this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: was boris johnson's five—week suspension of parliament legal? two conflicting rulings force the uk's supreme court to have the final say. polls open in israel for its second general election this year. after ten years at the top — it's a crucial test for prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the teenager who took on climate change. greta thunberg accepts amnesty international‘s ambassador of conscience award. and in business briefing, see you in court —

apple takes on the eu in a fight over a record $14 billion tax bill. a warm welcome to the programme — briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme — the battle for subscribers. netflix is paying a lot to for the rights to show — old episodes of the hit us tv sitcom seinfeld. so we'd like to know would this draw you to netflix? what content do you tune in to and why? get in touch — just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. the supreme court in london will today begin to hear two appeals

over the british prime minister's controversial decision to suspend parliament for five weeks. the cases are being heard after two lower courts made conflicting judgements on the matter. the scottish court of session said the move amounted to an unlawful attempt to stop mps in the run up to brexit, but the high court of england and wales said the decision was political and not one forjudicial interference. our legal correspondent clive coleman explains. constitutional law, dry and dusty? not a bit of it. a prime minister stands accused of misleading the monarch and undermining parliament. the supreme court will have to resolve to dramatically contradictoryjudgements. scotland's higher civil court said the minister's decision to prorogue was motivated by stymieing parliament

before brexit in the critical weeks but the high court ruled that proroguing was a political matter and they were low — make no legal sta nce and they were low — make no legal stance against which the court can judge it. ——no legal stance. they will have to decide whether it is a matter for the courts and if it is, they will have to give a ruling as to whether that advice given by borisjohnson to the queen was unlawful or not and that will determine whether parliament can sit again in the days leading up to the 14th of october when the suspension was due to be lifted and during that period, therefore, whether they can legislate and consider brexit matters. clive coleman, bbc news. we will have more comment on that later in the programme. israelis are heading to the polls for the second time in less than six months. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu is fighting for a fourth consecutive term after failing to form a coalition government

during the summer. bibi, as he's known, has been pulling out all the stops to hang on to power, issuing a calculated stream of warnings, accusations and promises to rally his right wing base. barbara plett usher reports. campaigning, israeli style. it is a bareknuckle fight for political survival. with the parameters are facing possible corruption charges, he will do anything to win. the diehard supporters of benjamin netanyahu. diehard supporters of benjamin neta nyahu. they are diehard supporters of benjamin netanyahu. they are determined to get him every vote and he really needs them. he is definitely having their vote. the powerful cultural orthodox parties have been flexing their muscle under his watch, protecting their exemptions from the military draft and shutting things down on the sabbath. again this election, they are showing their

strength. if they don't want to keep each other‘s, you can go to america will stop that many israelis are fed up will stop that many israelis are fed up with this vision of the country. ——. but many israelis are using. netanyahu ——. but many israelis are using. neta nyahu has also ——. but many israelis are using. netanyahu has also grabbed attention with his pitch tojewish settlers. he made a rare official visit to the divided city of hebron and has promised to annex large swathes of territory in the occupied west bank. members of his audience was sceptical. you think that means that mr netanyahu is is siding with the jewish settlers? in my opinion, he is someone that goes back and forth according to the polls so i hope that this time he's coming means he is happy to change in attitude and going to keep his word. outside the settlers security zone, palestinians

watched the visit with solemn resignation. there was only token resistance. the boys took a chance to lob stones at the soldiers. translation: all of this is because us as translation: all of this is because us as people and our leadership can't stop neta nyahu. us as people and our leadership can't stop netanyahu. and we can't stop what is happening. an independent palestinian state is no longer an israeli campaign issue. for many israelis, the election nearing is getting tiresome. some are looking for a change. enough. ten years? you don't do nothing. no chance of that. this election is the fate of bibi netanyahu and he will fight to the finish. bubble oppression —— barbara plett usher. bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other

stories making the 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. the body of former zimbabwe president robert mugabe has arrived in his home village after a weekend state funeral. the coffin was taken back to murombedzi, near mr mugabe's rural home village of kutama. hundreds of people had gathered to walk past the body. before the cortege arrived, there was anger as mourners were handed shirts with pictures of president emmerson mnangagwa, who turned against robert mugabe in 2017. in brazil, firefighters are still tackling a number of blazes in the amazonas region. the fires have been raging through the night and firefighers 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 uk's supreme court is expected to have a final say this week on whether borisjohnson‘s five—week suspension of parliament was legal, and in europe there's frustration with the uk over brexit. on monday the prime minister of luxembourg, xavier bettel, made a stinging attack on the british government, and described the brexit process as a nightmare. alpesh patel, chief executive of praefinium partners, joins me now to talk about all this. worked as a barrister for a while. do you remember those days? fondly, i still have my wig. what you make

of this situation where the uk supreme court has to decide whether or not it was breaking the law to suspend parliament and the choice on the part of the government. suspend parliament and the choice on the part of the governmentm suspend parliament and the choice on the part of the government. it could go either way, as many legal cases. when you look at them, they are a coin toss. it could be stricter and more literal, therefore, what they are english high court had judged which is that this was within the powers of... it is a political matter and not something for the courts? essentially or within the powers of the crown and the executive. it could be more and i don't think this will happen closer to the scottish interpretation which is you have to look at the underlying intention of the parties and what the reasons were behind these powers to be in the hands of those parties. i don't think it is going to go in that way. some might

say, well, the scots are wiser at their interpretation. i suspect they are going to go with the english route. this is going to take several days... yes, they will be quite a lot of legal arguments. speaking from a finance perspective, let's not forget, a lot of businesses are holding onto this and looking at this let alone foreign currency traders and so on. billions of dollars riding on what is going to happen. in the next few weeks? no, no, no, just on the supreme court announcement. that will give an indication on whether or not there may or may not be a hard brexit and that will directly impact the value of the pound. i suspect they will be a few banks that will have their own people sitting at the back of the courts tweeting away and trying to give an indication on which way things are going so you can expect volatility, a lot more volatility, today. thank you, for now. we will be talking about the antipodean as well as other stories. that is all to come. and to stay up—to—date with the latest on brexit

and where europe stands, head to our website, where you'll find analysis on the behaviour by luxembourg's prime minister and what it means for the relationship between europe and the uk. 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. but 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll have the latest on the american woman breaking records while swimming the english channel. 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. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the uk's supreme court is set to consider whether boris johnson's five—week suspension of parliament is legal. and polls have opened in israel for its second general election this year. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is hoping to win a fourth consecutive term in office. 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 2000 people died and almost 2000 were injured in more than 600 incidents across the country in the month of august alone. secunder kermani is our correspondent in kabul. this is evidence that the bbc gathered in the month of august. it produced some shocking results, didn't it? that's right. i think the significance of the data that we have gathered here is that it gives us an have gathered here is that it gives us an idea of the scale of the violent taking place. the bbc recorded 473 civilian deaths, which is more than a dozen a day. this is

just a snapshot but it suggests that the number of civilians being killed in the conflict could be significantly higher than has been previously acknowledged. because of the difficulty in obtaining accurate information in a conflict zone. in total, 2300 deaths in afghanistan we re total, 2300 deaths in afghanistan were registered, and monitoring groups believe afghanistan is the most deadly conflict in the world. taliban fighters and members of the security forces were previously the highest numbers of people being killed, and many of them reject the bbc‘s finding. peace talks that were taking place in qatar aimed at bringing an end to the conflict, those negotiations have collapsed. more detail on that story on our

website. shocking statistics about the levels of deaths going on in afghanistan. the imf will be meeting here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first to strasbourg, where the european parliament will be meeting to discuss the appointment of ex—imf chief christine lagarde as head of the european central bank. next to geneva, where un experts will be presenting their latest findings on rights abuses in myanmar. and finally, beijing will be unveiling its mascots for the 2022 winter olympic and paralympic games. an american woman is attempting to make history by swimming across the english channel four times non—stop — 135 kilometres in total — and this morning, she's only got about two 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, thanks for being on the programme. she hasn't got far to go now, how is she doing? you said she hasn't got far to go, but you join us hasn't got far to go, but you join us ata hasn't got far to go, but you join us at a crucial moment, because we arejust off us at a crucial moment, because we are just off dover harbour, the entrance where the ferries come in and out is just to our right. but the tide has just now turned and it is starting to sweep us back out again. you might hear a lot of shouting and hollering in the background. they are trying to encourage her to swim faster, push it. after 53 hours in the water. it's amazing what i was going to say, it's absolutely incredible, and

for her to face the challenge now at this moment when she is so close to finishing. she must be absolutely exhausted? finishing. she must be absolutely exhausted ? undoubtedly she finishing. she must be absolutely exhausted? undoubtedly she is exhausted, she is beyond exhausted. she is beyond her limits. nobody can understand how she can keep going, the pace she has kept up for the last two days. she has, and it is inspirational to watch. she had something to prove, she wanted to prove to herself that she could beat this breast cancer, and she has certainly done that. she has pushed the human limits of endurance. she has done this length before but not in the sea. she has done this type of thing in lakes before. talk us through how she is managing to do this. how is she sustaining energy and that kind of thing? i understand she has a special drink every half—an—hour. she has a special drink every half-an-hour. yes, she has a

high—carbohydrate drink, which is past to her in a beaker every half—an—hour. to be honest, it replaces some energy, but it can't replaces some energy, but it can't replace what she is using here. the amount of energy — i think it is said that it is 15,000 calories per crossing, which is 60,000 calories she has used in the last few days. she has been swimming for more than three and a half hours. just describe the scene now. is there a big crowd waiting for her when she finally comes to land? there is a big crowd but they may not be at the right place. apparently there is a big crowd waiting at st margaret's bay, which isjust to big crowd waiting at st margaret's bay, which is just to the east of dover, and we were being taken along the coast toward st margaret's bay, but all of a sudden the tide has now picked up and we are going the other way. just where we are going to

land, i'm certain she will continue swimming untilwe land, i'm certain she will continue swimming until we touch that land, but when and where that is is now very much up in the air. we arejust trying to push her on, as you can probably hear people are shouting and hollering at her. to be honest, how she can cope with that i don't know. she has proved that she is incredibly resilient and strong. all our best to sarah, and well done to you kevin to be part of the team keeping her going all this time. thanks for being on the programme. we are hoping in the next hour to speak to sarah. it all depends on how she is feeling, but when she does get to land that is the plan. now for the sports stories. hello, i'm chetan pathak with tuesday's sport briefing. tens of thousands of people have

taken to the streets of spain to welcome home the basketball world champions. they beat argentina by 95 points to 75 to lift the trophy for only the second time in their history, the first was back in 2006. in italy, torino missed the chance to go level on points at the top of serie a after a surprise defeat at home. lecce, who had lost their first two matches, got their first goal of the season thanks to diego farias in the 35th minute. but torino levelled after the break. then with just over a quarter of an hour to play lecce got the winner through mario mancosu off the rebound. 2—1 the final score. tuesday sees the start of the group stages of the champions league. lionel messi's been declared fit ahead of barcelona's trip to borussia dortmund. the five—time ballon d'or winner has been out of action since injuring his calf in pre—season. messi returned to full training on monday and has been included in the 22—man squad

for the trip to germany. the holders, liverpool, who knocked barcelona out in the semi finals, begin the defence of their trophy at napoli whilst frank lampard will lead chelsea in europe for the first time as manager when they host valencia on tuesday fresh from saturday's 5—2 premier league win at wolves. and after many memorable moments in the competition as a player, including winning it in 2012, he says this moment will be right up there. there's something about nights at stamford bridge, there's something about the champions league music, those memories that i have and we have here at chelsea. i want to experience on this side of the fence, so i will be happy taking the team out knowing that what matters is results and taking the team out against good opposition. i'm excited. among the other former champions in action is inter milan. they were the last italian side to win it nearly ten years ago. only coach antonio conte has a medal though from his time

as a juventus player. they start against czech champions slavia prague: we have to do pay good attention because they are a really good team and they can compete in this group. when i spoke about slavia, i knew they would be a strong team technically with a good mentality. and before we go have a look at this, a hand picked group of international mountainbikers were invited to the elleweiler stone quarry in germany to show off their stunts and set new records this was spain's aguado alba landing a world first tsunami front flip. and britain's tom isted also set a record, this time by launching himself to a height of 7.1 metres — the highest air of all time for what's callled the perfect hip. you can get all the latest sports

news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me chetan pathak and the rest of the sport team, that is your tuesday sport briefing. the teenage climate activist greta thunberg has accepted an award for ambassador of conscience at a ceremomy 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.

stay with us here on bbc news — so much more to come. hello. a fairly quiet start to the weather week across many parts of the british isles. the very best of the sunshine found its way to the north. that settled look to proceedings is all thanks to that area of high pressure, but you'll notice it's squeezing into low pressure centred up over scandinavia way. the jetstream in between is forced to the north of the british isles because of the high pressure in the atlantic, so that's taking cold air down through the north sea to the heart of continental europe. the breeze at the surface is going to be quite noticeable through the northern isles, the north—east of the mainland and down the north sea coast, but elsewhere, it is a decent day with plenty of sunshine on offer and variable amounts of cloud and at its thickest perhaps in the north—west of scotland. maybe a wee bit of rain there during the latter part of the day. and wednesday, not a great deal of change. that high pressure just

nudging in towards us, forcing the north westerlies away to the north sea. the clouds thickening up at times to give the odd piece of rain across the top of scotland but elsewhere, as i say, a decent day with plenty of sunshine and a high on the day of 20. from wednesday into thursday, there's just chance of some mist and fog forming as the high really come to dominate the scene across the british isles. thursday, top temperature again 20 or 21 in the south. bit of a difference on friday, the high pressure centre is away on the continent and that will allow us on its western flank by this stage to pick up on some of the warmth from the continent, and that flow of air is drier, so no issues with mist orfog. and probably less in the way of cloud as we move on through friday. temperature is beginning to respond as a consequence, a high on the day of 23. 20 degrees to be had in aberdeen. not a deal of difference as we move into saturday. still that high pressure keeping the atlantic fronts at bay. just one thing to watch — thunderstorms brewing over iberia,

moving through france during the day and we might find one or two clipping into the far south—west just to finish off your day on saturday, but saturday is going to be a gloriously warm day with a lot of sunshine around away from the south—west and a high on the day of 25. sunday, a different kettle of fish. by this stage, the high will be sufficiently far away to allow the showers and thunderstorms to work their way widely across the british isles on what is going to be a close and sultry sort of day.

this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. see you in court — apple takes on the eu in a fight over a record $14bn tax bill. and doing a deal — president trump announces that the us and japan have reached an agreement over trade. and on the markets... they are mixed in asia. as you can see, japan has opened for the first time this week. the price of oil has come off a bit since its incredible spike around this time