this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: four become two — conservative mps here in the uk will choose the final two candidates for prime minister. then it's up to the party membership to decide. the leader of a cult in the united states who treated women as sex slaves is found guilty on all charges. satellite pictures show himalayan glaciers melting at a rapidly accelerating rate, threatening long—term water supplies to a vast number of people. in business briefing, the billionaire‘s club gets bigger as slack becomes the latest tech start—up to join the new york stock exchange.

but 20 years on, are we seeing the return of the dot—com bubble? also, the fed signals it's ready to cut us interest rates for the first time in a decade, boosting global markets. good to have you with us on this thursday. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can join in the conversation. today, we'd like to know if you bought into the dot—com boom at the end of the 1990s, and if so, were you badly burnt? what is your cautionary tale when it comes to investing in the stock market? get in touch — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. after ten days of frantic arm twisting and cajoling their fellow

mps, the four men vying to become britain's next prime ministerface a crucial day. two of them will be eliminated throughout the course of the day, with the final two announced around 6pm. on saturday there will be nationwide hustings to secure the votes of the 150 members —— 150,000 hustings to secure the votes of the 150 members ——150,000 members of the conservative party that will decide theirfate. here's our political correspondent jonathan blake. for candidates remain. by the end of the day, there will be only two. mps will hold another secret ballot this morning with the man getting the fewest votes knocked out. then u nless fewest votes knocked out. then unless the candidate left in third place chooses to withdraw, a further vote will be held this afternoon with the final result due at around

six o'clock tonight. borisjohnson strengthened his significant lead further yesterday so the contest is still very much around who joins him in the final two. there are just three votes separating jeremy hunt and michael gove, leaving the home secretary sergeant javid as the outsider to reach the run—off. his campaign strongly rejected suggestions he could withdraw and no candidate appears ready to pull out 01’ candidate appears ready to pull out orjoin forces candidate appears ready to pull out or join forces though candidate appears ready to pull out orjoin forces though deals may yet be done. rory stewart said he didn't put his elimination down to dirty tricks by borisjohnson‘s campaign, and said the votes he lost would have been split betweenjeremy hunt, michael gove and javid. now, while all that is going on, theresa may will be in brussels for her last sumit as prime minister. there's likely to be a small discussion on brexit, but most of the time, the leaders will be discussing their nomination for the new president

of the eu commisison, and some of the other big roles available, like the replacement for donald tusk as president of the council. we will have more on those stories later in our news briefing. in the united states, a self—help guru accused of leading a sex cult that enslaved women has been found guilty on all charges. keith raniere founded an organisation called invm, which claimed to offer seminars for self—empowerment. but the court heard he manipulated and abused female members of the group. here's our north american correspondent peter bowes. the is finally over. the end of a long ordeal, prosecutors described asa long ordeal, prosecutors described as a modern day svengali. moments ago in the eastern district of new york they return verdicts rejecting

keith raniere on all counts of his federal indictment. akrotiri started in 2003, supposedly a self—help group that sought to empower people in their daily lives. but the reality was very different. prosecutors that it was a cover for an organisation that enslaved women. during the trial that lasted just over six weeks, keith raniere was accused of a string of crimes from sex trafficking to racketeering. this trial has revealed that keith raniere, who portrayed himself as a genius, was in fact a mass manipulator, a conman and the crime boss of a cultlike organisation. the jury boss of a cultlike organisation. the jury heard that far from empowering women, he treated them as his sex slaves. they were branded with his initials and put on starvation diets. well, shejust initials and put on starvation

diets. well, she just found out, she is in shock. catherine luxemburg is the mother of one of the victims. put it this way, she, like all the other young women who have suffered at the hands of this monster, keith raniere, no—one is unscathed, but she is not broken and she will be strongerfor she is not broken and she will be stronger for it. keith raniere's lawyer says he wasn't surprised by the verdict. during the trial he told jurors they may find his client told jurors they may find his client to be repulsive, disgusting and offensive, but that was not a crime. he isa offensive, but that was not a crime. he is a sexual encounters were consensual. he maintained his innocence. he does plan on appealing. we do think we have some substantial grounds for an appeal. keith raniere will be sentenced in september. he could be facing the rest of his life behind bars. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. new zealand's government is launching a scheme to buy back semiautomatic guns, which were banned in the aftermath of the christchurch mosque attacks. more than $135 million has been set aside for the 6—month long scheme, which only applies to licensed guns. new zealand mps voted in april

to outlaw military—style, semiautomatic firearms, along with parts that could be used to adapt lower—powered weapons. the un high commissioner for human rights has arrived in venezuela in the latest attempt to solve its political crisis. michelle bachelet will hold separate meetings with president nicolas maduro and opposition leaderjuan guaido, who's given his support to a call for more protests during her visit. canada resettled more refugees than any other country last year according to a new report by the un refugee agency. the country accepted just over 28,000 refugees. it was the first time the us did not lead the world in refugee resettlement since 1980. let's turn to our top business story, because yet another technology entrepreneur will be joining the billionaire's club today. business messaging app

slack lists its shares on the new york stock exchange later with a starting valuation of up to $17 billion despite never having made a profit. founder stewart butterfield — you can see him here — will have a net worth of at least $1.1 billion. it could be a lot higher by the end of the day. he isa he is a year younger than me. alpesh patel, ceo of praefinium partners, joins me now. he isa he is a little bit younger than you as well. worth over a billion by the end of today. it isjust as well. worth over a billion by the end of today. it is just worth as well. worth over a billion by the end of today. it isjust worth a billion more than us put together. indeed. are you going to pick up the slack? 0h, sally! pack it in. are you a slacker? i had no idea, these are coming thick and fast. we are on the wrong show. 20 years ago it was the wrong show. 20 years ago it was the same old story, it was a

technology company is not making profits, yet they have these ridiculous valuations. they are trying to get them done as quickly as they can before they think the good time stop rolling. we have had a busy year, uber, all sorts. it is incredible the amount of money out there, the us stock market is at all—time highs, i have been buying up all—time highs, i have been buying up as much us stocks as i can for donkeys, in particular since trump announced tax cuts the december before last. that has been one of the reasons that has been fuelling it. it should investors be buying into companies that does slack? they are not making profits. they are lossmaking, and many are looking at their business models and thinking, i don't know when they will make a proper “— i don't know when they will make a proper —— profit actually. i don't know when they will make a proper -- profit actually. always far riskier when they are unprofitable obviously, self—evidently. then a company which has a long track record. also far

riskier and have just come to the market because again you don't have the public record, public history, public due diligence that you would otherwise have. if you are looking for the higher risk plays, go for the unprofitable ones, but that is high risk. as opposed to your apple and your microsoft which have been around for a long time. amazon, i think it has made a profit one quarter of one year, yet... going up and up and up. a long track record at least. the dot-com bubble burst nearly 20 years ago. march 2000. i think we knew each other then. you look the same. i have lost all my hair. but you look the same. how are you impacted by that? you are online trading at the time. i don't know if you recall, we could shorten the stocks so it was fine. you could sell them. you were shorting them. but many were seriously burnt by that, won't they? there were a lot

of people who would have been harmed by that. the first one was 2008. that was far, far more painful and would have hurt i think a larger, as we know, a large number of people because it hurt people who were not involved in the stock market because it hurt people had deposit that banks who were just regular people. the dot—com bubble made a lot of greedy people a bit of money. 2008, far west crash. we are not on track for anything like that. we might get 2000 again, but not 2008. you are back later. we will unpack that later. we will explain what slack does if you are not aware. it is kind of like a messaging app within four businesses. that is a short summary. but we have more on slack in business briefing. the melting of the himalayan glaciers is accelerating rapidly a new study has found. scientists from columbia university in new york used images taken by cold war spy satellites to show

that ice loss in the region has doubled over the last a0 years. the research is published in the journal science advances. here's our science correspondent rebecca morelle. covert images snapped from space. these are taken a us spy satellites in the 1970s. recently declassified, they reveal how the himalayas once look. now, scientists have compared them with modern satellite images andi them with modern satellite images and i have been able to see how the himalayan glaziers have changed. since 2000, the height of the glaziers has shrunk by an average of half a metre every year. that means they are losing 8 billion tons of water annually. scientists say that climate change is the main cause of this rapid melt, leaving the area dramatically altered. the concern is that there are millions of people who rely on glaciers for water. researchers are continuing to track the vanishing ice, but they worn if

the vanishing ice, but they worn if the climate continues to warm, the melt will be hard to stop. keep it with the briefing. so much more to come. scotland are out of the women's world cup after a controversial draw in paris, but better news for england as they top their group. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home.

early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: conservative mps here in the uk will choose the final two candidates for prime minister, then it's up to the party membership to decide. the leader of a cult in the united states who treated women as sex slaves is found guilty on all charges. president xijingping of china is in north korea — the first chinese leader to visit the country on 1a years. he has talked of working

with north korea to draw up what he calls a "grand plan" for stability in the region. robin brant is in china for us. these two have met many times, it's a first time in north korea. xi jinping has posted the north korean leaderfour jinping has posted the north korean leader four times jinping has posted the north korean leaderfour times but is going jinping has posted the north korean leader four times but is going the other way. it is state visits all the pomp and ceremony is going to be in north korea. for the rest of today. and also for friday. it will bea today. and also for friday. it will be a visit i think richie and ceremony, rich in protocol, it is a hose abolished visit because this is a chance for north koreans through their state—controlled media to be reminded of the fact that the big neighbour, china, for whom they have depended for so long on trade is willing to show its support, billing to show the world that xi jinping is therefore kim jong—un. it's

important as a buildup to the g20 meeting in osaka next week — make theirfile. and that meeting in osaka next week — make their file. and that the war between china and the us going on, showing little sign of improvement, president xijinping knows he is sending a message to donald trump that when it comes to north korea's ongoing nuclear weapons, and the failure of those two summits, that china may be, just maybe, still has the ability to exert some kind of influence over kim jong—un when it comes to that nuclear weapons programme. when it comes to the programme, it has been quite for that well, hasn't it? there is a meeting that didn't go well between kim jong—un meeting that didn't go well between kimjong—un and meeting that didn't go well between kim jong—un and resident trump in vietnam, but since then, lafarge has been to russia, he is hosting xi jinping in china, he is getting close to this country cities as allies. thus a very modern

observation. the relationship between china and north korea is a very important one. a shared ideological pass, north korea depends on china overwhelmingly. for its trade and for aid as well. it has been a frosty relationship over the past few years, xi jinping has been a frosty relationship over the past few years, xijinping and china's leadership support the policy of maximum pressure, the un sanctions regime, the really restricted any kind of trade that north korea was able to do and that the two are frosty relationship tween the two countries. is not as though they have been great bosom buddies for years and years and as you observe, kim jong—un buddies for years and years and as you observe, kimjong—un is making overtures to other countries. he sat down with donald trump and that has been hugely significant for him. he can, but audience now, it has happened twice of course, and is over two is towards russia. china remains hugely important for north korea and it's a chance for north koreans to be reminded that the neighbour is there, billing to show support that is notjust

neighbour is there, billing to show support that is not just all about china. this mini dynamics going on in terms of the bilateral relationship — make many dynamics. but also the relationship with the united states. let's have a quick look at a few other important events taking place in europe later today. russia's president, vladimir putin, takes part in his annual direct line television programme. he'll be answering questions from the public live on tv. in paris, the cement giant lafarge and three former executives appeal against charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the company's activities in the syrian civil war. later in paris, the world of fashion gathers at the grand palais to pay tribute to the life and work of designer karl lagerfeld. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett, and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start with the footballing news that scotland have been knocked out of the women's world cup

in heartbreaking fashion. leading 3—0 with less than 20 minutes to go in paris and set to qualify for the last 16, argentina scored three to level it with this controversial retaken penalty sealing the scots fate as lee alexander was adjudged to have come off her line too early with the initial spot kick. england moved through top of group d though as they beat 2011 winners japan 2—0 in nice. ellen white with both of the strikes for phil neville's side who'll face one of the best third placed sides on sunday. obviously, you can see that we didn't really have much of the ball. we played well in the first half, but the second half was more defensive and trying to get them on the counter. which ellen's goal came from. but i think you've just got to look at the result in them games and 2—0 shows that we've won the game, whether it was a good game or whether it wasn't, we've got the result we wanted and can progress from there. new zealand moved back to the top of the table at the cricket world cup, as captain kane williamson led his side to a a—wicket

win over south africa on wednesday. williamson scored an unbeaten century at edgbaston as his side chased down the target of 2112 to all but eliminate the proteas. french open champion, ashleigh barty, picked up where she left off as she started her wimbledon preparations. she moved through to the round of 16 after she beat donna vekic in straight sets. the australian raced past her croatian challenger with a 6—3, 6—4 win, and will now go up against americanjennifer brady on thursday. it's the final day of group games at the women's football world cup in france. in group e, netherlands and canada play each other having both already qualified. in group f usa take on sweden with the winner finishing top but the defending champions aren't getting ahead of themselves. i've set consistently that you think about him can focus on our importance and pad level we can, and we are a challenge and handle for any timber play. you can't handpick

who you want to play in this tournament, the team in front of you comes the priority. —— becomes a priority. this multiple scenario sever us priority. this multiple scenario sever us and our players, it literally is that game at a time. —— one game at a time. australia have no special plans for bangladesh's batsmen ahead of thursday's cricket world cup match at trent bridge, but dismissing the in—form shakib al hasan early on could hold the key to victory. all—rounder shakib's second straight century in the tournament helped bangladesh pull off the second highest successful world cup run chase to seal a seven—wicket victory over west indies on monday. andy murray will make his competitive return to tennis alongside spain's feliciano lopez in the doubles later at queen's in london. the 32—year—old scot, a three time singles grand slam champion had a hip resurfacing operation injanuary and has teamed up with the spaniard in a short term agreement. the nba draft will be held in new york later on thursday with zion williamson expected to be the number one pick and head to the new orleans pelicans. the 18 year old forward declared his intention to join the professional ranks having been at duke university

in north carolina, but he doesn't want to be compared to other nba players who've gone before him. now here's a special ornament depicting one of the best sportsmen of his generation. this is at a temple in bangkok that has turned into a surprise tourist attraction, but can you tell who it is? it's david beckham apparently but they've also got statues of the likes of wolverine and superman. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team, that is your thursday sport briefing. a revolver reportedly used by the artist vincent van gogh to take his own life has been sold at auction in paris for more than $180,000. the rusty weapon was sold for almost three times more

than expected. ramzan karmali reports. it's said to be the gun that renowned artist vincent van gogh used to kill himself. it went on sale at a paris auction house, where there was plenty of interest — including one potential buyer with a very special reason for wanting the rusty revolver. we are here for the gun, the van gogh gun, because we are opening a museum in holland, in rotterdam, a van gogh museum, so it would be nice to have it in the museum there. so fingers crossed. injuly 1890, after years of mental anguish, van gogh walked into a field near auvers—sur—oise, a village a few miles north of paris, and shot himself in the chest. but the pocket sized revolver had limited power and it took days for the troubled artist to die from his injury. more than seven decades later, a corroded gun was found in a field behind the chateau where he stayed. but doubts have been raised about the gun's authenticity and the auction house which sold

the weapon admitted there's no way of guaranteeing that the gun is the same, though they remain pretty certain that it is. translation: it's a 7mm calibre that corresponds to the bullet that was found in his body. the position of the trigger is open. normally it's in the closed position. it's up, it's in the open position, which means a shot was fired with the weapon falling to the ground. the gavel fell as the revolver sold to a private collector via telephone. the price, just shy of $182,000, almost three times more than expected. but a long way off what you have to pay for one of his paintings. ramzan karmali, bbc news. let's leave you with the pilots i view from inside a stunned cockpit, this is a pilot taking time out from

his dayjob this is a pilot taking time out from his day job playing this is a pilot taking time out from his dayjob playing for air france, performing at an air show, he does admit this quite a lot of difference between an airbus and his light aircraft. his promised us he never fly like this with passengers on board. i have to say, i've never —— i have done that and it is most —— it is the most scary thing i've ever donein it is the most scary thing i've ever done in my life. i've done that very thing, in fact. done in my life. i've done that very thing, infact. i done in my life. i've done that very thing, in fact. i couldn't video it at the time, i couldn't hold my phone. but it is an incredible experience. the business briefing is coming up, that is injust a few minutes time, we will unpack in more detail what slack is, this will be listing on the stock exchange, making its chief executive and founders overnight billionaires. we will talk about that and we will have all the other stories. let us know your thoughts — use #bbcthebriefing.

were you stung by the bubble bursting nearly 20 years ago? i will see very hello there. as we head into next week there is a chance that things could turn very warm for some of us. that could spike off some pretty heavy and thundery showers. in a few places heavy and thundery showers. in a few pla ces sto p heavy and thundery showers. in a few places stop that is of long way off in the short—term, things are looking fairly showery thanks to low pressure to the north of the uk. apples and shells into northern and western areas early this morning elsewhere, we should see a dry day across the south—east. it will feel fresher, today is going to be one of sunshine and showers for stopping to the system anchored to the north of the system anchored to the north of the uk. most of the shells of the across scotland, northern ireland, quite heavy, may be thundery, quite blustery with gusts around 30—35 males and hour forced a few showers

spreading from west to east across england and wales but some good spells of sunshine. across the south—east you will notice how cool and fresh the feel is. high pressure begins to build from the south from monday just back from begins to build from the south from mondayjust back from friday, we have low pressure towards the north of the uk, for much of scotland another fairly easy day with some showers again. it could be on the heavy side but further south the better chance of staying dry closer to that area of high pressure. they could be the odd shower around. but later wins and a strong mid—june sunshine, you will feel a bit warmer, 20 or 21 degrees but still mid teens further north. the high pressure really takes hold as we head to the weekend. for the start of the weekend, low pressure is trying to come in from the south—west as the weekend wears on. for many of us on saturday willing are generally light winds coming from the south or south—east, plenty of dry weather with some sunshine, a bitter fairweather cloud bubbling up into the afternoon. temperatures

will respond away from eastern coast because of that south—easterly breeze, it will feel much warmer. below 20 celsius in places. high—pressure still a fine day, warm south—easterly winds tending to pick up south—easterly winds tending to pick up as this area of low pressure continues to push up towards the south—west which could bring more cloud, may be a box of rent to western areas later on sunday. it could turn fairly warm across the south—east on sunday, the commission, chance of it coming —— chatting very warm and thundery around the middle part of the week, particular for around the middle part of the week, particularfor england around the middle part of the week, particular for england and wales, stay tuned to the forecast.

this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the billionaire's club gets bigger as slack becomes the latest tech start—up to join the new york stock exchange. but 20 years on, are we seeing the return of the dot—com bubble? plus, losing patience! the fed abandons its wait—and—see approach on interest rates and signals it's ready to cut them for the first time since 2008. and on the markets, that major shift from the fed boosts global stock markets and sends the dollar to a 5—month low. yields on us government bonds also tumbling.