hello and welcome to bbc news. our top stories. the british prime minister is accused of putting politics before the lives of people during the pandemic by his former chief adviser. in iraqi a bomb blast kills at least 3a people in a sheer muslim area of baghdad. just days before the start of the tokyo olympics more positive covid—i9 cases among athletes and officials with some forced to withdraw from the games. we also highlight the games. we also highlight the athletes to keep an eye on and some of the new sports on offer at the 32nd olympiad. and president biden and dozens of western allies accused china of overseeing a massive cyber attack earlier in the year.

hello and thank you forjoining us. dominic cummings, the former chief adviser to the prime minister has claimed that borisjohnson prime minister has claimed that boris johnson resisted tightening coronavirus restrictions again last autumn because the virus mainly affected the elderly. in a series of what's about messages seen by the bbc, borisjohnson appears to say that the people dying of covid were essentially all over 80 and he did not buy the idea of the national health service being overwhelmed full up service being overwhelmed full up number 10 service being overwhelmed full up numberio said service being overwhelmed full up number 10 said the government had always taken the necessary action to protect lives, guided by the best scientific advice. mr cummings has been given his first broadcast interview since leaving downing street last november to our political editor laura koons berg. her report contains flashing

images. putting on to record, guys. yeah, is everybody happy? no one was closer to the prime minister in government. since their bitter fallout, no one has been more vicious than him. architect of the brexit campaign, agitator in number 10, and top adviser in the pandemic. looking back to last autumn when coronavirus crept back, what does he now claim went wrong? the prime minister's attitude was that, essentially, the first lockdown was a disaster, we should never have done it. he thought we should never have done the first lockdown? he said we should never have done the first lockdown. he said that repeatedly in meetings at number 10. by the middle of october, then... yeah. ..this debate is still going on. his attitude at that point was a weird mix of, partly, it's all nonsense and lockdowns don't work anyway, and partly, well, this is terrible, but the people who are dying are essentially all over 80, and we can't kill the economyjust because of people

dying over 80. that's a very serious claim to make. what evidence do you have of that? well, lots of people heard the prime minister say that. the prime minister texted that to me and other people. in a series of whatsapps to aides, shared with the bbc, from the 15th of october, borisjohnson appears to say, the age of covid patients dying was above life expectancy, so get covid and live longer, going on to say, "i no longer buy all this nhs overwhelmed stuff." a lot of people listening to you today mightjust think, this is revenge. you lost the argument. you lost yourjob. and now you're angry and so you're attacking. it's revenge, isn't it? no, it's not about revenge. it's about... and also, it doesn't matter if it's personal.

it doesn't matter if people are upset. a lot of people have a pop at me. you don't see me crying about it. the reason i am speaking out is, i want people to be thinking about these questions. how are we governed? how is power actually exercised in number 10? what sort of things should be more transparent? at the end of october, national lockdown returned, and downing street told us... "since the start of the pandemic, the prime minister has taken the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice, and prevented the nhs from being overwhelmed through three national lockdowns." yet mr cummings claims at the very start, in march, borisjohnson was slow to take covid seriously. on the evening of wednesday the 18th, he was... the normal thing on a wednesday evening is to go and see the queen. and therefore, he was going to go and see the queen. but what happened then? because obviously,

the health advice was already, especially for the very elderly, you know, people should take every precaution. he said, well, that is what i do every wednesday, sod this, i'm going to go and see her. so i said to him, there's people in this office who are isolating. you might have coronavirus. i might have coronavirus. you can't go and see the queen. what if you give...? what if you go and see her and then give the queen coronavirus? like, obviously, you can't go. did the possibility go through your head at that moment that the prime minister might pass coronavirus to the queen? yes. how did you persuade him not to do it? ijust said, if you go and you give her coronavirus and she dies, what...? what are you going to...? you can't do that. you can't risk that. it is completely insane. and he said, he basicallyjust hadn't thought it through. and he said, yeah, holy...i can't go.

downing street says that didn't happen. what do you say to that? did they? well... they've officially said that that didn't happen? well... i know it happened and other people who were there know it happened. that was dominic cummings there. iraqi officials say at least 3a people have been killed and another 60 also injured in a bomb attack in a busy market in a mainly sheer muslim district of dad. the islamic state group says it carried out the attack and people shopping on the eve of the muslim feast of eid al—adha would have been caught in the blast. this report contains distressing images. the grim task of sifting through after the worst attack in months. targeted this time, a marketplace and a mainly sheer area crammed with men women and children shopping for

food to celebrate the important festival of eid al—adha. there were screams of terror as roofs were screams of terror as roofs were ripped off market stalls. the islamic state unleashing the deadliest attack since january. back then they claimed this deadly double suicide bombing in a busy commercial area of baghdad, killing 32. since iraqi forces defeated islamic state fighters in 2017 after a three—year battle, large bomb attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in the iraqi capital, have become rarer as is sleeper cells wage a low—level insurgency in the country. but following this fund and killing and wounding of dozens, the iraqi prime minister ordered an investigation into what he called a heinous crime. along with the arrest of the commander of the federal police regiment in charge of security

in this once a bustling everyday market. mark ben &jerry�*s says it will no longer market its product in the occupied palestinian territories. the firm said that selling their was inconsistent with its values. pro— palestinian groups have been pressing the company to make that decision and israel's foreign minister bitterly criticised the announcement. translation:— translation: ben &jerry's decision is — translation: ben &jerry's decision is a _ translation: ben &jerry's decision is a disgraceful - decision is a disgraceful capitulation to anti—semitism, to bds the boycott divestment and sanctions movement against israel, to all that is evil in the anti— israeli and anti—jewish discourse. we will not be silent. anti-jewish discourse. we will not be silent.— not be silent. well, that . rou - , not be silent. well, that grow). the _ not be silent. well, that group, the bds - not be silent. well, that group, the bds has - not be silent. well, that| group, the bds has been speaking as well. a spokes person for boycott sanctions and divestment against israel is that the move was an important step forward. we

welcome the announcement to not renew the agreement with the occupation and prevent selling these products in the occupied palestinian territories. this announcement is important and came after years of pressure on the company to end its involvement in the violation of international law and our palestinian rights. well, just a matter of days now until the delayed 2020 olympics begins in tokyo. the olympic village has been hit by a further coronavirus case. that makes four. we have two south african footballers, a czech beach volleyball player and an american gymnast to have all tested positive for covid—19. athletes are not the only cases connected to the games. others involved, embers of the media, contractors, and other personnel. none of those are in the olympic village itself. this is all a concern for the japanese public, especially in tokyo where cases are still very much on the rise. but the international olympic committee, the ioc insists that these positive cases do not pose a wider freight to the

population. translation: | am a nurse - and hospitals are overwhelmed, so i don't think it makes sense to go ahead with the olympics. translation: | think - we have to live with covid. major league baseballjust had its all—star game, so i thinkjapan should go ahead with the olympics too. translation: the number of new infections is rising, l so it's worrying to have many people arriving from overseas. i know they have to quarantine, but i don't think the rules are that strict. translation: the olympics are only worthy with spectators, - there was a baseball game without any fans and it was a bit lame. translation: it would've been a lot more fun if it wasn't - for covid, but instead of more people getting ill i think it's best to have the games without any spectators. they are going to happen and in fact the first events a start

on wednesday. that is softball, baseball and football stop all in all more than 11,000 athletes will take part across 33 sports, aiming to win a gold medalfor their 33 sports, aiming to win a gold medal for their country. here is lydia campbell on who you should look out for in tokyo. the countdown to the greatest show on earth is nearly at zero. over the next few weeks the eyes of the world will be on tokyo where over 11,000 athletes are going for glory. simone byles is already an international superstar. she is considered as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time and is expected to add to her five olympic medals in tokyo. i am excited to go out there and represent again but my goal right now is to just go out and hit fourfor every time right now is to just go out and hit four for every time i get put out there and then we will see how the team is going so i am excited to see what we will bring. am excited to see what we will brina. ., ., , , bring. one of the most highly anticipated — bring. one of the most highly anticipated events _ bring. one of the most highly anticipated events of - bring. one of the most highly anticipated events of any - anticipated events of any olympics is the 100 metres

finals and there we should be able to find the jamaican superstar shelley and fraser price. this will be herfourth olympics after bursting onto the scene in beijing and she is aiming for a record—breaking third 100 metre olympic gold. another one of the track stars to look out for is norway's karsten. just last month he broke the 28—year—old world record in the 400 metres hurdles. he is norway's superhero and is sure to light up superhero and is sure to light up the track again in tokyo. and it is here at the tokyo aquatics centre where the usa's caleb drew russell will be making a splash. he already has two olympic gold medals and a number of world records to his name. he could win up to seven medals in tokyo which is why he is one of the standout attractions of the pool. i feel areat. i attractions of the pool. i feel great. i wouldn't _ attractions of the pool. i feel great. i wouldn't want - attractions of the pool. i feel great. i wouldn't want to - attractions of the pool. i feel great. i wouldn't want to be | attractions of the pool. i feel. great. i wouldn't want to be in this court if i did not feel

confident in where i was. there are also a _ confident in where i was. there are also a number— confident in where i was. there are also a number of— confident in where i was. there are also a number of new - confident in where i was. there. are also a number of new events taking place in tokyo and we will be welcoming climbing, skateboarding and surfing to the olympic programme. brazilian server ariel medina has his eyes set on one thing only. i has his eyes set on one thing onl . ., ., ., “ has his eyes set on one thing onl . ., ., ., ~ ., ., ., only. i am looking for a gold medal. only. i am looking for a gold medal- it — only. i am looking for a gold medal. it is _ only. i am looking for a gold medal. it is really _ only. i am looking for a gold medal. it is really big - only. i am looking for a gold medal. it is really big for - only. i am looking for a gold | medal. it is really big for us, from this part and i am excited to go to japan. from this part and i am excited to go to japan-— to go to japan. the games this ear will to go to japan. the games this year will be — to go to japan. the games this year will be different. - to go to japan. the games this year will be different. while i year will be different. while there will be no fans there will be plenty of sporting drama. i don't think there is any doubt about that. stay with us here, coming up in a moment, president biden along with dozens of western elders criticised china overy major cyber attack earlier in the year. —— criticised china over a major cyber attack. 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 to that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now a decade later, it has 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. -

welcome back to bbc news. headlines colin the british prime minister �*s former chief adviser, dominic cummings, accuses borisjohnson of putting getting out of lockdown ahead of lies. bomb blasts in a dominantly shia muslim area. almost as big as the whole of wales, 1.5 million hectares of land are burning after an unprecedented heat wave hit siberia. in less than two months, the fires have spewed out around 150 megatons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of venezuela. a correspondent from the russian new service talked to us. first of all,

we need to remember that the territory affected by wildfires in russia is huge. it can be compared to one third of territory of belgium. so, thousands of people all mainland villages and also in small towns had to flee and leave their houses, leaving everything behind because of the fire. in certain areas, fire is spreading as quickly as 150 meters per minute, so extremely quickly. of course, this is always amplified by extreme heat and smoke, so people are saying it is, coming know, the conditions are unbearable. brushing emergency ministry is trying very hard to put the fires down, but at the moment, this is critical. unfortunately, such situations repeat themselves almost every year. we hear similar stories. it's very hard to understand the nature of this fire and why they are repeating themselves almost every year, on the one hand, you know, it is global warming, of christ, extreme heat, and the climate is changing, but on the other hand, you know, officials are saying that the majority of those fires have a human

factor behind them, so they have human nature, and many ecologists are saying this leads to the fact that there is a huge amount of illegal fire catching in russia and illegal logging in russia, and in order to cover up as wrongdoings you know, sometimes people will light a forest on fire and it's hard to distinguish where all that wood has disappeared, whether it was cut illegally or it was damaged by fire. so it's a coincidence of factors, big money, big politics involved, but ordinary people are suffering. huge wildfires in siberia, and of course the fighting in western and central europe. german police say more than 170 people are still missing. something like 160 now have been confirmed dead after the

floods. there are warnings that more bodies may be found in places where floodwaters are still high. here is a demian mcguinness. countless numbers of people have lost everything. the infrastructure has been torn apart. roads and bridges have been destroyed, and there are still areas without basic amenities. translation: , translation: there is neither electricity or — translation: there is neither electricity or drinking _ translation: there is neither electricity or drinking water. i electricity or drinking water. i don't know what you say. i must stop to take a break now and then and talk to people, otherwise i will go crazy. within the space of two days, two large estates were hit with more rainfall, more than they get in at two months, causing the region's many rivers to burst their banks. in a local village, floodwaters destroyed and in some cases washed away

houses. in one town near cologne, the water created landslides which undermined a row of homes and a castle. it had survived for centuries but wasn't able to withstand the onslaught of the floods. often, people had minutes to get to safety. translation: i safety. translation: ., 4' safety. translation: ., ~ , safety. translation: i woke up about 11m and translation: i woke up about 11pm and stepped _ translation: i woke up about 11pm and stepped into - translation: i woke up about 11pm and stepped into the - translation: | woke up about| 11pm and stepped into the water with a depth of about 20 centimetres when i got off the bed. i couldn't have imagined how fast the water would have raised if i hadn't experienced it my own. translation: i it my own. translation: ., �* ~ ., ., translation: i don't know what to do, i translation: i don't know what to do. i have _ translation: i don't know what to do, i have for _ translation: i don't know what to do, i have for children. - to do, i have for children. this— to do, i have for children. this is_ to do, i have for children. this is really a disaster. nobody— this is really a disaster. nobody told me how long it will take to — nobody told me how long it will take to rebuild this place, it could — take to rebuild this place, it could take one or two years. we are out— could take one or two years. we are out of— could take one or two years. we are out of work. how to carry out _ are out of work. how to carry out that _ are out of work. how to carry out that reconstruction is the biggest — out that reconstruction is the biggest issue. the _ biggest issue. the german chancellor angela merkel has visited the region and expressed shock at the destruction. on wednesday, her cabinet will agree on a rescue package for the areas, as the

devastated areas are cleaned up and rebuild though, pressure will go on the german government to fulfil its promises. demian mcguinness, bbc news, germany. lots of other climate related news stories, we will start in oregon, with the largest active a wildfire burning through more than 300,000 acres, prompting thousands of evacuations. it is the bootleg fire, almost among the bootleg fire, almost among the biggest and the recent history of the state. one of 80 blazes raging across 11 states in the west. in the uk, the met office issues and amber extreme heat warning as temperatures in parts of the country are set to reach 33 celsius, and a large parts of wellsburg and england will see this, and stay in force until thursday. —— wells. this is an easily linked event to climate change, it is sad.

the great barrier reef has recovered after a decade of destruction, mainly caused by climate change, but a report by marine scientists say the future outlook for the reef is poon future outlook for the reef is poor, because of an increased prominence of extreme weather events caused by global warming that damage coral. the latest from peru, because the election authority has just declared a socialist win, a new president. he addressed supporters from headquarters in lima. he beat his rival byjust 45,000 votes across the whole piece, a highly divisive run—off election at the start ofjune. the result was delayed by appeals coming from the opposition, who claimed, without much evidence, that electoral fraud without much evidence, that electoralfraud had without much evidence, that electoral fraud had cost without much evidence, that electoralfraud had cost her the presidency. the united states, the uk and

the eu have accused china of carrying out a major cyber attack earlier in the year, the attack earlier in the year, the attack targeting microsoft exchange service, affecting at least 30,000 organisations across the globe. china has previously denied allegations of hacking and says it opposes all forms of cyber crime. president biden told reporters that beijing officials may not be directly responsible but they are playing a role. the chinese government, - they are playing a role. iie: chinese government, not they are playing a role. tie: chinese government, not unlike the russian government, is not doing this themselves, they are protecting those who are doing it, and maybe even accommodating them and doing it. i have been speaking to brian cunningham, the executive director of cyber security policy and research at the university of california, as well as a former cybersecurity strategist for the white house. i asked brian how sure we can be that these are cyber attacks are actually state—sponsored.

hopefully we have classified intelligence in the united states with our nato allies that confirms this in ways we can never discuss publicly, but on a public basis, there is essentially tradecraft that these groups employ that is repeated, the privateers, as i call them, the hackers that work for themselves, sometimes for the governments, they are great, talented, but essentially lazy and do the same thing over and over. each hacker group has a profile or fingerprint that you can identify. again, i don't believe our government or the uk government would be so public and accusing these groups of chinese government complicity unless we had more sensitive intelligence to back it up, but it is not a very difficult thing to figure out, actually. difficult thing to figure out, actuall . , . difficult thing to figure out, actuall. , . ., ., ., , actually. the privateer analogy is very striking, _ actually. the privateer analogy is very striking, isn't _ actually. the privateer analogy is very striking, isn't it? - is very striking, isn't it? that privateers or pirates are out there that can be used to manipulate, or be manipulative

by the state, effectively.- by the state, effectively. yes, it is back _ by the state, effectively. yes, it is back to _ by the state, effectively. yes, it is back to the _ by the state, effectively. yes, it is back to the future - by the state, effectively. yes, it is back to the future from i it is back to the future from for hundred years ago. the cyber attackers by day are out for their own personal gain, money, greed, extortion, whatever they are working for, and when the government needs and when the government needs and they essentially make them privateers by sanctioning and in some cases, i am sure, enabling what they are doing, so this makes a lot of sense from a russian point of view, because you can have thousands or tens of thousands of hackers at your disposal without having to put them on the payroll, and you get a certain level of deniability to say, maybe these criminal groups did it but we don't know anything about it. this is part of the ongoing antagonism between the west and china, but is there a way for joe biden, for example, to lead the charge in bringing this thing to an end? i the charge in bringing this thing to an end?— the charge in bringing this thing to an end? i think we have to do _ thing to an end? i think we have to do now, _ thing to an end? i think we have to do now, i - thing to an end? i think we have to do now, i have - thing to an end? i think we l have to do now, i have been saying this for years, and we

have got to a consensus among cyber security experts. we have essentially drawn lines in the sand and said to britain and china, publicly, that if you don't knock this off and don't get these groups under control, we will take matters into our own hands. —— vladimir putin. at this moment, we have to do it. the united states, with our allies, we have to head back at either china or russia, or both, in a proportioned and appropriate way. i am not even sure if it matters so much we had first, because like a schoolyard bully, i hope, when we show we are willing to create consequences, the others will back off, but i think our credibility is on the line and we need to hit back. brian cunningham. minigolf in new york has opened, it has some difference. 18 holes and all. each one showcases a climate change problem or possibly solution,

in fact, so here is whole nine, it is a polar bear habitat loss, eyes disappearing, hole six shows how extreme weather could trigger climate refugees. not bad. hello again. monday was another hot and sunny day for the majority of us, but there were a few storms that popped up. one or two affecting sussex and kent, there were a few storms in south wales for a time and there was one in the veil of york but otherwise we have skies like these can be the majority of us having dry, sunny and hot day. and talking of heat, the met office have issued their first extreme heat warning. why now? well, these warnings only started being issued injune and this is just the first hot spell we have seen. but this area, it represents an area of concern to the met office where we could see some impacts from the heat whether that be impacts to health or indeed infrastructure, things like trains might need to go slightly slower due to the tracks heating up in this hot weather. that kind of thing. at the moment there's not too much going on, it's a clear start to the day

tuesday and of course it has been very warm overnight, those temperatures starting off tuesday morning at around 16 degrees across parts of england and wales. a little bit fresher for scotland and northern ireland. but it's going to be another hot and sunny day. high pressure firmly in charge, however into the afternoon some thunderstorms will break out and i think this is the kind of area we are most likely to see the downpours. they are likely to be bigger storms, so want to hear reports of some localised surface water flooding in one or two of the biggest storms that do pop up. otherwise, it's another hot and sunny one. temperatures widely mid to high 20s, the low 30s in the very hardest parts of the country. and we are used to this, aren't we? after such a hot day those temperatures slow to come down, this is 11 o'clock at night and you can see those temperatures are still up at 23 there in birmingham and london. again, a little bit lower than that for scotland and northern ireland, but still plenty warm enough. now our area of high pressure hangs around to wednesday, the only real change is it reorientation slightly to push that hotter air a little bit further northwards. so one thing you will notice as temperatures tending

to rise in northern ireland and scotland into more generally the high 20s i think as we go into wednesday. again there could be an odd shower popping outcome of but for the majority it will continue with that dry run of weather with temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s in the hottest areas. beyond that thursday and friday we keep the hot and sunny weather for the most part, there will be a change eventually coming, it looks look at might come through on the weekend. with heavy rain for some.

the british prime ministers former chief adviser dominic cummings has accused boris johnson of putting politics ahead of the lives of people during the pandemic. in response, downing street said that mrjohnson had taken the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice. iraqi officials say at least 34 people have been killed and more than 60 others injured in a bomb attack in the capital, baghdad. home—made device exploded in a busy market and the islamic state group says it carried out the attack. the international olympic committee has described the delayed tokyo 2020 games is the most complex ever held. with just three days until they start there have been more positive coronavirus cases as athletes have arrived its forcing some to self isolate and others to withdraw.