welcome to bbc news. our top stories: athletes continue to arrive in tokyo ahead of this weeks olympics. more test positive for covid. as further flooding hits western europe, german chancellor angela merkel expresses horror at the devastation. a major media investigation reports the targeting of human rights activists, journalists and lawyers by authoritarian governments using spyware. and as covid restrictions are lifted across england, there are warnings it could be too much too soon.

the tokyo olympics get under way this week, but there is already a growing number of athletes and officials testing covid—positive or being forced to self—isolate. in the olympic village, two players and a coach for the south africa men's football team have the virus. eight members of team gb athletics team are also in isolation after being in close contact with positive cases. and us tennis player coco gauff has announced she is not going to tokyo after testing positive. despite the worsening covid situation and strong public opposition to the games, the governor of tokyo has told the bbc it would have been worse to cancel. from tokyo, rupert wingfield—hayes reports. with five days to go,

the anti—olympic protests are not going away. this one is outside the hotel where ioc president thomas bach is staying. their message to him is pretty blunt. over at the olympic village, three covid cases have now been confirmed. across the city, 1,400 new cases on saturday. despite this, when i sat down with the governor of tokyo, she told me the games must go ahead. translation: i believe that not holding the olympics is even - sadder than holding it during these dire times. i do not want to show the world that we have lost to covid—i9. there is still meaning in holding the olympics in tokyo, despite the current situation. this was wembley stadium in london a week ago, but with just 20% of japanese vaccinated, there will be no scenes like this in tokyo's olympic stadium. governor koike concedes ifjapan had moved faster on vaccines, things might have been different. translation: | agree, i

it would have been better. if we had a faster vaccination rollout, we may have been able to have spectators at the olympics. but the speed of vaccine rollout has now increased immensely. not fast enough. this is kyoto, japan's ancient capital and number one tourist site. by now this place should have been thronged with hordes of tourists from all over the world. forjapan, that was to be the big pay—off. invest billions and billions in hosting the olympics and then millions of travellers will come from all over the world to your great cultural institutions, spending lots of money. as you can see, there is nobody here. shop owners here have seen sales fall by more than 90%. translation: it is - the government's fault. look at the other countries, like the uk and taiwan. they seem to be doing well. but look at japan.

i cannot believe we call ourselves a developed country. back in tokyo, hundreds of athletes are now arriving each day. it is now clear that some of them will be carrying covid. the ioc�*s assertion that the games represent zero risk to public health is already starting to look flimsy. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. lisa m brosseau is research consultant at the university of minnesota centre for infectious disease research and policy and advises industry on how to reduce workplace risk to viruses. thank you very much forjoining us. it is interesting, the ioc, the olympic committee, has put out a playbook, hasn't it, several versions of it, to make sure that athletes and all those going out know exactly what to do. what do you make of their efforts? i

what to do. what do you make of their efforts?— their efforts? i have been criticising _ their efforts? i have been criticising those _ their efforts? i have been criticising those efforts i their efforts? i have been i criticising those efforts since the beginning. i think they have forgotten an important mode of transmission, which is that there are likely to be small aerosol particles that people can inhale, and the playbook �*s do not consider that mode of transmission at all. ., , all. . , ., all. right. i mean, they have worked in — all. right. i mean, they have worked in pretty _ all. right. i mean, they have worked in pretty close - all. right. i mean, they havej worked in pretty close liaison with the world health organization in terms of looking at the risks and the sort of protocols they should adopt. should they simplyjust be going — should they be more strict than that? i be going - should they be more strict than that?— strict than that? i think one ofthe strict than that? i think one of the things _ strict than that? i think one of the things that _ strict than that? i think one of the things that i - strict than that? i think one of the things that i propose j of the things that i propose with my colleagues two months ago now is that they do a more careful risk assessments, particularly for the different kinds of sports. so a sport thatis kinds of sports. so a sport that is indoors, involves teams or people in close contact with each other is at much higher risk than sports that are done outdoors and singularly. if you

look at the playbook �*s, you don't see any delineation in terms of risk by type of sport or venue. terms of risk by type of sport or venue-— or venue. right. you would also, i understand, - or venue. right. you would also, i understand, prefer. or venue. right. you would l also, i understand, prefer to also, iunderstand, preferto see all athletes taking part to have been vaccinated before they got there. i think a lot of people would feel that they were being given preferential treatment if that were the case. i suppose your view would be that doesn't matter.- be that doesn't matter. well, actually i _ be that doesn't matter. well, actually i was _ be that doesn't matter. well, actually i was not _ be that doesn't matter. well, actually i was not one - be that doesn't matter. well, actually i was not one to - be that doesn't matter. well, actually i was not one to be l actually i was not one to be pushing... i mean, certainlyi am infavourasa pushing... i mean, certainlyi am in favour as a public health professional of vaccination. but i think that given the number of countries where there are still older people and healthcare workers who are not vaccinated, it really was not an expectation on my part that the ioc focus on vaccination for anyone, except perhaps the people who are at most risk in the olympics, and that isn't the olympics, and that isn't the athletes. it is all the

older people who are working behind the scenes or as officials or organisers, team support. those other people who are most at risk. and if you at the numbers in terms of people infected, a large majority are contractors, not athletes. right, so when your view, lisa, should these games be taking place? i should these games be taking lace? ~ ., place? i think that if the ioc had started _ place? i think that if the ioc had started planning - place? i think that if the ioc had started planning and - place? i think that if the ioc. had started planning and doing a much betterjob of planning a year ago, a much betterjob of planning a yearago, it might a much betterjob of planning a year ago, it might have been possible to do this safely, and i would have been glad to participate in that risk assessment. i think right now, with the delta variant now widespread, everywhere, not just in a few countries, and it is likely to be coming to japan, where the vaccination rates are low, i do think this is a very risky proposition. but we have been arguing there were ways to make this a safe,

but it required a better assessment of risk and a better set of controls than the ioc has put in place.— has put in place. thank you very much _ has put in place. thank you very much indeed. - has put in place. thank you very much indeed. thank . has put in place. thank you i very much indeed. thank you. the german chancellor says the world must hurry in the battle against climate change. after visiting some of the areas worst hit by last week's deadly flash—floods, she expressed her shock at what she called surreal destruction. more heavy rain has caused further flooding in southern germany and austria. our europe correspondent jenny hill reports "we really need help here," she says. and outside the village shop, you can see why. as in so many other parts of western germany, people in the town of bad munstereifel still can't quite believe what happened. we met gertrude here. volunteers have brought food, water. she told us she spent the night alone, upstairs,

as water flooded into her house. translation: i've never seen anything like it, never. - it leaves you speechless. "gertrude," he says, "the two of us will never see this place come back to what it was. we will never see it again. it's no longer my home. it's terrible." earlier, angela merkel came to see for herself. this is the town of schuld, where whole houses were destroyed. translation: it's shocking. i'm tempted to say the german language has no words to describe the destruction that's occured here. but i could also see huge comfort in the way that people come together to help each other. the water is subsiding in western germany,

but overnight, more flooding in other parts of the country. high water in bavaria, saxony. in austria, too, towns and cities deluged. in bad munstereifel, they're doing their best to clear up. translation: people have | lost their lives, their houses. there are no more roads. but there's huge solidarity. they're going to need it in the weeks to come. we're seeing this kind of destruction all over west germany, and what is particularly hard for people in places like this to bear is that it could be weeks, maybe months, before they get back electricity, connection. in one part of the region, the authorities are saying that gas for heating and hot water won't be back until well into the autumn. germany is mourning its dead. for the survivors, this ordeal is far from over. jenny hill, bbc news, bad munstereifel. activists, journalists and politicians around the world may have been spied

on using mobile phone malware that is intended to be used against criminals and terrorists, according to a massive data leak. reports suggest widespread misuse of spyware sold and developed by an israeli surveillance company. the company in question have strongly denied the allegations against them and say their technology is only sold to the law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments. the software is known as pegasus. so how does it work? one click on a malicious weblink can install the software without the owner having any idea. that is not the only means of attack. a simple missed whatsapp call can install it. researchers even found that patches in iphone security meant it had been installed, again without the user's knowledge, simply when the phone's owner received an imessage. and its capabilities are vast.

among them, it can read text messages and conversations in chat apps like whatsapp, emails, and even listen in to calls. it can extract data, photos, videos, contacts, and passwords. it is also able to see through the camera, listen in on the mic and see the phone's location. so it is pretty much all—encompassing. i spoke to bill marczak, a senior research fellow at citizen lab who was the first person to discover an iphone hack used by the israeli cyber—warfare company nso group. i asked him to explain how it worked. well, nso group sells the pegasus spyware to dozens of governments all around the world, and originally it required the target to click on a link to facilitate the hacking of the phone. but nowadays the spyware system uses what is called a zero—click technique, meaning that the government can hack the phone without

the target having to take any action. your phone can be sitting on the table — one minute it's fine, the next minute it's compromised. right, and this would appear to have already affected a number ofjournalists, and as you say activists, running into well over 100 certainly and maybe many more besides. in a sense it raises partly the question as to whose responsibility it is. we've got nso saying our contract stipulates it can only be used for serious crime and terrorism. yes. well, ultimately it is the responsibility of the company, nso group, and the responsibility of israel's government, the ministry of defence, which is regulating the export of these tools. it's their responsibility to sit nso down and say look, if you sell this to saudi arabia, if you sell this to the uae or bahrain or these other repressive governments,

what do you think they're going to do with it? well, maybe they'll go after some criminals and terrorists. but the main concern of these governments like saudi arabia is trying to figure out what their critics up to, trying to ensure the survival of the monarchy. who's speaking truth to power, what are they planning next, and how can we subvert them? yeah, you mentioned some of the other countries there. some of the others that have been alleged to be doing the same things are india, morocco, mexico, rwanda even, hungary as well. i mean, it is quite a list, isn't it? we shouldn't be too surprised, though, should we? i mean, this is frankly what many governments will do. well, i think there's two main takeaways from this report here. the first one is, you know, i think people are quite surprised by the scale of this. some of the leaked data has around 50,000 phone numbers on there which may have been selected for targeting. so that level of scale

is really, i think, beyond what many people think and envision. you know, nso group says from time to time — oh, a very small number of targets. this is for the osama bin ladens of the world. so i think the scale is really shocking, and just the number of countries in which this is being abused. for example, india represents itself as a democracy. yet we see cases where politicians, judges, journalists and others are being spied on by the government. what, ifanything, can be done about this? i suppose highlighting it is the most powerful weapon that human rights activists and the like would have. certainly bringing light to this is incredibly important, and i think bringing pressure on the various stakeholders who can make a difference — for example, the israeli government. i think it is probably not an exaggeration to say that it is quite embarrassing

for the israeli government and the ministry of defence to have this huge deluge of information showing very, very damning abuse of surveillance tools coming out and reflecting badly on the state of israel and on the ministry of defence. so i hope that this avalanche of publicity around this report will spur them to take stronger action in reining these companies in. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: happy to be home — two year—old wilder smuggled in the back of a lorry — is finally reunited with his family in honduras. radio: we see you coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence -

and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. . but now, a decade later, - it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm, unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime, as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: athletes continue to arrive in tokyo ahead of this week's olympics — more test positive for covid. the german leader angela merkel has visited the region worst—affected by devastating floods. she says the world must act

faster in its battle against global warming. here in england, as most covid restrictions have been lifted at midnight, the prime minister is self—isolating following contact with the health secretary sajid javid who has coronavirus. downing street initially said both borisjohnson — and the uk chancellor rishi sunak — would be part of a pilot scheme allowing them to keep working. this report from our political correspondent nick eardley. life might be feeling a bit more normal, but the impact of the pandemic is farfrom over. hundreds of thousands of people have been told to self—isolate in recent days. and now track and trace has hit the heart of government. the prime minister and chancellor are self—isolating after the health secretary tested positive for covid yesterday. boris johnson posted this video on twitter. we did look briefly at the idea of us taking part in the pilot scheme which allows people to test daily, but i think it's

far more important that everybody sticks to the same rules. the prime minister will now spend the next week here, his country retreat at chequers. that wasn't always the plan, though. this morning, number 10 said the prime minister wouldn't have to self—isolate because downing street was part of a trial to allow people to keep working if they provided a daily negative test. a cabinet minister was sent out to defend the plan. it ensures that the pm, the chancellor, can conduct the most essential business, but at other times of the day, they won't be mixing with people outside of their own households. but an hour after this, amid accusations of double standards, downing street changed its mind. in york today, sympathy was in short supply. everyone's been getting pinged the last few weeks. everyone's sticking to it. but then they're just writing the law for themselves, isn't it? which hasjust been,

itjust sums it up, the whole thing, doesn't it? we've all done everything we should have done, and we have done, but i do feel they should have done the same as us. if we're all in this together, they have to be leading - by example, don't they? labour's leader unimpressed too. the only reason that he's u—turned on this is because he has been busted. it's like bank robbers who got caught and now they're offering the money back. one rule for them, another for everybody else. it's contemptuous of the british public. this has been a pretty messy start to a week where government communication is going to be key. most legal restrictions will be lifted in england tomorrow, most legal restrictions will be lifted in england, but ministers don't want this to be a free—for—all. they will still be urging caution and for people to behave responsibly. the vaccine roll—out has given ministers confidence to open up. but there's an expectation that cases will rise. i think it's almost certain we'll get to 1,000 hospitalisations per day. it'll almost certainly get to 100,000 cases a day. the real question is,

do we get to double that, or even higher? and that's where the crystal ball starts to fail. as england prepares to take a big step, as some warn about becoming too relaxed too soon, a reminder that opening up isn't without risk. nick eardley, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: the brazilian president, jair bolsonaro, has been discharged from hospital four days after being admitted ——south african president cyril ramaphosa hasjoined in the clean—up under way after days of violence which left more than 200 people dead. as south africans marked mandela day, mr ramaphosa urged people to honour the legacy of the country's former leader by helping to rebuild. the riots last week, sparked by the jailing of former presidentjacob zuma, saw looting and destruction in kwazulu—natal and gauteng provinces. kurt westergaard, the danish cartoonist whose caricature of the prophet muhammad outraged many muslims worldwide, has died at the age of 86. he became known around the world for his

controversial depiction of the prophet reprinted in the charlie hebdo newspaper. he was the target of an assassination attempt, and had to live the rest of his life under police protection at a secret address. thai police have used force to break up crowds calling for the resignation of prime minister prayut chan—o—cha — who came to power in an army coup seven years ago. concerns of protesters have now widened to include the government's handling of the pandemic. courtney bembridge reports. anger on the streets of bangkok was met with water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas. the protesters were flouting a nationwide man on public gatherings. thailand has also extended to stay—at—home orders and a nighttime curfew to three normal provinces because of coronavirus. —— three more provinces. coronavirus. -- three more provinces-_

provinces. translation: i understand _ provinces. translation: i understand that _ provinces. translation: i understand that the - provinces. translation: i. understand that the situation is not getting any better, because we have to come out —— but we have to come out and show them we're not happy by the measures imposed by the government. it was like they wanted to stop at a standstill they were not trying to fix anything. they were not trying to fix anything-— they were not trying to fix an hinr. ., ., , anything. thailand is facing its first wave _ anything. thailand is facing its first wave of _ anything. thailand is facing its first wave of infections i its first wave of infections and its overwhelmed hospitals strained the economy and throws tourism recovery plans in doubt. �* ,, �* doubt. translation: the government _ doubt. translation: the government has _ doubt. translation: the government has been - doubt. translation: the| government has been poor doubt. translation: the i government has been poor at managing the situation and if we don't do anything they will be no change. they should open their eyes and see how the people have been living and not remain like a dictator. ifeel very disappointed. remain like a dictator. i feel very disappointed.— remain like a dictator. i feel very disappointed. these are not the pictures _ very disappointed. these are not the pictures thailand - not the pictures thailand wanted going around the world in the same month it launched a tourism scheme to welcome visitors to phuket and three other thai islands. less than 5% of the thai population is fully vaccinated. mostly with the chinese made sinovac. but

the chinese made sinovac. but the country has been the first to mix vaccines, using locally produced astrazeneca for the second dose after hundreds of medical staff who were fully vaccinated with sinovac got covid. the government is also considering a cap on the number of locally produced vaccines it sends overseas, a move that could disrupt supply to its regional supply —— neighbours like indonesia who are also battling a surgeon infections. courtney bembridge, bbc news. i want to introduce you to this little two—year—old who was found apparently being smuggled in a lorry in the us where he has been reunited in his family in honduras. wilder garcia was discovered along with more than a hundred migrants in suffocating conditions. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. backin back in his mother's arms after a harrowing adventure. wilder garcia looked happy enough, despite spending more than two weeks in the care of the mexican authorities. after a cuddle with mum it was a drive

cross—country, and a reunion with most of the rest of his family. with most of the rest of his famil . �* ,, �* with most of the rest of his famil. �* ,, ~ , family. translation: yesterday was a day when _ family. translation: yesterday was a day when my _ family. translation: yesterday was a day when my life _ family. translation: yesterday was a day when my life came - was a day when my life came back to me because i saw him. he recognised me and ran towards me. ifelt happy. this towards me. i felt happy. this was wilder — towards me. i felt happy. this was wilder garcia _ towards me. i felt happy. this was wilder garcia when - towards me. i felt happy. this was wilder garcia when he was found abandoned on a highway in southern mexico. half naked and screaming for his parents with bags of rubbish surrounding him. he set out with his father to travel to the us but somewhere along the way they got separated. it was only when his story made international headlines that his mother recognised him on television. she has got her son back that will she try to reach america again? will she try to reach america auain? . ,, . will she try to reach america auain? . ,, ~ ., will she try to reach america arain? �* ,, �* ., ., again? translation: no, not anymore. _ again? translation: no, not anymore. it— again? translation: no, not anymore, it risks _ again? translation: no, not anymore, it risks the - again? translation: no, not anymore, it risks the lives - again? translation: no, not anymore, it risks the lives of l anymore, it risks the lives of children. it has been sad what we went through. it is better to be poor and to keep on living. to be poor and to keep on livina. ~ to be poor and to keep on livin~.~ . ., living. wilder garcia's father is believed _ living. wilder garcia's father is believed to _ living. wilder garcia's father is believed to be _ living. wilder garcia's father is believed to be in - living. wilder garcia's father is believed to be in an - is believed to be in an immigration centre in mexico

and will soon be sent back to honduras. no happy ending in america at a family reunited, safe and sound. tim allman, bbc news. thanks for being with us, goodbye for now. hello again. sunday was the hottest day of the year so far in both england and wales. cardiff saw a maximum temperature of 30.2 degrees celsius — the new highest temperature of the year for wales. but it was a bit hotter at london's heathrow airport, at 31.6, and that's the highest temperature we've seen in both england and the uk as a whole in 2021 so far. now, if you're heading outside over the next few hours, chances are you'll come across clear skies. the exception — northern scotland, where we could see an odd spot of rain for the western isles and the highlands, but otherwise it's dry. the other thing i'm sure you'll notice is just how warm a start to the day it's going to be. now, looking at the week ahead, high pressure's going to stay dominating the weather picture, and that means lots more of this hot and sunny weather, like it or not.

now, there will be one or two isolated thundery showers building through the latter part of the afternoon, and evening time, and after hot weather by day, it will stay very warm overnight as well. monday morning, then, sunny, warm start to the day. the exception — northern scotland, where we'll see some patchy cloud, but even here there will be some sunny spells. one or two thunderstorms napping up during the afternoon, not many of these. you'll be able to see the clouds from a mile away. but if you're unlucky, you could see a downpour. the highest temperatures — england and wales, high 20s to low 30s. and looking at the jet stream pattern, well, this explains why our weather's not going to change. we've got this blocked pattern. the uk's underneath this ridge, and that is what's causing us the fine weather. this kind of pattern isn't going to change very much day—to—day. and that means tuesday, we'll see more of that fine, sunny, very warm if not hot weather. but again, there could be one or two isolated storms popping up as we go through the afternoon.

temperatures again high 20s to the low 30s, the heat wave continues. but it's starting to get a bit hotter again in northern ireland and also into parts of scotland. and that warming trend across these northern areas will continue into the middle part of the week again. so, plenty of sunshine around, one or two afternoon storms just about possible. most of you, though, will have another dry day on wednesday. and those temperatures, high 20s to low 30s, cardiff this time seeing some of the hotter weather. 26 in belfast, and 27 there in glasgow. as i say, this weather pattern's not going to change very quickly, but eventually low pressure will likely move in to bring some thundery rain. but there's a lot of uncertainty when exactly those cooler conditions will arrive.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the tokyo olympics get under way this week but there is already a growing number of athletes testing covid—positive or being forced to self—isolate. despite the strong public opposition to the games, the governor of tokyo has told the bbc it would have been worse to cancel the games. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has visited the region of western germany hit by devastating floods. she says the world must hurry in its fight against global warming and pledges aid for rebuilding the area quickly. more heavy rain has caused further flooding in southern germany and austria. nearly all of the coronavirus restrictions in england have been lifted for the first time since march last year. most social distancing rules are relaxed and face coverings are no longer required by law. but with infections on the rise, scientists warn the uk faces a difficult summer.

now on bbc news, the week in parliament.