this is the briefing., i'm victoria fritz. our top story: the brexit tour continues — borisjohnson heads to paris for talks with french president emmanuel macron. appalling and inhumane — critics condemn white house plans which could see migrant children detained indefinitely. more allegations about prince andrew's links with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. buckingham palace says any suggestion of impropriety with minors is categorically untrue. in business, ryanair pilots begin a 48—hour strike at the peak of the uk holiday season.

a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. the ryanair strike is going ahead today, but the airline says it has drafted in more pilots to keep the busy holiday schedule running. are you affected? are you stuck at the airport, do you have any sympathy with the people striking or not? let us know what you think. let us know, just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. the british prime minister boris johnson is on his way to paris today to meet president emmanuel macron. what will mr macron make of britain's demand to change the withdrawal agreement that johnson's predecessor, theresa may, has negotiated

with the european union? and in particular, the so—called backstop, a kind of insurance policy to ensure there's no return to a hard border in ireland. on wednesday the british prime minister met the german leader angela merkel in berlin. ben wright reports. after dinner with angela merkel, it has been said there was a glimmer of light where there was not one before. so, what would they say? we cannot accept the current withdrawal agreement. arrangement that either divide the uk or lock us into the regulatory and trading arrangements of the eu, the legal order of the

eu, without the uk having any say. the backstop has always been a fallback position. if one is able to solve this conundrum, if one finds a solution, we said we will probably find it in the next two years to come, but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come. so far, the eu has not been persuaded that any of the technical ideas for avoiding a hard border put forward by the uk, works. that is why they insist on the backstop. but, angela merkel‘s offer of speedily talks was greatly grabbed by the pm. you have set a blistering timetable of 30 days, if i understood you correctly. i'm more than happy with that. while chancellor merkel found conciliatory, mrjohnson could find a chillier reception in france. president macron has little sympathy with the brexit crisis and says that

the agreement is not up for discussion. he says a no deal brexit would be of britain's own making, and not the eu's. the trump administration wants to scrap a long—standing legal ruling and allow migrant families to be detained indefinitely, whilejudges decide if they can stay in the us. currently, migrant children can be detained for no more than 20 days. the bbc‘s north america correspondent david willis reports. the crisis in america's southern border is a vexing challenge for donald trump, for whom immigration reform has long been a signature issue. in an effort to quell a surge in illegal crossings, his administration is proposing tough measures. among them, replacing the current 20 day limit on the detention of children at the border with an indefinite period in custody. the new rule establishes a high national standard for care of children and families in custody, while the government can keep

families togetherfor while the government can keep families together for fair and expeditious immigration facilities, restores integrity to the immigration system and eliminates the incentive for children to be used or exploited. critics fear such a move would dramatically increase the time children spend in custody, but the white house contends that the 20 day rule is a loophole, which often the 20 day rule is a loophole, which ofte n lea ds the 20 day rule is a loophole, which often leads to families being released into the us pending court appearances which they deliberately failed to attend. president trump blames it for the sharp increase in illegal crossings, and believes the prospect of indefinite detention would send a powerful message to others thinking of making the journey. when they realise the borders are closing, the wall is being built, we are building tremendous numbers of miles of wall right now, in different locations. it all comes together like a beautiful puzzle. one of the things thatis beautiful puzzle. one of the things that is happening, when they see they can't get into the united states, or if they do get into the us they will be brought back to

their country, it won't matter if they get in or not because we are doing that. then they won't come. rule allowing them to be kept in detention would have to be reviewed bya detention would have to be reviewed by a judge. regardless of the outcome, this sends a powerful message to trump supporter is ahead of the next election. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the world health organisation says initial findings suggest that microplastics in drinking water pose a low risk to human health. in its first report on the issue the organisation says most particles of plastic that are ubiquitous in rivers, lakes, drinking water supplies and bottled water will pass through the body without being absorbed. the former special prosecutor for organised crime in north macedonia has been arrested

in connection with a high profile corruption scandal. katica janeva is accused of abusing her authority and accepting what's described as a substantial benefit, in the form of property, after dropping corruption charges against a businessman. ms janeva denies the allegations and has not been formally charged. police in the spanish capital have arrested a man on suspicion of taking upskirt videos of more than 500 women and posting much of the content online. the man, who's colombian, is accused of using a mobile phone hidden in a backpack. police say many of the women were targeted on madrid's metro system. the new sudanese prime minister has been sworn in. it's part of a transition that is supposed to lead sudan eventually to civilian rule, after months of unrest. let's turn to our top business story — uk—based pilots at ryanair have begun a 48—hour strike over pay and conditions after the airline failed in its legal attempt to block the action. europe's biggest budget airline

is promising all its flights will run despite this being the busiest weekend of the year, but says it can't rule out some disruption. rolake akinkugbay filani is the head of energy, at fbn-quest merchant bank. shejoins me now. several factors for this, passenger numbers increasing globally, and then the situation where flights get cancelled and airlines have to pay billions. obviously, that impacts the margins and profits. ryanair, for instance, this year had profits... i think we will see this

further down the line with bank holiday upcoming. ryanair will have said that if you are affected they will have sent a text message, so if you haven't got that you should be fine. let's talk about some of these factors about what is going on. with ryanair, they are sort of of what is going on more generally. we have issues around fuel costs, issues around brexit, how that will play into all of this. the ryanair boss himself, they have said they have 900 more people than they need at least. yes, so you can expect some potential redundancies. oil prices recovered earlier this year, and if you are not hedging your costs you will have to deal with that. there is also the issue around stronger competition in the space. low—budget airlines are increasingly popular

for short holidays. this is summer, peak period for a lot of people, and if you are looking at what is happening in terms of regulation in the industry, it means you really have to approach from a strategy of higher margins, increase your passenger numbers, and also provide decent service. the whole operating model of low—cost airlines doesn't really lend themselves always to that sort of model of operation, so i think it'll be a tough time and we will see more stripes on the horizon towards the end of the year. that's right, at the moment the ones on the 22nd and fourth are still on. do come back, we have more papers to get through so we will speak a little later. and rolake will be back in about half an hour to review the main stories being covered by the global media. we will be talking brexit, and we have some news about plastic, around nepal and the way plastic is being collected there.

the death of the financier and convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein in prison in new york this month has seen attention turn to some of his high—profile connections, including prince andrew. the bbc has seen court documents in which the pilot of epstein's private jet has claimed the prince travelled with him — and with virginia roberts, a 17—year—old who accused epstein of trafficking her. buckingham palace has said the court documents are inconsistent and emphatically denied that the prince had any form of sexual contact or relationship with virginia roberts. here's our royal correspondentjonny dymond. one set of relationships, so many repercussions. the prince has his arm around virginia roberts, 17 at the time — it was her court case against ghislaine maxwell, on the right, that brought today's allegations. at the heart of it, this billionaire businessman,

jeffrey epstein, who took his own life in detention 11 days ago. he was convicted in 2008 for sex offences. epstein was alleged to have trafficked underage girls, both for himself and for his circle. here he is in 2010, and here is prince andrew in epstein's house, just two years after the businessman's criminal conviction. epstein was a highflyer with a private jet. in court documents seen by the bbc, the private jet‘s pilot is that several times prince andrew travelled with virginia roberts and jeffrey epstein. the pilot gives dates and locations. curious company for the queen's second son. the palace has pushed back hard.

the fact that some of the dates and locations in this are wrong does cast doubt over the claim. it's also not evidence that's been put into a court of law with cross—examination. when it was released, it came with something of a health warning from the court. but there are more papers to come, and alongside the video released earlier this week, today's allegations are a reminder of, at best, a terrible error of judgment. jonny dymond, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: alien invasion — why two—million people say they want to storm this top secret military base in nevada. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last iten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity.

"well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" you're watching the briefing. our headlines: british prime minister borisjohnson is heading to paris for brexit talks with french president emmanuel macron. appalling and inhumane — critics condemn white house plans which could see migrant children detained indefinitely. researchers have developed a new type of microscope that is able to take pictures of living organisms in unprecedented detail. researchers can now see processes inside the body that were previously invisible, such as how the flu virus infects us and how blood cells detect cuts and begin the clotting process.

our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, has this exclusive report. these cells are the building blocks of our life. this is where disease isa of our life. this is where disease is a fault. researchers are taking pictures of this process. this gigantic microscope is transforming our understanding of living process and it takes something so big to see the tiny atom size plugs and wheels inside us in action. here they are freezing a flu virus and putting it into the microscope. thousands of images are taken from different angles to build up this picture. it is the spikes around the viruses that have not been seen before. these puncture the body cells in

order to infect them with flu. these puncture the body cells in order to infect them with flum these puncture the body cells in order to infect them with flu. it is certainly a huge step forward in being able to really see what is going on within structures. before you had to cut them into slices to see the outside of them. now you can see the outside of them. now you can see the outside of them. now you can see the whole object. we use x—rays to study the structure of a molecule... until recently we use a technique developed 100 years ago and used throughout the 20th century to get because of biological molecules. it involved blasting them with x—rays. the new method enables researchers to see what these important molecules actually do in the body. this is the inside of a blood vessel and the long wormlike structures burst open when we played. it has been described as a resolution revolution and it is

clear turning this technique on almost any biological problem is providing new information. researchers now have a view of biology in action i have never had before. saddam will launch a new women's football league which would have seemed impossible not long ago. the 18 team championship will kick off in the first week of september. this women's football team training with a purpose, early next month there will be competing in sudan's first ever women's league. getting here wasn't easy. for almost 3 decades, the president done the country was ruled by president omar al—bashir, a general who took power in 1989, in an islamist backed coup.

translation: a year ago, before the revolution, i could not imagine myself being a player and a womenposmac football team or even expected myself to play the sport i love. there were many restrictions on sydney's women and it was not there were many restrictions on sudanese's women and it was not possible to play football. omar al—bashir was overthrown in april but the leader of the transition government was only sworn in on wednesday. many hope this will lead to a greater focus on women's rights in the country. translation: everyone is looking forward to a new reality and has new ambitions. now society has become more receptive to this idea in more accepting of the participation of women in all areas of life. women's football on the continent has seen some notable successes. at this year ‘s woke up, 3 companies from africa were represented with cameroon and nigeria advancing to the knockout stages. next year will see the 12th of its african cup of

nations take place. the sudan, the 18 club championship will be split over 3 regions. players hope one day success in their home league could see them make strides not only on the continent, but on the global stage 2. ramzan karmali, bbc news. we start with football and juventus are calling for seria a for earlier kickoffs to entice the asian market. they see china as a major area for growth. the new season starts on saturday and juventus is concerned that every game in the first two weeks starts at night or later in beijing. rugby has announced the world cup competition for women will no longer make reference to gender

into their title. the next women's world cup to be held in new zealand in 2021 will now be referred to simply at the rugby world cup. rugby wa nts to simply at the rugby world cup. rugby wants to raise the profile of the women's game and get rid of a bias towards men's tournaments. on thursday, a crucial test match between england and australia. jason roy is a fit to play after a concussion. he was struck on the head available on tuesday however england have confirmed that a batsmen is on hold encase he suffers delayed concussion. australia will be without batsmen steve smith after being hit by a delivery into second test. the captain feels ready for

whatever england can throw at them. you are always preparing for the next game and what you are going to face. obviously we copped some short pitch bowling. i think i was prepared for it last week but it is another thing facing it. guys have got plans in place and we have prepared really well for it. it is about going out and executing it. we think the lots we get wasn't quite a difficult one and it will be interesting to see how this one place but it is about adapting to the situation and we need to have a plan to counter whatever bowling they throw at us. if bmx bike event will no doubt prompt some thrills and spills at next year ‘s olympics. especially if this video is anything to go by. part of the russian freestyle team has been racing over

the ancient world heritage site in the ancient world heritage site in the kremlin. it took over a year to get permission and they had to make sure of it. more on our website. from me and the rest of the sports team, that's your sports briefing. if you know anything about unidentified flying objects, chances are you already heard of area 51. a common name for an airbase in nevada where, some claim, aliens are being housed. now it faces a possible invasion not from the skies. you travelled millions of lightyears across the dark reaches of space — this may not seem like the first place you'd choose to visit. rachel is a town of around 50 residents, it's hot and dry.

some believe little green men are only a stone's throw away. one man has — not entirely seriously — called for people to come and storm area 51. some 2 million or so say they plan on doing exactly that. the only real business in town is the appropriately—named ‘little aleinn'. the owner was sceptical when she heard the news. it's a joke. i know it's a joke. who would be stupid enough to cross there? i guess i was wrong. chuckles. the us military is taking the whole thing very seriously indeed. they warned people not to try to enter the airbase. whatever is inside, aliens or just combat aircraft, they want it kept firmly under wraps. base security will be on high alert, they will not be messing around.

if you go near the boundary, if you even look like you want to cross the boundary, you would get arrested. to try and defuse the situation, some locals are planning to stage a rock festival called alien stock. 2 million people are unlikely to turn up, but some may, hoping that the truth is out there. tim allman, bbc news. fishermen in algeria got a shock when they hold an american military plane out of the water but first they thought it was a way of dragging it but on closer inspection it was theirs. douglas, hunter is used by the us during the second world war. the story of the plane was common knowledge in this area since about 1942 but, until now, nobody actually new where it was.

there you go. absolutely amazing. let me know what you think about our talking point, the ryanair strike going ahead. does it affect you? get in touch. as we move into the latter part of august, it looks like summer is going to go for it with a real final fluorescent temperatures up to 30dc through the weekend and onto monday, which for some is of course a bank holiday. by by the weekend, the icy bars plummet directly into a southerly and we squeeze away with weather fronts making things wait and wendy. we are still under the influence of an area of low pressure to the north—west of the uk, welling away. a breeze to

start especially across the northern half of the uk stop showers in some areas. into northern ireland for the second part of the day. to the north of the weather front, midteens at s. the totals in some spots are really going to mount up. showers for the north distinctly more scattered. looking at no lower than the mid teens through the early hours of friday because we have moved into some warmer and with more sunshine around on friday and the high—pressure influencing, we get rid of the rain across scotland. a largely dry afternoon and up to 22

in aberdeen. 28 across the south—east of england. an event saturday is when the isobars are really plummet into the southerly from the wild continent. weather fronts trying to get in, bringing more cloud to the west and a few showers but essentially for the weekend a dry story with a lot of sunshine and notice how the heat pushes its way across scotland stop sunday perhaps the warmest day for northern ireland. warmer than they have been for this week but it looks like england and wales can hold on to the heat for much of the week ahead.

this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. ryanair pilots begin a 48—hour strike at the peak of the uk holiday season. deeply divided — minutes show the federal reserve was split over whether to cut rates, despite growing pressure from president trump. and on the markets, asian shares creep ahead after wall street gets a boost from strong retail results. bonds slide as the fed sounds conflicted about more interest rate cuts.