this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. europe continues to struggle with rising temperatures — hundreds evacuate from their homes in spain as wildfires spread. as more train strikes are announced, the head of one of the uk's biggest unions calls for workers to be given fair pay that reflects soaring inflation. the companies that we're talking about that are taking us to the wire are making profits. and those companies now need to make sure that workers get a piece of the pie. i don't think that's a... i don't think that's militant. suella braverman becomes the latest conservative leadership candidate to be eliminated — leaving five remaining in the race. russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including four—year—old liza dmitrieva uk mps urge the government to apologise to thousands of women

who were forced to give up babies for adoption between the 1950s and �*70s, because they weren't married. one woman says she had her baby pulled from her arms. my baby started crying in a way i had never heard her cry and i can remember my knees giving way, and that is pretty much all i remember until i was at home. pressure on nhs emergency services in england is getting worse, with ambulance callouts last month hitting an all—time high forjune. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. soaring temperatures have already sparked wildfires and caused damage across

southern europe. greece spain and portugal are currently the worst affected while the heatwave is expected to continue in britain and france into next week. dozens of fires have broken out in portugal, including near the city of coimbra — killing at least one person. meanwhile the city of badajoz in spain endured temperatures of 44 degrees with the country's meteorological agency saying some regions were "suffocating". further north in france a wildfire ripped through vast areas of pine trees south of bordeaux and many bastille day celebrations had to be cancelled. the spanish region of andalusia has endured some of the hottest temperatures, including the city of cordoba from where our correspondent guy hedgecoe reports. bell tolls. the people of cordoba know all about heat. situated in the guadalquivir valley in southern spain, summers in this historic city are notoriously hot and dry. but this summer already

looks hotter than usual. the country is in the grip of the second heatwave of recent weeks. for many of the tourists who come here, temperatures in the mid—40s celsius come as a shock. we're from denmark, for me, too hot. this is too hot. i don't mind actually. this is crazy. for locals, experience has shown how to deal with the conditions. translation: if you have certain underlying conditions _ and you expose yourself to the sun, you might suffer heatstroke, and it will get worse. but if you go out earlier in the day, you hydrate properly, then you will be ok. older people and young children are among those most at risk of being affected by the heat, according to doctors. you must force the elderly and babies to be hydrated, to drink water. you must watch them closely.

i suggest that people stay at home from 1—6pm now, with the risk so high. this heatwave is unusual because of its impact across the whole country. even northern areas, which would normally escape the worst of the summer heat, are seeing extreme temperatures. the north—western region of galicia has been on red alert due to temperatures of up to 42 degrees. the extreme heat and high winds have fuelled wildfires, which have devastated swathes of land in the centre of the country. in neighbouring portugal, similar conditions have left firefighters battling multiple blazes. swimming pools like this one provide relief forfamilies, but despite the relaxed mood, there is a sense that this kind of heat is becoming increasingly normal.

translation: it's changed. we have longer summers now. the spring and autumn don't exist any more, we go directly from the cold to intense heat in a few weeks, just a short period of time. it is evening time in cordoba and the temperature has dropped just enough for people to start coming out into squares like this one for a drink. but it's still not clear exactly when this heatwave will end, or indeed, whether they will be others like it later this summer. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, cordoba. earlier, i spoke with our weather presenter matt taylor to find out more it's an unusual thing, the sheer location and extent of the heatwave. they will slowly start to cool down next week but they are not done yet. let's show you the chart, you see the red colours, temperatures significantly above normal in spain and portugal, parts of southern france, and if i run it over the next few days, you notice the heat area expanding, this is going to be a massive,

long lasting and extensive heatwave touching almost all parts of the uk as we go into the start of next week. tell us more about what will happen in the uk, what will temperatures reach? it probably feels a while away at the moment but monday and tuesday of next week, we are looking increasingly at the likelihood we will break temperature records in the uk. i've never had to put a0 on a weather chart in the uk before, it's a chance it may not quite happen but we will get close to that. that is exceptionally hot, the sort of temperatures, ok, if you are on holiday, you may be able to deal with but day—to—day, it can have severe impact on health and we are likely to see an impact on transport and power next week as well. no—one, i can imagine, is really looking forward to that. unless you have a swimming pool or air—con. how long is it going to last? this is going to last through monday and tuesday and it's worth emphasising night—time temperatures

for some won't drop below 25. there will be spots to avoid, at the moment it looks like wednesday onwards we will see things cooling down dramatically but with that could come the storms. you cannot look to the future but given that you say you have never had to put a0 on a uk map before, do you think we will see more of this? climate science points to that. look at temperature records in the uk since we started doing them, of the top ten hottest days, seven of them had been since 2003 so it's becoming more and more regular, temperatures getting more extreme. we broke the temperature record three years ago, they are not there to be broken so regularly so there is a concern with a warming planet we will see this happen more often. let's head to portugal's capital lisbon and speak with our correspondent alison roberts. welcome to you. terrible wildfires in the country. welcome to you. terrible wildfires in the country-— in the country. what is the latest? the are in the country. what is the latest? they are starting _ in the country. what is the latest? they are starting on _

in the country. what is the latest? they are starting on a _ in the country. what is the latest? they are starting on a regular- they are starting on a regular basis, let me give you an idea of what firefighters are facing, a part was brought under control and happened a week ago and there are 400 firefighters in that spot and fires are starting all of the country as the day wears on and temperatures rise and it's extremely dry, the whole of mainland portugal is neither severe or extreme drought and the iberian peninsula at suffering its driest climate in 1200 years according to meteorologists. how are the authorities coping and what are they saying? the government has been appealing _ what are they saying? the government has been appealing to _ what are they saying? the government has been appealing to people - what are they saying? the government has been appealing to people to - what are they saying? the government has been appealing to people to be - has been appealing to people to be careful and it has imposed bans on the use of machinery in a forested and rural areas and also public access is restricted and people cannot use fireworks or start fires, that goes without saying. there have been fewer ignitions and sometimes might be expected which officials feel may be a sign that the messages are getting through but it's impossible to prevent all fires.

there are some suspicions of arson but with temperatures very high and still, yesterday we had the highest july temperature ever, 47 degrees in one of the valleys so it's extremely unusual, temperatures may be not reaching so high today but very high again and try and that is the problem. again and try and that is the problem-— again and try and that is the roblem. �* ., ~ i. ., problem. alison, thank you for u ”datin problem. alison, thank you for updating us- — thousands of rail workers in the uk will go on strike again in the coming weeks. in addition to a day of strike action on the 27thjuly, the rmt union has announced its members will strike on thursday the 18th and saturday the 20th august in their ongoing row over pay, jobs and conditions. yesterday, the aslef union also said train drivers at eight rail companies would stage a walk—out on saturday 30th july. sharon graham, the general secretary of unite union is warning of a "summer of discontent" as workers are being made to "pay the price of inflation". our economics editor faisal islam reports.

there have been strikes on the railways and more have been announced later this month and in august, too. they have been threatened in the skies and across public services as employers, including the government, decide on pay rises that fall short of the current very high rate of inflation. the unions are hitting back, so says the chief of the biggest private sector union, unite. before, people turned around to workers and said to workers not only have you gone out and defended the pandemic — because it was key workers and ordinary people that did that — now, it's over, we want you to pay for it. now that is actually abhorrent to me. the idea that we'd said out you go, you defend what's going on out there and, by the way, now you're back, and everyone knows it's ok to go out again, we're going to slash your pay. in the main, the companies that we are talking about that are taking us to the wire are making profits, and those companies now need to make sure that workers get a piece of the pie. i don't think that's militant. i think that's basically saying workers deserve to get more money

in their pay packets. it's as simple as that. but hundreds of disputes is definitely on the cards? so are you and your fellow union bosses kind of holding the economy to ransom in terms of a summer of discontent? well, i love the cliches, because they do come out quite a lot. we could be playing bingo at the moment to find all the ones that are coming out. but summer of discontent in the sense that... look, what i'd say to that is that, for workers, they have had a spring, summer, autumn, winter of discontent for years. and, quite honestly, if what that means is an employer who can pay, an employer who has made a profit — an employer who has made a profit out of workers has to pay a proper fair wage to those workers, and notjump on the bandwagon of, we can't pay. we saw this in a previous crisis. but employers are able to pay, then they should pay workers. what are people expected to do? the bank of england and government say high wage rises risk prolonging the inflation crisis. but for some jobs, where there are worker shortages,

for example bus drivers and bin collectors, the unions are threatening strikes and getting healthy pay rises. the government will decide how much to give millions of its workers in the coming days. we will have more on that in a moment. but first... the remaining candidates in the conservative leadership race will face the public for the first time today — as they take part in a tv debate. let's remind you of what's happened and where we are now. there are five candidates remaining, it's after the attorney general suella braverman was knocked out in the second round of voting yesterday afternoon. the next round of voting, when the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, takes place on monday. these votes will keep happening until two candidates are left and then conservative party members will vote for the leader. so far rishi sunak and penny mordaunt have come top of both rounds of voting. today though, the five remaining candidates will take part in a televised debate on channel 4.

there will also be a debate on sunday on itv, and on tuesday on sky. we've seen some of the candidates this morning. liz truss didn't respond to reporters' questions but did say "morning" when she got in her car. after yesterday's vote she was in third place to become the next leader. rishi sunak made a very quick exit and got straight into a waiting car. he has been in the lead for both votes which have taken place so far. and tom tugendhat did give an interview — he got the least number of votes out of the remaining candidates but remains positive about his chances to become the next leader. tonight is the big event, because what this is actually about is notjust conservative party members, as important as they are, it's actually about the country at large, so what we need to show, what everybody needs to show, is that they're able to communicate conservative messages strongly and debate hard because this isn't actually a knife fight in a phone box — this is about governing the united kingdom. this is about changing the way

that our country is governed and in two years' time that means taking the fight to labour. are you looking forward to the debate? very much. and how is your preparation going? yes, going really well, actually. i've had a lot of fun. and the reality is, you know, we're having huge amounts of debates in the team as to how we focus on different areas, because you've got to make the argument for the union, you've got to make the argument against the snp for their failures in education and health care, you've got to make the argument against labour for their total lack of leadership and sort of... you know, absolute vagaries on everything, you've got to make the argument against the lib dems who are — well, don't know where they are, really frankly. so, you know, the whole thing is all about focusing on what we're going to deliver for the united kingdom, what we're going to deliver for the country, and about a clean start, because the way in which we're going to make this work is by changing the way government works, building trust and being a clean start. and as the only candidate who hasn't been in this government, i am the clean start. you said you feel a little bit like a prom queen with the other candidates vying for your favours. if you do get dropped from the race, are you prepared to indicate

which way you mightjump? i'm going to win the race, so i don't think that's one of the questions that i need to answer! that was tom tugendhat, sounding very optimistic. let's talk to mick lynch, general secretary of the rail, maritime and transport workers union bring us up to date with your negotiations. fin bring us up to date with your negotiations.— bring us up to date with your neuotiations. ., ., , ., negotiations. on the train operating com an , negotiations. on the train operating company. we _ negotiations. on the train operating company, we haven't— negotiations. on the train operating company, we haven't been - negotiations. on the train operating company, we haven't been offered i company, we haven't been offered anything, they said at the changes to workers terms and conditions and working practices which is challenging but they haven't made serious proposals on pay or a guarantee of compulsory redundancies. a network rail we have had fuller discussions and we have got a guarantee of non—compulsory redundancies. we are talking about the changes they want to make to working practices and all about, modernisation as they call it but the pay proposals they have made are completely underwhelming. they are

nowhere near inflation, nowhere near the value of the productivity they are seeking from us. and it constitutes a possible and i say possible 8% over three years. as inflation, the rpi index is 11.7, thatis inflation, the rpi index is 11.7, that is a long way short of where our members need to be in terms of cost of living and catching up with prices in this country at the moment. prices in this country at the moment-— prices in this country at the moment. j~f , ., ., , moment. 8% is more than people will be caettin moment. 896 is more than people will be getting this _ moment. 896 is more than people will be getting this year, _ moment. 896 is more than people will be getting this year, what _ moment. 896 is more than people will be getting this year, what is - be getting this year, what is acceptable to you?— be getting this year, what is acceptable to you? we've got to address the _ acceptable to you? we've got to address the cost _ acceptable to you? we've got to address the cost of _ acceptable to you? we've got to address the cost of living - acceptable to you? we've got to address the cost of living crisis, | address the cost of living crisis, this is a three—year deal and in that period it is possible inflation might be cumulatively ready percent so we have not put a specific number on so... ., , ~ ., on so... you must know where the red line is, on so. .. you must know where the red line is, what— on so... you must know where the red line is, what are _ on so... you must know where the red line is, what are you _ on so... you must know where the red line is, what are you willing _ on so... you must know where the red line is, what are you willing to - line is, what are you willing to accept? i line is, what are you willing to acce t? ,. , , line is, what are you willing to accet? ,. ,, ., accept? i will discuss that with the em - lo er accept? i will discuss that with the employer rather _ accept? i will discuss that with the employer rather than _ accept? i will discuss that with the employer rather than the - accept? i will discuss that with the employer rather than the bbc- accept? i will discuss that with the - employer rather than the bbc because there is a package of measures and it depends what they want to put into the package that makes up the full value of it but at the moment it is undervalued compared to four

inflation is but there's all sorts of measures where inflation will be next year and where it was last year when this deal should have been struck. ~ . �* , ., ., when this deal should have been struck. ~ . �*, ., ., ., , ., struck. what's the average salary of one of your — struck. what's the average salary of one of your striking _ struck. what's the average salary of one of your striking workers? - struck. what's the average salary of one of your striking workers? the . one of your striking workers? the median salary _ one of your striking workers? tue: median salary of one of your striking workers? tte: median salary of members out on strike is about £31,000 according to ourfigures. many of strike is about £31,000 according to our figures. many of our members strike is about £31,000 according to ourfigures. many of our members in this dispute are on modest salaries, some as low as 18,000, some people on 25, some people on 30 plus, it depends on the grade, the hours, the shift pattern, where they live unto with for so it's a difficult answer but they are modest salaries for 24/7 shift work.— but they are modest salaries for 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the avera . e 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary _ 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary for _ 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary for a _ 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary for a uk _ 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary for a uk worker - 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the average salary for a uk worker so | 24/7 shift work. 21,000 to run the | average salary for a uk worker so if you are talking a percent plus pay rise that a significant and as i say will be a lot more than most people are thinking of possibly getting over the next as much as three years. what makes itjustifiable for your workers? tt’s years. what makes it “ustifiable for yourworkersa_ your workers? it's “ustifiable for all workers. h your workers? it's “ustifiable for all workers, or— your workers? it'sjustifiable for all workers, or worker - your workers? it'sjustifiable for all workers, or worker should i your workers? it's justifiable for. all workers, or worker should get your workers? it's justifiable for i all workers, or worker should get a

pay rise including bbc employees and they are not getting one and that's why people are getting poorer while they are doing full time work and working overtime. members of many other workers in this country are using food banks and taking state benefits while working full—time jobs. it's not acceptable. if you don't get a pay rise matching the rate of inflation you are getting poorer year on year and that's been happening to many public sector workers for the last 12 years so i want a pay rise for everyone in this country and this economy. what is happening is the rich are getting richer, profits are being maintained and even accelerated while workers are getting poorer and that cannot continue. we need a rebalance of wealth in this society and that is what we are campaigning for and we are part of a whole movement that i believe will be campaigning for that and that means all workers need to keep up with where prices are going. you've made new dates, announced new dates for strikes, the chief executive of network rail says this

isn't about reaching a deal, the best interests of passengers and staff are taking second place to the union bosses political campaigning. he means you, doesn't he? t’ge union bosses political campaigning. he means you, doesn't he?- he means you, doesn't he? i've no idea what he _ he means you, doesn't he? i've no idea what he is _ he means you, doesn't he? i've no idea what he is talking _ he means you, doesn't he? i've no idea what he is talking about, - idea what he is talking about, andrew could ring me up and talk about my political views, my union is not affiliated to a political party and i am not a member of a political party, my interests are serving the interests of my members and working class people in general. this is a dispute aboutjob security, the conditions are members work under and about the low pay we have had to endure over the past two or three years and if we could get a solution, i will leave the politics to the ballot box. we are not running a political campaign. the rail delivery _ running a political campaign. the rail delivery group says this will upset passengers summer plans, undermine struggling businesses and undermine struggling businesses and undermine industries struggling recovery. this into mind when you make new announcements and choose dates for new strikes? the

make new announcements and choose dates for new strikes?— dates for new strikes? the real delivery grapps _ dates for new strikes? the real delivery groups represents - dates for new strikes? the real- delivery groups represents companies that have made £500 million profit in the last year on public subsidies so they have an interest in trying to make the rmt as demons. we want all working people to enjoy their work and leisure. all working people to en'oy their work and leisureh work and leisure. before you interrupt... _ work and leisure. before you interrupt... i'm _ work and leisure. before you interrupt... i'mjust - work and leisure. before you - interrupt... i'mjust interested... interrupt... i'm “ust interested... you have _ interrupt... i'm “ust interested... you have just — interrupt... i'mjust interested... you have just asked _ interrupt... i'mjust interested... you have just asked me - interrupt... i'mjust interested... you have just asked me a - interrupt... i'mjust interested... i you have just asked me a question. you havejust asked me a question. you havejust asked me a question. you didn't hear my point because i did not finish it. carry on. we want people to have a settlement, enjoy their leisure and if we can get a negotiated agreement from the companies and grant shapps would allow them to negotiate freely, we can get that without industrial action. ~ , ., can get that without industrial action. ~ ., �* can get that without industrial action. ., �* can get that without industrial action. ~ ., �* can get that without industrial action. ~ .,�* .,�* action. when you don't say you don't want to upset _ action. when you don't say you don't want to upset anyone, _ action. when you don't say you don't want to upset anyone, how- action. when you don't say you don't want to upset anyone, how do - action. when you don't say you don't want to upset anyone, how do you i want to upset anyone, how do you decide the dates of the strikes because one of them is before the day the commonwealth games start, it will disrupt people trying to get there, won't it? why have you chosen that day? there, won't it? why have you chosen that da ? �* ., ., ., , ., that day? anti-trade union laws mean we have to give _ that day? anti-trade union laws mean we have to give 14 _ that day? anti-trade union laws mean we have to give 14 days' _ that day? anti-trade union laws mean we have to give 14 days' notice, - that day? anti-trade union laws mean

we have to give 14 days' notice, we i we have to give 14 days' notice, we received a letter on wednesday morning with no offer in it whatsoever, three years on the trot and we have to give 14 days notice and we have to give 14 days notice and the only day we could fit that in before the commonwealth games is wednesday the 27th. we are not taking any action during the commonwealth games but grant shapps and the department for employment have dictated we must give 14 days notice and that's the only possible date before the games. mick lynch, thank ou date before the games. mick lynch, thank you for— date before the games. mick lynch, thank you forjoining _ date before the games. mick lynch, thank you forjoining us. _ president biden has been meeting the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, in the israeli—occupied west bank, before heading on to saudi arabia on the next leg of his middle east tour. the two men shook hands and inspected a guard of honour. mr biden says he wants to improve relations, which were frozen by the palestinians in protest at the policies of his predecessor, donald trump. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, joins us from bethlehem. welcome to you. we saw that arrival a short time ago, has anything come

out of that meeting? he a short time ago, has anything come out of that meeting?— out of that meeting? he arrived in bethlehem _ out of that meeting? he arrived in bethlehem a _ out of that meeting? he arrived in bethlehem a short _ out of that meeting? he arrived in bethlehem a short time _ out of that meeting? he arrived in bethlehem a short time ago - out of that meeting? he arrived in l bethlehem a short time ago passing through the israeli checkpoint and going past the eight metre high concrete wall that hems in parts of the city. a big mural on it at the moment of the late american palestinian journalist, lots of messages about during this trip with people calling forjustice for her, even the journalists at the presidential headquarters wearing t—shirts. the president will have passed by crowded refugee camps as he made his way to the presidential headquarters in bethlehem. he was greeted with an honour guard, the red carpet was laid out for him but it was a warm we saw when he met the israeli leaders and he arrived in tel aviv. the men walked into their talks, we know this is the time for the serious political part of the palestinian visit because already there have been some big

announcements about economic aid for the palestinians including $100 million for palestinian hospitals in eastjerusalem, mr biden visited one of them this morning. the palestinians, while appreciating this administration has tried to repair ties that were completely broken off under president trump after he announced the so—called deal of the century which palestinian saw as being very biased towards israel, they said he talks about support for a two state solution but there is nothing here, no breakthrough expected in trying to get long stalled peace talks between israel and the palestinians back on track.— between israel and the palestinians back on track. what is the hope from the palestinian _ back on track. what is the hope from the palestinian side _ back on track. what is the hope from the palestinian side that _ back on track. what is the hope from the palestinian side that they - back on track. what is the hope from the palestinian side that they will. the palestinian side that they will get out of the meeting given that we know president biden has reiterated his commitment to a two state solution but did say it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future? that is correct. you can understand why the american said that because in the palestinian side, you have a

divided leadership between mahmoud abbas and parts of the occupied west bank and the militant group which governs gaza. on the israeli side, the israelis have been locked in a cycle of elections, about to go into their fifth election in under four years in november and that has meant they are not partners in a strong position to go for the high—stakes peace talks that would be necessary to resolve this conflict. the biden administration says it does not believe in imposing a solution. so instead, what this administration says it is trying to do is keep the possibility of a two state solution alive, the palestinian say they see that shrinking all the time, in bethlehem president biden will see there is a large israeli settlement, i can see it now, he's going to visit the church of the nativity, passing by the road below me. president biden has been coming to this part of the world for five decades so he has seen himself how

the situation has changed and acknowledged the window for a two state solution is closing.— state solution is closing. thank you for now. state solution is closing. thank you for now- this _ state solution is closing. thank you for now. this is _ state solution is closing. thank you for now. this is the _ state solution is closing. thank you for now. this is the scene - state solution is closing. thank you for now. this is the scene in - for now. this is the scene in bethlehem. we are expecting to hear from the leaders in around 30 minutes and we will bring that to you when they take to the stage. russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including three children, according to ukrainian officials. a series of video and still images posted on social media have appeared showing the "last minutes" of the life of a four—year—old liza dmitrieva, who had down's syndrome. 100 more were reported injured in the attack in vinnytsia to the south west of kyiv. president volodymyr zelensky condemned the attack. the general staff of the ukrainian armed forces has also said it repelled russian attacks nearfour villages in donetsk region, in its morning update on facebook on 15july. earlier, we heard from our correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood. i asked him if this marks

a shift in the war. i do not think it is a shift, but this is a pattern we have seen quite a lot recently, these attacks, these missile attacks fired by the russians onto civilian targets way away from the front lines. previously, the attacks seemed to target infrastructure targets or military bases but we've had quite a few, whether it was a shopping centre in kremenchuk, a resortjust near odesa or this attack yesterday in vinnytsia, where you cannot see what the target is, what the infrastructure target is, it is the centre of towns and that is why we are getting such high death tolls, 23 people now, as you say three of them, including that little girl. the photo of her dead is really difficult to see. she is lying lifeless on the floor, face down and when you see it juxtaposed with the images of her posted by her mother who is still critically ill in hospital, just hours before her death, it is really hard to see and that is why the ukrainians say this is terrorism, they say russia

is a terrorist state doing this deliberately to intimidate and try and break the will of the ukrainian people. the russians deny that, they say they do not target civilians, that they hit military targets and they suggested there is one nearby but the bbc team on the ground could find no evidence of that and clearly there have been a huge number of civilian deaths as we have seen, including children. eu foreign and justice ministers are discussing russian war crimes, aren't they? yes. there's been many investigations ongoing, this is the latest, looking at the various actions of russian soldiers throughout this conflict so far, whether it's the forcible detention and deportation of ukrainian civilians, of rape, of murder, really serious accusations. we've already seen here in ukraine some of the wheels of justice start to turn, a number of russian soldiers have been put on trial for various war crimes, some have been found guilty already but of course here, the people they ultimately

want to see put on trial, they want to see charged with these crimes, are the people who instigated this. and i think that is a very, very long way away. sri lanka has sworn in its new acting president, ranil wickremesinghe. it comes after gotabaya rajapaksa fled sri lanka earlier this week and is now in singapore. demonstrators poured onto the streets of the capital colombo in defiance of a curfew to celebrate the president's departure. it follows months of unrest over sri lanka's crippling economic problems. the bbc�*s anbarasan ethirajan has been giving us the latest from the capital, colombo. the government lifted the curfew at 5am in the western province that also includes the capital colombo. and that means people are coming out and buying stuff. we can see more vehicles on the road, although because of the fuel shortage not many people are travelling. but sri lankans woke up to the reality that mr gotabaya rajapaksa officially will not be in charge

of the country any more because the speaker of parliament, he accepted the resignation after verifying the document which came from singapore, where mr rajapaksa is at the moment. he had a brief stopover in the maldives. he fled the country after huge crowds stormed his official residence just over there, and that triggered a chain of events. now, prime minister ranil wickremesinghe has become the acting president, and parliament will be convening on saturday to discuss the procedure of choosing a new president. and within the next seven days, the mps will choose the next president of sri lanka. a group of mps has urged the government to apologise to thousands of women who were forced to give up babies for adoption between the 1950s and 70s, because they weren't married. a parliamentary inquiry found that nearly 200,000 women were shamed and coerced into giving their babies away. duncan kennedy reports. many are now in their 70s and 80s.

many can never forget the shame they felt. these are some of the women who lived through forced adoption, losing the babies they wanted to keep. when i found myself pregnant — that was in 1963 — i was still at school. pat tugwell was unmarried, and pregnancy out of wedlock broke one of the major taboos of post—war years. she neverforgot one incident as she was about to give birth to her baby son, when a nurse internally examined her. it was painful, it was painful, and she looked at me and she said, "i don't know how you could get pregnant "if you can't let me do this to you." it was just such an awful thing to say. she would never have said it to anybody else who was married, so why did she say that to me just because i was unmarried and she obviously thought i was one of the lowest of the low? forced adoptions took place in the three decades after 1949. the first pressures on the unmarried mothers to give up their babies came

from parents and church groups. but today's report makes clear that coercion and cruelty also came from state employees, such as social workers and nurses. the parliamentary inquiry received harrowing accounts from hundreds of women. one said she had her baby pulled out of her arms. another said she screamed and hung on to her baby like a woman possessed. during delivery, one woman was told she deserved all the pain she got. another, who had her newborn baby put out of reach, said the treatment in hospital was frankly inhumane. these women have suffered from shame and vilification and the burden of secrecy for decades. i think the least the government can do is recognise that this shouldn't have happened then and it would never happen now, and it is right for the government to apologise. the government said it would consider the report's findings and offered its deepest sympathy to all those affected by historic forced adoptions.

today's report says women were railroaded into unwanted adoptions by public institutions and state employees. and says they were treated in an appalling way by those whose job it was to help them. duncan kennedy, bbc news. diana defries was 16 years old when she became pregnant. moments after she gave birth, she was told that her baby was flagged for adoption. shortly after her 17th birthday, she was forced to give up her child. i had been actively discouraged from holding my baby since she was born so every time i picked her up, somebody would appear and say you mustn't cuddle her or get too close, you must not bond. i'd been given a drug to prevent lactation, i didn't actually know what it was until afterwards and then it was obviously too late, so that prevented me making any

attempt at breast—feeding. the longest i held her was a two—hour train journey from where i was sent to the mother and baby home in southampton back to london and i held herfor two hours and suddenly the penny dropped and it was a wonderful feeling, holding my child. i was taken to the adoption agency office in london. and a woman appeared and said, it's time. and because i was so young, probably, i wanted to believe that my parents, that everybody would see this was the right thing and this was my child and it was all going to work out well. it never dawned on me until those final moments that they were just going to go through with this process. i couldn't let her go — this woman stood there with her arms open

and i couldn't let her go so my mother reached over and pulled herfrom my arms and handed her to the stranger. my baby started crying in a way i had never heard her cry. and i can remember my knees giving way. and that's pretty much all i remember until i was at home. it was very, very stressful, very traumatising. have you since managed to make contact with your child? yes, we were very fortunate in that we managed to reunite when she was in her late teens, sort of, 18. and we have built a relationship over time. and we're very fortunate because not all reunions work because there's such a gulf between the child being born and then meeting the adult. it's an extremely difficult thing to bridge. can you describe the impact it's had on you and her?

well, it has had an impact on both of us. the impact on me was to feel traumatised and that i had a terrible shame. a shameful secret for most of my adult life. the impact on her has been different and i don't want to speak for her but many adult adoptees have spoken about the confusion and not being sure what to believe about their origins and their first family. i think separating an infant from the only person that they have known, from the mother that they grew within, is probably one of the cruellest things anyone could do. this joint committee report on human rights have published a report into what has gone on and the hundreds of thousands of people effected and recommended an apology. is that what you want? an apology would go a long way

towards validating the things we've been campaigning about for years. and vindicating our position in that we were victims of an injustice that should never have taken place. but any apology must be more than words, it must include provision for help for people who are still traumatised. it must provide some measure of recognition for the issues. and help with access to records and many other things that have been mentioned in the report. it needs to be much more thanjust words but an apology, a spoken, heartfelt apology, would mean a great deal to so many of us. more now on the scorching temperatures across parts of europe, which continue to fuel wildfires.

we have a breaking news line to give you from the uk met office. they have just issued a red weather warning over high temperatures, which are expected on monday and tuesday. we were hearing from matt earlier that they could reach as high as 40. this is the first time the met office has issued a red weather warning over extreme temperatures expected on monday and tuesday. matt is with me now to take us through that. thanks for stepping on so quickly with this breaking news. what have they set? tt is news. what have they set? it is cominu news. what have they set? it is coming out _ news. what have they set? it is coming out for _ news. what have they set? tit 3 coming out for monday and tuesday, valid across an area that extends from the bolt on a manchester area, across parts of yorkshire, through the midlands, toward south—east england and the london area. they are warning of population wide adverse health effects, notjust temperatures that are record—breaking by day, but also by night, the combination of day and night, the combination of day and night will have a big impact. it could lead to serious illness or

danger to life. they are recommending substantial changes to working practices and daily routines, to help deal with the hot conditions. and there is also a significant impact, of course, to travel and potentially power, and increased risks of accidents around water sources as well as people seek those cooler conditions.— those cooler conditions. remind us where the extreme _ those cooler conditions. remind us where the extreme weather- those cooler conditions. remind us where the extreme weather is - those cooler conditions. remind us i where the extreme weather is coming from? it where the extreme weather is coming from? , . ., ., where the extreme weather is coming from? , _, ., ,, where the extreme weather is coming from? , ., ,, ., from? it is coming from spain and portu~al. from? it is coming from spain and portugal- it's _ from? it is coming from spain and portugal. it's exceptionally - from? it is coming from spain and portugal. it's exceptionally hot i portugal. it's exceptionally hot there. one of the worst heatwave is on record in spain at the moment, moving through france this weekend and arriving on our shores later in the weekend. it will be monday and tuesday where we feel the biggest impact. the current amateur record in the uk is 38.7, only set in 2019. there is a high likelihood, and it is looking slightly likelier, that we could see somewhere in the uk hit 40 celsius. it is all unprecedented here in the uk. it is the sort of conditions we are not used to dealing with. we don't have the infrastructure to deal with it. homes are not built to deal with it.

for that reason, the met office are exceptionally concerned. in line with the government, they have issued a red extreme heat warning. why crack i have just had an e—mail from my kids' school warning is about this and saying with the unprecedented conditions they are taking measures as well, saying that kids can be picked up early. it is something that is a concern right across society. you have been a weather presenter for many years, what is your reaction to this, that it is the first time the uk met office has issued this kind of warning? slightly alarming. i should put into context that we have not had extreme heat warnings in the uk until last year. that is a sign that the climate is changing, that there is a need to put these warnings in place. it is the first time i've ever seen a 40 celsius on a map in the uk as well. itjust goes to show that these sort of events are becoming more and more frequent, the best advice is to make some lifestyle changes for the start of next week to cope with it. draw on what we are seeing from other parts

of the world, where hot conditions are more common. slowing things down, making sure you shade the house as much as you can from the heat and taking on plenty of water. keep the curtains and window is closed during the day is the advice? yes. ., closed during the day is the advice? yes. . ., . ~' closed during the day is the advice? yes. . ., ., ,, , closed during the day is the advice? yes. . ., .,~ , ., yes. thanks for taking us through the breaking _ yes. thanks for taking us through the breaking news. _ i am joined now by dr mariam zachariah, research associate at grantham institute, imperial college. what is your reaction to this extreme weather alert? t what is your reaction to this extreme weather alert? i was listenin: extreme weather alert? i was listening to — extreme weather alert? i was listening to matt _ extreme weather alert? i was listening to matt on _ extreme weather alert? i was listening to matt on the - listening to matt on the temperatures are indeed very high this year. in this part of the world we are not used to high temperatures. we are looking at severe impacts, and there are alerts in place. it's very important that we stick to those alerts. this is sort of like a harbinger of what is to come. we can expect temperatures going forward in view of climate

change, rising gas emissions and rising temperatures globally. it is not going to be limited to just the uk, or europe alone. as we have seen, we have been seeing some events happening in different parts of the world. earlier this year in india, and injapan. so, this is something that we should expect as we go forward. {aide something that we should expect as we go forward-— something that we should expect as we go forward. give us some kind of context to their _ we go forward. give us some kind of context to their summer _ we go forward. give us some kind of. context to their summer temperatures we are seeing this year. 50. context to their summer temperatures we are seeing this year.— we are seeing this year. so, if you look at the — we are seeing this year. so, if you look at the loan _ we are seeing this year. so, if you look at the loan term _ we are seeing this year. so, if you look at the loan term records, - we are seeing this year. so, if you look at the loan term records, we | look at the loan term records, we see in several parts of the uk and europe that has been record—breaking. what is unusual about this year's temperatures is that it has been slightly earlier, and the drivers remain the same, the high pressure systems and the dry wind from the sahara bringing in temperatures, the magnitude that we see with temperatures crossing 40 celsius, it is consistent with the global warming signal. it is very

much interlinked to climate change, and an indication that we should start acting. and an indication that we should start acting-— start acting. well, start acting, ex - ress start acting. well, start acting, express like — start acting. well, start acting, express like yourself _ start acting. well, start acting, express like yourself have - start acting. well, start acting, | express like yourself have been warning about this for years. do you feel like the world is taking notice that different countries around the world are preparing themselves, have prepared themselves for these kind of extreme temperatures? yes. prepared themselves for these kind of extreme temperatures?- of extreme temperatures? yes, of course there _ of extreme temperatures? yes, of course there are — of extreme temperatures? yes, of course there are warning - of extreme temperatures? yes, of course there are warning systems| of extreme temperatures? yes, of. course there are warning systems in place, sufficient outreach and sufficient early warning systems in place. we have been able to at least advise the people to keep themselves safe during such adverse conditions. but in the long term, the situation is not going to end, it will not be a one—off phenomenon. we still have to do a lot more to mitigate such events from happening in the future.

and that will require long—term policies which are coming together, discussions out there. it's about implementing these policies and making sure that we are all on the same path when it comes to dealing with climate change.— same path when it comes to dealing with climate change. thank you very much for being _ with climate change. thank you very much for being with _ with climate change. thank you very much for being with us. _ there's political uncertainty in italy after the prime minister, mario draghi, offered his resignation, only to have it rejected by the president. mr draghi has been asked to return to parliament next week to clarify the situation following the loss of one of his coalition partners in a confidence motion. mark lobel explains. temperatures are rising in italy amid a political heatwave dripping with uncertainty. it's notjust the damaging drought that needs dealing with as the country rebels after the pandemic. there are fragile negotiations to secure billions of euros in eu funds.

and pressure to reduce its reliance on russian gas stop but it's political coalition is melting. italian residents are not relishing the prospect of another government facing collapse. translation: it seems to be madness at this time - with a country recovering. translation: this is not good. we should come to an agreement. the decision by the 5—star party to boycott this confidence vote on thursday prompted mario draghi, former head of the european central bank and italy's prime minister since february last year, to conclude the pact of trust thathad sustained the unity government had gone. but there was a plot twist at the presidential palace when the italian president sergio mattarella refused to accept his resignation. he has now called on mr draghi

to address parliament and provide a clear picture of the political situation. the 5—star movement was originally the biggest party in the coalition but has seen a string of defections and falling support. now it's accused of a cynical plan to bring down the government to revive its own standing. but giuseppe conte said he could not support the cost of living package, because it included message that were bad for the environment. he is accused of dragging italy closer to economic and social collapse, and has shown total irresponsibility, according to one industry body, leaving one senior eu executive watching with worried astonishment. milan's stock market dropped as nervousness spread to investors in the eurozone's third biggest economy. italy's next national elections are due next year but could come as early as this autumn if this instability persists.

mark lobel, bbc news. let's now get more perspective on mario draghi's resignation with daniele albertazzi, a professor of politics at the university of surrey. what do you make by this move by mr draghi? he what do you make by this move by mr drauhi? , ., , , draghi? he is now re-establishing his authority- _ draghi? he is now re-establishing his authority. this _ draghi? he is now re-establishing his authority. this is _ draghi? he is now re-establishing his authority. this is an _ draghi? he is now re-establishingl his authority. this is an emergency government, left and right together, and what dragh are saying is that i am not going to continue if everybody keeps pulling and pushing me, trying to make sure they shape the policies of the government, which is quite inevitable, because the elections are coming up anyway. he is basically trying to say either i am in charge, or i'm going to give up. it's actually quite a clever

move, to make sure that especially the 5—star movement stops trying to shape policies to the extent that they have done in the last few weeks. it they have done in the last few weeks. ., , they have done in the last few weeks. . , ., ., ., , ., they have done in the last few weeks. ., ., ., , ., weeks. it a bit of a gamble. you say the elections _ weeks. it a bit of a gamble. you say the elections are _ weeks. it a bit of a gamble. you say the elections are coming _ weeks. it a bit of a gamble. you say the elections are coming up, - weeks. it a bit of a gamble. you say the elections are coming up, they i the elections are coming up, they are not due until next year. which way do think they will go? will they backing? way do think they will go? will they backin: ? ~ ., way do think they will go? will they backin: ? ~' ., , ., , backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, _ backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, it _ backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, it is _ backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, it is the _ backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, it is the right. - backing? think the real question is not the 5-star, it is the right. so, l not the 5—star, it is the right. so, the league and falls are —— forza. if they all say we don't want to draghi, clearly draghi will be gone. on the one hand, i have an interest in this, because if there is an election soon, it is certain that the right, as a coalition, will win. the problem is, within the right, the largest parties, neither the

lead or build's forza italia, if they pull the plug on draghi, it raises a question, it is very likely that not one of them will be prime minister. if they do this, i think that victory is almost certain that though. they will probably win in nine months from now, to be frank. at the moment, the figures are very strong in theirfavour. they at the moment, the figures are very strong in their favour. they may decide that it is better to stay in a few moments, shape the next budget, which is going to be written in the autumn, and also keep deciding how to allocate the resources that are coming to italy from the european union. right? so, the recovery package. they might decide that is the right path for them, or they might decide to come out. what i can say today is that there is a lot of debate, particularly within the league about what to do. there is a big question

mark, even if draghi falls, i would expect the caretaker government to take over anyway, and elections not to take place for a while, particularly not until the budget has been approved. ok. particularly not until the budget has been approved.— particularly not until the budget has been approved. ok, thank you very much — has been approved. ok, thank you very much for— has been approved. ok, thank you very much for your _ has been approved. ok, thank you very much for your analysis - has been approved. ok, thank you very much for your analysis on - has been approved. ok, thank you very much for your analysis on the | very much for your analysis on the political situation in italy. let's bring you some breaking news coming on the reuters news agency now. russia's defence ministry has said that thursday's cruise missile strike on the ukrainian city of vinnytsia was directed at a building where top officials from ukraine's armed forces were meeting foreign arms suppliers. we know that 23 people, including children, were killed and a missile strike yesterday, according to ukrainian officials. more than 100 were reported injured in the attack, which is south—west of kyiv. certainly our correspondence on the ground said that it was, they believed, targeting civilians, but russia says that it was directed at a building where top officials from ukraine's armed forces were meeting foreign arms suppliers.

the un has told the bbc it's tackling sexual harassment and a male—dominated culture within its ranks "head—on". this follows fresh claims of there being a "boys club" at the top of the organisation, and staff being penalised for complaining. last month, a bbc investigation revealed a series of damning allegations from former staff about the culture of the workplace. sima kotecha reports. last month a bbc investigation revealed the sackings of a number of un staff who tried to expose alleged wrongdoing. it detailed allegations of corruption, misogyny, management turning a blind eye to wrongdoing, and sexual abuse. it's about a culture of fear. sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment in the un happens in headquarters. it happens monday to friday. lwhistle—blowers are often presented| as somehow hating the un altogether and wanting it to be disbanded. nothing could be further from the truth, we just i want it to be better. since the documentary aired,

more people have come forward making allegations, including there being a boys club at the top of the organisation and staff being penalised for complaining. now, the un says it is making changes and has achieved parity between men and women in leadership roles. can you say that at the moment your organisation is dealing with a cultural problem? what i can tell you is that we are looking at the problem of male dominated culture head—on. antonio guterres has done everything he can, in his power, to try to change the culture in the un. it is not a finished project, it is a project that is continually being improved. but he strongly refuted claims that staff were punished for making complaints. people are not punished for speaking out and complaining. like any organisation, whether in the private sector, in the government, in the media, we are all trying to

improve our culture. and that is something the secretary general antonio guterres has done from day one in office. to ensure that people can come forward and will feel protected, whether it is by strengthening the whistle—blower policy, improving our ability to investigate accusations of sexual harassment. but some staff told us they don't trust the action will be sufficient enough to sort what they call deep cultural problems, while the un says it has nothing to hide and is working tirelessly to improve its systems for the benefit of its employees. sima kotecha, bbc news. the tech industry, one of the most lucrative in the uk, is crying out for talent. more than two million tech vacancies were advertised over the last year, more than any other area of the uk labour market. so how to fill them? our technology reporter

shiona mccallum has more the uk technology scene is bursting with opportunity. something that ben francis, the founder of online clothing company gymshark knows well. can't believe i'm stood here saying this. gymshark is worth $1.4 billion. we are coming up to a point now where there are so much change going on in the world. i think with change comes opportunity. i think it is people through tech that will solve some of the most complex problems that we currently have. i think having a basic understanding of tech and development is going to be really, really important, moving forward. despite the tech sector being one of the highest paid in the uk, with the average salary of £62,000, that is double the average household income, the sector is still struggling to get skilled people for thejobs. it's a real issue. we've got well funded companies that have raised investment and are celebrating the fact that they've got great investors on board. but then what they need to spend

that on is fantastic people to help them grow and help them on a journey. and they can't always find them at the right time or with the right skills that they need. so there is a real shortage that threatens to stifle growth if we can't rectify it. one place which is teaching young people important tech subjects is ada, so ijoined them for a lesson on coding. the college was initially founded to address the digital skills gap, but unfortunately i think, over time, it isjust getting greater. our students come to ada because they want that industry centred education, they know their future is in technology, they want to be in a place where we can give them the best opportunities to go into those digital roles. these students have just taken their exams and we'll find out the results later this summer. and i guess the question for the guys here is, what's next for them? is it university or will they take on a digital apprenticeship? traditionally, friendships were for young people

getting a vocation. ——apprenticeships but statistics show that, for some subjects, like data analyst, over 80% of them are actually over 25 years old. i think it's about people changing careers, as much as people starting careers. and we've got lots of examples of both. we got people who have come straight out of college into an apprentice programme, we have got people who have a couple of years experience, but in a field that doesn't suit them or is a bit unstable. they wanted to change careers and we've given them that opportunity. there are real opportunities here. and if you are willing to embrace it and put in some hard work, then you can increase your economic outlook as an individual. the skills shortage isn't going away. but if you are a young person, getting into tech could provide you with a lifelong career and financial security. but the key seems to be take matters

into your own hands. that is it from me. you can reach me on twitter. in the last few moments, the met office have issued an unprecedented read, extreme heat warning for parts of england. an unprecedented warning for unprecedented temperatures, that are focused for monday and tuesday. it could see temperatures reaching the low 40s. the red warning covers many of england's biggest cities. this is going to have impact on people's health and for infrastructure as well. the hot air has been building across spain and portugal over recent days but it is now starting to drift across france and those temperatures will continue to rise into the weekend. early next week, temperatures could hit around 40 celsius also in the hottest areas. that will smash the all—time

uk temperature record if we see those temperatures. as i say, we are going to get impacts from such extreme heat. impacts you people's health. i'm afraid to say, in heat waves, often we see thousands of people dying as a result of the hot weather. you need to guard against this. take action. keep out of the midday sun, keep your curtains closed on the sunny side of your house. if the heat is getting unbearable, perhaps go to a public place or library that might have air conditioning and keep your body cooler. today, temperatures are high 20s in the sunshine. there are showers around. we go to the forecast for this evening a overnight at the showers fade away. the sky is clear. at this stage, we still have relatively fresh air across the uk. it should be a relatively comfortable night's sleep. 9 degrees in glasgow, 14 by the end of the night in london. into the end of the night in london. into the weekend, high pressure is starting to build, so we have more in the way of sunshine across more parts of the uk, temperatures are going to start to rise. 2728

degrees. the heat is building more widely across the midlands. still comfortable conditions for scotland, the far north of england and northern ireland as well. looking at sunday's weather forecast, we have some showers to come across northern areas of scotland. the wind is starting to come more from a southerly direction. that is going to pull in the continental air that will boost the temperatures widely across england and wales. we are looking at temperatures climbing into the low 30s. for monday, the heat continues to journey its way further northwards, reaching parts of northern ireland and scotland as well, with temperatures climbing at least into the mid 20s here. it could be higher than that. across parts of london, the south—east of england, we could see temperatures reaching around 40 celsius also. we have this unprecedented read, extreme heat warning in force, for the peak of the heat wave, monday and tuesday.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11am... the first ever extreme heat warning is being issued by the met office for parts of england on monday and tuesday. temperatures in london and parts of central england could reach up to 40 degrees. the warning means a risk to life is likely, and says substantial changes in working practices and routines will be required. as more train strikes are announced, the head of the uk's leading rail union calls for all workers to be given fair pay that reflects soaring inflation. many workers in this country are having to use food banks and take state benefits while they are working full—time jobs. that is not acceptable. if you don't get a pay rise that matches the rate of inflation, you are getting poorer year on year.

suella braverman becomes the latest conservative leadership candidate to be eliminated — leaving five remaining in the race. mps urge the government to apologise to thousands of women who were forced to give up babies for adoption between the 1950s and �*70s, because they weren't married. one woman says she had her baby pulled from her arms. my my baby started crying in a way i had never heard her cry, and i can remember my knees giving way, and that's pretty much all i remember, until i was at home. russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including four—year—old liza dmitrieva. pressure on nhs emergency services in england is getting worse, with ambulance callouts last month hitting an all—time high forjune.

a red extreme heat warning has been issued for the first time ever by the met office for parts of england next week, meaning a risk to life is likely. temperatures could get as high as 40 celsius for the first time and people are being urged to take precautions against the soaring heat. our weather presenter matt taylor is here. this matt taylor is here. extreme warning is a first. wh has this extreme warning is a first. why has it changed from amber? it is this extreme warning is a first. why has it changed from amber?- has it changed from amber? it is all down to risk. _ has it changed from amber? it is all down to risk, basically. _ has it changed from amber? it is all down to risk, basically. we - has it changed from amber? it is all down to risk, basically. we are - has it changed from amber? it is all down to risk, basically. we are now| down to risk, basically. we are now seeing it more likely that we will break record—breaking temperatures across the uk, and it is looking likely we will get too close to 40 celsius, as you said, into the first part of next week. the extreme heat warning system only came into effect last year by the met office, but thatis last year by the met office, but that is just a sign that it is

required, that we are seeing these instances of heat more and more commonly. tt instances of heat more and more commonly-— instances of heat more and more commonl . i. ., , , commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map. — commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map, that's _ commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map, that's a _ commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map, that's a huge _ commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map, that's a huge amount i commonly. if you look at tempered is on that map, that's a huge amount of the country that is affected. we were talking a couple of days ago about may be 35, 36, but it is now even higher. about may be 35, 36, but it is now even higher-— even higher. yes, this has been developing _ even higher. yes, this has been developing across _ even higher. yes, this has been developing across the _ even higher. yes, this has been developing across the coast - even higher. yes, this has been developing across the coast of i even higher. yes, this has been - developing across the coast of spain and portugal. as we get closer and closer it is looking more likely that we will hit those record—breaking values. it currently stands at 38.7 celsius in london, in cambridge, but we could reach 40 degrees. whether the temperatures reach that value or not, this is a significant spell of heat, and we are not really built for it in the uk. infrastructure, houses, and ourselves, so it will have a significant impact on our health. the met office are warning that only use 999 in emergencies and there could be impacts not only to travel across the country during monday and

tuesday, but also potentially water and power. and the temptation is to think you canjust carry on and the temptation is to think you can just carry on as normal, but you really can't. how long will this go on for? , ., , ., on for? this will last through monday and _ on for? this will last through monday and tuesday. - on for? this will last through monday and tuesday. we i on for? this will last through l monday and tuesday. we have on for? this will last through - monday and tuesday. we have already had a hot spell already, a bit of recovery time now, but the peak of the heat is on monday and tuesday. we will almost have to draw on mediterranean influences, that lifestyle change, avoid the heat best you can during the day and say what you have to do for the cooler times in the morning and later in the evening. by night, the chapters will also be incredibly high, probably not dropping below about 25 celsius in a few spots. it probably not dropping below about 25 celsius in a few spots.— celsius in a few spots. it feels airless when _ celsius in a few spots. it feels airless when you _ celsius in a few spots. it feels airless when you try _ celsius in a few spots. it feels airless when you try to - celsius in a few spots. it feels airless when you try to speak. that's right, and you don't get the recovery time. that's right, and you don't get the recovery time-— recovery time. heat stress is an onauoin recovery time. heat stress is an ongoing thing- _ recovery time. heat stress is an ongoing thing. so _ recovery time. heat stress is an ongoing thing. so we _ recovery time. heat stress is an ongoing thing. so we all - recovery time. heat stress is an ongoing thing. so we all must l recovery time. heat stress is an i ongoing thing. so we all must slow down a little bit. thank you, matt taylor.

well, that warning in parts of england comes as scorching temperatures across parts of europe continue to fuel wildfires. greece, spain and portugal are currently the worst—affected and dozens of fires have broken out in portugal, including near the city of coimbra, killing at least one person. meanwhile the city of badajoz in spain endured temperatures of 44 degrees with the country's meteorological agency saying some regions were "suffocating". further north in france a wildfire ripped through vast areas of pine trees south of bordeaux and many bastille day celebrations had to be cancelled. the spanish region of andalusia has endured some of the hottest temperatures, including the city of cordoba from where our correspondent guy hedgecoe reports. bell tolls. the people of cordoba know all about heat. situated in the guadalquivir valley in southern spain, summers in this historic city are notoriously hot and dry. but this summer already looks hotter than usual.

the country is in the grip of the second heatwave of recent weeks. for many of the tourists who come here, temperatures in the mid—40s celsius come as a shock. we're from denmark, for me, too hot. this is too hot. i don't mind actually. this is crazy. for locals, experience has shown how to deal with the conditions. translation: if you have certain underlying conditions _ and you expose yourself to the sun, you might suffer heatstroke, and it will get worse. but if you go out earlier in the day, you hydrate properly, then you will be ok. older people and young children are among those most at risk of being affected by the heat, according to doctors. you must force the elderly and babies to be hydrated, to drink water. you must watch them closely.

i suggest that people stay at home from 1—6pm now, with the risk so high. this heatwave is unusual because of its impact across the whole country. even northern areas, which would normally escape the worst of the summer heat, are seeing extreme temperatures. the north—western region of galicia has been on red alert due to temperatures of up to 42 degrees. the extreme heat and high winds have fuelled wildfires, which have devastated swathes of land in the centre of the country. in neighbouring portugal, similar conditions have left firefighters battling multiple blazes. swimming pools like this one provide relief forfamilies, but despite the relaxed mood, there is a sense that this kind of heat is becoming increasingly normal.

translation: it's changed. we have longer summers now. the spring and autumn don't exist any more, we go directly from the cold to intense heat in a few weeks, just a short period of time. it is evening time in cordoba and the temperature has dropped just enough for people to start coming out into squares like this one for a drink. but it's still not clear exactly when this heatwave will end, or indeed, whether they will be others like it later this summer. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, cordoba. thousands of rail workers will go on strike again in the coming weeks. in addition to a day of strike action on the 27thjuly, the rmt union has announced its members will strike on thursday the 18th and saturday the 20th august in their ongoing row over pay, jobs and conditions. yesterday the aslef union also said train drivers at eight rail companies would stage a walk—out on saturday 30th july. sharon graham, the general secretary of unite union is warning of a "summer

of discontent" as workers are being made to "pay the price of inflation". our economics editor faisal islam reports. there have been strikes on the railways and more have been announced later this month and in august, too. they have been threatened in the skies and across public services as employers, including the government, decide on pay rises that fall short of the current very high rate of inflation. the unions are hitting back, so says the chief of the biggest private sector union, unite. before, people turned around to workers and said to workers not only have you gone out and defended the pandemic — because it was key workers and ordinary people that did that — now it's over, we want you to pay for it. now that is actually abhorrent to me. the idea that we'd said out you go, you defend what's going on out there and, by the way, now you're back, and everyone knows it's ok to go out again, we're going to slash your pay. in the main, the companies that we are talking about that

are taking us to the wire are making profits, and those companies now need to make sure that workers get a piece of the pie. i don't think that's militant. i think that's basically saying workers deserve to get more money in their pay packets. it's as simple as that. but hundreds of disputes is definitely on the cards? so are you and your fellow union bosses kind of holding the economy to ransom in terms of a summer of discontent? well, i love the cliches, because they do come out quite a lot. we could be playing bingo at the moment to find all the ones that are coming out. but summer of discontent in the sense that... look, what i'd say to that is that, for workers, they have had a spring, summer, autumn, winter of discontent for years. and, quite honestly, if what that means is an employer who can pay, an employer who has made a profit — an employer who has made a profit out of workers has to pay a proper fair wage to those workers, and notjump on the bandwagon of, we can't pay. we saw this in a previous crisis. but employers are able to pay, then they should pay workers. what are people expected to do?

the bank of england and government say high wage rises risk prolonging the inflation crisis. but for some jobs, where there are worker shortages, for example bus drivers and bin collectors, the unions are threatening strikes and getting healthy pay rises. the government will decide how much to give millions of its workers in the coming days. the general secretary of the rmt union said train companies have not put enough on the table that they can accept. brute put enough on the table that they can accept-— put enough on the table that they can accet. ~ . �* , can accept. we haven't been offered an hint , can accept. we haven't been offered anything. they _ can accept. we haven't been offered anything. theyjust _ can accept. we haven't been offered anything, they just set _ can accept. we haven't been offered anything, theyjust set out - can accept. we haven't been offered anything, theyjust set out the - anything, they just set out the changes they want to make on members terms and conditions and their working practices, which are challenging but they haven't made any serious proposal. they haven't given us a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. on network rail we have had fuller discussions, if you like, and we have got a

guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. we are talking to them about the changes they want to make to working practices and all of that, modernisation as they call it. but the pay proposal they have made are completely underwhelming. they are completely underwhelming. they are nowhere near inflation. they are nowhere near the value of productivity they are seeking from us. it constitutes a possible, and i say possible, 8% over a three—year period. as the rpi index at the moment is 11.7%, that is a long way short of where our members need to be in terms of the cost of living and catching up with prices in this country at the moment. mick and catching up with prices in this country at the moment. mick lynch of the rmt union- _ the remaining candidates in the conservative leadership race will face the public for the first time today — as they take part in a tv debate. let's remind you of what's happened and where we are now. there are five candidates remaining, it's after the attorney general suella braverman was knocked out in the second round of voting yesterday afternoon. the next round of voting,

when the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, takes place on monday. these votes will keep happening until two candidates are left and then conservative party members will vote for the leader. so far, rishi sunak and penny mordaunt have come top of both rounds of voting. today though, the five remaining candidates will take part in a televised debate on channel 4. there will also be a debate on sunday on itv, and on tuesday on sky. let's talk to our political correspondent, iain watson. we are going to be hearing quite a lot from all of them in the next few days, then. we lot from all of them in the next few days. then-— days, then. we are, actually, and there is one _ days, then. we are, actually, and there is one more _ days, then. we are, actually, and there is one more to _ days, then. we are, actually, and there is one more to add - days, then. we are, actually, and there is one more to add to - days, then. we are, actually, and there is one more to add to that, | there is one more to add to that, which is the conservative home hustings. this is the unofficial conservative website, much read by conservative website, much read by conservative activists. i think that will be interesting because the kind of questions they will be asked will be from the very people who have the final say on this, the conservative party members, who get to choose

between the final two as the contest draws to a close at the beginning of september. i think that might be worth watching, but equally, they will hear directly from voters and we will see how well they go down with voters, those they ultimately have to appeal to. and, of course, next week we have got the mps themselves voting on whittling the view down to the final two. interestingly, i think, view down to the final two. interestingly, ithink, that's view down to the final two. interestingly, i think, that's going on on one track, but on the other, there's quite a fierce battle being run at the moment because it is not quite clear who the final two will be. there are certainly three candidates that seem to be polling well enough to potentially get into the run—off. that is liz truss, penny mordaunt, and rishi sunak. what was interesting, i think, about the liz truss campaign was initially they were going strongly for rishi sunak �*s record as chancellor, some

have dubbed him the high tax chancellor, but now the focus has shifted to penny mordaunt. lauder frost, for example, the former brexit negotiator savary publico today saying to things, festival attacking penny mordaunt for being too lazy, as he saw it as a minister —— first of all. but also, and this is what i think is particularly astonishing, this was done in public, effectively offering another candidate, kemi badenoch, a serious job in administration, as long as she throws in the towel and throws her weight behind liz truss. the team say they are not offering anyone anyjobs, but is interesting that a leading supporter is coming out publicly and doing just that. penny mordaunt herself has said that the polling looks good with the conservative members, and she is accusing her opponent this morning of trying to keep her off that final two and away from that runner. for the moment, thank you.

the headlines on bbc news... the first ever extreme heat warning is being issued by the met office for parts of england on monday and tuesday. temperatures in london and parts of central england could reach up to 40 degrees. the warning means a risk to life is likely, and says substantial changes in working practices and routines will be required. as more train strikes are announced, the head of the uk's leading rail union calls for all workers to be given fair pay a group of mps has urged the government to apologise to thousands of women who were forced to give up babies for adoption between the 1950s and 70s, because they weren't married. a parliamentary inquiry found that nearly 200,000 women were "shamed" and "coerced" into giving their babies away. duncan kennedy reports. many are now in their 70s and 80s. many can never forget

the shame they felt. these are some of the women who lived through forced adoption, losing the babies they wanted to keep. when i found myself pregnant — that was in 1963 — i was still at school. pat tugwell was unmarried, and pregnancy out of wedlock broke one of the major taboos of post—war years. she neverforgot one incident as she was about to give birth to her baby son, when a nurse internally examined her. it was painful, it was painful, and she looked at me and she said, "i don't know how you could get pregnant "if you can't let me do this to you." it was just such an awful thing to say. she would never have said it to anybody else who was married, so why did she say that to me just because i was unmarried and she obviously thought i was one of the lowest of the low? forced adoptions took place in the three decades after 1949. the first pressures on the unmarried mothers to give up their babies came from parents and church groups. but today's report makes clear that coercion and cruelty also came from state employees,

such as social workers and nurses. the parliamentary inquiry received harrowing accounts from hundreds of women. one said she had her baby pulled out of her arms. another said she screamed and hung on to her baby like a woman possessed. during delivery, one woman was told she deserved all the pain she got. another, who had her newborn baby put out of reach, said the treatment in hospital was frankly inhumane. these women have suffered from shame and vilification and the burden of secrecy for decades. i think the least the government can do is recognise that this shouldn't have happened then and it would never happen now, and it is right for the government to apologise. the government said it would consider the report's findings and offered its deepest sympathy to all those affected by historic forced adoptions. today's report says women

were railroaded into unwanted adoptions by public institutions and state employees. and says they were treated in an appalling way by those whose job it was to help them. duncan kennedy, bbc news. diana defries was 16—years—old when she became pregnant. moments after she gave birth, she was told that her baby was flagged for adoption. shortly after her 17th birthday, she was forced to give up her child. the she was forced to give up her child. longest i held hour the longest i held her was for a two hour train journey from where i was sent to the mother and baby home in southampton, back to london. i held herfor two hours, and suddenly it was like the penny dropped, and it was like the penny dropped, and it was just was like the penny dropped, and it wasjust a wonderful was like the penny dropped, and it was just a wonderful feeling, holding my child. i was taken to the adoption agency office in london, and a woman appeared and said, "it's

time". because i was so young, probably, i had been... iwanted to believe that my parents, that everybody would see this was the right thing, and you know, this was my child and it was all going to work out well. it never dawned on me until those final moments that they were just going to go through with this process. i couldn't let her go. this woman stood there with her arms open and i couldn't let her go, so my mother reached over, pulled her from my arms and handed her to this stranger. my baby started crying in a way i had never heard her cry, and i can remember my knees giving way, and that's pretty much all i remember until i was at home. russian missiles have struck civilian buildings in central ukraine, killing at least 23 people including three children, according to ukrainian officials. a series of video and still images posted on social media have appeared showing

the "last minutes" of the life of a four—year—old liza dmitrieva. 100 more were reported injured in the attack in a town to the south west of kyiv. president volodymyr zelensky condemned the attack. the general staff of the ukrainian armed forces has also said it repelled russian attacks nearfour villages in donetsk region, in its morning update on facebook on 15july. earlier, we heard from our correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood. he explained that russian missile strikes are hitting various targets. meanwhile, the defence ministry in russia said that a missile site on thursday was directed at a building by top officials from the armed forces of ukraine were meeting foreign arms supplies. i do not think it is a shift, but this is a pattern we have seen quite a lot recently, these attacks, these missile attacks fired by the russians onto civilian targets way away from the front lines.

previously, the attacks seemed to target infrastructure targets or military bases but we've had quite a few, whether it was a shopping centre in kremenchuk, a resortjust near odesa or this attack yesterday in vinnytsia, where you cannot see what the target is, what the infrastructure target is, it is the centre of towns and that is why we are getting such high death tolls, 23 people now, as you say three of them, including that little girl. the photo of her dead is really difficult to see. she is lying lifeless on the floor, face down and when you see it juxtaposed with the images of her posted by her mother who is still critically ill in hospital, just hours before her death, it is really hard to see and that is why the ukrainians say this is terrorism, they say russia is a terrorist state doing this deliberately to intimidate and try and break the will of the ukrainian people. the russians deny that, they say they do not target civilians, that they hit military targets and they suggested there is one nearby but the bbc team

on the ground could find no evidence of that and clearly there have been a huge number of civilian deaths as we have seen, including children. eu foreign and justice ministers are discussing russian war crimes, aren't they? yes. there's been many investigations ongoing, this is the latest, looking at the various actions of russian soldiers throughout this conflict so far, whether it's the forcible detention and deportation of ukrainian civilians, of rape, of murder, really serious accusations. we've already seen here in ukraine some of the wheels of justice start to turn, a number of russian soldiers have been put on trial for various war crimes, some have been found guilty already but of course here, the people they ultimately want to see put on trial, they want to see charged with these crimes, are the people who instigated this. and i think that is a very, very long way away.

emirates has rejected heathrow airport's demands for airlines to stop selling summer tickets, calling the move "unreasonable and unacceptable". the airline accused the airport of having a "blatant disregard" for customers after it capped passenger numbers to 100,000 per day over summer. heathrow said it had no choice but to bring in a cap on departing travellers. let's speak now to the president of emirates airline, sir tim clark. thank you forjoining us. how can you continue organising your desired level of departures from heathrow when the airport is saying they don't have the capacity?- when the airport is saying they don't have the capacity? well, this is something _ don't have the capacity? well, this is something it _ don't have the capacity? well, this is something it is _ don't have the capacity? well, this is something it is actually - is something it is actually difficult and very challenging for us, to be told a couple of days ago that we had to reduce our flights out of heathrow, when many of them, in fact, just about all of them, have been sold out for quite a few months. the ability for us to

re—accommodate those passengers onto other flights is impossible re—accommodate those passengers onto otherflights is impossible because they are all full. our gatwick operation is. —— is awful. we are faced with a possibly that many passengers will arrive in heathrow unable to travel and this is something that we do not accept. we have been operating flat out at heathrow with our 380 operations since october last year, and be one of the first to return to a normal pre—pandemic schedule at heathrow. and we have also been fairly vocal about the uptake in demand and the bow wave of demand post—pandemic, and we got ourselves into a high state of readiness within the airline, and at dubai airport, to deal with that. and that's exactly what has happened.— deal with that. and that's exactly what has happened. everyone is in a bind because — what has happened. everyone is in a bind because everyone _ what has happened. everyone is in a bind because everyone wants - what has happened. everyone is in a bind because everyone wants to - what has happened. everyone is in a bind because everyone wants to get| bind because everyone wants to get back to normal, but there is a lag in being able to do so. at heathrow

airport, they say this is about protecting the safety of staff and of passengers, so what sort of risks are you exposing your passengers to buy exceeding the number of people they can safely handle in the course of a day? they can safely handle in the course ofa da ? ~ they can safely handle in the course of a da ? ~ ., �* , they can safely handle in the course ofada? of a day? well, that's an interesting _ of a day? well, that's an interesting one - of a day? well, that's an interesting one because | of a day? well, that's an i interesting one because i'm of a day? well, that's an - interesting one because i'm not altogether sure what heathrow means by that. we all have obligations with regard to health and safety, whether it be the airline or the air community. to my knowledge, we in emirates and our ground handling operations do not engage in any activities which would compromise the safety of operation with regards to the people working our flights or on the ground. so it's probably a question best asked to heathrow. sorry, let mejust question best asked to heathrow. sorry, let me just add that what they have told us is that there are not enough resources across their teams, the ground staff, that they are only resourced up to 70% capacity while passenger numbers are returning to 80 — 85% of proved to

pandemic levels and that's where they say the difficulty lies. again, i am not prepared, _ they say the difficulty lies. again, i am not prepared, i— they say the difficulty lies. again, i am not prepared, i can't- they say the difficulty lies. again, i am not prepared, i can't really l i am not prepared, i can't really say whether it is ground handling, whether it is the baggage systems at heathrow, i'm sure in the fullness of time these will be dealt with. i know that the ground handling operation for emirates at heathrow, we own the company that does it, and although we are still running about 75%, 80%, they are managing without compromising safety of operation with regard to the staff that are dealing with all the things that go on at airports with regards to servicing aircraft. but in the end, we will find a way to deal with this. all we are saying to our friends at heathrow is that we cannot accept a draconian imposition of flight cancellations with people who have been in pandemic situations all over our network for over two years will stop they are wanting to

travel, they are prepared to travel, and looking forward to travelling. in all the segments of our operation we must at all costs accommodate them, and that everybody in the mix of supplying goods and services to the travelling public, whether it is the travelling public, whether it is the airport or the airline, they have got to step up and make sure it works. we can do this given more time. if we say to heathrow, we are trying to look at other airports, whether it be gatwick or stansted, or other points, but even these airfields have their own problems. but we are going to work with heathrow, and i'm sure they will accommodate us without taking the draconian messes delete macro measures they'd suggested. it's vital we do this because the travelling public must come first with regard to the flights and everything they have booked and paid for. the school holidays are coming up for. the school holidays are coming up in the uk, we have flights into our indian ocean operations like the

seychelles, south africa, places like that and we cannot afford to let people down at all. we will engage with heathrow and we will get it sorted within the next week, or two, hopefully. 5ir it sorted within the next week, or two, hopefully-— two, hopefully. sir tim clark, president _ two, hopefully. sir tim clark, president of _ two, hopefully. sir tim clark, president of emirates - two, hopefully. sir tim clark, president of emirates airline, i two, hopefully. sir tim clark, - president of emirates airline, thank you. good to hear a forward and positive looking message. thank you. president biden has been meeting the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, in the israeli—occupied west bank, before heading on to saudi arabia on the next leg of his middle east tour. the two men shook hands and inspected a guard of honour. mr biden says he wants to improve relations, which were frozen by the palestinians in protest at the policies of his predecessor, donald trump. let's take you live to bethlehem, where us presidentjoe biden and president abbass are holding and hope for a better tomorrow... if

israel wants to be a compliment state it cannot can continue to act as a state above law, and this calls for israel to end its occupation of the land and a state of palestine with eastjerusalem as its capital from the 1967 borders. only then will israel be accepted to live in peace, security and good neighbourhood with the countries and people of the region, based on the arab peace initiative. the opportunity for the two state solution may be available today only, but we don't know what will happen later. therefore, i take this

opportunity on the occasion of the visit of your excellency to the region to say that i extend my hand to the leaders of israel to make peace for race which has happen much before and there have been other accords where we have extended our hands for peace with all israeli leaders, for a betterfuture and hands for peace with all israeli leaders, for a better future and for the future generations and for all of the peoples of the region. mr president, we welcome you again and our confidence in you and your administration is very great and we assure you of our readiness to work with you, hand—in—hand, in order to achieve comprehensive and just peace

based on international legitimacy, and the arab peace initiative and the signed agreements between us and israel. there are agreements that we need to respect. in a manner that guarantees security, peace, stability and lasting prosperity for all of the countries in the region. mr president, peace begins with palestine and jerusalem. from here, peace starts. we extend our hands for peace and to work with you, mr president, to achieve it. peace be upon you. thank you.— president, to achieve it. peace be upon you. thank you. thank you very much, upon you. thank you. thank you very much. and — upon you. thank you. thank you very much, and thank _ upon you. thank you. thank you very much, and thank you _ upon you. thank you. thank you very much, and thank you to _ upon you. thank you. thank you very much, and thank you to your- much, and thank you to your colleagues with whom i have the opportunity to meet as well. it's good _ opportunity to meet as well. it's good to— opportunity to meet as well. it's good to see you again, my friend. we've _ good to see you again, my friend. we've known each other for a long time _ we've known each other for a long time and — we've known each other for a long time. and i'm very proud to be with

you today— time. and i'm very proud to be with you today as— time. and i'm very proud to be with you today as president of the united states. _ you today as president of the united states, and we can count ourselves among _ states, and we can count ourselves among the — states, and we can count ourselves among the earliest supporters of the two state _ among the earliest supporters of the two state solution. as i stand with you today, — two state solution. as i stand with you today, now is president of the united _ you today, now is president of the united states, my commitment to the -oal united states, my commitment to the goal of— united states, my commitment to the goal of a _ united states, my commitment to the goal of a two state solution has not changed _ goal of a two state solution has not changed in— goal of a two state solution has not changed. in all of these years. two states— changed. in all of these years. two states along the 1967 lines were mutually— states along the 1967 lines were mutually agreed and it remains the best way— mutually agreed and it remains the best way to achieve and will achieve prosperity, — best way to achieve and will achieve prosperity, freedom and democracy for the _ prosperity, freedom and democracy for the palestinians as well as the israelis _ for the palestinians as well as the israelis. the palestinian people deserve — israelis. the palestinian people deserve a — israelis. the palestinian people deserve a state of their own that is independent, sovereign, viable and continuous — independent, sovereign, viable and continuous. two states for two peoples, — continuous. two states for two peoples, both of whom had deep and ancient _ peoples, both of whom had deep and ancient roots in the land, living side _ ancient roots in the land, living side by— ancient roots in the land, living side by side in peace and security. both—

side by side in peace and security. both states recognising the equal rights _ both states recognising the equal rights of— both states recognising the equal rights of the others, and both people — rights of the others, and both people is— rights of the others, and both people is enjoying in equal measure of freedom and dignity. and that is fundamentally what this is all about — fundamentally what this is all about. and every person has the right— about. and every person has the right to — about. and every person has the right to be — about. and every person has the right to be treated with dignity —— dignity _ right to be treated with dignity —— dignity it— right to be treated with dignity —— dignity. it is simply basic. i know the goal— dignity. it is simply basic. i know the goal of— dignity. it is simply basic. i know the goal of the two states seems far away while _ the goal of the two states seems far away while indignities are there on the restrictions on travel or the daily— the restrictions on travel or the daily worries of your children's safety— daily worries of your children's safety are _ daily worries of your children's safety are real and immediate. the palestinian — safety are real and immediate. the palestinian people are hurting now. you can— palestinian people are hurting now. you canjust feel palestinian people are hurting now. you can just feel it. palestinian people are hurting now. you canjust feel it. your grief and frustration — you canjust feel it. your grief and frustration. in the united states, we can— frustration. in the united states, we can feel it. but we will never give _ we can feel it. but we will never give up — we can feel it. but we will never give up on — we can feel it. but we will never give up on the work of peace. there must _ give up on the work of peace. there must be _ give up on the work of peace. there must be a _ give up on the work of peace. there must be a political horizon that the palestinian people can actually see or at least— palestinian people can actually see or at least feel. we cannot allow hopelessness to steal away the future — hopelessness to steal away the future that so many have worked towards —

future that so many have worked towards for so long. so even if the ground _ towards for so long. so even if the ground is— towards for so long. so even if the ground is not rife at this moment to restart _ ground is not rife at this moment to restart negotiations, the united states— restart negotiations, the united states in— restart negotiations, the united states in my administration will not -ive states in my administration will not give up _ states in my administration will not give up on — states in my administration will not give up on trying to bring the palestinians and israelis and both sides— palestinians and israelis and both sides closer together. i do believe in this— sides closer together. i do believe in this moment that israel is improving relations with its neighbours throughout the region. we can varnish _ neighbours throughout the region. we can varnish same momentum to reinvigorate the peace process between — reinvigorate the peace process between the palestinian people and the israelis. i recognise how hard all of— the israelis. i recognise how hard all of these challenges must be and will be _ all of these challenges must be and will be to— all of these challenges must be and will be to work through. above all, there _ will be to work through. above all, there must— will be to work through. above all, there must be an end to the violence that is— there must be an end to the violence that is -- _ there must be an end to the violence that is -- has— there must be an end to the violence that is —— has devastated too many families _ that is —— has devastated too many families it— that is —— has devastated too many families it is— that is —— has devastated too many families. it is heart wrenching. so many— families. it is heart wrenching. so many palestinians and israelis have lost their— many palestinians and israelis have lost their livesjust many palestinians and israelis have lost their lives just this year. in the united _ lost their lives just this year. in the united states, we have suffered losses— the united states, we have suffered losses well,, the killing of an

american. _ losses well,, the killing of an american, an american citizen, and a proud _ american, an american citizen, and a proud palestinian, and she was performing very vital work in the independent media, the vital work of democracy— independent media, the vital work of democracy and her death is an enormous _ democracy and her death is an enormous loss to the essential work of sharing _ enormous loss to the essential work of sharing the work of the palestinian people. i hope that her legacy— palestinian people. i hope that her legacy will inspire more young people — legacy will inspire more young people to carry on her work of reporting _ people to carry on her work of reporting the truth and telling stories— reporting the truth and telling stories that are too often overlooked. the united states will continue _ overlooked. the united states will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death and will— transparent accounting of her death and will continue to stand up for media _ and will continue to stand up for media freedom everywhere in the world _ media freedom everywhere in the world. president abbas, in the past we met— world. president abbas, in the past we met in— world. president abbas, in the past we met in ramallah, but today, in the palestinian of —— palestinian city of— the palestinian of —— palestinian city of bethlehem, a place of enormous significance in my faith as well, _ enormous significance in my faith as well, the _ enormous significance in my faith as well, the birthplace ofjesus christ — well, the birthplace ofjesus christ. this is the city that lives in the _ christ. this is the city that lives in the hearts of millions of christians as a reminder of god's great _ christians as a reminder of god's great gift— christians as a reminder of god's

great gift to the world and our renewed — great gift to the world and our renewed and redemption in christ. musiims— renewed and redemption in christ. muslims and dues also have an intense — muslims and dues also have an intense and deep connection in this land, _ intense and deep connection in this land, particularly injerusalem. land, particularly in jerusalem. jerusalem land, particularly injerusalem. jerusalem is central to the national visions— jerusalem is central to the national visions of— jerusalem is central to the national visions of both palestinians and israelis. — visions of both palestinians and israelis, to histories, to face, to futures — israelis, to histories, to face, to futures -- _ israelis, to histories, to face, to futures. —— two faiths. jerusalem must _ futures. —— two faiths. jerusalem must be — futures. —— two faiths. jerusalem must be a — futures. —— two faiths. jerusalem must be a city for all of its people _ must be a city for all of its people. it's holy sites preserving the status— people. it's holy sites preserving the status quo of the hashemite kingdom — the status quo of the hashemite kingdom ofjordan serving as custodian throughout this holy land filled with so many meanings to all faiths, _ filled with so many meanings to all faiths, we — filled with so many meanings to all faiths, we must be free to practice our faith— faiths, we must be free to practice our faith is— faiths, we must be free to practice ourfaith is in faiths, we must be free to practice our faith is in peace, safety and dignity — our faith is in peace, safety and dignity. we cannot wait for peace agreements to beat reach out for every _ agreements to beat reach out for every issue to be resolved to deliver— every issue to be resolved to deliver on— every issue to be resolved to deliver on the needs of the palestinian people that exist today, as i palestinian people that exist today, as i speak —

palestinian people that exist today, as i speak. the best way to feed the flame _ as i speak. the best way to feed the flame of— as i speak. the best way to feed the flame of hope is to demonstrate that things— flame of hope is to demonstrate that things can _ flame of hope is to demonstrate that things can be better. president abbas, — things can be better. president abbas, united states can improve the and that— abbas, united states can improve the and that is— abbas, united states can improve the and that is why when i came to office _ and that is why when i came to office i— and that is why when i came to office i reserved the policies of my predecessor and resumed aid to the palestinians. more than half $1 billion— palestinians. more than half $1 billion in— palestinians. more than half $1 billion in 2021 and that support for the economic development of the palestinian people, to strengthen palestinian people, to strengthen palestinian security, to provide food _ palestinian security, to provide food for— palestinian security, to provide food for people to eat, to respond to the _ food for people to eat, to respond to the pandemic, including donating more _ to the pandemic, including donating more than _ to the pandemic, including donating more thani million to the pandemic, including donating more than 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to the west bank— coronavirus vaccines to the west bank and — coronavirus vaccines to the west bank and gaza and also includes more than 400 _ bank and gaza and also includes more than 400 million of humanitarian assistance — than 400 million of humanitarian assistance to palestinian refugees through— assistance to palestinian refugees through the united relief and works agency _ through the united relief and works agency. the un rwa, and today i am announcing _ agency. the un rwa, and today i am announcing that the us will provide

announcing that the us will provide an additional 200 million to the un rwa so— an additional 200 million to the un rwa so it _ an additional 200 million to the un rwa so it can continue its vital work _ rwa so it can continue its vital work in — rwa so it can continue its vital work in helping the most venerable palestinians, especially palestinian children _ palestinians, especially palestinian children. earlierthis month palestinians, especially palestinian children. earlier this month we decided, — children. earlier this month we decided, and this morning i announced an additional $100 million in support— announced an additional $100 million in support of health care services for palestinians throughout the east jerusalem _ for palestinians throughout the east jerusalem hospital network. we were engaging _ jerusalem hospital network. we were engaging with israel around ways to encourage _ engaging with israel around ways to encourage greater palestinian economic growth and also money for 4g economic growth and also money for 46 mobile _ economic growth and also money for 4g mobile networks and increasing the supply— 4g mobile networks and increasing the supply of renewable energy and improving _ the supply of renewable energy and improving freedom of movement for palestinians of people and goods. these _ palestinians of people and goods. these are — palestinians of people and goods. these are the kinds of issues that progress — these are the kinds of issues that progress can make life better for people _ progress can make life better for people right away and we should be about _ people right away and we should be about it _ people right away and we should be about it right away. the palestinian authority _ about it right away. the palestinian authority has important work to do as well, _ authority has important work to do as well, if— authority has important work to do as well, if you don't mind my saying — as well, if you don't mind my saying. now is the time to strengthen palestinian institutions to improve governance, transparency and accountability. now is the time

to unleash — and accountability. now is the time to unleash the incredible punt —— potential— to unleash the incredible punt —— potential of the palestinian people for greater ink engagement of civic society, _ for greater ink engagement of civic society, tackle corruption, advance freedom _ society, tackle corruption, advance freedom and improve community services — freedom and improve community services. all of this work is critical— services. all of this work is critical and will help build a society— critical and will help build a society that can support a successful democratic future and a future _ successful democratic future and a future palestinian state. and the united _ future palestinian state. and the united states will work with you, president — united states will work with you, president abbas, at every step. so, thank— president abbas, at every step. so, thank you _ president abbas, at every step. so, thank you again for welcoming me and my delegation, the secretary of state, _ my delegation, the secretary of state, the security adviser and others, — state, the security adviser and others, do _ state, the security adviser and others, do visit with you. i hope our visit — others, do visit with you. i hope our visit is — others, do visit with you. i hope our visit is a _ others, do visit with you. i hope our visit is a start of a new and reinvigorated dialogue between the palestinian authorities, the united states— palestinian authorities, the united states and between the palestinian countries _ states and between the palestinian countries and countries throughout the region — countries and countries throughout the region, including israel, so let's— the region, including israel, so let's work— the region, including israel, so let's work together to show the people — let's work together to show the people of the region, especially young _

people of the region, especially young people, that their future can be better— young people, that their future can be better than it is today. i thank you all— be better than it is today. i thank you all very— be better than it is today. i thank you all very much and may god protect— you all very much and may god protect us— you all very much and may god protect us all. thank you. thank you very much- — protect us all. thank you. thank you very much. thank _ protect us all. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. _ we thought there might be some questions and we will go back if there are, but that was joe questions and we will go back if there are, but that wasjoe biden speaking there alongside the palestinian president, mahmoud hervaas in bethlehem as part ofjoe biden's visit to the middle east —— president abbas. he will be off to saudi arabia soon and to recap on what president biden said, he said the palestinians are hurting now, you can feel it. he said that the commitment to the goal of a two state solution about the united states continues and if the ground is not right for negotiations, the united states will not give up

efforts to bring the two sides together. a british man held captive by pro—russian separatist forces has died in captivity. his family have been contacted by the british foreign office, who confirmed the 45 year old's death. the bbc hasnt been able to independently confirm his death. the presidium network, who have been helping the family, say his mother is "distraught and still in shock.". paul urey was taken prisoner in ukraine along with another man, dylan healy, while reportedly trying to conduct a humanitarian rescue mission on the 25th april. the pair were trying to enter russian—controlled territory through a checkpoint south of the south—eastern city of zaporizhzhia, reportedly to rescue a woman and herfamily trapped by the fighting. according to his mother, mr urey had type 1 diabetes. officials from the self—proclaimed donetsk people's republic, who were holding paul urey , described him as a "mercenary" and said he died in captivity onjuly 10th from underlying health conditions and "stress".

we will bring you more details when we can confirm them. i have some breaking news now from the high court, which has ruled that doctors can lawfully stop providing life—support treatment to a 12—year—old boy with brain damage after reviewing evidence in london at a hearing. doctors who are treating archie battersby say continued treatment is not in his best interest and should come to an end. archie's parents from southend in essex have disagreed and continue to disagree. mrjustice hayden today ruled that treatment could lawfully and today. we will bring you more details from the court when they come in. pressure on nhs emergency services in england is getting worse, with ambulance callouts last month hitting an all—time high forjune. an investigation into six of the worst performing hospitals has found that in some cases ambulances were waiting up to eleven

hours to hand over their patients. david grossman reports. the people who were giving jamie cpr were screaming down the phone, "where is the ambulance, why is it taking so long?" jamie rees was 18 and out with friends in rugby on new year's eve when he collapsed with a cardiac arrest. an ambulance should have been with jamie within seven minutes. it actually took 17 and a half. we were told there were 32 ambulances available after midnight on new year's day. sadly, 17 of those were outside hospitals. the first minutes are the most crucial time and getting oxygen and a defibrillator on to jamie were so crucial. this is not a new issue but it has got significantly worse. this graph shows the number of hours lost in waits over two hours long. the figures were slightly better in may, but between april last year and april this year, there was a 4000% increase in the number of hours lost. guided by unpublished handover delay data, newsnight went to some of the hospitals with the longest delays.

they all happened to be in the south west or west midlands. this is a snapshot on a random monday injuly. it's not official data, merely what our researchers recorded over a 12—hour period. at royal cornwall, an ambulance waiting ten and a half hours to handover a patient, and two ambulances that arrived at 9:30am and were still waiting to leave at 8pm. at worcestershire royal, they recorded 15 ambulances waiting, one forfour hours. at derriford hospital in plymouth, we saw an 11—hour wait. at points, there were as many as 20 ambulances waiting outside the hospital and in an overflow car park. newsnight spoke to all of the hospitals about what we saw. spokespeople for each told us that the health service was experiencing unprecedented demand, that they were sorry

for delays and were working hard on new initiatives to try to improve things. we heard from many ambulance staff and they all painted a similar picture. i've had senior sisters say to me, if we let you go, you willjust bring us more. why do you bring us patients? and those are people who may be in dire need of an ambulance? absolutely, yeah. i would be wrong to say that there are times when i haven't shed a tear. ..for people we haven't been able to help. because it's been too late. but those who represent emergency doctors say there are no easy solutions. they can't admit more ill people, they say, because they can't discharge thousands of recovering patients into social care. the corridors in an emergency department are frequently fall, anyway. so just off—loading an ambulance into an area inside an emergency department, all you are doing is transferring one problem into another.

what is better is if we can discharge patients from hospital, create that space so we unblock our emergency departments and allow ambulances to hand over their patients seamlessly. everyone we have spoken to thinks things are getting worse with, we were warned, some services possibly weeks away from total collapse. the uk government says the nhs in england has been given £150 million in extra funding to address pressures on ambulance services. but restoring trust in emergency care is, it seems, beyond anyone's capabilities right now. david grossman, bbc news. sri lanka has sworn in its new acting president, ranil wickremesinghe. it comes after gotabaya rajapaksa fled sri lanka earlier this week and is now in singapore. demonstrators poured onto the streets of the capital colombo in defiance of a curfew to celebrate the president's departure. it follows months of unrest over sri lanka's crippling economic problems.

the bbc�*s anbarasan ethirajan has this update from the capital colombo. the government lifted the curfew at 5am in the western province that also includes the capital, colombo. and that means people are coming out and buying stuff. we can see more vehicles on the road, although because of the fuel shortage not many people are travelling. but sri lankans woke up to the reality that mr gotabaya rajapaksa officially will not be in charge of the country any more because the speaker of parliament, he accepted the resignation after verifying the document which came from singapore, where mr rajapaksa is at the moment. he had a brief stopover in the maldives. he fled the country after huge crowds stormed his official residence just over there, and that triggered a chain of events. now, prime minister ranil wickremesinghe has become the acting president, and parliament will be convening on saturday to discuss the procedure of choosing a new president. and within the next seven days, the mps will choose the next

president of sri lanka. ivana trump, the first wife of the former us president donald trump, has died at the age of 73. unconfirmed reports suggest she may have fallen down the stairs at her home in new york. our correspondent rianna croxford reports. ivana trump, described by her family as a radiant beauty and caring mother. a model and businesswoman, she was found unconscious and unresponsive at home in new york city, later confirmed dead by herfamily. it's been a very sad day, guys, a very sad day. police are still investigating the 73—year—old's cause of death, but local media believe it may have been cardiac arrest. on social media, the former president described his wife as a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman who led a great and inspirational life.

the pair were seen as one of new york's most prominent power couples in the 1980s and were married for 15 years before going on to have a highly publicised divorce after mr trump had an affair, making her somewhat of a heroine for scorned wives — famously telling divorcees in this movie... ladies, we have to be strong and independent. and remember... what? don't get mad, get everything. bye— bye. bye now. but, in recent years, she said her relationship with mr trump had since improved. she went on to forge a successful career of her own in fashion and beauty and will be remembered by her three children as a force in business who was wickedly funny, passionate and determined. rianna croxford, bbc news, washington. there's political uncertainty in italy after the prime minister, mario draghi, offered his resignation — only to have it rejected by the president. mr draghi has been asked to return to parliament next week to clarify the situation following the loss of one of his coalition partners

in a confidence motion. mark lobel explains. temperatures are rising in italy amid a political heatwave dripping with uncertainty. it's notjust the damaging drought that needs dealing with as the country rebels after the pandemic. there are fragile negotiations to secure billions of euros in eu funds and pressure to reduce its reliance on russian gas. but its political coalition is melting. italian residents are not relishing the prospect of another government facing collapse. translation: it seems to be madness at this time - with a country recovering. translation: this is not good. we should come to an agreement. the decision by the 5—star party to boycott this confidence vote on thursday prompted mario draghi, former head of the european central bank and italy's prime minister since february last year, to conclude the pact of trust that had sustained the unity government had gone.

but there was a plot twist at the presidential palace when the italian president sergio mattarella refused to accept his resignation. he has now called on mr draghi to address parliament and provide a clear picture of the political situation. the 5—star movement was originally the biggest party in the coalition but has seen a string of defections and falling support. now it's accused of a cynical plan to bring down the government to revive its own standing. but giuseppe conte said he could not support the cost of living package, because it included message that were bad for the environment. he is accused of dragging italy closer to economic and social collapse, and has shown total irresponsibility, according to one industry body, leaving one senior eu executive

watching with worried astonishment. milan's stock market dropped as nervousness spread to investors in the eurozone's third biggest economy. italy's next national elections are due next year but could come as early as this autumn if this instability persists. mark lobel, bbc news. the un has told it is tackling sexism head on following fresh claims are leading a boys club at the top of the organisation of staff being penalised for complaining. last month a bbc investigation revealed a series of damning allegations from former staff about the culture of the workplace.

last month a bbc investigation revealed the sackings of a number of un staff who tried to expose alleged wrongdoing. it detailed allegations of corruption, misogyny, management turning a blind eye to wrongdoing, and sexual abuse. it's about a culture of fear. sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment in the un happens in headquarters. it happens monday to friday. lwhistle—blowers are often presented| as somehow hating the un altogether and wanting it to be disbanded. nothing could be further from the truth, we just i want it to be better. since the documentary aired, more people have come forward making allegations, including there being a boys club at the top of the organisation and staff being penalised for complaining. now, the un says it is making changes and has achieved parity between men and women in leadership roles. can you say that at the moment your organisation is dealing with a cultural problem? what i can tell you is that we are looking at the problem of male dominated culture head—on.

antonio guterres has done everything he can, in his power, to try to change the culture in the un. it is not a finished project, it is a project that is continually being improved. but he strongly refuted claims that staff were punished for making complaints. people are not punished for speaking out and complaining. like any organisation, whether in the private sector, in the government, in the media, we are all trying to improve our culture. and that is something the secretary general antonio guterres has done from day one in office. to ensure that people can come forward and will feel protected, whether it is by strengthening the whistle—blower policy, improving our ability to investigate accusations of sexual harassment. but some staff told us they don't trust the action will be sufficient

enough to sort what they call deep cultural problems, while the un says it has nothing to hide and is working tirelessly to improve its systems for the benefit of its employees. sima kotecha, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. the met office have issued a red extreme heat warning for monday and tuesday. this is an unprecedented warning for an unprecedented heatwave that is likely to smash the uk temperature record. monday and tuesday, the red warning covers many of england's largest cities and we are expecting wide spread impacts on over recent days that heat has been gielnik —— building across spain and portugal with deep red colour is showing temperature is above average on the heat is moving northwards across the uk through monday and tuesday on the current uk you —— record temperature stands at 38.7 celsius but that is likely to be

smashed on monday and tuesday when we could see temperatures hit the 40 degrees mark for the first time ever in the uk and that will bring widespread impacts. every time we see heat waves in this country, unfortunately, we see several thousand people dying as a result of the heat. if you are elderly or have underlying health conditions, pay attention to this. keep your curtains shut on the sunlit side of the house and window shop during the peak of the heat and if the heat is getting too much think about heading to a library where there might be some air—conditioning for a bit of respite. today temperatures reach the upper 20s and for many it's a dry day with sunny spells and a few showers working south across northern eglin on the showers clear away and at this stage, the area is relatively fresh so overnight lows of 9 degrees in glasgow, comfortable enough, 13 or 14 degrees in cardiff and london. make sure you open those windows first thing in the morning to let the cool air in and as we head into saturday, pressure will build further across the uk and we start to see temperatures rise, more

widely across england and wales we are into the high 20s, but still comfortable conditions for scotland and northern ireland. for scotland there could be a few showers around on sunday but further south, sunshine and the wind is starting to come up from the south bringing some continental air in and instead of talking about temperatures and high 20s, we back widely into the 30s across england and wales. the heat builds further on monday and this is the first of the roasting hot days. temperatures across scotland and northern ireland likely to reach the upper 20s at least and we could hit 40 celsius and the hottest areas, and this is dangerous, unprecedented heat.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the first ever extreme heat warning is being issued by the met office for parts of england on monday and tuesday. temperatures in london and parts of central england could reach up to 40 degrees. the warning means a risk to life is likely, and says substantial changes in working practices and routines will be required. a british man who was captured in ukraine by pro—russian separatist forces has reportedly died. paul urey was believed to be volunteering in ukraine, was taken prisoner in along with another man in april. a high courtjudge has ruled doctors can lawfully stop providing life—support treatment to a 12—year—old archie battersbee, who suffered a "devastating" brain injury three months ago. as more train strikes are announced, the head of the uk's

leading rail union calls for all workers to be given fair pay that reflects soaring inflation. many workers in this country are having to use food banks and take state benefits while they are working full—timejobs. that is not acceptable. if you don't get a pay rise that matches the rate of inflation, you are getting poorer year on year. suella braverman becomes the latest conservative leadership candidate to be eliminated, leaving five remaining in the race. pressure on nhs emergency services in england is getting worse, with ambulance callouts last month hitting an all—time high forjune. good afternoon and welcome to the

bbc news channel. a red extreme heat warning has been issued for the first time ever by the met office for parts of england next week, meaning a risk to life is likely. temperatures could get as high as 40 celsius for the first time and people are being urged to take precautions against the soaring heat. our weather presenter chris fawkes is here. just explain what a red warning means. well, a red warning, we are talking about extreme heat, so temperatures are likely to smash the all—time uk temperature records, which currently stands at 38.7. from a logical point of view it is quite interesting, but it is the impact of people �*s health and infrastructure we are focusing on because, unfortunately, when we see like this in our country, and we have had them before, we do see thousands of people die as a result of the excess heat. so they are silent killers in many ways. heat. so they are silent killers in many ways-— heat. so they are silent killers in man was. , , ., many ways. yes, some people cannot co -e with many ways. yes, some people cannot

cope with this — many ways. yes, some people cannot cope with this heat _ many ways. yes, some people cannot cope with this heat at _ many ways. yes, some people cannot cope with this heat at all, _ cope with this heat at all, particularly the more vulnerable. so, show us then wear the red warning is. but the amber warning is also still in place which is not to be taken lightly.— be taken lightly. absolutely, because that _ be taken lightly. absolutely, because that will _ be taken lightly. absolutely, because that will bring - be taken lightly. absolutely, i because that will bring impacts be taken lightly. absolutely, - because that will bring impacts as well. the met office red weather warning is for monday and tuesday, as we have been reporting here on the bbc news channel. that is impacts to health and infrastructure are likely. it is large parts of england, taking in much of our biggest cities. that's where we will see exceptional heat. at the amber warning as well, that covers a broader area of england, all of wales and parts of scotland as well. across these areas, we will also get impacts on health, and also impacts on infrastructure as well. find impacts on health, and also impacts on infrastructure as well.— on infrastructure as well. and not “ust on infrastructure as well. and not just here- — on infrastructure as well. and not just here. europe _ on infrastructure as well. and not just here. europe is _ on infrastructure as well. and not just here. europe is really - on infrastructure as well. and not just here. europe is really feeling i just here. europe is really feeling the heat. , ., just here. europe is really feeling the heat. , . ., �* , the heat. yes, and that's where it has come — the heat. yes, and that's where it has come from _ the heat. yes, and that's where it has come from essentially. - the heat. yes, and that's where it has come from essentially. on i the heat. yes, and that's where itl has come from essentially. on this chart, the red colours tell you how

much above average the damages are. the deeper the red, the more unusual the weather has been. we have been just a few tenths away from the portuguese all—time national record and that heat has been pushing up across france and is arriving in the uk this weekend and into monday and tuesday, which will be the peak of our heatwave. that's a really dangerous days that we have got ahead. ., , ., ., ., ,, ., ahead. you started to talk about the im act that ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this _ ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this is _ ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this is going _ ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this is going to - ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this is going to have - ahead. you started to talk about the impact that this is going to have on | impact that this is going to have on infrastructure and health, please elaborate on that. 50. infrastructure and health, please elaborate on that.— infrastructure and health, please elaborate on that. so, things like infrastructure. _ elaborate on that. so, things like infrastructure. railways - elaborate on that. so, things like infrastructure. railways are - elaborate on that. so, things like infrastructure. railways are a - elaborate on that. so, things like i infrastructure. railways are a good example. the rails heat up, and when they heat up they expand. with expanding rails, thejoints between the rail tracks can buckle. to prevent that, trains tend to run with lower speed limits, which then impacts on the timetable. you can get impacts like that. electricity supplies may be affected by some heat sensitive equipment just supplies may be affected by some heat sensitive equipmentjust not being able to cope with the heat. and we might well see energy demand increase as well because buildings

like this, and many other workplaces have air conditioning and those units are going to be on full pelt due to the extreme heat. that's the infrastructure side. as far as health is concerned, that i think is really crucial. as i say, heatwaves do kill lots and lots of people. in 2003 in europe, the heatwave that we had then, that at the time said the uk national record, there were estimates of between 30 and 70,000 people that died as a result of the heat. we really need to guard against this. ways we can do that, keep the curtains closed on the sunny side of your house. keep the windows shut during the peak of the day so we don't let the hot air into your house. and if you feel that you really can't cope with it, there are options. maybe even go to a public building like a library that might have air conditioning, just to help keep your body cooler and maybe get you through the worst of the peak heat. , ., , , ., , you through the worst of the peak heat. , ., ,, ., , ,, heat. yes, houses generally speaking are not equipped _

heat. yes, houses generally speaking are not equipped to _ heat. yes, houses generally speaking are not equipped to deal _ heat. yes, houses generally speaking are not equipped to deal with - heat. yes, houses generally speaking are not equipped to deal with it. - are not equipped to deal with it. chris, thank you. well, that warning in parts of england comes as scorching temperatures across parts of europe continue to fuel wildfires. greece, spain and portugal are currently the worst—affected. dozens of fires have broken out in portugal, including near the city of coimbra, killing at least one person. meanwhile, the city of badajoz in spain endured temperatures of 44 degrees with the country's meteorological agency saying some regions were "suffocating". further north in france a wildfire ripped through vast areas of pine trees south of bordeaux and many bastille day celebrations had to be cancelled. the spanish region of andalusia has endured some of the hottest temperatures, including the city of cordoba from where our correspondent guy hedgecoe reports. bell tolls. the people of cordoba know all about heat. situated in the guadalquivir valley in southern spain,

summers in this historic city are notoriously hot and dry. but this summer already looks hotter than usual. the country is in the grip of the second heatwave of recent weeks. for many of the tourists who come here, temperatures in the mid—40s celsius come as a shock. we're from denmark, for me, too hot. this is too hot. i don't mind actually. this is crazy. for locals, experience has shown how to deal with the conditions. translation: if you have certain underlying conditions _ and you expose yourself to the sun, you might suffer heatstroke, and it will get worse. but if you go out earlier in the day, you hydrate properly, then you will be ok. older people and young children are among those most at risk of being affected by the heat, according to doctors.

you must force the elderly and babies to be hydrated, to drink water. you must watch them closely. i suggest that people stay at home from 1—6pm now, with the risk so high. this heatwave is unusual because of its impact across the whole country. even northern areas, which would normally escape the worst of the summer heat, are seeing extreme temperatures. the north—western region of galicia has been on red alert due to temperatures of up to 42 degrees. the extreme heat and high winds have fuelled wildfires, which have devastated swathes of land in the centre of the country. in neighbouring portugal, similar conditions have left firefighters battling multiple blazes. swimming pools like this one provide relief forfamilies,

but despite the relaxed mood, there is a sense that this kind of heat is becoming increasingly normal. translation: it's changed. we have longer summers now. the spring and autumn don't exist any more, we go directly from the cold to intense heat in a few weeks, just a short period of time. it is evening time in cordoba and the temperature has dropped just enough for people to start coming out into squares like this one for a drink. but it's still not clear exactly when this heatwave will end, or indeed, whether they will be others like it later this summer. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, cordoba. we will come back to the extreme heatin we will come back to the extreme heat in a moment, but first let me bring you the latest office for national statistics figures for the

number of covid cases across the country. we are told the week ending 6th ofjuly, the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus continued to increase across the uk. of course, we know that they have been two new variants identified in recent weeks. in england, around one in 19 people were infected. in wales, the numbers were infected. in wales, the numbers were one and 17 and the same for northern ireland. and also in scotland, one in 16 people were infected. so the number of coronavirus cases continuing to increase for the week ending july to six. let's return them to the extreme heat that we are seeing across europe, and also in the uk. a representative from friends of the earth joins us now. a representative from friends of the earthjoins us now. you have identified some 3000 most vulnerable neighbourhoods. what do you mean by that, in what way are they

vulnerable?— that, in what way are they vulnerable? ,, ., ., that, in what way are they vulnerable? ., , ., vulnerable? so, extreme heat is a reali we vulnerable? so, extreme heat is a reality we are _ vulnerable? so, extreme heat is a reality we are beginning _ vulnerable? so, extreme heat is a reality we are beginning to - vulnerable? so, extreme heat is a reality we are beginning to face i reality we are beginning to face with just 1 reality we are beginning to face with just1 degrees of global warming and climate change, we know that that will get much worse as climate change increases over time. so we worked with researchers at the university of manchester to try to identify which neighbourhoods in england are the most vulnerable, and therefore which neighbourhoods need to be given the most targeted support. those neighbourhoods included large proportions of people who are elderly or young, those are people who are the most vulnerable. or there is less green space within those neighbourhoods. so lots of concrete soaking up the heat. we know that green spaces provides people a place to shelter, but also because the environment. although housing is in poor condition. in the uk, we have housing that is cold in the winter and too hot in the summer because we have had no investment in it. we identified those 3000 neighbourhoods and we are saying they should be targeted for support first. but more importantly, i

think, we are saying that it is absolutely critical, when you look at the figures as climate change increases, these figures get worse and worse and we need to see a renewed effort on cutting carbon emissions more quickly so we are not contributing more to climate change. it is worrying that some other candidates in the conservative party contest to become leader are talking about going back on climate change action, which is reckless and retrograde. what we need to see is all those candidates and all politicians putting in a renewed focus on trying to cut carbon emissions. focus on trying to cut carbon emissions-— focus on trying to cut carbon emissions. ~ . ., ., emissions. we will come to the olitics emissions. we will come to the politics in _ emissions. we will come to the politics in a _ emissions. we will come to the politics in a moment. _ emissions. we will come to the politics in a moment. you - emissions. we will come to the politics in a moment. you say i emissions. we will come to the i politics in a moment. you say that these 3000 most vulnerable neighbours in the uk —— neighbourhoods, which is around 6 million people, you say they should get support first. million people, you say they should get support first-— get support first. what sort of su ort? get support first. what sort of support? the _ get support first. what sort of support? the research - get support first. what sort of support? the research looks i get support first. what sort of| support? the research looks at england and we have research later this month in terms of wales and

work is being done for scotland and northern ireland. the support they need, for example, we ought to be looking at how we can green their streets quickly, put in place of trees and green spaces. and we need to look where we can get air conditioning into community centres, so at the peak of the day people can go and cool down, and we need to look and see how ultimately we can make peoples homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. some of these things can't be done immediately but some, for example the community centres and cooling spaces, can be done very quickly. you mentioned the lack of political priority. what would politicians giving climate change a priority look like this might give me a brief answer and then i'll come back to you on it. answer and then i'll come back to ou on it. ., , answer and then i'll come back to ou on it. . , ., , you on it. one example would be the fact that we — you on it. one example would be the fact that we live _ you on it. one example would be the fact that we live in _ you on it. one example would be the fact that we live in homes _ you on it. one example would be the fact that we live in homes that - you on it. one example would be the fact that we live in homes that are i fact that we live in homes that are cold in the winter and warm in the summer, and the government has failed to put in proper measures to help people insulate their homes, improve their homes, so that they

can be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. that lack of investment in insulation is causing a problem for quality of life, for energy bills, and also it is leading to more carbon pollution. you are watching bbc news. we say goodbye to our viewers on bbc two. thank you for bearing with us while we do that. the prime minister �*s spokesman has said that a level four heat alert meets the definition of a national emergency within government. he said contingency plans are in place and officials will continue to meet today and over the weekend. the uk health and security agency has already issued safety advice that will be monitored, we are told, and the prime minister is being kept up—to—date with all the latest weather information. when you hear things like that, there is an acknowledgement at the heart of government had just how hot things are, how hopeful are you that it will galvanise politicians to do

what you believe is necessary? weill. what you believe is necessary? well, there's one — what you believe is necessary? well, there's one thing _ what you believe is necessary? well, there's one thing about _ what you believe is necessary? -tt there's one thing about having emergency response plan, isn't there, and is another one trying to prevent emergencies happening in the first place. having that plan to prevent emergency is happening is clearly the first thing that needs to happen. so, yes, we may respond very quickly over the next 24, 48, 72 hours, but what we need to be doing is making sure that as much as possible, our housing stock is properly insulated, that long—term investment programme. we need to make sure our cities are green and that is a long—term investment programme. we don't want to do is politicians only responding when the emergency is on our doorstep. the truth is we can do more. the uk is doing some, there is effort in some location so i don't want to say we are doing nothing, but these kinds of emergencies, the storms in the winter, which were so many people without electricity for weeks on end, they are an indicator of what happens if we allow planet

change to get out of hand. we need a renewed effort to reduce emissions quickly. some politicians will put that into place and do what they can, but some candidates for the conservative party leadership, to be the next prime minister, suggesting we can go back and taking action on climate change and that's incredibly short—sighted and dangerous. thank short-sighted and dangerous. thank ou ve short-sighted and dangerous. thank you very much _ short-sighted and dangerous. thank you very much for — short-sighted and dangerous. thank you very much forjoining _ short-sighted and dangerous. thank you very much forjoining us. - short-sighted and dangerous. thank you very much forjoining us. thank| you very much for “oining us. thank ou. a british man held captive by pro—russian separatist forces has died in captivity. his family have been contacted by the british foreign office, who confirmed the 45—year—old's death. paul urey was taken prisoner in ukraine along with another man, dylan healy, while reportedly trying to conduct a humanitarian rescue mission on the 25th april. we're joined from kyiv by our correspondent, joe inwood. joe, what more can you tell us about paul urey and how he was taken

captive? paul urey and how he was taken ca tive? ., , paul urey and how he was taken cative? ., , ., paul urey and how he was taken cative? . , . _ ., captive? so, paul urey and dylan healy were _ captive? so, paul urey and dylan healy were reportedly _ captive? so, paul urey and dylan healy were reportedly trying - captive? so, paul urey and dylan healy were reportedly trying to i healy were reportedly trying to rescue a ukrainian familyjust south of the south—eastern city at the end of the south—eastern city at the end of april. we understand that they were trying to cross from ukrainian held territory into russian occupied territory, and when they got to a russian checkpoint, they were detained. we have not seen anything of them, apart from one video filmed by russian backed media, but nothing of them until this news today. according to the officials of the donnie —esque people's republic, the 45—year—old died in detention apparently of chronic health conditions and stress. this is devastating news for the family. the network that has been managing this process throughout and helping the family, says apparently his mother is in shock and devastated. as you say, the news has been confirmed to the family by the foreign office, who say they have confirmed

themselves.— who say they have confirmed themselves. , ., , ., themselves. the people who were holdin: themselves. the people who were holding him _ themselves. the people who were holding him took _ themselves. the people who were holding him took a _ themselves. the people who were holding him took a very _ themselves. the people who were holding him took a very different i holding him took a very different view of why he was there. yes. they have said that _ view of why he was there. yes. they have said that he _ view of why he was there. yes. they have said that he was _ view of why he was there. yes. they have said that he was a _ view of why he was there. yes. they have said that he was a mercenary. | have said that he was a mercenary. indeed, they said both the men, paul urey and dylan healy, were both working as a mercenary. indeed, dylan healy has not been charged. he will appear in court at some point charged with mercenary activities. this is strongly denied who say they were there on a humanitarian ocean, albeit a seemingly misjudged on. his family say he was a kind and loving man and they paint him as a slightly naive man. when you see the chronic health conditions he had, i think not many people think that paul urey was there as a mercenary, other than the officials in russia.— the officials in russia. thank you, joe.

a high courtjudge has ruled that doctors can lawfully stop providing life—support treatment to a 12—year—old boy with brain damage after reviewing evidence at a hearing in london. doctors treating archie battersbee say continued treatment is not in his best interests and should end. archie's parents, hollie dance and paul battersbee, from southend in essex, disagree. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. i have got a very large screen here showing me the gulf, and i was enjoying it a little bit too much. you were, i saw! you are very relaxed. i have got a comfy sofa, so why wouldn't i sit back and watch a bit of the golf? we will start there, if that's all right. thank you, good afternoon. clubhouse leader cameron jung tees off in just over an afternoon. clubhouse leader cameron jung tees off injust over an hour for his second round at st andrews and at the moment advantage does endure but there are plenty bunching up endure but there are plenty bunching up behind him, many of whom i have

been enjoying watching. benign conditions on the old course this morning. tiger woods has not been able to make up for his bad start yesterday. he was six over after round one, and with the prospect of missing the cut hanging over him today, the three—time open champion has slipped back further and he is on seven over par. pa r. two par. two other americans are playing. but the englishman terrell hatton is just one of the lead. later, rory mccoy tees off just just one of the lead. later, rory mccoy tees offjust before 3pm. and the leaderjust before 1:30pm. the leader just before 1:30pm. for the the leaderjust before 1:30pm. for the first time, the world athletics championships are being hosted in the us, a country where track and field is a huge participation sport at high school

level, but has often failed to grasp the attention of the nation amongst the attention of the nation amongst the elite. team gb captain is hoping that they can compete for medals in aragon and raise their game for the occasion. we fear nobody. we are excited to go out there and compete. from the perspective of being captain, i'm excited for the individuals who may not necessarily see themselves getting into a final immediately, they might surprise themselves. they can raise their game and we have some outliers. but as we are here at the chunky chips, a clean slate for all of us, we can surprise ourselves and do a nation proud. that's all your support for now i'll be back in the next hour. between now and then, you are very aware of what i'm going to be doing. just don't put your feet on the desk! it is a bit clean for me to be doing that. well done, good manners.

almost 3.5 million people have covid up almost 3.5 million people have covid up to 6th ofjuly, that is 29% higher than the week before. our health editorjoins us now. these figures are really quite alarming. well, it keeps on going up each week, doesn't it? we getting to the peak of march, 4.9 million. just to emphasise again what this survey is, because people often say, well the daily data is affected by lateral flow test not being reported and so on. the ons survey goes regularly to households and tests them and captures people through that who don't have symptoms, but are testing positive. it is seen as the most authoritative guide to what going on. up from 2.7 million in the previous week, and yes, it is spreading fast. it is fuelled by the

sub—variants of omicron, ba four and b 85, which we know transmit more rapidly than previous sub—variants, and variance. important to emphasise, though, that with omicron it is less likely that somebody will get seriously ill and end up in hospital. but, even with protection from vaccines and immunity may be from vaccines and immunity may be from previous infections, you can still get it, and hopefully for patients they will be stuck at home with it but then won't get seriously ill. hospital emissions, though, are going upfairly ill. hospital emissions, though, are going up fairly slowly, but they are going up fairly slowly, but they are going up, reflecting people going into hospital either with covid, or with another condition and testing positive when they get there. that creates challenges for the nhs. that creates challenges for the nhs. at what point might the health authorities say they need to reintroduce some of the measures that we all got used to for the best part of two years? t that we all got used to for the best part of two years?— part of two years? i don't get any sense that _ part of two years? i don't get any sense that governments - part of two years? i don't get any sense that governments in - part of two years? i don't get any sense that governments in the i part of two years? i don't get any | sense that governments in the uk part of two years? i don't get any - sense that governments in the uk are ready to impose new restrictions. there is a political aspect to it,

and businesses needing to have freedom to carry on doing things, the hospitality sector and so on. but, i'm sure we are going to get more hints and a stronger messages from public health authorities about mask wearing a face covering in crowded, public places, on public transport and so on. not telling people to do it, but advising people to be cautious, and if you are seeing somebody vulnerable. that seems to beat the mood at the moment. it is important to add that this is the week ending last weekend, and schools are going to be breaking up soon in england. they have already broken up in scotland. during school holidays, it tends to be a bit of a fall because it is less easy for the virus to transmit. there is certainly no complacency here. it is going on up. you remember in march, there was a lot about them, but it is spreading quite fast now. thank you. we have a statement from the foreign office regarding paul

urey, the british man held captive by pro—russian separatist forces in the —— his family are concerned as they have received reports that he has died. however, the foreign office said they are urgently seeking clarification on media reports that a british aid worker has died in ukraine. we are raising it with our ukrainian allies in the ministry of foreign affairs in moscow, and we continue to be in close contact with the family. so at the moment, the foreign office are not able to confirm what the presidium network have been reporting and they are supporting his family. his mother is said to be distraught, understandably. paul urey, along with dylan hayley were reportedly trying to conduct a humanitarian rescue mission at the end of april when they were taken

captive. we will keep an eye on that and bring you the reports when we get them. thousands of rail strikes have been announced. in addition to a day of strike action on the 27th july, the rmt union has announced its members will strike on thursday the 18th and saturday the 20th august in their ongoing row over pay, jobs and conditions. yesterday, the aslef union also said train drivers at eight rail companies would stage a walk—out on saturday 30th july. sharon graham, the general secretary of unite union is warning of a "summer of discontent" as workers are being made to "pay the price of inflation". our economics editor faisal islam reports. there have been strikes on the railways and more have been announced later this month and in august, too. they have been threatened in the skies and across public services as employers, including the government, decide on pay rises that fall short of the current very high rate of inflation. the unions are hitting back, so says the chief of the biggest

private sector union, unite. before, people turned around to workers and said to workers not only have you gone out and defended the pandemic — because it was key workers and ordinary people that did that — now it's over, we want you to pay for it. now that is actually abhorrent to me. the idea that we'd said out you go, you defend what's going on out there and, by the way, now you're back, and everyone knows it's ok to go out again, we're going to slash your pay. in the main, the companies that we are talking about that are taking us to the wire are making profits, and those companies now need to make sure that workers get a piece of the pie. i don't think that's militant. i think that's basically saying workers deserve to get more money in their pay packets. it's as simple as that. but hundreds of disputes is definitely on the cards? so are you and your fellow union bosses kind of holding the economy to ransom in terms of a summer of discontent? well, i love the cliches, because they do come out quite a lot. we could be playing bingo at the moment to find all the ones that are coming out. but summer of discontent in the sense that...

look, what i'd say to that is that, for workers, they have had a spring, summer, autumn, winter of discontent for years. and, quite honestly, if what that means is an employer who can pay, an employer who has made a profit — an employer who has made a profit out of workers has to pay a proper fair wage to those workers, and notjump on the bandwagon of, we can't pay. we saw this in a previous crisis. but employers are able to pay, then they should pay workers. what are people expected to do? the bank of england and government say high wage rises risk prolonging the inflation crisis. but for some jobs, where there are worker shortages, for example bus drivers and bin collectors, the unions are threatening strikes and getting healthy pay rises. the government will decide how much to give millions of its workers in the coming days.

pressure on nhs emergency services in england is getting worse with ambulance call—outs last month hitting an all—time high forjune. an investigation has found that in some cases, ambulances were waiting up some cases, ambulances were waiting up to 11 hours to hand their patients over. the people who are giving jamie cpr were screaming down the phone, "where is the ambulance?" when 18—year—old jamie rees collapsed with a cardiac arrest in the early hours of new year's day in rugby, an ambulance did not reach him the 17.5 minutes. the target is an average of seven. we were told that there were 32 ambulances available after midnight on new year's day but sadly, 17 of those were outside hospitals. this is not a new issue but it has got significantly worse. this graph shows the number of hours

lost in waits over two hours long. the figures were slightly better in may, but between april last year and april this year, there was a 4000% increase in the number of hours lost. guided by unpublished handover delay data, newsnight went to some of the hospitals with the longest delays. they all happened to be in the south west or west midlands. this is a snapshot on a random monday injuly. it's not official data, merely what our researchers recorded over a 12—hour period. at royal cornwall, an ambulance waiting ten and a half hours to handover a patient, and two ambulances that arrived at 9:30am and were still waiting to leave at 8pm. at worcestershire royal, they recorded 15 ambulances waiting, one forfour hours. at derriford hospital in plymouth, we saw an 11—hour wait. at points, there were as many as 20 ambulances waiting outside the hospital and in an overflow car park.

newsnight spoke to all of the hospitals about what we saw. spokespeople for each told us that the health service was experiencing unprecedented demand, that they were sorry for delays and were working hard on new initiatives to try to improve things. we heard from many ambulance staff and they all painted a similar picture. i've had senior sisters say to me, if we let you go, you willjust bring us more. why do you bring us patients? and those are people who may be in dire need of an ambulance? absolutely, yeah. i would be wrong to say that there are times when i haven't shed a tear... ..for people we haven't been able to help. because it's been too late. but those who represent emergency doctors say there are no easy solutions. they can't admit more ill people, they say, because they can't discharge thousands of recovering patients into social care. the corridors in an

emergency department are frequently full, anyway. so just off—loading an ambulance into an area inside an emergency department, all you are doing is transferring one problem into another. what is better is if we can discharge patients from hospital, create that space so we unblock our emergency departments and allow ambulances to hand over their patients seamlessly. everyone we have spoken to thinks things are getting worse with, we were warned, some services possibly weeks away from total collapse. the uk government says the nhs in england has been given £150 million in extra funding to address pressures on ambulance services. but restoring trust in emergency care is, it seems, beyond anyone's capabilities right now. david grossman, bbc news. through david, what was the longest time somebody had to wait in an ambulance before they could be admitted? the ambulance before they could be admitted? ., , , admitted? the longest we came up with was 12 hours _

admitted? the longest we came up with was 12 hours because - admitted? the longest we came up with was 12 hours because simply i with was 12 hours because simply that was how long we stood outside the hospital, atm to 8pm but we went to west midlands ambulance service where three of the hospitals that we highlighted are based, and they came back to us with the official figures of the longest wait on monday, monday of this week when we did the observations, and get this, heartlands hospital in birmingham, the longest wait on monday was 18 hours and 29 minutes. worcestershire royal, 16 hours and 14 minutes and royal, 16 hours and 14 minutes and royal shrewsbury, 20 hours and seven minutes. 20 hours and seven wins of a patient arriving at hospital and 20 hours and seven minutes until they are admitted. bhd 20 hours and seven minutes until they are admitted.— they are admitted. and they are l in: on a they are admitted. and they are lying on a hard _ they are admitted. and they are lying on a hard trolley, - they are admitted. and they are lying on a hard trolley, and - they are admitted. and they are lying on a hard trolley, and you | lying on a hard trolley, and you could see a shift change during the time. , ., , could see a shift change during the time. , . , . ., ,., time. there is a shift change, so some ambulance _ time. there is a shift change, so some ambulance crew, - time. there is a shift change, so some ambulance crew, all- time. there is a shift change, so some ambulance crew, all they. time. there is a shift change, so i some ambulance crew, all they did all they will stand outside the hospital in the air ambulance with a patient. as you say, these are trolleys, they are not beds, they are not designed for anyone to get any rest on, they are designed so

they will not give under chest compression, so someone can be resuscitated, so it's a really uncomfortable position both for the patient and ambulance crews. so how do ou patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop — patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop the _ patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop the delays _ patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop the delays are _ patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop the delays are what - patient and ambulance crews. so how do you stop the delays are what are l do you stop the delays are what are the hospital saying about the solutions? we the hospital saying about the solutions?— the hospital saying about the solutions? ~ , ., ., ., solutions? we spoke to all of the hositals solutions? we spoke to all of the hospitals we _ solutions? we spoke to all of the hospitals we observed _ solutions? we spoke to all of the hospitals we observed in - solutions? we spoke to all of the hospitals we observed in our- hospitals we observed in our research and they told us that the health services, of course, experiencing extraordinary demand at the moment and they were sorry for the moment and they were sorry for the delays and they were working hard on new initiatives to try and improve things but we also spoke to lots of doctors who said, you won't fix the front door of the hospital until you sort out the back door, getting people out of hospital when they are well enough to go into social care that at the moment there is in the capacity as we heard from the emergency doctor in my report, there is in the capacity and social care and they say that is the easiest thing to fix. it takes six months to train somebody and social care, but training doctors and nurses takes lot longer.- care, but training doctors and nurses takes lot longer. they are also interconnected, _ nurses takes lot longer. they are also interconnected, as - nurses takes lot longer. they are also interconnected, as we've i nurses takes lot longer. they are i also interconnected, as we've been saying for a long time. thank you very much, david. now the weather with chris.

the met office have issued a red extreme heat warning for monday and tuesday. this is an unprecedented warning for an unprecedented heatwave that is likely to smash the uk temperature record. it the uk temperature record. covers many of the lar cities, it covers many of the largest cities, stretching from the north of england into east anglia and the south as well. temperatures early next week are likely to reach the 40 degrees mark which would smash the all—time uk temperature record standing at 38.7 celsius and will lead to widespread impacts for people's health and also infrastructure impacts as well. before we get there, today, many of us with a dry day and there are a few showers drifting south across northern england. comfortable enough with the temperatures, the high teens and low 20s for many back into the high 20s across parts of the south of england and overnight any showers clear away and it will be a dry night and relatively comfortable for sleeping but it is through the weekend and into early next week that the heat becomes extreme.

the remaining candidates in the conservative leadership race will face the public for the first time today — as they take part in a tv debate. time today — as they take lets remind you of what's happened and where we are now. there are five candidates remaining, it's after the attorney general suella braverman was knocked out in the second round of voting yesterday afternoon. the next round of voting, when the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, takes place on monday. these votes will keep happening until two candidates are left and then conservative party members will vote for the leader. so far rishi sunak and penny mordaunt have come top of both rounds of voting. today though, the five remaining candidates will take part in a televised debate on channel 4. there will also be a debate on sunday on itv, and on tuesday on sky. i asked our political correspondent, iain watson, if we're going to be hearing and seeing a lot of the candidates over the next few days. we are, actually, and there is one

more to add to that, which is the conservative home hustings. this is the unofficial conservative website, much read by conservative activists. they will be asked will be from the very people who have the final say on this, the conservative party members, who get to choose between the final two as the contest draws to a close at the beginning of september. i think that might be worth watching, but equally, they will hear directly from voters and we will see how well they go down with voters, those they ultimately have to appeal to. and, of course, next week we have got the mps themselves voting on whittling the view down to the final two. interestingly, i think, that's going on on one track, but on the other, there's quite a fierce battle being run at the moment because it is not quite clear who the final two will be.

there are certainly three candidates that seem to be polling well enough to potentially get into the run—off. that is liz truss, penny mordaunt, and rishi sunak. what was interesting, i think, about the liz truss campaign was initially they were going strongly for rishi sunak �*s record as chancellor, some have dubbed him the high tax chancellor, but now the focus has shifted to penny mordaunt. lord frost, for example, the former brexit negotiator savary today saying to things, festival attacking penny mordaunt for being too lazy, as he saw it as a minister —— first of all. but also, and this is what i think is particularly astonishing, this was done in public, effectively offering another candidate, kemi badenoch, a serious job in administration, as long as she throws in the towel and throws her weight behind liz truss. the team say they are not offering anyone anyjobs, but is interesting that a leading

supporter is coming out publicly and doing just that. penny mordaunt herself has said that the polling looks good with the conservative members, and she is accusing her opponent this morning of trying to keep her off that final two and away from that run—off. a group of mps has urged the government to apologise to thousands of women who were forced to give up babies for adoption between the 1950s and 70s, because they weren't married. a parliamentary inquiry found that nearly 200,000 women were "shamed" and "coerced" into giving their babies away. duncan kennedy reports. many are now in their 70s and 80s, many can neverforget the shame they felt. these are some of the women who lived through forced adoption, losing the baby they wanted to keep. when i found myself pregnant, that was in 1963, i was still at school. pat tugwell was unmarried, and pregnancy out of wedlock broke one of the major taboos

of post—war years. she neverforgot one incident as she was about to give birth to her baby son, when a nurse internally examined her. it was painful, it was painful, and she looked at me and she said, "i don't know how you could get pregnant if you can't let me do this to you." it was just such an awful thing to say. she would never have said it to anybody else who was married, so why did she say that to me just because i was unmarried and she obviously thought i was one of the lowest of the low? forced adoptions took place in the three decades after 1949. the first pressures on the unmarried mothers to give up their babies came from parents and church groups. but today's report makes clear that coercion and cruelty also came from state employees, such as social workers and nurses. the parliamentary inquiry received harrowing accounts from hundreds of women. one said she had her baby pulled out of her arms. another said she screamed

and hung on to her baby like a woman possessed. during delivery, one woman was told she deserved all the pain she got. another, who had her newborn baby put out of reach, said the treatment in hospital was frankly inhumane. these women have suffered from shame and vilification and the burden of secrecy for decades. i think the least the government can do is recognise that this shouldn't have happened then and it would never happen now, and it is right for the government to apologise. the government said it would consider the report's findings and offered its deepest sympathy to all those affected by historic forced adoptions. today's report says women were railroaded into unwanted adoptions by public institutions and state employees. and says they were treated in an appalling way by those whose job it was to help them. duncan kennedy, bbc news.

diana defries was 16—years—old when she became pregnant. moments after she gave birth, she was told that her baby was flagged for adoption. shortly after her 17th birthday, she was forced to give up her child. the longest i held her was a two—hour train journey from where i was sent to the mother and baby home in southampton back to london and i held herfor two hours and suddenly it was like the penny dropped and it was a wonderful feeling, holding my child. i was taken to the adoption agency office in london. and a woman appeared and said, it's time. and because i was so young, probably, i wanted to believe that my parents, that everybody would see this was the right thing and this was my child and it was all going to work out well. it never dawned on me until those final moments

that they were just going to go through with this process. i couldn't let her go — this woman stood there with her arms open and i couldn't let her go so my mother reached over and pulled herfrom my arms and handed her to the stranger. my baby started crying in a way i had never heard her cry. and i can remember my knees giving way. and that's pretty much all i remember until i was at home. the headlines on bbc news. the first ever extreme heat warning is being issued by the met office for parts of england on monday and tuesday. temperatures in london and parts of central england could reach up to 40 degrees. the warning means a risk to life is likely, and says substantial changes in working practices and routines will be required. a british man who was captured in ukraine by pro—russian separatist forces has reportedly died. paul urey was believed to be volunteering in ukraine, was taken prisoner in along

with another man in april. sri lanka sworn in its new president after the former president fred sri lanka and is in singapore. demonstrators poured onto the streets of the capital in defiance of a curfew to celebrate the present�*s departure following months of unrest over sri lanka's economic problems. after days of confusion and crisis, the prime minister has been sworn in as the acting president of sri lanka. this followed after the speaker of parliament confirmed that the resignation letter sent by the prime minister was authentic and

they have accepted it. now, what happens and the speaker of parliament says he will start the process to choose the next president. now, this action will then shift to this building, the sri lankan parliament and where the mps now will choose the next president of sri lanka because this is an extraordinary situation and that is why they are having members of parliament to choose the next president of sri lanka. you are the likely contestants? the acting president has already hinted that he will be running for the presidency and the main opposition leader told me a couple of days ago that his party had already chosen him to be the candidate and who controls the parliament here? the governing party, the sri lankan's people's

front, they have a commanding majority in the building. so, whoever the party decides is likely to become the president, but there are lots of internal discussions going on and he is likely to get the support of the governing party, but things can change in the next few days with so many political parties discussing how they can bring a change, because they have seen these thousands of protesters who have been storming the government buildings like the official residence of the president and prime minister and they have to listen to these people, and these protesters have been saying we want a new beginning and a new system for sri lanka and they did not want him to continue in the post prime minister and we've seen someone close to the family, so the political party will have to be aware of what these protesters think because the country

needs political stability at this point. it is an economic crisis and they need to import fuel and food and medicine in the coming weeks and the central bank governor has already warned there is no stable government if there is no precedent and it will cost more trouble for sri lanka so there are various factors here in the run up to the election to the election of the president. ivana trump, the first wife of the former us president donald trump, has died at the age of 73. unconfirmed reports suggest she may have fallen down the stairs at her home in new york. our correspondent rianna croxford reports. ivana trump, described by her family as a radiant beauty and caring mother. a model and businesswoman, she was found unconscious and unresponsive at home in new york city, later confirmed dead by herfamily. it's been a very sad day, guys, a very sad day. police are still investigating

the 73—year—old's cause of death, but local media believe it may have been cardiac arrest. on social media, the former president described his wife as a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman who led a great and inspirational life. the pair were seen as one of new york's most prominent power couples in the 1980s and were married for 15 years before going on to have a highly publicised divorce after mr trump had an affair, making her somewhat of a heroine for scorned wives — famously telling divorcees in this movie... ladies, we have to be strong and independent. and remember... what? don't get mad, get everything. bye— bye. bye now. but, in recent years, she said her relationship with mr trump had since improved. she went on to forge a successful career of her own in fashion and beauty and will be remembered by her three children as a force

in business who was wickedly funny, passionate and determined. rianna croxford, bbc news, washington. there's political uncertainty in italy after the prime minister, mario draghi, offered his resignation — only to have it rejected by the president. mr draghi has been asked to return to parliament next week to clarify the situation following the loss of one of his coalition partners in a confidence motion. mark lobel explains. temperatures are rising in italy amid a political heatwave dripping with uncertainty. it's notjust the damaging drought that needs dealing with as the country rebels after the pandemic. there are fragile negotiations to secure billions of euros in eu funds and pressure to reduce its reliance on russian gas. but its political coalition is melting. italian residents are not relishing the prospect of another government facing collapse. translation: it seems to be madness at this time - with a country recovering.

translation: this is not good. we should come to an agreement. the decision by the 5—star party to boycott this confidence vote on thursday prompted mario draghi, former head of the european central bank and italy's prime minister since february last year, to conclude the pact of trust that had sustained the unity government had gone. but there was a plot twist at the presidential palace when the italian president sergio mattarella refused to accept his resignation. he has now called on mr draghi to address parliament and provide a clear picture of the political situation. the 5—star movement was originally the biggest party in the coalition but has seen a string of defections and falling support. now it's accused of a cynical plan to bring down the government to revive its own standing.

but giuseppe conte said he could not support the cost of living package, because it included message that were bad for the environment. he is accused of dragging italy closer to economic and social collapse, and has shown total irresponsibility, according to one industry body, leaving one senior eu executive watching with worried astonishment. milan's stock market dropped as nervousness spread to investors in the eurozone's third biggest economy. italy's next national elections are due next year but could come as early as this autumn if this instability persists. mark lobel, bbc news. the tech industry, one of the most lucrative in the uk, is crying out for talent.

more than two million tech vacancies were advertised over the last year, more than any other area of the uk labour market. so how to fill them? our technology reporter shiona mccallum has more the uk technology scene is bursting with opportunity. something that ben francis, the founder of online clothing company gymshark knows well. can't believe i'm stood here saying this. gymshark is worth $1.4 billion. we are coming up to a point now where there are so much change going on in the world. i think with change comes opportunity. i think it is people through tech that will solve some of the most complex problems that we currently have. i think having a basic understanding of tech and development is going to be really, really important, moving forward. despite the tech sector being one of the highest paid in the uk, with the average salary of £62,000, that is double the average household income, the sector is still struggling to get skilled people for thejobs. it's a real issue.

we've got well funded companies that have raised investment and are celebrating the fact that they've got great investors on board. but then what they need to spend that on is fantastic people to help them grow and help them on a journey. and they can't always find them at the right time or with the right skills that they need. so there is a real shortage that threatens to stifle growth if we can't rectify it. one place which is teaching young people important tech subjects is ada, so ijoined them for a lesson on coding. the college was initially founded to address the digital skills gap, but unfortunately i think, over time, it isjust getting greater. our students come to ada because they want that industry centred education, they know their future is in technology, they want to be in a place where we can give them the best opportunities to go into those digital roles. these students have just taken their exams and we'll find out the results later this summer. and i guess the question

for the guys here is, what's next for them? is it university or will they take on a digital apprenticeship? traditionally, apprenticeships were for young people getting a vocation. but statistics show that, for some subjects, like data analyst, over 80% of them are actually over 25 years old. i think it's about people changing careers, as much as people starting careers. and we've got lots of examples of both. we got people who have come straight out of college into an apprentice programme, we have got people who have a couple of years experience, but in a field that doesn't suit them or is a bit unstable. they wanted to change careers and we've given them that opportunity. there are real opportunities here. and if you are willing to embrace it and put in some hard work, then you can increase your economic outlook as an individual. the skills shortage isn't going away. but if you are a young person, getting into tech could provide you with a lifelong career and financial security. but the key seems to be take matters into your own hands.

the queen is meeting volunteers at the hospice in maidenhead to those who need it. more than 30 years it has been providing palliative and end—of—life care across east berkshire and south buckinghamshire. it was a lucky escape for one baby elephant after it was rescued from the manhole in central thailand. the calf fell into the drainage trough on the outskirts of a golf course in nakhon nayok province. the worried mother, who refused to leave the infant, had to be sedated to allow the operation to proceed. the calf was eventually reunited with its mother and the pair have safely returned to the jungle. victoria is with you and our look at the weather with chris.

the met office have issued a red extreme heat warning for monday and tuesday. this is an unprecedented warning for an unprecedented heatwave that is likely to smash the uk temperature record. of england into east anglia and the south as well. the current uk temperature record is likely to be smashed. monday and tuesday, we could see temperatures hit the 40 degrees mark for the first time ever in the uk, and that is going to bring widespread impacts. every time we see heat waves in this country, unfortunately, we see several thousand people dying as a result of the heat. if you are elderly or have underlying health conditions, pay attention to this.

keep your curtains shut on the sunlit side of the house and windows shut during the peak of the heat and if the heat is getting too much think about heading to a library where there might be some air—conditioning for a bit of respite. today, temperatures reach the upper 20s and for many it's a dry day with sunny spells and a few showers working south across northern england on the showers clear away and at this stage, the air is relatively fresh so overnight lows of 9 degrees in glasgow, comfortable enough, 13 or 14 degrees in cardiff and london. make sure you open those windows first thing in the morning to let the cool air in and as we head into saturday, pressure will build further across the uk and we start to see temperatures rise, more widely across england and wales we are into the high 20s, but still comfortable conditions for scotland and northern ireland. for scotland there could be a few showers around on sunday but further south, sunshine and the wind is starting to come up from the south bringing some continental air in and instead of talking about temperatures and high 20s, we back widely into the 30s across england and wales. the heat builds further on monday

and this is the first of the roasting hot days. temperatures across scotland and northern ireland likely to reach the upper 20s at least and we could hit 40 celsius and the hottest areas, and this is dangerous, unprecedented heat.

the met office warns of a possible "risk to life", as temperatures head towards 40 degrees in parts of england on monday and tuesday. the red "extreme heat" warning means there could be disruption to travel, energy supplies, as well as damage to property. i never thought i'd get to the day of seeing a 40 celsius on the map, which is a small possibility it will happen. and that sort of thing is going to have such big impacts to our daily life. we'll bring you more on what's causing the extreme heat and how to look after yourself. also this lunchtime... a high courtjudge rules that life support treatment for 12—year—old archie battersbee can be withdrawn. new figures show covid infections in the uk have risen by 29% in a week — 3.5 million cases were recorded.