hear, hear. welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: gangs of mystery men, dressed in white t—shirts, attack dozens of activists in hong kong, after another day of chaotic pro—democracy protests. a flag raising and a raising of tensions, as iran replaces the unionjack on the uk tanker seized in the gulf. after massive protests over the leak of homophobic and sexist messages, puerto rico's governor says he won't stand for re—election. and, fifty years after the moon landing, where could the technology of today take us.

hello and welcome to bbc news. dozens of people have been injured, one critically, in hong kong after anti—government protesters were attacked by gangs of unidentified men wearing white t—shirts and wielding batons. social media in the region has been inundated with footage of the assaults at a railway station and there's speculation that the men were acting on behalf of the authorities. in a statement, the government condemned the actions and promised serious enforcement measures. well, earlier, police had fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protestors. tens of thousands of people had taken to the streets, the latest in a series of pro—democracy rallies, which have been going on for two months. stephen mcdonell‘s report contains some flashing images. protests here used to end peacefully. not anymore. after the seventh consecutive weekend of marches in hong kong,

some hardcore pro—democracy protesters have decided that escalation is the way forward, and they've been met with force. in a clear provocation, tonight's protesters moved on beijing's most visible presence in the city, defacing national symbols. this is the chinese central government headquarters and it has been graffitied by protesters, including here referring to president xijinping as a dog. it was always going to call for a tough response, and this is the response. riot police have come in to clear people out of this area. and this is now what's happening every weekend in hong kong. tensions here are high, with a feeling that there are scores to settle on both sides. some are also wondering how long beijing will hold back from direct intervention now that the protests are targeting china's

national institutions. earlier, a large, peaceful march made its way through the streets. what was a movement opposing extradition to mainland chinese courts has morphed into a broader defence of hong kong's freedoms and a call for democracy. we need to stand for what we want and keep going on. because we are hong kongers, we love our homes, and so we need to fight. translation: actually, the world belongs to the young. so i think we have to come out and say to the youngsters that we have their backs, and that we can give them our support. this support seems to be holding up for the pro—democracy push, despite the increasingly violent nature of the clashes. but with neither side of this deteriorating political crisis appearing ready to back down, it's hard to see just how it will end. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, hong kong.

the pro—democracy activist joshua wong joins me now. he's in hong kong. thank you for your time. what have you heard about these specific attacks by these men in white shirt? we know that activists and citizens, they have had their protests around evening. the gangs in suburban areas attacked the citizens who came back home for protests and even included journalists, lawmakers, they were attacked by those gangs loyal to beijing. the government has condemned these attacks and we do not know who these people are but do you think that matters have got out of hand in hong kong? when

journalists, former news reporters, and also pregnant women were attacked by gangs, people tried to call an emergency hotline to call the police but the police did not appearand the police but the police did not appear and they did nothing which means that the hong kong government cannot ensure the safety of their citizens. we know that protests continued and clashes happen in previous weeks but no—one in hong kong would have expected what would happen in suburban areas. citizens in certain residential areas being attacked by those pro beijing gangs, it is really ridiculous. the government has said it will take enforcement action and we get to know what those. this is a new level of violence stop do you intend continuing to protest in the same way? we continue our protestjust

like nearly half a million hong kong people to the streets yesterday, largely peacefully. however, what we are surprised about is how those gangsters just attacked citizens that had not participated in any kind of protest. they are just some of the residents living in suburban areas but for those gangsters, they even beat up hong kong citizens who w0 re even beat up hong kong citizens who wore a black t—shirt. even beat up hong kong citizens who wore a black t-shirt. is there a real danger that things could spiral out of control and is there value in continuing to protest? shouldn't now the pro—democracy movement try and de—escalate the situation, along with the other side? the solution to de—escalate the situation is for the government to stop police violence and also stop the violence from

those gangs. in fact, when people called emergency hotlines, urging police to come and control the situation, the police did nothing yesterday. we hoped people can realise now is not only related to hong kong being indifferent to beijing hotline suppression but how the hong kong government, the lack of incentive and capacity to govern hong kong anymore. they cannot rule hong kong anymore. they cannot rule hong kong anymore. they cannot rule hong kong with safety and stability. joshua wong, a pro— democracy activist in hong kong. and you can follow the latest developments in hong kong on our website bbc.com/news, orjust download the bbc news app. we have not confirmed yet who these

gangs. —— are these gangs. the british government will hold emergency talks later to decide how to deal with the seizure of an oil tanker by iran. the outgoing prime minister, theresa may, will chair the meeting, while her foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, is expected to press for an international diplomatic response, rather than immediate sanctions. the british vessel was captured on friday, apparently in retaliation for the impounding of an iranian tanker in the uk territory of gibraltar earlier this month. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. iranian revolutionary guards boarding the stena impero on friday afternoon, carrying out a two—week—old threat to seize a british vessel. iran said the tanker broke the law, the ship's owners and the british government say this simply isn't true. earlier, tense exchanges as a british warship, hms montrose, attempted to stop the ship being taken.

but the revolutionary guards were determined. hms montrose was too far away to intervene. they warned the tanker to obey. translation: we followed the ship every second, every minute, and the tanker never left international waters. we understand that the crew are in relatively good condition but it's a stressed situation for everyone. the stena impero was sailing through the strait of hormuz, in omani waters, when it was boarded. at its narrowest, the strait is 20 miles wide. one fifth of the world's oil passes through it. the tanker was forced to turn north towards the iranian coast. all this is happening because a tanker carrying iranian oil is still being held

by authorities in gibraltar. the grace i was intercepted by royal marines earlier this month. it's accused of trying to smuggle its cargo to syria, in breach of eu sanctions. another british warship, hms duncan, is on its way to the gulf to replace hms montrose, the government facing criticism for failing to protect british shipping. if we want to continue playing a role on the international stage, bearing in mind that threats are changing, all happening just beneath the threshold of all—out war, then we must invest more in our defence, including our royal navy. iranian television has broadcast these pictures, showing the tanker now flying an iranian flag. a local official says the investigation could take a month or more. officials here in whitehall have spent the weekend figuring out britain's response. the cabinet‘s emergency cobra committee is due to meet again in the morning and the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, will make a statement later.

i understand he will say that britain is working with other countries to improve maritime security and he will emphasise the kind of international, diplomatic response britain is trying to achieve. paul adams, bbc news, at the foreign office. let's get some of the day's other news: forecasters in the united states are warning of severe thunderstorms and flash flooding as record temperatures finally begin to cool. six deaths have been reported and there's been widespread disruption across towns and cities as a result of the extreme heatwave, affecting millions of people from the midwest to the atlantic coast. wildfires are raging in central portugal, with strong winds spreading flames in the castelo branco region. it's close to an area of the country where more than 60 people were killed by wildfires two years ago. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has declared victory

ba has paused flight while further assessment are made at cairo airport. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has declared victory in national elections, putting him on track to become the country's longest serving leader. but mr abe's coalition party has fallen slightly short of the two—thirds majority needed for a mandate to revise japan's constitution. the governor of puerto rico, ricardo rossello, who has faced massive protests over his leadership, has announced that he will not run for re—election next year. there have been demonstrations across the us territory since last saturday, when journalists leaked text conversations between mr rossallo and members of his administration. they revealed a series of sexist and homophobic comments, prompting calls for the governor's resignation. after several days of silence, mr rossello made his announcement via a live facebook sream. via a live facebook stream.

translation: today i address you, led by the deepest respect for democracy. a significant sector of the population has been protesting for days. i am aware of the dissatisfaction and uneasiness that you feel. your right to express yourself will always be safeguarded by our constitution. to each puerto rican, i have heard you and i hear you today. i have made mistakes and i have apologised. laura rexach is a radio broadcaster who has been out protesting on the streets of san juan for the past week. she explains what sparked the peoples' reactions. well, it's notjust the homophobic and misogynistic content, it's the fact that they were also making fun of cadavers that were literally piling up in shipping containers at forensic sciences of people who died during hurricanes irma and maria. these are deaths that have not yet been publicly or officially acknowledged by the government.

so to have people inside of this chat, which included not just administration officials, but people outside of the administration, making fun of this just really adds insult to injury. the recovery has been quite slow since hurricane maria in 2017. is that right? it's been agonisingly slow. and notjust because aid has been slow in arriving, but because all of the local turmoil and the corruption schemes that have been turning up just put the government more in doubt of whether it can be trusted with federal funds. given those broader issues, along with those individual text messages, do you think if the governor stood down that it would resolve the wider issues?

no, no, his standing down — his resignation — isjust the first step in what really needs to be a government—wide change and a cleaning up. there have been massive protests. you've joined those projects. what are people saying that they want to see, other than the governor standing down? really that's just the short term. people are focused on that, they're focussed on having him resign and, after that, everyone that is or has been involved in these wide corruption schemes needs to be ousted. there needs to be a wide—swept investigation at all levels of the government and corruption needs to be nipped in the bud. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 50 years after man stepped foot on the moon, where could the technology of today take us?

mission control: you can see them coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunction of sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: gangs of mystery men dressed in white t—shirts attack dozens of activists in hong kong, after another day of chaotic pro—democracy protests. iran hoists its flag over the seized british tanker, despite calls to defuse tensions. let's stay with that story now. we can speak to mike pregent senior fellow at the hudson institute and a former intelligence officer. he's in washington. thank you so much for your time. the uk government wants to try and resolve this diplomatically, what do you think the choices are?|j resolve this diplomatically, what do you think the choices are? i think they should just wait, thank you for having me. ithink they should just wait, thank you for having me. i think they should hold out, while the regime is trying to wait out the trumpet discretion,

they're getting more and more desperate, i think the english should just wait they'd not do anything and see what the iranians do. you say is getting more dangerous, isn't it? it's dangerous but technology could counter that, we have the technology to conduct offensive cyber attacks in the strait of hormuz that's one thing that brought down the uab the other day when it was around, technology can also show that the navy is responsible for these seizures of oil tankers in international waters. and the more evidence that is presented to international community, the more evidence that is presented to the us security council, more alien edge of the regime will be in the more acquiescent it will be if everyone is just patient. patient to let it exhaust this tantrum that it is involved in and wait it out. many

people are saying that the concerns with that is a big could see an all—out conflict, and armed conflict, isn't it to do have carrot rather than stick to habit of magic conclusion? diplomats will tell you, enclosed rooms, the only way they can do theirjobs as if there is an actual threat of military action, once the military option is taken off the table, it gets harder and harderfor off the table, it gets harder and harder for diplomats off the table, it gets harder and harderfor diplomats to off the table, it gets harder and harder for diplomats to do their jobs and it is yet easier for the chess players in the regime to get they wanted you have to look at the regime for what it is. it is desperate, it's mismanaged, people are against it, the international community can absorb these attacks, could absorb these seizures and simply wait it out to see what else can do. there's a couple of issues going on here, the uk relationship

with iran over the tanker issue and then there's the us and pulling out of the nuclear deal. the issues going on there... is a big argument to say that section simply makes people more relied on its government and it doesn't really work in the long run. this is different. this is not been relative for the iranian people, they are not going to support the regime, there hoping the sanctions matter, meaning the are there for a reason and they are hoping that the sanctions are there for a change in the regime and i will say, they are hoping for a regime change. thank you very much for your insights there on the situation with iran and the us and the uk. thank you. thanks for having me, thank you. early results suggest the party led by ukraine's new president, the comedian volodymyr zelensky, has won the most votes in the country's parliamentary elections. but it seems he has failed

to gain an overall majority and will need a coalition partner to form a government. mr zelensky called the snap vote after his plans for reform were blocked by mps. there were celebrations here at the headquarters of president zelensky‘s party, servant of the people, when the exit poll results were announced. that's because this party is way ahead of the rest. it's expected to get 44% of the party vote, well ahead, more than 30 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival, the opposition platform for life, a pro—moscow party. one thing is certain. there are going to be plenty of new faces in this new ukrainian parliament. none of the candidates from this party, servant of the people, have been an mp before. why is that significant? i asked that question to the youngest man on the party list, the youngest candidate, who is just 23 years old. ukrainians aren't willing to trust the old elites,

that have lied and tricked them so many times in the past. they want to give us a chance to change the country for the better. we are coming from various walks of life but we have expertise in many different areas and we are trying to put it together to transform the country anew. we don't know the final make—up of the parliament but president zelensky is going to hope this level of support for his party will help him to push through the kind of reforms he says he wants to carry out in ukraine, saying he wants to fight corruption and modernise the party. there are sceptics and he has critics who believe he is in the pocket of a powerful tycoon, igor kolomoisky. both the president and the businessman deny that. for now, it seems that ukrainians are keeping faith with the showman turned president and hoping that he and his party will change ukraine for the better. as americans celebrate 50 years since neil armstrong

and buzz aldrin became the first people to set foot on the moon, there are questions about what's next for american space exploration. president trump has plans for a space force and a journey to mars, but the entrepreneur elon musk is also making a bid to land on mars, so who will win the next space race? our washington correspondent chris buckler has this report. mission control: ignition sequence start. the images of apollo ii's mission have become a symbol of what can be accomplished. it's one small step for man... under the moon and above nasa's johnson space center, they lit up houston's skies, to mark 50 years since that landing. just one part of commemorations across a country celebrating american achievement. the decades since haven't brought the progress that was promised. i thought at that time, in the 1960s, that by 2000, 2005, we would be on mars. i think it's about time we get on with it.

engines and turbo pumps... on the anniversary of the moon landing, a rocket took off from kazakhstan, to take astronauts to the international space station, including an american. and the united states is now developing new and grander plans for space travel. we are looking to nasa to get us to the moon within the next five years, to lay a foundation to go to mars. but if our traditional partners can't do the job, we are going to look to the private space industry. the technology has certainly advanced from what you'll find here at the national air and space museum in washington. some of the latest leaps are a result of the research being carried out by commercial companies, hoping to take paying passengers into orbit, like virgin galactic and blue origin, the company founded by the amazon entrepreneurjeff bezos. the only reason that we can do the things that we can do today is because we are in fact standing on the shoulders of giants. they've got the flag up now.

and yet, five decades on, much remains unknown. beautiful, just beautiful. and no—one can be sure where the next half—century of exploration will take us. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the golf championship has been won by the irishman who is never won a major title and he finished on 15 under par, six shots ahead of the english player to mop —— tommy fleetwood who finished second. kensington palace has released a new set of photos to mark prince george's sixth birthday. the pictures were taken by his mother, the duchess of cambridge. prince george is shown wearing an england football shirt in one shot. he's third in line to the throne after his father, prince william, and grandfather, prince charles. stay with us, a lot more coming up.

you can stay with a top story on our website. hello. it has been a bit of a mixed weekend weatherwise but as we head through this coming week, it's going to be all eyes on the temperature because things are turning increasingly hot and humid too. not dry for all of us. some rain in the north—west during the course of monday and later in the week, we're expecting some thundery downpours to develop. and the reason for the heat and humidity is that we've got high pressure sitting to the east of the uk, with the winds rotating around that, drawing in all this hot air from continental europe, and it is particularly hot. in fact, in paris, we could see temperatures up to 42 celsius later this week, which would break the all—time temperature record recorded in the french capital. we've had this line of cloud and weather fronts pouring in from the atlantic during sunday night and through the day on monday, they're going to be bringing further rain, initially across northern ireland the west of scotland.

further south, it's a mild and quite a murky start to your monday morning so we've got quite a lot of that low cloud, lingering around western hills and coasts through the day but elsewhere, the cloud should tend to in and break across much of england, northern ireland too. that rain pushing its way northwards, so sitting across western scotland for much of the day were it will be quite heavy and persistent but in the sunshine, temperatures up to about 28 or 29 degrees. it'll feel pleasantly hot monday afternoon and then into monday evening, we eventually lose that wet weather from the north of scotland, lingering through the course of the night, but by tuesday morning, most of us dry with some clear spells, a bit of patchy cloud here and there are those temperatures from the word go will be in the mid—to—high teens so through the day on tuesday, probably the driest day of the week across the uk. lots of long spells of sunshine with a southerly breeze, top temperatures by tuesday towards the south—east up to about 33 or even 3a degrees. further north—west, we're looking at those temperatures into the mid or possibly high 20s

so a hot sunny day with light winds on tuesday but as we had to tuesday night, it's going to be fairly warm, fairly uncomfortable for sleeping. in fact, about iopm, temperatures still nearly 30 degrees so you'll certainly notice that things are going to feel pretty sticky through the course of tuesday night and with all that humidity, heavy showers and thunderstorms are possible, they're likely to push northwards tuesday night and through the course of wednesday, some uncertainty about where they are going to be, probably the north and west. the south—east likely to stay dry through the day on wednesday and here, temperatures could well reach about 32 degrees or so. again, it is another hot day for most of us but a little fresher in the far north—west. things continue to heat up later in the week. 35 in london on thursday but do watch out more heavy and thundery showers, mainly in the north—west. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: gangs of men dressed in white t—shirts have attacked dozens of activists in hong kong. around a0 people are said to have been injured, one critically. it came at the end of a chaotic day of pro—democracy protests which saw police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators. the british government is said to be considering a series of options for its response to iran's seizure of a british oil tanker in the strait of hormuz. but amid calls for a de—escalation in tensions, iran has raised its flag above the ship. authorities in portugal say at least 30 people have been injured by wildfires in the centre of the country. police are investigating several cases of suspected arson — at least one large fire is still burning with around 800 firefighters struggling to contain it.