this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uyghur children separated from their parents, how china still won't answer questions about where they are the votes are being counted in ethiopia after key elections. the poll is a test of the popularity of president abiy — at a time the country is beset with war and famine. all across this country, conflicts are brewing in the prime minister is struggling to hold this country together. in the uk, prime minister boris johnson promises details of a covid boosterjab — as scientists urge him to speed up plans. and at the euros — two england footballers have been forced to self—isolate — after coming into contact with the scotland midfielder, billy gilmour, who's tested

positive for coronavirus. also coming up — how a ruling by the us supreme court on the rights of student athletes could shake—up the billion dollar college sports industry. hello and welcome. the bbc has been investigating the plight of thousands of children believed to have been separated from their parents as a result of china's treatment of its uyghur population. both the uk and the us have accused china of violating human rights as reports emerged of uyghurs being forced into internment camps, women being sterilised and the use of forced labour. china has denied that uyghur families are being deliberately divided. for the past two years the bbc has

made repeated requests to help track down the missing children, but the chinese authorities have failed to respond. reporting from taiwan — here's our china correspondentjon sudworth these mothers are marching for their missing children back home in xinjiang. walking almost 300 miles across turkey where they now live to highlight the years of silence from china. i want them to let me see them, kalbina tells me. in this information age, why can't i contact my children? two years ago, in a meeting hall in istanbul, in dozens of similar accounts, uighurs from xinjiang told us how they'd lost all contact with thei children. told us how they'd lost all contact with their children. do you know where your children are now? so where are these children? shown that testimony, the chinese ambassador in london at the time denied the claims

but promised to investigate. if you have people got their children lost, you give me names. with our interviewees�* permission, we sent him the names. in 2016, fearing china would force her to have an abortion. kalbina left xinjiang to give birth to her youngest daughter, mersier. little did she know, the camps designed to replace ethnic identity with loyalty to the communist party were being built on a massive scale. having relatives overseas was one sign of suspicion, so, contact with the outside world simply stopped. kalbina's husband was detained, and she hasn't seen him, or her five older children since. except for this. a video she discovered online filmed in a school hundreds of miles from the family home.

"i'm sure it's my daughter," she told me. a claim china dismisses as a lie, although it hasn't provided any proof. after the promised to investigate, uk embassy officials confirmed receipt of our documents saying they had reported the matter to china. we sent follow—up e—mails but were told there was no feedback from beijing. and our requests for comment eventually went unanswered. we also handed over details of the missing relatives to officials in xinjiang, including copies of id cards, again without success. then, one year after his first appearance, the ambassador went on live tv once more. the bbc did provide the chinese embassy with names, and we haven't heard back. i never received any names since our last show. i hope that you can give me the names. we certainly will get back to you. so we renewed our request. where, for example,

are kalida's missing sons? are their wives still in the camps? where are her 14 grandchildren? kalida, who lives in kazakhstan, now spends her days protesting outside the chinese consulate. "until china gives me information, i will keep coming," she told me. earlier this year liu xiaoming left the uk with an online farewell reception, and his promise still unmet by the chinese government. no progress, said the latest e—mailfrom his officials. no explanation, for example, as to why this 68—year—old uighur spent 18 months in a camp and why she is now being prevented from travelling to see her daughter who lives in the uk. what do you think the fact that we have heard nothing from them

in response might tell us? they are trying to, not to answer, or trying to hide what they're doing. what she has been through in the camp. they don't want her to speak out what's happening in there. after two years of promises to help find the missing, xinjiang's shattered families have been offered only silence. john sudworth, bbc news, taipei. africa's second most populous nation, ethiopia, has been voting today in elections that are being billed as a major test of the country's new democracy. much of the attention has been on prime minister abiy ahmed, who won the nobel peace prize two years ago for reforms he brought in after decades of repressive rule. but his reputation�*s been undermined by allegations of human rights abuses, in the country's tigray region, claims the government denies. from addis ababa, catherine byaruhanga reports. ethiopians had been promised a democratic rebirth governed by a nobel peace prize winner.

but as prime minister abiy ahmed arrived at his home constituency he was governing party more divided than ever. i asked him if these elections would really be credible. you can see how it is a free and fair election. everybody is here for free and i hope it will be the best election in our history. they certainly love him in his hometown. but all across this country conflicts are brewing and prime minister abiy is struggling to hold this country together. nowhere is this more evident than in tigray. for eight months the government has been fighting rebels in the region. it is claimed all sides have committed atrocities. mr abiy and his eritrean allies have been accused of using rape and hunger as a weapon of war.

the prime minister told me there were no food shortages. there is no hunger in tigray. there is a problem in tigray and the government is capable of fixing that. but the united nations continues to warn that many are on the brink of starvation. the humanitarian situation is dire with reports of denial of humanitarian access in some localities and looting of aid supplies by soldiers. an estimated 350,000 people are threatened by famine. prime minister abiy�*s party is expected to win this election, but his critics accuse him of clamping down on any real opposition. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, ethiopia. the uk government is promising details of a coronavirus vaccine booster programme for the autumn will be made public in the next few weeks after senior doctors said planning for it should be sped up. it comes as the prime minister boris johnson said it was important

to look at opportunities for people who've been double jabbed to avoid self isolating. but he played down suggestions that it could be applied to people coming back from abroad, as our medical editor, fergus walsh, reports. your vaccine is being prepared now. the prime minister was in north london today at a sports stadium. one of many transformed into covid immunisation centres. this was meant to be the day that all social distancing rules were lifted in england. but that has been delayed by four weeks to give more time to getjobs in arms. i think it's looking good forjuly the 19th to be that terminus point. i think what the scientists are saying is that, you know things like flu will come back this winter. we may have a rough winter for all sorts of reasons. obviously there are big pressures on the nhs. more than a million vaccine appointments were booked in two days after they were opened up to all over 18s in england on friday.

meanwhile planning is under way for a possible autumn booster campaign. but that will depend on the answer to some key questions. first, how long will vaccine protection last? immunity will wane at some point but it is unclear when. antibody levels in trial volunteers, some of whom got their first covid jab over a year ago, will give vital clues. third booster doses might be needed only by certain groups such as the over 65s, as immunity levels often decline faster as people age. second, which booster vaccines will be used? a uk trial is comparing seven different covid vaccines and examining whether getting a different third jab from your first two doses may provide extra protection. we are hoping to have the results by the end of august that will go to thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation.

and that will tell us about the side—effects but will also tell us if any of the vaccines are not working properly as a booster. and what about flu? the flu jab campaign gets under way in september. flu — protect yourself and others. health service providers say this means decisions will need to be made soon about how covid vaccines are deployed in the autumn. can we combine covid—i9 jabs with flu jabs? can you have a covid jab in one arm and a flu jab in another, for example? and also do we vaccinate children? and it's interesting at the moment children definitely are in this delta variant a significant source of transmission. restrictions were lifted today on the number of people allowed at weddings in england and wales. karina and graham were married in nottinghamshire after multiple delays due to covid. but honeymoon destinations remain limited. the next review of foreign travel destinations

is expected later this week. fergus walsh, bbc news. now lets turn to brazil. on sunday, it became the second country after the us to have a covid death toll over 500,000. now experts and protesers are questioning the government's handling of the pandemic. 500 roses have been placed on this beach in rio. one for each 1000 people who've died. next to the roses a banner reads — �*half a million dead —, where did we go wrong?�* well, dr miguel nicolelis is a physician and neuroscientist and has been trying to answer that question. and you very much for being with us on bbc news. where do you think based on the evidence so far, brazil went wrong?— based on the evidence so far, brazil went wron: ? . ~ ,, , . ., went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. _ went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. it _ went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. it is _ went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. it is a _ went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. it is a pleasure - went wrong? thank you very much for the invitation. it is a pleasure to - the invitation. it is a pleasure to be with you. basically since the

beginning, the brazilian government did not prepare itself for the synonymy that was coming to brazil and in the first cases, when they appeared, took a long while to realise that he had to basically close the international airspace and start monitoring the situation in the country and since the beginning, the country and since the beginning, the president of brazil denied any of the measures that we all knew would work to prevent the spread of the virus through the entire country and she was against the lockdown, the national lockdown. he was against controlling the flow through the roads in brazil and also, the use of masks. and brazil took a very long time to purchase the vaccines that were needed to vaccinate the country and a time that would prevent the catastrophe that we had here. �* , , , ., prevent the catastrophe that we had

here. �* ,, , ., here. are there issues and the way that the health _ here. are there issues and the way that the health system _ here. are there issues and the way that the health system is - here. are there issues and the way| that the health system is structured and brazil that made it harder to deal with the pandemic? yes. and brazil that made it harder to deal with the pandemic?- and brazil that made it harder to deal with the pandemic? dealwith the pandemic? yes. i have to sa first dealwith the pandemic? yes. i have to say first that _ dealwith the pandemic? yes. i have to say first that without _ dealwith the pandemic? yes. i have to say first that without the - dealwith the pandemic? yes. i have to say first that without the public i to say first that without the public health system that brazil has come of the tragedy would be even worse than what we've got. but in brazil, you had a very dense concentration of critical care units and in the capitals of the state. so it is devoid of high levels of tertiary hospital care or critical care unit beds. so brazilians living in the countryside had to move when they got really six, they had to move to the capitals on the coast of brazil to be able to find a bed and in a hospital that could take care of them. so, there was perhaps the largest movement of severely ill patients in brazil in history. from the countryside to the big cities on the countryside to the big cities on the east coast of the country. and

they basically proved to be a very devastating property of the system that didn't have enough facilities to help people in the countryside. 0ne to help people in the countryside. one last question, is there anything that gives you cause for hope in the coming months? hat that gives you cause for hope in the coming months?— coming months? not yet. the situation is _ coming months? not yet. the situation is still _ coming months? not yet. the situation is still pretty - coming months? not yet. the situation is still pretty seriousi situation is still pretty serious and we have the evidence that we are about to enter on a third wave and brazil and the vaccination is moving very slowly. and we are very far away from any sense of hope down here. brazil is currently staging the copa america football tournament — and there have been, according to the brazilian health ministry, at least 66 positive covid tests among players and officials. covid is also starting to have an effect on euro 2020 — with a scottish player testing positive — and that's had an effect

on the england team which played scotland last friday. 0lly foster sent this update from wembley. 20—year—old midfielder stored, his first start, he made that midfield, he played that whole match in the chelsea team—mate and also not the full—time three whistle, we saw them hugging, congratulating gilmore on his display and today, we heard that gilmore tested positive and after consultation with public health england, although testing negative with the pcr tests on sunday and further lateral flow tests, there have had to self—isolate from the rest of the england's squad. they had a temporary basis and the spurs training ground and then it took a full part in training but now they're having to self—isolate from

they're having to self—isolate from the rest of the squad even though they have tested negative. garrett southgate says they are in hourly contact with public health england to figure what this means for his squad against the czech republic on tuesday evening and he does not know yet whether or not they will be available by the art and huge dog, on top of a body blow for the scots losing their squad player and a match that they have to when at the same time against croatia if they are to get through the latter stages. so covid—i9 really impacting england and scotland in group d. back on the pitch — and there were four matches at euro 2020 on monday. in the early kick—offs, in group c, the netherlands beat north macedonia and austria beat ukraine. and in group b, there were victories for belgium and denmark. all four of those winning teams are guaranteed a place in the last 16. and those results also mean that france, switzerland, sweden, england and the czech republic

will play in the knock out stages. full details on the sport section of our website, bbc.com/news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: no clapping or speaking loudly, but spectators will be allowed to attend next month's olympic games. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade centre armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a rightful claim in certain parts of this country as our land. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering as the uk woke up to the news that it is to exit the european union, leave campaigners began celebrating. in total, 17.4 million people voted

for the uk to leave the eu. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due, mainly, to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which for 29 years has stood on the border as a marker of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc news. we often hear about the hefty salaries that professional athletes get paid, but it's a different story for america's student—athletes. they take part in games which bring in tens of millions of dollars to their colleges and universities — but don't get paid anything themselves. that's because the ncaa, the governing body for us collegiate

sports, bans payment to students and only provides scholarship money, which is capped at the cost of attendance. but student representatives have challenged that in court — and, in a unanimous decision, the us supreme court has ruled that the ncaa cannot put a limits on education—related benefits for athletes. justice brett kavanaugh has warned that the "ncaa's business model of using unpaid student athletes to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the colleges raises serious questions". let's get more from our north america correspondent david willis, who is in los angeles. david, but with a ruling on today? —— what were they. college sports here are extremely popular. they attract large audiences and they rake in billions of dollars as you mentioned in not only for the colleges themselves, but for coaches and for officials of the national collegiate association. the governing body. its president takes

home $7 million a year. it's not unusualfor a home $7 million a year. it's not unusual for a football coach year to earn around $11 million a year. but the athletes themselves are deemed temperatures and they receive scholarships and exchange. this ruling, this unanimous ruling of the highest court in the land doesn't open the door directly for the athletes to be paid, but it does pave the way for potentially, than to receive additional benefits. additional things to lure them to certain colleges, for example. internships, computers, that sort of thing. united states supreme court ruled that the ncaa is a virtual monopoly as it puts itself in so we can expect further challenges to its powers. can expect further challenges to its owers. . ., , can expect further challenges to its owers. , ., , ..,, powers. used to be the case in encland powers. used to be the case in england where _ powers. used to be the case in england where there _ powers. used to be the case in england where there was - powers. used to be the case in england where there was a - england where there was a distinction between gentlemen and players. it seems they were trying

to develop a similar argument. the this could threaten the temperature status of college sports and justices don't seem to have given much credence to that argument. ida. much credence to that argument. no, the don't much credence to that argument. iifr, they don't seem to support that at all. and they seem to be coming down very much in favour of the student athletes who it appears in their view, have been unfairly treated for quite some time. one thing this ruling does do is a paved way for potentially the student athletes to derive income from the sale of their name, image and so on for example. bearing their name and likeness, that could have quite soon and congress is also considering legislation that could pave the way to student athletes benefiting from their prowess and in the words of one analyst, espn sporting network, i think he speaks for a lot of

temperature sports people and fans as well. this is a long overdue step, he said, in the right direction. step, he said, in the right direction-— step, he said, in the right direction. , ., ., direction. they both made career and colleue direction. they both made career and college sports _ direction. they both made career and college sports before _ direction. they both made career and college sports before going _ direction. they both made career and college sports before going into - college sports before going into politics. thousands of fans will be allowed into venues to watch the tokyo olympic games next month — but they will be told not to cheer or even speak loudly. 0rganisers are limiting numbers to a maximum ten thousand spectators — with venues only half full — against the advice of scientists. but the decision could be reversed if coronavirus infections surge higher. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from tokyo. tokyo! cheering remember in those pre—covid days when tokyo won the 2020 olympic bid? and people were allowed to celebrate like this. for a while it seemed possible the tokyo games might actually take place with stadiums like this.

but today the president of the tokyo organising committee seiko hashimoto, announced a compromise. "in light of the government restrictions on public events," she says, "the spectator limit on the olympic games will be set at 50% of the new capacity, up to a maximum of 10,000 people." that is very much not what the medical experts have been advising. just last week they said having no spectators would be much of the safest option. the worry isn't really what the crowds do inside the stadiums. it's what they might do afterwards. people here in tokyo are already thoroughly sick and tired of the pandemic. you can see it in places like this. people drinking late into the night in bars that are openly flouting the covid regulations. and the olympics will be a signal to everybody that it's ok

to go out and celebrate. that's what public health expert kenji shibuya is worried about. my biggest concern is we have not yet suppressed, or even eliminated covid transmission locally and we just lifted the state of emergency despite we have a pretty large number of cases in tokyo still. there is local transmission and if we send an inconsistent signal that we should celebrate the olympics, then people will be confused and we will see a larger risk of local transmission. the hope is the olympics will look something like this football match. the stand is half full, spectators are obeying the rules. but with infection rates rising again in tokyo, the next big wave of covid could hit just in time for the opening ceremony on july 23. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.

you can keep in touch with all the information on the bbc news website. please stay with us on bbc news. hello. monday was the summer solstice, but for some places, including parts of southeast england, it was colder than the winter solstice. this was the picture as we ended the day in pontypridd, south wales, so quite a lot of cloud around there. through the course of the night, though, the cloud has tended to break up a little bit. so, tuesday, it will be a drier day in the south, certainly compared to what we had on monday. and for most places, some spells of sunshine around. low pressure that brought monday's rain will be slowly clearing away towards the south. we have got another weather front approaching from the northwest. before it gets there, though, a lot of clear and dry weather. quite a chilly start to the day — single figures in the north. in fact, those temperatures close to freezing in a few rural glens in scotland, so perhaps even a touch

of frost to start the day. but tuesday morning, for most of us, it is dry, it is bright with some sunshine. cloudier for the southeast of england and east anglia. a few spots of rain for the likes of kent and sussex which should clear away through the day. so, light winds, not particularly warm for the time of year — temperatures around the east coast around about 15 to 17 degrees. the warmest spots probably for northwest england, into wales. 20 degrees or so towards cardiff. we have got some patchy rain arriving across northern ireland and western scotland through the evening, and overnight into wednesday, thatjust spills its way a little bit further south. so it won't be quite as cold as we start the day on wednesday, but the lowest temperatures will be across parts of southern and southeast england first thing. so, through wednesday, then, we've got this warm front slowly pushing south, bringing quite a lot of low cloud, mist, murk and drizzly rain, but towards the south, it's going to be a fine, dry day on wednesday. so, sunshine holding on for southern england, east anglia as well. further north, we have got more in the way of cloud, a few spots of drizzly rain coming

out of this cloud for some places as well. temperatures getting up to about 20—22 degrees where you do see the sunshine. typically the high teens where you are stuck under the cloud, towards the north and northwest. into thursday, again, we've got a weather front that's a bit more active this time across western scotland, perhaps parts of northern ireland also seeing some fairly heavy rain on thursday, slowly slipping its way south. i think much of england and wales holding onto some dry weather, variable amounts of cloud. 20—22 degrees in the south, but the mid to the high teens further north. bit of a mixed picture as we look towards the end of the week. most of us see some drier and eventually some slightly warmer weather, too, as we head towards the weekend. still one or two showers around on friday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley with the latest headlines. many uyghur children have been separated from their parents, but where are they? chinese officials refuse to answer the claims put to them by the bbc. voting has been taking place in ethiopia's general election. president abiy told the bbc there was no hunger in the war—torn tigray province — but admitted there were problems, and said the government was capable of fixing them. the un's expert on truth and justice has called on the vatican to do more to protect children from sexual exploitation in institutions run by the roman catholic church. fabian salvioli said there was systematic obstruction tojustice in many countries. the us, the uk, the european union and canada have imposed joint sanctions on belarus, after it forced a commercial flight carrying a dissident to land in minsk last month. individuals and some industries will be affected.