this is bbc news. i'm rajini vaidyanathan with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. tech titans in tiny boxes. four of the biggest names in technology get a grilling at a congressional hearing over claims they're stifling competition. in a bbc interview, the expert leading us efforts to contain the coronavirus warns against politicising the pandemic. there is a considerable degree of political divisiveness to a level that everyone admits you don't need me to make that declaration. the debate over quarantine measures for travellers to the uk intensifies, spain puts more pressure on britain to rethink its policy. and scientists finally solve a 5000—year—old mystery at stonehenge.

they wield huge influence. their combined net worth is staggering. today, four of the biggest names in technology found themselves in front of a us congressional committee— in a hearing to determine whether they wield too much power. the ceos of apple, amazon, facebook and google‘s parent company alphabet were all questioned via videolink. the bbc‘s james clayton has the story. these four titans of tech run companies that are worth nearly £4 trillion. today they were grilled in the us capitol over whether their companies are too big, and whether they stifle competition. the richest man in the world, jeff bezos, runs amazon, which accounts for around 40%

of online retail in the world. mark zuckerberg is the boss of facebook as well as instagram and whatsapp. together they have more than 2 billion users worldwide. google and youtube are run by sundar pichai. around 90% of internet searches are on google. apple is run by tim cook. the most valuable of the big fourin the most valuable of the big four in the company behind the iphonein four in the company behind the iphone in the software. the question is, do they own a bit too much of the internet? that's what us legislators wanted to find out today. zuckerberg on the hook first and asked whether they simply bought competitors rather than compete with them, notably instagram 7 he accepted they were a competitor. in the growing space of mobile photos and camera apps, they were a competitor. he was also asked whether he wanted to buy google at one point. it will be a while before we can buy google, did you recall writing that e—mail?

i do not, but it sounds like a joke. some pretty pointed questions to tim cook of apple, that apple uses its position to hurt businesses. so, we do not retaliate or bully people, it is strongly against our company culture. and the questions got harsher, at one point jeff bezos‘s amazon's treatment of smaller businesses was compared to a drug dealer dealing with a drug addict. you had to get your next fix, your next check. this is one of your partners, why on earth would they compare your company to a drug dealer? i have great respect for you and this committee but i completely disagree with that characterisation. in truth, there was a clear theme. democrats want more on competition, republicans more on censoring and whether these

tech platforms were biased against conservatives. this to sundar pichai of google. i am concerned you are helping joe biden over president trump. we will not do any work to politically tilt anything one way or the other. the political split at times boiled over. i would like to redirect your attention to anti—trust law rather than fringe conspiracy theories. mrchairman, we have the e—mail... what i want to know, when somebody comes after... the gentle lady is recognised. the committee hasn't lended any obvious knockouts. the share price of other companies as a fa ct price of other companies as a fact picked up since the start the committee. the share price of all the companies has picked

up since the start of the committee. the united states continues to struggle with combatting covid—i9. the latest stats from johns hopkins university shows 61,700 new cases of covid—i9 were confirmed on tuesday. president trump says that's because the united states is the world leader on testing. but many disagree — saying that new cases are rising faster than the nation's testing capacity. in total overfour point three million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the united states. and in the last few hours the death toll has reached a new grim milestone in the united states to above 150,000. well the bbc‘s katty kay has spoken to dr anthony fauci to talk about where the united states goes from here and how president trump has handled the outbreak. let's take a look. when the president, as he did again yesterday, retweets things from people who say you don't need to wear a mask, how unhelpful is that from a medical perspective?

you know, this issue of tweeting and retweeting is something i have never understood or gotten involved in. but i can tell you, you would have to say it is not helpful if people get signals about not wearing masks when we are trying to get people to universally wear masks. so you would ask the president not to do that? that is not the way it works. i think my feeling about what we should do with masks is very clearly understood by everyone, including those in the white house. what about the drug hydroxychloroquine? it has come back in the news and the president said he believes in it and it is safe and again seem to be touting this drug. is the president right?

again, it is not productive or helpful for me to be making judges on right or wrong, but what i can say is what i have said all along, that the overwhelming body of data from trials that were well run, randomised placebo—controlled trials indicate that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in treating coronavirus of covid—19. here in the uk, the government is coming under increasing pressure to introduce coronavirus testing at airports in order to shorten the 14—day quarantine period. airlines and travel industry leaders say tests are vital to the uk's post—covid recovery. heathrow chief executive john holland—kaye said testing could be up and running within weeks at his airport — and could allow passengers to go back to work more quickly. but the british culture secretary 0liver dowden said that testing is not a "silver bullet" to stop the need for quarantine because the virus can develop over time. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee sent this report

from the island of majorca. this is the street that is legendary for millions of british partygoers in magaluf — the strip, wall—to—wall with pubs and bars, all closed now. the club reps have no clubs to represent. at least 10,000 people normally. at least 10,000 people a night at this place. and now it's like a ghost town. jodie and christian from london come to work here every summer season. so i actually worked here, crystals bar, magaluf. i also lost myjob, obviously. there's about 20 other people that have lost theirjobs too now, people with kids, people that live here permanently, everyone, and now the british government have brought out the new two—week quarantine, which has completely destroyed it for everyone. it's even quieter this week than it was last week. we've literally looked forward to it so much and then we've come here and it'sjust been taken away again.

after we've waited, it's gone. the stuart family spent £5,000, hoping for a post—pandemic week in a deluxe villa. they were told the day before they arrived the hotel had closed. the only alternative was a theme park hotel. were you disappointed that you couldn't go on the holiday we booked and we had to come here? i was very disappointed. we'd waited two years to come back, hadn't we? we saved up all that money. it means now i have to go two weeks without any pay. i've been a key worker through the whole pandemic. i'm an essential key worker, so i'm going to lose out. majorca acted quickly when the pandemic first broke. it was the first airport in spain to close and, on the balearic islands, including menorca and ibiza, they've seen just 2,000 cases in five months. we are told that many businesses that only opened a week ago have now closed again because of the quarantine rule and the advice not to travel here. in the side streets of the capital, palma, the tourism minister for the balearic islands

says money from british holiday—makers has provided the backbone to the economy for decades. translation: no one in the uk seems to understand quite how much economic damage these quarantine measures are causing. in terms of the health risk, someone coming here will be far safer than in the uk. 0ne tourist returning home from spain today, transport secretary grant shapps. he said the government had considered allowing quarantine—free travel to the islands. we did have a look at whether certain islands could be included and not others. chris whitty, the chief medical officer, was very clear with us that he was concerned about the data. across spain, covid cases are still rising, the majority in the north—east of the country. but the wish—you—were—here appeals from politicians on these islands now appear to have been in vain. these shores are likely to stay quiet for some time. the us homeland security secretary, chad wolf, has said that federal agents

will be withdrawn from 0regon‘s largest city, portland. the agents have been accused of using overly aggressive tactics, after being deployed under the remit of protecting federal buildings from damage or destruction. but as they withdraw from portland, federal units are due to be deployed to three other us cities — detroit, milwaukee and cleveland — an expansion of so called ‘0peration legend'. michael chertoff is a former head of the department for homeland security under president george w. bush — earlier he told me the deployment of agents was a political act. i think you can say there were errors injudgement in the actual execution of the operation in portland. but to my mind what made it much worse and created really a crisis of public trust was the way the president portrayed it in raw, political terms with the by saying we will go into cities with these liberal democratic mayors. a couple of months ago he said if they loot, we shoot. some of these images have

actually been used in trump campaign ads on television. that creates the impression that all of this is being deliberately ratcheted up in order to make political points so the president can say "i am crushing my adversaries and people who i don't agree with." that is something that undermines the mission of the department and of course the constitutional requirement that the department serve the public and not a political agenda. what is the alternative? you used to run the department of homeland security. if this is not the way forward, what is? it is for locals to co—ordinate with the government. if there is a requirement for the federal government to support state and local officials, then absolutely you should stand ready to do that. but what we should not

do is push them aside and bigfoot them and take over their whole process youself. this is about teamwork. that means that the teams have to know each other, they have to co—operate them and they have to be in communication with each other. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: german police complete the latest stage of their investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann, 13 years ago. cheering. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol, once an everyday part

of the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, no more after almost four decades. in a private house. not doing any harm to anyone. i don't see why all these people should wander in and say you're doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at the park and already we have been met with a roar of approval from residents. they are lovely and really sweet. they are cute. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the heads of some of the world's biggest tech companies have appeared before washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power to quash competitors. the appearance comes as lawmakers consider tougher regulation. in an interview with bbc world news, dr anthony fauci, the man leading the us efforts to contain the coronavirus, has warned against politicising the issue.

he says competing efforts can be divisive. german police in hanover have completed the latest stage of their investigation in the case of madeleine mccann, the three—year—old who disappeared on a family holiday to portugal in 2007. it's now emerged that the prime suspect, a convicted paedophile who's in prison in germany, rented the allotment that's been searched by police. 0ur correspondentjenny hill has the latest from hanover. yes, this is the allotment which has been the focus of such intense police scrutiny. they have all gone now but they spent the last few days digging, taking material off the site. the police will not tell us what they were looking for and certainly not whether they found it, but we know that the main suspect in this case lived not far from here in the years following madeline's disappearance and there are reports that his connection to this site might be even deeper. this afternoon we spoke

to a neighbour who told us that in the spring or summer of 2007, madeleine went missing in the may of that year, the suspect rented this garden. a neighbour said there was a little hut, it sat on a concrete base, there was a small cellar underneath. the man told the neighbour he wanted to insulate that hut. the neighbour says that he went on his summer holidays, came back in august to find th garden deserted, the hut had disappeared and he never the man again. it is quiet here tonight. the police operation is apparently over. it is impossible tonight to say with any certainty whether that operation will contribute towards establishing finally what happens to madeleine mccann. let s get some of the day's other news. the new head of the uk's secret intelligence service has been announced.

richard moore, who is currently political director at the foreign office — and a former ambassador to turkey — will become the new chief of m16, known as 'c". he will take over from sir alex younger in the autumn. a railway bridge has collapsed after a freight train caught fire and derailed in arizona. it's being reported that between eight and ten cars from the train left the track at tempe town lake, just west of the city of phoenix. firefighters fought a huge blaze and traffic had to be diverted. police have not yet reported any injuries. the hajj , the annual pilgrimage to mecca — is officially under way, though on a much smaller scale than usual. normally more than two million muslims would take part in the five day pilgrimage to the holy city, but international visitors have been banned this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. hong kong's chief executive, carrie lam, has warned that the territory is on the brink of a large scale coronavirus outbreak, which could overwhelm hospitals. local media reports say ms lam might seek beijing's approval to postpone september's elections for the city's legislature, citing

concerns about the virus. ms lam has already urged people to stay indoors. fellow citizens, hong kong is facing a new wave of covid—19 infections, with an upsurge in locally infected cases, many with the yet unknown sources. we are on the verge of a larger scale community outbreak. i appeal to you to follow strictly the social distancing measures and stay at home as far as possible. if we stand united and work together, we can suppress this epidemic again. well, opposition figures have criticised the possibility of delaying the elections set for this september in hong kong for a year. they say the delay has less to do with public health, and more to do with china's hope that time will quell anger over the new security law which has sparked widespread protests. earlier i spoke with paul tse, a pro—establishment member of hong kong's parliament who believes the elections

should be delayed. nowadays, the whole thing has become very political. first off, i think that the pandemic situation here in hong kong is far worse than any time before. in fact, worse since the outbreak last year. one would assume that given in a few weeks' time we are expecting a high tide, a third wave of the pandemic situation, so we just are expecting that perhaps for health reasons, and for the risk involved, i think we should delay having this similar situation in singapore. we know singapore held their elections on the 10th ofjuly. as soon as after that, the situation was far worse than before. i think the number of cases confirmed was doubled. so hong kong is a very

densely populated city. it is unlike other big cities in the world with perhaps more open spaces and what have you. there is a real risk there. how long would you delay these elections for is the next question many people have. it is very unfortunate that we have to delay it. in dellaying it. ifor one, i'm running, there's a lot of hassle there's a lot of hassle in delaying it. but once we delay, there is no point in delaying it for one month or so. it is either three months, six, or 12 it is a question of how the a miniature chick the change in how the logistical issues evolve. it will be a delay. six months would be the minimal. otherwise there is no point in it for the pro democrat activist if it is too long, they may not happen at all. that is one fear. what would you say to that?

for the pro democrat activist, if it is too long, activist, if it is too long, they say it may not happen at all. that is one fear. what would you say to that? i wouldn't think so. certainly, we have existing laws providing for delays for 1h days but that is hardly enough. anything more than one year would be undesirable. i would have thought the delay would be something between three months and 12 months. these elections, whenever they happen, at a time when the pro—democracy activists say they are having less of a voice but that we have the anti—beijing protest last year. your side were defeated and last year's local elections. there is now this national security law that is usually unpopular. they argued that the more time there is, that actually, there is more time for more things to be passed through and there is less democracy. what would you say to that? nothing on the table or agenda at the moment. i don't see anything controversial passing in the next four months, if anything it will be normal with the annual budget of the ceremonial policy address.

otherwise i don't see any controversial bills moving on the horizon anyway. thank you very much forjoining us. brazil reached a grim new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on wednesday, recording a new daily record, with more than 69,000 confirmed cases. second only to the united states, brazil has now recorded 2.5 million cases throughout the pandemic and more than 90,000 deaths. controversial president, jair bolsonaro, has pushed ahead with the reopening of the brazilian economy despite the rising toll and contracting the virus himself. he attended his first official event after recovering from virus on wednesday. controversial president, jair bolsonaro, has pushed ahead with the reopening of the brazilian economy controversial president, jair bolsonaro, has pushed ahead with the reopening of the brazilian economy despite the rising toll and contracting the virus himself. he attended his first official event after recovering from virus on wednesday. new research just published has revealed the origin of stonehenge's giant upright stones. scientists have known the smaller, "blue", horizontal stones on top of the monument came from wales, but the vertical stones have been a mystery until now. the findings, published in thejournal science, have pinpointed them to an area around 15 miles north of the stone circle site. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy has more. it's stood here for nearly 5000 years, but where did the stones

of stonehenge come from? we've known the small blue stones here came from wales, but what about the other 52 massive sarcen stones? well, now, finally, we have the answer. it's 15 miles away from stonehenge, at a place called west woods in wiltshire. sarcen stones can still be seen scattered around. experts say it's here the builders of stonehenge came. it's really exciting to know that west woods is the source of the sarcens for stonehenge, because first of all it gives us that focus, it gives us that answer, but secondly it also means we can do some more work. we know where to come now. this story starts in 1958, and an engineer called robert phillips, on the left, here. he was given a stone rod from a sarcen during repairs, which he then took to florida, where he started a new life. two years ago, aged 89, he decided to give the rod back to stonehenge. that allowed chemical tests

to be carried out and pinpoint where the stones came from. i think he would have been delighted to know that, through his husbandry of this important artefact, that it's been able to be used to make this great discovery and pinpoint the location of where these stones have come from. finding the source of the sarcens has been a goal of archaeologists for centuries. until now, it was thought that the sarcens of stonehenge could have come from anywhere between devon and norfolk. the fact they've now pinpointed it to this one location in wiltshire is a major scientific and archaeological achievement. when i was told the news, i was really, really excited. kind of shaking. you know, it's one of those moments where you know something that people have been asking questions about for so long, and we finally got an answer. an answer thanks to a stone rod kept as an office souvenir has now rewritten our knowledge of this pre—eminent, prehistoric monument. duncan kennedy, bbc

news, stonehenge. a reminder of our top story.... the chief executives of four of the world's most powerful tech companies have been defending the reach and power of theirfirms in a us congressional hearing. appearing by video link, facebook‘s mark zuckerberg, amazon's jeff bezos, sundar pichai of google, and tim cook of apple were questioned for more than five hours. democrats pressed the tech titans on whether they were using their market dominance to stifle competition. republicans were more concerned about how they managed information, and whether they were marginalising conservative views. the ceos insisted they had done nothing illegal , and stressed the american roots and values of their firms. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcrajiniv.

hello there. so far this month we have seen temperatures around or below the seasonal average. quite a lot of cloud and rain at times too. but by the end of this month, friday, a hot spell is likely for much of the uk and we could see the hottest day of the year so far. we could see temperatures reached 3a celsius. pressure chart shows for thursday we have low pressure to the north and west. that will bring more cloud and outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and northern england and perhaps north wales. that rain will be pushing into scotland as we move through the day. some of the rain will be quite heavy as it exits northern ireland. but brightening up for northern ireland and southern scotland, for england and wales, though, a fine dry day from the word go. with sunshine turning increasingly warm and humid

with the mid upper 20 celsius, and a bit coolerfor the north. through thursday night, that rain will continue to move northwards across scotland and become confined to the north but for much of the country, there will be a warmer and a clear night and those temperatures generally between 11 and 15 or 16 degrees across the south. that takes us into friday. we really tap in into some very hot air across northern spain and france on this southerly breeze that will push this warmth northwards right across the country, but low—pressure out towards the west means the weather fronts will encroach into western areas, destabilising the atmosphere so we can see showers or thunderstorms through the day. many of us starting off dry sunny and warm and it will be hot day for much of the uk. with this band of cloud with rain on it and maybe some thunderstorms, northern ireland, then western parts of scotland and west of england and wales later in the day. those temperatures, widely the mid to upper 20 celsius. and for east wales, midlands, south of england, we could see 31 to sa degrees in the southeast.

i can imagine that could be the hottest day of the year so far. a chance of some showers and thunderstorms developing in response to that heat through friday evening and friday night. that front continues to work its way in from the west. introducing cooler airjust in time for the weekend. it will be noticeably different, the feel of the weather this weekend. cool and fresher, temperatures fall lower into sunday and we will see a mixture of sunshine and showers in those brisk west winds. most of the showers in the north and the west.

this is bbc news.

the headlines... the heads of some of the world's biggest tech companies have appeared before washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power in order to quash competitors. the tech giants argue their companies have spurred innovation. the appearance comes as congress considers tougher regulation. in an interview with bbc world news, dr anthony fauci, the man leading the us efforts to contain the coronavirus, has warned against politicising the pandemic. he also said he has been frustrated by people not sticking to the guidelines in order to halt the pandemic. the debate over quarantine measures for travellers to the uk has intensified, with the spanish government putting more pressure on britain to rethink its policy on journeys to and from spain. now on bbc news, it's time for