welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: it is believed the operation to rescue eight boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in thailand has resumed. they are racing to complete their mission before the forecast of heavy rain brings more flooding underground. here in the uk, the brexit minister, david davis, sensationally quits the government. and a british woman who had been exposed to the nerve agent novichok has died. prime minister theresa may says she is appalled and shocked. hello and welcome to bbc world news.

the mission to rescue eight boys and their football coach from the tham luang cave here in northern thailand has begun. four of their team—mates were brought to the surface by a team of divers on sunday, in what is becoming a race to save them from the risk of renewed flooding. they became stranded underground more than two weeks ago, after being caught out by sudden torrential rain. the bbc‘s sophie long is in northern thailand. isa is a race against time, a race against the weather, as more heavy rain is forecast to fall in the area over coming days. they were caught out more than two weeks ago when they were cut off by torrential rain. the dramatic rescue mission began at 10:00am sunday morning local time. 18 expert divers, supported by a team of over 70 international and thai divers, entered the cave to attempt to guide the boys to safety. medics assessed the group to determine who would come out first. then, in total darkness,

two divers swam, with each child tethered to the diver in front. they followed a previously laid guide rope to help over difficult terrain. it is reported that the narrowest part is onlyjust under a0 centimetres wide. the boys will be helped through by the diver in front, before continuing. 0nce out of the cave network, the children are taken to hospital by ambulance. jonathan head now reports. the day started with rescue workers and extra dive tanks going in. a daring and complex rescue was under way. waiting nervously for the outcome, the man who has coached the boys football team, nicknamed the wild boars, forfour years. it was his assistant who went into the caves with them. i asked him what he would say to them when they came out. translation: i don't know what i will say when i see them again, but i do know that i want to hug them. after their dramatic discovery on monday, they have been fed and treated

by an army medic on the rock shelf where they had been forced to retreat by rising water. they were judged fit enough to make the dangerous journey, though none has ever dived before. inside the now sealed—off area around the cave entrance, ambulances waited to carry those rescued to hospital. and outside, as the light faded, the sound of helicopters and the sight of flashing lights was our first sign that at least some of them were out. then governor narongsak 0sottanakorn, who has led the operation, made this announcement. translation: i would like to inform the public at home, and all those who have been giving us support, after 16 days, this is the day we've been waiting for. after 16 days, we're finally seeing the faces of the wild boars.

as he spoke, the first two boys arrived in a hospital in the city of chiang rai. an hour later, we saw the third coming in. well, this is what all those who have been involved in this operation have been waiting to see. we saw two ambulances go into this hospital earlier. that is another. the boys are coming out. the four who were brought out today are described by one rescuer as doing remarkably well. there are nine more still in the caves, but this first day went better than many had feared it would. jonathan head, bbc news, chiang rai, northern thailand. now, this search and rescue operation has been ongoing now for more than two weeks, as the boys went missing on 23june. it was at 10am local time on sunday, so 23 hours ago, that we had official confirmation that the evacuation pa rt confirmation that the evacuation part of that operation had begun. 13 international expert divers, backed

up international expert divers, backed up by international expert divers, backed up by five expert thai divers, were going to go in and start bringing the boys and their coach out. at 9pm local time yesterday, on sunday, we we re local time yesterday, on sunday, we were told that that part of the operation had been suspended so that divers could rest, so that at tanks could be refuelled. there has been a lot of activity here this morning. we have counted six ambulances go up towards the cave entrance but we don't have any official confirmation that any of the divers have gone back into reach the boys again. they said goodbye to four of their team—mates yesterday, are we now know made it successfully through that very treacherous journey out of the cave and are now with their families in hospital. there is a long way to go. still nine remain trapped in the cave behind me. we can speak about the co—ordinator of the us national cave rescue commission. thank you forjoining us. commission. thank you forjoining us. the first day of this part of the operation went so, really, than many could have hoped for. what are your thoughts on the operation so far? i am absolutely stunned at just how well eat went.

this really proves everybody who did logistics support for this came together to make this happen. this is truly a monumental effort and it exceeded my expectations, and it gives me a lot of hope for a successful outcome for the rest of the evacuations. yeah, wonderful news that so many people, their families, of course, and people all around the world were hoping for. it's still a long way to go, though. just give me your thoughts on the mission ahead. we are expecting divers to go in again today, if they haven't already. but there are still things that could go wrong. the weather, of course, has been one of the main enemies for this operation to begin with. absolutely, we've been fighting the weather the entire time. the rescue effort got very lucky in the beginning, that there was enough dry weather to allow

pumping the water down to work. pumping is what really enabled this rescue effort to happen. what i am encouraged about is that the divers who have been working with these have now had a practice run, of course it was in practice, it was real. but now the next run will be even better, as they make it more efficient and a little safer. i suppose there are so many variables, not least the boys themselves. many of them could not swim at all, none of them had any diving experience. i suppose, in terms of the time it takes to bring them out and how successful they are, will depend on how much they react to the conditions they are facing. absolutely, and one of the best reasons for teaching them how to do the diving and swimming and all of that while they were still trapped, there were three primary options and not knowing which one was going to be used, you still make contingency plans. and so we had several days of teaching them how to do what they ended up

doing, which served a number of things. it made them safer doing because they drilled it. but it also gave them a hand in their own rescue. they were doing something concrete to get themselves up which is critically important psychologically. from the actual evacuation standpoint, it bonded them with the people who were rescuing them. so that gave them a larger degree of trust and they were going through the most good portions of the evacuation. you mentioned psychology there. just how important is morale to an operation like this? a couple of days ago we had that tragic news that a former thai navy seal lost his life making his way back from the cave mouth. we were told it would impact on the rescue mission and morale. now, we have four divers who have already come out.

that must have a positive impact on those remaining inside. absolutely, i've seen rescues being made and improving the people's morale. i have watched people going from we cannot do this too, we are going to get this done, just by the simple act of somebody coming in and boosting their spirits. that is really huge in any rescue and especially one as concentrated as this one. and just give us your thoughts on the operation and the day ahead. we are expecting the divers to go in again, give us your final thoughts about what is ahead today. of course, they have now done this, so they are familiar with the protocols that they are using. i do want to caution the listening world out there that there is no guarantee. we are much more encouraged that this will have a positive outcome, but we don't want to be second—guessing the people who are varied, who have the expertise, and who have had the best information.

very good to talk to you, thank you for taking the time. so a long day ahead, we know that at least. still nine remaining inside the cave. their teammates are in hospital now, with theirfamilies. it is hoped we will see some more making their way there today. we will of course keep you updated at on the rescue mission in thailand. back to you. joining me now live from bangkok is richard ehrlich, bangkok—based correspondent for the washington times. thank you forjoining us. just wa nted thank you forjoining us. just wanted to get a quick update, beyond what we have heard so far. do we have any updates on day two of the operations? well, officials are saying it will commence soon. nobody knows quite when that is, and perhaps they are not exactly sure as well, because they need to see and confirm that all of these oxygen canisters have been replaced along the route, which is a four kilometre route, and they are putting oxygen

canisters every 25 metres. this is so canisters every 25 metres. this is so that the divers could suddenly getan so that the divers could suddenly get an oxygen canister if there is ran out, orgrab get an oxygen canister if there is ran out, or grab one if there was some kind of an accident. also, they have been pumping more oxygen into the cave, releasing it from canisters, to raise the oxygen level in the cave, it was the rescue attempt that was successful yesterday, of course, used a lot of oxygen. people breathing heavily, and they want to raise that up. so that all has to be confirmed, and if and when it is, than the operation goes ahead. but there is this one variable that is different, aside from the fact that people have more experience this time, is the rain. there was rain falling on and off last night, it was even falling during the rescue mission itself. we we re during the rescue mission itself. we were wondering how high has the water gone? and this is important for two reasons. one, water gone? and this is important fortwo reasons. one, more water gone? and this is important for two reasons. one, more water, the faster that current goes. and it

is an underground river, and that current is quite fast. these people will be coming out, these young boys, with the current. that could mean that they smash themselves against rocks, they smash themselves against rocks, they smash themselves against stalactites and stalagmites, and unless they are very very careful in the way they go is slow, holding onto this rope handrail, and they do have a helmet on above their oxygen mask. they have the two buddy divers going with them, forward and back, and they are also tired at the base to the front buddy diver. but when it gets deep, and if there is more rain and deeper water, they have to dive deeper, and that is a problem as well. because this is cold water, and even after they have wetsuits, even after they are able to come out of the water at some point and walk or crawl through the tiny holes, it is very chilly. in

fa ct, tiny holes, it is very chilly. in fact, at the chiang rai hospital overnight, one of the things they we re overnight, one of the things they were checking for is hyperthermia, in addition to other things, rest trattoria diseases, we call that cave lion, from the excrement of that —— bat cave loan —— respiratory diseases. they have different skill sets and some might be more confident than others. one more thing, we have been absolutely riveted why this story here. you know, at times tragic and heroic at the same time. what has it been like in thailand, where you are? well, even more riveting, as you can imagine. the thais are glued to their tv sets and social media for every update they can find. and people are hoping, because of the success yesterday, that now we are going to be able to see all 13 people out. and apparently, not

sure, but we think that perhaps the coach himself, even though he is suffering malnutrition when they found him because he had given away his rations, they think he will be among the last or perhaps the last person because he has put a note out to the parents apologising for getting them into this and saying that he will give his life to take ca re of that he will give his life to take care of these boys. and so he would wa nt to care of these boys. and so he would want to stay until the very end. we would imagine unless he is in a serious medical condition. thank you very much. we really appreciate your time. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: rescue workers injapan continue to search for people trapped after several days of heavy rain and landslides, that have already killed 80 people. 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. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: it appears that the rescue operation to save eight boys and their football coach who are trapped in a series of caves in thailand has resumed. breaking news from here in the uk: the politician in charge of the brexit negotiations, david davis, has resigned from the government. the news comes just two days after the cabinet of prime minister theresa may approved a compromise document intended to guide the negotiations over britain's departure from the european union. the departure of the brexit secretary came just before midnight local time here, and it is also being reported that david davis's deputy in the brexit department has quit as well. the bbc‘s andrew plant gave me this update. the repercussions, the repercussions from this will be bouncing around notjust westminster here in london right now but also in brussels, it was placed in the united, unified

group that is. but the timing is interesting, happening at midnight ona interesting, happening at midnight on a sunday evenings are very busy monday, not just on a sunday evenings are very busy monday, notjust westminster on a sunday evenings are very busy monday, not just westminster that brussels as well. they will be looking to the uk to see what is happening next and david davis was the minister in charge of delivering britain's exit so theresa may will have to fill that gap pretty quickly so have to fill that gap pretty quickly so first of all, the timing is interesting and secondly, what she does next, people will really be watching both here and abroad. the assumption here is that both the position put forward by theresa may and the cabinet is unacceptable to those, i hate this phrase, hard brexiteers, those who really want to leave the eu and abandon many of the rules or restrictions of the eu. that's right.

there are lots of issues on the table but things like free movement within the european union, things like trade policy, the role of the european court ofjustice within britain's laws. all those sort of big issues were thrashed out at chequers, the sort of country residence of the uk prime minister on friday. there is a sort of common rule book for goods going across the border, facilitated movements for eu citizens across britain's orders, also things like a joint institutional framework for the courts. i think a lot of people looked at that language and said well, this does not really extricate written from the eu laws in the way that people wanted. david davis actually has released a statement now, we did not have this half an hour ago, but some of the language is used as interesting too. he said that he thought that the general direction of policy would leave the uk in a at best week negotiating position, he also said that he thought the consequence of the proposed policy would be to make control by parliament look illusory rather than real, so what we are saying is it does not go far enough and it would not give britain back control of its own laws. where does this leave theresa may's prime ministership? well, as i say, i think

there is a very busy day ahead and there is probably a lot of panic in westminster right now. jeremy corbyn, the leader of the opposition, saying this that he thought that this undermined the authority completely and that she would now have two cling on power isa or completely. but i should point out that theresa may has survived some other high—profile resignations from the cabinet in the last six years, six from her cabinet table, so this could just be the seventh in that long line. police in britain have launched a murder investigation after one of the two people exposed last week to the nerve agent, novichok, died in hospital. it's thought dawn sturgess came into contact with residue from the substance after the attack in march on the former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia. tom burridge reports. killed after somehow coming into contact

with a deadly nerve agent. dawn sturgess's death means the police are now investigating murder. the staff here at salisbury district hospital worked tirelessly to save dawn. our staff are talented, dedicated, and professional, and i know that they will be hurting too. they did everything that they could. chemical weapons experts have been decontaminating the hostel where dawn sturgess lived. police say she was killed by the same type of nerve agent, known as novichok, used against a former russian spy and his daughter back in march. the government blamed russia for the poisoning of the skripals, who survived. the kremlin says it was not involvedm butwith a british citizen now dead, the ramifications of the chemical attack on salisbury are now even more serious. meanwhile, dawn sturgess's partner charlie rowley is critically ill in hospital. police are investigating how they came into contact with the nerve agent used in the attack. tom burridge, bbc news.

let's have a look at some of the other news — millions of people injapan have been told to leave their homes because of extensive flooding and landslides that have already claimed more than 80 lives. record rainfall has caused rivers to burst their banks in hiroshima and other areas. more than 50,000 rescuers are now involved in what the authorities are calling a race against time. these hospital patients were saved by the japanese military. this is where they were rescued from. the only escape was either by helicopter from the rooftop, or by boat, and here you see why. some people are reported to be still stranded at the hospital, and they're not alone. a swathe of japan has been hit by record rainfall, that has caused flooding and landslides. many people died because they weren't able flee in time, among them an 80—year—old couple and a three—year—old girl,

and the death toll is certain to rise. translation: i went to my father's home, but it was hopeless. we were looking for two people, and only found one. several million people have been told to move to safer ground if they can. some area already as high as they can go, and have tweeted desperate calls for help. translation: even now, we've not been able to confirm the safety of quite a lot of people, and there are many who are stranded, facing the terror of impending inundation, and waiting for rescue. nature has delivered this part ofjapan a devastating blow, and it is not finished yet. more rain is forecast, and with it, officials say, there is a serious risk of more landslides. caroline hawley, bbc news. a show of freedom or sexism?

5 young women have been asked to police the streets of broummana in lebanon — a touristy area up in the mountains — wearing shorts. it's causing a bit of a stir in the media and online. win was the last time you saw so many legs on bbc news? i can't remember either. well, it's been another glorious weekend. if you do like your weather hot, dry and sunny, just some subtle changes in the weather, i think, as we head over the next few days. some more cloud, and things will turn a little bit cooler, too. but here was the picture on sunday afternoon in wiltshire. beautiful blue skies, not a lot of cloud around there. bit of fair weather cloud here and there. but through the week ahead, briefly things will turn cooler and a bit cloudier, but things staying largely dry, and temperatures picking up once again into the latter part the week. but we start the new working week

with high pressure still in charge. a weak cold front will be just heading its way south across the country, introducing some slightly cooler conditions, initially to the north and then filtering further south. so, on monday, it won't be quite as warm as it has been across parts of scotland, northern ireland, northern and eastern england, with a bit of a shift in wind direction. more cloud than we've seen here, too. further south, though, we will hold onto the warm and the dry weather. really dry for much of the country, just perhaps a bit of drizzle in the far north associated with a bit more cloud. you can see the red colours indicating that warmer weather across southern and western england, into south wales too, whereas further north it is not as warm. in fact, some places about 5—10 celsius cooler than they have been. newcastle, for instance, 16 celsius on monday. contrast that with london, still at around 30 degrees or so, but that dry theme sticks across the board. and then, moving through monday

evening, then, still a bit more cloud around in the north and east, and we'll start to draw in more of a northerly wind, as you can see those wind arrows around the east coast of england. so a noticeable breeze heading through into the early hours of tuesday morning, and temperatures overnight not quite as hot and not quite as muggy as we've seen recently, particularly if you're nearer the east coast. but down towards southern and western parts, still around 16 degrees, so fairly sticky overnight. tuesday, though, quite a breezy feel if you're exposed to the wind coming in off the north sea around the east coast. breezy through the english channel too. less windy further west, where we've got spells of sunshine, a bit of cloud around too, but staying dry, really, across the board once again. temperatures on the cooler side compared to what we've seen recently, so typically around about 17—24 degrees or so. and then, as we move through tuesday on into the middle of the week, down into wednesday as well, high pressure stays with us. with that cold front off towards the south, we're all in that slightly cooler air mass, with the winds coming down from the north or the north—east. so i think through the middle of the week, we will see a slightly cooler interlude, but temperatures in the low to mid—20s, and then towards the end of the week, it looks like those temperatures are going to pick up, turning hot and staying dry

into next weekend. have a great week. this is bbc news. the headlines: the rescue operation to save eight boys and their football coach who are trapped in a series of caves in thailand has resumed. they have been trapped for more than two weeks. four others were brought to safety on sunday, and are now in hospital. david davis, the government minister responsible for negotiating britain's withdrawal from the european union, has resigned. his junior minister has also quit the government. it is a major blow to prime minister theresa may, who has onlyjust secured cabinet approval for a new negotiating position. theresa may has said she is appalled and shocked by the death of dawn sturgess, one of two people infected last week with the nerve agent novichok. ms sturgess had been admitted

to hospital after being exposed to an unknown source of the chemical. now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur is at the hay literary festival to speak to forensic scientist sue black.