this is bbc world news today. our top stories... six men are found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants across the channel. they were on suitably clothed for the passage, it was very overcrowded and they seem to be in a great deal of distress. theresa may tells boris johnson great deal of distress. theresa may tells borisjohnson to apologise for a newspaper article in which he said muslim women who were burqa look like bank robbers. the courtiers that the england cricketer pen strokes was not acting in self defence but with revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind we follow a n retaliation or punishment in mind we follow an italian journalist who was ca ptu red follow an italian journalist who was captured by the so—called islamic state as he heads back to rack. he confronts the men he accuses. and water everywhere, the scilly isles

have still managed to run out as the heatwave takes its toll. six men have been found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants across the english channel. the old bailey heard that one vessel was so overcrowded, it started to sink and those on board had to be rescued. the national crime agency described the plot as "staggeringly reckless," and said the men had been risking lives for profit. two other defendants were found not guilty. frankie mccamley has the story. around a mile and a half off the coast of kent in the pitch black, a boat designed for six people carrying 20 and taking on water quickly. 18 albanian migrants on board. each had paid £5,500

for the crossing. all desperate to be rescued. the only two on board with life jackets were robert stewart and mark stribling both pleading guilty and being convicted of people smuggling two years ago. today these six men from the same gang found guilty of conspiring to smuggle people across the channel. this is an excellent result for national crime agency. we're very pleased with the result. it sends a clear message to other crime groups who are thinking about facilitating people of the english channel by this dangerous method that we will look to identify you and look to prosecute you. it was what officers found next to this slipway in dymchurch, kent, that launched the whole investigation. one abandoned boat and after making initial enquiries they realised that that was part of a much bigger operation. police covertly film another vote in

ramsgate being prepared for a trip to france. france has weighed on the phone who was cleared of all charges calls to save the water is too dangerous to travel. it was that choppy out there, it nearly turned over. the pair struggled to get the gps system to work. we are both trying. he said they deliberately ran out of fuel. yet another failed trip for the gang meant they had to be more creative. three members meet to buy a jet ski to do the job instead. police arrest them soon afterwards, there are plans were so dangerous they had to be stopped. it was a reckless operation, making money out of those whose only hope was for a better life. sentencing will take place next month. and we'll find out how this story ——

and many others —— are covered in tomorrow's front pages (tx gfx) at 10:45 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are jim waterson, who's the media editor at the guardian, and jack blanchard, who's editor of the politico london playbook. the prime minister has said borisjohnson should apologise for comments he made in a newspaper column yesterday, in which he said muslim women wearing the burqa looked like bank robbers. the former foreign secretary had already faced demands from the conservative party chairman, brandon lewis, to say sorry for the article, which compared women who wore the veil to letterboxes. speaking in edinburgh, theresa may said his comments were wrong and that he had no business telling women how to dress. 0ur political correspondent jessica parker is in westminster for us tonight. a little more about what boris johnson said and how the prime minister has reacted. boris johnson,

the former foreign secretary was writing in the daily telegraph having returned to his column there and he was discussing how he is against the idea of a total ban of the whole face veil in public places. that has been brought in in denmark and he said he is against that and he thinks it is not the answer, however, as you mentioned, he was quite strong in his language in terms of what he thinks of the burqa or at the niqab saying that women who wear it luke wright letterboxes and bank robbers. that prompted fury from a number of people, labour m p ‘s labelled him as islamophobic and a number of muslim group said he was pandering to the far right and brandon lewis said that boris johnson to the far right and brandon lewis said that borisjohnson should apologise and speaking this evening, the prime minister said she agreed. first of all, i believe and the government believes that the question of how a woman should dress isa

question of how a woman should dress is a matter for a woman's individual choice. nobody should be trying to tell a woman how to dress. as we discussed these issues, it is imperative that everybody is careful of the language that they use. it is very clear that the language that borisjohnson used to very clear that the language that boris johnson used to describe the appearance of people has caused offe nce. appearance of people has caused offence. it is not language i would have used. i think it was wrong to have used. i think it was wrong to have used. i think it was wrong to have use that language and i agree with brandon lewis. should action be taken against him? i think boris johnson used language in describing appearance that caused offence, it was wrong, he should not abuse that language. 0n the key issue about women's ability to where it the burqa if they choose to do so, that should be a matter for a woman to choose. i guess the question now is will borisjohnson apologise? earlier today, a source close to him said he would not be apologising, but it was ridiculous to expect him to do so, because difficult issues like this have to be addressed and

disgust. i suppose one of the areas of debate has been whether the language he used was the right way to go about that discussion. critics say absolutely not but some allies say, he has a right to discuss issues in a full and frank way in his daily telegraph column, but theresa mayjoining calls now for a borisjohnson to apologise and looks at the moment like as not going to. he is now a backbench mp, and he will not necessarily be forced to, he does not have cabinet responsibilities, but some people have said, being the former —— including baroness warsi says if he does not apologise, there should be disciplinary action. thank you. the prime minister is in edinburgh this evening, where's she's been holding talks with scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon, on the uk's brexit plans. 0ur correspondent glenn campbell is in edinburgh.

what has gone on so far? theresa may and nicola sturgeon have had their discussions on brexit in advance of those talks. the first minister said that she wanted theresa may to rule out a no—deal brexit and to roll out what she called a blind brexit, the idea that we leave on agreed terms of departure but without having nailed down the broad terms for the future trading relationship. both of those outcomes, nicola sturgeon thinks would be economically damaging. the prime minister is not ina damaging. the prime minister is not in a position to give guarantees and she certainly did not do so in her meeting with the first minister, because we know that the eu has already criticised the uk government's current proposals on brexit, the plan that was agreed at chequers by the cabinet and we do not yet know if the prime minister's

effo rts not yet know if the prime minister's efforts to reach eu leaders directly, including holding talks last friday with emmanuel macron will lead to some sort of breakthrough, so the negotiations continue. theresa may has spoken a short time ago about the discussions and is trying to turn the tables a bit on nicola sturgeon and suggested that the scottish government should be weighing in behind the chequers plan, rather than, in be weighing in behind the chequers plan, ratherthan, in herwords, sowing division. given that nicola sturgeon is unhappy, how much realistically by way of pressure could you put on the prime minister to get anything changed that might be of more appeal to the first minister of scotland ?|j be of more appeal to the first minister of scotland? i don't think nicola sturgeon will get her way. she opposes brexit, if it is going to happen, she thinks that the prime minister's plan b should be to stay in the customs union and in the single market and that that should

become the uk government approach to brexit. that has already been ruled out. i think in any event nicola sturgeon and the scottish government will be disappointed on brexit. they think that they are in the business of damage limitation and they can make their voices heard but ultimately the negotiations are conducted between the uk government and the eu through the chief negotiator michel barnier. what nicola sturgeon is still weighing up and is expected to come back to this scotland's parliament on in the autumn once the outcome of these brexit talks become a bit clearer is whether or not she should push for the power to hold another referendum on scottish independence. that is a big call for her to make later year. thank you. a seven year old boy has died in a house fire in south east london, which police are now treating as murder. the body ofjoel urhie was found after the blaze in deptford in the early hours this morning.

his mother and sister escaped by jumping out of a first floor window, and are being treated in hospital. jenny kumah reports. the charred remains of a family home which was engulfed by flames in the early hours of the morning. it took the life of seven—year—old joel urhie. his family say he dreamed of becoming a fireman. today, investigators are picking their way through the evidence of what police believe is a suspected arson attack. i would directly appeal to anybody who was in the area or saw anything suspicious at around 3:30am or who has any information about who was responsible for starting the fire to contact the police immediately. his father, who moved out of the family home five years ago, visited the scene earlier. it is terrible. the situation is difficult right now. the alarm was raised at around three in the morning, neighbours were woken by the unfolding horror.

initially, i got woken up to the screaming of, i think, the mum or one of the women. my flatmates are safe, ijust don't... i can't even imagine what they are going to go through now. around 35 firefighters tackled the blaze. before they had arrived, joel's mother and stepsister jumped joel's mother and sister jumped from the first floor. they were taken to hospital, their injuries are said to be non—life—threatening. police described joel as an innocent boy who lost his life in what should have been the safest place for him. jenny kumah, bbc news. a court has heard claims that the england cricketer ben stokes, mocked and exaggerated the mannerisms of a gay man, and became abusive towards a bouncer, shortly before allegedly getting involved in a fight at a nightclub. he and two other men, deny a charge of affray, in bristol last september. our sports editor dan roan reports. he should have been training with his england team—mates today

for this week's test match at lord's, instead, ben stokes was back in court. also here, bristol bouncer andrew cunningham, a witness to the events leading up to the brawl at the centre of the case. stokes is accused of losing control and attacking two local men, ryan hale and ryan ali, in the early hours of september 25 last year, all three denying a charge of affray. head doorman at the mbargo nightclub, cunningham said that earlier, ben stokes had been spiteful, angry and a bully, after he refused the cricketer and his england team—mate, alex hales, re—entry to the venue. the court was shown this cctv footage. cunningham claimed ben stokes, who he described as the ginger one, insulted his teeth and prominent tattoos, and then mocked two gay men, making camp gestures and throwing a cigarette butt at one of them. defence barrister gordon cole qc suggested that cunningham, who said he did not like cricket, had been aggressive towards ben stokes and alex hales.

definitely not, said the doorman. cole said the cricketers had been laughing with the two gay men about stokes's gold encrusted shoes, suggesting it was just playful banter. the players were laughing at them, not with them, insisted cunningham. the court heard from then local resident, max wilson, who filmed the fight on his mobile phone. the men, he said, were clearly drunk and sounded like football hooligans. one of the investigating police officers then told the court the footage showed both hale and ryan ali holding bottles and cricketer alex hales, who was interviewed under caution, but not arrested, deliberately stamping on ryan ali, before kicking him in the head. stokes is one of world cricket's highest profile talents, helping england beat india last week. but his team will have to make do without him in the second test. the trial continues. dan roan, bbc news, bristol. the headlines on bbc news...

six men are found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants in speed boats across the english channel theresa may has backed calls for borisjohnson to apologise for his comments about muslim women who wear burkas a court hears that england cricketer ben stokes — on trial for affray — was not acting in self—defence — but with revenge, retaliation, or punishment in mind. donald trump has warned anyone trading with iran that they will not be able to do business in america, following his re—imposition of sanctions on the country over tehran‘s nuclear programme. in a defiant response, the european union promised to protect companies trading with iran and ministers here said firms can use eu law to protect themselves from american penalties. for more lets talk to mahdi ghodsi. he's an economist at the vienna institute for international economic studies and joins us by webcam from the austrian capital. good evening. thank you forjoining

us. good evening. thank you forjoining us. first of all, the eu response so far. what do you make of this preparedness to apparently resist the american moves at this stage? good evening. well, actually, this act of the european union is in support, they want to keep iran and its commitment so that the iranian activity still remains peaceful. the issueis activity still remains peaceful. the issue is that this new regulation by the eu was first introduced in 1996 and was not enacted because there was a solution, there was a political solution. now it is different... no, i am sorry, i do

apologise, but the line, we started so apologise, but the line, we started so well and then we lost the sound. we might try and put that right and come back to you. forgive me for moving on. we will try and rectify that situation in the next little while. more than 105 people have now died, following sunday's powerful earthquake that hit an indonesian island, and two days on, survivors are still being found. the 6.9—magnitude quake was the second to hit the area injust over a week. me—hulika sit—epu reports from lombok. it's 48 hours after the earthquake hit lombok. a man is pulled out of the collapsed mosque. and a search for survivors continues. nearby, a 23—year—old woman is rescued after

being trapped beneath a flattened convenience store. translation: they thought they smelt dead bodies, but when we opened up an access point, it was just rotten eggs. then we heard a voice. the ones that survived have been taken to the nearest hospital which has also been damaged by the earthquake. patients are being treated in tents outdoors, mostly suffering from broken bones. translation: there are too many patients. we have to prioritise who among them need the most help. so, for patients that can bear the pain, we put them on hold. we handle those who are in emergencies first. on the gili islands, many continue to wait to be ta ken to safety, but now thousands have been able to leave. it was really scary.

there were so many people injured, but nobody came to the island. so maybe we were there for, like, 12 hours before a boat came or anybody came. since sunday's earthquake, hundreds of after—shocks have been felt in the area, with more expected. for the rescue crews it means treacherous conditions, as they continue their search for survivors. mehulika sitepu, bbc news, lombok. to discuss the relief effort i'm joined from oxford by nigel timmins, humanitarian director at oxfam. good evening. what help is oxfam able to help? we are working closely with a local charity who are based there and have been working there a long time and know the community and authorities well. we have been supporting them to distribute water and we have brought in some water cleaning equipment trying to get water to all these people who have been displaced and who are sleeping

rough in shelters. we have been distributing clothes, people have lost things in their houses and also tarpaulin to give people some immediate shelter in these first few days when people are still scared to go back into their houses. there was a big 6.4 magnitude earthquake last week and we have had another big earthquake this week and there are ongoing after—shocks and in some parts of the island, more than 50% of houses are structurally unsound and a lot of people are living in the open and we are trying to provide the basics. that means that temporary accommodation is needed at the moment. yes, you can understand why people would not want to return home but they do not want to move far away and getting access in many areas is challenging. it has impacted a wide area, 600,000 people overall i thought to have been affected. some bridges have been taken out of which means getting heavy machinery in is difficult and the army have brought in helicopters

and redirecting ships. getting access two areas is challenging. how much do you work with other partner organisations and local government to try and make this whole process run as smoothly as possible? allard, wherever we can we would rather support local organisations rather than bringing in outside people. in a country which experiences a lot of natural disasters, a lot of work and time and energy and money has been invested in activities there, so we are part of a hub which kicked into action last week after the first earthquake and is now present on the ground and responding. a word about the medium and longer term. we are talking about the immediate aftermath of this earthquake but what do you look to do in a few weeks' time to continue to help? there is the sequencing, the life—saving and you heard in your piece there are about people being pulled out of buildings and rescued

and they are meeting basic needs. then you move into ensuring that people have more privacy in the places they stay, greater comfort, getting back into the normal routines of life, injuring kits have access to schools, but quickly you need to move into livelihoods, people need to make an income, people need to make an income, people need to get back to work so they can make money and in the longer term, the reconstruction and rebuilding phase. thank you for coming on. now we return to iran. the other signatories to that deal in place, we can speak again we hope to our guest. he's an economist at the vienna institute for international economic studies and joins us by webcam from the austrian capital. let us hope it works better at this time. you were in the middle of discussing this interesting

difference that exists between the eu attitude and the american attitude and how that is going to play out. how do you see that aspect? i think the eu is still trying to support the deal so that iran stays committed to its commitments in the deal. and... the regulation that the eu implemented and enforced today, it means that the eu is still wants to protect the domestic companies that are doing trade or investment with iran, but it is going to be a difficult task, because the story would go like this, if one multinational enterprise that is operating in the eu and is trying to make any activity with iran, it is possible that the us government will make a penalty against the company. it is

possible that the penalty could be bad for the company or the company could be reimbursed for that then —— for that penalty, but it will be difficult, because the penalties or the reimbursement should come from the reimbursement should come from the seas of american assets that will happen and that will be directed by the court in one of the european union single member states. that will be a difficult task and if in addition to that, the european companies cannot trade with the american economy any more, then the european union could take it to the wto. this will make it very difficult for the decision of multinational enterprises in the eu, because they are trying to maximise their profits and it is very difficult to make so much time for

the decision of the court or lose something for the penalty or lose the american market. you hint at all the american market. you hint at all the various complications that exist there, i wanted to explore with you as well, not just there, i wanted to explore with you as well, notjust the immediate impact that this will have in iran, but in two or three months' time, a second wave of sanctions are due to come into effect as well. by november or december time, how will iran look economically, do you think? it is difficult to guess that. what ever we have been saying since january is that iran went into a kind of panic in its own domestic economy and its domestic market and its currency depreciate so much in january and then after march. already iran feels the pain before the sanctions were imposed yesterday. in that case, iran is in defensive mode and it means right

now there is an economic war between iran and the us and it means it will be very complicated in iran and —— and iran is trying to use all the measures it has, like economic measures, changing its cabinet and then will be possible for iran to somehow adjust its currency, adjust its market, it will be difficult, because it is difficult for iran to sell its oil in november after the new sanctions are imposed, especially to some european companies who are trying to do business with the us as well. it is still difficult, but i do not see a very good economic consequence in the next few months for iran. it might have some short—term effects. we must leave it there and we appreciate your patience and second time around it worked a lot better. thank you very much indeed. the islamic state group s kidnapping and murder ofjournalists

and aid workers brought the group s depravity and brutality to the world s attention. ricardo vilanova, a spanish photographer, was one of their captives. he says that his tormentors were a group of four british jihadists, dubbed the beatles ” by their captives. the gang are thought to have tortured and murdered as many as 27 people. in this exclusive report, mr vilanova returns to syria with our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville to find the former prisons where he was held, and the men he accuses of keeping him captive. on the river euphrates, photojournalist ricardo vilanova is on a personal assignment. war, he says, brings out the best of us. and the worst. in raqqa, he experienced both. under kurdish escort, he's come to find his formerjail. and his formerjailers. an is gang of british

jihadists, known to their prisoners as the beatles. this is the right place but we don't know exactly because maybe the house is there... ricardo was held captive for eight months. he and his british, french and american cell—mates were moved regularly to prevent any western rescue attempts. once an is stronghold, this ground now belongs to the kurds. the house was destroyed by a coalition air strike. this is the place. this was the view that ricardo saw, a rare glimpse of sunlight from underneath his blindfold. we are here in the room and we used to sleep there and we had the toilet there. on the second floor. now ricardo is free to go where he wants. the cells under raqqa's stadium are a reminder that is brutalised a population. a new sadism was born

here in this is prison. he was held nearby. ricardo heard the screams of the tortured and the dying on a daily basis. yeah, we spent three months here in a cell like that, three people. eventually, his government secured his freedom. ransoms were paid. then, he went back to work. but his task here is not complete. here are the men suspected of imprisoning him. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh are accused of torturing and killing 27 hostages. ricardo wants to confront them. he says they are cowards who fled the battlefield. they refuse to answer his

questions and quickly bring the interview to a halt. before he leaves, he takes a final picture. but they want to shut him out. afterwards, he gave me his reaction to the meeting. translation: i wanted to see the suspects and look them in the face, that's it. the first thing i thought when i saw them was gaddafi or saddam. they were able to torture and murder but when the moment arrived, they handed themselves in order to survive. i think that's despicable. should they face the death penalty? translation: no, i don't believe in the death penalty. but i think they should spend the rest of their lives in prison. and in the same conditions they kept their hostages. his tormentors are

now dead or injail. ricardo vilanova had the strength and the opportunity to survive. but more than that, he has had the courage to return here so that these dark horrors won't be forgotten. quentin somerville, bbc news, raqqa. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. things have been turning fresher in recent days from the north and west but we held into heat and humidity in the south. things turn cooler and fresher for all of in the south. things turn cooler and fresherfor all of us in in the south. things turn cooler and fresher for all of us in the next few days with some showers around. some showers run this evening in

kent, essex and norfolk, some of them quite heavy. there could be some lying water first thing on wednesday morning. through the day on wednesday as the fresh air moves in from the west things being very different in sudden and eastern areas. temperatures around 17, 23 degrees. for some of us 10 degrees cooler than on tuesday. some more rain across parts of the of england on thursday but dry in between. good night. —— parts of the south east of england. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. six men are found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants in speed boats across the english channel — they were caught after one overcrowded boat carrying at least 18 people ran out of fuel. theresa may has backed calls

for borisjohnson to apologise for his comments about muslim women who wear burkas, remarks which she said "clearly caused offence". police say they're treating the death of a seven—year—old boy who died in a fire at his home in south london as murder. a court hears that england cricketer ben stokes — on trial for affray — was not acting in self—defence — but with revenge, retaliation, or punishment in mind. donald trump has issued a strong warning to anyone trading with iran, following his re—imposition of sanctions on the country. tens of thousands of pupils in scotland have been receiving crucial exam results today. more than 135,000 have been finding out how they did in national 4 and 5s, highers and advanced highers. across the country, almost 77 percent of those taking highers passed at grade a to c, a slight fall on last year, as our scotland correspondent catrina renton reports.

the anticipation and trepidation. the envelopes under the headteacher‘s arm, as pupils wait nervously in the library for the moment of truth. ladies and gentlemen, the moment has arrived. they laugh. i got my five as, so i'm really... unbelievable. . . i'm just. .. i actually can't say how happy i am. i hardly left the house during study leave, just so much work goes into five highers, it's really good to see. it wasn't just by traditional envelope. douglas got his results by text. that's not bad at all. that's all right, yeah. yeah? yeah! he laughs. the students here have sat a range of exams including highers that are often used for university entry and national 5 qualifications, usually sat the year before. but whatever the outcome, it's not

just these results that count. there's a huge focus is now in terms of the skills that young people possess for leaving school and moving into society. that's much more important to us than the grades that come on a certificate. yes, they are important, yes they count, but there are lots of other opportunities there that matterjust as much. the pass rate for highers in this school this year is 83.8%. the national pass rate has worked out at 76.8%, that's down slightly on 77% from the year before. that slight fall has led opposition parties to accuse the scottish parliament of complacency. some will have got excellent results, others maybe have not done quite so well. but for anyone who needs help, there's plenty out there. the one thing i would say to young people is if they didn't get the results they were hoping for, there are plenty of opportunities, different routes to follow, and to make sure they take that advice and take their time to think how best to advance with those

different opportunities. an emotional day for everyone here, but now it's time to go home and look to the future. catriona renton, bbc news, cumbernauld. the increase in life expectancy in the uk has stalled in recent years, and the slowdown is one of the worst, of the world's leading economies. the office for national statistics says women have been particularly badly hit. between 2005 and 2010, the increase in life expectancy per year was 12.9 weeks for women, and 17.3 weeks for men. but the next six years saw the figures fall to 1.2 weeks for women, and 4.2 weeks for men. our health editor, hugh pym, has been looking at the data. we are living longer, but the speed at which life spans increase in each generation is slowing. that's the main message of a new report that looks at life expectancy

across a range of wealthy nations. medical advances have helped more people to live longer with healthier lives and enjoy their retirement years. but one of the biggest slowdowns in the rate of increase has been in the uk. i think there's too many fast foods that people eat now. we always had plain meat and vegetables. diabetes is a big problem in this country at the moment. possibly lack of exercise. i'm very surprised, yes. i thought in this generation people were starting to live longer. what do the figures actually show? male and female life expectancy at birth rose consistently in the uk from the early 1980s until 2011, but from then the rate of increase slowed right down. in effect, stalling atjust over 79 for men and just under 83 for women. how does that compare with other countries?

here is the trend for female life expectancy at birth. first for the uk, which started in the middle of the pack. here's the czech republic, which has nearly caught up from a lower start. japan and spain are among those pulling away from the uk. is there a uk factor which might explain it? some argue it is partly down to austerity policies including cuts in social care in england. when you cut services, when you cut adult social workers coming and checking on old people, when you cut meals on wheels, bus services, the nhs, then it has an effect on health. others argue more research is needed on people's lifestyles and general health issues. it's far too simplistic to blame austerities for these changes. we have to look more widely, we have to look at our lifestyle, the way we become more

obese, the way we eat unhealthy food. we need to look at housing, public health, immunisation. there are different views on what's happening with life expectancy, but most would agree a deeper debate is needed on why the uk seems to be running against the tide. to discuss the statistics, i'm joined by nick stripe, head of life events at the office for national statistics. good evening. statistically how significant is what you are saying today? well but we have produced today? well but we have produced today has shown a statistically significant slowing down of the rate of improvement in mortality rate across the uk with a clear break punt around 2010. and that is

markedly worse than most other comparable countries? it has been for the past six years, yes. it is worth pointing out that for the previous six years the rate of improvement of life expectancy in the uk was markedly better than most of those countries. so to some degree of two about 2010 improvements in life expectancy meant that we were starting to rise up meant that we were starting to rise up the rankings whereas the decline since then means that with gone back to where we where. and there's also this difference between the way women and men come out figures? that is right, the rate of slowdown has been greater in the uk for women so that has gone down to just one additional week per year of life expectancy since 2011 for women, the lowest rate of improvement across

those 20 countries we looked at. and that has been an increase of four weeks in life expectancy every year that has gone by, the second lowest rate for men. we're on a par the usa which shares a spot with as for those measures. your business is the figures rather than the cause but in the light of what you found out and the light of what you found out and the kind of commentary we heard today what other questions you would like to get answers to as to this might be happening? there is a complex picture i suspect sitting beneath why this might be happening. to some degree if we look at different countries some countries go through periods where life expectancy goes up faster than other times andjapan expectancy goes up faster than other times and japan is a great example. it has the highest life expect for females by far and one of the highest for males but about ten yea rs highest for males but about ten years ago those rates did not find very much. they climbed much higher

in the last few years sober trends change over time of the kind of things i would be wanting to look at what kind of things are happening now or in the last few years that might be having an effect. to help a nswer might be having an effect. to help answer that we can look at statistics on the economy and society but also some of the cohort, the population cohorts coming through to old age now, what kind of lifestyles they played in the past, their lifestyle now, how much exercise they get, what kind of things they are eating and walk working patterns that had in the past. maybe they have worked in heavy industry in the past so there could be some cohort effect that could be some cohort effect that could have an impact as well. and to this desk in government does the report land on i wonder? report is produced independently and published and made available to everyone across the country on the same day.

we work closely with other government agencies on some of the statistics so for example public health england, we have a close relationship with them in looking at some of the issues around mortality and measuring those trends. thank you very much. let's get more now on sunday's deadly earthquake on the indonesian island of lombok. rescue workers are continuing to search ruined buildings for survivors. 100 people are believed to have been killed. earlier i spoke to roland inglis, who was on holiday on the gili island with his family when the earthquake struck. cycling back from dinner, the whole earth was just moving underneath us on our cycles. and the lights went off so ijumped off my bike, it was complete darkness. i grabbed my wife, but my three boys were cycling about 50 yards ahead of us. and we just hurried

to try and find them. my eldest son jake managed to get his iphone torch on and my youngest, 11—year—old gus, was pushed off his bike to get out of the way of falling debris from a building by one of the locals. so the main thing was just really getting with the family and finding the boys and being safe together. we were then ushered into a field where some locals and people were going, which just by chance happened to be the highest part of a very flat island. and at that point the big fear after an earthquake just from watching movies and from a little bit of knowledge on earthquakes was to get up high, just get away from any potential tsunami risk. there was a tsunami warning that was actually being put out so my three boys, my wife and i decided to climb a large tree, we climbed about 15 feet up. and then spent the next four hours up there. four hours up this tree? goodness. yes, it was pretty scary. the after—shocks then came, the main shock was seven on the scale. and the after—shock while we were up

the tree was i think 5.4 on the richter scale. this big tree was just shaking like mad, it was very scary. there were others up the tree, a lombok gentleman and his wife and their baby as well. and it was only after four hours some of the locals warned us of snakes and biting ants up the tree, that we thought at that point we should come down. but there were lots and lots of after tremors and then the locals were very generous and shared blankets and water with us. and we spent the rest of the evening in fields where a lot of other people gathered. there was lots of panic and lots of people running around panicking. i know you have sent us some photographs including one of the villa that you had been staying in. i think we can show that now because obviously eventually you went back. we're showing that now. and discovered how much damage had been done? yes, at day light the next morning we felt secure enough to walk back to the villa that we were supposed

to be staying in. and you know, there was lots of devastation on the way but the villa was completely collapsed as you can probably see from the photographs and one of the locals helped us just retrieve passports and the essentials and then we made to just try and get out of the island. you know, if fate that happened sort of 20 minutes later, i think you can see from the photos, some of the beds were covered in air conditioning units, pieces of masonry, it would have been a very different story. and how did you get to lombok in the end? so we made our way back to the harbour very quickly, at sunrise. and we waited a long time. the locals a lot of them, understandably, had headed to lombok that evening and taken a lot of the boats with them. which is understandable. then the few boats that did come were getting loaded up with just locals and tourists were not allowed to get on them. and my wife contacted the british consulate in london who did say they would have to wait until the office opened at nine

o'clock later that morning in bali. but i think we stressed that they needed to be an evacuation and it was 30 people deep on the shore lines of the island that we were on. and eventually we got on boat and paid and got back to lombok. a remarkable story there. it's not unusual for politicians to publish books during their careers but gerry adams has gone one step further — by announcing he is to bring out a cookery book. it will detail some of the best—kept secrets of the 1998 peace process and is expected to be out before christmas. it will be entitled "the negotiators' cook book." i'm joined by writer and broadcasterjude collins, who interviewed the former sinn f in leader yesterday evening at a festival in belfast in which adams revealed his plans. good evening. i'm bound to ask why

he is doing this? i'm sure that his publishers are rubbing their hands with delight that this single item which lasted two minutes in the interview is the one that all the media are reporting on. we covered a great deal of other ground are much more serious ground, but they seem to have focused on this. i suppose probably because he is a writer, he has written 15 books already, some of them fiction. he has a book of short stories which was published in the early 1990s which i think actually is very good. so it is not something new for him and i guess it isa something new for him and i guess it is a fact that the sinn fein people during the negotiations did have their own people bring in food, i think maybe preprepared, i'm not certain, and give it to the people doing the negotiating when they needed it. and i suppose his

publisher thought it was a good idea for a book especially in the run—up to christmas. as you say he is a writer but also a politician so he does not casually mentioned the prospect of a cook book without maybe there being a little bit more to it. what is in the timing or perhaps the attempt to put out a new image, is that part of this? well you are the second person in the media that said this to me. i was talking to gerry adams about his books last night in the interview and if you go back to the earliest writing that he did. cage 11 it is called, when he sneaked out columns to be published in the republican news, much of them described life in the internment camps which were pretty grim but almost all of them have some humour in them, certainly full throated humour so this comic

he has been serious and now starting to lighten up his image but that is not quite the truth if you look at what he said in other times.|j understand that, before but crosses my mind that he clearly remains a divisive figure in some people would look at the prospect of a cook book and frankly would not touch it.|j guess so and likewise a lot of people would be intrigued by it and i'm sure many of his day footballers would buy it without question. it is certainly a novel idea, we had about cookbooks of all kinds but i think not one involving food that was suitable and i suppose you could have suitable food for people negotiating with duplicitous british secretaries of state and devious civil servants i suppose just as you have certain kinds of food going, suitable for going on a marathon. so

i guess you might use it simply because you like the food or otherwise if you are a negotiator. thank you for coming on. there's a warning from the rnli this summer, aimed at young men enjoying themselves at the beach. ten times more men died on the uk coast than women last year, with many men described as ‘risk takers,‘ who end up getting into difficulty on the water. the rnli says young men need to be more safety conscious. jon kay reports. when the sun is out and you are having fun, it is easy to forget the dangers. he was such a fun boy. he was loving, he was a friend to everyone. tracy's son anthony grew up here in cornwall, but he still underestimated the power of the sea. he drowned at the age of 23.

it is still happening and ijust do not want another mother to go through or feel what i feel everyday and not having my son with me. today's figures from the rnli reveal that 90% of the people in seaside accidents are male. with men in their 20s the most vulnerable group. so this new social media campaign is directed at them, urging them to stay calm and to try and float on their backs if they get into trouble. they take more risks, sometimes there is a case, you know, of underestimating risk and eventually overestimating their abilities and, you know, there is a lot of peer pressure and bravado in that demographic, so all those things are, you know, weighted against you and i think it is why those figures are so high. on newquay‘s beach this afternoon, many acknowledged that awareness of sea safety can be poor, especially among holiday—makers. i just feel like some people

underestimate how strong and powerful the ocean is. i don't know, how easy it is to get lost. there is a rip current out there and without knowing it, you can easily end up down the other end, on the rocks. the timing of this campaign is deliberate, there are more seaside fatalities in august than in any other month of the year. jon kay, bbc news, cornwall. europe's scorching heatwave has killed nine people in a week in spain, and continues to kindle wildfires throughout the iberian peninsular. in portugal a ferocious blaze is encircling an algarve resort town. our europe reporter gavin lee reports from brussels. the clearest images yet of the devastation caused by five days of continuing wildfires in portugal. more than a thousand firefighters have been trying to bring it under control as the flames spread towards the town of monchique.

this british couple are among the hundreds whose homes are threatened. it's very scary at the moment. and you feel for the guys that are trying to help, to protect us. because 90% are volunteers, aren't they? and they are amazing, absolutely amazing. wildfires have also broken out in spain's valencia region, with 2500 people evacuated from their homes. and there are weather warnings in place across much of the country. and in france, too, where temperatures have come close to record levels, peaking at 38 celsius in paris today. across swiss lakes and rivers authority say the heatwave has had a catastrophic effect on fish populations, with water temperatures reaching 27 degrees, killing thousands of freshwater fish. the army has taken emergency water to cattle in the mountains. storms in the west of the country have led to flash flooding. this continuous intense heat has been felt across europe,

with record high temperatures as far north as finland. weather forecasters predict these temperatures will cool over the next 24 hours across most of the continent, with storms to follow. and here in brussels, a place known for its stereotypically grey weather, suddenly people have become used to living life in the sun. this morning i had a choice, staying in my hotel bed with the nc on, or going out. i made a choice, so we are dying, we're literally dying. but i have to enjoy my holidays, even if! this weather is not normal, and we don't have fresh air and we have to drink a lot. we like it, but on the other side we don't like it because we can't support it. in poland, germany, and here in croatia, the summer heat is still to peek over the next few days. but lower temperatures and some

respite to the incessant heat is predicted for the rest of the month. gavin lee, bbc news, brussels. a critical shortage of water is forcing urgent measures to be brought in to the isles of scilly. supplies are exceptionally low. freshwater boreholes on st mary's are said to be at an historic low, and there are fears they could become contaminated by seawater, leaving them unusable for a generation. people are being asked to take very short showers, not water gardens, and only flush when necessary. tamsin melville reports. water everywhere but supplies of drinking water or low. the population here almost tripled in the summer. all kinds of tips are doing the rounds. have a navy shower, that is if you get in the shower, that is if you get in the shower and turn it on and off. soap yourself down and turn the shower on. rinse and get out. they've asked us to make sure that

none of the taps are left running after the shower and that all of the toilets down there, there is only one tap working. actually that is quite different, there was kind of a massive queue to wash your hands after you had gone to the toilet. you have been coming here for 25 years you say, have you known anything like this? never, never. i have been coming here since i was five. and we have never known the water situation to be so bad. a pipe that brings in sea water to be desalinated only provides about a third of the water st mary's uses. the rest comes from ground water access from boreholes and these are at an historical critical low. we can see how dry the ground looks here and tucked away in the corner of this field is one of five boreholes across the island. listen closely and you can hear that water pumping. if they go too low, then there's also the issue in terms

of sea water penetration. and once that happens and that ground water source is contaminated, and if that could be contaminated, it is contaminated for generations. businesses are doing their bit. here the dishwasher is only on once a day and there is bottled water not tap for customers. it is unusual at the moment and waking us up again to the fact that water resources are precious and can be depleted quite quickly with the sort of weather we have had this season. the council has an emergency plan which would involve shipping water here and issuing rations. but it says clearly that is something it wants to avoid. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. we have held onto the heat and humidity in the south and east but things turned cooler and fresher for eve ryo ne things turned cooler and fresher for everyone in the next few days. we're

seeing shower is focused on the south east of england this evening. some of the fairly happy. through the day on wednesday things feel different across southern and eastern areas. some scattered showers further north and west. for some 10 degrees cooler than tuesday. on thursday some more rain across parts of the south east of england. but dry in between. goodbye. this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker.

the headlines at 8pm. theresa may tells borisjohnson to apologise, for a newspaper article in which he said that muslim women who wear burqas, look like bank robbers. i think boris johnson i think borisjohnson used language in describing people's appearance thatis in describing people's appearance that is obvious the caused offence. it was the wrong way which use, he should not have used it. six men are found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants in speed boats across the english channel. a court hears that england cricketer ben stokes — on trial for affray — was not acting in self—defence — but with revenge, retaliation, or punishment in mind. also coming up. we follow a spanish journalist, who was held hostage by the so—called islamic state, as he returns to syria he returns to the cells in raqqa where he and other men were held by militants, and confronts the men he accuses