this is bbc news — i'm lewis vaughanjones — the headlines at 7pm... union leaders say talks to prevent rail strikes next week have failed — and the walkouts will go ahead. passengers across the country will be affected. i think there are so many sectors of our society at the minute and people who are struggling and we need to help each other where we can. theyjust want more money and yeah, they can hold the country to ransom. tens of thousands of people have marched in central london, calling on the government to do more to help tackle the cost of living crisis. the government is to trial a scheme allowing asylum seekers who cross the channel in small boats to be electronically tagged. police in brazil confirm a body found in the remote amazon rainforest is the missing british journalist, dom phillips.

and coming up at 7.30, all the day's sport, including leicester tigers�* dramatic win over saracens in english rugby's premiership decider. good evening. the rmt union has confirmed that next week's rail and tube strikes, the largest in three decades, will go ahead. they say talks have failed to resolve a dispute about pay, jobs and working conditions. network rail say it's "serious" about trying to find a solution which gives people a "decent pay rise," but is also affordable for taxpayers and farepayers. the strikes — on three days — will cause disruption across england, scotland and wales. our business correspondent,

vishala sri—pathma, reports. it's set to be a chaotic time if you're travelling by rail at all next week. three 24—hour strikes planned across the week on tuesday, thursday, and saturday, with strikes on the london underground to go ahead on tuesday as well. for those who have plans to go on holiday by rail, or indeed go to work, the strikes are notjust disruptive — they�* re costly. they can hold the country to ransom. no, i don't back it at all. my sister is having cancer treatment, and in london, and that's affecting her treatment next week due to the strikes, so she's having to stay over there in a hotel. you know, everyone deserves fair terms and conditions, _ but it will impact so many people, especially post—covid _ and with the petrol prices going up, that daily commute's going to be i just that bit harder for everybody. the rmt union says the dispute is overjob cuts and the need for a pay rise to mitigate

the soaring cost of living. the industry is under pressure because of falling passenger numbers, and rail bosses insist reform is needed. the rail delivery group, who represent national rail, expressed their disappointment, claiming the unions were quick to walk away, with talks scheduled to carry on on sunday. the rmt, however, feel that not enough was put on the table by the rail companies to be able to meet in the middle. people need to know that their contracts, their rights to have guaranteed hours and things like that, are not in jeopardy, but the employer will not give us that. they are saying no pay rise and thousands ofjob cuts. some services will operate, but many will be disappointed. lots of people will work from home, which we have all, most of us who can, have become accustomed to over the past few

years, so it could be that it does not bite those people quite as much as it would have done in previous years. but for more of the leisure travel events — glastonbury is often mentioned as being one of the big events happening next week — the reality is that people willjust have to find another way to travel. the government say they are hugely disappointed, and feel the strikes are premature, urging the rmt to reconsider, but with no compromise in place for the time being, it is set to be a stressful seven days, the passengers bearing the brunt. vishala sri—pathma, bbc news. then clatworthy, the transport —— joining us now from doha in qatar is ben clatworthy, is ben clatworthy, the transport correspondent for the times. what do you make of this? are you surprised? i what do you make of this? are you surrised? . ., , , , surprised? i am not surprised, s-ueakin

surprised? i am not surprised, speaking to — surprised? i am not surprised, speaking to the _ surprised? i am not surprised, speaking to the negotiator- surprised? i am not surprised, l speaking to the negotiator early this week, he seemed to suggest to me these drugs were all but certain to go ahead. today we had that confirmation from the eireann team, they say their efforts have failed and that is why the strikes are going ahead. it will be a bitter blow for passengers, it will be a bitter blow for network rail, who are really hoping they would be able to find a way to avert the chaos thatis to find a way to avert the chaos that is going to come next week. unfortunately, though, they are stretched, the railways have cost £16 billion during covid and they are simply not in a position to be giving out pay rises anywhere near them in line with inflation in the rail industry that is rpi, which is at 11%. . rail industry that is rpi, which is at 11%. ,., ., rail industry that is rpi, which is at 11%. ., ., rail industry that is rpi, which is at11%. ., ., , rail industry that is rpi, which is at 11%. ., ., , at 11%. , so given that that is your thou:hts, at 11%. , so given that that is your thoughts. that — at 11%. , so given that that is your thoughts, that there _ at 11%. , so given that that is your thoughts, that there isn't - at 11%. , so given that that is your thoughts, that there isn't the - at 11%. , so given that that is your i thoughts, that there isn't the money therefore these pay rises to match therefore these pay rises to match the levels they want, where does that leave us, with more strikes? well, that is the big worry. on top of that, we have the rmt�*s ballot,

which allows them to strike for six months. alongside that, the tssa, another transport union, also balloting members. they started fresh ballots yesterday on south—western and gwr. there negotiator has vowed to coordinate his action with the rmt as well. unfortunately, the wait is going and the rhetoric coming from unions at the rhetoric coming from unions at the moment is they are going for maximum disruption in the hope that they will be able to achieve high pay rises. it is worth noting that ministers yesterday were saying that ultimately public sector pay, which the railways largely are now because of the way they are funded, cannot rise in line with inflation, is that itself would be self inflationary. well, given... if we take that as red, just as hypothetical, but there is room for some movement upwards on pay, do you think these strikes will

be effective, that there will be moved from the other side? i be effective, that there will be moved from the other side? i think es, i moved from the other side? i think yes. i think — moved from the other side? i think yes. i think in _ moved from the other side? i think yes, i think in so _ moved from the other side? i think yes, i think in so much _ moved from the other side? i think yes, i think in so much as- moved from the other side? i think yes, i think in so much as network| yes, i think in so much as network rail are looking at ways in order to give staff a pay rise, it is the same for the train operating companies, they are very open in saying they do want to fund a pay rise for their workers. the issue is that they need to find cost savings and they have been told by the department for transport that the budget and the treasury support for the railways needs to come down. they want to fund a pay rise. what they need to do is find efficiencies within the system. the big one is employing more technology, but also changing contracts to look at seven—day working, so you're not paying time and a half on a sunday. they want to give everybody a pay rise. the issues is that they are not able to do it at the level that unions are demanding at the moment. they hope, though, and keep saying their door is open for further

negotiations.— their door is open for further negotiations. their door is open for further neuotiations. . , , ~ ., negotiations. lastly, then, we know the disruption _ negotiations. lastly, then, we know the disruption will _ negotiations. lastly, then, we know the disruption will obviously - negotiations. lastly, then, we know the disruption will obviously be - the disruption will obviously be huge for passengers getting around, but also on other industries to? yes, absolutely. the big one who is very concerned is the hospitality sector. i was speaking to the trade body, uk hospitality, this week. they have put a rough figure and this is couched in, we will see exactly what happens next week, but they think takings will be down by 540 million next week in the retail and hospitality, surrey, in the hospitality sector, largely of course in city centres and towns that are going to be cut off by the rail strikes. that, though, is a huge blow at a time when they are still recovering from effectively 18 months of very difficult trading would lock downs and restrictions. 0k, would lock downs and restrictions. ok, ben clatworthy, thanks for giving us your thoughts on that. that was ben clatworthy, thank you. thousands of people have marched through central london today, calling on the government to do more

to tackle cost of living pressures. the event organised by the trade union congress, union leaders, public sector workers and community organisations demanded what they said must be a "better deal" for people struggling to cope. the government has said it's providing a package of measures to help with rising costs. here's our political correspondent, nick eardley. from the weekly shop to the price of filling up the car, all of us have seen the cost of living go up. today in london, unions called for better pay, but argued the government risked looking out of touch. we've got millions of workers who are really struggling, we need to see a good increase in the national minimum wage, we need to see fair pay increases for nurses and public service workers across the board. and we need fair pay agreements. but ministers say that if you put up pay too much, that could just push up prices further, too. the prime minister says the country will get through the cost of living squeeze.

i sympathise very much with - everybody who is facing pressures i caused by the cost of living, but| what i would argue is that we will get through it, we will come - through on the other side strongly. don't forget we'vel got virtually record low unemployment, the lowest for many, many years. - lowest youth unemployment for a long time. _ the cost of living is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the government, one that will be key for millions of voters. ministers have already announced support packages, discounts for bills in the autumn, and more help for those who need it the most. ministers are also looking at ways to keep household costs down, without necessarily spending more taxpayer cash, things like cutting red tape or persuading supermarkets to keep their costs down. but pay is going to be a key debate, with costs going up so much, many think their pay should too. the treasury, though, thinks that any

pay rises need to be restrained, or inflation might get even worse. it was increases in pay that was on the mind of marchers. we have been on the front line, we just want some sort of pay rise, some sort of acknowledgement of the hard work that we do in the nhs. teachers have had a real terms pay cut of 20% in the last 12 years. , the last 12 months. and the way things are going, that isjust going to get worse over the next 12 months. i am just hoping that enough people have come here today to _ really let the government know that something needs to change and - something needs to happen. this is a political issue that is dominating the minds of politicians. the answers are not simple. nick eardley, bbc news. let's hear more from the general secretary of the tuc, frances o'grady, who was on the march and in nick's report. she came into the studio and spoke to my colleague, luxmy gopal.

this was a really important opportunity for people to come together from all over the uk, ordinary working people, saying "enough is enough." we've got a living standards crisis. we need action from employers and government to make sure that... working people, who have been struggling with pay cuts and pay freezes for over ten years now, just can't afford to take another hit. and they're asking for action from the government, saying, "we demand better." i think a lot of people were feeling the hit from the cost—of—living crisis before today — it's something that people have been feeling for quite a while now — but is there anything that this march could actually, in practical terms, achieve? well, we want government to listen. you know, workers are not the cause of inflation, they're suffering the impact of inflation. and there's a real danger for our economy, too, that because it's now shrinking and the risk is we're heading for recession is that if people

don't have money in their purses and wallets to spend in local shops and businesses, this will make the problem even worse. we would like to see the government help those who are most in need. we have argued for an improvement in universal credit, we have argued for a fair pay increase for public service workers, but we need the government to back fair pay agreements in the private sector too, instead of what we have seen in the rail industry, which is getting in the way of train operating companies, who made £500 million worth of profit, negotiating a fair deal with the unions. the government will, of course, say that they have already put money towards this, they have a package of help and funding towards some of the most vulnerable families and they have provided extra money that will go towards helping with fuel bills and, of course, they will say that this is part of a wider global effect on the economy. well, we all know that inflation is being driven by global energy prices, not by wages, and the government seems to be blaming

working people for wanting to have a fair pay increase. what do you mean by that when you say, "they seem to be blaming working people? " well, they seem to be picking a fight with unions... what do you mean by that, though? ..as representatives of working people. they have been blaming working people for asking for a pay rise and saying they are going to have to tighten their belts. in what way, just to clarify this, frances, in what way have they been blaming people for asking for a pay rise? they have said it publicly that workers should expect to take some pain and what we are saying is that we have seen city bonuses at bumper levels, we have seen the boardroom top pay also at bumper levels and, of course, profits are recovering and all working people are asking for is a fair share of the wealth that we produce and decent public services. we can't have nurses and social care workers queueing up at food banks

to feed their families. you know, it is just not sustainable after ten years of pay cuts and pay freezes, so the government is going to have to get its priorities right, crack down on some of those bad practices that we are seeing like zero—hours contracts. we have got 4 million people on insecure low—paid contracts in britain. and yet, the government said it was going to promise a high wage economy and for britain to be the best place in the world to work. well, we have had 20 separate promises of an employment rights bill and to crackdown on zero hours and so on and yet, nowhere to seen. i think it is time the government stopped picking fights with the working people and started being on the side of ordinary working families. and in practical terms, back to, what would you like to see done there? what do you think should be done in order to help find the money to give people the pay rises that

would be equitable with the speed and the pace of inflation and the cost of living increase? well, we have in particular called for an increase in the national minimum wage because those are the lowest paid workers who really need help now. we would like to see workers having fair bargaining rights, so that those companies that we have seen in the private sector making huge profits actually are encouraged by government to sit down with unions and negotiate fair deals. and of course, the government has got to do the right thing by key workers, public service workers who put their health on the line during the pandemic for the rest of us and at the very least deserve a fair reward. our thanks to frances o'grady there. some asylum seekers who arrive in the uk in small boats or on the back of lorries could be electronically tagged under a new home office trial. the prime minister says it's important to "make sure asylum seekers can't just vanish into the rest of the country."

critics say the plan treats those fleeing persecution as criminals. our political correspondent damian grammaticas reports. after the plane chartered at a cost of several hundred thousand pounds to take asylum seekers to rwanda could not leave this week, the legality of the government's policy of deporting those seeking protection here must now be decided by british courts. so in the meantime, some of those who were due to be on board may be part of this trial and be electronically tagged while their cases are decided. when people come here - illegally and when they break the law, it's important - that we make that distinction. that's what we are doing with our rwanda policy. i that's what we are doing _ with our rwanda policy. with making sure that asylum seekers can't just vanish into the rest of the country. it's not illegal to seek asylum, but the government is under pressure to stop the channel crossings, and tagging rather than detaining some whose immigration cases are being decided has been possible for several years.

i think that the government is chasing headlines. what i want is a serious response, a serious response, because nobody wants these journeys across the channel to be made, these perilous journeys. everybody wants to clamp down on the gangs. that requires grown—up work with the french authorities and upstream works to actually tackle these gangs. you don't do that if you are a government asking the national crime agency to make cuts. the home office says it could be used in cases where there may be an increased risk of absconding and less incentive to comply with any conditions of immigration bail. i do think it's a sensible plan to try this so that we can keep tabs on people who are eligible for removal in order to deliver the government's required objective. tagging and monitoring is used for people subject to court or prison orders. those who work with refugees say extending it to them is cruel and amounts to treating those who come seeking a welcome as criminals. actually, this is a diversion tactic from the government's complete

failure to run the asylum system in an orderly fashion. at the moment, we have utter chaos. we have over 100,000 people in the asylum system waiting for a decision. so refugee groups say, in the face of the huge issues with the asylum system, tagging is a gimmick, and no other western nation does it. the numbers involved in the trial are likely to be small. damian grammaticas, bbc news. president zelensky has visited the front line city of mykolaiv in southern ukraine. the city has been under near constant shelling since late february — resisting russian offensives and preventing its forces from advancing on the key port city of odesa. in his first visit to the city since the invasion began, mr zelensky pledged to help restore water supplies, which have been severely disrupted. mr zelensky then travelled on to odesa, where he inspected a national guard base and presented awards to a number of soldiers. in eastern ukraine, the donbas region continues to see intense fighting.

the governor of luhansk says the situation there is "difficult, but controlled." in reference to street fighting in severodonetsk, which russian troops largely occupy, and attacks on the city of lysychansk. uk prime minister, borisjohnson, has warned of the danger of "ukraine fatigue" as the war against russia drags on. on his return from his second trip to kyiv since the russian invasion, mrjohnson said western support must continue for the long haul. the worry that we have is that a bit of ukraine fatigue is starting to set in around the world, but what you have got understand is that the ukrainians are suffering terribly. in the east of their country, putin is continuing to commit appalling atrocities. the russians are grinding forward inch by inch and it's vital for us to show what we know to be true, which is that ukraine can win and will win.

the russians are still sustaining huge casualties. they're running out of a lot of their most sophisticated weaponry. their precision weapons are starting to run down very severely and we've got to get over the message to the ukrainians and to the world how strongly we're backing them and how important it is that they succeed. militants in afghanistan have killed at least two people during an attack on the last sikh place of worship in the capital kabul. seven others were injured after they threw hand grenades at the building. the taliban authorities say a car bomb also detonated before reaching the gurdwara. our correspondent, secunder kermani, who is in kabul has more details. the attack here began at around 6:30 this morning. if you see those big, grey metal doors covered in shrapnel marks, that is the main entrance to the gurdwara, the sikh temple, and that's where this attack began with a number of assailants firing and using hand grenades to overpower a security guard

and then get inside. now, there's also a number of taliban checkposts around here, and so members of the taliban who were stationed here immediately engaged the attackers in a firefight. and at some point a car that was parked around here, in which a bomb had been planted, that exploded, killing the commander of this taliban check post and causing all the damage that you see to these shops, many of which were owned by members of the sikh community, too. the fighting he lasted for around three hours, the fighting here lasted for around three hours, and you get a sense ofjust how intense it must have been from the state of this room. this was the main prayer hall, and it's been left completely devastated. once upon a time, there were thousands, tens of thousands of sikhs living here in afghanistan. over the years of the conflict, that number dwindled and dwindled. there's been a spate of attacks

carried out by the local branch of the islamic state group. one on another gurdwara two years ago in which around 25 people were killed, another attack in the eastern city ofjalalabad back in 2018. this was their last functioning gurdwara. now it's been attacked, too. there's only around 150 sikhs living in this country any more and the ones that we've been speaking to say they don't feel safe here any more — they want to leave. they're appealing to the indian government to help get them out. secunder kermani reporting. police in brazil have confirmed that a body found buried in the amazon is that of the missing british journalist, dom phillips. a second body — believed to be his travelling companion, bruno pereira — is still being examined. mr phillip's sister said he was a "leading light in journalism". katy watson reports. the grim news confirmed — dom phillips' family can now, in the words of his wife, ale,

say goodbye to him with love. these are the two men as their friends and family want to remember them — dom phillips, a passionate journalist writing a book on saving the amazon. i think he was a leading light injournalism. he was shining a light on an area which is a global problem and i would like to see any changes that we can make as a positive outcome of a tragedy. his travelling companion, bruno pereira, was an indigenous expert who knew the community so well and was loved by so many here. the authorities are still trying to establish whether the human remains also include those of bruno pereira. suspect amarildo da costa de oliveira confessed to the crime and lead the search teams to the place he buried the two men. authorities are also looking for a third suspect, jeferson da silva lima. they say he's currently on the run.

the area where the two men disappeared is vast, remote and lawless. on the border with colombia and peru, there are illegal fishermen and poachers and drug trafficking, too. indeed, bruno's work trying to protect the indigenous communities from illegal activities made him enemies. he'd been threatened in the past because of his work. police, though, say the investigation suggests the suspects acted alone, not with a criminal organisation behind them. but, that was rejected by univaja, the association of indigenous communities, which had taken part in the search and had been calling for more to be done to find their friend bruno and his travel companion, dom. they believe it was a crime planned in detail. katy watson, bbc news. the value of bitcoin has dropped below $20,000 today, to reach its lowest level in 18 months. analysts say the latest fall could trigger a fresh wave of selling, deepening the crisis that has gripped the digital asset sector.

the total value of the crypto market has dropped below $1 trillion from a peak of more than $3 trillion. long covid is becoming a growing and under—addressed problem among children — that's the warning from scientists as new figures suggest nearly one—in—20 primary school pupils in england are living with the illness. our reporter, jamie coulson, has been to meet 11—year—old freya, who has been suffering with debilitating symptoms since last october. this was freya chilvers before she caught covid last october — energetic, sporty, and full of life. and this is her now, living with a long list of debilitating symptoms which frequently leave her exhausted and often in pain. i get backache, headache, rashes. sometimes i get tinnitus. i'm tired all the time.

from going 100 miles an hour, all day long, just bubbly, zesty, really active, jumping around constantly, we see herjust very tired and having to have a rest even after going to school for a few hours. "your physiotherapist can teach you how to take your heart rate..." long covid has impacted every aspect of freya's life. having missed large periods of school, the 11—year—old still only manages three half—days a week, and she struggles to take part in normal activities. it's very difficult and frustrating that i can't do the things that i wanted to do and that i did do before, like all my dancing and football and theatre shows. for months on end, we were in a, what they call a boom—bust cycle. so freya's also been diagnosed with me and chronic fatigue syndrome as a result of long covid, so we were...

she was, like, going to school for a day, and then it'd end up being two days in bed, three days in bed, not well enough to walk across the landing because she was just doing too much. how are you feeling? i'm a bit tired, but i'm ok, thank you. freya is seeing a fatigue specialist, but her recovery has been slow and frustrating. it'sjust hard. it's... it's soul—destroying and devastating, and we just hope for more good days than bad days. and they think maybe nine months... i'll get a bit better after nine months of having it, but i don't know. jamie coulson, bbc news. us presidentjoe biden has taken a tumble off his bike during a weekend trip to delaware. the fall came as he stopped to greet supporters and media towards the end of his

bike ride, at rehoboth beach. the president, who was immediately surrounded by secret service, appeared to be uninjured and got straight back up again. asked what caused him to topple off his bicycle, the 79—year—old president said his foot had got caught in the pedal. mr biden got back on his bike to ride away. that's it, here is the weather with susan powell. hello. cooler, fresher air is now making its way south across the uk and marking the transition we have a weather front along its length some quite heavy and thundery rain possibly this evening. heatwave conditions continue in full spain and france throughout the weekend, still some very warm air sitting across most counties in the south of the uk at the moment. the cooler air is it to be off, here is the weather front dividing them. don't take that weather front line too much as gospel for where we will see the

rain because showers will break out ahead of it. we are looking at wet weather breaking across east anglia, south of england into the small hours of sunday, so heavy rain possibly thundery is possible, but a woman night on saturday and under. sunday daytime showers can seem to bother southernmost counties of england, quite a breeze for northern ireland and scotland, it could take the edge of the temperatures and bring in showers, but in many cases we are looking at a dry and fresh a day.