this is bbc news. welcome, if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: as the amazon burns, brazil's president blames dry weather and above—average temperatures. he's authorised federal troops to fight the fires. low humidity and strong wind adds to the challenge as sometimes the fire can spread as fast 30 or a0 kilometres an hour. turmoil on global stock markets as donald trump slaps further tarrifs on chinese imports. one of a million children caught in the syrian conflict. we'll hear from the families trying to escape airstrikes in idlib. acknowledging scotland's ties to the slave trade — glasgow university promises to pay caribbean countries millions in reparations.

and, the cost of tackling climate change. how green technologies are threatening arctic traditions. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has bowed to international pressure and authorised the armed forces to tackle a record number of fires in the amazon forest. in a televised address, he said that wildfires could happen in any country and shouldn't be used as an excuse for international sanctions. the fires are scattered widely across the amazon, most notably in the north of brazil. they're the most intense in the region for almost a decade — as camilla mota reports from there. the flames in the amazon continue

to rage, thousands of fires, almost impossible to control. this is the world's biggest rainforest and carbon store, home to 20 million people. we travelled to one area on the fringe of the rainforest, where the flames have devoured huge areas. firefighters in the state of rondonia, one of the most affected by the amazon fires, have been working here for the past two weeks, trying to put out the flames, but resources are an issue here, as it's a vast area with few people on the ground, and low humidity and strong winds add to the challenge, as sometimes the fire can spread as fast as 30 or a0 km/h. the fires here threaten many homes. one man told us his wife had fled while he tries to protect the land. translation: it's a dangerous situation, we have lots of crops here, and everything is burning. the cashew trees, i had to move the animals so they don't burn too.

farmers and loggers are widely blamed for starting the fires, as the amazon is relentlessly cleared for cultivation. brazil's controversial right—wing president, jair bolsonaro, has championed the exploitation of the rainforest. now, though, brazil is facing international pressure. european leaders are calling it a global emergency. brazil's president has accused them of a colonial mindset and charities working to save the rainforest of interference. it's the amazon's indigenous people who are suffering the most. some have been attacked and killed as loggers and farmers try to push them off the land. translation: with each passing day, we see the destruction advance. deforestation, invasion, logging. we are sad because the forest is dying at every moment. we feel the climate changing, and the world needs the forest, we need it, and our children need it.

as the amazon burns, the world is now paying attention. brazil's president says he may send in the army to help tackle the flames. camilla veras mota, bbc news, in the amazon. a few hours ago president bolsonaro, speaking on brazilian tv, blamed the fires on dry weather and above average temperatures. translation: all the countries have expressed solidarity with brazil. they have offered to help tackle the wildfires but have also offered to take brazil's position to the g7 meeting. wildfires can happen anywhere and they should not be used as a pretext for international sanctions. you can get much more on our website, including a special piece on all the details, it tells you what is behind the fires and what european leaders have had to say as

well, including the us reaction. let's get some of the day's other news. the south korean military says that north korea has fired two short range missiles from its east coast into the sea. japan said the launches were a clear violation of un resolutions and could not be ignored. it's the third time north korea has tested new missile systems in the last month. simon cheng, the british consulate workerfrom hong kong, held in detention by chinese authorities, has been released, according to a statement on his facebook page. the statement says he wishes to have some time to rest and recover. prosecutors in paris have opened a preliminary investigation into jeffrey epstein. police will look in to whether the disgraced financier committed sex crimes in france or against french citizens. epstein, who had a flat in paris, was found dead in his prison cell in new york earlier this month. the german carmaker volkswagen says it is recalling nearly 700,000 vehicles in the united states over fears that they could roll away

if left unattended. volkswagen said the fault was due to an electrical issue, although there've been no injuries as a result of the fault. british airways pilots are to stage a series of strikes next month, in a dispute over pay. the british airline pilots association said its members will walk out on the 9th, 10th and 27th of september. it comes after they rejected a pay increase worth ii.5% over three years. the trade war between the us and china has taken yet another twist — president trump has further increased tariffs on chinese goods. making the announcement on twitter, the us president said that the 25% tariffs he'd announced before will increase to 30% from the first of october. earlier, wall street tumbled with the dowjones closing down more than 600 points. the president's comments are part of an ongoing tussle with beijing.

our washington correspondent chris buckler says that as well as increasing tariffs the president told american firms to look at alternatives to trading with china. in a series of furious tweets he attacked china, appeared to heighten the trade war, and he ordered, and that is the word he used — ordered — american companies with interests in china to look elsewhere to base their operations. and what sparked this is the plan of china to impose up to 10% tariffs on $75 billion worth of american goods. that is the latest strike in a bitter trade battle between the countries. the us had already announced plans to impose 10% tariffs on some $300 billion of chinese imports by the middle of december. and president trump hasjust announced that in response to china's decision he will increase that to 15%. all of these imports have a danger of threatening both countries' economies. but it was notjust china in the firing line today, it was also the head of the federal bank, the central bank of america. president trump has been pushing for them to cut interest rates to fuel spending by american businesses and households but he did not get that pledge today

from the chairman of the fed. in response, there was another extremely angry tweet. in it, president trump said he had only one question, who was the bigger enemy of america — jerome powell, the head of the central bank, or china president xijinping? it is no surprise that the economy is weighing on president trump's mind as there is no bigger threat to a president seeking re—election. for the past week, thousands of syrian families have been fleeing a government offensive in the last opposition stronghold of idlib. the syrian army, backed by russia and iran have pushed rebels out of a strategic town. hundreds of civilians have been killed after a ceasefire in the area crumbled several months ago. with more on the situation in idlib

— and the people still trapped there, here's martin patience. for this young boy, it is probably an adventure. but for his parents, it is a nightmare. after eight years of fighting, syrians are still running for their lives. this, the latest exodus in a brutal conflict that has forced half the country from their homes. "there is no humanity," says this man. "it is our doomsday." and this is what they are fleeing. syrian and russianjets pounding targets in the last opposition stronghold of idlib. for months, the syrian army, supported by russia and iran have been fighting rebels.

many of them hard—line islamists, like the group shown in this propaganda video. the rebels have been pushed out of a string of towns and villages once full of life and now deserted. but it is the million children who are caught in the middle. this family are packing whatever they can fit in their trunk. bed mattresses, a washing machine. from a home they may never return to. ahmed and his family are setting up in an olive grove. he has nine kids, including a two—month—old daughter. translation: i don't know what will happen in syria. why are all the other countries keeping silent? all of them are happy with the killing of the syrian people. we seek help from god only. for ahmed and his young

family, this may not be their last stop. with the syrian government advancing, there are fears of a bloodbath. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a russian fanfare for the launch of the world's first floating nuclear reactor. he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party and he accepts exactly 45 years to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything, save the moon — our neighbouring planet, mars. horn toots there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone

in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months, and billions of dollars, to repair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years so it was with great satisfaction that clockmakerjohn vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. big ben bongs this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: brazil's president has ordered the military to help fight devastating fires in the amazon, amid mounting international pressure. president trump has ordered american firms to find alternatives to trading with china, as the trade war escalates. more now on our top story: nigel sizer is chief project officer

at the rainforest alliance. he has worked in the amazon for the past 30 years. earlier i asked him about what exactly caused these fires. the fires we are seeing in brazil at the moment are significantly greater than we have seen in recent years. and we are only halfway through the dry season. so this is the time of year when farmers set these fires, but the numbers have been shocking. we expect when there is further analysis, as we go through the next few months, we will see the situation is really quite serious. just briefly, before we move on to the solution, what do you put the fires down to, then? if they're not because of high temperatures? well, i think we should really welcome the statement that the president of brazil made tonight. it was a very significant change from what he has been saying up until now.

he seems to now be taking the situation very seriously. he is clearly hearing the message, not only from world leaders but actually from, i think, hundreds of millions of people on social media, including tens of millions of people in brazil. he gave a green light for this to unfold. he encouraged farmers and others to invade and illegally clear land. it has been a message consistently in his campaign, and since he was elected. i think this crisis was completely avoidable. he is now on the back foot, but he's saying we are going to get serious about dealing with it and we have to welcome that. as you say, some change in tone from the brazilian president. he is sending in the army. is that going to help, or is it too late? well, it is very hard to put out these fires once they are burning. they are in remote locations. there isn't even necessarily water nearby that can be used to douse them. once they reach a certain scale it is almost impossible to fight them. you see the difficulty

a country like the us has, dealing with forest fires in california. what is really needed here is a return to the policies of previous administrations. this president has defunded the agencies in brazil that were enforcing the law, that were helping to prevent these kinds of fires. it is prevention which is key to deal with these kinds of crises. he needs to welcome again a partnership with ngos, with environmental groups, with the business community, with international partners, which he has been turning away over recent days, and work together to address this challenge, as brazil has done very successfully in the past. so the amazon rainforest will be high on the agenda of the g7 world leaders meeting in france this weekend. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is there. president macron believes these fires in the amazon are a good

example of where the world can come together and bring common action against a common thread. he wants to use this summit here in france this weekend to make a stout defence of that kind of multilateral action. his challenge will be actually reaching an agreement on this and several other issues, whether a growing tensions within this group of seven nations, above all between the united states and europe. and that will also present a challenge for borisjohnson. that will also present a challenge for boris johnson. this that will also present a challenge for borisjohnson. this is the first time the prime minister has been on the international stage in his new role. he wants to use it as an opportunity to try to reaffirm britain's international credentials saying that britain is not going to retreat from the world after brexit, it will stay at the heart of global alliances. but he will be torn between two stools here. he wants to reach out on the one hand to president trump in the hope of encouraging a post—brexit uk—us trade deal, on the other hand, on many of the key issues that will be discussed, the iran nuclear deal, climate change, global trade,

britain is firmly in the european camp. so there is a very tricky narrow path for the prime minister to navigate here in france this weekend. and it is a path not without risk. russia is to launch the world's first floating nuclear power station in the arctic, in spite of the concerns of environmentalists. the 21,000—tonne vessel has left murmansk on a three week voyage to the chukotka region in russia's far east. sarah rainsford reports from moscow. fanfare. the giant floating powerstation got a send—off from murmansk as it heads over 3,000 miles east across the artic to provide energy to a remote mining town. the akademik lomonosov will replace a coal—fired power plant and an ageing nuclear station in a move russia insists is both ecologically sound and safe. the station's director, dmitry alekseenko, says the main advantage of the floating plant is to deliver energy precisely where it's needed, however isolated. officials also call this clean energy, reducing greenhouse gases.

but the environmental group greenpeace has dubbed the lomonosov a floating chernobyl, arguing putting a nuclear plant at sea is risky, that it's vulnerable to storms and colliding with icebergs and dealing with accidents in such remote spots would be a major challenge. concerns over nuclear energy in russia are especially high these days after a deadly explosion during a recent missile test. that accident caused radiation levels to spike locally and all the official secrecy surrounding it has only fuelled fear and suspicion. russian officials point out, though, that the two reactors on this new power plant are like those already in use on its nuclear icebreakers.

they plan to produce more of the floating stations for exports. sarah rainsford reporting from moscow. glasgow university is to raise and spend £20 millionto atone for the money it benefited from during the slave trade. it's thought to be the first institution in the uk to put such a programme in place. the money will be used for a research centre which glasgow will manage in partnership with the university of the west indies, to raise awareness of the history of slavery. from glasgow, lorna gordon reports. the university of glasgow was the first civic institution in scotland to petition against slavery. in centuries past, the cloisters here echoed with the voices of prominent abolitionists and academics who challenged the trade in humans. but there is a less well—known side to its history. we can see he donated £1000 to the university of glasgow. a search of the institution's archives revealed significant support from those who made their wealth off the back of slaves. we don't think the university

of glasgow ever owned any slave people or estates. but what has come to light is the university profited or benefited significantly from the mortifications, benefited significantly from the mortifications, the bequests, the gifts from those associated with the slave economies. those benefits now worth perhaps as much as £200 million. my ancestors, we waited over 200 years for this. in a ceremony about recognition and regret, a pledge to help raise millions to research the impact of slavery. much of this work will be based in the caribbean. the concept of research and run has become the norm in british universities. this is an instance where a university has said, "we have research, we are going to stand our ground "and we are going participate in dealing with the consequences, "adverse and negative, but we can get over them." and where glasgow university goes, the city looks to follow. the reminders of glasgow's links to the historic slave trade surround you here. the buildings, even the names of the streets. now the city council is putting in place, its own plans to look at its slave economy past.

but it's the world of academia that has often been at the forefront of arguments over how we remember our history. and while other british universities are now starting to research their involvement with the slave trade, some think acting on that is a step too far. it suggests that people who are alive today either bare some historical responsibility for what their ancestors did in the past, i mean truly barbaric and criminal acts. but to suggest that people alive today are somehow responsible for the sins of their ancestors, i think is a step too far. from scotland's macca, there was a poem to mark today's occasion. here's a redress that's long been owed. here's a first step on the road. a first step away from gestures towards making amends.

lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. few places have experienced the effects of climate change as vividly as the arctic. in finnmark, at the northernmost tip of norway, the warmer temperatures pose a challenge for indigenous sami reindeer herders. but one solution may make things even worse, as our correspondent james cook has been finding out. a sami chief at the top of the world. nils mathis sara herds reindeer like his ancestors before him but now the chief and his daughter are worried about the future, a copper mine which they say will disrupt their animals and damage the environment. translation: this is life-changing. if this mine becomes reality, that makes the chance of survival impossible, both economically and mentally. at my age, we can manage somehow, but the young, they are in a dark, dark time. but exploration is already under way.

the norwegian government has approved the mine and the minister in charge says the need for copper outweighs the disruption it will bring. it's true that the arctic is beautiful but for us, for norwegians, it's also a place where we actually live and if the world doesn't have more copper, we won't be able to build more windmills, we won't be able to have a huge shift to electrical cars, for example, that we need. the government says marine life here will be protected by strict environmental standards. this is only a half size and they grow up to be... but for the fishermen in the fjords where the mine's debris will be dumped, those assurances do not hold water. if they start mining, we cannot eat the crab,

if we can catch it, but i think all the crab will die in this area. there was a mine here once before but that was many years ago and it too divided opinion. this time, the boss argues that his company will revitalise an area that's been struggling economically. we estimate that the mining itself, with people working every day at site, subcontractor and us, will be about 150 employees and then there will be additional employees in the society, teachers, kindergarten, at cetera. but for the sami reindeer herders, that does not like sound like a future full of promise. it's like they are just taking more and more land. it's mining, it's powerlines, it's wind power. we are so attached to lands and nature and when you just cut that contact, what's left?

the fight for this land and this fjord may be a taste of what's to come for all of us, as the world realises that shifting to new technology to tackle climate change does come with a cost. james cook, bbc news, finnmark in norway. before we go, let's show you the red arrows joining before we go, let's show you the red arrowsjoining their us before we go, let's show you the red arrows joining their us counterparts and historic flight to new york's hudson river and around the statue of liberty. hundreds of thousands of people lined the river to watch the fly past on thursday. it was the first time the combination ofjets had been brought together in such a way. the read arrows are on an 11 week tour of north america. —— red. very impressive. much more coming up

on bbc news and much more on our website. hello there. on friday, the temperature reached 28 celsius in hull but it could be a record—breaking bank holiday weekend. we've got a lot of heat and sunshine to come this weekend but there is the risk still of one or two showers because not only are we drawing in the heat from the near continent around that area of high pressure, we are also increasing the humidity. and we've still got low pressure sitting towards the north—west of the uk and this weather front is hanging around too. for a while, it'll be quite breezy in the north—west corner of the uk but away from here, it looks like we'll have clearer skies and those temperatures will dip away to 11—14 degrees. now, we've still got more cloud for the north—west of scotland and northern ireland on saturday and maybe a few showers to come for the highlands and islands, as well as fermanagh and tyrone

but away from here, lots of sunshine across other parts of scotland and across england and wales and that heat will build very quickly in the light winds and strong sunshine so warming up across the eastern parts of northern ireland, the central belt of scotland, highest temperatures for england and wales widely the high 20s, peaking at 30 or so in the south—east of england. very warm for the ashes day three at headingley. 27 degrees or so in the afternoon in the blue skies and light winds, and it'll be lovely end to the day for many parts of the country. a fine evening to come. the showers in the north—west and across northern ireland, probably tending to fade away overnight. some of the cloud will drift its way into western parts of england and wales, mind you. probably not producing any showers and temperatures again, 11—14. there is the risk of one or two

showers popping off from this cloud, for west wales and south—west of england and northern ireland but it's a lower risk and you can see elsewhere there should be a lot of sunshine again, light winds, that heat building further north into scotland with the sunshine in the north—west as well but again, the higher temperatures probably in the midlands, eastern england, 30 or 31 around the london area. on monday, while we've got the risk of a shower, that too is reduced. still, a lot of uncertainty about monday. there could be one or two showers around but on the whole it looks like it's going to be dry and sunny. not quite as warm perhaps across western scotland and northern ireland, western fringes of england and wales, but the heat is still there towards the east and south—east and again, we could be close to 30 degrees. some uncertainty then through monday and into the beginning of next week. the threat of showers coming up from the south reduced. this weather front is going to bring rain into scotland and northern ireland slowly but surely, but still largely dry and warm in the south—east.

this is bbc news, the headlines: brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has ordered the military to help fight the devastating fires in the amazon rainforest. several european leaders have said they are prepared to scrap a huge trade agreement with south america unless brazil takes action to curb the forest fires. president trump has announced further increases to trade tariffs against china. in a series of angry tweets, he said a planned 25% tax on billions of dollars of chinese goods would be increased to 30% from october. the move comes after beijing unveiled new duties on us goods. russia has launched the world's first floating nuclear power station in the arctic, in spite of concerns from environmentalists. it's now on a voyage to russia's far east. it's intended to supply power to oil rigs and spent fuel will be stored on board.