this is bbc world news, i'm geeta guru—murthy. our top stories. two crew members are reportedly killed after an israeli operated oil tanker is attacked by a drone off the coast of oman. amazon is fined almost $900 million — the biggest fine ever — for breaking the eu's data protection laws. china battles its worst covid outbreak since the the beginning of the pandemic in wuhan — all nine million residents of nanjing are being tested. injapan a state of emergency is extended in tokyo and other regions — after record breaking numbers of coronavirus cases across the country. the prime minister says the virus is spreading with unprecedented speed. in scotland — drug related deaths reach a new record level — with the worst rates in europe.

why is this still happening? why has this been allowed to continue? why are these numbers up, death figures up again? there has been another attack on an oil tanker in the arabian sea, with concerns in israel that iran is responsible. in the latest incident, the israeli company, zodiac maritime, said two crew members on an oil tanker it operates died, in what it has called a suspected piracy incident. the vessel was in the northern indian ocean, near oman, when israel says it was attacked by a drone. one of the crew who died was british and the other romanian. with more, here's the bbc security correspondent, frank gardner. well, this is quite a serious

escalation, and certainly it doesn't look like piracy. an investigation was begun fairly soon afterwards. it took place late in the afternoon yesterday, about 150 nautical miles, that's about 250, roughly, kilometres, northeast of the omani port. and what israli television is saying, quoting an israeli official, was that it was attacked by an explosive drown. now, usually in piracy attacks, it's very unusual for anybody to be killed. piracy attacks are quite rare now because most of the ships either have escorts, or they have armed guards on board. so they are nothing like the level that they were at ten years ago. so the suspicion is that this is some kind of state backed to terrorism, and certainly the israeli media is pointing the finger at iran, and in the past, iran has denied any part in such attacks. the ship itself was carrying no cargo. it was on the way from the port

in tanzania going to the part ——it was on the way from the port in tanzania going to the port of the united arab emirates, and it has been escorted for the last leg of its journey by the us navy. what would be the reasoning, if it's possible to work that out, from iran's point of view, if it was behind this? well, we are in the world of hypothesis here because the investigation hasn't been completed. but there is no question that there is an undeclared shadow war taking place between iran and israel where they had been attacking each other�*s interest, in the case of israel, they had made no secret of the fact that they are trying to slow down iran's nuclear programme, and although they have never admitted that openly, they have certainly hinted that they have played a part in the sabotage attacks, for example, on some of the nuclear facilities. but offshore in the red sea, the arabian sea, the northern indian ocean, there have been a number of mysterious explosions on board ships, iran for example has a fairly

stationary ship that's at the bottom of the red sea, that had some explosions on board, and there has been israeli ships under attack as well. so it's this undeclared shadow war, where the two countries have very carefully calibrating what they deal, not to cause too much pain, but enough to keep the other one, make the other one uncomfortable. ok, frank gardner, for now, oura security correspondent, many thanks indeed. amazon has been fined almost $900 million for breaking the european union's data protection laws. it's the biggest fine ever imposed under the eu's privacy regulations, and more than twice the penalty many observers were predicting. the online retail giant has been criticised in recent years for the information it collates from the the shopping history of its customers. amazon says the punishment isn't merited and that it plans to defend itself vigorously. here's our business correspondent samira hussain, in new york. it is certainly a much bigger amount than what was predicted, and also, it shows that, you know, luxembourg, which is where amazon is

headquartered in the eu, is willing to really show its might and to enforce these rules. they've been a lot more favourable to the us multinationals who have come and establish themselves there. this is their big fine and a way for the eu to send a message that you need to abide by these rules. at the saying is saying is that, really, amazon didn't do enough to get people's consent before using their personal data. now, amazon, for its part, has said that this has absolutely no merits, and that it is taking a very different kind of interpretation of the law, and that is why amazon says that it the law, and that is why amazon says thatitis the law, and that is why amazon says that it is certainly going to contest the best in court. other companies _ contest the best in court. other companies have _ contest the best in court. other companies have faced - contest the best in court. otheri companies have faced penalties contest the best in court. other- companies have faced penalties for breaching these rules. what exactly is amazon being accused of here?

right, so it amazon, there has always been an issue with regards to how american multinational corporations use people's data, and what has been challenging since the eu has put forth these numerous strict rules is getting these companies to adapt to these new rules. the rules in the eu are much stricter than they are here in the united states, amazon has a reputation of using customers personal data. now, to be clear, it's not that the personal data is leaked in any sort of way, but that information is used for its own company's purposes, and sometimes often sold to other places or other companies. so that's really what the criticism is here both of amazon and of other companies that have been slapped with these kinds of fines. is amazon changing how it acts? or has it already changed in response to the eu? ~ . ., ., , ,

to the eu? well, it had already been reuuested to the eu? well, it had already been requested to — to the eu? well, it had already been requested to make _ to the eu? well, it had already been requested to make some _ to the eu? well, it had already been requested to make some changes, l to the eu? well, it had already been i requested to make some changes, and amazon had already said that have made some of those changes, and i think that's where you are seeing some of this pushback from amazon in that, look, the kinds of changes that, look, the kinds of changes that they need should have sufficed, but the interpretation by the eu is that it's different than what they would have. that it's different than what they would have-— that it's different than what they would have. . ., , ,., ., would have. that was some era in new york. now to news on the chinese situation with the covid rise in cases they are, because there has been a lot of increase in the numbers on covid cases with a number of cities affected. let's get more from bbc�*s chinese. he provided us this update. at this moment, i guess there is a high, almost emergency mode in china, and people are being tested in multiple cities,

and the government and the officials are actually getting their act together to try to do the same track and trace, trying to eliminate the number of infections, or control them, to limit them to one area. china's approach so far is still trying to reach a zero tolerance of the infections, but in this day and age that is still a feasible way to go, these attempts are being questioned now. one flight, possibly one person from russia, the fight comes down to one city airport, and before you know it, you've got multiple provinces over a dozen cities and hundreds of people infected. and if they acted quickly enough this time, they may be able to contain it, but what if? there is always that big question, and at what cost, because from some of the local records... reports, we heard just managing the airport alone, the moment they realise there was an infection from i think dozens of flights were grounded, sometimes over 48 hours,

and we are talking about thousands of people's lives delayed and you know, business delayed, and now with millions of people being tested again in the whole of the city, is the effort in proportion to the risk is the question raised? day seven of the olympic games produced high drama. the track and field programme got under way with an ethiopian winner in the men's 10,000 metres. and there was success for the us, sweden, australia and canada in women's football. but crushing disappointment for novak djokovic in tennis. lucy hockings is in tokyo for us. welcome back to tokyo where, yes, on day seven, we have reached the midpoint of the games, but the sports are somewhat being overshadowed right now because what we are seeing here in tokyo and around japan is a real spike in covid cases, and this afternoon, we saw a news conference here in tokyo given by the prime minister. the prime minister said that

the coronavirus rate is going up, it's unprecedented in speed, and it's been fuelled by the delta variant, like it is elsewhere. the prime minister also warning the medical system is at risk of strain, and telling people they should be at home, staying at home and watching the games from there. here he is speaking a little earlier. translation:, goa, osaka, etc, we are going to issue a state - of emergency to those provinces, as well as the following provinces, we are going to implement priority measures with the period from august two to august 31. this is important for the measures. ——this is the period for the measures. a state of emergency in tokyo and okinawa is also extended to august 31, this is the decision that was made. that's the prime minister there.

let's get more from the very latest on the figures which are going up from our other correspondent. the latest numbers for tokyo came in at 3,300, which is slightly lower compared to yesterday, but still well above 3000, which was unheard of until this week. in all ofjapan, it was another record high, topping 10,000 once again. we have just been hearing from the prime minister as well as doctor omi, one of the country's top medical advisors, officially declaring the expansion and extension of the state of emergency here in tokyo and the surrounding prefectures as well. how effective that will be remains to be seen, because, of course, the japanese capital has been under a state of emergency for two weeks now, but we are still seeing that surge in covid—i9 cases. we've been hearing from the ioc and other government officials emphasising that this recent surge has nothing to do at the olympics, and some of them seem to imply that it's because of young people who are not listening to the government's request

to stay—at—home, and they have also been encouraged to get vaccinated when there is not enough jabs around. i found it a little unfair, so i decided to go where a lot of young people hang out to find out what they thought of the government's comments. translation: i haven't even received a ticket to get vaccinated. _ my parents onlyjust got there jabs. ——my parents only just got theirjabs. translation: | can sense | that we are getting too used to the state of emergency, so it's not stopping - people from going out. translation: she just- had her first shot yesterday, and i've made my appointment, so we are getting vaccinated when we can. translation: if the government really wants to stop _ the spread of the virus, - they will have to lock us down and offer financial support, because without it, people| i are going to go out to go to worki because they need to earn money. now, japan's vaccine roll—out has been really slow and inefficient from the beginning. they've managed to pick it up, but now, they are facing the supply shortage. one at the big stories from the games in the last couple of hours is that the world number

one tennis player, novak djokovic has been knocked out in the main semi final by germany. it dashes the serbian�*s dreams of winning his first singles gold medal and completing a golden slam. that is all for tennis majors and the olympic title. here is our tennis correspondent, russell fuller. it is a surprise, lucy, and i think he completely appreciated the magnitude of the moment. he knew that novak djokovic was trying to do what only one tennis player in history had done, and that was steffi graff, winning the golden slam in 1988 and having won the first three grand slams of the year, and having won his first four matches in tokyo, he was very much on track ahead of the us open which starts at the end of august, but from the middle of the match, he started swinging, swinging for the hills, if you like, trying to be much more aggressive, and he won ten of the last 11 games at the match as novak djokovic ran out of energy in the humidity.

indeed, a few other sporting headlines for you, and we have had the men's 10,000 metres run in the past few hours, a shock win from ethiopia, winning the gold medal, the first of the olympic athlete programme. and he defeated the world champion and world record holder, joshua of uganda who had been the favourite. we have seen a really wonderful story today on the bmx track, where a former teaching assistant who partly crowd funded herjourney to the olympics became team gb�*s first female gold medal winner in the sport. beth followed up team—mate kye whyte's stunning silver medal in the men's race, to become the first british medallist in the sport since it was made an olympic event back in 2008. south african tatiana won the women's 200 metre breaststroke in a world record time, and that delivered her nation's first gold medal of these games. in what is considered the biggest draw of the games, when of many, anyway, the women's 100 metre failed to find her best form in the heat

at the olympic stadium. we saw the britton�*s athletics, there she is there, seeming to run herself. she finished second to america. that's all from us here in tokyo. back to you in london. more than 1,300 people died of drug misuse in scotland last year, more on that bmx medal in a few minutes. but before that, let's move on to the rest of the day's news. more than 1,300 people died of drug misuse in scotland last year, with the country seeing a record number of deaths for the seventh year in a row. it means scotland continues to have by far the highest drug death rate recorded by any country in europe. and its rate is more than three—and—a—half times that of the next worst countries, sweden and norway. lorna gordon reports on scotland's drugs crisis. it would've been angela maclachlan�*s birthday this week. angela had one of the most contagious laughs, smiles, big blue eyes, and everybody loved her. but, like too many others in scotland, her life lost to drugs. do you miss her? every day.

because you feel robbed. angela's sister, who is a local counsellor, works helping others deal with addiction in the town of irvine. she says over recent years, there has been no let up in the numbers dying. we have had wave after wave. it's like a tsunami coming to us. how much of it can we take? waves of deaths? waves of deaths. when you hear it every single day, you are consoling families every single day. that's not where i want to be. the scale of scotland's problem with drugs has been recognised for some time, but these latest figures are another grim milestone, showing the number of drug—related deaths here rising for the seventh year in a row. the first minister made a very honest acknowledgement that we have not done enough in the past that is either big enough or quick enough to tackle the scale of the challenge we face, but we are now determined

going forward to invest more in life—saving services. and there are new initiatives, including this trial, where police in some areas, including here in glasgow, have started carrying naloxone, which rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. the early indications are very positive. 23 times we've used it, 21 times when using it we were able to help save someone's life. there's no doubt that that's very positive. the scale of scotland's drugs crisis is staggering. there were about 50 but there are only about ten of us left or something. the scottish government has committed a quarter of a billion pounds to addressing the emergency, but this recovering addict who is now a community worker says that money must trickle down. there's always noise, there's always, oh, there is money being invested, we are going to invest in policy, but policy doesn't do nothing. we need to invest in the community.

we already know these people, we know the problems they have. in glasgow this afternoon, a vigil for those who lost their lives. their families and friends gathered around a provocative symbol they hope will focus minds on the crisis. they say they are no longerjust calling for change, but demanding it. lorna gordon, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the first person to be convicted under hong kong's national security law has been sentenced to nine years injail. tong ying—kit was found guilty of inciting secession and of terrorist activities. the law came into force after a series of mass pro—democracy protests in 2019, some of which turned violent. the world food programme says food convoys held in ethiopia's afar region are finally on their way to the northern region of tigray. access into the region was cut off last week after the only available route for aid delivery was made inaccessible following an attack on a world food programme convoy.

humanitarian agencies have been warning that many in tigray are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. a first group of 200 afghan interpreters who served with us forces have landed in america today. presidentjoe biden said the us was fulfilling its promise to those who served "shoulder—to—shoulder" with american forces. campaigners though have called for the process to be sped up. britain has relocated 2,300 interpreters and their relatives, but concerns have been raised after some applicants were rejected. our correspondent secunder kermani is in kabul and explained the risks to these interpreters in afghanistan. tens of thousands of british soldiers served in afghanistan. crucial to their mission, the help of local interpreters. with international troops withdrawing, hundreds of them, along with their families, are being relocated to the uk. but others remain stuck in afghanistan.

anas, not his real name, is one of dozens of interpreters whose applications have been rejected. he says he fears for his life. they are going to kill me. that's it. it is a big threat for my family also. because of me, my family will be paying for that. he served for two years with the british forces in helmand province but was then sacked. those dismissed for serious offences are not being relocated. he says he refused to go on a second consecutive mission in order to attend his engagement ceremony. defence sources allege he repeatedly failed to turn up for work. i was very sad. i wrote all of my story, what happened to me in helmand, because i did a good service so i thought that maybe i receive a positive response. the taliban now control swathes of the country. they haven't taken any cities yet, but some fear it's only a matter of time.

the taliban say former interpreters who worked with foreign forces but now show remorse will not be harmed. few are reassured by that. dozens are reported to have been killed by the group in recent years. military veterans and campaigners say the evacuation policies need to be more generous. the absolute priority for an afghan relocation and assistance policy is looking at are these people under threat because of their association with us? the only exception that needs to be made there is that if there would be any individuals who would be posing a risk to the national security of the uk, then that should be a base of exclusion. with fresh taliban assaults every day, britain's ministry of defence says it has already relocated more than 2000 former local staff and that its scheme is one of the most inclusive in the world. everyone knows the situation has grown increasingly critical.

now, there has been my success, as we have been hearing, for a team gb on the seventh day of the tokyo olympics, including nappanee, who won gold in the women's bmx race. at 22—year—old needed to crowd find her place at the games and won the final with a fearless display of writing. richard girvan is principal of the stephen perse foundation, where beth shriever worked as a teaching assistant. — — fearless —— fearless riding. richard, very good to see it. i should confess that you use to teach at my kids school. no analytics for my children, but obviously a magic touch chair. it must be amazing. we are touch chair. it must be amazing. - are fantastic. we are over the moon for her and herfamily, absolutely delighted. find for her and her family, absolutely deliahted. �* , ., delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at _ delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at the _ delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at the start _ delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at the start of— delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at the start of all- delighted. and david goldstein on the cards at the start of all of- the cards at the start of all of this? . ., ., , the cards at the start of all of this? _, ., , , ., this? outcome as i understand it, not reolly- — this? outcome as i understand it, not reolly- l— this? outcome as i understand it, not really. i think _ this? outcome as i understand it, not really. i think that _ this? outcome as i understand it, not really. i think that that - this? outcome as i understand it, not really. i think that that would | not really. i think that that would be the first to admit that, that she, it's herfirst chance be the first to admit that, that she, it's her first chance to go to

the olympics, and i don't suppose any young person goes to an olympics and expects to win gold. the fact that she made the final, i think she was over the moon. and then to go out and when it from the front, the way that she did, staggering and awe—inspiring hugely inspirational. scores are probably broken up so that children couldn't watch it all together, but had where it gone round? has created a buzz? absolutely. i have been on the phone all day today. and beth also works at the school, ourjunior school, and she has been speaking to the press all day long. i haven't even been able to have a chance to speak to her and congratulate her on the rest of the family, but all of us at the school, we are walking with an extra engine or our stride, seeing our team all hugely proud of what she has achieved, and everybody is just feeling on top of the world for her. �* , ,., , just feeling on top of the world for her. �* , , ., , ,, just feeling on top of the world for her. , , ,, ., ., just feeling on top of the world for her. absolutely. she had to crowd find a place _ her. absolutely. she had to crowd find a place there. _ her. absolutely. she had to crowd find a place there. how _ her. absolutely. she had to crowd find a place there. how did - her. absolutely. she had to crowd find a place there. how did that i find a place there. how did that

work? , ., ., �* , ., , work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand _ work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand it, _ work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand it, when _ work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand it, when she - work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand it, when she was - work? so, yeah, that's right, as i understand it, when she was 16, | work? so, yeah, that's right, as i i understand it, when she was 16, the funding was cut by british cycling for girls in bmx, and so when she finished her a—levels, she came to work for us, and part of that was to help pay her way. and then she obviously started out crowdfunding with support from her parents, and i believe people from across the foundation supported her as well. she managed to raise sufficient funds to keep going, and i think shortly before the olympics, british cycling recognised that she was making so much progress and had a real shot at a gold medal or a medal, and they backed her up and she spent a bit of time up there, and also when told that had come i think she had come back to mum and dad and spent time training on her own for a period, so it really is an incredibly impressive as achievement incredibly impressive as achievement in light of all of those circumstances. i know she has also struggled with injuries over the time that she has been training for bmx, and she tucked in her podcast that we did a year or so back about having broken wrists and having

medal in her legs. so she has overcome injury as well as the funding issues to achieve what she has done. so we are all incredibly proud of her. has done. so we are all incredibly proud of her-— has done. so we are all incredibly roud of her. ., ., i. ,. , proud of her. how would you describe some of what — proud of her. how would you describe some of what the _ proud of her. how would you describe some of what the character _ proud of her. how would you describe some of what the character of - proud of her. how would you describe some of what the character of an - some of what the character of an olympian, and are you going to get to see the metals, do you think? we are to see the metals, do you think? - are absolutely going to hold her to showing us the metals. when she came, she promised that she would come back and show the metals that she won any to the students. so we will definitely be holding her to that. at this foundation, we told them, we are making that change makers of the theatre, and that for students as well as staff, and my sense that beth is a changemaker because she is going to inspire a whole host of young people to think about notjust bmx, but sports in general, and to see themselves as potentially future olympians like her. so it's a fantastic achievement can and hopefully a brilliant legacy in the making. can and hopefully a brilliant legacy in the making-— in the making. absolutely. it is amazin: , in the making. absolutely. it is amazing. and _ in the making. absolutely. it is amazing, and a _ in the making. absolutely. it is amazing, and a wonderful - in the making. absolutely. it is - amazing, and a wonderful achievement for her with the light shining all around. i can tell you are

incredibly proud, quite rightly. richard gavin, many thanks indeed, great to see you. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @geetagurumurthy we have all the news on our bbc website. thanks for watching. good evening. storm evert has brought disruptive winds through the day for the southern half of the united kingdom. some of the gustiest winds occurred through the morning across southwestern areas into the south of wales. some of the strongest winds further east into the afternoon, where even in land, we had 40—115 mph gusts of wind. it's notjust been a story about wind. we have also had some really torrential rain in central and eastern parts, northern england as well. and those storms, thunderstorms, will continue to rumble on into this evening. and the actual storm itself, storm evert, is moving out into the north sea, but you can see in its wake still quite a bit of rain. this is a weather front as well coming into eastern scotland, northeast england — temperatures 10—15. so, it's not a particularly cold night, as you can imagine, with all of the cloud

still and that breeze. but there will be a subtle change in the wind direction this weekend. we are going to pick up this northerly wind. it's not a warm direction at any time of year. and with our weather fronts around, still giving some moisture into the atmosphere. we are expecting it to be a rather showery picture, particularly for england and wales, fewer showers for scotland and northern ireland. but even that said, some places will escape, and there will be some sunshine. but for eastern parts of both scotland and england, you can see through the morning, we've got that band of rain. our weatherfronts breaking up into showers through the day and providing some moisture generally to the south of that with some heavy downpours. the winds are a bit lighter than they've been today, so we will see hail and thunder in those slow—moving downpours. fewer for scotland and northern ireland, but quite cool with cloudy skies in the north, given that northerly breeze. 19 or 20 in northern ireland and scotland with fewer showers. the night time period on saturday sees those showers tending to ease away a bit. temperatures dipping again. a little bit lower because of that northerly wind direction, but certainly not cold.

but sunday, again, brings with it the risk of some rain, and our weather front still around just giving the chance of extra showers across northern england, into wales and the midlands. but perhaps the really torrential downpours at this stage we think will be more confined to southern areas on sunday. so there will be more areas escaping and staying dry, notably in the north, but cooler 15—16 celsius with that wind direction. into next week, it stays on the coolish side. still some showers around, but a relatively dry start to the week. the warning details are on the website.

welcome to the programme. hello and welcome to the programme, which brings together leading this week: the un—vaccinated become the un—loved, and is democracy bound to wither in the arid lands of north africa and the middle east? let me introduce our dateline panel.

mina al orabi's family originated in iraq. she's editor in chief of the national in abu dhabi.