist in this potent sequence of events. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in amesbury. efforts are continuing in northern thailand to work out the best way to rescue the 12 boys and their football coach who've been trapped in flooded caves for 11 days. they're being given food and emergency workers are making another attempt to provide a phone line for the boys. a previous effort failed when a waterproof seal broke. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head reports from the scene in chiang rai province. no longer alone. the trapped boys now have an army doctor treating them. they even manage a smile. they're being given foil blankets to keep them warm. they are painfully thin. "the food is coming",

promises one of the divers. up on the surface, they've been rehearsing for the scenario everyone here is hoping for — getting the boys out and off to hospital. but it won't happen soon. translation: we need to be 100% confident in order to get the boys out, and they don't have to come out at the same time. we are assessing the situation and if there is a risk, we will not move them out. the options confronting this rescue operation are just as tough as when they found the boys. they are healthy enough, but they say giving them some basic diving training and pulling them through the flooded tunnels one by one is feasible, and yet we've spoken to sources inside the thai diving team who say that's still too risky, that they may still have to leave those boys down there for the full four to five months of the rainy season. we visited the class of dom,

the football team captain, and mick — both trapped in the caves. did they have a message for their classmates? translation: i want them to get healthy, to be patient, and to come back safely so they can be with us again. come back quickly, there's lots of homework waiting for you! singing. other school friends have been down to the cave entrance to see the rescue effort and to sing them good wishes.

spirits are high here. but the task of the divers, either in extracting the boys or sustaining them underground, is formidable. they will need all the help they can get. jonathan head, bbc news, tham luang caves, northern thailand. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. there have been clashes between palestinian protesters and israeli police in the occupied west bank over the planned demolition of a bedouin village. israel's supreme court has approved proposals to evict more than 170 palestinian bedouins. officials describe their homes as illegal. police in new york have removed a woman who climbed onto the base of the statue of liberty in an apparent protest against president trump's immigration policy. the area around the statue was evacuated. earlier, a group climbed the pedestal and unfurled a banner reading "abolish ice" — a reference to a us immigration enforcement agency. let's turn to our top business story — the european parliament will vote

later on a huge shake—up of copyright law. it could put the onus on digital platforms like facebook and youtube to stop users uploading copyrighted material. it has sparked a major row between the publishing, music and film industries on the one side — and the tech giants on the other. web pioneer sir tim berners lee is among those warning it could even mean the end of the internet as we know it. priya lakhani is founder and ceo of century tech. just explained the story in a more details. the end of the end -- the end of the internet is a bit dramatic. what this is about is the value gap. when sites like youtube allow users to upload content and that content has copyright attached to it but they upload it anyway. that might be images they use or music. yes, this article we have yet

is it could be a piece of music. normally you have to get licenses for that by users do this anyway and they upload it and you have the general public thinking i want to watch the beatles music so they will go to youtube, listen to it for free and then obviously everybody doesn't get their royalties. there is a value gap in terms of the returns obtained by each of an google and the royalties that the right holders get. they are trying to address this. members of european parliament have been urged by over 1300 artists, including sir paul mccartney, to address this to make sure that you tube and websites like youtube obtained music licenses are. what this does is that it gets rid of safe harbour officials to copyright. for facebook and youtube, this is a nightmare. they have 400

hours of video uploaded per minute, how do they get it? hugely cost intensive and scary and that is why they are trying to fight back. we have many more stories to get our teeth stuck into later. i will have another expert to discuss that in detail. heavy fighting has continued in southern syria, as government forces try to recapture daraa province — one of the last rebel strongholds. the un says at least 270,000 people — a third of the population — have fled their homes since the assault began two weeks ago. many of the displaced have gone towardsjordan and the israeli—occupied golan heights — but the border crossings remain closed. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from the region. here in damascus, the atmosphere has felt very different, much more peaceful, ever since syrian forces, with the help of the russians, eliminated the last rebel enclaves around the city back in the spring.

now they are on the march again, down in the south of the country, and they seem to be heading for another decisive victory. these are stirring times for supporters of president assad. the offensive is hard for us to report, as the authorities here haven't allowed the bbc to travel to the south. the main objective is the city of daraa. it's strategically important, on the border with jordan, and it's a vital symbol because it's the place where demonstrations against president assad started in 2011. the syrian army is making steady progress with overwhelming firepower and russian help. some rebel groups posting pictures of the fight say they won't surrender. the americans, who armed and trained some of them, have told them not to expect any help. other armed groups are negotiating surrender deals

brokered by the russians. civilians have been killed. this is believed to be the aftermath of an air strike on the village of musayfrah last week. local reports say 22 people, including 12 children, died. the living were alongside the dead as they rushed them to hospital. reports say hospitals have also been bombed. funerals are being held quickly and unceremoniously. since these bodies were buried this area has been captured. huge numbers of people have been displaced by the offensive. the un and other humanitarian groups have issued grave warnings about their safety. jordan is allowing aid through its border, but with more than a million syrian refugees already, it won't let

the new arrivals in. refugees have gathered near the battlefield's other border with the golan heights, syrian territory occupied by israel. the israelis have sent in aid, but their borders are closed too. the syrian army held a victory rally in a captured town. it won't be the last. regional powers and the americans seem to have accepted that the syrian army and the russians will win the battle of the south. the war isn't over. but president assad is firmly in power in this country, and, one by one, he's destroying his enemies. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: from roof top to shop floor, how one supermarket in belgium is taking care of supply and demand by growing its own fruit and vegetables. china marked its first day of rule

in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly, that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit, at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. you're watching the briefing.

our headlines: the british home secretary, sajid javid, will chair a meeting of the government cobra emergencies committee this morning to discuss the poisoning at amesbury in wiltshire, which has left a man and a woman critically ill. training for escape in thailand — the boys trapped in a flooded cave get advice from the military on a possible plan to get them out safely. firefighters in northern california have partially contained a blaze that has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate areas west of sacramento, but dry conditions and wind gusts are hampering efforts to stop the spread. the rough terrain in rural yolo and napa counties,

west of the state capital, is also complicating efforts to battle the wildfire that broke out last weekend. lebo diseko has more. battling an inferno, firefighters try to control the blaze which has swept try to control the blaze which has swe pt a cross try to control the blaze which has swept across yolo and napa counties since it broke out last saturday. dry conditions and powerful conditions are making matters worse and the national weather service says it is expecting gusts of up to 40 kilometres per hour. no casualties reported or buildings damaged yet at hundreds of local residents have been evacuated. it is still not clear what caused the blaze but this has been a particularly active fire season in the us. authorities say the risk is much higher than normal in many western states. by wednesday this so—called county fire had ravaged more than 30,000 hectares of grass,

bush and scrub. this area is famous for its winegrowing and picturesque views. the fear now is even when the fire is eventually put out the damage to crops and businesses could be longer lasting. now it's time to get all the latest wimbledon action from the bbc sports centre with austin halewood. many have stepped onto centre court dreaming of beating roger federer. few have made it reality. lukas lacko gave it a go. his attempted not make long. after federer took an open the second was a serving masterclass. not a point conceded in this set. flawless. and in the third lacko's reserve was broken with the number one seed taking it 6—1, gliding into the third round. number one seed taking it 6—1, gliding into the third roundlj number one seed taking it 6—1,

gliding into the third round. i have not won them all. i enjoy the path where it doesn't come easy. we are looking forward to the third round. for the women the seeds continue to fall. caroline wozniacki was the latest. level at 1—1, katarina makarrata had three match points. they came and went. when the world number two got it back to 5—5, this time the opportunity would not pass her by. five of the top eight women seeds out of the third round. when it was 5—5 i started thinking about the match points and my server but i started to tell myself, no, you're not going to lose. i had so many match points and ijust tried... i told myself that and i forgot it and started over. another shock could have been on the cards as alexandra dawg erw have the best of the opening set with venus williams. but

from that point on the five—time champion was a different player, taking the next 6—0, 6—1, never in doubt. much like a sister, serena williams, racing to the third round after despatching the qualifier of the call —— victoria tolover. she is looking better every match. now, he's only 19 years old but the french striker, kylian mbappe, is quickly becoming the breakout star of this world cup. scoring twice in france's 4—3 victory over argentina, he's now being compared, by some fans, with the likes of lionel messi and cristiano ronaldo. our reporter ashleyjohn—baptiste has been meeting fans in moscow to hear their thoughts on the exciting talen. we are at france's training camp in the moscow region and you might be able to see the french squad currently training at friday's game,

where they play uruguay. in the midst of the players you should be able to spot kylian mbappe who, at such a young age, has already made a remarkable impression at this world cup. we want to meet some fans in moscow to see what they make of the young rising star. i think kylian mbappe isa young rising star. i think kylian mbappe is a future legend of football because he is very young.|j hope he just stops messing around, that he stays focused and doesn't go off because it could potentially make him lose that, so i wish him the best and hope that he grows bigger like they are, he is on the right path. he has the potential to be the new pele. so you think he is as good as messi or ronaldo? and he is only 19 years old, so he can

continue to keep on growing, becoming better. do you think mbappe could ever be as good as messi? becoming better. do you think mbappe could ever be as good as messi7m he wants to be better than messi, i think no. translation: if he keeps going like this, with the speed that he has and if he keeps playing while against the defence, at some point he will be better than ronaldo. we will return to the world cup and wimbledon in a moment. now to a concept that's turning food production upside down. one supermarket in belgium is sourcing some of its supplies from its own roof. andy beatt reports. for the freshest, most local produce, look to the skies. this brussels supermarket literally going green with its own rooftop garden. the urban farm is producing a range of fruits and vegetables without use of pesticides, while cutting distribution costs to zero. the products are harvested in the morning at 8am and an hour

later they are in the store. clients appreciate the freshness of the product, they even tell us that they can keep the products for longer in their fridge, so it is a very short chain. the farm uses distilled rainwater, solar panels and heat recirculated from the store's cooling systems, to produce the most sustainable produce possible. we are very conscious about the foods that we buy, fruit and vegetables and we wonder where it comes from. for people who want to buy local, more local than this, it is impossible. for these people it will be good. but high—rise horticulture brings its own challenges. team of gardeners has had to work within tight weight restrictions, while biodiversity on rooftops isn't the same as in the field. translation: there is a danger we could get overwhelmed by pests

or diseases as we cannot rely on the surrounding nature to help, but we have tried to create an island of nature to do permaculture, but in a completely urban way. if the project really gets off the ground, the supermarket chain says are the stores could soon see their own rooftop revolution. asi as i mentioned at the beginning of the programme, there is a clash of sporting titans. wimbledon men's final and the world cup final scheduled to happen at the same time. they overlap, actually, on sunday, july 15, so we asked what you are going to watch. we have heard from many of you. belinda says, der, world cup. ok, it is clear where your allegiance is. another says wimbledon organisers

should have thought this through. wimbledon are looking to fifa for the scheduling. the wimbledon final is at the same time on sunday afternoon at 2pm bst so even though i love watching wimbledon my focus will be on the world cup. that is two for the world cup. and we have bbk watching on to tvs. good call. i don't have to do that. joshua says it is not even a contest. sorry, wimbledon. michael says i can't raise interest to watch either. i would rather read a good book. thank you for all of your comments. we will continue the debate and i will see you in a moment for business briefing. hello. a few saw the odd shower yesterday, a smattering to some of the gardens. they were few and far

between and the weather headlines were dominated by the dry, hot weather, 29 degrees across northern ireland but what a difference a day makes because this weak band of weather here, this weatherfront, is going to bring a real drop in temperatures in the day ahead. ahead of it actually, it looks like it will be warmer into the night than last night which means it would have been more uncomfortable sleeping but the change was brought about by this cold weather front. most of the rain is across the north to iceland, very little rain on this weather front but what it does introduce is the atlantic air in. temperatures significantly lower than wednesday but some sunshine around. not much weather at all. perhaps a few spots of rain and drizzle. ahead of it, we have

heat building again and the potential we saw for it building showers. there are likely to be a few more around and it could be heavier with an even rumble of thunder and again, could affect the wimbledon area as we saw yesterday. temperature—wise, as i've mentioned already, it is a lot of pressure and it will feel that way for northern ireland and much of scotland. in england and wales, temperatures higher than yesterday. the heat is building again, particularly in the south but on friday, would got that westerly breeze blowing a low cloud away a bit more quickly and any morning, this will clear and because we haven't got that weather front around, it may be in the far north and temperatures will start to recover across northern ireland in scotland. it's a temporary dip but it will start to warm up, temperatures getting high indeed to 30, possibly above because as we warm today, it will warm the nights as well. the fly in the appointment, if it's the sunshine you want, is the weak weather front towards the north but otherwise,

it looks like this sunny and very warm weather will continue throughout the weekend and probably into the beginning of next week. bye— bye. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. copyright fight. the eu decides on a huge legal sha keup that — according to some — could mean the end of the internet as we know it. plus — global growth under threat — the head of the wto warns of the economic damage of a looming trade war and markets in asian got off to a cautious start earlier today as investors remain nervous ahead of tomorrows deadline for us tariffs on chinese imports.