this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm david eades. our top stories: as thousands of athletes and staff pour into tokyo for the start of the olympics, more test positive for covid. a major media investigation reports human rights activists, journalists and lawyers all being targeted by authoritarian governments using spyware. water gushes. as further flooding hits western europe, german chancellor angela merkel expresses horror at the scale of the damage. and happy to be home: we've the story of the two—year—old boy smuggled in the back of a lorry finally reunited with his family in honduras.

a very warm welcome to the programme. the tokyo olympics get under way this week but there's 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's not going to tokyo after testing positive. 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. and a short time ago, i asked rupert for more on those positive cases among team gb. since last night, we have learned that eight members of team gb were in close contact with someone on board theirflight from london to tokyo — someone who tested positive for covid. so these are not people — members of the team who have tested positive, but they were sitting on the plane close to someone who is not related to the team gb members at all but who later, on arrival in japan, tested positive. and because of that, they have been isolated as well and they will have to have two

negative pcr tests before they are allowed to return to training, so that is very disruptive. and we understand — the times newspaper is reporting that among those eight, there are a number of team gb medal hopes, so this is tremendously disruptive to those athletes as they arrive in tokyo and it shows just how really complicated and difficult this situation is, trying to negotiate the regulations, the quarantine. these athletes will want to get adjusted, acclimatised and training as soon as possible. but when they are associated like this with someone on an aircraft, they have to go into isolation. that is very, very disruptive. and overall, in the last few days, we have seen that not just on arrivals but inside the so—called bubble, there are dozens of people who have tested positive. according to japanese media, 55 people inside the olympic bubble have tested positive for covid since ijuly. so this is a very, very

complicated and difficult situation for the japanese authorities and the olympic authorities to manage, to keep anybody who is suspected of having covid separate from everybody else in isolation, to make sure that we don't have a spreader event, that we don't have a cluster developing inside the olympic bubble. i wonder, rupert, where that leaves thomas bach's statement that these games will be safe and secure. even if it is a perception, the perception at the moment is that it's anything but. certainly that is the perception, i think, among many people watching here injapan, who have been deeply sceptical for months that this was a good idea to go ahead with the games. also, you know, we haven't started the games yet — it doesn't start until friday. this is all happening in the pre—games period, when the activity in the olympic village is not as intense as it will be starting from friday onwards, and so it does not bode well for controlling things. on the other hand, the olympic

authorities say that they have got this under control, that this testing programme is working and that is why they are finding out about these cases, and that is why they are getting people into isolation and that this does not represent a threat to the olympics at this stage. and i think that is a fair comment, but certainly mr bach's statement that there is zero risk — i don't think anyone agrees with that. even governor koike, when i asked her that in my interview, she says no—one thinks there is zero risk. the olympic games are getting under way on friday, the 23rd ofjuly. in fact, those first events start on wednesday. activists, journalists and politicians around the world may have been spied upon through mobile phone malware that's meant to be used against criminals and terrorists. reports compiled by a group of media organisations 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's known as pegasus. this is how it works. one click on a malicious web link can install the software, without the owner having any idea. that's 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 into calls. it can extract data, photos, videos, contacts, and passwords. it's also able to see through the camera, listen in on the mic and see the phone's location.

earlier, i spoke to evan greer who is the director of the digital rights organisation fight for the future. i began by asking whether we should be that surprised that some governments are using such technology to spy on its citizens. that's absolutely right and i think this latest news story is an example that shows us that surveillance makes us less safe, not more safe. governments and the companies that sell this type of software often claim that it's for our safety, that it's to protect us, but here we see a clear example where it was used and weaponised to target not those who were doing harm or committing crimes but simply perhaps those who were critical of the governments who purchased this software. my organisation fight for the future was targeted by a similarfirm based out of india that was likely hired by broadband companies in the united states or someone who they hired, so that's an example of where corporations can also purchase this software and use

it to target their business or political opponents. so really, we need policies and education in place to protect activists, journalists and others from this type of invasive spyware. right, and that point about corporations takes it that much further away from the notion of security, i understand that. but i suppose what i wonder, really, evan, is what can be done about it? what should be done about it? because, as i said, this is a time—honoured tradition, sadly. sure. i mean, i think that we need a two—pronged approach. we need policies in place that make it illegal to sell this type of surveillance software to governments or to corporations. and that needs to be a global effort because the fact is that there will always be unscrupulous firms around the world who are willing to sell what are essentially cyber weapons to anyone who will purchase them. so we need policies in place to discourage that and to hold accountable those firms for selling this type of software. but in the end, this really is sort of a digital arms race and so, we also need education. we need activists and

journalists and everyone to start learning basic precautions and steps that they can take to protect themselves from this type of illegal and unethical surveillance and so, it's really that kind of wholesome approach where we need both policy and education to combat this, and it's going to be an ongoing process that we're going to have to keep fighting. right. i mean, i think most people have heard many times about the importance of passwords and the like, but some of the ways in which this spyware can access your mobile phone seems to be beyond the comprehension of most users. is it realistic to think that they could be educated and made aware as to how to look after themselves? sure. i mean, and that's again exactly why we need policy as well — it can'tjust be up to phone users to protect themselves. this is something that we as a society need to address. it's a collective problem. that said, the simple, most effective kind of pointers for folks who are listening is update the software on your phone.

you just mentioned that before that apple updated their software. they were vulnerable to this. microsoft sent out a software update for windows which patched this. so whenever something like this gets discovered, services tend to send out an update and many people ignore those updates, but that's one basic thing you can do. it's not gonna protect you from everything, but that's important and a basic step, as well as setting passwords, using things like two—factor authentication and using encrypted messaging apps like signal and others. that's evan greer from fight for the future. 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 occurred here, but i could also see huge comfort in the way people have 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: two year—old wilder smuggled in the back of a lorry and 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. all count: seven, six, five, four, three...! - 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 world news. i'm david eades. the latest headlines: athletes continue to arrive in tokyo ahead of this weeks olympics — more test positive for covid.

journalists and lawyers targeted by authoritarian government using spyware making the news. it's hardly the most positive message — on the day that england sees almost all covid restrictions lifted, the prime minister, borisjohnson, has said he is self—isolating, after being in contact with his health secretary, who has contracted covid. in a further contentious move, boris johnson initially tried to avoid self—isolation, as our political corresponent nick eardley explains. 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's 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, 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 with serious intestine problems. mr bolsonaro has been treated several times since being stabbed during the election campaign three years ago. as he left hospital, mr bolsonaro rejected recent corruption accusations against his former health minister about negotiations to purchase overpriced coronavirus vaccines. south african president cyril ramaphosa has joined in the clean up underway after days of violence which left more than two hundred 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, sparked by the jailing of former president jacob zuma — his corruption trial is set to resume in the next few hours. 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 large protests calling for the resignation of the prime minister. the demonstration fell on the first anniversary of pro—democracy rallies and the concerns of protesters have now widened to include the government's handling of the pandemic,

amid a dramatic rise in cases. 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 ban on public gatherings. thailand has also extended to stay—at—home orders and a nighttime curfew to three more provinces because of coronavirus. translation: i understand that the situation _ is not getting any better, but we have to come out and show them that we are not happy about the measures imposed by the government. it is like they wanted to stop at a standstill but they were not trying to fix anything. thailand is facing its worst wave of infections and its overwhelmed hospitals strained the economy and throwing tourism recovery plans in doubt. translation: the government has been poor at managing _ the situation and if we don't do anything there will be no change.

they should open their eyes and see how the people have been living and not remain like a dictator. i feel very disappointed. these are not the pictures thailand wanted going around the world in the same month it launched a tourism scheme to welcome vaccinated visitors to phuket and three other thai islands. less than 5% of the thai population is fully vaccinated — mostly with the chinese—made sinovacjab — but the country is to become 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 neighbours, like indonesia and malaysia, which are also battling a surge in infections. courtney bembridge, bbc news. a two—year—old who was found apparently being smuggled

in a lorry to the us, has been reunited with his family in honduras. wilder garcia was discovered in suffocating conditions. tim allman reports. 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. translation: yesterday was a day when my life i came back to me because i saw him. he recognised me and ran towards me. i felt happy. this was wilder 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's got her son back that will she try to reach america again? translation: no, not any more, it risks the lives of children. - it's been sad what we went through. it's better to be poor and to keep on living. wilder's father is believed to be in an immigration centre in mexico and will soon be sent back to honduras. no happy ending in america, but a family reunited, safe and sound. tim allman, bbc news. lucky boy, lucky family, they. the formula 1 racing driver max verstappen has been discharged from hospital after a 290km/h crash with lewis hamilton at the start of sunday's british grand prix. the dutch driver accused his rival of unsportsmanlike behaviour when hamilton crashed into him on a corner.

hamilton was given a ten—second penalty for the incident but went on to win the race. 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 p°pping 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 a growing number of athletes are testing positive for covid or being forced to self—isolate, despite the strong public opposition to the strong public opposition to the games the govenor of tokyo has told the bbc it would have been worse to cancel them. german chancellor angela merkel has visited the region of western germany head by the recent floods, saying 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 coronavirus restrictions and england have been listed since march last year, most social distancing rules are relaxed and face coverings are no longer required by law. with infections on the rise, scientists warned that england faces a difficult summer.