tonight at ten: several senior conservatives pile more pressure on borisjohnson over his comments about muslim women and full face veils. he hasn't apologised for saying they look like "bank robbers," but one minister says he needs to acknowledge he's caused offence. what boris might want to do now is consider whether some of the language that he used was inappropriate, and if he chooses to apologise no doubt that will be welcomed. one former minister says he'll quit the conservatives if mrjohnson ever becomes leader. also tonight... millions of british gas customers face another price hike — the second this year. america will impose sanctions on russia for the novichok attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury. it's the worst dry spell in years — now the whole of new south wales in australia is experiencing drought. here at amiens cathedral in northern france 3000 people have gathered to

mark the centenary of the battle of amiens. the prime minister and prince william came here and joints descendeds of those who fought in the battle that proved to be a turning point in world war i. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: chelsea agree to sell goalkeeper thibaut courtois to real madrid, subject to the player agreeing personal terms and passing a medical. good evening. several senior members of the conservative party have strongly criticised borisjohnson for his comments that moslem women wearing full face veils "look like letter boxes," and "bank robbers." the leader of the scottish conservatives, ruth davidson, said his words in a newspaper article were "gratuitously offensive," while the former

attorney general dominic grieve said he'd quit the conservative party if mrjohnson ever became leader. the former foreign secretary has so far made no comment since the controversy began. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. boris johnson remains unapologetic for saying muslim women who wear niqabs look like letterboxes and bank robbers. he doesn't want a ban on face veils, but said in his telegraph newspaper column they look ridiculous. while his comments have ignited a political row about their wisdom and motivation, one woman who chooses to wear the niqab said mrjohnson should have been more careful. the problem is the language that he used. i absolutely have no problem with anyone disagreeing with my choice to wear it and criticising it. i don't have a problem with that. but when you demonise and dehumanise a minority, who happen to be women, muslim women of colour, i have a problem with this. mps are away from westminster,

but their criticism of boris johnson has been growing, with demands for an apology by the prime minister and other senior tories. what boris might want to do now is consider whether some of the language that he used was inappropriate and, if he chooses to apologise, i have no doubt that will be welcomed. but i don't think we should take from this incident that people are prohibited from discussing this subject. sources close to borisjohnson insist he is simply speaking up for liberal values and he has allies in his party. i think there are a lot of people who are out there to make controversy, truthfully, and to read into things that aren't there. i don't think he was out to make any personal attacks — he was just giving his view. a politician saying, "oh, this is boris". oh well, that's ok then? he can say what he likes? this guy's a buffoon. the phone—ins are hot for this, but just 5% of the population are muslim and most muslim women in the uk are not veiled. like most mps, borisjohnson is away on holiday and not around to take part in the argument he's started or deal directly with calls to apologise. perhaps that is what he intended.

but people here in his uxbridge constituency are certainly talking about the issue, and him. ijust think he is saying what a lot of us are actually saying. i think it's intimidating, to be completely covered up. i don't think you should upset a large community at ,all and i think they are quite out of order comments actually. he says he's arguing that we should not have a ban of any sort like they do in denmark. so why does he make the comments? it's not necessary. i think he's right. yeah, so do i. we don't know who's behind them masks. exactly. it could be a man, it could be anyone. he says it as it is. i've always liked him. really? so he increases his standing in your eyes by saying things like this? yeah. and that's the suspicion of many tories — that the ever—ambitious borisjohnson is choosing to talk about an issue that resonates well with the grassroots of the tory party. but today, a senior conservative said he would quit if mrjohnson got the top job. i've no idea if it enhances his leadership ambition, but one thing is quite clear — if he became leader of the party ifor one would not be in it.

really? you'd leave? oh, yes, without the slightest doubt. why? because i don't regard him as a fit and proper person to lead a political party. so borisjohnson, the front man of brexit, continues to divide. then, you say he is on holiday. he hasn't made any comment in relation to all this, but where does this debate go from location at? pressure is piling up on borisjohnson from within the party, the latest intervention from ruth davidson, the tory leader in scotland who called his comments "gratuitously offensive and deliberately so" but some of his fa ns and deliberately so" but some of his fans and parliament have been rallying to his defence during the day seeing these are just attacks by remain supporting tories who fear a leadership challenge. i think that is one of the big

questions bubbling along through this. to what extent should we see boris johnson's this. to what extent should we see borisjohnson‘s intervention as an attempt to injure, crudely but perhaps cannily, towards number ten? he wrote this piece, disappeared on holiday, so we haven't been able to quiz him ourselves but certainly the suspicion by a number of conservative mps is he knew exactly what he was doing, talking about a contentious issue that ventilate and plays well among the tory grassroots who will have a big say in picking the next conservative leader. but if he does want to replace theresa may, he does want to replace theresa may, he needs to win over a big chunk of conservative mps first, and a number of them are clearly appalled by the light which he has used, the effect it could have, and the harm this might go to the conservative party's image. and i think it is significant that a number of senior ministers and clearly the prime minister have called her out on this. but mr johnson stands by his comments, he is not apologising. he thinks he is right, and he's clearly trying to just wait out this row. thank you for that, ben live from westminster. now, 3.5 million british gas customers face another price rise in october. those on the company's standard variable tariff will see their bills go up by around £41; per year on average. it's the second increase this year.

the second increase in six months. centrica, which owns british gas, is blaming a 20% rise in the cost of energy on the wholesale markets. our business correspondent, emma simpson reports. i've been with british gas now 42 years. i just want to stay with them, purely because i don't want any hassle. sound familiar? there are three and a half million loyal british gas customers like robert chapman from lincolnshire on default standard variable tariffs. and when the temperature finally cools, the bills will be going up again. we seem to just get a hike year after year. not once a year — twice, three times a year. my biggest gripe is the blase, stock answer of saying, "yes, we're sorry we'll hurt people", but they'll go on with it. the first increase was in may, adding £60 to the average fuel bill for a standard variable tariffs. on october ist the price will go up again by another £44, taking the average british gas bill

for a duel fuel customer to £1205 for a year. british gas certainly isn't the only energy supplier that has been putting up bills. standard variable tariffs are almost always the most expensive deal and millions of households are still on them. british gas said it has to raise prices again because what it pays for energy has been going up. in january they could have bought next year's supply of gas for about 1.5p per unit. nowadays it's costing about 2p per unit. it's gone up by a third and so i can imagine why they feel they need to put the price up. the move comes just a day after the energy regulator, 0fgem, announced an increase in the price gap for all vulnerable customers on prepayment meters due to higher wholesale prices. we are worried they used 0fgem's announcement yesterday

to justify their own price increase today and what we really want to get across to consumers is that if you are on a standard variable tariff, you could save hundreds of pounds if you just switch. nearly 300,000 british gas customers already have this year. robert, though, is staying for now. the energy market is changing fast, with a government price cap due to take effect at the end of the year. emma simpson, bbc news. the us says it intends to impose sanctions on russia in response to the nerve agent attack in salisbury on the former russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia. the us state department says it's decided the russian government had used chemical or biological weapons, in violation of international law. moscow denies any involvement in the attack. 0ur north america editor jon sopel is in washington. is it significant that it is the

state department that said this and not the white house? well, it is interesting, isn't it? it has come from the state department and so far there's been no comment on this from there's been no comment on this from the white house, no comment at all from donald trump. maybe we will get it but nothing so far. it is also surprising in some ways that this has happened because when you cast your mind back to win this originally acquired in salisbury america expelled 60 diplomats but it has its own legislation under the biological and chemical weapons act and asa biological and chemical weapons act and as a result of that new sanctions be imposed on russia. and russia has 90 days to prove it has no chemical weapons programme. the spectre of american chemical weapons inspectors going to moscow to look for factories seems unlikely, so it seems very likely there will be another wave of sanctions against russia. it is hard not to be struck by the disjunction between the

conventional behaviour of this administration and the slightly unconventional behaviour of the president when it comes to russia. jon, thank you. jon sopel their lives in washington. jon sopel there lives in washington. a bbc investigation has discovered that a group ofjihadists responsible for last year's terror attacks in and around barcelona included militants who'd showed signs of radicalisation a year before. 16 people died and more than 100 were injured when a van driven by the extremists mowed down pedestrians on the las ramblas in barcelona, and then a car was driven into pedestrians in the seaside resort of cambrils. catalan police have told the bbc the attacks may have been directed from abroad. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera examines whether warning signs about the extremists were missed. preparing for an attack. wiring up explosives and suicide vests. this group would end up striking barcelona. the man seen here on the left drove

a van which barrelled half a kilometre down a road packed with tourists, killing 14. hours later, five men from the same self drove a car into pedestrians in nearby cambrils, killing one woman. all five were shot dead by police. authorities only then realised that an accidental explosion a day earlier had blown apart a house the cell had been using for over a year in the town of alcanar. this is where they were preparing bombs for a much larger intended attack. we've been told other men were also seen there. the entire cell had come from this small town, ripoll, close to the pyrenees. a year on, people who knew the men are still scared to talk but one person who knew them well agreed to talk to us anonymously. more and more pictures

of the kids started to come out, and then we felt like we were sinking. the kids are from ripoll. we are from ripoll. this is like a family. the cell behind the attack was made up of a group of friends. it included four sets of brothers. all of this seemed to point to a tight—knit cell, according to a police intelligence officer, who also spoke anonymously. translation: the fact that there were four pairs of brothers, this had never happened before, and in a town like ripoll, a small town, this had never happened before either. also part of the group was a key figure, an imam, abdelbaki es satty. the imam, es satty, was killed here in the blast in alcanar. he was older than the others and had a long track record of links to extremists going back more than a decade. so the question is, what did the authorities know about him? abdelbaki es satty first came to the attention of the authorities soon after he came from morocco in 2002.

he was connected to one person investigated in relation to the madrid train bombings in 200a. he lived in the same flat as a man who went on to be a suicide bomber in iraq. the bbc has learned es satty was also on a database of those connected to terrorism. in 2010 he was jailed for transporting drugs between morocco and spain. in 2014 he was released from jail. we have established that, at this point, his phone was tapped by spanish intelligence. he would later claim he'd become an informer for the police. an order to expel him from spain was overturned and, a month after that, he moved to the town of ripoll. but he then went to brussels where he tried to become an imam at a mosque. some people who are frequenting that mosque were very surprised by the way he was preaching. i think he was very offensive, he was very unusual. in march 2016, brussels was hit by bomb blasts and, a few weeks later, es satty left belgium. after es satty left brussels he came

back here to ripoll, rented a number of apartments in this building, and soon after that in the first signs of radicalisation among the other men as the cell began to form. i detected this about a year before it happened. also a lot of people said it too. they closed up among themselves. after the attack in barcelona, this apartment, rented by es satty, was raided. at first most thought he was the key figure in explaining what drove a group of apparently well integrated young men towards violence. i think they were missing something. they had a void, a spiritual void, a religious void let's say. they didn't know enough about their religion. maybe they had some kind of rage or maybe someone created that rage in them. but the investigation has spread much further afield than ripoll. senior police officers have told the bbc they now believe there are links across europe and perhaps to figures

directing this group. translation: our main concern right now is basically the international connections. in some ways we think there is some brain outside of spain, maybe in europe or maybe in a conflict zone, someone who made them carry out this attack. this was more than just a group of friends led by a known extremist, tight—knit and hard to detect. we have found evidence they were part of something much larger, connected to a wider jihadist networks which threaten europe. gordon corera, bbc news, ripoll. and gordon will have more tomorrow, with the second part of his investigation into the barcelona terror cell. there's also additional information, on the bbc news website. the pound fell today to its lowest level against the dollar in almost a year. investors are concerned the uk may leave the european union without

a deal in eight months' time. sterling is also down against the euro, the yen and the swiss franc. our economics correspondent andy verity is here with me. how do the fears about a no—deal brexit calls the pound to fall this badly pustular quad traders are anxious about is that if we leave the eu without any kind of trade deal then we will not be able to grow our trade with europe as we have in the past. that means the economy as a whole, all economic activity, will not grow as quickly as in the past. foreign investors who are thinking of holding shares in british companies and needing pounds to buy them, they will be less interested because you will not be able to make as much money is in the past and therefore in the future there will be fewer buyers of pounds and you might as well sell them now also that has greeted the pressure on the pound and we have also had strength in the dollar because the us and china are engaged in a trade warand us and china are engaged in a trade war and the markets think the us is likely to win out on that. if you

look at what has happened to the pound since the beginning of this year, it reached a peak of about $1.43 in april but has now dropped by about 10% to 1.28 dollars and if you're travelling, look at what you can get as a purchaser of travel money, you can get $1.28 and 1.10 euros so not as good and you might wish you had bought your travel money in april but you can take consolation because at the beginning of last year the pound was even lower so your holiday would have been even more expensive. many thanks, andy. the entire state of new south wales, which produces about a quarter of australia's agricultural output, is experiencing drought, and it's one of the worst dry spells for many years in parts of the country. in the last month, officials say less than ten millimetres of rain have been recorded in some areas. phil mercer reports now from sydney. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes. it's the world's driest inhabited continent,

but the resilience of its farming communities is being severely tested. official figures show that australia's most populous state, new south wales, is now entirely in drought. two years ago, there were floods on gary sunderland's farm near the town of condobolin. how quickly things can change. now, it's just the opposite story. the land has gone dry. no feed. stock are dying. some farmers have been carting up to 100,000 litres of water to their livestock since january. this video, taken earlier this year, shows cattle swarming around a water tanker. farmers in the small towns across new south wales are helping each other out with donations. many here say it's the worst they've ever known. all the climate gurus who know all about the weather still don't know when it's going to break. they've got no idea.

we've just... we run blind. you know, we'vejust got to plan and hope and pray that it rains. government aid will ease the financial burdens and the prime minister is promising more help. i do understand these water challenges. and clearly, we will work with state and local governments to ensure that water is provided. the fear is that a dry spring will be followed by another hot and punishing summer for australia's farmers. the impact of the drought is yet to have any significant impact in australia's big cities. here in syd ney australia's big cities. here in sydney there are no water restrictions despite the fact it has been very dry for weeks but there is a growing awareness of the plight of farmers and farming communities and political pressure for the government to do more. of course, what parts of australia need is rain

and lots of it. thank you. the first comprehensive study of young professional footballers in england and wales has confirmed for the first time the importance of screening for underlying heart conditions. since the mid—90s up to 2016, doctors screened more than 11,000 young players, and found 42 had serious cardiac problems. 30 received treatment and returned to the game. but the father of one boy who died on the pitch says all amateur players should be offered screening too. here's our health editor hugh pym. ben daniels, who was 15, played in goalfor his local ben daniels, who was 15, played in goal for his local youth football team. without one he collapsed in training and died because of an undiagnosed heart condition. no one trains you to lose a child as a parent, no one does, and to lose a child suddenlyjust like that and have them ripped away from you is

one of the most difficult things that anybody can suffer. his father paul said if angell been screened it would have revealed the problem and screening should be available to all young sports people. every young person jadhav that opportunity. my son did not have the opportunity —— should have that opportunity. he was a happy and committed sports person and he found himself through sport, sport found him and he found a sport thatis sport found him and he found a sport that is great but if you have an underlying problem with your heart then sport will also find it out for you. young professionalfootballers like this are screened for heart problems before they signed contracts and then at regular intervals. before hejoined crystal palace commonly have an ecg like this which gave him the all clear. the team was carried out the latest research said it confirmed the benefits of screening. we identified serious diseases in a small minority

of foot ball serious diseases in a small minority of football players. in whom we could offer some form of treatment to allow them to go back and play foot ball to allow them to go back and play football safely. this gp organised screening provided by health charity for the community after a tragic fatalities. in 2013 is sadly a young 17—year—old boy died while playing foot ball 17—year—old boy died while playing football in marlow. as a community we work quite distraught about this. the bolton player fabrice muamba survived after suffering a cardiac arrest in a game. a previous screening had pick anything up and the research found a small number of players who had been screened but later died for the even so, for this player and thousands of others, researchers say regular cardiac checkups are potential life—savers. britain's adam peaty has set a new championship record, after retaining his 50m breatstroke title at the european championships.

it's his third gold of the tournament, and he's gunning for a fourth in the medley relay tomorrow. there was a double silver win too for great britain for divers grace reid and ross haslam, in the mixed synchronised 3m springboard. our sports correspondent natalie pirks reports from glasgow. adam peaty! it's a name now synonymous with success. but with success comes expectation. it only serves to spur him on, as the man with the lion tattoo roared to gold, his race was textbook brilliance. absolutely masterful. no one anywhere near him. it was adam peaty‘s third gold in glasgow and the championship record, but still he wants more. i'm going to enjoy all this after i finish. but i still have a job to do tomorrow. my emotional level has got to come down to neutral. three of three golds, but yeah, it's good. we are well used to peaty winning of course. but next up is siobhan—marie

o'connor in the 200 metre individual medley and she is up against an all too familiar foe. a silver in the olympics put siobhan on the map but world and olympic champion katinka hosszu always seems to be one step ahead. today she was just too strong again, o'connorfinishing a disappointing fourth. there was better news in the diving. mixed synchro pair grace reid and ross haslam took silver on the 3 metre springboard in what was only their second time competing together. from newbies then to seasoned pros. it's the last day in the swimming pool tomorrow — one last chance for a show of strength. natalie pirks, bbc news, glasgow. 3,000 people have attended commemorations at amiens cathedral in north—eastern france marking the centenary of the battle that turned the tide of the first world war. the battle of amiens lasted just four days, but it was one of the most

successful for the allies, of the whole conflict. theresa may and the duke of cambridge were among those who paid tribute to the fallen, and hundreds of descendants of the troops that took part were also there. let's join sophie raworth, who's in amiens for us tonight. this is the scene in amiens tonight where this spectacular gothic cathedral has been lit up for the crowds. this afternoon the prime minister and prince william joined thousands of people to mark the centenary thousands of people to mark the ce nte nary of thousands of people to mark the centenary of the battle of amiens. the battle was launched in the fields around this cityjust after 4am 100 years ago today. the germans were not expecting it. by that evening, the allies had pushed deep into german held territory — they'd taken thousands of prisoners. after four years of trench warfare and stalemate, it was their most successful single day on the western front. today's event retold the story of a battle many feel has not been told enough. robert hall was in the cathedral.

this is a landscape where the course of a terrible conflict was changed. in amiens cathedral, music and personal accounts combined to tell that story. the attack at amiens was a total surprise. at dawn a huge allied bombardment systemically destroyed german guns. the smoke barely clearing before 500 tanks led men from six countries in an advance which took some of them eight miles into enemy territory. amiens was symbolic of the entente cordiale... a battle whose significance was underlined by the duke of cambridge. today, we return to learn more about the experience of those involved during the historic summer of 1918. to honour the fallen of all nations. the amiens attacks were planned

to the last detail. as the clock ticked down, commanders penned their final messages. every man will carry on to the utmost of his powers until his goal is won. to those who fall, i say will you not die, but step into immortality. by lunchtime on the first day, men could hardly believe the contrast with the chaos of previous offensives. the americans swept everything before them and the german resistance collapsed. the sun broke through, we began to see the countryside that we hadn't seen for quite some time. it was unscarred. all sorts of cultivated land. we began to feel, byjove, the war's coming to an end. at least 30,000 german lives were lost, thousands more surrendered, convincing commanders that that the time had come to consider a ceasefire.

age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. today's ceremony remembered the fallen, but also served to highlight a crucial moment in a long and costly conflict. robert hall, bbc news, amiens. among the invited guests were 600 descendants of those who fought at the battle, coming from as far afield as australia, america, canada and of course britain. i spoke to one man, alasdair mackie from surrey, whose great uncle, william george robertson, fought and died here in 1918. i've only received this recently, and that's my great uncle on the right there.

wow — he actually really does look like you, doesn't he? and there is something about him... yeah. his name was william george robertson. he was born in leslie in fife. the war started, and he signed up straightaway. he enlisted in the medical services. then he was moved to the artillery, in december 1917. his unit, the second brigade, were involved in the battle of amiens. so do you know what he was doing, today, the 8th of august, 100 years ago? well, he started the day behind the lines a bit. i picture this big 18—inch gun, a team of eight men serving that gun, and my great uncle there — the artillery units would almost have to leapfrog each other, just to keep up with the advancing troops. because that was the thing.