hello this is bbc world news, the latest headlines, the united states has formally withdrawn from a nuclear treaty with russia. earlier this year and accuse moscow of... the head of brazil's space research institute lost his job and a row over the scale of deforestation. the president accuse the agency of falsifying data. raf chinook helicopters have been dropping sandbox to stabilise the wall of the dam around 1500 residents have evacuated from their homes. a

swedishjudge saw the evacuated from their homes. a swedish judge saw the american rapper to be released until a verdict is reached. at 10pm there will be a full round up of the day's news but for us on bbc news in this episode of witness history, which contains scenes from the us may find distressing, we speak to a survivor of khmer rogue and the man who tried to find a cure for the common cold. hello and welcome to witness history history day here at the royal academy in london. today we present five extraordinary moments in history as told to us by the people who were there. coming up we need the scientist to try to find the

cure for the common cold. the diver who discovered the lost plane belonging to the author of the little prince and the african man who ran away as a boy to live in the arctic. that first, it is a0 years since the end of the brutal regime of the khmer rogue and cambodia. around 2 million people are thought to have been killed under extremist rule. this man survived for years and what became known as the killing fields. a warning, this piece contains some distressing images. the cambodian people are the victims ofa the cambodian people are the victims of a hen that done experiment in communism that failed. the khmer rogue guerrillas tramped in the spring of 1975. @ emerged as the leader of the new cambodia let's pull pot. it was a living hell. you

cannot imagine. for the communist regime time began when they took over, 1975 mccain year is zero, grotesque social engineering with class slaughter and mass uprooting of the population. they were extreme communist, year zero of the population. they were extreme coitiitiui'iist, year zero means we of the population. they were extreme communist, year zero means we start from scratch. no electricity, no books, no education, nothing. anyone educated had to be executed. doctors, teachers, and if you wear glasses, i lost many of my relatives and theyjust glasses, i lost many of my relatives and they just execute glasses, i lost many of my relatives and theyjust execute them, took them away and never saw them again. literally millions of people were marched out to the countryside to begin building the new society.-

the time i think i must have been 17. i remember that the time i think i must have been 17. i rememberthat morning the time i think i must have been 17. i remember that morning we were in the kitchen, having breakfast. i heard a knock at the door and i saw two sergeants to both pointed their guns at me and shouted at me to get out of my house right now or i will shoot you. everyone packed on the road, on the bicycle or motorbike and everyone seemed to panic. if you stopped or were not moving you wear shot. and all young soldiers, 12, 14, 15. the younger ls, they were being pushed by the communist regime, khmer rogue, they look at you like you are the enemy, they hated you so much. one of my cousins we re hated you so much. one of my cousins were ta ken hated you so much. one of my cousins were taken right in front of me and

the pol pot army, police and must my son, he isjust a student. if you cry, i will shoot you as the same time of your son, they took him away and we have never seen him again. i heard the screaming, begging, crying, children crying, it is a horrible atmosphere. you can see the blood on it. they send me to work in the rice paddy and basically you got to work all day. my food allowance would be a small bowl of rice, for one day. it seemed to me that we just were not treated like human beings. and when they execute people we never saw where they took them until the waterflood came out and you could see the body there. i had

seen many you could see the body there. i had seen many things and i got used to them. by the end of khmer rogue's year zero, nearly half of cambodia's people were dead, professional people, systematically murdered. you cannot imagine, a human being, how could anyone at age 12 or 13 can shoot you because they had been brainwashed, this could have happen to anybody. it could happen any minute if you are not aware that. he regularly speaks to children in schools about the dangers of political extremism. next and july 1944, the author of the world famous children's story the little prince disappeared in his plane over the

south of france. he solved the mystery of the missing plane. translation: after so many years searching across the mediterranean it is here that we saw the wreckage of the plane belonging to the author of the plane belonging to the author of the little prince. this place had become inhabited by the little prince, from eating out lies here under the sea and marseilles. it is his refuge. as he is known here, he is universally revered and france notjust of the is universally revered and france not just of the author of the little prince but as a pioneering air man and romantic free spirit. there was

also at the mystery of his death. i became interested in the disappearance of him because i read his books when i was young and his thinking came to influence me throughout my life. and france we tend to say that you need to read it into different stages of your life. it was not until i was 40 that i came to understand it and all its subtleties. on july the 31st at 7:45pm, saint—exupery took off for a high altitude reconnaissance mission. taking off from corsica towards the second world war, he disappeared, no one knew if he was shot down or simply crashed and no one knew where. we think he was spotted by a german goner who saw a

twin engine plane flying towards marseilles. he was 44 years old and one of the oldest pilots in the war at the time. when i use to dive in that area i would find bits of planes but i always thought they we re planes but i always thought they were from a german plane. in 1998, a fisherman found a piece of plain in his next along with a little bracelet. and to our surprise on that bracelet was lit in the name saint—exupery. i need those bits of wreckage so i decided to investigate. the main part of the wreckage was at a depth of 87 metres, it was about two km from the coast. we did not find any visible human remains. but while i was at

the back of the wreckage i caught sight of a wild cough and i tried to grab itand sight of a wild cough and i tried to grab it and put it around sight of a wild cough and i tried to grab itand put itaround my sight of a wild cough and i tried to grab it and put it around my neck like a scarf. the image that came into my mind was that of the little prince on his planet with his big scarf floating in the wind. on that day under the water i was convinced i found the right plane. because of this totally unscientific detail. in may of 2000 i was able to formally identify the plane, because of its technical markings it only could have belonged to saint—exupery. these days i like to give the little prince as a gift to young people. it isa prince as a gift to young people. it is a book that contains truths that became universal, like it is only with the heart that one can see

clearly. what is essential is invisible to the eye stoplight the little prince is still one of the best—selling children's stories worldwide. now for a hope of a chair foran worldwide. now for a hope of a chair for an affliction that affects us all. it was set up after world war ii to investigate the illness and it became perhaps the only place in the world where thousands of volunteers went on holiday knowing there was a strong chance they would get ill. the unique aspect of the common cold unit with the volunteer centre. they would come to catch a cold. it is a crazy thing really put people dead. nice to have you back on the bed and said this is the virus then. we will put it into dearness and gave us the ability to study a virus in its natural host. and this was still a

very rare thing. the common cold unit was set up by the medical research counsel after the second world war to try to discover the cause of the common cold because the number of working hours of people lost to taking time off, it was for the productivity of the nation as a whole. the coming cold unit appetites for people to come there and they were a paid pocket money and they were a paid pocket money and realfairand and they were a paid pocket money and real fair and they lived at salisbury for about ten days. these bright young people were starting a holiday at a government expense, for it enables scientists to find out more about the common cold. they would come and be divided up into

sets, those who are impacted and those which got placebos. it was a big deal because the chances of getting a cold were pretty slim. they had different motivations, some came for a rest or a holiday and some students came for studying and we have a large body of housewives who came for a rest. people dead meat and there were lovely stories of romances and people could talk to each other but had to stay ten yards apart. that was the magic distance over which the common cold virus could jump. over which the common cold virus couldjump. 18,000 over which the common cold virus could jump. 18,000 volunteers are now believed to have spent time in isolation in the year unit but a tear remains elusive. they discovered how to grow the virus in cell culture and then it took off. it was not one common cold virus but

hundreds of them and that makes vaccines very different and that is why we started out people are resistant and develop new test for new viruses because it is about developing drugs that could cure them or prevent them even if we cannot get vaccines. minutes were tested as well, for instance if you went out in the cold, particularly the rain and cold, and predispose you to catching colds, there was no evidence at all that any of these things affected an instance of the cold. in the end the common cold unit was closed economic reasons. that facilities are very valuable and that there are very few of them. a cure for the common cold, people are looking still. commercially it

is still a very attractive proposition. nobody has yet managed to find one. but, we can always be optimistic . you can watch the it on our online archive. search online for bbc witness history. next the remarkable story of the boy who ran away from his village in togo to live in the arctic. he spoke to witness history about his odyssey. i started a journey of discovery. only to find that i was being discovered. i was one of them. i became a kind the

african eskimo. i was born in 1941. and togo west africa. i was an ordinary african boy. then one day i was on top of the tree and suddenly there was a snake... i fell. and was on top of the tree and suddenly there was a snake... ifell. and i was badly injured. after my co nvalescence was badly injured. after my convalescence i wanted to be a missionary book shop. and i saw a book, and i learned that it is so cold that there are no snakes. 0, where is that paradise? i was

obsessed with the eskimos. people said you are completely mad. i ran away from togo. i was 16 and a half. it took me eight years to get to greenland. i was the first black man they had ever seen. as soon as they saw me, all talking stopped. and the children were so afraid. some started weeping. but i was always welcomed by the eskimo hosts, who became my friends. i went to the north. that is very beautiful. and i saw the eskimos living according to

their traditions. i had to learn everything from them. i had to learn their language. we also eat seals and the skin of the white whale which i did not appreciate at all. at the beginning, i was afraid for my stomach but slowly, slowly i became accustomed to the climate. i was happy. because i really conquered my freedom. i really wa nted conquered my freedom. i really wanted to live forever and greenland. but my countrymen have never seen greenland. but my countrymen have never seen it before, they have never seen it before, they have never seen never seen it before, they have never seen the polar lights before andi never seen the polar lights before

and i said to myself, after the slavery and colonization, why can't i write for my people to see the eskimos through our eyes. sol decided to go back. it took me five yea rs. decided to go back. it took me five years. but my deepest wish would be to end my life and greenland. it is my country. yes. and finally tunisia became one of the first muslim countries to introduce far—reaching equal rights for women. in 1957, the president said women should be able to vote, go to school, divorce and marry on

their own terms. he allowed abortion, access to contraception and he banned polygamy. he was part of the tunisia women's union. the women who ten years ago who had no rights and were contracted to a marriage by their parents and cover their faces when they left the house, these tunisians are not doing at all badly. this is as emancipated as any girl can get. swinging, representing one of the most remarkable social transformations of present time. the equal rights law was the biggest gain for tunisian women. the president said he was not just a liberator of tunisia but tunisian women as well. for 30 years he fought for his country, battling

independence from france and was jailed and exiled over exile. since independence he has been the leader. i knew him against the struggle during colonialism. he gave women's social and economic rights and introduce the law on the 13th of august 19 56. women were allowed to vote and become politicians. i am one of the founders of the tunisia women union and he relied on ask. 100 miles from tunis, she cameras and beat rights, there are 13 such schools staffed by the union, a powerful embodiment of opinion in the land. they leave them no doubts about their rights. tells them that

they are not slaves any more, you are like your women and have equal rights with men. this you must understand. this law protected girls. fathers were no longer able to force girls to marry against their will and encouraged us to make sure families were not stopping girls from getting an education. they talked about contraception, abortion and laws giving them equal rights. after three months here to villages to spread the world because it is here in the countryside that the modern tunisian women has to win the modern tunisian women has to win the fight for equality. we spoke to men than we did to women because we faced opposition from them. we spent a lot of time eating men and explaining the law to them. family

traditions use to oppress girls. but now they are free to choose who to love. tunisian women were given another safeguard against families when they became the first women in any muslim country able to have abortions. it states that any tunisian women with four children can have an abortion without her husband's content and the operation is paid for by the government. the president told us to make women feel like they have a role to play, that they have the right to left and dignity and trust themselves and their soul. he said he gave women these rights not as a gift but because he saw women plus my power to lead and post independent society. she continues to write and

campaign on women's issues and tunisia. that is all from witness history this month, we will be back next month with more first—hand accou nts next month with more first—hand a ccou nts of next month with more first—hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history. from now, from me and the rest of the team, goodbye. hello there it was onlyjust over a week ago that we ran the peak of the heat wave and breaking uk temperature records and since then it has been low pressure that has beenin it has been low pressure that has been in charge and bringing a lot of rain, this map shows the rainfall is normalfor rain, this map shows the rainfall is normal for the summer so far. blue

is above average rainfall and significantly above average rainfall for those areas that had the flooding of late so greater manchester into derbyshire. low pressure will loom large over the next two days as well. and this one is coming from the atlantic very slowly and will bring more wet weather. i had a date, a weak ridge of high pressure on saturday so very few showers around and most places will be dry again with some sunshine and probably dryer across eastern side at this time and one or two showers out in the last particularly northern area land. no great difference from what we have seen over the past day or two so peeking out around the mid 20s or so. a few more showers arriving perhaps around northwest england and scotland during saturday evening. i had at the weather system coming in from the atlantic as it gets closer during the second half of the weekend. more rain around during the second half of the weekend we have this band of sheri rain away from

northern ireland and bringing some showers into northern england and these will be happy and thundering later on in the afternoon and evening. a risk of some more localised flooding and they will be dry, some sunshine at times and temperatures around 27 or 28 degrees. there is a low pressure and you can see it is getting closer to the northwest in the uk and still leaves weather fronts on the scene and some wet weather and a lot of that will chase away some sunshine coming in but more showers, quite heavy winds coming into scotland and northern ireland and stronger westerly breeze and it will start to drop this temperature is just a little bit so it will get to 27 or 20 degrees. to say, unsettled weather continuing with some showers and longer spells of rain in the potentially heavy and heavy and thundering and western parts of the uk will get to the worst of this

rain and topping up what we have had over the past few days.. low pressure and charge and moving across the uk, very slowly. this will keep that unsettled weather going monday, tuesday and into wednesday as well. closer to the area of low pressure as well, we will see most of the showers. some prolonged downpours and threats of more flooding and southeastern area still largely dry at this stage with some sunshine. now as we look further ahead, we have one area of low pressure that slowly moves away from the uk into next week that there is another one coming in from the atlantic and the weather pattern is repeating itself with another large area of low pressure bringing showers and longer spells of rain as we showers and longer spells of rain as we had further into next weekend and we we had further into next weekend and we sat around for quite some time because we have much more undulation and thejet because we have much more undulation and the jet stream. write the way

through it next week and into next weekend we have further unsettled weather and it will bring further localised flooding.

tonight at ten, the prime minister sees for himself the scale of the emergency in derbyshire, where teams are battling to stop a dam from bursting. raf helicopters dropped hundreds of tonnes of rubble on the broken dam wall, to keep it from collapsing completely. the dam has protected the nearby town of whaley bridge for years, but police say efforts to stop it flooding could still fail. i must stress the structural integrity of the dam wall is still at a critical level and there is still a substantial threat to life, should the dam wall fail. this evening borisjohnson met residents who are spending a second night evacuated from their homes. this is a major problem.