i'm sophie long, live outside the hospital in northern thailand, where all 12 rescued boys and their football coach are now being treated. this after a daring three—day rescue. officials say the boys are healthy, fever—free and seem to be in high spirits. translation: no one thought we could make it but we did. it was a first for the world. the thai navy seals and doctor are also out of the cave safely. they say they're not sure if by a miracle, or science. i'm kasia madera, in london. also in the programme: president trump arrives in brussels ahead of a key nato summit and bashes europe again on its record of defence spending. and les bleus are through! france make it to the world cup final after beating belgium. this is bbc world news — it's newsday.

it's 1am in london, and 7am here in northern thailand where divers have rescued all twelve boys and their football coach from flooded caves, seventeen days after they got trapped underground by heavy rains. they are being treated in the hospital behind me. it was an unprecedented mission in its scale but they pulled it off. some say they cannot believe it, others say they cannot believe it, others say they never lost hope. there were cheers when the last ambulance arrived here. our first report is from our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head. would this be the day that saw all the boys and their coach out safely? with the sky darkening, it had to be today. helicopters in the afternoon told us they were getting ready.

then the tell—tale flashing lights. this is the second ambulance we have seen and, behind it, the third on this, we're hoping, the last day of this truly remarkable operation. and every ambulance we have seen so far has meant another life saved. inside the caves, dozens of divers have been working in wet, claustrophobic conditions to support the rescuers. there has not been a cave rescue this big or this ambitious before. the boys were fed and treated underground by an army medic to strengthen them for the difficultjourney out. even so, some divers said it was too dangerous to try. only the threat of renewed flooding forced them to push ahead. cheering these men run the boys'

football team. 17 days of worry, of ups when the boys were found and downs when they could not get out, were over. translation: i want to hug them first. i want to cheer them on. i want to tell them how worried i have been. i don't know what to say. we had something else to tell coach nopparat. from manchester united... an invitation from manchester united to the rescued boys, most of them man u fans, to visit old trafford next season. this is the man who has run the rescue operation from the start. thai bureaucrats rarely get this kind of reception but he pulled off a rescue the whole country had longed for. translation: today thais, team thailand, the government, the private sector and the media have been

supporting one another, while the international community has been providing us moral support. we accomplished a admission that was deemed by many as impossible. it was the first time in the world. everyone involved in this huge and complex mission was celebrating. these are engineers who had been diverting streams to lower water levels in the caves. people came out to cheer the ambulances as they brought the last of the boys into hospital, safe and sound. only a week ago, when they were found, trapped and exhausted, who would have believed this was possible. jonathan head, bbc news, chiang rai, northern thailand. elite divers came here to help get

the boys out of the cave. some said the boys out of the cave. some said the mission would never work, that it was too dangerous and complex. but on day one for boys were brought out safely, day two, for more and last night, confirmation that all 12 boys and the foot will coach were brought out not only alive but healthy. —— foot will coach. the bbc‘s lucy williamson has been speaking to some of the rescuers. their elation hidden by exhaustion, they arrived back from the mountain tonight with barely the words or energy to tell their story. these are the men who won againsta mountain, heroes from all walks of life, all corners of the world, united not in a single act of bravery but in dozens of them. earlier today, they were among the last divers to leave the mountain with the thai navy seals.

the cheers marking the end of a crisis that gripped the world and took a global team to solve. their organiser, a thai rock singer who drew donations from her followers. breathing tanks, regulators, and hiking equipment. i asked her what they would do tonight. celebrate. the whole country, maybe all around the world, celebrate for us, for the team, for the government, for everybody who has worked very hard. down the road, navy seals were celebrating. we have had to blur theirfaces. after weeks of holding its breath, tonight thailand is celebrating. they say faith can move mountains, thailand chose to put its faith in the men who venture inside them. the final four footballers and their

coach will be waking up on the eighth floor of the hospital behind me in eighth floor of the hospital behind meina eighth floor of the hospital behind me in a comfortable bed. they have not yet been reunited with their family. the first eight is have any been able to see their parents through glass, they are worried about potential infection so hopefully they will be able to see their parents and families very soon. they are very hungry. they have been given easy digestible food. you have to remember, they went to ten days without anything to eat at all. we are told they will be keptin eat at all. we are told they will be kept in hospitalfor eat at all. we are told they will be kept in hospital for another seven days. it is so great to hear they

are doing so well. they are not quite yet eating their favourite food. later we will be speaking to a nutritionist to explain why they need to be eating certain food and not others. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: the british man poisoned by the novichok nerve agent has regained consciousness, two days after his partner dawn sturgess, who was also poisoned, died. doctors treating charlie rowley in a hospital in southern england say there's been a small but significant improvement in his condition. police are investigating a possible link to the case of russians sergei and yulia skripal, who were poisoned with the same substance in nearby salisbury. also making news today: a suicide bomb attack has killed 12 people and injured another 30 in the pakistani city of peshawar. it happened at a political rally for an anti—taliban party. national elections in pakistan will be held in a fortnight. a political candidate is among the dead.

more than 150 people are now confirmed dead in the worst floods to hitjapan in three decades. rescuers have been searching for survivors after torrential rains devastated parts of western japan. thousands of people gathered outside buckingham palace to watch a flypast of aircraft for the centenary of the british royal air force. the crowds were treated to a spectacle in the sky, cheering for the colourful display, while the queen and other members of the royal family watched from the palace balcony. president trump has arrived in brussels, ahead of a nato summit where he'll try to persuade european nations to spend more money on defence. his calls have prompted a rebuke from the president of the european council, donald tusk, who told mr trump

to "value his allies" because he "didn't have that many". from brussels, our europe editor katya adler sent this report. the united states' self—appointed dealmaker—in—chief has landed on european soil. long—awaited but also kind of dreaded by his allies here, who wonder, after the iran deal and the climate change accord, will nato be the next trans—atlantic agreement to be trampled by president trump. his tweets this morning were not exactly encouraging. "nato numbers don't add up for us tax payers," he fumed. he is not wrong in terms of domestic military spending. president trump points to europeans as the worst offenders. the us always tops military spending charts. this year, seven european countries will hit nato's target of 2% of gdp. but a host of others come nowhere near,

including three of the eu's biggest economies — germany, italy and france. forget decades of peace and tra ns'atla ntic partnership. forget decades of peace and tra ns—atla ntic partnership. nato secretary general has honed in on cash and flattery, ahead of tomorrow's summit, in the hope of persuading donald trump of nato's merits. nato is a good deal for all 29 allies. i have thanked president trump for his leadership on defence spending and it is having a clear impact. all allies have stopped the cuts, all allies have started to increase and more allies spend 2% of gdp on defence. donald trump's ambivalance towards nato and his general unpredictability has europeans spooked and feeling exposed. they have relied on the us for security since the second world war but feel nothing can now be taken for granted, fearing russia,

cyber attacks and cross—border terror, the eu is now beginning modestly to boost its defence capability. today, some blunt european words for the us president. dear president trump, america does not have and will not have a better ally than europe. today europeans spend on defence many times more than russia and as much as china. dear america, appreciate your allies, after all, you do not have that many. at nato headquarters, a packed agenda awaits leaders tomorrow. but a show of unity is what really matters most and the question hanging heavy here, will donald trump deliver? we will have extensive coverage of

that. you're watching newsday, with sophie in thailand. i'm in london. coming up on the programme: france edges past its european neighbours belgium to secure a spot in the world cup final. we'll have all the reaction right here on newsday. 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: divers have rescued all 12 boys and their football coach from flooded caves in northern thailand, 17 days after they got trapped underground by heavy rains. and president donald trump has arrived in brussels ahead of a high—stakes nato meeting. welcome back to northern thailand. i

am just outside the hospital where the boys and their coach are being treated after being trapped in a cave for more than two weeks. the last of the boys to arrive here last night were in there for nearly 18 days. for the first nine days none of the boys had anything at all. a few months ago —— moments ago i spoke to a professor of nutrition. they would have been using some of their muscles stores, their protein stores around their muscles, in order to provide their brain with some glucos. and they would have also used quite a lot of their fat stores. and that's been used again for their brain. the brain of a human is huge, and it demands 20% of our energy requirements on a normal day. if you are resting,

like these boys were, it's probably using about 50% of the energy that's being generated by the body. but they are using their stores, and you'll be able to see that. they will look a bit skinny, and they will soon, maybe within a week to ten days, they'll be back to their normal weight. yeah, we've heard from sources inside the hospital that they are very hungry, some of them, as you can imagine, and lots of requests for their favourite foods. pork skin, pad krapao, apparently, chocolate spread on bread. we're told they've been given soft easily digestible foods at the moment. just talk us through how you go through reintroducing food into their diet after that time without anything at all? well, if you haven't had food for as long as a week, what's happening is all the enzymes

that are normally used in digestion have kind of wound back their production, so they're at very low levels. so it's important to reintroduce food, whether it's carbohydrates, or proteins orfats, to reintroduce them slowly. and, as you said, they should be easily digestible. so i think, under these conditions, they should have introduced some foods that were sugary, that may have been just glucose, because that's immediately absorbed. and they would have given small amounts, i think, of high—quality proteins and high—quality fats. hopefully the boys will get their pad krapao and chocolate spread soon. pad krapao and chocolate spread soon. they will be looking forward

to seeing their parents and families. the first eight to arrive have only been able to see their pa rents have only been able to see their parents through glass. health officials are very worried about potential infection. soon they will be able to see them in the flash, but even then, only while wearing protective clothing at a distance of two metres —— flesh. we are told they are going to be in hospitalfor at least seven days. much more from me in at least seven days. much more from meina at least seven days. much more from me in a little while. for now, back to you. they were also offered tickets to the world cup final, but for now they are too unwell to be moved. france have booked their place in the world cup final after beating belgium 1—0, in the first semi—final in st petersburg. samuel umtiti scored the only goal of the match, in the 51st minute. the bbc‘s olly foster is in moscow, where excitement is building as the first world cup finalist was chosen.

absolutely, and france heading here for that sunday final at the luzhniki stadium here in moscow. not the greatest game. i think we expected a few more goals, because remember, these two teams, france and belgium, they were the ones that knocked out argentina and brazil on their way to this semi—final. so many world stars in those two teams. theyjust seemed to sort of cancel each other out, both goalkeepers had to be very good and pulled off some smart saves, but it was just that umtiti header that deflected off maroune fellaini, it was, the belgian man, and past thibaut courtois. 1—0 to the french, they're into their third world cup final. they were winners in ‘98 and runners—up in 2006. didier deschamps, a winner as a captain in 2008, and he is the coach as well, so maybe he's on for a 20—year double. but of course, we'll wait to see who the french will face,

because we're looking forward with much interest to that second semi—final here at the luzhniki on wednesday. oh, absolutely, and in theory, olly, at this time tomorrow we should know who is going through and who will be meeting france. unless the penalty shootout is going on for a long time, we should know, yes, but let's not hope for that. england have been so assured. they had a penalty shootout against colombia but it's an inexperienced and young team but their manager gareth southgate has been repeating that mantra — "let's make our own history." but, my word, they're in theirfirst semi—finalfor 28 years. will they get to their first final at a world cup since 1966? croatia, fatigue might be an element there, because they've had to come through two penalty shootouts. they've never been to a world cup final, but they have a fantastic group of players there, who have been togetherfor a long time, know each other inside and out.

and, in luka modric and ivan rakitic at the heart of their midfield, they have a pairing there that are truly unplayable when they're at their best. but england just seem unfazed by everything that they've encountered here, and they have been making their own history. the world cup is dominating the international papers. other stories are being covered, including of course the amazing rescue operation in thailand. let's look at the straits times, which has much more about the 12 thai boys and their football coach. they had been stranded in a flooded cave for 17 days. the paper says this ordeal ended with ecstatic scenes of celebration as the last five were brought to safety. the south china morning post leads with a story of the widow of chinese nobel peace prize winner liu xiaobo. liu xia, his wife, has arrived in berlin after being allowed to leave china. she had been under house arrest since her husband won the prize in 2010. he died of liver cancer last year.

and the financial times features a story about facebook. the social media site is facing a $660,000 penalty from regulators after the uk's data protection watchdog accused them of breaking the law over how it safeguarded user information in the massive data leak to cambridge analytica. back now to the incredible rescue operation that saved 12 young boys and their football coach from a cave in thailand. one of the schools attended by several of the boys has not only been celebrating their safe return, but also their use of the english language. let's take a look. diver: how many of you?

child: 13. basically you never know when you will need english. my name is francois lamontagne, known as teacher frankie. i'm from canada. i teach computer in english at maesai prasitsart. when i saw the video of the british divers speaking english, and there was an answer from the kids. i thought, "this is great, this is extraordinary. diver: how many of you? 13. 13? brilliant! i was proud. i was really proud of those kids, that they could actually answer something in english. so that's why i came up with the idea of doing that sign. the situation with the cave

at tham luang created an opportunity for the kids to realise that, god, it's great if you can say a few words in english, you know? basically, you never know when you will need english. english is universal, you know? all these kids, they have to learn about english at one point, if they want to improve their career in the future. well, you know, we are in a remote area of thailand. we're not in bangkok. it's an awareness, it's opened their mind that there's something else in the world than thailand. my name is jack. my name is jack. my name is paul. what do you want to do when you go 7 what do you want to do when you go

ay what do you want to do when you go be a what do you want to do when you go up? may be a programmer's english guide. my goal as a teacher, if only one student really improves then gets a good job in the future, i will have done myjob. lam i am actually working on another sign for welcoming the kids. they are back in the sun, they are back in the light, from the darkness to the light is sort of the concept that i want to work with. the teacher of some of those boys just explaining how proud he is that not only have they been rescued at all so they were using english, in such absolutely horrific circumstances. such absolutely horrific ci rcu msta nces. lots such absolutely horrific circumstances. lots more from the next few days as we hear more from those children. hello again.

yesterday's fresher weather brought an end to a run of remarkable heat, really. somewhere in the uk over the last six days has seen temperatures into the low 30s, with the exception of yesterday's maximum temperature, which was at chivenor, in devon. we only got up to 26 degrees celsius. so for most of us, yes, there was much less humidity around. it did feel a good deal fresher than recent days. and it was a beautiful end to the day. this was the scene of the setting sun in lincolnshire. now, looking at the weather picture for the early risers today, we do have a weather front across western scotland that will threaten to bring some rain into northern ireland as well. otherwise, it's a dry start to the day, and a fresher feel to the weather, as well. now, this rain early wednesday morning is actually going to get a little bit heavier, particularly across south—west scotland. it might well just about scrape into antrim and down in northern ireland as well. but, although it turns heavier for a time during wednesday morning, it will then begin to ease off as the moisture gets spread out along the front, and probably bring in a risk of a few showers across wales and south—west england

as we head on into the afternoon. apart from that, really, it's a dry looking day, with the early day cloud tending to break up, with some spells of sunshine. again, it's not going to feel cold in the sunshine but continuing to feel pleasantly fresh really. temperatures reaching a high of around 25 degress celsius or so in the warmest spots. but underneath that thicker cloud, in scotland and northern ireland, generally high teens to low 20s here, but it will get warmer over the next few days. now, if you're planning to watch the football later on this evening, should be a fine end to the day if you are at some of these outdoor venues, and temperatures holding up quite reasonably, as well. and actually, should be a comfortable night's sleep ahead as well. now, we'll look at the weather charts on into thursday, and we've still got our wiggling weather front out to western areas of the uk, but it's a very weak affair. just really a zone of moisture out across the western side

of the country, that will provide the focus of a few very isolated showers. the broad picture, though, is a lot of dry weather underneath a ridge of high pressure. so, yeah, quite a bit of cloud around again with spells of sunshine coming through. probably more sunshine generally as we get towards the latter part of the week, and that will help boost the temperatures. so highs on thursday reaching around 27 degrees celsius in london, 25 in cardiff, then a 21 in edinburgh. but again, there will be a few isolated showers across these western areas. that theme continues on into friday. most of us having a dry end to the week, but there will be a few showers knocking around, before it turns warmer and sunnier into the weekend. that's your weather. this is bbc world news. i'm kasia madera. our top story: rescue workers and volunteers are celebrating the end of a daring mission to free 12 boys and their football coach. thejunior team had been trapped in flooded underground tunnels, before being found by british divers last week. donald trump has arrived in brussels for a nato summit. ahead of his visit, the us president hit out at his nato allies

forfailing to spend enough on defence, claims that were quickly refuted by eu leaders. and this story is trending on bbc.com. the actor george clooney has suffered minor injuries after a motorcycle crash in sardinia. the 57—year—old's scooter was hit by a car that failed to stop, causing him to slam into its windshield. the star was taken to hospital, but is now recovering at home. wishing him a speedy recovery. stay with bbc world news. our main story in the uk...