welcome to bbc news. broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: devastating scenes as a high motorway bridge collapses in genoa, italy. at least 26 people have been killed. the rescuers behind me there are still trying to lift up several large slabs of concrete under which they believe several more vehicles may be trapped. a grand jury investigation in pennsylvania finds credible allegations of sexual abuse by more than 300 catholic priests, going back decades. british anti—terror police are searching 3 addresses and questioning a 29—year—old man arrested after his car swerved into pedestrians and crashed into a barrier outside parliament. russia aims to show the international media how completely it's restored

peace and calm in syria. it's now calling on refugees to return. and the unexpected effect of this summer's heatwave. some of britain's hidden past is revealed. emergency teams are searching into the night, in north—western italy, trying to find more survivors in the rubble of a motorway bridge that collapsed in torrential rain. dozens of vehicles fell about 45 metres, nearly 150 feet. at least 26 people have died, 15 are seriously hurt. a number of people are missing, and there are reports of cries heard from the wreckage. a tower holding up part of the morandi suspension bridge suddenly collapsed. it carries a toll motorway near genoa and is an important route for the italian riviera and southern france. our rome correspondent james reynolds is there. "oh god, oh god," a man shouts.

he captures the moment a motorway disintegrates in bad weather. a vast section of the road falls to the ground. a rescue helicopter reveals the scale of the disaster. the four—lane highway collapsed a0 metres onto the valley floor. the span of this viaduct collapse is enormous. it includes a riverbed, railway tracks and then buildings. standing here, the gap must be well over 200 metres. and anybody driving in this section at around noon would simply have crashed all the way to the ground. genoa's emergency workers began an immediate search for survivors. they found several injured trapped in the rubble below. translation: we are continuing with the rescue operations

because we think there are other people alive under the rubble. we have extracted people from the rubble and now we are focusing on assisting the people. and later on we will understand what caused the collapse of the bridge. prime minister, why did the bridge collapse? i put this question to italy's prime minister conte. at the moment it is not possible. we don't know the cause. you don't know the cause? the italian government has promised to go after anyone responsible for the structure's collapse. translation: as an italian citizen, i will do everything to get the names and surnames of the past and present managers, because it is unacceptable to die like that in italy. this viaduct was built more than half a century ago, designed as a speedy coastal route towards the italian and french

riviera. it was refurbished two years ago. this morning, the authorities report that a maintenance team was working at the base of the viaduct. that team's activities will now be examined. this evening, as some of the dead were removed from the scene, questions remain about how a bridge in one of the most prosperous regions of italy came down. a piece of the city skyline, and more than two dozen of its people, have gone. and james sent an update on the on—going search for people in the wreckage. those reports have been widely spread in the italian media. we've seen the police bring in sniffer dogs to help with the search. the police have told us that the rescuers behind me

there are still trying to lift up several large slabs of concrete under which they think several more vehicles may be trapped. they have also begun the process of identifying victims. they already have 19 people they know the identities of. there will be more as well. dozens of workers continue here. they will keep going until they are sure that no one else can be rescued. and then, of course, comes the reckoning. people in this neighbourhood, people in genoa, said they always worried about the safety of the bridge that used to span these roads. they worried about whether it would be able to withstand an earthquake. in the end, it didn't come down in a quake. the government will have to explain to the people and the residents why the structure which used to stand here came down in a summer storm. italian prime minister guiseppe conte addressed the media earlier. to do what we have worked out so far, the number of casualties will

increase. at this and that it is an incredible tragedy, above all because there hasn't been an explosion or an accident but we're working on the hypothesis of the structural failure. there is plenty more about genoa bridge collapse on our website, including analysis of the possible causes. that's all at bbc.com/news. a grand jury investigation has found credible allegations of sexual abuse by more than 300 catholic priests in pennsylvania, going back decades. at least a thousand children are listed as victims. it's the most comprehensive inquiry of its kind ever carried out in the united states, and the grand jury believes there are more victims out there. we should emphasize, that while the list of priests is long, we don't think we got them all. we feel certain that many victims never came forward, and that the disocse did not create written records severy single time they heard somethjing about abuse. well, joining me now from los angeles is our

correspondent, peter bowes. this is a terrible tale. give us more about the background and the details. this is the result of a two—year grand jury investigation. incredibly detailed in terms of the many, incredibly detailed in terms of the any incredibly detailed in terms of the many, many documents. about half a million documents over the past 70 yea rs million documents over the past 70 years or $0 million documents over the past 70 years or so that they were looking at detailed accounts by young people involved, describing in horrific detail what happened to them. and those cases go back, as i say, some seven decades. in many cases you are talking about some children, some babies, some teenagers sometimes in the same family, talking about how they were played with alcohol and drugs before it happened. this was raped, molestation, the worst kind of abuse. these details coming out

now. some of the stories are not new, there have been many other cases and this is one of the worst affected states for this kind of abuse from the catholic church in the united states. sir peter, what happens next about this? —— so peter. of the 301 priest who have been named in this report, only two can be prosecuted and that is because the vast majority of the cases are simply too old to go to court. so there will be at least two criminal cases and as we just heard, there could be many more cases that are not represented in this report. local authorities have said that rather than a thousand, there could be several thousand children over time that have been abused in this way. this is farfrom over. time that have been abused in this way. this is far from over. there are going to be people worried that if this was going on on this scale

in pennsylvania, maybe other state too? —— states. in pennsylvania, maybe other state too? -- states. this isjust one state of course and have been investigations around the united states. it is possible that other cases could come to light. east and west coast. this is something that the church has acknowledged and it has to be said to have been apologies locally from the dioceses that have been implicated in this report, and it is a story that certainly has a long way to go because many of those priest we're have not been named, but they could be named in the future. peter, thank you very much for that. anti—terrorism police are searching three addresses in england, as part of their investigation into a collision outside the houses of parliament in london on tuesday morning. a man is being questioned on suspicion of deliberately crashing a car into security barriers outside the building. three people were injured when the vehicle swerved into cyclists and pedestrians during the morning rush hour. sources have told bbc news that the suspect was known to police, but not the security services. 0ur uk editor mark easton, arrived within minutes

of the incident, and sent us this report. filmed on a cyclist‘s helmet cam, was this silver car a weapon being readied for the second terror attack on our parliament in under 18 months? a bbc rooftop camera records what happened atjust after 7:35am. the ford fiesta pulled sharply of parliament square on the wrong side of the road, through a group of cyclists waiting at the lights, accelerates down millbank towards two police officers protecting the palace of westminster. they leap out of the way before the car smashes into a security bollard. barry williams, a bbc picture editor, was walking to work when he saw the car suddenly career out of the morning traffic. he hit the cyclist and then swerved over towards where

the safety barrier is. he accelerated and hit it at quite a high—speed. what was your impression? was it deliberate? i was not sure whether he meant to hit the cyclist, they may have just been in the way, then he accelerated hard towards the barrier. the car hit the security bollards, it briefly lifted off the ground. i have seen him crash into the bollard at high speed. he is driving at least 50 miles an hour. the guy seemed very focused. he was not panicked or anything. armed response teams arrived and were there within minutes. i was about 200 metres down the road and i saw half a dozen police range rovers and motorcycles driving at speed up this road away from the incident. it appears that was part of a planned response to exactly this kind of emergency.

this was the scene just a few minutes after the car crashed. the cyclists waiting at the lights, scattered at the side of the road. there was an ambulance in attendance almost immediately. three were hurt, two men and a woman, but no injuries are life—threatening. the driver of the fiesta, who was alone in the vehicle, was arrested at the scene by armed officers who were already nearby. scotland yard assistant commissioner neil basu says the driver a 29—year—old uk national, is refusing to co—operate with police. counterterrorism officers have raided a house in nottingham and two addresses in birmingham are being searched. given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident and the investigation is being led by officers from the counterterrorism command. parliament is currently in recess, westminster occupied by more foreign tourists than domestic politicians. the prime minister on holiday in switzerland said her thoughts were with the injured, and thanked the emergency services

for their courageous response. i'd also like to thank the people of london. this is not the first time we have seen an incident of this type on the streets of london. i would like to thank them for their resolve, resilience and determination to make sure that those who seek to exploit these incidents won't be allowed to divide us. less than one and a half years since the westminster bridge attack, once again the area around parliament was in lockdown today. the message to the public — stay calm, but remain vigilant. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: going back thousands of years, the hot and dry summer in the uk reveals traces from the past. 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 brutalformer 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. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: a major rescue operation is under way in the italian city of genoa, where people are still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed motorway bridge. at least 26 are known to have died. the war of words between president donald trump and one of his former advisors is getting uglier. in a tweet, president trrump described former reality star and presidential advisor 0marosa manigault—newman as a dog. the slur comes as she promotes her new book, in which she accuses mr trump as using the ‘n' word, although she does not say she heard him say it herself. when asked at a briefing white house press secretary sarah sanders said she could not guaranteee the president had never been recorded using racial slurs. have you asked the president if he

has ever used the n word? requested an address that through twitter. i can say i have never heard him say something similar. can you stand on the podium and guarantee the american people will never see donald trump after the n word in any context? i can't guarantee anything. donald trump's election campaign has also begun legal action against mrs newman for breeching a confidentiality agreement. well, joining me now is christine emba, columnist at the washington post, who has written about this very public spat between president trump and his former aide, 0marosa newman. i know that you have a piece coming out on wednesday. there are people who are bound to be uncomfortable. someone in a position of trust has gone so close to the most powerful person in the world. she was in the situation room recording and come out and spilt the beans. what she is disclosing if it is true is even more distasteful surely to most people. that is very true but

0marosa ‘s behaviour is a reflection of the president who hired her. president trump and associates have a history of recording calls and using taped conversations against those who they want to blow in the future. they have generally had a lack of regard for the niceties of the office. really, 0marosa is acting as donald trump prepared to all of those years ago on the apprentice, just as he is. was she intending to spill the beans as much as possible? it is not entirely clear what her intentions were. from the get go, 0marosa has been one of donald trump, rather, had been one of his long—standing supporters. she was a three—time apprentice co ntesta nt. was a three—time apprentice contestant. when she was hired to the white house it wasn't even clear what she was meant to play. she was

given the title of assistant to the president. she was a fierce defender of his policies. donald trump twitter that why he hired her in the first place. did she go into the role looking to profit later on? it doesn't seem outside her character in the behaviour she has displayed before. that could be said of anyone in this administration. there seems to be new aggression in mr trump's tweets. let's be careful about this. the president may not be racist, he may not be a white supremacist, but when he calls a black woman dog, when he calls a black woman dog, when he calls a black woman dog, when he talks about black people as having a low iq, a lot of races and white supremacist will hear someone talking the same language, this is dog whistle politics, isn't it? very much it is and looking back at his state m e nts much it is and looking back at his statements there is a fine line between the insult he uses for people of colour and those he uses against everyone else. his press secretary said today that donald trump is quick to hit back at people

who go against him first. but he conspicuously uses language that disparages the intelligence of people of colour. he called maxine waters low i0 and dominant one of the most stupid people on tv. he said specifically that 0marosa is not smart, though he hired her, and he uses and a ballistic terms. he calls mexicans animals. he called 0marosa a dog. these are not terms that he uses for whites even when he is being insulting. these are terms he has reserved. and one can wonder why. plenty more to talk about. i hope we can do it another time. thank you very much indeed. thank you for having me. russia says it's time for syrian refugees to return to their homes after seven years of war. on a visit to turkey russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov said he was surprised at what he described as western opposition to refugees going back to syria.

0ur correspondent steve rosenberg has been embedded in southern syria with with the russian military, who back president assad. seven years of war began in this town. dera'a is the cradle of the syrian revolution. the first place to rise up against the rule of president assad. last month, government troops regained control of the whole area. it's a hugely symbolic victory for the syrian president. what began here as a pro—democracy protest became a civil war that has left more than half a million people dead and forced more than 12 million syrians from their homes. it is a war which president assad now seems certain to win. but he couldn't have done that without the russian military. and our guides for this trip are the russian military. theiraim in bringing foreignjournalists here, to convince us that moscow has brought stability to syria.

we're taken into the hills. russian military police show me israeli observation posts in the distance. we're in the demilitarised zone between syria and the israeli occupied golan heights. un peacekeepers pulled out when syria's civil war spilt over here. but the rebels have gone. russia has set up patrols, it says, to maintain order. translation: the russian flag flying over our military police cars is a guarantee of peace and quiet on this land. we are taken to syria's border with lebanon, just in time to see bus—loads of syrian refugees returning home. proof, moscow says, that peace is coming to syria. "there's no war now," she says. "the situation is better." but there are many syrian refugees in lebanon who are not rushing back.

some fear reprisals. 0thers simply have nowhere to go. mohammed left syria four years ago when his house was destroyed. "it's still not safe or secure there," mohammed says. "i have no house and i fearfor my children." the syrian government rejects the suggestion that citizens who return are putting themselves in danger. there will be no reprisals. there will be cooperation on a safe and dignified return of all syrians. as we continue our tour, we are taken to see happy, smiling syrians, grateful to russia. it is precisely the image moscow wants us to see, of course, and yet in syria russia does seem to understand that winning

hearts and minds isjust as important as winning the war. steve rosenberg, bbc news, syria. after this summer's uk heatwave, archaeologists are having a field day, because the dry temperatures have laid bare some previously undisclosed historical sites. david sillito reports. 0k, martin. we've found an edge within the boundary. triple ditch. this is damian grady, one of historic england's aerial archaeologists. and this long, hot summer has revealed some lost landmarks. this is tixall, in staffordshire. look to the right. we can now see the outline of a lost manor house. and in 0xfordshire, a prehistoric settlement has come into full view. even the airfield we landed on, at old sarum in wiltshire, has its secrets. from ground level, well, all you can see is grass.

a few dry patches, nothing special. however, the archaeologist who is above me at the moment can see something completely different. the aerial photograph shows i was standing on three long stripes in the grass. close up, they don't look much. however... this is a ditch that dates from the iron age. over the years, the ancient ditches were filled in and the new soil dries out differently, leaving the stripes. this ditch we are standing on is 2500 years old? that's right. these were three ditches, between which would have been some banks. so, huge embankments? that's right, yes. huge things. they were. 0n the horizon there, there's a hillfort as well. and it goes on. here at bicton in devon, the dry weather has revealed the remains of a roman farm. there's never been a year like this. how many new things are you seeing? it's hard to tell for sure,

because we've been so busy and we've not had time to stop. but roughly, we're talking several hundred. and some of the most fascinating finds are here, near milton keynes. ceremonial groves, covering several 100 metres of mike davis's land, all of which was news to mike. have a look. good lord. i mean, we know there are things elsewhere, but this is something i've never seen ever before. this, then, is a complete surprise to you? you had no idea? no idea. and you've farmed here all your life? yes. it's 5000 years of history we're standing on. that is... amazing. it is amazing, indeed. thanks for watching. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbc mike embley.

that's it. thanks for watching. hello there. the weather pattern for the rest of this week and into the weekend looks pretty similar day on day and that is with more cloud, rain, stronger wind across the north and the west of the uk and the further south and east that you are, better chances of staying dry and bright with sunshine and feeling warmer. that process really will begin through wednesday, with an area of low pressure to the north—west of the country, a couple of weather fronts moving into northern and western areas, whereas further south and east it should stay largely dry. variable cloud, but also the sunshine breaking through at times. although breezy, not quite as windy it as it will be across northern areas. thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain, blustery across the north and the west of scotland, eastern scotland for a time across the south, scotland into northern ireland in between the two weather fronts we could see a little bit of brightness.

this first weather front will bring rain to north—west england, parts of wales and eventually into the south—west of england. 2a, 25 degrees again across the south—east. another warm afternoon. as we head through wednesday night, that weather front will merge together and bring rain further south—east to parts of northern england, the midlands, wales and south—west england. ahead of it, another muggy, dry night. to the north—west of it, clear spells and blustery showers. some heavy and feeling cooler and fresher. heading on into thursday, that weather front continues to sink its way south eastwards, it also opens the floodgates into cooler, fresher air which will flood in across the country during thursday and last into friday. it will be noticeable particularly in the south—east. that weather front will take its time to clear the south—east. a grey, wet, blustery day across the south. further north and west it will be quite windy, with sunshine and showers, some of them merging through longer spells of rain across the west

of scotland and those temperatures range from 17—20 degrees, feeling much pressure right across the board, particularly in the south east. on friday we do it all again. another area of low pressure hurtles in off the atlantic to effect the northern half of the country, keeping things more settled across the south and the south—east. it's going to be a windy day across northern ireland, scotland and perhaps north wales. more cloud, outbreaks of rain, persistent across the western scotland. further east you are, quieter, some sunny spells and feeling just a touch warmer than it did on thursday, highs of 22 or 23 degrees. saturday looks fairly quiet but it is only more wind and rain, the best of the brightness and warmth in the south—east. this is bbc news, the headlines: a major rescue operation is

underway in the italian city of genoa, where emergency teams are trying to find people are still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed motorway bridge. cars plunged more than 40m down, nearly 150ft. at least 26 people are confirmed dead, 15 seriously hurt. the american state of pennsylvania has accused the roman catholic church of covering up a massive child sex abuse scandal over more than two generations. an official report says at least 1,000 children were groomed, molested and raped by 301 priests over a period of 70 years. british anti—terror police are searching three addresses and questioning a 29—year—old man, arrested after his car swerved into pedestrians and crashed into a barrier outside parliament.