welcome to bbc news, i'm ben boulos. our top stories: the olympic sprinter who refused to go home to belarus fearing for her safety arrives at tokyo airport to fly to warsaw. krystsina tsimanouskaya's flight�*s set to take off in 20 minutes — she was offered a humantarian visa by poland. she is notifying elsewhere. piling on the pressure, president biden urges andrew cuomo to resign as governor of new york after an investigation found he'd sexually harassed women while in office. afghanistan's defence minister survives a suicide bomb and gun attack on his home in kabul, as the taliban's insurgency continues. countries across europe send help to turkey as wildfires enter a second week closing in on some tourist hotspots.

welcome to the programme. the belarusian sprinter who refused orders to fly home early from the olympics has left japan within the last hour. she was meant to fly to warsaw but she has been seen flying to vienna. officials from belarus had tried to send krystsina tsimanouskaya home after she complained about the events the committee had entered herfor. ina in a moment we will get the latest, but for now our correspondent has this report from minsk. she's a young athlete thrust into a political row she never sought. when sprinter krystina timanovskaya publicly criticised her coaches at the olympics, they tried to force her back to belarus.

she refused. speaking to the bbc from tokyo, she said she was now scared for herself and for her family. translation: i can't go back to belarus now, of course. - it's definitely not safe for me. i have no idea when i can go back. it may be five or ten years. and today came another reminder of the danger for dissidents. in kyiv, a young belarusian activist was found hanging in a park, but his friends don't believe it was suicide. vitaly shishov fled to ukraine last year to avoid arrest. he'd been helping a flood of other opposition supporters who followed. the opposition leader, svetla na tsikhanovskaya, is in forced exile herself. she's been in london, part of a tour seeking international support. she wants tougher measures, more sanctions against

alexander lukashenko, the man she tried to topple as president. this is our pain, belarusian pain. we think that much more can be done, much more pressure, much more assistance, braver decisions, stronger actions. since the disputed elections, the mood in minsk has changed dramatically. alexander lukashenko now firmly back in control. a year ago, this entire square and all the streets around it were crammed full of protesters. it was opposition to president alexander lukashenko on a scale like he'd never seen before. but now there's no public sign at all of that challenge because so many people have been arrested since then that the others have been scared into silence. maria kolesnikova was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. tomorrow, she goes on trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father

outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that". she writes to me all the time that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. this is the scene live at narita airport in tokyo as this is the flight where

krystsina tsimanouskaya has boarded. it is a flight that is heading to vienna, austria, not warsaw in poland as was originally thought. there was a degree of confusion around this because poland had offered krystsina tsimanouskaya a humanitarian visa. a lot of photographers and journalists arrived at the airport. there was a flurry of activity and then we saw her rushing to a different gate. and the meantime, the flight to warsaw had taken off without her on board. then they gathered at the gateway this plan was boarding, the plane heading to vienna. let's bring in our correspondent, mariko oi who is following this. what more do we know? it appears that there was a change of plans. as you said, there was a direct flight from tokyo to warsaw at 10:20am

local time, tokyo to warsaw at 10:20am localtime, but tokyo to warsaw at 10:20am local time, but as you said, she was seen boarding another plane to vienna, austria also it may be that they were trying to take attention away from her actual flight because if you remember in late may, a flight carrying an opposition journalist and his girlfriend was forced to land in belarus. also, vienna was her preferred destination, and a humanitarian visa has come through from them. she is on her way to austria, while her husband has also fled belarus. he is an ukraine. she has expressed concerns for her other family members back home. meanwhile, the ioc has officially started investigating the matter. there belarusian international committee had to submit a report yesterday. this investigation will take some time but the ioc has also banned the president and the president's son from attending the games here and at tokyo because they failed to protect

the athletes who attended demonstrations against them. you mentioned the investigation. this situation has tested two key principles of olympic authorities — one that they prioritise the safety of athletes, but also that the olympics do not get involved in politics. olympics do not get involved in olitics. , , ., politics. indeed, but if you remember— politics. indeed, but if you remember during - politics. indeed, but if you remember during the - politics. indeed, but if you remember during the cold | politics. indeed, but if you - remember during the cold war these kind of athletes seeking asylum or not go home — this had happened before but we hadn't seen this in recent games. as you say, the ioc is supposed to be non— political, but the ioc has emphasised that the most important thing was her safety, and also for all athletes to feel safe, and that is why the ioc has investigated — is investigating the issue, but also started helping her out in terms of getting

japanese police to protect her, and also she spent a few nights at the polish embassy here in tokyo. what sort of reaction has there been to the senate tokyo? have people been taking an interest? i have to say, it has been covered by some local news programmes but it was definitely not the top news story. it was quite interesting when i was looking for the other stories on google, for example, terms like belarus, why. all of those terms have come up in english and japanese, people researching why she decided it was too dangerous for her to go home. and there have been reports and japan by japanese media and there have been reports and japan byjapanese media about what the country has been going through, because there hasn't been that much coverage about belarusian japan been that much coverage about belarusianjapan up until now. just explain for us where she was looked after, because she

had been taken to the airport initially by officials, they tried to get her to board a flight. reminders of the sequence of events that unfolded from that point on. indeed, it started last week when she complained that she was asked to participate in a competition at the last minute, and she criticised her coach. she was supposed to compete on monday but then, as you said, was taken to haneda airport where she said that she didn't want to go home, she didn't feel safe, and that is where japanese police got involved. she was in police protection. and, of course, we saw poland offer a humanitarian visa so we thought she would be off to poland. the ioc was also investigating the matter as well, and now it's well, and now its investigation is under way so we will probably find out the result in a few months or so. in your assessment,, do you

think this particular one situation has overshadowed the games at all or do you think thatis games at all or do you think that is putting too strongly? in terms of the japanese media it has got some attention but it has got some attention but it hasn't taken all the headlines about how well japanese athletes have been performing, and also of course at the heart of this olympic games is the pandemic, and we continue to see the surge in covid numbers across japan. when you look at news coverage, those stories continue to dominate. the story, foreign media —wise, it is a different story. it obviously has been a big story for many others including the bbc, but of course the athletes' performance has been covered extensively as well. 0k, extensively as well. ok, thank you, mariko. iwant to remind viewers if they are justjoining us, this is the

scene at narita airport. the plane that you can just see, i think you should be able to see it in a moment, taxiing, is a plane bound for vienna. this is the plane that this printer krystsina tsimanouskaya from belarus has boarded. —— sprinter. there was a confusing sequence of events. we saw her arrive at the airport. it was thought that she was going to be boarding a flight to warsaw, after poland gave her a humanitarian visa, after she voiced concerns. this is the scene when she arrived at narita airport within the last few hours. we thought she was heading to poland because the polish government had offered her a humanitarian visa. she spent the night at the polish embassy injapan. she had police protection there as well. then, she went to the

airport. then there was a sudden flurry of activity. an official came out, addressed many photographers, many camera crews, journalists who had gathered reflecting a great deal of interest in this case. then, we suddenly saw them run from one gate to another. they went to the gate where this fight was boarding, a flight to vienna. as mariko was telling us, we believe that the austrian government may have now also offered her a visa. we will wait to get more details on that, but in any case it means that krystsina tsimanouskaya is not heading back to belarus. that is what she feared. she spoke out and said she feared for her safety if she were taken back. if

there are significant developments we will return to that story as soon as it happens here on bbc news. please do stay with us. president biden has said the democratic governor of the state of new york, andrew cuomo, should resign. it's after an investigation found he had sexually harassed women while in office. the five—month inquiry described a "toxic" workplace where people were too scared to complain. back in march, you said that if the investigation confirmed the allegations against govenor cuomo, then he should resign. so will you now call on him to resign given the investigators said the 11 women were credible? i stand by that statement. are you now calling on him to resign? yes. and if he doesn't resign, do you believe he should be impeached and removed from office? let's take one thing at a time here. i think he should resign. i understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach. i don't know that for a fact, i have not read all that data. this is what mr cuomo

had to say in response to the report. i want you to know directly from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. i am 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life in public view. that is just not who i am and that's not who i have ever been. laura nahmias is a journalist who has been following new york state politics and the accusations surrounding the governor's office very closely. i asked her what she made of the attorney—general�*s report. the report from the attorney general�*s office today and independent investigators was incredibly damaging to governor cuomo politically, it laid out in very explicit detail the allegations of 11 women, nine of whom either worked or still work in state government, and did not only lay

out the narrative of the allegations of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments, groping, it also included several hundred pages of appendices attached by the independent investigators that had exhibits of text messages and corroborating emails and documents showing the governor's office co—ordinating retaliatory efforts against a woman who made a sexual harassment complaint, and detailing some of the machinations around positioning some young and attractive women in the governor's office so that they could be close to him. it doesn't sound like he is going to resign, despite pressure coming

from the very top, from the president. what happens if he stays in office? the next step for him, and i agree with you, he is unlikely to resign, no matter what. but he faces an impeachment enquiry from the state assembly, the lower house of the legislature here, and then vowed to proceed with that, with full force, and they are expected to proceed apace and potentially reach a conclusion within the next month or two and that could be the turning point for andrew cuomo's political career. and beside the possible impeachment you describe, and aside from the possible impeachment you describe, are there any other legal proceedings he could face as a result of all this? he doesn't face any criminal charges from

the attorney—general�*s report, although there is one allegation of unwanted touching that is detailed in the investigation that has been referred to the albany county district attorney for potential criminal investigation, but he is simultaneously facing an enquiry by federal investigators into an entirely different matter, another scandal that is looming over his head over how his office and administration handled the deaths of patients in nursing homes from covid and whether or not they obscured the death toll or mishandled numbers, another allegation that he has strenuously denied. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: from floods to fires to how we feel — how climate change harms our mental health and not just the environment. the question was whether we wanted to save our people — and japanese as well —

and win the war or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly- caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life — no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the olympic sprinter who refused _ the olympic sprinter who refused to go home from belarus has boarded a flight to vienna which — has boarded a flight to vienna which took off in the last few minutes_ which took off in the last few minutes from tokyo. now to our regular segment in which we look at environment issues. extreme weather — floods, fires or storms — has affected the globe in the past few months. and it's not only the environment that has been suffering — a study by psychologist susan clayton suggests climate change has a mental impact, particularly on the young. we'll be speaking to her shortly. but first we're going to take a look at the wilfires raging in turkey and southern europe. as ramzan karmali reports, temperatures in the mediterranean basin have risen to more than forty degrees celcius. fires blazing on the hillside

resorts _ fires blazing on the hillside resorts nearby dress and marmara fires blazing on the hillside resorts nearby dress and marmara amorous. fires blazing on the hillside resorts nearby dress and marmara amorous. pfizer fires blazing on the hillside resorts nearby dress and marmara amorous. , marmara amorous. pfizer been raauin marmara amorous. pfizer been raging for _ marmara amorous. pfizer been raging for seven _ marmara amorous. pfizer been raging for seven days - marmara amorous. pfizer been raging for seven days in - marmara amorous. pfizer been raging for seven days in turkey and these claims are closing in on the only koi power station. strong winds and low humidity and scorching temperatures, the weather conditions that help the fire spread. they are likely to continue into next week. so far over 130 fires have been extinguished. many new ones have risen up. these spanish planes are part of the latest efforts to get the flames under control. criticism of the government's handling of the situation is growing but it insists it is doing everything it can. . ,, �* insists it is doing everything itcan. . ., , it can. translation: i answered the allegation _ it can. translation: i answered the allegation that _ it can. translation: i answered the allegation that we _ it can. translation: i answered the allegation that we do - it can. translation: i answered the allegation that we do not - the allegation that we do not accept outcome —— help coming from bob broad. once again i would like to reiterate that notjust would like to reiterate that not just today, would like to reiterate that notjust today, notjust during such a disaster, but it is out of the question to reject offers coming to us because of pride and arrogance as our forests are burning. but turkey

is not the _ forests are burning. but turkey is not the only _ forests are burning. but turkey is not the only country - forests are burning. but turkey is not the only country in - forests are burning. but turkey is not the only country in the i is not the only country in the region fighting these wildfires. in this suburb of northern athens, more than 500 firefighters have been deployed. homes are burned down, with many being forced to evacuate, as grease experiences its worst heatwave in 30 years. translation: in the area where the fire broke out, temperatures reached 45 celsius with less than 10% humidity. these extreme conditions are due to the intense heatwave which has been affecting our country for the last week. find country for the last week. and in israel firefighters _ country for the last week. and in israel firefighters also used planes and helicopters to battle the wildfires. in forests west of tuwai, with the police evacuating the area. the fearfor police evacuating the area. the fear for many as extreme scenes like these have become more normal is the impact of climate change takes hold. susan clayton is professor of psychology at the college of wooster in ohio. she joins us from there.

good to have you with us. just explain for us what the key findings were in your report. well, the study are published with my colleague last summer tried to examine whether climate anxiety reached a level that can be considered a threat to mental health. find that can be considered a threat to mental health.— to mental health. and i certainly _ to mental health. and i certainly don't - to mental health. and i certainly don't mean i to mental health. and i certainly don't mean to| to mental health. and i - certainly don't mean to imply that a lot of people are experiencing this threat but the question was whether some people are so worried about climate change, that it is impairing their ability to function or to enjoy themselves, so we did find that was true, but about 15% of people said that at least some of the time, there were worries about climate change were interfering with their ability to do their work or sleep or ability to have one with family and friends. i ability to have one with family and friends.— and friends. i mean, in some wa s, and friends. i mean, in some ways. it's _ and friends. i mean, in some ways. it's a _ and friends. i mean, in some ways, it's a self-evident - and friends. i mean, in some| ways, it's a self-evident truth ways, it's a self—evident truth that people are directly affected by climate change, they are going to be frightened and anxious and feel things not

being within their control but are you saying that even people who are not directly affected by it, it's not their homes or their food by it, it's not their homes or theirfood supply, it's by it, it's not their homes or their food supply, it's what they are seeing happening elsewhere, is also having an effect on their mental health? yes, and i think that's what we are really saying, people becoming more aware of summer, even those of us were not directly affected as you say, just the knowledge that this threat is so imminent, and that it's affecting people we know places we been, has led to an uptick in anxiety levels. is it uptick in anxiety levels. is it to do with — uptick in anxiety levels. is it to do with the _ uptick in anxiety levels. is it to do with the actual- uptick in anxiety levels. is it to do with the actual events is it to do with the way they are presented, and i know that there is often a criticism of, i suppose, catastrophise in journalism where problems are highlighted but not solutions. i do think in part it's the weights presented, and it's ironic people who are maybe

denial about climate change are also not going to be subject to this sort of anxiety. whereas we often think of anxiety as an irrational response, in this case, it's quite rational. which is to say i think we should alljust not abandon hope, but i do think there are some serious things to worry about. 50 some serious things to worry about. ., some serious things to worry about, ., ., some serious things to worry about. ., ., ., about. so how do we deal with this detrimental _ about. so how do we deal with this detrimental impact - about. so how do we deal with this detrimental impact on - this detrimental impact on mental health if what you're saying that it is a rational and well—founded fear? saying that it is a rational and well-founded fear? well, i would say _ and well-founded fear? well, i would say a — and well-founded fear? well, i would say a couple _ and well-founded fear? well, i would say a couple of - and well-founded fear? well, i would say a couple of things,, | would say a couple of things,, some people are catastrophise in, having a sort of hyperbolic idea of the climate consequences they are facing. so for those people who might be useful to get a bit more accurate information, i think the earth is going to burn up, especially some young people

believe that in 20 years, the earth will spontaneously combust, and i don't think that is likely to happen. a little bit of reality can help, for people who are very anxious, there are methods to deal with there are methods to deal with the actual experience of anxiety and the emotional resonance and so on but the people whose anxieties maybe not quite at higher level. useful things are to find groups of like hundred people. see can get validation that your fears are not irrational. whether that be making your own home more safe, you might find ways to protect yourself against a wildfire. or maybe to take action to address china climate change. by trying to reach national governments. i’m reach national governments. i'm afraid we must _ reach national governments. i'm afraid we must leave it there, we are out of time but really good to speak to you.

hello. the weather midweek isn't looking too bad at all for most of us. wednesday is going to bring lengthy sunny spells, skies will probably look a little bit like this. but we're expecting heavy showers, too. let's have a look at the big picture first, and here's the jet stream. everywhere south of that is warm. everywhere north of that is generally cool and quiet showery. and you can see a large chunk of the continent experiencing this relatively cool and showery summertime weather. so, at the moment, its quiet on the weatherfront. clearfirst thing in the morning with lots of sunshine. temperatures around ten in glasgow, 13 in liverpool, 12 in london. notice a bit more cloud

in the morning here out towards the north west, and actually it will be quite cloudy through the day. in the western isles and northern ireland, showers here. but showers also breaking out across parts of the highlands, the pennines and a few scattered around the midlands and the south, too. but coastal areas probably staying dry and sunny all through the course of the afternoon. winds'll be light. it'll feel warm enough, too, 22 degrees quite widely. even on the north sea coast, in excess of 20 celsius. you'll notice that some of these showers, some heavy and maybe thundery ones, will last through the afternoon and into the evening hours as well on wednesday. now, here's the weather map for thursday. this current of wind, that's the jet stream pushing a low pressure towards us for the end of the week, so that means the weather is turning u nsettled. and here's thursday. out towards the west comes the low pressure. you can see the increasing winds,

up to near gale—force around some coasts. outbreaks of rain, too. for a time at least, eastern parts of the country shouldn't be too bad at all on thursday. i think that rain and wind will probably reach you later in the day, and temperatures hence getting up to around 22 in the afternoon in hull. but the low pressure is slap bang over us on friday, and it'll be a slow—mover. i think on friday particularly heavy. the met office is highlighting across scotland, northern ireland and the north of england heavy and thundery and prolonged. in the south, there'll be showers too. and remember, very breezy weather as well, so brollies at the ready.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: belarusian olympic athlete krystsina tsimanouskaya's thought to have boarded a flight to austria at tokyo airport. the 24—year—old sprinter says she fears for her safety after she refused to fly home to belarus. she claims she was being forced back after criticising coaches. president biden has said the democratic governor of the state of new york, andrew cuomo, should resign. it's after an investigation found he had sexually harassed women while in office. the five—month inquiry described a toxic workplace where people were too scared to complain. the afghan defence minister has survived an attack on his home in the capital kabul. he was away when gunmen exploded a bomb and fired shots as they fought their way into the house.

now on bbc news — my friend from a care home,