this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines at ten: a rescue operation is under way in thailand — to save 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave — for more than two weeks. a day of rest for england's footballers after making their first world cup semifinal in nearly 30 years. the celebrations continue at home as millions of people tuned in to watch the three lions beaten sweden 2—0 in samara. it's coming home. football is coming home. more problems for the prime minister after borisjohnson strongly criticises her new plans for a brexit deal with the eu. and later we'll hear the story of sophie raworth's grandfather who was one of the first pilots in the newly—formed raf, in a special programme ahead of the air force's centenary. an operation has begun to rescue

the 12 boys and their football coach from the flooded cave in northern thailand — where they've been trapped for the last for the last fortnight. the head of the rescue mission said it could take up to four days to bring them all to the surface, depending on the weather. we can speak to our correspondent sophie long, who's at the mouth of the cave. we can see it is raining and the brain is the reason they have had to launch this rescue operation. —— rain. the governor has said that

this is a war against water. it has a lwa ys this is a war against water. it has always been a race against time, monsoon season, always been a race against time, monsoon season, their great fear is that when the rain comes down very hard, which they have done last night and throughout the course of the day, when they come down very hard, the fear is that the cave that the boys have been sheltering in the past two weeks now could free flood and potentially flood even worse thanit and potentially flood even worse than it did in the first place. it was dry when they went in there, very quickly filled up with water, cutting them off. their parents did not even know they were like the nine days. the operation is under way, under way to six hours. it will be many hours before we know if it has been successful at all. each child, at least 11 hours to get them out. even for expert divers, it is a long our guys to get out to where the boy is in the cave to the cave‘s mouth. the youngest was just 11 yea rs mouth. the youngest was just 11 years old, many of them cannot swim, none of them have diving experience, it isa none of them have diving experience, it is a long route out. some of it

very difficult indeed. we are looking at how they will do this. to divers for each child. i guide rope, some of the corridors, the passageways a re some of the corridors, the passageways are so narrow, too narrow to go through wearing scuba equipment. they will have to take the time of the body's back, and one of the expert divers will roll it along, the other one will guide the boy until they can put the tank back on. these are kind of things they will have to go through, an 11 hour journey. their stops along the way where they can rest, dry places where they can rest, dry places where they can breeze. there will be medical assessment, chambers street, but 11 hours at least for each child. we have also been told that the weather could pause the operation as well. it is going, the conditions are not perfect but it was felt by the thai authorities that they are not going to get any better than they are now. ahead of this rescue operation, yesterday we

had these letters that the children wrote to their families, to their pa rents, wrote to their families, to their parents, and also the football coach writing a letter apologising to the pa rents of writing a letter apologising to the parents of the children. yes, one of the things they then tried to do since the boys were found on monday is to establish a line of communication, fibre—optic cable that they have taken in to do that so the boys could speak to their pa rents, so the boys could speak to their parents, maybe even see them. they did not achieve that, they tried several times. the only communication they've had with their families and letters and thai navy seal divers brought up these m essa g es seal divers brought up these messages from the coach and the boys, not last night, the night before and this was the first we've heard from the coach. he's just 25, heard from the coach. he's just 25, he is the guy that led them in there after that football practice more than two weeks ago. he said a note, to all the parents, i am really sorry. he said that he promised to look after the boys as best is secret and he reassured them they would have been treated very well by

all the rescue workers out of reached them over the past three days, they've had a doctor and another divers keeping them company around the clock, teaching them to swim and die. but when the messages came out, we had them from the boys as well. —— teaching them to swim and dive. many of thing do not worry about me, others requesting their favourite food, what they wanted their grandmothers to cook. one thing, iam their grandmothers to cook. one thing, i am fine, don't forget about my birthday party when i get out. some quite heart—warming messages that came out of the cave. we also know that the parents and letters in to their sons as well. it is hoped that was a good morale boost ahead of this very difficultjourney that was a good morale boost ahead of this very difficult journey that has now begun the day. i am told that they also sent a message into the coach, saying we do not blame you and thanking him for looking after the boys say well. the rescue operation is now under way, it was filed in the past few days they have been munching very closely the

conditions inside the cave, there was a worry over the past few days that oxygen level were dropping. water levels, they have been munching those constantly. we are told today they are the lowest they have been for ten days. —— monitoring those closely. it is that now given the weather forecast that the conditions are not going to get any better. the parents were told about the decision and told be agreed that now was the time to mount the rescue operation. risky as it is. i will remind you that an expert by the two days ago, he was coming up having delivered oxygen tanks, he lost consciousness on his way out. an expert diver, and they we re way out. an expert diver, and they were unable to revive him. tragic news. the authorities here said they will not let its impact on the mission or morale. thank you. i know you will keep us updated throughout the day. so the long at the cave

complex in northern thailand where the boys are trapped. —— we will now speak to andy eavis, the former head of the british caving association. you know a couple of the british divers who at the forefront of this rescue operation. what will they be trying to do right now?|j rescue operation. what will they be trying to do right now? i know nearly all of them. i should point out straightaway that diving in caves is considerably different from diving in open water and it was very important to get cave divers out there, people who have the right mindset to be able to operate in these types of conditions, no visibility, tight spaces and no airspace above. they have got the tea m airspace above. they have got the team now of international cave, and i repeat cave divers, and that is the key to this. they are the masters of the profession. they are

experiencing this sort of operation before i may have the best chance of anybody on earth i getting these quys anybody on earth i getting these guys out. your reporter that, had a lot of the problems clearly defined... we are seeing pictures of those two british divers who found the boys in the first place. this is incredibly difficult and dangerous work and obviously all of the families, the eyes of the world on this rescue operation now. it is going to take time, isn't it, to get them out? yes, like we said, they can only bring them out one at a time. there is now quite a number of experience cave divers capable of safely going in there and coming out again and they have got a wonderful back—up from all the other authorities and so want to get all be gay in there, the communications

in that and everything else. —— go in now. the one word to avoid is panic. there has been a lot of positives. the boys themselves did not panic when they were in the dark for nine days. they are pretty calm and collected about it now. the authorities are not panicking, but i know the cave divers are also not panicking. the whole thing is they must not panic. the boys, when they put them in the water with scuba gearon, put them in the water with scuba gear on, the only real danger is panic. if they can get them used to being underwater and breathing underwater, they will get them out safely. because we know some of the boys cannot swim, although they have had some rudimentary swimming lessons. were they necessarily need to swim if they are being pulled out by the divers who have gone in to rescue them? no. in a word, they will not need to swim. they haven't

really been having swimming lessons, they are planning lessons to get them comfortable with their head underwater. —— they have not really been having. there's a famous cave diver who cannot swim on the surface. they are usually crawling along, pulling themselves along the walls, pulling themselves along the walls, pulling themselves along the walls, pulling themselves along guidelines. there is often not a lot of swimming. these boys will not need to swim. they will not even need to see where they are going. the expert cave divers with them will be following a line, their line is that absolute lifeline and they will bring these boys one at a time under their arm or very closely to them and will guide them out as carefully and as calculatedly and with lacking as much panic as they possibly can. tell us a bit more about these

british divers that you know. there are extremes, who they are, and why they are the best people for the stroke. —— they are experienced, the best people for the job. we were exploring countries and continents, we are now limited what we can explore. the oceans are out of my budget. we explore caves. these divers are cave explorers. i am an above water cave explorer and i'm lucky enough to have done a lot of it. these guys are below water cave explorers and what turns them on in their normal lives is exploration and what they have done is some of the hardest cave dives in the world, most distant. they have been ten columns underwater. they have spent 36 hours at a time continually underwater and decompressing and so on. they are

masters of the underwater under caves. they have all the world record for depth and distance and duration. there are other divers now, there is other international divers out there with them. australian divers, clearly they are supported at their base by all the open water divers, particularly the thai navy divers. the cave divers are the guys to go through the tight beds and the flooded passages that they need all the back—up they are getting them all the other people as well. we know that the authorities did agonise about whether to launch this rescue operation. there was an alternative of waiting several months until the end of the rainy season. do you think this is the right option? i know you are a long way away from what is going on, but do you think this is the right option to mount this rescue operation now? yes, i mean, i clearly do not know the detail of this cave. i have gone in other

caves in the same area but not this one. the interviews i have been giving over the last ten days, i've said all the way through it totally depends on the rain and the detail of this cave. if there was any chance of the water dropping to a level where they could come out without diving, that was clearly the option. it sounded less and less likely that that was going to happen. to me, and i've said so many times over the last ten days, there was never an option of waiting for a prolonged period. ispent was never an option of waiting for a prolonged period. i spent quite a lot of time underground and they would've got sick, they would have got ill, maybe the atmosphere would have deteriorated. maybe the water levels would have, much higher and all the evidence is that the chamber they are in does not flood to the roof. it is risky. i am absolutely certain that the only course of action is to bring them out and

commune, that is what is going ahead at the moment. very good to talk to you. thank you for your expert analysis. andy evers, former head of the british caving association and i am sure we will talk to you again. everybody hoping that that rescue operation is successful in the coming hours and days. you are watching bbc news. it is nearly quarter past ten. england fans are continuing to celebrate the fact that their team are just one win away from the world cup final, after their comfortable victory yesterday against sweden. their opponents in the semifinal will be croatia who beat the hosts russia in a penalty shoot—out. our correspondent sarah rainsford is in samara where yesterday's match took place. some extremely dedicated england fans that we have been meeting over the past couple of days in samara but they are pretty pleased that they made the investment because for a lot of people, they did not think england would get this far. as soon as they were sitting on the sofa or

in the pub back home watching england progress and watching the team perform, a lot of them started scrabbling to get tickets, as you say, to spend a small fortune to get here and to experience the moment. but the moment i think has been well worth it, they would say. in fact, they have been saying it. huge, jubilant crowds here at the stadium itself. extremely pleased with the performance. this morning in samara, i think it is fair to say a fair few bleary eyes and sore heads as the celebrations went on well into the night. you know, amongst those england fans, there was one rather unusual person, a man who bore a more than a striking resemblance to perhaps the most popular person among england fans and probably a lot of people in england these days. a few people have been telling me over the years and then finally, mr southgate, or gareth, has got into this new position where he'sjust delighting the whole country. i thought, "well, why not wear the waistcoat and the tie and have a bit of fun?" i was going to say, you are working the look. it is an extremely popular look.

apparently these waistcoats are really taking off. yeah, selling off. i mean, i had to go to a few different branches of that particular department store to go and find one but yeah, i mean, he's got a new sartorial elegance, who would have thought? you don't have the message embroidered just yet but tell me about the team, the performance. are you fancying england's chances now, your team perhaps to bring the trophy? well after that iceland game, when we lost a couple of years ago, who would have thought we would be in this position? he's managed to turn it around and the country is going bonkers for it and he's doing some wonderful things, isn't he? he's really changed our perception, i think. you enjoyed the game, presumably? tell us about the atmosphere in the stadium. oh, well, it was great, really. i managed to get into the england end with all the fans and we've got some amazing songs, now, singing about southgate and drinking vodka and being in russia. it'sjust a carnival atmosphere, really. after all the years of hurt, like the song goes, who would have thought we would be here now? very quickly, semifinals now, can southgate's team really do it? well, we've got this far. yeah, it's open. we were pretending to cheer for russia yesterday but now it's croatia, it makes it a bit easier to get there, get tickets. yeah, why not?

let's go for it. france or belgium in the final might be tricky but let's do this. it's coming home! that's what gareth southgate says, or at least his lookalike. viewing figures, 15.8 million people watched the game yesterday on television, with a peak audience of 19.9 million, that is nearly 20 million and then, were watching at 4:51pm yesterday. nearly 20 million people at the peak. that is lower, interestingly, then what the columbia game previously. that was about 2k million who watched that game. maybe yesterday there were a lot of people, as these people were, watching on big screens and having a rather modest celebrations, as you can see. but the tv audience, 15.8

million on average, that is an 80% share, but a million on average, that is an 80% share, buta peak million on average, that is an 80% share, but a peak of nearly 20 million watching the game yesterday. the headlines on bbc news: a rescue operation has begun in thailand to save 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave for more than two weeks. england's footballers are celebrating after making the world cup semi—final for the first time in nearly 30 years. the foreign secretary borisjohnson strongly criticises the prime minister's new plans for a brexit deal with the eu during the cabinet meeting at chequers. we can't stop talking about the world cup, and why should we? sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn. it's taken 28 years, but england have made it

through to a world cup semi final for only the third time. they beat sweden 2—0 yesterday, and have arrived back at their base in repino which is where we find our sports news correspondant david ornstein this morning and, david, england reflecting on a historic day? england return to their hotel or short distance from here overnight. they looked weary but happy and who can blame them after that fantastic victory last night? they will not train today, recuperate inside the walls of their hotel and look ahead to this crunch match on night against moscow. let us look back at the match. harry maguire opening the scoring, another set piece goal for england. they have scored eight in the tournament, more than any other nation and sweden had no answer. they almost equalised just after half—time, a fabulous save from jordan pickford to deny them.

england went up the other end and doubled their lead, dapper figure england went up the other end and doubled their lead, dapperfigure in the bed. jesse lingard crossing to the bed. jesse lingard crossing to the back post where dally alli arrived with his first real contribution of this world cup. —— dele alli. he delivered when it mattered most. they are now into the last four for the first time since 1990. they are two wins away from winning the world cup. can you believe that? it would be a remarkable achievement. they have not done that since 1966. so many yea rs of not done that since 1966. so many years of hurt may be coming to an end, but they have a huge amount of work to do starting with croatia on wednesday night. thank you very much, david. standing between england and a place in the world cup final are croatia after they knocked out hosts russia on penalties. it finished 2—2 after extra time in sochi. it all started so well for russia, taking the lead through this cracker from denis cheryshev. beautiful left footed strike. croatia equalised, and then took the lead in extra time.

with that header. before russia equalised in the last few minutes. penalties then, and it was down to ivan rakitic to score the final spot kick that takes croatia through to their first world cup semifinal since 1998. it was not all good news for british sportspeople. britain's kyle edmund has been knocked out of wimbledon in the third round against novak djokovic. after making a good start winning the opening set, edmund was soon reminded of why djokovic's been so successful at wimbledon in the past, as the three—time champion took the next three straight sets to end edmund's hopes of wimbledon glory this year. elsewhere at wimbledon rafael nadal is through. the two—time wimbledon champion is into the last 16 after a comfortable victory over australia's alex de minaur. he'll play the czechjiri vesely in the next round. the latest big name to fall in the women's draw is world number one and top seed simona halep. the french open champion was beaten

by taiwan's hsieh su—wei in an epic third round match. one englishman who has been performing at his best yesterday was lewis hamilton who will start this afternoon's british grand prix in pole position, chasing a record sixth win at silverstone. he broke the lap record on his final run in qualifying to start in front of his main championship rival sebastian vettel. he said he wanted to get the country off to a good start as qualifying finished just as the football started! i gave it everything i could and it was so hard. it was so close between the ferraris, they pulled something out when we got to q3 and i was praying i could do it for you guys. i'm so gratefulfor the support because without you guys, i would not have been able to do it. chris froome will be hoping for a less eventful second day at the tour de france after a crash has left him a minute off the pace. he went down a grass bank on the opening stage as colombia's fernando gaviria won the stage. today's route into la roche—sur—yon should be another one for the sprinters.

that's all the sport for now. we will have some more later. thank you very much indeed. more signs of tension have surfaced in the conservative party over the prime minister's brexit plan, agreed with her cabinet on friday. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is understood to have used colourful language at the meeting to criticise the proposal before later giving it his backing. critics say the plan would be "unworkable" and could cost the conservatives the next election. however, theresa may insists it would ensure brexit is delivered. i'm joined now by our political reporter, peter saull. we have been hearing more today on the andrew marr programme from michael gove. the environment

sexually michael gove has been talking the plan up on the andrew marr programme —— the environment secretary. is this what people voted for? he said yes. it is not what i and a lot of my pro—brexit collea g u es and a lot of my pro—brexit colleagues wanted, there was a need for compromise. i think that was the message from him. i think with regard to boris johnson, message from him. i think with regard to borisjohnson, michael gove making the point that is really important for a united cabinet at the moment. one of the great strengths that the prime minister has is that she allowed us, during the course of a day, to share views, to share analysis and to look at this proposal in detail. but the end of it, collective responsibility reigns. and i think for the cabinet, all of us, our responsibility is to work together in order to ensure that we can get the best possible deal for britain and, of course, it's absolutely critical as well that that deal respects, as the prime minister has been crystal clear, the referendum mandate to end free movement, to get us out of the

ecj's direct jurisdiction and to take back control of our waters and policy the areas that matter to our economy. michael gove, prominent brexiteer. what does the premise to do with borisjohnson, especially what does the premise to do with boris johnson, especially as what does the premise to do with borisjohnson, especially as he has expressed some colourful language about this agreement? -- prime minister. on friday, he went on the attack. colourful language, he said you are asking us, prime minister, to polish turd by pigeons through this plan for brexit. —— by pushing through. he did sign along the dotted line. his allies are saying it is important that he remained a pa rt it is important that he remained a part of the cabinet so he can carry on making the case for a harder brexit that they would like to see. it is an issue four theresa may, just after a day that she called for that term of collective responsibility, effectively saying

if you step out of line, there will be consequences. labour have been talking about it as well. what have they got to the? keir starmer has been on the andrew marr programme is well this morning. he talked about the deal in pretty disparaging terms as well, saying, it is good that, in his words, the premise has rejected some of the fantasies of hard brexiteers but he said he is gone for a fudge. —— the prime minister has rejected. i'm afraid it's got fudge written all over it. if you look at the facilitated customs arrangements, the sort of heart of this, it's a rebadging of the partnership and it's based on the idea that of the border you can distinguish between good that are going to stay in the uk and those going to the eu. it's unworkable, it's a bureaucratic nightmare. that is keir starmer, the prime minister sold it to her cabinet, sort of, she has do sell it to her backbenchers. at the committee

meeting tomorrow evening where she will continue to try to sell it. lastly i think the conservative mps are behind her on this, certainly they remain wig of the party is pretty ha p py they remain wig of the party is pretty happy with the way things have gone but there are some murmuring is now coming from the pro—brexit wayne, in ian duncan smith suggesting the conservatives may be punished at the ballot box. another vocal critic of the prime minister has come out and say today that she should be replaced and jacob rees mogg should take place. you're good to be hearing from her and the next hour on the bbc news channel. she has to sell it to her backbenchers and then to the european union. there is every chance she will turn —— they will turn around and say it is another example of cherry picking and you can't have that. thank you. now it's time for a look

at the weather with ben rich. hello again. if the heat is getting a bit too much for you at the moment, there is something a little cooler on the way through the next few days but notjust yet. for most of us, the rest of today brings plenty more dry and hot weather, with strong sunshine. but the first hints of something a bit cooler beginning to push in across the north west of scotland with some extra cloud. a very small chance of a shower in southern scotland and northern england. the further south you are, lots of sunshine and temperatures in the south—east up to 31 or maybe 32 degrees. as we go on into the evening and overnight, you can see that some of this cloud in northern scotland will start to work its way down the east coast. there could even be the odd spot of drizzle. clear spells further south. minimum temperatures in cardiff and london around 18 degrees. we go on into tomorrow, some sunshine still in the forecast, particularly for western and southern areas. more cloud across north—east scotland and north east england. maybe the odd spot of drizzle for a time. most places will be dry but it will start to turn a bit cooler from the north. hello, this is bbc

news with ben brown. the headlines. a rescue operation has begun in thailand to save 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave for more than two weeks. the england team have arrived back at their base in repino after booking their place in the world cup semifinal. more than 19.5 million people watched england's 2—0 victory over sweden in samara. the foreign secretary borisjohnson strongly criticises the prime minister's new plans for a brexit deal with the eu during the cabinet meeting at chequers. sophie raworth's grandfather was one of the first pilots in the newly—formed raf.

in this special programme ahead of the centenary of the raf, sophie finds out what life was really like for those pioneers in the skies. this is stow maries, the last world war i aerodrome left in europe. young pilots flew from here to confront the giant german airships that were crossing the channel to attack london. it was the first time that airpower had been used in warfare. so, what was it like for those pioneering pilots and their tiny aircraft, like this one, who were fighting in the skies above britain, france and belgium? among them was a teenager who joined the royal flying corps in 1916. his name was edwin raworth, and he was my grandfather.