this is bbc news, our top stories: the un security council is told that a famine in the eithiopian region of tigray is now affecting more than 400,000 people, with nearly 2 million more on the brink. if the parties to the conflict fail to seize this moment, the consequences for the people of ethiopia will be devastating — more fighting, more famine. brazil's prosecutor general wants to investigate president bolsonaro for failing to act on allegations of corruption in the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. the queen meets the german chancellor at windsor as angela merkel says britons who've had both covid jabs should be able to visit

germany in the foreseeable future without quarantine. and — spain and italy are through to the semi—finals of euro twe nty—twe nty of euro 2020 after beating switzerland and belgium respectively. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. first... the un security council has met to discuss the crisis in ethiopia's tigray region. eight months of fighting means hundreds of thousands of people are now at risk of starvation. the ethiopian government has denied allegations that it's been blocking aid getting through. this is after tigrayan rebels took control of much of the northern region this week. the un world food programme says it's up and running again

but access is still difficult. courtney bembridge has the latest. cheering and chanting. an extraordinary moment after months of brutal conflict. cheering. horns blare. celebrations on the streets of tigray�*s capital mekelle after rebel fighters took over the city. they've declared victory over the government troops... horns blare, applause ..but eight months of fighting has left its mark. more than 400,000 people are estimated to have crossed the threshold into famine and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine. some are suggesting that the numbers are even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished. and moreover, the food insecurity crisis will continue to worsen during the impending rainy season. this will also make it harder — a key bridge used to get humanitarian aid into the area has been destroyed. the ethiopian government has

been accused of using hunger as a weapon — a claim it denies. this week, the government unilaterally announced a ceasefire, stating it was doing so for humanitarian purposes. the government must now demonstrate that it truly intends to use the ceasefire to address the humanitarian catastrophe in tigray. ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed, not long ago awarded a nobel peace prize, now find himself mired in an ugly war which threatens the stability of the entire region. courtney bembridge, bbc news. well, earlier i spoke to william davison who's senior analyst on ethiopia for the international crisis group. i asked for his assessment of the current conflict. well, we can be sure about certain things, so let's start with those.

we know that there has been an almost complete withdrawal of the federal — ethiopian federal armed forces from tigray. and that was the result, or that followed, some of the most sustained counter offences by the tigray defense forces in the, sort of, ten days preceding that, so the most significant gains by tigray�*s former leaders was then followed by this federal exit. that has led to those tigray defense forces, and the former rulers of tigray, essentially taking back control of the regional government. we also know that generally, eritrea's forces, which have been key in this conflict, have moved from areas of southern and central tigray, where they were actively engaged, to areas to the north. that much we can be clear about. you know, the exact details of the battlefield, just how heavy the losses were for the federal military are still very much in dispute, but it is clear that they suffered significant losses and combined with the international pressure, that led them to this drastic change in strategy and

the withdrawal from the region. and what consequences do you think that withdrawal now has? what happens next? i think the most positive element of it is that for large numbers of the people who are in such dire conditions, particularly in central tigray, part of the problem there was that the ongoing conflict and eritrean and ethiopian military control over roads and checkpoints was preventing aid getting into the rebel—held areas or the tigray defense force—held areas. now that problem has now been eliminated, essentially, because of the ethiopian withdrawal and the eritrean repositioning. but now the problem is more about getting aid into tigray and also the provision of basic services in tigray which are needed for a significant,

successful humanitarian operation, so i'm talking about electricity, telecoms and banking, primarily. and what about those warnings of hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation? well, they've been in place for weeks. the concerns are growing all of the time. people have — are missing the planting season all of the time. they are in dire need of support. the numbers are growing. and so really, what we need to see now is everyone focusing on trying to facilitate aid — and whether that's the tigray forces or the ethiopian federal government or the eritrean forces — and really, any action that's taken to hamper that operation could result in the loss of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of lives. our thanks to william davison. our thanks to william davison there. brazil's prosecutor general has asked the country's top court to investigate president jair bolsonaro for failing to respond to allegations of corruption, in a contract for the purchase of covid vaccines. the president is under increasing attack

for his handling of the pandemic. more than half a million people have died with covid 19 virus in the country, which is home to the world's second deadliest outbreak. our international correspondent, 0rla guerin, reports from sao paulo. with brazil's death toll soaring, presidentjair bolsonaro is losing support and facing growing pressure on the streets, at a senate inquiry, and now potentially in the courts. he's been accused of turning a blind eye to irregularities and massive overcharging in a contract to acquire a covid vaccine from india. a whistle—blower in brazil's health ministry, and his lawmaker brother, claim to have personally warned the president. he has denied any knowledge and any wrongdoing. mr bolsonaro has been famously dismissive of covid—i9 from the start, opposing masks and social distancing, which he said was for idiots. his views have not altered, even as cemeteries here have filled with the dead.

"it's no use staying home, crying," he said recently. all chant. more nationwide protests are planned for this weekend with some brazilians accusing their leader of genocide. 0rla guerin, bbc news. authorities in miami say that number of people confirmed after last week's will then collapse has risen to 22 with people still unaccounted for. they have now evacuated a second residential building in the miami beach area after what they are calling an abundance of caution. the ten story building has 156 properties. engineers say they found concrete and electrical problems. to india now, where

the official number of deaths linked to coronavirus has passed 400,000. the country is trying to speed up its vaccination drive, but misinformation, pseudo science and the constant tension between modern and traditional medicine have all hindered progress, as nikhil inamdar reports. all chant. these men are smearing their bodies with cow dung to ward off covid. this is a parliamentarian from the ruling bjp telling a crowd that consuming cow urine has helped her keep covid at bay. and this is a billionaire yoga guru with close links to the government. he's been passing off herbs, dung and urine as wonder drugs for treatment of the coronavirus. when he dismissed modern medicine as a "stupid science" recently... heated discussion. ..he was asked to keep quiet by the general secretary of india's premier medical association on a live tv debate.

doctors even observed a black day to protest against his remark, urging for his arrest. the government itself has come under fire for often promoting and funding questionable therapies not backed up by adequate evidence to cure covid, complicating an already toughjob that medical doctors are doing. silence. india's science ministry, for instance, is funding trials of ancient hymns in treating the virus on 20 patients. and a body, the rashtriya kamdhenu aayog, set up under india's ministry for animal husbandry, with a corpus of over $60 million for the conservation of cows, has claimed that 800 covid patients with mild and moderate symptoms have been cured by panchgavya — a concoction made of urine, dung, milk, ghee and curd. translation: i notjust urge but challenge the scientist. community to explore the potential of panchgavya.

if you don't believe in my intelligence, i'm willing to work under your supervision. but i invite you to do a peer review of the science, which can save humanity. while acknowledging the place of the cow in traditional indian medicine, a raging pandemic is not the time to promote treatments not fully backed up by solid evidence, say leading infectious disease experts. the human brain can only focus on so many things and when you clutter it with a lot of pseudoscience, then you're just setting yourself up for a disaster. for now, the government in power has distanced itself from the often wild claims made by its party men. the stray comments that have been made by people across our country, i would say tread with caution and please only do what is trialled and tested. but in a country where disinformation spreads

like wildfire, this battle of modern medicine versus pseudoscience and traditional therapies looks like one that will continue for quite some time. nikhil inamdar, bbc news, miraj, india. the german chancellor has held talks with borisjohnson on what's likely to be her last official trip to the uk, before standing down in the autumn. angela merkel also met queen elizabeth at windsor castle. more from our world affairs correspondent caroline hawley. angela, how are you? despite their disagreements over brexit, today was about celebrating and strengthening the german—british relationship in a new era. high on the agenda for borisjohnson, germany's insistence that british travellers quarantine for 14 days, even if they're fully vaccinated. but after a working lunch of english asparagus tart and 0xfordshire beef, angela merkel hinted at good news to come for british holiday—makers. translation: we are seeing a rise of the delta variant -

in germany, a significant rise, and, of course, we are regularly reviewing these travel restrictions and i expect that, in the foreseeable future, double vaccinated people will be able to travel without having to quarantine upon arrival. after england's historic victory against germany on tuesday, angela merkel wished the uk well for the rest of the euros, but she's alarmed by the number of fans being allowed at wembley matches. translation: i see this with grave concern. - i said this to the prime minister. we in germany decided to have less people attend games in the munich stadium. the british government obviously will make its own decision, but i'm very concerned that it's too much. here in the uk, we have now built up a very considerable wall of immunity against the disease by our vaccination programme. borisjohnson is the fifth prime minister angela merkel has dealt with. here she was meeting tony blair back in 2005, when she first

became chancellor. germany is britain's second largest trading partner, but it's a measure of angela merkel�*s personal stature that she was granted, at the end of her final visit to the uk, an audience with the queen. i wanted to take a picture and make history. two women who've played such long roles on the international stage. caroline hawley, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: we report on the rush to source the minerals needed to make batteries for electric cars. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony.

the chinese president jiang zemin said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit _ at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. i cheering and applause challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 34 years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc world news. iam i am lewis vaughanjones. the headlines: the un security council has been told that a famine in the ethiopian region

of tigray is now affecting more than 400,000 people, and that the situation could rapidly deteriorate. brazil's prosecutor general wants to investigate president bolsonaro for failing to act on allegations of corruption in the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. us officials say they're setting a new tone with central america, after the contentious years of the trump administration. with the coronavirus, mass migration, and increasing violence, central america faces a difficult moment. so, how can the biden—harris administration reset the relationship with those governments, given all the points of tension? the bbc�*s will grant reports from washington. a new administration in washington seemed like a new start for many migrants, but on her first trip to central america since taking office, vice president kamala harris delivered the same message that the trump administration had told anyone considering the journey.

do not come. the united states will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border. she was widely criticised for it and later clarified that claiming asylum is an international right. but with washington also urging central american governments to crack down on people leaving their borders, many say there's no discernible difference from trump to biden. the state department's special envoy for the region denies that charge. the united states government is going to enforce its laws and other governments are going to do that as well, so the focus of this administration really is on trying to change the conditions that are driving people to leave irregularly. yet the situation on the ground in central america is dire. climate change and natural disasters have destroyed crops, and gang violence and government corruption is rampant. in el salvador, washington has grave reservations about the country's president, nayib bukele, who remains defiant in the face of such criticism. translation: behind this

president - and this - is something no—one can deny — there is no oligarchy. there are no militaryjuntas, nor much less a guerrilla commander giving orders, saying what must be done, like all presidents from the past. meanwhile, in honduras, the us state department has said the government ofjuan 0rlando hernandez is engaged in state—sponsored drug trafficking. washington's options in the region are few. so, the way that we approach corruption in governance in general is consistent with our view that the role of the united states is to work with people in the region, not to impose, but to work with people in the region, to create the enabling conditions for broad—based growth. even if they're that corrupt? even if they're being discussed as state sponsors of drug trafficking? we work with a range of partners, people who are... this does not mean that the united states is not continuing with investigations, or with cases where there is a law enforcement interest, those cases continue. we are focused, though,

on working with governments and working with civil society and working with the private sector, to work together to create those enabling conditions for growth. washington's policy towards central america speaks of trying to understand the drivers of migration. the key contradiction is, however, that one of the main factors pushing people to flee is human rights abuses committed by autocratic governments, so the biden administration finds itself in the strange position of trying to criticise those abuses while working in tandem with those governments. will grant, bbc news, washington. a boeing 737 cargo aircraft with two crew aboard was forced to make an emergency landing in the ocean off honolulu after the pilots reported engine trouble. both pilots were rescued, but one is said to be in a critical

condition in hospital. a coastguard helicopter located the debris and lifted them to safety. they were found on of some floating packages. there were no other people onboard. buyers continue to burn around lytton, british colombia. it had canada's highest ever temperature for three consecutive days, topping out at 49 point six celsius. now, the growth in the numbers of electric cars means there's more demand for minerals like lithium and tin — both essential components of car batteries. finding them means going underground. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle reports from cornwall in

south—west england. having underground. work stop the ago, but these covenants could open up again. demand for the minerals found here is soaring. fix, demand for the minerals found here is soaring.— here is soaring. a circuit board. _ here is soaring. a circuit board, whatever, - here is soaring. a circuit board, whatever, it - here is soaring. a circuit board, whatever, it has| here is soaring. a circuit i board, whatever, it has tin here is soaring. a circuit - board, whatever, it has tin in it. all of these objectives and uses we are using to get to this carbon neutral economy requote into some degree. to have that domestic supply on your doorstep, it makes sense to see this mine in production. above ground, two, new methods of mineral extraction are being trialed. lithium, vitalfor trialed. lithium, vital for batteries, trialed. lithium, vitalfor batteries, is abundant in the southwest. iii batteries, is abundant in the southwest.— southwest. if you want to unearth _ southwest. if you want to unearth a _ southwest. if you want to unearth a mineral- southwest. if you want to unearth a mineral that i southwest. if you want to unearth a mineral that is| unearth a mineral that is essential for going green, unearth a mineral that is essentialfor going green, you need to do in a way that is as green as possible. this is a

test of new technology. be lithium rich rocks lie about one kilometre underground, and as there is water down there watching over them, the mineral seeps into the brain, which is then pulled back up to the surface and the lithium is extracted. the water is returned back underground, so the whole process can be repeated. the whole process can be repeated-— the whole process can be re eated. ., repeated. right now, lithium comes from _ repeated. right now, lithium comes from australia - repeated. right now, lithium comes from australia and - repeated. right now, lithium i comes from australia and south america, the company thinks it could eventually supply around one third of its future lithium demand. iii one third of its future lithium demand. . . one third of its future lithium demand. , ., . , demand. if we can produce but really -- _ demand. if we can produce but really -- battery _ demand. if we can produce but really -- battery lithium - demand. if we can produce but really -- battery lithium in - really —— battery lithium in the uk and put it into electric cars, that is a much shorter supply chain, which has huge environmental benefits as well as security of supply.— as security of supply. there are currently _ as security of supply. there are currently 31.5 _ as security of supply. there are currently 31.5 million i as security of supply. there i are currently 31.5 million cars on the road in the uk and it would take more than 250,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate is optimal to electric. that is 75% of the world's annual production of the mineral, for

just the uk's transport to go green. just the uk's transport to go ureen. ~ , ., just the uk's transport to go a fee“. ~ , ., ., " just the uk's transport to go ureen. , ., ., ~ ., ., , just the uk's transport to go ureen. , ., ., ~ ., ., green. we should work towards a circular economy _ green. we should work towards a circular economy where _ green. we should work towards a circular economy where we - green. we should work towards a circular economy where we just i circular economy where we just recycle the metals we use. but at this moment in time, we cannot do that. is just the growth is too fast, it's too rapid, and to hit the target of net zero, we need those technologies now. but net zero, we need those technologies now. but mining in the future will _ technologies now. but mining in the future will have _ technologies now. but mining in the future will have to _ technologies now. but mining in the future will have to be - the future will have to be different. to minimise and repair any environmental damage. experts say the green revolution is pointless unless the planet to protect it in the process. the montreux jazz festival has had to be staged on a much smaller scale. tim allman has the story.

all the greats have played montreaux. for more than 50 years, the artists, the pioneers, the legends. but then came covid, and the music stopped. now, on the shores of lake geneva, final preparations for the festival's return. translation: we've obviously spent 18 particularly _ complicated months, first with the cancellation of the festival last year and for this year, it was extremely important for us to succeed, so we took a gamble at the beginning of the year. gamble is putting it mildly. this is a major international music festival, but for 2021, it will only be a fraction of its normal size, and covid continues to cause problems. a number of acts from the uk had to cancel due to the delta

variant, and organising a last—minute lineup is no easy task. translation: we didn't think. we would be impacted this much. we have been fishing for information, contacting agents, managers, seeing what is possible. one of the headliners on the first night, the french director, designer and a singer woodkid. this is picturesque a concert venue as you could possibly wish for. at montreaux, the music is back. tim allman, bbc news. we have the results of the first two quarterfinals of euro 2020. belgium is out after losing to italy. italy's 2—1win prompted these scenes. they will face spain in the semifinals that

make similarjubilation from make similar jubilation from the make similarjubilation from the spaniards after their side claimed victory over switzerland. i am lewis vaughanjones, and this is bbc news. goodbye. well, it's going to be one of these days where the weather might turn like that, and you'll have to run for cover if you're not prepared. big showers and thunder and lightning on the way. not everywhere — in fact, many of us will miss the storms altogether, but where they occur, they could even bring some flash flooding. now, early in the morning, there will be already some heavy rain spreading across the southern half of the uk, moving northwards. to the north of that, across scotland, it will have been been generally a dry night. a bit fresher here — 11 degrees — but in the south, it's muggy — 16 celsius first thing. now already, that band of rain could bring 30mm or so in a short space of time, so even with that, there could be a bit of flash flooding here and there. but later in the afternoon, that's when we'll see

the really heavy showers and thunderstorms developing. and the thinking is somewhere in the south—west of england, into western england, we could see this line of storms, mostly inland. in the extreme case, there could be around 80mm of rain. hence the risk of the flash floods. but the storms will be developing in other parts of the country as well, across the midlands, perhaps the south—east, east anglia and also further north in england, so very hit—or—miss. again, some of us will miss the storms altogether, and it's actually going to be a relatively bright, if not sunny, day. but some of these storms may actually linger into the evening hours as well. how about the other side of the world in the mediterranean? in rome for the football, well, here, of course it's going to be warm and sunny, with temperatures up to 28 celsius. now, here's a look at sunday's weather forecast. and again, showers on the cards, again spread right across the country. you can see how they develop during the course of the afternoon. thunder and lightning possible as well. but again, i think particularly some coastal areas and maybe down towards the south—west may miss the storms altogether. temperatures a little below par — 19 in london, possibly touching 21 degrees

where the sun does pop out for any lengthy period of time. now, into next week, we've got low pressure swinging in off the atlantic. that means strengthening winds across the english channel and possibly the south coast of england as well. and with that also will come a spell of rain, so i think monday and tuesday will be fairly changeable. so here's the outlook for the next few days. i know there's a lot of shower clouds, rain clouds, in the outlook here, but i think at times there will be some sunshine as well, so it's not all bad. enjoy that. bye— bye.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the un security council has been warned that a famine in the ethiopian region of tigray is now affecting more than 400,000 people. the meeting was also told that the conflict in the region, between tigrayan forces and ethiopian federal troops may rapidly deteriorate. brazil's prosecutor general has asked for authorisation to investigate president bolsonaro for failing to act on allegations of corruption in the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. a whistle—blower said government officials had agreed to take bribes to buy 400 million doses of the indian—made jab covaxin. on her final official visit to the uk, chancellor angela merkel has been visiting the queen and addressed a virtual cabinet meeting. earlier, she said britons who've had both covid jabs should be able to visit germany in the foreseeable future without quarantine.