this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: boos for boris johnson as the prime minister of luxembourg tells him brexit‘s become a "nightmare". don't put the blame on us because now they don't know how to get out of this... ..situation. they put themselves in! president trump says "it looks like iran was responsible" for the attack that halved saudi oil production. but he insists he doesn't want war. the human cost of the world's deadliest conflict.

a special report on afghanistan's so—called ‘forever war‘. and the teenager who took on climate change, greta thunberg, accepts amnesty international‘s ‘ambassador of conscience' award in washington. the prime minister of luxembourg has attacked borisjohnson's approach to brexit calling the situation a nightmare and saying that the british government has failed to put forward any serious proposals for a new deal. xavier bettel also accused the british prime minister of portraying the eu as the bad guy. his outspoken comments came at what was supposed to be a joint press conference following mrjohnson's first face—to—face meeting since taking office with the president of the european commission,

jean—claude juncker. but borisjohnson pulled out of his media appearance because of noisy protests from remain supporters nearby. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. air miles can't be exchanged for a deal. today is not going to be a breakthrough day. time for borisjohnson to see some of those he needs onside. i mean, it's september already and you moved into number ten in july and it's only now that you're going to seejean—claude juncker. you could have done this weeks and weeks ago. we have had many conversations with our friends and partners, and they've moved a long way. but a jet and a convoy racing through luxembourg's streets doesn't mean we are speeding towards an agreement. i think a deal is there to be done, but clearly if we can't get movement from them on that crucial issue of whether the eu can continue to control the uk, we won't be able to get that through the house of commons — no way! but what is the actual solution that you're proposing? is it giving more power

to stormont, for example? these are certainly some of the ideas that are being talked about. this is all doable, it's all doable with energy and goodwill, there's a germ of an idea there. but it'sjust a germ of an idea? and so... well, there are, there's a lot of thinking going on. if it's down to goodwill, there's big trouble. a small crowd, making a lot of noise, was outside boris johnson's meeting with luxembourg's leader. boris, leave our rights alone! having tried and failed to move it inside, number 10 chose to leave rather than appear before the crowd. but xavier bettel didn't miss the moment. maybe even savoured it. so, now it's on mrjohnson. he holds the future of all uk citizens. it's been a decision from the party, it was a decision from david cameron to do it. they decide, they decide,

i deeply regret it. but don't put the blame on us! many british prime ministers have sat alongside him before, trying to finesse or find a new relationship with the eu. but this one is happier to provoke, happier to try to find a way round. it does seem that since you've been in office, that some of the things you have done, you seem to believe the conventions and rules somehow don't apply to you. oh, really? really? well, obviously, i humbly disagree. if you're talking about having a queen's speech, i think that was the right thing to do. we need a queen's speech. so, when it comes... by the way, all this mumbo jumbo about how parliament is being deprived of the opportunity to scrutinise brexit, what a load of claptrap! actually, parliament, ithink, has lost about four or five days and i think actually what the people of our country want is a little less of this sort of gloom. one of the people who's extremely gloomy about what's happened is your old friend and rival and colleague david cameron. he says that the leave campaign

that you lead, lied. he said that you behaved appallingly. i have the highest respect and affection and regard for him. he and i worked together for many years and i think he has a legacy, turning the economy around, that i think he can be very, very proud of. so, that's my view on dave and what he's got to say. he's been brutal about you. well, really, i mean, you know... another tory prime minister whose fate will be decided by our relationship with europe. with time so short, the volume is going up, as the clock ticks down. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, luxembourg. president trump has said it looks as though iran was behind the attacks on two major oil facilities in saudi arabia. he said washington was seeking more proof, and he stressed that he hoped to "avoid" war. iran has denied involvement in saturday's drone attacks, which were claimed by iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen. the bbc‘s david willis is in washington.

the president was asked at the white house today, was whether he agreed with his secretary of state's assessment, saying this was an attack launched by iran. the president as you mentioned there, said it is looking that way. as soon as we have definitive evidence, we will let you know. but it is pretty clear to me from what he was saying today that the president is willing to put the onus on the saudis, onus to come up with intelligence supporting the view that it was an attack launched by iran, to come up with an international coalition and to determine what sort of response there should be now. he said he would be talking to the european allies, the secretary of state, mike pompeo, is going to travel to saudi arabia. but because the united states is now self—sufficient in terms of oil, the president was at pains to point out this is a global problem, not just an american problem, duncan.

so on that point then, david, what is the possible international reaction to this? well, he was asked that at the white house today and he said an attack could be a large one, many, many times larger, as he put it, than the attack on these oil installations over the weekend. and as i've mentioned, secretary of state is going to saudi arabia. but this was a much more measured approach from president trump than the locked and loaded type stance we saw on twitter over the weekend. he believes the united states has time and there's no rush and that it wants to basically get this right. that's going to be quite a good message, a welcome message, as far as many allies in the region are concerned. but the emphasis, as they say, very much now on the saudis to come up with evidence of iranian involvement here. david willis there.

let's get some of the day's other news: president erdogan of turkey says he wants to send up to three million syrian refugees back to their country, accommodating them in what he called a "safe zone" in the north. the beginnings of such a zone are already being established in cooperation with the united states. american—backed kudish fighters — who the turks regard as terrorists — have moved back from a strip of syrian territory along the turkish border. nearly 50,000 american workers at general motors have gone on strike. it's gm's first strike since the us federal government bailed the company out after it faced bankruptcy ten years ago. the union is demanding higher wages and opposes plans to close car factories in the states of ohio and michigan. american scientists say they have found a way to stop the common cold. rather than attacking the virus itself, they used gene editing to turn off a protein inside human cells which the cold virus

needs to replicate. the technique also worked to stop viruses associated with asthma and polio. the experiments were performed on mice and human lung cells but the researchers say they aren't yet ready for trials in people. the war in afghanistan has been raging for almost 18 years and now the country is facing a renewed crisis after the breakdown of peace talks between us and taliban leaders. the escalation in violence last month has produced some shocking figures. more than 2,000 people died and almost 2,000 were injured in more than 600 incidents across the country in the month of august alone. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports from afghanistan on the human cost of war.

not a day without violence. not a day without loss. one month in afghanistan. the darkest day of all, a wedding hall, 92 dead. a suicide bomber of islamic state. the worst attack of august, the deadliest this year. it was meant to be the best night of mirwais' life. 20 minutes after the bridegroom danced with joy, life changed for ever.

the days of summer in august saw, on average, 7a deaths a day. even the islamic festival of eid was shattered by violence. we went to visit one family left devastated. two daughters out shopping for eid. two children left behind at home.

a taliban truck bomb killed them and 12 others. one month in decades of war. even a 70—year—old granny has a gun. three of this lady's sons and three grandsons were shot dead right in front of her house by islamic state fighters. a0 grandchildren now under her care. another son died in war decades ago, a fifth injured in battle. across afghanistan, month after month, life goes on here, even as more lives are taken, more families shattered.

for many afghans, this now feels like a for—ever war. and even though this past month of violence there has been far more talk of peace, afghans wonder and worry whether the months to come will be exactly the same. fighting intensifies, and so does the pain, in what is now the world's deadliest conflict. lyse doucet, bbc news, in afghanistan. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: tragedy in thailand as almost 90 tigers rescued from a temple three years ago die from a virus.

30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. a state funeral is being held for princess grace of monaco at the church where she married prince rainier 26 years ago. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for the abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessman regard the anticipated boom as just

another blessing of st elizabeth. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: luxembourg's prime minister has launched a furious attack on the british government and its approach to brexit. president trump has pointed the finger for the attack on saudi arabia's oil facilities, saying "it looks like it was iran". the streaming giant netflix says it has acquired the rights to the popular us sitcom seinfeld for an undisclosed sum. the show, which ended in the late ‘90s, is one of the most enduring tv series of all time and comes as netflix recently lost the rights to friends and the office. for more on the deal, i've been speaking to stephen battaglio, a media reporterfor

the los angeles times. it was a lot, that is for certain. it was for worldwide rights. the deals for friends which is now on warner media's new streaming site, hbo max, that was $325 million for three years and the office which is going to nbc universal‘s new streaming service, that went for $500 million. presumably it went for much higher than those two but it includes not just the us but the entire world where netflix has 150 million subscribers including the uk. i know seinfeld is a classic with a lot of diehard fans but why so much money for these old shows? these shows are old to me but to people who are young and this is the way they are consuming television, through streaming.

they are not watching traditional linear tv any longer. and they stream, they watch on their phones, they watch on their laptops and they discover shows. and if you are 2a years old and you watch seinfeld for the first time and say this is terrific and hilarious i love it and i want to see more, you will have 179 more episodes to see. it is a library that they are purchasing of programmes that are proven, popular, funny and have held up well over time. there is a lot of value there for them and it is a way to keep that netflix customer paying a subscriber fee. so what does this tell us about the battle of the streamers? it says that if netflix is not going to take this lying down. one disadvantage that netflix has in bidding for friends and the office — those shows belong to the companies that are launching streaming services.

so warner media is essentially paying itself, to a large degree, to take back friends and nbc is paying itself, because it owns the office and had to put it out to bid to determine the fair market value but the money is going to their pocket. that kind of became futile for netflix to compete with that. this show is cleaner and has many different partners and i think that netflix has a greater idea of what the value was for them and they were able to step up and pay for it. and it is because you have all these streaming services coming on, remember, five years ago you did not have any of this. now it has become a very big emerging part of the tv business. if you are a betting man, where would you put your money on the next classic old show

to go for a big sum? the big bang theory, which was very popular for 12 years on american television and around the world. it is about to go for big money. that will probably go to warner media because they own it. almost 90 tigers that were rescued from a controversial thai buddhist temple three years ago have died from a virus, which officials have blamed on inbreeding and stress. but conservationists have questioned whether authorities were holding the tigers in safe conditions. freya cole reports. this tiger, held captive in thailand, is showing clear signs of distress. authorities say the virus, which has killed 86 of the animals derived from poor living conditions at a controversial thai temple.

translation: the primary causes a genetic problem linked to inbreeding that has affected their health, making them weak. the playful cubs were once used to entertain hordes of tourists at a place called tiger temple, run by buddhist monks. you could pay to get up close and personal with the creatures in exchange for cash. but in 2016, the monks were accused of animal abuse, trafficking and illegal breeding. authorities evacuated almost 150 of the big cats to two government facilities. now, just three years later, more than half have not survived. wildlife conservationists fear they were not properly cared for, saying the cages looked cramped and inadequate. they say it highlights the need to crack down on tiger tourism, to monitor the 2,000 captive tigers

which still exist in thailand. in brazil, firefighters are still tackling a number of blazes in the amazonas region.the fires have been raging through the night and firefighters have been struggling to stop them from spreading. government policies are being blamed for an increase in forest fires in brazil — presidentjair bolsonaro will face scrutiny when he makes a speech at the united nations general assembly next week. the teenage climate activist greta thunberg has accepted an award for ‘ambassador of conscience‘ at a ceremony in washington.the 16—year—old from sweden was given the award by the worldwide human rights charity, amnesty international. she started the international youth movement against climate change when she protested outside the swedish parliament last year. this award is for all those millions of people, young people around the world who, together, make up the movement called

fridays for future. all these fearless youth, fighting for their future. an american woman is attempting to make history by swimming across the english channel four times non—stop — 135 kilometres in total — and tonight she‘s only got about 3 or so kilometres left to go. sarah thomas, who‘s 37, has been swimming for more than 50 hours and is on her 11th and final crossing heading back to dover. she‘s expected to arrive shortly. let‘s get the very latest and speak to kevin murphy, who has swum the english channel 3a times himself, and who‘s on the boat accompanying sarah and observing her progress. kevin, how is she doing in these

last few kilometres? we just wanted to finish. she is in a good condition. she is strong steel, focused, she keeps asking, when i going to get there? are we making progress? we keep trying to reassure her that she is and that she is doing well. she shouts back, i don‘t believe you! but she is getting there. it looks now that we will actually go past the entrance of dover harbour and land in a place called st margaret‘s bay. it has been an absolutely incredible triumph, really. it is history being made as far as endurance sport is concerned. when you do that kind of distance, you are doing it through the night on some occasions, do you lose perspective? do you become a

bit disoriented? speaking personally, i used to going to a zone. a zone where an hour would seem like five minutes, it doesn‘t mean anything anymore, nothing means anything. you are not really aware of what‘s going on. to be honest, i don‘t think that sarah is doing that. she is far more alert, more aware than i used to be. in fact, actually, i should say, the record for the longest ever swim of the english channel is 52.5 hours, and i hold that. she isjust english channel is 52.5 hours, and i hold that. she is just about to pass it. she is just hold that. she is just about to pass it. she isjust about hold that. she is just about to pass it. she is just about to hold that. she is just about to pass it. she isjust about to break hold that. she is just about to pass it. she is just about to break my record! do you have any bitterness towards her? no, i don't. records are made to be broken. it is great to see what she has achieved here. the other thing is she is still receiving treatment for breast

cancer. she is not over that yet, and yet she has done this. it‘s absolutely incredible. i can only find it inspiring to watch her. just briefly, tell us what other rules? she can‘t get out of the water, so how she take on food and drink? well, what happens is that every half—an—hour a beaker of high—carbohydrate drink is given to her. she is not allowed to touch anybody, not allowed to touch the boat, she can just take this beaker of high—carbohydrate drink and she can drink that, but how much energy that‘s replacing, who knows? she has 110w that‘s replacing, who knows? she has now been swimming as i say for well over 52 hours. would you wish her oui’ over 52 hours. would you wish her our best and thank you for keeping us our best and thank you for keeping us updated over the last few hours, we do appreciate it. kevin murphy

speaking from the english channel, accompanying sarah thomas. a remarkable woman. hello once again. autumn is presenting its quiet face towards us just at the moment. sometimes it can be stormy. well, we‘re seeing that quiet spell of weather certainly dominating for the next few days. dry by day and cool, as befits the season, overnight. that‘s the way the pressure chart is shaping up for tuesday — high pressure very much the dominant feature. quite a number of isobars you‘ll notice as we get on into tuesday. thejetstream is coming up and around the atlantic high and sweeping down into the heart of continental europe, offering some more unsettled fare there and certainly colder conditions as well than we‘re enjoying here in the british isles. a coolish sort of start to the day, but come the afternoon, plenty of sunshine around. the temperatures again, the midteens or so up to about 20 degrees. just tempering the sunshine late on in the day as we bring a warm front in from the atlantic.

it‘ll still be there as we move from tuesday on into wednesday. enough cloud associated with that for there to be the odd bit and piece of rain, primarily across the northern half of scotland. elsewhere, it‘s going to be a really decent sort of day. by the stage, the high pressure will have moved just sufficiently far towards the east to pushed those chill north—westerly winds out into the north sea, so it may well feel a tad warmer across the north—east of scotland simply because you‘ve lost the strength of the wind. come thursday, that high pressure is going to be very much the dominant feature, keeping it fine and settled in all parts. you‘ll notice as we move towards the latter part of the week, so the high centre moves over to continental europe, and that allows the chance for us to pick up air of continental origin. there‘s still some warmth across the continent at the mediterranean at this time of year,

and we‘re going to start tapping into that. it brings drier conditions across us, so any chance of mist or fog that may well have been there the first part of thursday won‘t be an issue on the first part of friday. those temperatures just ticking up by a degree or two quite widely across the british isles, 20 as far north as aberdeen. not a great deal changes from friday into saturday. notice the run of isobars is there from south to north, keeping the atlantic fronts at bay at this stage. so saturday‘s another glorious day for many parts of the british isles. there‘s just the chance of one or two showers, quite heavy showers at that, getting into the far south—west to finish off the day. a high on the day of 25, that‘s really not bad for the time of year. and then come sunday, we start importing some moisture. a frontal system trying to come in from the atlantic, but ahead of it we‘ll have some thundery showers gradually working their way up and across many parts of the british isles on what is going to be quite a sultry day.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the european union‘s frustration with the uk over brexit has hit the headlines, with the prime minister of luxembourg describing the brexit process as "a nightmare". after meeting boris johnson, xavier bettel said the british government had failed to put forward any serious proposals for a new deal. president trump says it "looks as though iran" was behind the attack on two major saudi oilfacilities. he said washington was seeking more proof, but stressed he hoped to avoid war. iranian president hassan rouhani has denied his country had any involvement. teenage climate activist greta thunberg has accepted an award for ‘ambassador of conscience‘ at a ceremony in washington. she was given the award by the worldwide human rights charity, amnesty international. she started the international youth movement against climate change when she protested outside the swedish parliament last year.