welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories: how many resignations will it take? borisjohnson refuses to resign, despite his government collapsing and some of his closest allies deserting him. so far there have been 44 resignations, a record number in one day, but the prime minister responded defiantly to critics on his own side. does the prime minister think there are any circumstances in which he should resign? laughter frankly, mr speaker, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he has been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that's what i'm going to do. the opposition labour leader, sir keir starmer, said the prime minister was in

the dying act of his career. anyone quitting now, after defending all that, hasn't got a shred of integrity. mr speaker, isn't this the first recorded case of the sinking ships fleeing the rat? and in other news, a ukrainian mother picks through the remnants of her son's life. we have a special report on russian atrocities and a war crimes investigation. and japan plans to pump waterfrom the fukushima nuclear plant into the pacific. we hear from the fishermen protesting the move. welcome to our viewers on pbs in the united states and around the world. the british prime minister borisjohnson is clinging

on to power in downing street, despite the resignations of more than a0 of his own mps from their government roles. he's continuing to defy calls for him to step down from some of his most senior colleagues. they believe he has clearly lost the confidence of most of his party. with the latest, here's our political editor, chris mason. the front pages, the photographers, the reporters, all asking the same thing. is it all over, prime minister? the lenses tilt towards boris johnson leaving downing street, heading for parliament at lunchtime and prime minister's questions. jeering the difficult questions usually come from the opposition benches. today, they came from conservative mps as well. the prime minister constantly tries to deflect from the issue, always tries to blame other people for mistakes and at least nothing left for him to do other than to take responsibility and resign.

applause today, i ask him to do the honourable thing, to put the interests of the nation before his own interests, and before, in his own words, it does become impossible for government to do its job. does the prime minister think there are any circumstances l in which he should resign? laughter frankly, mr speaker, thejob of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he's been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that's what i'm going to do. and when it was the labour leader's turn, he took aim at those in the cabinet. only in office because no—one else is prepared to debase themselves any longer, the charge of the lightweight brigade! laughter have some self—respect! in the middle of a crisis, doesn't the country deserve better than a z—list cast of nodding dogs? mr speaker, the difference

between this government i and that opposition is _ we have a plan and they do not. and we're getting on with it. they want to focus on this type of issue, mr speaker, - we're going to get on with ourjobs. i ian blackford. the scottish national party leader at westminster is often remorselessly barracked by conservative mps. not today. let's face it, it's a minor miracle that the prime minister has even made it through to prime minister's questions. and he really ought to see the faces behind him because, prime minister, it really is over. the prime minister is desperately clinging on to his own fantasy, but the public can't afford to put up with this farce of a government a minute longer. all day, it felt at times like every ten minutes or so, conservative mps were sending letters saying the prime minister should go. and just take a look at the language chosen by the now formerjustice minister victoria atkins as she resigned...

are we witnessing the collapse of the government, mrjavid? ..and from a letter to a resignation statement from the man who just yesterday was boris johnson's health secretary. i call sajid javid. have a look at the body language of the conservative benches as you listen to mrjavid's words. treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months. and, mr speaker, i will never risk losing my integrity. this week again, we have reason to question the truth and integrity of what we've all been told. and at some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough. i believe that point is now.

he said he had been patient, hoping things would improve. but i do fear that the reset button can only work so many times. there's only so many times you can turn that machine on and off before you realise that something is fundamentally wrong. and then there was this — a public, laser—guided attack on those still in boris johnson's cabinet. they will have their own reasons, but it is a choice. i knowjust how difficult that choice is. but let's be clear. not doing something is an active decision. i'm deeply concerned about how the next generation will see the conservative party on our current course. can i say to the house, there will be no more personal statements today.

bye, boris! but he was back again, down the corridor, a few hours later, facing the liaison committee of senior backbenchers. prime minister, how's your week going? terrific. turns out that they had been keeping up with the news. it's being reported that there's a delegation of your cabinet colleagues waiting in downing street, including the chief whip, the transport secretary and your new chancellor, waiting to tell you when you finish here today that it's time for you to go. how will you respond to that? you're asking me to comment on... this conversation will happen in a few minutes, prime minister. so you say! but i'm not going to give a running commentary on political events, we're going to get on with the government of the country. this morning, the communities secretary michael gove went to see the prime minister to tell him he thought he should resign. the man who just yesterday sat around borisjohnson�*s cabinet table was sacked by him, with a number 10 source

describing mr gove as a snake. this was the scene in downing street this evening — drivers hanging around while cabinet ministers went inside, some saying mrjohnson should go, others saying he should stay. the culture secretary's still supportive. is anyone else backing the prime minister? oh, yes! westminster is a postcode defined by power. today has been defined by it draining away from borisjohnson. but he's not shifting, at least yet. i'm joined now by our reporter mark lobel who is in downing street. good to see you. the street was packed earlier on with reporters and mps coming and going. it is a lot quieter now. bring it up to speed with what has happened in the last few hours. , . , has happened in the last few hours. , ., , , ,

hours. yes, a brief respite in the middle — hours. yes, a brief respite in the middle of _ hours. yes, a brief respite in the middle of the _ hours. yes, a brief respite in the middle of the night, - hours. yes, a brief respite in the middle of the night, of. the middle of the night, of course. just after chris was reporting at that sensational sacking of michael gove, and our after that the secretary of state for wales resigned, the third cabinet mina start to resign from cabinets under borisjohnson�*s leadership. and boris johnson's leadership. and then borisjohnson�*s leadership. and then the 44th ministerial resignation, that is a record in around 2a hours to have that many resignations. and then 15 minutes after that, the eternal general for england and wales was on television saying that the prime minister should resign and she was the first person to put her hat in the ring for a vacancy that is not yet available because boris johnson is holding on. find johnson is holding on. and mark, johnson is holding on. and mark. for— johnson is holding on. and mark, for those _ johnson is holding on. and mark, for those watching around the world, 44 resignations in one day, a record—breaking day for the prime minister. just remind us how we got here. well, a month ago, exactly a

month ago, there was a boat of confidence in the prime minister which he won with 59% of the support from tory mps. straight after that we had by—elections in this country in the north and south—west which he lost which took some of the gloss off his election winning reputation. straight after that he went to nato summits and g7 summits around the world and came back and as soon as he landed, the party still bruised from those by—election defeats, he had to admit that he had known about a misconduct complaint of one of his senior figures that he had then promoted to be a senior disciplinarian in the party. that was too much for the chancellor and health secretary to take after the party gate scandal and everything else. they reside on tuesday. now, next week he bases the prospect of another vote of cook no—confidence. if that comes to pass it is not considered likely at the moment at least that he would win that one and stay in that building. we that he would win that one and stay in that building.— stay in that building. we will leave it there, _

stay in that building. we will leave it there, thank - stay in that building. we will leave it there, thank you - stay in that building. we will| leave it there, thank you very much. moving away from the uk, let's turn to ukraine now, where one of the biggest war crimes investigations of modern times is under way. the international criminal court and ukraine's own national prosecutors are gathering evidence of russian atrocities. some of the worst took place in bucha, a suburb of the capital kyiv. as our special correspondent fergal keane reports, there's psychological devastation for the families of the dead. and a warning, you may find this report distressing. she's come to gather in what's left of the life of a lost son, a man who loved laughter. laughter. denis rudenko, killed in a massacre. his mother, katarina, has come to clean out denis' locker at the garage where he worked.

denis was 37, a father of two. he was shot dead by the russians, with seven other men, on march four last, at 144 yablunska street in bucha. it began with ambushes. ukrainian artillery stalled the russian advance. the russians encountered resistance here as they tried to break through to kyiv that they simply hadn't expected. so what they did was to launch a sweep right through the area, going house to house, to find anyone they suspected of helping the ukrainians. they arrested denis rudenko with eight other men.

there was torture, then execution beside the russian base. his mother didn't see denis again — not until she saw his body in a mortuary a month later. translation: body number 316. it was denis... ..my husband. and i looked at it, but i didn't understand at first what the holes were. he was shot. and his thigh was shot through. and, if i'm not mistaken, there were shots in his abdomen and his eye. there are still plenty of traces of the russians at 144 yablunska — obscene graffiti on the walls, a soldier's military debit card we found in the rubbish, old ration packs in what is now a crime scene.

here is the place of the executions. all the bodies were lying here in different positions. and the man leading ukraine's investigation told us he is going after president putin and his elite. that is where the bullet hit. it was definitely planned in advance. it was instructed from the top. the suspects would be the top of the top. so, the guys who actually launched the war, let's say. putin and his defence minister? yeah, yeah. so, it is like a chain of people, which decisions led to the invasion. russia says the massacre was a fake — its standard response to even the most glaring truths. and the kremlin isn't cowed by war crimes investigations. it'll be hard to get justice for denis rudenko while vladimir putin remains in power. translation: whatever will happen later, after the war. ends, i don't care at all. honestly.

i simply have no son. my dearest, my most beloved person. he cared for me so much. he was such an angel. justice may or may not come. but the dead will stay dead. fergal keane, bbc news, yablunska street. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: something fishy or normal nuclear procedure? we look at plans to empty water from the fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties, and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible.

germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. they've pipped the favourites, south africa, by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated. celebration parties were cancelled. a man entered the palace i through a downstairs window and made his way to - the queen's private bedroom. then, he asked her for a cigarette. - and, on the pretext - of arranging for some to be brought, summoned a footman. on duty, who took the man away. one child... ..one teacher... ..one book... ..and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution. applause this is bbc world news,

the latest headlines: borisjohnson refuses to resign, despite his government collapsing and some of his closest allies deserting him. so far there have been 44 resignations, it's a record number in one day, but the prime minister responded with defiance to critics on his own side. more now on our main story. we arejoined by joseph cirincione, who's a member of the council on foreign relations in washington dc. how will this political turmoil in the uk play out on an international stage? this has immediate international repercussions. borisjohnson was a strong supporter of the effort, it is notjust supporter of the effort, it is not just that he supporter of the effort, it is notjust that he may no longer

be the leader of the united kingdom, it is that it could usherin kingdom, it is that it could usher in the weeks of uncertainty that could weaken british and perhaps european result. numbertwo, it starts to raise serious questions about the stability of the western alliance. you have major countries, these leaders of these alliances, the united kingdom, france, the united states, these leaders are embroiled in their own complexities. and in the face of russian, some would say also chinese, threats. it gives credence to the russian and chinese view that the west is in a period of decline. what represent that decline? economics, problems and disunity, and failures of governments to be able to hold power for a stable period governments to be able to hold powerfor a stable period of time. power for a stable period of time. . ~ power for a stable period of time. ., ~' ., power for a stable period of time. . ~ ., ,., time. talking about where you are specifically, _ time. talking about where you are specifically, that _ time. talking about where you are specifically, that special. are specifically, that special relationship between the us and the uk, how will a crumbling

british government affect transatlantic relations? right awa , transatlantic relations? right away. you — transatlantic relations? right away. you will— transatlantic relations? right away, you will see _ transatlantic relations? right away, you will see president| away, you will see president biden sort of distancing himself from the united kingdom. he won't want to get involved in what is basically the internal affairs of the british government, so you will have that removal, you will see a distancing of us officials. they aren't going to express support for a troubled prime minister, particularly with the circumstances of the scandal. and you will also see president biden distanced himself as he goes on his visit to the middle east where he is going to israel, another country whose government has recently crumbled. biden is trying to project an image of strength, certainty, confidence, capability, and being associated with the israeli government certainly doesn't help. you touched on russia and china earlier on, how will this play out longer term for the governments in beijing and

moscow? governments in bei'ing and moscow? ., governments in bei'ing and moscowvfi governments in bei'ing and moscow? ., ~ ., ., ., moscow? you know, one would think that _ moscow? you know, one would think that the _ moscow? you know, one would think that the western - think that the western alliance, the united states, etc, would have a natural advantage, their economies, diversity of populations over the russia and china, but what you have instead is the west weakening, faltering, but sat with internal contradictions at a time when certainly china, despite all of its internal problems, is relatively rising. russia — a weak country still able to prosecute a war that the west seems unable to stop. so this... the crisis of boris johnson is basically an internal crisis, a domestic crisis. it has these global implications that further herds western efforts to be a model of government, a model of democracy for the rest of the world. ., world. 0k, we will leave it there. thank _ world. 0k, we will leave it there. thank you - world. 0k, we will leave it there. thank you very - world. 0k, we will leave it. there. thank you very much world. 0k, we will leave it - there. thank you very much for being with us.

to japan now, where prime minister fumio kishida has pledged to restart more nuclear power plants to provide energy as the country struggles with its hottest summer on record. but 11 years on from the fukushima disaster, nuclear plants remain deeply unpopular among the japanese public. our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has gained rare access to the fukushima plant and sent this report. this is raw fish, just from the sea off here in fukushima, caught this morning. would you dare to eat this? well, according to ono—san here, who caught it, he says there is nothing for me to be worried about. "nothing to worry about, it's safe." well, it certainly tastes good! bell rings for years

after the nuclear disaster, no—one wanted to buy fish from fukushima, the fear of radioactive contamination was so strong. finally, that is starting to change, but now there is a new threat. this is the fukushima nuclear plant today. the site is now dominated by giant water tanks filled with radioactive water. from up here, you really get a sense of the scale of the problem. behind me are more than a thousand giant water tanks, and at last count, they contained nearly 1.3 million tons of contaminated water. the plan now is to treat the water and pump it into the ocean. for fishermen like ono—san, that would be a second disaster. translation: now, fish from fukushima is popular again. i people know we check every fish for radiation, so they feel safe, but now the government wants to release this contaminated water into the sea. we do not trust them

and we do not feel safe. the government says the water will be made safe before it is released, and this is where it will be done. inside this building is the world's largest, most advanced system for removing radioactive particles from water. you can't really see what's going on in here, but in here is all the processes to remove 62 radionuclides from the cooling water so that it will made safe, before it is then eventually diluted and pumped into the ocean. but the water will not be entirely free of radiation. at this specially built lab, they are testing for one radioactive particle they cannot remove — tritium. translation: tritium is emitted in the cooling water of every - nuclear power plant in the world.

we are closely monitoring the levels to reassure the public it is safe. we've also invited outside organisations like the iaea to check our data. beside the ocean, construction is already under way on a huge pipe that will carry the treated water out to sea. but the fishermen remain almost entirely unconvinced. translation: the electricity. from the nuclear plant all went to tokyo, so tokyo should take responsibility. why not put the water into tokyo bay? the water released from fukushima will be no more radioactive than water released from nuclear plants all over the world, but the fishermen here have had their likelihoods ruined once before. they have no desire to risk it again. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in fukushima. before we go, let's take

a quick look at the some of the front pages here in the uk. on the front page of the guardian, they describe the prime minister as "desperate" and "deluded" as they say he "clings on to power". meanwhile the sun describes the prime minister as "defiant" with the headline "you'll have to dip your hands in blood to get rid of me". the daily mail says borisjohnson "stares down "the mutiny" from his ministers. and the times describes the prime minister as having to fight for his life. much more on the main story of ours and other stories on the bbc news website. or, you can because the bbc news app. —— download. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. see you next time. goodbye for now.

hello there. so far, the weather story this week has been dominated by a lot of low, grey cloud for many. yes, at times, it's felt warm, but just take a look at suffolk yesterday afternoon. it was a fairly typical story right across the country. the cloud was widespread. this was the satellite picture from wednesday. in fact, there was some early morning rain in scotland. that cleared away and a brisk northwesterly wind dominated here. some brightness further south, some warmth, but over the next few days, it looks likely that we are going to see more sunshine and more heat developing. perhaps into next week, it's going to get a bit too hot for some of you. the jet stream is to the north of the uk at the moment. once we're on the southern flank of the jet, we're in the warmerairsource, and this area of high pressure, well, that is keeping things quieter and allowing for more sunshine to come through. so we will start the day

on thursday, for many, on another cloudy, grey note. early morning sunshine in eastern scotland, and then eventually the cloud will tend to melt away and the sunshine really starts to build. the only exception is a little more cloud just running in off the northwest of scotland. perhaps here, temperatures only mid—teens, but highest temperatures through thursday afternoon of 25 degrees — 77 fahrenheit. that cloud into the far north thick enough for a spot or two of light, drizzly rain into the northern and western isles, but elsewhere, we keep some clear skies. it will be a relatively mild start to friday morning, temperatures widely into the mid—teens once again. so, on friday, another dry, settled, sunny day in prospect. again, just the far north and west may well just keep a little more cloud that's being pushed in by this westerly wind, but with more sunshine coming through, temperatures are going to start to respond. into the high 20s not out of the question by friday afternoon, and that's 82 in terms of fahrenheit.

as we move into saturday, the high pressure is still with us. we've still got, however, the wind direction swinging around that high pressure, driving in more cloud and some showery outbreaks of rain just clipping the northern and western isles. but again, those temperatures for england and wales, where we see the highest values, into 27, 28 degrees. and that trend continues through the weekend and into next week. in fact, the heatwave could be here to stay. with temperatures widely into the low 30s for many, it could be too hot for some.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, is refusing to step down, despite calls from several of his cabinet ministers for him to go. mps are angry at him over a series of scandals, including his handling of claims against a former deputy chief whip, chris pincher. so far, there have been 44 resignations, a record number in one day. the home secretary, priti patel, who's been a loyal supporter, is understood to be among the cabinet ministers who have told the prime minister he should stand down. ukraine's prosecutor general says she's investigating more than 21,000 allegations of war crimes, committed since the start of russia's invasion. iryna venediktova told the bbc her office was receiving up to 300 reports of suspected war crimes every day. some of the worst took place in bucha, in kyiv.