this is the briefing. i'm ben bland. our top story: growing pressure on borisjohnson, as the british prime minister calls for him to apologise for remarks about women wearing burkas. almost the size of los angeles, california struggles with its biggest wildfires on record, as 1a,000 firefighters battle against powerful winds and poor visibility. the beat of change? how one of the largest countries in latin america could radically change its stance on reproductive rights. one hundred years on from the battle of amiens. a special service of commemoration is due to mark the turning point of the first world war. driving in a new direction. tesla ceo elon musk surprises shareholders by saying he's thinking of taking the electric carmaker to private ownership. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. amazon wants to adjust people's voices on phone calls so that you'd hear the other person in your own accent to better understand them. the technology could use audio gathered from millions of digital assistants. but would you want to hear everyone sounding more like you? perhaps you think the use of audio from alexa devices raises privacy concerns? let me know, just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. there's growing criticism of the former british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, after comments he made about muslim dress. in a newspaper article he said that, although full—face veils shouldn't be banned, he thought women who wore them looked "like letter boxes" and compared them to bank robbers. senior conservative party memebers,

including the prime minister, have called for him to apologise. here's our chief political correspondent, vicki young. from online abuse to attacks on mosques, crime figures suggest islamophobia is on the rise in britain and the conservative party has faced accusations that it has not done enough to deal with incidents in its own party. and now borisjohnson is underfire with prime minister backing calls to him to apologise. boris johnson used language in describing people's appearance and has caused offence. it was the wrong language to use and he should not have used it. on the key issue of to wear a burqa, if they choose to do so, that should be a matter for the woman to choose. it was a column in the telegraph that caused outrage.

the former foreign secretary said, a total ban is not the answer but schools should be able to tell students to remove a burqa if they turn up looking like a bank robber. he went further saying, it is ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letterboxes. baroness warsi was britain's first muslim cabinet minister. for years she has been calling for an inquiry into islamophobia in the party. she says borisjohnson is using bigotry to further his career. to use language like letterboxes and armed robbers and colourful language to further this debate is not about having a serious debate on a serious issue, it is about trying to get airtime and attention on an issue that he knows will resonate with a certain part of the tory party. but friends of mrjohnson say it is ridiculous that his views are being attacked and difficult issues had to be debated. it was an erudite column with a bit of humour about a pertinent issue,

that denmark have banned the burqa, but boris doesn't think that is the answer to the issue in our country. and he made his comments, nothing to apologise for. it has all been blown out of all proportion by those who wish to cause him political damage. critics say mrjohnson's comments will harm community cohesion. some suspect him of being deliberately provocative, ensuring he stays in the limelight after leaving government. firefighters in california are now dealing with the largest wildfire ever to hit the state, and they're warning it could burn for the rest of the month. it's now two fires joined together, a mega—blaze which has already destroyed nearly 300,000 acres of land. nine people have died since the fires started last month. lebo diseko has the latest. it looks like hell on earth. firefighters battle to contain this wildfire, the biggest recorded in california's history.

called the mendocino complex fire, it is actually two blazes which joined together and now covers an area almost the size of la. it has destroyed buildings and thousands have had to leave their homes as it rages through the countryside. it's devastating. it's really devastating to see. and so many lost their homes in the back. there was nine homes, from what i can see, in the back. what can you say? it makes you sick to your stomach. everything have worked for all of their life, gone in a heartbeat. dry, hot weather along with high wind has allowed the fire to grow at an extraordinary way. it jumped at least four creeks and one major road over the weekend. meanwhile, more fires have broken out across the state where more than a dozen are burning in several counties. the conditions mean something as ordinary as a flat tyre can set things off, that is what is thought to have started one fire, a spark from the wheel hitting the road, starting a blaze which is still raging two weeks later.

the president is declaring the situation in the state a national emergency. we are deeply grateful to our incredible firefighters and first responders, they are really great people. i have been watching them go into areas where no people would go and some of them don't come out alive. they are risking their lives and are doing it to contain these devastating fires so they can save other lives. but donald trump has been criticised for suggesting the state's environmental policy exacerbated the situation, his detractors say this is a result of global warming. officials had hoped to put out the mendocino fire by next week, but they now say they'll need until september. lebo diseko, bbc news. lets you seen live on the island of

lombok in indonesia, where rescue effo rts lombok in indonesia, where rescue efforts are still ongoing. —— lets look at the cnet. —— lets look at the scene. the latest figures, at least 105 people killed by that earthquake, more than 70,000 people left homeless. there are still rescuers try to search for those who may be dropped —— trapped under the rubble, but several days now and hopes of finding anybody who has survived are fading. the governor of the province that covers lombok says there is a dire need for medical staff, food and edison in the worst hit areas. —— medicine. there seems to be military efforts as well as medical staff tried to help the situation they are in lombok. —— trying. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news.

australia's most populated state, new south wales is now entirely in drought. the region is being given millions of dollars in emergency relief, to assist farmers who are struggling with failing crops, water shortages and the cost of feeding animals. new south wales produces about a quarter of australia's agricultural output. the remains of a young boy have been found at a remote desert compound in the us state of new mexico. police made the announcement the day after rescuing 11 malnourished children who were being held at the site. they had originally raided the compound in search of a missing four—year—old boy. a medical university in japan that was accused of discriminating against female applicants, has now admitted that it did so, and for much longer than previously thought. just how many women have been affected remains unclear. it is also unclear how they will gain redress. on wednesday, argentina's senate will vote on whether to allow

abortion in the first 1a weeks of pregnancy. abortion is currently illegal there, except in the case of rape or if the woman's health is in danger. if the bill passes, argentina would become only the fourth country in latin america to broadly legalize abortion, and by far the largest. our south america correspondent katy watson reports. the call for change came from the streets. the decision is now in the hands of congress. these women are ready and they are making sure the politicians can hear them. campaigners have been fighting to legalise abortion for a decade now. they presented to congress seven times and got nowhere until now. the women's rights movement has become powerful in the last few years and it has played a big role in pushing abortion up the political agenda. argentina's strict laws make criminals out of millions of women.

like woman and her two daughters who have all had illegal abortions. she supports women who are looking to end their pregnancies as well. translation: an abortion is not traumatic but being a mother when you do not want to be is. it causes desperation. you can understand how a woman will grab a knitting needle to end her pregnancy. for the past few weeks she has been helping a friend to purchase drugs to induce abortion. this is a massive chat going back and forth trying to find a pharmacy that has the necessary pills. she has another four weeks. the morning after pill failed this woman and she is scared. she has come to a support network to learn how to take abortion pills at home. she does not want to be

identified because what she is doing is illegal. translation: i feel so unsupported. i am dodging the law, try and find a solution. it is not easy. i feel so ashamed to go around asking pharmacists for the pill. in this country, the birthplace of the current pope, religion holds an important place. father pepe is close to pope francis and shares the view of abortion being wrong. he says it has become a political debate not relevant to the slums of the city. translation: abortion does not have the meaning here it does for the middle class. people want to have a child. politics is being used to make that hard. change will not be easy. argentina could make history this week but there are plenty of people determined not to let that happen. elon musk says he wants to drive the

electric car company into a new direction, taking the corporation into private ownership. shareholders will be offered or 100 $20 per share, that makes the company worth $80 billion. —— share, that makes the company worth $80 billion. -- $420. dr stephanie hare, who is an independent analyst joins me now. interesting, the way he made this announcement, on twitter. he did so very shortly after a skip in the financial times which would reported that the saudi sovereign wealth fund had take a —— taken a $2 billion private stake in the secondary markets, important in terms of what moves we might see towards a potential taking back of private control of this company. that caused

a spike in shares, so much so that trading was suspended. that's right. is important to understand that on the one hand, elon musk speaks frankly on twitter, he has said all sorts of things, joking that the company was going to go bankrupt on aprilfool company was going to go bankrupt on april fool ‘s, company was going to go bankrupt on aprilfool ‘s, which is possible, even at the rate at which they burn through pashed. he needed that cash injection from an investor and the saudi sovereign wealth fund is now one of the eight biggest investors in tesla. how important is that, given the latest results? it is really important. it is significant because they have been making moves to buy up all sorts of different technology, as a way for them to diversify —— diversify away from oil into technology. have to go back to the way that elon musk has

communicated this move. it is entirely possible that this could be a joke. wejust don't entirely possible that this could be a joke. we just don't know the get. —— we don't know yet. if he was to communicate that he would elevate share prices and doesn't do it, back to get him in trouble. —— that could. thank you for your thoughts, we will talk to you a little later. stay with us on the briefing. still to come: marking the 100th anniversary of the battle that helped end the great war at amiens. the question was whether we want to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war or taking a chance to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces.

100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the former british foreign secretary boris johnson is facing mounting pressure to apologise for saying the burqa worn by some muslim women looks ridiculous. firefighters in california are struggling to contain at least 17 major wildfires, including a blaze in the northern part

of the state that has become the largest in california's history. the former malaysia prime minister has been charged with three counts of money laundering linked to a multi— million—dollar corruption scandal. is accused of having received around $10 million from state fund 1mdb. he was arrested in july and is already been charged with breach of trust. he has always denied guilt and has been cleared by authorities while he was in power. there will be commemorations in northern france later, for the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of amiens. prince william and the british prime minister will take part in a cathedral service in remembrance of the battle that proved so decisive in ending the first world war. our correspondent robert hall has been looking at why the battle was so important.

the tallest cathedral in france. a landmark for 800 years. and familiar to the soldiers who had been brought here from all over the western front for a surprise attack like no other infour for a surprise attack like no other in four years of war. i august seven, the plan was ready. this tower was built to commemorate australian troops, some of whom fought north of amiens. if you stood here on august eight, 1918 you would have seen the smoke and flames as allied artillery destroyed german guns and you would have heard the rumble of the engines as 500 tanks and over 50,000 troops began to move forward through the early morning fog to enemy positions. by lunchtime on the first day, the allies had advanced eight miles into enemy territory. men and machines working

together. yet, after the disastrous losses of previous battles, few men realise that the tide was turning. the expected it would go on. peter barton has been examining german interviews with allied soldiers ca ptu red interviews with allied soldiers captured during the battle. there we re captured during the battle. there were thousands of prisoners and they all agree, 90% of them agree, that it will be the following year. yet again, the following year before the germans are beaten. even at the beginning of october 1918 when the armistice was in touching distance, they did not realise it would happen. commanders on both sides knew differently. the flood of exhausted, tomorrow lies german prisoners spoke volumes. six allied countries under a single commander had changed the course of the war. the significance of amiens was at the heart of rehearsals for the commemoration today. it is part of

anjourney to commemoration today. it is part of an journey to a negotiated peace and the importance of carrying that message to new generations. they shall grow not old as we are left to grow old. 13-year-old sydney joins her father grow old. 13-year-old sydney joins herfather in grow old. 13-year-old sydney joins her father in the cathedral. grow old. 13-year-old sydney joins her father in the cathedrallj grow old. 13-year-old sydney joins her father in the cathedral. i think it is important that we understand the sacrifice they made. there is a saying that four hour today they gave their tomorrow. that is important because it is truthful. and stories from those who were there will reinforce that message. we travelled at night and stayed in the woods at daytime. it was supposed to be a surprise. canadians captured 27,000 prisoners and the whole thing of 45,000 prisoners, besides those were killed. the german high command called it a black day for the german army. we called it the beginning of the last 100 days. we'll be bringing you more

on the commemorations here on bbc world tv but you can also head along to our website where you'll find more on the battle and the history surrounding world war one — just type in bbc.com/news you can also download the news app. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your wednesday sport briefing: angelique kerber returns to the tennis court ahead of the us open. francesco molinari aims for back to back majors in golf and usain bolt on his potential chances with a—league side central coast mariners. what a year it's been already for angelique kerber. the german won her third grand slam title at wimbledon last month and after a few weeks off, she's ready to get back on the court. kerber is in montreal for the rogers cup, looking to get her hard—court game

ready for the us open in three weeks' time. after wimbledon i took some time off to realise what had happened over the last two weeks, what i had achieved and that one of my biggest dreams came true in winning this special tournament. we're here now in montreal and it starts again. the hardcourt season starts and i am looking forward to it. golfer francesco molinari is another sports star enjoying a brilliant 2018, after he became the first italian to win a golf major. molinari won the open at carnoustie last month and now he's looking to win another. the world number 6 has been on the course at bellerive in missouri ahead of the uspga — the final major of the year — which gets underway on thursday. he's looking to become the first back—to—back major winner since american jordan spieth in 2015. i don't think the mindset is any different. i know how hard i worked

to win at can now see and i know it will not get easier because you have won once. if anything it will be harder because there is less time to prepare and more pressure and more expectation. the premier league kicks off again on friday, but the build—up for arsenal fans has been marred by the news that majority shareholder, stan kroenke, has made an offer to buy the entire club. the other major shareholder, alisher usmanov, has agreed to sell his 30% stake. well, kroenke believes that single ownership will help to further arsenal's "strategy and ambitions", but not all of the club's fans see it that way. the worse case scenario is that money will be taken out of the club in the form of dividends or management fees to pay the debt that had been taken out to buy arsenal. we know he is an investor so there

will be less money going into the clu b will be less money going into the club and more going out of the club. the fastest man of all time has long talked of his desire to play professional football. and it looks like usain bolt‘s dream has just come another step closer. the 8—time olympic sprint champion has already trained with the german side borussia dortmund among others. and he's now announced that he is on trial with the central coast mariners. bolt willjoin them for an "indefinite" trial in the hope of landing a contract and he announced the news on social media. ijust want i just want to say thank you to everybody at the central coast mariners for giving me this opportunity to play professional football in the a league. i am looking forward to opportunities to prove myself in every way possible. iam prove myself in every way possible. i am looking forward to it and i will come and do my best. watch out, iamon will come and do my best. watch out, iam on my will come and do my best. watch out, i am on my way. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett and the rest of the team that's your wednesday sport briefing.

the hot and dry conditions in europe may be unbearable for some of us but winemakers say it is the perfect temperature for the industry. the harvest kicks off in france this week and a vintage this year is already being described as a potentially good one. the great out what is or so expected to be higher than average thanks to the heavy rain last spring and the torrid conditions this summer. it is good news for the industry which saw extreme cold weather last season slashing thejuices extreme cold weather last season slashing the juices output —— produces our put to. owl —— today we have been talking about adjusting voices on phone so you hear it in your own accident. one viewer says

that will be tragic because they love the variety of accents they here. and other viewer suggests that if you put the amazon echoed in your home you must deal with the consequences of using their ai assistant. we also had a comment from leah who says this raises individuality issues. she says it is absurd. why should she will why would she want to be represented by a robot. although another man said that if you are hard of hearing it is easier to hearing your own accent. a range of views that it let us accent. a range of views that it let us know what you think. hello there. tuesday was hot and another sunny

one across the uk but it was the last day of the heat wave. today looks much cooler and fresher for everybody with a mix of sunshine and showers, most of those across the west. we picked up and atlantique airflow that delivered some cooler and fresher conditions across the board, pushing the heat back out into the continent. we start today ona into the continent. we start today on a cloudy note in places, particularly in the south—east. that should clear away with sunny spells developing widely. showers elsewhere could be heavy, had thundery. a breezy day as well with temperatures reaching 17, 20 breezy day as well with temperatures reaching17, 20 4— breezy day as well with temperatures reaching 17, 20 4— 25. a lot cooler than what we saw on monday and tuesday. on thursday another dry day with sunny spells and we could see head the thunder dairy rain to the south—east. —— heavy thundery rain. showers across the south—western temperatures where they should be that this time of year in the high

teens. on friday again another day of sunshine. last three showers, the wind coming in from the west. some showers could be heavy across the north and the west but the best of the dry weather across the south—eastern areas. then we look to the weekend and something significant coming in off the atlantic. and vigorous area of low pressure that these models are not agreeing so much on their position and intensity. at the moment it looks like it is northern and western areas that could seat most of the heavy and persistent rain whereas the far north and some parts of the south—east could say dry altogether with variable amounts of cloud. wherever you are it will be blustery, to kill across southern, western coast and over hill. temperatures 19, 20 three degrees in the south—east. on sunday we think that area of low pressure could continue to bring some heavy rain to the northern half of the country. a few heavy showers could push into wales. signs again at this stage

that the south—east could stay largely dry with the best of the sunshine once again. sunday will be another blustery day. quite wet across northern areas with two temperatures in the high teens. —— quite this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. driving in a new direction: tesla ceo elon musk surprises shareholders by saying he's thinking of taking the electric carmaker to private ownership. shares in snap soar in after hours trade after better—than—expected quarterly revenue, even though daily users fell for the first time in the company's reporting history. asian shares rose on wednesday thanks to firmer wall street earnings while expectations for increased chinese stimulus helped take the edge off wider concerns about the worsening sino—us trade dispute.