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. could australia's great barrier reef lose its world heritage status — as it's listed as being in danger? ethiopia counts the votes after key elections seen as a popularity test for prime minister abiy — with the country beset by war and famine. all across this country, conflicts are brewing. and prime minister abiy is struggling to hold this country together. also coming up — how a us supreme court ruling on the rights of student athletes to earn a living from their sports could shake—up the billion dollar college sports industry.

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. beijing has denied that uyghur families are being deliberately split up, but reports have consistently emerged of uyghurs being forced into internment camps, women being sterilised and the use of forced labour. 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 the 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. the video she discovered online formed 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 art documents saying they had reported the matter to china. we send 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 on account 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. and a little later in the programme we'll speak to the academic adrian zenz. his research focuses on china s ethnic policy and has provided expert testimony to the governments of germany, the united kingdom, canada, and the us. the australian government says it was blind—sided by a recommendation that the country's great barrier reef be listed as �*in danger�*. unesco has published a draft decision which could threaten the reefs world heritage status. the un agency says the reefs condition has deteriorated from poor to very poor, citing widespread coral bleaching and it's called for more action from the australian government to address the effects of climate change. with me is our reporter courtney bembridge.

the courtney bembridge. message is reasonably clear, the message is reasonably clear, what is the australian government response to that? the australian government has come out angrily in response. the environment minister said she was blindsided by the decision and it was a backflip on reassurances that this step would not be taken. she said she would strongly oppose this. the unesco report does cite that there are water quality targets that were not met for the reef and that is the reason for this decision. it the reef and that is the reason for this decision.— for this decision. it is counterintuitive, - for this decision. it is counterintuitive, if i for this decision. it is i counterintuitive, if you for this decision. it is - counterintuitive, if you think it has gone from poor to very poon it has gone from poor to very poor, it is more important to keep it on the world heritage list in terms of its protection. i imagine the australian government sees something behind this, not least that china will be chairing the meeting were a final decision may be taken? there has been some suggestion that this may be some kind of retaliation. australia called for an independent enquiry into the origins of covid—i9 which

upset china and there has been a row between the two countries. there are 21 members of unesco, so all those countries are behind a decision like this and many say there has been a move within many years with an unesco to link a country's climate policies, and we know australia's climate policies have not changed in 2015 and the prime minister has been reticent to sign up to a net zero target. unesco has tried to link the climatology policies to the heritage site. it may notjust be political tensions but china does play a big role in unesco.— big role in unesco. let's put the politics _ big role in unesco. let's put the politics aside, _ big role in unesco. let's put the politics aside, we - big role in unesco. let's put the politics aside, we are i the politics aside, we are looking at wonderful pictures of corals, but coral bleaching is a very real issue. is there anything that can be done about it? is it getting worse? climate change has been acknowledged by the australian government and scientists as the number one threat to the reef and with that comes coral

bleaching because you have rising sea temperatures which causes this phenomenon. there have been _ causes this phenomenon. there have been five _ causes this phenomenon. there have been five serious - causes this phenomenon. there have been five serious coral - have been five serious coral bleaching events in the past three years. the most severe were in 2020 and 2016. they are getting worse and scientists say it will continue to happen unless global action is taken to tackle climate change but unesco would like australia to take more decisive action first and hope that may play a small part in addressing this and trying to secure the future of the reef. this decision, it is funny we put it on an endangered list. it is designed to draw attention to this international and encourage coercive action. that is what this is in danger list, if it is put on this list, the meeting next month will decide whether that actually happens. at the moment, it isjust whether that actually happens. at the moment, it is just a recommendation. if it happens it will be the first decision of its kind in terms of it

being made because of climate change and not other factors. thank you. let s get some of the day s other news. mexico and argentina are recalling their ambassadors from nicaragua for consultations following the detention of another presidential candidate early on monday. thejournalist, miguel mora, is the fifth person seeking to challenge president daniel 0rtega to be arrested in recent weeks. major western powers have co—ordinated further sanctions against belarus after it forced a commercial flight carrying a dissident to land in minsk last month. measures announced separately by the us, eu, uk and canada include travel bans and asset freezes against more than a hundred high—ranking officials. the spanish cabinet will be asked on tuesday to back prime minister pedro sanchez�*s plans to pardon nine catalan separatist leaders. they were jailed over a failed independence attempt in 2017. there have already been large demonstrations in other parts of spain against pardoning

the separatists. 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. we will have a close eye on the results and we will bring them to you here on bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. how a us supreme court ruling on the rights of student athletes could shake—up the billion dollar college sports industry. 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, the latest headlines...

the uyghur children separated from their parents — how china still won't answer questions about where they are. let's stay with that story now and speak to dr adrian zenz who is senior fellow in china studies at the victims of communism memorialfoundation. thank memorialfoundation. you thank memorial foundation. you for your time. thank memorialfoundation. you for your time. we heard thank you for your time. we heard in the report a moment ago, china's ambassador to the uk, give me the names of the children and i will find out what has happened to them. we haven't heard anything since, but that doesn't surprise you, does it? it but that doesn't surprise you, does it? ., , ., does it? it does not, unfortunately. - does it? it does not, unfortunately. i- does it? it does not, - unfortunately. i remember seeing the chinese ambassador two years ago, i remember this really well. i called him a bold faced liar on twitter two years ago. i knew that there

would never be a response, he was bluffing. unfortunately, i have been proven right. where does that leave _ have been proven right. where does that leave this _ have been proven right. where does that leave this issue? - have been proven right. where does that leave this issue? it l does that leave this issue? it feels a little bit too much of the international community is that beijing is hiding, but in plain sight. the word of the plight of the uyghurs is a common one around the world but china seems it will not recognise that?- china seems it will not recognise that? china seems it will not recounise that? ~ ., �* �* recognise that? what the bbc has done is — recognise that? what the bbc has done is important, - recognise that? what the bbc has done is important, to - has done is important, to follow up on chinese promises and expose them as empty, be they about separation and the day about those in internment camps. what the chinese communist party is doing to the uyghurs is a reflection of some of their core ideology in how they seek to overcome any resistance to their long—term

rule. unfortunately many governments are still not nearly strong enough in terms of the action on the issue. the british government repeatedly says they have talked about it, they have raised it, but since they have raised it, but since the seriousness of this atrocity, i don't think governments have even spoken out enough about this. but governments have even spoken out enough about this.- out enough about this. but can out enough about this. but can ou see out enough about this. but can you see where _ out enough about this. but can you see where anything - out enough about this. but can you see where anything more i you see where anything more concerted is going to come from? we have to face up to reality, pretty much every country in the world, whilst they might be critical of certain areas of chinese policy, is reluctant to go the full nine yards, as it were, because there is so much trade to be done with china, so many relations that need to be maintained with china? that is riuht. so maintained with china? that is right- so now— maintained with china? that is right. so now we _ maintained with china? that is right. so now we need - maintained with china? that is right. so now we need to - maintained with china? that is| right. so now we need to make maintained with china? that is i right. so now we need to make a decision, whether the values we profess to have are really something that we value. because if we do, they have a

cost. we cannot have both, we cannot have chinese money and promote human rights. that is the problem we see with governments and with the olympics. the ioc, the beijing olympics, what are the olympics 0lympics, what are the olympics supposed to be about? yet they go ahead because it is about money, sponsorship and putting up money, sponsorship and putting up a facade. the world community will have to make some hard decisions. you mention _ some hard decisions. you mention the _ some hard decisions. you mention the olympics - some hard decisions. you mention the olympics in l mention the olympics in beijing, that is the winter olympics in a couple of years. but for now, thank you for joining us on the programme. college sport in the us is a massive business. it's worth billions of dollars each year and attracts huge crowds. in short, it's a source of considerable wealth for the us college system, which soaks up most of that revenue — and imposes strict limits on what student athletes are allowed to make. but now the supreme court has declared they are in the wrong

and that the athletes should get a bigger slice of the income. let's get more from our north america correspondent david willis who is in los angeles. the supreme court ruling was nine to zero. no question in their mind the college system has had it far too good for far too long, it would seem? it ruled this was an effective monopoly as far as the ncaa. they rake in billions of dollars a yearfor they rake in billions of dollars a year for colleges, coaches and the national collegiate athletic association, the sport's governing body. but the stars themselves, they are deemed amateurs say they are entitled to scholarships but not to be paid. this decision by the

united states supreme court, at the highest court in the land doesn't directly pave the way for these amateur athletes to be paid, but it does open the door to them receiving additional educational benefits. so colleges attempt to woo these athletes can offer them under this ruling such things as education equipment, internships, computers, study abroad programmes and so on. but the feeling is, the dam has been broken here as far as the process of recompense and amateur athlete in this country is concerned. the feeling is this will lead to further legal challenges to come in the months ahead. i challenges to come in the months ahead.— challenges to come in the months ahead. ., , ., months ahead. i was wondering what the ncaa _ months ahead. i was wondering what the ncaa makes - months ahead. i was wondering what the ncaa makes of- months ahead. i was wondering what the ncaa makes of this i what the ncaa makes of this ruling, how are they interpreting it? it ruling, how are they interpreting it?- ruling, how are they interpreting it? it is very interesting, _ interpreting it? it is very interesting, because - interpreting it? it is very | interesting, because they issued a statement which was basically taking this very much

in their stride. saying that the ncaa looks forward to working with congress to reform this process going forward. but the ncaa is currently criticised in a number of bills members of congress are considering. it was spelt out in the ruling ofjustice brett kavanagh, one of the supreme courtjudges, who wrote the ncaa has built a massive moneymaking enterprise on the backs of student athletes who are not fairly compensated. a feeling then that this is an organisation which runs itself as a business, but has thrived because of this notion of amateurism and that is something that has to come to an end. ., ., an end. david, we are tight on time but it— an end. david, we are tight on time but it is _ an end. david, we are tight on time but it is important - an end. david, we are tight on time but it is important to - an end. david, we are tight on time but it is important to let| time but it is important to let viewers know, if you are a coachin viewers know, if you are a coach in the college system, if

you are one of the commissioners and one of the bigwigs, what can you expect to pick up? bigwigs, what can you expect to ick u - ? , , ., pick up? the president of the ncaa is known _ pick up? the president of the ncaa is known to _ pick up? the president of the ncaa is known to be - pick up? the president of the ncaa is known to be paid - pick up? the president of the i ncaa is known to be paid about $4 million a year, david. if you are a football coach, you could be pocketing $11 million a year, or thereabouts. could be pocketing $11 million a year, orthereabouts. it could be pocketing $11 million a year, or thereabouts. it is very lucrative to those on the right side of the situation. that would seem to be the point at the moment, david, thank you very much indeed. the las vegas raiders player carl nassib has announced he is gay, making him the first active nfl player to come out. in a video post he said he finally felt comfortable to get the issue off his chest. he said he hoped his example woud boost the visibility of other gay athletes. 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 10,000 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 0k 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 stands half—full, spectators obeying the rules. but with infection rates rising again in tokyo, the next big wave of covid could hitjust in time for the opening ceremony onjuly 23. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. and let's look at another big sporting competition, one that's currently under way, and there's turmoil for england in euro 2020 with two players having to self—isolate after coming into close contact with scotland's billy gilmour when the two sides met

on friday, gilmour, one of scotland's key players, has been diagnosed with covid—19, but none of his team has been affected. austria and belgium and denmark are through. 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,

the headlines... the bbc has uncovered new claims that children from china's uyghur minority have been separated from their parents by chinese officials. both the uk and the us have accused china of violating human rights as reports emerge of uyghurs being forced into internment camps, and women being sterilised. voting has been taking place in ethiopia's general election, billed as a major test of the country's new democracy. prime minister abiy ahmed has told the bbc there is no hunger in the war—torn tigray province — but admitted there are problems, and the government was capable of fixing them. and at the euros — two england footballers, mason mount and ben chilwell, have been forced to self—isolate after coming into contact with the scotland midfielder, billy gilmour, who's tested positive for coronavirus.

now on bbc news, the media show.