you're watching beyond one hundred days. british authorities struggle to reassure the public after two more people are poisoned by a nerve agent. but they can't explain how, four months after an initial poisoning, dangerous traces of novichok are still being found in salisbury. britain is pointing the finger at russia once again, but moscow still says it has nothing to do with any of this. the prime minister is pushing back on suggestions her new customs proposal would prevent the uk from making a separate trade deal with america after brexit. also on the programme: president trump is brimming with optimism when it comes to north korea. now it's the turn of mike pompeo to turn the promises into a verifiable programme of disarmament. a controversial overhaul of the eu's copyright law that sparked a fierce debate between internet giants and content creators has been rejected. get in touch with us using the hashtag beyondonehundreddays. hello and welcome.

i'm katty kay in washington, and christian fraser is in london. once again, britain is demanding answers from russia after two people were poisoned by a nerve agent in or around salisbury and, once again, moscow is hitting back, calling the whole thing dirty politics. we don't yet know whether this was the same batch of novichok used on the former spy sergei skripal and his daughter, but that is the working hypotheses. police believe the latest victims, a man and a woman, may have come into contact with the poison during a visit to salisbury on friday. six areas in salisbury and in nearby almsbury, where the couple live have, been cordoned off. here's june kelly. this secluded new housing estate in rural wiltshire is now part of what has become an expanding police investigation. this was the scene this afternoon at the home of charlie rowley in amesbury. dawn sturgess and charlie rowley fell ill on saturday, and both are critical in intensive care. last night came confirmation that they'd been poisoned

by the nerve agent novichok. secretary of state, can you provide reassurance for the people of salisbury? in london, four months on from the attack on sergei and yulia skripal, the government's emergency committee was meeting once again. later, the home secretary briefed the house of commons. there is no evidence that either the man or the woman in hospital visited any of the places that were visited by the skripals. our strong working assumption is that the couple came into contact with the nerve agent in a different location to the sites which have been part of the original clean—up operation. in wiltshire, a number of locations linked to the couple are now cordoned off. in amesbury, there's charlie rowley‘s flat in muggleton road. also closed off is a baptist centre nearby and a local branch of boots, the chemist. in salisbury, eight miles away, a hostel, john baker house in rollestone street, where dawn sturgess lived, has now been closed.

so too have the queen elizabeth gardens in the city. the gardens are close to the maltings shopping centre and a bench where sergei and yulia skripal were found collapsed in march. the skripal home is also nearby. charlie rowley was at this church social event on saturday. he looked a bit out of sorts. you could just sense there was something not right. one would have assumed it was possibly alcohol, but we don't know for sure. not long afterwards, he collapsed at his home. this footage shows him being taken into salisbury general hospital. dawn sturgess had already been admitted, as a friend who didn't want to appear on screen described. on saturday morning, i got a phone call. i was told that, basically, she got rushed into hospital. she had basically passed out. it was the skill of the staff at salisbury general which saved sergei and yulia skripal. this evening, police said that, in the first search of charlie rowley‘s house,

officers found items which suggested that a batch of illegal drugs may have been involved. now they know that, once again, they're dealing with a deadly nerve agent. let's cross live to amesbury and speak to our correspondent, ben brown, who's there for us. i was listening to the press conference earlier today from officials in salisbury. they did not sound incredibly convincing about why everybody should be reassured the situation is totally safe down there now. they were asked, can you be certain there is no more novichok lying around in salisbury? it is a very difficult thing to say they are sure there isn't. after the skripals we re sure there isn't. after the skripals were attacked, there was a huge decontamination operation in salisbury which took a lot of time and cost a lot of money, but it seems, and this is the most likely

to be police are working on, when this couple went to salisbury last friday they somehow came into contact with a contaminated item. this may have been a syringe or a file that had been used to carry the novichok that was used in the attack on the skripals back in march and that, whoever attacked the skripals, the then dumped or discarded that syringe or container in salisbury. it may be named queen elizabeth gardens where the couple did go on friday and somehow they came into contact with that. but there is a huge police operation here, about 100 detectives, counterterror detectives, along with wiltshire police, trying to piece together what happened. the pressure put on the russians today from the home secretary, saying, you need to come up secretary, saying, you need to come up with information. also the information could they come up with that would help? they are not ready

to play ball. that is pretty obvious. they are saying the british government are making a hell for russia and that, one day, the british government will have to apologise to russia and the world. but the british authorities would like is information about the attack, what kind of novichok was used, where the operation was carried out, how it was carried out, what happened afterwards. you will never get that from the russian authorities. but police are in a very difficult position, trying to work out exactly what happened. what we do know is that the couple who lived in a flatjust behind me, it is awkward and now, last friday, they took a bus in the salisbury and they took a bus in the salisbury and they went to queen elizabeth gardens amongst other locations and somehow there they became contaminated or exposed to novichok. they did not display the symptoms until the next

day. then the police acting on intelligence from neighbours and friends thought that the couple had taken some sort of contaminated drug, cocaine or heroin, and for several days, that was the assumption, then it became clear it was novichok. for the moment, thank you very much. joining us to remind us what the nerve agent is and how it might still pose a threat is alastair hay. he is a professor of toxicology at the university of leeds. how long does novichok hang around? we have no idea. there is no published information on this tour, nothing from the russians, the uk or the united states. we really have little idea about its persistence and the environment. some evidence suggests it would be persistent given the length of time it took to clear the systems of the skripals, but that's about as much as we know. the working assumption is that they we re the working assumption is that they

were contaminated by the original batch. when the scientists look at this, is there a marker in what they have taken from this couple that would tell them whether or not it was the same batch? i think that is unlikely. that might been suggested but we did not know the full details of the actual traces that they looked at. the material used against the skripals was described as being very pure, suggesting there were very pure, suggesting there were very few other ingredients present, other contaminants or pre—cursors, and it is those other contaminants and it is those other contaminants and precursor is that provide the broader profile, broader fingerprint, that enables you to compare one batch with another. in the absence of that in with a very pure substance, it becomes much more difficult. and i suppose, if this new incident and the chemical involved in it is revealed as being very pure, the inference may be that

it is from the same batch, but that's about as far as you can go. we heard police trying to reassure the public, saying, it is only the people, this is unprecedented, the area is still safe. from what you know what has happened, do you think it is possible to totally decontaminate the area from this nerve agent? i think so. at least, i hope so. the authorities and police thought they had done a pretty good job before this. they have done the most obvious thing, and that was to trace the movement of the skripals. and take samples and identify whether chemical was an decontaminate accordingly. that is what you would expect them to do. they felt they had mopped everything up. what we may be looking at now is what some of the people involved in carrying out the incident did with some of the material. but that at the moment is cause for speculation. the police pushed back today against suggestions they did not spot this

quickly enough, they thought it was a drug overdose, can you remind us what novichok dust of the human body? novichoks are nerve and like all nerve agents the block the enzyme nerve to muscle. in effect, all of the muscles, the ones that keep you up writing briefing, including the one that affect your heart, your eyes, your heart, your bladder, are all affected. the serious threat of course is the one's breathing. chests do not inflate and deflate so people do not breed, lungs become filled with fluid, and it is that lack of breathing capacity and oxygenation of the brain that causes fatalities. but they also cause some symptoms like pinpoint pupils. that sometimes is dictated by the route of exposure and so, given the recent couple's

history, they suspect a drug overdose is the most obvious thing that you would think of initially. doctors are trained to think of the obvious before the unusual. very grateful for your thoughts, thank you very much. the timing is awful for the russians because it comes right in the midst of the football festival at the world cup but also for donald trump. it comes on the eve of this nato summit next week and the two leaders were pointed this might ask questions about his visit to helsinki on the 16th when he's breaking with the convention that european allies have taken. they will point again to this novichok agent and its reckless use in the uk at a time when donald trump is trying to ease tensions with russia. right, and it was the skripal incident that forced donald trump to go as far as he has ever gone before in terms of condemning vladimir putin. he did not want to be pushed into that position but

theresa may got to come out forcefully against what happened to the skripals and let's see what conversation she has about this when he comes to london. tomorrow, theresa may will gather her cabinet at her country residence, chequers, to finally thrash out what deal the uk wants with the eu. the divisions are so deep that there's speculation of who might quit during that meeting, though it's a long walk back to london without the ministerial car. ahead of the cabinet showdown, the prime minister has been in berlin, lobbying chancellor angela merkel. so what is mrs may now proposing? so far, there have been two trade plans. first, the customs partnership, under which the uk would mirror the eu's customs regime at its borders and collect tariffs on brussels' behalf. then there was maximum facilitation, whereby new technologies would be employed at the border to keep disruption to a minimum. and now there is the facilitated arrangement — the so—called third way. and here to tell us what it is and whether it will fly is the spectator‘s political

correspondent, katy balls, and the director of uk in a changing europe, anand menon. in the pithiest concise way that you can, could you tell us what the third way might be? the third way is a kind of combination of the first two in the sense that includes big uk collecting carries the european union at its borders and a degree of faith in technology. it is an attempt to reconcile the cabinet. so cathy has asked me to ask you, however work when you apply to something that we might trade across a border? how about a tonne of sugar going across our border? this is where gets interesting. if you imaginea where gets interesting. if you imagine a lorry load of sugar, one of the things the authorities have got the track were each packet of sugarin got the track were each packet of sugar in that laurie ends up because some of that may be due for eu

ta riffs some of that may be due for eu tariffs in which case they would be charged at the border, some of them may not be due to eu tariffs, but that depends on them staying inside the united kingdom. so sceptics are saying you just cannot track things that accurately. what people saying is technology will allow us to do it might make it work. katie, the government has already been put in a position pushing back the idea that this third way could get in the way of the uk signing a separate trade deal with the united states after brexit. will it go when the? that is the big debate. it would be interesting to see whether this will work in practice. theresa may will have to work out whether it is palatable to both sides of the party. why has people worried is the think the waiters laid out and the papers given the ministers today is that it would be very hard to do some trade deals, particularly at a

deal with the us because it would mean he would have two to do with agriculture. you could say it is not agriculture. you could say it is not a great start to the president's upcoming visit. and what happens if she cannot come up with a meeting at chequers this weekend? we are all been told yet again that this is deadline time, crunch time, but the divisions are still clearly apparent between the different factions. what happens if this deadline gets blown through and we do not have an agreement? we say crunch a lot and it does not have much crunch the! you are right, very soft crunch! much to the disappointment for journalists might like myself. but the thing that looks like she will not be able to push out much longer is that the government was supposed to publish a white paper next week detailing the position which is why many are beginning to think she will make a decision but she might leave some of her cabinet push some of the

cabinet away. she may well face a backbencher and support. the question i'm hearing is not if but how big and the hunch is that not be big enough to topple her. there is a certain choreography to what is going on tomorrow. the chancellor and business secretary will make the presentation and just focus minds jaguar land rover has put out a timely announcement it would cost 1.2 billion profit a year and put 40,000 jobs at risk if there is a high brexit. the car companies getting so agitated? it is notjust car companies. aerospatiale companies have done over the past few weeks as well. what companies are thinking is first and foremost, we wa nt are thinking is first and foremost, we want certainty, get any brexit do but let us know what it will beat surrey can plan. and secondly, this is true of the manufacturing industry, they want us to stay inside the customs union because it will make trading easier. i agree with katie. we cannot be certain

that the prime minister will make a decision this weekend. ultimately, we have to agree something with the european union in the autumn so it is perfectly conceivable that the prime minister will keep fudging until then. the choices are upset one half of her cabinet while the other. the point that the brexit secretaries making is what is the point of this fudge, whisking deep division in the cabinet, if the eu would turn around and say this device the four freedoms, it is not fit with eu rules, it will not fly? i was fit with eu rules, it will not fly? iwas in fit with eu rules, it will not fly? i was in brussels last week and they did not seem to be much appetite for a customs deal on goods and aquaculture. exactly, and the message from brussels seems to be you cannotjust message from brussels seems to be you cannot just pick message from brussels seems to be you cannotjust pick something off the menu. there are these four freedoms and that is what we will stick to. but it was interesting. some brexiteers got annoyed but it seems angela merkel was shown some of the plans today. that suggests

that number 10 think they will get some cooperation from brussels this hence why they're keeping them in the loop i think theresa may will really look for positive comments from angela merkel do the press co nfe re nce from angela merkel do the press conference in germany to show that this is something that might fly brussels otherwise, when they will meet, david davis in the brexiteers or make a convincing case that there is no point conceding if there would be no end anyway, why bother?|j is no point conceding if there would be no end anyway, why bother? i was with the french ambassador today. he was saying, i asked him, when will you compromise? he said, when you put a deal on the table? when they have a concrete proposal from the prime minister, then council leaders will come together and see if there is any move. it doesn't sound like the soundtrack has changed much over the soundtrack has changed much over the carts past year and a half. although the austrian prime minister today said he did not want a high brexit and you might be prepared to be the deadline on article 50. we

will see. the us secretary of state is on his way to north korea three weeks after the high—profile summit between donald trump and kim jong—un in singapore and amid reports that the north may still be expanding one of its nuclear research centres. you wouldn't know it, reading mr trump's tweets. on tuesday: many good conversations with north korea — it is going well! in the meantime, no rocket launches or nuclear testing in eight months. all of asia is thrilled. only the opposition party, which includes the fake news, is complaining. if not for me, we would now be at war with north korea! so what can mr pompeo acheive on this latest trip? i'm joined now by robin wright — a fellow at the woodrow wilson center. how much do we actually know about what is happening inside north korea with its nuclear programme in the weeks since the singapore summit? almost nothing has happened. the north koreans still have the same capability as it did. a year ago when the president was talking about little rocket man and threatening

fire and fury, the north koreans made a pledge with no details about what denuclearisation actually means. there is no declaration of what they have, which is the first step, nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic missiles, no timetable, secretary pompeo wants to provide an outline of what they need to do and what the us hopes in terms of the timeline, but you even find differences within the administration. the national security adviser says they would do the bulk of any year and pompeo told congress they should do it by the end of president tom's current term. there have been some reports that the north korea and singapore have been making upgrades to some of the nuclear facilities. been making upgrades to some of the nuclearfacilities. would been making upgrades to some of the nuclear facilities. would we been making upgrades to some of the nuclearfacilities. would we know that? the us has a vast intelligence programme, trying to track everything the north koreans have done and since 2010 we believe they

have developed secret facilities they continue to work on. what we are concerned about is, we know a lot on the record, the north koreans have declared some of the facilities in past attempts at diplomacy, but there is a lot they have not declared. the truth will be very ha rd to declared. the truth will be very hard to find. the four steps in getting them to tell us what they have got the hardest of it because we know the sites but north korea has up to 10,000 tunnels that they may be able to hide a lot of the defence capabilities. we can see some of those satellite images where they are expanding the nuclear reactors. the cia is suggesting that the strategy may be to build up these capabilities so that they can then be traded away later. north korea has a number of different tactics. the basic question is, are

they willing to give up everything? and at what stage? with the giver all but once or over a period faces? with the demand some kind of reward? with the demand some kind of reward? with the demand a lifting of sanctions? there are a number of things they want as well, a pledge to re m ove things they want as well, a pledge to remove all us troops from south korea, ending military exercises. we do not have any outline of what happens next. a team of experts at sta nford happens next. a team of experts at stanford has predicted it would take at least a decade to accomplish what the us wants and perhaps longer. we're talking about so many questions and so many potential secrets out the that this will be one of the most challenging disarmament processes ever conducted. mr pompeo has his work cut out. the first thing he needs to do is get that declaration of what they have and that they can start talking about what happens next.

here is your very favourite story of the day! fans of the grumpy cat and other such gifs can breathe a hugh sigh of relief today — the european parliament has voted against a controversial copyright law that would have forced individual websites to check for copyright infringements. had it passed, the new rules would have forced technology companies to scan through everything users post online to check whether the material was in breach of copyright. campaigners said that would destroy internet freedom and the kind of memes and remixes many of us enjoy. i am not sure how i feel about this. there are one or two of our viewers out there i think would have fallen foul of this new bill. just one of several gifs doing the rounds. this is from my time in brussels last week. what do you think? what on earth are you doing? just before we came back on the, my microphone

inexplicably fell to the ground and, since i am a very fast squatter, i thought i could get down quick enough before lewis the director called me back on air, but sadly she beat me to it. why does none of this surprise me? bioavailable of me in the well? were we to poll our viewers and say which one of us was likely to drop the microphone oil spill food on the tie will have their hair ruffled just before going on—air... is that where you have the lighting in your studio tonight? i feel like shirley temple this evening! tonight, matthew... try holding your phone up. it might actually improve the lighting! can you remind me what anything of this has got to do with grumpy cat? there

was some relevance here. only if you are putting a gift online from original content that someone else is created, what did they get from it? paul mccartney, other big artists have said a lot of that is going on and they do not see any of the royalties from it. there is a big fight going on and this is only round one. there will probably come back to it in september. and look at that view, it could end up in the court hearing! this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news: racing against the rains to free 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave in thailand — a deluge is expected that could raise water levels and put them in fresh danger. that's still to come. stay with us. over the next few days, the weather

will be hotting up. today we saw a big change in the temperature across northern ireland and here in scotla nd northern ireland and here in scotland as well even though there was sunshine around. temperatures we re was sunshine around. temperatures were much lower than they were yesterday. yesterday, giants causeway 29 degrees, today struggling to make 20. a significant drop. but to the south, a lot more heat, 30 celsius again that has triggered thundery downpours in the south—east of england in particular. flooding earlier on today in tunbridge wells. though showers are still around. one or two of the pennines as well. as the sun goes down for, we lose the source and the energy and showers will fade away. dry overnight. low cloud misty weather coming into scotland as well. really warm and mikey in the

south, cooler and fresher and more co mforta ble south, cooler and fresher and more comfortable for sleeping in scotland and northern ireland. tomorrow we will see lengthy spells sunshine developing. the brother, cloudy against north wales. a touch crolla here and it was. the chance of picking up a few thundery downpours to the south—east of london, across kent and sussex, temperatures again up kent and sussex, temperatures again up to 30 celsius. back up to 21 or 22 for scotland and northern ireland. very few showers, generally dry. high pressure tending to build over the course of the weekend. another one of these cheeky little weather fronts brushing the far north—west scotland later on. dry, sunny weather, at least in the morning, the weather cloud developing through the afternoon, eventually cloud arriving from the atla ntic eventually cloud arriving from the atlantic into the far north—west of scotland, but it is getting warmer and hotter in scotland. the heat is on the england and wales. 3131

celsius on saturday and sunday. plenty of sunshine, hardly any wind it will. in north scotland and the northern alliance, a spot of rain, but elsewhere the heat continues to build, widely mid to high 20s and 30 or 31 quite likely. in the sunshine in the south east. this is beyond 100 days with me katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london our top stories... britain and russia have traded accusations about the latest nerve agent poisoning in south—west england. the british prime minister is pushing back on suggestions her new customs proposal would prevent the uk from making a separate trade deal with america after brexit. president trump is proud of what he calls his progress with north korea but now his secretary of state mike pompeo is on his way to pyongyang to make sure the deal sticks. coming up in the next half hour...

a race against time to free 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave in thailand, a deluge is expected that could put them in fresh danger. where is barack obama? he's stayed virtually silent through the turmoil of the trump presidency. we'll be talking to a man who thinks he knows why. let us know your thoughts. back to a small town in the west of england which has become the centre of attention after a couple were poisoned by the deadly nerve agent novichok — the same that saw yulia and sergei skripal hospitalised four months ago. the latest couple were exposed to the substance after handling a contaminated item which is yet to be identified. the authorities have been trying to reassure the public, stressing that the risk remains low, and that no—one else has presented with the same symptoms. police say the initial areas that were involved in the skripal attack, have been fully decontaminated. jon kay reports from amesbury. for chloe, it is all too close to home.

she lives just yards from the property where the couple collapsed. so she's taking no chances. following the official advice, she is washing her clothes, and wiping down her possessions. so we're just going to have to, i guess, keep waiting. she told me it was worrying that it took four days to identify the nerve agent. it was hard not knowing, because we just didn't know what to do. we just didn't want to assume something, but i guess we assumed the worst, and the worst was what we got. for friends and relatives of the critically—ill couple, the wait for answers is even tougher. one minute they were fine, the next minute they were in intensive care. it's a bit scary. salisbury, eight miles from the couple's home. this is the shopping centre where the skripals collapsed, after being poisoned in march. after a marketing push, things were just returning to normal here, when news broke of this latest novichok alert. oh my god, where's it come from?

despite assurances that the risk to the public is low, jenny, a grandmother, told me she's still anxious. you just don't know, do you? what frightens you, particularly? the fact this time that it is just two people, two random people, it could be any of us. where has it come from, how has it happened, why has it happened? and we don't seem to be told that much. we are told enough to frighten us, but not enough to put our minds at rest. the bench where the skripals fell ill in march has now gone, replaced with summer flowers. daniel stiles has a fruit stall right next to it. he says business was beginning to recover, when this latest major incident was declared. it can be a bit worrying, knowing that it is here and there, but you can worry until the cows come home, oryou canjust get on with your life. they are the choices you make. and that's what you're doing, just getting on with things? yeah, just get on with it.

so, despite having some answers tonight, people here have many more questions. the main one — could it happen again? jon kay, bbc news, wiltshire. the a lot of anxiety at the moment is in salisbury. —— understandably a lot of anxiety. it's a race against time for authorities in thailand who who are trying to free twelve boys and their football coach from a flooded cave before more rain comes. it is expected to start falling soon and could hinder rescue operations which have focused on pumping water out of the area. the children were found on a rocky ledge around 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave on monday. more than 128 million litres of water has been pumped out of the cave — allowing rescue teams to walk further into the tunnel. but some parts are too narrow to walk through. the boys are being taught the basics of diving — some need to learn how to swim, but it's feared that option could be too risky. the bbc‘s jonathan head is on the scene and brings us the latest.

how long will they stay down there? the boys are now getting care and food, but the thai authorities are still debating whether to risk bringing them out quickly or waiting, possibly for months. dozens of volunteers are helping the navy divers. this is an exhausting and sometimes dangerous operation. this television actor is one of them. "water is the main obstacle," he says. "if we can get the water level down, the boys can be brought out." but while a massive pumping effort is reducing it in the first section of caves, it's having less effect deeper in, where the boys are trapped. so, the thai army has been taking equipment to the other end of the mountains to try and lower the water table here, close to their location. they have a number of

ideas they want to try. but their first effort has been to divert the streams which feed the underground pools. we followed them up, alongside pipes that had been laid just in the past few days. this creek has completely dried up. a week ago it was filled with water. so you can see that this project, with all these pipes, is definitely having an impact. higher up, we were shown in newly built dam. work like this is now going on all over these mountains. no one is sure yet how much they can bring down the water that is blocking the boys' escape, or whether they'll win the battle against the imminent monsoon rain. they just know that they have to try. jonathan head, bbc news, tham luang caves, northern thailand. european leaders continue to trade barbs

on the issue of migration. today german chancellor angela merkel held a press conference with hungarian prime minister viktor orban and took the opportunity to remind him that migration is about people. from his side mr orban said the only way to be humane was to close the borders and help the countries of origin. internet entrepreneur kim dotcom has lost his latest court battle against extradition from new zealand to the us. mr dotcom and three others will be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud. the charges are related to mr dotcom's now defunct file—sharing website megaupload which allowed millions of people to download digital content. italy's interior minister matteo salvini says a fine of more than 57 million dollars could destroy his right—wing party. earlier this week the country's highest court confirmed the fine for misusing state subsidies when the party was led by its founder umberto bossi. mr salvini has asked for an urgent meeting with president sergio matterella and said it was a political attempt to close the party

through the courts. to hear it from liberals, america is going crazy, the western world is on its last legs, the democrats have no leaders and armageddon is around the corner. so where is a saviour when you need him? that's the question on the cover of new york magazine barack obama has been strangely quiet since leaving office, missing in action you might say. just at a time when democrats need all the help they can get. gabriel debenedetti wrote that article and joins us now. democrats would love that president obama, former president obama was still current president obama. he is not, what is he spending his time doing? he's giving very busy. he is writing a book. working on building

a new global foundation. writing a book. working on building a new globalfoundation. also monitoring what is going on and what geeks from administration is doing but he's been careful not to weigh in. —— he is checking in on what the trump administration is doing. when democrats ask for him to have a say on what is doing, he said no, it is time for others to take the lead and step up what he wants to respect the peaceful transition of power, he was to try and replicate which george w bush did for him which was not to speak up every time the administration did something he disagreed with so it has been a very disciplined time for barack obama but he knows there are democrats calling for him. as you say, it is what president bush did, it is transition the presidents to keep quiet ones they are out of office. does barack quiet ones they are out of office. does ba rack obama, quiet ones they are out of office. does barack obama, the democratic party feel he could achieve very much by weighing in? is something he

could be doing that would be effective? that is a great question and one he has in fact spoken out. it is one of the reasons we have not heard from him. he does know whenever he did speak up, it would be widely read and spoken about as if it was a clump versus obama fight and airwave republicans to consolidate behind donald from. he does not want to make life easy for republicans. —— it would be seen as a trump versus obama fight. if he we re a trump versus obama fight. if he were to weigh in, it would only be to help people he does not want to help so he has issued a few state m e nts help so he has issued a few statements on a few things that he does feel very strongly about, he has played a behind the scenes role in attempting to save his health ca re in attempting to save his health care will i making calls to legislators. —— save his health care law. whether we does weigh in any public way, he wanted to be a way that does not allow it to be read as

obama versus trump because it does not seem that those headlines would help anyone. you say democrats are united but they are divided than you will stand for them in 2020. there area number of will stand for them in 2020. there are a number of candidates in the running. how much could easily be decision over who becomes the next candidate? he could sleep is enormously. he has made it very clearly does not want to do that. —— he could sway it. he is putting out his name as a consultant to these potential democratic candidates. up to 50 different democrats have said maybe they run for president and if donald trump can do it, so can they. they have, a few senators and governors, called president obama and sat down with him in his office in washington to get his advice on running for president. it is a coveted topic for him because he said he's not going endorse anyone ellie on in the process but there are at least three people very

quickly and could run and that includes his former vice presidents joe biden, as well as a former governor of massachusetts and someone else was very close to president obama. it is coveted for him but he does know he has the essential to slay the raise quite differently. thank you forjoining us. “— differently. thank you forjoining us. —— the potential to sway the race. ina way, in a way, barack obama in office is the same as out of office, no drama. every time there was something criticising his legacy, no one was looking at the man duke of this for eight years. barack obama is phenomenally disciplined, slightly decaf. some might say he is rather cold and he's able to step back from this. that is probably what keeps him sane. here's systematically dismantled, he does notjump in whether there is attack on him are

his policies. he could take a hit and trump everyday they wanted to but just escalate and and trump everyday they wanted to butjust escalate and perpetuates. in the end, the present losing with the barack obama. and it also has to be said that democrats do have some questions about his legacy because he left the democrat party in a pretty poor state. in terms of candidates, you mean? ps and did he actually knew enough about getting barack obama elected twice to get them in a position to take on donald trump? question about his legacy there was interesting to see what he's doing when he is out of office. this is beyond one hundred days. still to come... sounding the alarm over the humble banana — a disease sweeping asia threatens global stocks. so can a wild variety come to the rescue? we'll be talking to a banana expert. here, the national health service is celebrating

its 70th birthday today. it was created on july the 5th 1948 and since then the nhs has grown to become the world's largest publicly funded health services. dominic hughes reports. 70 years old, and the nhs is still going strong. at the christie hospital in manchester, a patient who has relied on the nhs for all of her 70 years. i always think of the people who were around before the nhs, how they used to think, we either have a meal on the table or we call the doctor. a more formal commemoration took place at westminster abbey, with a recognition of the central role the health service plays in all our lives. to those who fought to bring the nhs to life, to the staff and volunteers who have sustained it ever since, and ourfamilies who rely on it in their troubling times of need. all these people are represented here in this abbey today. in scotland, the first minister was marking the anniversary. and a royal visit in wales to

hospital named after aneurin bevan, widely seen as the father of the nhs. his legacy lives on, notjust in the nhs, but in his family. great grandniece jasmine stokes is studying to become a mental health nurse. being related to aneurin bevan has had a massive impact on the choices i've chose and the career i've chose, because he obviously did our nation proud. as bevan's dream for universal health care system was realised in 1948, joyce thompson was training as a nurse. now, aged 90, she marvels at what the health service has become. well, we couldn't do without the nhs now. there were very few things at the beginning, but with the money coming forward, we did better as we went on. the health service has had its share of ups and downs, but today a celebration of a very british institution. dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. if somebody is sacked

from theirjob and then turns up to work the next day, and the day after, it can be a little awkward. if that person happens to be the country's top judge, it becomes a constitutional crisis. that's what's happening in poland. the chiefjustice malgorzata gersdorf was back at work today, refusing to comply with a new law reducing the retirement age for supreme court judges from 70 to 65. she has branded the change a "purge" and thousands of poles took to the streets to support her. the bbc‘s adam easton joins us from warsaw. as mac a rollback of democratic processes , as mac a rollback of democratic processes, intervention into the rule of law or in natural human resort is very trying to make people

retire younger? mcu as. the government would say it is trying to make thejudiciary government would say it is trying to make the judiciary in parliament more efficient to make it slowing it down as well, making cases proceed much more quickly, they tend to drag on for months in to lend at the moment. and also looking at the communist era judges which is said to be still in serving in the supreme court where malgorzata gersdorf is the chiefjustice. professor gersdorf in her words said this is a battle for values, the values such as the rule of law, democratic checks and balances and that her opinion is shared by the european commission and notjust them but united nations, the american bar service association, the legal associations in europe and

the legal associations in europe and the council of europe who have prepared the newsroom caught all which lowers the retirement age but does other things. it says the provisions in that new law are worse than some of the communist era laws so there is real concern inside and outside of poland that the governing party has has a succession of laws over the past 2.5 years which are trying to politicise the judiciary and basically stacked the courts with obedientjudges, that is the fear. how is this going to work? we've got a judge who will cover forum while she is on holiday? he is a bit reluctant as we can understand because he's right in the midst of all this party says... i will stand aside she comes back. how long will her desk be there? how long will this not be there? maybe they will move it out while she is on holiday.

it isa move it out while she is on holiday. it is a very confused picture that because at first, professor gersdorf said she picked him to stand in for her while she went on summer holiday and president said he had picked him and president said he had picked him and it is still confused as to what the situation is that it seems to me that the president has not yet picked his own replacement for professor gersdorf who is due to go on holiday at the weekends butjust for a summer holiday. she insists the political situation guarantees her mandate until 2020 and that is what she is sticking to apply his coming to work. thank you larry mize. by the way, did you see all these protest was? —— merrill shouting —— they were all shouting that it shouting —— they were all shouting thatitis shouting —— they were all shouting that it is an attack on an

democratic freedoms. completely different story now... if you're a fan of bananas then this next story will worry you. stay with me. a disease sweeping asia threatens global banana stocks. scientists had been clinging to the hope that a type of wild banana unqiue to madagascar would save the fruit. the trouble is those bananas are also at risk of extinction. most bananas consumed around the world are of a type known as the cavendish, which are vulnerable to pests and disease. so the race is on to develop a new type that's more resilient. this is where the madagascan comes in. unfortunately there are just five mature trees left. but because they have evolved in isolation on an island cut off from the mainland, scientists believe they have special properties. the danger is they are growing on the edge of forests, vulnerable to severe weather events, logging and fires. dr gert kema is an expert in global plant production who works at the wageningen university and research centre in the netherlands. very good you to come and join us on the programme. elvers first of all what special properties using the

madagascar bonanza has. thank you. —— tell us what properties the madagascar ba na han has. —— tell us what properties the madagascar banahan has. this banahan isa madagascar banahan has. this banahan is a different species, —— this banana. it is not even possible with bananas without adapting it. you have to crossbreed it with the cavendish banana ? have to crossbreed it with the cavendish banana? yes, it is a relative of banana so it is a very important species in africa but it is not growing therefore food but actually because of the leaves and them. —— because of the leaves and them. —— because of the leaves and the stem. are only trees left anyway, it'll be difficult to genetically modify it in order to crossbreed with the cavendish banana, that does not sound like it will be our great saviour for the ba na na will be our great saviour for the banana milkshake lovers out there. how serious is the threat to the

bananas we eat for breakfast every morning? even more serious than stated in the article because this disease strain that causes panama disease strain that causes panama disease is in the middle east and africa so it is on the move and continuously going, showing in new areas so we have to take it very seriously, particularly if you look at the history that the disease wiped out any previous entry the entire production in central america so we are clearly warned and we don't have anything else in place right now to replace the cavendish banana. this is serious. it is madagascar and that —— madagascar are banana is the salvation of our brea kfast are banana is the salvation of our breakfast and hannah, why not take up breakfast and hannah, why not take up the five trees and keep them in isolation? i'm afraid these five ba na na isolation? i'm afraid these five banana plans are not saving the banana. isa banana plans are not saving the banana. is a different species so it is worthwhile to maintain them,

preserve them, i agree but if you wa nt to preserve them, i agree but if you want to do genetic diversity, you go to the centre origin of the banana and that is south—east asia. the ego to indonesia, there is tremendous diversity is the cantab into to improve bananas and these bananas a wild bananas and you can directly cross them with each other to do breeding essentially. we are not dependent on these five plans in madagascar, legion cap of the beatles in indonesia and south—east asia to improve banners. —— we can tap into resources in indonesia and south—east asia to improve bananas. we started doing this programme, did you ever think you would be doing a segment on five banana trees in madagascar? no, i did not. look how much wejust madagascar? no, i did not. look how much we just learned. madagascar? no, i did not. look how much wejust learned. i did not know these trees existed let alone there

we re these trees existed let alone there were five of them that you could not move and they will not save us anyway. i'm thoroughly depressed now. goal stop there. donald trump is used to receiving a rock star reception wherever he visits. billboards, lots of red carpet — i am not sure he will have ever seen what is planned for him in london next week. no this is not a joke. the london mayor sadiq khan has given protesters the go ahead to fly a six meter tall ‘trump baby‘ near parliament during the president's trip. it follows a crowdfunding campaign online that raised more than £16,000 to get the inflatable off the ground. right, so... i'm not sure this is a great idea for diplomacy, is it? lies no, i hope it only flies as it says here metres above the ground so it is not going to cause any risk to air force one but they are going to

march it around parliament square so it will be taken to parliament square outside westminster. he's not going there what we will be in regent park at the embassy where he might be staying and he is getting their first might be staying and he is getting theirfirst on might be staying and he is getting their first on thursday easy ambassador. 10,000 people signed this petition calling on the may to let it fly. —— calling on the mayor. it would appear at blenheim warriors going as well, of who winds and turnberry at the end of the week. —— then to winds all. there was no doubt you'll see pictures of this as he watches the trip to london. there will be protests, this is the kind of thing that will send him hopping mad when he sees things like this andi mad when he sees things like this and ijust mad when he sees things like this and i just think mad when he sees things like this and ijust think in terms of trying to make trees and a job easier, —— to make trees and a job easier, —— to and as job easier, the to make trees and a job easier, —— to and a'sjob easier, the kind of things the uk still has two deal with the united states on, the iran deal, climate change, this is not

the best thing to have him hopping mad. full programme next week. we will be at windsor and helsinki. what's coming up. we will be back at the same time next week. stay with us. the same time next week. stay with us. we will see you then. goodbye. hello, good evening. another excellent day is really hotting up what today we saw a big change in the temperature across northern ireland and here in scotland as well even though there was some sunshine around, the temperatures were much lower than they were yesterday. yesterday, aviemore and giants causeway 29 celsius, today struggling to make 20 celsius a significant drop. when a front moving down and bingham change in the. to the south, we have had a will he. 30 celsius again, some

thundery downpours in the south—east of england in particular with some flooding earlier on in tunbridge wells as well. those shall still around at the moment, one of two of the pennines as well. as the sun goes down, we lose the heat source, energy and those showers will move away. dry overnight, more cloud, low cloud coming into northern and eastern scotland and even sign in england as well, warm and monty in the south but cool and fresh air, more comfortable for sleeping in scotla nd more comfortable for sleeping in scotland and northern ireland. tomorrow, when they still sunshine developing but for a while, rather cloudy across north wales and the north—west of england. a touch collegial than it was the day. some thundery downpours to the south—east of london and kent, and sussex. temperatures across 30 celsius in the south of england. back at 22 celsius and northern ireland. again dry day tomorrow, high pressure tending to build in over the course

of the weekend. another one of these cheeky weather fronts building of the weekend. another one of these cheeky weatherfronts building in towards the far west of scotland later on. saturday sees dry, sunny weather in the morning, fairweather cloud developing in the afternoon. some cloud arriving into the far north—west of scotland. porter and wetter in scotland, tim rogers in the mid—20s .de is really on franklin and wales. 31 celsius on saturday and possibly the same again on sunday. plenty of sunshine, hardly any wind at all, same for the far north of scotland will could be one or two spots of rain. here a touch cooler, elsewhere the continues to build. widely mid—july 20s and again 30 celsius quite likely in the sunshine any south east and through the midlands. goodbye. this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8pm. the couple poisoned by the toxic nerve agent, novichok,

had handled a contamined item. but the authorities say the risk to others is low. we've only seen two members of the public come forward with symptoms that require treatment. so our general assessment on the information we've got is that the risk to the general public remains low. the home secretary sajid javid confirms the nerve agent was the same as that used against the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter. it is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets or for our streets, our parks, our towns to be dumping grounds for poison. in other news, with more rain forecast, it's a race against time to rescue 12 boys and their coach trapped in a cave. a deluge is expected to hit in a matter of days, it could force water levels up and flood the pocket where the group took refuge.