this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my name's mike embley. 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. talking to the bbc, the expert leading american 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 world health organization urges young europeans to act responsibly, amid fears they could be behind spikes in coronavirus cases. and researchers finally solve a

5000 year old mysterious own hands. dash mystery at stonehenge. hello to you. four tech giants and their executives have been under the spotlight in the united states — defending themselves against accusations they are too powerful — and that their business practices are anti—competitive. the congressional inquiry has been looking into the market dominance of facebook, amazon, google and apple. mark zuckerberg, jeff bezos, tim cook and sundar pichai have all been questioned — following a 13 month investigation by us lawmakers. our technology correspondent james clayton has been watching the hearing. these four titans of tech run companies that are worth nearly £4 trillion. today they were grilled 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 states. mark zuckerberg is the boss of facebook, instagram and whatsapp with 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 four and the company behind the iphone and its software. the big question is, do they own a bit too much of the internet? that's what us legislators wanted to find out today. thank you. before i begin to lift -- thank you. before i begin to lift —— before i begin... zuckerberg on the hook first and asked whether they simply bought competitors rather than compete with them, notably instagram? he accepted they were a competitor. in the growing space of mobile photos and camera apps, which was growing,

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? congressman, i do not specifically, but it sounds like a joke. some pretty pointed questions to tim cook of apple, that apple uses its position to hurt businesses. this was cook's defence. so, we do not retaliate or bully people, it's 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. mr b's loss, this is one of your partners. why on earth would they compare your company toa drug would they compare your company to a drug dealer? —— mr bezos. i have great respect for you and this committee but i completely disagree with that characterisation.

it was a yes or no question. 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 won't do any work to politically tilt anything one way or the other. it is against our core values. the political split at times boiled over. and i would like to redirect your attention to anti—trust law rather than fringe conspiracy theories. mr bezos, i would like to reject your attention live this direct your attention. what i want to know, when somebody comes after... the gentle lady is recognised. the committee hasn't lent any obvious knockouts. the share price of all the companies has in fact picked up since the start of the committee.

james clayton, bbc news. 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 mi6, 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, on a much smaller scale than usual. normally more than 2 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 pandemic.

the united states continues to struggle with 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. that has been pretty much unfounded. many saying that new cases are rising faster than the nation's testing capacity. in total, over a5 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. so, we are in this position thatis so, we are in this position that is bad today. when you look forward, doctor fauci, the next 4—5 months, how's it going to be? well, i hope it's going to be? well, i hope it's going to be? well, i hope it's going to be considerably different, katty, because even as are

getting... you have any reason for optimism? i would hope for the country, i always say and i still do have faith in the american citizens and the people living in this country, that they will appreciate what went wrong as we get up and say, you know, that is the reason why am trying to do a lot of outreach, katty, not just me, obviously, that many of my public health colleagues who are out there talking to the populace, explaining to them that there are really four oi’ them that there are really four or five things that we know from experience can turn things around. and we are trying to preach that as far and wide as we can. universal wearing of masks, physical distancing, six feet or more, avoiding crowds, avoiding buyers, and if the states and the regions it and the counties go along with closing bars if necessary, then

physical hand hygiene such as washing hands. if you just do those five simple things, then you are going to be able to turn a lot of this around. so hopefully we getting that message out and the lesson that we hopefully learn from the explosion of cases we have seen in florida, texas, southern california and arizona are not going to is over into some of the other states if they do the kinds of things we saw being donein kinds of things we saw being done in the states that were affected. 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? well, you know, i mean, this issue of tweeting and retweeti ng issue of tweeting and retweeting is something that i have never understood or gotten involved in, buti have never understood or gotten involved in, but i can tell you, you'd have to say it is

not helpful. if people get signals about not wearing masks when we are trying to universally wear masks. so you would ask the president not to do that, if he listens to you? but, katty, that's not the way it works. my feeling but what we should do with masks is very, very clearly understood by everyone, including those in the white house. what about hydroxychloroquine? i ask you about this because it has come back into the news because the president yesterday evening in the white house stood there and said that he believes in it and that it said that he believes in it and thatitis said that he believes in it and that it is safe and, again, seemed to be touting this drug. is president right? again, katty, it's not productive or helpful for me to be making judgements 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 to see bo —controlled trials indicate that hydroxychloroquine is not effective —— placebo and controlled trials, is not effective in treating covid—i9. you mentioned young people. the who today is looking at young people in europe. europe seems to have effectively managed the reopening process. when it started reopening a couple of months ago, things went well. we didn't see big spikes. now you have a number of european countries that are concerned. when you look at the situation in europe, are you worried they could be sliding back again? yes, iam. could be sliding back again? yes, i am. as you said correctly, katty, when at the beginning of their opening up, they really did very well. what i hope does not happen with our

european countries, is that they get a little bit complacent stop and as they open up and see that things are doing well, and they are able to contain any of these little blips that may turn into spikes that may turn into resurgence says, i hope that they pay attention to the fact that the reason they have done well is that they have done it correctly. and by doing it correctly, i hope they don't get complacent and start being a little bit, i don't know what the right word is, but essentially stepping over the line and taking additional risks. it has to do with what i was saying just a few minutes ago when we were talking about the situation in some places in the situation in some places in the united states where people essentially skipped over the guidelines. in europe, they do have guidelines about how to safely reopen. let's just hope they follow them and not get

into a situation where they trigger something that gets out of control again. tony fauci, thank you forjoining us and best of luck to you. thank you, katty, it's always good to be with you. thank you for having me. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: german police complete the latest stage of their investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades.

if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why all these people should wander in and say, "you are doing something wrong." six rare white lion clubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and already they've been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah, and sweet. yeah, they were cute. this is bbc news. welcome back. very glad to have you with us. 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 congress considers tougher regulation. joining me live from washington

is sarah miller, she's from the american economic liberties project, an advocacy group campaigning against monopolies. i know you campaign against monopolies and would like to see some big companies broken up. there is pressure on these monopolies, both spectrums of the political scale, for different reasons. it is an unusual dynamic in american politics right now. it is true, there is a bipartisan investigation into the power and dominance of facebook, google, amazon, and apple happening in the us right now and today's blockbuster hearing was nearing the end of the combination of a year's long investigation. and what did you make of the hearings today? the previous session is rather like this have been a bit stymied by the fact that the people asking the fact that the people asking the questions didn't seem to have much of an online live, not much experience of social media, maybe didn't really understand how these companies work. right, well, today's hearing was night and day from the hearing we had a couple of yea rs the hearing we had a couple of years ago with mark zuckerberg

where it was clear that members of congress had not done their homework and didn't really understand much about these corporations. today could not have been more different. most of the members of the subcommittee had really done their homework stop this investigation, like i said, has been going on for more than a year. they have collected and gone through millions of documents and e—mails and almost 20 the members of this committee came with very specific questions for these ceos about anti—competitive practices and use of dominance. and these are exactly the types of things that these corporations really don't want to talk about. it gets to the heart of their business models and how they make their money. soi and how they make their money. so i think they's hearing was a big success and we are looking forward to the outcome of this investigation. sarah, listening to the answers you managed to get, what were the headlines here? having all four of these corporations are very different. but what we saw, for the first time, was congress standing up to some of the most powerful corporations on behalf

of smaller businesses and everyday families. and what we saw here was and is on called out for referencing its own products against other small businesses that have to use its platform to get to market. mark zuckerberg called out for it's anti—competitive acquisition of four instagram which he admitted in e—mailand four instagram which he admitted in e—mail and omitted again in his hearing. we saw google called out for referencing its own products over other businesses and as roll off of the advertising market. and apple also called out for its role as a gatekeeper between developers and consumers. so as you went down the line, really, each of the abuses, and there are a number of them, these corporations were called out and addressed in detail by members of congress and it was really quite remarkable, especially in the context of where congress was only a few yea rs where congress was only a few years ago. all right, sarah, thank you very much for the moment. thank you. the recent recent spikes in coronavirus across europe

could be driven principally by young people according to the world health organization. it says that several countries in europe have seen a higher proportion of new cases among young people — a sign that some people suggest means a second wave is developing in some parts of europe. our science editor david shukman looks at the latest evidence for suggesting a new wave is on the way. the coronavirus has been suppressed effectively in many parts of the world, but it is still circulating and we are now in a phase with a lot of flare—ups. so, first of all, what's happening with the virus in the uk? oldham is the latest in a series of towns to be hit by a spike in infections. new restrictions have been imposed. local outbreaks like this were always predicted. the really sudden increase is worrying, particularly because we had several weeks

of reduction prior to that. it's absolutely an area of concern, and that is why we decided to introduce some additional measures. in the uk we are nowhere near the peak of infections that we saw earlier this year, and bear in mind a lot more testing is being carried out than back in those days. but the numbers of infections have held fairly steady recently and have even shown a very slight rise in the last day or so. so what's happening across europe, and how does the uk compare? well, on this map, the colour red shows where infections were highest in the past fortnight. a few regions in spain, also bulgaria, but generally small areas, not all countries. there are concerns about this farm in germany, nearly 150 workers testing positive. but the authorities have moved rapidly to isolate them. romania is experiencing a spike in cases. many blame the release of covid—i9 patients from hospitals. how each outbreak is

handled really matters. so, as we've seen in the uk, there could be a very slight rise in the last few days. in germany there has also been a small increase, and there it is blamed on young people not taking the disease seriously. in romania there are very clear signs of an increase, but in italy, which was very badly hit, there has not been a rise so far. in any event, the numbers involved are far lower than they were earlier this year. we aren't seeing a new wave, we are seeing resurgence of outbreaks in many countries, and that resurgence could spread if countries are unable to control it, but we have the epidemiological means to do so, and countries throughout europe are showing that they can do that, have done that in the past, and hopefully will continue to do that without having to do another general lockdown. but what about the rest of the world? well, it's more worrying. in the united states there has been a dramatic rise in infections over the last month, a very different picture to europe.

in india there has also been a massive increase, and these numbers are bound to be an underestimate of what is really going on. even in hong kong, widely praised for its handling of the virus, there has been an increase, with a warning that the hospitals there could collapse. all this means new restrictions. da nang in vietnam is back under lockdown, a blow to a country that claims to have had no deaths from covid—i9. and the us hasjust passed a grim milestone — 150,000 deaths. whether it is the first wave or a new wave, the virus is still a threat. david shukman, bbc news. 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. 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. german police have been searching an allotment in hanover as part of the investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann. the main suspect, a convicted paedophile who's in prison in germany, rented the plot in 2007 — the year madeleine vanished in portugal. our correspondent, jenny hill, reports from hanover. yes, well, 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.

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. the 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 the 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 police operation will contribute towards establishing finally what happened to madeleine mccann. the graham artist wiley has been permanently banned from twitter after he posted a series of anti—semitic messages. several users have boycotted twitter while they consider an unacceptable delay

in dealing what he had done. twitter said it is sorry did not move faster. new research is published —— new research just published has revealed the origin 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. our 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 sarsen stones? well, now, finally, we have the answer. it's 15 miles away from stonehenge, at a place called west woods in wiltshire. sarsen 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 sarsens 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 sarsen 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 sarsens has been a goal of archaeologists for centuries. until now, it was thought that the sarsens 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. the sengalese singer, balla sidibe, a founding member of the orchestra baobab, has died in dakar. orchestra baobab's blend of cuban rhthms, african sounds, soul and jazz made it one of the most successful groups of the 1970s. the country's musical association said sidibe was in his 60s and died in his sleep "after a very full day of rehearsals with

his musical comrades". that's it for now. thank you so much for watching. 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. and to quash competitors. that their policies lead to political and that their policies lead to political bias. 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 to halt the pandemic. the world health organization urges young europeans to act more responsibly. there's concern their behaviour may be behind the spikes in virus infections. the head of the who in europe says more needs to be done to make sure they understand the consequences of risky behaviour.