hello. this is the briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. our top story: hundreds of rye nair flights are cancelled due to widespread strike action by pilots. tens of thousands of would—be passengers are affected. heavy floods force the evacuation of more than 1000 people in southern france. one man is missing, after being swept away. the us vice president lays out plans to create a sixth branch of the military, a so—called space force, to be up and running by 2020. avoiding an economic crisis? turkey's finance minister is about to unveil a new economic model for the economically crippled country. hello. a very 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. tell us what you think. apple are announcing the possibility of using the iphone as a form of official identification. would you be happy to use your phone as id instead of a passport? let us know. use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. hundreds of ryanair flights have been cancelled today due to widespread strike action being taken by the airline's pilots, affecting several european airports. more than 50,000 passengers are understood to have been sent flight cancellations via text message in the past two days, as a result of the row over pay and conditions. caroline davies reports. it has not been easy summer holiday for ryanair, winding queues and

cancellations blamed on storms and shortages of air traffic control staff. now, they face a different sort of turbulence, strikes. some ryanair pilots in five countries will strike from today for 2h hours. it has meant cancellations across europe, nearly 400 of them. the netherlands have avoided any but there are 22 and from ireland, 22 in sweden, 104 in belgium, and worse affected germany with 250 cancellations. it is the fifth time the pilots had been on strike since july last year. they say they want better pay and fairer contracts, and a change the ryanair‘s practice of moving staff between its bases without much notice. ryanair say they have notified all affected customers that most have been put on other ryanair customers that most have been put on other rya nair flight. they customers that most have been put on other ryanair flight. they call the strike is regrettable and unjustified, and ask the striking

unions to continue negotiations instead of more industrial action. union say they remain available for talk. as the summer holidays continue, passengersjust hope talk. as the summer holidays continue, passengers just hope that this is not what awaits them at the airport. caroline davies, bbc news. after weeks of hot weather in france, torrential downpours have caused flash flooding and flood alerts across the country. thousands of homes are without power. several hundred people have been evacuated from three campsites in the ardeche and drome regions, just north of marseille. 0ne german man in his seventies is still missing and a few people have been hospitalised following the rescue. 0livia crellin reports. roads turned to rivers. rivers have become rapids. this is what it looks like now in some parts of france, after a weeks—long heatwave finally gave way to storms. intense rain over the last 48 hours has put central and southern areas of the country on flood alert, while around 17,000 homes are without power. firefighters in the ardeche

and drome regions evacuated 1,600 people when campsites like this one turned into mud baths in the wake of the storms. the conditions made the rescue operation particularly difficult. translation: the first thing i did was put in place a plan to quickly identify where people were clinging to trees. there were adults and children, in particular. and with teams working in pairs, we first secured people to the trees, and little by little we evacuated them. over 100 german children, visiting for summer camp, were among the rescued. police and divers continue to search for an elderly german man who was supervising them. he's missing after the nearby river burst its banks, and the caravan he sought shelter in was swept away in the torrents. it was later found, empty and in pieces. of those rescued, some by helicopter, ten were taken to hospital.

translation: when we reached them, firstly they were hypothermic, and secondly they were in a state of shock, of course, because when you experience a situation like that, it's not pleasant. and they were especially frightened, because when you're surrounded by water and when you're hypothermic, you're shaking. they were almost drowning. after heatwaves and forest fires, these floods are the latest in a series of intense weather conditions to challenge europe this summer. 0livia crellin, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. a zimbabwean opposition politician, tendai biti, has been released by a court in harare, where he'd been facing charges of inciting violence and falsely declaring that the opposition mdc had won last week's election. the zimbabwean president, emmerson mnangagwa, said he was freed following his intervention. writing on twitter, the zimbabwean leader called for peace and unity, but he added that the legal process would continue.

puerto rico appears to have sharply revised the death toll from last september's hurricane maria. a d raft a draft report on the disaster suggests the number of deaths caused by the disaster was more than 1400, far more than the official figure of 64. the us territory is asking congress for $139 billion in aid. the parents of america's first lady, melania trump, have become us nationals. the slovenian couple were granted citizenship at a ceremony in new york. their lawyer said they'd attained their citizenship through chain migration — a process president trump wants to scrap. the us vice president has laid out plans to create a sixth branch of the military, a so—called space force. mike pence suggested russian and chinese threats justify the military expansion, and he promised a space force

department will be ready by 2020. there's already a logo and he'll be asking congress for around $8 billion to fund it. now, the time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of our armed forces, to prepare for the next battlefield, where america's best and bravest will be called to deter and defeat a new generation of threats to our people, to our nation. the time has come to establish the united states space force. 0ur correspondent in washington, chris buckler, explained how setting up this military branch would not be without its challenges. there is a little bit of concern about just how this there is a little bit of concern aboutjust how this will work in terms of the bureaucracy, how this will be sliced up, although they have managed to get the defence secretary james mattis on—boa rd because he was somewhat cynical not

that long ago, and now he says that he sees the merit in it. and certainly the argument is that you have to have a dedicated organisation that is looking at this, you have to have a space command, which they are looking to set up, in order to address these problems going forward and certainly, they are saying if you ta ke certainly, they are saying if you take a look at the technology that has been developed by other countries, in the next two years, thatis countries, in the next two years, that is going to come very important. at donald trump, he seems very, very committed to this. he has already got a new website, there space already got a new website, there s pa ce force already got a new website, there space force logos, which they are asking people to vote on. so he might get the logo and he might get the space force. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has called for an independent inquiry into an air—strike by the saudi—led coalition in yemen, which killed dozens of children. they were in a school bus which was hit in a rebel—held area. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has this report. you are likely to find much of it distressing. school bags on their backs, shock in their eyes, children who'd been

heading for a day out. a yemeni child's day ends like this all too often. many in hospital beds. today — three to a bed, and many more dead. this man says an air strike in the market targeted the children's bus. "0ur shops were open", he says, "shoppers were just walking around." this was the school bus in saada, a rebel—controlled town. but the saudi—led coalition says it targeted missile launchers, taking aim at saudi cities, accusing the houthis of using children as human shields. an ugly proxy war, in a country teetering on the brink of collapse. i asked the un's envoy,

what if this war doesn't stop? collapse, and massive, massive humanitarian suffering in yemen. and the effect of that on the region — a possible increase in terrorist activities in yemen. al-qaeda, islamic state? so a failed state in yemen has extraordinary consequences for the region, and the wider region and beyond. for that reason, we need to act now. yemen is already the world's worst humanitarian crisis. more of its people rely on food aid like this than anywhere else in the world. millions on the verge of starving. a people desperate for peace, but many doubtful. translation: the warring sides don't want stability for yemenis, or for the yemeni people to be masters of their own fate. translation: we have had

countless rounds of talks. they all failed. but the situation in yemen is now so bad, maybe there is a glimmer of hope that this conflict can be resolved. mr griffiths believes all sides are now ready for a political solution. the attacks are continuing, and the saudi—led coalition is backed by the united states, by britain, by france, providing weapons, providing support. that's something we will be discussing in geneva. myjob is to provide the opportunity for the people of yemen to sit down and talk peace. that's what we're here for, and we're here to do that in a way that is consistent with security council resolutions, which include the requirement for disarmament and withdrawal of forces. and that's the best answer, in my view, to the question about armaments on either side. houthi rebels, trained and armed

by iran, are still fighting too. both sides say they're ready to attend talks in geneva next month, the first in two years, after two failed rounds. if they keep failing, yemen itself will fail. lyse doucet, bbc news. there's more background and analysis about the conflict in yemen on our website, including this short video explaining why the conflict began. that's on bbc.com/news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: swapping screen time forfamily time. how a new app is offering rewards to get us off our phones more. the big crowds became bigger as the time of

the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. you're watching the briefing.

0ur headlines: thousands of rya nair customers are affected by flight cancellations, as pilots strike over pay and conditions. hundreds of people are evacuated in southern france as flooding follows weeks of hot weather. let's get more on our top story that hundreds of ryanair flights have been cancelled because of a strike by pilots affecting several european airports. lawrence gossling, editor—in—chief at what investmentjoins me now. what you make of this, because previously michael 0'neill had said he would rather cut off his hands and allow the company, or workers be unionised. they have been unionised to avoid strike action and now this. it isa to avoid strike action and now this. it is a rerun of previous arguments and he was has a very robust response. he has certainly set in

this particular case with cabin crew, essentially if they do not wa nt to crew, essentially if they do not want to abide by the conditions he will move theirjobs to another country and certainly ryanair have moved some flights out of ireland to destinations like poland. it feels like a rerun and when you look at the market, their shares have been punished, down by a fifth, at as opposed to the rest of the sector which is up. the market and we as consumers still like low—cost model. it doesn't seem to like the way ryanair is running business at the moment. the interesting thing at the moment. the interesting thing at the moment is how low—cost carriers are run, the way that pilots are supposed to be placed all over wherever your flights go from. the whole model is at stake here. wherever your flights go from. the whole model is at stake harem wherever your flights go from. the whole model is at stake here. it is, because when it first started it was about capacity, making as much use of the plane as possible. now it has

evolved, we find ourselves being charged for taking our own bags on to the airline ‘s. this point, where he is trying to drive down the cost of labour with the cabin workers. it is beginning to stretch. there is only so far you can push the model, particularly the other big component is the price of oil fuel, which particularly the other big component is the price of oilfuel, which is back up to where it was two years ago. it is genuinely calling into some kind of question whether low—cost airlines will carry on being at the same level of cost that they have been for the last few yea rs. they have been for the last few years. this couldn't have come at a worse time. it is the middle of the summer, worse time. it is the middle of the summer, many worse time. it is the middle of the summer, many poor people —— many more people are using this airlines. we will see this carry on and we will seek match one —— ryanair being as confrontational as they have been in past. will talk about this more in the hours.

here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first to bamako, mali, where it's the final day of campaigning before sunday's presidential election runoff. then to new york, where the un general assembly will be meeting to vote on the appointment of michelle bachelet as high commissioner for human rights. also today, in harare, zimbabwe's opposition mdc faces a deadline to launch a court challenge against their defeat in the landmark elections. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. coming up in your friday sport briefing: the new premier league season gets underway later, the us pga championship has a packed leaderboard ahead of the second round while england and india hope to take to the field at lords the us pga tour gets under way soon.

justin thomas is the defending champion, one of the favourites. this man here, jordan spieth is looking to complete his career grand slam. although he has a strong pedigree, he doesn't see himself as a favourite. i feel somewhat under the radar this year. ifell that dashed —— i felt the radar this year. ifell that dashed —— ifelt that the radar this year. ifell that dashed —— i felt that way along time this year, i don't mind it. but at the same time, this tournament will a lwa ys the same time, this tournament will always be circled until i am able to hopefully when it someday, it will a lwa ys hopefully when it someday, it will always be circled to complete the career grand slam, which will ultimately achieved a lifelong goal from a. —— for me. ultimately achieved a lifelong goal from a. -- for me. there are plenty of big deals being done.

the world's most expensive ever goalkeeper — kepa arriza—balaga — arrived in london for his first appearance as a chelsea player. he was pictured with his new kit, after a 92 million dollar move from athletic bilbao. he fills the gap left by thibaut courtois, after hejoined real madrid on a 6 year deal. after one of the best examples of test match cricket in recent years, england and india are ready to do it all over again. they will be looking to take a 2—0 lead at lord's. 0llie pope is expected to make his debut at number four. it gets under way at 10am gmt. novak djokovic was among the early winners at the rogers cup in toronto. he eased into the third round with a straight sets victory. novak djokovic winning it 6—3, 6—3.

angelique kerber was beaten in straight set —— straight sets. no problems for this sloane stephens, who is gearing up for the defence of her title later this month. she eased in two the third round. winning 6—0, 6—2. if you have never heard of the harlem globetrotters, now is a good time to acquaint yourself with. they are an exhibition basketball team that perform games had to entertain. — with a commendation of athletic stu nts with a commendation of athletic stunts and comedy. 0ne with a commendation of athletic stunts and comedy. one of them flew above new jersey stunts and comedy. one of them flew above newjersey on wednesday and scored a shock between the basketball hoop and a runway it below from inside the aeroplane. it

is quite a feat and looks better every time from every angle that you see it from. that is all we have time for. you get the latest sports news on our website. from me and the rest of the team, that is your thursday sport briefing. would you exchange free stuff for staying off your phone? a new app is to offer rewards to families for talking to each other around the dinner table rather than checking their screens. the idea was originally designed to help students study. this comes as facebook and instagram release a new tool to limit how much time people spend on their apps. catrin nye has been looking at the rise of anti—tech tech. cani can i ask you both how much you check your phone? recently. every day. every hour. quite often. every hour. too much! it is quite bad. at

least every 20 minutes. every couple of hours. i am always on it, now i have got a phone call! there are now loads of apps to get you off your phone, an app called forest grove is your tree is on as you are not browsing. it is of course, very debatable whether tech companies are the ones who should it helping us to spend west time on tech. facelock and instagram are releasing their own time and tools. an app called kattegat hold was created in the uk, created by three students in copenhagen. why was it that you wa nted copenhagen. why was it that you wanted to start this? we were struggling so much about actually

focusing, checking our phones all the time and we started to give ourselves incentives. the ones that check the phones all asked to get a copy and that has worked for a spree. it allows you to start a timer to put your phone on hold, which means you cannot get on other apps. the idea is you are putting in the phone to one side, it then gets locked, having the screen can be a distraction but it can be to one side and the idea is to say i am going to be productive now. once you have done 20 minutes on hold you start earning rewards, things like cheap cinema tickets, free drinks, donations to charity. this app is still doing advertising, it allows brands to market rocks to users as rewards. it doesn't work overnight and is currently just rewards. it doesn't work overnight and is currentlyjust the students. like clara, a masters student. she says the destruction of phones is a problem or her whole family.

says the destruction of phones is a problem or her whole familylj says the destruction of phones is a problem or her whole family. i have voiced my unhappiness to my parents before. about using the phones? yeah. because i really think that it does compromise the quality of the interactions you have and the depth of interactions you have with family members orfriends of interactions you have with family members or friends at the dinner table, for instance. the creators are now making a version for families to use together. they say they have had tens of thousands of people get in touch because phones are disturbing their dinnertime too. let's stay with the topic of phones because as our question today we have been asking you whether or not you think that phones could become forms of id in the future. this after papers report that apple is considering making phones and official part of identification, like your passport or your driver ‘s

licence. we have had plenty of replies to that twitter question and i have to say, the majority of them are negative. many people saying no, absolutely not. we have one person saying i would be willing to do it, apple only though, they do things right. christopher had drake says it sounds great but does that mean everything i say or think will be reported to chinese authorities who can then decide who i communicate with? and piquet says apple is a copycat, china has already done this. plenty of opinions that there. i'll be back surely with the business briefing. —— shortly. good morning. thursday brought a

change in the weather fortunes for many. we saw some welcome rain for gardens and growers out there. in suffolk we had just over an inch of rain. we did see some thundery downpours as well in the south by the end of the day but that rain is fairly heavy and persistent for a time. all tied into this area of low pressure which is now moving off into the north sea and will drift into the north sea and will drift into scandinavia, bringing wet and windy weather. but the north—westerly wind direction kicks in and thejetstream gets to the south of the uk, introducing something a little bit cooler from the north. you really will notice the north. you really will notice the difference with the fuel of the weather over the next couple of days. first thing in the morning, chilly start, relatively quiet but showers gathering from the west and they will drift their way further east as we go to the afternoon, particularly into the south—east corner. the showers in scotland should stay isolated, sunny spells and scattered showers but a

noticeably fresher feel. 15— 17 degrees. simla story for northern ireland. scattered showers drifting from the west to the east in the afternoon. slowly brightening up for wales and south—west england, some of the showers across the middle and will be heavy and thundery into the afternoon. by the evening, though showers will have drifted away. keeping the clear skies. wind direction, a light bulb westerleigh and that will allow them to dip into single figures. chilly start to our weekend and the implications of another frontal system is starting to show. it will take its time in arriving. it has been causing a few headache' but it looks like the models are lining up to suggest it was a dry start to the weekend. clouding over from the south—west into cornwall, south wales and dorset are the end of the afternoon. the best of the brighter weather into south—east england and eastern scotland. 17— 22 degrees. in that

sunshine that 22 shouldn't feel bad. humidity developing on sunday but heavy rain across the far west stretching into northern england into the scottish borders. the one place it is likely to stay dry in the south—east, humid and into the far north—west of scotland too. take care. this is the business briefing, i'm maryam moshiri. avoiding an economic crisis. turkey's finance minister is about to unveil a new economic model for the country. and the battle of the smartphones. sales are slowing, but samsung tries to convince customers to upgrade their old phones with this brand new note9. and on the markets, asian stock markets are lower as worries over global trade tensions take centre stage friday, amid heightened global trade tensions, while the sell—off of the russian rouble continued to impact currecny markets.