very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president trump warns of a humanitarian crisis and a tragedy, as syrian government forces prepare to storm the last rebel—held province. western countries condemn myanmar‘s jailing of journalists, but there's silence from china and the rest of asia. a nation's heritage up in flames — a lack of funding is blamed for the disaster at brazil's national museum. and japan's much—praised efforts to recycle plastics are not exactly what they seem. industrial plastic has value. it can be recycled and turned into new products. but the same cannot be said of household plastic waste. it is dirty, it is difficult, and it has virtually no value. hello.

president trump has backed warnings from the un and many aid organisations that thousands could be killed if the syrian government with its russian and iranian allies attack the last major rebel stronghold in syria. mr trump said an attack on idlib would be a grave humanitarian mistake and a tragedy. it's thought president assad's forces are preparing a major offensive. iran's foreign minister said on monday that what he called the remaining terrorists should be cleaned out. the bbc‘s david willis has more. well, mike, i have to say that president trump is not the first member of his administration to express disquiet over the possibility of an attack on idlib. just last week, secretary of state mike pompeo warned that this would represent an escalation of the syrian conflict, an already dangerous conflict, as he put it. well, today, president trump entered the fray on twitter, saying that "the russians and iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part

in this potential human tragedy. hundreds of thousands of people could be killed." now, we know that syria has been planning this attack on the idlib area, and indeed there are about three million civilians there, so the death toll could be considerable. the hope is perhaps turkey can weigh in and persuade iran, russia and syria to at least attempt to negotiate with the rebels who are holed up there in idlib. and indeed, there is a summit planned in tehran later this week to discuss the situation in idlib. but i mentioned syrian forces there, who are mobilising in that area, also the russians had some manoeuvres in the mediterranean near that area over the weekend. so it does seem as though the die is cast, for all the protestations

of the trump administration, mike. the bbc‘s david willis talking to us. there's been widespread condemnation of the jailing of two reuters journalists in myanmar for seven years. wa lone and jaw soe oo are accused of violating state secrets while investigating a massacre of rohingya muslims. in a statement, the us ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, condemned the sentence. "the conviction of two journalists for doing theirjob is another terrible stain on the burmese government", she said. "we will continue to call for their immediate and unconditional release". the un high commissioner for human rights, michelle bachelet, said the convictions sent a message to all journalists that they cannot operate without fear in myanmar. the bbc‘s nick beake has been following the case closely, and was at the sentencing in yangon. in some countries, they would have been given a prize for their work. not here, not in aung san suu kyi's myanmar. instead, forjournalists

wa lone and kyaw soe oo, who uncovered a massacre by the country's army, the reward is a prison cell. the reporters say they were framed because they were investigating the execution of ten rohingya muslims. the un believes, in all, the myanmar military and buddhist mobs may have killed more than 10,000 rohingyas in rakhine state last year. but the reporters‘ investigation ended today with a seven—yearjail sentence. translation: we performed according to media ethics. we didn't do anything harmful towards our nation. we didn't commit any crime. the fury of the journalists‘ supporters was clear as the pair were driven to prison, now convicted of obtaining secret documents which could have helped enemies of the state. this verdict is devastating for the two reporters,

but also freedom of the press in myanmar. many people are concerned about the direction this country is taking. the verdict and the judgement today has struck a hammer blow to the rule of law in myanmar. many diplomats have been at the trial throughout, and we believe that the judge has ignored the evidence of the case, and has actually also ignored myanmar laws. so extremely disappointed with that. we think it's a bad day for myanmar, and we would call on the journalists to be released as soon as possible. a crushing day, too, for the families of the jailed reporters, who have endured eight months of court hearings. after the journalists‘ arrests, their employer, reuters, published the full story of the rohingya massacre the pair had been working on, prompting a rare admission of guilt from the burmese army. that crime wouldn‘t have been known had it not been for the reporting of wa lone and kyaw soe 0o.

so what happened today was an injustice, and it‘s an injustice that can‘t be allowed to stand. but, so far, silence from aung san suu kyi‘s government, last week accused by the un of assisting genocide, this week condemned for an attack on a pillar of democracy. after free elections three years ago, there was great hope for myanmar. it is fading fast. nick beake, bbc news, yangon. officials in brazil have blamed a lack of funding for a massive fire that destroyed the national museum. the fire has consumed close to 90% of the 20 million or so items in the collection, including the oldest human remains ever found in the americas. it broke out late on sunday evening, after the museum closed. from rio de janeiro, the bbc‘s katy watson. a cherished institution up in flames, and a nation‘s history destroyed. this museum was home to 20 million artefacts, but few are expected to have survived this intense blaze. with the fire now out, the extent of the devastation

is becoming clear. experts say the loss of brazil‘s most important scientific institution is incalculable — a collection rich with extinct species from the americas, dinosaur skeletons, and this, a i2,000—year—old human skull called luzia. most of that could have been lost. it‘s the patrimony of our country, but also the patrimony of the world. here we had some of the best specimens from south america. so we really will need your help. throughout the day, firefighters, investigators, even some people who worked at the museum had been going into the building, and every so often they come out with an artefact, or anything they can salvage from the rubble. among the onlookers was livia, a museum intern. she is devastated. you‘d never think of the louvre in paris catching fire, she says. this sort of thing happens in brazil, though. 200 years of historyjust gone, in a matter of hours.

for some, the sadness turned to anger. they say spending cuts led to the museum‘s neglect. this isn‘tjust brazilian history that‘s gone up in flames. many see this as a metaphor for the country‘s recent economic and political crises. katy watson, bbc news in rio de janeiro. let‘s round up some of the day‘s other news for you now. argentinia‘s president has announced a series of measures to try to contain a run on its currency, the peso. mauricio macri promised to cut in half the number of ministries, trying to show investors that argentina is committed to reforming its economy. tens of thousands have turned out for a free concert in the german city of chemnitz against the sometimes violent anti—immigrant demonstrations organised there by the far right. many people chanted "nazis out." the event is using the hashtag "there are more of us" — a response to the far right slogan — "we are the people." the highest court in the democratic republic of congo has barred the opposition leader,

jean—pierre bemba, from running in the presidential election in december. he was ruled ineligible because of a conviction at the international criminal court for bribing witnesses. nine weeks to go until election day in the us, and the results will decide whether the republicans retain control of congress. all 435 seats in the house of representatives are up for grabs, a third of those in the senate. democrats hope to win back the house, and leading the charge are a new generation of military veterans, hoping to serve their country in a different way. laura trevelyan reports. 0k, nice to see you. thank you so much... mikie sherrill is running her campaign with military precision, trying to meet as many voters in this newjersey suburb as possible. it is what you‘d expect of a former navy helicopter pilot, with her eye on winning what has been a republican seat for decades. i always laugh because i tell people, you know, i was a helicopter aircraft commander, and i never once started a mission saying, "ok, i‘m only taking democrats

on this mission," or "i‘m only taking republicans on this mission." mikie sherrell‘s campaign has raised record amounts of money, and in a sign the seat is winnable, the republican incumbent chose to retire. this mother—of—four is running against the tax changes coming new jersey‘s way, and she is for gun control. i‘m qualified in automatic weapons, and i know the danger of them. we do need the federal government to step in and make sure we have good gun safety legislation across the board. afghanistan veteran max rose has knocked on 15,000 doors in neighbouring new york, as he tries to turn this republican seat blue. i‘m actually the first post—9/ii combat vet to run for office in new york city history. it is a message he hopes will resonate on staten island, where president trump is popular. injured in afghanistan by a roadside bomb, max rose was decorated for bravery, and his run is inspired by his soldiers. they didn‘t think about their own personal self—interest. theyjust tried to get the job done, and that‘s what i want to see more of in washington, dc.

that motivation resonates with emily cherniack, who helps republicans and democrats with a service background run for office. when they served this country in their formidable years of, you know, 18 to 28, they learned to be involved in something bigger than themselves. if we had more leaders who were doing what‘s best for the country over what‘s best for themselves, i think it would fundamentally transform our democracy. it is not surprising that democrats are pinning their hopes on veterans to flip suburban seats like this one in new york, and win back the house of representatives. americans have more confidence in the military than in any other us government institution, and nearly one third of the democratic candidates running in competitive seats this november have served in the military. and mikie sherrill is one of five female veterans contesting the democrats‘ top target seats. we thought that if we were navy helicopter pilots, orfederal prosecutors, we were moving forward and we were creating a better world

for our children. and to see us lose ground, i think, was so upsetting to so many women. the military retains the respect of americans at a time of fierce partisanship. if democrats‘ dreams of a blue wave materialise in november, veterans will be leading the charge. laura trevelyan, bbc news, washington. much more to come for you on bbc news, including this: put your pedal to the metal — the championship race where engines are not allowed. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india‘s slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies then arrange the coffins and take them back home.

parents are waiting and wives are waiting, so... hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: president trump has warned the syrian government and its russian and iranian allies they will be making a grave humanitarian mistake if they attack the last rebel—held region of idlib. there‘s been widespread condemnation from the un and western countries

of the jailing in myanmar of two reuters journalists who were investigating a massacre of rohingya muslims. the latest ad campaign from the sports giant nike will feature the football player colin kaepernick, who‘s been a figurehead of the protests against police brutality towards african—america ns. kaepernick was a quarterback with the san francisco 49ers for six years, but stirred controversy in 2016 when he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before games. caroline rigby reports. "believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything." the words of former nfl quarterback colin kaepernick, part of an advertising campaign for the sports brand nike. kaepernick was at the san francisco 49ers when he began kneeling during the national anthem in the 2016 nfl season, a protest against racial injustice

and police brutality, what he saw as state oppression against african americans and people of colour. his actions sparked a wider movement and national debate. criticised by some, including president tromp, for being disrespectful to both the american flag and the military. now a free agent, kaepernick is suing the nfl, alleging ten owners colluded to prevent him from signing with another team. —— team. being chosen as the face of nike‘s latest advertising venture is likely to be welcomed by many, but raises eyebrows too. in a statement, the company said: it also features a range of other stars, including the tennis player serena williams. news of kaepernick‘s involvement comes just days before the first game of the new nfl season, where pre—match protests could once

againflare up. this advert yet more proof that sports continues to be a frontline of the american political and racial divide. caroline rigby, bbc news. a short time ago i spoke to dr marc williams, a sports marketing expert and hearst visiting professional at the university of florida. he gave me his reaction to nike‘s decision. it's it‘s powerful, it sends a powerful message to the world that nike is serious. when the first campaign started 30 yea rs serious. when the first campaign started 30 years ago the focus was to really find a way to connect with americans and people around the world to go out and do something, and not necessarily focusing on sports because they were going after reebok. reebok was so focused on women‘s fitness and it was the number one brand in the world, and

people can‘t remember that far along, but that‘s what reebok was doing and when nike did that, everything changed, the whole landscape of this industry changed. so this is a very powerful statement that nike made today. nike is a business, of course, doesn‘t have to do this, wouldn‘t be doing this and less it realised colin kaepernick has lots of support, despite the best efforts of the president of the united states and lots of his supporters who feel very differently about colin kaepernick? when you have a leader calling players and sons of bitches and then you have another sport, basketball, with a revered player like lebron james who builds a school for young people to help them become better people to help them become better people in life, and you make those kinds of statements it‘s no longer a partisan. it is a situation where you‘re looking at a human being, other human beings, looking at something that is bigger than sport, and something to do with decency, something to do with consciousness. this has never been about the flag, disrespecting america, and troops, this has been

about injustice against people of colour, and the president made this moment and created something that wasn‘t there. some americans are following suit. nike said they won‘t tolerate that, we don‘t believe in that, they did it with serena williams at the french open, when they banned her from wearing her suit, which was for getting blood clots, and they did the opposite of that, so nike has a long history of supporting people who wear their brand and also making a political statement in terms of consciousness, making sure people understand what they are doing is very serious. and hopefully this will send out a message to the rest of the world that they should no longer be afraid to speak out and speak up against something that is injust or unjust. just a brief thought, we should know that colin kaepernick has lost quite a lot through taking this stand, taking the knee, and in career terms

as well, but a lot of people support president trump and they won‘t like what nike is doing. absolutely, and that‘s the thing, the bottom line is we are hoping that people will start to become more conscious, because i believe in the hearts of americans, they are good people. the problem is that when you have someone who is dividing the nation and getting into people‘s fears, this is the kind of environment we live in, do i think other brands will follow suit? i don‘t know. i know that in real time, even with muhammad ali, when he lost his boxing title for five years, we are in real time right now, and back then those individuals lost everything. it took 30—110 years to get it back towards the end of ali‘s career, in terms of him passing away, he was a hero, tommy smith is now reaping the benefits of what they did in ‘68. now we see people like nike saying we won‘t have this, we want to stand for socialjustice, we believe in what colin kaepernick

is doing, so i think colin kaepernick is winning and he will continue to win and those people that believe injustice will continue to win as well. plastic waste has become a massive problem around the world, and japan is no exception. people there spend a lot of time sorting their household plastic so it can be recycled. rupert wingfield—hayes has been finding out what actually happens to much of it when it leaves their homes. the world is drowning in plastic. here injapan, they say recycling is the answer. but is that true? this is kawamura—san‘s kitchen and i would say kawamura—san is, i‘d say, a garbage warrior. she‘s going to give me a lesson on how i should be separating my garbage properly. this is yokohama city‘s instructions on how to separate your garbage. you can see, it‘s quite elaborate. there are one, two, three,

four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten different types of garbage separation, but this is the one we care about, plastic containers and packaging. so she‘s going to show me how to do it. it is an arduous task to clean and separate every piece, but the result is that 84% ofjapan‘s household plastics end up in a recycling bin. so what happens to it next? so these ladies are pulling out anything that can‘t be recycled, so things like this, cigarette lighters, batteries, bits of metal scrap. everything else, all the other plastic that stays on this conveyor belt will go and be bailed up and sent to recycling. now the shocker — 70% of this material will be exported. last year, a million tons of japanese plastic went to china. this year, china banned all imports. now japan‘s plastic recyclers are desperately hunting for alternatives.

so this used to go to china, now it‘s going to go to malaysia. some plastics are recycled injapan. large industrial ones, like these car bumpers. they‘re chopped up and fed into a shredder. so those car bumpers, which are cut up, shredded, melted and then turned into this, this is the end product, these are pellets, which can then be made into new products. what we‘ve seen here is that industrial plastic has value. it can be recycled and turned into new products, but the same cannot be said of household plastic waste. it is dirty, it is difficult and it has virtually no value. that‘s why it was being shipped wholesale to china, and that‘s why now it ends up either being landfilled or burned, and of course, it is why so much of it ends up in the ocean. rupert wingfield—hayes for as there.

it‘s been another extraordinary summer of sport — what with the world cup, the european championships and the asian games — but spectators at a race in the south of england will have you believe they have left the best till last. this was a championship with a difference, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this isn‘t le mans, or indianapolis or monza, this is black bush, the british pedal car championship, where engines are not allowed. 13 teams competing against each other, going as fast as their legs can carry them. people get into it, a bit like f1 in a way, so the other kart is two laps ahead, so you get the fastest guy in, it is really good fun, really good banter as well,

which is always good. it is a test of speed and endurance. more than 300 laps around this go—kart track adding up to a distance of 160 kilometres. the teams will swap drivers, each one usually completing 15 to 20 minutes at a time. apollo racing took the honours, which means they‘re now only ten points behind championship leaders wind racers. oh, it‘s amazing really, because we started the season with a win and then wind racers got up to speed, and we haven‘t been close ever since, and this weekend is the first time we have been closest to championship win all season, so it is great to be back. the title decider takes place next month, about 200 kilometres further north. they will be allowed to drive a normal car to the venue. tim allman, bbc news. and before we go, india is close to completing what will be

the world‘s tallest statue, a 182—metre tribute to the independence hero sardar vallabhai patel. the figure in gujarat state has cost $430 million. it‘s known as the sstatue of unity and it will be inaugurated on october the 31st. until then, the biggest statue in the world is china‘s spring temple buddha at 128 metres. much more on all the news for you any time on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i‘m @bbcmikeembley. that‘s it for now. thank you very much for watching. hello there.

yesterday we had quite a mixture of weather. some warm, humid sunshine across parts of eastern england, but further west, we had this weather front bringing cloudy skies and outbreaks of rain. i‘m showing you this weather picture from yesterday because that front is going to be with us for much of today as well. it‘s barely moving at all, so it‘s going to be quite cloudy it‘s barely moving at all, over the next few hours across a good part of england and wales too, with the cloud thick enough for an occasional spot of drizzle, perhaps misty over the hills for a time as well. but for the most part across england and wales, it‘s going to be a mild night. you can see the yellows here. temperatures way up into the double figures. whereas further north and west, we‘ve got the cooler air for scotland and northern ireland. and across sheltered parts of northern scotland, it could well be cold enough for a touch of frost for early risers tuesday morning. tuesday, though, will dawn on a bright note for most parts of scotland with some morning sunshine. should be a bright enough start too for northern ireland. different story for most of england and wales, where it‘s going to be a great start to the day and the cloud will be thick enough for a few

spots of rain or drizzle, perhaps across parts of north—west england, the midlands and eastern parts of wales too. for one or two, a damp start to the morning, but as we go through the day, that weather front will tend to ease and the cloud will thin a little bit, so we‘ll get a few brighter spells coming through. there will be a bit of sunshine for east anglia and south—east england. perhaps not quite as much as we had on monday. we‘ll still have some sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, although the cloud will tend to bubble up a bit here a little bit as we head into the afternoon. it‘s going to be another quite quiet day really weatherwise on wednesday. a lot of dry weather with some bright or sunny spells coming and going. but a change in the weather to the north—west where we see a weather front moving. that‘s going to be bringing more general rain into western scotland and northern ireland. that rain heavy at times. things cooler there across the far north—west of scotland. further changes towards the end of the week as the jet stream gets more wriggly, more amplified. we‘re on the downward stretch, the downward limb of the jet stream, and that means we‘ll have an area

of low pressure form as we head towards the end of the week. here is the low. now, uncertainty about the exact position. it might actually be a little bit further westwards, which will bring more general rain in across the uk. either way, i think we‘re looking at an unsettled end to the week. rain at times probably best sums up the forecast on thursday, particularly across the northern half of the country, but nowhere is immune from seeing some wet weather. it will be quite breezy and cool, and some of the rain could turn heavy and thundery at times, too. temperatures ranging from 13 in eastern scotland to 18 degrees in london. i suspect it will stay pretty unsettled on friday and into the weekend with rain or showers in the forecast. that‘s your weather. these are the headlines on bbc news: president trump has backed warnings from the un and many aid organisations that thousands of people could be killed if, as expected, the syrian government and its russian and iranian allies attack the last rebel—held province, idlib. mr trump said it would be a grave humanitarian mistake, and a tragedy. there‘s been widespread condemnation of the jailing of two reuters journalists in myanmar for seven years. wa lone and jeaw soe 0o are accused of violating state secrets

while investigating a massacre of rohingya muslims. the us ambassador said the case was "deeply troubling". the eu has called for their immediate release. officials at brazil‘s national museum say almost ninety % —— officials at brazil‘s national museum say almost 90% of their collection was destroyed in a fire on sunday. the government is seeking money from banks and the un to help rebuild. staff had long complained of deep funding cuts. it‘s just after 4:30am in the morning.