welcome to newsday reporting live from singapore, the headlines. 25 dead but also dramatic rescues in the central chinese province some force their way out of trans on the subway. translation: ~ , subway. translation: ., ., translation: we broke half of the window _ translation: we broke half of the window so _ translation: we broke half of the window so air— translation: we broke half of the window so air could - translation: we broke half of the window so air could get - translation: we broke half of the window so air could get in. i the window so air could get in. otherwise we would have choked. the threat of climate change is all too realfor the threat of climate change is all too real for many other countries above all low—lying ones. we hearfrom the president of the federated states of micronesia. find president of the federated states of micronesia. and i am cerebral

will bring you some of the athletes stories including the 15—year—old about to become a half pipe star at skateboarding makes its first appearance at the olympic games. find the olympic games. and unearthing _ the olympic games. and unearthing archaeological treasure, scientists discover extraordinary fossils from more than 150 million years ago. sevenin seven in the morning here in singapore, and in central seven in the morning here in singapore, and in central china where the heaviest rains since records began have cause devastation in the province and affected dozens of other

cities. more than 200,000 people have been displaced and at least 25 people have died. the worst flooding is in the city of zhengzhou which has a population of 12 million and sits on the banks of the yellow river. the military have warned that a major dam could collapse at any time and soldiers have been mobilised to try to divert rivers which have burst their banks. chinese scientists to global warming has made china's annualflood season much more dangerous. passengers on an underground train trying to escape the approaching floodwater. instead, though, they found themselves standing still, silent, holding on as the levels rose around them. translation: the water was at shoulder level. . a child and i both nearly gave up. we were worn out. but i used my arm to hang on, and that's why i am bruised.

others in the carriage said air was the problem. translation: we broke half of a window so air i could get in, otherwise we would have choked. at least a dozen people lost their lives as the water overran the tunnels and then the trains. above ground, others faced a terrifying torrent. the muddy, brown waters of the yellow river trying to sweep them away. this was just one example of an impromptu rescue effort that succeeded. the impact of the floods has been widespread, the city of zhengzhou was the worst hit, at one point it had almost a year public with the rain fall in just three days. over a million people have been affected. in the last few days, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from in or around this city and millions more warned about the impending floods, but the most troubling question that remains amidst the stench of dirty water here is how was it that a station on this

line, on an underground metro system that's less than ten years old, came to be overwhelmed by rainwater and passengers left to die on the platform? china has mobilised its army, but not its leader. in a brief statement, president xijinping called for improvements to the system for early warnings. measures that are likely to be needed more as chinese scientists admit these once in a millennia rains could become more frequent as global warming makes for more dangerous weather. robin brandt, bbc news, zhengzhou in eastern china. i'm joined now by isabel hilton, the founder of we would get a view from one of the most vulnerable regions, the most vulnerable regions, the federated states of micronesia, a group of some 600

islands in the western pacific. america's tub general has acknowledged the taliban have strategic momentum in afghanistan. he said the afghan army was consolidating its forces and trying to make sure the militants did not take control of any major population centres but he said what the us withdrawal now at 95% complete the taliban control half the districts in the country. fi districts in the country. significant amount of territory has been seized over the course of six, eight, ten months by the taliban. momentum appears to be sort of with the taliban. smoke from the huge wildrose burning in the west coast of america has drifted all the way across the continent to cast a haze over the east coast. officials in new york issued warnings for pregnant women and the elderly due to the poor air quality. cities as far apart washington and toronto also affected. the disgraced former

hollywood movie producer harvey weinstein has appeared in court in los angeles where he pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of sexual assault. not guilty to 11 charges of sexualassault. he not guilty to 11 charges of sexual assault. he had been extradited to california from new york where he is serving a 23 year prison sentence for rape. replace a fired tear gas and used water cannons against anti—vaccination protesters in athens. about 1500 people gathered in a position of the government proposal to order the mandatory vaccination of health care workers. a really last week grew more than 5000 protesters. to the olympics now where we have seen the start of the competition injapan ahead of that opening ceremony on friday. it began with women's softball, japan taking on australia in the opening event and women's football where there is already been an upset.

organisers say there's no more than 80 confirmed cases and this of course taking place against the backdrop of the pandemic and two competitors have been ruled out. after testing positive. we can go live now to our sports presenter sarah in tokyo. great to have you on the programme again, talk us through that upset, the stunning upset i have to say, lots of fans very upset about it.— have to say, lots of fans very upset about it. absolutely. i'm not sure many _ upset about it. absolutely. i'm not sure many people - upset about it. absolutely. i'm not sure many people would i upset about it. absolutely. i'm i not sure many people would have expected that because if you follow women's football like a lot of people will around the world, and particularly in the usa when you think of the dominance of their team he would have thought perhaps the us women's national team would have one on their debut game in the olympics here in tokyo. they were taking on sweden, really good european team and it was the swedes who one. 3—0.

the first two goals and in the substitute with the final one on the night. it was a very disjointed performance from the americans, meghan particularly critical after the match of their performance saying that they need to do a lot better and they are the world champions, they won world cup in 2019. however they were knocked out of the last olympics by sweden so sweden are a really good team to watch out for and they played some really good football. always good when you can start talking about the sport and we have a bit of a shock. the japanese public would not have wanted a shockin public would not have wanted a shock in the softball because that was the first bit of sporting action we had here in japan and it was the host taking on australia. it was an opening win in a very comfortable one forjapan, 8—1 they beat australia in the opening round. if the japanese public to have something to cheer about because we know

that the coronavirus, the pandemic all around the world has definitely cast a significant cloud on these olympics and delayed by a year. what a backdrop to be having the olympics take place against. i know you've been keeping in your eye on new sports at the other games, tell us about them.— us about them. very exciting havin: us about them. very exciting having some _ us about them. very exciting having some of _ us about them. very exciting having some of these - us about them. very exciting having some of these new. us about them. very exciting - having some of these new sports making their debut and basically what the ioc want to do is protect the future of the olympics, there were to get exciting, young, vibrant sports into the games and we have really good ones to watch out for. we have the likes of surfing, that's going to be brilliant to watch, we also have karate, the home of karate that we are in. that's for this olympics we also have skateboarding and we also have sport climbing. definitely an awful lot of athletes that we are suddenly hearing about that we are going to want to know

more about. she's from south africa and she's 15 years old, this is the story of her journey to the other games. i'm very proud to be representing south africa and at such — representing south africa and at such an honour because of always— at such an honour because of always dreamed about representing south africa at a bigger— representing south africa at a bigger stage, but the olympics never— bigger stage, but the olympics never crossed my mind. parents out there don't support their_ parents out there don't support their kids — parents out there don't support their kids skateboarding because they feel like there is no future _ because they feel like there is no future in skateboarding, and skateboarding finally being part of _ skateboarding finally being part of the olympics i feel like — part of the olympics i feel

like that gives it to parents and — like that gives it to parents and ii— like that gives it to parents and it will finally support their— and it will finally support their kids on the journey. i'm always— their kids on the journey. i'm always seen with a skateboard and whatever it was at home i would — and whatever it was at home i would actually take it without him knowing and just get around in the _ him knowing and just get around in the house. i use to theft about— in the house. i use to theft about it _ in the house. i use to theft about it at the job but with deliveries coming in and sponsorships and all of that it's starting to feel pretty much _ it's starting to feel pretty much like a job which is crazy. but it's— much like a job which is crazy. but it's fun _ much like a job which is crazy. but it's fun to do what you love — but it's fun to do what you love every day. and i would like — love every day. and i would like to _ love every day. and i would like to do _ love every day. and i would like to do that for the rest of my life _ when i was a kid i used to dream _ when i was a kid i used to dream about this and now that it's actually happening i feel

unreal. _ it's actually happening i feel unreal, and i don't want to do anything _ unreal, and i don't want to do anything that will mess that up. anything that will mess that uu and _ anything that will mess that up. and being a teenager with all the — up. and being a teenager with all the parties and experimenting on all of that, i 'ust experimenting on all of that, i just feel— experimenting on all of that, i just feel like i don't want to waste — just feel like i don't want to waste my time on that now. i would — waste my time on that now. i would love to inspire more girls— would love to inspire more girls to _ would love to inspire more girls to start skateboarding, and i— girls to start skateboarding, and i really want to be able to achieve — and i really want to be able to achieve something big which i can contribute to the community out here — can contribute to the community out here in— can contribute to the community out here in south africa. which will help — out here in south africa. which will help more people out there _ will help more people out there. and i guess that's it. cheering. there. and i guess that's it. cheering-_ there. and i guess that's it. cheering. , ., ., , cheering. we will be no doubt lookin: cheering. we will be no doubt looking for— cheering. we will be no doubt looking for her— cheering. we will be no doubt looking for her as _ cheering. we will be no doubt looking for her as the _ cheering. we will be no doubt looking for her as the games i looking for her as the games progressed and went skateboarding gets under way. a little bit later here on thursday in tokyo the sporting action continues in the

softball from the host japan after the opening win yesterday will be taking on mexico. the men's football also gets under way, there is a big match between brazil and germany in that brazil won the last olympic gold medal on home soil in rio, they beat germany and penalties on that final so we will definitely watching that one. it will definitely watching that one. , ~' �* ., one. it sounds like you've got lots of excitement _ one. it sounds like you've got lots of excitement coming i one. it sounds like you've got lots of excitement coming up| one. it sounds like you've got l lots of excitement coming up in the next couple of days, i will let you get back to it. sarah there in tokyo for us. if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter on any of the stories you've heard about during the course of this programme you can find me here. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. the remote pacific islands of micronesia are some of the most vulnerable places on the planet. to the effects of climate change, i've been talking to the federation president about what the world can do to help.

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.

this is newsday on the bbc. our headlines. the five dead but also dramatic rescues in the central chinese province after the heaviest rainfall ever recorded. some forced their way out of trains on the subway. as we have been reporting, china has had record rains and flooding. last week public floods in europe killed over 200 killed over 200 people — we've seen recent record heatwaves and wildfires in the us. these just some of the latest examples of the immense atmospheric challenges the world is facing. one of the most vulnerable places to the impacts of global warming — are the federated states of micronesia — a group of some 600 small islands

in the western pacific ocean. i spoke earlier to the president there for his view on climate policies. the situation that is happening around the world, we saw germany, belgium and other european countries severely affected by storms and heavy rains, flooding. we saw what happened in china and two citizens and our sympathies and condolences to the citizens of these countries. the extensional threat of climate change is already here. we have been saying that it's notjust in the future, it's already happening today. even our dead are not safe from this existential threat. rising sea waters are washing graveyards into the rising ocean and the storms that knock over banana trees.

a real challenge. ijust want tojump in here and ask you, the united states has been saying that countries are not doing enough, it has pointed the finger at china saying that it could do much more. how much do you agree with that? we have said it many times over that we are calling on the bigger countries to do this. china, india, the european union, the bigger countries that are the big emissions contributing to the carbon footprint. we need to take action now and in fact they need to champion the movement and reversing climate change. because the impacts on small island countries and pacific island countries are threatened by climate change. and so cop26 is something we need so we can come there and say what we have been saying over the years. this is very, very urgent

and very important for our populations in the small pacific island countries. what role do smaller nations like yours play in all of this? well, we are the countries without any footprint, and the carbon footprint. we don't have any emissions but you see that we have been championing these efforts. we are talking about here. solutions that really exist can go towards cutting the short—lived super pollutant emissions from hf seeds. our country urges all countries to ratify the agreement through the montreal protocol. our country helps to champion this movement we are calling on the bigger countries to ratify the amendment. and we are taking this matter to the cop26 and be able to work with those countries so that we can understand

that this is a matter that requires emergency and action today right now. but even with your own backyard there's a lot of political infighting that is holding up progress on climate change. what responsibility do countries like yours have in this particular battle? we are not divided at all on the front in terms of climate change. we are super united on it. at the last pacific islands forum we passed the communique that speaks to this existential threat in our livelihood and our countries are together on this one. we took it to united nations and cop 26th around the corner.

the united states, recently at president biden's special envoy on climate change, john kerry, and he's talking to the countries to be together and be united in this decade of action this must be done. this existential threat is not something that affects only pacific island countries. look around to the recent news, canada is reporting the highest temperatures, united states is hurting, livestock and food security is also a threat in the united states. look around the rest of the world, the things we are doing everywhere will be impacted by climate change. it's a win—win situation if we come together and i sat at the united nations is probably going to take a greater challenge than the global community in the second world war because this means extinction of the life—support system

that we have on the planet both on land and at sea. that was the president of the federated states of micronesia talking to me about the immense challenges that face his federated states of micronesia and of course the rest of the world also dealing with the claimant challenge. let's round up claimant challenge. let's round up some other news this hour. prosecutors from several united states have unveiled a sweeping proposed settlement under which for a pharmaceutical companies accused of fuelling the opioid epidemic would pay competition of up to $26 billion. it would need the support of nearly all states. us says it has reached a deal with germany to allow

completion of controversial $11 billion gas pipeline. it will double russian gas exports to germany, there is moscow use the energy as leverage to exert control in europe. as part of the deal germany has committed to take steps including sanctions to prevent that from happening. police in spain have arrested a 22—year—old uk citizen in connection with the hacking of 130 high—profile twitter accounts. including those of elon musk, barack 0bama and kanye west. the hacked accounts pretty followers encouraging them to put a piquant scam injuly last year. he's charged with conspiracy to intentionally access a computer without authorisation and entertaining information from a protected computer.

experts from the natural history museum in london have started excavating one of the most important jurassic sites in the uk. it's at a secret location, and is believed to hold tens of thousands of fossils from 167 million years ago. the owners of the site have given scientists just three days to unearth as many fossils as possible. our science correspondent rebecca morelle joined them at the dig. a race against time to reveal ourjurassic past. the team from the natural history museum has just three days to excavate this unique site. look how long they are. that's really cool! the cotswold quarry holds a treasure trove of sea creatures that lived 167 million years ago. what's here is so extraordinary, the location is being kept secret. we've got another really nice, exceptional specimen here. that's actually a brittle star. that's likely to be a new species. it's the quality of preservation, it's the number of fossils that we're finding. but it is also the diversity.

it's really unprecedented in geological sites of this age across the world. this might not look like much, a small and very muddy quarry. but when you get down here and look up close, there are fossils everywhere. the place is teeming with them. before you even start to dig, you see some lying on the ground. like this starfish. you can see the delicate details on its arms. this area was a delta, back in thejurassic period, where a river ran into a shallow tropical sea. under water were animals like starfish and sea urchins and meadows of creatures called usually on an excavation, you might get a handful of finds. stalks, while others swam freely. spindly brittle stars and sea cucumbers added to this abundance of ancient marine life. the site was discovered by local fossil hobbyists nev and sally. but at first the quarry

didn't look too promising. but at first, the quarry didn't look too promising. we were finding very small fragments of, like, plates of sea urchins. just tiny, tiny fragments, though. nothing really spectacular. when we got it home and cleaned it up, he was like, oh my gosh, sal, you've got to come and see this. and there's this beautifuljurassic sea creature coming to life. they are amazing! just, you know, as like they were alive yesterday. in 200 years, the national history museum has only collected a few dozen fossils like these in the uk. now more than 1,000 will be added to the collection. the team says it is the discovery of a lifetime. rebecca morelle, bbc news, at a secret location in the cotswolds. (tx) you can get much more on that story on the bbc news website. and on the bbc news app. make sure to check it out. that's it for newsday, thank you for joining us.

there's we are still in the middle of this heat wave or just passed it. thunderstorms are the past days that should break the heat. it certainly has been hot and northern island was up hotspot in county tyrone, 31.3 a provisional record for northern island only beating saturday's value butjust .1 of a degree. in the satellite picture we could see some clouds to the best of our neighborhood. that's a developing area of low pressure. and it will be nearing us over the next few days pushing the high pressure away. and this is going to bring some slow moving thunderstorms was that we will talk about that just a 2nd. i have to mention the met office warning of extreme heat for the southwest of the uk. and for northern ireland lasting into friday. and this is to highlight also the high temperatures

overnight, notjust by day. in fact you could see how warm it is still through the middle of the night on thursday it will have been around 18 to 20 c. through the night and into the early hours of the morning is clear skies, maybe a bit of cloud first thing across northern and eastern scotland perhaps the northeast of england. that should mostly clear through the afternoon but the temperatures will be skyrocketing. in fact hot enough for some local downpours and thunderstorms to develop across some central part of the country. notice the wind is mostly in easterly, very light easterly. it's pushing the heat further towards the east. that is the highest temperatures on thursday could well be in northern ireland, we could be another record that remains to be seen. possibly up to 32. for most of us that would be mid to high 20s. friday still a very warm day. wouldn't necessarily class

it is a very hot day put up but warm enough. temperatures into the middle or high 20s. notice in blue, some rain, thunderstorms brewing just to the southwest of us. this is an area of low pressure which will drag in part two fresh atlantic air and push the hot air towards more eastern parts. these could be slow moving thunderstorms and slow moving thunderstorms can bring an awful lot of rainfall in a short space of time. and that's to come this weekend, saturday and sunday especially across the southern half of the uk. something to bear in mind.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour as a new day continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. hungary's prime minister victor 0rban seems to regard his increasingly toxic relationship with ee ——eu's brussel institution as a badge of honour and a political asset. on a range of issues from press freedom to lgb t rights hungary routinely ignores the collective interpretation of eu values.

but at what cost?