this is held vertically by these floats here. there's then another rubberised cable that goes up to the buoy, which obviously floats on the surface. a boat can come up and clip onto there. the university of southampton is monitoring the efficacy of the eco—moorings. and, if proved to be beneficial, it will mean seafarers and seahorses can co—exist successfully. john maguire, bbc news, dorset. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. hi, there. good afternoon. a weather lottery at the moment. if you have got the winning ticket you are in the east. beautiful morning for a round of golf in east anglia. further west, just as stunning but it has been cloudy and wet at times. rather breezy as well. you can see where the heaviest of the rain sitting across western scotland into north—west england. fairly light and

patchy as it moves further south. an improvement into northern ireland. some sunshine into western fringes scotland through the day. further south and east is where we will see the best of the sunshine. clouding over into the afternoon with temperatures likely to peak at 25 degrees, 77 fahrenheit. cooler under the cloud and rain. that weather front is going to stink subtly south and east. it will weaken substantially through the night. a band of cloud, as spot of drizzle. clearer skies further north. here we could get single figures. it does mean a different start tomorrow. we should start with some sunshine. another low is moving in. the winds will strengthen once again. further showery rain as we go through the afternoon. a week weather front, a band of cloud across the south coast towards lincolnshire. a lot of dry weather first thing. showery outbreaks of rain into the north—west is that low starts to move in. those showers will rattle through at quite a pace. the winds

40 through at quite a pace. the winds a0 mph. underthe through at quite a pace. the winds a0 mph. under the showers. through at quite a pace. the winds a0 mph. underthe showers. italy south and east temperatures peaking at 2a degrees. friday should be a slightly quieter day. the low pressure is drifting steadily eastwards. so it could still enhance some showers to the north and west of the great glen. not a bad day for many. 18 to 22 degrees the high. as we move into the weekend that low pressure is still there to begin with. but it does look likely that high pressure is desperately trying to build in from the atlantic. the winds swinging around to more of a north—westerly direction. that could have a bit more of an influence to the feel of the weather, perhaps not quite as warm as it has been, with temperatures just below par. spare a thought for the mediterranean as we have been talking about heatwave conditions recently. yesterday we had record heat in tunisia and algeria. the high—pressure bringing that heat looks likely to drift that further west as we move towards the weekend. so we could see some

extreme heat this weekend are developing inland across spain. if we get a lot —— above a7.3, that will be their highest amateur ever recorded. more details about that, but north africa, the mediterranean and north america, on a website. a reminder of our top story. there are calls for the reform of a—levels after a record number of entries awarded top grades. labour says ministers must do more to address inequalities. the attainment i a . address inequalities. the attainment ca - was address inequalities. the attainment aa- was too address inequalities. the attainment gap was too big _ address inequalities. the attainment gap was too big before _ address inequalities. the attainment gap was too big before we _ address inequalities. the attainment gap was too big before we went - address inequalities. the attainment gap was too big before we went into | gap was too big before we went into the pandemic. there is baked in unfairness. that's all from the bbc news at one. so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are.

good afternoon — it's 1:30pm, and here's your latest sports news. in the last couple of hours, lionel messi has been talking to the world for the first time as a paris st germain player. after 21 years and 35 trophies at barcelona, he decided to leave because the club couldn't afford a new deal under la liga's financial fair play rules. the 3a—year—old admits it's been an emotional week, but says he's looking forward to the challenge ahead. translation: i still want to play and i still want _ translation: i still want to play and i still want to _ translation: i still want to play and i still want to win _ translation: i still want to play and i still want to win just - translation: i still want to play and i still want to win just as - translation: | still want to play | and i still want to win just as much is when i started my career. with his players and the staff, i think the club is ready to fight for all of the trophies. i want to keep growing and winning titles, and that is why i have come to this club. the premier league says it's fully behind players taking a knee when the new season begins on friday.

a minority of supporters booed the act when england played earlier in the summer, but with clubs saying they're united in taking a stand against racism this season, the premier league's chief executive believes fans will respect the gesture. i think taking the knee is a really powerful, unifying symbol, it's what the players want to do it we are happy in supporting them do that. i really do not understand why anybody would want to object to that or boo it. my hope and expectation is the vast majority of supporters will support it. we'll wait and see this weekend. 0bviously obviously has been going on for a year but without supporters in the ground, but we are not concerned about any negative reaction because we believe it is the right thing to do. the uefa super cup takes place in belfast tonight, with champions league winners chelsea taking on europa league winners villareal. the pre—match buildup has centered on the reported return of romelu lukaku to chelsea. the belgium striker�*s expected to re—sign for the club he left seven years ago, but head coach

thomas tuchel�*s refused to be drawn on the speculation. we missa we miss a certain profile. then we need _ we miss a certain profile. then we need to— we miss a certain profile. then we need to wait and see what is possible. _ need to wait and see what is possible, what isn't possible. we are not— possible, what isn't possible. we are not in— possible, what isn't possible. we are not in a — possible, what isn't possible. we are not in a panic, and we are happy to work_ are not in a panic, and we are happy to work with — are not in a panic, and we are happy to work with the team and today there _ to work with the team and today there is— to work with the team and today there is nothing to announce. england could be without james anderson and stuart broad for the second test against india at lord's, which starts tomorrow.

the boyfriend of a british woman who went missing while hiking in the pyrenees last november, has found her body. esther dingley, who was 37 and from durham, had been walking solo in the mountains near the spanish and french border. her partner daniel colegate had spent weeks walking hundreds of miles searching for her since she went missing. graham satchell has this report. this is the last picture of esther dingley, a selfie taken high up in the pyrenees sent to her boyfriend dan in november last year. she'd been hiking on her own when she went missing. esther and dan had spent the last seven years travelling around europe ina campervan. they'd given up a successful business career for the freedom of the road after dan had a life—changing health scare. search teams combed mountain trails for weeks and weeks after esther disappeared. last month, a small piece of her bone was found next to animal remains. now her body and belongings have been discovered by her partner, dan. he's walked hundreds and hundreds of miles looking for signs of her.

in a statement, the charity lbt global, which is helping the family, said... esther dingley was 37, a confident solo hiker. last year, dan told the bbc she was doing what she absolutely loved to do and had never been happier. graham satchell, bbc news. libya has been in chaos since 2011, when colonel gaddafi was toppled by a popular uprising aided by a bombing campaign led by nato. since then, two rival governments have split the country into west and east. foreign involvement has had a big impact, with the two sides backed by key international powers, including russia and turkey. bbc arabic and bbc russia have spent months researching the role of mercenaries

from russia's wagner group, and have been able to identify russian fighters supporting one side of the war. bbc arabic�*s nader ibrahim reports. caught in a civil war for over a decade, libya was already a deadly conflict. but recently, it's become even more complex. we had heard reports of russian mercenaries fighting against the un—backed government. and now we've got unique evidence of their involvement. the bbc has obtained a tablet that a fighter left behind. it belonged to wagner, a shadowy russian mercenary group. so i've gone through the tablet. it's amazing the amount of information i've managed to find on it. in front of me here, i've got raw data of what wagner have been doing in libya. clearly, this tablet was not meant to end up in our hands. from what we have seen, we can confirm that wagner has

been operating in libya for over two years. we set out to investigate further. this is ain zara, ten kilometres away from the centre of the libyan capital, tripoli. hatham fought these heavily armed russian fighters for nine weeks. translation: they are mercenaries. they only care about making money. this is what they do. it's theirjob. they kill people. they commit crimes for money. they are a criminal organisation. in international law, mercenaries are already unlawful combatants. but we have found evidence suggesting that wagner may have committed war crimes. i met one man who says he witnessed his family being killed by the mercenaries in september, 2019. they were all civilians. 0ur eyewitness did not want to be identified, but he told us that he caught

a glimpse of one of the killers. translation: around 6am, they lined us in this room . and i was the last one on the side. one of them took his weapon. when he started shooting, i fell on my side and pretended to be dead. we can name him as vladimir andonov. he operates in the wagner group under his code name wercher donboss. here is a picture from his social media account. it simply says, "plan number one, find and kill everyone." andonov�*s service record with wagner highlights the group's involvement in some of the world's biggest conflicts. in syria and ukraine, where he is accused of killing prisoners of war in 201a.

wagner mercenaries almost never talk to the media, but two former members agreed to talk to us anonymously. translation: there are no clear rules. i there are no documents regulating relations with the local population. if a workforce is needed to dig trenches for example, if that's not required, then the result is obvious. no—one wants an extra mouth to feed. the links between wagner and the kremlin reach to the very top. the man who is reported to run the group has been seen with president vladimir putin. there's currently a un ceasefire in libya. one of the conditions was that all mercenaries should leave the country, but our evidence shows that wagner is still in libya, in violation of the un deal. after a successful games in tokyo, the world's attention will soon turn to beijing — as the country gets ready to host

next year's winter olympics. chinese officials had been confident they could have crowds for all events — but the current outbreak of the delta variant has cast doubt on the plans. stephen mcdonell reports. in the mountains around the chinese capital, thousands of workers are busy. next to the space—age ski—jumping centre, they're making the most of the summer months for construction. justin downs is a canadian winter sports specialist who has been advising games organisers. there's no question beijing will be ready for the venues, for the competitions. in fact, all of the competition venues are already ready and they've already hosted test events, so like you see going on around us here isjust the supporting infrastructure. before the sliding centre is iced overfor the bobsleigh runs, they're putting the finishing touches. a high—speed train connection with the city is already operating.

around it, hotels, temporary stands for spectators, food and beverage sites are all being built. here at the olympic village, there's still work to be done to have everything ready in time for the games. beijing has been fortunate, though, in that it has been able to study tokyo to work out the logistics in a time of coronavirus. every three years ago, we filmed some of the test events here. despite the pandemic, chinese officials had also been planning to have spectators at the coming 0lympics. that was before a delta variant outbreak reintroduced the coronavirus to china. they say they are still hopeful to bring it under control on time. and most people here seem pretty optimistic about what the beijing games will bring.

this area already has the feeling of a full—blown winter sports place. the hope is that after the olympics there will be an explosion in china and an interest in skiing and the like, and that these facilities will be used quite a lot. one of the things that the beijing olympics is going to find hard to shake is the political element. there are allegations of serious human rights abuses in this country and some are calling for a boycott of the games. well, here we are at the top of the mountain. not bad, eh? the ruins of the great wall of china overlook the olympic sites. but with the coronavirus lingering, how many people will be able to take this all in?

stephen mcdonald, bbc news, beijing. the headlines on bbc news... thousands of civilians flee major afghan cities, as the taliban continue to gain ground — while president biden says he doesn't regret withdrawing us troops from the country. a british man working at the uk's embassy in berlin is arrested on suspicion of spying for russia. calls for the reform of a levels after a record number of entries were awarded the top grades. labour says it's worried about inequality. now it's time for stories across the uk. let's start in north wales, where

ambulance staff say they are facing severe pressures and are strain now than the height of the pandemic. as restrictions have been eased, several say they're now experiencing their "busiest ever summer", but feel "broken" because they have to spend so much time queuing outside full a&e departments. 0wain clarke reports. it's not hard to understand why the north wales coast is such a magnet for visitors. and with many not travelling abroad this summer, the hotels, camp sites and attractions are busier than ever. so, too, are the area's ambulances. minutes after clocking on at 7:30am, the llandudno crew are called into action. this lady was disabled and she wasn't able to use the bathroom, so we assisted in that and she is quite happy, she is not going to hospital. of course, with stacation, everybody is coming here now and it is a really busy time for us. but the next call is more serious.

a woman in her 90s has fallen and badly injured her arm. we're going to get comfy on here. she has dementia and there's no option but to take her to hospital, but this is the scene as the crew arrive, several ambulances are already queueing, each waiting for a bed or trolley to become available in a&e. 0n repeated occasions, spent an entire 12 hour shift. i have gone and collected a patient, come to hospital and this is where i've stayed until an hour, two hours plus my finish time. it was early afternoon before the patient was eventually handed over. we'll be responding in the next four hours unless others are available sooner. is that timeframe acceptable? and trying to match 999 calls which are piling up with ambulances that are tied up is an immense challenge for staff here at the north wales control centre. heartbreaking at times.

you can go home from a shift at night and come in tomorrow to see the same patient waiting on that stack. i'd like people to think before they dial 999. but even if the public follow that advice, and despite the best efforts of staff here, if hospitals are full, log jams and delays will inevitably occur. the health board says it is working hard to tackle the issue. eventually back on the road and the llandudno crew rushed to another call. a man in his 70s has fallen, he may have a mini—stroke. but as the crew arrived for the second time at the hospital, no fewer than eight ambulances are queueing this time. within 15 minutes, we were back out for the _ within 15 minutes, we were back out for the next — within 15 minutes, we were back out for the next casual to. today, we have _ for the next casual to. today, we have done — for the next casual to. today, we have done too.— for the next casual to. today, we have done too. ., . , have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken — have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken its _ have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken its toll _ have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken its toll on _ have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken its toll on stuff - have done too. the covid pandemic is already taken its toll on stuff like - already taken its toll on stuff like these, but now with easing restrictions a different pressure is building, and quickly. and remember, this is what it's like at the height of summer. a very ominous indicator

of summer. a very ominous indicator of what twitter might bring. —— what winter might bring. a baby with a fatal condition has received the world's most expensive drug after a campaign by his parents. 11—month—old edward, from colchester, has severe spinal muscular atrophy, which means he lacks a protein vital for muscle development. he received a new gene therapy, which costs nearly £1.8 million at sheffield children's hospital. debbie tubby from bbc look east reports. edward just needs this one single infusion to transfer his life. it's a new gene therapy called zolgensma, costing £1.79 million, administered at the children's hospital in sheffield. without medical intervention, he wouldn't live to his second birthday. his parents have been scared he wouldn't get this amazing chance of life. yay! we're just so relieved, excited, scared, apprehensive, nervous — absolutely, completely petrified.

it's a game changer. it is absolutely changed the face of sma. this is when he was seven weeks old in hospital. he had just been resuscitated by his dad. later diagnosed with severe spinal muscular atrophy. the vectors deliver new working copies of sma genes to the motor neuron cells. this new, one—off drug contains a replica of the missing gene, halting the progression of the disease, helping babies breathe without a ventilator and even crawl and walk. he shouldn't really feel anything. he's got a cannula in, which is a little bit of plastic into his vein. and the drug just goes through that over an hour. injune, five—month—old arthur became the first baby to receive this revolutionary treatment on the nhs. now edward is one of a handful of babies being treated for the first time at the children's

hospital in sheffield. sma itself is actually the most common genetic condition that causes infant deaths and severe disability — worldwide. about 90% of children with sma type one would die by age two. so this treatment would drastically change the disease progression and outcome of each patient. you don't know what's around the corner. there's only five years' worth of data. so, from what i've seen from other children, theyjust get stronger. so the world really is his oyster. thank you, guys. edward has no idea he has just received the most expensive drug in the world, or how his life will now be transformed. but his parents feel he finally has a future. debbie tubby, bbc look east. sailing was one of the sports that team gb excelled at in this month's olympics, and today children from deprived communities in birmingham have been given the chance to have a go themselves.

the sea cadets are running a day of activities at edgbaston reservoir for young people, many of whom have never been in a boat before. qasa alom went to find out more. so we're having a great day here at edgbaston reservoir. it's the summer holidays, and what better way to spend it than on the water, which is the sea cadets' new scheme to get kids from inner—city backgrounds out and enjoying maritime sport. one of them is 12 years old. how are you? i'm 0k, yeah. yeah? so, before this project, this was the first time that you have ever been on the boat. is that right? yeah. tell me a little bit about that. so, like, when they pushed us off the water, i thought i was going to drown. really? oh, no, but you didn't, thankfully, because you're here. are you enjoying yourself, though? yeah. that's really good, that's really good. i like the activities and stuff. excellent, well, martin is from the sea cadets. well, the leader of the sea cadets. thank you so much for your time. it's great, that's what you

want to hear, isn't it? absolutely. perfect story. getting young people out on the water, getting them to find the adventure of being out on the water and finding out about themselves. this is something that you've been for a couple of years. you're hoping that it is going to be something that you start to do in other places as well. why is it so important to get children out on the water, enjoying maritime sports and finding that confidence? well, sea cadets is all about delivering adventure that launches young people for life. and we know what an amazing experience that is for our young people, giving them the confidence and resilience to take on the world and be successful young people and adults. but we recognise that there are many young people who we are perhaps not accessing, and we wanted to do outreach to those young people, particularly at this time as we come out of a pandemic. to get young people out on the water, what better thing to do than get out and find out

about yourself out on the water. and have fun. brilliant, thank you. how do you feel about that? do you think this is going to be the last time you were ever on about or have we found something that you really enjoy? i feel like i will go on a boat again. i'll feel more confident. thank you so much. we're having a great time here. hope you are as well. we are, thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. the best of the sunshine further east. a beautiful morning for a round of golf. in lowestoft, as you can see by this weather watcher actor. further west, there has been some clout and some rain around. you can see from the radar where i'm talking about. turning quite showery as it moves its way through north—west england and wales, the best of any bright weather continuing further east. it will continue to cloud over this afternoon, but we will cling onto some sunshine across eastern and south—eastern england. and with that sunshine, we will also see some work and temperatures peaking in the mid 20s. underneath the cloud, a little bit cooler and a bit more of a breeze. western scotland and

northern ireland closing the day out with some sunshine, and there is clear skies to the evening will allow these temperatures to fall into single figures. but as our weather front into single figures. but as our weatherfront sinks its into single figures. but as our weather front sinks its way south and east, really by then just a band of cloud, and that will prevent those temperatures falling much more than the mid teens. a little bit of cloud and drizzle first thing in the morning thursday. a different start the day. low pressure winding its way into the far north—west, and that will bring a change as we go through thursday afternoon. yes, some cloud around the central and southern england for a time, but staying largely dry. clouding over from the north—west as we go through the day with showery outbreaks of rain into northern ireland, western scotland and north—west england, and temperatures will likely peak in the north. but once again mid 20s are not out of the question across the south—east. as you move towards friday, it looks likely that low pressure will continue to set into the far north, continuing to spell in some on those north—west

not a bad day. largely fine coast. not a bad day. largely fine and dry, top temperatures of 22 celsius. as we move into the weekend, it looks likely that that area of low pressure could influence the story for a time, and there will be some showers. but hopefully high pressure will then start to build in from the west and quieten things down. it's certainly not a bad weekend for most of us. but we like to call a good deal of usable weather out there to get out and enjoy. a good deal of dry weather around, you just need to look out for that rain in the far north—west through the first—half of the weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines... thousands of civilians flee major afghan cities, as the taliban continues to gain ground, while president biden says he doesn't regret withdrawing us troops from the country. afghan leaders have to come together. we lost thousands lost in death and injury, thousands of american personnel. they've got to fight for themselves. prosecutors in germany say a british man who worked at the uk embassy in berlin has been arrested on suspicion of spying for russia. calls for the reform of a—levels after a record number of entries were awarded the top grades. labour says it's worried about inequality.