this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: fresh rain falls at the thai cave — and an operation to rescue 12 boys and their football coach gets underway. the us says there'll be no let up in sanctions on north korea until it gets rid of its nuclear weapons. it isa it is a broad definition of denuclearisation and the north koreans understand that and have not challenged that. in the football world cup, the hosts are knocked out. croatia and england will meet in the second semi—final. the hottest temperatures ever recorded — from canada to algeria, the northern hemisphere wilts under a heatwave. hello and welcome to bbc world news. we start with some breaking news.

the thai authorities say they've begun an operation to bring 12 boys and their football coach out of the flooded caves. they've been trapped there for the past two weeks. the head of the rescue mission said it could take up to four days to bring then all to the surface, depending on the weather. we can speak to our correspondent sophie long, who's at the mouth of the cave. sophie, i suppose this is good news? well, yes, we have been waiting for this for a long time. we have heard from the man leading the operation and he confirmed that today is d—day. the conditions will never be any better than they are now. he confirmed that the rescue operation, that has been waiting for several days to get under way, began at 10am this morning. it is a difficult and dangerous operation that they are carrying out. 13 expert international divers will be the operation, supported by five divers

from thailand. they said that his rescue of each boy will take at least 11 hours. it began at 10am, so we are expecting, if successful, the first boyt could emerge from the cave as around 9pm local time this evening —— boy. that is around 3pm uk time. they said they will evaluate the best route and that the hospital they are being taken to its 15 minutes from here by helicopter. they have done all the planning and preparation they can. it is an unprecedented mission. they will begin bringing out the boys today. as he will know, we have tragic news two days ago that a thai expert diver, a former navy seal, died on his way out of that aids. underlying how to address the conditions are. they said they have to go now, the boys are physically fit, they have been told and they support the mission, he said the boys hearts are strong and determined. you said it began at ten o'clock. it has just

gone 11 o'clock there in thailand. do we know how this operation is going to take place, have they given us going to take place, have they given us details about what will happen underground in ros kayes? we know they had been preparing for this operation for several days. the key to this rescue operation has been to bring the water levels down. the only way out of the cave is the way they came in. it remains partially flooded. over the past few days they have pumped out millions of litres of water from that case system to bring the water levels down so they did not have to use full scuba gear —— cave system. we know that divers will go in and bring the boys out of one by one. it is a complex cave system, 1.7 kilometres to the first chamber. there are several points along the way where they will be able to assessed the boys' condition. the redback is five

hours. we are told each rescue will ta ke hours. we are told each rescue will take 11 hours. you can see the time difference there. there will be points where they can rest and they help can be checked. they have done the best to clear the passageways. it will still be a very difficult mission. absolutely astonishing what you are describing. what is the atmosphere around the ancient site been like since the news emerged —— entrance? we were under the impression, all signs pointed that a rescue operation was imminent or under way. at 9am all the press and media, hundreds of them, camped out around the cave entrance were cleared from the site. green tarpaulin screens were erected around the cave entrance last night. the governor has told us that they we re the governor has told us that they were carried out —— they were erected to carry out a rehearsal. the only people allowed around the entrance of the cave our medical

staff are strictly involved in the operation. as it as we got here this morning we knew that something was afoot. it was confirmed in the last few minutes that that rescue operation has now begun. the parents of the boys, the world, or they can do now is watch and wait. thank you very much. sophie long telling is every twist and turn and telling us of what is happening at the mouth of that cave in thailand. the breaking news, a rescue operation is under way to bring out this well boys and their football coach. let us look at other stories now. injapan, at least 50 people are reported to have been killed, and dozens are missing, after floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains. 118,000 police, firefighters and members of japan's self—defence forces are responding to appeals for help. more than 1.5 million residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes. andrew plant has the latest. from a helicopter, as far as the eye can see, parts of japan are underwater. mass evacuations are now under way. whole families are being floated

to safety, others left stranded and forced to wait on roofs for rescue. most of the damage is here, a few hundred miles west of tokyo, in japan's hiroshima prefecture. hit by high winds, rising river levels and what japan's meteorological agency has called unprecedented rainfall. translation: heavy rain will continue in the area from western to eastern japan. and it will be historic torrential rainfall, which could be the heaviest rain ever recorded. with roads cut off, the floodwaters have caused escape routes to crumble. whole stretches of road have collapsed. and here, a train has been derailed. with widespread landslides across the country, hundreds of homes and buildings have been destroyed. with more than 50 deaths now confirmed, often from people swept into this fast—moving floodwater, and dozens more

are reported missing. more than a million people have now been ordered to leave their homes, another 3 million have been advised to do so, with emergency services working non—stop. in places from friday into saturday, more than half a metre of rain fell injust 2a hours. and the misery is far from over. with more rain expected over the coming days, authorities have warned that the death toll will continue to rise. andrew plant, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. a british police officer who went to hospital over concerns that he may have been exposed to the nerve agent, novichok, has been assessed and given the all clear. a spokesperson for a hospital in the city of salisbury confirmed that the officer had sought medical advice in connection with the exposure of a man and a woman to novichok a week ago. the couple remain in a critical condition. the head of the international monetary fund,

christine lagarde, has said the european union could play a decisive role in a possible trade war between china and the united states. ms lagarde told an economic forum in southern france that if europe offered a united front it could play a very particular card in the conflict between the two countries. the french actress emmanuelle seigner has declined an invitation tojoin the oscar academy because of its treatment of her husband — the director roman polanski. writing in a french newspaper she called the academy hypocritical for stripping polanski of membership earlier this year. he's admitted having unlawful sex with a 13—year—old girl in the 70s. north korea has issued strong criticism of the us — just hours after the secretary of state, mike pompeo, left pyongyang after two days of talks with the leadership there. the foreign ministry says america made too many demands, and that it had displayed a regrettable attitude. the north korean statement says the trust between the two countries is now facing a dangerous situation.

and it accuses mr pompeo of insisting on unilateral denuclearisation — which it says is against the spirit of the summit. but speaking in tokyo after talks with his japanese and south korean counterparts, mr pompeo said he was encouraged by the progress made during his recent two—day visit to north korea. we had lengthy discussions about the scope of what complete denuclearisation means of the pass two days. they acknowledged that. this is brought. this is from weapons systems, to production enrichment facilities, across the range of weapons and missiles. it is a broad definition of denuclearisation. the north koreans understand that and have not challenged that. second, they also

understand that denuclearisation makes no sense as an verification. they acknowledged that as well. there will be verification connected to the complete denuclearisation, thatis to the complete denuclearisation, that is what resident trump and chairman kim agreed to. —— president tron. what is most important is what the north koreans understand and demands that the world is making of north korea will be unmistakable, the scope of what denuclearisation means to the north koreans, i have been directly with them. let's speak to the bbc‘s mariko oi, who's in seoul. thank you forjoining us. you have been following the story over the past few days. once again, confusion. the north koreans say one thing and the americans say another. absolutely. quite a difference in how that two—day meeting was interpreted between north korea and mr pompeo. as mr pompeo left for tokyo yesterday he said that the

nuclear talks were productive. he landed in tokyo, we saw some tweets from his staff enjoying a japanese sushi dinner. we all thought ok, thatis sushi dinner. we all thought ok, that is it, then we heard from the north korean state newsagency, calling the us attitude regrettable and, depending on how you want to translate the korean word, but some media have described it as gangster like and others said they were robbed of a good spirit that was achieved at the singapore summit last month. there is quite a bit of confusion there. mr pompeo, after meeting with his counterparts in japan, the japanese foreign minister, he continues to say that the talks were productive. it appears that what happened was that the us and demanded complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, which south korean

officials have reportedly been advising america not to because that would make kim jong—un feel rather vulnerable to a regime change. but it appears the us are still pushed for that during the summit and it really u pset for that during the summit and it really upset north koreans. it was very interesting that the north korean state newsagency said that, andi korean state newsagency said that, and i quote, "we still cherish our good faith in president trump." they say —— they are saying that they did not trust mr pompeo and hissing. thank you very much. in his amateur joining us. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: sadness for the hosts, russia — but delight for croatia and england at the football world cup. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup.

they pipped the favourites south africa by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated and celebration parties were cancelled. the man entered the palace through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom, then he asked her for a cigarette. and on the pretext of arranging for some to be brought, she summoned a footman on duty, who took the man away. one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution. applause this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: divers have begun a rescue operation to try to bring the 12 boys and their coach out of the flooded

caves in thailand where they've been trapped. after his latest visit to north korea, the us secretary of state has said international sanctions will continue to be fully enforced until pyongyang gets rid of its nuclear weapons. reason may have been defending the brexit deal. —— —— the british prime minister theresa may has been defending the brexit deal agreed by her cabinet at chequers yesterday. part of the plan is that unlimited immigration from the eu will end but the prime minister refused to rule out making it easier for eu citizens to come here than people from other parts of the world. conservative brexiteers have said they're waiting for more details about the new proposals. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. brexit is a marathon, not a sprint. mps rushing to downing street to get more on theresa may's plan. happy with what's been agreed? the cabinet agreed it.

but who else knows what's going on? the only thing that is absolutely certain about today is free coffee at number 9. inside number 10, the prime minister relieved to have her cabinet on board. i think when people voted to leave the european union they wanted an end to free movement. free movement will end. they wanted us to end the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice in the uk. that will end. but for many brexiteers, a commitment to follow the eu's rules, a commitment to share so much still with them sounds like we are not really leaving in the way they believed. this is a deal that delivers on brexit, but it does so in a way that ensures we can build that bright future for britain. in the agreement you make a commitment to ending unlimited eu immigration. but are you ruling out giving some form of preferential treatment to eu citizens after we leave? free movement from the european union will end. but that wasn't my question.

free movement from the european union will end. what i have said before and will continue to say is we recognise that people will still want to carry on travelling to europe and europeans travelling to the uk. so it is possible they may still get some preferential treatment? we are going to decide. downing street's whole package would tie us more closely to the eu than brexiteers desired. we all have had a great spat. a threat from the leader of their faction is still a threat, even in comic language. an egg that is very softly boiled isn't boiled at all. a very soft brexit means we haven't left, we are simply a rule—taker. that is not something that this country voted for. i will certainly stick to the conservatives' manifesto commitments. and will not vote for something that doesn't deliver brexit. after months of strops, will the cabinet really pipe down? you believe yesterday drew a line and now anyone who speaks out against policy, they will have to walk away? yesterday, what i said was that collective responsibility has returned and what i felt, what i had from people sitting around that table was a real sense that we move forward together. so, do you hope that this will be the end of the tory psychodrama over europe? this will be, i think, a point...

what we're all doing is putting the national interest first. the eu have been clear throughout this very long process already. they don't like the idea of britain picking and mixing. your proposal does just that. up to now, what we have seen from europe, the proposals that they have effectively put to us, have been ones that we could not accept. we're just about to sit down and start those negotiations with them. i think, from the reaction we have seen so far, there is an understanding and an acceptance that this is something that we should be sitting down and talking about. looking serious to the eu is what she wants. but looking serious at home is still a challenge. a memo circulating amongst eurosceptics said the cabinet's new plan is not credible, calling it a "black—hole brexit", even if senior ministers had enough sweeteners to be able to sign. labour has its own brexit headaches, but questions whether this deal can last. i've got a feeling the whole thing

might start to unravel in a few days. it's also very unclear whether or not they could deliver that as an agreement with europe. number ten has had to take oh—so careful steps to move brexit forward. but the prime minister's foes still lurk only paces from herfront door. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. let's get the latest on the world cup after another dramatic night. rajini vaidyanathan is in moscow. the most spectacular background. cardigan weather where you are, it is chucking it down here. english weather perhaps you might say, not typical of what you are experiencing where you are, but english fans will not be too bothered by the downpour this morning because of course they are celebrating the fact that they

are celebrating the fact that they are through to the semifinals and the last two places of the semifinals were confirmed last night. the other big game saw russia the home side out of this tournament as well. as i walked here this morning though there were still revellers, i guess celebrating the fa ct revellers, i guess celebrating the fact that russia overall has had a good tournament and the rain didn't stop them. croatia is through in the other of the semifinals. england will play croatia next wednesday. now, i think we can bring you some tweets that the england team sent out last night celebrating their entrance into the semifinals. this was jesse lingard. entrance into the semifinals. this wasjesse lingard. this was him and his mum. he twittered last week his mum was not with him and he was not coming home yet because he would had hoped england would get a step further so anyway, she decided to come to russia which is enough emotional photo on the street. kyle walker also tweeted: harry maguire

tweeted this picture of himself. look at that. what a slide! which of course they are sliding in. tim allman looks back at all of the night's action. chanting: football's coming home! for england fans, this is not how world cups usually pan out. unusual sensations. elation, joy and a growing confidence that something rather special may be happening. i have a dream, i have a dream. martin luther king once said that, but this is a bigger dream! most of the time, the england players have been more interested in their haircuts or their pop celebrity girlfriends or their new sports car than actually kicking the ball, but this time, it might be different and we dare to dream. that dream becoming ever more vivid once harry maguire put england ahead in the first half.

just before the hour mark, it was 2—0. dele alli doing the honours. football isn't exactly coming homejust yet, but it may well be packing its bags. in many ways, russia have been the surprise package of this tournament. could their amazing run continue? russia! things certainly looked good when denis cheryshev put them ahead. but croatia soon equalised, andrej kramaric making it 1—1. into extra time, and domagoj vida put the croatians ahead... ..only for mario fernandes to keep russian dreams alive. but football can be cruel. a few minutes later, he missed a decisive penalty. ivan rakitic taking advantage.

croatia advancing to the semifinals for the first time in 20 years. russia have been the perfect hosts. but for them, the party is over. tim allman, bbc news. well, as i say, the party might be over literally but there were definitely parties this morning as fa ns definitely parties this morning as fans of the russian side come to terms with the fact they are out of this tournament. steve rosenberg in moscow was with the russian fans last night as the result came in. out of this world, a miracle, a fairytale. that is how russians have been describing their team's performance in this world cup. but that fairytale has now come to an end because croatia has beaten russia in the quarter—final, it got into the semi—final of the world cup. —— russia in the quarterfinal, it got into the semifinal of the world cup.

russia's dream is over, to the disappointment of tens of thousands of russian football fans here at at the moscow fan fest. they had been hoping, they had been dreaming, but it was it is not to be. for the russian team, it has been an incredible journey. at the start of this competition there were many people who thought russia would not get out of the group stages. russia came into the tournament the lowest—ranked team and yet, they made it to the quarterfinals of the world cup — of their world cup. i think it will be really interesting to see how this city,

moscow, and indeed the country changes now that the home side is not in the world cup the curve that really has helped bolster all of the fa ns really has helped bolster all of the fans from around the world —— because that really. they got into the footballing spirit and put diplomacy and politics aside, they did a good job of welcoming people from around the world and indeed in the actual football tournament themselves, they began this tournament last place and the fact they got to the quarter—finals with a huge dealfor them. they got to the quarter—finals with a huge dealforthem. it they got to the quarter—finals with a huge dealfor them. it is worth mentioning and reminding our view is now only four teams left in the tournament, football today or tomorrow, two rest days, it all kicks back off on tuesday, france played in the first in final, against belgium, that will be a very, very strong one to win. whoever wins that could take the tournament. front of a fire at —— favourites in the tournament but on

the other side, england play croatia. —— fronts are the favourites. everyone is hoping that england will take the trophy. it looks like this is a fairly open world cup, even though france remains the favourites. thank you very much. i love the way that she says "they" when she refers to england. how about bbc impartiality? we're looking at some tweets from thailand now, confirming the operation of 12 boys is now under way. today is the day, those are the words of the governor. the rescue will start at 10am which was about an hour25 will start at 10am which was about an hour 25 minutes ago. they say the boys are ready, their hearts are strong and determined. their families have been informed and agree that now is the time to begin the rescue mission. thank you for watching. goodbye. hello there.

and the summer heatwave goes on. it was another hot, sunny, dry day on saturday. sunday looks like a similar day too. this was the picture taken on saturday afternoon by one of our weather watchers in cambridgeshire. you can see the fair weather cloud that's been bubbling up. i think it'll be fairly similar through sunday afternoon. a little bit of cloud here and there, but over the next few days, it is looking largely dry and for many of us, there'll be that strong sunshine around still. high pressure keeping things generally dry and settled. there is a weather front that's just sitting across the far north—west on sunday, so that will bring a bit more cloud and a few spots of rain, particularly to the far north—west of scotland. small chance of catching an isolated shower across southern scotland and northern england too. for the vast majority of us, another dry day ahead after that warm, muggy start. sunny spells, long spells of sunshine, particularly in the south, with a little bit more cloud further north, so temperatures not quite as hot across northern ireland and scotland as they will be across england and wales. so i think in the warmest spots,

it'll be fairly similar to what we had on saturday — up to around 30 or 31 degrees towards the south—east. further north and north—west, temperatures typically around about 22 to 2a across scotland and northern ireland. a little bit cooler in the far north and north—west. but it's also the british grand prix, of course, on sunday afternoon. similar conditions to this. we're going to be seeing lots of sunshine breaking through that cloud. it should stay dry at silverstone too, and temperatures up to around 28, possibly 29 degrees, so certainly feeling pretty hot for the drivers and the spectators alike at silverstone. now, into sunday afternoon and evening then, and we keep the cloud across parts of scotland and northern ireland for a time. clearer skies further south. we'll start to draw in a bit more of a northerly breeze across some northern and eastern coasts, so keeping temperatures down here, but again, it's a warm, muggy, sticky feel to the weather as we move through into the early hours of monday morning. so monday, another dry day. spot the difference, really. it will be a touch cooler around some eastern parts of scotland, eastern england too with the breeze coming in off the north sea. best of the sunshine further south and west and probably not quite as warm as it has been, but still we're looking at temperatures up to around 29 degrees. a little bit cooler further north.

so, high pressure holds on through monday into tuesday. we have got a weak weather front that tends to fizzle out but what it will do is introduce some slightly fresher air that comes in from the north sea as we head through into tuesday. so not quite as hot as the weekend weather, i think. you'll see those temperatures dipping down for a time tuesday into wednesday, but it is going to be warming up and staying dry and sunny right through into the next weekend too. that's it for now. bye— bye. this is bbc world news.

the headlines — the authorities in thailand have begun an operation to bring 12 boys and their football coach out of the flooded caves where they've been trapped for the past two weeks. they said they decided to act because they believed water levels in the cave were at their lowest level. north korea has announced that it may abandon plans to give up its nuclear technology if the united states continues to demand unilateral denuclearisation by pyongyang. a government spokesman said the stance taken by us negotiators was gangster—like. he said both sides should take steps at the same time. 50 people are believed to have died ina 50 people are believed to have died in a week—long heatwave in quebec in canada. there have been similar heatwave is reported in several parts of the northern hemisphere. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.